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[1/7] A drone image of Mtauchira village shows the destruction caused by a mudslide where many people lost their lives, in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 16, 2023. Tropical Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 400 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar since it first made landfall in Africa in late February and circled back to hit the region for a second time over the weekend. In Mozambique, some villages have been completely cut off since the cyclone made its second landfall on Saturday. At least 53 people have died in Mozambique and 326 in Malawi since the weekend, according to government figures. The storm had already killed about 27 people in Madagascar and Mozambique before it lashed Mozambique a second time.

☆ Cyclone Freddy toll surpasses 300 as Mozambique counts bodies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MAPUTO, March 16 (Reuters) - The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy has passed 300 people, with authorities in Mozambique taking several days to assess the extent of the damage and loss of life. The storm tore through southern Africa over the weekend for a second time after first making landfall in late February. It is one of the longest-lasting tropical cyclones ever recorded and one of the deadliest in Africa in recent years. At least 53 people have died in Mozambique's Zambezia province, authorities said late on Wednesday, more than doubling their previous count. The storm killed about 27 people in Madagascar and Mozambique before lashing Mozambique a second time.

☆ Self-driving startup Gatik to double workforce, strikes Kroger deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SAN FRANCISCO, March 15 (Reuters) - Self-driving trucking startup Gatik will double its workforce by year end, a top executive said, after it announced a deal on Wednesday with grocer Kroger Co (KR.N) to transport goods within its Dallas, Texas network. Gatik, which operates traditional mid-sized trucks fitted with its autonomous technology, aimed to expand to 15 new U.S. states over five years, CEO Gautam Narang told Reuters. Many investors in the self-driving industry have grown sceptical as complicated technology and tough safety regulations have delayed large-scale commercialization. Autonomous truck company Embark Technology (EMBK.O) said this month it would lay off 70% of its employees and start evaluating options, including winding down the business. Microsoft (MSFT.O)plans to invest more than $10 million in Gatik at a valuation above $700 million, sources told Reuters in January.

☆ BMW cautiously optimistic on 2023, EV targets ahead of schedule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Victoria Waldersee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A BMW SUV moves down the assembly line at the BMW manufacturing plant in Greer, South Carolina, U.S., October 19, 2022. The company said it planned to keep prices stable, after years of dealing with rising costs by passing them on to customers. "We see hydrogen-electric vehicles as a meaningful complement to e-mobility, even with something of a time lag," Zipse said. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen* test vehicle, with a range of 500 km (310 miles) and an ability to refuel in three to four minutes, was being tested in various countries, BMW said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9319 euros)Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; editing by Paul Carrel, Bradley Perrett, Tomasz Janowski and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Investors had begun to doubt the ECB's commitment to another big rate hike this week after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the U.S. sent ripples through global financial markets. The source added that formal proposals for the meeting had not yet been distributed but policymakers had seen the new quarterly projections. They were likely to push back against committing to further rate increases and say instead that any new move would depend on incoming data. The ECB can push through decisions with a simple majority though President Lagarde has been known to seek the broadest possible consensus. Investors have sharply cut their bets on further rate rises since the SVB collapse, with the deposit rate now seen peaking at 3.65% in the autumn, compared with an outlook last week of more than 4%.

☆ 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.

Starbucks (SBUX.O) warned of a "cautious" recovery in its China sales. "Consumers have become more meticulous in their spending," its chief executive, Xu Lei, said in an earnings call on Thursday. "Now the Chinese tourists are either super rich or very poor," said the owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This suggests that once the initial reopening rebound has happened, we shouldn't expect a further surge in consumer spending," he wrote in a note to clients. ($1 = 6.8780 Chinese yuan renminbi)Editing by Marius Zaharia and Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SVB contagion fears hammer banks, roil markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Tokyo Stock Exchange banks index (.IBNKS.T) fell more than 7%, setting it on course for its steepest drop in nearly six months. Banks shares in Singapore and Australia fell. Heavy selling hit U.S. regional bank stocks overnight and traders raced away from bets on U.S. rate hikes, reckoning the instability would turn policymakers cautious. "Bank runs have started (and) interbank markets have become stressed," said Damien Boey, chief equity strategist at Sydney-based investment bank Barrenjoey. "Bank stocks had run up (when) it was thought that monetary policy might normalise a bit," said Jamie Halse, who manages a Japan-focused fund at Platinum Asset Management in Sydney.

☆ Bank slide deepens as SVB contagion fear rattles markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Tokyo Stock Exchange banks index (.IBNKS.T) fell more than 5%, setting it on course for its steepest drop in nearly six months. Banks shares in Singapore and Australia fell. Heavy selling hit U.S. regional bank stocks overnight and traders raced away from bets on U.S. rate hikes, reckoning the instability would turn policymakers cautious. "Bank runs have started (and) interbank markets have become stressed," said Damien Boey, chief equity strategist at Sydney-based investment bank Barrenjoey. "Bank stocks had run up (when) it was thought that monetary policy might normalise a bit," said Jamie Halse, who manages a Japan-focused fund at Platinum Asset Management in Sydney.

☆ Japanese banks slide as SVB contagion fear rattles markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Bank runs have started (and) interbank markets have become stressed," said Damien Boey, chief equity strategist at Sydney-based investment bank Barrenjoey. "Fear has started to feed on itself, and higher uncertainty by itself has triggered its own de-leveraging and de-risking dynamics." Overnight the VIX (.VIX) volatility index, nicknamed Wall Street's "fear gauge", shot higher and other indicators of market stress showed early signs of strain. In Tokyo, Resona Holdings (8308.T) led losses with a 9% slide, followed by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8306.T), down 8%. U.S. inflation data due later in the day is likely to inject more volatility, even if investors see the Fed prioritising financial stability.

☆ Japan is ditching its attack helicopters in another sign that one of the most important modern military weapons is losing its luster
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Japan's attack helicopter fleet currently comprises 12 AH-64 Apaches and 50 AH-1 Cobras, as well as an observation helicopter fleet of 37 Kawasaki OH-1s. Nonetheless, Japan's decision to junk its attack helicopters has other nations thinking what to do with theirs. "Now we have the judgement of Japan, a close friend, that attack helicopters are not worthwhile even for its capability requirements, which include land fighting to defend territory." Christopher BroomeJust as helicopters replaced many of the functions once performed by aircraft, now drones may replace helicopters for attack and scouting missions. Rather than attack helicopters being replaced by drones, it seems more likely they will team up with drones.

☆ Lahore is most polluted city, Chad worst among countries - survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lahore's air quality worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic meter from 86.5 in 2021, making it the most polluted city globally. Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, followed Lahore with PM2.5 levels of 94.3, an improvement from 101.5 in 2021. While Chad had an average level of 89.7, Iraq, which had the second most polluted air for a country, averaged 80.1. Bangladesh's air quality improved from 2021, when it was tagged as the country with the worst air. The index was prepared using data from more than 30,000 air quality monitors in more than 7,300 locations in 131 countries, territories and regions.

☆ Column: Philippines set to go from renewable laggard to leader in SE Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The rapid expansion in renewable energy supplies comes at a potentially critical time for the country's energy sector. Previously, those strict ownership rules limited foreign participation in the Philippines' energy sector to a handful of oil and gas majors. More clean power generation should also help the Philippines close the clean energy gap with the rest of Asia. Philippines electricity generation mix by sourceIn turn, a greater proportion of power from clean sources should help the Philippines attract more manufacturing and other industries. Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are all also expected to rapidly increase renewable energy supply capacity over the coming years, and may sporadically compete with the Philippines as green energy hot spots.

SYDNEY/NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators may have stemmed a banking crisis by guaranteeing deposits of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), but some experts warn that the move has encouraged bad investor behaviour. Following a weekend of discussions over the future of SVB owner SVB Financial Group , banking regulators unveiled emergency funding plans for the bank. Yet by guaranteeing that depositors would lose no money, authorities have again raised the question of moral hazard - removal of people's incentive to guard against financial risk. "If all bank deposits are now insured, why do you need banks?" Some 89% of around $200 billion in deposits held by SVB at the end of 2022 was uninsured, according to the FDIC.

HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - Top Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) said on Monday it expected to post its first net loss since listing in 2007 due to a sluggish property market and flagged a worse-than-feared drop in core profit. Country Garden said in a filing its estimated net loss would be between 5.5 billion yuan to 7.5 billion yuan ($799 million to $1.09 billion), down from a 26.8 billion yuan profit in 2021. It said core net profit was expected to be in the range of 1 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan, still positive but down sharply from 26.9 billion yuan in 2021 and well below analysts' forecasts for core profit around 9.3 billion yuan, according to SmartEstimate. Smaller developer Logan Group Co Ltd 3380.HK also said it expected to record a net loss of 7 billion yuan to 9 billion yuan for 2022. "We expect to see more profit warnings for both China property and property management ahead," said Raymond Cheng, head of China research at CGS-CIMB Securities Ltd.

☆ VIEW US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, stem financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. The fact that SVB and Signature Bank depositors will be made whole is critical in maintaining trust in the financial system and should help stem contagion fears this week. But it also means that 50 basis points (a possible Fed interest rate hike) is off the table." Given what's happened in the U.S. financial system, a 25 basis point hike is more likely than a 50 basis point hike."

☆ Instant view: US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, limit financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. ALVIN TAN, HEAD OF ASIA FX STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, SINGAPORE:"Markets remain unsettled from the SVB failure. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. ANTHONY SAGLIMBENE, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, TROY, MICHIGAN:"It was imperative that regulators stepped in and decisively acted before markets around the world opened for the week. GREG MCBRIDE, CHIEF FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE:"While the Fed has talked about a lot in the past year, until today it has been in the context of monetary policy.

☆ USDOT defends 'fully qualified' Biden aviation nominee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - The Biden administration told Congress on Thursday its pick to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is fully qualified and does not violate a law requiring civilian leadership. Republicans question whether Denver International Airport Chief Executive Officer Phil Washington has the required aviation experience needed to serve as top U.S. aviation regulator. Cruz said on Wednesday that Washington was "unable to answer basic safety questions about the 737 MAX crashes, aircraft certification, and how a pilot might react when a system malfunctions." "Surveying the leadership of the aviation field supports this fact overwhelmingly. Washington this week won backing of three former FAA administrators and the chief executive of Frontier Airlines (ULCC.O).

☆ Former Ohio House speaker Householder convicted over $60 mln bribery plot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - A federal jury convicted former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair Mathew Borges of participating in a $60 million bribery scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Householder, 63, and Borges, 50, were charged in 2020 in the federal bribery case stemming from a bill passed in 2019 to bail out Ohio's nuclear power plants. Following his arrest in 2020, the Ohio House of Representatives voted to remove Householder from the speakership position. Prosecutors had alleged that energy distributor FirstEnergy Corp (FE.N) gave $60 million to Generation Now, a political nonprofit operated by Householder. Householder and Borges were convicted of participating in the racketeering conspiracy, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The yen was last down about 0.15% at 136.36 after a knee-jerk plunge of as much as 0.62% after the BOJ kept policy unchanged in Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's final policy meeting before retirement. Despite some volatility against the yen, the U.S. dollar was mostly flat on Friday. Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar index was little changed at 105.28 but remained on track for a weekly gain of 0.73%. The focus now turns to the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report later on Friday, the next major data point that could offer clues on the Fed's next steps for monetary policy. According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 205,000 jobs in February after surging by 517,000 in January.

☆ Global house prices set to extend declines, risk of more with higher rates: Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Hari Kishan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Predicted drops in house prices in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand will come off price surges of as much as 50% since the start of the pandemic in 2020. House prices in Canada and New Zealand, which began to fall last year, were forecast to register a peak-to-trough drop of at least 20%, the poll showed. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsDouble-digit falls from recent peaks were also predicted for Australia (16.0%), Germany (11.5%) and the U.S. (10.0%). Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsAmong the most commonly cited reasons for house prices to remain elevated were crimped supply, made worse during the pandemic, when construction activity came to a near-halt, and ever-rising demand. While India's housing market will remain resilient despite rising interest rates, home prices in Dubai were also predicted to rise steadily.

☆ Analysis: Awaiting key data, some investors fear Fed will overdo tightening
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Davide Barbuscia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Some also worry that the Fed's messaging is becoming erratic as it reacts to successively weak then strong economic data. BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, was among the slew of big Wall Street names raising their views for how high policy rates could go, with a forecast of 6%. Reuters GraphicsFor some investors, a return to 50 and 75 basis point rate increases may be a bridge too far. "Investors fear the Fed is going to overdo it," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital. A spate of hotter than expected data would soon show that the economy was stronger than the Fed had expected.

☆ Global house prices set to extend declines, risk of more with higher rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Hari Kishan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Hungary vows to fight in EU court to defend anti-LGBT law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUDAPEST, March 9 (Reuters) - Hungary's Justice Minister said late on Wednesday that Budapest would fight in the Court of Justice of the EU to defend an education law that Brussels says discriminates against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The government has said the law aimed to protect children, not target the LGBT community. "Just as we have done so far, we will go to the wall if it's about protecting our children," Varga said, adding that uphold the legislation was necessary and further measures would be taken. The European Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU over the anti-LGBT law in mid-2022. The commission has said it considers that the law violates the EU's internal market rules, the fundamental rights of individuals and EU values.

☆ China consumer inflation slowest in a year; producer deflation deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Feb consumer inflation slowedFeb producer deflation deepenedBEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation slowed down in February as consumers remained cautious despite the abandonment of strong pandemic controls late last year, official data showed on Thursday. The CPI, which is seasonally adjusted, fell 0.5% from a month earlier, missing the forecast of 0.2% gain. Annual producer deflation deepened last month. Economists say China will nonetheless see upward pressure on consumer prices in coming months, mostly thanks to the end of efforts to suppress COVID-19. Core annual inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 0.6% in February, compared with January's 1.0%, reflecting persistently weak domestic demand.

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