Economy

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train operating companies, reckons the dispute has cost the rail industry around £580m so far, a sum which increases with every new day of strike action. The bill is ultimately met by the government, which now picks up the tab for any shortfall in ticket sales.

Wall Street celebrated the approval of the US House of Representatives bill to suspend the debt ceiling, so US stocks rose, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes recorded their highest levels since August, turning attention to the Senate, which is expected to vote on the legislation before next Monday.

In contrast to the positive news from the Capitol building, the seat of the US Congress, Wall Street benefited from the return of hopes for fixing the interest rate, during the Federal Reserve meetings on June 13 and 14, following statements by experts and bank officials.

During Thursday’s trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly half a percentage point, the S&P 500 added regarding 1% to its value, while the Nasdaq rose more than 1.25%.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said the central bank needed not to raise interest rates at the next meeting, following they had been raised in the last 10 meetings.

Also, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Philip Jefferson, hinted that the US central bank might stop raising interest rates temporarily during its next monetary policy meeting in June, but indicated that this does not mean the end of the series of increases.

Dubbed the “Fiscal Responsibility Act,” legislation to suspend the debt ceiling through 2025 passed Wednesday night, by a vote of 314-117, with bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will remain in session until the bill is sent to President Joe Biden’s desk.

In Europe, stocks rose at the close of trading on Thursday, as data on declining inflation sparked controversy regarding the need to further raise interest rates beyond this month, and investor sentiment rose as the United States approached avoiding defaulting on its debt, following the House of Representatives approved the legislation. .

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended the day’s trading up 0.8%, following hitting a two-month low in the previous session.

The commodity, media and energy sectors posted the biggest gains.

Headline and core inflation in the eurozone eased in May, albeit well below expectations, despite recent price hike data from Spain, France and Germany that fell short of expectations and spurred hopes that interest rates would peak in September, rather than December. As indicated by previous forecasts.

Giles Coghlan, chief market analyst at HYCM Investments, said the inflation data was heading in the right direction, lowering expectations that the European Central Bank would raise interest rates more sharply.

Archyde.com said that François Villeroy de Gallo, Governor of the Bank of France and a member of the European Central Bank, indicated that raising interest rates began to affect inflation, and that the next hike would be marginal, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde continued to stress the need for further tightening. Monetary policy.

In a related way, oil prices rose today, Thursday, by the largest amount in two weeks, ahead of the “OPEC +” meeting scheduled for Sunday, benefiting from the approval of the US House of Representatives on legislation to suspend the debt ceiling, which helped the market overcome the news of rising inventories in the United States.

Brent crude futures rose $1.68, or 2.3%, to settle at $74.28 a barrel. The contracts posted their biggest daily gain in two weeks.

US West Texas crude rose $2.01, or 3%, to settle at $70.10 a barrel, its biggest daily gain in nearly four weeks.

Both indices recovered from the losses of two consecutive sessions, caused by weak industrial activity data from China, the world’s largest importer of black gold.

In The Gambia, at least 70 children, most under the age of 5, died of acute kidney failure between June and October.

Local doctors suspected cough syrups imported from India were the likely culprit, as Archyde.com reported earlier this year, and tests by the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the presence. of deadly toxins, sparking a global hunt for tainted drugs.

Gambia’s Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told Archyde.com that legal action was one of the options the government was considering, in the first sign of a possible international dispute over the deaths. Mr Jallow did not say who would be the target of any legal action or the name of the law firm hired to help him.

The drugs linked to the children’s deaths were made by India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which has denied wrongdoing. Tests carried out by the WHO revealed that Maiden’s cough syrups contain the deadly toxins diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG), which are used in car brake fluid. The Indian government said its own drug tests revealed no toxins.

India’s health ministry and Maiden did not respond to requests for comment on The Gambia’s possible legal action. The WHO declined to comment.

Indian authorities have said the WHO has failed to prove a causal link to the deaths in The Gambia, accusing the agency of disparaging its pharmaceutical industry, whose turnover is falling. amounts to 41 billion dollars. However, cough syrups made by another Indian manufacturer have been linked to the deaths of 19 children in Uzbekistan. India has since made drug testing mandatory for cough syrups before they are exported.

CAUSAL REPORT

The Gambia’s justice ministry is considering its options following the completion of a new government-commissioned causality assessment by a panel of international experts, Jallow said.

Archyde.com saw a copy of the report, which was presented to President Adama Barrow in April but has not been made public.

In this report, the experts claim to have analyzed 56 of the cases of acute kidney injury. They found that 22 of them “most likely” died of DEG or EG poisoning following consuming Maiden products.

The panel might not confirm the cause of death in another 30 cases, but said it was “highly suggestive” that they were killed by DEG and EG. He said there was insufficient evidence in four other cases.

Doctors were only able to autopsy two of the patients. The pathology of both was consistent with DEG and EG poisoning, according to the report. Of all the drugs tested following the deaths, only Maiden’s were found to be toxic.

DEG and EG can be used by unscrupulous players as a cheap substitute for propylene glycol, a key ingredient in syrupy drugs, according to several pharmaceutical manufacturing experts.

Archyde.com might not determine whether Indian authorities were aware of the causal relationship.

It is the latest in a months-long investigation into the deaths, which have raised concern among global health officials regarding lax regulation in India’s pharmaceutical sector and oversight of pharmaceutical raw materials in the whole world. Many countries supplied by India, including The Gambia, do not have the means to test imported drugs.

The WHO said it was continuing to investigate the source of the contaminated cough syrups in The Gambia, Uzbekistan and several other countries, but was frustrated by the lack of information regarding Maiden’s drugs. One of the main middlemen in the supply chain of these drugs is still not known, Archyde.com found.

Gambian Minister Dawda said the justice ministry’s causation assessment and recommendations would be made public within six months.

The Gambia plans to build a testing center for imported drugs with support from the World Bank, the bank told Archyde.com.