Category: Reuters

Elon Musk and Grimes back gender-neutral parenting, baby named X IJ A-12

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Canadian singer Grimes, who announced on Tuesday the birth of their first child together, plan to join a growing number of families opting for a gender-neutral parenting style.

The approach has become increasingly popular as more parents reject gender stereotypes – such as dressing girls in pink and boys in blue, instead allowing children to make such choices for themselves.

“I don’t want to gender them in case that’s not how they feel in their life,” Ms. Grimes, 32, whose real name is Claire Boucher, told fans in a YouTube live stream in February while discussing her pregnancy.

At the time, she declined to reveal the sex of the baby, but 48-year-old Mr. Musk said on Twitter that they had had a boy.

Posting two pictures of the newborn, who they have named X IJ A-12, Mr. Musk said mother and baby were “all good”.

Other famous parents who have spoken about their plans to raise their children in a gender-neutral environment include singer Paloma Faith and Marvel actress Zoe Saldana.

The trend has prompted toy and clothing brands to come up with new genderless products.

Barbie maker Mattel launched gender-neutral dolls last year and apparel brands such as Zara and smaller fashion line Gypsy Sport have started producing genderless clothing collections.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US Fed cuts interest rates by 50 bps to battle coronavirus

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Tuesday in an emergency move designed to shield the world’s largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus.

It was the Fed’s first emergency rate cut since 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, underscoring how grave the central bank views the fast-evolving situation.

In a statement, the central bank said it was cutting rates by a half percentage point to a target range of 1.00% to 1.25%.

“The fundamentals of the US economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals, the Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower the target range for the federal funds rate,” the Fed said a statement.

The decision was unanimous among policymakers.

The Fed’s decision to cut interest rates before its next scheduled policy meeting on March 17-18 reflects the urgency with which the Fed feels it needs to act in order to prevent the possibility of a global recession.

U.S. stocks initially surged on the move, which had increasingly been expected as it became evident the COVID-19 virus would not be contained to its epicenter in China. The outbreak has upended global supply chains and torpedoed global stock prices on fears it could cause a recession.

Equities, however, reversed many of those gains within minutes of the unscheduled announcement by the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policy arm. U.S. Treasury debt prices surged, sending bond yields lower.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) to provide additional details.

Powell had earlier on Tuesday taken part in a conference call with the top finance authorities from the world’s seven largest economies, which concluded with a statement that they would take all appropriate measures to support the economy.

“I’m a little surprised. I didn’t expect that at 10 o’clock today, I thought you’d see something coordinated among central banks,” said Justin Lederer, interest rate strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Pakistan refuses permission for PM Modi to fly across its airspace

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Pakistan refused a request from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cross its airspace on a flight to Germany, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, as tensions between the two nations ran high over the disputed region of Kashmir.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad had told the Indian High Commission it was turning down India’s request for Modi to fly across the country on Friday and for his return the following week.

“Keeping in view the situation in occupied Kashmir … we have decided that we will not allow the Indian prime minister,” Qureshi said in a video released by the foreign ministry.

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said New Delhi regretted Pakistan’s decision, adding that it was the second time in two weeks that such a request for a “VVIP” overflight had been denied.

“Pakistan should reflect upon its decision to deviate from well-established international practice, as well as reconsider its old habit of misrepresenting the reasons for taking unilateral action,” he said.

Also Read: Why Pakistan closing its airspace hurts it more than it hurts India

Relations between Islamabad and New Delhi, already hostile, have been further strained over India’s decision last month to revoke the special status of its portion of the Kashmir region that both countries claim.

Pakistan reacted with fury, cutting transport and trade links and expelling India’s ambassador.

The Pakistani government said last month it was mulling a complete closure of its airspace to India, which would cause headaches for commercial airlines.

Earlier this month, Pakistan also denied use of its airspace to India’s President Ram Nath Kovind.

Pakistan restricted international flights in its airspace from February to July, after Indian and Pakistani fighter jets clashed over the territory.

The restrictions affected hundreds of commercial and cargo flights each day, adding flight time for passengers and fuel costs for airlines.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Drone attacks strike major Saudi Aramco facility, oilfield

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Drones attacked the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early Saturday, the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said, sparking a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Buqyaq and the Khurais oil field, though Yemen’s Houthi rebels previously launched drone assaults deep inside of the kingdom.

It wasn’t clear if there were any injuries in the attacks, nor what effect it would have on oil production in the kingdom. The attack also likely will heighten tensions further across the wider Persian Gulf amid a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

Online videos apparently shot in Buqyaq included the sound of gunfire in the background. Smoke rose over the skyline and glowing flames could be seen a distance away at the Abqaiq oil processing facility. The Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya later aired a segment with a correspondent there as smoke from the blazes clearly rose behind.

The fires began after the sites were “targeted by drones,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It said an investigation into the attack was underway.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The kingdom hopes soon to offer a sliver of the company in an initial public offering.

Saudi Aramco describes its Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqyaq as “the largest crude oil stabilization plant in the world.”

The facility processes sour crude oil into sweet crude, then later transports onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Estimates suggest it can process up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day.

The plant has been targeted in the past by militants. Al-Qaida-claimed suicide bombers tried but failed to attack the oil complex in February 2006.

The Khurais oil field is believed to produce over 1 million barrels of crude oil a day. It has estimated reserves of over 20 billion barrels of oil, according to Aramco.

There was no immediate impact on global oil prices as markets were closed for the weekend across the world. Benchmark Brent crude had been trading at just above $60 a barrel.

Buqyaq is some 330 kilometers (205 miles) northeast of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

While no group immediately claimed the attacks, suspicion immediately fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the rebels since March 2015. The Iranian-backed Houthis hold Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other territory in the Arab world’s poorest country.

The war has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The violence has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and killed more than 90,000 people since 2015, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which tracks the conflict.

Since the start of the Saudi-led war, Houthi rebels have been using drones in combat. The first appeared to be off-the-shelf, hobby-kit-style drones. Later, versions nearly identical to Iranian models turned up. Iran denies supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the U.N., the West and Gulf Arab nations say Tehran does.

The rebels have flown drones into the radar arrays of Saudi Arabia’s Patriot missile batteries, according to Conflict Armament Research, disabling them and allowing the Houthis to fire ballistic missiles into the kingdom unchallenged. The Houthis launched drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s crucial East-West Pipeline in May as tensions heightened between Iran and the U.S. In August, Houthi drones struck Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oil field, which produces some 1 million barrels of crude oil a day near its border with the United Arab Emirates.

U.N. investigators said the Houthis’ new UAV-X drone, found in recent months during the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, likely has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).

That puts the far reaches of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in range.

The Houthi’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel did not immediately acknowledge the attack Saturday, though it said the spokesman of the Houthi’s armed forces would soon give a speech on “a major operation,” without elaborating.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US grants Huawei another 90 days to buy from American supplier

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday that the US government will extend a reprieve given to Huawei Technologies that permits the Chinese firm to buy supplies from US companies so that it can service existing customers, even as nearly 50 of its units were being added to a US economic blacklist.

The “temporary general license,” due to expire on Monday, will be extended for Huawei for 90 days, he told Fox Business Network, confirming an expected decision. He also said he was adding 46 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List, raising the total number to more than 100 Huawei entities that are covered by the restrictions.

Ross said the extension was to aid US customers, many of who operate networks in rural America. “We’re giving them a little more time to wean themselves off,” Ross said.

Shortly after blacklisting the company in May, the Commerce Department initially allowed Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in a move aimed at minimising disruption for its customers.

The extension, through November 19, allows the Chinese company to maintain existing telecommunication networks and provide software updates to Huawei handsets.

Asked what will happen in November to US companies, Ross said: “Everybody has had plenty of time to take notice of it. There have been plenty of discussions with the president.”

When the Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying US goods earlier this year, it was seen as a major escalation in the Sino-US trade war.

The US government blacklisted Huawei, alleging the Chinese company is involved in activities contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.

As an example, the blacklisting order cited a pending federal criminal case concerning allegations Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran. Huawei has pleaded not guilty in the case.

The order noted that the indictment also accused Huawei of “deceptive and obstructive acts.”

At the same time the United States says Huawei’s smartphones and network equipment could be used by China to spy on Americans, allegations the company has repeatedly denied.

Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, is still prohibited from buying American parts and components to manufacture new products without additional special licenses.

Many Huawei suppliers have requested the special licenses to sell to the firm. Ross told reporters late last month he had received more than 50 applications, and that he expected to receive more. He said on Monday that there were no “specific licenses being granted for anything.”

Out of $70 billion that Huawei spent buying components in 2018, some $11 billion went to US companies including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology. Intel declined to comment on Monday.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fed hikes interest rates, slows future tightening path

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

After weeks of market volatility and calls by President Donald Trump for the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates, the US central bank instead did it again, and stuck by a plan to keep withdrawing support from an economy it views as strong.

US stocks and bond yields fell hard. With the Fed signalling “some further gradual” rate hikes and no break from cutting its massive bond portfolio, traders fretted that policymakers could choke off economic growth.

“Maybe they have already committed their policy error,” said Fritz Folts, chief investment strategist at 3Edge Asset Management. “We would be in the camp that they have already raised rates too much.”

Interest rate futures show traders are currently betting the Fed won’t raise rates at all next year.

Wednesday’s rate increase, the fourth of the year, pushed the central bank’s key overnight lending rate to a range of 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent.

In a news conference after the release of the policy statement, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would continue trimming its balance sheet by $50 billion each month, and left open the possibility that continued strong data could force it to raise rates to the point where they start to brake the economy’s momentum.

Powell did bow to what he called recent “softening” in global growth, tighter financial conditions, and expectations the U.S. economy will slow next year, and said that with inflation expected to remain a touch below the Fed’s 2 percent target next year, policymakers can be “patient.”

Fresh economic forecasts showed officials at the median now see only two more rate hikes next year compared to the three projected in September.

But another message was clear in the statement issued after the Fed’s last policy meeting of the year as well as in Powell’s comments: The US economy continues to perform well and no longer needs the Fed’s support either through lower-than-normal interest rates or by maintaining of a massive balance sheet.

“Policy does not need to be accommodative,” he said.

In its statement, the Fed said risks to the economy were “roughly balanced” but that it would “continue to monitor global economic and financial developments and assess their implications for the economic outlook.”

The Fed also made a widely expected technical adjustment, raising the rate it pays on banks’ excess reserves by just 20 basis points to give it better control over the policy rate and keep it within the targeted range.

Choppy Waters

The decision to raise borrowing costs again is likely to anger Trump, who has repeatedly attacked the central bank’s tightening this year as damaging to the economy.

The Fed has been raising rates to reduce the boost that monetary policy gives to the economy, which is growing faster than what central bank policymakers view as a sustainable rate.

There are worries, however, that the economy could enter choppy waters next year as the fiscal boost from the Trump administration’s spending and $1.5 trillion tax cut package fades and the global economy slows.

“I think that markets were looking for more in terms of the pause,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia.

“It’s not as dovish as expected, but I do believe the Fed will ultimately back off even further as we move into the new year.”

The benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled to a 15-month low, extending a streak of volatility that has dogged the market since late September. The index is down nearly 15 percent from its record high.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell as low as 2.75 percent, the lowest since April 4.

Economic Projections

Fed policymakers’ median forecast puts the federal funds rate at 3.1 percent at the end of 2020 and 2021, according to the projections.

That would leave borrowing costs just above policymakers’ newly downgraded median view of a 2.8 percent neutral rate that neither brakes nor boosts a healthy economy, but still within the 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent range of Fed estimates for that rate.

Powell parried three questions about whether the Fed intended to restrict the economy with its rate policy, but gave little away.

“There would be circumstances in which it would be appropriate for us to go past neutral, and there would be circumstances in which it would be wholly inappropriate to do so.”

Gross domestic product is forecast to grow 2.3 percent next year and 2.0 percent in 2020, slightly weaker than the Fed previously anticipated. The unemployment rate, currently at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent, is expected to fall to 3.5 percent next year and rise slightly in 2020 and 2021.

Inflation, which hit the central bank’s 2 percent target this year, is expected to be 1.9 percent next year, a bit lower than the 2.0 percent forecast three months ago.

There were no dissents in the Fed’s policy decision.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indian billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi flees to UK, claiming political asylum: FT

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Nirav Modi, the billionaire jeweler at the heart of a more than $2 billion fraud case in India, has fled to the UK, where he is claiming political asylum, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing Indian and British officials.

Britain’s Home Office said it does not provide information on individual cases. Nirav Modi could not be contacted by Reuters for comment on the FT report.

Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest state-run bank, said earlier in 2018 that two jewelry groups headed by Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had defrauded it of about $2.2 billion by raising credit from overseas branches of other Indian banks using illegal guarantees issued by rogue PNB staff at a Mumbai branch over several years.

Nirav Modi is in London trying to claim asylum from what he calls “political persecution”, the FT reported.

India’s ministry of external affairs told the FT the Indian government was waiting for the country’s law enforcement agencies to approach them before pushing for an extradition, which had thus far not happened. The ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular working hours.

The presence of another Indian fugitive in Britain has the potential to cause further discord in an occasionally fractious relationship with India. New Delhi is also pushing for the forced return from London of the drinks baron Vijay Mallya, another Indian tycoon who has been accused of fraud – charges that he denies.

It is also one more awkward case for the UK Home Office to handle, not long after Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea football club, withdrew his application to renew his British visa letter after it was delayed.

Indian federal police filed charges against more than 25 people in May including Modi, Choksi, former PNB chief Usha Ananthasubramanian, two of the bank’s executive directors and three companies belonging to Nirav Modi.

Modi and Choksi have denied any wrongdoing.

Last month, senior executives at the bank were accused by the Indian police, in a charge sheet filed in court, of misleading the central bank in late 2016 over the lender’s handling of the financial messaging system and credit guarantees that were at the center of the fraud.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

First ever A380s to be stripped for parts after failing to find a buyer

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

A German investment company said on Tuesday it would strip two unwanted Airbus A380 superjumbo passenger jets for parts after failing to find an airline willing to keep them flying following a decision by Singapore Airlines to return them to their owner.

The decision by Dortmund-based Dr Peters Group deals a fresh blow to the European planemaker’s efforts to maintain market interest in the double-decker jet, barely 10 years after it went into service, hailed by politicians as a proud European symbol.

Airbus had no immediate comment.

Despite its ample space and excellent reviews for a quiet cabin, demand for the 544-seat jet has crumbled as airlines ditch the industry’s largest four-engined aircraft in favor of smaller but ultra-efficient twin-engined models.

Singapore Airlines launched A380 services in December 2007, but returned the first two aircraft to their German financiers some 10 years later after deciding not to extend their lease.

The two discarded aircraft were flown to Tarbes in the French Pyrenees to be stored, and since then their fate has been uncertain as their owner looked in vain for other takers.

“After extensive as well as intensive negotiations with various airlines such as British Airways, HiFly and IranAir, Dr Peters Group has decided to sell the aircraft components and will recommend this approach to its investors,” the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

The planes will not be scrapped entirely, but their huge frames will be combed for valuable components such as landing gears and electronics, a Dr Peters official told Reuters.

Their engines are still useful and have been leased back to their manufacturer Rolls-Royce for use as spares. Dr Peters aims to extend this arrangement, the official added.

U.S. company VAS Aero Services will be responsible for extracting and selling parts, but will do so in Tarbes.

Dr Peters said the deal would yield a positive result for equity investors in the jets. It operates a number of boutique funds said to be targeted at well-off German retail investors.

The planes now in the mortuary are not typical of models in service, experts caution. Early examples of a new type tend to be less efficient and Singapore Airlines recently ordered some new A380s. However, overall demand is thin and Airbus recently agreed to cut production while renewing a search for new buyers.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Air traffic control strikes are a bigger threat than fuel price, says British Airways owner IAG

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Air traffic control strikes are more of a threat to European airlines this year than a rise in fuel prices, the chief executive of British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L) said on Tuesday.

Global airlines have slashed their forecast for industry profits in 2018 due to a spike in fuel costs, but in Europe, there is an additional threat to profits from the cost of flight cancellations associated with air traffic control (ATC) strikes.

“From a European context, the thing most impacting is ATC strikes and the ongoing ATC environment which is a mess,” IAG CEO Willie Walsh told the CAPA-Centre for aviation summit in Sydney.

“It’s destroying traffic through Europe.”

European airline industry body A4E has estimated the economic cost of ATC strikes in the European Union was 13.4 billion euros ($15.7 billion) between 2010 and 2017.

Ryanair (RYA.I), a rival European airline, said earlier on Tuesday that ATC strikes and shortages caused it to cancel 1,100 flights in May compared with 43 in the same month last year.

“It’s really a significant issue. We thought it would get better in 2018 but it’s getting worse,” Walsh said.

France has been a particular problem area for airlines, where public sector workers have staged a series of protests over the government’s economic reforms.

IAG’S airlines, which also include Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, are having to spend more on fuel to travel via alternative routes to bypass French airspace, Walsh said.

“We end up paying compensation to customers. It’s completely outside our control,” he added, saying millions of passengers were affected and it cost airlines tens of millions of pounds.

Walsh said that because IAG was hedged for this year, he wasn’t as concerned about fuel prices for 2018, but the higher prices would be a challenge for 2019.

“It’s much higher than we expected it to be,” he said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said rising fuel costs will hurt industry profits, cutting forecasts by 12 percent. IATA expects an average oil price of $70 a barrel this year, up from $54.90 last year and its previous prediction of $60.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow