Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain...
A ferry carrying 251 people has capsized in stormy seas off the east coast of the Philippines, the coastguard says.
A spokesman said a number of casualties had been reported. Huge waves are said to have caused the boat to overturn.
Reports say local boats have already rescued some passengers on board the vessel near the island of Polillo.
Rescue boats and helicopters sent to the area have been hampered by bad weather, officials say.
At least four bodies have been recovered, while many passengers have been saved, local media report.
However, coastguard spokesman Armand Balilo said they were "still validating" the number of casualties.
"We believe the weather was a big factor" in the accident
, he said, adding that the ferry had capacity for 280 people and had not been overloaded.
A local emergency services official, Juanito Diaz, said initial reports suggested the ferry, which has not been named, "sustained a big hole that caused it to capsize".
Boat accidents are relatively common in the Philippines, which frequently experiences storms.
Tropical Storm Tembin is forecast to hit land early on Friday and people travelling home for Christmas had been warned to do so earlier than usual.
Do you know anyone on board? If it is safe for you to do so, please get in
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