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☆ French 'Beyond Black' painter Pierre Soulages dies at 102
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Pierre Soulages, the French abstract painter best known for experimenting with different shades of black, has died aged 102, the museum dedicated to his life and work in his southwestern hometown of Rodez said on Wednesday. Soulages, who museum head Benoît Decron said died on Tuesday evening in hospital, had worked exclusively with black since 1979, notably in a series of works he called "Outrenoir", or "Beyond Black". Born on Christmas Eve 1919, he also created the 104 stained glass windows that adorn Conques Abbey in southwestern France. Soulages is survived by his wife Colette, who is 101. Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Dominique Vidalon, editing by Tassilo Hummel and John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ No Roger Federer Street in Basel, at least for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Swiss tennis great Roger Federer's hometown won't be naming a street after him - at least for now. Officials and politicians in Basel have begun discussions on how to honour the 20-time grand slam singles champion, who retired from the ATP tour last month. But city surveyor Paul Haffner ruled out prospects of Federer getting his own street, an accolade already bestowed on him by some Swiss and German cities. "The policy in Basel is that only deceased individuals have a square or a street named after them," Haffner told Swiss broadcaster SRF. Reporting by Noele Illien; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Political chaos tips British firms into deeper slide - PMIs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - British businesses are suffering their worst month since January 2021, when they were under a COVID-19 lockdown, as the country's political upheavals compound concerns about inflation and rising interest rates, a survey showed on Monday. German business activity declined at a faster rate than in Britain, although France fared better than both. "More evidence of economic weakness, combined with signs of less heated inflationary pressures, should, all else equal, tone down the (BoE's) appetite to raise interest rates substantially in its November meeting," Beck said. Truss has said she will resign once her successor is chosen at the end of this week. "As night follows day, investment and employment will suffer in the months ahead as companies adjust to the increasingly challenging environment," Williamson said.

☆ Energy costs push Germany flash PMI to 29-month low - S&P Global
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

High energy costs were a major factor, especially in manufacturing, where the rate of contraction was at its fastest in two-and-a-half years, though manufacturing was also hit by weaker demand, S&P Global said. The flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 from 47.8 the month before. "The flash PMI data show the downturn in German business activity gathering pace at the start of the fourth quarter, adding to the growing signs of an impending recession," said Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Germany's flash services PMI fell to 44.9 from 45.0. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Paddle your own pumpkin: racers descend on Belgian pond
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Charlotte Campenhout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Contestants compete during the Pumpkin Regatta, an annual pumpkin boat relay race, in the Belgian town of Kasterlee, Belgium October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansKASTERLEE, Belgium, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of competitors, many dressed up as pirates, nuns, animals or vegetables, climbed into carved-out pumpkins and paddled them around a pond in northern Belgium, in an annual relay race. Racing the huge vegetables takes some skill - "when you paddle, it doesn't move forward but starts spinning", local competitor Jonas Verbruggen said - and this year some fell in the water after their pumpkins took too much water. Racer Oscar Guell, a Spaniard living in Brussels, called the experience "dirty, sticky and oily" - before gleefully adding that he'd definitely be back next year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

GAZA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - In a scrapyard near Gaza's fence with Israel, thousands of old batteries are piling up - one of several such sites in the enclave set up to mitigate the environmental repercussions of the blackouts that are a feature of daily life. To minimize the impact of the thousands of tonnes of old batteries that have built up after 15 years of blockade, environment officials have set up five storage sites away from heavily populated areas. "Keeping batteries exposed to the environment is certainly dangerous," said Ahmed Al-Manama, of the Water and Quality Environment Authority. "Lead can get into drinking water reserves and dust from the batteries can blow away and pollute plants, trees and the soil." For the enclave's ever-inventive scrap dealers, however, they provide an opportunity, and scavengers tour the streets in donkey carts, buying up old batteries or picking them off garbage dumps for resale and recycling.

☆ Euro zone October PMI adds to evidence bloc is heading for recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Jonathan Cable | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The flash PMIs for October provide yet more evidence that the euro zone is sliding into quite a deep recession but that inflationary pressures remain intense," said Andrew Kenningham at Capital Economics. Concerns over rising inflation also weighed on the euro zone's second-biggest economy, France, and business activity there slowed. British government bond prices rose early on Monday after prices fell on Friday as investors braced for more uncertainty. The manufacturing PMI fell to 46.6 from 48.4, its lowest since May 2020 and below all forecasts in the Reuters poll. The future output index fell to 44.8 from 45.3, its lowest since May 2020 - when the COVID-19 pandemic was tightening its grip on the world.

☆ Male or female title? Italy's new PM Meloni stirs gender debate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni is Italy's first woman prime minister, but she is choosing to refer to herself using the masculine form of her new title - sparking a debate on the issues of female empowerment and political correctness. Under RAI's corporate gender policy, the feminine form should be used whenever it exists, and "no colleague can therefore be obliged to use the masculine" to refer to Meloni, Usigrai said in a statement. "The first female prime minister goes by the masculine name ... Is using the feminine form too much for the leader of FdI, a party that already omits Sisters from its name?" The Accademia della Crusca, a guardian of the Italian language, has said using the feminine for positions held by women is the grammatically correct choice. However, anyone who prefers to use the traditional masculine form, for ideological or generational reasons, has every right to do so, its president Claudio Marazzini told Italian news agency Adnkronos.

But most opposition representatives visiting Washington this week told U.S. officials they would not continue backing him or anyone else as their leader for another year of interim government. Venezuelan opposition representatives who attended the meetings in Washington and a spokesperson for Citgo did not immediately provide a comment. The U.S. State Department said it recognized Guaido and coordinates with his administration "on the steps needed to move forward on a negotiated solution that leads to the restoration of democracy to Venezuela." Five of six opposition-party representatives told State Department officials on Tuesday they would not support Guaido or any other interim leader, the four sources said. read moreUnder U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the United States recognized Guaido as rightful leader in January 2019, and dozens of other countries followed suit.

☆ Macron urges France to unite against 'extreme evil' of 12-year-old's murder
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - France should unite in solidarity with the parents of a 12-year-old girl whose battered body was found last week in a suitcase outside her Paris home, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, calling her murder an act of "extreme evil". In his first public comments on the death of the girl, named Lola, Macron said the unspeakable atrocity that the crime represented was what has shocked the country most. "When we are faced with extreme evil and we realize that this is possible in our society," he told reporters at a European Union summit. The main suspect, a 24-year-old woman, was arrested on Monday and put under formal investigation on accusations of murder, rape and acts of torture. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dominique Vidalon; Pascal Rossignol, editing by John Stonestreet, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Low-key 'fixer' Giorgetti named Italy's economy minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Gavin Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

read moreTim Jones, euro zone analyst for market consultancy firm Medley Advisors, said "long-time League fixer" Giorgetti was a better fit. I don't know if I'd be able to be economy minister." As industry minister, he helped block a number of Chinese takeover bids in strategic sectors of Italy's economy. "He backed Maroni when he got rid of Bossi, he backed Salvini when he got rid of Maroni and then he backed Draghi who undermined Salvini," said the source, asking not to be named. Tellingly, when Meloni proposed Giorgetti as economy minister, Salvini said he should be counted as an external figure, rather than part of the League's quota of ministers, a party source said.

But Broadbent's concentration on the likely peak terminal rate next year is what matters most. For context, that UK terminal rate, now pencilled in for around the middle of 2023, rocketed almost two full percentage points from just prior to the botched mini-budget to as high as 6.25%. Fed terminal rates, now targeted about March next year, have jumped 150 bps to 5% over the past two months. And Morgan Stanley, for example, see a UK terminal rate as low as 4% - a huge drop from current market pricing. The stubborn refusal of terminal rate pricing to return to where it was last month reflects the extent of those jitters.

☆ Our lettuce outlasted Liz Truss, British paper declares, as PM quits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - To the strains of Britain's national anthem, a national newspaper on Thursday declared a lettuce the victor in a race to see if it could outlast Liz Truss, after the under-fire prime minister resigned. The tabloid Daily Star set up a live feed on Friday showing the unrefrigerated iceberg next to a photo of Truss, asking readers: "Which wet lettuce will last longer?" Moments later, as viewer numbers hit 21,000, "God Save the King" rang out as a hand reached across the table and set Truss's photo on its back and the caption "The lettuce has outlasted Liz Truss" appeared. In a column published last week titled "The Iceberg Lady", the Economist magazine described Truss as having "the shelf-life of a lettuce". Truss's political role model, 1980s prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was widely known as the Iron Lady.

The 27 are expected to back an alternative price benchmark for liquefied natural gas and joint gas buying, after earlier agreeing to cut consumption and introduce levies on windfall profits in the energy industry. But they remain as split as they were months ago on whether and how to cap gas prices to stem high inflation and stave off recession, after Russia cut gas flows following its invasion of Ukraine. They will also discuss emergency spending to mitigate the effects the acute energy crunch has on their economies and 450 million citizens. But given EU countries' diverse energy mix and interests, the meeting risks falling short on concrete action, with other concerns being whether a gas cap would enable Britain to buy cheaper energy or compromise stability of supplies. EU energy ministers meet again next week but another senior EU diplomat said they did not expect more detailed decisions before November.

☆ Reactions to UK PM Liz Truss's resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Following are reactions from senior figures around the world to the resignation of Liz Truss, who said on Thursday that she was resigning as Britain's prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed. I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN MARIA ZAKHAROVA"Britain has never known such a .... prime minister. LONDON MAYOR SADIQ KHAN, SPEAKING IN BUENOS AIRES"This morning I heard the news that my political opponent, the Conservative Prime Minister of the UK, has resigned. Had I known that organising the summit could lead to the resignation of the UK PM I'd have organised it sooner."

☆ Canada's inflation beat boosts chances of 75 bps rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Julie Gordon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Canada's annual inflation rate edged down but exceeded forecasts in September while underlying price pressures were largely unchanged, data showed on Wednesday, amplifying calls for another hefty rate hike by the central bank next week. Inflation was 6.9%, ahead of forecasts of 6.8% and down from 7.0% in August. All three of the Bank of Canada's core measures of inflation, its preferred yardsticks for underlying inflation, were flat in September, with the average of the three matching August's upwardly revised 5.3%. The bank has hiked rates by 300 bps since March and made clear more increases are coming. But it was lower gasoline prices that edged the annual inflation rate down, while consumers paid 11.4% more for their groceries, the largest gain since August 1981.

Her uncompromising statement came after her conservative ally Silvio Berlusconi reiterated his sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of triggering the war. In a sharply worded declaration, Meloni said any party that disagreed with her foreign policy line should not join the government, which is set to take office next week. Meloni has staunchly defended Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February, and has supported Western sanctions against Moscow. Repeating accusations made by Putin that have been denied by Ukraine, Berlusconi said Zelenskiy made the situation much worse when he came to power in 2019. "Berlusconi's comments are very grave and incompatible with Italian and European positions," said Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party.

☆ Factbox: Russian martial law in parts of Ukraine - what will it mean?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday declared martial law in four partially occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia claims as its own. Although Russia has unilaterally annexed and does not fully control any of the four regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - it is imposing martial law there as if they were Russian territories. However, a partial mobilisation has already taken place in Russia and been extended to the occupied regions, so it is unclear if more men will be called up. The decree says that under martial law, authorities will have the power to enact measures to "meet the needs of Russia's armed forces", and that "territorial defence" will be carried out. Saldo announced on Wednesday that 50,000-60,000 people would be evacuated from part of the Kherson region over the next six days as a Ukrainian counteroffensive gathers pace.

☆ Diwali firecracker users face jail under New Delhi anti-pollution drive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A woman and her son hold firecrackers during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Mumbai, India, November 4, 2021. REUTERS/Francis MacarenhasNEW DELHI, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Festival-goers who let off firecrackers in New Delhi during this year's Diwali face up to six months in jail, the city's environment minister said on Wednesday, under a broader ban introduced to help combat extreme winter pollution. Firecrackers have for generations been an integral part of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which takes place next week throughout India. Those found storing and selling firecrackers would face fines of 5,000 rupees and up to three years in jail. Some Hindus see the Diwali firecracker ban as an attempt to interfere with observance of their religion.

☆ Child sex abuse in Britain is epidemic, UK inquiry says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This is not just a historical aberration which happened decades ago, it is an ever-increasing problem and a national epidemic." The inquiry heard from 725 witnesses during 325 hearings which began in Feb. 2017, processing nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence. More than 6,000 victims and survivors of abuse also related their experiences to the inquiry's 'Truth Project'. Even while it was carrying out its investigations, the scale of online abuse had risen dramatically, the inquiry said. Lawyers who represented victims involved in the inquiry welcomed its findings, but said the recommendations did not go far enough.

"I think it is a shambles and a disgrace," he said, in a video that a couple of other Conservative lawmakers tweeted in agreement. "I have made a mistake, I accept responsibility, I resign," she said in a letter to the prime minister. As a replacement, Truss appointed former minister Grant Shapps, who said recently that Truss faced a massive battle to survive. He also failed to offer a ringing endorsement of the prime minister. "I have been very clear that I am sorry, and I have made mistakes," Truss told jeering opposition lawmakers in parliament.

☆ Israel offers help with air-attack alerts, but Ukraine wants interceptors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine's ambassador, however, asked for systems that would shoot down the drones instead, while Defence Minister Benny Gantz said Israel was firm on not supplying Kyiv with weapons. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOn Tuesday, Ukraine stepped up appeals for Israeli help after reporting multiple Russian strikes using Iranian Shahed-136 'kamikaze' drones. Israel has asked Ukraine "to share information about their needs for air defence alerts," Gantz told EU ambassadors, according to a statement by his office. Similar early warning technologies could be on offer to Ukraine, a spokesperson for Israel's Defence Ministry said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Emily Rose; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Belarus says it will host just under 9,000 Russian troops
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The defence ministry in Minsk on Sunday said just under 9,000 Russian troops would be stationed in Belarus as part of a "regional grouping" of forces to protect its borders. "The first troop trains with Russian servicemen who are part of the (regional grouping) began to arrive in Belarus," Valeriy Revenko, head of the defence ministry's international military cooperation department, wrote on Twitter. "The total number will be a little less than 9,000 people." Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said last week that his troops would deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border, citing what he said were threats from Ukraine and the West. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Saudi defence minister: OPEC+ decision taken unanimously for economic reasons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's defence minister said the decision by OPEC+ to cut oil output was taken unanimously and for purely economic reasons. Prince Khalid bin Salman also said he was "astonished" by accusations that the Kingdom was "standing with Russia in its war with Ukraine." "It is telling that these false accusations did not come from the Ukrainian government," the king's younger son wrote on Twitter. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Nayera Abdallah and Ahmed Tolba; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Raisi blames Biden for inciting "chaos and terror" in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DUBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday blamed his U.S. counterpart for inciting "chaos, terror, and destruction" in Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported, amid protests that have rocked the country for the past four weeks. "The American president, who allows himself through his comments to incite chaos, terror and destruction in another country, should be reminded of the eternal words of the founder of the Islamic Republic, who called America the great satan," Raisi said. "Iran has to end the violence against its own citizens simply exercising their fundamental rights," U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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