India's rice curbs to lift Asian prices, stoke food inflation worries

A labourer carries a rice sack from a civil supplies godown to load in a tranport vehicle for distribution in the districts of Telangana state in Hyderabad, India, on June 10, 2020. (AFP/File)
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Updated 09 September 2022
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India's rice curbs to lift Asian prices, stoke food inflation worries

  • India banned exports of broken rice, imposed 20% duty on exports of various grades on Thursday
  • World's biggest exporter of grain tries to augment supplies after low rainfall curtailed rice planting

SINGAPORE: India’s decision to curb rice exports is expected to lift world prices of the staple and trigger a rally rival in wheat and corn markets, deepening concerns over food inflation. 

Rice prices in key exporters India, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar are set to rise, traders and analysts said, hitting food importers already suffering from higher costs due to adverse weather and the Russia-Ukraine war. 

India banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20 percent duty on exports of various grades of rice on Thursday as the world’s biggest exporter of the grain tries to augment supplies and calm local prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting. 

“There is going to be substantial stresses on food security across many countries,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank. “Global fundamentals could see further upside across the grains complex.” 

Chicago wheat prices rose on Friday, poised for a third straight weekly gain, as India’s move and talk about Russia’s restrictions on Ukrainian grain shipments underpinned the market. 

“This is an inflationary move for food prices,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. “This could trigger a rally in wheat and corn prices.” 

India accounts for more than 40 percent of global rice shipments and competes with Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar in the world market. 

“Myanmar prices should go up by $50 a ton while suppliers in Thailand and Vietnam will be quoting higher prices,” said one Singapore-based trader. 

Five percent broken rice in Myanmar was quoted around $390-$395 a ton, free on board, before India’s decision on export restrictions. In India, 5 percent broken white rice prices were quoted around $348 a ton. 

The world’s top rice importers China and the Philippines are likely to take an immediate hit with higher rice prices. 

China, one of the biggest importers of Indian broken rice for use in animal feed, is expected to shift to corn, traders said. 

“We expect import volumes will decrease with this ban...the new Chinese corn crop is coming to market soon and there are large volumes of other imported grains,” said Rosa Wang, analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd. 

“Infact there is news already about an alliance of Thailand and Vietnam planning to increase export prices. We are analizing the possible impact of these possible moves,” Mercedita Sombilla, undersecretary for policy, planning and regulations at the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture, told Reuters. 

Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to cooperate on raising prices, a move aimed at increasing their leverage in the global market and boosting farmers’ incomes. 


Death toll jumps to at least 48 as a search continues in southern China highway collapse

Updated 6 sec ago
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Death toll jumps to at least 48 as a search continues in southern China highway collapse

  • One side of four-lane highway in Meizhou city gave way after a month of heavy rains
  • Twenty-three vehicles fell down a steep slope, some sending up flames as they caught fire

BEIJING: The death toll from a collapsed highway in southeastern China climbed to 48 on Thursday as searchers dug for a second day through a treacherous and mountainous area.

One side of the four-lane highway in the city of Meizhou gave way about 2 a.m. on Wednesday after a month of heavy rains in Guangdong province. Twenty-three vehicles fell down a steep slope, some sending up flames as they caught fire. Construction cranes were used to lift out the burnt-out and mutilated vehicles.

Officials in Meizhou said three other people were unidentified, pending DNA testing. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had died, which would bring the death toll to 51. Another 30 people had non-life-threatening injuries.

The search was still ongoing, Meizhou city Mayor Wang Hui said at a late-afternoon news conference. No foreigners have been found among the victims, he said.

Search work has been hampered by rain and land and gravel sliding down the slope. The disaster left a curving earth-colored gash in the otherwise verdant forest landscape. Excavators dug out a wider area on the slope.

“Because some of the vehicles involved caught fire, the difficulty of the rescue operation has increased,” said Wen Yongdeng, the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou emergency management bureau.

“Most of the vehicles were buried in soil during the collapse, with a large volume of soil covering them,” he said.

He added that the prolonged heavy rainfall has saturated soil in the area, “making it prone to secondary disasters during the rescue process.”

Over 56 centimeters (22 inches) of rain has fallen in the past four weeks in the county where the roadway collapsed, more than four times as much as last year. Some villages in Meizhou flooded in early April, and the city has seen more rain in recent days.

Parts of Guangdong province have seen record rains and flooding in the past two weeks, as well as hail. A tornado killed five people in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, during rain and hail storms last weekend.

The highway section collapsed on the first day of a five-day May Day holiday, when many Chinese are traveling at home and abroad.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that all of China’s regions should improve their monitoring and early warning measures and investigate any risks to ensure the safety of the public and social stability, state broadcaster CCTV said.


UK Veteran’s Minister Mercer to risk jail over Afghanistan inquiry

Updated 21 min 35 sec ago
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UK Veteran’s Minister Mercer to risk jail over Afghanistan inquiry

  • Friends suggest minister will refuse to hand over identities of whistleblowers over fears for their well-being
  • Mercer faces potential 52-week jail term, which would cost him his role as a minister and MP

LONDON: UK Veteran’s Minister Johnny Mercer will risk prison by not revealing the identities of whistleblowers to an inquiry investigating the killings of innocent people in Afghanistan.

The Times reported that friends of the MP had suggested he would rather be a “man of integrity” over the matter ahead of a deadline to hand the names to the inquiry, chaired by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, next week.

Mercer has already given evidence to the inquiry, which is investigating allegations of extrajudicial killings and cover-ups by UK Special Forces between 2010 and 2013.

Appearing in February, he said a Special Forces soldier told him that in 2017 he was asked to carry a weapon to plant on an unarmed civilian to make them seem like an enemy combatant. He refused to reveal the source and others out of fear for their safety, with suggestions that some may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and could be mentally vulnerable.

Haddon-Cave gave Mercer until April 5 to reveal the names, which was later extended. Failure to comply, he was warned, could result in a year-long prison term, which would cost him his job as a minister and his position as an MP. He could also face a fine.

One friend of the MP told The Times: “The inquiry doesn’t seem to realise that nothing will destroy their authority more than putting the veterans’ minister in the dock — the one man the military community trusts.

“If they do this, no one from the military community will want to co-operate with the inquiry. They seem to think Mercer will fold under the pressure and they will get their way. But he won’t. He will go down as a man of integrity and the inquiry will lose all support.”

Former Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Mercer should reveal the identities of his sources.

“I admire Johnny enormously for the way that he has done politics under his own rules with an incredible sense of mission … He is a remarkable man but on this particular point I think for him, for his family and actually for the credibility of the inquiry I think he does need to disclose these names,” Heappey said.

On Friday, the inquiry will examine the Ministry of Defence’s failure to provide evidence to it on time. It is still waiting to hear from senior officials, including former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

It has also heard allegations that Gen. Gwen Jenkins, future national security advisor and former Special Boat Service head, locked away a report into claims of extrajudicial killings instead of passing it to military police. 

Mercer also suggested during the inquiry, which began in December 2022, that the next head of the UK Army Lt. Gen. Sir Roly Walker had given “unbelievable” testimony over claims that Special Air Service personnel had killed unarmed Afghans.

An investigation by The Times, meanwhile, has suggested that former members of specialist Afghan Army units CF 333 and ATF 444 could provide crucial witness testimony to the inquiry but that their subsequent relocation from Afghanistan was overseen by MoD officials in a potential conflict of interest.

Many had their asylum claims to come to the UK rejected, a decision now under review.


Arrests made at protests against UK arms sales to Israel

Updated 02 May 2024
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Arrests made at protests against UK arms sales to Israel

  • Police in London, Glasgow called to deal with demonstrations
  • ‘Protesters must stay within the law,’ Metropolitan Police says

LONDON: Police in London said they made three arrests at demonstrations held on Wednesday to protest against the sale of UK arms to Israel.

Protesters gathered outside the offices of the Department for Business and Trade in central London and more than 1,000 workers and trade unionists held protests at sites linked to BAE Systems across the UK.

“We are policing a protest in Admiralty Place and Horse Guards Parade,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

“Officers have made three arrests after protesters blocked access to a building. Protesters must stay within the law.”

Police Scotland also confirmed its officers were called to a site in Glasgow to deal with protesters on Wednesday.

Members of Workers for a Free Palestine said the group was “escalating its tactics” by targeting BAE Systems cities and the British government department on the same day, the Independent reported.

“Our movement forced the issue of an arms embargo onto the table and polling shows the majority of the British public want to see arms sales to Israel banned, yet the government and also the Labour Party continue to ignore the will of the people,” a WFP protester named Tania, who took to the streets in London, told the newspaper.

“The government has sought to play down the scale of its arms supplies to Israel but the reality is UK arms and military support play a vital role in the Israeli war machine and evidence that three British aid workers were killed by a drone partly produced in the UK shows the extent of British complicity in Israel’s genocide,” she said.

Another protester, named Jamie, who was demonstrating in Glasgow, said: “Our fundamental aim is for the UK government to introduce an arms embargo. It’s the morally right thing to do.

“It’s vital that action is taken. It’s been almost seven months of death and destruction in Palestine and the idea that that is being committed by weapons that are being produced in our neighborhoods is horrifying.

“Our long-term goal is an arms embargo from the government but our short-term aim here today is to just disrupt business as usual for BAE, to disrupt the manufacture, to cost them time, cost them money and slow down the trade of weapons to Israel.”

BAE Systems said it respected people’s “right to protest peacefully” and that its arms exports complied with regulations.

“The ongoing violence in the Middle East is having a devastating impact on civilians in the region and we hope the parties involved find a way to end the violence as soon as possible,” it said.

“We operate under the tightest regulation and comply fully with all applicable defense export controls, which are subject to ongoing assessment.”


US defends talking to Taliban in Afghanistan

Updated 02 May 2024
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US defends talking to Taliban in Afghanistan

  • Dialogue works in US interests, supports Afghan people, State Department says
  • Taliban took power in 2021 following withdrawal of US-led coalition

LONDON: The US State Department has defended talking to the Taliban in order to serve Washington’s interests in Afghanistan and the wider region.

The department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, told reporters that talking with the group not only worked in US interests but supported “the Afghan people.”

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces and the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government.

They have drawn significant hostility on the international stage for their repression of people, especially their treatment of women and girls, limits on education and reintroduction of violent punishment.

Some fear engaging with the Taliban could lend them legitimacy, but Patel said dialogue between the group and the US “allows us to speak directly with the Taliban, and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to press for the immediate and unconditional release of US nationals in Afghanistan, including those who we have determined to be wrongfully detained.”

“We’ll also use those opportunities to directly talk about the Taliban’s commitments to counterterrorism and of course, as always, human rights is also on the agenda,” he said.


British police officer pleads guilty to terror charges for showing support for Hamas

Updated 02 May 2024
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British police officer pleads guilty to terror charges for showing support for Hamas

  • Adil pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization in violation of the Terrorism Act
  • Two other police officers who were concerned by the images reported Adil to superiors

LONDON: A British police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to terror charges for showing support on social media for Hamas, which is designated a terror group and banned in the UK.
West Yorkshire constable Mohammed Adil admitted sharing two images on WhatsApp supporting the group three weeks after Hamas and other Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed about 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages.
Adil, 26, pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization in violation of the Terrorism Act.
In messages shared on WhatsApp stories with nearly 1,100 contacts, Adil posted images of a fighter wearing a Hamas headband, prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick said.
“Today is the time for the Palestinian people to rise, set their paths straight and establish an independent Palestinian state,” an Oct. 31 post said, apparently quoting the leader of Hamas’ military wing.
A second post on Nov. 4 was said to quote a Hamas military spokesperson.
Two other police officers who were concerned by the images reported Adil to superiors, Fitzpatrick said. He was arrested in November and has been suspended from the force.
“I accept that at the time of the offending you were of good character,” Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring told Adil, though he said he may impose a prison term when he is sentenced June 4.
Adil was released on bail.