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☆ Russian threat to Baltic security rising -Estonian intelligence report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VILNIUS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service said it believed Russia still had the strength to exert "credible military pressure" on the Baltic region, where the security risk has risen for the medium and long-term. NATO and the European Union members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - the so-called Baltic states - have sharply boosted defence spending in response to Russia's 2014 capture of Crimea from Ukraine and the invasion of Ukraine last year. "Russia considers the Baltic states to be the most vulnerable part of NATO, which would make them a focus of military pressure in the event of a NATO-Russia conflict." Russia's military presence near the Baltic states' borders could be rebuilt in four years, the intelligence service said. Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The analysis of power usage data by Reuters at some of the key mines in Peru, the world's no. The South American nation has been gripped by anti-government protests since the Dec. 7 ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo. The power data from COES, which represents firms in Peru's energy sector, shows that nearly all major mines are drawing normal or near-normal levels of electricity. A combined index of six key mines is near normal. The other firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment about activity at their mines in Peru.

☆ Illumina fights EU order to divest Grail
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. life science company Illumina (ILMN.O) on Wednesday took its case to senior EU and national antitrust officials at a closed hearing to argue against an EU antitrust order that it divests cancer detection test maker Grail Inc (GRAL.O). Illumina had completed a takeover of Grail in August 2021, without securing European Union regulatory approval. The European Commission ordered Illumina in December to unwind the deal, three months after it had blocked the merger on concerns the deal would stifle innovation. "Any divestment order should be stayed until our appeal of the Commission's prohibition decision has been resolved," it said. Companies usually take the opportunity at such hearings to persuade senior EU and national competition officials of the pro-competitive advantages of their deals.

[1/2] Semiconductor chips are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationTOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japan may opt for milder restrictions on chip production machinery sales in China than those implemented by the United States even though they agree on export curbs, an influential Japanese ruling party lawmaker told Reuters on Wednesday. "The United States is being strict, but there is a question of whether we have to exactly match that. Amari said he had been briefed by the Japanese government on the deal, which only the United states has so far publicly acknowledged. Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Tim Kelly and Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on MS-13 gang members in Nicaragua, Honduras
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on two members of the international criminal gang MS-13, accusing them of involvement in drug trafficking and murder in Central America and the United States. The sanctions against the two individuals -- an MS-13 leader in Honduras and an associate with the gang in Nicaragua -- are part of a broader U.S. government effort to disrupt the group's activities and financing, the department said in a statement. "Treasury's sanctions against MS-13 aim to interrupt its use of the financial system to launder illicit proceeds," department official Brian E. Nelson said. The leader in Honduras, Archaga Caria, has distributed cocaine from that country to the United States, and has ordered the murders of rival gang members, the department said. The MS-13 associate, Campbell Licona, used businesses the gang owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through U.S. banks, the department said.

☆ Pakistan navy to host 50 nations in maritime exercises from Feb 10
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Commander Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami, addresses a news briefing to host Pakistan Navy’s 8th Multinational Exercise AMAN-23 under the slogan of "Together for Peace", in Karachi, Pakistan, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar SoomroKARACHI, PAKISTAN Feb 8 (Reuters) - Pakistan's navy said on Wednesday it will host 50 countries for regular maritime exercises that are held every two years involving ships, aircraft and special operation forces from Feb. 10-14. At a news briefing, Commander of the Pakistan Fleet, Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami commented on the importance of the exercises in light of piracy, terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, and climate change. Reporting by Akhtar Soomro in Karachi, writing by Ariba Shahid in Karachi, editing by Andrew Heavens and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Treasury urges financial firms to examine cloud services
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said while "there is no question that providing consumers with secure and reliable financial services means greater demand for cloud-based technologies,” there needed to be "safe and effective migration" as banks and other financial companies adopt cloud services. "Treasury found that cloud services could help financial institutions become more resilient and secure, but that there were some significant challenges that could detract from these benefits," department officials wrote in their report assessing current cloud adoption in the financial industry. Those issues include financial firms' exposure to potential cyber incidents, an industry-wide reliance on a small number of cloud providers and a lack of technology workers able to help financial institutions deploy cloud services, among other challenges, department officials said. Treasury officials recommended steps that could help the sector adopt cloud computing, adding that it "neither endorses nor discourages cloud service adoption by the sector." Technology companies that provide cloud computing services include Amazon Inc's (AMZN.O) Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Oracle Corp (ORCL.N).

☆ Ford works council in Germany to update staff on job cut talks on Feb 14
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Ford Motor Co (F.N) works council in Cologne, Germany invited workers to a meeting on Feb 14 to update them on negotiations with management over planned job cuts at Ford's plants in Europe, a union representative said on Tuesday. Ford said in late January it would decide by mid-February how many jobs would be lost in the region after the works council at its Cologne plant, which supports the interests of employees, informed employees that up to 3,200 roles may be cut in the worst-case scenario. Productivity of Ford's engineers in Europe was 25-30% lower than it should be, Chief Financial Officer John Lawler added on the call. The works council in Cologne has demanded that management commit to no layoffs before Dec. 31, 2032, and that the roughly 2,500 product development staff there remain part of the automaker's global development landscape. Reporting by Christina Amann, Victoria Waldersee; additional reporting by Ben Klayman, Joe White; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The West blocked several major Russian banks' access to the international SWIFT payments system soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, with dominant lenders Sberbank (SBER.MM) and VTB (VTBR.MM) - Russia's No. 2 bank - forced to shutter operations across much of Europe. Kostin, in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24, said the bank had managed to grow its retail and corporate loan portfolios, but that sanctions accounted for all the lender's losses. VTB was forced to buy FX on the open market when the rouble had weakened sharply to more than 100 against the dollar, Kostin said. VTB was profitable in January and hopes to post profits in 2023 with a similar number of zeroes as the 320-billion-rouble figure achieved in 2021, Kostin said.

Cobalt has lost share to lithium as the Chinese EV market in particular pivots towards non-cobalt battery chemistry. The abrupt turnaround in both narrative and price has led to a surge in trading activity on the CME cobalt contract as producers and consumers respond to the shifting landscape. CME cobalt price, total volume and market open interestCHANGE OF GEARCobalt's fortunes are still tied to the EV sector but the relationship is changing. That eye-watering growth rate would be stronger still were it not for a shift towards non-cobalt battery chemistries, led by China, the world's largest EV market. COBALT FUTURES TAKE OFFOne beneficiary of this turnaround in cobalt market dynamics has been the CME (CME.O), which has seen activity in its cobalt contract mushroom since the middle of last year.

☆ Indonesia to suspend some palm oil export permits - officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Bernadette Christina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Cooking oil prices up ahead of Islamic festivalsPalm oil export quotas linked to domestic salesExporters accumulated export quotas last year - ministerTwo-thirds of existing quotas suspended till May 1 - officialJAKARTA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia will suspend some palm oil export permits to secure domestic supply amid rising cooking oil prices ahead of upcoming Islamic festivals, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on his official Instagram account on Monday. Indonesia issues export permits for palm oil companies that have already sold a proportion of their products to the domestic market, under a policy known as "Domestic Market Obligation" (DMO). Sahat Sinaga, chair of the Indonesia Palm Oil Board, said companies have been holding back exports, due to lower global market prices and high export levies. Malaysian benchmark palm oil prices have fallen more than 40% since reaching a peak last year. Rattling global edible oil markets, Indonesia last year banned exports of palm oil used in everything from margarine to cosmetics and fuel for three weeks due to soaring cooking oil prices.

President Joko Widodo has pulled out all the stops to convince CEO Elon Musk to manufacture electric vehicles or batteries in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago. "The Indonesian government is building a whole value chain for servicing electric vehicle factories," said Victor Chin, principal consultant at metal consultancy firm CRU. Musk's goal is to sell 20 million electric vehicles in 2030, more than a 15-fold increase over the 1.3 million vehicles Tesla sold in 2022. Jokowi did not give a timeline for the exports growth but said Indonesia was aiming to establish an integrated supply chain for electric vehicle batteries by 2027. In other moves, Indonesia will also ban exports of copper ore and bauxite in June, both of which are used in electric vehicle production.

☆ Investments in Indonesia's nickel industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are some of the major investment deals involving nickel in Indonesia:Jan. 2020: Indonesia bans exports of unprocessed nickel to attract investment in downstream processing. Dec. 2020: Indonesia's investment ministry signs an MOU with LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) on integrated EV battery investment with total investment of $9.8 billion. 2021: Indonesia establishes the Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), a joint venture of state owned enterprises to cooperate with foreign investors in developing an EV battery supply chain. Jan. 2022: Indonesia's Investment Ministry signs an MoU with Foxconn (2317.TW), Gogoro Inc, IBC and Indika Energy (INDY.JK) for investment in electric vehicle and battery development. Sept 2022: Vale Indonesia signs an agreement with Zhejiang Huayou to build a second plant to produce nickel MHP with 60,000 tonnes capacity.

☆ Major deadly earthquakes in the past two decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

White Helmets/via REUTERSFeb 6 (Reuters) - Some of the world's most deadly earthquakes in the past two decades are listed below, after a 7.8 magnitude quake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday and killed hundreds of people. - Aug. 14, 2021 - HAITI - A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing more than 2,200 people and destroying or damaging about 13,000 homes. - April 16, 2016 - ECUADOR - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hammered Ecuador, killing more than 650 people on the country’s Pacific coast. - Sept 24, 2013 - PAKISTAN - Twin earthquakes, measuring 7.7 and 6.8 magnitude, rattled southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least 825 people. - May 12, 2008 - CHINA - A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan province, killing about 87,600 people.

☆ U.S. plans 200% tariff on Russian aluminum - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to impose a 200% tariff on Russian-made aluminum as soon as this week, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, as Washington looks to mount pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters reported last October that the Biden administration was weighing restrictions on imports of Russian aluminum in response to Moscow's military escalation in Ukraine. The White House declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the plans. The latter agency is responsible for investigating anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases and in September 2021, imposed a 62.2% tariff on imports of Russian aluminum foil after determining it was being sold under fair value. Aluminum prices spiked last year, along with other commodities exported by Russia, with London Metal Exchange three month aluminum prices reaching a record of over $4,073 per tonne in March.

☆ Death toll from Turkey, Syria quake set to jump, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) expects a significant jump in the death toll following a major earthquake and its aftershocks in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria that reduced many buildings to rubble. The magnitude 7.8 quake, which rattled southern Turkey early on Monday, was the worst to hit the country this century, killing more than 900 people there and about 550 across the border in Syria, according to officials. "I think we can expect the death toll to increase significantly," Rick Brennan, the WHO's regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told Reuters. "There's been a lot of building collapses and it will increase more significantly around the epicentre of the earthquake." "It's harder for the rescue teams to get in there to extract people," he said.

☆ Lithuania may tax windfall bank profits, boost defence spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura speaks with Lithuania's Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste at the European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2022. "This is a critical situation, we are in an environment of high rates, so unexpected profits are appearing," central bank Governor Gediminas Simkus told a news conference. "The war in Ukraine and countries' reactions to it led to the high liquidity and high rates. The invasion also leads to more defence spending, so if we tax the windfall, the income would be used for defence", Skaiste told reporters. The neighbour of Russia had so far budgeted 2023 defence spending at 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion), or 2.52% of its gross domestic product.

☆ Zopa raises $92 million as SoftBank sits out funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Japanese conglomerate previously led a 220 million pound funding round in late 2021 that valued Zopa at roughly $1 billion. Zopa did not disclose a price tag for the funding round but said it "cements" its unicorn status, awarded to start-ups worth upwards of $1 billion. London-based Zopa started out as a peer-to-peer lender in 2005 and later moved to banking, amassing 2 billion pounds of consumer loans and more than 3 billion pounds of customer savings. In the meantime, Zopa will use the fresh cash to explore potential acquisitions, including of companies of similar size, Janardana said. The company is also considering raising 25 million pounds to 100 million pounds of Tier-2 debt later in the year to firm up its balance sheet, Janardana said, adding that the plans are contingent on the cost of debt.

☆ EU lawmakers agree to tougher rules on targeted political ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers on Thursday agreed to tougher rules on targeted political advertising aimed at countering misinformation during elections, drawing support from Google's YouTube and civil rights activists and concerns from a tech lobbying group. The rules require U.S. tech giants to provide more data on their targeted political ads, with fines up to 4% of their global turnover for breaches. EU lawmakers toughened up some of the provisions in the Commission's draft and will now have to thrash out details with EU countries before the proposed regulation can become legislation. Lawmakers also backed a blanket ban on using minors' data and a ban on non-EU based entities from financing political advertisements in the EU. They proposed setting up an online repository for all online political ads and related data, and the possibility of periodic penalties for repeated violations.

☆ Four of six accused get lengthy sentences over Vienna jihadist attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Vienna court on Thursday handed lengthy sentences, including life in prison, to four of six men accused of helping a jihadist prepare a deadly shooting rampage in 2020. While police said the gunman, Kujtim Fejzulai, who held Austrian and North Macedonian nationality, carried out the attack alone, the six defendants were accused of providing help beforehand. Two others received sentences of 20 and 19 years, the court said in a statement. The second defendant sentenced to life was Heydayatollah Z, 28, who lived with the attacker for weeks before the attack. The two defendants with the mildest sentences accepted the ruling, the court said, Of the remaining four, three plan to appeal and the other is considering it, added.

Experts estimate that about half of the German electric vehicles registered in the United States are leased. While the scale of the U.S. subsidies has attracted most attention, the EU has large potential resources of its own. THE REAL PROBLEM"The amounts of subsidies in Europe are in line or even more than those in the United States, that is not the problem," said one senior European Union official. "The real problems are the incentives to make firms move production to the United States," said the official, referring to the local content requirements. To ensure Europe can compete with the United States, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed measures including loosening EU state aid rules and repurposing existing EU funds.

Musk's Aug. 7, 2018 tweets sent Tesla stock soaring and after they fell back down, shareholders sued, alleging they lost money. But board members James Murdoch and Ira Ehrenpreis each said the tweets did not need to be vetted by the company before Musk sent them because he had done so in his individual capacity. The stock price soared after the tweet and then fell as it became clear the buyout would not happen. Tesla shareholders say they lost billions of dollars on their investments in stocks and other securities of the company. The buyout deal never came together because investors, particularly retail shareholders, expressed their interest in keeping the company public, according to testimony by Musk.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF.N) will build a $3-billion chip plant and a research and development centre in Germany, it said on Wednesday, expecting to start construction within months provided it receives subsidy approval from the European Union. Automotive supplier ZF (ZFF.UL) will invest $185 million for a stake in the chip fab and will take a majority stake in the research centre, the companies said. Wolfspeed expects to receive 20% of the investment amount in subsidies, Chief Executive Gregg Lowe told German newspaper Handelsblatt. Volkswagen, Europe's top carmaker, earlier this month warned that the chip squeeze meant 2023 would remain volatile and challenging, but expected supplies to improve. The company announced in September a new plant in the United States due for completion in 2030.

☆ Wolfspeed to build $3-bln EV chip plant in Germany
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF.N) will build a $3-billion chip plant in Germany, with automotive supplier ZF (ZFF.UL) investing $185 million for an equity stake, company officials said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. ZF's share of the factory's chip output will be defined by a separate contractual agreement, the companies said. "This is an important sign that Germany continues to be attractive even in difficult circumstances for high-tech investments," he said. "Amid the concerns that the U.S. wants to divert investments from Europe with its Inflation Reduction Act, we're showing that a U.S. firm wants to invest in Germany," a German government source said. The company announced in September a new plant in the United States due for completion in 2030.

LISBON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Europe was entering an "inevitable" post-pandemic period of airline consolidation as legacy flag-carriers struggle to navigate through a competitive landscape, the chief executive of low-cost carrier Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Wednesday. "We are definitely, post-COVID, entering a four or five-year period of consolidation," Ryanair's Michael O'Leary told Reuters on the sidelines of a news briefing in Portugal's capital Lisbon. Many of Europe's legacy airlines are finding it tough to effectively compete with budget carriers, hampered by weak balance sheets that could be made more robust by merging with rivals, analysts have said. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG are potential buyers, according to analysts. O'Leary said he believed the sector in Europe would move towards having four large airlines: Lufthansa, Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), IAG and and Ryanair.

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