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☆ Nigeria's two big parties dominate governorship elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LAGOS, March 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's two biggest parties won the majority of states in weekend governorship polls, official figures showed on Monday, maintaining their political dominance following elections in which European Union observers said 21 people died from violence. But Obi came third in the presidential race behind Tinubu and Atiku and his Labour Party was yet to win a governorship race. Official figures showed that APC won 15 states, including the closely watched Lagos race, compared to seven for PDP, which led in another state as counting continued. A northern regional party won one state and led in another. Two races were declared inconclusive because they were too close to call between APC and PDP.

☆ Citadel sees limited impact on energy demand from banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. hedge fund Citadel expects a tighter credit environment following the latest banking crisis but so far the economic decline is not enough to plunge commodities into the abyss, its head of commodities told Reuters. The hedge fund giant, which was based in Chicago but recently moved to Miami, manages roughly $60 billion in assets. We need to have a 5-6% global GDP cut to have a major impact on commodities," he said. Citadel, run by billionaire Ken Griffin, ended 2022 with a $16 billion gain last year, the biggest profit ever earned by a hedge fund. "The macro backdrop remains an unanswered question as OPEC assesses impact on demand.

☆ Explainer: What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI? Like other forms of artificial intelligence, generative AI learns how to take actions from past data. The most famous generative AI application is ChatGPT, a chatbot that Microsoft-backed OpenAI released late last year. Generative AI likewise can take notes during a virtual meeting. Cybersecurity researchers have also expressed concern that generative AI could allow bad actors, even governments, to produce far more disinformation than before.

[1/2] The Credit Suisse logo adorns a sign at the entrance to their campus in Research Triangle Park in Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S., March 15, 2023. In its statement early Thursday, Credit Suisse said it is exercising its option to borrow from the Swiss National Bank up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion). They said the bank could access liquidity from the central bank if needed. Credit Suisse said it welcomed the statement of support from the Swiss National Bank and FINMA. The U.S. Treasury also said it is monitoring the situation around Credit Suisse and is in touch with global counterparts, a Treasury spokesperson said.

☆ 'We live in hell': Volunteer bus evacuates wounded Ukrainian troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] A wounded Ukrainian soldier is evacuated in a converted bus, operated by Ukrainian volunteer medics, from the eastern frontline near Bakhmut to hospitals in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in Ukraine March 15, 2023. Six medics move up and down the narrow corridor between two rows of three beds that run the length of the bus, which is part of Ukraine's Hospitallers Medical Battalion that evacuates troops across Ukraine. "We had no possibility before in Ukraine to deliver casualties in such numbers between hospitals," he told Reuters. The initiative involves teams of volunteers rotating and spending several weeks on call, ready for when soldiers need moving further from the fighting. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed and wounded on both sides of the conflict since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February.

The determination is intact," European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in remarks after the policy decision. "There is no tradeoff between price stability and financial stability ... we are addressing the price stability issue by raising the interest rate by 50 basis points ... Beyond the rate increase, the Fed will also be debating changes to its policy statement that could prove consequential. In crafting their next policy statement officials will have to decide, for example, whether to continue to anticipate the need for "ongoing increases" in the policy interest rate, or to temper that seemingly open-ended commitment with language that indicates rate hikes could pause at any moment, given the new risks. They will also be issuing new economic and interest rate projections that could add a further dose of caution.

☆ BMW promises stable prices, raises margin forecast for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The transition to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) was moving faster than planned and it expected to reach its target of over 50% battery-electric vehicle share well ahead of its 2030 target, the company said. It forecast that the speed of growth in BEV sales, which doubled to more than 215,000 in 2022, to slow slightly this year to a high double-digit percentage. But by 2025, one in four new sales should be battery-electric, rising to one in three by 2026, according to Wednesday's forecast - a big leap from the one in 11 ratio seen last year. Almost half of cash flow came from a cash contribution from Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive. BMW proposed a dividend to shareholders of 8.50 euros, up from 5.80 a year earlier.

Credit Suisse said in a statement that it welcomed the news. Credit Suisse shares plunged by as much as 30.8% earlier on Wednesday, leading a 7% drop in the European banking index (.SX7P). The U.S. Treasury said it is monitoring the situation at Credit Suisse and is in touch with global counterparts about it. “People are all examining their books, what open positions we have with Credit Suisse,” the source said. The European Central Bank (ECB) had contacted banks on its watch to quiz them about their exposures to Credit Suisse, two supervisory sources told Reuters.

☆ China vows to ensure normal operations during institutional reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - China will carefully implement state institutional reforms and ensure orderly operations, state media reported, citing the first cabinet meeting chaired by the new premier Li Qiang on Tuesday. The institutional reforms remain "a major political task at present" and China will make sure that all the work is carried out normally, state media reported, citing comments from the meeting. "The institutional reforms should be taken as an opportunity to adapt to the needs of building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development." Analysts and investors said the new financial watchdog, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, will help bridge regulatory gaps, but it may also consolidate power at the top and could introduce more state and party intervention. (This story has been refiled to say 'China' and not 'Chinese' in the headline)Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Kevin Yao, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Finding COVID-19's origins is a moral imperative: WHO's Tedros
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, March 12 (Reuters) - Discovering the origins of COVID-19 is a moral imperative and all hypotheses must be explored, the head of the World Health Organization said, in his strongest comments yet that the U.N. body remains committed to finding how the virus arose. "Understanding #COVID19's origins and exploring all hypotheses remains: a scientific imperative, to help us prevent future outbreaks (and) a moral imperative, for the sake of the millions of people who died and those who live with #LongCOVID," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitterlate on Saturday. loadingHe was writing to mark three years since the WHO first used the word "pandemic" to describe the global outbreak of COVID-19. Since then, the WHO has set up a scientific advisory group on dangerous pathogens but it has not yet reached any conclusions on how the pandemic began, saying key pieces of data are missing. (This story has been refiled to add the day the comments were made)Reporting by Emma FargeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea decides on war deterrence measures, KCNA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Progress of the 5th Enlarged Meeting of the 8th Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea in this image released on March 11, 2023. KCNA via REUTERSSEOUL, March 12 (Reuters) - North Korea decided to take important, practical war deterrence measures at a meeting of the ruling party's military commission presided over by leader Kim Jong Un, state news agency KCNA said on Sunday. (This story has been refiled to add a missing word)Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VinFast delays US electric vehicle plant operation to 2025
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We need more time to complete administrative procedures," VinFast said in a statement on the delay, which did not specify when in 2025 the plant was expected to start operations. Last year VinFast filed for an initial public offering in the United States to list on the Nasdaq to fund its the plant construction. VinFast started its first sales outside Vietnam last week, delivering its first 45 cars in California on the first day. Its revenue in 2022 was 14.9 trillion dong ($631 million), down about 6.9% against 2021. Net losses rose 55% to 49.8 trillion dong from 32.2 trillion dong, its latest prospectus showed.

☆ French Senate votes raising retirement age to 64
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 9 (Reuters) - French senators early on Thursday voted in favour of raising the legal retirement age to 64 from 62, a first win for President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plans which have sparked protests and strikes across the country. Two hundred and one members of the Senate, dominated by the conservative Les Republicains party, voted in favour of the reform's flagship article 7 on the retirement age, while 115 voted against it. The French upper house is expected to approve the remaining articles of the reform bill later this week. It will then be submitted to a mediation committee between lawmakers from the Senate and the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, next week. The government is hoping the pension changes will be adopted by parliament by the end of the month.

Ties which have often been rocky since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016 have been fortified by the countries' support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion. "The partnership the UK and France share runs deep," Sunak said on Twitter. "From tackling illegal migration to driving growth in our economies to defending our common security, when we work together we all benefit. The Times newspaper said he would announce Britain was providing funding to France to invest in police, security and intelligence. The payments were expected to exceed 200 million pounds over three years, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

☆ Disney reconsiders making content for others under Bob Iger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 9 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) Chief Executive Bob Iger Thursday said the studio may resume making films and television shows for its rivals, marking a departure from recent years, when its production resources were harnessed to launch and grow its marquee Disney+ steaming service. Iger told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco that streaming services have traditionally relied on a volume of fresh content to attract subscribers. "As we look to reduce the content that we're creating for our own platforms, there probably are opportunities to license to third parties," Iger said. "For a while, that was something we couldn't possibly do because we were so favoring our own streaming platforms. Iger returned to Disney in November, less than a year after he retired, as the entertainment company sought to boost investor confidence and profits at its streaming media unit.

☆ IMF board poised to approve $2.9 bln Sri Lanka bailout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said Sri Lanka had secured financing assurances from all its major bilateral creditors, paving the way for the IMF board to consider approval of a long-awaited $2.9 billion four-year bailout. Sri Lanka would get access to the first tranche of money shortly after board approval, sources close to the talks said. "Sri Lanka has now received financing assurances from all major bilateral creditors," Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department (APD) said in a statement. Central bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said last week that Sri Lanka had fulfilled its conditions with the rate hike and he was hopeful the IMF bailout would be approved this month. The IMF said the board's approval would help catalyze financing from other creditors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

☆ EU tells Elon Musk to hire more staff to moderate Twitter - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - The European Union told Elon Musk to hire more human moderators and fact-checkers to review posts on Twitter, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing four people familiar with talks between Musk, Twitter executives and regulators in Brussels. The demand complicates Musk's efforts to reorganize the loss-making business he acquired for $44 billion in October. Twitter has been leaning heavily on automation to moderate content, doing away with certain manual reviews. It does not employ fact checkers, unlike larger rival Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), which owns Facebook and Instagram, the report said. European Union industry chief Thierry Breton on a video call in January warned Musk of "huge work ahead" for Twitter to apply transparent use policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech.

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The World Bank is pausing future work with Tunisia after statements by the country's president on migrants from African countries triggered racist harassment and violence, World Bank President David Malpass told staff in a note seen by Reuters. He said the World Bank viewed the situation as deeply concerning, but viewed steps announced by the Tunisian government to protect and support migrants and refugees as a positive step and would be monitoring their impact. He said the bank was working to ensure the safety of all its staff in Tunisia, and especially Africans, including through additional security measures. The safety measures could affect delivery of World Bank programs, but "staff safety will override program-related concerns," Malpass said. The World Bank has been a major donor to Tunisia, helping it finance food imports and business development as the government seeks an International Monetary Fund bailout for it state finances.

☆ Ukrainian pilot pair in Arizona to fly military simulators -US officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Two Ukrainian pilots are in Arizona to fly flight simulators and be evaluated by the U.S. military, two U.S. officials said on Saturday, as Washington remains mute on whether it will send fighter jets or sophisticated remotely piloted drones to Kyiv. "This event allows us to better help Ukrainian pilots become more effective pilots and better advise them on how to develop their own capabilities," the defense official said. Other allies have also conducted similar events in the past, the defense official said. The defense official did not say how long the Ukrainians had been in the Southwestern state. Training on military equipment, both for its use and maintenance, has been a leading indicator of a potential transfer.

☆ China's defence spending increases have been 'reasonable' - parliament spokesman
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 4 (Reuters) - China's defence spending as a share of gross domestic product has been kept basically stable for many years, with the increases "moderate" and "reasonable", the spokesman of the country's parliament said on Saturday. "The modernisation of China's military will not pose a threat to any country," Wang Chao, spokesman for the National People's Congress, told reporters. Wang was asked at a news conference by how much China's defence budget would increase this year, and whether any increase would be larger than in previous years. The spending figure will be officially unveiled in the national budget to be released on Sunday at the start of this year's annual meeting of parliament. China staged war games near Taiwan in August to express anger at the visit to Taipei of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

☆ EU antitrust regulators scrap investigation into Coca-Cola, bottlers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday scrapped an investigation into potential anti-competitive practices by The Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) and its bottlers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCHB.UL), citing insufficient ground for the case. It subsequently collected information from Coca-Cola and its bottlers, retailers and competitors. "Based on the evidence collected, the Commission has concluded that there is insufficient ground to further pursue the investigation," the EU competition enforcer said in a statement. "The closure of the investigation is not a finding that the conduct in question complies with EU competition rules," it said. (This story has been refiled to correct the company's name in the headline)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Softbank-backed doValue to focus on M&A in 2023 - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Italy's doValue (DOVA.MI) will focus on merger and acquisitions (M&A) in 2023, as it expects a wave of consolidation in the market of problem loan managers, its chief executive Andrea Mangoni said. "Our priority for this year is M&A," Mangoni told an analyst call. He added that the Verona-based debt management firm will look at deals in Italy and Spain, as both markets are fragmented. In Italy doValue competes with peers such as Elliott-backed Gardant or Prelios, owned by U.S. fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management. DK is currently discussing a possible sale of Prelios to Andrea Pignataro's ION Group, which in 2021 bought credit data and bad loan recovery firm Cerved.

☆ JPMorgan's Dimon says U.S. interest rates could hit 6% -CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon expects U.S. interest rates could hit 6%, he said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. The Federal Reserve quickly caught up to out-of-control inflation and would probably pause interest rates at a little over 5%, but they may need to go higher, Dimon told CNBC. “I suspect (interest rates) may have to go a little bit higher than 5 we're talking about. It could hit 6,” he added. The Fed's policy rate is now in a range between 4.50% and 4.75%.

☆ Asian markets breathe sigh of relief amid Ueda hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] The Japanese government's nominee for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda attends a hearing session at the lower house of the parliament in Tokyo, Japan, February 24, 2023. Ueda's confirmation hearing in the lower house comes as markets renew their attack on YCC, taking bets on a near-term interest rate rise. Japan's five-year government bond yield fell a little to 0.235%, from the previous close of 0.240%. The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds eased as far as 3.8590%, compared with the previous close of 3.8810%. The two-year bond yield was hovering at 4.6810%, compared with the previous close of 4.6930%.

☆ Colombia court moves to metaverse to host hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Isabel Woodford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A magistrate speaks during a Colombian court hearing held in the Metaverse, February 15, 2023, in this still image taken from a social media video. Bogota?s Municipal Criminal Court 69/via REUTERSFeb 24 (Reuters) - A Colombian court this month hosted its first legal trial in the metaverse, and now hopes to experiment again with virtual reality, authorities told Reuters. At the two-hour hearing held by Colombia's Magdalena Administrative court, participants in a traffic dispute appeared as avatars in a virtual courtroom. "It felt more real than a video call," Quiones told Reuters on Friday, describing the metaverse experience as "amazing." Nonetheless, Colombia's court proceedings on Feb 15 - streamed to Youtube - went off without too much of a glitch, bar some dizzying camera movement and some distorted movements.

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