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The senior source familiar with Syrian government thinking said that the UAE role in persuading Assad should not be underestimated. A Syrian source close to the Gulf said the UAE had used its "soft power" on Assad and a Turkish official also said the UAE had played a part in persuading him. Moscow has tussled with Western states repeatedly at the Security Council over cross-border aid into Syria, arguing it violates Syria's sovereignty. Other Arab states, including U.S. allies, have also moved to normalise ties with Assad. The UAE official said there was an "urgent need to strengthen the Arab role in Syria".

☆ Ukraine's warplane demand currently makes no sense -Germany's Scholz
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The question of whether to arm Ukraine with warplanes "currently makes no sense", German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview in which he was asked to address growing calls for western powers to do so. Interviewed by ZDF public television, Scholz, who earlier faced criticism for perceived foot-dragging over sending Ukraine tanks, said other countries' difficulties in meeting Ukraine's demands vindicated his decision to move in lockstep with them. Earlier this month, Germany agreed to send, and allow other countries to send, heavy battle tanks to help Ukraine take the offensive against Russian troops in its east. Ukraine is now asking for warplanes, though Germany does not have any of the F-16 fighters that have been mentioned in this context. Reporting by Maria Martinez and Thomas Escritt; editing by John Stonestreet and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bullard calls on Fed to get inflation under control this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve needs to get inflation on to a sustainable path down toward its 2% goal this year or else risk a repeat of the 1970s, when interest rates had to be repeatedly ratcheted up, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Wednesday. "If inflation doesn't start to come down, you risk this replay of the 1970s where you had 15 years where you're trying to battle the inflation drag," Bullard told broadcaster CNBC in an interview. "... That's why I've said let's be sharp now, let's get inflation under control in 2023 and it's a good time to fight inflation because the labor market is still strong." Bullard also repeated his view that a Fed policy rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% would be adequate for the task. Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; editing by John Stonestreet and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zelenskiy plans to attend July NATO summit in Vilnius - Ukraine ambassador
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to attend in person a NATO summit taking place in Vilnius in July, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania told local newswire BNS. Zelenskiy has made only two foreign trips since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago - one to Washington in December and another to London, Paris and Brussels in February. The Vilnius summit on July 11-12 will be attended by most leaders of the Atlantic alliance, Lithuania presidential office said. "That is our plan," ambassador Petro Beshta said about the Zelenskiy visit in an interview with BNS published on Wednesday. Ukraine hopes attendees at the summit would agree "very clearly that as soon as the war is over, Ukraine becomes a member of NATO", the ambassador said.

☆ Amid sea of Ukrainian flags, Mariupol defender finally laid to rest
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KHARKIV, Ukraine, Feb 22 (Reuters) - For months, Natalia Honcharenko had clung to the hope that her son, a Ukrainian soldier who helped defend the Mariupol steelworks against relentless Russian attack, might still be alive. But DNA tests proved that the remains of a body brought back to Ukraine in September as part of a POW exchange were his. And on a cold late January day, Natalia finally laid him to rest, among a sea of Ukrainian flags set on hundreds of other graves of fallen Kharkiv soldiers. [1/5] A view shows graves of killed Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a cemetery in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 31, 2023. "What I know is that they were moving across a bridge, and something happened there," his friend added.

☆ Toughened by war's scars, Kyiv presses on while Russia attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] People walk down a street near anti-tank constructions as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in central Kyiv, Ukraine February 8, 2023. To avoid the lesson being disrupted by yet another Russian attack, she had quickly moved her class underground when the air-raid sirens sounded. "We teach math, biology, chemistry - everything according to the usual schedule," Olena, who declined to give her last name, told Reuters. Nearly a year after it began, Russia's invasion has upended life but also rallied a nation. Russia denies targeting civilians, and says its attacks are designed to weaken Ukraine's military.

☆ Poland curbs border traffic as Belarus expels three Polish diplomats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Poland announced more curbs to road traffic with Belarus on Monday, hours after saying Minsk was expelling three Polish diplomats, as relations between the two nations deteriorate. Citing "state security", Poland said on Feb. 9 it was closing a border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. Freight traffic for Belarusian vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozlowicze border crossing will be suspended as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Monday. The decision was linked to Minsk curbing traffic for Polish road freight on Belarus' borders with Latvia and Lithuania, the ministry said. Belarus has called the decision to close the Bobrowniki border crossing irrational and dangerous.

☆ Iran's currency falls to record low as sanctions to continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018 by former President Donald J. Trump have harmed Iran's economy by limiting Tehran's oil exports and access to foreign currency. Since September, nuclear talks between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions have stalled, worsening economic expectations for Iran's future. Over the last six months, Iran's currency has slumped nearly 60% in value, according to Bonbast.com. Meanwhile, the central bank said it was opening a new foreign exchange centre to ease access to foreign exchange and increase the volume of official transactions. Farzin was appointed in December as governor with the key job of controlling the value of foreign currencies, according to IRNA.

KYIV, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A hairdresser by day and a "drone hunter" by night, Oleksandr Shamshur, 41, is among tens of thousands of volunteers helping defend the skies over Ukraine against Russian attacks. [1/7] Hairdresser and Ukrainian Territorial Defence unit volunteer Oleksandr Shamshur, 41-year-old, prepares to guard sky over capital against Russian suicide drones in the beginning of his shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 2, 2023. "With the enemy at the doorstep, I had to do something, I had to act in defence," he said. During the night of Dec. 29-30, Shamshur said, his rooftop unit shot down two drones over Kyiv. Reporting by Margaryta Choronkondratenko and Yiming Woo; writing by Mark Heinrich; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"If we talk about the war through the means of art, this wound will be able to heal much faster. Theatre allowed people to experience trauma in "a non-traumatic way," added Borovenskiy, whose troupe performs in English. A bomb shelter in World War Two, it is now an "art shelter," Borovenskiy says. In the early days of the Ukraine war, 40 people and seven cats lived there to stay safe, and actors rehearsed among them for "The Book of Sirens". Borovenskiy said Milward's visit was "an example of international theatre support and solidarity" that he hopes will be cemented by Ukraine's first fringe theatre festival.

☆ Russia's central bank says falling rouble driving inflation higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank said on Friday that inflationary pressures across the economy had remained strong during the first two weeks of February, citing a slump in the rouble as a factor. Russia recorded inflation of 11.8% on an annual basis in January, almost three times the central bank's official 4% target. "Operational data for the first two weeks of February indicate the trend towards increased price pressures continues," the bank said on Friday in a report. But falling revenues from crucial oil and gas sales have again hit the Russian currency this year. The rouble has fallen 16% since the start of December, when a European Union embargo and G7 price cap on Russian crude sales came into force.

☆ Pentagon's top China official travels to Taiwan, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. Speaking earlier, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he was "not very certain" about a report that the trip would take place. Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island since 2019. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded that foreign officials not visit the democratically governed island. In 2020, a two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.

Following a pattern of heavy bombardments after Ukrainian battlefield or diplomatic gains, Russia launched 36 missiles in the early hours, Ukraine's Air Force said. The Russian missiles triggered air-raid sirens and landed across Ukraine, including at the Kremenchuk refinery, where the extent of damage was unclear. Ukraine said the barrage included three KH-31 missiles and one Oniks anti-ship cruise missile, which its air defences cannot shoot down. [1/6] Ukrainian servicemen of the 80th Air Assault Brigade fire M119 Howitzer artillery weapon towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near Bahmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, February 16, 2023. Its capture would give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger Donetsk cities further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

OTTAWA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Thursday that the economy remains overheated and the jobs market is too tight, as he kept the door open to future interest rate hikes. On Jan. 25, the Bank hiked its key interest rate to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years, and became the first major central bank to say it would hold off on further increases as long as prices eased as forecast. "The Canadian economy remains overheated and clearly in excess demand and this continues to put upward pressure on many domestic prices," Macklem said. "The tightness in the labor market needs to ease, wage growth needs to moderate and service price inflation needs to cool" or else more interest rate hikes will be needed, he added. At its last policy meeting, the Fed lifted its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 4.50% to 4.75% range.

☆ WHO maintains public health emergency alert for mpox
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said mpox remained a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), its highest level of alert, citing continued transmission in some countries. Mpox - which spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions - was declared a global health emergency by the WHO in July 2022. The committee said there was continued sustained illness in some countries and likely under-reported detection and confirmed cases in others. "The WHO Director-General ... concurs with this advice that the event continues to constitute a PHEIC," it said. (This story has been corrected to fix the attribution to sources close to meeting in paragraph 3)Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Disease the new threat as Turkey faces post-quake water shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Henriette Chacar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Debris are seen in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneKAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey, Feb 15 (Reuters) - More than a week after his home was wrecked in a deadly earthquake that hit southern Turkey, Mohammad Emin's body is still covered in dust and grime. He also said he had not been able to take a shower nor, like several other camp residents who Reuters spoke to, change his clothes. Batyr Berdyklychev, the World Health Organization's representative in Turkey, said the water shortage "increases the risk of waterborne diseases and outbreaks of communicable diseases." The WHO was working with local authorities to step up monitoring of waterborne diseases, seasonal influenza and COVID-19 among those displaced, he added.

Two-year Treasury yields hit their highest in three months at 4.65%, now on par with the current Fed policy rate. Morgan Stanley's Matthew Hornbach described the payrolls as a "mood changing" print that's seen markets chase rates higher as if gripped by a sort of reverse FOMO - fear of missing out. Reports circulated last week of swaps and options market activity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that bet on market rates touching 6%, or at least hedging against that possibility. If that's true, the battle over the terminal rate may now be overtaken by how long the Fed can keep rates higher to achieve its goals. BofA chart on peak rates from fund manager surveyInflationThe opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

[1/5] Police officers stand outside a building having BBC offices, where income tax officials are conducting a search, in New Delhi, India, February 14, 2023. The government last month dismissed the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and said it was cooperating with Indian tax officials. The tax survey relates to transfer pricing rules and alleged diversion of profits. India's Income Tax Department has so far declined to comment on the reason for the search.

☆ Iranian chess player in exile has no regrets about removing hijab
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Elena Rodriguez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Iranian chess player Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, 25, better known as Sara Khadem gestures during an interview with Reuters in southern Spain February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Jon NazcaSOUTHERN SPAIN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - An Iranian chess player, who moved to Spain after she competed without a hijab and had an arrest warrant issued against her back home, has no regrets over her bold gesture in support of the protest movement against her country's clerical leadership. But 25-year-old Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, better known as Sara Khadem, also told Reuters that the warrant, which made her return to Iran impossible, was "the most horrible thing" that happened to her. Ranked 774th in the world and 9th in Iran, Khadem plans to keep playing under the Iranian flag, but has received proposals from other countries. "I know that many of the athletes are not responsible for what is happening in their countries," she added.

☆ Nicaraguan political prisoners' families seek their release after others freed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANAGUA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The relatives of 35 political prisoners in Nicaragua called for their release on Tuesday, days after 222 others in the same category were freed and expelled to the United States following a surprise deal with Washington. The prisoners, considered political by human rights groups, include 56-year-old anti-government Bishop Rolando Alvarez, one of the Central American country's most influential church leaders. He refused to board the U.S.-bound plane last week and was returned to jail, stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship and then sentenced to a 26-year term. "Our relatives were on the official list of political prisoners and were not taken into account for release," the Committee of Relatives of Political Prisoners told a news conference. After the prisoner release, President Daniel Ortega said two prisoners refused to board the plane while Washington rejected four others.

[1/5] Displaced Syrians who lost their homes during the earthquake set up tents in a school yard, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in rebel-held town of Harem, Syria February 13, 2023. Now his home there is gone too, destroyed in another catastrophe, this time made by nature rather than man. The quake killed at least 4,400 people in Syria's northwest, leaving millions needing aid, according to the United Nations. Firewood lies stacked in a pile beside newly-hoisted tents while children play, taking turns sliding down a stone slope. The setup is meant to be temporary, but in this part of Syria many have lived this way for years.

☆ Financial investor buying up to 9% of Italian asset manager Anima
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An investor document seen by Reuters showed Mediobanca, which did not name the investor, was buying Anima shares through an accelerated reverse bookbuilding at 4.35 euros a share. At the top of the targeted range, the investment would total 135.7 million euros ($145.7 million) while the minimum stake would cost the buyer 105.7 million euros, Reuters calculations showed. The investor is Italian and is neither a bank nor an insurance firm, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Anima is Italy's biggest independent asset manager and has often been seen as a potential takeover target. Last year, French asset manager Amundi (AMUN.PA) emerged as the third-biggest investor in Anima with a 5.2% stake.

☆ Siemens stock takes off on guidance upgrade, earnings beat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Siemens reported better-than-expected quarterly profit at its industrial business late on Wednesday and raised its full-year sales and profit guidance. Siemens was also working through a record 102 billion euro ($110 billion) order backlog that will generate around 40 billion euros in revenue in the next three quarters, the company said. Siemens' business year starts in October. Busch said many countries had launched investment programmes in areas such as semiconductors, or to combat climate change with green technologies. "This is a stellar start to the year," said JP Morgan analyst Andrew Wilson, who said he expected the stock to perform strongly.

☆ Credit Suisse logs worst annual loss since global financial crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.S) on Thursday reported its worst annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis, battered by scandals and heavy losses that led to unprecedented customer withdrawals. Switzerland's second biggest bank posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of 1.39 billion Swiss francs ($1.51 billion), in line with an analyst consensus estimate of 1.34 billion francs compiled by the lender. The result compares with a 2 billion franc loss in the same quarter a year earlier, and brings Credit Suisse's total net loss in 2022 to 7.29 billion francs, marking its second straight year in the red. Net asset outflows for the last three months of the year totalled 110.5 billion Swiss francs, the bank said. ($1 = 0.9195 Swiss francs)Reporting by Noele Illien; editing by John Stonestreet and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Swiss neutrality on the line as arms-for-Ukraine debate heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Buyers of Swiss arms are legally prevented from re-exporting them, a restriction that some representing the country's large weapons industry say is now hurting trade. Under Swiss neutrality, which dates back to 1815 and is enshrined by treaty in 1907, Switzerland will not send weapons directly or indirectly to combatants in a war. Third countries can in theory apply to Bern to re-export Swiss weapons they have in their stocks, but permission is almost always denied. Meanwhile the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), the lower house's largest party and traditionally staunch defenders of neutrality, now appears divided. ($1 = 0.9132 Swiss francs)Reporting by John Revill; editing by John Stonestreet and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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