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☆ Niger coup leaders blamed insecurity; conflict data paints a different picture
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

In Burkina Faso, where there were two coups last year, deaths rose 80% to more than 4,000 in 2022. Military spokespeople in Mali and Burkina Faso did not respond to requests for comment. Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso kicked out French forces after their coups. Niger army operations could falter, he said. "You saw it in Burkina Faso after the second coup.

Persons: Abdourahmane Tiani, Balima, Mohamed Bazoum, Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, Wagner, Leonardo Santos Simao, Tiani, Simao, Bazoum, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols, Alexandra Zavis, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Security, Islamic, Crisis, Wagner Group, Reuters, spokespeople, United Nations, Economic, West, Sunday, Local, Military, Burkina Faso, European Union, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Thomson Locations: Niger, Niamey, DAKAR, U.S, Mali, Burkina Faso, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West Africa's, Brussels, Boko, Nigeria, West Africa, West African States, Burkina, French, France, New York

☆ Trailing Trump, DeSantis Unveils Economic Plan Slamming ‘Failed Elites’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Nicholas Nehamas | More About Nicholas Nehamas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And his proposals to further reduce America’s economic links with China echo the plans of an emerging populist wing of Republican candidates, including Mr. Trump. Mr. DeSantis has already reshaped the tactics of his campaign in the past week, opening himself up to more questions from voters and the media; holding smaller, less formal events; and condensing his lengthy stump speech. Mr. DeSantis has already unveiled proposals on immigration and the military. But Mr. DeSantis, who prides himself as a policy expert, has a tendency to delve deep into details and to use a sometimes bewildering series of acronyms in his stump speeches. His allies say that getting into kitchen-table issues like the economy is a necessary shift.

Persons: DeSantis’s, Trump, DeSantis Organizations: Republican Locations: China, Florida

The mansion’s destroyed gardens spilled down over a ruined residential complex, and burned bricks lay strewn across the sidewalk. “I feel pain, and I want revenge,” said Ms. Sulzhenko, 74. “I don’t have the words to say what we should do to them.”She gestured toward other buildings in various stages of ruin. The fact that those who live next to us, and lived among us, could do this to us — we can never forgive this. Never.”Hers was a common sentiment in Odesa this past week after a series of missile strikes damaged the city’s port and 29 historic buildings in its Belle Époque city center, including the Transfiguration Cathedral, one of Ukraine’s largest.

Persons: Nina Sulzhenko, ”, Sulzhenko, “ Organizations: Scientists Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Belle Époque

☆ The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure Cooled in June
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | More About Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Fed policymakers have been closely watching core inflation in particular, because it strips out volatile data to give a better sense of where inflation might be headed. Officials aim for 2 percent inflation on average, so that key price measure is still about twice as fast as their goal. Still, the recent progress has been a welcome development, especially because the economy has held up even as price increases begin to slow. “It’s a good number,” Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights, said of the price report. The Fed’s staff even revised its forecast at the central bank’s meeting this week, and is no longer calling for a downturn this year.

Persons: “, ” Omair Sharif Organizations: Fed, stoke

☆ UPS and Teamsters to restart talks in effort to avoid strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES, July 25 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service (UPS) (UPS.N) and the Teamsters union representing 340,000 employees at the package delivery firm plan to meet on Tuesday in an effort to avert a threatened strike on Aug. 1. The scheduled meeting, which both sides have confirmed, would be the first since UPS labor contract negotiators deadlocked on July 5. One estimate put the potential economic impact of a 10-day UPS strike at more than $7 billion, the costliest in modern times. That estimate from Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group includes UPS customer losses of $4.6 billion, lost wages of $1.1 billion and company losses of $816 million. "The vast, vast, vast majority of shareholders are eager to see a strike averted," New York City Comptroller Brad Lander told Reuters.

Persons: Brad Lander, Lander, Lisa Baertlein, Jamie Freed Organizations: United Parcel Service, Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, UPS, Anderson Economic Group, York, Reuters, New York Retirement Systems, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, Michigan, York City, Los Angeles

"Financial markets have consistently front-run the Fed ... That has already eased credit conditions and could stoke an acceleration in growth." Reuters GraphicsBALANCING RISKSIn the six weeks since their June 13-14 meeting, Fed policymakers have digested data offering a mirror image of what they faced a year ago. Signs of a slowdown are there, to be sure, and some policymakers expect more weakness is coming - an argument for caution in considering further rate increases. Still, unless there's a sharp drop in activity soon, it could mean Fed officials have underestimated the economy's strength and may become doubtful about the prospect of a continued decline in inflation. That will likely keep the door open to more rate increases - for now.

Persons: Diane Swonk, Jerome Powell, That's, Tim Duy, Duy, Powell, Howard Schneider, Dan Burns, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal, KPMG, stoke, Reuters, Fed, Atlanta Fed, SGH Macro, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Wildfires rage on Greek islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Wildfires burned for a third day west of the Greek capital Athens destroying forests and homes and spurring evacuations, as authorities braced for a new heatwave that was likely to further stoke tinderbox conditions across the country.

Locations: Athens, stoke

☆ Pro-Chinese online influence campaign promoted protests in Washington, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A Chinese marketing firm likely organized and promoted protests in Washington last year as part of a wide-ranging pro-Beijing influence campaign, according to new research. One of the protests only attracted roughly a dozen people but it showed the scope and ambition of the pro-China efforts. The hired protesters, who included self-proclaimed musicians and actors in the Washington, DC, area, apparently had no idea they were being enlisted in a pro-China influence campaign, the Mandiant researchers said. Haixun, the Chinese firm, distributed videos of the protesters online to further the influence campaign, according to Mandiant. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he was unaware of the details of the research.

Persons: Mandiant, ” Ryan Serabian, Liu Pengyu, ” Liu, Joe Biden, Republican Sen, Marco Rubio Organizations: CNN, China, Shanghai Haixun Technology, Embassy, Washington Post, stoke American, FBI, Republican Locations: Washington, Beijing, China, Xinjiang, DC, Shanghai, Mandiant, Russia, Marco Rubio of Florida

NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Electric-vehicle charger operator EVCS is looking to raise $125 million, according to a document seen by Reuters, as it races to expand its network of fast chargers eightfold by 2025 and capitalize on the U.S. government's push to boost EV adoption. EVCS, which operates its own network of fast chargers as well as stations for clients such as Hertz and Hilton, plans to increase its network to 2,100 fast chargers by 2025 from 260 currently and focus on the U.S. states of California, Washington and Oregon, according to the document. A person familiar with the matter said a $125 million investment would represent a large minority stake in the business. Reuters was not immediately able to ascertain what valuation the company or its advisers had arrived at for the entire business. The deals between Tesla and rivals also could make it easier for operators to cater to virtually all EVs.

Persons: Tesla, EVCS, Biden, Isla Binnie, Abhirup Roy, Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: YORK, Reuters, BNP, Hertz, Hilton, Tesla, Volta, stoke, Thomson Locations: California, EVCS, Washington and Oregon, New York, Francisco

☆ 'Barbie' sets records, 'Oppenheimer' strong in box office battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Director Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," about the making of the atomic bomb, beat expectations with $80.5 million at domestic theaters in a cinema battle dubbed "Barbenheimer." The $155 million debut topped the $146.4 million for "The Super Mario Bros." in April and ranked as the highest domestic opening ever for a female-directed film. Many fans wore pink outfits screenings and theaters offered pink cocktails and glittery popcorn. The drama "Oppenheimer" stars Cillian Murphy as American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who developed the atomic bomb. The movie added $93.7 million in international markets, for a global total of $174.2 million, distributor Universal Pictures (CMCSA.O) said.

Persons: Margot Robbie, Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwig's, Mario, Cillian Murphy, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Lisa Richwine, Cynthia Osterman, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Warner Bros, Mattel, stoke, Universal Pictures, Thomson Locations: ANGELES

☆ Turkey raises euro rate for medicine prices by 30.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ANKARA, July 23 (Reuters) - Turkey has raised the euro-lira conversion rate for medicine prices by 30.5% to 14.0387 lira per euro, the country's Official Gazette showed on Sunday. The updated conversion rate is nearly half the market rate, with the lira standing at 29.9727 against the euro at Friday's close . The increase in medicine prices could further stoke inflation, which is already expected to rise more this year due to the lira's deprecation and recent tax hikes introduced by Ankara. Economists are revising their end-2023 inflation forecasts to around 60% from 38.21% in June. Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ali Kucukgocmen, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, stoke, Ankara

☆ Tony Bennett: 1926 - 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Locations: Athens, stoke

☆ Across rural America, data center development booms as investors race to cater to artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Data center development is booming and AI is expected to stoke already growing demand. Demand is sapping power grids in major markets and pushing data center development across the US. The project's neighbors include Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon – all of whom have similar plans, or are already underway with major data center projects. The message came after a torrid period of growth by the data center industry in that region. Wes Swenson, Nova's CEO, said the Reno region was becoming increasingly popular for data center development because of its access to power.

Persons: Matt McCollister, Martin Peck, Lincoln Rackhouse, Peck, Blackstone, Jonathan Gray, Drew Angerer, Bard, Gray, Pat Lynch, Robbie Sovie, Sovie, Georgia Power, Skybox, Rob Morris, Morris, George Frey, Novva, Wes Swenson, Nova's, Swenson, CBRE, Lynch Organizations: stoke, Lincoln Property Company, Harrison Street, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Lincoln, Carrier, QTS, Dominion Energy, Dominion, Washington DC, APS, QuadReal, Georgia, Reuters, Data Centers, CIM Group Locations: Ohio, New Albany, Columbus, Northern Virginia, Dallas, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Virginia, Loudoun County, Washington, Arizona, Southwest, Lithia Springs , Georgia, Atlanta, Vancouver, Hutto , Texas, Austin, Eagle Mountain , Utah, Reno , Nevada, Storey County, Reno, Silicon, Salt Lake City, West Jordan , Utah, CBRE

☆ Kenya protesters, police clash in tax hikes unrest
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Locations: Athens, stoke

☆ Wildfires in Greece largely contained, new heatwave looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Men help a firefighter as they try to extinguish a wildfire burning near the village Vlyhada, near Athens, Greece, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Stelios MisinasATHENS, July 20 (Reuters) - Wildfires across Greece were largely contained on Thursday after razing swathes of forest and dozens of homes for days, though a new heatwave loomed, threatening to stoke tinderbox conditions across the country. A fire west of Athens which prompted mass evacuations earlier in the week was contained, a fire brigade official said. Land and aerial firefighting forces will continue preventive patrolling in forests across Greece amid difficult conditions, authorities said late on Wednesday. Fires are common in Greece, but hotter, drier and windy summers have turned the Mediterranean into a wildfire hotspot in recent years.

Persons: Stelios Misinas, Angeliki, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Firefighters, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, Stelios Misinas ATHENS, stoke, Rhodes

☆ Wheat prices soar for a third day as Russia-Ukraine tensions stoke fears of major food crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Known as the world's "bread basket," Ukraine grows far more wheat than it consumes and it's exports contribute to global food security, especially in African countries, which now fear food shortages. Wheat prices rose on Thursday after Russia threatened to treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as military cargo carriers, deepening fears of a global food security crisis. It follows a jump of 8.5% in the previous session, the biggest daily gain in more than a year, on mounting geopolitical tensions. Wheat prices remain well below the peak levels of 1,177.5 cents per bushel reached in May of last year, however. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday that Russia's decision to pull out of the pact would imperil global food security.

Persons: António Guterres, Josep Borrell, Borrell Organizations: Chicago Board of Trade, Initiative, Union Locations: Ukraine, Russia, EU

☆ Tour de France in pictures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Jillian Kumagai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Locations: Athens, stoke

On a year-on-year basis, GDP expanded 6.3% in the second quarter, accelerating from 4.5% in the first three months of the year, but the rate was well below the forecast for growth of 7.3%. "The data suggests that China's post-COVID boom is clearly over," said Carol Kong, economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. The latest data raises the risk of China missing its modest 5% growth target for 2023, some economists say. Authorities are likely to roll out more stimulus steps including fiscal spending to fund big-ticket infrastructure projects, more support for consumers and private firms, and some property policy easing, policy insiders and economists said. So I think this does raise greater urgency for more policy support soon."

Persons: Carol Kong, Alvin Tan, Harry Murphy Cruise, Kevin Yao, Ellen Zhang, Joe Cash, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: National Bureau, Statistics, Reuters, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Analysts, Authorities, Asia FX, RBC Capital Markets, stoke, Moody’s, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Shanghai, Sydney, China, Asia, Singapore

☆ Instant View: China's Q2 GDP growth slows to 0.8% q/q, raises stimulus expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

"Consumers are not spending, mainly driven by the bleak outlook for the property market. Disappointing retail numbers and property market sales show it doesn't seem that the boost from rate cuts is sufficient. ..the property market is beginning another slowdown - the government will have to come up with more stimulus for property." "Nonetheless, we think more stimulus is required to stabilise and restore confidence in the property market." ZHIWEI ZHANG, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PINPOINT ASSET MANAGEMENT, HONG KONG"Nominal GDP growth turns out to be lower than real GDP growth in Q2, the first time since comparable data are available in Q4 2016.

Persons: CHRISTOPHER WONG, LOUIS KUIJS, CAROL KONG, XING ZHAOPENG, KEN CHEUNG, ALVIN TAN, VISHNU VARATHAN, MARCO SUN, CHEN, TONY SYCAMORE, ZHIWEI ZHANG, JING LIU Organizations: Gross, National Bureau, Statistics, Shanghai, NBS, BANK OF, ANZ, MIZUHO BANK, OF, OF ASIA FX, RBC, MUFG BANK, IG, SYDNEY, Friday's, BANK OF SINGAPORE, HSBC, stoke, Authorities, Reuters, U.S, Thomson Locations: U.S, SINGAPORE, ASIA, HONG KONG, SYDNEY, CHINA, SHANGHAI, OF ASIA, China

"The data suggests that China's post-COVID boom is clearly over," said Carol Kong, economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. Authorities are likely to roll out more stimulus steps including fiscal spending to fund big-ticket infrastructure projects, more support for consumers and private firms, and some property policy easing, policy insiders and economists said. Most analysts say policymakers are likely to dole out modest supportive measures, instead of embracing any aggressive stimulus due to limited room and worries of growing debt risks, analysts said. For June alone, China's retail sales grew 3.1%, slowing sharply from a 12.7% jump in May, the data showed. Industrial output growth unexpectedly quickened to 4.4% last month from 3.5% seen in May, but demand remains lukewarm amid a bumpy post-COVID economic recovery.

Persons: Carol Kong, Alvin Tan, Kevin Yao, Ellen Zhang, Joe Cash, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: National Bureau, Statistics, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Authorities, Asia FX, RBC Capital Markets, stoke, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Shanghai, Sydney, China, Asia, Singapore

Tesla's earnings on Wednesday are expected to show its gross profit margin declined to 18.9% in the second quarter, according to 19 analysts polled by Visible Alpha. "Tesla's market share for the EV segment is likely to decline over time," said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said. "However, I think the more appropriate metric to look at is Tesla's total auto market share, which continues to grow as they continue to grow deliveries." Reuters GraphicsCHARGING AHEADAs EV sales slow, Tesla has been moving aggressively to capture a larger share of the U.S charging market in a bid to diversify its revenue. Piper Sandler estimates Tesla's revenue from its charging network to hit $9.65 billion in 2032, with more than half the sales coming from EVs made by other carmakers using its network.

Persons: Elon, Tesla, Vitaly Golomb, Seth Goldstein, Piper Sandler, EVs, Akash Sriram, Aditya Soni, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: stoke, Ford, Visible Alpha, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, General Motors, Thomson Locations: BYD, China, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Relatives Condemn His Comments Once More
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Maggie Astor | More About Maggie Astor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Several members of the Kennedy family have condemned a bigoted conspiracy theory from the Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suggested that the coronavirus was “ethnically targeted” to spare Jews and Chinese people. In comments at a recent event in New York City, a recording of which was first published by The New York Post, Mr. Kennedy said: “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” He added, “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not.”His sister Kerry Kennedy called his remarks “deplorable and untruthful” and said they did not represent the principles espoused by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the organization she leads — named after their father, the former attorney general and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. His brother Joseph Kennedy II issued a similar statement, telling The Boston Globe: “Bobby’s comments are morally and factually wrong. His remarks in no way reflect the words and actions of our father, Robert F. Kennedy.”

Persons: Kennedy, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, “, ”, Kerry Kennedy, —, Joseph Kennedy II Organizations: Democratic, The New, Kennedy Human Rights, Boston Globe Locations: New York City, The New York

☆ Americans' wages are finally outpacing inflation. But could it last?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

For more than two years, persistent and pervasive inflation has taken big bites out of Americans’ paychecks. Annual real weekly wages were up 0.6% last month, a rate that’s a tick below the 0.7% gain seen in February 2020. June also marked the second consecutive month of year-over-year real hourly wage growth — the first back-to-back months of gains since early 2021. Fears of a dreaded “wage-price spiral” — when rising wages and prices feed into each other — have made a bogeyman out of wage growth. And finally, supply-side inflation has drastically cooled to the point where annual inflation is practically flat — which, ideally, gives firms more wiggle room to pay workers, she said.

Persons: hasn’t, ’, That’s, ”, William Ferguson, Gertrude B, Austin, it’s, Alex Pelle, “, Sung Won Sohn, Ben Bernanke, ” Pelle, Julia Pollak, they’ve Organizations: Minneapolis CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Grinnell College, stoke, Mizuho Securities, Loyola Marymount University, SS, San Francisco Fed, BLS Locations: Minneapolis, Iowa

☆ Turkey increases fuel tax as it bolsters stretched budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, July 16 (Reuters) - Turkey raised tax on petrol on Sunday to help to fund a 1.12 trillion lira ($42.2 billion) increase to its 2023 budget after February's earthquakes and the May presidential election sent spending soaring. The wider deficit was largely because of increased spending ahead of May elections, when President Tayyip Erdogan was elected for a third term, as well as on rebuilding work after the earthquakes in southern Turkey. The earthquakes, which killed more than 50,000 people, are expected to cost Turkey more than $100 billion in total. In the latest step to strengthen the Treasury's cash reserves, the tax rate for gasoline was increased to 7.52 lira per litre from 2.52 lira ($0.1) while tax on diesel oil rose to 7.05 lira from 2.05 lira. The 1.12 trillion lira boost to Ankara's budget was approved by parliament on Saturday and follows various other recent tax increases among efforts to bolster government coffers, including a two percentage point increase to VAT.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Ali Kucukgocmen, Diane Craft, David Goodman Organizations: stoke, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Turkey

☆ Tumbling US dollar a boon to risk assets across the globe
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - Cooling U.S. inflation is accelerating a decline in the dollar, and risk assets around the world stand to benefit. Because the dollar is a linchpin of the global financial system, a wide range of assets stand to benefit if it continues falling. Raw materials, which are priced in dollars, become more affordable to foreign buyers when the dollar declines. "For markets, the weaker dollar and its underlying driver, weaker inflation, is a balm for everything, especially for assets outside the U.S.," said Alvise Marino, foreign exchange strategist at Credit Suisse. Reuters GraphicsIn the world of monetary policy, the dollar's decline may be a relief to some countries, as it removes the urgency for them to support their falling currencies.

Persons: Russell, Alvise Marino, Karl Schamotta, Paresh Upadhyaya, Upadhyaya, Kenneth Broux, Helen, pare, it's, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Dhara Ranasinghe, Ira Iosebashvili, Leslie Adler Organizations: YORK, U.S, Federal Reserve, Investment, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Treasury, Fed, Colombian, Kazakhstan tenge, Uruguayan, Reuters Graphics, Traders, Generale, stoke, Monex USA, Thomson Locations: U.S, Polish, Corpay, Kazakhstan, Japan, Swedish

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