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Pope Leo was critical of Trump and Vance before he became pontiff
The first U.S. Pope has some thoughts on the American President. According to posts made on the X page of Robert Prevost's account, which was his name before he became the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV has a long history of criticizing the policies of President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance. He reposted in February an article that had the headline "JDVance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to rate our love for others." Prevost posted a comment in April when Trump met El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to discuss the use of a prison, where alleged abuses of human rights took place, to hold suspected gang members who had been flown into the United States. The comment included: "Do not you see the suffering?" Are you not troubled by your conscience? The account was created in 2011, but it is not known who runs it. We contacted the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Diocese in Chiclayo, Peru, where Prevost lived for many years, as well as the Peruvian Embassy in the Holy See, to verify its authenticity. Its handle, @drprevost, includes messages asking for prayers in the final months of Pope Francis' life. Pope Leo will follow the path of Francis who was a champion for immigrants and the poor, but also had disagreements with the Trump Administration. Vance, the man who met Francis the day before his death at the Vatican, downplayed the differences that they had after the meeting. But the differences were significant. Francis called Trump's immigration policy a disgrace. The U.S. President congratulated the newly appointed Catholic leader. Trump posted on his social media that it was an honor to be the first American pope. What excitement and what an honor for our country! I am looking forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. "It will be an important moment!" Vance, who is a Catholic himself, said that he believed millions of American Catholics, as well as other Christians, would pray for Leo’s success. "May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X. White House officials didn't offer any further comment. A spokeswoman from Vance referred to his posting on X, when asked about criticisms of Prevost’s account. Trump and the new pope share some similar policies. Trump and Vance are also against abortion. According to a Facebook post encouraging followers to sign the Catholic Climate Petition, he is in favor of fighting climate change. Trump has removed the United States' participation in the Paris Climate Accord, which fights global climate change. (Reporting and editing by Caitlin Wallis and Daniel Wallis; Additional reporting and editing by Andrea Shalal, Rachael K. Kennedy and Rachael Shalal; Reporting and Editing by Jeff Mason and Jasper Ward)
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The dollar rises in global stock indexes on the back of trade optimism following US-UK agreement
The global equities market rose on Thursday. Wall Street was the best performer, and the dollar and Treasury yields were also up after the United States announced a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom. The U.S. and UK trade agreement also helped boost the cryptocurrency market. It was the first trade deal announced this month after U.S. president Donald Trump began a 90-day suspension of trade tariffs in order to allow for negotiations. The agreement, announced by Trump and British Premier Keirstarmer, maintains a 10% duty on imports from the UK, but reduces prohibitive U.S. tariffs on UK auto exports. The UK agreed to reduce its tariffs from 5.1% to 1.8% and allow greater access to U.S. products. Investors waited with anticipation for the planned talks between U.S. officials and Chinese officials to take place in Switzerland this weekend. This could be a first step towards reducing the trade war that has been raging between the two largest economies of the world. Mona Mahajan is the head of investment strategy for Edward Jones. She said that there was growing optimism about trade deals. Not only the UK deal announced today but also what could happen over the weekend. The S&P 500 index has increased sharply since April's lows. The sectors that were leading higher during that period of time have been procyclical and pro-growth segments, such as financials, and even discretionary products to a certain extent. At 02:52 p.m. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 513.68, or 1.25% to 41,627.65. The S&P 500 also rose by 70.15, or 1.25% to 5,701.43, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 314.61 points or 1.77% to 18,052.77. The S&P 500 index rose for the first time above its intra-day high of April 2, which was the last session prior to Trump's announcement of tariffs against the largest U.S. trading partner on Liberation Day. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known by Wall Street as its fear gauge, reached its lowest level since the beginning of April. MSCI's global index of stocks rose by 4.60 points or 0.55% to 848.63. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed earlier up 0.4%. The U.S. Federal Reserve waited and saw on Wednesday about interest rates, and warned of the risks associated with higher inflation and unemployment as it navigated through the uncertainty brought by Trump's new trade policies. The U.S. Dollar gained against the safe haven currencies of the yen, and the Swiss Franc, as the market was calmed down by the U.S./UK agreement. Sterling reversed its gains after the Bank of England cut interest rates. Sterling fell 0.14% to $1.327. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others) rose by 0.75%, reaching 100.64. Will Compernolle is a macro-strategist at FHN Financial, Chicago. He said that there is optimism about this deal being a model for future deals. However, it is not going to change the U.S. economic response in a dramatic way. The dollar gained 1.43% against the Japanese yen to reach 145.88. The central banks of Sweden and Norway have hinted that they may also lower rates in the second half of this year. The Swedish crown fell 0.58% against the dollar, to 9.727. Bitcoin rose 4.75%, to $101,365.21. Etherium rose 14.73%, to $2,063.37. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 9.4 basis point to 4.369% from 4.275% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 30-year bond rates rose 5.9 basis to 4.8305%. The yield on the 2-year note, which is typically in line with Fed policy regarding interest rates, increased 10 basis points from late Wednesday to 3.893%. Crude futures rose on hopes for a breakthrough in the trade talks between China and the United States, the two world's largest oil consumers. Brent crude ended the day at $62.84 a barrel, up by 2.81% or $1.72. This erased the previous days losses. The UK-U.S. agreement has raised the prospect of other deals. Spot gold dropped 1.7% to $3307.02 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 2.29% to an ounce of $3,304.10. Reporting by Sinead carew, Gertrude Chavez, Marc Jones, Editing by Chizu nomiyama Will Dunham, Nia Williams
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Starmer celebrates second win in trade after UK's tariff agreement with Trump
Keir starmer, British Prime Minister, secured a second deal in three days with U.S. president Donald Trump. He claimed a political victory which removes the threat of some of UK's most vulnerable industrial sectors. The U.S. agreed that Britain would lower tariffs on American beef, ethanol and British cars in exchange for the U.S. lowering their tariffs. Starmer said that the deal was worthwhile so companies in the affected sectors could plan without worrying about 25% or higher tariffs, although a larger deal to reduce baseline tariffs by 10% is still under discussion. Starmer, a reporter in London, said: "We'd like to go even further with tariffs but it's important that we have been able get this deal through now because we've protected, saved and enhanced jobs right here and right now." Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, criticised the deal. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti immigration Reform Party, who is close with Trump, initially welcomed it. Farage, a pro-Brexit activist, said: "We can go much further with a pro-Britain American president." "It is a Brexit benefit for us to be able do this... This is a huge step in the right directions." The British business community and sectors such as the auto industry and steel production were also very supportive. The companies said that it would offer some relief to those affected by tariffs, without giving away too much in return. The future of British steel has been questioned, as the government has stepped in to maintain blast furnaces. Meanwhile, car manufacturers have spoken out about the threat of tariffs on their business plans. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders called the agreement "great news" for the industry and said it would bring "much-needed relief". National Farmers Union welcomed the deal, praising Starmer's government on not lowering standards for agricultural products in a deal which provides beef with reciprocal access to markets. The U.S. also indicated that Britain would be given preferential treatment when it comes to other sectors, including pharmaceuticals - an issue of great importance for AstraZeneca & GSK. Trump also suggested taxing the movie industry to encourage more Hollywood movies to be made. However, as no formal review has been conducted to determine whether tariffs would be imposed, this sector was not included in the deal announced on Thursday, according to officials. Starmer's entire political strategy is based on economic growth. The U.S. tariffs added pressure to his government, as the British economy was struggling to grow. He suffered a brutal set of local elections last week. The results were blamed on the unpopular decision by his government to cut winter fuel payments or welfare payments. (Reporting and editing by Andrew MacAskill, Alistair Smout)
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Enel to focus on buyback of shares after strong Q1
Enel's management announced on Thursday that it is focusing on introducing an share buyback program and negotiating a renewal of its network license in Italy. This follows steady results for the first quarter. The state-controlled group, following the example of oil majors will ask shareholders to approve at its annual meeting on 22 May a plan to buy back up to 3.5 billion euro ($3.9 billion). Investors will vote the same day on an option that allows them to cancel shares acquired without reducing group share capital. This is another way to reward shareholders, in addition to dividends. Enel Chief Financial Officer Stefano De Angelis said to analysts in a conference call following the results that he hoped "the plan would be approved on May 22." De Angelis said that the company was in talks with Italian authorities to extend its power distribution licence for 20 years. The CFO stated that Enel may deploy capital in Spain and will use some of the financial space created by the reduction of its net debt for the renewal. The group reported earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which were 5.97 billion euro for the first three months, slightly higher than the analyst consensus of 5,90 billion compiled on LSEG. The ordinary EBITDA of the first quarter last year has been revised down to 5.87 billion Euros, from 6.09 billion Euros, in order to remove the effects of recent dispositions. The utility's decision to cut electricity prices in Italy by 30-40% in order to retain customers, led it to lower its EBITDA than expected. De Angelis stated that the group anticipates its retail business to stabilise in Italy in the next quarters. Flavio Cattaneo the Chief executive, who was appointed in January 2012, stated that the period between January and March marked the seventh consecutive positive quarter for financial results. Enel has confirmed that it expects its EBITDA to be between 22,9 billion and 23,1 billion euros in 2025.
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Citigroup faces $1 billion lawsuit for alleged fraud by Mexican oil companies
A U.S. court of appeals ruled Thursday that Citigroup will have to face a lawsuit alleging it caused over $1 billion in losses by orchestrating a fraud at the Mexican oil and gas service company Oceanografia. Three judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami said that 30 Oceanografia vendors, creditors and bondholders adequately alleged that Citigroup substantially aided the fraud. A lower court judge erred by dismissing this nine-year-old case. Circuit Court of Appeals, Miami, said that 30 Oceanografia vendors and creditors, as well as bondholders, adequately alleged Citigroup's involvement in the fraud. A lower court judge erred by dismissing the case nine years ago. Danielle Romero Apsilos, Citigroup's spokeswoman declined to comment. Juan Morillo said that his clients were pleased with the ruling. Citigroup's Banamex division had advanced cash to Oceanografia which provided drilling services for Mexico's state owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, and collected interest on the advances. The plaintiffs include shipping and leasing companies as well as investment funds, and Rabobank in the Netherlands. They claim that Citigroup advanced $3.3billion to Oceanografia from 2008-2014 despite knowing it had too much debt, and was forging Pemex's signatures on authorization documents. Citigroup was fined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for Banamex's lack of internal controls in 2018. Former Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat claimed that the bank terminated 12 employees. Mexican regulators confirmed that 10 employees of the bank were held criminally responsible under Mexican law. Circuit Judge Britt grant found in an 82 page decision that there were sufficient allegations to prove that Citigroup had withheld important information about Oceanografia, and the interest payments provided a financial incentive. She added, "Citigroup, as one of the most sophisticated financial institutions in the world, is a difficult conclusion to draw if the plaintiffs' claims are true. Citigroup was unaware of Oceanografia's activities." The case was returned to U.S. district judge Darrin Gayles of Miami who dismissed it on August 20, 2023. Otto Candies LLC et al v Citigroup Inc., 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Circuit Court of Appeals No. 23-13152. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York; Editing and production by Richard Chang
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Document: Mali is pressed to pay an 'enormous debt' for a regional dam
A letter obtained by reveals that Mali owes over $94 million to an entity which manages a dam, which provides electricity to Senegal, Mauritania and other countries. The debt is "a matter of life or death" to its ability to operate, the letter states. The funding gap is a warning sign of further electricity supply problems for Mali. Outages have weakened public support in recent years for the military-led government which took power in coups in 2020-2021. Manantali Dam and Power Plant was installed in 2002 with a capacity of 200 Megawatts. Its production is distributed to Mali, Senegal and Mauritania. According to a letter sent by SOGEM on April 25 to the director general of Mali's electricity utility, Energie du Mali (Mali), Mali owes SOGEM "an enormous amount" of more than 54 billion CFA francs (94.12 millions) for the management of Manantali, among other projects. The letter was signed by Mohamed Mahmoud Sid'Elemine, the director general of SOGEM. Energy du Mali admitted in a Thursday statement that it owed SOGEM 43.8 billion CFA Francs and another 11.9 billion CFA Francs to an entity separate involved in the operation and maintenance of the dam. When asked why SOGEM had not paid the sums, they said that SOGEM projects - such as other dams – had "experienced substantial delays" which had affected Mali’s energy sector. It said that the utility "had no choice but to resort to expensive solutions such as leasing generators from private operators" to make up for its expected production shortfall. The SOGEM letter touts the Manantali Project as a success for regional co-operation that cost hundreds billions of CFA Francs to implement. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger were members of the Alliance of Sahel States. They announced their departure from the West African political and economic bloc called ECOWAS last year. $1 = 573.7500 CFA francs (Reporting and writing by Idrissa Singare; Editing and proofreading by Ayen Deng Bior and Aiden Lewis)
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Dollar gains and optimism about US/UK trade deal boost global stock markets
Dollar and Treasury yields rose on Thursday, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Britain a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted to wait and see on interest rates. Bitcoin gained 4.83%, reaching $101,440.22. Ethereum grew by 14.72%, to $2 063.23. The U.S. and British trade agreement is the first announced deal since Trump initiated a 90-day pause in tariffs imposed by his administration on many U.S. Trading Partners a month earlier to give time for negotiations with other countries. Investors also await planned talks between U.S. officials and Chinese officials scheduled for the weekend in Switzerland. This could be a first step to reducing the damaging trade conflict between the two largest economies in the world. Investors have shown signs of frustration over the lack concrete details this week, despite being enthusiastic about the Trump administration's signals that it is in trade negotiations over the last month. Gene Goldman said that investors are relieved to see that progress is being made on trade agreements. He added that it "seems like the administration is going in the right direction." Goldman added that the U.S. and British agreement, which is still under development, "provides some optimism heading into weekend negotiations with China." Indexes on Wall Street extended gains following the announcement. At 11:51 am (1551 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 573.16, or 1.39 percent, to 41.685.11, S&P 500 gained 77.14, or 1.37 percent, to 5,708.56, and Nasdaq Composite increased by 311.92, or 1.76 percent, to 18,050.09. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 5.72 points or 0.68% to 849.75, while the pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.44. Investors are still digesting Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve policy update, in which it maintained its interest rate range at 4.25%-4.5% for the third consecutive meeting. As it navigated the economic uncertainty caused by Trump's policies, the U.S. Central Bank warned of increased risks for higher inflation and unemployment. The pound has lost ground in terms of currencies after the recent trade agreement and the widely anticipated quarter-point cut by the Bank of England. Sterling fell 0.14% to $1.327. The dollar index measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies. The price of 100.44 rose by 0.55%. The dollar gained 1.16% against the Japanese yen to reach 145.49. Sweden and Norway have also hinted that they may also lower rates in the second half of this year. The Swedish crown fell 0.48% against the dollar, to 9.704. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 5.5 basis point to 4.33% from 4.275% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond's yield increased 2.9 basis points, to 4.8011%. The yield on the 2-year note, which moves typically in line with Fed expectations for interest rates, increased 7.3 basis points from 3.793% to 3.866%. On the commodities market, oil futures, which had dropped by more than $1 Wednesday, rose on Thursday on hopes that the United States will reach a trade agreement with China, the two biggest oil consumers in the world. U.S. crude climbed 3.29%, to $59.98 per barrel. Brent rose to $62.93 a barrel, up by 2.96% for the day. Spot gold dropped 1.09% to $3.327.49 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.48% to an ounce of $3,331.30. (Reporting and editing by Sinead carew, Johann M Cherian and Marc Jones, with Chizu Nomiyama, Will Dunham, and Will Dunham).
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Proxy advisor opposes Holcim Chairman's $58 Million compensation package
Ethos, a proxy advisor, has urged Holcim shareholders not to accept the company's proposed remuneration. It said that Jan Jenisch would be the highest paid manager in Swiss blue-chip firms by 2024 if he received the estimated compensation of 48 million Swiss Francs ($58 million). Ethos calculated Jenisch's realised compensation based on his share options in 2020. Since the announcement that the company intends to spin off its North American business by January 2024, these options have gained significant value. Vincent Kaufmann (CEO of Ethos Foundation) said that Jan Jenisch's variable compensation for 2024 is unacceptable. It is 25 times the base salary he received as Holcim CEO. He called on the board to eliminate the option plan. Ethos reported that Holcim is one of only a few Swiss companies still granting share options with a leveraged effect. Holcim's response to Ethos' misleading framing Jenisch's compensation was given by Holcim when asked for comment. Holcim's spokesperson stated that Ethos had misrepresented the value of the option scheme, as it was based on a rolling five-year program reflecting record performance for a period of five years, and not an annual compensation. According to Ethos, share options that were worth 890'001 Swiss Francs in 2020 are now valued at more than 36,6 million Swiss Francs. The proxy advisor stated that the package totaled 48 million Swiss francs when you add up Jenisch's compensation for his four months in the CEO role last year, his chairman compensation for the eight remaining months of 2024 and the other shares awards. This figure is dwarfed by the 19.2 million Swiss francs that Novartis CEO Vas Nairsimhan received in compensation, which prompted criticism at its AGM. $1 = 0.8249 Swiss Francs (Reporting and writing by Oliver Hirt; editing by John Revill, David Evans, and Ariane Luthi)
What is the US-UK Economic Deal?
The United States announced on Thursday a deal with Britain to lower tariffs for some goods. U.S. duties on steel and cars will be reduced, and both sides will gain better access to the agriculture market.
Here are some key points of the agreement.
Basic 10% Tariff
Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, said that the basic tariff rate of 10% would remain in effect.
CAR TARIFFS
The British government announced that the agreement will reduce tariffs for some British-made vehicles from 27,5% to 10%.
The British government announced that British carmakers would be allowed to export 100,000 cars per year at a lower tariff rate. This is almost what Britain exported in the past year.
STEEL TARIFFS
The British government has also announced that the 25% tariffs on British steel exported to the U.S. would be reduced to zero.
PLANES
Lutnick stated that British companies will now be able export parts of planes to the United States without tariffs.
Boeing planes worth $10 billion are expected to be purchased by a British airline in return.
AGRICULTURAL TARIFFS
The British government announced that there would be a "reciprocal access to the market on beef", with British farmers receiving a quota of 13,000 metric tons free of tariff.
Britain will also eliminate tariffs on U.S. beer ethanol.
MOVIES
The U.S. president Donald Trump has said that the talks with Britain about his plan to impose a tariff on film imports will take place separately from the agreement.
He said, "James Bond is not in danger."
SPEAK UP AGAIN
Both sides will try to reach an agreement on a wider deal, which will include pharmaceuticals as well as a reduction of the remaining tariffs.
The U.S. also agreed to give the UK preferential treatment for any future tariffs imposed in Section 232 investigations, which gives the U.S. President the power to restrict imports if it is found that they threaten national security.
The UK Digital Services Tax is unchanged.
(source: Reuters)