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☆ Iranian chess player was warned not to return to Iran after competing without hijab -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Elwely Elwelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships - Rapid Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 28, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board. REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevDUBAI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan. Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes. The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.

☆ Biden to promote U.S. infrastructure spending in bipartisan Kentucky visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] U.S. President Barack Obama speaks in front of the dilapidated Brent Spence Bridge during a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio September 22, 2011. McConnell, of Kentucky, was among the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure law, which was passed in November 2021, while many House Republicans including Representative Kevin McCarthy opposed it. McConnell said last week in a statement that "building a new companion bridge on the Brent Spence Bridge corridor will be one of the bill's crowning accomplishments." Kentucky and Ohio had sought funding for the project for years. Other administration officials including Vice President Kamala Harris will also tout infrastructure awards in other events this week.

☆ Colombia's plan to replace fighter planes hits a snag
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Initial negotiations between Colombia, France's Dassault Aviation (AM.PA) and Sweden's Saab AB (SAABb.ST) to replace part of the South American country's aging air force fleet have collapsed, the defense minister said on Monday. Colombia, which uses about 20 Israeli-made Kfir aircraft purchased three decades ago, has said replacing the planes is a priority so it can continue to defend its territory, fight organized crime and conduct aerial surveillance. There will be continued efforts this year to see if a purchase is possible, Velasquez said. There have been efforts by various Colombian administrations to replace the Kfir planes for at least 12 years, though the change has been stymied by financial limitations. (This story has been refiled to say Swedish instead of Swiss in reference to Saab in paragraph 3)Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Caracas Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taliban seeks economic self-sufficiency and foreign investment for Afghanistan, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration will encourage self-sufficiency and wants international trade and investment, the acting commerce minister said, as Afghanistan faces isolation and suspension of some humanitarian operations over restrictions on women. Another part of their strategy was to boost trade and foreign investment, he said. He said that countries including Iran, Russia and China were interested in trade and investment. Already facing a lack of formal recognition and sanctions hampering the country's banking sector, investors are faced with growing security concerns after attacks on foreign targets in Kabul, claimed by the Islamic State. He added that foreign investors were showing interest in Afghanistan's mining sector, which has been valued at more than $1 trillion.

☆ Russian rouble surges as volatile year draws to a close
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

By 0755 GMT, the rouble was 1.8% stronger against the dollar at 70.87 , recovering some ground from the eight-month low of 72.9175 hit in the previous session. The rouble has lost around 13% to the dollar since the price cap on Russian oil exports came into force on Dec. 5, although analysts have said the technical impact would be more strongly felt in January-February. It had gained 0.4% to trade at 75.58 versus the euro and firmed 2.9% against the yuan to 9.89 . Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.6% at $84.0 a barrel. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) was 0.2% lower at 2,143.5 points.

☆ Russian rouble strengthens vs dollar as volatile year ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

At 0708 GMT, the rouble was 1.3% stronger against the dollar at 71.22 , recovering some ground from the eight-month low of 72.9175 hit in the previous session. The rouble has lost around 13% to the dollar since the price cap on Russian oil exports came into force on Dec. 5, although analysts have said the technical impact would be more strongly felt in January-February. It had gained 0.6% to trade at 75.54 versus the euro and firmed 1.7% against the yuan to 10.01 . Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.6% at $84.0 a barrel. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) was 0.2% higher at 2,151.1 points.

☆ Putin says Russia expects China's Xi to make state visit in spring
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in spring 2023, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia's flailing military campaign in Ukraine. In introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin said: "We are expecting you, dear Mr Chairman, dear friend, we are expecting you next spring on a state visit to Moscow." Though Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, China has refrained from condemning Moscow's military campaign, instead stressing the need for peace. Russian energy exports to China have risen significantly since the outbreak of the conflict, with Russia now China's single largest oil supplier. At a September summit in Uzbekistan, Putin acknowledged his Chinese counterpart's "concerns" about the situation in Ukraine.

☆ U.S. appeals court upholds Florida high school's transgender bathroom policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 30 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Friday upheld a Florida high school's policy forbidding transgender students from using bathrooms that accord with their chosen identities. Circuit Court of Appeals said the St. Johns County school board did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause or federal civil rights law by requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex. The policy had been challenged by Drew Adams, a transgender man who was not allowed to use the boys' bathroom when he attended the Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. All seven judges in the majority were appointed by Republican presidents, including six by Donald Trump, while the four dissenting judges were Democratic appointees. The Biden administration had urged the appeals court to strike down the school's policy.

☆ U.S. ramps up immigration arrests mostly at Mexican border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Mica Rosenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Immigration arrests nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2021 as border authorities apprehended more migrants and courts blocked efforts by U.S. President Joe Biden to more narrowly target detentions to focus on serious criminals. Around two-thirds of those arrests were of people with only immigration violations, the data showed. Most were migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border with no criminal convictions or charges pending and who were transferred to ICE, officials said on a call with reporters. U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 2.2 million migrants at the southwest border in the 2022 fiscal year. Those not expelled are either released into the country to pursue immigration claims or detained by ICE.

☆ German businesses expect only mild recession as disruptions ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There have been growing signs that the German economy could stave off the worst of an economic downturn triggered by a plunge in energy supply from Russia after the Ukraine invasion. Inflation slowed slightly to 11.3% in November from a high of 11.6% the month prior as energy prices eased. The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said there were many indications that supply chain disruptions were gradually easing. However, the DIHK warned that soaring energy prices and easing consumer sentiment were still clouding the outlook for 2023. The ZDH association of craftsmen echoed the DIHK, saying noticeably fewer orders were coming in for next year.

☆ Myanmar court to deliver final verdicts this week in Suu Kyi trials
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - A court in military-ruled Myanmar will deliver its final verdicts in cases against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, said a source familiar with her trials, wrapping up marathon proceedings that have been condemned in the West as a sham. Suu Kyi, 77, was arrested when the military seized power on Feb. 1 last year in a coup that ended a decade of tentative democracy and plunged the country into chaos. Suu Kyi has called the cases "absurd". The military has said Suu Kyi is being given due process by an independent judiciary, noting the judge was appointed by her administration. Suu Kyi's marathon court proceedings have taken place behind closed doors, with only limited information reported by state media and a gag order imposed on her lawyers.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the storm's confirmed death toll climbed to 13 on Sunday, up from three reported overnight in the Buffalo region. The latest victims included some found in cars and some in snow banks, Poloncarz said, adding that the death tally would likely rise further. New York Governor Kathy Hochul called it an "epic, once-in-a-lifetime" weather disaster that ranked as the fiercest winter storm to hit the greater Buffalo area since a crippling 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people. RESCUING THE RESCUERSThe latest blizzard came nearly six weeks after a record-setting but shorter-lived lake-effect storm struck western New York. [1/9] A snow plow is left stranded on the road following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region on Main St. in Amherst, New York, U.S., December 25, 2022.

REUTERS/Amit Dave/File PhotoSummary India to save nearly $20 billion over 12 monthsEnding pandemic-era free food programme may cool pricesIndia to provide already highly subsidised food for freeNEW DELHI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - India will end its COVID-19 era free food programme on Dec. 31 and replace it with a cheaper programme that will save the government nearly $20 billion in the next 12 months. Late on Friday, India's Food and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said the government will stop the free food programme after 28 months as the economic situation has improved since COVID-19 cases and restrictions have eased. The programme provided poor families with 5 kg (11 lb) of foodgrains each month in addition to other highly subsidised foodgrains. Now the government will make the highly subsidised foodgrain free for the next 12 months, Goyal said. The government will save at least $20 billion over the next 12 months by ending the pandemic-era free food programme, as they will only spend on one food scheme instead of multiple programmes, according to an official, who did not want to be named.

☆ Chinese ambassador says Ukraine crisis has hurt relations with EU -report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put China in a "very difficult position" for its bilateral relations with the European Union, Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the EU, was quoted as saying in an interview with the South China Morning Post published on Friday. Fu said one of his priorities in the new role was to "depoliticise" EU-China relations, SCMP reported. He said that China was not benefiting from the war, and did not have any interest in prolonging the conflict, the newspaper said. Fu added that China's position was "quite balanced" and that the country is ready to engage in peaceful efforts, the Morning Post said. European Council President Charles Michel urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to use the country's "influence" on Russia over its war in Ukraine during a visit to Beijing earlier this month.

☆ 'The Serpent' Charles Sobhraj due to be set to be free from Nepal prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] French serial killer Charles Sobhraj leaves Kathmandu district court after his hearing in Kathmandu May 31, 2011. Sobhraj denied killing the American woman and his lawyers said the charge against him was based on assumption. Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his release from prison, where he has served 19 years of his 20-year sentence, citing his age. Sobhraj is expected to walk out of a high-security prison in Kathmandu after 10 a.m. (0415 GMT), his lawyer Ram Bandhu Sharma, told Reuters. He was also known as "the serpent" because of his ability to disguise himself following his escape from a prison in India in the mid-1980s.

☆ Musk says he'll step down as Twitter CEO after finding a replacement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Tuesday he will step down as chief executive of Twitter after finding a replacement. "I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams," Musk wrote on Twitter. This is the first time Musk has mentioned stepping down as chief of the social media platform, after Twitter users voted decisively in a poll for him to step down, which the billionaire launched on Sunday evening. Musk has himself admitted he had too much on his plate, and said he would look for a Twitter CEO.

☆ For Biden and Zelenskiy, U.S. visit highlights trust after friction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. "Friction is inevitable even between close allies in wartime," said International Crisis Group U.N. Director Richard Gowan. So I don't think we should necessarily let day-to-day friction obscure how much help the U.S. has given Ukraine," Gowan said. MORE WEAPONS, PLEASEThe United States has provided Ukraine with $19.3 billion in military help during the war. Beyond this, the visit underlines a belief that both Biden and Zelenskiy hold - that the United States remains the leader of the free world, said Daniel Fried, former U.S. ambassador to Poland and a fellow at the Atlantic Council.

☆ FTX'S Bankman-Fried's lawyer departs courthouse in Bahamas - Reuters witness
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Jerone Roberts, lawyer of founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried, leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 20, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloDec 20 (Reuters) - A lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried departed a court in the Bahamas on Tuesday and the founder of the failed FTX crypto exchange was not seen at the court, according to a Reuters witness, after a source said Bankman-Fried was prepared to return to the United States to face fraud charges. (This story has been refiled to fix the spelling of 'lawyer' in the first paragraph)Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, DelawareOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: As Bank of Japan switches gears, roaring dollar hits the skids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters GraphicsThe dollar has risen 9% this year, as the Federal Reserve has jacked up interest rates to combat inflation at 40-year highs. As other central banks, from the Bank of England, to the European Central Bank, and the Reserve Bank of Australia, have raised their own rates, dollar bulls have run out of puff. The close relationship between Japanese monetary policy and U.S. Treasuries adds another twist to the story. It all boils down to whether Japanese investors have hedged their Treasury exposure or not, he said. But the stress is on "at the margin", not least because of the sheer size of Japanese investors' holdings of U.S. debt, analysts said.

☆ Orange finance head Fernandez to join transport group CMA CGM
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - French telecoms group Orange's (ORAN.PA) deputy chief executive and head of finance, Ramon Fernandez, is leaving the company to join shipping and transport company CMA CGM as finance director. Fernandez will Orange at the end of the first quarter of 2023, the company said on Tuesday, adding that a successor will be named soon. French transport group CMA CGM said in a separate statement that Fernandez would start his new role at the start of the second quarter next year. "I would like to thank Ramon for his unfailing commitment to the group," Orange CEO Christel Heydemann said in statement. "We will continue to work together and in confidence over the coming weeks to finalise our next strategic plan."

☆ Fed hikes rates by 50 bp, as expected, keeps hawkish tone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

STORY: STATEMENT TEXT:MARKET REACTION:STOCKS: The S&P 500 turned sharply lower then steadied down 0.11%BONDS: Benchmark 10-year note yields rose then backed off to 3.4847%. CHRIS ZACCARELLI, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, INDEPENDENT ADVISOR ALLIANCE, CHARLOTTE“The Fed is taking away the punchbowl just as the party was getting started. They’re reiterating their forecasts but the whisper number was that the Fed was going to stop at a 4.5%-4.75% terminal rate. You know, the biggest thing that is holding the Fed back right now are the jobs numbers. The most dovish participants is looking for an extra 50 bps of hikes.

☆ In COVID U-turn, China's message to the people shifts from war to self-care
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, in one fell swoop, China cut away most of the tenets governing its stifling zero-COVID policies, effectively ending its war on the pandemic. "Be the first person responsible for the epidemic", it has said, which is emerging as China's new public health slogan. So far, China's official COVID death toll remains unchanged at 5,235 since the domestic epidemic curbs were removed. The suddenness of the policy shift has not yet been explained to the public, except that Omicron has weakened. But Beijing resident Charlie Zhang, 42, said he was not enthused about the recent dramatic changes in COVID policies, believing it would be hard for the elderly to recover from Omicron.

☆ Instant view: Fed hikes rates by 50 bp, as expected, keeps hawkish tone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

CHRIS ZACCARELLI, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, INDEPENDENT ADVISOR ALLIANCE, CHARLOTTE“The Fed is taking away the punchbowl just as the party was getting started. They're reiterating their forecasts but the whisper number was that the Fed was going to stop at a 4.5%-4.75% terminal rate. "But the Fed is out there saying that 5.1% is still on the cards … and that rate hikes will continue." BRIAN JACOBSEN, SENIOR INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, ALLSPRING GLOBAL INVESTMENTS, MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN“The most interesting part of the releases were in the Summary of Economic Projections. And they’re holding it there longer than markets expected.”“In addition, they’re downgrading GDP estimates for this year, and in particular, for next year.

☆ U.S. House Jan. 6 committee to meet Dec. 19 for vote on referrals, report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold a public meeting on Dec. 19 to vote on its report and criminal referrals, before releasing the report on Dec. 21, the panel's chairman said on Tuesday. Democratic U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson told reporters at the Capitol that the report would be posted online on Dec. 21. The panel has not said who might be referred for criminal charges or on what charges. A referral does not necessarily mean that the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation of the riot, will decide to file charges. (This story has been refiled to fix a typographical error in the headline)Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The exemption allowed Alameda to keep borrowing funds from FTX irrespective of the value of the collateral securing those loans. The other was a mechanism whereby FTX customers deposited over $8 billion in traditional currency into bank accounts secretly controlled by Alameda. Indeed, he told investors that Alameda received no preferential treatment from FTX, the SEC complaint said. This would allow Alameda to keep borrowing more FTX funds without the need to provide more collateral. Bankman-Fried's house of cards "began to crumble" in May 2022, the SEC complaint said.

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