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☆ S.Korea court accepts injunction against Kakao purchase of SM shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, March 3 (Reuters) - A South Korean court accepted on Friday an injunction filed by SM Entertainment (041510.KQ) founder Lee Soo-man against the acquisition of SM shares by Kakao Corp (035720.KS), blocking its bid to own a 9.05% stake in the K-pop agency, Lee's lawyer said. HYBE has already secured a 15.8% stake in SM and is seeking to acquire more shares through a tender offer bid. SM's current management have called the takeover attempt hostile and has sought to team up with Kakao to pursue various businesses. SM and Kakao did not immediately reply to requests from Reuters for comment. Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; editing by John Stonestreet, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Take Five: A manic March
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Another dose of hot job growth after January's payrolls increase of 517,000 trounced estimates could stoke fears of more hawkish Fed action. Powell has said the January jobs report showed why the battle against inflation will "take quite a bit of time". Powell's comments and the jobs data could help settle what the Fed does later this month. The RBA hinted at further tightening at its meeting last month, but data since then has pointed the other way. After a red-hot January rally, bonds and equities retreated in February as strong data sparked concerns about more rate hikes.

☆ Tesla sold 74,402 China-made EVs in February, up 32% y/y
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Tesla is seen at a Tesla Supercharger station October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd WiegmannCompanies Tesla Inc FollowSHANGHAI, March 3 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) sold 74,402 China-made electric vehicles (EV) in February, up 31.65% from a year earlier, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data showed on Friday. That was up 12.6% from January, when the U.S. electric car maker delivered 66,051 China-made Model 3 and Model Y electric cars. Rival BYD with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and hybrids sold 191,664 vehicles last month, CPCA data showed. It has started delivering cars to Thailand and set up its first Supercharger station in there in February.

☆ Under the radar, Germany trains Ukrainians on advanced air defence weapon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It is a modern system, whereas they have known the potential of the Leopard tanks for a while," said a German air force officer by way of explanation. Asked about the main differences to older Soviet-built air defences such as the S-300 or Buk, the Ukrainians cited greater effectiveness but also greater complexity. A German trainer said IRIS-T, built by German arms maker Diehl, could not be operated by "turning a switch on and off. It takes only a third of the time to set up its radar compared with the decades-old Patriot system - a critical factor, as any air defence system gives away its position once the radar is turned on. In Ukraine, the air space is closed - if anything flies there, it can be dangerous," said Dmytro.

Germany wants Switzerland to sell some of the tanks back to arms maker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), which would allow the company to backfill gaps in the armaments of European Union and NATO members. Germany, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden are among countries sending Leopard tanks to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian attack, creating gaps in their own arsenals. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Economics Minister Robert Habeck informed Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd about the project in a letter dated Feb. 23, the defence ministries in Bern and Berlin told Reuters on Friday. Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine. The Swiss military currently has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service and a further 96 in storage.

☆ Pakistan expects $1.3 bln financing from China's ICBC soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, March 3 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Pakistan will receive $1.3 billion in financing from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd in coming days to help shore up its foreign exchange reserves, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday. Dar said the total $2 billion is in effect Pakistan borrowing back the debt repayments it has paid to Beijing for previously agreed loans. He said Pakistan will need $5 billion external financing to close its financing gap this fiscal year, which ends in June. More external financing will be coming to Pakistan only after Islamabad signs a deal with International Monetary Fund (IMF), which the minister said should be done by next week. Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid; editing by John Stonestreet and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BENGALURU, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. boutique investment firm GQG Partners has bought shares worth $1.87 billion in four Adani group companies, marking the first major investment in the Indian conglomerate since a short-seller's critical report sparked a stock rout. U.S-based, Australia-listed GQG has, through block deals, bought shares worth 154.46 billion rupees in four Adani group companies, including the conglomerate's flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), a regulatory filing showed. GQG took a 3.4% stake in Adani Enterprises for about $662 million, 4.1% in Adani Ports for $640 million, 2.5% in Adani Transmission for $230 million, and a 3.5% stake in Adani Green Energy for $340 million. "This transaction marks the continued confidence of global investors in the governance, management practices and the growth of Adani Portfolio of companies," said Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh. In the run-up to the announcement, Adani group shares rallied, with Adani Enterprises climbing nearly 35% over the last three sessions, Adani Ports 11% and Adani Green Energy 16%.

Summary At least 46 killed in Greece's worst train disasterGovernment promises to fix ailing rail systemRailway workers walk off job in safety standards protestLARISSA, Greece, March 2 (Reuters) - The death toll from Greece's deadliest train crash was set to rise even higher, with 46 confirmed dead but ten people still missing, authorities said on Thursday. As many in Greece demanded answers, rescuers continued to comb through charred and buckled rail carriages to try and find more victims. [1/5] Rescuers operate on the site of a crash, where two trains collided, near the city of Larissa, Greece, March 2, 2023. INVESTIGATIONThe station master of Larissa train station was arrested on Wednesday and appeared before a local magistrate on Thursday. The Italian operation has responsibility for passenger and freight, and the Greek state-controlled OSE for infrastructure.

☆ Greek rescuers comb through train crash wreckage as hopes fade
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Lefteris Papadimas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Rescuers operate on the site of a crash, where two trains collided, near the city of Larissa, Greece, March 2, 2023. The high-speed passenger train with more than 350 people on board crashed head-on with a freight train near the city of Larissa late on Tuesday, and hopes of finding anyone still alive in the wreckage more than 34 hours later appeared slim. The station master of Larissa train station was arrested on Wednesday as authorities probed the circumstances that led to the passenger train, en route to the northern city of Thessaloniki, colliding with another train carrying shipping containers coming in the opposite direction on the same track. Nikos Tsouridis, a retired train driver trainer, said drivers involved in the crash had died "because there were no safety measures. The Italian operation has responsibility for passenger and freight, and the Greek state-controlled OSE for infrastructure.

☆ "I was unable to save them," mourns fisherman after Italian migrant shipwreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Fisherman Vincenzo Luciano looks on in the aftermath of a deadly migrant shipwreck in Steccato di Cutro near Crotone, Italy, March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Remo CasilliSTECCATO DI CUTRO, Italy, March 2 (Reuters) - It was a Sunday that Italian fisherman Vincenzo Luciano will never forget. Well before dawn he ran to the beach near his house and started pulling bodies from the sea, victims of a deadly migrant shipwreck that has so far claimed 67 lives. I saw 10 bodies all on top of each other," he told Reuters, adding that other would-be rescuers had also reached the scene quickly. Italian authorities say between 150-200 migrants were on board the wooden boat that, after setting sail from Turkey, broke apart off Steccato di Cutro in southern Italy.

☆ UK house prices fall by most since 2012, mortgage approvals drop
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts in a Reuters poll published on Tuesday expect house prices to fall by 2.4% in 2023, less than previously as a resilient job market and easing recession fears soften the blow of higher borrowing costs. Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to fall by 0.9% from a year earlier and by 0.4% in monthly terms. "Solid gains in nominal incomes together with weak or declining house prices will also support housing affordability, especially if mortgage rates edge lower in the coming months." Nationwide forecast in December that house prices would fall 5% in 2023. Gabriella Dickens, an economist with consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said she expected house prices would fall to about 8% below last year's peak.

March 1 (Reuters) - "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) has been accused by a union of illegally firing two video game testers for using "strong language" in a protest at a new company policy that limits remote work. The case is the latest the union has brought to the labor board as part of a campaign to unionize the firm and its subsidiaries. Small groups of game testers at three Activision subsidiaries voted to join the CWA last year. The change received an overwhelmingly negative response from employees, the CWA said, and Activision fired two game testers who "expressed their outrage using strong language." "When faced with unfair treatment by unscrupulous employers like Activision, workers should have the right to express themselves," CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens said in a statement.

[1/3] Greta Thunberg is carried away as activits demonstrate outside the Ministry of Finance entrance and several other ministries in protest that the wind turbines at Fosen, which the Supreme Court has said are illegal, have not been demolished. Alf Simensen/NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, March 1 (Reuters) - Norwegian police on Wednesday briefly detained environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg during a demonstration in Oslo, removing her and other activists from the finance ministry. The campaigners are demanding the removal of wind turbines from reindeer pastures on Sami Indigenous land in central Norway. Thunberg, holding a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was lifted and carried away by police officers while hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans. Activists on Tuesday said they had raised close to $100,000 in recent days to help individual demonstrators pay police fines.

March 1 (Reuters) - "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) has been accused by a union of illegally firing two video game testers for using "strong language" in a protest of a new company policy that limits remote work. The case is the latest the union has brought to the labor board as part of a campaign to unionize the firm and its subsidiaries. Small groups of game testers at three Activision subsidiaries voted to join the CWA last year. The change received an overwhelmingly negative response from employees, the CWA said, and Activision fired two game testers who "expressed their outrage using strong language." "When faced with unfair treatment by unscrupulous employers like Activision, workers should have the right to express themselves," CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens said in a statement.

"This is an encouraging set of data, but still is only one month, and challenges remain." Global oil prices went higher, underlining how a strong Chinese recovery could fuel global inflation through increased energy demand. STUBBORN INFLATIONIn Europe, German data showed the fight against inflation still has some way to go. Factory activity continued to shrink in Taiwan and Malaysia in February, and expanded at a slower pace in the Philippines, surveys showed. Separate data showed South Korea's exports fell 7.5% in February from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of declines, partly due to a plunge in semiconductor exports.

Despite relief measures, energy prices in February were 19.1% higher on the year, while food prices were 21.8% higher, it said. The first one was driven by energy prices and the second one by material inputs, which are not ebbing. While energy prices were keeping headline inflation high, wage growth will show its impact in core inflation, which will remain stubbornly high, Brzeski said. "Hence, a stepdown to a 25bp pace of hikes could be delayed, which would also push the terminal rate higher." "The interest rate step announced for March will not be the last," Nagel said in a speech.

☆ Brazil bank lending down for the first time in a year in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Outstanding loans in Brazil decreased by 0.3% in January, according to central bank data on Monday, marking the first decline in a year. The result suggests a slowdown that is likely to gain momentum in a scenario of high borrowing costs following the aggressive monetary tightening implemented by the central bank to curb inflation. Bank loans in Latin America's largest economy have decelerated amid more expensive credit, as the country's benchmark interest rate stands at 13.75% from a record low of 2% in March 2021. The central bank has left interest rates unchanged since September, but data from the central bank shows that average interest rates on non-earmarked loans have increased to 43.5% per year from 41.7% in December. Bank lending spreads also grew from 28.7 points the month before to 30.6 percentage points, while a broad measure of Brazilian consumer and business default ratios increased to 4.5% from 4.2% in December.

☆ China says U.S. 'endangered' peace with Taiwan Strait fly-through
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China accused the United States of "endangering" peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait after a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance military plane flew through the sensitive waterway on Monday. Beijing has been incensed by U.S. military missions through the narrow strait, most frequently of warships but occasionally of aircraft, saying China "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction" over the waterway. Taiwan and the United States dispute that saying it is an international waterway. "The U.S. side's actions deliberately interfered with and disrupted the regional situation and endangered peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The United States has previously said such missions show the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

[1/3] A Falcon 9 rocket is readied before launch on NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission, which will take four crew members to the International Space Station, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 26, 2023. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule had been scheduled for liftoff at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Neither NASA nor SpaceX immediately said how long it might actually take before they would be ready to try again. Had Monday's launch been a success, it was expected to take the crew about 25 hours to reach their destination at the International Space Station (ISS), a laboratory orbiting about 250 miles (420 km) above Earth. Reporting by Joe Skipper in Cape Canaveral and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Will Dunham, John Stonestreet and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New Turkey quake kills one person, flattens more buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The latest aftershock, with a magnitude of 5.6 and depth of 6.15 km, hit three weeks after a massive quake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Turkey has arrested 184 people suspected of complicity in the collapse of buildings in this month's earthquakes and investigations are widening, a minister said on Saturday. On Sunday, AFAD announced that the death toll in the devastating quake three weeks ago had risen to 44,374. More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey by the disaster, the worst in the country's modern history. After the latest tremor, AFAD issued a fresh warning on Twitter telling people not to enter or even stand near damaged buildings in the earthquake zone.

Sturgeon, in office since 2014, unexpectedly announced last week she was resigning as first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, saying she had become too divisive. The frontrunner to succeed her and become the next leader of her Scottish National Party (SNP) is Humza Yousaf, a Sturgeon loyalist who faces criticism for his record in government. The campaign so far has been dominated by a debate about views on social issues such as gay marriage, transgender rights and abortion. "The big fundamental question of facing the party... is how it's going to acquire majority support in Scotland for independence: That question has not been addressed." Reporting by Alistair Smout, Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's warplane demand currently makes no sense -Germany's Scholz
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The question of whether to arm Ukraine with warplanes "currently makes no sense", German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview in which he was asked to address growing calls for western powers to do so. Interviewed by ZDF public television, Scholz, who earlier faced criticism for perceived foot-dragging over sending Ukraine tanks, said other countries' difficulties in meeting Ukraine's demands vindicated his decision to move in lockstep with them. Earlier this month, Germany agreed to send, and allow other countries to send, heavy battle tanks to help Ukraine take the offensive against Russian troops in its east. Ukraine is now asking for warplanes, though Germany does not have any of the F-16 fighters that have been mentioned in this context. Reporting by Maria Martinez and Thomas Escritt; editing by John Stonestreet and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The senior source familiar with Syrian government thinking said that the UAE role in persuading Assad should not be underestimated. A Syrian source close to the Gulf said the UAE had used its "soft power" on Assad and a Turkish official also said the UAE had played a part in persuading him. Moscow has tussled with Western states repeatedly at the Security Council over cross-border aid into Syria, arguing it violates Syria's sovereignty. Other Arab states, including U.S. allies, have also moved to normalise ties with Assad. The UAE official said there was an "urgent need to strengthen the Arab role in Syria".

☆ Bullard calls on Fed to get inflation under control this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve needs to get inflation on to a sustainable path down toward its 2% goal this year or else risk a repeat of the 1970s, when interest rates had to be repeatedly ratcheted up, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Wednesday. "If inflation doesn't start to come down, you risk this replay of the 1970s where you had 15 years where you're trying to battle the inflation drag," Bullard told broadcaster CNBC in an interview. "... That's why I've said let's be sharp now, let's get inflation under control in 2023 and it's a good time to fight inflation because the labor market is still strong." Bullard also repeated his view that a Fed policy rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% would be adequate for the task. Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; editing by John Stonestreet and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zelenskiy plans to attend July NATO summit in Vilnius - Ukraine ambassador
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to attend in person a NATO summit taking place in Vilnius in July, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania told local newswire BNS. Zelenskiy has made only two foreign trips since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago - one to Washington in December and another to London, Paris and Brussels in February. The Vilnius summit on July 11-12 will be attended by most leaders of the Atlantic alliance, Lithuania presidential office said. "That is our plan," ambassador Petro Beshta said about the Zelenskiy visit in an interview with BNS published on Wednesday. Ukraine hopes attendees at the summit would agree "very clearly that as soon as the war is over, Ukraine becomes a member of NATO", the ambassador said.

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