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[1/2] A computer keyboard lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - At least 50 U.S. government staffers stationed in 10 countries were targeted with commercial hacking tools, commonly known as spyware, a senior administration official said, highlighting the growing threat by offensive cyber vendors and prompting the White House to introduce rules to hinder the spying. The senior administration official cited Reuters' prior reporting as a reason for the broader internal government review. The new executive order is designed to apply pressure on the secretive industry by placing new restrictions on U.S. government defense, law enforcement and intelligence agencies' purchasing decisions, a senior administration official said. "We needed to have a standard where if we know that a company is selling to a country that is engaged in these outlined activities, that in and of itself is a red flag," said the senior administration official.

☆ Indian govt has 54 Chinese investment proposals pending - finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - The Indian government has received about 54 foreign direct investment proposals from China since last year that are pending for approval, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "54 FDI proposals received during the past year and current year with investor/ beneficial owner from China/Hong Kong are pending for decision with government as on March 21, 2023," Sitharaman informed lawmakers on Monday. The Indian government is not considering easing restrictions put in place a few years ago on foreign investments from countries that share land border with India, Sitharaman said. The restrictions called for beneficial owners of a country sharing a land border with India to seek its government's approval for investments. The step was taken to prevent hostile takeovers of Indian companies when the country was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

☆ Protests as French govt survives no-confidence vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsProtests as French govt survives no-confidence votePostedProtesters set piles of rubbish on fire in central Paris on Monday after President Emmanuel Macron's government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament on Monday over a deeply unpopular pension reform. Flora Bradley-Watson reports.

"Each country promptly ramped up efforts as risk-aversive moves were seen in financial markets," Matsuno told a regular news conference. "Japan's financial system is stable as a whole," he said, adding that authorities were watching financial market moves "with a strong sense of alarm". The remarks came after Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters on Monday the government would continue to "carefully assess" how a weekend rescue deal for Credit Suisse Group would affect Japan's financial sector. For now, financial authorities in Tokyo see the most likely risk for Japan coming from a deterioration in the U.S. economy that would hurt exports, rather than a direct bank contagion. "The failure of two U.S. banks spilled over to a Swiss bank in a seemingly unrelated way," one official said.

SummarySummary Companies C.banks responded to risk-aversive moves in markets - MatsunoJapan's banking system stable as a whole - MatsunoGovt watching market moves with strong sense of alarm - MatsunoFinmin says will keep assessing impact of Credit Suisse buyoutTOKYO, March 20 (Reuters) - Japan's banking system is stable and the country will not see a contagion from U.S. and European banking sector woes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday. "Each country promptly ramped up efforts as risk-aversive moves were seen in financial markets," Japan's top government spokesperson told a regular news conference. "Japan's financial system is stable as a whole," he said, adding that authorities were watching financial market moves "with a strong sense of alarm". The remarks came after Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters on Monday the government would continue to "carefully assess" how a weekend rescue deal for Credit Suisse Group would affect Japan's financial sector. Reporting by Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, waves from the vehicle as he leaves from Lahore to appear before Islamabad High Court, in Lahore, Pakistan March 18, 2023. 'GOVT INTENDS TO ARREST ME'The court has previously issued arrest warrants for Khan in the case as he had failed to appear on previous hearings despite summons. On his assurance that he would appear on Saturday, the court granted Khan protection against arrest, but he said he feared the police and government planned to take him into custody. There were reports of fresh clashes between police and supporters of Khan and his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Lahore. (This story has been corrected to show Khan is to appear in court, not appearing in court, in the headline.

Despite SVB's demise knocking the value of banks globally, particularly European lender Credit Suisse, U.N. climate envoy Mark Carney said he, too, did not expect a "material" impact on climate tech funding. "At a minimum, this will likely drive continued tightening of investments and a push to have their portfolio companies cut (cash) burn," it said in a note. Mona Dajani, partner at law firm Shearman and Sterling, said most of her clean energy clients either banked with SVB or faced some other impact from its troubles. SVB "cultivated a reputation as being very friendly to clean energy... they were willing to underwrite more risk," she said. "Not all the companies are going to make it and now that’s happening to climate companies."

☆ UK govt, teaching unions to start 'intensive' talks to end strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - The British government and teaching unions agreed on Friday to begin "intensive" talks to end strikes by hundreds of thousands of teachers in England who say they are overburdened and underpaid. The government and teaching unions said the National Education Union (NEU) — the largest striking union — would maintain a "period of calm" for two weeks in which no fresh strikes would be announced. "The Education Secretary and all unions will meet (on Friday), beginning intensive talks, which will continue over the weekend," the government and the unions said in a joint statement, adding that they hoped to reach "a successful conclusion". Teachers staged their latest strikes across England this week, coinciding with the government's annual budget. Scotland's largest teaching union has also accepted a pay deal to end long-running strikes, which it said would amount to a 14.6% increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024.

☆ 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.

☆ Exclusive: TSMC's Germany chip plant talks hone in on govt subsidies -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Ben Blanchard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TSMC said in December that there was "no concrete plan" to build a chip factory in Germany. Saxony officials discussed the EU Chips Act with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on March 6 in Brussels, according to the state government. Germany's economy ministry said it could not comment on individual company plans, but noted the federal government was willing to support and promote semiconductor production projects under the European Chips Act. TSMC's German factory, if is goes ahead, will likely produce less advanced chips, especially those used in the auto industry, the first person said. "These are the kinds of chips German industry needs," the person added.

☆ Honduras president says govt to seek official relations with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA, March 14 (Reuters) - Honduras President Xiomara Castro said on Tuesday she had instructed the country's foreign minister to bring about the opening of official relations with China. Honduras' foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the announcement. China does not allow countries with which it has diplomatic relations to maintain official ties with Taiwan. If Honduras breaks off its relations with Taiwan, it would leave it with formal diplomatic ties with only 13 countries. Taiwan's foreign ministry said it was "in the process of understanding" the situation, without giving further details.

☆ India's top court rejects govt plea seeking more compensation for Bhopal gas disaster victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Arpan Chaturvedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view of the Indian Supreme Court building is seen in New Delhi December 7, 2010. REUTERS/B MathurNEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the government's plea seeking more compensation from Union Carbide Corporation for victims of a gas leak in the central Indian city of Bhopal that resulted in one of the world's worst industrial disasters. Following the disaster, the government sued Union Carbide and the company agreed to pay an out-of-court settlement of $470 million in damages in 1989. The government approached the country's top court in 2010 seeking enhanced compensation for the victims. Dow Chemical, which now owns Union Carbide, denied liability, saying it bought the company a decade after Union Carbide settled its liabilities with the Indian government.

☆ Turkey's quake toll tops 48,000 as govt races to build container cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The combined death toll including those killed in Syria has climbed to more than 54,000. The earthquake and subsequent powerful tremors injured more than 115,000 in Turkey and left millions sheltering in tents or seeking to move to other cities. Soylu said the government plans to set up 115,585 containers for as many families in 239 sites across the affected region. He said 23 sites had been established so far and 21,000 containers were set up, with 85,000 people living in them. Soylu said of the 36,257 buildings that collapsed, the rubble of 5,321 had been cleared, while 6,000 of 18,219 buildings slated for immediate demolition had been knocked down and the resulting rubble cleared.

[1/5] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with people in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 8, 2023. "The earthquake definitely changes our opinion because the first responders and tents were very late to arrive," he said. How big a challenge Erdogan faces is difficult to determine, given the lack of polling in the region. One party official said they would "re-direct" residents' focus to efforts to rebuild and stress no one but Erdogan could do this quickly. The region voted 65% or more for the AKP and its nationalist ally the MHP in the last election in 2018.

☆ China to set up new financial regulator in sweeping reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The new financial regulator will replace the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) and bring supervision of the industry, excluding the securities sector, into a body directly under the State Council, or cabinet. The proposal for setting up the new regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, was presented to China's parliament during its annual meeting on Tuesday. China's financial sector is overseen by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the CBIRC, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), with the cabinet's Financial Stability and Development Committee having overall responsibility. The setting up of the new financial regulatory body comes as Beijing seeks to rein in large corporate and financial institutions that may bring systemic risks via regulatory arbitrage among multiple authorities. 'STRENGTHEN SUPERVISION'The new administration will "strengthen institutional supervision, supervision of behaviours and supervision of functions", according to the plan.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had said last week that the external financing assurance was not one of the IMF's conditions for clearance of the funding. Pakistan has completed almost all other measures needed except for the external financing requirement, officials say. Dar said last week that Pakistan will need $5 billion external financing to close its financing gap this fiscal year ending June 30, adding the IMF believed it should be $7 billion. Dar said hoped more external financing will be coming as Pakistan signs the IMF deal this week. Ruiz noted that the difference in foreign exchange rates between the open and informal markets has been very damaging for Pakistan, resulting in shortages of foreign exchange and consequently imported goods.

☆ 103 unaccompanied minors found in abandoned trailer in Mexico, govt says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - Mexican authorities found 103 unaccompanied minors mostly from Guatemala inside an abandoned truck trailer in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the government said on Monday, in one of the biggest recent discoveries of migrant children traveling through Mexico. In addition to the 103 children, authorities found 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador in the trailer, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. Another 28 migrants traveling as families from Guatemala and El Salvador were also in the trailer, bringing the total number of passengers to 343. It was outfitted with fans, a partially ventilated roof and a structure that created a second level inside the trailer. Earlier this year, Mexican authorities found 57 unaccompanied minors from Guatemala at a checkpoint near the U.S.-Mexico border, and 20 other unaccompanied minors in a group of mostly Central Americans in the southern state of Chiapas.

CDP has teamed up with Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) in the offer for Italy's most important telecommunications infrastructure, which would compete with one submitted by U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N). In recent weeks, sources have told Reuters that CDP and Macquarie were ready to value TIM's grid at around 18 billion euros ($19 billion), including some 6 billion euros of debt. An offer from CDP and Macquarie leaves several scenarios open, two government officials said, without elaborating. Besides owning 10% of TIM, CDP controls fibre optic rival Open Fiber. Meloni's predecessors, Mario Draghi and Giuseppe Conte, have both backed plans to combine TIM's and Open Fiber's grids.

☆ Sao Paulo govt to hire World Bank to study privatizing water utility
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Rodrigo Viga Gaier | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 3 (Reuters) - Sao Paulo's state government will hire the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the next few days for studies on the possible privatization of state water utility Sabesp (SBSP3.SA), Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said on Friday. "The privatization of Sabesp is a very complex matter," Tarcisio told Reuters after attending an event in Rio de Janeiro. Freitas said utility would only be privatized "if we reach the conclusion that we are going to increase efficiency, have upsides, reduce tariffs." "I think that all these objectives are possible and I understand that studies will show this," he said. The board of directors of Sao Paulo's state privatization program had earlier this week authorized the body to commission studies on Sabesp's possible privatization.

The Tokyo core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food but includes fuel costs, exceeded the BOJ's 2% target for nine straight months. The slowdown was mostly due to the effect of government energy subsidies to curb soaring utility bills, the data showed. It marked the fastest year-on-year pace of increase since August 1991, when the index also rose 3.2%. Service inflation, which the BOJ sees as key to achieving sustained wage growth, perked up to 1.3% in February from 1.2% in January, the data showed. Nationwide core consumer prices rose 4.2% in January from a year earlier, hitting a fresh 41-year high, as an increasing number of companies passed on higher costs to households.

☆ Argentina, IMF discussing export-linked reserve targets -govt source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jorge Otaola | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, March 3 (Reuters) - Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are zeroing in on an agreement for more flexible currency reserves targets this year dependant on the South American country's exports, a government source told Reuters on Friday. Argentina and the IMF established targets that included rebuilding reserves in a $44 billion debt deal struck last year, which replaced a program that failed to keep the country from slipping into economic crisis. However, the impact of the recent drought and high prices linked to the war in Ukraine, have led to talks over easing the reserves targets for this year. Argentine officials went to Washington last week for IMF talks over the latest review of the country's extended fund facility program for the fourth quarter of 2022. Approval is needed to unlock a $5.3 billion disbursement, key to make repayments to the IMF for a similar amount in March-April.

☆ Michigan Attorney General Nessel says she and other Jewish officials were targeted for murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

EAST LANSING, MI - OCTOBER 16: U.S. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks at a campaign rally held by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) designed to get Michigan State University students, faculty and staff out to the polls on October 16, 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan. The race between Congresswoman Slotkin and Michigan State Senator Tom Barrett for Michigan's newly configured 7th Congressional District is one of the two most expensive U.S. House campaigns in the country. In her tweet, Nessel wrote: "The FBI has confirmed I was a target of the heavily armed defendant in this matter." "Probable cause exists that [Carpenter] made threats to cause injury and death to Jewish members of the Michigan government," an FBI agent wrote in a complaint against Carpenter. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday that the FBI told her that she was among the group of Jewish state elected officials targeted for murder by a "heavily armed defendant" who has been arrested.

☆ Cuba blasts US govt for granting asylum to pilot of stolen plane
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA, March 1 (Reuters) - Cuban authorities have accused the U.S. government of being "complicit in piracy" for granting political asylum to a pilot who fled to Florida on a small "kidnapped" plane last October. In a statement late Tuesday, Cuba's foreign ministry said it had summoned Washington's charge d'affaires in Havana to communicate Cuba's "protest" to the asylum granted to the Cuban pilot, arguing he violated regulations. The Cuban ministry said it had made four requests to the U.S. to "return" the 29-year-old pilot and the aircraft, a Russian-made Antonov An-2 single-engine used for fumigating crops, owned by the national air service company. The Caribbean nation's authorities warned that the U.S. decision could encourage similar unlawful acts with negative repercussions for the national security of both countries. Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Valentine Hilaire Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Top Wall Street strategists and money managers are warning that the risk-reward ratio for stocks is at its worst since the 2008 crisis. Here are 10 places they say to put your money instead with furth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In other words, the risk-reward ratio for stocks — or the equity risk premium — has to make sense, or else why take the risk by investing in them? 10 places to investDespite the lackluster outlook for stocks, strategists still say there are plenty of investing opportunities. The Vanguard US Quality Factor ETF (VFQY) and the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA) offer exposure to the above areas of the market. This supports our preference for emerging markets, and our preference for Germany and consumer stocks in Europe. Within defensives, we like consumer staples over healthcare, which we downgraded this month.

☆ Banks pile into euro zone bond sales as rates shoot up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Yoruk Bahceli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Heavy central bank buying had kept borrowing costs and volatility low for years, so the key question now is who steps in as the ECB steps out. They were the top buyers in the European Union's debt sale this month, buying almost 50% of a seven-year bond and 35% of a 20-year bond. Banks also took 39% of an Italian 20-year debt sale in January, while fund managers took 25%. In a 16-year debt sale last year, banks bought 29%. Bank treasuries took 30% of a 30-year Belgian debt sale in February, versus 10% a year ago.

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