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☆ China rolls over $2 bln loan to Pakistan - finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, March 31 (Reuters) - Pakistan's finance minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Friday that China had rolled over a $2 billion loan that matured last week, providing relief during the South Asian nation's acute balance of payment crisis. "I am happy to confirm that this had been rolled over on March 23," Dar told parliament, referring to the maturity date. Dar's comments were the first official announcement of the rollover after the loan matured. A top finance ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday that a formal confirmation of the refinancing would be made after the process was completed. Longtime ally Beijing is the only help Islamabad has got so far, with refinancing of $1.8 billion credited last month to Pakistan's central bank.

☆ India slashes current account deficit in Dec-qtr as trade gap narrows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Swati Bhat | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, March 31 (Reuters) - India's current account deficit shrank more than expected in the October-December quarter on the back of a narrower goods trade deficit alongside robust services exports and remittances, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday. In absolute terms, the current account deficit (INCURA=ECI) was $18.2 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022/23 compared with $22.2 billion last year. The goods trade deficit in the December quarter narrowed to $72.7 billion compared with $78.3 billion in the preceding quarter, the central bank said. The country's balance of payments (INBOP=ECI) recorded a surplus of $11.1 billion compared to a $0.5 billion surplus in the same quarter a year earlier. Reporting by Swati Bhat Additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy PM's party presents bill to split retail and investment banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, March 29 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party has presented a bill in parliament to separate retail and investment banks - a move that, it approved, would force a radical overhaul of the country's banking sector. Allowing retail banks to engage in "speculative trading" is "dramatically negative for the real economy and undermines the most elementary principles of safeguard for the social and ethical foundation of the economy," the FdI bill states. The draft law, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, would give banks 12 months to reorganise their operations and choose between commercial and financial investment activities. In the United States, calls for similar banking reforms, with the reintroduction of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, have come from left-wingers within the Democratic Party, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini, editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Netanyahu sees Israel joining U.S. Visa Waiver Programme in September
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, March 29 (Reuters) - Israel expects to join the U.S. Visa Waiver Programme in September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, after Israeli legislation of measures required by Washington. The embassy said on Jan. 30 that Israel met its requirement of being below the 3% non-immigrant refusal rate - a reference to the number of applicants turned away due to faulty paperwork. Before Netanyahu's announcement, his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Twitter that parliament was due to ratify the last of four bills "that will advance us toward getting the U.S. visa waiver for the citizens of Israel". It was not immediately clear whether Israel met another U.S. condition for the visa waiver - free passage for Palestinian-Americans at its airports and into the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu's statement said Israel would in the coming months address outstanding requirements, which it did not detail.

"It is not clear whether some citizens are alive or dead in the earthquake zone. Erdogan's AK Party has said it is committed to a free and fair election that respects the will of the people. BALLOT BOX SECURITYOpposition parties and non-governmental organisations say the exodus of more than 3 million people from the disaster zone poses extra concerns. While some 300,000 to 500,000 of them were thought to have changed addresses, many of those who had left the disaster zone had not, added Tiryaki. For Yigit, the earthquake and what he sees as the government's slow response to the disaster weighs on him as he decides how to vote.

☆ Belarus says it will host Russian nuclear weapons to counter NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The statement from the foreign ministry was the government's first since Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Moscow will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and would build a nuclear weapons storage facility there. Although Putin did not say when the deployment would take place, or give further detail, the announcement appeared to pave the way for Moscow's first deployment of nuclear weapons outside its borders since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The Belarusian foreign ministry said Russia's nuclear bombs offered protection after what it called a campaign of pressure from the United States and its allies aimed at overthrowing the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. Minsk said the Russian nuclear plans would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus itself would not have control over the nuclear weapons. Its own troops have so far not fought in the war however, while stepping up joint military training with Russian forces deployed in Belarus.

☆ Muscovites unfazed by rising nuclear rhetoric
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. "I don’t think anything will happen, if you mean a nuclear threat," said Andrey, 47, who declined to give his surname, standing under one of the billboards, at the entrance to Moscow's Gorky Park on Tuesday. "No, those warnings don’t scare me and don’t change my attitude towards the world, people and our president," said Yulia Gorodnyanskaya, 38. Our potential is very high and I'm more than confident in our army and the weaponry our country has. No country in the world has as many weapons as us, and such well-made weapons."

☆ Netanyahu summons Israeli defence minister as judicial overhaul strains coalition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, March 23 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his defence chief on Thursday after local media reported the minister had called for a halt to a planned judicial overhaul that has set off unprecedented protests, including within the military. Netanyahu's office did not elaborate on the reasons for the summons of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, a senior member of his conservative Likud party, but said the prime minister would deliver televised remarks at 8:40 p.m. (1840 GMT). Israeli media had earlier reported that Gallant, a former deputy chief of the armed forces, would convene his own news conference. Protesters heckled a Cabinet minister and unfurled a massive replica of the country's Declaration of Independence on a wall of Jerusalem's Old City. [1/7] Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant attends a news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel, March 9, 2023.

Depleted uranium is a dense by-product left over when uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Pakistan produce uranium weapons, which are not classified as nuclear weapons, according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. Ingesting or inhaling quantities of uranium - even depleted uranium - is dangerous: it depresses renal function and raises the risk of developing a range of cancers. "It's worth making sure everyone understands that just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions," Cleverly said. A spokesperson from Britain's defence ministry said: "The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades."

☆ Factbox: Why Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi may lose his parliament seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Arpan Chaturvedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A formal disqualification order will, however, have to be passed by the secretariat of the lower house of parliament of which Gandhi is a member. CAN GANDHI CONTEST ELECTIONS? The law also mandates that a convicted lawmaker cannot contest elections for six years after the end of their jail sentence. To avoid disqualification, a convicted lawmaker has to secure an order from a higher court suspending the conviction, lawyers said. He can secure bail extensions during the appeal period but cannot contest elections until the conviction is stayed or he is acquitted in the case.

☆ Interest rate decision: What to expect from the Fed meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Among the choices, the Fed could continue its aggressive rate-hike campaign to cool inflation that is running at triple the central bank’s target of 2%. Warren — already a critic of the Fed’s inflation fight — leveled further blistering criticism of the Republican Fed chief. In addition to achieving price stability and financial stability, the Fed’s broader mandate includes supervision of individual financial institutions, Leer says, and “that’s where the failure lies. “The Fed needs to secure both price stability and financial stability, something that it has failed to so recently,” he told CNN. And this Fed chief inherited an unprecedented economy.

☆ To stay or go? The dilemma Ukrainians near front face every day
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mike Collett-White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

KALYNIVKA, Ukraine, March 21 (Reuters) - It was finally time for Vasyl Kurlyshchuk to leave. She was going to stay in the settlement and wanted to know if Kurlyshchuk was taking his solar powered battery with him. What is now ordinary for the hundreds who remain in Chasiv Yar out of a pre-war population of some 13,000 would be extraordinary elsewhere. "Vera was evacuated to Poltava but a lot of people have stayed," said the 67-year-old, pointing to pictures on her smartphone of her friend, who had left Chasiv Yar for a safer place. That meant three fewer familiar faces for Olena and her friends as they carried on in Chasiv Yar.

☆ 'Climate time bomb ticking', emissions must urgently be cut, UN chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Stanway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 20 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the "climate time bomb is ticking" as he urged rich nations on Monday to slash emissions sooner after a new assessment from scientists said there was little time to lose in tackling climate change. "The rate of temperature rise in the last half century is the highest in 2,000 years," he said. The synthesis report summarised findings from three expert assessments published between 2021 and 2022 that looked at the physical science, impacts, and mitigation of climate change. The summary report is designed to provide clarity for policymakers as they consider further action to slash emissions. The document will also serve as a guide for a global climate change "stocktake" set to take place this year, in which countries will assess progress.

☆ Analysis: Sudan paramilitary leader jostles for role ahead of civilian handover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo commands tens of thousands of fighters in the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has amassed considerable mineral wealth. He is also deputy leader of Sudan's ruling council, which took power in a coup more than a year ago. Hemedti and other military men are unlikely to be able to stand for election in the short term. The main signatories to the outline agreement are Burhan's military and Hemedti's RSF on one side and the civilian Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition on the other. Any final transition agreement would likely bar Hemedti and Burhan from standing in the first post-deal elections, one international diplomat said.

☆ Reactions to ICC's arrest warrant for Putin citing Ukraine war crimes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Roman Baluk/File PhotoMarch 17 (Reuters) - Following are reactions to the news on Friday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes." RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN MARIA ZAKHAROVA"The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it." I welcome the decision of the International Criminal Court."

☆ ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, March 17 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. She added that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the world's permanent war crimes tribunal. In its first warrant for Ukraine, the ICC called for Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago. The ICC said in a statement Putin stands accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

☆ Son of Uganda's president says to stand for leadership in 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Uganda's opposition has long accused Museveni of seeking to impose a monarchy on Uganda and claimed he was grooming his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to take over from him. Currently a special presidential advisor for special operations, the 48 year-old general is known for firing off controversial tweets that have earned him reprimands from his father. "The Prime Minister of UK is 42 years old, the Prime Minister of Finland is 37 years. Museveni not yet said whether he intends to stand again in 2026, although his supporters have encouraged him to do so. Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Hereward Holland; Sofia Christensen and Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wealthy individuals move assets out of small banks following SVB's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWealthy individuals move assets out of small banks following SVB's collapseCNBC's Robert Frank joins 'The Exchange' to discuss wealthy clients moving assets out of smaller banks, the forces accelerating asset movements and alternatives to banks.

☆ Ukraine says allies' concerns hamper talks on war compensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine says receiving compensation from Russia is vital for its future. If it doesn't do it voluntarily, (let's) fill a (compensation) fund with Russian money, foreign exchange reserves, Russian assets," Mudra told Reuters in an interview this week. She did not identify the countries that had expressed such concerns but said Ukraine was trying to allay their fears. Despite the obstacles ahead, Mudra said Ukraine hoped that an international mechanism for compensating Ukraine would be established within a year. "This is the first - and an extremely important - step in the creation of this compensation mechanism," Mudra said.

☆ Exclusive: Tons of uranium missing from Libyan site, IAEA tells member states
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary IAEA inspectors visited site not controlled by govtInspection postponed since 2022 over security situationWatchdog found 10 barrels of natural uranium missingIAEA sees possible radiological risk, security concernsVIENNA, March 15 (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors have found that roughly 2.5 tons of natural uranium have gone missing from a Libyan site that is not under government control, the watchdog told member states in a statement on Wednesday seen by Reuters. IAEA inspectors "found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of UOC (uranium ore concentrate) previously declared by (Libya) ... as being stored at that location were not present at the location," the one-page statement said. "The loss of knowledge about the present location of nuclear material may present a radiological risk, as well as nuclear security concerns," it said, adding that reaching the site required "complex logistics". Since 2014, political control has been split between rival eastern and western factions, with the last major bout of conflict ending in 2020. Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK employers feel the strain of missing skilled workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

But past attempts to train up more workers have seen the problem get worse by some measures, and any big improvement to the post-16 skills system is likely to take years. TRAINING REVAMPWithout a rapid overhaul of the training system, Britain's pool of highly skilled adults is likely to shrink further relative to other countries, the OECD has warned. Employers groups are calling on Hunt to tackle a key part of how training is funded in his budget speech. Corporate leaders acknowledge employers also need to do more themselves, and prioritize training even in lean times. "You're slowing down really quite a lot to go at the pace of the education system," he said of his company, which began as a print management firm in 1996.

☆ Over a dozen Chinese-based firms say they have minimal exposure to SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - Over a dozen Hong Kong-listed companies have stepped forward to say they had little or no exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, the failed U.S. lender which has roiled investors and markets globally. Startup-focussed SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), which did business as Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed on Friday in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. China-based drug developer Beigene Ltd (6160.HK) said it has uninsured cash deposits held at the bank representing 3.9% of its last reported total cash and cash equivalents. Six Hong Kong-listed companies, mostly Chinese pharmaceutical firms also over the weekend disclosed cash deposits at Silicon Valley Bank. Broncus Holding Corporation (2216.HK) said it held $11.8 million at SVB, representing around 6.5% of its total cash.

☆ ICC to seek warrants against Russians over alleged Ukraine war crimes - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Anthony Deutsch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was unclear which Russian individuals the ICC prosecutor would seek warrants for or exactly when, but the warrants could include the crime of genocide, said the source. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago. He highlighted during four trips to Ukraine that he was looking at alleged crimes against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure. A U.S.-backed report by Yale University researchers last month said Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children at sites in Russian-held Crimea. Russia has strongly denied that its forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. "Silicon Valley Bank cannot be allowed to fail given the vital community it serves," Bank of London co-founder and CEO Anthony Watson said. But an executive at a major UK bank said it was unlikely a high street lender would buy SVB UK because its credit products would not be a good fit for a mainstream bank. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

☆ UK races to minimise SVB fallout amid reports of potential buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. SoftBank-owned lender OakNorth Bank is weighing a bid to buy Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd, a person with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, confirming a Sky News report. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Hunt reiterated comments by the BoE that overall, Silicon Valley Bank had a limited presence in Britain and did not perform functions critical to the financial system. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

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