Planned daily reductions will further choke one of the world’s most important shipping lanes The Panama canal plans to again cut maritime traffic due to worsening drought caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, further choking up one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. The canal handles 5% of global maritime trade and about 40% of US container traffic; it is favoured by shippers because it usually reduces cost and transit times, especially for companies trading between China, Asia and the US. Continue reading...

Soaring oil prices of above $108 a barrel after Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure stoke inflation fears US government borrowing costs have risen to 5% for the first time since 2023 as soaring oil prices fuelled by the war in the Middle East trigger an intensifying sell-off in the global bond market. The yield – in effect the interest rate – on 10-year US Treasury bonds hit the psychologically important threshold on Monday, on a day of renewed selling pressure on Wall Street as the global oil price reached $108 a barrel. Continue reading...

Ex-Tory chancellor says economy has ‘fallen off a cliff’ since Brexit but rejoining union could be ‘quite simple’ The former chancellor George Osborne said Britain’s economy had “fallen off a cliff” since Brexit and that rejoining the European Union’s customs union would be the fastest route to recovery. Osborne, who was sacked as chancellor by Theresa May after being part of David Cameron’s cabinet at the time of the referendum, said it was important to rebuild links with the EU. Continue reading...

As John Healey drafts his autumn budget, the US president’s policies continue to inflate debt servicing costs Britain is not entirely in control of its own destiny, from the rising cost of the weekly shop, to the vaulting cost of government borrowing. What is said and done in Westminster matters. But the global backdrop is making life tough, not least in the deeds and words of one man: Donald Trump. As John Healey drafts his plan for next month’s autumn budget, the perilous economic conditions the chancellor must navigate can be traced back to the door of the US president. Continue reading...

Canadians ‘angry’ at Trump for suggesting Canada should become 51st state, says mayor, as US businesses see sales fall amid trade war Like many Canadians, Tom Reid isn’t crossing the US-Canada border as often these days. But he needed a haircut. The woman who cuts his hair lives in International Falls, Minnesota – her “sister is married to my wife’s cousin”, he explained – and so Reid, whose duty free shop in Fort Frances, Ontario, has to travel to her. Continue reading...