2025-09-23 20:46
This is a breaking news story. Full coverage will be available soon. Us judge inclined to receive additional briefings about recommended bid for citgo parent through oct 15, final oral arguments set for oct 20-21, court filing Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-inclined-receive-additional-briefings-about-recommended-bid-citgo-2025-09-23/
2025-09-23 20:46
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has placed on leave a team of federal economists and researchers responsible for the government's main survey on food insecurity, the union representing some of the workers said on Tuesday. About a dozen employees, all involved with economic research at the USDA, were put on leave, said Laura Dodson, a chapter vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees union. Sign up here. President Donald Trump's administration said over the weekend it has canceled the USDA's annual food insecurity survey, ending a decades-long effort to track how many Americans struggle to access enough food. Anti-hunger advocates say the USDA's decision to end its annual food insecurity survey will make it harder to measure the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to nutrition programs such as food stamps. About 13.5% of U.S. households were food-insecure at some point in 2023, the most recent USDA report says. When asked about the food researchers put on leave, the USDA said, without elaborating, that some employees made "unauthorized disclosure of non-public information." The union said the department offered no clarification on its claims. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-department-agriculture-puts-some-food-researchers-leave-2025-09-23/
2025-09-23 20:42
ICAO triennial assembly runs from September 23 to October 3 Assembly navigating geopolitical tensions with Russia, North Korea Russia seeking ICAO council chair after losing seat in 2022 Sept 23 (Reuters) - A global gathering of aviation leaders that kicked off on Tuesday in Montreal faced U.S. criticism over its green focus, even as delegates confront high tech threats, pollution from rising numbers of flights and labor shortages. Technology is easing global aviation but remains vulnerable , opens new tab to attacks, with some of Europe's biggest airports still facing disruptions on Monday after hackers knocked out automated check-in systems. Sign up here. The United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization warned that a global system now serving about 4.6 billion passengers a year needs work if it is to accommodate nearly triple that number by 2050. "A system currently built to serve 4.6 billion passengers will not accommodate three times that number, unless we ensure its transformation," ICAO council President Salvatore Sciacchitano said. Several delegates at ICAO's triennial assembly, which runs through October 3, defended its environmental goals, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged the agency to focus on aviation safety and security instead. The agency, created in 1944 to manage the skies with a consensus-driven approach, is facing geopolitical tensions. Its 36-state governing council has weighed in on Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and actions by North Korea, reproaching them for disturbances to critical satellite navigation systems that violated international rules on aviation. "You know even during the Cold War era, after the USSR joined ICAO, there was cooperation in this very particular technical field that was not taking place outside," said Vincent Correia, co-director of McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law in Montreal. "I tend to be optimistic, but ... I know as well that the tensions are very, very high at the moment." In a working paper, North Korea accused ICAO's council of a double standard for not taking action against South Korea for alleged military drone infiltration of its skies. Moscow said the Russian delegation will work on promoting the country's bid for membership on council after losing its seat during the last assembly in 2022. Reuters reported on Monday that Russia is also calling for an easing of aviation-related boycotts. Countries and carriers will also be under pressure to make advances on reducing pollution from flight, with airline trade group IATA acknowledging that the industry will not hit a target of reducing emissions by 5% in 2030. "It is clear that there are some airlines who struggle to see how we can afford the transition to net zero," IATA Director General Willie Walsh told reporters last week. Walsh said , opens new tab carriers were still committed to reducing pollution. Aviation is facing a staffing shortage as travel has spiked since the end of the pandemic, with India asking for a hiring code of conduct to avoid its pilots being poached. Global passenger traffic is projected to grow to 7.2 billion by 2035, compared with 4.6 billion travelers in 2024. An additional 670,000 pilots alone will be needed by 2043, ICAO estimates. Brazil, whose travel sector is expected to grow 10% a year, is trying to attract and retain more women and minorities as it is already short on mechanics and fears a bigger shortfall looming. "Fifty-one percent of our population are women and only 3% of our pilots are women," said Tiago Faierstein, the recently appointed president of Brazilian civil aviation regulator ANAC. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/un-aviation-gathering-opens-under-shadow-cyberattacks-geopolitical-tensions-2025-09-23/
2025-09-23 20:40
Tail-risk hedge fund Universa sees stocks surging further before 1929-like crash Delayed effects of rate hikes will cause downturn but process may take time NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Market euphoria could carry U.S. stocks another 20% higher before giving way to a collapse on the scale of the 1929 crash that ushered in a global recession, according to tail-risk hedge fund Universa Investments. The benchmark S&P 500 has gained about 13% this year, hitting a fresh record high on Monday after the Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates for the first time since December. Sign up here. The central bank has indicated more cuts are likely as it tries to counterbalance a weakening labor market, which could add to and broaden Wall Street's rally. For Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer and founder of Universa, stocks may rise roughly another 20% from current levels, driving the S&P 500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab - which was last at about 6,653 points - to over 8,000 points. However, he warns that this ascent is likely to be followed by a historic crash as the U.S. economy is expected to buckle under the burden of still high borrowing costs. "I do expect an 80% crash ... but only after a massive, euphoric, historic blow off rally," said Spitznagel in an interview. "I would argue we're in the middle of that (rally) right now, not at the end of it." Miami-headquartered Universa is a $20 billion hedge fund that specializes in protecting against “black swan” shocks - rare, high-impact events that jolt markets - using financial instruments such as credit default swaps, stock options, and other derivatives that gain value during extreme market dislocations. Its average return on capital since its founding in 2007 is over 100%. Investors use such tail-risk funds as insurance, as they carry small costs that drag on performance until disaster hits and the payoff is massive. Universa proved the point in 2020, emerging as one of the big winners amid the market chaos unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Universa is the most bearish expression of the market there is, and clients use us to be longer the market ... which is paradoxical," said Spitznagel, adding he remains bullish for the time being. Spitznagel had said last year investors should seize the “goldilocks” moment for markets caused by expectations that the Fed could tame inflation without hurting the economy, and predicted that euphoria would build further before giving way to a crash. He also said in a separate interview later last year, when the Fed started easing monetary policy, that a U.S. recession was imminent. While the economy has held up well since then, Spitznagel argues it is still propped up by the excesses of ultra-loose monetary policy since 2008, and that the full impact of sharply higher rates that followed the pandemic has yet to be felt. "We're going to see the consequences of that ... it takes time," he said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/us-stocks-may-surge-another-20-before-historic-crash-says-black-swan-fund-2025-09-23/
2025-09-23 20:39
Sept 23 (Reuters) - Crypto giant Tether is in talks to raise as much as $20 billion in a private placement that could value the El Salvador-based firm at about $500 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The company is seeking $15 billion to $20 billion for roughly a 3% stake, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Sign up here. Still, the figures were top-end targets and eventual numbers could end up significantly lower, with the valuation of the company depending on the stake offered, the report added. Tether's chief executive, Paolo Ardoino, said in a post on X that the company is evaluating a raise from a selected group of high-profile key investors, without disclosing any further details. Tether's USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, has a market capitalization of about $173 billion, according to data from CoinGecko. Tether has solidified its position as a dominant player in the stablecoin market, offering cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional currencies to minimize price volatility and enable seamless transactions between digital assets. In August, the firm appointed former White House crypto policy executive Bo Hines as a strategic adviser to bolster its expansion in the United States, where crypto companies have benefited from President Donald Trump's favorable stance on digital currencies. The company recently unveiled plans to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin, called USAT, designed for U.S. residents. Rival stablecoin firm Circle (CRCL.N) , opens new tab went public in the United States through a blockbuster IPO in June. https://www.reuters.com/business/crypto-firm-tether-eyes-500-billion-valuation-major-raise-round-bloomberg-news-2025-09-23/
2025-09-23 20:37
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Edward Markey sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying he is concerned U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is working in the interest of nuclear power company Oklo (OKLO.N) , opens new tab, of which he used to be a board member. Markey, a Democrat, noted that the administration is moving ahead with plans to allow Oklo to build a nuclear waste reprocessing plant and transfer government-held plutonium from nuclear weapons to use as fuel in planned reactor projects. Sign up here. "Oklo stands to benefit financially and Secretary Wright is acting in his former company's interest," Markey said. The White House referred a request for comment to the Energy Department, which said Wright, who resigned from Oklo's board when he became energy secretary, is compliant with all ethics and financial disclosure requirements. Wright has never owned Oklo stock, it said. Oklo had no comment. Oklo said this month it plans to build and operate a plant in Tennessee to reprocess nuclear waste as the first phase of a nuclear fuel center costing up to $1.68 billion. Reuters reported in August the government plans to make available 20 metric tons of plutonium to nuclear companies. Oklo has not said it wants to use the plutonium and the department has not announced plans on the material. But an Energy Department source said Oklo has been in touch with the agency about using the radioactive metal and that top energy officials were having conversations with the company about it. Markey asked Trump questions about Wright's connection to decision-making and the Republican secretary's financial interest in Oklo. Trump in May ordered the government to halt much of its existing program to dispose of plutonium, and instead provide it as a fuel for reactors. The idea of using surplus plutonium as fuel and extracting it from nuclear waste has concerned nuclear safety experts who say it could increase risks of proliferation and make it hard for the U.S. to tell other countries not to pursue similar technologies. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-senator-says-he-is-concerned-energy-secretary-acting-nuclear-firms-interest-2025-09-23/
