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Australia shares reach a new high on the back of mining boom; RBA Minutes in Focus
Australian shares rose Tuesday, with mining stocks leading the way, as commodity prices firmed. Investors awaited minutes of the December meeting, due later that day, for clues about the monetary policy position next year. By 2325 GMT, the?S&P/ASX 200?index had gained 0.4% and reached 8,735.9. The benchmark index reached its highest level in more than five weeks during this session. The miners' index rose by 0.4% after briefly reaching another record high. Iron ore prices increased?on the tight supply of BHP Jimblebar and Jingbao Fines, while copper traded at a?record level. BHP shares rose 1.3% while Rio Tinto, a rival Anglo-Australian company, gained up to 1.4% and reached a new high. The mining subindex, which lagged the benchmark index in 2024, will?now add almost 40% to its value this year. The sub-index?received?support from its gold producing?constituents during a bullion rallie that helped to more than double the value of local gold stocks this year. Investors will closely examine the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s December policy meeting to determine the direction of the bank's policy in the coming year. The minutes will be released around 0030 GMT. The markets are pricing in a nearly 30% chance that the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point at its meeting in February. Shares of the data center landlord,?Goodman Group, rose 6.9%, reaching their highest level since November. The data centre owner signed a partnership worth A$14 billion (9.32 billion dollars) with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for the development of data centres in Europe. Goodman's actions pushed the sub-index for real estate up by?2.4%. Financials heavyweights rose 0.2% and are on course for their fourth session of gains. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia's largest lender, rose by 0.6%. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index in New Zealand gained 0.2%, reaching 13,530.44.
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Trump: It would be a'smart move' for Venezuelan Maduro's Maduro leave power
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that it would be wise for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro if he left power. The United States can keep or sell the oil it has seized in recent weeks off the coasts of Venezuela. Trump's campaign of pressure on Maduro includes a stepped-up military presence and over two dozen strikes against vessels suspected of trafficking drugs near Venezuela in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The attacks have killed at least 100 people. When asked if the aim was to remove?Maduro, Trump replied: "Well I think it would probably... It's up to him to do what he wants to do. I think he'd be wise to do that. But, again, "we're going to find out." He said, "If he does something, and he is tough, that will be the last time ever for him to be tough." "He is not a friend of the United States." He is very bad. He's a bad guy. He has to watch his ass, because he is making cocaine and sending it into the U.S." Trump also announced that he would "blockade", all oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela under sanctions. The U.S. Coast Guard began pursuing an offshore oil tanker near Venezuela, on Sunday. This would be the second operation of the weekend and the third within two weeks. When asked what would become of the oil, Trump replied, "Maybe we'll sell it, or maybe?we'll keep it." He added that it could also be used to replenish United States strategic reserves.
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Gold, silver, and oil surge amid US-Venezuela conflict
The majority of major stock indices rose on Monday at the beginning of a holiday-shortened week. Shares of Nvidia were up, and the yen was stronger versus the U.S. Dollar after Japanese officials warned of "one-sided, sharp" currency movements. Gold and silver prices soared to new records, and oil prices rose as well after the U.S. Coast Guard started pursuing an oil-tanker near Venezuela in international waters a day before. Nvidia gained 1.3%. The company told Chinese clients that it plans to begin shipping its second most powerful artificial intelligence chip to China before mid-February's Lunar New Year holiday. The financials also increased. TRADING VOLUMES ARE EXPECTED BE LIGHT Trading volumes may be low through the end week, as the U.S. stock and bond markets are closed for Christmas on Thursday. The late November downdraft is the intermediate bottom which has brought many technology, AI and Data-center names down. Bruce Zaro of Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth Massachusetts said, "I do believe that's the bottom." He said that the market was "entering Santa Claus period", which is a time when stocks are typically strong. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 233.48, or 0.48 %, to 48 367.72. The S&P 500 rose 41.16, or 0.60 %, to 6,875.66. And the Nasdaq Composite gained 128.10 points, 0.55% to 23,435.00. European stocks closed down 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei finished up 1.8%, extending Friday's bounce. Atsushi?Mimura, Japan’s top currency diplomat, said to reporters that recent FX movements were unbalanced and abrupt, adding that government will take appropriate actions against excessive moves. Minoru Kihara, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, also warned about yen's continuing weakness. Investors interpreted the comments as an indication of Tokyo's intervention. The dollar fell as low as 156.88 yen last week, or about 0.5%. The minutes of the Bank of Japan's meeting will be released on Wednesday. On Christmas Day, the head of central bank will speak to a Japanese business lobby. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields increased with the yield of 10-year Treasury Notes last up 1.2 basis point at 4.162%. Gold spot was up 2.3% to $4,436.29 an ounce, after reaching a new high of $4440.21. Spot silver rose 2.1% to $68.55 per ounce after reaching a new record of $69.44. Brent crude settled at $62.07 per barrel, up $1.60. (Reporting from Caroline Valetkevitch, New York, and Nell Mackenzie, London; additional reporting provided by Wayne Cole; editing by Stephen Coates; Toby Chopra; Rod Nickel).
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US Interior Dept. weakens protection for sage-grouse to allow more oil and minerals development
The Trump administration rolled back protections on Monday for the greater Sage-grouse in 8 western states of?U.S. The Trump administration has opened up more federal land for energy and mineral development. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said that proposed changes would allow more development space than was allowed in 2015 plans while still protecting some important habitats for endangered birds across 65 million acres of sagebrush land. The agency said that the changes made to sage grouse protections are in accordance with two executive orders signed by Donald Trump earlier this year, which were intended to unleash U.S. production of energy and energy independence. Bill Groffy, Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management, said: "We're strengthening American energy security while ensuring that the sage grouse continues its flourishing." In early 2010, the Endangered Species Act was amended to include greater sage grouse as a protected species. This was due to the rapid decline of the population. The Trump proposal would eliminate an annual warning system which aimed to flag declining populations of the ground-dwelling birds, as well as removing protections from more than 4 million acres sage grouse habitat in Utah. Idaho, Montana and North and South Dakota are also affected, as well as Nevada, Wyoming and California. Environmentalists have warned that opening up more federal land for energy extraction will push bird species into extinction, and harm other species. Randi Spivak is the public lands director for the Center for Biological Diversity. She said that Trump's reckless actions would speed up the extinction rate of the greater sage grouse if he allowed unrestricted fossil fuel extraction on tens and millions of acres of federal lands.
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Mercedes settles with US States for $150 Million over Diesel Scandal
Mercedes-Benz reached a settlement of $149.6 Million with U.S. States to end a??long-running probe into allegations that the German automaker had cheated on diesel emissions, New York Attorney-General Letitia Jim said Monday. The automaker said that the deal effectively ended its legal issues in America over Dieselgate - first discovered at Volkswagen in September 2015 - and the emissions scandal. Mercedes has agreed to pay $149.6 millions and provide $2,000 in payments for eligible owners and lessors of vehicles that have received the required emission repairs. Mercedes agreed to take a number of 'actions' to avoid future misconduct, and to comply with the oversight requirements. According to the states, Mercedes had installed illegal software that was not disclosed in its diesel vehicles, which hid true pollution levels and incorrectly reduced emissions during government tests. However, in normal driving conditions the vehicles emit up to 30 or 40% more than the legal limit. MERCEDES SAYS THE BOTTOM LINE OF THE GROUP WILL NOT BE AFFECTED Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares stated that?the settlement includes the estimated?39.565 U.S. cars that have not been repaired or removed permanently from the road by the end of August 2023. Mercedes must cover the cost of installing the approved software for emission modification on all affected vehicles, provide consumers with an expanded warranty and pay them $2,000 each. Mercedes' spokesperson stated that the bottom line earnings of the group would not be affected, and "sufficient provisions have been made for the cost of the overall settlement". In a press release, the company stated that final court approval is required for these settlements. Mercedes-Benz has agreed to pay $2.2billion in 2020 to settle a U.S. Government investigation into diesel emissions cheating and to settle claims from 250,000 U.S. car owners. The automaker is required to pay $120 million immediately as part of the settlement announced Monday. The suspension of $29.6 millions will result in a reduction by $750 per affected Mercedes vehicle that is repaired, taken off the market or bought back. In 2020, the states will launch an investigation into Mercedes-Benz following Volkswagen's diesel emission scandal. VW paid more than $20 billion to settle fines and penalties after admitting in 2015 that it had installed "defeat devices", sophisticated software and other methods of cheating emissions tests in almost 11 million cars worldwide. Some of the biggest automakers in the world continue to be sued over the scandal. Mercedes could face further payouts in England where it's one of many companies, including Ford, Nissan, and Renault, facing a mass suit launched in October. Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Valerie Volcovici and Rachel More from Berlin, with editing by Barbara Lewis.
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Italian prosecutors request that the case against suspected Russian drones be dropped
Two sources with knowledge of the case said that Italian prosecutors who were investigating suspected Russian drone flight over an EU space-research centre had concluded that their suspicions weren't based and asked for the case to be dropped. The Milan prosecutor's office found that the interference caused by a private GSM signal booster in Ispra near Italy's Lake Maggiore, which is near the European Joint Research Centre (JRC), was actually responsible for 21 alleged overflights. Flights are banned over the JRC. The JRC was established in 1960 to conduct nuclear research. In March, after receiving alerts from the facility's security team, the prosecutors opened an investigation into "possible political or military espionage" for terrorist purposes. They suspected the presence of a "Russian-made drone." Sources said that the investigation revealed the false positives were caused by interference from both the centre's security system and the GSM amplifier at a nearby house. The?judge of the Milan court now has to decide whether or not to accept the request from the prosecutors and drop the case. This is a normal formality. NATO allies accuse Russia frequently of mounting hybrid attacks against the West via hacking, sabotage, and?espionage. Moscow denies these allegations and says the West is causing anti-Russian sentiment. According to the JRC's website, the Ispra campus is the third largest research campus in Europe after Brussels and Luxembourg. It works on topics ranging from nuclear security and space, to sustainable resources, immigration and transport. (Reporting and editing by Gavin Jones, Frances Kerry, and Emilio Parodi)
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Mercedes Benz settles with US States for $149,6 Million over diesel emissions
Mercedes Benz reached a settlement of $149.6 Million with U.S. States to resolve a long-running probe into allegations?of cheating on diesel emissions?by the 'German automaker New Letitia James, York Attorney General, said on Monday. The settlement reached with Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and 48 U.S. States includes the following: Mercedes will pay $149.6 millions and make $2,000 payments to owners and lessees of vehicles that require emissions repairs. Mercedes also 'agreed' to take a number of steps to prevent further misconduct and comply with the oversight requirements. The States?said Mercedes Benz has agreed to pay $2.2billion in 2020 to settle a U.S. government investigation into diesel emissions cheating and the claims of 250,000 U.S. car owners. In a new settlement, Mercedes Benz must pay an immediate $120 million to the states. The remaining $29.6 millions is suspended, and the amount will be reduced by $750 per affected vehicle Mercedes repairs or removes from the market. It paid out more than $20 billion in fines and penalties after admitting?in 2015 that it had cheated on emissions tests by installing sophisticated software and "defeat devices". Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Valerie Volcovici
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Trump names envoy to Greenland and stirs up backlash
U.S. president Donald?Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as his special ambassador to Greenland on Sunday, drawing renewed criticism from Denmark and Greenland about Washington's interests in the mineral rich Arctic island. Trump has argued that Greenland should become a part of the United States. He cites its strategic importance as well as its mineral resources. Landry, the governor who assumed office in January 2024 publicly supports this idea. You cannot annex a country. In a joint press release, Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen stated that they would not annex another country. "Greenland is owned by the Greenlanders, and the U.S. will not take it over." Trump said in a post at Truth?Social: "Jeff knows how important Greenland to our National Security is, and will work hard to advance our Country's interests for the safety, security, and survival?of allies and the world." The White House didn't immediately respond to comments. Landry thanked Trump in a post he made on X: "It is an honor... to serve... as a volunteer in this position in order to make Greenland a member of the U.S." This does not affect my position as the Governor of Louisiana! The Trump administration increased pressure on Copenhagen on Monday when it suspended the leases of five large offshore projects that were being built off the East Coast in the United States, including two developed by Denmark's state-controlled Orsted. GREENLANDS STRATEGIC VALUE Greenland is a former Danish Colony with 57,000 people. A 2009 agreement gives it the right to declare its independence, but the country remains heavily dependent on Danish subsidies and fishing. The strategic location of the country between Europe and North America is a major site for U.S. missile defence systems, while its rich mineral resources have increased U.S. interests in reducing their reliance on Chinese imports. Greenland's Nielsen posted on Facebook that "we have woken again with a new statement from the U.S. President." This may sound important, but for us it doesn't change anything. "We decide our future." DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS ESCALATE Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish Foreign Minister, said on Monday that he will summon U.S. The U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Howery had pledged "mutual" respect during his recent visit to Greenland. "At the drop of a hat, there's now a U.S. special presidential representative who is, according to him,?tasked with assuming control over Greenland. Rasmussen said on TV2 that this was, "of course, totally unacceptable". Denmark has been trying to mend strained relations with Greenland in the last year. It also tries to ease tensions with the Trump Administration by investing in Arctic defense to respond to U.S. critics of inadequate security. In an Instagram post, Prime Minister Frederiksen stated: "It's a difficult situation our lifetime allies put us in." Mikkel Vedby, a professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, said: "This appointment proves that all the money Denmark invested in Greenland and in the defense of the Arctic as well as all the nice things we've said to Americans have had no impact at all." Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York, Arathy Sommesekhar, in Houston, and Jacob GronholtPedersen, in Copenhagen. Additional reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; SOren Sirich Jenppesen, Stine Jacobsen, in Copenhagen. Editing by Saad, Gareth, and Ros Russell.
Unknown trust links India's leading services with Modi's election war chest
Behind the doors of a. little, nondescript workplace in the heart of New Delhi lies the. head office of an electoral trust run by simply two guys that is. the largestknown donor to India's judgment Bharatiya Janata Celebration. ( BJP), according to a review of public records. The Prudent Electoral Trust has raised $272 million because its. development in 2013, funnelling roughly 75% of that to Prime. Minister Narendra Modi's party. The trust's contributions to the BJP. overall 10 times as much as the $20.6 million it issued to the. opposition Congress party, the records reveal.
The previous Congress-led federal government introduced electoral. trusts in 2013 to permit tax-exempt contribution to celebrations. It stated the mechanism would make campaign financing more. transparent by decreasing money contributions, which are more difficult to. trace. However some election specialists say the trusts contribute to opacity. around the financing of political celebrations in India, where this. year's general election-- due to be called within weeks-- is. anticipated to return Modi to power for a rare 3rd term, surveys. predict.
While Prudent does not disclose how contributions made by. private corporate donors are distributed, used public. records from 2018 to 2023 to track flows from some of India's. largest business.
Eight of India's most significant company groups contributed at least. $ 50 million in total between 2019 and 2023 to the trust, which. then issued cheques for corresponding amounts to the BJP,. according to the analysis.
Four companies whose transactions were determined . - steel huge ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, telco Bharti. Airtel, facilities designer GMR and energy giant. Essar - have actually not given cash to the party straight and do not. appear on its donors' list.
GMR and Bharti Airtel said in reaction to concerns. that Prudent identifies how their contributions are distributed.
Prudent chooses as per their internal standards, which we. are uninformed of, said a GMR representative. He added that the business. does not like to align with any political party.
Bharti Airtel, which developed Prudent before transferring. control to independent auditors Mukul Goyal and Venkatachalam. Ganesh in 2014, stated it has no impact on the choices,. instructions and mode of disbursal of funds.
Spokespeople for the other groups did not react to calls,. text and e-mails.
Goyal and Ganesh did not respond to concerns sent out via email. and post. When asked on a brief call about how Prudent. functioned, Goyal said: That is something we do not discuss.
Sensible - the largest of India's 18 electoral trusts - is. legally required to state how much it has actually gathered from each. donor and the overall quantities disbursed to each celebration.
But it is the just one amongst India's four biggest electoral. trusts to accept contributions from more than one business. group.
Trusts supply one layer of separation in between companies and. parties, stated Milan Vaishnav, a specialist on Indian campaign. finance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a. Washington-based think-tank.
Political financing in India is extensively seen as dirty, with. most political contributions in India undisclosed, Vaishnav added. BJP said in its latest public disclosure in March 2023 that its. political war chest - funds it had offered consisting of cash. reserves and possessions - was valued at 70.4 billion rupees ($ 850. million). That offers it a colossal financial advantage over. Congress, which had 7.75 billion rupees in funds.
BJP spokespeople did not react to repeated requests for. remark for this story.
The records show that Prudent was also the largest-known. donor to the Congress celebration in the years to March 2023.
LAYER OF SEPARATION
India's Supreme Court stated in a February project finance. ruling that business contributions are purely service. deals made with the intent of securing benefits in. return.
was not able to develop if political parties know. the identities of donors that give through trusts that get. contributions from several groups.
MV Rajeev Gowda, head of research for Congress, told . that electoral trusts are a semi fig-leaf and that he believed. parties understood the donors' identities. Gowda, who doesn't manage. the celebration's financial resources, didn't supply evidence.
BJP's next largest recognized donor is Tata Group's Progressive. Electoral Trust, which has offered the celebration 3.6 billion rupees. collected from the salt-to-airline conglomerate's companies. Progressive is also Congress's next largest donor, having actually offered. it 655 million rupees.
Progressive's by-laws need it to distribute funds. proportionate to the variety of seats held by each party in. parliament. Sensible has no similar limitations and '. analysis of its contributions found no such pattern.
NEAR-INSTANT TRANSFERS
Trusts are enabled to retain an optimum of 300,000 rupees for. annual business expenses. Remaining funds need to be disbursed in. the fiscal year they were received.
In its analysis of contribution reports filed by Prudent to. electoral authorities, identified 18 transactions. in between 2019 and 2022 in which the 8 corporate groups made. big contributions to the trust. Within days, Sensible released. cheques for the very same total up to BJP.
Before the 18 contributions, which are not extensive of all. the contributions made by the groups to Sensible, the trust did not. have enough funds for the payments to BJP.
Business tied to billionaire L.N. Mittal's ArcelorMittal. group were among Prudent's many respected donors.
On July 12, 2021, for example, ArcelorMittal Design and. Engineering Centre Private Limited provided Sensible a cheque for 500. million rupees ($ 6.03 million). The next day, Sensible issued a. cheque to BJP for the very same amount.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India also released 200 million. rupees to Prudent on Nov. 1, 2021, and 500 million rupees on. Nov. 16, 2022. The particular amounts were sent to BJP on Nov. 5,. 2021, and Nov. 17, 2022.
A representative for ArcelorMittal did not react to requests. for remark.
Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, issued 250 million rupees to. Sensible on Jan. 13, 2022 and 150 million rupees on March 25,. 2021. The trust sent out cheques to BJP for those amounts on. Jan. 14, 2023 and March 25, 2021.
And 3 companies in the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group - Haldia. Energy India, Phillips Carbon Black and Crescent Power - cut. cheques for 250 million rupees, 200 million rupees and 50. million rupees on March 15, March 16, and March 19, 2021. respectively. On Mar. 17, BJP received a 450-million-rupee. cheque from Prudent; a 50-million-rupee cheque followed on March. 20.
The RPSG group did not respond to ask for comment.
Contributions from Serum Institute and companies in GMR Group,. DLF Ltd and Essar Group moved to BJP instantly after. Sensible received them.
was unable to identify a similar pattern of funds. being sent out to the trust and transferred to Congress right away. afterwards.
However, found comparable patterns involving two. local parties. Megha Engineering and Infrastructure. transferred 750 million rupees to Prudent across 3. transactions on July 5 and July 6, 2022. The trust issued a. 750-million-rupee cheque on July 7 to Bharat Rashtra Samithi, a. centrist celebration in Telangana state, where Megha group is. headquartered.
And residential or commercial property developers Avinash Bhosale Group, based in the. western Maharashtra state, provided 50 million rupees to Prudent on. Nov. 27, 2020. The trust provided a cheque for that total up to the. Maharashtra Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party, which is. independent of the nationwide Congress celebration, on Nov. 30. The corporate groups did not instantly return ask for. remark. BRS's general secretary said he was not aware of. specifics about the contributions, while a senior NCP official said. that the party had just recently divided and every record will not be. available with us.
REASON FOR CONCERN?
Public records and party reports show BJP's war chest has. swelled given that Modi ended up being prime minister in 2014, from 7.8. billion rupees ($ 94.09 million) in March 2014 to 70.4 billion. rupees in March 2023. Congress' funds increased from 5.38. billion rupees to 7.75 billion rupees in the very same time period. The funding gap between the BJP and Congress is a reason for. concern, stated Jagdeep Chhokar of Association of Democratic. Reforms, a Delhi-based civil society group that was the primary. petitioner behind the electoral bonds difficulty in the Supreme. Court.
Level playing field is an important part of democracy, he. stated.
Some BJP authorities have actually said in the past that the large sums. it has raised on its books are an example of its transparency.
BJP has actually been the significant beneficiary of electoral bonds, a. system that permitted donors to offer unrestricted total up to. parties without public disclosure.
It got some 65.66 billion rupees of the 120.1 billion. rupees worth of such bonds sold between their January 2018. introduction and March 2023. Such bonds made up more than half. the contributions gotten by the BJP in all but one fiscal year. given that their introduction.
The Supreme Court called the system unconstitutional in. February and purchased the government-owned State Bank of India,. which issued the bonds, to launch purchasers' information. Specifics. are set for release by March 15.
(source: Reuters)