2025-06-03 23:24
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. federal prosecutors have accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen that had the potential to be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon into the United States for research. The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday identified the pathogen as Fusarium graminearum, a fungus it said was classified in scientific literature as a potential agroterrorism weapon. In a statement it said that the fungus causes "head blight" in some crops and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses globally each year. Sign up here. According to an FBI criminal complaint, Zunyong Liu, 34, a researcher currently in China, brought the fungus into the United States while visiting his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, 33, in July 2024. He admitted to smuggling in the fungus so he could conduct research on it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend worked, according to the complaint. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the complaint, an examination of electronic communications between the two indicated that they discussed shipping biological materials and research being done in the laboratory prior to Liu's arrival. Jian and Liu were accused in the complaint of conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements and visa fraud. Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said the pair's actions "posed an imminent threat to public safety." Jian was expected to appear in court in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday. A judge appointed a public defender, who could not be immediately reached for comment, to represent Jian. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/justice-department-accuses-two-chinese-researchers-smuggling-potential-2025-06-03/
2025-06-03 23:06
Transport plans approved for north, central, southwest England Decision comes ahead of multi-year spending review on June 11 Reeves says she has rejected other spending due to budget limits MANCHESTER, England, June 4 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves committed 15.6 billion pounds ($21.1 billion) on Wednesday towards transport projects in cities outside London that have long suffered from underinvestment. In a speech in Rochdale, northwest England, Reeves announced the first investment commitments from her June 11 Spending Review, which will set budgets for government departments until 2029. Sign up here. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government, which suffered heavy defeats in local elections this year, is under pressure to show it is delivering improvements to public services and infrastructure. British cities outside the capital suffer a bigger shortfall in productivity compared with their counterparts in other countries, with outdated and limited transport links identified by organisations like the OECD as a key factor. "A Britain that is better off cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country," Reeves said. She added that a previous focus on prioritising public infrastructure investment in areas that would deliver the most reliable financial returns had led to growth being supported in too few places and had created large gaps between regions. Most of the 15.6 billion pounds of investment was earmarked by the previous Conservative government, which cancelled part of a high-speed north-south rail line and promised to reallocate the cash to local projects. However, many city regions have been left waiting for a go-ahead from central government. TOUGH CHOICES Wednesday's announcement represents a budget commitment to fund transport projects between 2027/28 and 2031/32. They include investments in local public transport in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, northeast England and South Yorkshire, as well as a first mass transit system for West Yorkshire - an urban region of 2.3 million people. Britain has held periodic government spending reviews since 1998, but this is the first since 2015 to cover multiple years, other than one in 2021 focused on the COVID pandemic. The non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies said this review could be "one of the most significant domestic policy events" for the Labour government, with tough choices between healthcare, defence and other areas of spending. Amid reports of tensions within the government, Reeves said she had turned down promising proposals from her ministerial colleagues due to budget constraints. "There are good things I have had to say 'no' to. The reason for that is because it is important to have control of the public finances," Reeves said. Police spending would increase, she added, without giving details. ($1 = 0.7398 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-reeves-okays-21-billion-transport-projects-outside-london-2025-06-03/
2025-06-03 22:56
Dow up 0.51%, S&P 500 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.81% Dollar General rises on annual sales target growth Pinterest rallies after JPMorgan upgrades stock Shares of Wells Fargo trade higher after asset cap lifted US job openings rise to 7.391 million in April NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, helped by gains in Nvidia and other chipmakers, as investors awaited possible negotiations between the United States and its trading partners for more clarity on Washington's tariff plans. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to speak this week, the White House said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating a Geneva agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. Beijing said it would safeguard its interests and that the accusation was groundless. Sign up here. The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters. "The most important thing for investors is that the administration wasn't going to impose those much-larger-than-expected tariffs and just leave them on, which would have almost certainly led to a recession," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer at Northlight Asset Management. "The fact that the U.S. is actively engaged with so many trading partners – China, the UK, Japan, the EU, etc. – has investors feeling more optimistic that we will avoid a recession." In May, a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance allowed a recovery in risky assets, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) , opens new tab posting their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 214.16 points, or 0.51%, to 42,519.64, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 34.43 points, or 0.58%, to 5,970.37 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 156.34 points, or 0.81%, to 19,398.96. Information technology stocks (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab rose 1.5%, boosted by 2.9% gains in Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab. Chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab hit a fresh record high after the company said it has begun to ship its latest networking chip that aims to speed AI. It rose 3.2% "Commentary that Trump and Xi will speak started getting discussed yesterday and chips are likely a topic on the table," said Angelo Zino, a senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. "Given Nvidia is essentially currently locked out of China, any discussion is prone to favor Nvidia and chips rather than hurt the story." A U.S. Labor Department report showed job openings increased in April, but layoffs picked up, signaling a slowing labor market as tariffs impact the economic outlook. Factory orders dropped sharply in April, as the boost from front-loading of purchases ahead of tariffs faded. Data from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau showed a 3.7% fall, after an unrevised 3.4% jump in March. Monthly jobs data on Friday will offer more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the world's biggest economy. Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC.N) , opens new tab were trading higher in post market trading after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that the bank will no longer have to operate under a $1.95 trillion asset cap the regulator imposed on the bank in 2018 following its long-running sales practices scandal. Wells Fargo shares ended the day 1.2% higher, but were trading 2% higher after the bell. Shares of Kenvue (KVUE.N) , opens new tab dropped 6%, leading declines on the benchmark S&P 500 index. The company, which makes consumer health products, said at a Deutsche Bank conference that retailers in the U.S. and China are destocking products due to uncertainty over tariffs. Dollar General (DG.N) , opens new tab surged 15.8% as the discount retailer raised its annual sales forecast after surpassing quarterly sales expectations. Shares of image-sharing platform Pinterest (PINS.N) , opens new tab rose 3.8% after JPMorgan raised the stock to overweight from neutral. Shares of Reddit (RDDT.N) , opens new tab fell 1.1% after the social media platform was down for over 29,000 users on Tuesday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 15.69 billion shares, compared with the 17.8 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.32-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 171 new highs and 53 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.07-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 99 new highs and 60 new lows. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-dip-investors-await-trade-negotiations-2025-06-03/
2025-06-03 22:31
June 3 (Reuters) - NYSE Arca on Tuesday submitted a filing to the U.S. markets regulator seeking regulatory approval to list the Truth Social Bitcoin ETF. Spot bitcoin ETFs have gained popularity since their January 2024 debut, drawing billions in inflows as investors seek regulated, liquid exposure to the cryptocurrency. Sign up here. In February, the Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O) , opens new tab applied to trademark six investment products that track bitcoin and the U.S. manufacturing and energy sectors. U.S. President Donald Trump is the majority owner of TMTG, which runs the social media platform Truth Social. The filing, known as a Form 19b-4, is a requirement that organizations such as stock exchanges submit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to propose a rule change or to list a new product. It's a key procedural step before an exchange can begin listing and trading a new fund or instrument. The fund will seek to reflect the performance of bitcoin and has been "designed to remove the obstacles represented by the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in bitcoin." Bitcoin has gained 12.7% so far this year and is trading above $105,000. https://www.reuters.com/business/nyse-arca-submits-filing-listing-truth-social-bitcoin-etf-2025-06-03/
2025-06-03 22:20
Macron, Meloni differences flared over Ukraine coalition Italy, France tension on politics, diplomacy, business Leaders also discussed Libya, Middle East, joint statement says PARIS/ROME, June 3 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to work jointly for a stronger Europe as they met on Tuesday following bilateral tensions over Ukraine, trade and relations with the United States. Their three-hour summit in Rome aimed to ease relations after hostility flared publicly in recent weeks, with officials close to Macron and Meloni privately or openly criticising their respective initiatives. Sign up here. "The meeting highlighted strong convergences on the European agenda for competitiveness and prosperity, to be implemented ambitiously and swiftly," the leaders said in a joint statement, adding they agreed "on the necessary conditions for European companies to compete on an equal footing". "This also applies to sectors in transition, such as the automotive and steel industries, which require strong European commitment, as well as to more advanced sectors like artificial intelligence, decarbonised renewable energy sources such as nuclear, and space," they said. Meloni, a nationalist leading a country with a large trade surplus with the U.S., has sought to keep Europe aligned with the U.S., using the slogan "Make the West great again" in a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington in April, and urging caution on retaliatory responses to tariffs. Macron, a fervent pro-European and a centrist, has pushed for the EU to take a more independent approach. On the Russian war in Ukraine, Meloni has been sceptical about Macron's "coalition of the willing" and a Franco-British plan put forward earlier this year to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. Sending troops would be deeply unpopular in Italy. In the statement, the two leaders said their "unwavering and unhesitating" support for Ukraine was needed more than ever to arrive to a fair and lasting end to the war, and called for "an ambitious change in scale" for European defence capacities. Meloni was criticised in Italy for not travelling to Kyiv with Macron and the German, British and Polish leaders on May 10 and then for missing a call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit in Albania a few days later. French and Italian officials said Macron had taken the initiative to hold Tuesday's meeting and sought to play down talk of a rift, saying the meeting and a working dinner would be an opportunity for Macron to show "respect" and "friendship". Both Italy and France are worried Russia might boost its presence in eastern Libya, to keep a foothold in the Mediterranean after Moscow's ally, President Bashar al-Assad, was ousted in Syria in December. "The meeting also provided an opportunity to address other significant security issues for Europe, particularly in the Middle East and Libya," the Italo-French statement said, without elaborating. Meloni and Macron agreed that a new bilateral summit would take place in France in early 2026. https://www.reuters.com/world/macron-visit-meloni-after-rivalry-creates-tension-ukraine-trade-2025-06-03/
2025-06-03 22:04
SAO PAULO, June 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira met with officials from oil regulator ANP and state-run firm PPSA on Tuesday to discuss measures aiming at increasing government revenue in the oil and gas sector, his ministry said. In a statement, the ministry said that the measures, which included new auctions, regulatory adjustments and changes in the model of oil sales by Brazil, would have the potential to increase revenue by about 35 billion reais ($6.21 billion) in the next two years. Sign up here. ($1 = 5.6387 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazils-energy-ministry-says-it-is-discussing-measures-increase-government-2025-06-03/
