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Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Chinese authorities intended to unveil its fine on Ant as early as Friday. The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), a new government body under the State Council, is now the primary regulator to grant Ant the license, they added. The sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations.

Persons: China c.bank, Ant, Ping, Rukim Kuang, Jeffrey Towson, Jack Ma, China's, Pan Gongsheng, Pan, Didi Global, Alibaba, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Kevin Huang, Meg Shen, Twinnie Sui, Josh Ye, Ethan Wang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Brenda Goh, David Holmes, Susan Fenton Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Ping An Bank, PICC, HK, Postal Savings Bank, Tencent Holdings, Tenpay, Alibaba, Hong Kong, Lens Consulting, Communist Party, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, HONG KONG, Ant's, Hong, Beijing, CHINA

The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), a new government body under the State Council, is now the primary regulator to grant Ant the license, said the sources. PENALTY FOLLOWS MA'S RETURN TO CHINAThe final amount of the fine has been revised to at least 8 billion yuan, the sources said. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they had in mind initially. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations. ($1 = 7.2439 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Julie Zhu and Jane Xu; Additional reporting by Jason Xue; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alibaba, Rukim Kuang, Jack Ma, Ant, China's, Pan Gongsheng, Didi Global, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Muralikumar Organizations: Alibaba Honk, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Alibaba, HK, Lens Consulting, Communist Party, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Ant's, Beijing, CHINA, China

☆ Deep-sea metal rush in doubt as regulatory body meets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( David Stanway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Environmental groups expect next week's meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica, to rule out any immediate permission for mining to begin. Mining companies say the ocean floor is potentially rich in metals like nickel and cobalt used in batteries for electric vehicles, so their extraction will support the global energy transition. Any permitting delay will hurt the prospects of Canada's The Metals Company (TMC.O) (TMC), which has led efforts to exploit seabed minerals in the Pacific. TMC says that while deep-sea mining will have some ecological impact, it would be less damaging than land-based extraction. "The fact is no one has ever mined the sea floor in any major commercial capacity," said Victor Vescovo, an investor and deep-sea explorer who will attend the meeting.

Persons: Sian Owen, Victor Vescovo, David Stanway, Melanie Burton, Clara Denina, Robert Birsel Organizations: Authority, Mining, The Metals Company, TMC, Conservation Coalition, ISA, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Kingston , Jamaica, Pacific, Nauru, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, France, Norway, Melbourne, London

☆ Swedish PM says Vilnius summit natural time for NATO bid finale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson meet in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 5, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstJuly 5 (Reuters) - Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Wednesday after meeting U.S. President Joe Biden that the two leaders agreed that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius was a "natural time" to finalise the Nordic country's bid to join the alliance. "We both realize that the NATO summit in Vilnius in a week is a very natural time to finish this. But we both also know that only Turkey can make Turkish decisions," Kristersson told reporters at the Swedish embassy in Washington. Kristersson met President Biden in Washington to reaffirm U.S. backing for Sweden's NATO application, which is being held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ulf Kristersson, Jonathan Ernst, Kristersson, Biden, Johan Ahlander, Niklas Pollard Organizations: Swedish, White, REUTERS, NATO, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Swedish, Vilnius, Turkey, Washington, Hungary, Stockholm

☆ Sri Lanka parliament approves domestic debt restructuring plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, July 1 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's parliament approved a domestic debt restructuring plan on Saturday that is crucial to continue a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To put its debt on a sustainable footing and pass an IMF review, Sri Lanka unveiled a much-anticipated domestic debt restructuring framework last Thursday that seeks to rework part of the island nation's $42 billion domestic debt. "This debt restructuring plan is essential for Sri Lanka to meet the target set by the IMF agreement to reduce debt from the current 128% of GDP to 95% of GDP by 2023," State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe told parliament. Implementing the domestic debt plan is also crucial to push forward negotiations with bondholders and key bilateral creditors China, Japan and India. Sri Lanka aims to finalise debt restructuring talks by September.

Persons: Finance Shehan Semasinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Shivangi Acharya, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Sri, Finance, Thomson Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, India, New Delhi

☆ Deutsche Bank set to finalise Postbank IT integration project this weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, June 30 (Reuters) - Some Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) customers will not have access to all services this weekend as the bank completes the merger of its IT platforms with Postbank customers, a project that will save hundreds of millions of euros in the years to come. In the fourth and final wave of the integration process this weekend, Deutsche Bank will transfer 4 million contracts of 2 million Postbank customers to a common IT system, a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said. It will mean that customers will not have all access to all services over the weekend, which the bank has communicated on Twitter and elsewhere. Deutsche Bank is currently in the process of cutting costs and reducing headcount, and the Postbank technology integration, dubbed internally as project "Unity", will eventually bring savings of 300 million euros ($325.29 million) a year by 2025, the bank has said. After completion, Deutsche will have 19 million customers' contracts from Postbank on a single platform, a milestone for CEO Sewing as he continues to turn around the bank after years of losses and scandals.

Persons: Deutsche, Tom Sims, Miranda Murray, Jane Merriman Organizations: Deutsche Bank, Twitter, Sewing, Deutsche, Postbank, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT

☆ Factbox: Sri Lanka asks foreign investors for a 30% haircut in debt restructure
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The domestic debt restructure is needed to help the country reach the IMF programme goal of reducing overall debt to 95% of GDP by 2032. WHAT WILL THE DOMESTIC DEBT RESTRUCTURING INCLUDE? "We are asking foreign debt holders for a 30% haircut but that is still under discussion," Weerasinghe said. This will be implemented in Phase 2 of the domestic debt restructuring. Aiming to contain any potential market volatility, Sri Lanka declared a five-day holiday from June 29 to July 3.

Persons: Read, Nandalal Weerasinghe, Weerasinghe, Mahinda Siriwardana, CBSL, Uditha Jayasinghe, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Kim Coghill, Emelia Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Sri Lanka Development, Bank of Sri, Treasury, Sri, Thomson Locations: Colombo, Sri Lanka, Britain, Bank of Sri Lanka, China, Japan, India

☆ Xi faces being humiliated by his 'no limits' friendship with Putin. But he can't back out of it now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's Xi Jinping has formed close ties with Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia. But the Wagner rebellion exposed that Putin's authority is shakier than Xi realised, an analyst told Insider. If Russia loses against Ukraine, Xi would face global humiliation. If there are further signs Putin's grip on power is weakening, and chaos could engulf Russia, Xi faces a tough choice. "It's unlikely that Xi will go out of his way to support Putin's regime if that entails significant risks to China itself.

Persons: China's, Jinping, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Wagner, Xi, —, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Graeme Thompson, Moscow —, Thompson, Jonathan Ward, Ward Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Ukraine, Eurasia Group, Reuters, Atlas Group, Russia, West, Beijing Locations: Russia, Ukraine, China, Moscow, Taiwan, Beijing

TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor (7201.T) shareholders on Tuesday backed Chief Executive Makoto Uchida and other board nominees at its first annual general meeting since reaching a new deal with alliance partner Renault (RENA.PA). The shareholder meeting has taken place amid new ructions for the automaker's management. Nissan is investigating claims that Uchida carried out surveillance of deputy Ashwani Gupta, sources have said. There were no questions by shareholders about the claims at the shareholder meeting. Shareholders on Tuesday also rejected a proposal by an individual investor for higher dividends this financial year that was opposed by the company's board.

Persons: Makoto Uchida, Uchida, Ashwani Gupta, Gupta, Brenda Harvey, Maki Shiraki, Daniel Leussink, Chang, Ran Kim, David Dolan, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Nissan, Renault, IBM, Reuters, Thomson Locations: TOKYO

☆ Zambia's bondholders see debt restructure deal in coming weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Zambia's international bondholders expect to strike a debt restructuring deal with the country "in the coming weeks", a leading member said on Tuesday, a move that would draw a line under the nation's near three-year stint in default. "So I think we (bondholders) can now reach a deal in the coming weeks." Daly said that was something bondholders themselves had called for when restructuring talks became stalled last year over how much debt relief would be required. "The adjustment mechanism provides for an accelerated repayment schedule and higher interest rates if Zambia's debt carrying capacity improves from the current 'weak' classification to 'medium' classification," he said. While China has rejected writing off some of the debt altogether, bondholders could still do that, Daly added.

Persons: Hakainde, Kevin Daly, Daly, Situmbeko Musokotwane, Marc Jones, Chris Mfula, Libby George, Christina Fincher, Ed Osmond, William Maclean Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Zambian Finance, IMF, World Bank, Thomson Locations: China, Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Lusaka

☆ EU to meet on U.S. data transfer pact in mid-July - lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, June 26 (Reuters) - The European Commission is due to finalise a new data transfer pact with the United States by mid-July, a lawyer for Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), the bloc's lead regulator for many big tech firms, said on Monday. The European Union and United States agreed in March 2022 on the new mechanism to safely transfer EU citizens' personal data to the U.S. after Europe's top court threw out the two previous data transfer frameworks because of concerns about U.S. intelligence agencies accessing Europeans' private data. The two sides have since been working through the detail and Catherine Donnelly, a lawyer for the DPC, said the Irish regulator understood the pact will be presented to the College of Commissioners, the Commission's collective decision-making body, by mid-July. The social media giant said it expects the new pact to be fully implemented before it has to suspend transfers. Reporting by Padraic Halpin, additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels, editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Catherine Donnelly, Meta, Denis McDonald, Padraic Halpin, Foo Yun Chee, Christina Fincher Organizations: DUBLIN, European, Data, European Union, United, College of Commissioners, Facebook, Irish High Court, Thomson Locations: United States, Dublin, Europe, Brussels

☆ Indonesia's Pertamina, Malaysia's Petronas aim to take over Shell's Masela stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Emily Chow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) plan to jointly take over Shell's participating interest in the Masela gas project, Indonesia's energy minister said on Monday. Shell currently has 35% of the shares in the project and authorities are keen for the companies to complete the deal to move the project forward after years of delay. "They are both doing the negotiation," the minister, Arifin Tasrif, told Reuters, referring to Pertamina and Petronas. "They have to finalise what kind of joint scheme they are preparing," he said on the sidelines of an Energy Asia conference. Reporting by Emily Chow, Writing by Fransiska Nangoy Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Shell, Arifin Tasrif, Emily Chow, Fransiska, Shri Navaratnam, Robert Birsel Organizations: Petronas, Reuters, Energy, Thomson Locations: KUALA LUMPUR, Petroliam Nasional, Energy Asia

☆ Australian prime minister's visit to China to be locked in at 'appropriate time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, June 25 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that he would set the date for a China visit at an "appropriate time" as he stressed the importance of bilateral trade and expressed concerns about an Australian journalist detained in Beijing. Talks are under way about a visit by Albanese to China as Australia's centre-left Labor government pushes to end unofficial Chinese bans and tariffs placed on some Australian products in 2020 during a lowpoint in diplomatic relations. Australia continued to advocate for the removal of any impediments to trade between the "two great nations", Albanese added. China in May said it was set to resume imports of Australian timber days after Trade Minister Don Farrell returned from a trip to Beijing. A visit by Foreign Minister Penny Wong in December was followed weeks later by the resumption of coal shipments.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Cheng Lei, it's, Don Farrell, Penny Wong, Sam McKeith, David Gregorio Our Organizations: SYDNEY, Australian, Labor, NATO, Vilnius, Sky News, Trade, Foreign, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, Lithuanian, Australia

TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Nissan (7201.T) has launched an investigation into claims by a senior adviser that Chief Executive Makoto Uchida carried out surveillance of his deputy Ashwani Gupta, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said. In the letter, Nada said Uchida carried out surveillance over a long period. Asked to comment on the surveillance investigation, Nissan said in response to Reuters: "Independent third parties have been retained to verify facts and carry out appropriate actions." Nada did not detail in the letter how he knew of the alleged surveillance of Gupta. Nada is a member of two executive committees established by Nissan in 2019 as part of a governance reform after the Ghosn scandal.

Persons: Makoto Uchida, Ashwani Gupta, Hari Nada, Nada, Uchida, Renault, Gupta, Nissan, Akira Takeuchi, Anderson Mori, Tomotsune, Carlos Ghosn, Ghosn, Jean, Dominique Senard, Luca de Meo, de Meo, Greg Kelly, Nissan's, Ampere, David Dolan, Gilles Guillaume, Kevin Krolicki, David Clarke Organizations: Nissan, Financial Times, Reuters, Renault, NISSAN, RENAULT, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Tokyo, Lebanon, Japan, Paris

☆ European shares slide at open on rate hike worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 22 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Thursday on fears of continued monetary policy tightening, with London stocks falling on uncertainty about the size of the Bank of England's interest rate hike later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 1.2% by 0716 GMT, while the FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index shed 1.2%. The BoE is set to raise interest rates for a thirteenth time in a row, a day after inflation data came in higher than expected again, but bets were almost evenly split between a 25-basis-point and 50-basis-point hike. Rate-sensitive technology shares (.SX8P) dropped 1.2%, while a 1.9% fall in auto stocks (.SXAP) led declines. In a bright spot, shares of SES SA rose 4.3% after it said that it has ceased merger talks with Intelsat.

Persons: BoE, Shreyashi Sanyal Organizations: Bank of, Wednesday, Federal Trade Commission, SES SA, Intelsat, Thomson Locations: London, Bengaluru

June 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday the European Union should stop adopting a protectionist stance if it wants to reach a long-delayed trade deal with the Mercosur bloc. The EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay completed negotiations in 2019 but the deal has been on hold due to concerns about Amazon deforestation and Brazil's commitment to climate change action. "The additional letter the EU sent to Mercosur is unacceptable because they punish any country that did not comply with the Paris Agreement," Lula told a news conference on the final day of his trip to Italy. "Not even them (EU) complied with the Paris Agreement. Lula said the Mercosur bloc was preparing its response and urged EU countries to be more "sensitive and humble".

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Emmanuel Macron, Catarina Demony, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Union, Mercosur, EU, Thomson Locations: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mercosur, Paris, Italy, France, Marcron, South America

☆ Blinken encourages Turkish counterpart to support Sweden's NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA/WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged Ankara to support Sweden in its bid to join NATO in a meeting with new Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said. "(Blinken) also... encouraged Turkey's support for Sweden to join the NATO Alliance now," he said. Blinken welcomed Ankara's support for Kyiv and its work on the grain deal, which allows Ukrainian exports from Black Sea ports, the spokesperson said. Sweden and Finland both reversed decades of military non-alignment last year and applied to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Fidan said he was there to demonstrate Turkey's support for Ukraine.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Hakan Fidan, Fidan, Blinken, Matthew Miller, Tayyip Erdogan, Tobias Billstrom, Huseyin Hayatsever, Rami Ayyub, Daren Butler, Ali Kucukgocmen, Christina Fincher Organizations: NATO, Turkish, State Department, NATO Alliance, Kyiv, Swedish, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, WASHINGTON, Ankara, Sweden, Turkey, Vilnius, Ukraine, London, Black, finalise, Finland, Stockholm, Blinken, Washington

That deal, sketched out in February, was at the time the largest ever announced by number of planes. But it was surpassed on day one of the Paris show by Indian rival IndiGo's (INGL.NS) order for 500 Airbus narrowbody jets. Reuters GraphicsAir India's provisional deal included 250 planes from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. The Airbus part comprised 210 A320neo narrowbodies and 40 A350 widebodies, while the Boeing deal was for 190 737 MAX, 20 787 Dreamliners and 10 mini-jumbo 777X. Together with another 25 Airbus jets to be leased, the overall acquisition reaches 495 jets, an Airbus executive said at the time.

Persons: Royce, narrowbodies, Lars Wagner, Tim Hepher, Joanna Plucinska, Allison Lampert, Valerie Insinna, Aditi Shah, Mark Potter Organizations: Air India, Ethiopian Airlines, Paris, Airbus, Boeing, Reuters Graphics Air, Royce, Aero Engines, Tata, Emirates, Air, IndiGo, . Leasing, Avolon, Philippine Airlines, Qantas, Thomson Locations: PARIS, India, Paris, Air India

☆ Nigeria sets eight-week timeline to agree minimum wage with unions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Camillus Eboh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ABUJA, June 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's main labour unions and the government on Monday set an eight-week timeline to finalise an agreement to raise the minimum wage to help cushion the impact of high fuel prices after the removal of a popular but costly petrol subsidy. The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had threatened to strike after fuel prices tripled following President Bola Tinubu's decision to scrap the subsidy. Talks with the unions are one of the first challenges the new administration faces as it pushes forward with a raft of economic reforms. "Everything must be rolled out within that time, (it is) not something that we are going to leave endlessly," he said. Reporting by Camilus Eboh; Writing Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bola Tinubu's, Dele Alake, Festus Osifo, Tinubu, Camilus Eboh, Elisha Bala, Ed Osmond Organizations: Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Thomson Locations: ABUJA

The world's largest air show, which alternates with Farnborough in Britain, is at Le Bourget for the first time in four years after the 2021 edition fell victim to the pandemic. On the civilian side, planemakers arrived with growing demand expectations as airlines rush for capacity to meet demand and help reach industry goals of net zero emissions by 2050. REUTERS/Benoit TessierIndiGo's deal highlights the growing importance of India, the world's fastest-growing aviation market, serving the largest population, to planemakers. In another key market, Airbus said Saudi budget airline flynas had firmed up an order for 30 of its A320neo-family narrowbody aircraft, confirming a Bloomberg report. France's Thales (TCFP.PA) also announced a contract from Indonesia for 13 long-range air surveillance radars.

Persons: Le Bourget, Emmanuel Macron, planemakers, Sash Tusa, Benoit Tessier IndiGo's, there's, Pieter Elbers, flynas, Avolon, Tim Hepher, Joanna Plucinska, Allison Lampert, Valerie Insinna, Aditi Shah, Julia Payne, Nandan Mandayam, Mark Potter, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Airbus, Defence, Indian, Paris, Reuters, Air India's, Boeing, Farnborough, French Rafale, Industry, Partners, Air, REUTERS, Saudi, Bloomberg, Kyiv, Rafale, Eurofighter, Thales, Mexico's Viva, Thomson Locations: Paris, PARIS, Britain, UKRAINE, European, France, Germany, Spain, Le Bourget, India, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Belgium, Franco, Spanish, Indonesia, Air India

☆ Ghana sees agreement with bilateral creditors in coming weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ofori-Atta said the West African nation aimed to reach agreement with bilateral creditors in coming weeks, adding that it was in the process of getting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the creditors. The total external debt stock was about $30 billion. "We've successfully worked with the Paris Club and other creditors to determine the parameters for official debt restructuring under the G20 common framework for debt treatment," Ofori-Atta told journalists in Accra on Sunday. "In the coming weeks, we will seek to complete the MoU on terms with bilateral debt treatment," he added. Ofori-Atta said Ghana will continue discussions with private creditors, Eurobond investors on external debt to reach agreement with private creditors in the shortest possible time.

Persons: Ken Ofori, Atta, We've, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Bate Felix, Frances Kerry, David Evans Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Paris Club, Thomson Locations: ACCRA, Ghana, West, China, Accra

☆ EU considering major Tunisia aid package as migration surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking in Tunisia, von der Leyen said 900 million euros in macrofinancial assistance, plus an immediate 150 million euros in budget support could be ready "as soon as the necessary agreement is found", without elaborating. She said the EU would also this year provide Tunisia with 100 million euros for border management, search and rescue, anti-smuggling operations and returns "rooted in respect for human rights". Von der Leyen was accompanied by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country is the main arrival point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Tunisia. She said on Sunday the EU and Tunisia had already signed a joint declaration, which she hailed as an important step "towards the creation of a real partnership". She said there was "an important window of opportunity" to finalise the aid agreement before the European Council at the end of June.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, von der Leyen, Kais Saied, Saied, Von der Leyen, Mark Rutte, Giorgia Meloni, Tunisians, Angus McDowall, Federico Maccioni, Alex Richardson, Sharon Singleton Organizations: European, EU, International Monetary Fund, Dutch, Italian, IMF, European Council, Thomson Locations: TUNIS, European Union, Tunisia, Meloni, Europe, Tunisian, Tunis, Rome

☆ Tunisia will not be Europe's border guard, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TUNIS, June 10 (Reuters) - Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Saturday that Tunisia would not accept becoming a border guard for other countries ahead of a planned visit by European leaders concerned at the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen will offer aid when they visit on Sunday, Meloni said on Friday, with Tunisia facing a crisis in its public finances. "The solution will not be at the expense of Tunisia... we cannot be a guard for their countries," Saied said while visiting the port city of Sfax, the main departure point for migrants seeking to reach Italy by boat. European countries fear that would turbocharge what is already a big surge in cross-Mediterranean migration this year, particularly from Tunisia. Perilous Mediterranean crossings soared after Saied announced a crackdown on sub-Saharan migrants in February using language the African Union denounced as racialised.

Persons: Kais Saied, Giorgia Meloni, Mark Rutte, Ursula von der, Meloni, Saied, Fitch, Tarek Amara, Angus McDowall, Andrea Ricci Organizations: European Union Commission, IMF, Thomson Locations: TUNIS, Tunisia, Italian, Dutch, Sfax, Italy, African

☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

☆ Take Five: Skip, stop or go?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Leah Millis/File PhotoJune 9 (Reuters) - It's a week of the central bank heavies with the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan meeting. The Fed is tipped to stop with rate hikes (for now), the ECB, to keeping going (for now), while the BOJ remains in stop mode (for now). U.S. inflation numbers, Chinese data and a crunch moment for UBS and Credit Suisse means there's plenty happening. 1/ A LOT GOING ONMarkets get not one but two headline events with U.S. May inflation data out on Tuesday as the Fed kicks off its two-day meeting. For now, markets price in just one more increase this year, an outlook investors seem comfortable with, judging by the recent strong performance of U.S. stocks.

Persons: Leah Millis, Li Gu, Kevin Buckland, Ira Iosebashvili, Yoruk, Noele, Kazuo Ueda, Ueda, culls, Dhara Ranasinghe, Rae Wee, John O'Donnell, John Stonestreet Organizations: Federal Reserve, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan, ECB, UBS, Credit Suisse, U.S, Reuters, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Li, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York, Amsterdam, Zurich, China, China's, Swiss, Singapore, Frankfurt

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