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An image of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - Elon Musk will speak to Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) employees this week for the first time at a company-wide meeting since launching his $44 billion bid in April, a source said on Monday, citing an email from Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal to staff.The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, and Musk will take questions directly from Twitter employees, the source added.The news, first reported by Business Insider, comes after Twitter said last week that it anticipated a shareholder vote on the sale by early August.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comA Twitter spokesperson confirmed that Musk would attend the company all-hands meeting this week.Ever since Musk's takeover bid, many Twitter employees have expressed concerns that the billionaire's erratic behavior could destabilize the social media company's business, and hurt it financially.Back in April, Agrawal was seen quelling employee anger during a company-wide meeting where staff demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Musk. read more Last week, Musk warned Twitter that he might walk away from his deal to acquire the company, if it failed to provide the data on spam and fake accounts that he seeks. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Sheila Dang in New York and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nishit Jogi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Elon Musk to address Twitter employees for first time in Town Hall.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress", in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - Eroding inflation data and fast-changing views in financial markets on Monday have opened the door to a larger-than-expected three-quarter-percentage point interest rate increase when Federal Reserve officials meet this week.It is a move officials had downplayed as their two-day meeting approached over recent weeks, but which they now may be poised to adopt in response to data that has yet to show progress on taming the pace of price increases. The growing possibility of a surprise move was reported earlier on Monday by the Wall Street Journal, helping to further push trade in future contracts tied to Fed policy in that direction.Fed officials have not commented publicly since the start of their pre-meeting "blackout" period on June 4, and prior to that had said they were leaning toward a second straight half-point rate increase at their June 14-15 policy meeting.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBut that outlook was conditioned on, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his May press conference, "economic and financial conditions evolving broadly in line with expectations. ... Expectations are that we’ll start to see inflation, you know, flattening out."It hasn't.Instead, Labor Department data released on Friday for May showed consumer price inflation accelerating to 8.6%. An alternate "trimmed mean" measure from the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank that the Fed watches also accelerated, a sign that price pressures are broad and not limited to outlying groups of goods or services with particularly large price hikes.Meanwhile, on Friday and Monday an array of measures of inflation expectations moved in the wrong direction for a Fed that has said it is particularly sensitive to loosing a grip on public psychology around price pressures.Markets throughout Monday quickly repriced, with traders in contracts tied to the federal funds rate by late Monday betting with near certainty on a three-quarter-point increase, which would be the first hike that large since November 1994.A decision will not be made until the close of the meeting on Wednesday after what is likely to be a full debate about the risks that faster rate hikes might tip the economy into a recession, and the risks they might pose to the Fed's own credibility after leaning hard on half-point increases as adequate for now.The Fed has at times in the past both driven market repricing to suit its needs and used market moves as an opening to align its own policy.In this case, data shifting the inflation outlook came in at a time when Fed officials were proscribed by internal rules from speaking out publicly on how it affected their outlook.Several media reports, following the initial report in the Wall Street Journal, also signaled the possibility of a larger hike, however, and markets began moving as a result, with several high-profile Fed analysts, including those at institutions like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs joining in."Until and unless we see some kind of unofficial clarification, we are forced to take the reports at what we think is face value," said ISI Evercore Vice Chair Krishna Guha, who had been sticking with projections of a half-point hike. "It looks like we were wrong and 75 is after all likely this week."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Fed door open to 0.75% hike after inflation data, market moves.

A United Airlines aircraft flies past the U.S. Capitol before landing at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua RobertsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - United Airlines (UAL.O) said on Monday searches for international travel have increased after the United States ended a 17-month-old requirement that air travelers arriving in the country test negative for COVID-19.Airlines had been lobbying the White House to end the measure, arguing the requirement was holding back a full-scale industry recovery after the pandemic-induced slump.The United States on Friday rescinded the rule imposed in January 2021. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAnalysts expect the change to be a "catalyst" for international travel.United Airlines, which has the biggest exposure to the international traffic among major U.S. carriers, said it has seen more than 2.4 million searches for international travel in the past 72 hours, a 7% increase from the week prior.About 1.5 million of those searched were for travel from the United States to international destinations including Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, it said.U.S. airlines are enjoying one of their strongest quarters in recent history on the back of a booming travel demand. All the major carriers have upgraded their revenue outlook for the current quarter despite trimming capacity. read more Counting on the pent-up demand, United has ramped up its transatlantic service and is launching or resuming 30 flights this summer.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

United Airlines cites jump in global travel searches after U.S. ends COVID testing.

High water levels in the Gardner River erode Yellowstone National Park's North Entrance Road, where the park was closed due to heavy flooding, rockslides, extremely hazardous conditions near Gardiner, Montana, U.S. June 13, 2022. National Park Service/Handout via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCODY, Wyo., June 13 (Reuters) - Record flooding and rockslides unleashed by an unprecedented burst of heavy rains prompted the rare closure on Monday of all five entrances to Yellowstone National Park at the start of the summer tourist season, the park superintendent said.The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials inspect damage to roads, bridges and other facilities.The closures come as Yellowstone was gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary year, and as local communities heavily dependent on tourism were counting on a rebound following COVID-19 travel restrictions over the past two summers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAll five park entrances were closed to inbound traffic for the first summer since a series of devastating wildfires in 1988. The National Park Service said it was working to evacuate visitors and staff remaining at various locations, especially in the hardest-hit northern flank of Yellowstone."It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time," the park superintendent, Cam Sholly, said in a statement.The "gateway" community of Gardiner, Montana, just beyond the park's northern boundary and home to many of Yellowstone's workers, was cut off by a mudslide to the north and washed-out road surfaces to the south, according to the National Park Service.Aerial footage released by the Park Service showed large swaths of the winding North Entrance Road between Gardiner and park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, carved away by surging floodwaters along the Gardner River - washouts that will likely take months to fully repair.Power outages were scattered throughout the park, and preliminary assessments showed numerous roadways across Yellowstone either washed away or covered in rocks and mud, with a number of bridges also damaged, the agency said.Various roads in the park's southern region were on the verge of being flooded, with more rain in the forecast.The flooding and slides were triggered by days of torrential showers in the park and steady rains across much of the wider Intermountain West following one of the region's wettest springs in many years. The park service characterized the rainfall and floods sweeping the park as unprecedented, with the Yellowstone River topping its banks beyond record levels.A sudden spike in summer temperatures during the past three days also has hastened melting and runoff of snow accumulated in the park's higher elevations from late-winter storms.The heavy rains and rapid runoff of snow melt converged to create treacherous conditions in the park just two weeks after the traditional Memorial Day holiday weekend kickoff of the U.S. summer tourist season, which accounts of the bulk of Yellowstone's annual 4 million visitors.Yellowstone, established as the world's first national park in 1872 and treasured as one of America's top outdoor travel destinations, occupies some 2.2 million acres (890,308 hectares)famed for its geysers, abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Ruffin Prevost in Cody, Wyoming; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Yellowstone closed for first time in 34 years amid flooding, mudslides.

Millions of Americans are living in communities with precarious climate conditions, in houses that feel overpriced.There is a solution for many of these people, though: Move to one of the so-called climate havens.Climate havens or climate destinations are situated in places that avoid the worst effects of natural disasters and have the infrastructure to support a larger population. Many of these legacy cities are located in the Northeast.Possible Climate HavensCNBCJesse Keenan, associate professor of real estate at Tulane University, named the following cities as possible climate havens:Asheville, North CarolinaBuffalo, New YorkBurlington, VermontDetroit, MichiganDuluth, MinnesotaMadison, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMinneapolis, MinnesotaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaRochester, New YorkAnna Marandi, who served as the program manager of climate resilience and sustainability at the National League of Cities, added two other places to the safe haven list: Ann Arbor, Michigan and perhaps surprisingly, Orlando, Florida.Orlando makes the cut, Marandi said, because the city has introduced measures to decarbonize. While the natural environment, such as being a noncoastal city, is an advantage, cities can "earn" the designation by working to provide benefits like affordable housing and being committed to economic sustainability."I see climate migration as an opportunity for these cities to avoid the mistakes of urban sprawl," Marandi said. "They often have a vibrant, walkable downtown that might just need a little bit of revitalization."Keenan also stressed that climate haven cities need to help their own residents, which in turn will attract more climate migrants."This isn't we're going to build a community for tomorrow," he said. "We're going to build a community for today. And that's going to be the foundation for the building of a community for tomorrow."Watch the video to learn more about what life is like in climate haven cities and how this new migration pattern can help grow local economies. Correction: Anna Marandi at the National League of Cities added two other places to the climate haven list: Ann Arbor, Michigan, and perhaps surprisingly, Orlando, Florida. An earlier version misstated the cities.

Americans are fleeing climate change — here's where they can go.

Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union attend a protest in Ulsan, South Korea, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Byungwook Kim/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSEOUL, June 14 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) chip production in China is facing disruption from a trucker strike in South Korea which is blocking exports of a key material, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday.It is the first concrete sign that the week-long strike is impacting chip production, having already cost South Korean industrial sectors more than $1.2 billion in lost production and unfilled deliveries. read more KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a raw material for cleaning chip wafers, is facing complications in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to a Samsung Electronics factory in China.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comKITA said in a statement that about 90 tonnes, or a week's worth of shipments have been delayed.Samsung Electronics did not immediately comment. It produces NAND flash memory chips, used for data storage in data centres, smartphones and other tech gadgets, at its plant in Xian, China.The trucker union said in a statement on Tuesday it will continue its general strike and condemned the transport ministry for being "neither willing to talk nor capable of resolving the current situation".The union is protesting against soaring fuel prices and demanding minimum pay guarantees. Four rounds of negotiations with the government have failed to find a compromise.Samsung's Xian plant had seen production disrupted earlier this year due to COVID-19 curbs in the Chinese city, which caused a global firming of NAND prices. read more The tech giant has two production lines in Xian making advanced NAND flash products, which account for about 43% of its total NAND flash memory production capacity and 15% of the overall global output capacity, according to TrendForce.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Byungwook Kim and Joyce Lee; Editing Kenneth Maxwell and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Samsung China chip production faces disruption from Korea trucker strike -Trade Association.

A patient receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada March 30, 2021. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - The Canadian government on Tuesday will announce an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic travel on planes and trains and outgoing international travel, CBC News reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter.The government, which has faced criticism over ongoing pandemic restrictions, may bring back the vaccine mandate if a new variant of the virus is discovered, the report added.Canada's federal COVID curbs have included barring unvaccinated people from travelling on airplanes and vaccine mandates for federal civil servants.Last week the country suspended random COVID testing at all its airports for the rest of June to ease long waiting times that travellers have been facing. read more The government did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Nishit Jogi in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Canada to end COVID vaccine mandate for domestic travel -CBC News.

Smoke billows from the Freeport LNG plant in Quintana, Texas, U.S., June 8, 2022, in this still image obtained from a social media video on June 9, 2022. Courtesy of Maribel Hill/via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - Spot-market rates for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers this week set annual records as traders bid up available vessels to meet rising global demand for the chilled gas, according to brokers.Soaring demand for LNG and buyers shunning Russian cargoes and vessels over its invasion of Ukraine have led to more long-term charters, limiting the supply of vessels to the spot market, said shipbroker and LNG consultancy Poten & Partners.The fire that knocked out the Freeport LNG gas-processing and export terminal has not affected the increase in spot rates, he said. The plant is out of operation through at least month's end. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSpot rates for transporting 160,000 cubic meters of LNG in the Atlantic Basin is $100,000 per day, and $85,000 per day for Asia, or the East-of-Suez, cargoes, said Poten's head of business intelligence Jason Feer.Both prices are up substantially compared to the average for the year, with year-date average for Asia of $49,000 per day. Day rates bottomed in March and have been very strong since May."There has been a substantial increase in long-term charters," said Feer, taking capacity off the spot market. "We've seen some 10-year charters that we hadn't seen for many years previous," he said, declining to name the long-term charterers.Buyers who were caught short of transport in the last two winters turned to long-term charters. Fewer vessels will be coming off charters in the coming months, keeping supply tight, he said."It (the Freeport LNG outage) should have had an impact. A loss of supply anywhere implies a loss of demand, but we didn't see it," said Feer. Instead, spot cargo rates last week rose 4% to 30% depending on the vessel size and location.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gary McWilliams; Editng by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LNG tanker charter rates hit record highs as demand soars.

One of BYD's bestselling electric car models, the Han, is on display during an auto show in Shenzhen on June 5, 2022.Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Chinese electric car maker BYD saw sales more than double in May, solidifying the company's climb into the ranks of the top three automakers in China.That's according to data by the China Passenger Car Association which was released Friday. China is the world's largest auto market.Backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, BYD is also a battery maker that's become a major electric car brand in China — and some of its models are vying with Tesla in popularity.So far this year, not only has BYD continued to dominate new energy vehicles, which include hybrid and battery-powered cars, but the company also climbed into the ranks of the top three brands in China by passenger car sales.Despite Covid lockdowns that hit supply chains and Chinese consumer sentiment, BYD sold 113,768 new energy passenger cars last month, the data showed.Whether in SUVs or smaller passenger cars, BYD accounted for two of the top three bestselling new energy models in China last month, according to association data. Tesla, Nio and Xpeng didn't make the cut.Those sales put BYD into second place in China's passenger car market overall — just behind FAW-Volkswagen, with 150,009 cars sold, according to the data. FAW-Volkswagen is the German automaker's joint venture in China that sells the Audi and Volkswagen branded vehicles.BYD's sales marked a 159.5% year-on-year increase, while FAW-Volkswagen's fell 10.6% from May last year. Geely was the third-largest by passenger car sales, at 73,315, down 14.5%.Last year, BYD ranked 13th by passenger car sales. FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC GM took the top three spots.Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC ProIn the U.S. passenger car market, Tesla did not make the top three spots. Toyota ranks first by sales, followed by Ford and General Motors' Chevrolet brand, according to Sino Auto Insights.China's passenger car sales fell 11.8% in May from a year ago, while new energy vehicles saw sales climb 91.2%, according to the passenger car association.For the first five months of the year, FAW-Volkswagen ranked first by sales, followed by BYD and then Changan Automobile, the data showed.Within new energy vehicles, BYD ranked first, followed by General Motors' joint venture with Wuling Motors and state-owned SAIC Motor. Tesla China ranked third.

BYD is selling so many electric cars it's become one of the top three automakers in China.

The resignation rate has increased at large organizations and small businesses, with more than 4.5 million workers quitting their jobs in November, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.If you recently left your employer — or are planning to do so — here are your options to make sure you have health insurance:You can keep your job-based insurance policy through the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA. COBRA allows you to continue coverage — typically for up to 18 months — after you leave your employer.You can buy an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan through a public exchange on the health insurance marketplace.Or you can switch to your spouse or partner's plan, if possible."It's a three-pronged decision — spouse, ACA or COBRA," said certified financial planner Carolyn McClanahan, who began her career as a physician and later founded Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Fla.More from Invest in You:How to get your employer to help pay off your student loansHere are the top jobs in the U.S. — and how to land themNo emergency savings? New workplace benefits aim to help"It's important to not only weigh the cost of the premiums, but the cost of the deductibles and copays and your underlying health condition," said McClanahan, who is also a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.With COBRA, you can usually keep the same health-care providers, experts say, but expect to pay more for coverage. You may be required to pay the entire premium — up to 102% of the cost to the plan. On the other hand, a new government report shows the majority of consumers enrolled in ACA coverage on HealthCare.gov have deductibles under $1,000.Dr. Kyu Rhee, a primary care physician and chief medical officer at Aetna CVS Health, said people should consider the "3 D's: the doctors, the drugs and the diagnostics" before deciding on coverage. "Leverage these exchanges to look at those high-quality plans aligned with your providers in an area that is affordable for you and your family," he said.Still on the fence about which option to choose? Be careful, time is a factor and it may work against you.If you go on COBRA coverage, you may not be able to switch to an ACA plan until the next open enrollment season begins in the fall, McClanahan said. Open enrollment season for 2022 ends Jan. 15 for coverage that will start on Feb. 1.If you miss the 2022 deadline, you may still be able to get an ACA plan under certain conditions, however. If you or anyone in your household lost job-based coverage, or expects to, you may qualify for a "special enrollment period." Go to healthcare.gov for more information.If your COBRA coverage is running out or your COBRA costs change due to certain circumstances, you may also qualify for a special enrollment period to make a switch to an ACA plan. Check out your options on the health insurance marketplace, and "you may find a lower-cost plan that will let you keep the medical providers you want," Rhee said.Sticking with COBRA

If you are quitting a job amid the 'Great Resignation,' here are some options for health insurance.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - At least five people were killed on Monday in the Russian-backed separatist Ukrainian region of Donetsk in what separatist officials said has been an upsurge in Ukrainian shelling.Separatist officials and Russian news agencies reported several Ukrainian artillery strikes, including on a market. Russian news agencies later reported a shell had fallen on a maternity hospital in the city of Donetsk, triggering a fire and prompting staff to send patients into the basement.There was no independent confirmation of any of the attacks and Reuters could not ascertain whether they had taken place. There has been no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the reports.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRussia's state TASS news agency said separatist officials had reported five dead. Donetsk's separatist leader Denis Pushilin pledged to mobilise more Russian forces to counter Ukraine. read more Russian agencies reported that a child was among those killed and that at least 22 people were injured. On Monday evening, citing a Russian correspondent, they reported the shelling of the maternity hospital."Thanks to the quick action of staff, there were no injuries," RIA news agency said.U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said officials had seen reports of the hospital attack.Firefighters extinguish a fire at the central Maisky market following recent shelling in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in Donetsk, Ukraine June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer "This is extremely troubling," Dujarric said. "Any attack on civilian infrastructure, especially health facilities, is a clear violation of international law."The Donetsk News Agency earlier showed pictures of burning stalls at the Maisky market and several bodies on the ground."We had a hit to the market - there were many people here," Yan Gagin, an adviser to the separatists' self-styled government, told RIA news agency from the market.Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that the main immediate reason for what he casts as a "special military operation" in Ukraine is to protect the Russian-speakers of the two regions in Donbas from persecution and attack by Ukraine.Ukraine routinely denies carrying out any attacks on the two regions, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, where separatists seized large swathes of land in 2014.Ukraine and its Western backers say Russia is waging an unprovoked war against a sovereign state.Russia denies targeting civilian sites in its military action, though the incursion has caused thousands of casualties and destroyed entire Ukrainian towns.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London and Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Peter Graff, Alison Williams and Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Five killed, 22 injured in Ukranian artillery attacks in Donetsk, Russian-backed separatists say.

U.S. June 13, 2022 / 10:47 PM / AP California wildfire forces evacuations California wildfire forces evacuations 01:11 Massive floodwaters ravaged Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities Monday, washing out roads and bridges, cutting off electricity and forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the iconic park at the height of summer tourist season.All entrances to Yellowstone were closed due to the deluge, caused by heavy rains and melting snowpack, while park officials ushered tourists out of the most affected areas. There were no immediate reports of injuries.Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone's gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a landslide, a bridge washed out over a creek, and roads badly undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers. There were no immediate reports of injuries, though dozens of stranded campers had to be rescued by raft in south-central Montana.The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstone's busy North Entrance. In this photo provided by the National Park Service, is high water in the Gardiner River along the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Montana, that washed out part of a road on Monday, June 13, 2022. (National Park Service via AP) AP At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terra Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the water rising and the river bank sloughing off in the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. "We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris," Manning told The Associated Press. "Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane."The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according the the National Weather Service.Floodwaters inundated a street in Red Lodge, a Montana town of 2,100 that's a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country. Twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) to the northeast, in Joliet, Kristan Apodaca wiped away tears as she stood across the street from a washed-out bridge, The Billings Gazette reported.The log cabin that belonged to her grandmother, who died in March, flooded, as did the park where Apodaca's husband proposed. "I am sixth-generation. This is our home," she said. "That bridge I literally drove yesterday. My mom drove it at 3 a.m. before it was washed out." In this photo provided by Sam Glotzbach, the fast-rushing Yellowstone River flooded what appeared to be a small boathouse in Gardiner, Mont., on Monday, June 13, 2022, just north of Yellowstone National Park. Sam Glotzbach / AP Yellowstone officials were evacuating the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas."We will not know timing of the park's reopening until flood waters subside and we're able to assess the damage throughout the park," Sholly said in the statement.The park's gates will be closed at least through Wednesday, officials said. It is unclear how many visitors have been forced to leave the park.The rains hit right as summer tourist season was ramping up. June, at the onset of an annual wave of over 3 million visitors that doesn't abate until fall, is one of Yellowstone's busiest months.Remnants of winter — in the form of snow still melting off and rushing off the mountains — made for an especially bad time to get heavy rain. In this photo provided by the National Park Service, is a washed out bridge from flooding at Rescue Creek in Yellowstone National Park, Mont., on Monday, June 13, 2022. AP Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service. "It's a lot of rain, but the flooding wouldn't have been anything like this if we didn't have so much snow," said Cory Mottice, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, Montana. "This is flooding that we've just never seen in our lifetimes before."The rain will likely abate while cooler temperatures lessen snowmelt in coming days, Mottice said.In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and crews with the Stillwater Mine rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area are closed due to flooding and residents have been evacuated."We will be assessing the loss of homes and structures when the waters recede," the sheriff's office said in a statement.The flooding happened while other parts of the U.S. burned in hot and dry weather. More than 100 million Americans were being warned to stay indoors as a heat wave settles over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas.Elsewhere in the West, crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires in hot, dry and windy weather.Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme events such as storms, droughts, floods and wildfires, though single weather events usually cannot be directly linked to climate change without extensive study. In: Weather Forecast Climate Change Montana Yellowstone National Park Flooding flood Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Yellowstone flooding takes out bridge, washes out roads and prompts evacuations.

A small toy figure and mineral imitation are seen in front of the Lynas Rare Earths logo in this illustration taken November 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Australia's Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX) said on Tuesday it has signed a $120 million follow-on contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to build a commercial heavy rare earths separation facility in Texas.The contract, which was granted to Lynas' U.S. subsidiary, builds on from a 'Phase 1' funding for a heavy rare earth separation facility announced in July 2020.The project, for which the Pentagon provided initial funding, is expected to be built within an existing industrial region on the Texas Gulf Coast and be operational in the financial year 2025, the company said.Lynas, the world's only processor of rare earths outside China, said it intends to combine the heavy rare rarths separation plant with its proposed light rare earth separation facility, which is half-funded by the Defense Production Act office of the U.S. Department of Defense.Feedstock would be a mixture of rare earths carbonate obtained from the Lynas mine in Mt Weld, Western Australia and Lynas would collaborate with possible third-party sources as new viable feedstocks become available, the company said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Australia's Lynas secures $120 mln Pentagon contract for U.S. rare earths facility.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Corporate plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions fall short of what is needed to combat climate change, with "major credibility gaps" found among the world's largest companies, according to a new stocktake of net-zero efforts in the public and private sector.Roughly half of the Forbes 2000 largest companies have yet to announce plans to reach net-zero — the point at which greenhouse gas emissions are negated by deep cuts in output as well as methods to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Of the 702 companies with a net-zero target, two-thirds haven't made it clear how they plan to achieve that goal, Net Zero Tracker found in their annual report.Net Zero Tracker, run in part by the UK-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and the University of Oxford, assesses publicly available data for about 200 countries as well as large publicly traded companies, including those in fossil fuels.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"We see a lot of issues with credibility, and the quality and robustness of these targets," said report co-author Frederic Hans, a climate policy analyst at NewClimate Institute, a German think tank.A view shows emissions from the chimneys of Yara France plant in Montoir-de-Bretagne near Saint-Nazaire, France, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File PhotoMany companies with net-zero targets have set no interim emissions goals for before 2050, which the report said was "unacceptably low" if the world is to halve emissions in the next eight years, as scientists say is needed.Carbon offsetting — or buying credits for emissions reduced elsewhere — also featured prominently among corporate strategies. Nearly 40% of the Forbes 2000 companies with a net-zero target plan to use offsets, despite concerns about the lack of regulation.Governments will need to impose legal standards and regulations to ensure net-zero progress, said co-author John Lang of the ECIU. At the moment, companies are confused about what's needed from them. "They don’t know what information has to be disclosed," he said.At its climate summit in Glasgow last year, the United Nations established an expert group to produce net-zero standards for the private sector and analyse commitments. The European Union is also in the midst of drafting net-zero reporting standards, to be adopted in November. The current draft text bars companies from counting carbon offsets toward net-zero. read more "We have to have mandatory, top-down regulations to guide them," Lang said. However, he doubted the issue could be resolved before the next U.N. climate summit, "COP27," in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, this November. It “probably can't be fixed before COP28" in 2023, he said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gloria Dickie and Simon Jessop in London; Additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by Katy Daigle, Susan Fenton and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Report casts doubt on net-zero emissions pledges by big global companies.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday will meet with constitutional law, privacy, and technology experts to discuss what happens if the Supreme Court overrules the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a White House official.The discussion will seek to highlight the real-world implications if Roe falls, including in areas such as privacy, contraception, and in vitro fertilization, the official said.The Supreme Court looks set to vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, according to a leaked initial draft majority opinion that was verified by the court, though they warned it may not represent the final official decision, expected in the upcoming weeks.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as she attends the signage ceremony of the H.R. 3525, "Commission To Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act" at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzOver the last several weeks, Harris has brought faith leaders and healthcare providers together to discuss their concerns on how to chart the path forward."Tomorrow's engagement is a continuation of the Vice President's work convening a broad coalition to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of women," the official said.The participants include law professors from New York University, Harvard and Michigan University.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

VP Harris to meet with law professors ahead of potential overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Illustrative image of two commemorative bitcoins with a green background.Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesBitcoin briefly dropped below $21,000 on Tuesday in Asia before bouncing back slightly, continuing its plunge as investors sold off risk assets.The world's largest cryptocurrency fell nearly 14% in the past 24 hours, while ethereum tumbled more than 12% over the same period, according to Coinbase data.Bitcoin was hovering at about $21,800 on Tuesday in Asia.Crypto assets were hammered on Monday as trading platforms such as Celsius and Binance stopped withdrawals, and some companies cut jobs.Celsius said withdrawals, swaps, and transfers between accounts would be halted because of "extreme market conditions" and that the move was meant to "stabilize liquidity and operations.""We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations," the company said in a memo.Meanwhile, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, halted bitcoin withdrawals for over three hours "due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog."The market capitalization for cryptocurrencies slipped below $1 trillion on Monday for the first time since February 2021, data from CoinMarketCap showed. Around $200 billion has been wiped off the market in recent days.Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC ProThe crypto sell-off comes as investors broadly shunned risky assets against a backdrop of fears over a potential global recession as major central banks around the world hike interest rates to tame inflation.Policymakers at the U.S. Federal Reserve are now contemplating the idea of a 75-basis-point rate increase later this week, according to CNBC's Steve Liesman. That's bigger than the 50-basis-point hike many traders had come to expect. The Wall Street Journal reported the story first.Rising rates tend to make future earnings for growth assets look less attractive.Bitcoin has fallen nearly 70% from its all-time high in November 2021.

Bitcoin fell below $21,000 briefly as crypto sell-off continues.

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa speaks during the Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 14, 2021. Bandar Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTYRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCAIRO, June 13 (Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa ordered a cabinet reshuffle on Monday that included appointing a new oil minister, state media reported.Mohammed bin Mubarak Bin Dainah, who was the country's envoy for climate affairs, was named minister of oil and environment, replacing Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.The reshuffle included appointing Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa as deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure, Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani as industry and commerce minister and Fatima bint Jaafer al Sairafi as tourism minister.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCrown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa said the reshuffle "will bring new ideas and a renewed drive to continue advancing the public sector," the state news agency (BNA) quoted him as saying on Monday."The reshuffle, the largest in the country’s history, has resulted in a change of 17 out of 22 ministers, with the introduction of a large proportion of young ministers, including four females", a government spokesperson said.Bahrain, a small non-OPEC oil producer, is one of the region's most indebted countries, with its bonds rated "junk". Gulf allies helped it avert a credit crunch in 2018 with a $10 billion aid package. Ratings agencies Fitch and Moody's have said Bahrain would likely need more financing from Gulf neighbors.(This story corrects spelling in third paragraph to "Fatima bint" from "Fatima bin".)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Lilian Wagdy and Nayera Abdallah; Writing by Yasmin Hussein; Editing by Richard Chang and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Bahrain's king orders cabinet reshuffle, names new oil minister -state media.

MoneyWatch June 13, 2022 / 2:07 PM / MoneyWatch Market drops after Friday inflation report Stock market drops Monday in response to Friday's inflation report 02:53 Stocks are in a bear market, inflation is at a 40-year high and economists are warning about a possible recession on the horizon. For millions of Americans saving for retirement, the economic turmoil has raised some big questions: Should they sell investments or stay the route? First, don't panic, experts say — that can lead to hasty financial decisions that you might regret later. As you survey the market, It's important to maintain focus squarely on your personal financial goals. The S&P 500 is down more than 21% since its most recent peak in January, which means it has entered a bear market — when stocks fall at least 20% from their previous peak. In fact, downturns of this scale are fairly common, with the last one occurring just two years ago when then pandemic shut down the U.S. economy. Yet younger investors who have never experienced such a decline and older investors who are closer to retirement might be tempted to bail or switch strategies.  "Riding out market downturns is a good rule of thumb," Amy Richardson, a certified financial planner with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, told CBS MoneyWatch. "It's nearly impossible to try and time the markets, so it's important to have a strategy and remain clear about your personal financial goals."Having a financial plan "can help you ignore the day-to-day market noise," she added.  Don't try to time the marketThere's a reason why you may have heard this many times: Investment professionals show that timing the market — or trying to guess when stocks are at their top or bottom — is nearly impossible. Research has shown that people who dump stocks during a market downturn are likely to miss the days when the market rises sharply, and that can make a dent in long-term returns. For instance, one study published by the investment organization CAIA found that a buy-and-hold investor would have an annual return of almost 10% from 1961 to 2015. But an investor who tried to time the market and missed the 25 best days during that period would have an annual return of less than 6%. To be sure, if an investor managed to avoid the worst 25 days during that period, their annualized return would have been more than 15%. But predicting both the worst and best days of the market is notoriously difficult, which is why investment pros recommend sticking with the "buy and hold" strategy. Should I move into cash?Only if you need the money immediately or want to lock in losses, experts say. Acknowledging that it might be tempting to move into cash as a defensive measure, Richardson points out that cash's purchasing power erodes during periods of high inflation.  The Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes are providing better returns to savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs), but they still trail far behind the rate of inflation. For instance, a one-year CD now offers a monthly yield of about 1.5%, up from about 0.7% in March, according to Ken Tumin of DepositAccounts.com. But in May, inflation jumped to 8.6%, which means that cash invested in a CD would see its buying power eroded by about 7%. That might still seem more appetizing than the steep investment losses incurred during a bear market, but you won't have the chance to make up those losses as you would in the market during periods when stocks rise. Limiting your exposure to cash during high inflation periods is a good idea, Richardson noted. "While it may not seem like it when the markets are falling, stocks have traditionally outpaced inflation over time," she said.Should I stop contributing to my 401(k)?Research has shown that consistent investing pays off over time. For instance, Charles Schwab looked at five different investing styles, ranging from trying to time the market to keeping everything in cash. The best performing strategy was the investor who managed to perfectly time the market — an impossibility for most investors, as noted above.After that, the most effective strategy was one where an investor socked away money at the start of the year, followed by an approach called "dollar-cost averaging," or investing a set amount of money on a regular basis, such as monthly or with each paycheck. In other words, how most people invest in their 401(k)s. The worst performer? The investor who stuck with cash, Schwab found."I am a big believer in the adage that time in the market is more important than timing the market, and that means that any time you can set aside money to invest is a good time," Richardson noted. "If you have the ability to put more toward your 401(k) or other retirement accounts, this is as good a time as any." Should I change my asset allocation? This could be a good time to talk with your financial adviser about your goals and to check whether your portfolio aligns with those objectives, experts say. That could result in an asset allocation shift if, for instance, you want to reduce your equity exposure to lower your risk or cut back on investments in certain sectors, like tech. "For most investors, the best approach to long-term success is broad diversification that aligns with their risk tolerance," Richardson said. "When you diversify your portfolio, you spread your money across different assets, understanding that all investments will go up and down at different times depending on different factors."People who are close to retirement or already retired may want to add Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, to their portfolio, she added. Investors can buy TIPS directly through the Treasury Department, or via their bank or broker. But an investor can only buy $10,000 worth of TIPS annually for each account, which limits the amount of inflation protection they can offer. "Commodities are also a good offset to inflation," Richardson added.How long does a bear market last?Since World War II, bear markets on average have taken 13 months to go from peak to trough and 27 months to return to breakeven. The S&P 500 index plunged an average of 33% during bear markets in that period. The biggest decline occurred in the 2007-2009 slump, when the S&P 500 fell 57%.Bear markets tend to have three stages, according to Bank of America technical research strategist Stephen Suttmeier, who cited Wall Street legend Bob Farrell's "10 Market Rules to Remember" for investors anxious about the market downturn. The first stage is a sharp decline, followed by a rebound, and then a "drawn-out fundamental downtrend," he noted.  "We are likely in the third stage, with risk to 3800 (20% correction) and even 3500 (27%) on the S&P 500," Suttmeier said in a research note.  El-Erian says inflation could hit 9% 08:59 That means the stock market may not have hit bottom, with the S&P 500 trading at about 3,760 on Monday. But even if markets continue fading, investors should focus on valuations, given that the price-to-earnings ratio on the S&P 500 is now below its 25-year average, advised David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "Whatever short-term cyclical journey the economy takes from here, it should, within a few years, resume a brighter path of moderate growth, low inflation and high profitability," Kelly said in a report.  In: Stock Market Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Plunging stocks, recession fears: Here's what to do — and not do — with your 401(k).

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open in mixed territory on Tuesday after sharp declines in global markets on Monday amid fears that central banks will be forced into aggressive monetary policy tightening with inflation remaining high.The U.K.'s FTSE index is seen opening 23 points higher at 7,226, Germany's DAX 44 points higher at 13,464, France's CAC 40 up 7 points at 6,030 and Italy's FTSE MIB down 9 points at 21,955, according to data from IG.Global stock markets were sent reeling on Monday, with investors reacting to the potential for more aggressive rate hikes by central banks in Europe and the United States after the latest inflation report.Fed meetsAgainst this backdrop, the U.S. Federal Reserve is central to market action this week, with Fed officials meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss their next monetary policy move.The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to announce at least a 50-basis-point hike on Wednesday, having already raised rates twice this year, though market bets for a 75-basis-point hike have risen in light of Friday's inflation reading.The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday. The Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank and Brazil's BCB also meet this week.On the data front in Europe on Tuesday, due for release are German inflation figures for May, the U.K. unemployment rate for April, euro area industrial production data for April and Germany's ZEW index of economic sentiment for June.

European stocks head for mixed open as global markets are rattled by central banks.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - If the U.S. Supreme Court votes to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, conservative states will have more confidence that their new limits on abortion will stand while liberal states will feel more urgency to protect and expand abortion rights. read more Here are some restrictions and protections state legislatures have taken up in 2022:ABORTION RESTRICTIONSARIZONA: Republican Governor Doug Ducey in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The measure makes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. It will take effect later this year if not blocked in court.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFLORIDA: Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in April signed a 15-week abortion ban, which allows exceptions for medical emergencies or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. The exceptions do not allow for abortion past 15 weeks in case of rape, incest or human trafficking. The ban is due to take effect on July 1.IDAHO: Republican Governor Brad Little signed a six-week abortion ban in March that allows family members of the fetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year. The Idaho law was due to take effect in April, but has been blocked by the state Supreme Court. A hearing is set for August.KENTUCKY: The legislature in April Louisiana lawmakers in June gave final approval overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's veto to enact several abortion restrictions, including a 15-week ban, a requirement that fetal remains be cremated or interred, and a requirement that a combination birth-death or stillbirth certificate be issued for each abortion. The law took immediate effect, suspending clinics' ability to provide abortions for eight days until a U.S. judge temporarily blocked its enforcement.LOUISIANA: Louisiana lawmakers in June gave final approval to a bill that would strengthen the state's trigger law, which goes into effect if Roe is overturned. The measure bans all abortions except in medical emergencies and increases the criminal penalties for healthcare workers who provide abortions to a maximum $100,000 fine and 10 years in jail. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards has approved abortion restrictions in the past and is expected to sign the legislation.OKLAHOMA: Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, this spring signed three laws restricting or banning abortion.Abortion rights protesters hold a youth rally in Washington Square Park in anticipation of Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in New York City, U.S., June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jeenah MoonThe law signed on May 26 banned all abortions except in cases of medical emergency, rape or incest. It took effect immediately and shut down the state's abortion services. It relies on private citizens to sue providers and any person who "aids or abets" abortions to be enforced.Earlier in May, Stitt signed a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It relies on the same lawsuit enforcement mechanism and also took effect immediately.A bill signed in April bans abortion except in medical emergencies and penalizes providers who violate the law with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The law is due to take effect in August.SOUTH DAKOTA: Republican Governor Kristi Noem signed a bill in March requiring women to make three in-person doctor's visits to complete a medication abortion. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in response to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood. In May, a federal appeals court put the case on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case involving federal abortion rights.ABORTION PROTECTIONSCOLORADO: Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed a bill on April 4 codifying the right to have an abortion. The measure immediately took effect.CONNECTICUT: In May, Democratic Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill that protects anyone who provides abortions, has an abortion or assists someone having an abortion from other states' restrictions. Among other provisions, the measure bars state agencies from assisting in interstate investigations seeking to hold someone civilly or criminally liable for getting or aiding an abortion. The law is due to take effect July 1.MARYLAND: The legislature passed a bill that expands the definition of who can provide abortions to include any "qualified provider," establishes a state-funded abortion provider training program and requires most insurance plans to cover the cost of abortions. Republican Governor Larry Hogan vetoed the bill, but the state's Democratic-controlled legislature overrode his veto on April 9 and the law is due to take effect July 1.NEW YORK: Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday signed legislation that protects the state's abortion providers and patients from other states' penalties on abortion. The laws, which took immediate effect, allow individuals to file claims against anyone who sues or brings charges against them for facilitating or obtaining an abortion, and prohibit state courts from cooperating in civil or criminal lawsuits stemming from abortions that took place in New York.VERMONT: The Democratic-led legislature in February passed a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to abortion. It will be on the ballot for voters to approve in November.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gabriella Borter Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Factbox: Restrictions vs protections: How U.S. states are taking sides on abortion.

A logo is pictured at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters ahead of the Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 12, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comGENEVA, June 13 (Reuters) - World Trade Organization (WTO) members sought on Monday to forge agreements on food security to ease strained supply and sharply higher prices that the war in Ukraine have worsened, with only India, Egypt and Sri Lanka withholding support.The 164-member trade body is seeking to reach two agreements at a major meeting of trade ministers this week in Geneva on steps to alleviate a food crisis that threatens the least developed and most vulnerable countries.One would be a declaration to keep markets open, not restrict exports and be more transparent. The other would be a binding decision not to curb exports to the World Food Programme (WFP), which seeks to fight hunger in places hit by conflicts, disasters and climate change.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe International Monetary Fund has said that about 30 countries have restricted exports of food, energy and other commodities, including India with wheat.WTO members expressed broad support for both texts, with the exception of Egypt, India and Sri Lanka, a WTO spokesperson told a news conference. Previously hesitant Tanzania decided to endorse the texts, the spokesperson added.Egypt and Sri Lanka, both net food importers, want recognition that their ability to export food might be limited.India, which has a history of blocking multilateral trade agreements, wants the WTO to allow developing countries to hold food stocks without facing penalties for breaching rules on farm support. WTO members agreed to such a shield in 2013, but only on a temporary basis.Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said this was the "topmost priority" for the WTO meeting.The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development called on WTO members earlier on Monday to refrain from imposing restrictions on exports of essential foodstuffs to vulnerable countries and the WFP.The situation is particularly acute in Africa, which in 2020 imported about 80% of its food and 92% of its grains.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Emma Farge; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WTO nears food pledges; India, Egypt, Sri Lanka hold out.

Bowery Farming's Chief Commercial Officer Katie Seawell holds up two different varieties of strawberries grown by the vertical farming company in its Kearny, NJ farm. The company is debuting berries as part of a limited release, as it pushes beyond leafy greens.Melissa Repko | CNBCKEARNY, New Jersey — Inside of a warehouse in this factory town neighboring Newark, thousands of strawberries grow in rows beneath bright lights.This is one of Bowery Farming's research and development centers, and these berries are destined for a second life in the big city.Starting Tuesday, customers will be able to buy the fruit less than a dozen miles away at a few gourmet grocers in New York City. They will star in dishes at some of the city's top restaurants crafted by celebrity chefs.Bowery will sell the strawberries for the first time as part of a limited release. But the berries, which taste the same during the peak of summer and depths of winter, are part of an ambitious effort to change how fruits and vegetables are grown and how Americans eat. Crops grown in vertical farms are typically stacked in rows from floor to ceiling in buildings near urban centers. That results in larger yields of fresher, higher-quality produce delivered to city grocery stores a few days after it is picked.Vertical farming companies have used the tech-based approach to produce lettuce and herbs. Now, they are looking to strawberries and other crops to win a larger share of grocers' shelves and consumers' stomachs. At first, the berries will be pricier than the average supermarket offering. But indoor-farming companies hope to expand their output and use automation to harvest the berries, which could bring prices down.One of Bowery's competitors, Plenty, said Tuesday that it plans to build an indoor strawberry farm to serve customers and retailers in the Northeast with major berry grower Driscoll's. Their rivals include venture-backed start-ups AeroFarms, PlantLab and BrightFarms.Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, chair of the Association for Vertical Farming, said companies must prove they can grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to become a more meaningful part of the food supply."With salad, you cannot feed the world," said Zimmermann, who runs the Munich, Germany-based nonprofit and advocacy group. "Nobody can eat that much salad."Bowery wants to make food more delicious, too."Imagine having a beautiful, fresh-tasting flavorful strawberry in February," said Susan MacIsaac, Bowery's senior vice president of agscience. "It really opens up a whole new way, a whole new world of eating. I think we all know we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but often they're less than palatable."At Bowery's indoor farms, arugula, baby butter and other leafy green varieties grow in stacked rows from floor to ceiling. The company also sells rotating offerings, called Farmer's Selection, based on the season.Melissa Repko | CNBCA new spin on farmingInvestors are pouring money into agriculture technology companies at a time when food's price and availability are on the minds of more retailers and consumers.Inflation has pushed up food prices by 7.9% over the past 12 months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported this month. The pandemic left some grocery shelves bare and underscored the complexities of the supply chain. In recent weeks, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has illustrated the risks of relying on other countries to produce energy or grow food."Look at the last two years, the number of disruptions that we are all having to deal with in our daily lives," said Soren Bjorn, president of Driscoll's of the Americas. "In the fresh produce industry, we are very, very dependent on the climate and the free movement of goods around the world. It turns out that some of those supply chains may have been a little bit more vulnerable than anybody thought, and it's not that difficult to imagine that these things could get worse."With vertical farming, produce is grown without pesticides, with less water and in farms that are only a short drive from consumers. That means fewer hours on a truck, which decreases the fuel used and increases odds of consumers eating fresher food and throwing less away.Advocates see vertical farming as a more sustainable way to expand food supply for growing global population, particularly as climate change transforms weather patterns.The farms account for a tiny percentage of the produce that Americans buy and eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That definition includes tomatoes and vegetables seen in grocery stores such as broccoli, lettuce, sweet corn and carrots, but does not include corn that is fed to animals or becomes a food ingredient in items such as tortilla chips.The total value of vegetables grown and sold in 2019 was about $18.9 billion. Within that, the total value of vegetables grown under protection and sold — a category that includes greenhouses and areas grown under temporary covers — was roughly $702.5 million in 2019, the most recent agriculture census available. Vertical farming is just a portion of that, and the federal government doesn't specifically track it.Yet the young industry has already gotten buy-in from some of the biggest names in food. Walmart, the country's largest grocer by revenue, recently invested in Plenty, and it carries some of Bowery's leafy greens in its stores.Bowery counts famous chefs Jose Andres, Tom Colicchio and David Barber among its investors.On Singapore Airlines, passengers this spring in first and business classes departing Newark and New York City can find baby bok choy and arugula that accompany their meals from AeroFarms, which grows them about 5 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport. The airline began buying produce from AeroFarms in 2019.A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines said the carrier plans to announce deals with other vertical farms later this year for flights from other major U.S. airports. The airline, which operates some of the world's longest flights, is trying to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint, including sourcing local food. Bowery Farming will sell strawberries at a few gourmet grocery stores in New York City. They will also star in desserts at some celebrity chefs' restaurants.Courtesy: Bowery FarmingBreaking into berriesBowery grows its strawberries in buildings that resemble a blend of a science lab and large indoor garden. Agriculture specialists dressed in lab coats, booties and hair nets check on their crops. Bright lights, intricate watering systems and whirring ventilation help create a stable growing environment that doesn't change — even when sleet and snow fall or summer temperatures blaze outside.Its New Jersey research and development farm is located in Kearny, about 11 miles west of New York City. It has another farm in Nottingham, Maryland, near Baltimore. It also has three new commercial farms underway in Atlanta, Dallas and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.The berries are more complex to grow than leafy greens. With lettuces, leaves can be grown and picked. Strawberries must go through more steps: developing leaves, flowering and turning into a fruit that is harvested. That takes more time — and the help of bees, which are used to pollinate flowers.MacIsaac said Bowery narrowed the field of varietals to choose ones would thrive indoors and have a pleasing texture and taste.It landed on two types: wild and garden berries, which will be sold side-by-side in a package that's designed as an experience. Each pack includes a description of tasting notes similar to what a consumer might read at a wine tasting or a gourmet coffee shop.Garden berries are classic, with a "balance of sweetness and tartness," MacIsaac said. Wild berries are more distinct, with floral and tropical notes, she said.They will be available at Eataly locations and Mercado Little Spain in New York City and featured in desserts at Colicchio's Craft New York and Andres' restaurants, Lena and Spanish Diner. The strawberries will appear at other retailers and restaurants later in the spring, the company said.Each pack comes at a lofty price — $14.99 for 8 ounces.Yet Bowery said it wants to scale its strawberry business, so they are sold not only to foodies — but also to shoppers at mainstream grocery stores. Its lettuces are carried by retailers such as Walmart, Amazon-owned Whole Foods and Albertsons.The company said the pack is the first phase of its commercial rollout. "As we move on to our scale phase, our goal is to offer strawberries at a price and value that unlocks scale without compromising on flavor," it said in a statement.Last month, Bowery acquired Traptic. The company uses artificial intelligence and high-powered cameras to identify crops at peak ripeness and has robotic arms that can harvest even fragile fruits like tomatoes and strawberries.Plenty's first dedicated strawberry farm will be operating by the end of 2023, CEO Arama Kukutai said. The company, which is working with Driscoll's, hopes to sell its berries at grocers in early 2024, he said. It has not shared the specific location.The two companies kicked off a joint venture to develop and grow the berries in 2020. It will mark a geographic expansion for Plenty, which only has commercial farms in California. So far, Plenty and Driscoll's have grown strawberries in an indoor plant science research facility in Laramie, Wyoming — but have not sold them.Bjorn of Driscoll's said the Northeast is one of the largest berry markets for the company, so it was a natural place to start. Yet he said the approach would work well in other major markets, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong, where consumers have a big appetite for berries — but rely on pricey shipments from far away.Strawberries are an ideal puzzle for the vertical farming industry to solve, he said. The delicate fruits thrive in few places, such as the coasts of California and Chile and the foothills of the French Alps. They rely on fluctuating temperatures, such as cool nights and warmer days, to get the right flavor and texture. If it's too hot or humid, the fruit gets mushy and loses its taste."In the indoor environment, every day would be a perfect day," he said. "So that is one of the opportunities."–CNBC's Leslie Josephs contributed to this story.

These strawberries were grown in a New Jersey warehouse — and they may revolutionize how Americans eat.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - While the S&P 500 confirmed on Monday that it has been in a bear market since January, many of the benchmark's components are in far worse shape following months of fear-driven selling related to rising interest rates and worries about the economy.The S&P 500's (.SPX) 3.9% drop on Monday was fueled by worries that more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could push the economy into a recession. The S&P 500 has now tumbled about 22% since its Jan. 3 record high close, confirming it has been in a bear market since hitting that high. read more Within the S&P 500, the picture is dire, with the median stock down 27% from its 52-week high, as of Monday's close. Over two thirds of S&P 500 stocks were down more than 20% from their own 52-week highs as of Monday's close.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReuters GraphicsWithin the S&P 500 technology sector index (.SPLRCT), 93% of stocks have fallen 20% or more from their highs, including PayPal Holdings (PYPL.O), which has now tumbled 76% from its record high last July following a 7% drop on Monday.Previously highly valued growth stocks have been badly punished in recent months by investors worried about the group's vulnerability to rising interest rates.Among stocks in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary index , down 67% from its high. The cruise ship company's stock slumped more than 10% on Monday.Within the communication services sector index (.SPLRCL), Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META.O) has slumped 57% from its 2021 high, and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) has fallen 49%, including a drop of more than 3% on Monday.With investors dumping streaming services as competition deepens, Netflix (NFLX.O) has been the S&P 500's worst performer in 2022, down 72% year to date.S&P 500 components YTDTesla (TSLA.O), which last year soared to become one of Wall Street's most valuable companies, has now tumbled 39% in 2022 after falling 7.1% on Monday.Tesla market capWhile investors are laser-focused on the central bank's next interest rate announcement on Wednesday and on worries about a potential recession, the stock market's recent tumble has cooled valuations that in 2020 reached their highest level since the dot-com era. The S&P 500 is now priced at about 17 times expected earnings, which is in line with its average forward PE over the past 10 years, according to Refinitiv data.S&P 500 forward PERegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Megan Davies and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

As S&P 500 confirms bear market, most of its components look worse.

Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union attend a protest in Ulsan, South Korea, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Byungwook Kim/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSEOUL, June 14 (Reuters) - A week-long strike by truck drivers in South Korea has disrupted shipments to China of a key material used in the production of semiconductors, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday.It is the first concrete sign that the week-long strike is impacting the global supply chain of chip production, having already cost South Korean industrial sectors more than $1.2 billion in lost production and unfilled deliveries. read more KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a raw material for cleaning chip wafers, is facing complications in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to chipmakers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comKITA said in a statement that about 90 tonnes, or a week's worth of shipments have been delayed.KITA corrected an earlier statement saying production had been disrupted. It clarified that the Chinese company does not supply wafers to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) chip production in China.Samsung Electronics did not immediately comment. It produces NAND flash memory chips, used for data storage in data centres, smartphones and other tech gadgets, at its plant in Xian, China.The trucker union said in a statement on Tuesday it will continue its general strike and condemned the transport ministry for being "neither willing to talk nor capable of resolving the current situation".The union is protesting against soaring fuel prices and demanding minimum pay guarantees. Four rounds of negotiations with the government have failed to find a compromise.Samsung's Xian plant had seen production disrupted earlier this year due to COVID-19 curbs in the Chinese city, which caused a global firming of NAND prices. read more The tech giant has two production lines in Xian making advanced NAND flash products, which account for about 43% of its total NAND flash memory production capacity and 15% of the overall global output capacity, according to TrendForce.(This story removes reference to Samsung Electronics in the headline, lead and third paragraphs after the Korean International Trade Association corrected its earlier statement)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Byungwook Kim and Joyce Lee; Editing Kenneth Maxwell and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

South Korean truckers' strike disrupts shipment of key chipmaking material.

An electric-powered BMW iX is displayed at the 43rd Bangkok International Motor Show, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 22, 2022. REUTERS/Athit PerawongmethaRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDETROIT, June 14 (Reuters) - BMW (BMWG.DE) will install and test a long-range battery developed by Michigan-based startup Our Next Energy (ONE) in the German automaker's iX electric SUV, the companies said on Tuesday.ONE's Gemini battery will incorporate two types of battery cells, including one with advanced chemistry that can store more energy and enable vehicle range of 600 miles (965 km) or more between charges, the battery maker said. The prototype vehicle is expected to be completed by year-end, ONE said.The Gemini battery aims to reduce the use of such traditional EV battery materials as cobalt, nickel, graphite and lithium, according to Mujeeb Ijaz, ONE founder and chief executive.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIjaz said ONE is testing different electrode chemistries in Gemini, while evaluating the potential tradeoffs in cost, energy and sustainability.ONE might offer a production version of the battery in three different sizes and prices, Ijaz said, including a low-end version that would cost the same as today's conventional nickel- and cobalt-based batteries, "if not a little lower."Ijaz said ONE is discussing similar prototype testing of its Gemini battery with other companies.In March, BMW's corporate venture arm led a $65 million funding round in ONE. Other investors in that round included Coatue Management, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Assembly Ventures, Flex and Volta Energy Technologies. read more In December, ONE said an early prototype of the Gemini battery, retrofitted in a Tesla Model S sedan, delivered more than 750 miles (1,200 km) of range, well in excess of the best production electric vehicles on the market. read more Since its founding in 2020, ONE has focused development on a long-range battery that uses safer and more sustainable materials, while packing more energy into a smaller, less expensive package.In a statement, BMW executive Juergen Hildinger said the automaker is exploring opportunities "to integrate ONE's battery technologies into models of our future BEV (battery electric vehicle) product lineup."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BMW to test ONE's advanced battery in its iX electric SUV.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCODY, Wyo., June 13 (Reuters) - Record flooding and rockslides unleashed by an unprecedented burst of heavy rains prompted the rare closure on Monday of all five entrances to Yellowstone National Park at the start of the summer tourist season, the park superintendent said.The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials inspect damage to roads, bridges and other facilities.The closures come as Yellowstone was gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary year, and as local communities heavily dependent on tourism were counting on a rebound following COVID-19 travel restrictions over the past two summers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAll five park entrances were closed to inbound traffic for the first summer since a series of devastating wildfires in 1988. The National Park Service said it was working to evacuate visitors and staff remaining at various locations, especially in the hardest-hit northern flank of Yellowstone."It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time," the park superintendent, Cam Sholly, said in a statement.The "gateway" community of Gardiner, Montana, just beyond the park's northern boundary and home to many of Yellowstone's workers, was cut off by a mudslide to the north and washed-out road surfaces to the south, according to the National Park Service.A house falls into the Yellowstone river due to flooding in Gardiner, Montana, U.S., June 13, 2022 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Angie Lilly/via REUTERS Aerial footage released by the Park Service showed large swaths of the winding North Entrance Road between Gardiner and park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, carved away by surging floodwaters along the Gardner River - washouts that will likely take months to fully repair.Power outages were scattered throughout the park, and preliminary assessments showed numerous roadways across Yellowstone either washed away or covered in rocks and mud, with a number of bridges also damaged, the agency said.Various roads in the park's southern region were on the verge of being flooded, with more rain in the forecast.The flooding and slides were triggered by days of torrential showers in the park and steady rains across much of the wider Intermountain West following one of the region's wettest springs in many years. The park service characterized the rainfall and floods sweeping the park as unprecedented, with the Yellowstone River topping its banks beyond record levels.A sudden spike in summer temperatures during the past three days also has hastened melting and runoff of snow accumulated in the park's higher elevations from late-winter storms.The heavy rains and rapid runoff of snow melt converged to create treacherous conditions in the park just two weeks after the traditional Memorial Day holiday weekend kickoff of the U.S. summer tourist season, which accounts of the bulk of Yellowstone's annual 4 million visitors.Yellowstone, established as the world's first national park in 1872 and treasured as one of America's top outdoor travel destinations, occupies some 2.2 million acres (890,308 hectares)famed for its geysers, abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Ruffin Prevost in Cody, Wyoming; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Yellowstone closed for first time in 34 years amid flooding, mudslides.

Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration picture, February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies tumbled afresh on Tuesday, with bitcoin and ether falling to new 18-month lows, after major cryptocurrency lending company Celsius Network's freezing of withdrawals delivered the latest jolt to investors in the asset-class.Bitcoin fell as much as 7.2% to $20,816 its lowest since Dec. 2020, extending Monday's 15% plunge.The world's largest cryptocurrency is down over 50% year to date and 28% since Friday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNo. 2 token ether lost as much as 10% to $1,075, its lowest since Jan 2021, and smaller tokens have taken even more of a battering.The sell off was a result of Celsius' suspension of withdrawals and Friday's high U.S. inflation data driving expectations of sharper interest rate rises from the Federal Reserve, said Singapore based fund manager QCP Capital in a note."The market is now panicking about the impact and contagion if Celsius becomes insolvent," QCP said.Celsius said in a blog post published in Asia hours on Monday citing extreme market conditions that it had frozen withdrawals and transfers between accounts, "to stabilise liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets".New Jersey-based Celsius, which has around $11.8 billion in assets, offers interest-bearing products to customers who deposit cryptocurrencies with its platform. It then lends out cryptocurrencies to earn a return. read more Asset classes across the board have also been shaken by higher inflation as investors dumped risky assets.The S&P index (.SPX) has fallen for four straight days, with the benchmark now down more than 20% from its most recent record closing high to confirm a bear market according to a commonly used definition.Cryptocurrency stocks have been particularly hard hit.Crypto bank Silvergate Capital (SI.N) shares closed down 16.7% on Monday, BTC buyer and business intelligence software provider MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) tumbled 25.2%, and crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O) lost 11.4%.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Alun John in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

No let up in crypto slide as Celsius halt leaves investors 'panicking'.

Passersby are seen in front of a screen displaying the Japanese yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and Nikkei share average in Tokyo, Japan June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Issei KatoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Asian shares slid sharply on Tuesday after Wall Street hit a confirmed bear market milestone and Treasury yields struck their highest in more than a decade on fears aggressive interest rate hikes would push the world's largest economy into recession.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) extended losses to be down 1.54%.Australian shares S&P/ASX200 (.AXJO) lost 4.6%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) was down 2%.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (.HSI) slipped 0.91% and China's CSI300 Index (.CSI300) was off 1.9%, doubling its earlier losses.The negative tone in Asia follows a bleak U.S. session on Monday, which saw Goldman Sachs forecast a 75 basis point interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting on Wednesday. read more "The U.S. will see rate rises faster and higher than Wall Street has been expecting," James Rosenberg, Ord Minnett advisor in Sydney told Reuters. "There will likely be the double impact of earnings forecasts being trimmed and further price to earnings derating."Expectations for aggressive U.S rate hikes rose after inflation in the year to May shot up by a sharper than predicted 8.6%."The U.S. market is the biggest in the world so when it catches a cold the rest of the world does as well," said Clara Cheong, Global Market Strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management."There will be short-term volatility in Asia but we think in the medium to longer term in Asia ex-Japan, earnings expectations have already been downgraded so there is a relatively brighter outlook here than other parts of the world."Cheong said expected China monetary easing and ASEAN countries re-opening from COVID-19 lockdowns could shield the region from some of the financial market fallout.On Wall Street overnight, fears of a U.S. recession kicked the S&P 500 (.SPX) down 3.88%, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 4.68%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 2.8%.The benchmark S&P 500 is now down more than 20% from its most recent record closing high, confirming a bear market, according to a commonly used definition.Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest since 2011 on Monday and a key part of the yield curve inverted for the first time since April as investors braced for the prospect that Fed attempts to stem soaring inflation would dent the economy.The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 3.3466% compared with its U.S. close of 3.371% on Monday. The two-year yield , which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 3.3804% compared with a U.S. close of 3.281%."Higher inflation, slower growth and higher interest rates are a damaging combination for financial assets," ANZ strategists wrote on Tuesday.The dollar dropped 0.06% against the yen to 134.32 but remains close to its more-than-two-decade high of 135.17 reached on Monday.The European single currency was flat at $1.0407, having lost 3.04% in a month, while the dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up at 105.19.Bitcoin fell around 4.5% on Tuesday to $21,416, a fresh 18 month low, extending Monday's 15% fall as markets were jolted by crypto lender Celsius suspending withdrawals. read more U.S. crude dipped 0.13% to $120.77 a barrel. Brent crude eased to $122.08 per barrel.Gold shrugged off a weaker start with the spot price gaining 0.42% to $1,826.23 per ounce.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Alun John; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Asian stocks slide as Fed hike fears tip Wall St into bear market.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 13(Reuters) - Top advisers to then-President Donald Trump told him that his claims of widespread election fraud were unfounded and would not reverse his 2020 election loss, but he refused to listen, according to testimony on Monday at a hearing of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.Close aides and family members said they told Trump that they found no merit in a wide range of often outlandish allegations that surfaced after his election defeat, including reports of a "suspicious suitcase" containing fake ballots, a truck transporting ballots to Pennsylvania and computer chips swapped into voting machines."I thought, boy, if he really believes this stuff he has lost contact with, he's become detached from reality," said William Barr, who served as Trump's attorney general and was long known as loyal to the Republican president. In video testimony, Barr bluntly dismissed claims of fraud as "bullshit" and "crazy stuff."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were," he said.The Democratic-led House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the assault on the U.S. Capitol by thousands of Trump supporters presented its findings at the second of an expected six this month on its nearly year-long investigation into the riot.Monday's hearing sought to make the case that Trump ignored the advice of many of his own staffers when he claimed that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from him.Committee members argue that Trump's repeated fraud claims, known by Democrats as "The Big Lie," convinced his followers to attack the Capitol."He and his closest advisers knew those claims were false, but they continued to peddle them anyway, right up until the moments before a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol," said Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren.Democrats said Trump raised some $250 million from supporters to advance fraud claims in court but instead steered much of the money elsewhere."The 'Big Lie' was also a big ripoff," Lofgren said.Trump has denied wrongdoing, and repeatedly insisted that he did not lose, dismissing the Select Committee investigation as a political witchhunt.An advertisement soliciting donations for former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen as it was introduced as evidence and displayed on a screen above U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chairperson Bennie Thompson (D-MS) , Vice Chair U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) and U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) holding the second public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, at Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstOpinion polls show that many of Trump's supporters still believe his false claims about the election. Some are now running for offices in which they would oversee future elections. Trump has hinted at running for president again in 2024 but has not announced any decision.CAMPAIGN 'DID NOT MAKE ITS CASE'Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, said he recommended on election night that Trump steer clear of any pronouncement of victory and instead say votes were still being counted."He thought I was wrong. He told me so, and that they were going to go, that he was going to go in a different direction," Stepien said in videotaped testimony. Stepien was slated to testify in person, but cancelled at the last minute when his wife went into labor.Trump went on television to preemptively declare victory at the urging of Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor. Campaign advisor Jason Miller testified that Giuliani was not sober at the time."The mayor was definitely intoxicated but I, um, did not know his level of intoxication when he spoke with the president, for example," Miller said in video testimony.Byung J. "BJay" Pak, who resigned as U.S. attorney in Atlanta as Trump's camp questioned Georgia's election results, said he found no evidence of fraud in that state.Referring to the suspicious suitcase that supposedly contained fake or altered ballots, Pak said, sitting at the witness table: "The alleged black suitcase being pulled from under the table was an official lock box."Monday's session followed a blockbuster hearing on Thursday night featuring testimony showing that close Trump allies - even Trump's daughter Ivanka - rejected his false claims of voting fraud. read more Nearly 20 million Americans watched the hearing aired in the primetime peak television viewing hours.Four people died the day of the attack, one fatally shot by police and the others of natural causes. Some 140 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Four officers later died by suicide.Nearly 850 people have been arrested for crimes related to the riot, including more than 250 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.(This story refiles to add attribution in paragraph 8.)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan and Doina Chiacu, additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trump aides tell Jan. 6 committee he ignored their doubts about election fraud.

Ukrainian troop members repair an army's Main Battle Tank (MBT) in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7, 2022.Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty ImagesAs Russia gradually seizes more territory in Ukraine and continues to pound various targets in the Donbas, analysts fear that Ukrainian fighters are losing the upper hand, leaving the eastern region vulnerable to being wholly seized amid a prolonged conflict."I am worried about it," William Alberque, director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told CNBC. "There are huge risks that Ukraine will continue to lose land incrementally."A lot has changed since Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Having initially appeared to attack the country from the south, east and north, Russia soon appeared to realize it had bitten off more than it could chew and instead changed its focus to eastern Ukraine.That move away from Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, as well as other strategic failures by Russia's forces during the initial phase of the conflict, gave Ukraine's leadership and fighters a big morale boost and there was optimism among Western allies that perhaps Ukraine could even "win" this war against its more powerful neighbor.Such unabated optimism has not lasted long, however, particularly as Russia appears to be throwing everything it can at seizing the entire Donbas region as it aims to cement a land corridor from Russia via the Donbas to the Black Sea, where it seeks to take control of Ukraine's ports and trade.The Donbas region refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the easternmost part of Ukraine.Ukrainian troop members move towards the front line with an army's Main Battle Tank (MBT) in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7, 2022.Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty ImagesFor several weeks now, Russian artillery has been battering eastern Ukrainian cities such as Lysychansk and Severodonetsk — the last city held by Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk province. On Monday, Luhansk's governor warned that Russia controlled a majority of Severodonetsk and that severe fighting continued, with all but one bridge into the city destroyed and the last one critically damaged. What's worse is that Russian forces appear to have renewed their assaults on Kharkiv too, Ukraine's second largest city, to the northeast, after a period of respite.Losing Severodonetsk would be a major blow to Ukraine, analysts agree, and there are concerns that the country's forces could be starting to lose momentum in the fight against Russia's re-focused onslaught.Smoke and dirt rise from shelling in the city of Severodonetsk during fight between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7, 2022.Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty ImagesRussia is making advancesThe situation now appears to have changed in Russia's favor, analysts warn, and the capture of Severodonetsk by Russia, which is looking increasingly likely, could mark another turning point for Ukraine, and another major loss, like that of its major port Mariupol on the Sea of Azov."Russia is making incremental advances and is now reportedly controlling most of the strategic city of Severodonetsk, although heavy fighting is continuing in the area," Andrius Tursa, central and eastern Europe advisor at Teneo Intelligence, said in a note last week."The capture of this city — as well as Lysychansk to the west — is crucial for Russia to gain full control of the Luhansk administrative region. If successful, the Russian offensive would likely shift focus onto the Donetsk region, around half of which has been already occupied," he said.Tursa said the situation in Donbas reflects Russia's military advantages, including much greater firepower and troop numbers. Worryingly for Ukraine, Russia also appears to have sharpened its strategic nous."Compared to the first phase of the offensive, the Russian side appears to have improved its operational and logistical activities and is taking greater advantage of its air superiority and electronic warfare capabilities. Meanwhile, Ukraine is suffering from slow and insufficient weapons supplies from its allies."An aerial view of completely destroyed settlements after shellings as Russia - Ukraine war continues, in northern Saltivka-3 neighbourhood, about 40 km from the Russian border in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on June 12, 2022.Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesAlberque said there was still the possibility that the Russian line will collapse somewhere and they'll have to pull troops out of the Severodonetsk front and push them toward the north, toward Kharkiv or Kherson, but what made this inflection point of the invasion dangerous was that Russia was now throwing everything it has at fully occupying the region."This is the part of the war that one really worries about because it's a war of attrition because it's just Russia throwing tons and tons of crap equipment into the battle. It's them using the Donetsk and Luhansk fighters as cannon fodder. It's them just drawing upon their huge human resources and there is the chance [Ukraine is] going to lose more land."Alberque added that he has "real fears that if Ukraine can't collapse parts of the Russian line, and start pushing them back, and force Russia into an even further reduced [territorial] ambition, that we may see some sort of semi-permanent frozen conflict that lasts a decade or more."For its part, Ukraine continues to plead with its Western allies for hundreds more pieces of heavy weaponry to have what it called "weapons parity" with Russia and to "end the war," according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Ukraine's wish list, including a request for tanks and more long-range weaponry such as howitzers and MLRS or multiple-launch rocket systems — which have a 50-80 kilometer range and can strike targets with precision-guided rockets — are seen to be exactly what Ukraine needs right now and while the U.S. and U.K. have pledged more of these weapons, there are concerns over how long it will take to deliver them.Ukrainian troops fire with surface-to-surface rockets MLRS towards Russian positions at a front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7, 2022.Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty ImagesTeneo's Tursa said that the delivery of NATO-standard weapons – combined with heavy troop and equipment losses on the Russian side – could still shift the military balance in favor of Ukraine in the longer term.However, he noted, "it remains unclear whether such deliveries are timely and sufficient for Ukraine to halt the Russian offensive in Donbas or regain at least some of the occupied territories."

'Frozen conflict': Ukraine war could last 10 years or more if Russian forces aren't pushed back.

Ukrainian servicemen ride American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzers M109, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb GaranichRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryLast bridge to Sievierodonetsk destroyed -governorUkraine seeks howitzers, tanks and drones from the WestRussia reports destroying some U.S. and European armsKYIV, June 14 (Reuters) - Russian forces cut off all routes for evacuating citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk by destroying the last bridge linking it to a Ukrainian held city on the other side of the river, a Ukrainian official said.Russian troops were "trying to gain a foothold in the central part of city", the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday in its daily roundup of the conflict in various parts of the country."The situation in Sievierodonetsk is extremely aggravated - the Russians are destroying high-rise buildings and Azot," Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said in a post on Telegram. A day earlier he said hundreds of civilians were sheltering in the grounds of the Azot chemical plant, which had been shelled by Russian forces.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comUkraine has issued increasingly urgent calls for more Western heavy weapons to help defend Sievierodonetsk, which Kyiv says could hold the key to the battle for the eastern Donbas region and the course of the war, now in its fourth month.On Monday Gaidai had said on social media that some 70% of the city was under enemy control, and the destruction of the last bridge across the river to the twin city of Lysychansk meant any civilians still in Sievierodonetsk were trapped, and it was impossible to deliver humanitarian supplies.The latest Ukrainian military situation report was filled with forboding over Russian forces building up in several parts of the Donbas.It reported the enemy was "creating conditions for the development of the offensive on Sloviansk", and an offensive on the towns of Lyman, Yampil and Siversk - all west of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.Late on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the battle for the eastern Donbas would go down as one of the most brutal in European history. The region, comprising the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, is claimed by Russian separatists."For us, the price of this battle is very high. It is just scary," he said."We draw the attention of our partners daily to the fact that only a sufficient number of modern artillery for Ukraine will ensure our advantage."Russia's main goal is to protect Donetsk and Luhansk, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, after the leader of one of the separatist regions asked for additional forces from Moscow. read more Ukraine needs 1,000 howitzers, 500 tanks and 1,000 drones among other heavy weapons, Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Monday.Moscow issued the latest of several recent reports saying it had destroyed U.S. and European arms and equipment.Russia's defence ministry said high-precision air-based missiles had struck near the railway station in Udachne northwest of Donetsk, hitting equipment that had been delivered to Ukrainian forces.Ukraine's interior ministry on Telegram said that Udachne had been hit by a Russian strike overnight Sunday into Monday, without mentioning whether weapons had been targeted.Moscow has criticised the United States and other nations for sending Ukraine weapons and has threatened to strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles.The European Commission will recommend granting Ukraine official status as an EU candidate country, Politico reported late on Monday, citing several unnamed officials.Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that the EU executive's opinion on Ukraine's request to join would be ready by the end of this week.MARIUPOL AGAIN?Russia's RIA news agency quoted a pro-Moscow separatist spokesperson Eduard Basurin as saying Ukrainian troops were effectively cut off in Sievierodonetsk and should surrender or die.The situation risked becoming like Mariupol, "with a large pocket of Ukrainian defenders cut off from the rest of the Ukrainian troops", according to Damien Magrou, spokesperson for the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine that has had forces in Sievierodonetsk.During the fall of Mariupol last month, hundreds of civilians and badly wounded Ukrainian soldiers were trapped for weeks in the Azovstal steelworks.Russia has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a "special operation" to restore Russian security and "denazify" its neighbour.Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for an invasion which has killed thousands of civilians and raised fears of wider conflict in Europe.More than 5 million people have fled and the world has been hit by a food and energy crisis, dividing Western nations over how to handle it. read more After failing to take the capital Kyiv following the Feb. 24 invasion, Moscow focused on expanding control in the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have held territory since 2014. Russia has also tried to capture more of Ukraine's Black Sea coast."The entire front is being subjected to constant shelling," Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian TV on Monday evening.The towns of Maryinka, Krasnohorivka, Vuhledar were hit in the coal-producing belt and Avdiivka, home to a big coking plant, he said.Officials in the Russian-backed separatist-controlled Donetsk region said at least three people, including a child, were killed and 18 were wounded by Ukrainian shelling that hit a market in Donetsk city.The Donetsk News Agency showed pictures of burning stalls at the central Maisky market and several bodies on the ground. The news agency said 155-mm calibre NATO-standard artillery munitions hit parts of the region on Monday.Russian news agencies reported a shell had fallen on a maternity hospital in Donetsk, triggering a fire and prompting staff to send patients into the basement. read more Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There has been no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the reports.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Costas Pitas and Michael Perry; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

No way out for Ukrainians in embattled city as Russian forces destroy last bridge.

A bitcoin representation is seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - The crypto market's a hot mess, leaving many investors struggling to turn a buck. Enter the arbitrageurs.Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have either been shackled to ranges or in decline since January, leaving your regular buy-and-hold investor with little option but to sell or to wait for the elusive rally.One class of seasoned investors is faring better, though: the arbitrageurs, players such as hedge funds who thrive on exploiting price differences between different geographies and exchanges.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"In May when the market collapsed, we made money. We are up 40 basis points for the month," said Anatoly Crachilov, co-founder and CEO of Nickel Digital Asset Management in London, referring to their arbitrage strategy."Arb trading" involves buying an asset in a cheaper venue and simultaneously selling it elsewhere where it's quoted at a premium, in theory pocketing the difference while being neutral on the asset.It's certainly not for everyone, and requires the kind of access to multiple markets and exchanges, and often the algorithms, that only serious players like sophisticated hedge funds can secure to make it a profitable endeavour.Yet for investors who meet the bar, it's proving attractive.Such "market neutral" funds have become the most common strategy among crypto hedge funds, making up nearly a third of all currently active crypto funds, according to PwC's annual global crypto hedge fund report published last week.K2 Trading Partners said its high-frequency trading crypto arbitrage fund, which is algorithmically driven, had returned about 1% this year through to the end of May, even as bitcoin slumped 31% in the same period.Meanwhile Stack Funds' long/short trading fund with exposure in liquid cryptocurrencies saw its single biggest monthly loss of about 30% in May, while its arbitrage-focused fund shed 0.2%.YOUR FUNDS FROZENWhile arbitrage has long been a popular strategy in many markets, the young crypto sector lends itself to the approach as it boasts several hundred exchanges across a world with inconsistent regulation, according to participants.Hugo Xavier, CEO of K2 Trading Partners, said arb trading benefited from a lack of interconnectivity among crypto exchanges: "That's good because you have different prices and that creates arbitrage opportunities."For instance, bitcoin was trading at $27,493 on Coinbase on Monday, versus $28,067 on Bisq. Bitcoin is down 44% this year, and at December 2020 lows.Yet market watchers also point to the possible pitfalls, including technical snafus on exchanges slowing or freezing-up transactions, potentially robbing arb traders of their edge. Some lightly regulated venues in smaller countries, which offer many good arb opportunities, pose extra risks."It's normal for an exchange go offline," Xavier added. "Your funds can be frozen for some reason."STRESS SITUATIONSPrice discrepancies have typically arisen because of the less experienced retail traders who make up the bulk of crypto trades, particularly in the derivatives market. And, while arbitrage strategies are direction-neutral, they tend to perform better when bullish markets attract more retail participation."Of course, you want to have retail traders on the same exchange that you are when you're doing arbitration because you will have less smart money. When there's a bullish market, retail volume comes back," Xavier said."If the markets are moving sideways or going down, retail traders cool off. Opportunities are fewer because most of people there are market makers and they are efficient."Markus Thielen, chief investment officer at Singapore-based digital asset manager IDEG said that there had been a shift in recent months, with arbitrage opportunities mostly appearing during "market stress situations"."So the market structure has fundamentally changed on the arb side," he said, adding their arb strategy generated returns of 2% in the last eight weeks.Yet Katryna Hanush, director of business development at London-based crypto market maker Wintermute, said arb trading ultimately had a limited shelf life because inconsistent pricing across different exchanges was bad for investors."As more institutional players come into the space, the arb opportunities will be eliminated."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Medha Singh and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Pravin CharOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Cryptoverse: The funds making moolah from messy markets.

Piles of burnt sunflower seed meal is pictured at a destroyed area of the Nika-Tera grain terminal, as Russia's attacks on Ukraine continues, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine June 12, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar SuRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryJune harvest vulnerable to fires from shellingCombine harvester operators unwilling to workSome farmers say financial resources running outMYKOLAIV, Ukraine, June 14 (Reuters) - As 10-metre high mounds of sunflower meal smoulder among the blackened ruins of one of Ukraine's top agricultural terminals, farmers in this front-line region are scrambling to survive a harvest under Russian fire.They see Russia's shelling of the Nika-Tera port facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv on June 4 as just the most dramatic example of a wider assault on a pillar of Ukraine's economy - and the world's."Agriculture is one of the few business sectors that is working... Of course they want to destroy it. They want to end this stream of income into the country," farmer Volodymyr Onyschuk said near a pile of Russian shell casings on his 2,000 hectare wheat and sunflower holding near Mykolaiv.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCrops will be vulnerable to fire caused by shelling, he said, and that could be "hell" for farmers when the harvest season begins in coming weeks.Asked how Mykolaiv farmers planned to reduce exposure to Russian actions, he said: "Let us just survive until the next harvest."Since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the world's fourth largest grains exporter, Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of attacking infrastructure and agriculture to provoke a global food crisis and pressure the West.Moscow, which calls its war a special military operation, blames Western sanctions and sea mines laid by Ukraine for the drop in food exports and rising global prices.PORT ATTACKFive shells hit a cluster of warehouses and grain conveyer belts at the Nika-Tera plant, rendering one of Ukraine's largest agricultural terminals unable to load or unload ships, local officials said. read more The blasts triggered an intense fire in sunflower meal stores. These were still smouldering during a brief press tour on Sunday. Separate grain elevators on the site were untouched."They are trying to undermine food security worldwide," said Georgy Reshetilov, First Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv military regional administration.The region's agricultural facilities have suffered an estimated 34 billion hryvnia ($1.16 billion) worth of losses, he said. Sites hit include a large producer of tomato pulp and a large number of farms.Shelling is feeding fear across a sector already hamstrung by Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, the primary route for Ukraine's vast agricultural exports. read more Combine harvester operators are leery of bringing their equipment to the region, fearing shelling along and possible mines and munitions in the fields, farmers said.Some grain traders are reluctant to even buy stocks from farmers, fearing they will bear responsibility if their storage facilities are subsequently attacked."Nobody can guarantee the safety of this harvest in a time of war," said Reshetilov.Supplies of fertilizer are running low, and without buyers for grain exports, farmers said they could struggle to raise funds to buy more supplies, even if they were available."Fuel has gone up. Fertilizer prices are insane. I don’t know how we are going to work next year," said Valentyn Matviyenko, who runs a farm near Bashtanka, around 60 kilometers northeast of Mykolaiv city where some land is within range of Russian artillery.Some traders are offering wheat prices that were one-third of pre-war highs, he said."Our financial resources are dwindling. We’ve put everything into this harvest," he said.SEA BLOCKADEFew in the region hold out hope that diplomatic efforts will unblock the Black Sea. They said a few convoys of ships would not even dent the volumes that need to be exported, and it is not economical to send the same grain by road.Additional grain storage in and around Mykolaiv has been ruled out due to the risk of shelling, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych told Reuters. Instead the focus is on building facilities closer to the Romanian border where river transport is an option.The regional administration said it is looking at municipal and communal rather than private storage. The national government, meanwhile, is seeking to simplify export procedures and is offering farmers interest-free loans.Some are sceptical of state intervention: "The best help of the government is not to do anything .. business will find a way to export the grain," Mayor Senkevych said.After spraying fertilizer on a field of young sunflowers, tractor driver Vasyl Boyko, 38, said he does not believe a solution will be found unless Ukraine pushes back Russian forces and the West opens trade corridors in the Black Sea."We don't need words, we need weapons," he said.($1 = 29.2500 hryvnias)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWriting by Conor Humphries; editing by Tom Balmforth and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ukraine's besieged farmers fear war-time harvest 'hell'.

An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, Japan November 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Picture taken on November 12, 2021. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices inched lower after seesawing through early trading on Tuesday, as worries that fuel demand would be hit by a possible recession and fresh COVID-19 curbs in China outweighed tight global supplies.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 22 cents, or 0.2% to $120.71 a barrel at 0353 GMT, while Brent crude futures eased 25 cents, or 0.2%, to $122.02 a barrel."Discussion within the oil complex still revolves around Libya's decline in production, China continuing to impose measures to slow the spread of COVID, and concerns around global recession woes driving demand destruction," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIn China, a COVID outbreak at a bar in Beijing has raised fears of a new phase of lockdowns just as restrictions were being eased and fuel demand was expected to firm.The Chinese capital's most populous district, Chaoyang, kicked off a three-day mass testing campaign among its roughly 3.5 million residents on Monday. About 10,000 close contacts of the bar's patrons have been identified, and their residential buildings put under lockdown. read more ]Looking ahead, oil prices may face more pressure if the U.S. Federal Reserve surprises the markets with a higher-than-expected interest rate hike, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said."Otherwise, traders' focus will go back to China's COVID restrictions, when we could see prices tracing the demand outlook of the world's second-largest economy," she added.Capping losses were tight global supplies, aggravated by a drop in exports from Libya amid a political crisis that has hit output and ports as other producers to meet their production targets and Russia faces bans on its oil over the war in Ukraine.ANZ Research analysts cited Libya's oil minister Mohamed Aoun saying production in the country has dropped to 100,000 barrels per day from 1.2 million bpd last year.The market will be awaiting weekly U.S. inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday for a view of how tight crude and fuel supply remain.Six analysts polled by Reuters expect U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week to June 3, while forecasting that gasoline stockpiles rose by about 800,000 barrels and distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, were unchanged.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Sonali Paul and Isabel Kua; Editing by Richard Pullin and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oil prices inch lower as China COVID, recession worries outweigh tight supply.

If there's one person who understands the importance of teaching kids about financial responsibility, it's Warren Buffett.Before he became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the legendary investor started a handful of small businesses — starting at age six, when he purchased a six-pack of Coke for 25 cents and sold each can for a nickel. He also sold magazines and gum from door to door."My dad was my greatest inspiration," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC back in 2013. "What I learned at an early age from him was to have the right habits early. Savings was an important lesson he taught me."When asked what he thinks is the biggest mistake parents make when teaching their kids about money, the billionaire said, "Sometimes parents wait until their kids are in their teens before they start talking about managing money — when they could be starting when their kids are in preschool."Time is a factorYes, you read that right: Preschool. To Buffett's point, researchers have noted that 80% of our brain growth happens by age 3.One study from Cambridge University found that kids are already able to grasp basic money concepts between the ages of 3 and 4. And by age 7, basic concepts relating to future financial behaviors will typically have developed."Most parents already know how important it is to teach their kids about money and how to manage it properly," Buffett acknowledged. But there's a difference between knowing and taking action.According to a 2018 survey from T. Rowe Price, which gathered responses from 1,014 parents (of children between the ages of 8 to 14) and more than 1,000 young adults (ages 18 to 24), only 4% of parents said they started discussing financial topics with their kids before the age of 5.Thirty percent of parents started educating their kids about money at age 15 or older, while 14% said they never did at all.Lessons Buffett taught his own kidsIn 2011, Buffett helped launch a children's animated series called "Secret Millionaire's Club," which featured himself as a mentor to a group of students.There are 26 episodes in the show, and each one tackles a financial lesson, such as how a credit card works or why it's important to track where you put your money."I taught all [three] of my kids the lessons taught in 'Secret Millionaires Club,'" Buffett told CNBC. "They are simple lessons meant for business and for life."Here are a few lessons from the show, along with tips from Buffett on how to teach them to your kids:1. How to be a flexible thinkerThe goal of this lesson is to encourage your kids not to give up just because something doesn't work the first time. The ability to think creatively and outside the box will come in handy when they run into future financial challenges.Activity ideas:Go to an art museum with your kids and discuss the different styles of each painting. Then, invite them to paint something of their own. Have them brainstorm different tools — besides the paintbrush — that can be used (e.g., sponges, cotton swabs, fingers).Turn your trash into treasure by challenging your kids to come up with new uses for old things around the house (e.g., bottle caps can double as checker pieces, an empty cereal box can be turned into a magazine holder). This will help teach them how to think critically, save money and help the environment all at the same time.2. How to start saving moneyAs Ben Franklin once said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." To help your kids learn to manage their money, it's important for them to understand the difference between wants and needs.Activity ideas:Give each of your kids two money jars: One for savings and one for spending. Each time they receive money (e.g., as a gift, for allowance, for walking the neighbor's dog), talk to them about how they wish to split the money between savings and spending.Have your kids make a list or create a collage from magazine photos of five to 10 things they'd like to purchase. Then, go through each item with them and mark whether it's a want or a need (e.g., a new toy is a want, while a new backpack is a need.)3. How to differentiate between price and valueWe've all been guilty of paying more money for a cool brand of shoes or gadget when we could have gotten a similar item that was just as good for a lesser price.The idea behind this lesson is to help kids understand the different ways advertisers get us to buy their services or products, as well as how to tell what is and what isn't worth paying for.Activity ideas:Make a list of items you need at the supermarket, and then check flyers, newspapers and websites with your kids for items on the list that may be on sale. Compare those prices and see which store offers the best deal for a specific product.Pick up a magazine with your kids and choose an ad to evaluate. Ask them: What's being sold? What message is the ad trying to get across? What catches their attention in the ad? How does the ad make them feel? How is it trying to persuade them to buy the product?4. How to make good decisionsThe key to making smart decisions is to think about how different choices can impact future outcomes.Activity ideas:Buffett suggests modeling good decision-making skills and talking to your kids about your decisions as you make them, as well as any resulting domino effect they could have. For example: "We want to buy a new TV, but our AC is broken and we need to save money to get it fixed. If we don't, it will be too hot in the house when summer comes. Once the AC is repaired, we can think about buying the TV."Get your kids into the habit of making good decisions about how to save money. Maybe there's a DVD they want to buy. Ask them whether they really need it or if they can rent the movie from the library.'It's never too early'

Warren Buffett: This is the No. 1 mistake parents make when teaching kids about money.

A sign of Cathay Pacific is seen at its headquarters Cathay City in Hong Kong, China October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lam Yik/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) expects a lower first-half loss than last year, driven by strong cargo performance and cost-cutting, the airline said on Tuesday, while warning that this year's loss would still be "substantial".Last year's first-half loss at the major Asian carrier was HK$7.57 billion ($964.34 million), though it managed a surprise profit in the second half, thanks to strong cargo demand.Cathay said it had added capacity in the second quarter after Hong Kong eased some crew quarantine norms, but its May capacity figures had still amounted to just about 4% of the passengers and 34% of the cargo it carried before the pandemic.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHong Kong, like mainland China, is one of only a few places in the world that still requires hotel quarantine for arriving passengers in its fight to hold down COVID-19 infections. In May, Cathay's passenger numbers were 98% below 2019 levels."Our consolidated losses in the first half of 2022, while substantial, are expected to be lower than ... in the first half of 2021," said Ronald Lam, the airline's chief customer and commercial officer.Cathay would increase passenger capacity over the coming months as much as practicable within the confines of curbs as demand continues to improve, he added in a statement."Cathay Pacific started the year operating flights to 29 destinations and we target to double that by the end of the year," Lam said.Cathay said the outlook for its cargo business is positive in the short term due to supply chain disruptions in China's commercial hub of Shanghai and elsewhere globally.($1=7.8499 Hong Kong dollars)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Cathay Pacific forecasts narrower but 'substantial' loss in first half.

Jun 13, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins (22) goes to the basket in game five of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Pool Photo-USA TODAY SportsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSAN FRANCISCO, June 13 (Reuters) - The Golden State Warriors are one win away from their fourth NBA title in eight years after Monday's 104-94 victory over the Boston Celtics gave them a 3-2 lead in the championship series.Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Warriors survived a third quarter push from the Celtics to emerge with the win, with the best-of-seven series heading back to Boston for Game Six on Thursday.Wiggins and Klay Thompson did most of the damage for the home team, combining for 47 points, while Boston committed 18 turnovers and missed 10 free throws at the Chase Center.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPoor shooting saw the Celtics trail by 12 at the half but they opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run, taking their first lead of the night at 58-55 via Al Horford's three-pointer.The momentum then swung back to the Warriors via Jordan Poole's bank shot from near half-court at the third quarter buzzer, and they put the game out of reach with an emphatic Wiggins dunk late in the fourth.Wiggins, the first overall pick in the 2014 draft who has only flourished since joining Golden State in 2020, also played outstanding defense on Boston's Jayson Tatum, who finished with 27 points."Throughout the playoffs he's rebounded well," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of Wiggins."I think it's just a sense of what's needed. He's got veteran guys who are helping him to understand what we need from him, and he's just using his athleticism in a lot of different ways."Stephen Curry had put the Warriors on his back with a 43-point performance in Game Four but struggled from distance on Monday, going 0-9 from three-point range and scoring just 16 points.But his dazzling drives and playmaking ability was still on display as he finished with eight assists while putting pressure on the defense."I think Steph was probably due for a game like this," Kerr said."He's been shooting the ball so well that, at some point, he was going to have a tough night. But we've got a lot of talent and a lot of depth that can make up for that, and the guys did a good job of that tonight."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Wiggins steps up as Warriors beat Celtics to take 3-2 Finals lead.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country is dealing with "absolute evil" and that Ukraine's forces must "knock out the occupiers from all our areas."In his address on Monday, the 110th day of the war, Zelenskyy said that although the width of the frontline is now more than 2,500 kilometers, "it seems that the strategic initiative is still behind us."Fighting remains fierce in Severodonetsk, the epicenter of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and now the city appears to be fully cut off after its last remaining bridge was destroyed.Russian and Ukrainian forces in the city — the last stronghold of Ukraine in the Luhansk province — are fighting for "literally every meter," Zelenskyy has said.Russian troops have tried to encircle and seize Severodonetsk for some time and losing control of the city would be a major blow to Ukraine.Russia makes advances around Kharkiv for first time in weeks, UK saysAlthough Russia's main objective remains the assault against the Severodonetsk pocket in the Donbas, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense said Russian forces "have likely made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks."A view of a destroyed shopping mall after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 8, 2022.Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesThe ministry, posting its latest intelligence update on Twitter Tuesday, also noted that Russia could be starting to leverage its industrial base for the war effort.On June 10, the U.K. noted, an official within Russia's Military-Industrial Commission predicted that state defense spending will increase by 600-700 billion rubles (up to $12 billion), which could approach a 20% increase in Russia's defense budget."Russian government funding is allowing the country's defense industrial base to be slowly mobilized to meet demands placed on it by the war in Ukraine," the U.K. said. "However, the industry could struggle to meet many of these requirements, partially due to the effects of sanctions and lack of expertise."The ministry said Russia's production "of high-quality optics and advanced electronics likely remain troubled and could undermine its efforts to replace equipment lost in Ukraine."— Holly EllyattAll bridges to Severodonetsk are now destroyed, governor saysThe city of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk province — one of the last strongholds of Ukrainian forces in the area — has now seen all of its bridges destroyed, according to the governor of Luhansk, who said the evacuation of civilians is now impossible.Severodonetsk has been the focus of severe fighting for weeks as Ukrainian soldiers have tried desperately to prevent the city from falling into Russian hands. The relentless bombardment from Russia has taken its toll, however, and at least 70% of the city is now controlled by its forces.Smoke rising in Severodonetsk, seen from neighboring Lysychansk, in Ukraine on June 10, 2022.Marcus Yam | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesAfter an update on Monday in which he said only one bridge into the city was left, and that was critically damaged, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai updated the situation on Facebook Monday night saying "all bridges are destroyed, but Severodonetsk is not blocked. Communication with the city is there!!""Evacuation and transport of human cargo is impossible," he addedHe added that the Russians have not completely captured Severodonetsk and that a part of the city was still under Ukrainian control.— Holly EllyattU.S. officials say new military aid for Ukraine might come as early as this weekUkrainian soldiers move U.S.-made missiles on Feb. 13, 2022. The U.S. could announce new military aid for Ukraine as early as this week, a defense official and an administration official said.Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty ImagesThe United States could announce new military aid for Ukraine as early as this week, a defense official and administration official said.The additional aid is likely to come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which can be used for training, equipping, and advising Ukrainian forces. The U.S. has used more than $6 billion for USAI funds in fiscal year 2022.   Another military aid package, with additional weapons and equipment, could also be announced as early as next week through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the defense official said.That would be the 12th drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine's defense.Last month, Congress approved an additional $40 billion for aid to Ukraine after President Joe Biden's request for $33 billion.— Chelsea Ong'We are dealing with absolute evil,' Zelenskyy says; vows to rebuild KyivPresident of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the positions of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut city and Lysychansk district, Ukraine, on June 5, 2022.Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the capital city of Kyiv will "rebuild everything that was destroyed by the occupiers.""We are dealing with absolute evil. And we have no choice but to move on," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation, delivered on the 110th day of its invasion by Russia.He added that Ukrainian forces will "knock out the occupiers from all our areas.""We will rebuild everything that was destroyed by the occupiers, from Volnovakha to Chortkiv, because this is Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. "And it was our destiny to return and strengthen it."— Amanda MaciasA look inside the destroyed Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol Russian servicemen patrol the ruins of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. The Russian military had besieged the strategic port city for three months, only taking complete control in late May after a group of Ukrainian soldiers who holed up in the steel plant surrendered.A Russian serviceman inspects an underground tunnel under the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine, on June 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP) (Photo by YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images)Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty ImagesA Russian serviceman inspects an underground tunnel under the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine, on June 13, 2022. Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty ImagesA Russian serviceman inspects an underground tunnel under the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine, on June 13, 2022. Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty ImagesA Russian serviceman inspects an underground tunnel under the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine, on June 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP) (Photo by YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images)Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty ImagesA Russian serviceman inspects an underground tunnel under the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine, on June 13, 2022.Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty Images-Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty ImagesRead CNBC's previous live coverage here:

Ukraine must 'knock out the occupiers,' Zelenskyy says; Severodonetsk cut off after all bridges destroyed.

The TotalEnergies logo sits on the company's headquarter skyscraper in the La Defense business district in Paris, France, March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit TessierRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPARIS, June 14 (Reuters) - French energy company TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) said on Tuesday it will acquire a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL), as part of a deal to develop a green hydrogen ecosystem with the Indian conglomerate in the Asian country.TotalEnergies, one of the world's biggest oil and gas producers, faced criticism from climate activists and has been moving into the renewable energy sector and diversifying away from hydrocarbon-centred activities in recent years.In the initial phase, Adani New Industries plans to develop green hydrogen production capacity of one million metric tons per year by 2030, TotalEnergies said."TotalEnergies' entry into ANIL is a major milestone in implementing our low-carbon hydrogen strategy," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said.Apart from decarbonising hydrogen used in its European refineries by 2030, Pouyanne said the French energy major also plans to pioneer the mass production of green hydrogen as it expects that market to take off by the end of this decade.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

TotalEnergies to acquire 25% stake in India's Adani New Industries.

Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees' needs in areas like remote work, flexible hours, four-day workweeks, compensation and more. This story is part of a series looking at the "Great Reshuffle" and the shift in workplace culture that is taking place right now.Imagine collecting your full paycheck while taking three months off from work to do whatever you please.That may be an unattainable dream for most, but for employees at tech company Automattic, it's a reality. For every five years worked, employees get a paid three-month sabbatical.For Lori McLeese, it was the perfect cure for her burnout back in 2016."We were stretched super-thin," said McLeese, global head of human resources at Automattic, the online publishing and commerce company behind WordPress.com, Tumblr and others."I was starting to wonder if I still enjoyed doing this type of work."Lori McLeese, global head of human resources for Automattic, hiked the Camino de Santiago during her sabbatical in 2016.Source: Lori McLeeseShe loves the outdoors, so she decided to hike the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrim routes across Europe. She walked over 600 miles in three months. In addition to tackling the Camino de Santiago, she visited towns in France and walked through the tulips in the Netherlands."It was the best thing I could have ever done," recalled McLeese, who lived in San Francisco at the time.For one, she realized she wasn't a city girl and decided to relocate to Asheville, North Carolina. She also found a renewed sense of purpose at work."It helped reset my brain," McLeese said. "I stepped away completely disconnected, came back, was rejuvenated, was excited about my work again."More from Invest in You:This company found a cure for employee burnout: a four-day workweekCompanies are reinventing rules as workers seek flexibilityWant a four-day-workweek job? Here's how to land oneThat is one of the goals of Automattic's policy — to allow workers to recharge. It also gives them time to think about what they want to do."It provides a really nice sort of reset point for people to reevaluate their role or their careers or what they want to come back doing," said Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg.It can also benefit those left behind, since people take on new responsibilities to cover for the worker on sabbatical."This is an amazing opportunity for others on the team to step up in leadership positions, and to get to work on projects that they're really excited about," McLeese said.Lori McLeese, global head of human resources for Automattic, hiked the Camino de Santiago during her sabbatical in 2016.Source: Lori McLeeseSince the program's inception in 2015, 366 employees have taken 375 sabbaticals (Nine have taken two). In addition, there are 80 sabbaticals planned for 2022 and early 2023.To be sure, Automattic is an outlier. Prior to the pandemic, only 5% of organizations offered a paid sabbatical program, while 11% offered it unpaid, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2019 benefits report.Yet it has become clear that health and work life are interconnected, said DJ DiDonna, who studies sabbaticals and is the founder of research and advocacy nonprofit The Sabbatical Project."There's something different that's going on between a two-week or one-week stretch and multiple months," he said.The past two years have just been so hard on everyone, and the luxury of being able to have three months and just care for yourself, it's just an invaluable experience.Lori McLeeseGlobal head of HR for AutomatticHe has interviewed hundreds of people about their sabbaticals and found that the time off gives people ample space to do identity work."Very rarely do you get a chance to step back and say, 'What am I doing? How am I approaching life? What do I want my life to be like? Have I gotten off path?'"In the era of the so-called Great Resignation, also known as the "Great Reshuffle," the sabbatical can also be a tool to attract and retain employees.It has certainly helped Automattic, according to Mullenweg and McLeese. After all, if someone is close to reaching five years and becoming eligible for the sabbatical, why not hang around?The benefit can also be borne out in the numbers. The company's voluntary turnover rate is about 7.5%, McLeese noted. In comparison, companies lose 12% of their workforce to voluntary turnover each year, on average, according to career resource site Zippia.Additionally, when many companies were having trouble hiring last year, Automattic onboarded 700 people.Any cost associated with giving employees three months off is negligible, Mullenweg said."One of the biggest costs … to companies right now is churn," Mullenweg noted. "It's good people leaving, their knowledge going out the door."You have to pay to hire new people, and to train them up."It costs employers the equivalent of six to nine months of an employee's salary to find and train their replacement, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.Yet Mullenweg is quick to point out that the sabbatical is part of a suite of benefits at Automattic geared towards employee well-being, which helps in talent acquisition and worker retention. For instance, there is no main office. Instead, employees of the company, which is valued at $7.5 billion, can work from anywhere. There are currently 1,912 employees scattered across 96 countries.Lori McLeese, pictured with her mother on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, is about to take a second sabbatical. This time, she'll spend time at home with her mom and enjoy the outdoors.Lori McLeeseFor McLeese, the sabbatical is an opportunity worth sticking around for. She's about to start her second one in March. This time, she'll stay home, recovering from the pandemic and spending time with her mother, who has Alzheimer's and now lives with her."Taking care of her and navigating just her care, and her decline, has not always left time for me to prioritize my own health," McLeese said.Her time off will include gardening, hiking, swimming and other things that bring her joy."The past two years have just been so hard on everyone, and the luxury of being able to have three months and just care for yourself, it's just an invaluable experience," she said.SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox. For the Spanish version Dinero 101, click here.CHECK OUT: How a single mom in Atlanta makes $10,000/month on Outschool while only teaching a few hours a week with Acorns+CNBCDisclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

This HR manager took 3 months off with pay to hike in Europe. Here’s why her tech company let her do it.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro conduct Taiwan Strait transits August 27, 2021. Picture taken August 27, 2021. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTAIPEI, June 14 (Reuters) - The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.The narrow strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.In recent years U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing Beijing's anger.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOn Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said the country "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait"."It is a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters' in order to find a pretext for manipulating issues related to Taiwan and threatening China's sovereignty and security," said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry.In Taipei, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said such comments were a "fallacy"."The Taiwan Strait is international waters, and the waters outside our territorial waters are subject to the 'freedom of the high seas' principle of international law," she told reporters.Taiwan has always respected the actions of foreign ships in the Taiwan Strait that comply with international law, including innocent passage, Ou said."We understand and support the U.S. freedom of navigation missions' contribution to promoting regional peace and stability."Taiwan's government says China has no right to speak for it or claim sovereignty, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their own future and the People's Republic of China has never controlled any part of the island.China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and views the island as an inherent part of Chinese territory.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jason Neely and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, Taipei says, in rebuff to China.

The logo for 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup is pictured in Mexico City, Mexico September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard GarridoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - England captain Harry Kane said he has spoken to France skipper Hugo Lloris and Denmark's Christian Eriksen about their national teams taking a unified stance on human rights issues surrounding this year's World Cup in Qatar.Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar while a report by Amnesty International found that thousands of migrant workers in the country were being exploited.The Qatar government, which has denied the accusations in the Amnesty report, said it had introduced various reforms in the last five years, including a new national minimum wage and the removal of exit permits. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comKane, who said in March that the England squad had met to discuss the issues ahead of the tournament, said he had been talking with players from other countries, including former Tottenham Hotspur team mate Eriksen and current Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris."Christian Eriksen got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago now," Kane told reporters on Monday. "Obviously there is Hugo Lloris, who I am in touch with a lot anyway. So the discussion was there to maybe do something as a collective."When we come to a decision of something we want to do, for sure we will share it."I think it will be important to do it collectively. I feel like it will be a bit more of a stance, a bit more power."England, who are bottom of their UEFA Nations League group on two points, take on Hungary later on Tuesday.The World Cup runs from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

England's Kane discusses Qatar stance with Dane Eriksen, France's Lloris.

People walk past a sign of the Heaven Supermarket bar, where a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak emerged, in Chaoyang district of Beijing, China June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - Authorities in Beijing have launched an investigation into a 24-hour bar they believe to be at the centre of a cluster of more than 250 COVID-19 cases in China's capital since last week, domestic media said on Tuesday.A team of local government officials will work to investigate and deal with the Heaven Supermarket Bar "quickly, strictly and seriously", the state-backed Beijing Daily said.All the city's bars, nightclubs, karaoke venues, internet cafes and other places of entertainment are being inspected, the paper said, with those in underground spaces being shut as epidemic prevention work is "tightened".Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe paper has repeatedly pointed the finger at an individual, dubbed Patient No. 1,991, for triggering the flare-up. Careless behaviour has turned the individual into the "propagator" of the outbreak, the paper said on Tuesday.Authorities in the city of 22 million say the individual did not take any COVID-19 test between May 26 and June 8, despite visiting a number of restaurants, bars and crowded places during the period.The patient developed a fever by the evening of June 8, two days after a visit to the 24-hour bar at the centre of the current cluster.Despite the fever, the individual returned to the bar in the small hours of June 9, the day on which a handful of other bar patrons were found to have become infected.Authorities are under pressure as the outbreak linked to the bar has left millions facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns. It comes just days after the city ended a partial lockdown that had run for more than a month. read more News of the investigation came a day after state media reported Vice Premier Sun Chunlan visited the bar and said it was necessary to strengthen COVID prevention and control of key places.People infected in the outbreak live or work in 14 of the capital's 16 districts, authorities have said.Drinking and dining in most establishments in the city only resumed on June 6, after more than a month of measures such as exhortations to work from home, along with closures of malls and stretches of the transport system.Chaoyang, the city's largest district in which the bar is located, began a three-day mass testing campaign on Monday for its roughly 3.5 million residents.About 10,000 close contacts of the bar's patrons have been identified, and their residential buildings put under lockdown.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Ryan Woo and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Beijing launches probe into bar blamed for capital's COVID surge.

Cambodian-U.S. lawyer Theary Seng arrives dressed up as a chained Statue of Liberty for her treason verdict at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Prak Chan ThulRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPHONM PENH, June 14 (Reuters) - A Cambodian court handed down jail sentences on Tuesday to about 60 opposition figures including prominent lawyer Theary Seng for conspiring to commit treason, in a mass trial condemned by the United States and rights groups as politically motivated.Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist, was among more than 100 people affiliated with the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) charged with treason and incitement.The court in Phnom Penh sentenced Theary Seng to six years in jail and ordered her arrest, her lawyer told reporters.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"This is not acceptable and I will meet her in prison to discuss appealing," the lawyer Chuong Choungy said outside the court, noting she was among about 60 co-defendants who had been sentenced to between five to eight years in prison.Theary Seng had arrived at court dressed as the Statue of Liberty with a symbolic chain around her, and saying she expected to be found guilty.After the verdict, she was bundled into a police pickup truck after the verdict, sparking scuffles between officers and her supporters.The verdicts are likely to renew international concern about Cambodia's veteran prime minister, Hun Sen, and what his critics say has been elimination, over many years, of opposition to his rule. Hun Sen denies persecuting his opponents.U.S. embassy spokesperson Chad Roedemeier said the United States was "deeply troubled by today's unjust verdicts"."The United States has consistently called on Cambodian authorities to stop politically motivated trials, including against U.S. citizen Seng Theary and other human rights defenders, members of the political opposition, journalists, and labour and environmental activists," Roedemeier told Reuters.'AUTOCRATIC'The court sentenced veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister and leader of the CNRP who lives in exile in France, in absentia to eight years in prison.Before her arrest, Theary Seng spoke of the verdict she expected, saying it would apply to all Cambodians who "love justice, who love freedom, who are genuine democrats"."It follows the logic of this autocratic regime to find me guilty," she told reporters.Hun Sen who has ruled Cambodia for 37 years. He rose to prominence in the 1980s, after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" regime, and cemented his hold on power in the 1990s.The CNRP was banned and its leader Kem Sokha arrested before a 2018 general election, allowing Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party to win every parliamentary seat, and prompting international outrage.The charges against Kem Sokha stem from accusations he conspired with the United States to overthrow Hun Sen. Kem Sokha and the United States reject the accusations.Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments, the United Nations, and aid donors to press Cambodia to quash the convictions and end a broad attack on the country's remaining civic and democratic space.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Chan Thul Prak; Editing by Ed Davies, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Cambodian court jails American lawyer, dozens of others for treason.

German automaker Volkswagen is one of state-owned automaker SAIC's foreign partners in China. Pictured here on June 7, 2022, is the joint venture's factory in Shanghai.Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Factories in two of China's Covid-hit economic hubs have mostly resumed work as the impact of the virus subsides, according to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.In Shanghai, the city with the largest gross domestic product in China, 96.3% of industrial businesses tracked by the government have resumed work, with a production rate above 70%, Vice Minister Xin Guobin told reporters on Tuesday.In the southern province of Guangdong, an industrial hub, production has basically returned to normal, Xin said.Shanghai has attempted to reopen fully this month after a roughly two-month lockdown to control a Covid outbreak. Parts of Guangdong had shut down briefly in March. Some factories, primarily the few hundred on a government whitelist, were allowed to operate if workers lived on-site in a bubble.Tesla has achieved full production, while Shanghai's local state-owned automaker SAIC saw production in early June rise by nearly 60% year on year, Xin said. SAIC is also the partner for Volkswagen and General Motors in China.Tesla, Volkswagen and GM did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.For Shanghai's auto industry overall, production is "steadily increasing," Xin said in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. He did not share specific figures.In the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, Xin said, resumption of work and production was "better than expected," without providing numbers."Many companies said through two months of effort in May and June, they would try to regain output delayed from March and April," Xin said.Read more about China from CNBC Pro

Most factories in Shanghai resume work as Covid controls ease, ministry says.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss looks on during a meeting with European Commission Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations Maros Sefcovic (not seen) in London, Britain February 11, 2022. Rob Pinney/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Britain expects the first flight of asylum seekers to depart for Rwanda on Tuesday and any person who avoids that flight due to legal proceedings will be put on a later one, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Tuesday.London's High Court is due to hear final legal challenges against the policy on Tuesday morning before the first scheduled flight under Britain's controversial new policy is expected to take place.Following a spate of legal challenges, charities say there are only seven people who are due to go to Rwanda on Tuesday."We are expecting to send the flight later today," she told Sky News. "I can't say exactly how many people will be on the flight. But the really important thing is that we establish the principle.""There will be people on this flight and if they're not on this flight, they will be on the next flight because we are determined to break the model of the appalling people traffickers."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Kylie MacLellan and Farouq Suleiman; editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UK's Truss expects first migrant deportation flight to Rwanda to go ahead.

Treasury yields fell on Tuesday as investors assessed the prospect of the Federal Reserve taking the most aggressive step yet in its fight to lower soaring inflation.The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped around 9 basis points to 3.276%, paring gains after climbing to 3.39% and notching its biggest move since 2020 in the previous session.The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell roughly 7 basis points to 3.298%, while the 2-year rate fell 5 basis points to 3.236%, erasing gains from earlier in the session. Yields move inversely to prices, and a basis point is equal to 0.01%.The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yield curve on Monday briefly inverted for the first time since early April as investors braced for the prospect of aggressive monetary policy tightening to lower inflation. This measure is closely monitored by traders and is often seen as an indicator of a recession.It comes after an intense sell-off during the regular session on Wall Street as market participants await the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.Investors are bracing themselves for a 75 basis-point hike from the Fed this week, rather than a 50 basis-point hike many had come to expect. That's because last week's inflation report showed prices running hotter than expected.The Federal Open Market Committee in May raised the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.75% to 1% from 0.25% to 0.5%.On the data front, the National Federation of Independent Business survey for May will be released at around 6 a.m. ET, with the producer price index for May set to follow at 8:30 a.m. ET.The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday is scheduled to auction $34 billion in 52-week bills.— CNBC's Sarah Min contributed to this report.

10-year Treasury yield falls after biggest move since March 2020; investors await key Fed meeting.

Representations of virtual cryptocurrencies are placed on U.S. Dollar banknotes in this illustration taken November 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - The crypto market's a hot mess, leaving many investors struggling to turn a buck. Enter the arbitrageurs.Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have either been shackled to ranges or in decline since January, leaving your regular buy-and-hold investor with little option but to sell or to wait for the elusive rally.One class of seasoned investors is faring better, though: the arbitrageurs, players such as hedge funds who thrive on exploiting price differences between different geographies and exchanges.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"In May when the market collapsed, we made money. We are up 40 basis points for the month," said Anatoly Crachilov, co-founder and CEO of Nickel Digital Asset Management in London, referring to their arbitrage strategy."Arb trading" involves buying an asset in a cheaper venue and simultaneously selling it elsewhere where it's quoted at a premium, in theory pocketing the difference while being neutral on the asset.It's certainly not for everyone, and requires the kind of access to multiple markets and exchanges, and often the algorithms, that only serious players like sophisticated hedge funds can secure to make it a profitable endeavour.Yet for investors who meet the bar, it's proving attractive.Such "market neutral" funds have become the most common strategy among crypto hedge funds, making up nearly a third of all currently active crypto funds, according to PwC's annual global crypto hedge fund report published last week.K2 Trading Partners said its high-frequency trading crypto arbitrage fund, which is algorithmically driven, had returned about 1% this year through to the end of May, even as bitcoin slumped 31% in the same period.Meanwhile Stack Funds' long/short trading fund with exposure in liquid cryptocurrencies saw its single biggest monthly loss of about 30% in May, while its arbitrage-focused fund shed 0.2%.YOUR FUNDS FROZENWhile arbitrage has long been a popular strategy in many markets, the young crypto sector lends itself to the approach as it boasts several hundred exchanges across a world with inconsistent regulation, according to participants.Hugo Xavier, CEO of K2 Trading Partners, said arb trading benefited from a lack of interconnectivity among crypto exchanges: "That's good because you have different prices and that creates arbitrage opportunities."For instance, bitcoin was trading at $27,493 on Coinbase on Monday, versus $28,067 on Bisq. Bitcoin is down 44% this year, and at December 2020 lows.Yet market watchers also point to the possible pitfalls, including technical snafus on exchanges slowing or freezing-up transactions, potentially robbing arb traders of their edge. Some lightly regulated venues in smaller countries, which offer many good arb opportunities, pose extra risks."It's normal for an exchange go offline," Xavier added. "Your funds can be frozen for some reason."STRESS SITUATIONSPrice discrepancies have typically arisen because of the less experienced retail traders who make up the bulk of crypto trades, particularly in the derivatives market. And, while arbitrage strategies are direction-neutral, they tend to perform better when bullish markets attract more retail participation."Of course, you want to have retail traders on the same exchange that you are when you're doing arbitration because you will have less smart money. When there's a bullish market, retail volume comes back," Xavier said."If the markets are moving sideways or going down, retail traders cool off. Opportunities are fewer because most of people there are market makers and they are efficient."Markus Thielen, chief investment officer at Singapore-based digital asset manager IDEG said that there had been a shift in recent months, with arbitrage opportunities mostly appearing during "market stress situations"."So the market structure has fundamentally changed on the arb side," he said, adding their arb strategy generated returns of 2% in the last eight weeks.Yet Katryna Hanush, director of business development at London-based crypto market maker Wintermute, said arb trading ultimately had a limited shelf life because inconsistent pricing across different exchanges was bad for investors."As more institutional players come into the space, the arb opportunities will be eliminated."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Medha Singh and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Pravin CharOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Cryptoverse: The funds making moolah from messy markets.

A labourer carries a sack of onions at a wholesale market in Kolkata, India, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Rupak De ChowdhuriRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryMay WPI fuel inflation up 40.62% y/y vs 38.66% in AprilMay WPI food inflation up 10.89% y/y vs 8.88% in AprilEconomists see central bank raising key rate in AugustNEW DELHI, June 14 (Reuters) - High global energy and raw material prices combined with a weak rupee to fuel the fastest rise in India's wholesale prices for at least three decades, piling pressure on the central bank toorder more interest rate hikes.A surge in crude oil and commodity prices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February has pushed up prices globally, forcing many central banks to raise interest rates to tame inflation.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWholesale prices (INWPI=ECI), akin to producer prices climbed to 15.88% in May from year ago levels, staying in double-digits for a 14th straight month.A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a rise of 15.10%.Prices for manufactured products, contributing around 64% to the wholesale price index, rose 10.11%, compared to 10.85% in the previous month, while fuel and power costs increased 40.62% from a year ago period.On Monday, India reported retail prices had risen 7.04% in May from year ago levels, moderating slightly from the eight-year high of 7.79% posted in April.The dismal reports for the two main measures of inflation led economists to expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise key interest rates at its next policy meeting in August.The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised its benchmark repo rate (INREPO=ECI) by 50 basis points to 4.90% last week, after a 40 basis points hike in April, while hinting at more rate hikes to come.Reuters GraphicsA surge in crude oil and commodity prices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February has pushed up prices globally, forcing many central banks to raise interest rates to tame inflation."The WPI inflation at 15.9% (is) at 30 year high. Inflationary pressures persist," said D.K Joshi, an economist at CRISIL, an Indian credit rating agency.The high rate of wholesale price inflation in May was primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum and natural gas, food articles, basic metals and chemical products, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.Food prices, contributing about a quarter of the WPI index, climbed 10.89% in May, though vegetable prices rose 18.26% in May year-on-year, compared to 23.24% in the previous month.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAdditional reporting by Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

India's wholesale price inflation runs at 30-yr high, makes rate hikes more likely.

In remarks delivered to the Austrian World Summit in Vienna via video, Antonio Guterres issued a sobering assessment of the planet's prospects. "Most national climate pledges are simply not good enough," he said.Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesThe U.N. Secretary General has slammed new funding for fossil fuel exploration, describing it as "delusional" and calling for an abandonment of fossil fuel finance.In remarks delivered via video to the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, Antonio Guterres issued a sobering assessment of the planet's prospects."The energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine has seen a perilous doubling down on fossil fuels by the major economies," he said on Tuesday."The war has reinforced an abject lesson: our energy mix is broken," Guterres said. "Had we invested massively in renewable energy in the past, we should not be so dramatically at the mercy of the instability of fossil fuel markets now."Concerns related to both the energy transition and energy security have been thrown into sharp relief by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the price of both oil and gas continuing to surge in recent months.Russia is a significant supplier of both, and a number of major economies have formulated plans to reduce their reliance on its hydrocarbons in recent months. This desire to move away from Russian imports has led to some challenging situations.  Read more about energy from CNBC ProIn May, the European Commission fleshed out details of a plan to ramp up the EU's renewable energy capacity and reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. It simultaneously acknowledged that existing coal facilities may have to be used for "longer than initially expected."Coal has a substantial effect on the environment and the U.S. Energy Information Administration lists a range of emissions from its combustion. These include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides.Elsewhere, Greenpeace has described coal as "the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy."In his speech to the summit in Vienna, the U.N.'s Guterres highlighted the "crippling prices" currently being experienced by businesses and households. "Our world faces climate chaos," he added."New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional," he said. "It will only further feed the scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe."The former prime minister of Portugal also called on "all financial actors to abandon fossil fuel finance" and invest in renewables instead."The only true path to energy security, stable power prices, prosperity and a livable planet lies in abandoning polluting fossil fuels — especially coal — and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition," he said.Renewable energy sources, Guterres argued, were "the peace plan of the 21st century." He outlined a strategy that would, he claimed, "jumpstart the renewable energy transition."This included a tripling of investments in renewables, moving energy subsidies away from fossil fuels to renewables, and fast-tracking approvals for wind and solar projects.'Not good enough'On the planet's future, Guterres delivered an urgent rallying call."The window to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis is closing fast," he said. "Our planet has already warmed by as much as 1.2 degrees.""To keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach," he said, "we must reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by mid-century. But current national commitments will lead to an increase by almost 14% this decade."Guterres' reference to 1.5 degrees Celsius relates to the Paris Agreement's target of limiting global warming "to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels."In a nod to a recent report from the International Energy Agency, he also noted that 2021 had seen energy-related global CO2 emissions jump by 6% in 2021. "Let me be blunt," he said. "Most national climate pledges are simply not good enough."Guterres' comments represent his latest intervention in the discussion about climate change and the future of the energy sector.In March, he said the planet had emerged from last year's COP26 climate summit in Glasgow with "a certain naïve optimism" and was "sleepwalking to climate catastrophe."In the same speech, he also said coal was a "stupid investment — leading to billions in stranded assets."

'Delusional': UN chief slams new fossil fuel funding and warns of climate chaos.

Pope Francis addresses people as he arrives for the weekly general audience at the Vatican, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comROME, June 14 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has taken a new series of swipes at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying its troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious, while praising "brave" Ukrainians for fighting for survival.But in the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, he also said the situation was not black and white and that the war was "perhaps in some way provoked".While condemning "the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved," Francis said, including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They encountered a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and who have a history of struggle," he said.Francis said that several months before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was "barking at the gates of Russia" in a way that could lead to war.Francis then said in his own words: "We do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented".Asking himself rhetorically if that made him "pro-Putin," he said "No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing".Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Pope criticises Russia over cruelty in Ukraine but says war perhaps provoked.

A sign is seen near the Stormont Parliament Buildings on the day Britain is expected to publish a bill to unilaterally scrap some of the rules governing post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, as its dispute with the European Union over the protocol has not yet been resolved, in Belfast, Northern Ireland June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Britain told the European Union on Tuesday there was no reason for its negative reaction to London's plan to override some post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, after Brussels threatened legal action.Britain published legislation on Monday which would scrap checks and challenge the role played by the European Union's court in the region. It says its plan is legal, but Brussels believes any unilateral change may breach international law. read more European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic warned that the EU would consider launching new infringement procedures against Britain. It could also fine Britain and ultimately review the terms of their free trade agreement. read more Asked why the government was risking a trade war in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Times Radio: "Our solution doesn't make the EU any worse off. We continue to protect the single market.""So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what we are doing. I've been very clear my preference is for a negotiated solution but in the absence of that we simply cannot allow the situation to drift."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UK says no reason for negative EU reaction to N. Ireland law.

The cityscape of the Beijing Central Business District, or Beijing CBD, is reflected in a pond during sunset, China October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas PeterRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Buyout funds are set to extend a record spending spree in Asia to the rest of the year but they will be mostly seeking deals outside China, where concerns about the economy are likely to outweigh any easing of a regulatory crackdown, dealmakers said.Private equity mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in Asia, not including Japan, posted a record start to the year with $167.4 billion spent since January 1 in markets such as Australia, according to data from Dealogic.Buyouts in China, Asia's biggest market for deals, however, slowed sharply in 2022, as the two-month Shanghai lockdown and other coronavirus-related restrictions in many parts of the country hurt the economy and brought potential transactions to a grinding halt.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAcquisitions backed by financial sponsors of Chinese assets totalled just $1.5 billion this year, less than a tenth of the value in the same period last year, Dealogic data showed.A sluggish deals market in China could impact private equity funds' investment returns and prompt them to double down on M&A elsewhere, dealmakers said. Funds in the region are already sitting on a record $642 billion worth of unspent cash, or 'dry powder', according to data provider Preqin."Significant macroeconomic, geopolitical and pandemic-related headwinds still remain as far as China is concerned, which may continue to dampen sentiment for pursuing China investments at least in the immediate future," said Steven Tran, a partner at law firm Mayer Brown.The record buyout deal value, however, suggested that some APAC-focused funds may be reallocating more of their dry powder away from China and redirecting their investment activities to other parts of the region, he said.Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsDespite signs that Chinese regulators could be easing curbs imposed on business sectors including technology, dealmakers don't expect to see any immediate investment surge in the country.China's central leadership has given Ant Group a tentative green light to revive its IPO, Reuters reported last week. read more "I don't think they (policy changes) will result in a major rebound of private equity investment, as most investments previously were speculative rather than value investments," said Richard Ji, chief investment officer of All-Stars Investment."However, right now China's quality assets are greatly undervalued. A U-turn in regulation will reduce uncertainty and discounts in assets, which is conducive to value investments," said Ji, who is also the managing partner of the firm which focuses on tech and consumer sectors.M&A PREFERRED OVER IPOThough China has been quiet on the deals front, new private equity capital raising in Asia has hit $30.4 billion so far this year, according to Preqin.Big deals this year include an unsolicited near-$15 billion bid by a group led by KKR & Co (KKR.N) for Australia's Ramsay Health Care Ltd (RHC.AX) in April - this year's biggest PE-backed takeover in Asia.A number of funds are also looking to bid for Hong Kong telecoms provider HKBN Ltd (1310.HK) as its private equity investors TPG and MBK seek to exit, said three people familiar with the situation, who declined to be identified as the information is not public.HKBN, TPG and MBK declined to comment.Market jitters have also led some PE firms to seek buyers for their portfolio companies that were originally aiming for an IPO, said Samson Lo, Co-head of Asia Pacific M&A at UBS."Private equity firms are still enjoying a lot of capital and any deal in any sector these days would attract more than 10 private equity bidders in the first round."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Scott Murdoch and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

China to miss boom in Asia buyout deals despite likely easing of crackdown.

KLM airplanes are seen parked at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 2, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de WouwRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPARIS, June 14 (Reuters) - French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM said on Tuesday it raised around 2.26 billion euros ($2.36 billion) through its latest capital increase, with the total demand for new shares amounting close to 2.6 billion.The proceeds from the rights issue will be mostly used to repay an aid package to the French state, and reduce related financial costs and other debt, the company said, confirming previously announced plans.The airline launched the capital increase — a widely anticipated move — in May as part of its efforts to win shareholder backing to look beyond the pandemic and invest in the resurgent air travel. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe issue was led by a big investment from logistics firm CMA CGM, which used it to take a 9% stake in the airline as it bet on growing demand for flying goods globally amid supply chain challenges. read more The value of the equity stakes held by the French and Dutch governments, however, remained unchanged even after the issue, while a chunk held by China Eastern Airlines was diluted to 4.7% from 9.6% before the capital hike."The success of our capital increase is a strong demonstration of the confidence that our existing shareholders and new investors have in the prospects of Air France-KLM", the company's boss, Ben Smith, said in a statement.($1 = 0.9592 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Uttaresh.VOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Air France-KLM raises $2.4 bln from latest rights issue.

Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union take part in a protest in front of a Samsung Electronics' factory in Gwangju, South Korea, June 14, 2022. Yonhap via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesFour rounds of talks yield no compromiseCargoes of petrochemical materials still blockedShipments of soju liquor down to 60% of normalSEOUL, June 14 (Reuters) - A week-long strike by truck drivers in South Korea has disrupted shipments to China of a key cleaning agent used by makers of semiconductor chips, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday.It was the first sign that the strike was affecting the global supply chain of chip production, having already cost South Korean industry more than $1.2 billion in lost output and unfilled deliveries. read more KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a chemical used in the cleaning of chip wafers, faces difficulties in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to chipmakers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAbout 90 tonnes of the material, or a week's worth of shipments, have been delayed, the trade body said in a statement.It corrected an earlier statement that production had been disrupted, and clarified that the Chinese firm does not supply wafers to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) chip production operations in China.Also facing problems because of the strike are IPA shipments by a major South Korean petrochemical company from its plant in the port city of Yeosu.Only an "essential amount" is being let through, said a person familiar with the matter, who sought anonymity and declined to identify the company because of the sensitivity of the matter.The company's output of IPA is used as an industrial cleaning agent in semiconductors and liquid crystal displays (LCD) among other applications, it said in its website.The truckers' union, which is protesting against soaring fuel prices and demanding guarantees of minimum pay, vowed to continue the strike after four rounds of talks with the government have failed to find a resolution.In a statement on Tuesday, it also condemned the transport ministry for being "neither willing to talk nor capable of resolving the current situation".Analysts expect the strike impact on domestic chipmakers to be limited, however, saying that both Samsung and world's second largest memory chip maker, SK Hynix (000660.KS), usually keep on hand three months or more of inventory for materials."Both drastically increased inventory since Japan's export curbs on chip material in 2019 highlighted the issue," said Ahn Ki-hyun, senior executive director of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association.Small business owners voiced concern about the havoc a lengthy strike could deal to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as the truckers had launched their action less than two months after social distancing norms were lifted."Small business owners are waiting helplessly," a dozen lobby groups for small business said in a joint statement, adding that shipments of liquor, food, farm and fisheries products had been blocked.An official at HiteJinro Co Ltd (000080.KS), the biggest brewer of soju, the South Korean liquor, said its shipments were cut about 40% by the strike.Large retailers were sending their own trucks to ensure inventory, but supplies were drying up for some small businesses, such as convenience stores, the official added.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Byungwook Kim and Joyce Lee; Editing Kenneth Maxwell and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

South Korea strike disrupts shipments of key cleaning agent for chipmaking.

Crime Updated on: June 13, 2022 / 1:29 PM / CBS/AP Mystery writer accused of killing husband Oregon murder-mystery writer arrested in husband's death 01:32 A self-published romance novelist — who once wrote an essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband" — has been sentenced to life in prison in the fatal shooting of her husband four years ago. Nancy Crampton Brophy was convicted last month in the 2018 killing of her chef husband, Daniel Brophy.Judge Christopher Ramras, who presided over the trial, said Crampton Brophy will be considered for parole after 25 years, KOIN-TV reported.The sentencing included impact statements from Daniel Brophy's family members, including his son, Nathaniel Stillwater, the station reported. "You are a monster and I'm ashamed that I have to admit to my children that people like you walk among us undetected," Stillwater said. "You lived in the shadow of a great human being."  Brophy, 63, was killed June 2, 2018 as he prepped for work at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Southwest Portland. He had worked at the school since 2006. Prosecutors told jurors that Crampton Brophy was motivated by money problems and a life insurance policy.Crampton Brophy said during the trial, however, that she had no reason to kill her husband and that their financial problems had largely been solved by cashing in a chunk of Brophy's retirement savings plan.She owned the same make and model of gun used to kill her husband and was seen on surveillance camera footage driving to and from the culinary institute, court exhibits and court testimony showed. Nancy L. Crampton-Brophy is seen during a court appearance in Multnomah County, Oregon, on Sept. 6, 2018. KOIN-TV Police never found the gun that killed Brophy. Prosecutors alleged Crampton Brophy swapped out the barrel of the gun used in the shooting and then discarded the barrel. Defense attorneys said the gun parts were inspiration for Crampton Brophy's writing and suggested someone else might have killed Brophy during a robbery gone wrong. Crampton Brophy testified during the trial that her presence near the culinary school on the day of her husband's death was mere coincidence and that she had parked in the area to work on her writing.Crampton Brophy's how-two treatise detailed various options for committing an untraceable killing and professed a desire to avoid getting caught. Circuit Ramras ultimately excluded the essay from the trial, noting it was published in 2011."Any minimal probative value of an article written that long ago is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issues," Ramras said.A prosecutor, however, alluded to the essay's themes without naming it after Crampton Brophy took the stand in her own defense.Crampton Brophy has remained in custody since her arrest in September 2018, several months after her husband was shot. Her sentencing has been scheduled for June 13.In an online biography featuring her work, Crampton Brophy writes that she is "married to a chef whose mantra is: life is a science project.""As a result there are chickens and turkeys in my backyard, a fabulous vegetable garden which also grows tobacco for an insecticide and a hot meal on the table every night," she wrote. "For those of you who have longed for this, let me caution you. The old adage is true. Be careful what you wish for, when the gods are truly angry, they grant us our wishes." Neighbor Don McConnell told KOIN-TV in 2018 that Brophy didn't appear to be upset in the wake of Brophy's death. "She's taking it well, and that's what I said, you know, I said maybe some people can handle things better than others," McConnell said.Crampton Brophy kept busy preparing to move, McConnell said. "Even after she said, 'I'm a suspect,'" he said, "I just thought oh, yeah, well, they always suspect the opposite spouse." In: Oregon Murder Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Nancy Brophy, "How to Murder Your Husband" writer, sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband.

A man wearing a protective mask walks past the headquarters of Bank of Japan amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Tokyo, Japan, May 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTOKYO, June 14 (Reuters) - Japan's selection of a new central bank governor is likely to intensify after an upper house election in July and could determine how quickly the country will follow global counterparts in withdrawing monetary stimulus.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will decide from a short-list, usually crafted by financial bureaucrats, a successor to Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda whose second five-year term ends in April next year. read more The two deputy governor posts, currently filled by career central banker Masayoshi Amamiya and academic Masazumi Wakatabe, will also open up in March.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBelow are possible candidates for the post:MASAYOSHI AMAMIYA - VERY STRONG CONTENDER FOR GOVERNORCurrently deputy governor, Amamiya has spent most of his career at the central bank drafting monetary policy ideas and is nick-named "Mr. BOJ" for masterminding many of the bank's unconventional monetary easing ideas.He played a key role in drafting Kuroda's huge asset-buying programme in 2013 and consistently called for keeping ultra-low interest rates.An avid fan of classical music, Amamiya is known for his deep contacts with lawmakers and bureaucrats that help him read which way the political wind is blowing in steering policy.HIROSHI NAKASO - VERY STRONG CONTENDER FOR GOVERNORA career central banker who served as deputy governor until 2018, Nakaso played a key role in navigating an exit from the BOJ's first spell of quantitative easing in 2006.With long experience overseeing the BOJ's market operations and international affairs, Nakaso has repeatedly warned of the drawbacks of prolonged monetary easing such as the distortion its huge presence could create in bond and money markets.MASATSUGU ASAKAWA - STRONG CONTENDER FOR GOVERNORLike Kuroda, Asakawa moved up the ranks at the finance ministry and became Japan's top financial diplomat in 2015, a job he kept for four years during which he battled a strong yen and engaged in tough negotiations with then U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.After retiring from the ministry, he became president of the Asian Development Bank in 2020 - a job Kuroda also took before becoming BOJ governor.In his book, Asakawa praised Kuroda's stimulus programme as a right move to beat deflation. He also said yen declines would be harder to stop than yen rises via currency intervention, because the amount of foreign currencies Japan can sell to prop up the yen would be limited to the size of its foreign reserves.DARK HORSE CANDIDATESTraditionally, the BOJ and the finance ministry take turns filling the central bank governor post, holding the post for only a single five-year term. That broke when Kuroda was appointed in 2018 to serve a second five-year term.If history is any guide, the next BOJ governor would be chosen from central bank ranks. But there is a chance Kishida opts for a dark horse candidate.Among names floated by analysts are Columbia University professor Takatoshi Ito, who is close to Kuroda, and former top currency diplomat Takeo Nakao.Given Kishida's close ties with the finance ministry, he may hand-pick a former top bureaucrat from the institution, though there is no consensus on who could be among strong candidates.SHINICHI UCHIDA - POSSIBLE DEPUTY GOVERNORA career central banker who spent most of his career at the elite monetary affairs department, Uchida is a rising star who landed a rare reappointment for a second, four-year term as the BOJ's executive director overseeing monetary policy.Many analysts see the reappointment as a sign he could fill one of the two deputy governor posts.Together with Amamiya, Uchida played a key role in drafting many of Kuroda's policies including the introduction of negative interest rates and yield curve control in 2016.People who know him say Uchida is a firm believer that the BOJ must maintain ultra-loose monetary for the time being to reflate growth and tighten the job market enough so that wages rise more.TOKIKO SHIMIZU - POSSIBLE DEPUTY GOVERNORCurrently the BOJ's executive director overseeing international affairs, Shimizu is among the few female central bankers who rose up the ranks in the male-dominated institution.While her career at the BOJ centred on international and market affairs rather than monetary policy, Shimizu is considered a dark horse candidate as deputy governor or even governor if Kishida wants more diversity in the BOJ leadership.No female has yet served as BOJ deputy governor or governor.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Factbox: Who are candidates to become next BOJ governor?.

"House poor" is a common expression used to describe people who are wasting too much money on housing, leaving them with too little to spend on everything else. But it can also refer to those who are getting too little housing bang for their buck.And now, with interest rates on home mortgages spiking faster than they have in decades, it's getting more expensive by the moment to own a home in the U.S.As an economist, one of my goals is to make you "house rich," ensuring you end up with the housing you really want at the price you can really afford.Here are some ways to lower your housing costs:1. Shack up with the parentsYoung Americans are increasingly aware that shacking up is a moneymaker. In 1960, only 29% of young people camped out with mom, dad or both. In mid-2020, during the Covid pandemic, 52% were living with their parents.The counterpart of this change in living arrangements is that many older Americans are living with their kids and, possibly, their grandkids.Sure, rooming with your folks likely won't entail proportionate sharing of dollar expenses, but if your parents or grandparents really seek your companionship, the living arrangement can be viewed as you paying your fair share of rent and them paying for your company.The net payment is, then, what you can actually fork over for board.2. Rent out your homeYou can do this on a part-time basis. Airbnb and similar online companies have made this very easy — although it is illegal in some states, so check with local rules.A cousin of mine lives near the beach in Los Angeles. As house prices and property taxes soared, the imputed rent — or the sum of property taxes, homeowner's insurance, maintenance, and forgone after-tax interest — became unaffordable.One option was to sell and find cheaper housing in the suburbs. The other was to transform her garage into a studio apartment and rent out her house on Airbnb. She chose the latter route, and over five years, has pulled in enough income to significantly upgrade her studio apartment as well as the house.Since Airbnb rents are very high in her area, she can rent her place during the year and see the same financial gain as if she had a full-time roommate. But this arrangement gives her much more privacy and lets her rent to larger families who don't want an unfamiliar roommate while on vacation.3. Move to a low-tax or no-tax stateThere are 42 states, plus the District of Columbia, with earned income taxes. The states that don't tax salary and wage income are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. New Hampshire does tax investment earnings.If you live in Massachusetts directly on the border with New Hampshire, you can, theoretically, move across the street and save 5% of your pay, which you'd otherwise surrender in Massachusetts income taxes. This is the case only if your Massachusetts employer reclassifies you as a New Hampshire employee. However, if you're retired, your asset income won't be subject to state tax, including your taxable retirement account withdrawals, if you live in New Hampshire.Things are more complicated, of course. Land values in New Hampshire may be higher in light of the state's tax advantage. And amenities, such as the school system, may be better in Massachusetts. But who knows? You may be childless and happy to live in a five-decker with no yard.Another consideration in deciding what state to live in is estate taxation. In addition to D.C., 11 states levy estate taxes: Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.Five states — Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — tax inheritances. And one state, Maryland, taxes both estates and inheritances.If you have significant wealth you're likely to bequeath, be careful about spending your golden years in states with estate taxes.4. DownsizeIf it's not practical to share or rent out your home, consider downsizing to less costly housing that still suits your needs.Americans have large homes. In fact, the majority of recently constructed homes have three or more bedrooms. Having lots of rooms when you're raising kids makes sense. But after they've left the nest? That's a prescription for overspending on housing.Yes, holding on to a house gives you a built-in safety net — a store of value that you can eventually swap for entry into a long-term care facility. But every year you pay too much in imputed rent is a year you've wasted money.Paying for something you don't need to mitigate a specific future financial risk isn't necessary. There are other ways to deal with long-term care needs. One is to buy long-term care insurance. A second is simply to hold financial assets, including real estate, but indirectly in the form of real estate investment trusts, or REITs.A third is to arrange for your children to care for you if you need assistance short of skilled nursing. This can be quid pro quo.For example, you might downsize, then use freed-up equity to provide your children with down payments to buy their own homes. In exchange, you can make it clear that you expect them to take care of you if you need help down the road.Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that if an employee of a Massachusetts company moves from that state to New Hampshire the worker may avoid Massachusetts state income taxes only if the company reclassifies the worker as a New Hampshire employee.Laurence J. Kotlikoff is an economics professor and the author of "Money Magic: An Economist's Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life." He received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. His columns have appeared in The New York Times, WSJ, Bloomberg and The Financial Times. In 2014, The Economist named him one of the world's 25 most influential economists. Follow Laurence on Twitter @Kotlikoff and subscribe to his newsletter here.Don't miss:A Harvard-trained economist shares his top 21 money rules: 'Own your home' and 'try to buy in cash'Millionaire saved 70% of his income and retired at 35: 'We should all live by these 6 basic rules'Always follow the '30/30/3 rule' before buying a home, says finance expert—here's why

Americans are 'wasting too much money on housing,' says top economist—here are 4 ways to get 'house rich'.

Passersby are seen in front of a screen displaying the Japanese yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and Nikkei share average in Tokyo, Japan June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Issei KatoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Asian shares slid sharply and the safe-haven dollar held near a two-decade peak on Tuesday after Wall Street hit a confirmed bear market milestone on fears aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would push the world's largest economy into recession.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.45% in volatile trade, clawing back some of its earlier losses.Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 (.AXJO) closed 3.55% lower while Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) was down 1.32%, having fallen as much as 2% earlier in the session.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe negative tone in Asia followed a bleak U.S. session on Monday, which saw Goldman Sachs forecast a 75 basis point interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting on Wednesday. read more However, investors appeared to be shaking off the gloom heading into European trade with the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.83%, German DAX futures 0.9% higher and FTSE futures rising 0.62%. U.S. stock futures also added 1.17%."While there is clearly a risk from a significant policy tightening, it remains unlikely that there will be a fully fledged recession, with the unemployment rate jumping by two or more percentage points," said Stephen Koukoulas, managing director at the Canberra-based Market Economics."Rather, it is certain growth will slow - which is the aim of the policy tightening - and by late this year, inflation pressures should start to ease."In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (.HSI) pared earlier losses to be up 0.26% after trading in negative territory for most of the day. China's CSI300 Index (.CSI300) retraced some of its lost ground to be off 0.23%.Expectations for aggressive U.S rate hikes have risen after inflation in the year to May shot up by a sharper than predicted 8.6%."The U.S. market is the biggest in the world so when it catches a cold the rest of the world does as well," said Clara Cheong, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management."There will be short-term volatility in Asia but we think in the medium to longer term in Asia ex-Japan, earnings expectations have already been downgraded so there is a relatively brighter outlook here than other parts of the world."Cheong said China monetary easing and the re-opening of ASEAN economies from COVID-19 lockdowns could shield the region from some of the financial market fallout.On Wall Street overnight, fears of a U.S. recession kicked the S&P 500 (.SPX) down 3.88%, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 4.68%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 2.8%.The benchmark S&P 500 is now down more than 20% from its most recent record closing high, confirming a bear market, according to a commonly used definition.Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest since 2011 on Monday and a key part of the yield curve inverted for the first time since April as investors braced for the prospect that Fed attempts to stem soaring inflation would dent the economy.The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 3.3466% compared with its U.S. close of 3.371% on Monday. The two-year yield , which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 3.3804% compared with a U.S. close of 3.281%.In currency markets, the dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was at 104.98, just off a two-decade peak of 105.29 it hit on Monday. read more Against the Japanese yen, the U.S. currency was at 134.59, just below its recent high of 135.17.The European single currency rose 0.2% to $1.0432, having lost 2.8% in a month.Bitcoin fell around 4.5% on Tuesday to $21,416, a fresh 18-month low, extending Monday's 15% fall as markets were jolted by crypto lender Celsius suspending withdrawals. read more Oil markets began to recover late in the Asian session with U.S. crude up 0.13% at $121.08 a barrel, having traded down most of Tuesday. Brent crude firmed slightly to $122.42 per barrel.Gold shrugged off a weaker start with the spot price gaining 0.42% to $1,826.65 per ounce.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Alun John; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Asian stocks slide as Fed hike fears tip Wall St into bear market.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLOS ANGELES, June 13 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) has been unable to obtain permission to show its new Pixar movie "Lightyear" in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries, a source said on Monday, and the animated film appeared unlikely to open in China, the world's largest movie market.A "Lightyear" producer told Reuters that authorities in China had asked for cuts to the movie, which Disney declined to make, and she assumed the movie would not open there either. The animated film depicts a same-sex couple who share a brief kiss, which prompted the United Arab Emirates to ban the film.The United Arab Emirates said the couple's relationship violated the country's media content standards. read more Homosexuality is considered criminal in many Middle Eastern countries.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRepresentatives of other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Lebanon, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why they would not allow the film to be exhibited."Lightyear" is a prequel to Pixar's acclaimed "Toy Story" franchise. Chris Evans voices the lead character, Buzz Lightyear, a legendary space ranger.In the film, Buzz's close friend is a female space ranger who marries another woman. A scene showing milestones in the couple's relationship includes a brief kiss.Astronaut Tim Peake poses for pictures, as he arrives for the UK premiere of 'Lightyear' in London, Britain June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File PhotoDisney has not received an answer from Chinese authorities on whether they would allow the film in cinemas, "Lightyear" producer Galyn Susman said. But she said filmmakers would not make changes to the movie. China has rejected other on-screen depictions of homosexuality in the past."We're not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he's missing by the choices that he's making, so that's not getting cut," Susman told Reuters at the movie's red-carpet premiere in London.China is not a "make or break" market for Pixar, one theater industry source said. It contributed a mere 3% to the global box office for "Toy Story 4," which grossed more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales in 2019, according to Comscore.Any objections to "Lightyear" over LGBTQ issues were "frustrating," Evans said."It's great that we are a part of something that's making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity, but it's frustrating that there are still places that aren't where they should be," Evans said."Lightyear" is set to debut in theaters in the United States and Canada on Friday.In May, Disney refused requests to cut same-sex references in Marvel movie "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness." Saudi Arabia and a handful of other Middle Eastern countries did not show the film.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski; Additional reporting by Kristian Brunse in London; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EXCLUSIVE Disney/Pixar's 'Lightyear,' with same-sex couple, will not play in 14 countries; China in question.

Most people may think of the Golden State or the Big Apple when it comes to expensive homes. But while costs there are indeed sky-high, they aren't the only places with big housing price tags.That's according to the real estate website Property Shark, which used U.S. Census Bureau data to analyze residential transactions closed between January 2021 and October 2021.Yes, California and New York figure prominently at the top of the list: Atherton, California's 94027 ZIP code, ranked No.1 for the fifth straight year at $7.4 million. And Sagaponack, New York's 11962, in the Village of Southampton on Long Island, landed No. 3 with $5 million.In between is Boston's 02199 ZIP code, part of the Back Bay neighborhood. The second-most expensive neighborhood in the country boasts a median home sale price of $5.5 million, a new record for the area.For the first time, according to Property Shark data, no New York City ZIPs made the top 20.Here are the top 10 most expensive U.S. ZIP codes, ranked by median home sale price. Each far exceed the national median home value of $312,700.10. Medina, Washington (98039)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,000,0009. Los Altos, California (94022)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,052,0008. Santa Monica, California (90402)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,058,0007. Santa Barbara, California (93108)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,103,000Video by Richard Washington6. Beverly Hills, California (90210)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,125,0005. Miami Beach, Florida (33109)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,475,0004. Ross, California (94957)Median home sale price in 2021: $4,583,0003. Sagaponack, New York (11962)Median home sale price in 2021: $5,000,0002. Boston, Massachusetts (02199)Median home sale price in 2021: $5,500,0001. Atherton, California (94027)Median home sale price in 2021: $7,475,000A 20% home down payment would cost $1.1 million in Boston's 02199It's no surprise that California and New York homes cost a lot. Of the 127 most expensive ZIPs in Property Shark's ranking, 70% are in California and about 13% are in the Empire State. Parts of Boston, however, are gaining ground. Home values in the city jumped 4.9% over the past year, and though Back Bay missed the list in 2020 because of depressed sales activity, it reemerged this year to its highest position yet.A traditional 20% down payment on the median 02199 home would cost you $1.1 million.'The best way to save on a mortgage'Video by Richard Washington"The best way to save is, first and foremost, buying a home you can afford," says R.J. Weiss, a certified financial planner in Geneva, Illinois, and founder of personal finance site The Ways to Wealth. "If you have to stretch each month to make your payment, forgo other goals such as saving and paying off debt. A mortgage can get very expensive in the grand scheme of things."Keep in mind that you may not need to put down 20%. The median down payment is 7.6%, and Bankrate data says lenders often ask for between 5% and 15%. Some federal mortgages require as little as 3.5%, or even zero down. Though with less money upfront, you'll likely be on the hook for private mortgage insurance.Even for high-earners, devoting more than 36% to 40% of income toward debt "severely restricts financial flexibility," Bankrate chief analyst Greg McBride previously told Grow. "There are worse things than renting for another year or two until your finances are on better footing."You can use Grow's mortgage calculator to help figure out an affordable monthly payment for your budget.More from Grow:The unexpected cost 85% of new homeowners face, and how much they have to payA millennial quit his job to travel the U.S. in a tiny mobile home: How he made the money workWhy nearly half of city-dwelling millennials want to buy a home in a small town

The second most expensive ZIP code in the U.S. is not in California or New York.

Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - The European Union will sign an agreement with an undisclosed manufacturer on Tuesday for the supply of about 110,000 doses of vaccines against monkeypox to be delivered from the end of June, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.On the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Kyriakides said the vaccines will be bought with EU funds and delivered to EU states.Commission officials said the name of the vaccine maker will be unveiled shortly.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe bloc's drug regulator said this month it was in talks with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO) over trial data that could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox. read more The U.S. regulator has approved Bavarian's smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox.Some EU states, including Germany and Spain, have made their own orders for monkeypox vaccines. read more Kyriakides said the EU had recorded 900 cases of monkeypox.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Editing by Louise Heavens and Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EU to buy 110,000 monkeypox vaccines with deliveries from end of June.

French bank Societe Generale's headquarters in Paris.Chesnot | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesGlobal stock markets diverged on Tuesday after a worldwide sell-off in the previous session, as analysts assessed the longevity of the bear market and risk of recession.U.S. stock futures bounced in early premarket trade on Tuesday after the S&P 500 slid back into bear market territory the day before. Investors are awaiting a landmark monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, with bets on a 75 basis point interest rate hike rising in light of a shock 8.6% annual inflation print for May.Wall Street's overnight losses bled into markets in Asia-Pacific on Tuesday, with major bourses largely declining and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 plunging more than 3.5% on its return to trade following a public holiday.European markets were choppy on Tuesday as the Stoxx 600 index jumped to a 1% gain at the start of trading, before sliding back to the flatline around an hour later.The prospect that the Fed and other central banks will be forced to hike interest rates more aggressively in order to rein in inflation — at a time when growth is slowing across most major economies — has reignited fears of a global recession.As well as the Fed, the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank are all set to announce monetary policy decisions this week. Each is facing its own set of economic challenges, along with the global problems of soaring food and energy costs, and supply chain disruptions."What we're currently seeing is central banks somehow starting to panic, markets clearly facing all of a sudden this new era of higher interest rates, therefore we have this big stock market correction, I think rightly so," said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING. "With central banks now tightening monetary policy, somehow panicking, the likelihood of a recession in the U.S., but also in the euro zone towards the end of the year, has clearly increased."Guy Stear, head of EM and credit research at Societe Generale, told CNBC on Tuesday that while a recession was looking more likely, there were two prongs to consider."One is the pure economic outlook, and secondly the profit outlook. I would actually be more worried about profits than I would about economic growth itself," Stear said. He said that the more-than 25-year trend of profit rising as a percentage of GDP was "more or less finished," given the ongoing themes of deglobalization, higher energy and input costs, and higher wages."So I think that no matter what happens in terms of the economic outlook – and yes, the likelihood of an economic recession is mounting – the likelihood of a profit recession is mounting a lot faster."Get defensiveIn terms of positioning in response to the current pullback, Stear suggested that several defensive areas of the corporate credit market could offer some protection for investors."My personal view in terms of where we are on the bear market is we're about three-fifths of the way through it in credit markets, so I'm waiting for another 80 basis point widening in terms of credit, which means losses of probably not double digits, but close to, in the equity markets before I really start to get interested in terms of valuations," he said.In particular, Stear identified energy and utilities, the latter of which he argued represents a necessity in the move towards clean energy and the green transition. However, he also remains positive on the banking sector."I think banks have deleveraged so much in the past 10 years that they're a lot less sensitive to the economic variations, particularly in Europe, than they would have been 10, 15, 20 years ago, so I think that's more of a defensive sector than people realize," Stear said.

'Profit recession' warning as markets wait for aggressive central bank moves.

MoneyWatch June 13, 2022 / 4:57 PM / MoneyWatch Amazon Prime customers in Lockeford, California, will start receiving package deliveries by drone later this year, Amazon announced Monday. That would make the community of 3,500 among the first U.S. locations to enjoy free drone delivery within 30 minutes — a promise that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first made nearly a decade ago.The e-commerce company started contacting customers in Lockeford this week to ask them to opt in to drone delivery, said Amazon spokesperson Av Zammit. Once a customer enrolls, an Amazon employee will visit to make sure their yard has enough clear space to accept drone deliveries, Zammit added.Drone delivery will be free for Prime members, and only Prime members can use the service. There will be "thousands of items available" for drone delivery, Zammit said, while declining to offer more details. Amazon said it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and local regulators to secure permits for the program, according to a blog post that also touted Lockeford as a site for flight experiments."Lockeford residents will play an important role in defining the future. Their feedback about Prime Air, with drones delivering packages in their backyards, will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere," the blog post stated, predicting that drone deliveries "could one day become just as common as seeing an Amazon delivery van pull up outside your house." Amazon received FAA approval for its commercial drone-delivery program in 2020. However, drones often have to deal with local and state regulations as well as federal rules, not to mention concerns from neighborhood and community groups in some areas. Walmart launches on-demand drone deliveries 02:39 Walmart, UPS readying their dronesAmazon is largely responsible for setting off the current race to commercialize drone package delivery, according to Zak Stambor, senior analyst of retail and ecommerce at Insider Intelligence. When Bezos laid out his vision for drones to 60 Minutes in 2013, "He spurred everyone else to move into that space," Stambor said.Other large retailers and technology companies are now developing their own drone programs. Walmart started testing drone delivery last year in Arkansas and plans to expand to sites across six states this year. Alphabet's drone delivery program, called Wing, launched this summer near Dallas-Fort Worth, delivering prescriptions, pet medication and ice cream. UPS is also developing a drone service. Amazon's own drone program has been beset with delays and staff churn, according to media reports. At least eight Amazon drones have crashed over the past year, and the Prime Air division is experiencing 71% staff turnover, Business Insider reported in March. A Bloomberg News investigation in April concluded that despite spending $2 billion to develop the program and hiring more than 1,000 workers, "Amazon is a long way from launching a drone delivery service." Amazon's most recent drone model, with six rotors, designed for stability. Amazon.com Rising energy costs and a tight labor market are heightening retailers' current interest in drones, said Stambor. "You can see why drone delivery would make sense, in a moment when there's a labor shortage, it's really hard to hire truck drivers. For example, gas prices are rising and show no end in sight," Stambor said. But drone delivery also faces "a host of challenges, in terms of, largely, safety and costs," making it unclear if drones can solve current logistical bottlenecks, he said.  Drone delivery is much more expensive than delivery by truck and also requires a trained operator, Stambor said. One internal Amazon estimate puts the cost of an airlifted package at $63, compared to about $5 when the same package is shipped by a third-party carrier like UPS or the U.S. Post Office.Insider Intelligence estimates that there will be 39,000 drone deliveries this year, and 69,000 next year. In: Amazon Amazon Prime Drone Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Amazon says it will launch drone deliveries this year in Lockeford, California.

Engineering degrees offer the biggest payday, according to the New York Federal Reserve's latest study of salaries for recent college graduates. The top 10 majors earning the most five years from graduation are all related to engineering — except for computer science, which ranks fifth out of all majors. Of that top 10, the average yearly salary is just over $68,000, with computer engineering paying $74,000 in median wages — the most of all majors.The bottom 10 majors after five years are mostly liberal arts degrees, and they all pay less than $40,000 in wages right after college. In some cases, the lower-ranked majors pay almost less than half of what the best-paying majors earn.For comparison's sake, a minimum wage job that pays $15 per-hour works out to $31,200 in yearly wages, if you were to work 40 hours every week. That pay is nearly on par with what you'd earn for a college major in family and consumer sciences — a life-skills college degree that ranks the worst in terms of median pay within five years of graduation, with yearly wages of $32,000. Four majors — family and consumer sciences, the performing arts, general social sciences and social services — actually pay less than the median salary of $35,805 for full-time workers in the U.S., regardless of education, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.The good news is that most college majors still offer greater earning potential compared to a high school degree. The median wage for college grads ages 22-27 is $52,000, compared to a median wage of $30,000 for workers with no college degrees.Plus, all college graduates' salaries improve over time, regardless of major. The study tracked "mid-career" ages for graduates between 35-45, and found that the average pay for all majors goes from $46,891 to $74,123 in that time. However, the top and bottom rankings remain consistent for both early and mid-career college graduates, with engineers at the top and liberal arts and education majors at the bottom. The gap in wages also increases over time, as top mid-career earners make about $100,000 while bottom-ranked earners make less than $60,000. This includes family and consumer sciences majors, who earn a median mid-career salary of $51,000.Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss: Disney is hiring TikTok creators — you need to love theme parks, food and social media

The best- and worst-paying college majors, five years after graduation.

A resident, wearing a face mask following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, walks past a JD.com advertisement for the "618" shopping festival displayed outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - China is set to get a picture of how the country's zero-COVID-19 policy and slowing economy have impacted shoppers' urge to splurge, as e-commerce platforms gear up to report takings from the mid-year "618" shopping festival this weekend.Held in the run-up to June 18, 618 is China's second-largest shopping event by sales after Nov. 11's Singles Day, with bargain-hunters holding off purchases in anticipation of discounts spanning a range of brands.Last year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (9988.HK) Tmall, JD.com Inc (9618.HK) and Pinduoduo Inc (PDD.O) hit a combined 578.4 billion yuan ($85.89 billion) worth of 618 sales, up 26.5% from the year earlier, showed data from Syntun.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBut the world's second-largest economy has in the last three months been hobbled by government efforts to combat repeated waves of COVID-19 that has seen dozens of cities impose lockdown measures of varying intensity, in turn curtailing spending, impacting livelihoods and heavily disrupting supply chains.Many cities eased curbs in June and have said they want to stimulate consumption to revive the economy, with incentives including vouchers, subsidies for car buyers and digital yuan payments. read more Acknowledging that brands have been hit by the pandemic, Alibaba and JD.com are offering merchant support measures, such as pledging to speed up transfers of pre-sale deposits to help merchants' liquidity.They are also encouraging brands to offer their biggest-ever discounts in hope of spurring spending, with JD.com stipulating that shoppers can get 50 yuan off for every 299 yuan they spend. Alibaba has a similar offer. Vendors foot the bill for these discounts.Some companies and agents told Reuters, however, they planned to participate less in discounting this year, because they or their clients were unable to afford it.Fang Jianhua, founder and chairman of IDG Capital and Alibaba-backed clothing brand Inman Apparel, penned an article on WeChat last month lamenting how retailers especially in Shanghai were suffering in the current environment from lost sales and that he planned to "lie flat" for 618 - a Chinese expression of inaction.Rather than discounts, Fang plans to "concentrate on how to use our products and services to build up emotional connections with millions of customers," he said without elaborating.Still, the event is seeing a trend of retailers from pasta maker Barilla to shampoo brand Ryo offering "stock up" packages, containing what would constitute bulk orders of their products.Many shoppers in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing which have experienced pandemic lockdown measures have rushed to stock up on food and daily necessities even after movement restrictions eased due to fear of lockdown happening again.The 618 event was conceived by JD.com in 2004 to celebrate its anniversary.($1 = 6.7344 Chinese yuan renminbi)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

China's '618' shopping festival to test COVID-hit shoppers' urge to splurge.

Rodolphe Belmer, Chief Executive Officer of Atos, speaks during a news conference to present the new supercomputer BullSequana XH3000 of French IT consulting firm Atos in Paris, France, February 16, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesBelmer to resign just 9 months after he started as CEOAtos to spin off cybersecurity unit BDSPlans sale of assets worth 700 mln eurosShares dive 27%PARIS, June 14 (Reuters) - French IT company Atos (ATOS.PA) spooked investors on Tuesday with a plan to split its operations and sell assets as well as the departure of CEO Rodolphe Belmer, sending its shares plunging by more than 25%.The departure of Belmer, who took over in January, follows weeks of reports of board divisions over revamping the company.Belmer and the board clashed over the fate of cybersecurity unit BDS, sources close to the matter have said, as he was willing to sell the business while the board wanted to retain it.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAtos is deemed strategic by the French government for its high-tech assets such the manufacture of supercomputers and software used by the army and the finance ministry to manage tax collection. Former prime minister Edouard Philippe sits on its board.Belmer's departure was announced just an hour before a capital market day that investors hoped could restore confidence after a series of setbacks that has wiped out two-thirds of Atos's market value over the past year,Belmer, the former boss of satellite company Eutelsat (ETL.PA), will leave Atos on Sept. 30. Atos shares fell as much as 27% in early Paris trading, and were down almost 20% as of 0742 GMT.SPLIT-UP Atos plans to split into two publicly listed entities and said it had appointed two deputy CEOs, Nourdine Bihmane and Philippe Oliva, to lead each of these.The split would be aimed at "unlocking value" as part of a broader plan that would cost an estimated 1.6 billion euros in 2022-2023, the company said.Atos will sell assets worth about 700 million euros, Belmer said on Tuesday in a call with reporters.It has already sold its 2.5% stake in payments company Worldline (WLN.PA) as part of its disposals plan, raising 220 million euros.As part of split-up, Atos is considering spinning off and combining BDS with its services operations, notably those aimed at helping customers move to the cloud.Dubbed Evidian, these operations combined generated 4.9 billion euros in revenue in 2021, up by 5% from the previous year, and an operating margin of 7.8%.The remaining part of Atos will include its declining and loss-making IT infrastructure management services, which had sales of 5.4 billion euros last year.Atos said it aimed to return to growth and profits for these activities by 2026.Asked if he would benefit from the two-year severance pay approved by shareholders in case of an abrupt departure of the CEO within two years, Belmer said he had proposed to leave with 9 months worth of salary.Previously the boss of Vivendi-owned pay-TV station Canal+, Belmer had promised a new start for Atos after accounting errors and a failed attempt to acquire a U.S. company hit investor confidence.The weakness of Atos's shares have made it vulnerable to takeover rumours.On Monday, the shares fell more than 10%, following a media report about its future strategy.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Mathieu Rosemain; additional reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Nicolas Delame; editing by Bradley Perrett and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Day of reckoning for Atos as split-up plan, CEO exit spook investors.

Legendary investor and billionaire Warren Buffett has a tip for young people: Focus on learning how to write and speak clearly."The one easy way to become worth 50 percent more than you are now — at least — is to hone your communication skills — both written and verbal," says Buffett in a video posted on LinkedIn on Monday.Don't miss: The best 0% APR credit cards with no interest for up to 20 monthsThe video was posted by Michael Hood, the co-founder of the Toronto based start-up Voiceflow, which enables users to design, build and launch skills for Amazon's smart speaker, Alexa, without needing to know how to code."If you can't communicate, it's like winking at a girl in the dark — nothing happens. You can have all the brainpower in the world, but you have to be able to transmit it," Buffett continues."And the transmission is communication," says Buffett, who is currently worth more than $86 billion, according to Forbes.Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson agrees that being able to communicate effectively is critical to success."Today, if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you also have to be a storyteller," the British businessman said in 2016 blog post. "Of course, it is no use being a good storyteller if your product or idea is rubbish. But it is not enough to create a great product; you also have to work out how to let people know about it."Hood and Buffett were heading to the Canadian Walk of Fame Inductee Gala together on Saturday, Hood confirmed to CNBC Make It. The young entrepreneur posted the video on Monday.Hood, who is 22 years old, was Buffett's escort for the day, "a once in a lifetime opportunity" for a young entrepreneur, Hood tells CNBC Make It. Hood was chosen via the start-up incubator he is part of, Next 36.If you can't communicate, it's like winking at a girl in the dark — nothing happens.Warren BuffettChairman of Berkshire HathawayHood asked Buffett in the video, "What is one tip? So you are talking to people that are 21, 22, just graduating school. What is one tip that you can give them?"The advice is something Buffett has learned firsthand."I was terrified of public speaking when I was in high school and college," Buffett said in a BBC video, published in 2009."I couldn't do it. I mean I would throw up and everything."

Billionaire Warren Buffett: This is the 'one easy way' to increase your worth by 'at least' 50 percent.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCompaniesJune 13 (Reuters) - Thirty-one members of white nationalist group Patriot Front, arrested in Idaho over the weekend on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt an LGBTQ pride event, were released from jail on bond and will make their initial court appearances in the coming weeks, a court official said on Monday.The men, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over, face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot, according to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Police Chief Lee White.A local resident called authorities after spotting the group of men, all dressed alike with white gaiter-style masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the truck "like a little army," White said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPolice stopped the truck about 10 minutes after the call, a short distance from the "Pride in the Park" event, he said.Karlene Behringer, the trial court administrator in Kootenai County, confirmed that the men bonded out of jail and will appear in court at a later date.During a news conference on Monday, White said authorities had no prior knowledge of the group's plans in Coeur d'Alene, an Idaho Panhandle city about 380 miles (612 km) north of the capital, Boise."One lesson we have for our community ... is one concerned citizen can prevent something horrible from happening," White said.Video taken at the scene of the arrest and posted online showed a group of men in police custody, kneeling next to the truck with their hands bound, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps.Police officers guard a group of men, who police say are among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and are affiliated with the group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS Police officers seized from the truck at least one smoke grenade, a collection of shields and shin guards and documents that included an "operations plan," White said over the weekend, adding these items made their intentions clear."That level of preparation was not something you see everyday," he said. "It was clear to us immediately that this was a riotous group."The men had come from at least 11 states across the country, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia.Since the arrest, White said, he and others in his department have received death threats. He gave no details.The Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the 2017 white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when it broke off from another extremist group, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.Saturday's pride event, described by organizers as the largest ever in North Idaho, drew a crowd of several hundred people for festivities that included a talent show and drag queen dance hour, local media reported."We are in the same city that we were last week," Coeur d'Alene Mayor Jim Hammond said on Monday. "We are a city that respects everyone, that welcomes everyone."KREM-TV in Spokane reported several smaller groups turned out to protest the gathering, with dozens of individuals seen carrying guns on the fringe of the park in what organizers said was an attempt to intimidate those attending the LGBTQ event.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski, Jonathan Oatis and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

White nationalists accused of planning riot are bailed out of Idaho jail.

Michael Saylor, chairman and chief executive officer of MicroStrategy, first got into bitcoin in 2020, when he decided to start adding the cryptocurrency to MicroStrategy's balance sheet as part of an unorthodox treasury management strategy.Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHaving once lost $6 billion at the height of the dotcom bubble, software entrepreneur Michael Saylor is no stranger to volatility in the financial markets.In 1999, MicroStrategy, Saylor's software firm, admitted to overstating its revenues and erroneously reporting a profit when it actually made a loss. The fiasco shaved over $11 billion off MicroStrategy's stock market value in a single day.Now, more than two decades later, MicroStrategy is again facing questions over some of its accounting practices — this time in relation to a $4 billion bet on bitcoin.The world's biggest cryptocurrency briefly tumbled below $21,000 Tuesday, a key level at which MicroStrategy would be faced with a margin call that investors fear could cost the firm millions.MicroStrategy was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.$1 billion lossSaylor first got into bitcoin in 2020, when he decided to start adding the cryptocurrency to MicroStrategy's balance sheet as part of an unorthodox treasury management strategy.His belief was a common one among the crypto faithful — that bitcoin provides a store of value uncorrelated with traditional financial markets.That's turned out to be a risky gamble, with digital currencies now moving in lockstep with stocks and other assets plunging amid fears of an aggressive interest rate hiking cycle from the Federal Reserve.Bitcoin's price plunged 10% to $20,843 on Tuesday, extending a brutal sell-off and dragging it deeper into levels not seen since December 2020. That comes after crypto lending firm Celsius halted withdrawals on Monday, citing "extreme market conditions."MicroStrategy has bet billions on the cryptocurrency — $3.97 billion, to be exact. As at March 31, MicroStrategy held 129,218 bitcoins, each purchased at an average price of $30,700, according to a company filing.With bitcoin currently trading at $22,818, MicroStrategy's crypto stash would now be worth just over $2.9 billion. That translates to an unrealized loss of more than $1 billion.Margin callTo add to MicroStrategy's woes, the company now faces what's known as a "margin call," a situation where an investor has to commit more funds to avoid losses on a trade augmented with borrowed cash.The company took out a $205 million loan from Silvergate, a crypto-focused bank, to continue its bitcoin buying spree. To secure the loan, MicroStrategy posted some of the bitcoin it held on its books as collateral.Silvergate did not immediately return a request for comment.On an earnings call in May, MicroStrategy Chief Financial Officer Phong Le explained that if bitcoin were to fall below $21,000, it could be faced with a margin call where it's forced to cough up more bitcoin as collateral for the loan. Bitcoin briefly slipped below that level Tuesday."Bitcoin needs to cut in half or around $21,000 before we'd have a margin call," Le said at the time. "That said, before it gets to 50%, we could contribute more Bitcoin to the collateral package, so it never gets there."Saylor later insisted the company has more than enough bitcoin to cover its collateral requirements. The cryptocurrency would need to slump to $3,500 before it had to come up with more collateral, he added.Shares of MicroStrategy, considered by some as a proxy for investing in bitcoin, tumbled more than 25% on Tuesday, taking its year-to-date losses to over 70%. That's even worse than bitcoin's performance — the No. 1 digital coin has roughly halved in price since the start of 2022.Saylor hasn't yet commented on bitcoin's drop below $21,000. He posted a new profile picture on Twitter Monday showing his face with lasers coming out of his eyes — a nod to a meme signaling bullishness on bitcoin. That was just a few hours after he tweeted: "In #Bitcoin We Trust."

Bitcoin's plunge spells trouble for the dot-com era entrepreneur who went all in.

An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, Japan November 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Picture taken on November 12, 2021. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as tight global supply outweighed worries that fuel demand would be hit by a possible recession and fresh COVID-19 curbs in China.Brent crude futures rose 88 cents, or 0.7%, to $123.15 a barrel at 0824 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 88 cents, or 0.7% to $121.81 a barrel.Tight supply has been aggravated by a drop in exports from Libya amid a political crisis that has hit output and ports.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOther OPEC+ producers are struggling to meet their production quotas and Russia faces bans on its oil over the war in Ukraine."The continuing squeeze on refined products globally, as well as a lack of investment to bring online more supplies from OPEC members, or other sources, means lost Russian production is nowhere near being covered by global markets," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, in a note.UBS raised its Brent price forecast to $130 a barrel for end-September and to $125 for the subsequent three quarters, up from $115 previously."Low oil inventories, dwindling spare capacity, and the risk of supply growth lagging demand growth over the coming months have prompted us to raise our oil price forecast," the bank said.The market will be awaiting weekly U.S. inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday for a view of how tight crude and fuel supply remain.Six analysts polled by Reuters expect U.S. crude inventories to have fallen by 1.2 million barrels in the week to June 3 with gasoline stockpiles up by about 800,000 barrels and distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, unchanged.On the demand side, China's latest COVID outbreak traced to a bar in Beijing has raised fears of a new phase of lockdowns just as restrictions in the country were being eased and fuel demand was expected to firm.The Chinese capital's most populous district, Chaoyang, kicked off a three-day mass testing campaign among its roughly 3.5 million residents on Monday.About 10,000 close contacts of the bar's patrons have been identified, and their residential buildings put under lockdown. read more ]Looking ahead, oil prices may face pressure if the U.S. Federal Reserve surprises markets with a higher-than-expected interest rate hike to tame inflationwhen it meets on June 14-15. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAdditional reporting by Sonali Paul and Isabel Kua in Singapore; editing by Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oil prices rise as tight supply counters China COVID, recession worries.

Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW DELHI, June 14 (Reuters) - India will recruit soldiers for four-year service periods, after which a quarter will be brought into regular service, as it looks to deploy younger and fitter troops, the defence minister and military officials said on Tuesday.The recruitment process for personnel below officer rank between the ages of 17 and a half to 21 years will begin in the next three months, an official said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

India to recruit soldiers for four-year service periods, minister says.

The pressure of "having it all" is still alive and well: Many working mothers bear a heavier burden when it comes to balancing their careers and family.But former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns — who became the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 2009 — says she never bought into that narrative. Rather, she says, she relied on her late husband Lloyd Bean to help take care of their two children, missing activities for work while scaling the career ladder. And she credits her career success to the strategy."I would not be able to be CEO of the company unless I outsourced the caring for my kids," Burns, 63, tells CNBC Make It. "I was not a believer that you had to go to all your kids' games. I just don't understand what that's all about."That mindset, Burns says, sometimes prompted negative feedback from other parents — but it worked for her. Even when she attended a game, she says, she didn't watch "every second" of it. Instead, she used the time to relax and do a crossword puzzle."I [wasn't] a helicopter mom," she says. "We did what we had to do."Burns led Xerox from 2009 to 2016, when the company split into two corporate entities: Xerox and Conduent. She remained Xerox's chairman until 2017.She says that when she started to rise up the corporate ranks, Bean — a research scientist at the same company — retired early to become a stay-at-home dad. Burns' sister also lived nearby, and sometimes helped out, Burns says.She credits the collective approach to her ability to lead Xerox while simultaneously having multiple kids in the house. "It takes a village, and we had the village," she says.In 2009, Burns was also appointed by President Barack Obama to help lead the White House National STEM program, which encourages students to pursue STEM-related careers. She was later appointed as vice chair of the President's Export Council, a role she held from 2015 to 2016.She has also served on the board of directors of multiple corporations including Uber, American Express and ExxonMobil. In 2014, Forbes rated her the 22nd most powerful woman in the world.Despite missing out on after-school activities, Burns says she raised two "unbelievably good kids." At the same time, she says, her career ascent moved so quickly that it sometimes left her feeling absent from the regular motions of her day-to-day life. Her only regret: not being more present in those daily motions, from the office to her home.Don't miss:Why the first Black woman CEO in the Fortune 500 says ‘being the minority’ can be a career advantageFrom the first black cheerleader at Berkeley to making history as Mavericks CEO: How Cynt Marshall did itFirst Black CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: After landing the job, I thought of Ahmaud Arbery

The first Black woman CEO in the Fortune 500 on work-life balance: You don't have 'to go to all your kids' games'.

We all want money — some of us dangerously so. Thankfully, there are simple and powerful ways to get rich without gambling your hard-earned savings.For sure, they won't all just stick in your brain. And many will change over time as Uncle Sam reforms our taxes and benefits, and as new and better financial products come on board. Still, having guiding principles at hand can help you manage your money and achieve financial security.As an economist, here are the top 21 money rules that I live by and teach:1. Don't borrow for college. It's far too risky and expensive. I don't say this lightly. I'm a college professor. But you can get a fine education without mortgaging your future and potentially dashing your career plans.It simply involves pursuing scholarships and applying to less expensive, if generally less prestigious, institutions.2. If your parents are borrowing for your tuition, discuss who will repay. And consider whether they're blowing your inheritance or sacrificing their welfare by "helping" you attend an unaffordable college.3. Strive to own your home, not rent — and try to buy in cash. This is particularly the case if you're a moderate to high earner. Having more of your money packed in your home is a way to shelter it from federal and state asset-income taxation.4. Mortgages are tax and financial losers. Pay them off ASAP. Think about it: If you have $100,000 that you can invest right now in a bond earning 1.5%, you'd have $1,500 in interest income over the course of a year. But if you had a $100,000 debt at a 3.2% interest that you could pay off right now, you'd save $3,200 over the course of the year in interest payments.On balance, you'd make $1,700 with no risk by investing in debt repayment rather than investing in the bond.Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:5. Owning a home can reduce longevity risk. Here's another reason it's better to own instead of rent. Let's say you're 70 and have found your dream location. Renting for the rest of your life runs the risk of rent hikes without the possibility of your fixed income increasing.In contrast, if you owned your home, home prices can soar or collapse, but you'll be insulated. Since you are neither buying nor selling your home, who cares what the housing market does? Your housing consumption is guaranteed through the end of your days.6. Your perfect home may be far cheaper several time zones away. Or it may be someplace with no state income tax, no state estate tax, and no state inheritance tax.Yes, things are more complicated. Land values in New Hampshire may be higher in light of the state's tax advantage. And the school system may be better in Massachusetts. But who knows? You may be childless and happy to live in a tall five-decker with no yard.7. Choose jobs that everyone but you hates. All else being equal — skills, education and experience — people with unpleasant, nerve-racking, insecure, disturbing or financially risky jobs get paid more than people with the same skills working jobs with none of these drawbacks.Economists call the extra pay a "compensating differential." The key to taking advantage of it is to find something that you love and, ideally, others don't.8. Don't worry about career and job hopping. How can you not shop around when there are so many options? Certainly, the fastest path to a raise is getting a credible outside offer.9. Consider working for yourself. I tell this to my students often. If you start the right business the right way, it will raise your remaining future earnings and provide unmatched job security.If that sounds too risky, brainstorm ways to turn your hobby and interests into a side hustle.10. Keep thinking about tomorrow. Are you in the best possible career for the rest of your working days? Should you make a switch? Is your current job in danger? Set a date every few months to do a career review with a spouse, partner or friend.11. Your living standard is your bottom line. Simulate its potential paths based on alternative investment and spending strategies to see where these strategies can land you.12. Marriage beats partnering long-term. It may mean somewhat higher net taxes, but it comes with an array of valuable implicit insurance arrangements, which the formality and legality of marriage help enforce.13. If you do get married, count on getting divorced. It's as likely as not. Protect yourself and the love of your life with a prenup.14. All lifestyle decisions — switching careers, moving homes, getting married, having kids, getting divorced — come at a price. Measure these prices in terms of your sustainable living standard.15. Use retirement-account contributions, conversions and withdrawals to cut your lifetime taxes. And make sure to contribute enough to get your employer's match!16. Wait until age 70 to take Social Security retirement benefits. Retirees who wait to claim can get hundreds of dollars more each month than those who take benefits early.Of course, this isn't feasible for everyone. But here's my plea: Before making any moves, figure out the strategy that maximizes your household's total lifetime benefits.17. If you don't formally request your Social Security benefits, you won't get it. I've had many people in their mid-70s ask me when they'll start getting their checks. That's when I groan and tell them they need to file for their benefits immediately.Social Security isn't in the business of letting us know what it owes us, never mind that we have paid FICA taxes our entire working lives for those benefits.18. The Social Security Administration's Program Operations Manual System has thousands of rules, which its staff can get wrong, in part or in full. Talk to multiple offices and do your own research.19. Retiring early is financial suicide. Yes, there are situations where retiring early makes sense. But very few of us think of early retirement as what it really is: a decision to take the longest and most expensive vacation (that most of us can't afford).Putting it this way makes clear that the wonderful benefits — extra time with the grandkids, freedom to pursue hobbies, reduction in stress — all come at a high price: the loss of years, if not decades, of earnings.20. Most conventional investment advice is, to be nice, of dubious value. It's predicated on you making four major economic mistakes: Saving the wrong amount when younger, putting your preretirement savings on autopilot, spending the wrong amount when you're older, and never adjusting to market conditions.21. If you're worried about downside risk, play the stock market like a casino. Think of the investment in stocks as cash you take to the casino: Don't spend a penny of your winnings, if you make any, until you've left the building. Or, in other words, don't put more money into the stock market until your initial bets are safe from losses.Laurence J. Kotlikoff is an economics professor and the author of "Money Magic: An Economist's Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life." He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1977. His columns have appeared in The New York Times, WSJ, Bloomberg and The Financial Times. In 2014, The Economist named him one of the world's 25 most influential economists. Follow him on Twitter @Kotlikoff.Don't miss:38-year-old retiree: 'America, stop wasting your money on these 7 things—if you want to retire early'Millionaire saved 70% of his income and retired at 35: 'We should all live by these 6 basic rules'Always follow the '30/30/3 rule' before buying a home during Covid-19, says finance expert—here's why

A Harvard-trained economist shares his top 21 money rules: 'Own your home' and 'try to buy in cash'.

Protestors demonstrate outside the Home Office against the British Governments plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, in London, Britain, June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Henry NichollsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryJudge allows flight to proceed, but numbers on it dwindleUK says deportation policy will stop Channel crossingsCritics, including church leaders, call it immoralLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Britain's first scheduled flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda was due to depart on Tuesday, with the government warning that anyone who avoided it through last-minute legal challenges would be put on a later flight anyway.Britain has struck a 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal with Rwanda to send some migrants, who had arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe, to live in the landlocked African country.The plan has horrified political opponents, charities and church leaders who say it is inhumane. The United Nations' refugee chief called it "catastrophic", the entire leadership of the Church of England denounced it as an "immoral policy that shames Britain".Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe government says the deportation strategy is needed to stem the flow of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings and smash the people-smuggling networks.A government official, who asked not to be named, said there was the possibility after individual legal challenges were heard that the flight could leave with no asylum seekers on it. The government has chartered a private plane, which is scheduled to leave on Tuesday evening."We are expecting to send the flight later today," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss earlier told Sky News. "I can't say exactly how many people will be on the flight. But the really important thing is that we establish the principle.""There will be people on this flight and if they're not on this flight, they will be on the next flight because we are determined to break the model of the appalling people traffickers."The courts have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to halt the first flight, but London's High Court is set to hear further cases before it departs.Amid legal challenges, only a few people are now scheduled to leave on the first plane.Thirty-seven individuals had been scheduled to be removed on Tuesday, which charities said included people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria as well as Iran and Iraq. However, a string of successful legal challenges has reduced that number to seven, according to charity Care4Calais.At least three High Court appeals were still to be heard.Human rights groups say the policy will put migrants at risk. The UNHCR has said Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled.The senior leadership of the Church of England said in a letter to the Times newspaper that those being deported had not had a chance to appeal and no attempt had been made to "understand their predicament".A full hearing to determine the legality of the policy as a whole is due in July.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Andrew MacAskill, Michael Holden and Alistair Smout; Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Kate Holton; Editing by Sandra Maler, Simon Cameron-Moore and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UK's first migrant deportation flight to Rwanda set to depart on Tuesday.

Great managers know how to coach, engage and motivate their teams. But the job isn't easy. The way we work is rapidly changing. Responsibilities are constantly shifting. Workers want to upgrade their skills.As a managing vice president at Gartner, a global advisory firm, I oversee research and products for learning. To better understand what the best managers do to develop employees in today's busy work environment, we surveyed 5,000 managers from around the world in different functions.The data revealed four main types of managers:The four main types of managersTeacher managers develop their employees based on their own expertise and experience. Their mantra is: "I did it this way, and therefore you should, too." They typically advance in the organization not necessarily because they are the greatest managers, but because of their institutional knowledge.Always On managers constantly monitor and check in on their employees. They have good intentions and want to be the ones providing continuous coaching and feedback across a wide breadth of skills.Cheerleader managers have a more hands-off approach, giving positive feedback and putting employees in charge of their own development. They are approachable and supportive, but not as proactive as the other manager types when it comes to developing their employees' skills.Connector managers provide feedback in their area of expertise, while also connecting employees to others on the team or in the organization who are better suited at addressing specific needs.Connectors are the best type of managersNot all of the types proved to be effective. Teacher managers, for example, prefer to do things their way and are hesitant to experiment with new ideas and strategies. This can be problematic in a world where innovation and creativity is encouraged.Cheerleaders are great for employees who thrive on motivation. However, their "learn by doing" approach can cause stress, reduced psychological safety and increased burnout in employees.Our research team was surprised to find that the Always On approach isn't the most productive, either. That's because they often assume that they know what's best when, in many cases, they don't. As a result, they may steer employees towards the wrong path.Connectors, who made up about 25% of the managers we surveyed, turned out to be the best at supporting their employees' career development, including efficiency and skills preparedness.Their greatest strength is that they make three important connections for their employees:The manager-employee connection: Connectors ask the right questions and make an effort to really get to know their employees at a deeper level — such as their motivations, interests, goals and development areas in ways that other managers don't.The team connection: Connectors know that they don't have to be the sole source of coaching. So they try to create a more inclusive team environment where people feel respected and comfortable sharing their individual skills with one another.The organization connection: The highest-performing teams spend about half their time communicating outside of formal meeting settings. Connectors help their employees figure out what other leaders within the organization their employees can network with to receive the learning that they are not able to provide.How to succeed under any managerIf you are one of the lucky few to have a Connector manager, you are likely to be more engaged and successful in your career.But what should you do if your manager falls under one of the other three types? Here are some tips:Clarify feedback to understand what really matters. If you feel you are getting too much feedback, which is common with the Always On manager, turn their notes into a prioritized to-do list. Then, confirm that list with your manager to ensure you're focusing your energy in the right places.Share your career aspirations. Be direct with your manager about what areas and skills you want to develop. If there's an opportunity you'd like to pursue, don't be afraid to raise your hand.Build your own connections. Pinpoint where your manager's expertise lies and where they have blindspots, so you can seek feedback that plays to their strengths. Then leverage your own network to source alternative points of view and guidance.Seek projects with Connector managers. The best way to grow in your career is to amass interesting and diverse projects and roles. Find opportunities to work with Connectors, even if they aren't your direct manager.Sari Wilde is a managing vice president at Gartner, a research and consulting firm. Her focus areas include leadership effectiveness, learning and development, employee experience, and DEI. She is also the co-author of "The Connector Manager: Why Some Leaders Build Exceptional Talent, and Others Don't."Don't miss:There are 3 types of employees. Here’s the rarest one—and why psychologists say they outperform everyone elseJeff Bezos hired this Amazon applicant ‘on the spot’—here are the 2 interview questions he askedAvoid these 5 types of words and phrases that make you sound ‘immature,’ says speech expert

There are 4 types of bosses. Here's the one you want to work for—and why experts say they're the most successful.

Politics June 14, 2022 / 5:24 AM / CBS News December 2019 file photo shows Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., on the House floor as lawmakers debated articles of impeachment against then-President Donald Trump. House Television via AP, File Illinois Congressman Sean Casten announced Monday evening that his 17-year-old daughter, Gwen, has died, CBS Chicago reports. "The Casten family requests privacy, and we will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time," Casten's office said in an email.Shortly before Casten's congressional office announced his daughter's death, Casten's campaign asked all Illinois TV stations to immediately pull his campaign spots off the air until further notice.A Democrat from Downers Grove, the 50-year-old Casten is running for his third term in Congress in the newly drawn 6th District, which he has represented since defeating Republican incumbent Congressman Peter Roskam in 2018. Casten is running against fellow incumbent Rep. Marie Newman, a freshman, and Nicor operation mechanic Charles Hughes."My heart breaks for the Casten family for the devastating loss of their daughter. My prayers are with Sean, Kara, and the entire Casten family," Newman said in a statement. Newman also is immediately suspending all her campaign ads.Newman opted to challenge Casten in the 2022 primary after the congressional remap approved by the Democratic majority in  the state capital of Springfield put her into the heavily Hispanic 3rd District, which is represented by Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.Hughes, who is also a former candidate for alderman in Chicago's 23rd Ward, ran against Newman in 2020 in the state's 3rd Congressional District, but he finished a distant fourth with just 2.3% of the vote in that race.Representatives for Hughes' campaign could not immediately be reached for comment. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Rep. Sean Casten's 17-year-old daughter Gwen dies.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday will meet with constitutional law, privacy, and technology experts to discuss what happens if the Supreme Court overrules the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a White House official.The discussion will seek to highlight the real-world implications if Roe falls, including in areas such as privacy, contraception, and in vitro fertilization, the official said.The Supreme Court looks set to vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, according to a leaked initial draft majority opinion that was verified by the court, though they warned it may not represent the final official decision, expected in the upcoming weeks.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as she attends a signage ceremony at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzOver the last several weeks, Harris has brought faith leaders and healthcare providers together to discuss their concerns on how to chart the path forward."Tomorrow's engagement is a continuation of the Vice President's work convening a broad coalition to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of women," the official said.The participants include law professors from New York University, Harvard and Michigan University.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

VP Harris to meet with law professors ahead of potential overturn of Roe v. Wade.

About $33.1 trillion — that is how much Americans have saved up for retirement as of September 2020, according to the Investment Company Institute.Around $6.5 trillion of that is held in 401(k) accounts, representing nearly one-fifth of the U.S. retirement market."It's part of what we call ... the three-legged stool of the U.S. retirement system, the other two parts being Social Security and private savings," said Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.Until the 1980s, most Americans planned for retirement through pensions. They were defined-benefit plans, in which employers saved on workers' behalf and calculated employees' retirement benefits based on their years of service and final salary."The risk is all on the employer or the pension fund. The pension fund or the employer has to figure out how many years on average the people in the pension fund are going to live and has to tie the benefits to projected earnings," said Monique Morrissey, an economist at Economic Policy Institute.That changed when Congress passed a new tax code in the Revenue Act of 1978. The act included a new provision in the Internal Revenue Code, Section 401(k), which gave employees a tax-advantaged way to defer compensation from bonuses or stock options.Unlike traditional pensions, 401(k) plans are defined-contribution plans. Employers create a retirement plan in which their employees can contribute a portion of their wages on a pretax basis, up to an amount determined by the IRS."So we went from a system where the employer in the private sector paid for the entire pension and took on all the risk to a system where the worker in the private sector took on most of the cost and all of the risk," said Morrissey.401(k) and other defined-contribution plans like it quickly replaced traditional pension plans. From 1980 through 2008, participants in pension plans fell from 38% to 20% of the U.S. workforce, while employees covered by defined-contribution plans jumped from 8% to 31%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."Within a decade, the majority of workers overall were in a 401(k) rather than a traditional pension," said Morrissey. "And we're now over 30 years into the 401(k) era."In 2020, there were about 600,000 401(k) plans, with approximately 60 million Americans participating in them. It continues to be one of the most popular retirement plans for U.S. workers.

How 401(k) accounts killed pensions to become one of the most popular retirement plans for U.S. workers.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attends his last campaign event ahead of Ethiopia's parliamentary and regional elections scheduled for June 21, in Jimma, Ethiopia, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comADDIS ABABA, June 14 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday the federal government had formed a committee to negotiate with the northern Tigray region's forces.Fighting erupted in Tigray in November 2020 and spilled over into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara last year, but it has eased since the federal government declared a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire in March. read more "Regarding the peace, a committee has been established. Negotiation needs a lot of work. A committee has been established and it will study how we will conduct talks," Abiy told parliament.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIt is the first time Abiy has made information about the committee public.He said Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen was leading the committee, which will have 10 to 15 days to work on finer details of what will be negotiated.The war between the national government forces and its allies and those loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has upset government plans to modernise the economy and has deterred some foreign investors.Tigray's leaders accuse Abiy of wanting to centralise power at the expense of the regions. He accuses them of wanting to regain national power, which they lost to him after he was appointed in 2018.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Addis Ababa Newsroom; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ethiopia's Abiy says body formed to negotiate with Tigray forces.

Every person has a tell. Your friends, co-workers, family members, partner and boss may actually be revealing their true intentions, but shrouding them in clever disguises.As a retired FBI special agent and former chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, I spent 21 years defeating people whose sole intention was deception and trickery. Through years of trial and error, I recognized certain key patterns and learned how to "size people up" — or predict what others will do, and trust them accordingly.Here are the biggest warning signs that reveal a dishonest person:1. They speak in absolutes, such as 'always' and 'never.'Absolutes are meant to support a point of view, but they're rarely true and can easily incite denial and opposition.When someone says, "You never compliment me," for example, they're just begging you to say: "That's ridiculous! I remember giving you compliments!" Even when you know that someone is just exaggerating, it can be hard to tell if they know it. When absolutes go unchallenged, they have a perverse tendency to be reborn as the truth.People who are trustworthy tend to use words that soften absolutes, such as "usually," "often," "probably," practically," "sometimes," "frequently" and "generally."2. They brag by downplaying their accomplishments.A lot of people think they know how to brag artfully, but really don't. Some wait for the right moment in a conversation to casually toss in their 15 seconds of self-promotion — as mere information, a pertinent example or a flash of amusing recollection. And when you give them the kudos they're looking for, they brush it off.If they name-drop, they mention the "Big Name" in a cluster of unknowns, as if they're not even aware of their status-seeking. Another example might be the co-worker who always tries to reassure that you'll be able to do something better than they did, in the guise of encouragement. But their primary goal is to remind you of how great they are — as you struggle to do it.3. They try to please you by judging people you both know.They imply that you're better than those other people, otherwise they wouldn't be confiding their disapproval. They give you opportunities to jump in with your own disapproval for those people, as if it's a healthy form of bonding.Meanwhile, all you're thinking is: What do they say about me when I'm not around?4. They're highly defensive.Dangerous trait! And one of the most common. Many people feel that if they deny something, it ceases to exist.They turn criticisms of themselves into a joke or into an offensive statement that makes no sense. They pout. They act passive aggressive. They change the subject. They distort the "accusation." Or they just withdraw.These are the ways dishonest people put up their shields. Shields up, information out. Shields down, information in.5. They love to debate.I'm not talking about an exchange of rational ideas. I'm talking about the hyperemotional dogfights that now dominate opposing discussions everywhere from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" to political debates.Debating tactics are just a string of tricks that can be shockingly ineffective in manipulating people. Some of the worst include: Attacking people instead of ideas, using insinuation and innuendo, playing on fears, being sarcastic and dismissive, scapegoating, changing the subject and labeling people.Once upon a time, you couldn't get a passing grade in English if you communicated like that. Now, you can run for high profile office.6. They talk too much and say too little.It's usually because they're trying to hide something or just don't have anything to say. So they try to substitute quantity for quality, especially by dropping meaningless buzzwords like "negative growth," "thought leader" or a currently ubiquitous cliche du jour: "strategic planning" — as if a regular plan is just a wish list.In contrast, Winston Churchill — a gifted speaker and Nobel laureate in literature — once said, "Short words are best, and old words, when short, are best of all." A similar sentiment was echoed by business communications specialist L.J. Brockman, creator of the C2M2 formula, which designates the four primary characteristics of successful communications: Clear, concise, memorable and motivational.7. They don't know how to apologize.Apologizing is pretty easy. You say, "I'm sorry." And that's it. Unfortunately, it's something you'll rarely hear from a dishonest person. They'll say, "I'm sorry. But ..." Then comes the about-face, usually fueled by an accusation: "But I only did it because you did, blah, blah, blah."This happens out of fear, particularly in fear's common disguises of arrogance, perfectionism or some other form of superiority. The person's central, self-dooming premise is: It's all about me, and if I just plead not guilty to every charge, it'll stay that way.My advice? Quit while you're ahead.8. They display uncomfortable body language.Nonverbal communication is the ultimate dead giveaway. Here are some signs that indicate a person is uncomfortable with what they're saying:Unlike with a genuine smile, the corners of their mouth don't go up, but are pulled straight back. The smile doesn't include their whole face, and their brows are often furrowed.Their head angle is tilted slightly backward, rather than off to either side. And they literally look down their nose at you.People who are truthful have their eyes wide open. The eyes of a dishonest person, however, are somewhat lidded and tend to be locked on you, without much movement.(When you see these signs, it's wise — and often kind — to give them special attention about why they feel uncomfortable.)These expressions are the most revealing if they happen frequently, but not all the time. The times when they don't happen give me a baseline for evaluation. Then, when I do see these signs, I have good reason to analyze them for other tells that show how they really feel.Robin Dreeke is a best-selling author, professional speaker and retired FBI Special Agent and former Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. "SIZING PEOPLE UP: A Veteran FBI Agent's User Manual for Behavior Prediction" is his third book. Follow Robin on Twitter @rdreeke.Don't miss:'Never, ever use a debit card,' warns fraud expert and ex-con artist—here's what to do insteadThese 9 biggest password mistakes that can get you in a lot of trouble, warns fraud expert'Carrying these things in your wallet is a big mistake,' warns fraud expert and ex-con artist*This is an adapted excerpt from "SIZING PEOPLE UP: A Veteran FBI Agent's User Manual for Behavior Prediction," by Robin Dreeke and Cameron Stauth. Published by Portfolio, an imprint of The Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2020 by Robin Dreeke.

Former FBI agent of 21 years: These are the 8 biggest 'warning signs' that reveal a dishonest person.

Zollfahndungsamt Hamburg shows a detail of cocaine, found in over 1,700 tins of wall filler, after German authorities seized more than 16 tonnes of cocaine in the northern port city of Hamburg, Germany, February 24, 2020, in Europe's largest cocaine haul to date. REUTERS/Cathrin Mueller/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - Narcotics production is growing in Europe, according to an estimate published on Tuesday by the EU drugs agency, which warned of a proliferation of new psychoactive substances being sold and consumed on the continent.In its annual report, the EU drugs agency said that new evidence was emerging of rising drug production in Europe, confirming its earlier warning about the continent turning into a global hub for narcotics, and no longer just a consumption market read more ."Synthetic drug production continues to increase in Europe," the report warned, noting that illegal laboratories in Europe churn out huge amounts of amphetamine, methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs for local consumption and for export outside Europe.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDrugs and the chemicals needed to produce them are still largely imported into Europe from other parts of the world including South America and Asia, but European criminal organisations are tightening their ties with cartels outside the continent in a bid to cut costs for drugs production and trafficking, said the report, which is based on information from European law enforcement agencies.More than 350 labs for synthetic drugs were detected and dismantled in 2020 in Europe, the latest year for which data is available, the EU agency said, adding that law enforcement agencies also discovered more cocaine labs and production sites for new drugs, such as cathinone.Cathinone is a chemical similar to amphetamine which is believed to be the main active substance in khat, a plant traditionally used in Eastern Africa and the Arabian peninsula for its stimulant effects.The EU drugs agency reported record trafficking of cathinone in Europe, as part of the growing use of new narcotics, which "continue to appear in Europe at the rate of one per week," the report said.Most dismantled labs of illicit drugs were found in Belgium and the Netherlands. Production facilities were also detected in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and other EU countries.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EU warns of rising narcotics production in Europe as new drugs hit market.

People walk past a sign of the Heaven Supermarket bar, where a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak emerged, in Chaoyang district of Beijing, China June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - Authorities in China's capital warned on Tuesday that a COVID-19 surge in cases linked to a 24-hour bar was critical and the city of 22 million was in a "race against time" to get to grips with its most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.The flare-up means millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs that had run for more than a month to tackle a broader outbreak since late April. read more Authorities announced on the weekend a "ferocious" COVID outbreak linked to the Heaven Supermarket Bar, which had only just re-opened after coronavirus curbs were eased last week.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe outbreak of at least 287 cases has raised new worries about the outlook for the world's second-largest economy. China is just recovering from a two-month lockdown in the city of Shanghai that had raised worries about global supply chains."We should go all out, race against time," He Lijian, spokesman for the Beijing municipal government, told a news conference, referring to efforts to contain the outbreak.Drinking and dining in most establishments in Beijing only resumed on June 6, after more than a month of measures such as take-out meals only and working from home, along with the closure of malls and stretches of the transport system.Authorities have refrained from restoring the toughest of the earlier restrictions, but about 10,000 close contacts of the customers of the bar have been identified and their residential buildings put under lockdown.Chaoyang, the city's largest district in which the bar is located, began a three-day mass testing campaign on Monday for its roughly 3.5 million residents.People infected in the latest surge in cases live or work in 14 of the capital's 16 districts, authorities have said.Police have launched a criminal investigation into the person in charge of the bar on suspected interference with epidemic prevention, Pan Xuhong, deputy director of the city's Public Security Bureau, told the news conference.'PROPAGATOR'Pan said three other people, two of whom had visited the bar and the other a close contact of bar customers, had been put under criminal investigation after they insisted on going out despite being ordered to isolate at home.The three were later confirmed to have been infected, which resulted in dozens of people being put into quarantine and more than 2,000 under other COVID measures, Pan said.Earlier on Tuesday, the state-backed Beijing Daily said a team of officials would work to investigate and deal with the Heaven Supermarket Bar "quickly, strictly and seriously".All of the city's bars, nightclubs, karaoke venues, internet cafes and other places of entertainment were being inspected, the newspaper said, with those in underground spaces being shut as epidemic prevention work is "tightened".The paper has repeatedly pointed the finger at an individual, dubbed Patient No. 1,991, for triggering the flare-up. Careless behaviour had turned the unidentified person into the "propagator" of the outbreak.Beijing authorities say the person did not take a COVID test between May 26 and June 8, despite visiting a number of restaurants, bars and crowded places at that time.The patient developed a fever by the evening of June 8, two days after a visit to the 24-hour bar at the centre of the cluster.But despite the fever, the person returned to the bar early on June 9, the same day a handful of other bar patrons were found to be infected.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Ryan Woo, Roxanne Liu and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Beijing in 'race against time' to contain COVID surge.

Just days before the pandemic hit in March 2020, I started my first full-time job as a marketing coordinator at a dental office in Columbus, Ohio, where I had an annual salary of $34,500.Every day, the office was booked with clients looking to get teeth whitening and veneers. But as the pandemic intensified and mask mandates were enforced, I remember thinking: Why are all these people scheduling cosmetic work for their teeth, when their smiles are now hidden behind masks?It became clear how significant of an impact the upper part of our faces have on our expressions. I found myself fixated on reading people's emotions, particularly through their eyes and brows.So I began researching microblading, a semi-permanent brow-enhancement procedure where small strokes — in the shape of individual hairs — are tattooed in the eyebrow areas.Microblading is a semi-permanent brow-enhancement procedure where small strokes — in the shape of individual hairs — are tattooed in the eyebrow areas.Photo: Emily JumpWhen I wasn't working a dentistry shift, I attended microblading classes. For months, I practiced for several hours each day.Eventually, what started as a hobby turned into a lucrative side hustle. I was seeing roughly five clients a week, and making at least $7,200 per month.In June this year, after three months of juggling both jobs, I decided to quit my day job and turn my microblading side hustle into a full-time business. I named it Columbus Cosmetic Ink.Today, I bring in about $8,750 per month in sales, including tips — triple what I earned at the dental office job.Of course, there are challenges that come with running your own company. But at 25, I know there's so much more to learn as I grow my business. The most important thing is that I'm the happiest I've ever been.Here are my top tips for anyone looking to start a side hustle:1. Create a business plan firstBefore building a website and registering Columbus Cosmetic Ink with my county, I created a business plan.You don't need a business degree to make one. Mine wasn't perfect, but it was a way for me to stay on top of crucial components such as customer demand, start-up expenses, financial projections and marketing strategies.I also kept track of my competitors and trends. Taking my side hustle full-time was a risk, but having that business plan helped me feel more confident and prepared.Having a business plan helped me feel more confident and prepared.Photo: Emily JumpI currently work on my clients out of a small suite in a salon, which is much cheaper than leasing an entire storefront. It also gives my business exposure to other clients who come to the salon.Rent for a suite in my area can range anywhere from $200 to $300 per week. As my business grows, I plan to rent a much larger space of my own.2. Consider temporarily working for freeOne of the hardest parts about getting a side hustle rolling is attracting clients. I knew I was a talented microblading artist, but other people didn't know that. So to earn their trust in my craft, I needed to build a portfolio.I used Nextdoor, an app for neighborhoods where you can share local tips, to start marketing my services. I posted "Models Wanted: Free Microblading," and ended up getting a lot of attention and interest.My top seller is the "Coco Brow," which costs $450 and includes one complimentary touchup.Photo: Emma RobinsonI helped people achieve the eyebrows of their dreams in exchange for getting the word out, and gave each person a $100 gift certificate to give to a friend.Temporarily working for free was something I had anticipated, so I also saved as much money as I could prior to quitting my job. If you can't afford to work for free, consider charging a small fee to cover part of the supply costs.Once I had enough clients to post pictures of on my website and social media, more customer bookings poured in. That's when I began charging the full prices, which vary depending on specific procedures.The biggest seller is my signature "Coco Brow," which costs $450. It includes a complimentary touch-up and lasts about 1.5 to 2 years.3. Love what you do, and keep mastering your craftI've always been enthusiastic about all things beauty-related. Even when I was in college, I freelanced as a makeup artist.I also had experience working at Ulta Beauty, a cosmetic retailer, where I learned to color-match clients, as well as how to complement different skin types and facial structures by using different shapes, colors and techniques.My clients are the main reason I'm excited to go to work every day. Believe it or not, good eyebrows can give you confidence and change your life.Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to work on a breast cancer survivor who lost all her eyebrow hair due to chemotherapy treatments. After I completed her brows, I handed her the mirror and she burst into tears.Emotional moments like that make my job even more rewarding.4. Prepare to work hard and make sacrificesCreating your own work hours offers plenty of freedom, but it doesn't necessarily mean working less.When I had my full-time dental office job — and Columbus Cosmetic Ink was still a side hustle — I was working 60 to 70 hours per week. At times, I had to sacrifice my social life, sleep, lunch breaks and leisure time.My clients are the main reason I'm excited to go to work every day.Photo: Emma Robinson

This 25-year-old made $7,000 per month from her side hustle—while working a full-time job. Here's how.

A worker shelters from the rain under a Union Flag umbrella as he passes the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, October 1, 2008. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesParagon climbs on 49% jump in HY profit, strong outlookCrest Nicholson gains on upbeat outlookFTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 adds 0.2%June 14 (Reuters) - UK shares steadied on Tuesday, with some positive impetus from financial stocks and several strong earnings updates, a day after economic slowdown concerns dragged the main British indexes to their fifth straight session of losses.The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) was up 0.3% by 0817 GMT, with shares in Asian-focused British bank HSBC (HSBA.L) gaining 3% to provide the biggest boost to the blue-chip index.Oil majors BP Plc (BP.L) and Shell Plc (SHEL.L) rose 1.4% and 0.8% respectively, tracking volatile crude prices.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe domestically-focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index (.FTMC) edged up 0.2%, hovering near its lowest level in more than three months.Global stock markets have been rattled as investors price in aggressive central bank policy moves to quell inflation against a backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, concerned that this could lead to a global economic slowdown.Despite these fears, the FTSE 100 has only declined 2.1% year-to-date compared to 15.4% drop in European Stoxx 600 (.STOXX) and a 21.3% slide in U.S. S&P 500 index (.SPX) due to its heavy weighting in energy and mining companies."The outperformance will carry on. As inflation fears come up, people are struggling to look for assets which are closely correlated with real world assets to provide inflation protection and commodities are one source of that," said Edward Park, chief investment officer at Brooks Macdonald Asset Management."The UK market ... has been less exposed to some dramatic moves in the bond market because the markets still expect the Bank of England to worry as much about economic growth as it is about inflation."The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 1.25% on Thursday.Paragon Banking (PAGPA.L) jumped 8.6% after upgrading its 2022 forecasts and flagging strong new lending growth. read more Housebuilder Crest Nicholson (CRST.L) climbed 6.2% after forecasting higher adjusted profit. read more DiscoverIE Group (DSCV.L) gained 4% after the electronic component manufacturer and supplier reported stronger full-year underlying pretax profit.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Devik Jain in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Financials keep FTSE 100 steady after five straight days of losses.

A motorist refuels his vehicle at a gas station in Munich, Germany, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/Lukas Barth/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryOPEC sources see demand growth at 2 mln bpd or less in 2023Producer group sees demand growth of 3.36 mln bpd in 2022High fuel prices, supply problems curb oil demand outlookIEA to release 2023 forecast on Wednesday, OPEC in JulyLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - World oil demand growth will slow in 2023, OPEC delegates and industry sources said, as surging crude and fuel prices help drive up inflation and act as a drag on the global economy.Fuel use has rebounded from the 2020 pandemic-induced slump and is set to exceed 2019 levels this year even as prices hit record highs. But high prices have eaten into growth projections for 2022 and fed into expectations for slower growth in 2023.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to publish its first forecast for 2023 demand in July. Its forecast, along with that of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, will be watched closely for pointers on how OPEC supply policy might develop.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAn OPEC delegate and another source familiar with OPEC thinking said they expected world demand growth of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) or less in 2023, a rise of just 2%, compared with growth of 3.36 million bpd expected in 2022."Even if it is only 1 million bpd, that is still growth and not a peak," the delegate said of the outlook for next year.OPEC is expected to publish its first demand forecast for 2023 in its monthly report on July 12, an OPEC source said.The IEA, which advises Western governments on energy policy, will give its first 2023 demand forecast in a monthly report on Wednesday, an IEA spokesperson said.OPEC is watching for signs that high fuel prices will lead to oil demand destruction.Two more OPEC delegates said demand destruction is likely to take a toll on oil use in coming months, although one of them said there was little sign of it yet in the United States, citing recent gasoline demand data.A senior industry source at a trading firm, not affiliated to the IEA or OPEC, also said he expected lower demand growth in 2023, saying his initial estimates pointed to demand growing by 2 million bpd or less, down from 2.6 million bpd growth in 2022."Crude at $120 a barrel is causing demand destruction," he said. "It is already happening."Oil demand forecasters often have to make sizeable revisions given changes in the economic outlook and geopolitical uncertainties, which this year included Russia's invasion of Ukraine and recent Chinese coronavirus lockdowns.OPEC originally forecast demand growth in 2022 of 3.28 million bpd, in its first forecast published in July 2021, later raising it up to more than 4 million bpd before cutting it to 3.36 million bpd.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Alex Lawler and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Additional reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by Simon Web and Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Exclusive: OPEC sees global oil demand growth slowing in 2023, sources say.

Space June 14, 2022 / 6:23 AM / CBS/AFP Scientists to study planets deep in the Milky Way James Webb Space Telescope to study far reaches of Milky Way 05:01 The Gaia space probe on Monday unveiled its latest discoveries in its quest to map the Milky Way in unprecedented detail, surveying nearly two million stars and revealing mysterious "starquakes" which sweep across the fiery giants like vast tsunamis.The mission's third data set, which was released to eagerly waiting astronomers around the world at 1000 GMT, "revolutionizes our understanding of the galaxy," the European Space Agency (ESA) said.ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher told a press conference that it was "a fantastic day for astronomy" because the data "will open the floodgates for new science, for new findings of our universe, of our Milky Way." Gaia data release 3: exploring our multi-dimensional Milky Way by European Space Agency, ESA on YouTube Some of the map's new insights came close to home, such as a catalogue of more than 156,000 asteroids in our Solar System "whose orbits the instrument has calculated with incomparable precision," Francois Mignard, a member of the Gaia team, told AFP. But Gaia also sees beyond the Milky Way, spotting 2.9 million other galaxies as well as 1.9 million quasars -- the stunningly bright hearts of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.The Gaia spacecraft is nestled in a strategically positioned orbit 937,000 miles from Earth, where it has been watching the skies since it was launched by the ESA in 2013. The observation of starquakes, massive vibrations that change the shape of the distant stars, was "one of the most surprising discoveries coming out of the new data," the ESA said. This map shows the interstellar dust that fills the Milky Way.  ESA / AP Gaia was not built to observe starquakes but still detected the strange phenomenon on thousands of stars, including some that should not have any -- at least according to our current understanding of the universe."Starquakes teach us a lot about stars, notably their internal workings. Gaia is opening a goldmine for 'asteroseismology' of massive stars," said Gaia team member Conny Aerts. Gaia has surveyed more than 1.8 billion stars but that only represents around one percent of the stars in the Milky Way, which is about 100,000 light years across. The probe is equipped with two telescopes as well as a billion-pixel camera, which captures images sharp enough to gauge the diameter of a single strand of human hair 620 miles away.The new data includes new information such as the age, mass, temperature and chemical composition of stars. This can be used, for example, to determine which stars were born in another galaxy and then migrated to the Milky Way.The incredibly precise data "allows us to look more than 10 billion years into the past history of our own Milky Way," said Anthony Brown, the chair of the Data Processing and Analysis Consortium which sifted through the massive amount of data.The results from Gaia are already "far beyond what we expected" at this point, Mignard said.They show that our galaxy is not moving smoothly through the universe as had been thought but is instead "turbulent" and "restless," he said."It has had a lot of accidents in its life and still has them" as it interacts with other galaxies, he added. "Perhaps it will never be in a stationary state.""Our galaxy is indeed a living entity, where objects are born, where they die," Aerts said. "The surrounding galaxies are continuously interacting with our galaxy and sometimes also falling inside it".Around 50 scientific papers were published alongside the new data, with many more expected in the coming years.Gaia's observations have fueled thousands of studies since its first dataset was released in 2016.The second dataset in 2018 allowed astronomers to show that the Milky Way merged with another galaxy in a violent collision around 10 billion years ago.It took the team five years to deliver the latest data, which was observed from 2014 to 2017.The final dataset will be released in 2030, after Gaia finishes its mission surveying the skies in 2025.Monday's release confirmed only two new exoplanets -- and 200 other potential candidates -- but far more are expected in the future. "In principle Gaia, especially when it goes on for the full 10 years, should be capable of detecting tens of thousands of exoplanets down to Jupiter's mass," Brown said. This all-sky view provided by European Space Agency on Monday, June 13, 2022 shows a sample of the Milky Way stars in Gaia's data release 3. The color indicates the stellar metallicity. Redder stars are richer in metals.  ESA / AP The Gaia data now being released also includes information on 800,000 binaries - stars that move in tandem with each other - as well as several new exoplanets, hundreds of thousands of asteroids in the solar system and millions of objects beyond our galaxy.  The Associated Press contributed to this report. In: Milky Way Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

New space map reveals celestial treasure trove of mysterious "starquakes".

No matter how old you are, it's never too late to start eating in a way that gives you the best possible chance of staving off dementia as you age and making sure that you feel focused and sharp every day.As a nutritional psychiatrist, faculty member at Harvard Medical School and author of "This Is Your Brain on Food," I study how our gut bacteria can trigger metabolic processes and brain inflammation that impact memory. Existing studies point to the idea that we may be able to reduce the possibility of dementia by avoiding foods that can compromise our gut bacteria and weaken our memory and focus.Here are the foods I try to avoid or cut back on to fight inflammation and promote brain health, sharp thinking and good decision-making:1. Added sugarsPhoto: Berntsen | Twenty20The brain uses energy in the form of glucose, a form of sugar, to fuel cellular activities. However, a high-sugar diet can lead to excess glucose in the brain, which studies have linked to memory impairments and less plasticity of the hippocampus — the part of the brain controlling memory.Consuming unhealthy processed foods like baked goods and soda, which are often loaded with refined and added sugars — often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup — floods the brain with too much glucose.Although each body has different needs, the American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day, and men stay under 36 grams added sugar per day. (To figure out if a packaged food contains added sugars, and how much, check the "added sugars" line in the Nutrition Facts panel.)2. Fried foodsPhoto: Ingrid Nagy | Twenty20French fries, tempura, samosas, fish and chips and chicken-fried steak. Is your mouth watering? I get it.Still, when it comes to brain health, it pays to reduce the amount of fried foods you eat. In fact, one study including 18,080 people found that a diet high in fried foods was linked to lower scores in learning and memory. The likely reason: These guilty pleasures cause inflammation, which can damage the blood vessels that supply the brain with blood.Another study looked at 715 people and measured their levels of depression and mental resilience. It also documented their level of fried food consumption. Sure enough, researchers found that those who consumed more fried foods were more likely to develop depression in their lifetime.If you're eating fried foods daily, switch to weekly. If it's a weekly habit, try enjoying them just once a month. If you don't eat fried foods, you're already on your way to happier times!3. High-glycemic-load carbohydratesPhoto: Rita Savenkova | Twenty20Even if high-carbohydrate foods — for example, bread, pasta, and anything else made from refined flour — don't taste sweet, your body still processes them in much the same way it does with sugar.That means they can also raise your risk for depression. Don't panic, I'm not going to suggest eliminating carbs from your diet completely! But the quality of the carbs you eat matters.In 2018, researchers sought to evaluate which particular carbohydrates, if any, had an association with depression. They administered a questionnaire called the "carbohydrate-quality index" to 15,546 participants."Better-quality" carbohydrates were defined as whole grains, foods high in fiber, and those ranked low on the glycemic index (GI). The GI is a measure of how quickly foods convert to glucose when broken down during digestion; the faster a food turns into glucose in the body, the higher its GI ranking.Researchers discovered that people who had the highest score on the carbohydrate-quality index, meaning they were eating better-quality carbs, were 30% less likely to develop depression than those who were eating high-GI carbs.High-GI carbs include potatoes, white bread and white rice. Honey, orange juice and whole-meal breads are medium-GI foods. Low-GI foods include green vegetables, most fruits, raw carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils.4. AlcoholPhoto: Studioomg | Twenty20I often encounter people in my practice who live stressful lives. The "work hard, play hard" mindset often leads to heavy drinking on weekends as a way to relieve stress. While drinking might make them relax in the moment, they pay for it the next morning, when they wake up jittery with brain fog.Archana Singh-Manoux, a research professor and director at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, and her colleagues followed 9,087 people over 23 years to see how alcohol related to the incidence of dementia.In 2018, in the British Medical Journal, they reported that people who had abstained from alcohol completely or who consumed more than 14 drinks per week had a higher risk of dementia compared to those who drank alcohol in moderation.In general, men who consume more than 14 drinks per week or more than four drinks in a single day at least once a month are considered to be heavy drinkers, as are women who drink more than seven drinks per week or three drinks per day. But different people (and their brains) respond differently to alcohol abuse.When I work with anxious patients who drink, I always ask them to consider the contexts in which they might be using alcohol in an unhealthy way — for instance, using drinking as a means of coping with something they are trying to avoid — and to consider moderating the amount they drink.5. NitratesPhoto: Loreke76 | Twenty20Used as a preservative and to enhance color in deli slices and cured meats like bacon, salami and sausage, nitrates may be connected with depression.One recent study even suggests that nitrates can alter gut bacteria in such a way as to tip the scales toward bipolar disorder.If you simply can't live without salami and sausages, seek out those containing buckwheat flour, which is used as a filler. Buckwheat flour contains important antioxidants that can counter some of the negative health effects of these meats.Dr. Uma Naidoo is a nutritional psychiatrist, brain expert, and faculty member at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Director of Nutritional & Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of the best-selling book "This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensible Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More." Follow her on Twitter @DrUmaNaidoo.Don't miss:A Harvard nutritionist and brain expert shares the 5 foods she eats every day to sharpen her memory and focusA longevity expert shares the diet, exercise and sleep rules he lives by for a longer, stronger life: These are 'non-negotiable'A neuroscientist shares the 6 exercises she does every day to build resilience and mental strength

A Harvard nutritionist and brain expert says she avoids these 5 foods that 'weaken memory and focus'.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress", in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell used his first four years as the world's top central banker to reshape U.S. monetary policy around the idea that low inflation and low unemployment could coexist.It was a move intended to spread the gains of economic growth more widely and keep a focus on jobs during the rebound from the pandemic.But the assumptions on which it rested - a relatively frictionless global economy with a well-greased supply chain; a balanced U.S. labor market with just over one open job for each unemployed person - have been shattered by events that appear to have put the Fed's two goals of full employment and moderate inflation back in opposition.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReuters GraphicsUnemployment today at 3.6% is more akin to the 1950s and 1960s, with workers exercising leverage to negotiate higher wages and, given the pandemic, better working conditions. Inflation, however, is soaring at more than 8% annually, leaving Fed officials at a crossroads over how to tame it and facing the possibility that their "narrow path" back to the pre-pandemic world of low unemployment and low inflation may have all but closed.Fed officials are expected to raise interest rates for a third time this year on Wednesday, with a half-percentage point increase seen as the likely outcome along with signals for more as long as inflation keeps far overshooting their 2% target. In new projections, they will also provide their sense of what's at risk, and what price the economy could pay through slowing growth and higher unemployment to get inflation back into line.A HEYDAY FOR JOBSArguably Powell's approach did what was intended in the labor market. The employment rebound has been faster than many expected at the pandemic's outset.Distributionally, it has also helped, consistent with the Fed's view of maximum employment as something "broad and inclusive." Wages have risen fastest for lower-paid occupations; more Blacks and Hispanics are employed than before the pandemic, while white employment in May remained 1.6 million below February 2020's peak.Reuters GraphicsBack in March, Fed officials saw inflation receding with no unemployment rate increase, but "we're going to see some cracks" in that story in the new projections, predicted Nomura senior U.S. economist Robert Dent. The median projected unemployment rate may just rise a couple of tenths of a percentage point in coming years, as Fed officials hang onto their view of an economy that may still revert to pre-pandemic form.But "it is a tightrope...It would not be hard at all to see the economy tip into recession," with joblessness rising to 5% or higher, he said. Some Fed officials have started opening the door to unemployment rates above 4%, the level policymakers roughly consider full employment.That's likely to fall hardest on Black and Hispanic workers, whose unemployment rates typically rise faster in downturns.THE SAVINGS STOCKPILEOne unexpected outcome of the pandemic was a federal government response so strong that household incomes rose despite a recession. Some now argue the spending, in early 2021 in particular, left the economy with much more consumer demand than it can meet, adding to inflation.But it also offset what would have likely been rising poverty, hunger and homelessness. A lot of it, moreover, remains in household bank accounts. Data last week showed that through the end of March cash and checking deposits continued rising, to $4.4 trillion - more than triple the pre-pandemic level. read more Reuters GraphicsThat also provided a buffer: In a recent Fed household survey respondents said they are in the best financial shape ever.But, to some degree, it may have to be spent down to fix inflation - and may make the Fed's job harder as it gives people room to handle $5-a-gallon gas.The relationship between excess savings, its distribution across the economy, and people's willingness to use the cash to cover higher prices is a key issue in the Fed's inflation puzzle.LOW BANKRUPTCY RATESAnother pandemic shoe that never dropped: Bankruptcy rates fell as the Paycheck Protection Program and other initiatives kept firms alive.A recession or significant slowdown may well trigger the washout that never happened. According to data from Epiq, Chapter 11 commercial filings in May increased 34% from a year earlier, though overall commercial filings were down slightly.American Bankruptcy Institute Executive Director Amy Quackenboss in a statement said rising interest rates and higher prices had begun "compounding the economic challenges for financially distressed families and businesses."A RECESSION WITH NO SAFETY NET?As a result of the unprecedented effort to keep businesses and families afloat, the federal debt exploded. While the low-inflation, low-interest-rate environment of the last quarter century or so triggered a broad rethinking about public debt, some of the dynamics that argued for aggressive spending are now moving the other way. When rates on government debt exceed the rate of economic growth, for example, elected officials may not be so willing to roll out an expansive safety net next time.Given how soon that may occur - in a recent Reuters poll 40% of economists said they expect a downturn within two years - the Fed may also be constrained. It can cut rates, which may by then be high enough to provide a substantial economic boost. But it will still be carrying a very large balance sheet, run up to nearly $9 trillion during the pandemic, with policymakers less likely to begin using that second tool to support the economy.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan BurnsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The pandemic broke the Fed's model; this week may show how much.

A sign is seen near the Stormont Parliament Buildings on the day Britain is expected to publish a bill to unilaterally scrap some of the rules governing post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, as its dispute with the European Union over the protocol has not yet been resolved, in Belfast, Northern Ireland June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryEU threatens legal action over UK moveTruss says EU has nothing to fearLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Britain told the European Union on Tuesday there was no reason for it to take legal action over London's plan to override some post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, which Brussels has said may breach international law.Britain published legislation on Monday which would scrap checks and challenge the role played by the EU's court in the region, saying the changes were needed to improve trade and reduce bureaucracy. read more Tensions have simmered for months after Britain accused the bloc of taking a heavy-handed approach to the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland - checks needed to keep an open border with EU-member Ireland.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comEuropean Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic warned that the EU would consider launching new infringement procedures against Britain. The EU is expected to set out its response on Wednesday, including details on possible legal action that could result in fines imposed on Britain.Legal action could take a year.Asked how nervous she was about moving towards a legal fight with the EU, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told LBC Radio: "There simply is no reason for the EU to take any action. This proposal, this legislation, doesn't make them any worse off at all."Britain has long threatened to rip up the protocol, an agreement signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that kept the region under some EU rules and drew an effective customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to prevent a back door for goods to enter the EU's vast single market.The legislation, like Brexit itself, has split legal and political opinion, with supporters of the UK's divorce saying it does not go far enough and critics saying it undermines London's standing in the world by challenging an international agreement.In a leader column, The Times newspaper warned the government's moves "risk damaging Britain’s reputation internationally while creating fresh uncertainty for businesses at a time of unprecedented economic challenges"."At best, the government's actions set the stage for years of acrimonious legal disputes, at worst they risk a ruinous trade war."Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the British government's strategy had made the chances of a compromise for Northern Ireland much more difficult."What the British government is saying, not only to Ireland, but also to the EU and to the wider world, is give us what we want, or we're going to break international law to take it anyway," he told BBC Radio.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Kate Holton and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UK says no reason for EU to take legal action over N. Ireland law.

Entertainment June 14, 2022 / 6:00 AM / CBS News Most people are familiar with Romeo and Juliet. But in Netflix's new series "First Kill," Juliet and Juliet is where it's really at. The series, which premiered on Friday, is based on the short story written by acclaimed fantasy author V.E. Schwab. It focuses on Calliope (played by Imani Lewis) and Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook), two high school girls in love. The only problem? Juliette comes from a family of legendary vampires and Calliope comes from a family of legendary monster hunters. Both girls are racing against a ticking clock to complete their first kills. What could possibly go wrong? Imani Lewis as Calliope, left, and Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette in an episode of the Netflix series "First Kill."  Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022 The show leans into the ridiculousness of its premise, finding excitement in the stars' building chemistry and doing a standup job of building out some of its major side characters, like Juliette's feuding siblings and Calliope's strong-willed mother. Outside of the obvious familial tensions, the stars both said they appreciated the series' focus on not making their main characters' sexuality the forefront of their story.  CBS News spoke with the stars of "First Kill" about the process of making the show, and why they think representation is important, even in campy YA dramas. CBS News: How does it feel that people can now watch the show?Sarah Catherine Hook: Excited! But also a little nerve-wracking. I haven't really done anything like this yet, so I'm not really sure what to expect and I'm hoping that it'll just be a lot of fun for all of us. And I will just say I'm so honored to be a part of the show and to play Juliette. She's really near and dear to my heart and I just hope I get to continue to step into her shoes. Imani Lewis: I've been excited. I'm going through a range of emotions as you can imagine, but I'm just so excited. I'm so excited for how many people this show can move and how many people are going to feel seen when they watch the show and meet these characters and hear their stories. It's just so exciting.  A scene from "First Kill." BRIAN DOUGLAS/NETFLIX What are some of your favorite iconic vampire stories and series? Sarah Catherine Hook: Well, I was a big "Vampire Diaries" fan. In high school, college, that was a favorite show of mine. Obviously loved "Twilight." "What We Do in the Shadows" is 100% one of my favorite movies of all time. I even love the show. So I think I have a nice variety of vampire content that I've devoured over time.Imani Lewis: I definitely grew up watching things like "Blade," so I kind of manifested the whole monster hunter thing. I mean, I was watching it when you had to pop it into the VCR at my grandparents' house. Honestly, I watched it too many times but I just was obsessed with seeing someone that looked like me. He's so strong and well-trained and he's wearing this long black leather trench and it just was like — I was like, "Oh, I gotta be that." I definitely channeled that, for sure. I also grew up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  Imani Lewis as Calliope, left, and Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette in an episode of the Netflix series "First Kill." Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022 How would you describe your character? How did this impact what you brought to the role?Sarah Catherine Hook: Juliette is thoughtful. She is sensitive and cares deeply for her friends and family. She's very true to her morals and her beliefs. I [wanted to bring] sensitivity and nuance and thoughtfulness. In the description, she's shy. And I'm like, well, there are different ways to be a shy person. I didn't want it to be the stereotypical shy, awkward girl. I wanted her to have emotional depth, and just help people understand where she's coming from as this vampire who longs to be a human.Imani Lewis: Calliope is smart, she's calculated, she's courageous. She's tenacious, she's diligent and she's disciplined. She's born into this lifestyle and is hell-bent on proving her position in her family and proving that she is worthy of the status and ranking her family holds. And she's incredibly proud to be in the family and to be a part of such a strong, trained guild.But she's also a teenage girl who doesn't have the same normalcy that the average teenage girl has. So I had to bring both that calculated side at the same time as the side of her that's confused and is being challenged by these emotions that she wasn't expecting to have. Without spoilers, do you have a favorite episode or storyline in the season? Sarah Catherine Hook:  This is probably the hardest question, actually, because I genuinely love every episode. But I really love episode two. I think visually, it's really stunning. It's a perfect episode after the first one because obviously the first episode is very  introductory. It's like OK, these are your characters, these are the stakes. But then episode two, we get into the juicy stuff. And I don't know, it just holds a special place in my heart.Imani Lewis: I always go back and forth with this but I think eight is my favorite episode. It gets so chaotic for so many reasons and it really tugs at the heartstrings at the same time. I think that's where we really see these characters emote, like all of them. They all go through their own journeys, and really have to ask themselves, "What do I do now? Who am I now?" Imani Lewis as Calliope, left, and Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette in an episode of the Netflix series "First Kill." Courtesy of Netflix © 2022 If the show gets a second season, what would you want to see? Sarah Catherine Hook: I have been saying that I want Juliette to have kind of an emo dark side. Her version of a dark side would probably be to emulate her sister and mom's prototype, where it's kind of like scary Southern Barbie. I feel like that would be really interesting to see. I definitely want to see Juliette and Calliope battle it out a little bit. Obviously we want them to stay together,  but we also want there to be some tension for a little to keep audiences entertained. Absolutely.Imani Lewis: Where do we go from here? There's so many cliffhangers and so many loose ends that we need to tie up. I want to see the fate of Cal and Jules. I'd love to see the dynamics now because, in the families, in the town, in the relationships, the foundation is crumbling.  How do you think the show handles its main characters and their queerness? Sarah Catherine Hook: I mean, there isn't really a show like this. The fact that Calliope and Juliette's queerness is normalized in the show is never questioned. The fact that it's celebrated through the show says it all. I hope that we will see more shows like this in the future. I'm so honored to be a part of a show that's kind of paving the way in that regard. Imani Lewis: I think what I love more than anything is that their queerness is not the point of conflict. That is not where their struggle lies and that's well understood.The bigger fight is that they're supposed to kill each other you know. And it just keeps on rolling. It's not this big thing.  Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette, left, and Imani Lewis as Calliope in an episode of the Netflix series "First Kill." Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022 Why was your favorite part about working on "First Kill?" What do you hope audiences take away? Sarah Catherine Hook: We had the best crew. I just loved everyone and I'm still friends with pretty much all of them because we all  got very close very quickly. And  I really appreciated that that the representation wasn't just on the show but also behind the scenes. We had crew members of color and queer crew members and I just loved every minute. Imani Lewis: Everyone in the cast and crew is incredible. These producers, these directors, all phenomenal. Even the behind the scenes part that no one really gets to see — hair, makeup wardrobe.  I felt like I was able to better channel and better understand the communities that I was representing because I was surrounded by them. For audiences, I want people to feel seen and heard and respected and represented when they see this show and see these characters, and I want them to feel like it was done with care. But most importantly, I want people to know that when you see changes in yourself that seem unfamiliar, explore them, learn them, understand them and open your arms to what they could bring. I think it's important that we allow that kind of space for change and for improvement and for growth so that we can be who we are truly supposed to be and not just who we think we are.  Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

"First Kill" stars Imani Lewis and Sarah Catherine Hook on queer vampires and the power of representation.

A thirteenth century anti-Semitic sculpture is displayed at St. Marien church in Wittenberg, Germany, January 24, 2020. Germany’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on June 14, 2022 whether the 700-year-old sculpture known as “Judensau” or Jew pig has to been removed. REUTERS/Annegret HilseRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBERLIN, June 14 (Reuters) - Germany's top court ruled on Tuesday that a medieval anti-Semitic sculpture can stay on the facade of a church in the eastern town of Wittenberg, rejecting an appeal by a Jewish plaintiff who has for years argued it is an insult to all Jews.The 13th century "Judensau" or "Jew Sow" on the town church depicts a caricature of a rabbi lifting the tail of a sow and two Jewish children suckle on the teats. Pigs are considered unclean in Judaism.At a time when politicians are warning about rising anti-Semitism in Germany, the ruling is a reminder of widespread anti-Jewish sentiment in the Middle Ages.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe plaintiff has been waging a court battle since 2018 to have the sculpture removed.However, the Federal Court of Justice, the country's top appeals court, upheld rulings from lower courts which dismissed the case, saying there was currently no infringement which would be needed to uphold such a claim."(The court).. has decided that the sandstone relief attached to the outer façade of the Wittenberg Town Church - the "Wittenberg sow" - does not have to be removed," the court said in a statement.The Wittenberg stone carving is one of about two dozen similar sculptures from the Middle Ages that still feature on churches around Germany and elsewhere in Europe.In 2020, the Higher Regional Court in Naumburg ruled that displaying the "Judensau," which is 4 meters from the ground did not constitute an offence.The church has said in the past that in 1988, in consultation with the Jewish community, it created a site of remembrance incorporating the sculpture, a plaque on the ground beneath remembering the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and an information board.Wittenberg was also the town where Martin Luther is said to have nailed his theses challenging Catholicism to a church door in 1517 which led to the Protestant Reformation in Germany.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Madeline Chambers Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Anti-Jewish medieval sculpture can stay on church, top German court rules.

Eleven years after co-founding Apple, Steve Jobs was fired.So, in 1985, Jobs used his ambition – and $12 million of his own money – to launch NeXT, a company Jobs started in order to build computers for colleges and researchers. And, this week, a piece of history from that period in the tech icon's career hit the auction block.In 1989, one year after NeXT released its first computer, Jobs extended what he deemed to be an "insanely great" job offer to David Nagy, who was working as a product manager at Apple at the time. Jobs offered Nagy a salary of $80,000 per year, paid monthly in advance, to join him at NeXT. According to the offer letter obtained by RR Auction, the role – which didn't have an actual title – also came with a $5,000 signing bonus, options to purchase 5,000 share of NeXT common stock and coverage under the company's employee healthcare plan.Jobs' letter ends with a bit of cheeky confidence in the form of an enthusiastic sentence – "I accept this insanely great offer!!!" – above a blank space where Nagy was meant to sign his name. However, Jobs was not actually able to poach Nagy, who ended up staying at Apple until 1993.RR Auction's website currently lists the letter's lot as "closed", but the auction house has not yet announced if the letter sold. The letter's estimated value is over $30,000, according to RR Auction.Prior to extending an offer to Nagy, NeXT was trying to pivot. Their original $10,000 computer wasn't marketable to its intended audience of educators and scientists. Jobs wanted to bring on Nagy to "develop product strategies and plans, third party partnerships and marketing programs," just as he was doing at Apple, according to a provenance letter Nagy wrote and submitted to RR Auction.Nagy added that while he knew NeXT was struggling to get off the ground, he still regrets turning down the job."The offer was very unusual in that there was no job title, department, or specific areas of responsibility," Nagy wrote in the letter. "I loved my job at Apple and didn't think NeXT would be successful, but in retrospect obviously should have taken the opportunity."  In 1997, Apple bought NeXT – which ultimately became known for its computer software – for $429 million and rehired Jobs.For what it's worth, the $80,000 salary Jobs was offering would be worth nearly $180,000 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But given the lack of a job title and Jobs' abrasive leadership style, it's also possible that the offer wasn't quite as fantastic as advertised.Guy Kawasaki, who worked for Apple throughout the 1980s and 90s, said working for Jobs "was sometimes unpleasant and always scary.""In the Macintosh Division, you had to prove yourself every day, or jobs got rid of you," Kawasaki wrote in a contributing article for CNBC Make It. "He demanded excellence and kept you at the top of your game… but it drove many of us to do the finest work of our careers."Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss:Steve Wozniak: Steve Jobs wasn’t a natural-born leader, he worked to ‘develop his communication’ skillsSteve Jobs’ former executive assistant on ‘a big misconception’ about Jobs as a leader

Check out this 'insanely great' offer letter Steve Jobs wrote to hire an employee – who now regrets turning him down.

If you ask Francis the best way to retire early, his answer is simple: don't.For years, the now 42-year-old went to great lengths to achieve FIRE, which stands for "financial independence, retire early." But in reality, a lifetime without work isn't actually what most people want, he says. It's a lesson he himself discovered after retiring at age 37 in 2017."I think pursuing FIRE is probably the wrong idea," Francis, who requested to have his last name withheld for privacy reasons, tells CNBC Make It. "I don't think most people want to retire early. I think what most people want is a sabbatical of sorts. They're disgruntled with their careers and they want to take a really, really long time off. Maybe a year or two."That same disgruntlement led him to leave his job as an electrical engineer where he earned a $120,000 base salary plus $30,000 to $60,000 in equity and bonuses. But Francis describes life without a job as getting "really boring." In his case, he decided to lean into his YouTube hobby full time, and now earns money making videos for his 350,000 followers.I don't think most people want to retire early. I think what most people want is ... to take a really, really long time off.Francis quit his job in 2017 with $1.2 million in savings and investments. He had first heard about FIRE in 2013 and decided to dedicate himself to achieving it. His strategy to getting to an early retirement came down to one main factor: spending as little money as possible.The first step was to pay off the mortgage on his home, which cost $22,000 a year. As he tackled this, he also worked to cut his spending anywhere he could. "I jumped through a lot of hoops in order to save money and get my expenses as low as possible," Francis says. His cost-cutting measures ranged from not paying for any streaming services to making sure he used every single item of food item in his refrigerator to even a short-lived stint without a cell phone.Going phoneless "turned out to not work very well, but I think it's important to push a little bit too hard, get a little bit too uncomfortable," he says. Eventually, with his house paid off, Francis was able to cut his annual spending down to less than $15,000. His background in electrical engineering helped him slash household spending as well. He installed his own water heater and fixed the door to his garage when the power supply broke. He also built a solar panel system in his backyard that supplies a low amount of electricity for free."I never call a handyman because I am the handyman," Francis says. "All my appliances are really, really old because they never break. If they break, I fix them and they're good as new."I never call a handyman because I am the handyman.Francis is a also master of collecting credit card points. He employs a process known as churning, which involves cycling between different credit cards to maximize points, and has more than 20 active credit cards at any given time."In order to churn these credit cards, you need to have a really high credit score," he says, adding that his own score is 835. "A lot of people think it's a hassle, but for me personally, it's giving me a lot of value."After two years of early retirement, during which he enjoyed his time off from work and made a point to travel, Francis came face-to-face with the boredom he warns most people will experience if they quit their jobs at a young age. His solution? Getting back to work.In 2019, Francis began to double down on his YouTube channel and release videos regularly. He originally started the channel in 2013, posting videos ranging from how to make imitation shark fin soup to strategies for beating the popular game "2048."After two years of retirement, Francis decided to spend more time with his YouTube channel.Tri NguyenHe pivoted to financial topics, teaching viewers about credit scores and investing. As his views started climbing up, so too did his earnings. Though his workload fluctuates depending on his mood — some weeks he works almost full-time while others he does as little as eight hours — he has built up a following of more than 350,000 subscribers.On his best months, he brings in close to $10,000 in YouTube revenue. He still keeps his same $15,000 annual budget and uses the income to pay his living expenses. The rest goes into his investment accounts.It's a project that brings him more joy than his old 9-to-5, and one he plans to stick to for years to come."Now I no longer call myself 'retired' because I am putting in my full-time effort into YouTube," Francis says. "I'd like to put a lot more work into it and grow it ... I think it's a work in progress."Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss: Warren Buffett is worth $117 billion—once again making him one of the 5 richest people in the world

This 42-year-old quit his job with $1.2 million. Here's how he did it—and why he started working again 2 years later.

A labourer carries a sack of onions at a wholesale market in Kolkata, India, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Rupak De ChowdhuriRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryMay WPI fuel inflation up 40.62% y/y vs 38.66% in AprilMay WPI food inflation up 10.89% y/y vs 8.88% in AprilEconomists see central bank raising key rate in AugustNEW DELHI, June 14 (Reuters) - (This story refiles to correct the lead paragraph, removing "over")High global energy and raw material prices combined with a weak rupee fueled the fastest annual rise in India's wholesale prices in more than 30 years, raising expectations for the central bank to order more interest rate hikes.A surge in crude oil and commodity prices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February has set inflation alight in many countries, forcing central banks to raise interest rates.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWholesale prices (INWPI=ECI), akin to producer prices, climbed 15.88% in May from year ago levels, staying in double-digits for a 14th straight month, and was, according to economists, India's highest since September 1991.A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a rise of 15.10%.The high rate was primarily due to rising prices for crude petroleum and natural gas, food items, basic metals and chemical products, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Tuesday.Prices for manufactured products, contributing around 64% to the wholesale price index (WPI), rose 10.11%, compared to 10.85% in the previous month, while fuel and power costs increased 40.62% from a year ago period.On Monday, India reported retail prices had risen 7.04% in May from year ago levels, moderating slightly from the eight-year high of 7.79% posted in April.The dismal reports for the two main measures of inflation led economists to expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise key interest rates at its next policy meeting in August.Aditi Nayar, economist at ICRA, the Indian arm of Moody's credit rating agency, said WPI inflation was likely to stay between 15%-16% in June, largely as a result of soaring global crude oil prices. And she predicted a response from the RBI."We continue to expect 60 basis points of repo hikes over the next two policy reviews," Nayar said.Reuters GraphicsThe RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised its benchmark repo rate (INREPO=ECI) by 50 basis points to 4.90% last week, after a 40 basis points hike in April, while hinting at more rate hikes to come.Food prices, contributing about a quarter of the WPI index, climbed 10.89% in May, though vegetable prices rose 18.26% in May year-on-year, compared to 23.24% in the previous month.An uptick in wholesale food and energy prices is likely to feed into retail prices as the companies increasingly pass on high input costs to consumers.Adam Hoyes, economist at Capital Economics Singapore said May's WPI figures suggested upside risk to consumer food inflation, which is politically sensitive in India."That will all be a cause for concern for the RBI,and suggests to us that the MPC will continue to frontload policy tightening with a 50 basis points hike in August."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAdditional reporting by Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

India's wholesale price inflation runs at 30-yr high, makes rate hikes more likely.

Toronto FC play D.C. United at BMO Field, a venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in their MLS soccer match in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 13, 2018. REUTERS/Mark BlinchRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - The countdown to World Cup 2026 kicks off in earnest on Thursday, as soccer fans across Canada, Mexico and the United States learn whether their cities made the coveted cut to host the 48-team tournament.Four years after FIFA selected the tri-country North American bid, world football's governing body will announce the host cities after a lengthy process shrouded in mystery.With 22 host cities still in the running this week, according to FIFA, many expect the United States to see 10 of its candidates chosen with Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto in contention to the north.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIn Mexico, where soccer is less a sport than a religion, three candidate cities - Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey - are all but assured the gig.Of course, anything can happen ahead of Thursday's media spectacle in New York City."Some of the cities understood probably from the beginning they were a longer shot than others ... Five or six cities, almost anybody in the world would say, 'Well, clearly they're part of the package'," former U.S. Soccer President Alan Rothenberg, now chairman of Playfly Premier Partnerships, told Reuters."So the scramble in many ways is for the other slots."Los Angeles, with its glitzy new $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium is widely considered an obvious candidate, as is global hub New York, whose joint bid with New Jersey is anchored on the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium.Other contenders include former 1994 World Cup host cities Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Orlando and Washington, D.C., which combined its bid with Baltimore this year."There's an awful lot of pent up excitement because then we start the four year sprint to the (games)," said Rothenberg, who served as CEO of the 1994 World Cup.'A LEGACY'There is a potential financial windfall on the line for bid cities: A 2018 U.S. Soccer study said the tournament could generate more than $5 billion in economic activity for North America.Also at stake is the pride of taking part in North American soccer history.The 1994 World Cup preceded an explosion of popularity in the sport across the United States with Major League Soccer (MLS) launching its first season two years later."We've all seen so much progress in the growth of soccer over the course of 20 plus years," said Chris Canetti, president of the Houston World Cup bid committee, who previously had a 19-season career in MLS."The platform that (hosting) will provide to really take the sport to even much greater heights is incredible and very exciting as well."Canetti pointed to Houston's size and proximity to Central and South America among its advantages for the global tournament, but added he did not expect any advance notice from FIFA."There really hasn't been a lot of direct feedback to help you feel confident to say, 'Oh yeah, we're definitely in'," he said. "I think our chances are very, very strong."Dan Hilferty, the chair of Philadelphia's bid, said there were plans to build fields not only to host practice facilities for the World Cup but to "create a legacy" in the city, should they be selected."I just see this as the final straw in placing soccer among the other top sports," he told Reuters. "And there will be no turning back."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Amy Tennery in New York Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Legacy and pride on the line as FIFA prepares to name 2026 World Cup host cities.

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:Continental Resources (CLR) – The oil and natural gas producer's stock rallied 7.4% in the premarket after receiving a $70 per share "take private" bid from Chairman Harold Hamm and his family. The company's board will establish an independent committee to evaluate the proposal.Oracle (ORCL) – Oracle surged 12% in premarket trading after reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter. Oracle is seeing strong demand for its cloud software as more businesses transition to a hybrid workplace.National Vision (EYE) – The optical products retailer's stock soared 14.3% in the premarket following news that it will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 index. The change will be effective prior to the opening of trading on Thursday.Twitter (TWTR) – Twitter shares rose 2.7% in premarket action following news that Elon Musk would attend an all-hands employee meeting on Thursday. Musk agreed in April to buy Twitter for $44 billion but has since threatened to back out of the deal.Best Buy (BBY) – Best Buy fell 1.3% in premarket trading after Bank of America Securities downgraded the electronics retailer's stock to "neutral" from "buy." BofA points to increasing uncertainty about Best Buy's 2023 earnings prospects.Nokia (NOK) – Nokia was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Citi, which cites improving fundamentals for the networking hardware and software maker. Citi points to particular strength for Nokia in the mobile infrastructure market. The stock added 2.8% in premarket action.Coinbase (COIN) – The cryptocurrency exchange operator's stock slid 4.8% in the premarket after J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded it to "neutral" from "overweight." J.P. Morgan said the extreme 2022 decline in the crypto markets, plus Coinbase's increased investments, make it difficult to foresee profitability in the near future.Coty (COTY) – Coty rose 1% in premarket trading after the cosmetics company reaffirmed its financial outlook for both the current quarter and the full year. Coty is set to present at Deutsche Bank's Global Consumer Conference today.Philip Morris (PM) – The tobacco company said it now expects a better performance from its core business than previously anticipated, and that it continues to see growth in its IQOS electronic cigarette business. The stock rose 1% in the premarket ahead of a company presentation at today's Deutsche Bank conference.

Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Continental Resources, Oracle, National Vision and more.

Over six years ago, after I was laid-off from my full-time job, I promised myself that I wouldn't rely on one stream of income anymore. It felt risky and unsustainable. To that point, I had been using one salary to barely pay my bills, build up my savings, and plan for retirement. It wasn't enough and it didn't allow me to do anything extra, like travel or afford hobbies I was interested in. Once I lost that job, I panicked because I didn't have alternative sources of income and there wasn't a lot of cash in my emergency fund to live off. I realized then that I needed to diversify my income so I'd never be in that kind of vulnerable financial position again. I started building up two businesses: Bridesmaid for Hire and my own personal brand, Jen Glantz. With both of my businesses, I found ways to charge for services that I could provide in real-time, like one-on-one coaching or in-person help at weddings, and for services that I could offer without having to be present or put in active work on a daily basis, like prerecorded courses, books, and affiliate links.I also decided to branch out beyond my businesses and find some additional financial strategies that could generate passive income, like using a high-yield savings account. It was so important that if something happened to me, or if the landscape of my industry significantly changed, I would be ready. So when the pandemic hit in 2020, even though my wedding business was largely put on hold, I had several other revenue streams to keep me afloat until things reopened. These four passive income streams help me bring in more than $2,500 a month. Here is my best advice for how to get started.Create and sell courses based on your expertise In 2017, I sat down and made lists of skills, strengths, unique experiences, and accomplishments I had that other people might want to learn. I narrowed down the list to three main specialties based on topics I was excited about and what other people seemed to ask me for help with quite frequently. To create courses around those topics, I researched other people who were doing similar courses first to see how I could make one that stood out. Then, I mapped out lesson plans, recorded videos from my apartment, and created worksheets to aid with the online learning.I built landing pages for each of the courses, using platforms like Wix and Wordpress, and used the platform Thinkific to host the course material on a website where people could pay and get instant access to everything inside.Video by David FangSince 2017, I've grown my course offerings and now offer more than 10 workshops on a variety of topics including social media, personal branding, and public speaking. These courses bring in a range of passive income throughout the year, based on launches, promotions, and ads I run, but I typically make over $1,000 a month. To get started, I would create your own list of skills, determine who your target audience would be based on who you believe would need to learn that skill you're great at, create the course using a website like Thinkific or Teachable, and then share it with your audience. Look into self-publishing a bookI've always enjoyed writing and have published two books with major publishers in the past. But after running the numbers, I realized that it would be more financially beneficial for me to self-publish, rather than work with a publisher who would take a percentage of my sales.In 2019, I published my third book and began selling it on my website as a way of generating passive income. After a year of writing, I used a free formatting software called Reedsy to export the completed manuscript to Kindle and into a PDF format. I use an automated email service called Flodesk, and when someone buys the book, they receive a downloadable version. Video by Stephen ParkhurstFully 100% of the purchase goes straight into my bank account. I make a range of passive income from the book every month, but at minimum I will make a few hundred dollars a month. If you would like to do something similar, in the same vein as creating a course idea, sketch out a story you can't get out of your head, or lay out some skills that you are an expert at. Write the book, format it using free software, and then consider hiring a freelance editor using a website like Upwork.com, which is what I did, and then when you're ready, share it on your website or on social media for people to purchase it. Work with brand affiliate programs Over the past six years, as I have been building my businesses and personal brand, I have been able to grow my following and audience. I have amassed over 50,000 followers across my social media platforms and have over 40,000 subscribers across my email platforms. This has allowed me to partner with brands I support to become an affiliate for them. In my case, every time I post about them or a product of theirs I like, I embed my special code, generated by the brand, so that when my audience clicks on the links and buys something, I get a percentage of that sale. The amount I make from this can vary, but I usually can depend on around $100 every month from this revenue stream.Video by Courtney StithWhile this route will require time to grow and build your audience using a social media strategy and consistent email newsletter campaigns, it's something that could pay off and allow you to generate passive income from brands that you really love. Once you have the audience, you can use platforms like Aspire or Collabstr to get connected to brands. These sites allow you to create a profile, share your social media stats, and reach out to brands who are looking for influencers to collaborate with and pay to post about their products. Open a high-yield savings accountWhen I started Bridesmaid for Hire and began building my personal brand, I wanted to create a variety of income streams, including one way I was making money every month that did not rely on how my businesses were doing. One way I could do this was by moving a lot of my cash into a high-yield savings account that generated around 0.5% in interest every month. My account generates about $50 in passive income each month, although I don't typically withdraw money from the account until the end of the year, once it's had time to grow to more. I then add that cash to my emergency fund, retirement account, or use it to invest in my businesses.

My 4 passive income streams bring in more than $2,500 a month: Here's my best advice for getting started.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesUnion, government to set to resume talksCargoes of petrochemical materials still blockedShipments of soju liquor down to 60% of normalSEOUL, June 14 (Reuters) - A nationwide strike by truck drivers in South Korea has disrupted shipments to China of a key cleaning agent used by makers of semiconductor chips, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday.It was the first sign the eight-day-old strike was affecting chip production's global supply chain. It has already cost South Korea's industry more than $1.2 billion in lost output and unfilled deliveries, according to the industry ministry. read more KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a chemical used in the cleaning of chip wafers, faced difficulties in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to chipmakers. It did not name either company.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAbout 90 tonnes of the material, or a week's worth of shipments, have been delayed, the trade body said in a statement.It corrected an earlier statement that had wrongly said production was disrupted, and added that the Chinese firm did not supply wafers to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) chip production operations in China.A major South Korean petrochemical company was also facing problems sending out IPA shipments from its plant in the port city of Yeosu, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.Only an "essential amount" is being let through, they said, declining to identify the company because of the sensitivity of the matter.The truckers' union, which is protesting against soaring fuel prices and demanding guarantees of minimum pay, vowed to continue the strike after four rounds of talks with the government failed to find a resolution.Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union take part in a protest in front of a Samsung Electronics' factory in Gwangju, South Korea, June 14, 2022. Yonhap via REUTERS Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong ruled out accepting any demand that sought to use the national economy as a hostage."The government will continue to listen to reasonable arguments but strictly respond to illegal actions in accordance with laws and principle," Won said, according to a ministry statement.The two sides plan to resume talks at 7 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, the transport ministry said, an hour earlier than previously announced by the union.Analysts expect the strike's impact on domestic chipmakers to be limited, saying that both Samsung and the world's second largest memory chip maker, SK Hynix (000660.KS), usually keep enough material on hand for three months or more."Both drastically increased inventory since Japan's export curbs on chip material in 2019 highlighted the issue," Ahn Ki-hyun, senior executive director of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said.Small business owners voiced concern about the havoc a lengthy strike could have on the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as the truckers launched their action less than two months after social distancing norms were lifted."Small business owners are waiting helplessly," a dozen lobby groups representing such businesses said in a joint statement, adding that shipments of liquor, food, farm and fisheries products had been blocked.An official from HiteJinro Co Ltd (000080.KS), the biggest brewer of soju, the South Korean liquor, said its shipments were cut by about 40% by the strike.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Byungwook Kim and Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Stephen Coates, Clarence Fernandez and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

S.Korea strike disrupts shipments of key cleaning agent for chipmaking.

German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht gestures as she speaks during a session of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi NiesnerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBERLIN, June 14 (Reuters) - The training of Ukrainian troops on German howitzers will soon be completed, paving the way for the use of the weapons in the war in Ukraine, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Tuesday.Ukraine has pleaded for the West to send more and better artillery as the country runs out of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era arsenal, which is dwarfed by Russia's.Western countries have promised NATO-standard weapons but deploying them is taking time.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"The training on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 will soon be completed so that it can be used in battle in Ukraine," Lambrecht told reporters during a visit to a military base in the western German town of Rheinbach.The Panzerhaubitze 2000 is one of the most powerful artillery weapons in Bundeswehr inventories and can hit targets at a distance of 40 km (25 miles).Germany pledged in May to supply Kyiv with seven self-propelled howitzers, adding to five such artillery systems the Netherlands have promised. read more But Berlin has also faced accusations from Ukraine that it is dragging its feet and taking too much time to deliver heavy weapons as the conflict has shifted into a punishing war of attrition.Lambrecht gave no details on when the howitzers would be sent to Ukraine."The first howitzers will be delivered (to Ukraine) when the training has been completed and it is responsible (to supply them)," she said, adding she would make neither the date nor transport routes public for security reasons.Kyiv needs 1,000 howitzers, 500 tanks and 1,000 drones among other heavy weapons, Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Monday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Sabine Siebold Editing by Madeline Chambers and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

German howitzers soon to be ready for use in Ukraine - minister.