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☆ Alibaba plans $1 billion investment in Turkey, Sabah reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Sabah newspaper reported Evans as saying in an interview that the company was looking to invest in Europe and the Middle East and that he sees Turkey as a very strong production base. "We have a serious investment plan at Istanbul Airport. We can evaluate e-export plans from here to Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. We plan an investment of more than $1 billion," Evans was quoted as saying. We are positioning this place as a base for Europe and the Middle East," he said.

☆ Financing for Chinese real estate firms jumps 33% year-on-year in December
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chinese property companies raised a total of 101.8 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) in December, up 33.4% year on year, driven by more state support for the highly indebted sector, according to market researcher CRIC. The figure for the year 2022 was 824 billion yuan, decreasing by 38% year over year, it said. China is also planning to relax restrictions on borrowing for property developers by dialing back the "three red lines" policy, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Lockdowns and movement control measures to control the spread of COVID-19 also hurt buyer sentiment. ($1 = 6.8370 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Yingzhi Yang and Brenda Goh Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Top Iranian Sunni cleric says torture of protesters un-Islamic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A top dissident Iranian Sunni cleric on Friday denounced as un-Islamic Iran's alleged use of forced confessions to convict detained protesters, as weekly demonstrations continued in the county's southeast. Meanwhile, the authorities' crackdown following nationwide protests continued with arrests, including that of a celebrity chef and a prominent journalist. "If someone does not accept the accusation, they torture him to accept it. After the sermon, demonstrators marched in Zahedan, chanting "Death to the Islamic Republic", according to videos posted on social media. Officials are yet to announce the reasons for the detention of Beik, who had interviewed relatives of arrested protesters.

☆ WHO says China releases COVID hospital data after reporting gap
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization received data from China on new COVID-19 hospitalisations after a reporting gap, with figures on Thursday showing a nearly 50% increase in the week to Jan. 1. The WHO's latest report showed 22,416 new hospitalisations for mainland China in the week to Jan. 1 versus 15,161 the previous week. Over the same week, the report showed China had 218,019 new cases and 648 new deaths, although these figures typically include Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau as well as mainland China. The WHO did not release a report last week due to end of year holidays. The body is preparing to meet Chinese scientists on Thursday as part of a wider briefing among member states on the global COVID-19 situation as concerns grow about the rapid spread of the virus in the world's No.

☆ Fed's George: It will be key to hold rates up once hikes end
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the interview, George said her colleagues should press forward with their ongoing efforts to shrink the size of the Fed's balance sheet. "I think it's very important that the Committee follow through on its plans to significantly reduce the balance sheet," George said. She noted that she still views the Fed using its balance sheet as a tool of monetary policy as experimental and full of the possibility of unintended effects on the economy. "I think we still have a lot to learn about what the consequences are of these balance sheet policies," George said. George said that she doesn't believe the size of the Fed's balance sheet has created major financial stability risks but said it's something that needs watching.

☆ Internet providers warn against EU plans to make Big Tech cover telcos costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A group representing internet service providers across Europe said on Tuesday that a proposal to make Big Tech companies pay towards telecom operators' network costs could create systemic weakness in critical infrastructure. In September, European Commission’s industry chief Thierry Breton said he would launch a consultation on so-called “fair share" payments in early 2023, before proposing legislation. Sanghani added that legislators should not prioritise "administrative rules [over] technical necessity or a high-quality internet" for those in Europe. Critics of the proposed SPNP (Sending Party Network Pays) model have warned the so-called "traffic tax" could lead content-driven platforms like Facebook and other social media platforms to route their services via ISPs (internet service providers) outside of the EU. This could have a knock-on effect for users in Europe, with platforms potentially compromising quality and security for the sake of avoiding fees.

☆ Iranian chess player was warned not to return to Iran after competing without hijab -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Elwely Elwelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships - Rapid Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 28, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board. REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevDUBAI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan. Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes. The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.

☆ Benedict's death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It could also prompt the current pontiff to review what happens to future popes who decide to shuffle away from office because of old age rather than holding on until they die. Francis is now 86, one year older than Benedict was when he retired. Australian Cardinal George Pell, a conservative who was close to Benedict, has written that while a retired pontiff could retain the title of "pope emeritus", he should return to being a cardinal, and be known as "Cardinal (surname), Pope Emeritus". They say a former pope should not return to being a cardinal, as Pell proposes, but be called "Bishop Emeritus of Rome". He said he would want it to be near a large church so he could spend his final days hearing confessions.

☆ Thousands more, including Hungary's Orban, bid farewell to Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pays homage to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 3, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERSVATICAN CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Thousands more people, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, paid homage to former Pope Benedict on Tuesday on the second day that his body lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica. Orban, the first head of government to pay their respects following Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, stood with his wife before Benedict's body for a few moments in prayer. Francis will preside at Benedict's funeral in St. Peter's Square on Thursday before a crowd that Vatican police say will be in the tens of thousands. Later, that one will be placed into a zinc coffin and then both will be placed into another coffin made of wood.

☆ EIB bank lends Tunisia 150 mln euros in emergency support for food security
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TUNIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the European Union, has approved a 220 million euro loan ($233 mln) for Tunisia, including 150 million euros in emergency support for food security, the Tunisian Ministry of Economy said on Sunday. Tunisia is in a deep financial crisis which has resulted in a shortage of many food commodities in recents weeks. Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Elyess Hamza said the loan will help Tunisia to regularly supply soft wheat. ($1 = 0.9450 euros)Reporting by Tarek Amara Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Euro zone bond yields jump a day after hawkish ECB
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Euro zone borrowing costs rose on Friday as investors revised their forecasts for bond yields after the European Central Bank pledged further monetary tightening to fight inflation. Germany's 10-year government bond yield , the benchmark of the bloc, touched 2.208% on Friday, its highest in a month, and was last up 8 basis points at 2.17%. The gap between 2-year and 10-year yields was at -28.5 bps after briefly hitting its lowest since 1992 at -41.9 bps. The yield spread was at 1 bp after falling into negative territory to as low as -15 bps. Rohan Khanna head of European and UK rates at UBS forecast the Italian-German yield spread in the 200-250 bps range in 2023.

☆ South Korea protests Japan's island claim in national security strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Dec 16 (Reuters) - South Korea issued a strong protest against Japan's territorial claim over disputed islands made in a national security strategy released on Friday while cautiously responding to Tokyo's plans for an unprecedented military buildup. South Korea's foreign ministry on Friday demanded an immediate removal of the territorial claims from Japan's national strategy documents, saying in a statement that the move did nothing to help "building a future-oriented relationship" between the two countries. The foreign ministry later said it summoned a senior diplomat from Japan's embassy in Seoul to lodge the protest. The defence ministry separately said it summoned a Japanese defence official to protest the claim. The islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan are controlled by Seoul with a small contingent of coast guards.

[1/2] The European Central Bank (ECB) building is seen from a cafe amid Christmas decorations, before the monthly news conference following the ECB's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany December 15, 2022. Formed in October, Meloni's government is also holding out on ratifying the euro zone's bailout fund. INFLATION TARGETECB policymakers from across the euro zone defended the bank's decision-making on Friday. Estonian governor Madis Mueller said rates would probably need to rise more than markets had expected so far, while Finnish central bank chief Olli Rehn said 50 bps hikes were likely at each of its next two meetings. Inflation in Germany, the euro zone’s biggest economy, is likely to be higher than earlier thought while economic growth will be weaker with a recession next year now certain, the Bundesbank said on Friday.

☆ Chinese capital Beijing reports first COVID deaths since policy easing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Two former Chinese state media journalists have died in the capital Beijing in recent days due to COVID-19, local media reported on Friday, among the first reported fatalities since most epidemic control policies were removed on Dec. 7. Yang Lianghua, a former People's Daily reporter, died on Dec. 15, aged 74, while Zhou Zhichun, a former China Youth Daily editor, died on Dec. 8, aged 77, according to financial magazine Caixin. China's national health authority has not reported any official COVID deaths since dismantling many of its domestic epidemic control policies on Dec. 7. The last official deaths were reported on Dec. 3, in Shandong and Sichuan provinces. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Canadian housing starts dip 0.2% in November; beat estimate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts edged lower in November compared with the previous month as a drop in single-detached urban starts offset groundbreaking in multiple unit urban homes, data from the national housing agency showed on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts fell to 264,159 units from a revised 264,581 units in October, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to fall to 255,000. Reporting by Fergal Smith Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ IAEA chief says to make all-out effort to stop North Korea's nuclear programme
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Rafael Grossi (L), director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks during a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea December 15, 2022. Jung Yeon-je/Pool via REUTERSSEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said on Thursday the IAEA would make an all-out effort to stop North Korea's nuclear programme and preserve international non-proliferation, according to South Korea's presidential office. Grossi said that he shares the international community's concern about the North Korea nuclear issue, South Korea's presidential office said. North Korea is believed to have completed preparations for the first nuclear test since 2017, according to officials from South Korea and the United States. The IAEA has not had access to North Korea since the secretive communist state expelled its inspectors in 2009.

☆ Irish soldier killed on U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - An Irish soldier was killed on a U.N. peackeeping mission in Lebanon late on Wednesday when a convoy of two armoured utility vehicles travelling to Beirut came under small arms fire, Ireland's defence forces said in a statement. Another Irish member of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is in a serious condition having undergone surgery following the incident, the statement said. "It is with deep regret that Óglaigh na hÉireann (the Irish defence forces) can confirm the death of one of our peacekeepers in a serious incident in Lebanon last night," the defence forces said, adding that a full investigation will commence. Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney, who is in New York for a U.N. Security Council meeting, said he will meet U.N. Secretary General António Guterres later on Thursday to discuss the incident. "As a people, we take great pride in our unbroken record of peacekeeping with the United Nations.

☆ One dead as fresh clashes erupt between Afghan, Pakistani border forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Abdul Khaliq AchakzaiQUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Clashes erupted once again between the border forces of Afghanistan and Pakistan near the key Chaman-Spin Boldak border crossing on Thursday, resulting in one death and over a dozen injuries, Pakistani officials said. Thursday's fighting started when Pakistani forces repairing a portion of the border fence damaged during Sunday's clashes came under attack from the Afghan side of the frontier, a provincial official Balochistan, Zahid Saleem, told Reuters. Both sides blamed each other for instigating Sunday's clashes. Afghanistan's ministry of defence, run by the Taliban administration, said in a post on Twitter that Pakistani forces had opened fire first, and called for a resolution of the issue through negotiations. The police spokesman of the Afghan province of Kandahar did not reply to a Reuters request for comment on the casualties.

☆ G20 wants to build policy consensus on crypto assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The Group of 20 (G20) countries are striving to build a policy consensus on crypto assets to inform better global regulation, India's federal economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth said on Wednesday. India, which currently holds the G20 presidency, is hosting the group's first meeting of finance and central bank deputies on Dec. 13-15 in Bengaluru. The implications of crypto assets for the economy, monetary policy and the banking sector should be studied to inform this consensus, Seth said at a news conference on the second day of the forum. In fact, one of the priorities which have been put on the table is to help countries build a consensus for policy approach to the crypto assets," he said. India, the world's third largest economy and second-most populous nation, assumed the G20 presidency for the first time earlier this month, taking over from Indonesia.

☆ Kremlin: U.S. Patriot systems in Ukraine would be legitimate target
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorise them to be delivered to support Kyiv. Washington is finalising plans to send the Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, a decision that could be announced as soon as this week, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced U.S. air defence systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. "It is the United States that is responsible for the prolongation and escalation of the Ukrainian conflict." For the United States, this has included NASAMS air defence systems that the Pentagon says have flawlessly intercepted Russian missiles in Ukraine.

☆ China's COVID spike not due to lifting of restrictions, WHO director says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The comments by the WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan came as he warned of the need to ramp up vaccinations in the world's No. Speaking at a briefing with media, he said the virus was spreading "intensively" in the nation long before the lifting of restrictions. "There's a narrative at the moment that China lifted the restrictions and all of a sudden the disease is out of control," he said. "The disease was spreading intensively because I believe the control measures in themselves were not stopping the disease. Beijing started pivoting away from its signature "zero-COVID" policy this month after protests against the economically damaging curbs championed by President Xi Jinping.

☆ Some Russian soldiers in Ukraine unhappy with top brass, Girkin says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nearly 10 months since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Some at the mid-levels of the military, Girkin said, were open about their dissatisfaction with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and even Putin. The United States' top general estimated on Nov. 9 that Russia and Ukraine had each seen more than 100,000 of their soldiers killed or wounded. Russia, Putin says, is defending Russians in Ukraine against a decadent West that ultimately wants to carve up Russia's vast resources and eradicate Russian civilisation. Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation.

Russia and Ukraine are not currently engaged in talks to end the fighting, which is raging in the east and south and reached Kyiv again on Wednesday. Zelenskiy said this week Russia should start withdrawing by Christmas as a step to end the conflict, Europe's biggest since World War Two. Moscow rejected the proposal outright, saying Ukraine must accept the loss of territory to Russia before any progress can be made. [1/5] Rescuers and police officers examine parts of the drone at the site of a building destroyed by a Russian drone attack, as their attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 14, 2022. DRONES STRIKE KYIVViolence returned to Kyiv, with the first major drone attack on Ukraine's capital in weeks.

☆ Lockerbie bomb maker suspect is in U.S. custody, Scottish prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoLONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A man accused of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 is in custody in the United States, Scottish prosecutors said on Sunday. "The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi ("Mas'ud" or "Masoud") is in US custody," a spokesperson for the COPFS said. "Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with al-Megrahi to justice." The bomb on board the Boeing 747 en route to the United States killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground, the deadliest ever militant attack in Britain. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Scottish prosecutors have maintained that Megrahi did not act alone.

☆ Serbs in Kosovo block roads, clash with police as ethnic tensions worsen
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In recent weeks Serbs in northern Kosovo, a hotbed of Serb nationalism, have met attempts by Pristina which they see as anti-Serb with violent resistance. Barricades must be removed immediately by groups of Kosovo Serbs. For a second day on Sunday, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles blocked several main roads in northern Kosovo that lead to two border crossings with Serbia. After Saturday's incidents, Goran Rakic, the head of the Serbian List party, which is supported by Belgrade, called on Serbs in northern Kosovo to show restraint and cooperate with NATO peacekeepers and EULEX. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with the backing of the West, following a 1998-1999 war in which NATO intervened to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo.

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