Briefly

UNITED STATES

Trump terminates all Canada trade talks

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that all trade negotiations with Canada were terminated over an anti-tariff advertising campaign. On his Truth Social network, Trump said a "fake" ad misquoted former president Ronald Reagan discussing tariff policy. Trump said the campaign — produced by the Canadian province of Ontario to be aired on US television channels — was designed to "interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court", which is due to rule on his sweeping global tariffs. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier on Thursday that his country will not allow unfair US access to Canadian markets if their trade talks fail.

GERMANY

Nearly half of firms view prospects negatively

Nearly half of German companies expect their business prospects over the next three to six months to be poor or very poor, according to a works council survey published by Germany's major trade union IG Metall on Thursday. The survey covered 2,623 companies across sectors such as machinery, automotive, electrical engineering and IT, representing more than 1.3 million employees nationwide. Large parts of Germany's industrial sector remain stuck in an economic slump, IG Metall said in a press release. About 47 percent of the surveyed companies described their outlook as negative, compared to 45 percent that expressed optimism.

INDIA

Bus collision claims at least 20 lives

At least 20 people were killed and many others suffered burn injuries on Friday when a private bus carrying them caught fire after colliding with a motorcycle in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, officials said. The bus caught fire on the road near Chinna Tekur village in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. According to police, the bus traveling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru with 42 passengers on board went up in flames immediately after the collision. Following the blaze, locals rushed to the spot and tried to rescue the injured before fire tenders and police teams arrived.

Agencies - Xinhua