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☆ Credit Suisse CEO memo signals UBS deal to close Monday, Bloomberg reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 10 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) Chief Executive Ulrich Koerner has indicated that the emergency takeover of the bank by UBS AG (UBSG.S) will close on Monday, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing an internal memo. "Monday's legal close is the next important step as we work to get you the answers you need as quickly as possible." On Friday, UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti hinted the takeover of Credit Suisse would close on Monday, the earliest expected date. Earlier on Friday, the Swiss government agreed with UBS to guarantee up to 9 billion Swiss francs ($9.96 billion) of losses the bank may incur from the sale of its rival's assets beyond 5 billion francs the lender is due to cover itself. UBS declined to comment, while Credit Suisse did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Ulrich Koerner, " Koerner, Sergio Ermotti, Urvi, Andrew Cawthorne, Mike Harrison, Louise Heavens Organizations: Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS AG, Bloomberg, UBS, Credit Suisse, Thomson Locations: Swiss, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Denis BalibousePARIS, June 10 (Reuters) - The suspect in a knife attack in which four toddlers and two pensioners were wounded in the southeastern French town of Annecy on Thursday has been placed in detention, the local prosecutor said on Saturday. The suspect, a Syrian refugee born in 1991, is under formal investigation for attempted murder and resisting arrest with a weapon, the prosecutor said. The injured are no longer in critical condition, Annecy Prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told a news conference, adding that the four children were still in hospital. The suspect has chosen not to speak while in police custody and when presented before judges, the prosecutor said. Witnesses told investigators that they heard the suspect call out for "his wife, his daughter" and shouted "Jesus Christ", the prosecutor added.

Persons: Denis Balibouse PARIS, Mathis, Mohamed Merah, Bonnet, Christ, Dominique Vidalon, Cecile Mantovani, Hugh Lawson, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Annecy Prosecutor, Thomson Locations: Annecy, French, France, Syrian, Toulouse, Savoie, Sweden, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, Swedish

☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the target during his budget speech to the national legislature. The deficit target for the fiscal year ending this month had been revised higher, from a previous projection of 4.9%. The government had prepared "a responsible budget, not an election budget", Dar said. The total spending target would be 14.46 trillion rupees ($50.45 billion), Dar said, with 1.8 trillion rupees going to defence. It would target net external financing of 2,527 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending in June 2024 of which 1,601 billion rupees would come via commercial and Eurobond borrowing.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Ishaq Dar, Dar, Shehbaz Sharif, Shahbaz Ashraf, Mustafa Pasha, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Shahid, Charlotte Greenfield, Louise Heavens, Mark Heinrich, Mark Potter, Sriraj Organizations: REUTERS, IMF, Finance, Pakistan, FRIM Ventures, Lakson Investments, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, IMF ISLAMABAD

☆ France plans to close tax loophole benefiting AirBnB
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File PhotoPARIS, June 9 (Reuters) - France's finance ministry is working on plans to close a tax loophole benefiting short-term furnished rentals such as AirBnB (ABNB.O), Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday. A trio of cross-party lawmakers last month called for rules regulating such rentals to be tightened and for an end to the more favourable tax treatment such rentals receive vis a vis normal long-term rentals. "I have a hard time understanding the very favourable tax treatment for AirBnB. We are going to reform the tax rules and I will make proposals," Le Maire said on BFM TV. "When a windfall gets too big and tax is too favourable, there is no reason to keep such tax treatment that leads to excess," he added.

Persons: Charles Platiau, Bruno Le Maire, Le Maire, pollsters, Le Maire's, Leigh Thomas, Elizabeth Pineau, Louise Heavens Organizations: La Defense, REUTERS, Finance, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France

☆ World shares muted, lira plunges to record low
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Samuel Indyk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Meanwhile, Turkey's lira plunged to a record low against the greenback as authorities appeared to loosen stabilising measures after the government signalled a pivot to more orthodox policies. Spanish stocks (.IBEX) outperformed after shares in the world's biggest fast fashion company Inditex (ITX.MC) jumped almost 7% following first quarter results. That left the MSCI's broadest index of world shares (.MIWD00000PUS) up just under 0.1% but close to its highest level in 13 months reached on Monday. The dollar fell 0.1% against a basket of currencies, while the Turkish lira weakened over 7% to a record low of 23.17 per dollar, its biggest one-day sell-off since the 2021 crash. Bitcoin was trading at about $26,900, consolidating after a sharp rebound on Tuesday from as low as $25,350.

Persons: Ben Laidler, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, eToro's Laidler, Laidler, Solana, Samuel Indyk, Kevin Buckland, Xie Yu, Robert Birsel, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Staff LONDON, U.S, Federal Reserve, greenback, Nikkei, Fed, Wall, ICE, Treasury, Swissquote Bank, Data, Saudi, Brent, Texas, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, U.S, London, Turkish, China, Cardano, Polygon

LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - The European Commission is investigating the flow of allegedly fraudulent biofuels into the EU following a complaint from Germany, sources told Reuters, as a Commission spokesman said the bloc was determined to tighten oversight of the trade. Industry sources named the country as Germany. Germany's Environment Ministry, the body industry sources said had requested the investigation, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. EU classifications qualify the most advanced for valuable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions certificates that are bought and traded by industry players at the national level. The top European biofuels body warned last week that a flood of potentially "dubious" biodiesel imports into Europe from China could trigger the collapse of the European Union's biofuels industry.

Persons: Noah Browning, Louise Heavens Organizations: European, Reuters, Environment Ministry, EU, Thomson Locations: EU, Germany, China, Asia, Europe

☆ Batman wins EU trademark dispute with Italian designer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Henry RomeroBRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - Caped crusader Batman won a trademark fight with an Italian clothing retailer on Wednesday after Europe's second-top court sided with an EU patent office, ruling that the Batman logo is distinctive enough to warrant its EU trademark. The Italian company had asked EUIPO to annul the trademark for clothing and carnival items, saying that it lacked a distinctive character. Judges backed the EU trademark body. The Italian company can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest, on points of law. The case is T-735/21 | Aprile and Commerciale Italiana v EUIPO – DC Comics (Representation of a bat in an oval surround).

Persons: Henry Romero BRUSSELS, Batman, Europe's, EUIPO, Aprile, Foo Yun Chee, Louise Heavens Organizations: DC Comics, REUTERS, EU, Warner Bros, European, Intellectual Property, Commerciale Italiana, Italiana Srl, Justice, Europe's, Commerciale, Thomson Locations: Mexico City, Mexico, Italian, EU, Luxembourg

☆ Morning Bid: Fearless VIX, China miss, Canada hike?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Wall St's 'fear index', the VIX (.VIX) gauge of implied S&P500 equity volatility, closed below 14 on Tuesday for the first time since February 2020 - more than 5 points below its 33 year average. What's more, the OECD saw Fed rates peaking after just one more hike to the 5.25-5.5% range and "modest" cuts next year. Oil prices remain lower on the week despite new Saudi output cut plans and year-on-year prices are still falling at 36%. Events to watch for later on Wednesday:* Bank of Canada key policy interest rate announcement* U.S. April trade balance. Federal Reserve issues Consumer Credit report for April* Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels to Washington to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden* U.S. corporate earnings: Campbell Soup, Brown-FormanReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsBy Mike Dolan, Editing by Louise Heavens <a href="mailto:mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com" target="_blank">mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com</a>.

Persons: Mike Dolan, you'd, eked, Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, Campbell, Brown, Forman, Louise Heavens Organizations: U.S, Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, World Bank, OECD, Bank of Canada, Canadian, Bank of, Federal, Britain's, Forman Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, York, Saudi, Asia, Bank of Canada, Washington

June 6 (Reuters) - Investors have pulled around $1.43 billion from the crypto exchange Binance and its U.S. affiliate as of 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, data firm Nansen said, a day after a top U.S. regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $1.34 billion of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $70.8 million, Nansen tweeted. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a "web of deception" to evade U.S. laws. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.

Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Tony Sycamore, Binance's BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao, Tom Wilson, Rae Wee, Ankur Banerjee, Kevin Buckland, Hannah Lang, Sonali Paul, Tom Hogue, Nick Zieminski, Louise Heavens Organizations: U.S, Binance.US, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: U.S, London, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington

The lawsuit is the SEC's second in two days against a major crypto exchange, following its case against Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and founder Changpeng Zhao. Crypto companies including Coinbase have said SEC rules are unclear, and the regulator is overreaching by asserting oversight of their industry. Coinbase customers pulled more than $57 million from the exchange within a couple of hours of the filing, according to data firm Nansen. The SEC said Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities that should have been registered, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon. The case is SEC v Coinbase Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Persons: Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Gary Gensler's, Gensler, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's, Nansen, Dado Ruvic, Gurbir Grewal, Kristin Smith, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Manya, Jason Neely, Louise Heavens, Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski Organizations: YORK, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, CNBC, Global Inc, Reuters Graphics, REUTERS, Coinbase, New, Blockchain Association, Court, Southern District of, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: U.S, California, Manhattan, Solana, Cardano, New Jersey, Southern District, Southern District of New York, New York, Washington ,, Bengaluru

☆ Sequoia to separate China, India and Southeast Asia operations by March 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, June 6 (Reuters) - Global venture capital giant Sequoia announced Tuesday that it is planning to separate its China, and India and Southeast Asia businesses into two independent firms. The China and India and Southeast Asia businesses will become independent and distinct with separate brands, by March 31, 2024, Sequoia said in a statement signed by managing partners Roelof Botha, China head Neil Shen and India head Shailendra Singh. Sequoia China will retain its current Chinese name and adopt the name HongShan in English, while Sequoia India and Southeast Asia will become Peak XV Partners, the firm said. The firm partnered with local leaders in China and India and Southeast Asia over 15 years ago, according to the statement. Singh and his team raised a $2.5 billion India and Southeast Asia fund last year, its biggest yet.

Persons: Sequoia, Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh, Shen, Singh, Kane Wu, Julie Zhu, Sriram, Louise Heavens, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Sequoia, Sequoia Capital, XV Partners, HK, PDD Holdings, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe, Sequoia China, Sequoia India, Oyo, Mumbai

☆ Exclusive: China's state banks told to lower cap on dollar deposit rates -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, June 6 (Reuters) - In a rare attempt to bolster China's yuan, a self-regulatory body overseen by the country's central bank has told major state-owned banks to lower dollar deposit interest rates, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The buoyant U.S. currency and the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes have prompted many Chinese companies to hoard dollar receipts. China's central bank said last month it would resolutely curb large fluctuations in the exchange rate and study the strengthening of self-regulation of dollar deposits. China's central bank has so far appeared calm after the yuan breached the psychologically important 7 per dollar level in May. During previous rounds of depreciation, the central bank has sent verbal messages against one-way bets on the yuan.

Persons: Sumeet Chatterjee, Louise Heavens, Mark Potter, Alexander Smith Organizations: Reuters, People's Bank of China, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, BEIJING, United States, China, Beijing

LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) said on Tuesday that it had decided to exit its home retail energy businesses in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands due to their poor returns. Shell launched a strategic review of its European retail businesses in January, citing "tough market conditions", shortly after CEO Wael Sawan took office. "That review has now concluded and as a consequence, we intend to exit those businesses. A sales process is already underway, with the intent to reach an agreement with a potential buyer in the coming months," Shell said in a statement. Reuters reported last month that three of Britain's largest power providers had expressed interest in acquiring Shell's UK retail business.

Persons: Shell, Wael Sawan, Ron Bousso, Louise Heavens, Jason Neely Organizations: Reuters, Shell's, Thomson Locations: Britain, Germany, Netherlands

LONDON/SINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - Investors have pulled around $790 million from the crypto exchange Binance and its U.S. affiliate in the last 24 hours, data firm Nansen said on Tuesday, a day after a top U.S. regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $778.6 million of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $13 million, Nansen tweeted. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a "web of deception" to evade U.S. laws. The world's biggest cryptocurrency was last at $25,723, flat on the day but pinned near a more than two-month low. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.

Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Tony Sycamore, Binance's BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao, Tom Wilson, Rae Wee, Ankur Banerjee, Kevin Buckland, Sonali Paul, Tom Hogue, Louise Heavens Organizations: LONDON, U.S, Binance.US, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, U.S, London, Singapore, Tokyo

BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) delivered 77,695 China-made electric vehicles (EVs) in May, a 2.4% jump from April, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday. Chinese rival BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ), with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and petrol-electric hybrid vehicles, logged sales of 239,092 vehicle in May, up 14% from April, CPCA data showed. CPCA is scheduled to release more detailed car sales figures for May later this month. Tesla has been under intense focus in China in recent weeks, amid an unannounced, high-stakes visit from boss Elon Musk. Musk visited Tesla's Shanghai factory late on Wednesday and met with Chen Jining, the ruling party's Shanghai secretary, on Thursday.

Persons: CPCA, Tesla, Elon Musk, Ding Xuexiang, Musk's, Zeng Yuqun, Musk, Chen Jining, Chen, Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Louise Heavens, Bernadette Baum Organizations: U.S, Tesla Inc, China Passenger Car Association, BYD Co, Reuters, Amperex Technology Co, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ China's top investment bank CITIC cuts base salary by up to 15% -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG/BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - China's CITIC Securities is cutting pay across its investment banking division, lowering base salaries by up to 15%, two sources said, in a rare move in the country's financial sector as Beijing pushes to bridge income disparity. The country's top investment bank by market value has also yet to pay bonuses to bankers for work done last year, the two sources close to the matter said. China's well-heeled financial dealmakers over the past year have been getting a crash course in austerity with pay cuts and perks reined in as their state-owned employers respond to the "common prosperity" drive. CITIC Securities' domestic rival China International Capital Corp (CICC) (3908.HK) last month cut this year's bonuses for investment bankers by 30%-50% from a year earlier, said two separate sources with knowledge of the matter. Besides remuneration cuts, some investment banks have asked staff to avoid displays of wealth such as uploading photographs to social media of expensive meals or overseas trips, industry sources have said.

Persons: China's, CICC, Julie Zhu, Selena Li, Roxanne Liu, Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: CITIC Securities, China International Capital Corp, HK, Reuters, China's, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, BEIJING, Beijing, China, CICC, Hong Kong

☆ Rome Fiumicino seen as Lufthansa's new southern hub after ITA deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shares in Lufthansa were down 0.2% on Friday, a day after the airline and the Italian Treasury announced the ITA deal. A report from TRA consulting firm says some 43 million people travelled through Rome Fiumicino in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, and the airport has potential to become an even stronger hub for the Mediterranean area. His report said this is due to the weakness of the national airline, and the integration of ITA into the Lufthansa group might help Fiumicino become an hub for travellers heading to the Americas. Lufthansa, which already operates the brands Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, said it would look to feed more passengers into Fiumicino airport. Analysts believe Lufthansa has good chances to boost Fiumicino, after fostering development of other airports it entered after its previous takeovers.

☆ Microsoft sets out grounds for Activision appeal against UK regulator
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) is challenging Britain's decision to block its $69 billion takeover of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) on the grounds of "fundamental errors" in the assessment of Microsoft's cloud gaming services. Britain's anti-trust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), vetoed the deal in April, saying it could hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming market, sparking a furious row. Microsoft confirmed on Wednesday it had filed an appeal against the ruling to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), and a summary of its arguments was published on Friday. It said the CMA's conclusion that the deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the United Kingdom's cloud gaming market was wrong, according to the summary. ISetting out five grounds for appeal in total, it also said it would challenge the CMA's understanding of the cloud gaming market and the impact of the deal.

☆ Engie, Amazon inaugurate Italy's biggest agrivoltaic farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, May 26 (Reuters) - France's Engie (ENGIE.PA) and Amazon (AMZN.O) on Friday officially opened Italy's biggest agrivoltaic farm to supply green energy to the Italian unit of the e-commerce giant. The solar power farm, near the Sicilian city of Trapani, will create power through photovoltaic panels placed high above the ground in order to allow cultivation in the fields below. The rest will go to the Italian power grid. Amazon Italy plans to power all its activities with renewable energy by 2025. The Italian subsidiary of Engie aims to reach 2 gigawatt (GW) of installed green capacity by 2030, its CEO Monica Iacono said in a statement.

☆ Elon Musk's SpaceX and Italy's Unipol join forces to help Italians hit by flooding
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, May 20 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX and Unipol Gruppo (UNPI.MI) agreed to join forces to help people hit by flooding in northern Italy connect to the Internet, facilitating rescue operations, the Italian insurer said on Saturday. Torrential rains devastated the eastern side of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, killing 14 people, causing billions of euros worth of damage and hitting agriculture particularly hard. Around 36,000 people were forced to leave their homes and many of those who remained in flooded areas were left with no electricity. SpaceX is positioning its satellites to prioritise the Emilia-Romagna region and provide improved coverage. "SpaceX, Starlink and Tesla are happy to be of use in any way to help Italy and the people affected by the flooding", Musk said in a statement.

☆ Plane crashes in Croatia, rescuers search for crew
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SARAJEVO, May 20 (Reuters) - Rescuers found the remains of a light aircraft that crashed on Saturday in the mountainous region of the northwestern Croatia but could not confirm if any crew members were found, the HINA state news agency reported. The search for the "Cirrus 20" aircraft that went off radar after noon during a flight from the Slovenian town of Maribor to the Adriatic city of Pula was conducted by a 120-strong rescue team in the forests of Lika-Senj. Army helicopters and drones were sent to search the area suspected of being mined during the war of the 1990s, local media reported. Rescuers said they did not know how many persons were on board of the Dutch-registered aircraft. Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jeddah, sleep and a French plane: How Zelenskiy got to Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The Ukrainians asked that President Zelenskiy be transported by the French army," a French presidential official said, adding that the decision had been made on Wednesday. "It was an opportunity for him to explain his position with countries he doesn't usually talk to," a second French official said. Speaking ahead of a bilateral meeting with Macron in Hiroshima, Zelenskiy thanked France and said he had received "positive signals" from Arab states without elaborating. A French government Falcon jet had taken Zelenskiy from Brussels to Poland in February after a European heads of state summit, the French officials said. "A plane in the colours of the French Republic has arrived in Hiroshima," Macron tweeted after meeting Zelenskiy.

☆ Sick of sewage, Britons protest at water companies' pollution
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

To the beat of a drumming band and waving placards, the protestors called on Britain’s water companies to do more to prevent sewage discharges. "We are sick of this sewage and they need to take action," Izzy Ross, Surfers Against Sewage's campaign manager told Reuters. Public anger has been fuelled by the payment of dividends to investors and large salaries and bonuses to water industry executives. Campaigners say water companies are discharging much more often than they should, including when there has been no rain. On Thursday, Water UK, the trade body representing the UK water industry, apologised, said the public was right to be upset, and said more should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner.

☆ Jeddah, sleep, and a French plane, how Zelenskiy reached Japan's G7
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The Ukrainians asked that President Zelenskiy be transported by the French army," a French presidential official said, adding that the decision had been made on Wednesday. "It was an opportunity for him to explain his position with countries he doesn't usually talk to," a second French official said. Speaking ahead of a bilateral meeting with Macron in Hiroshima, Zelenskiy thanked France and said he had received "positive signals" from Arab states without elaborating. The aim, French officials said, was to sway their stances. A French government Falcon jet had taken Zelenskiy from Brussels to Poland in February after a European heads of state summit, the French officials said.

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