Latest news with #IntiLandauro
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Farmers in EU raise alarm over Mercosur, Ukraine trade deals
By Sybille de La Hamaide and Inti Landauro PARIS/MADRID (Reuters) -French and Spanish farmers warned on Wednesday that a flood of imports under planned European Union trade agreements with South American bloc Mercosur and Ukraine risked severely undermining European agriculture. The concerns come ahead of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's official visit to France and the expiry on Thursday of a free trade deal with Ukraine, which is expected to shift to import quotas this summer. Lula said on Tuesday he would discuss the EU-Mercosur deal with President Emmanuel Macron, a strong critic of the agreement in its current form, which was finalised in December but still needs approval from member states. In a meeting with members of parliament, French farmers' groups urged Macron to rally enough partners to form a blocking minority against the Mercosur deal, which they say would be devastating for the beef, poultry and sugar industries and compromise the EU's ambitions in terms of food sovereignty. "It would be a real tragedy for our industry," Alain Carre, head of French sugar industry group AIBS said. "We're sounding the alarm." French farmers held nationwide protests last year over low incomes, rising costs, and competition from cheap imports, particularly from Ukraine and Mercosur countries, demanding fairer trade terms and lighter regulation. "Our demands (for an EU-Mercosur agreement) are simple: reciprocity of rules, traceability abroad and much clearer labelling," Jean-Michel Schaeffer, head of French poultry industry group Anvol, said. Meanwhile, a few hundred farmers protested in Madrid against cheap grain imports from Ukraine and other countries, saying prices have fallen below production costs. Spanish farmers are likely to lose 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) this year, said Javier Fatas, a leader of farmers union COAG from the Aragon region in northeastern Spain. "This happens because of trade deals signed by Spain and the EU as part of geopolitics, bringing us prices too low to sustain our farms," Fatas said. He warned that genetically modified grains from Mercosur also created unfair competition, echoing French farmers' concerns. Wednesday's protest was peaceful, but only the beginning, he added. "Bad times are coming." Here are the main EU import quotas for Mercosur products in the agreement: Product Quota Volume Tariff / Note Beef 99,000 t 7.5% tariff Poultry 180,000 t 0%, phased in over 5 years Pork 25,000 t 83 euros/tonne Sugar 190,000 t 0% Corn (Maize) 1,000,000 t 0%, phased in Industrial 450,000 t 0% Ethanol Fuel Ethanol 200,000 t One-third of MFN tariff Rice 60,000 t 0% Honey 45,000 t 0% ($1 = 0.8770 euros)
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Telefonica investigates potential cyberattack after release of data from Peru
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Spanish Telecom company Telefonica is seen on a satellite transmission van, in Malaga, Spain November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's Telefonica said on Tuesday it was looking into a potential cyberattack after data allegedly belonging to one million customers in Peru was released on an internet forum. "We are investigating an alleged security breach. The sample released by the actor, which comprises 1 million records, seems to correspond to customers in Peru," a Telefonica spokesperson said. According to a post on X by HackManac - an account tracking cyberattacks around the world - a group calling itself "Dedale" was offering a database containing information on approximately 22 million Telefonica customers. The self-declared hackers have released a sample of 1 million records it said belonged to Telefonica customers in Peru as proof, although the Spanish company has exited the South American country two months ago. In April, Telefonica sold its troubled Peruvian unit to Argentine company Integra Tec International for about 900,000 euros ($1.03 million). ($1 = 0.8768 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by David Latona)
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta's content moderation contractor cuts 2,000 jobs in Barcelona
By Inti Landauro MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) -Canadian-based tech company Telus is dismissing as many as 2,000 people from its content moderation centre in Barcelona after Facebook owner Meta Platforms severed its contract, local unions CCOO and UGT said. The company - operating locally as CCC Barcelona Digital Services - emailed its workers on Thursday placing them on gardening leave. It said it was taking the action after a client suspended its contract. The email, which Reuters had access to, did not specify who the client was, but UGT and CCOO said Telus' client was Meta. One former and one current employee, who requested anonymity as they signed non-disclosure agreements, said the team was moderating content for Meta. "Our clients are diversifying their presence and transferring their services to other locations," Telus said, adding it would provide support to all the affected team members. A Meta spokesperson said the company has moved the services that were being performed from Barcelona to other locations and the company is not reducing its content review efforts. Meta invested billions and hired thousands of content moderators globally over the years to police sensitive content, but in January it scrapped its U.S. fact-checking programme, following the election of President Donald Trump. It also said it will stop proactively scanning for hate speech and other types of rule-breaking, reviewing such posts only in response to user reports. Employees were placed on leave, with full salaries but no work to carry out, while Telus negotiates severance with unions, the email sent to workers said. The company suspended its operations at noon on Thursday and asked employees at work to leave the office, located in Barcelona's landmark Glories tower downtown. The team in Barcelona included content moderation services in Catalan, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Portuguese and Spanish, according to the former employee. Telus has other content moderation centres in countries such as Bulgaria, Colombia and Portugal that used to collaborate with the staff in Barcelona, the current employee said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Zawya
24-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Tecnicas Reunidas, Orascom secure $2.6bln contract in Saudi Arabia
Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas and Egypt's Orascom have secured a $2.6 billion contract to expand a 3 gigawatt combined cycle gas-fired power plant in Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian engineering company said on Monday. The agreement, a 50-50 joint venture, will include readying carbon capture infrastructure and will include a 380-kilovolt (kV) electrical substation, Orascom said. The project is part of a number of contracts signed by Tecnicas Reunidas in the past months in the Middle East and elsewhere that will allow it to triple its net profit in 2026 from 2023. The Spanish company, which specialises in building energy infrastructure, has seen its shares jump almost 50% so far this year as it recovers from an energy investment contraction following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Marta Serafinko in Gdansk, editing by Inti Landauro and Louise Heavens)
Zawya
12-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Spain January retail sales rise 2.2% from same month a year earlier
Spanish retail sales rose 2.2% in January from a year earlier on a calendar-adjusted basis and excluding the effects of inflation, after rising 4.0% in December, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Joao Manuel Mauricio in Gdansk, editing by Inti Landauro)
