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☆ Mercedes plans new electric van platform, 20% cost cuts by mid-decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz's (MBGn.DE) van unit said on Tuesday that it plans a new, scalable platform for its electric vans that will reduce fixed costs by 20% by the middle of the decade and that electric models should make up 50% of its van sales by 2030. Electric vans should make up 20% of sales by 2026, Mercedes' van unit said, adding it expects double-digit margins on zero-emission model sales by the end of the decade. All new midsize and large van models will be based on what Mercedes described as an "innovative, modular and scalable electric architecture" called VAN.EA. Legacy automakers got off to a late start with their commercial electric vans, opening the door for other electric commercial vehicle (ECV) makers to gain a foothold, such as the Maxus brand from China's SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS) has done in Europe. Customer demand for electric vans has taken off and is expected to outstrip supply for some years to come.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Novelist Salman Rushdie has warned that countries in the West face the most severe threats to freedom of expression and freedom to publish in his lifetime, speaking nine months after a man repeatedly stabbed him onstage in New York. Rushdie, 75, was awarded the 'Freedom to Publish' award by The British Book Awards on Monday. "We live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West,” Rushdie said in a video message from New York broadcast to the award ceremony. "The freedom to publish, of course, is also the freedom to read and the freedom to write, the ability to write what you want ... to be able to choose what you want to read and not have it decided for you externally." “In the countries in the West, until recently, there was a fair measure of freedom in the area of publishing.

☆ Cannes jury president to striking Hollywood writers: 'Yeah, go!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] The 76th Cannes Film Festival - Press conference of the jury - Cannes, France, May 16, 2023. Jury President Ruben Ostlund and jury member Brie Larson attend a press conference. REUTERS/Yara NardiCANNES, May 16 (Reuters) - Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, who heads the jury awarding the Cannes Film Festival's top award this year, expressed solidarity with striking Hollywood film and TV writers on Tuesday, saying industrial action was the only way to change work conditions. "It's great that people have a strong collegial feeling so you can go out and have a strike. Top executives close to the discussions have told Reuters that the strike could continue into the summer and possibly beyond.

☆ Cannes Film Festival 2023 kicks off with 'all killer, no filler' line-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We have 'Indiana Jones,' we've got Martin Scorsese's new film with Leonardo DiCaprio. Festival director Thierry Fremaux pushed back against criticism that Depp was a controversial choice for an opening-night film, telling Variety magazine the actor had not been banned from working. Other jury members include Brie Larson of "Captain Marvel" and Julia Ducournau, one of two women to win the Palme d'Or. Out of competition, Harrison Ford will return as adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones, 15 years since the last film in the franchise, in the world premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" on Thursday. Festival organizers are concerned the unrest seen during the pension reform protests could also make its way to the festival, said Roxborough.

☆ Argentina raises economic defenses against inflation 'onslaught'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Walter Bianchi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BUENOS AIRES, May 15 (Reuters) - Argentina's government is bolstering its economic defenses as it battles runaway inflation that hit 109% in April, fast draining central bank foreign currency reserves, a weakening peso and simmering market fears of a sharp-shock devaluation. The economy ministry announced a package of measures on Sunday including new interest rate hikes, more central bank intervention in currency markets and fast-tracked deals with creditors after inflation overshot all forecasts last week. Investment bank J.P. Morgan said an "onslaught of inflation" had forced the government to take "emergency measures". That's created a dilemma for the government: how to tame inflation and avoid a crash in the currency, while protecting the scarce foreign currency reserves in the bank. "If the BCRA (central bank) speeds up a devaluation, it will be adding more gasoline to the fire.

JOHANNESBURG, May 15 (Reuters) - South Africa's climate policy body on Monday suggested the government could delay retiring its ageing coal-fired power plants to address electricity shortages and said a power crisis had put the country on track to meet its climate goals anyway. The ruling African National Congress has recommended that state power utility Eskom delay the decommissioning of its ageing coal-fired power stations to help minimise rolling electricity outages. "The least-cost approach is to pull the coal plants off when they reach the end of their economic life," said Crispian Olver, executive director of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC). South Africa relies on coal for electricity. South Africa's national target for emissions reductions is 398-510 MtCO2e by 2025, and 350-420 MtCO2e by 2030.

☆ Morning Bid: Debt ceiling jitters, Turkey vote, Soros ditches Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

President Joe Biden is meeting Congressional leaders on Tuesday to try to hash out a compromise to raise the debt limit and avoid a catastrophic default. A regulatory filing on Friday from the family office of George Soros showed the 92-year old billionaire investor has sold his entire stake in Tesla. Soros bought shares in the electric vehicle maker, run by Elon Musk, in 2022, as well as convertible bonds in 2018. Soros wasn't alone in pulling out of some of the pandemic-era darlings in the first three months of the year. Friday's regulatory filing showed he loaded up on other big tech stocks, including Netflix, Uber, chipmaker Qualcomm and cloud-based data company Snowflake - which fellow 92-year old investor Warren Buffett bought into back in 2020.

[1/3] Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and Dr. Ing. He did not mention the company's Xinjiang plant in China, a joint venture with SAIC Motor (600104.SS), which has become a sore point for human rights activists as well as some shareholders, including top-20 investors Deka Investment and Union Investment. "Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka. Volkswagen's China chief visited the plant in Xinjiang earlier this year and said he saw no evidence of forced labour. Shareholders flagged rising competition from Chinese EV competitors in China, with BYD (002594.SZ) outselling Volkswagen as the top passenger car brand earlier this year.

JAKARTA, May 10 (Reuters) - Sales of electric cars in Indonesia jumped last month after the government launched tax incentives, auto executives said, in an early sign that electric vehicle (EV) adoption is gaining traction in Southeast Asia's largest economy. Effective from April, Indonesia cut the value-added tax (VAT) on electric cars from 11% to just 1%, provided they are manufactured with at least 40% local content. Hyundai aims to sell 10,000 units of IONIQ 5 in Indonesia this year, helped by the tax cut and as a shortage in semiconductor chips eases, he said. The two models are the most popular electric cars in Indonesia. Hyundai's Yoon said the South Korean company plans to introduce more battery-EV models in Indonesia to capture the growing market.

☆ When is Cannes Film Festival 2023 and what can we expect?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] The 75th Cannes Film Festival - The Palme d'Or Award - Cannes, France, May 17, 2022. Below are some facts about the Cannes Film Festival and this year's contenders. WHAT IS THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL AND WHY IS IT CELEBRATED? Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival. Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film.

☆ Chinese competition, Xinjiang plant loom large for Volkswagen investors at AGM
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, May 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) investors will demand answers from the carmakers' executives at its annual general meeting on Wednesday on its competitiveness in China and its contested plant in Xinjiang, advance copies of their speeches showed. "Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka. Volkswagen's China chief visited the plant in Xinjiang, jointly owned with SAIC (600104.SS) earlier this year and said he saw no evidence of forced labour. Shareholders will also flag the rising competition from Chinese electric vehicle competitors in China, with BYD outselling the Volkswagen brand to be the bestselling passenger car brand earlier this year. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pop duo Tvorchi to show Ukraine's 'Heart of Steel' at Eurovision
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Sarah Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LIVERPOOL, England, May 10 (Reuters) - Tvorchi, Ukraine's electro pop-duo entry in Eurovision 2023, said they hoped to shine a spotlight on their country's fight for freedom when they perform in the grand final in Liverpool on Saturday night. Formed in 2018 by Ukrainian producer Andrii Hutsuliak and Nigerian-born singer Jeffery Kenny, the pair wrote their song "Heart of Steel" last spring when Ukraine's soldiers were defending Mariupol. "We'll show how strong Ukrainians are," he told Reuters. Ukraine, as last year's winner, gains automatic entry to Saturday's grand final, along with the "big five," comprising Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Tuesday's first semi-final saw 10 acts qualify for the grand final, including early favourite, Sweden.

Europe's biggest low-cost carrier said it was placing a firm order for 150 of the largest version of Boeing's narrow-body jet family, known as the 737 MAX 10, with options for another 150. The deal delivers a boost to the 737 MAX, Boeing's best-selling jet whose deliveries have been depressed by a two-year safety crisis and post-COVID disruption. "Boeing wanted us to step up the scale and size of the order even to get the discounts that we [got]." Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun countered during a press conference that no premium was high enough for the jet, in a jovial back-and-forth. On Monday, Reuters first reported that Ryanair was close to a major deal for Boeing jets.

Ryanair said the order would allow it to almost double its traffic to 300 million passengers per year by March 2034 from the 168 million flown to the end of March this year. On Monday, Reuters first reported that Ryanair was close to a major deal for Boeing jets. But its boss pledged not to overpay for the 30 extra seats, telling Reuters in March he could also order more of the existing 200-seat 737 MAX 8200. Ryanair said the deal was worth $40 billion at list prices, though experts note typical discounts run at more than 50%. "Ryanair operates a 737 fleet and is pretty locked in," with Airbus (AIR.PA) sold out for years and China years away from being to supply the West, Agency Partners analyst Nick Cunningham said.

☆ Ryanair set to order jets from Boeing, burying hatchet after price spat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, May 9 (Reuters) - Ireland's Ryanair (RYA.I) is set to bury the hatchet with its exclusive supplier and place a multi-billion-dollar order for Boeing jets on Wednesday, ending an 18-month spat over prices. Boeing (BA.N) said it would make a "major announcement" at 1300 GMT, but gave no further details. The 737 MAX sells for up to $131 million at list prices but typical discounts run at more than 50% and details of final pricing are confidential. But the bond between Ryanair and Boeing loosened following the pandemic as low-cost carriers expanded markets. But he has pledged not to overpay for the 30 extra seats, telling Reuters in March he was also looking at more orders of the 200-seat 737 MAX 8200.

☆ Ford to test small UK fleet of hydrogen fuel cell E-Transit vans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Tuesday it will test a small fleet of prototype hydrogen fuel-cell versions of its electric E-Transit model to see if they are a workable zero-emission option for customers hauling heavy goods long distances. Ford will lead a consortium in the three-year project that includes BP (BP.L), which will focus on hydrogen and infrastructure, and British online supermarket and technology group Ocado (OCDO.L). Interest in using hydrogen fuel cells to power trucks and vans is getting a boost from fleet operators looking for a more practical alternative to electric vehicles and rising government aid, particularly the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, in which hydrogen mixes with oxygen to produce water and energy to power a battery, can refuel in minutes and have a much longer range than those with BEVs. But there are major challenges to be overcome for mass adoption of hydrogen fuel cells, including the lack of fueling stations and green hydrogen made using renewable energy to power them.

☆ Airwallex expands to Israel, seeks cyber security acquisitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Founded in Australia, the financial technology company said its Israeli operations, which will begin on Thursday, would be a first step towards expanding across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2023. Or Liban, who will head the company's Israel operations, said the country's high-tech ecosystem, in which startups look to be global from the outset, was a main factor in expanding to Tel Aviv. "There's quite a lot of startups that might be relevant for our mergers and acquisition strategy, namely around cyber security, fraud detection, threat prevention. He noted that while there were no deals currently in the works, there were many opportunities for the company. Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SAO PAULO, May 9 (Reuters) - Renowned Brazilian rock singer and songwriter Rita Lee, an icon of the Tropicalia artistic movement, died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with lung cancer, her family said. Her death brought an outpouring of tributes from artists, politicians and celebrities who cheered her trailblazing role in Brazilian rock. Rita Lee Jones de Carvalho was born on Dec. 31, 1947, in Sao Paulo, to a dentist of U.S. descent and a Brazilian pianist with Italian ancestry. Kicked out of Os Mutantes by Baptista, whom she had been married to, for supposed artistic differences, Lee played with the band Tutti Frutti in the 1970s. Rita Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and had been undergoing treatment since then.

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 9 (Reuters) - Petroleum dealers have flagged a surge in the smuggling of Iranian fuel to Pakistan, saying that up to 35% of diesel sold in the South Asian country has arrived illegally from Iran, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) told Reuters on Tuesday. “Private dealers have been able to make decent profits by selling Iranian diesel rupees 35 ($0.1235)/litre cheaper than local dealers,” it added. The PPDA said that Iranian fuel smuggled into Pakistan was further hurting the industry, already reeling from low sales. “In the past smuggled fuel was restricted to just Balochistan, but it has now spread all over,” Khan said. Due to Iranian fuel being significantly cheaper than domestic fuel, refineries are having trouble with stock uptake.

☆ POLL RBA to hike rates further this year, say economists in snap poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Devayani Sathyan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On May 2, the RBA startled economists and financial markets with a hike. Our expectation is that the final rate hike occurs in August. Over 85% of respondents, 25 of 29, expected no hike from the central bank at its June 6 meeting, while four predicted a 25 basis point hike. Among major local banks, only ANZ forecast a 25 basis point hike in Q3 while Westpac and CBA predicted an extended pause. Median forecasts showed the cash rate remaining at 4.10% until year-end, 25 basis points higher than the peak expected in an April poll.

☆ Torrential rain lashes northern Italy, killing at least two people
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, May 3 (Reuters) - Torrential rain lashed Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region over the last 24 hours, causing extensive flooding and killing at least two people, rescuers and media said on Wednesday. An elderly cyclist drowned when he was swept away by flood waters in the town of Castel Bolognese, Ansa news agency reported. The rain follows months of drought which raised concerns about the low water level in the Po, Italy's largest river, which runs West to East through the northern part of Emilia Romagna. An aerial view shows a flooded area after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Massa Lombarda, Italy, May 2, 2023. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERSFootage released by the fire brigade showed extensive flooding in an area between Bologna, Emilia Romagna's capital, and the city of Ravenna on the Adriatic coast.

☆ U.S. FTC to enforce law to curb risks of artificial intelligence -chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission's chief said the agency was committed to using existing laws to rein in some of the dangers of artificial intelligence, such as enhancing the power of dominant firms and "turbocharging" fraud. One risk she noted was that firms that dominate cloud services and computing would become even more powerful as they help startups and other firms launch their own AI. AI tools could also be used to facilitate collusion to raise prices. Khan expressed concern that generative AI, which writes in conversational English, could be used to help scammers write more specific and effective phishing emails. Reporting by Diane Bartz Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Volatile news, not markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While the Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise interest rates again on Wednesday, the move could be its last. So in a holiday-strewn month around the world, the VIX (.VIX) - Wall St's so-called 'fear gauge' of the implied stock market volatility for the month ahead - hit its lowest level on Monday since November 2021. Even though it ticked back up a bit above 16 overnight, it remains three full points below its 33-year historical average. For macro markets, the Fed decision is complicated by the debt ceiling and banking backdrop. March job openings numbers later on Tuesday will give an indication of just how tight the labor market remains.

☆ Ethiopians savour first night of annual 'Addis Jazz Festival'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Ethiopian traditional dancers perform during the Jazz show at the Ethio-Jazz Festival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 29, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriADDIS ABABA, April 30 (Reuters) - Young Ethiopians packed into the compound of the Swedish embassy in Addis Ababa on Saturday night to savour an "Ethio Jazz" performance, an annual festival that celebrates Ethiopia's love for the musical genre. On a neon-lit stage in the country's capital, artists played various Ethiopian jazz music pieces as hundreds of revellers danced, mimed and quaffed beer to celebrate the second edition of the so-called Addis Jazz Festival (AJF). AJF debuted in 2019 and was conceived as a platform to promote Ethiopian jazz as well as to bring international jazz to Ethiopia. Artists at the concert included some of Ethiopia's well- known talents, like the Young Addis jazz group, who performed some of their best hits, like "Adwa."

☆ Iran's hardline parliament votes to dismiss industry minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DUBAI, April 30 (Reuters) - Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to dismiss the country’s industry minister, the first member of hardline President Ebrahim Raisi's cabinet to be impeached since his election in 2020 amid growing economic resentment across the country. Parliamentarians, who voted to remove Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Reza Fatemi-Amin, accused him of failing to control "skyrocketing prices of automobiles and the rising costs of industrial production" and lambasted him for mismanagement. “162 of the 272 parliamentarians present voted to unseat the minister,” parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on a state television broadcast. Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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