2025-08-08 04:19

Aug 8 (Reuters) - China's state-owned shipping giant Cosco (601919.SS) , opens new tab aims to secure at least 20%-30% stake in a $23 billion ports deal involving strategic assets in the Panama Canal, as Beijing moves to renegotiate the terms of a sale previously praised by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/cosco-seeks-least-20-stake-23-billion-panama-canal-ports-deal-ft-reports-2025-08-08/

2025-08-08 03:02

MUMBAI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is poised to appreciate at open on Friday after traders unwound short positions in the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market, following the central bank's firm defence of a key level. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the rupee will open in the 87.48 to 87.52 range versus the U.S. dollar, higher than 87.7025 on Thursday. Sign up here. The Indian currency had rallied in the NDF market after local trading closed at 3:30 p.m. IST. The 1-month USD/INR NDF dropped nearly 30 paisa within half an hour and largely held that decline through the U.S. trading session. During Thursday’s onshore session, the currency traded in a narrow range and posted a modest advance despite additional U.S. tariffs on Indian goods announced by President Donald Trump. A currency trader at a private sector bank said the Reserve Bank of India may have played a role in the rupee’s muted reaction to the news. The RBI has been active in the NDF market, and has made it evident that they do not want a new high in USD/INR, at least for now, the trader said, referring to the 87.95 level. The RBI’s defence of that threshold, along with a recovery in Indian equities, likely triggered a "mini rush" to unwind long USD/INR positions, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at a hedge fund said. "Weak hands probably decided to exit," the person said. India’s equity indices wiped intraday losses to finish flat on Thursday. The announcement of a U.S.-Russia presidential meeting may have been a possible driver of the late-session recovery, analysts said. While Indian equities recovered, foreign investors were net sellers on Thursday, offloading around $600 million worth of shares, according to preliminary exchange data. Meanwhile, the rupee’s Asian peers were slightly lower on the day, while the dollar index was little changed and on track for a weekly decline. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 87.59; onshore one-month forward premium at 10.75 paise ** Dollar index at 98.10 ** Brent crude futures flat at $66.4 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.25% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $501.5mln worth of Indian shares on Aug. 6 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors bought a net $38mln worth of Indian bonds on Aug. 6 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-likely-rise-after-central-bank-rattles-short-ndf-bets-2025-08-08/

2025-08-08 00:41

AMESPAC seeks formal group to clarify 2025 investment vehicle Espino highlights lack of 2024 debt payment plan in Pemex meeting Suppliers owed 65 billion pesos for un-invoiced work, Espino says MEXICO CITY, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The head of an association representing global oilfield service firms in Mexico said on Thursday that a new business plan for state oil company Pemex lacks concrete measures to address its massive debt with suppliers, despite official promises to speed up payments. Rafael Espino, president of the AMESPAC association, told Reuters that in a Tuesday meeting with officials from the finance and energy ministries and Pemex, there was no mention of how the company would pay down debts for work already performed in 2024 and the first half of 2025. Sign up here. As of the end of June, Espino said, AMESPAC members were owed about 65 billion pesos ($3.49 billion) for work that has not yet even been invoiced. "It was a disappointment because there was no specific reference to the 2024 debts," Espino said in an interview. "If we have to wait for it to be paid with future cash flow... this debt will continue to go unpaid and the immediate effect will be on production." However, Espino added that officials at the meeting said Pemex would speed up payments, not let invoices age beyond two months, and that it expects to have more cash on hand. This would come from a lower tax burden, a recent $12 billion debt issuance, and a new $13 billion special fund for 2025 projects. Pemex is saddled with supplier debts of around $23 billion and financial debt of nearly $100 billion, despite receiving billions in government support in recent years to meet its obligations. While making some payments and frequent promises, the debts have continued to accumulate, creating an unprecedented payment crisis for service providers. Espino said AMESPAC welcomes the plan but is seeking to establish a formal working group with authorities to understand the rules, timeline and eligibility for the new 2025 investment vehicle and its associated service payments. The association argues that paying off outstanding debts is necessary to reactivate idled equipment and help meet Mexico's national crude production target of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a goal heavily reliant on Pemex. AMESPAC members include four of the world's largest energy services firms Baker Hughes (BKR.O) , opens new tab, Halliburton (HAL.N) , opens new tab, Weatherford (WFRD.O) , opens new tab, and SLB (SLB.N) , opens new tab, and mining and transportation conglomerate Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) , opens new tab. Recently, Grupo Carso (GCARSOA1.MX) , opens new tab - controlled by tycoon Carlos Slim - reported that Pemex owes it more than $700 million for various services, with some debts dating back two years. A subsidiary of Grupo Mexico reported it had temporarily halted four platforms due to non-payment, and Halliburton has stated its payment issues with Pemex remain unresolved. ($1=18.6360 Mexican pesos) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pemex-plan-disappoints-suppliers-awaiting-billions-overdue-payments-2025-08-07/

2025-08-08 00:38

Brandon Russell faces supervised release for life after prison term Conspiracy aimed at furthering white supremacist ideology, prosecutors say Russell's lawyer plans appeal, argued co-conspirator more culpable Aug 7 (Reuters) - The founder of a neo-Nazi group was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for plotting to sabotage Baltimore's power grid, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland said. Brandon Russell, 30, of Orlando, Florida, was found guilty at trial earlier this year of conspiring to damage or destroy an energy facility. Senior U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore handed Russell the maximum sentence for that offense. Sign up here. His convicted co-conspirator in the plot, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 37, of Catonsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty and received an 18-year prison term in September 2024. Prosecutors said the conspiracy targeting several electrical substations around Baltimore, which is predominantly Black and ranks as Maryland's largest city, was aimed at furthering a white supremacist ideology that sought the collapse of American society. "Russell allowed hatred to drive him and his co-conspirator to plot a dangerous scheme that could have harmed thousands of people," U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes said in a statement announcing Thursday's sentencing. Evidence presented at trial showed that between November 2022 and his arrest in February 2023, Russell hatched a plan to simultaneously attack five substation transformers with gunfire in an attempt to cause a cascading city-wide power failure. Prosecutors said such an attack, had they been carried out, would have caused more than $75 million in damage. Russell's lawyer, Ian J. Goldstein, had argued that Clendaniel was “the more culpable of the two defendants” and was seeking a lesser sentence than she received. “We will be filing an immediate appeal,” Goldstein said in an email to the New York Times on Thursday. “There are significant appellate issues relating to what we believe to be the unlawful warrantless surveillance of Brandon Russell, a United States citizen protected by the Constitution.” Reached by text message on a plane, Goldstein told Reuters he was accurately quoted by the Times. Russell founded a neo-Nazi group called the Atomwaffen Division, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks U.S. hate groups. He was previously sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of an unregistered destruction device and the improper storage of explosive materials in connection with an alleged plot to attack power lines in Florida. A confidential informant helped lead the FBI back to Russell while he was still under supervised release from the Florida case, linking him to encrypted internet messages from a user known as "Homunculus" urging attacks on electrical substations, according to federal authorities. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/neo-nazi-leader-sentenced-20-years-plot-sabotage-baltimore-power-grid-2025-08-08/

2025-08-08 00:11

BENGALURU, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will cut its cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.60% on August 12, according to economists polled by Reuters, who have not changed their rate views. Inflation fell to 2.1% last quarter, a near-four year low and close to the lower band of the RBA's target range of 2%-3%, giving the RBA what it needs to continue cutting rates after a rare split decision to pause last month that surprised markets. Sign up here. The unemployment rate rose to a 3-1/2-year high of 4.3% in June. Together with slow domestic demand, this suggests a need for less restrictive monetary policy in an economy where household spending accounts for over 50% of growth. All 40 respondents in the August 4-7 Reuters poll expected the central bank to cut its official cash rate (AUCBIR=ECI) , opens new tab by 25 basis points to 3.60% on August 12. "Q2 inflation data was no worse than feared and the softer June labour force report we saw recently is more than enough to get your 25 basis point rate cut. It would seem the RBA's recent concerns about inflation were perhaps a little bit overdone," said Andrew Ticehurst, senior economist at Nomura. Over 90% of respondents who had views on rates until year-end, 35 of 38, predicted another 25 basis point cut next quarter, bringing the cash rate to 3.35% by end-December. Two said 3.10% and one predicted rates would be 3.60%. All of Australia's major banks - ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac - expected rates to be 3.35% at the end of this year. Median forecasts showed one additional rate cut by end-March to 3.10%, with rates then expected to remain steady through 2026. (Other stories from the August Reuters global economic poll) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/rba-set-cut-rates-25-bps-360-august-12-one-more-cut-likely-this-year-2025-08-08/

2025-08-08 00:04

Lobbying contract worth $3 million a year Deal signed the day junta nominally transferred power Lobby group has been under FBI investigation WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A Washington lobbying firm has signed an agreement worth $3 million a year with Myanmar's Ministry of Information to help the long-time military-ruled country rebuild relations with the United States. According to documents submitted under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the DCI Group signed the agreement with the ministry on July 31, the day Myanmar's military nominally transferred power to a civilian-led interim government ahead of a planned election. Sign up here. Myanmar's leadership under military chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a 2021 coup and that year an Israeli-Canadian lobbyist they hired to represent them in Washington and other capitals said he had stopped his work because U.S. sanctions on the generals prevented him from being paid. The U.S. Treasury Department, the DCI Group, the U.S. State Department and Myanmar's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment when asked if U.S. sanctions would affect the agreement between the Myanmar ministry and the DCI Group. The formation of an interim government signals no change to the status quo in Myanmar, with Min Aung Hlaing holding on to all major levers of power as acting president while retaining his position as chief of the armed forces. He has appeared eager to engage with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration after years of isolation. When Trump threatened new tariffs on Myanmar's U.S.-bound exports this month as part of his global trade offensive, he did so in a signed letter addressed personally to Min Aung Hlaing. The general responded by lavishing praise on Trump for his "strong leadership" while asking for lower rates and the lifting of sanctions. He said he was ready to send a negotiating team to Washington, if needed. "TRADE, NATURAL RESOURCES" According to the FARA filing, the DCI Group "shall provide public affairs services to (the) client with respect to rebuilding relations between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the United States, with a focus on trade, natural resources, and humanitarian relief." The filing was signed on August 1 by DCI managing partner Justin Peterson, who served in the previous Trump administration, and another managing partner, Brian McCabe. Reuters reported last year that the FBI has been investigating the DCI Group over its alleged role in a hack-and-leak operation that targeted hundreds of its client Exxon Mobil's biggest critics. The DCI Group has said the allegations that it commissioned the hacking operation were false and that it directs all of its employees and consultants to comply with the law. In 2008, two top aides to then Republican presidential nominee John McCain resigned after work they did with the DCI Group for a previous military junta in Myanmar came to light. Jim Murphy, a former DCI president and managing partner, served as Trump's national political director during his 2016 campaign. Myanmar's state media reported on Thursday that Myint Swe, who became Myanmar's president during the 2021 coup that saw the arrest of incumbent Win Myint and Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, had died in hospital earlier in the day. Myint Swe, a 74-year-old former general, was placed on medical leave in July last year, with his duties passed to Min Aung Hlaing. Engaging the junta would be a sharp departure for the United States, given U.S. sanctions on the military leaders and the violence committed against the Rohingya minority that Washington calls genocide and crimes against humanity. Last month, the Trump administration lifted sanctions designations on several junta allies , opens new tab, but U.S. officials said this did not indicate any broader shift in U.S. policy toward Myanmar and was unrelated to the general's letter. Last week Reuters reported that the administration had heard competing proposals on ways to divert Myanmar's vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, although nothing had been decided upon amid major logistical and geopolitical obstacles. Securing supplies of so-called heavy rare earths, used in high-tech weaponry, is a major focus of the administration in its competition with China, which is responsible for nearly 90% of global processing capacity. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/myanmar-signs-deal-with-washington-lobbyists-rebuild-us-relations-2025-08-08/