DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ One dead as rare summer storm hits Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Bart H. Meijer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In Amsterdam, several people were injured as dozens of trees were toppled by the storm, damaging cars and houseboats along the city's canals. The storm, named Poly, is the Netherlands' worst ever during the summer months and its strongest overall since January 2018, weather agency Weeronline said. The last heavy summer storm was in 2015 and was the first in over a century. The summer storm is causing much damage as trees are heavy with leaves and many of them have become brittle during an unusually long dry spell in May and June. The storm will move east over the north of the country and is expected to become less intense during the afternoon.

Persons: Weeronline, Bart Meijer, Toby Sterling, Andrew Heavens, Jan Harvey, John Stonestreet, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: National Meteorology Institute, Arriva, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Noord, Holland, Amsterdam's Schiphol

☆ Macron convenes new crisis meeting after worst night of rioting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Dominique Vidalon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who had deployed 40,000 officers on Thursday night in a bid to quell a third night of unrest, said on Twitter that police made 667 arrests. Macron will meet with his cabinet at 1100 GMT in Paris, likely cutting short his attendance at a European Union summit in Brussels, his office said. Twelve buses were set on fire and destroyed overnight in a depot in Aubervilliers, in northern Paris. They said they had made 307 arrests in and around the city and that nine police and fire officers had been injured. In Roubaix, in northern France, a fire destroyed the office of the TESSI company and several cars were set on fire.

Persons: Nahel, Emmanuel Macron, Gerald Darmanin, Macron, Elisabeth Borne, Clement Beaune, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Jacques Chirac, Dominique Vidalon, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Jean, Stephane Brosse, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Pascal Rossignol, Elizabeth Pineau, Marc Leras, John Stonestreet Organizations: Firefighters, Twitter, Nationwide, Transport, RMC, Les, Nike, Police, Thomson Locations: Nanterre, Alma, Roubaix, France, Brussels, PARIS, Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, Lille, Paris, Algerian, Aubervilliers, NANTERRE, Paris's, Rue, Rivoli, France's, Le Vieux, Clichy

National police said on Thursday night that officers faced new incidents in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille, including fires and fireworks. The local prosecutor said the officer involved had been put under formal investigation over voluntary homicide and would be held in prison in preventive detention. Under France's legal system, being placed under formal investigation is akin to being charged in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. He said the officer had aimed down towards the driver's leg but was bumped, causing him to shoot towards his chest. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Pascal Prache, Mercedes, Nahel, Gonzalo Fuentes, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Prache, Macron, Jacques Chirac, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Layli, Noemie Olive, Leigh Thomas, Michel Rose, Richard Lough, John Stonestreet, Frank Jack Daniel, Alexandra Hudson, Daniel Wallis, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Nike, National, Lille, Le Vieux Port, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: France, Paris suburb NANTERRE, Algerian, Nanterre, Paris, Rivoli, Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, France's, Le Vieux, Provence, Paris suburb, Clichy, Blanc Mesnil

☆ PwC and KPMG fined over Eddie Stobart Logistics audit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Britain's accounting watchdog said on Thursday it had fined PwC and KPMG, two of the world's top four auditors, for "serious" failings in their auditing of Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) company in 2017 and 2018. PwC was fined 1.9 million pounds ($2.4 million), reduced from 3.5 million pounds due to exceptional cooperation and admissions, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said in a statement. PwC admitted failings related to property transactions entered into by ESL, audit procedures, and property lease accruals, the watchdog said. The FRC also fined PwC audit partner Philip Storer 51,187 pounds. The FRC said it had fined KPMG 877,500 pounds, reduced from 1.35 million pounds due to admissions.

Persons: PwC, Eddie Stobart, Philip Storer, Cath Burnet, Burnet, Nicola Quayle, Huw Jones, John Stonestreet, Mark Potter Organizations: KPMG, Eddie Stobart Logistics, Financial, Council, ESL, FRC, Thomson

☆ France unrest: Riots spread, police officer charged with shooting teenager dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Benoit Van Overstraeten | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The shooting of the 17-year-old, identified as Nahel, took place in Nanterre, on the western outskirts of Paris. The teenager, who was too young to hold a full license in France, was driving illegally, a source familiar with the investigation said. The Nanterre prosecutor said he was known to police for previously failing to comply with a traffic stop order. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency. Tuesday's killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023, down from a record 13 last year, a spokesperson for the national police said.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Gerald Darmanin, Macron, Darmanin, Elisabeth Borne, Pascal Prache, Nahel, Stephanie Lecocq, Jacques Chirac, Benoit Van Overstraeten, dominique Vidalon, John Stonestreet, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Government, . Police, REUTERS, Reuters, Prosecutors, Police, Thomson Locations: Paris, PARIS, France, North, Nanterre, Paris suburb, Republic, Lille, Toulouse, Amiens, Dijon, Clichy

With economic and monetary policy outlooks varying, currency moves are increasingly out of sync with each other. More pain is also anticipated for the yuan, trading near seven-month lows, as well as smaller Asian currencies. It's continuing to weaken against some European currencies and also Latin American currencies," he said. MULTI-LAYERED CRISISKit Juckes, head of FX strategy at Societe Generale, said the focus on monetary policy differences was also a result of uncertainties elsewhere. "We've got a one-in-a-100-years pandemic and once-in-75-years war and a-once-in-25-years energy crisis all thrown into the mix together," said SocGen's Juckes.

Persons: Yen, Pound, Jordan Rochester, Nomura, Lee Hardman, Hardman, Juckes, Morgan Stanley reckons, We've, SocGen's, You’ve, Dhara Ranasinghe, Alun John, John Stonestreet Organizations: The Bank of, European Central Bank, Reuters Graphics Rochester, Societe Generale, Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: Europe, COVID, Ukraine, The Bank of Japan, United States, Beijing, Scandinavia

☆ Morning Bid: G4 central bankers speak, chips wars rumble
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The picture was complicated further overnight as Tuesday's macro-driven rally in Wall St stocks was sideswiped by renewed Sino-U.S. trade tensions. AI darling Nvidia recoiled 4% (NVDA.O) in out-of-hours trade after reports Washington is considering new curbs on chip exports to China. But Wednesday's trading may well be dominated by news from a power panel at the European Central Bank's annual forum in Portugal. In currency markets, the dollar (.DXY) was firmer - especially against China's yuan , which hit a new low for the year. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Mike Dolan Eyeing, Jerome Powell, Christine Lagarde, Kazuo Ueda, Andrew Bailey, disinflation, Joe Biden, Wall, General Mills, Mike Dolan, John Stonestreet Organizations: Nvidia, Central, Federal, Bank of Japan, Bank of England, Wall St, Japan's Nikkei, People's Bank of China, European Central Bank, Bank of, ECB, Treasury, Micron Technology, General, General Mills New, Thomson, Reuters Locations: U.S, Wall St, Washington, China, Portugal, Australia, Canada, Chicago, Shanghai

☆ UK court to rule if plan to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoLONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - London's Court of Appeal will rule on Thursday if a British plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful, in a verdict that could make or break Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to stop migrants from arriving by boat. Under a deal struck last year, Britain's government plans to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrive on its shores more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to the East African country. In December, the High Court in London ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision is being challenged by asylum seekers from several countries along with human rights organisations. If the judges rule the plan is lawful, a government official said the flights could begin later this year if the courts reject any applications for further legal challenges. Sunak sees the deportation plan as central to deterring asylum seekers arriving from Europe.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Leon Neal, Rishi Sunak's, Sunak, Andrew MacAskill, John Stonestreet Organizations: European, of Human Rights, Court, Conservative Party, Labour Party, Scottish National Party, Thomson Locations: ENGLAND, Downing, London, United Kingdom, London's, British, Rwanda, East, Britain, Europe, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, France

☆ Sri Lanka's economy shrinks 11.5% in first quarter as financial crisis continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, June 15 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's economy (LKGDP=ECI) shrank 11.5% in the first three months of 2023, official data showed on Thursday, as the country remained in the grip of its worst financial crisis in decades. Sri Lanka's central bank projects that GDP will shrink by 2% this year while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates a contraction of 3%. "A pickup in private sector credit will be a growth positive and credit growth will increase over the next six to nine months," Cooray added. Sri Lanka's economy contracted by a record 7.8% last year after its foreign exchange reserves hit record lows, plunging the island into the worst financial crisis since it gained Independence from the British in 1948. But Sri Lanka still needs to complete debt restructuring talks by September in time for the first IMF review.

Persons: ”, Shehan Cooray, Cooray, Uditha, John Stonestreet, Susan Fenton Organizations: Statistics Department, Sri, International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka's, Sri, Sri Lanka

☆ North Korea fires two short-range missiles after warning of response to allied drills
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, June 15 (Reuters) - North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Thursday, the South Korean military said, less than an hour after Pyongyang warned of an "inevitable" response to military drills staged earlier in the day by South Korean and U.S. troops. The latest action by North Korea came as U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was in Tokyo for meetings with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts. The government was due to hold a National Security Council meeting, Kyodo news reported separately. North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions that have sanctioned the country. South Korea sued North Korea on Wednesday for $35 million in compensation for a liaison office that North Korea blew up in 2020, in a case highlighting the breakdown of ties between the neighbours as the North presses on with its weapons programmes.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Jake Sullivan, Cho Tae, Takeo Akiba, Yoon Suk, Heekyong Yang, Josh Smith, Tim Kelly, John Stonestreet, Alex Richardson, Chizu Organizations: South Korean, Korean, South, National, National Security Council, Kyodo, North Korea's Ministry of National Defence, United Nations, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, Pyongyang, U.S, Tokyo, Japan, Hegura, Ishikawa prefecture, South Korea, Korea, Seoul

☆ Greece scours shipwreck site; hundreds feared drowned in boat's hold
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Stamos Prousalis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"When you are faced with such a situation... you need to be very careful in your actions," coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou told state broadcaster ERT. Citing initial testimonies from survivors, Save the Children charity said around 100 children were believed to be in the vessel's hold. Of the 104 survivors so far transferred by the coast guard to the Greek port city of Kalamata, most were men, authorities said. The search operation will continue for as long as needed, the coast guard said. Aerial pictures released by the Greek coast guard showed dozens of people on the boat's upper and lower decks looking up, some with arms outstretched, hours before it sank.

Persons: Nikos Alexiou, Daniel Gorevan, Stelios Misinas, Nawal Soufi, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Karolina Tagaris, Angelo Amante, Michele Kambas, John Stonestreet, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Rescuers, ERT, Organization for Migration, EU, Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, Independent, European Union, NATO, United Nations, Thomson Locations: KALAMATA, Greece, Pylos, Italy, Europe, Kalamata, Athens, Tobruk, East, Asia, Africa, Libya, Lefteris, Rome

☆ Pope Francis orders ex-aide of Pope Benedict to leave Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, June 15 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has ordered Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the private secretary and long-time aide of the late Pope Benedict, to return to his native Germany by the end of the month without any new assignment, the Vatican said on Thursday. A Vatican statement put an end speculation about what role Gaenswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have in the Church. Former Pope Benedict died on Dec. 31, nearly a decade after he resigned in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years. The two-line statement said Francis "had disposed" that the 66-year-old Gaenswein return to his diocese of Freiburg "for the time being". He was Benedict's personal secretary from 2003, when Benedict was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and remained at his side for nearly 20 years, nearly 10 of them after Benedict resigned.

Persons: Pope Francis, Georg Gaenswein, Pope Benedict, Francis, Gaenswein, Benedict, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, Pope Benedict's, Philip Pullella, John Stonestreet, Toby Chopra Organizations: CITY, Church, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Germany, Freiburg, Gaenswein

☆ UK streamer BritBox just inked a big Comcast deal and is poised to grab more US viewers with shows that go way beyond Agatha Christie
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

British streamer BritBox just scored a deal with Comcast as it eyes US expansion. BritBox is like other enthusiast streamers that have sustained growth while big SVODs' growth has slowed. BritBox International, the British-specialty streaming service backed by BBC Studios and ITV Studios, has big ambitions for growth. The Xfinity opportunity is "a real step change in terms of distribution and access," said Reemah Sakaan, CEO of BritBox International. But BritBox sees itself in a good position to complement the big streamers — as British content moves into the mainstream and interest in high-quality, international content grows.

Persons: it's, Comcast's, BritBox, Reemah Sakaan, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Matthew Macfadyen, John Stonehouse, Frannie Langton, Jed Mercurio's, Mercurio's, Cary Grant, Archie, Jason Isaacs, Harry Potter, Matthew Macfadyen's, Brian Cox, Logan Roy, Robert Schildhouse, King Charles, Sakaan, We've Organizations: Comcast, BritBox, BBC Studios, ITV Studios, AMC, BET, Netflix, Hulu, US, Amazon's, Disney, Labor, Warner Bros, Hollywood, Writers ' Guild of Great Locations: British, Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, " Stonehouse, BritBox, American, Stonehouse, North America, Writers ' Guild of Great Britain

Greek authorities said it was too soon to speculate on the total number. Greek authorities said it remained unclear how many the vessel was carrying when it went under, and that 104 people had been rescued by midday. We do not know how many people were in the hold," Greek coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou told Greece's MEGA TV. [1/4] Rescuers transfer a migrant to an ambulance following a rescue operation after their boat capsized at open sea, in Kalamata, Greece, June 14, 2023. Italian authorities then alerted Greece to the vessel's presence, and the Greek coast guard approached it and offered help.

Persons: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Nikos Alexiou, Greece's, Filippo Grandi, Stelios, Mitsotakis, Stamos Prousalis, Karolina Tagaris, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, John Stonestreet, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: European Union, ERT, Twitter, Greece's MEGA, Refugees, REUTERS, EU, Frontex, NATO, Wednesday, United Nations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: KALAMATA, Greece, East, Asia, Africa, Turkey, Italy, Libyan, Tobruk, Crete, Europe, Kalamata, Pylos, capsizing, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Athens, Libya, EU, Europe's, Geneva, Reuters Libya

Neither Azour nor Hezbollah-backed candidate Suleiman Frangieh came close to winning the 86 votes needed to win in a first round vote. Azour, the IMF's Middle East Director and an ex-finance minister, won the support of 59 of 128 lawmakers. Hezbollah and its allies then withdrew from the session, denying the two-thirds quorum required for a second vote in which 65 votes are enough for victory. Azour thanked lawmakers who backed him, saying he hoped the will expressed by "the majority of deputies" would be respected. George Adwan, a Christian lawmaker with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party, said the vote was "a major victory" because it showed Azour close to 65 votes.

Persons: Gebran Bassil, Azour, Suleiman Frangieh, Frangieh, Nabih Berri, Michel Aoun, Hussein al, Haj Hassan, Bashar al, Assad, George Adwan, Mohamed Azakir, Matthew Miller, Miller, Mohanad Hage Ali, Riad Salameh, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan dialled, Issam Abdallah, Simon Lewis, Tom Perry, John Stonestreet, Mark Heinrich, William Maclean Organizations: BEIRUT, Hezbollah, IMF, Maronite, Hezbollah Lebanese Forces, REUTERS, U.S . State Department, Carnegie Middle East Center, West, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Iran, Muslim, Saudi Arabia, Lebanese, Yemen, Beirut, Washington, U.S, United States, Israel, Damascus

[1/5] A migrant is transferred by rescue personnel, following a rescue operation, after their boat capsized at open sea, in Kalamata, Greece, June 14, 2023. Eurokinissi via REUTERSATHENS, June 14 (Reuters) - At least 59 migrants drowned early on Wednesday and more were feared missing after their overloaded boat capsized and sank off Greece in the country's deadliest shipwreck this year, the coast guard said. "We fear the number of dead will rise," said a shipping ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A coast guard vessel then approached the boat, which was en route to Italy, and offered help. The large number of migrants on its outer deck "refused assistance and stated their desire to continue their voyage," the coast guard said.

Persons: Karolina Tagaris, Sharon Singleton, John Stonestreet Organizations: Eurokinissi, REUTERS, EU, Frontex, State, ERT, European Union, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Kalamata, Greece, REUTERS ATHENS, Pylos, Italy, Libyan, Tobruk, Crete, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, East, Asia, Africa, Turkey, Spain, Malta, Cyprus

☆ Ugandan law widens Anglican Church rift over LGBTQ rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion's 85 million members, said last week he had written to Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba to express "grief and dismay" at Kaziimba's support for the law. Issues of LGBTQ rights have sharply divided Anglicans, with the church's GAFCON coalition of conservative adherents among the most critical. The statement by Mbanda, who is also the head of Rwanda's Anglican Church, mentioned but did not explicitly offer support for the Ugandan law. Anglicans created GAFCON in 2008 in response to what the group says was certain Western churches' abandonment of bible-based orthodoxy. The Church of Uganda says 36% of Uganda's population of around 45 million are Anglicans.

Persons: Justin Welby, Stephen Kaziimba, Joe Biden, GAFCON, Laurent Mbanda, Mbanda, Welby, Archbishop Kaziimba, Philbert Girinema, George Obulutsa, John Stonestreet Organizations: Wednesday, of England, U.S, Anglican, Global, Thomson Locations: KIGALI, Uganda, Africa

☆ Manchester City dance in the rain to celebrate treble
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - Manchester City Victory Parade - Manchester, Britain - June 12, 2023 Manchester City's John Stones is pictured holding the Champions League trophy alongside Erling Braut Haaland and teammates during the parade REUTERS/Phil NobleJune 12 (Reuters) - Even a thunderstorm could not dent Manchester City's rousing victory parade on Monday as the players and manager Pep Guardiola celebrated completing the long-awaited treble after winning the Champions League trophy over the weekend. The blue side of Manchester were all euphoric as the team and fans also celebrated becoming only the second English club to win the treble, equalling the 1999 milestone of their fierce rivals Manchester United. "What a parade, what an afternoon, it had to be the best parade with this rain, otherwise is not Manchester. We don't want sunshine," said Premier League manager of the year Guardiola in front of thousands of fans. As the players left the stage, the celebrations seemed far from over for the City fans who were ready to party on long into the night.

Persons: John Stones, Erling Braut Haaland, Phil Noble, Pep Guardiola, Guardiola, Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, I've, Kalvin Phillips, Janina Nuno Rios Organizations: Soccer Football, Manchester, Victory, Champions League, League, City, FA Cup, Premier League, Inter Milan, European, Manchester United, United, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain, Mexico City

☆ Manchester City's Rodri named Champions League Player of the Season
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 11 (Reuters) - Manchester City midfielder Rodri was named the Champions League's Player of the Season by UEFA on Sunday after a stellar 2022-23 campaign. Rodri appeared in all but one of City's Champions League matches, scoring twice. Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was named the Champions League's Young Player of the Season, capping a remarkable campaign for the 22-year-old Georgian. Kvaratskhelia won the league title with Napoli and also claimed Serie A's Player of the Season award earlier this month. Team of the season:Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)Defenders: Kyle Walker (Man City), Ruben Dias (Man City), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Federico Dimarco (Inter)Midfielders: John Stones (Man City), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Rodri (Man City)Forwards: Bernardo Silva (Man City), Erling Haaland (Man City), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Rodri, Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kvaratskhelia, Thibaut Courtois, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Alessandro Bastoni, Federico Dimarco, John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, Vinicius Junior, Tommy Lund, Toby Davis Organizations: Manchester City, UEFA, Spain international, City, Inter Milan, City's Champions League, Napoli, Inter, Midfielders, Real, Thomson Locations: Saturday's, Real Madrid, Man, Gdansk

☆ 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

☆ China's central bank upbeat on Q2 GDP growth, confident on 2023 targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some analysts have predicted the central bank may begin to cut key rates as soon as next week after a flurry of weak data highlighted the fragility of China's economic rebound. "It is expected that year-on-year growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter will be relatively high (mainly due to the base effects). The CPI is expected to gradually pick up in the second half of the year and be above 1% year-on-year by December," the PBOC statement quoted Yi as saying. The government has set a modest GDP growth target of around 5% for this year, after badly missing the 2022 goal. Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo; editing by John Stonestreet and Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yi Gang, Yi, Ellen Zhang, Ryan Woo, John Stonestreet, Sharon Singleton Organizations: People's Bank of China, Group, SAIC Motor Corp, Citibank, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, United States, Europe, Shanghai, China

☆ Royal wedding showpiece highlights Jordan's role as West's stable ally
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Prince Mohammed last visited Jordan a year ago following years of tensions, also prompting hopes then that warmer ties would unlock more fulsome economic support. KING-IN-WAITING[1/10] Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif are seen together at their royal wedding ceremony, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023 in this screen grab taken from a video. At the Arab League summit in Jeddah last month, he walked alongside his father to greet Crown Prince Mohammad. Washington's desire for a stable ally in an otherwise volatile region meant it too has often turned a blind eye to Jordan's slow democratic reforms and mixed human rights record. It's the prince's wedding, not ours," said Abdullah al-Fayez, a retired servicemen living on slim savings on the outskirts of Amman.

Persons: Prince Hussein, Rajwa Al Saif, Britain's William, Kate AMMAN, King Abdullah, Jordan, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Lady Jill Biden, Britain's Prince, Princess of Wales, William, Kate, Prince Mohammed, Hamza, Hussein, Joe Biden, Prince Mohammad, Prophet Mohammed, Alia Ibrahim, Abdullah al, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, John Stonestreet Organizations: West, Saudi, U.S, Royal Hashemite, REUTERS, Georgetown, Sandhurst, League, International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Saudi, West, U.S, Amman, Jordan, Jeddah, Mecca, Iraq, Syria

☆ BRICS ministers put on show of strength as Putin arrest warrant looms large
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Wendell Roelf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The answer is the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) will indicate what the final position of South Africa is. At a news conference later, the ministers side-stepped a barrage of questions about the Putin issue. The ICC accused Putin in March of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. South Africa had invited Putin in January. The BRICS bloc "was inclusive ... in sharp contrast to some countries' small circle, and so I believe the enlargement of BRICS will be beneficial to the BRICS countries," he said.

Persons: Putin, Naledi Pandor, Vladimir Putin, Pandor, Cyril Ramaphosa, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ma Zhaoxu, Hossein Amir, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Carien du Plessis, Anait, Bhargav Acharya, Nellie Peyton, Alexander Winning, Estelle Shirbon, Joe Bavier, John Stonestreet, Ros Russell, Andrew Heavens Organizations: West, International Criminal Court, ICC, United Nations Security Council, New Development Bank, China's, BRICS, Iran's, Saudi, United, Thomson Locations: Cape Town, Africa, South Africa, Johannesburg, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Ukraine, Moscow, Beijing, Venezuela, Argentina, Algeria, United Arab Emirates

☆ Euro zone inflation tumbles, fuelling ECB rates debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Some economists argued that the bigger than forecast drop in underlying inflation suggests that not much work is left to be done. "Underlying inflation has probably passed its peak," Commerzbank economist Christoph Weil said. "This supports our expectation that the ECB will raise key interest rates by 25 basis points for the last time in June." Services inflation slowed to 5.0% from 5.2% while price growth for industrial goods eased to 5.8% from 6.2%, still excessive but both moving in the right direction. Euro zone wage growth is hovering in the 5% to 6% range, twice the rate that would be consistent with the ECB's inflation target.

Persons: Christine Lagarde, Christoph Weil, Nordea, Balazs Koranyi, John Stonestreet Organizations: FRANKFURT, European Central Bank, ECB, Thomson Locations: Germany, Netherlands, Ireland

SummarySummary Companies Wall Street indexes trade lowerBenchmark 10-year yields downU.S. dollar reach two-month highOil prices fall, Safe-haven gold gainsNEW YORK, May 31 (Reuters) - Global equities and U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Wednesday as risk-off sentiment dominated markets, with investors focused on a much-anticipated vote in Congress on raising the U.S. debt ceiling. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday on a bipartisan deal that would lift the $31.4 trillion ceiling and allow the government to avert a default. The dollar index rose 0.577%, with the euro down 0.86% to $1.0641. Oil prices fell amid demand concerns following weak economic data from top importer China. Gold prices firmed despite the dollar's strength, though optimism about a U.S. debt deal kept bullion on course for a first monthly dip in three.

Persons: Ryan Detrick, Chibuike Oguh, John Stonestreet, Emelia Organizations: YORK, Global, Treasury, U.S . House, Democrats, Carson Group, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Benchmark, U.S, Federal Reserve, China, Brent, West Texas, Thomson Locations: New York

Search resuls for: "John Stone"

25 mentions found