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☆ Taliban ban on Afghan women working for U.N. an 'internal' issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A group of women wearing burqas crosses the street as members of the Taliban drive past in Kabul, Afghanistan October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File PhotoKABUL, April 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration has said forbidding Afghan women from working for the United Nations was an "internal issue," after the global organisation expressed alarm at the decision and said it would review its operations there. On Tuesday, the U.N. Mission to Afghanistan said the Taliban administration would be responsible for any negative humanitarian impacts stemming from the ban. Taliban authorities in December said most Afghan female NGO workers would not be allowed to work. The U.N. humanitarian agency has said a huge funding plan for Afghanistan for 2023 is less than 5% funded.

☆ Israeli curbs on Orthodox Church crowds in Jerusalem for Easter draw ire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

JERUSALEM, April 12 (Reuters) - Israeli police will curb the number of worshippers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for safety reasons during Orthodox Easter ceremonies on Saturday, drawing anger from church leaders who said they would not cooperate. However, the decision to limit access on Saturday to the Holy Fire, the most important Easter celebration for the Eastern Orthodox Church, angered church leaders who saw it as part of what they consider long-standing efforts by Israel to restrict the rights and freedoms of the local Christian community. Additional checkpoints around the Old City will also restrict access to the area around the church. But it reflected complaints from Christians that they are being gradually but systematically shut out of the Old City by Israeli authorities, who they say are upsetting longstanding status quo arrangements between the three communities. Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Emily Rose; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Over 400 migrants died crossing Mediterranean early in 2023 -UN agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 441 migrant deaths between January and March on the world's deadliest migration route, in what it said was likely an undercount. Around half of those deaths were linked to delays in state-led rescue efforts and, in one case, the absence of any rescue mission, it said. "The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable," said IOM Director General António Vitorino. "With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized. This "central" route is distinct from the Western crossing from Morocco to Spain.

The firm debut by Harita Nickel could boost sentiment surrounding upcoming IPOs in Indonesia, which is one of the world's hottest IPO markets this year on a drive by the government to privatise some state-owned enterprises. Harita Nickel's stock opened at 1,285 rupiah per share, slightly higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price of 1,250 rupiah a share, on the Indonesian stock exchange. The IPO comes at a time when nickel-rich Indonesia steps up efforts to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry. Harita Nickel's peer Merdeka Battery Materials is scheduled to debut on the local bourse next, on April 18, after raising 8.75 trillion rupiah. Harita Nickel's IPO was the largest in Indonesia in almost a year after the $1.1 billion listing of tech firm GoTo (GOTO.JK) in April.

☆ US home solar installers brace for slowdown as California reform looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

California boasts 38% of the nation's residential solar capacity, buttressing the U.S. market's 40% surge in 2022, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group. More than 1.5 million Golden State homes have solar, state data show. They and others have noted a spike in California installations this year as consumers scrambled to get systems connected before the policy change on April 15. California Solar & Storage Association Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro called the transition difficult. Residential solar installers are already grappling with higher interest rates that cut into the value of financed systems, and tighter available credit.

☆ Stellantis unveils Ram EV pickup, to debut late in 2024, at New York auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EV truck will go on sale in one of the most important segments of the North American electric vehicle market. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the truck will be built in the U.S. and the location would be announced soon. He told reporters on the sidelines of the auto show that consumers will choose the Ram over other EV trucks because it will exceed other trucks' performance on range, speed of charge, towing and other factors. The Ram truck's launch late in 2024 will come more than two years after similar EV trucks like the Rivian (RIVN.O) R1T electric pickup and Ford's (F.N) F-150 Lightning electric truck. The RAM EV truck will be built on a new body-on-frame architecture designed for full-size EVs, capable of towing up to 14,000 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,700 lbs.

☆ Morning Bid: Markets labor under recession cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. If the tight U.S. labor market is finally unwinding, markets suspect the Federal Reserve's job may well done after all - but at the cost of a looming recession. With Wednesday's private sector jobs reading for March and Friday's national payrolls report ahead, U.S. interest rate markets were jolted again on Tuesday by surprisingly soft data on job vacancies that suggested cooling demand for staff. More decisively, the two-year Treasury yield plunged more than 20 basis points intraday to hover just above 3.8% on Wednesday. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ EU's new crypto asset rules don't go far enough - ECB's McCaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) - The European Union's proposed regulations for crypto assets do not go far enough, and safeguards need to be strengthened to capture risks adequately, European Central Bank supervisory board member Elizabeth McCaul said on Wednesday. The European Parliament is set to vote on the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) bill later this month, taking a big step in providing oversight of the crypto world after a series of scandals and collapses. "While the new Basel standard and MiCA are important milestones, I am afraid they will not be sufficient on their own," McCaul said in a blog post. Another issues is how the size of crypto-asset service providers is measured because the now-collapsed crypto exchange FTX would not have counted as significant given how the firm was organised. The same goes for conflicts of interest, which must be identified across the group and at affiliated entities, McCaul said.

☆ Italy probes Meta over abuse of position in music rights case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, April 5 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Wednesday it would investigate Meta Platform (META.O) over the possible abuse of its position in talks over the rights to music posted on Meta's platforms and potentially hurting competition in the sector. According to the antitrust regulator, Mark Zuckerberg's company may have "unduly interrupted the negotiations for the stipulation of the licence for the use on its platforms" of SIAE's music rights, it said in a statement. Last month, Meta, which owns Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, failed to reach a deal with SIAE to renew the copyright license. Protecting the copyrights of songwriters and artists is an important priority for us," a spokesperson for Meta said on Wednesday. The investigation involves Meta Platforms Inc, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Meta Platforms Technologies UK Limited and Facebook Italy S.r.l.

☆ U.S. warns 143,000 VW SUVs owners to keep front passenger seats empty pending fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The recall covers 2018-2021 model year Atlas and 2020 model year Atlas Cross Sport vehicles, and relates to potential faulty occupant-detection systems in front passenger seats. The passenger occupant-detection system may experience a fault in the wiring, which could deactivate the front passenger air bag even when the seat is occupied. A deactivated air bag will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the front seat passenger, NHTSA said. In February, the auto safety agency requested a meeting to discuss the field performance of the Atlas Passenger Occupant Protection System, VW said. The automaker held a meeting with NHTSA on March 23 to discuss its recall decision.

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Calls to pause the development of artificial intelligence will not “solve the challenges” ahead, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told Reuters, his first public comments since an open letter sparked a debate about the future of the technology. The technologist-turned-philanthropist said it would be better to focus on how best to use the developments in AI, as it was hard to understand how a pause could work globally. “I don’t think asking one particular group to pause solves the challenges,” Gates said on Monday. While currently focused full-time on the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has been a bullish supporter of AI and described it as revolutionary as the Internet or mobile phones. He also said in the interview the details of any pause would be complicated to enforce.

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - The British government has extended a trading plan to help cut the taxpayer's stake in NatWest (NWG.L) by another two years, as it chips away at its remaining 41.5% holding with small sales after a recent bout of global banking volatility. The trading plan involves drip-feeding further stock into the market and is one of the government's main methods of reducing its stake. Britain's finance ministry said on Monday its trading plan had been extended to Aug. 11, 2025 and would continue to be run by investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N). Under the plan, the government can sell up to 15% of its stake in the company over the two-year period. Around 3.7 billion pounds has been raised by selling shares under the plan to date, the finance ministry added.

☆ China dissatisfied with Japan's chip export restrictions -spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, April 3 (Reuters) - China was strongly dissatisfied with Japan's export restrictions on chip manufacturing equipment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday. China hoped Japan would act on its statements of cooperation with China and take an objective stance, Mao told reporters at a regular briefing. Japan said on Friday it would restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade controls with a U.S. push to curb China's ability to make advanced chips. read moreReporting by Beijing newsroom Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence on US military sites- NBC News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - A Chinese balloon that flew across the United States was able to gather intelligence from several U.S. military sites, despite the Biden administration's efforts to prevent it from doing so, NBC News reported on Monday, citing two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official. The balloon, controlled by Beijing, was able to make multiple passes over some of the sites in February, at times flying in a figure-eight formation, NBC cited the officials as saying. "The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images," NBC cited the officials as saying. The balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada early in February before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast on President Joe Biden's orders. The Chinese balloon incident prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing and further strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

☆ Explosion at Indonesia Pertamina's refinery arm unit injures 9 - statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JAKARTA, April 2 (Reuters) - An explosion at a refinery owned by a Pertamina PT unit in western Indonesia injured nine people, the state energy firm said on Sunday, adding to two dozen deaths from two other fires over the past month. A fire on March 3 at Pertamina's Plumpang fuel terminal in Jakarta, one of the country's oldest and largest, killed more than 20 people. KPI apologised for Saturday's incident, a spokesperson said, adding that a "recovery process" was underway after the fire had been extinguished. Several units were affected and stopped by the explosion and fire, but the rest were operating as usual, the spokesperson said. Reporting by Bernadette Christina; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain sets out next steps to green its financial system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Asset managers oversee assets worth 10 trillion pounds ($12.35 trillion), with nearly half having integrated ESG into the investment process, the paper said. "This will support the quality of standards, labels and disclosures used in the industry for green finance activity," the ministry said in a statement. "The government proposes that nuclear - as a key technology within our pathways to reach net zero - will be included within the UK’s Green Taxonomy, subject to consultation." In the fourth quarter, Britain will also consult on requirements for the largest companies to disclose their transition plans to net zero carbon emissions, if they have one, the ministry said. Brendan Curry, policy fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, said the updated strategy has "failed to deliver" a clear roadmap for the annual investment needed for net zero.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Five big lenders post over 3.5% annual net profit growthNet interest margin shrank at all fiveNPL ratios steady or down for all fiveBEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China's Big Five lenders posted above 3.5% annual net profit growth this week, but warned that the foundations of the country's recovery were "not yet solid". China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS), and Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS) both posted just over 5% annual net profit growth on Thursday. Even higher figures came from the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS) (AgBank) on Thursday and China Construction Bank Corp on Wednesday, which both posted over 7% annual net profit growth. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS), , the world's largest listed lender by assets, came in at 3.5% annual net profit growth. NPLsWhile all five lenders posted steady or falling non-performing loan ratios, they also logged shrinking net interest margins (NIM), a key gauge of bank profitability.

Summary Pontiff was hospitalised unexpectedly on WednesdayVatican says he has respiratory infectionNot clear if pope will be able to lead Easter servicesVATICAN CITY, March 30 (Reuters) - Pope Francis spent a peaceful night in a Rome hospital after suffering from a respiratory infection, a Vatican source said on Thursday. Bruni has said Francis would have to stay at Rome's Gemelli hospital for "a few days" for "appropriate" medical treatment. An official update on his condition was expected in late morning, the Vatican source said. Last year, the pope attended but did not preside at some of the Easter services due to his knee pain. Francis, who this month marked 10 years as pope, is sometimes short of breath and generally more exposed to respiratory problems.

☆ Prince Harry back in UK court for battle with Daily Mail publisher
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry returned to the High Court in London on Thursday where his lawyer was fighting an attempt by a newspaper publisher to throw out his and other high-profile figures' lawsuit which alleged widespread unlawful acts by journalists. Harry, the singer Elton John and five other high-profile people are suing publisher Associated Newspapers, alleging they were the victims of phone-hacking and other serious privacy breaches by journalists from the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday or private investigators working on their behalf. The publisher's lawyer Adrian Beltrami told the court on Wednesday the claims were rejected "in their entirety". The judge, Matthew Nicklin, is not expected to rule for some weeks on whether the case should proceed to trial. During an exchange with Sherborne, he suggested that if it did, it would be a "massive trial" which would last a "substantial period of time".

☆ China willing to work with Russian military on several fronts - Chinese defence ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China said its military was willing to work together with the Russian military to strengthen strategic communication and coordination, the Chinese defence ministry said on Thursday. The two countries would work together to implement global security initiatives, said Tan Kefei, a spokesman at the Chinese defence ministry, at a regular press conference. Tan said the two countries would deepen military trust and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice. They will also further organise joint maritime, air patrols and joint exercises, Tan said. China President Xi Jinping recently visited Russia and met with President Vladimir Putin - a visit the United States denounced.

☆ Taiwan, China must do 'everything possible' to avoid war- former president Ma
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou meets the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Song Tao, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in handout picture released March 30, 2023. Ma Ying-jeou's Office/Handout via REUTERSTAIPEI, March 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan and China must do everything possible to avoid war and it is the responsibility of both sides' leaders to ensure peace, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a senior Chinese official on Thursday. Ma arrived in China on Monday, the first time a former or sitting Taiwanese president has visited the country since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists. "The two sides must maintain exchanges, cooperate together, and do everything possible to avoid war and conflict." Ma, who was in office from 2008-2016, met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late in 2015 shortly before current Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was elected.

☆ German inflation eases less than expected in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose by a more-than-anticipated 7.8% on the year in March, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday. Analysts had expected harmonised data to increase by 0.8% on the previous month and grow by 7.5% on an annual basis. According to non-harmonised standards, German consumer prices rose 7.4% on the year in March and 0.8% on the month. This follows an inflation rate of 8.7% in February and January. The decline in the inflation rate was entirely driven by a slowdown in energy prices, which rose only 3.5% compared with March 2022, when energy prices soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Corporate giants say anti-LGBT law would hurt Uganda's economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, March 29 (Reuters) - A coalition of international companies, including Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O), on Wednesday denounced anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Uganda's parliament last week, warning it would damage the East Africa country's economy. The Open for Business coalition said the legislation, which criminalises identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, would curb investment flows and deter tourists. Open for Business said in a statement the new law would undermine companies' ability to recruit a diverse and talented workforce. "Either they violate the law in Uganda or they are going against international standards of corporate responsibility as well as human rights laws of the countries in which they are headquartered," she said. Among the coalition's members, Google, Mastercard (MA.N) Unilever (ULVR.L), Standard Chartered (STAN.L), PwC and Deloitte (DLTE.UL) have operations in Uganda.

☆ Germany unveils immigration reform plan to tackle labour shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERLIN, March 29 (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday unveiled draft reforms on immigration, skills training and promoting immigration from Western Balkan countries, a bid by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to plug labour shortages in Europe's largest economy. "Securing our skilled labour base is one of Germany's biggest economic tasks for the coming decades," Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said. One of the reforms is a new immigration law that aims to address key hurdles for migrants to Germany, particularly for those coming from outside the European Union. The draft law, seen by Reuters, says the reform could increase the number of workers from countries outside the EU by 60,000 people a year. The opportunity card follows a points-based system that takes into account qualifications, language skills, professional experience, connection to Germany and age.

The fact that Charles had picked France and Germany for his first state visit, even before his coronation in May, was an important "European gesture", said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who greeted Charles and his wife Queen Consort Camilla in Berlin. "Today, exactly six years after Britain started its exit from the European Union, we are opening a new chapter in our relations," Steinmeier said. [1/14] Britain's King Charles III and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier review an honor guard during a ceremonial welcome at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on March 29, 2023. Steinmeier said he had invited Charles to visit Germany at Elizabeth's funeral last September. However, any warmer relations with Europe brought about by the visit could cool if other post-Brexit issues flare up.

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