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☆ Iran seizes Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in Gulf, U.S. Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of several seizures of commercial vessels in Gulf waters in the past couple of years. The navy said the seizure of the Advantage Sweet by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy disrupts regional security and stability and called on Tehran to immediately release the tanker. Iranian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment by ReutersThe ship, a Suezmax oil tanker built in 2012, issued a distress call during the seizure, the navy statement said. The navy said Iran has in the past two years unlawfully seized at least five commercial vessels in the Middle East. Iran in November released two Greek-flagged tankers that it seized in the Gulf in May.

☆ U.S. military leak suspect to appear in court; had arsenal, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Tim Mclaughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jack Douglas Teixeira was arrested by the FBI on April 13 at his home in Massachusetts and charged with violating the Espionage Act. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon for his detention hearing. Prosecutors say the 21-year-old leaked classified documents, including some relating to troop movements in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, to a group of gamers on the messaging app Discord. In 2018, while in high school, Teixeira was suspended after he was overheard making racial threats and remarks about guns. Teixeira attributed those remarks to a reference in a video game, according to prosecutors.

☆ Iran seizes oil tanker in Gulf, U.S. Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet, which, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, is a Suezmax crude tanker which had been chartered by oil major Chevron and had last docked in Kuwait, sails at Marmara sea near Istanbul, Turkey January 10, 2023. Iran's army said it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media reported. The vessel's destination was listed as the U.S. Gulf of Mexico port of Houston, ship tracking data showed. Iran last November released two Greek-flagged tankers it seized in the Gulf in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast. The U.S. Navy, whose Fifth Fleet is based at the Gulf island state of Bahrain, called on Iran to immediately release the tanker.

☆ Micron case causing concern for US companies in China, business chamber says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, April 26 (Reuters) - Leaders from a top U.S. business lobbying group said on Wednesday that Beijing's probe against U.S.-based chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) marked a "major concern" for other companies operating in the country. "It is a major concern because China lacks transparency in many conventions of law and policy, and this is one," Ross said. The survey results showed respondents were more optimistic about the business outlook in China compared to the previous survey conducted in late 2022, before the government lifted COVID-19 controls. Michael Hart, president of AmCham China, said the survey showed that American companies feel the overall environment for investment in China is becoming less predictable than before. Micron has said it would cooperate with the probe and that its shipments and operations in China remain unaffected.

[1/2] Mourners hold a poster during the state funeral of Zimbabwe's longtime ruler Robert Mugabe at a national sports stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, September 14, 2019. Still, some farmers say they will reject the government's $3.5 billion compensation package for being inadequate financially and for paying scant regard to land restitution or restoring property rights. Farmers say the plan was agreed by the Commercial Farmers Union in July 2020 and subsequently revised without adequate consultation. "The offer of bonds represents a very significant reduction in value with a prolonged redemption period," Gilpin, 67, told Reuters. The government was continuing discussions with farmers over appropriate payment methods and time frames, Ncube said.

Many Western companies are reviewing their supply chains and reliance on China as a manufacturing base, with Washington stepping up curbs in particular aimed at hobbling Beijing's chip ambitions and slowing its technological and military advances. Asked on an earnings call about U.S. and European chip designers shifting orders away from Chinese factories, UMC (2303.TW) co-President Jason Wang said their customers were starting to "evaluate their supply chain resilience". UMC could benefit from that, given the company makes chips in Taiwan, China, Singapore and Japan, Wang added. Global tech demand has slumped in recent months as soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a gloomy world economic outlook have led consumers and businesses to tighten spending. ($1 = 30.6960 Taiwan dollars)Reporting by Sarah Wu and Ben Blanchard Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Marquez to miss Spanish GP, hopes to return in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Marquez underwent surgery to his right hand after a collision in the season-opening race in Portugal last month and did not race in the last round in Texas. Honda said the six-times premier class champion underwent checks on Tuesday and the medical team advised him to continue his recovery and focus on a possible return for the French GP, scheduled for May 12-14. "Together with the medical team, we decided not to take any risks, to wait two more weeks and return in Le Mans." Marquez will be replaced by Iker Lecuona at the Spanish GP. Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Carbon capture project in Norway temporarily halted by high costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"New cost calculations show that we cannot implement the original plans for the carbon capture project within the existing budget," Knut Inderhaug, head of project operator Hafslund Oslo Celsio, said in a statement. Investment costs for the Klemetsrud waste plant, which are being subsidised by both the Oslo city council and the Norwegian government, were initially set at 5.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($518.88 million). Celsio was also in contact with municipal and state stakeholders over how best to realise the project. The CO2 captured at Klemetsrud is part of Norway's prestigious Longship carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which also includes carbon capture at a cement plant and the Northern Lights transport and storage project. Klemetsrud was expected to capture round 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, corresponding to 14% of Oslo's overall emissions of greenhouse gases.

☆ Russia's VTB to launch digital bank on VKontakte social network
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Elena Fabrichnaya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, April 26 (Reuters) - Russian state-owned bank VTB (VTBR.MM) will launch a digital bank within the mobile messaging app of leading social network VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, as Moscow seeks technological solutions to disrupted banking transfers. That made operations with banks abroad particularly challenging as many bank cards stopped working overseas and Russia was disconnected from global payment systems. The digital bank will enable customers to carry out everyday financial transactions such as money transfers, some bill payments and mobile phone top-ups, within the VKontakte app. VTB, which had launched banking services through Telegram in January, said it was prepared to shut down its bank on Telegram once Roskomnadzor had come to a final decision. "As of today, there has been no such decision, so the bank in Telegram works, although we have stopped actively promoting it."

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Issuing "catastrophe bonds" and setting up public-private partnerships could help plug the "insurance gap" to better cover damage from climate change, a discussion paper from the European Central Bank and European Union insurance regulators said on Monday. Only a quarter of EU climate-related catastrophe losses are insured, creating risks to the economy and financial stability from uninsured households and businesses not being able to recover quickly from extreme events like fire or flood, the paper from the ECB and EU insurance watchdog EIOPA said. Without action, the insurance gap could widen as more frequent and intense events lead to higher premiums, and impact credit supply from banks in high risk areas. Direct aggregate catastrophe losses in the EU totaled 487 billion euros ($535 billion) between 1980 and 2020, and insurer Swiss Re has estimated there were $120 billion of catastrophe losses globally last year. Actions could include incentivising people and businesses to mitigate against climate-related disasters by offering discounts on policies, the paper said.

☆ Horse racing-Australian jockey Holland dies after fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 24 (Reuters) - Australian jockey Dean Holland has died as a result of injuries sustained after falling during a race at the Donald Racecourse in Victoria on Monday, Racing Victoria said. He was immediately attended to by on-course paramedics, however, was unable to be saved due to the nature of his injuries," Racing Victoria said in a statement. "Jockey Alana Kelly, who was the other rider to fall in the incident, was cleared of any serious injuries. The 34-year-old, who was the son of former jockey Darren Holland, won the Newmarket Handicap last month as well as the Adelaide Cup in 2015 and 2019. More than 870 jockeys have died in race falls in Australia over the last 180 years, according to the Australian Jockeys Association.

April 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's northern oil exports showed few concrete signs of an imminent restart after a month of standstill, as aspects of an agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have yet to be resolved, according to four sources. Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, signed a temporary agreement on April 4 to restart northern oil exports. The KRG and Iraq's oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Iraq's lack of willingness to discuss these issues has frustrated Turkey, according to one source. Fields which are still running include Khurmala, which has reduced output from around 135,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd, according to a source familiar with field operations.

☆ Pfizer signs strategic cooperation pact with China's Sinopharm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 13 (Reuters) - Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Thursday it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China's Sinopharm Group (1099.HK), and plans to seek approval to market 12 innovative drugs in China through 2025. Sinopharm's president Liu Yong said during the signing event in Shanghai on Wednesday that the cooperation will involve accelerating the delivery of Pfizer's new drugs to patients, according to a statement from Pfizer. Reporting by Brenda Goh, Meg Shen and Ethan Wang; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's Didi Global to roll out self-developed robotaxis by 2025
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The company said that it is collaborating with multiple new energy carmakers in China on developing robotaxis. "We hope they can enter Didi's network and provide services by 2025," Didi Autonomous Driving COO Meng Xing said at a company event that was livestreamed online. He also showed off a robotaxi concept car called "Didi Neuron", with robotic arms that can help passengers pick up luggage. Didi allows users in some parts of Shanghai and the southern city of Guangzhou to hail self-driving cars through its main app. Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by Geely (GEELY.UL), supplies Didi's self-driving fleet.

☆ China's Didi Global unveils robotaxi concept car called Didi Neuron
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters) - Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global showed off a robotaxi concept car it called "Didi Neuron" during a company event broadcast online on Thursday, which has robotic arms that can help passengers pick up bottles of water or carry their luggage. The blue and white vehicle was unveiled by Didi Autonomous Driving COO Meng Xing. Reporting by Josh Ye, writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The ECB has raised rates by at least 50 basis points each at six successive meetings -- the fastest pace on record -- to fight stubbornly high inflation. The sources said that some are advocating no change in May - mostly the same Southern European policymakers who did not support last month's 50 basis point increase, while others - also a small group - argue for another 50 basis point hike. Klaas Knot of the Netherlands said it was unclear whether 50 basis points would be needed or if 25 was enough. Slovakia's Peter Kazimir said the ECB could perhaps slow down the pace of its increases while Austria's Robert Holzmann meanwhile backed another 50 basis point move. Markets currently price 25 basis point hikes each in May and June, while a third such increase is fully priced in by September.

☆ China sanctions senior US lawmaker for visiting Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Thursday announced sanctions against Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, for "interfering" in the country's domestic affairs and for visiting Taiwan. McCaul visited Taiwan last week and met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May , sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OSLO, April 13 (Reuters) - Norway is expelling 15 Russian embassy officials that the foreign ministry said on Thursday were intelligence officers operating under the cover of diplomatic positions, a move which Moscow said it would respond to. The expulsions amount to a quarter of Russian diplomats currently accredited in Oslo, the Norwegian government said. It is the latest instance of a Western nation expelling Russian diplomats since the beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. So far this year, Estonia, the Netherlands and Austria have also expelled Russian diplomats. The Nordic country still seeks to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Russia, and Russian diplomats are welcome in Norway, Huitfeldt said.

☆ China to ban vessels from area near Taiwan over rocket debris
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jameson Wu/File PhotoBEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - China will ban vessels from an area near Taiwan on Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, its maritime safety agency said on Thursday, as Japan sought details from Beijing on a reported no-fly zone in the same location. China has not commented on the no-fly zone but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said it was due to a falling object related to a launch vehicle. China regards Taiwan as its own territory and objects to any interactions between the Taiwanese leadership and foreign officials. The coordinates correspond to a rectangular area to Taiwan's northeast, with the closest point 118 km (73 miles) from Taiwan, illustrated on a map that Taiwan's transport ministry released late on Wednesday. China's foreign ministry declined to comment.

☆ Taliban ban on Afghan women working for U.N. an 'internal' issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A group of women wearing burqas crosses the street as members of the Taliban drive past in Kabul, Afghanistan October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File PhotoKABUL, April 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration has said forbidding Afghan women from working for the United Nations was an "internal issue," after the global organisation expressed alarm at the decision and said it would review its operations there. On Tuesday, the U.N. Mission to Afghanistan said the Taliban administration would be responsible for any negative humanitarian impacts stemming from the ban. Taliban authorities in December said most Afghan female NGO workers would not be allowed to work. The U.N. humanitarian agency has said a huge funding plan for Afghanistan for 2023 is less than 5% funded.

☆ Over 400 migrants died crossing Mediterranean early in 2023 -UN agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 441 migrant deaths between January and March on the world's deadliest migration route, in what it said was likely an undercount. Around half of those deaths were linked to delays in state-led rescue efforts and, in one case, the absence of any rescue mission, it said. "The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable," said IOM Director General António Vitorino. "With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized. This "central" route is distinct from the Western crossing from Morocco to Spain.

☆ Israeli curbs on Orthodox Church crowds in Jerusalem for Easter draw ire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

JERUSALEM, April 12 (Reuters) - Israeli police will curb the number of worshippers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for safety reasons during Orthodox Easter ceremonies on Saturday, drawing anger from church leaders who said they would not cooperate. However, the decision to limit access on Saturday to the Holy Fire, the most important Easter celebration for the Eastern Orthodox Church, angered church leaders who saw it as part of what they consider long-standing efforts by Israel to restrict the rights and freedoms of the local Christian community. Additional checkpoints around the Old City will also restrict access to the area around the church. But it reflected complaints from Christians that they are being gradually but systematically shut out of the Old City by Israeli authorities, who they say are upsetting longstanding status quo arrangements between the three communities. Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Emily Rose; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stellantis unveils Ram EV pickup, to debut late in 2024, at New York auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EV truck will go on sale in one of the most important segments of the North American electric vehicle market. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the truck will be built in the U.S. and the location would be announced soon. He told reporters on the sidelines of the auto show that consumers will choose the Ram over other EV trucks because it will exceed other trucks' performance on range, speed of charge, towing and other factors. The Ram truck's launch late in 2024 will come more than two years after similar EV trucks like the Rivian (RIVN.O) R1T electric pickup and Ford's (F.N) F-150 Lightning electric truck. The RAM EV truck will be built on a new body-on-frame architecture designed for full-size EVs, capable of towing up to 14,000 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,700 lbs.

☆ Morning Bid: Markets labor under recession cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. If the tight U.S. labor market is finally unwinding, markets suspect the Federal Reserve's job may well done after all - but at the cost of a looming recession. With Wednesday's private sector jobs reading for March and Friday's national payrolls report ahead, U.S. interest rate markets were jolted again on Tuesday by surprisingly soft data on job vacancies that suggested cooling demand for staff. More decisively, the two-year Treasury yield plunged more than 20 basis points intraday to hover just above 3.8% on Wednesday. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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