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☆ 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.

☆ China complains to G7 host Japan over joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - China firmly opposes the G7 joint statement out of Hiroshima and has complained to summit organiser Japan, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said that the G7, disregarding China's concerns, had attacked it and interfered in its internal affairs, including Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement. China has expressed its strong dissatisfaction and has lodged stern representations with summit host Japan, the statement added. Reporting by Ryan Woo, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Equinor, Shell and Exxon agree LNG project with Tanzania
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Terje Solsvik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, May 19 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL), Shell (SHEL.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) have agreed a deal with the government of Tanzania for the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in the East African country, the two sides said on Friday. "It paves the way for the series of milestones that need to follow to realise this fantastic LNG opportunity for the country and the world," Equinor's Tanzania country manager Unni Fjaer said in a statement. Equinor and Shell are joint operators of the development while Exxon, Pavilion Energy, Medco Energi and Tanzania's national oil company TPDC are partners. Tanzania said in 2014 that the project could cost $30 billion to develop, but analysts have said cost inflation in recent years could add billions more to the investment. Shell operates Tanzania's Block 1 and Block 4, which hold 16 trillion cubic feet in estimated recoverable gas.

LONDON/LISBON, May 19 (Reuters) - Portuguese insurer Fidelidade is exploring a potential stock market listing of its private healthcare subsidiary Luz Saude, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Luz Saude reported operating income of 599 million euros in 2022, a 10.6% jump from the year before, driven by growth in private healthcare services. They come after Fidelidade acquired the remaining 49% of Luz Saude it did not already own from parent Fosun in September. An IPO would mark a return of Luz Saude to the stock market after the healthcare group stopped trading on Euronext Lisbon in 2018. It could also awaken Europe's IPO market, after activity levels plunged last year on the back of soaring interest rates and economic uncertainty.

☆ Hungary to block EU military aid fund for Ukraine unless Kyiv takes OTP bank off blacklist
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Boldizsar Gyori | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUDAPEST, May 17 (Reuters) - Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP (OTPB.BU) from its list of war sponsors, its foreign minister said on Wednesday. "We can't give it a green light as long as OTP remains blacklisted," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. Hungary this week held up a proposal to allocate a further 500 million euros ($550.40 million) from an EU-run fund, the European Peace Facility, to military aid for Ukraine. "We'll talk to the Ukrainians and we'll talk to the (EU) member states, including Hungary," a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity. The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) for military support for Ukraine so far under the European Peace Facility.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. crypto firm Ripple has bought Switzerland-based crypto custody firm Metaco for $250 million, in its first major acquisition, Ripple said on Wednesday. Investor interest in crypto assets has cooled following a drop in cryptocurrency prices in 2022 and series of collapses at major crypto firms, including U.S. exchange FTX. Investors have become increasingly cautious about where and how crypto assets are stored, after crypto platforms freezing withdrawals left them facing large losses. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he expected increased demand from institutional investors for crypto custody services. More than half of the $250 million acquisition was paid for in cash, and the rest in equity, Ripple said.

☆ Elon Musk to meet Macron, other leaders at France conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and other political leaders on Monday at a business conference close to Paris, the Elysee Palace said, confirming earlier media reports. Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O) who bought social network Twitter in a $44 billion deal last year, will meet Macron at the palace before attending lunch with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, the finance ministry told Reuters. Musk will also visit the sixth edition of the annual "Choose France" summit in Versailles, aimed at boosting international investment in France. Le Maire told BFM TV that the talks between the government and Musk would cover several topics, including electric cars. Asked by BFM TV if any announcement was likely, Le Maire said "all investments that are being made today are the result of months or even years of negotiations."

☆ Alphabet CEO to meet EU industry chief Breton, EU deputy chief May 24
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai will meet European Commission deputy chief Vera Jourova and EU industry chief Thierry Breton in Brussels on May 24, according to the European Commission's agenda on Friday. Breton is in charge of digital rules that will require Alphabet's Google and other tech giants to allow business users to access data generated on its platform, among other obligations. A list of don'ts include a ban on treating their services and products more favourably than rivals. Another set of new EU tech rules requires Google and other tech giants to do more to tackle illegal online content on their platforms. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU antitrust regulators extend decision on Broadcom, VMware deal to June 26
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators extended on Friday their deadline for a decision on U.S. chipmaker Broadcom's (AVGO.O) proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing firm VMware (VMW.N) by three days to June 26. The deadline was extended in agreement with the companies, a European Commission spokesperson said. Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan last week sought to convince the European Commission of the merits of the deal at a closed hearing. The company is expected to offer remedies in the coming days. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zealand, Boehringer's drug meets main weight-loss goal in mid-stage trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a statement on Wednesday, the partners said that the Phase II dose-finding trial met its primary endpoint of weight loss, the Danish company added. Like the other drugs, BI 456906 works by reducing the effect of a gut hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is involved in regulating appetite and food intake. But BI 456906 also blocks another gut hormone called glucagon. Mounjaro also has a dual mechanism of action, but it blocks yet another gut hormone in addition to GLP-1. According to drug trial database clinicaltrials.gov, participants in the Zealand/Boehringer trial were put into five groups by chance, with four getting different doses of the experimental weekly shot and the fifth getting a placebo.

☆ Cisco to begin manufacturing from India in diversification move
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, May 10 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) will begin manufacturing from India in a move to diversify its global supply chain, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins said on Wednesday, setting a target of $1 billion in domestic production and exports over next few years. Cisco, which sells a range of networking equipment and software to connect devices to the internet, did not reveal the investment size, but said it will support the growing demand from customers in India and expand supply chain capabilities. Modi's government has been working towards establishing India as a global electronics hub, courting suppliers and device assemblers to set up base in the country. "India is of strategic importance for Cisco, and we continue to bet on India. Today's announcement marks a significant milestone to power the next phase of growth for Cisco," country head Daisy Chittilapilly said in a statement.

☆ Standard Chartered CEO says big U.S. recession unlikely
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The Standard Chartered bank logo is seen at their headquarters in London, Britain, July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Peter NichollsDUBAI, May 8 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) Chief Executive Bill Winters said on Monday he sees a big recession in the United States as unlikely, although a period of negative growth was possible. "I think it's less the question of a massive decline in the U.S. - I think that's very, very unlikely," Winters said at conference in Dubai, adding the economy was "extremely strong". I think unlikely. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE's biggest lender, earlier this year had considered a bid to take over Standard Chartered, but later said it was no longer doing so.

☆ Bet365 must pay compensation to Danish soccer star Eriksen and others, court finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The owner of Bet365, Malta-based Hillside Plc, was ordered to pay 4.7 million Danish crowns ($697,000) to the athletes, including badminton player and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, football player Simon Kjaer and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Manchester United midfielder Eriksen, whose image was used the most frequently according to the plaintiffs, was awarded the largest sum amounting to 1.45 million crowns, the verdict showed. While Bet365 had argued that its use of names and images should be regarded as editorial content, and was therefore not subject to payments, the court found instead that it amounted to marketing that required consent. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the company or its lawyers for comment. ($1 = 6.7433 Danish crowns)Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Red metal rising: Argentina sets lofty sights on global copper top 10
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lucila Sigal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The South American country has a pipeline of copper projects that could produce 793,000 tonnes a year by the end of the decade, government forecasts show, well below neighboring No. Reuters GraphicsBRIDGING THE DEMAND GAPSan Juan is home to five of Argentina's eight main copper projects that have a total capex of $22 billion, a recent government report shows. Argentina has an estimated 65 million tonnes of copper reserves, according to a 2022 government report, some 3% of the global total. "The projects we have are of global importance and relevance because it's estimated that demand for copper between now and 2050 could be multiplied," he said. Copper demand is forecast to double to 50 million tonnes by 2050 from 2020 levels.

☆ Swiss army displays Leopard 2 tank as Germany hopes for sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Denis Balibouse | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Recruits of the Swiss army Tank School 21 perform an attack exercise with the Leopard 2 tank in Bure, Switzerland May 5, 2023. Switzerland has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service, some of which were used in training exercises by the country's Tank School 21 in the northwestern canton of Jura this week. But the Leopard 2 tanks that have drawn attention in Switzerland are, in fact, the 96 it keeps in storage. Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to a country at war. The German government assured Bern that if it decided to sell its Leopard 2 tanks, these would not be used in Ukraine.

☆ Global equity funds see biggest weekly outflow in five weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

According to Refinitiv Lipper data, global equity funds recorded a net $16.9 billion worth of outflows in the week to May 3, marking the biggest weekly outflow since March. The U.S. and European equity funds booked $15.6 billion and $600 million worth of outflows during the week, while Asian funds drew a small inflow of $160 million. Global bond funds also secured $3.95 billion of inflows in a second week of net buying. Investors purchased government and short- and medium-term bond funds of about $2 billion each but drew $910 million out of high-yield funds. Data for 23,973 emerging market funds showed investors received a net $1.35 billion worth of equity funds in their biggest weekly net buying since March 1 but exited a net $183 million worth of bond funds.

☆ Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week in Gulf, US Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, May 3 (Reuters) - Iran has seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the U.S. Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. In Iran's first response, Tehran's prosecutor announced the oil tanker was seized on a judicial order following a complaint by a plaintiff, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. The Niovi oil tanker seized on Wednesday had been travelling from Dubai toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said. Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

SAS has lost almost 60% of its value since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July, seeking to slash costs and debt after wage talks with pilots collapsed. Apollo will mainly work with aviation regulators in Sweden and Denmark to secure approval, the first source said. The move comes as the airline looks for large investors and seeks to raise equity as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Denmark's finance ministry told Reuters it was looking for one or more shareholders to take a majority stake in SAS. The company also became the largest shareholder in Mexican airline Aeromexico (GRPAF.PK) in 2020 following Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 2 (Reuters) - Pakistan consumer prices, driven by food, rose a record 36.4% in the year to April, the highest inflation rate in South Asia and up from March's 35.4%, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday. Pakistan's rural areas recorded food inflation of 40.2%, the bureau told Reuters. Food inflation for both rural and urban areas reached 48.1%, the highest since FY16 when the bureau started recording the categories separately. "The higher reading was expected over the hyperinflation in the food segment," said Amreen Soorani, head of research at JS Capital, a Karachi based investment company. Persistently high inflation has resulted in major lifestyle and consumption changes, with a greater number of people seeking help.

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - E. Jean Carroll returned to the witness stand in her rape and defamation civil case against Donald Trump, after the judge denied a defense request for a mistrial. Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina began cross-examining Carroll for a second day, hoping to show jurors inconsistencies or holes in her claims against the former U.S. president. In seeking a mistrial, Tacopina wrote an 18-page letter early on Monday accusing U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of bias against Trump. Trump's lawyer also challenged Kaplan's statement that Trump might be "sailing in harm's way" after his son Eric Trump discussed on Twitter how LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was helping fund Carroll's case. TRUMP NOT ATTENDING TRIALA businessman-turned-politician, Trump has not attended Carroll's trial, and on Monday was in Scotland for a short trip to visit his golf courses there and eventually in Ireland.

☆ Donald Trump requests mistrial in rape accuser Carroll's civil case
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Donald Trump has requested a mistrial in a civil case where the writer E. Jean Carroll is accusing him of rape and defamation, according to a letter from the former U.S. president. In a letter filed early Monday in Manhattan federal court, Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina cited several alleged errors by the judge, including that it mischaracterized parts of the case and interfered with his ability to defend Trump. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Mastercard (MA.N) will expand its cryptocurrency payment card programme by seeking more partnerships with crypto firms, the company's head of crypto and blockchain said, even as the sector comes under closer scrutiny from regulators and banks grow wary. Mastercard has already partnered with crypto exchanges including Binance, Nexo and Gemini to offer crypto-linked payment cards in some countries. "We have dozens of partners around the world who offer crypto card programmes and they continue to expand," Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's head of crypto and blockchain, told Reuters on Thursday. Banks have become wary of crypto clients after a number of big crypto firms collapsed last year, including the bankruptcy of major exchange FTX. Asked if Mastercard is considering imposing restrictions on the amount of money that could be transferred to crypto exchanges using its payments network, Dhamodharan said, "We're not here to pick winners.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy last month after the country's data protection authority, also known as Garante, temporarily banned the chatbot and launched a probe over the artificial intelligence application's suspected breach of privacy rules. Last month, Garante said ChatGPT has an "absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data" to "train" the chatbot. Italy was the first western European country to curb ChatGPT, but its rapid development has attracted attention from lawmakers and regulators in several countries. Following Garante's interest in ChatGPT, European Data Protection Board, the body that unites Europe's national privacy watchdogs, set up a task force on the chatbot earlier this month. Garante said it will continue its probe of ChatGPT and will work with the special task force.

☆ ChatGPT is available again to users in Italy, spokesperson says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Access to the ChatGPT chatbot has been restored in Italy after its maker OpenAI "addressed or clarified" issues raised by Italy's data protection authority, an OpenAI spokesperson said on Friday. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy last month after the country's data protection authority, also known as Garante, temporarily banned the chatbot and launched a probe over the artificial intelligence application's suspected breach of privacy rules. It will also provide a new form for European Union users to exercise their right to object to its use of personal data to train its models, a company spokesperson said. As Garante had accused OpenAI of failing to check the age of ChatGPT's users who are supposed to be aged 13 or above, OpenAi said it will offer a tool to verify users' ages in Italy upon sign-up. Reuters was able to confirm that ChatGPT has started working again in Italy.

☆ Bank stress likely to lead to tighter lending, corporate defaults - BofA credit survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Bank stress will likely be limited to a small number of banks but lead to tighter lending conditions and a pick-up in corporate defaults, a Bank of America April credit investor survey released on Wednesday showed. The gap between high-yield bonds and government debt has tightened on 63% of days so far in 2023, an all-time record, signalling that credit markets are faring well in face of recent market turmoil, BofA said. The biggest share of respondents to its latest survey, some 36%, said they expected bank stress to remain confined to small banks with challenged business models, with the United States more vulnerable than Europe given different regulatory supervisions. However, over 20% said they believed that a credit crunch resulting from the bank stress would lead to a noticeable pick-up in corporate defaults. As banks may withdraw from lending to high-risk assets, credit investors did not believe that private credit markets would step in and replace it.

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