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☆ Security staff strike to halt departures from Berlin airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Passengers at Berlin airport face disruptions on Monday with all flight departures cancelled due to a one-day strike by security workers, and some incoming flights also set to be affected. Berlin Brandenburg airport announced on Saturday that it had cancelled all flight departures on Monday and said that landings would also be affected after the Verdi union called on security workers to stage a one-day strike to raise the pressure in wage talks. The strike is due to start at 3:30 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) and end at midnight (2200 GMT). An airport spokesperson said roughly 240 flights had been scheduled to take off on Monday. The union says it has been negotiating with the BDLS aviation security association to push for pay increases for night, weekend and public holiday shifts.

☆ Tensions over Karabakh rise after Azerbaijan blocks land route from Armenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan "took appropriate measures to establish control at the starting point of the road," the foreign ministry said. Armenia said the checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor was a gross violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement which ended a 2020 war. It called on Russia to implement the agreement which states that the Lachin corridor, the only road across Azerbaijan that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, must be under Russian peacekeepers' control. Azerbaijan then claimed that Armenian soldiers fired on Azeri units at around 1110 GMT in the Lachin district, a claim Armenia denied. In recent months Armenia has repeatedly called on Moscow to do more to support the peace and ensure unfettered access between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor.

☆ India's Wipro to consider share buyback at board meeting this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, April 23 (Reuters) - Indian IT services provider Wipro Ltd (WIPR.NS) said on Sunday it will consider a share buyback proposal at its board meeting on April 27. Wipro, which will report its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, last bought back shares in October 2020. That share buyback totalled 95 billion Indian rupees ($1.16 billion) worth of shares. Shares of Wipro are down 6.3% so far this year after falling more than 45% in 2022. ($1 = 82.0300 Indian rupees)Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Serbs in north Kosovo boycott local elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A Kosovo Albanian man prepares to vote at a polling station in the village of Qabra, Kosovo, April 23, 2023. REUTERS/Valdrin XhemajZUBIN POTOK, Kosovo, April 23 (Reuters) - Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections on Sunday in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met, in another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia last month is not working. The main political party in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serbian List, called on Friday on the Serb community not to vote on Sunday. Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs are demanding the creation of an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities, in line with a decade-old EU-brokered deal with the Kosovo government in Pristina, before they take part in the vote. On Tuesday Kosovo's elected prime minister Albin Kurti said Belgrade was intimidating Serbs from the north not to participate in the elections.

☆ Factbox: Chile lithium move latest in global resource nationalism trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Matthew Chye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Chile's President Gabriel Boric announced on Thursday he would nationalise the country's vast lithium industry to boost the economy and protect the environment. Chile is the world's second largest producer of lithium, a key component in batteries used in electric vehicles. Myanmar accounted for 77% of China's tin ore imports last year, Chinese customs data showed. INDONESIA* A resource powerhouse, Indonesia is tightening controls over various materials in a push to develop local downstream operations and extract greater value. More export bans will also be announced in the coming years in order to develop resource processing industry onshore, he said, speaking at an economic forum.

☆ India monetary tightening cycle not over, inflation remains a concern -MPC minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Swati Bhat | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - India's current rate tightening cycle may not be over as more hikes could be warranted to align inflation towards the central bank's medium term target of 4%, minutes of this month's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting showed on Thursday. "It is clear that the war against inflation has not yet been won, and it would be premature to declare an end to this tightening cycle," MPC member Jayant Varma wrote. Most members appeared more concerned about inflation than in their commentary after the previous policy meeting in February when the bank raised rates by 25 bps. The decision by OPEC+ to cut crude output and the possibility of weak monsoon rains could both push up inflation in India and necessitate a monetary policy response, Varma said. In the current situation of high inflation, monetary policy does not have the luxury of responding to these growth headwinds."

SL Naturenergie's predicament is common in the renewables sector where companies, from startups to medium sized and blue-chip firms, are competing for a limited pool of labour with appropriate skills. Currently it faces a shortage of around 216,000 skilled workers needed for the expansion of the solar and wind energy sectors, a study by German organisation KOFA, or the Competence Centre for securing skilled labour, showed. In many jobs in the renewable energy sector, pay is above average, he said, citing a renewable energy wage premium of more than 10% in construction and installation activities, as well as architectural and engineering services. Volker Quaschning, a professor of renewable energy systems at HTW university in Berlin, says a third of places on these courses at HTW are unfilled. Last month Germany also unveiled draft reforms on skills training accreditation and promoting immigration in a bid to plug labour shortages in the economy.

☆ Oil prices steady as strong China data offsets US rate worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

2 oil consumer China offset concerns that possible increases in U.S. interest rates could dampen growth in the top consuming country. China's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 4.5% in the first quarter while oil refinery throughput rose to record levels in March, data showed. The dollar eased on Tuesday after the upbeat China data. Most traders, however, believe that the recent crude price rally is in need of a correction, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. Crude prices posted gains for the last four weeks, a streak not seen since June 2022.

Land temperatures across the northern hemisphere were +2.02°C higher than the long-term average (1901-2000) between October and March. But Europe’s temperatures were +2.42°C above the long-term average, making it the second-warmest winter ever recorded in the area. By contrast, Asia’s winter temperatures were +2.07°C warmer over the six months as a whole and North America’s temperatures were only +1.23°C above the long-term seasonal average. Chartbook: Winter temperatures 2022-2023Facing pressure on gas and electricity supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s gas and electricity consumption was suppressed in large part by warm weather, helping stretch gas inventories and avoid shortages. Europe’s policymakers, businesses and households were extraordinarily fortunate this winter; that should not make them complacent about winter 2023/24.

☆ VW, Rivian, Nissan, BMW lose access to US EV tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoApril 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Monday that Volkswagen, BMW, Nissan, Rivian, Hyundai and Volvo electric vehicles will lose access to a $7,500 tax credit under new rules for battery sourcing. VW said it was "fairly optimistic" the ID.4 SUV will qualify for the tax credit. Treasury also disclosed General Motors Co (GM.N) electric Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV will qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit. GM said earlier it expected at least some of its EVs would qualify for the $7,500 tax credit under the new rules, including the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq and forthcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV SUV and Blazer EV SUV. Treasury in December said EVs ineligible for the $7,500 consumer tax credit could qualify for a commercial leasing $7,500 credit.

☆ VW, Rivian, Nissan, BMW lose access to U.S. EV tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoApril 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said Monday that Volkswagen, BMW, Nissan, Rivian, Hyundai and Volvo electric vehicles will lose access to a $7,500 tax credit under new battery sourcing rules. Treasury also disclosed General Motors (GM.N) electric Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV will qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit. GM said earlier it expected at least some of its EVS would qualify for the $7,500 tax credit under the new rules, including the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq and forthcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV SUV and Blazer EV SUV. Earlier, Ford Motor (F.N) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI) said most of their electric and PHEV models would see tax credits halved to $3,750 on April 18. Treasury in December said EVs ineligible for the $7,500 consumer tax credit could qualify for a commercial leasing $7,500 credit.

☆ ECB told not to take banks' word for it when assessing risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, April 17 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should stop relying on banks' self-assessments when setting capital requirements and do its own homework instead, independent experts said on Monday. It was the most notable recommendation in a report commissioned by the ECB to evaluate its work on the key task as the euro zone's top financial supervisor, namely to decide how much capital banks must have to absorb losses. The ECB has been blending its analysis with the banks' own to come up with capital requirements. They told the ECB to change the way it sets capital demands and focus "on specific risks requiring additional capital coverage, while significantly limiting the use of ICAAPs". Fellow ECB supervisor Elizabeth McCaul welcomed a recommendation to use more "qualitative measures" with banks, which she said could include "limitations on business activity, demanding changes in the board and management, and monetary sanctions".

☆ German armsmaker Rheinmetall suffers cyber attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DUESSELDORF, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) - State prosecutors in Cologne are investigating a cyber attack on German armsmaker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), a spokesperson for the prosecutor's cybercrime division said on Friday, confirming an earlier report by Spiegel magazine. The spokesperson declined to comment on how severe the cyber attack on Germany's largest armsmaker was. Rheinmetall declined to comment. The armsmaker supplies Germany's army as well as other NATO forces, and is delivering weaponry to Ukraine. Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Writing by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French pension protesters flood LVMH headquarters in Paris
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Security members stand in front of the headquarters of luxury retailer Louis Vuitton after a protest action French SNCF workers, members of French CGT and Sud Rail labour unions in Paris as part of the 12th day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, April 13, 2023. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansPARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - Scores of French workers protesting against pension reforms flooded into the Paris headquarters of luxury group LVMH (LVMH.PA) on Thursday, calling for the rich to contribute more to financing the state pension. France's labour unions have been staging strikes and marches since mid-January in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the legal retirement age. The government says it is necessary to raise the retirement age for most workers to balance the pension budget in years to come. Reporting by Bart Biesemans and Ingrid Melander, writing by Mimosa Spencer; editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pollution choking Thailand's north hits tourism, worries public
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, April 10 (Reuters) - High pollution levels in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai and surrounding provinces are keeping tourists away and alarming locals, with the government on Monday urging residents to avoid outdoor activities. For several weeks last month the city was at the top of air quality information platform IQAir's global chart on poor air quality, ahead of Lahore and New Delhi. That is far short of the 80% to 90% expected ahead of this week's Thai New Year holidays, known as Songkran. Addressing the deteriorating air quality in the north, Thailand's health ministry urged the public on Monday to avoid outdoor activities and wear masks that can filter particles. Chiang Mai resident Pathsharasakon Po, 36, said she was concerned about allergies, or even cancer.

☆ Freezing rain in Canada leaves more than a million without power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tony Salador via REUTERSOTTAWA, April 6 (Reuters) - More than 1.2 million people were without power in Canada's two most populated provinces, Ontario and Quebec, on Thursday morning a day after freezing rain and strong winds hit the southeast of the country, toppling trees onto power lines. "We are confident that we can restore power to some of the affected customers today," Hydro-Quebec said in a statement. In Ottawa, crews were expected to restore power for a large portion of some 65,000 affected customers by noon, mayor Mark Sutcliffe said. Some areas in the national capital "remain hazardous due to fallen debris and power outages affecting traffic signals," he said. Montreal is among the worst affected by the power outages after Wednesday's ice storm, according to Hydro-Quebec.

☆ Egypt inflation seen hitting all-time high in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Egypt inflation poll data:CAIRO, April 6 (Reuters) - Egypt's headline inflation rate is set to hit an all-time high in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, following a continued shortage of foreign currency after more than a year of devaluations of the Egyptian pound. The median forecast of 13 analysts polled showed annual urban consumer inflation rising to 33.6% in March from 31.9% in February, which itself was a five-and-a-half-year record. "We think that earlier falls in the pound will continue to feed through into Egypt's inflation, pushing up both food and non-food inflation," said Capital Economics, which forecast March inflation of 37.1%. The state statistics agency CAPMAS is scheduled to release February inflation data on Monday morning. Writing by Patrick Werr; Polling by Anant Chandak in Bangalore; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Acting CEO of Poland's biggest bank PKO BP resigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Patrycja Zaras | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 6 (Reuters) - Poland's biggest bank PKO BP's (PKO.WA) acting Chief Executive Pawel Gruza will step down from his role on April 12, the bank said on Thursday. Gruza had been awaiting approval from the country's regulator (KNF) to take over the CEO role ever since he was appointed acting CEO on Aug. 9. The gave no reason on Thursday for his decision to step down as acting CEO. The move marks the fourth departure at the top of PKO BP since May 2021, when Zbigniew Jagiello surprised the market by resigning as chief executive after 12 years at the helm. Since his departure, PKO BP has already had three CEOS: Jan Emeryk Rosciszewski, followed by Iwona Duda and then acting chief Gruza.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration is determined to oust current CEO Francesco Starace, several sources told Reuters. OPPORTUNITYWith almost 60 Gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity, Enel is one of the world's biggest players in renewable energy. The company, which has been hit by soaring gas prices and government measures capping bills to shield consumers, saw net profit slip to 5.4 billion euros last year, from 5.6 billion euros in 2021. In November Enel unveiled its updated strategy to 2025, pledging to cut net debt by 21 billion euros via asset disposals, while at the same time investing 37 billion euros and increasing installed renewable capacity by 21 GW. You can't have an Italian only Enel, it would be such a step back," de Lamaze said.

"From our point of view, Rostock with its overseas port and an existing ammonia terminal can become a hub for international hydrogen imports into eastern Germany," said Hans-Joachim Polk, board member for infrastructure and technology. In another cooperation, VNG is sounding out Algeria's state oil and gas producer Sonatrach with a view to possibly arranging green hydrogen imports into Rostock via Tunisian and Italian natural gas pipelines, Polk told a press briefing. As customers across Europe baulked at sky-high prices, VNG's gas sales fell 23% last year to 588 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). As well as gas sales to local utilities and industry, the group has a wide range of activities in high pressure and distribution gas pipelines, storage facilities and biogas. Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Rachel More, Friederike Heine and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - The problems around artisanal cobalt mining in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will take "a coalition to solve", according to Microsoft (MSFT.O). Yet the West still needs Congo's cobalt and everyone agrees that formalisation is the solution to the high human and economic costs of artisanal mining. ETHICAL DILEMMAThe ethical dilemma facing Western cobalt users, which is just about everyone with a mobile phone, is headline news again after the publication of "Cobalt Red" by Siddarth Kara. Mutoshi's artisanal miners have lost their collective pricing power and their cobalt is once again flowing down opaque channels into the industrial supply chain, the report claims. Most of the country's estimated 150,000-200,000 cobalt miners have never even had the chance of formalisation.

☆ India looking to merge hydro power units to create single company -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Sarita Chaganti Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - The Indian government is considering selling state-owned NTPC Ltd's (NTPC.NS) two hydro power firms to NHPC Ltd (NHPC.NS) to create a single hydro power company that would improve efficiency and cut costs, power minister R K Singh told Reuters. One large hydro power company would help meet high demand at night when solar projects do not run, he said. We are thinking whether these hydro companies can come together as a hydro large PSU. Then it becomes a specialised hydro company," Power and Renewable Energy Minister Singh said in an interview on Monday. The power ministry's proposal to create a single company is aimed at better management and expertise, besides reducing costs and managing related challenges.

The EU has progressively tightened limits since "Euro 1" in 1992. The Commission's proposal widens real-driving emissions (RDE) testing and adds continuous testing of emissions via an on-board monitoring system. Euro 7 would take effect in mid-2025 for cars and in mid-2027 for trucks and buses. The European Commission estimates Euro 7 could add up to 150 euros to car prices and 2,600 euros for trucks and buses. A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on executives' statements, but said Euro 7's real-driving emissions tests were important because of "scandals in the past about cheating devices".

☆ World stocks gyrate as bank contagion fears bite
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The growing sense of unease about the global banking system is heightening volatility in stock markets around the world," said Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, a financial advisor. The failure of U.S. regional banks Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) this month triggered fears of a banking contagion and prompted U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday to pledge action to safeguard bank deposits. JP Morgan Chase (JPM.N) dropped 1.52%, the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) was down 0.33%, while the KBW regional bank index (.KRX) climbed 2.92%. "I don't expect this volatility (in bank stocks) to subside anytime soon," said Peter Doherty, head of investment research at private bank Arbuthnot Latham in London. Doherty said issues of "contagion risk within the U.S. banking sector" were undoubtedly weighing on appetite for bank stocks elsewhere.

SummarySummary Companies European banks, bonds, CDS sell offDeutsche Bank CDS rise to highest since late 2018Confidence hurt, outlook dimsLONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - Confidence in European banks deteriorated further on Friday, with the cost of insuring against a debt default rising sharply as the profit outlook for the sector dimmed. Deutsche Bank's (DBKGn.DE) five-year credit default swaps (CDS) jumped 19 basis points (bps) from Thursday's close to 222 bps, rising to their highest since late 2018, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed. The prospect that interest rates may be close to peaking, as financial markets are signalling, would also curb banks' profit margins on lending. BOND WATCHEuropean banks' Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt came under fresh selling pressure, with Deutsche AT1 prices down 6 cents, according to Tradeweb data. The selloff in AT1s highlighted concerns about rising funding costs for European banks and helped explain why the sector was facing renewed pressure on Friday, analysts said.

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