- “Gaza Is Being Strangled”: UNRWA Calls for Immediate Ceasefire as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens Democracy Now!
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Adani loses Asia’s richest crown as stock rout deepens to $84 billion
BENGALURU, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Shares in Indian tycoon Gautam Adani’s conglomerate plunged again on Wednesday as a rout in his companies deepened to $84 billion in the wake of a U.S. short-seller report, with the billionaire also losing his title as Asia’s richest person.
Wednesday’s stock losses saw Adani slip to 15th on Forbes rich list with an estimated net worth of $76.8 billion, below rival Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) who ranks ninth with a net worth of $83.6 billion.
Before the critical report by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg, Adani had ranked third.
The losses mark a dramatic setback for Adani, the school-dropout-turned-billionaire whose business interests stretch from ports and airports to mining and cement. Now, the tycoon is fighting to stabilise his businesses and defend his reputation.
It comes just a day after the group managed to muster support from investors for a $2.5 billion share sale for flagship firm Adani Enterprises on Tuesday, in what some saw as a stamp of investor confidence.
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The report by Hindenburg Research last week alleged improper use by the Adani Group of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. It also raised concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.
The group has denied the allegations, saying the short-seller’s narrative of stock manipulation has “no basis” and stems from an ignorance of Indian law. It has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures, it added.
Shares in Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), often described as the incubator of Adani businesses, plunged 30% on Wednesday. Adani Power (ADAN.NS) fell 5%, while Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) slumped 10%, down by its daily price limit.
Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) was down 6% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) dropped 20%.
Adani Total Gas, a joint venture with France’s Total (TTEF.PA), has been the biggest casualty of the short seller report, losing about $27 billion.
“There was a slight bounce yesterday after the share sale went through, after seeming improbable at a point, but now the weak market sentiment has become visible again after the bombshell Hindenburg report,” said Ambareesh Baliga, a Mumbai-based independent market analyst.
“With the stocks down despite Adani’s rebuttal, it clearly shows some damage on investor sentiment. It will take a while to stabilise,” Baliga added.
SCRUTINY
Underscoring the nervousness in some quarters, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) had stopped accepting bonds of Adani group companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients.
Deven Choksey, managing director of KRChoksey Shares and Securities, said this was a big factor in Wednesday’s share slides.
Credit Suisse had no immediate comment.
Scrutiny of the conglomerate is stepping up, with an Australian regulator saying on Wednesday it would review Hindenburg’s allegations to see if further enquiries were warranted.
Data also showed that foreign investors sold a net $1.5 billion worth of Indian equities after the Hindenburg report – the biggest outflow over four consecutive days since Sept. 30.
Headaches for the Adani Group are expected to continue for some time.
India’s markets regulator, which has been looking into deals by the conglomerate, has said it will add Hindenburg’s report to its own preliminary investigation.
State-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) (LIFI.NS)said on Monday it would seek clarifications from Adani’s management on the short seller report. The insurance giant was, however, a key investor in the Adani Enterprises share sale.
Hindenburg said in its report it had shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.
Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru and Aditi Shah in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Bharath Rajeshwaran and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Fulham’s Carlos Vinícius deepens Potter’s Chelsea pain as Félix sees red | Premier League
In the minds of the optimists occupying the boardroom at Stamford Bridge, there will come a point when Chelsea will be able to look back on the night when they lost to Fulham for the first time in 17 years and laugh about the time their new signing from Atlético Madrid took it too far with his attempts to prove he was capable of handling the rough and tumble of English football.
Yet the problem with that theory, the one that involves west London’s third-best club being rewarded for allowing Graham Potter to lead them through this most awkward of transitions, is that it jars with the current reality. There is trusting the process and then there is the spectacle of Chelsea lying in 10th place.
This, even if allowances must be made for injuries, is lurching into crisis territory. By the end Chelsea had slipped six points behind Fulham and, while there were encouraging glimmers from João Félix before his debut ended in a rash red card, the fact is a squad assembled at such great expense should not be on a run of seven defeats in their last 10 games.
It is going to be a long road back for Potter. On the bright side, at least he could talk up some positives for Chelsea. There had been some flashes of the old defiance, typified by Kalidou Koulibaly lifting another rickety defensive display by smuggling in an equaliser just after half-time, and there were flashes of enterprising football.
To give Potter credit, it may well have turned out differently had Félix kept his cool instead of chopping down Kenny Tete when the game was locked at 1-1 after 58 minutes. But Chelsea lost, the 10 men cracking when Carlos Vinícius headed in the winner on 73 minutes. It was another soft concession, with Thiago Silva and Kepa Arrizabalaga both at fault, and Fulham could cherish rising into sixth place.
The gloating from Fulham’s fans, who cannot believe how well Marco Silva’s team have played since winning promotion, was tough to take. It is not supposed to be like this for Chelsea, although their demise is about more than whether it was right to replace Thomas Tuchel with Potter. After all, it was not Potter who signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who did not even make it off the bench when Chelsea were chasing a late point.
The balance is not right. Koulibaly has been a poor signing, while Marc Cucurella’s late cameo underlined why an 18-year-old, Lewis Hall, was chosen at left wing-back instead of the £62m Spaniard.
Chelsea made weird choices. Koulibaly’s attempts to play out from the back were risible and a dreadful error from Trevoh Chalobah led to Bobby Decordova-Reid pinging a shot against the bar. As for Fulham’s opener in the 25th minute, it came from Hall conceding possession to Reid in a dangerous position and Chalobah failing to clear his lines. The ball fell to Willian, who evaded César Azpilicueta and saw his fizzing shot beat Arrizabalaga thanks to a deflection off Chalobah.
Willian did not celebrate deepening his old side’s misery. The sight of the Brazilian running at Azpilicueta had stirred memories of better times for Chelsea, although at least there was some hope for the future. Potter’s 3-5-2 system gave the visitors control of midfield during the early stages, there was some welcome assertiveness from Kai Havertz after his dismal showing during the defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup and there were plenty of nice touches from Félix, who spent most of his time on the pitch floating around, dancing past defenders and creating chances.
A slender presence, Félix was not overawed by the physical challenge. The Portuguese forward is an expensive loan signing but he could be an inspired one. Félix was ready despite having had only one training session after his move from Atlético. His first involvement almost led to a goal for Hall and there was danger whenever he got on the ball.
The only disappointment is that Félix, who went close to scoring on several occasions, will be suspended for three games. His dismissal was the turning point. Chelsea had just cancelled out Willian’s goal. Hall had won a free-kick on the left, Mount had almost caught out Bernd Leno at his near post and Koulibaly had forced the ball over the line.
At that stage the momentum was with Chelsea. Fulham, who had needed Leno to deny Hall, were nervous. But nothing is going Chelsea’s way. Their injury list grew when Denis Zakaria, who was playing well in midfield, limped off. Félix’s brainless lunge soon followed.
Down to 10 men, Chelsea tried to stand firm, threatening when Havertz extended Leno. With 17 minutes left, though, Andreas Pereira’s cross flew over Silva and Arrizabalaga’s shoddy positioning was punished by Vinicius. The hardest job in football, as Potter had put it, had become even tougher.
Equity Selloff Deepens as Recession Fears Grow: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equity-index futures dropped with European stocks amid concern the resolve of central banks to continue their fight against inflation will tip the economy into a recession.
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Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fell at least 1.1% each after the underlying indexes posted their biggest declines since Nov. 2 on Thursday. Europe’s Stoxx 600 slid to a five-week low. The dollar erased a weekly loss and Treasuries dropped across the curve. Oil trimmed a weekly gain. Adobe Inc. rose in premarket New York trading after reporting better-than-estimated earnings.
An index of global stocks headed for a weekly slide as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank reaffirmed rates will go higher for longer until inflation fell back to their targets. While that belied market expectations for a lower peak rate and potential rate cuts in 2023, it also clouded the growth outlook. Economists now see a 60% probability of recession in the US and an 80% chance in Europe. Equity analysts have cut 12-month earnings estimates for the regions to the lowest levels since March and July, respectively.
“The worrying aspect for markets is the rate hike finishing lines are still unknown, and we have the two most dominant central banks in the world climbing the mountain into very restrictive territory,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a note. “Hiking interest rates into a dimming macro environment will undoubtedly trigger a recession. The question is just how profound.”
Read: Stocks Bulls Losing Support as $4 Trillion Options Set to Expire
Europe’s equity benchmark fell for a third day, dragged by growth-sensitive sectors such as real estate, technology and financial services. The benchmark of Asian equities posted the first weekly decline since October. The MSCI ACWI Index, the global equities gauge, headed for a 1.4% retreat this week.
Treasuries fell, with yield curves steepening. The two-year rate added 2 basis point, while the 10-year yield was 5 basis points higher. In Europe, both UK gilts and German bunds tumbled after ECB President Christine Lagarde delivered an unambiguously hawkish message, disabusing markets of any bets for a slowdown in rate hikes.
Ann-Katrin Petersen, senior investment strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, said on Bloomberg Television that central banks were starting to acknowledge they will have to crush growth and will likely engineer recessions to tame inflation.
Read: Torched Stock Traders Discover Some News Is Too Bad to Celebrate
Traders were also digesting poor US retail sales and manufacturing data, even as the labor market remained strong. Meanwhile, the dollar edged higher, building on Thursday’s gains.
Oil dropped on Friday, trimming the biggest weekly gain since early October on signs of tightening supply and the prospect for improved Chinese demand.
Adobe shares rose 4.2% in early New York trading after adjusted fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations. Analysts said the report underscored positive demand for creative design software despite economic uncertainties.
Key events this week:
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
-
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.1% as of 10:26 a.m. London time
-
Futures on the S&P 500 fell 1.3%
-
Futures on the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.1%
-
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2%
-
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7%
-
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.4%
Currencies
-
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
-
The euro was little changed at $1.0618
-
The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 137.12 per dollar
-
The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9852 per dollar
-
The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2157
Cryptocurrencies
-
Bitcoin fell 2.2% to $17,015.5
-
Ether fell 4.1% to $1,212.98
Bonds
-
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 3.50%
-
Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 12 basis points to 2.21%
-
Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 13 basis points to 3.37%
Commodities
-
Brent crude fell 2.6% to $79.11 a barrel
-
Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,780.05 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Tassia Sipahutar and Rob Verdonck.
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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Russia Launches New Drone Attacks as Partnership With Iran Deepens
Russia launched fresh attacks with Iranian-made drones early Saturday over Ukraine, where the country’s southern command said it shot down 10 of the unmanned aerial systems, an indication that Moscow has replenished its supply of the drones as the two countries move toward what the U.S. has called a full defense partnership.
Ukraine’s southern command said it shot down four Shahed-136 drones in the Kherson region, four more in the Mykolaiv region and two in the Odessa region.
Maksym Marchenko, the governor of Odessa, said the drones had attacked energy infrastructure and civilian housing overnight.
“There is no electricity in nearly any of our region’s districts and communities of our region. Energy workers are already working on restoring the damaged infrastructure,” he said.
Russia purchased hundreds of Iranian Shahed and Mohajer series drones over the summer, which Moscow has used to attack Ukraine’s front-line positions and civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian air defenses, however, adapted quickly, shooting the entire batch down over a series of months.
The reappearance of the UAVs on the battlefield this week shows that Russia has resupplied its stocks as the West sees greater defense cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.
Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power grid in an attempt to break civilians’ will.
Photo:
Andrew Kravchenko/Associated Press
The streets of Kyiv in darkness during one of the city’s periodic blackouts to conserve power.
Photo:
oleg petrasyuk/Shutterstock
The Biden administration warned Friday that military ties between Russia and Iran were expanding into “a full-fledged defense partnership” and said the two nations were considering establishing a joint production line to provide lethal drones in Russia.
The U.S. said it believed Iran was considering selling hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, and described the military relationship between the two nations as moving beyond simply Iran supplying drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
The U.K.’s Defense Ministry warned Saturday that the missiles would be used to buttress Russia’s dwindling supply following months of sustained large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, meant to freeze Ukrainians ahead as winter temperatures dip. Russia has highly likely expended a large proportion of its stock of its own SS-26 Iskander short-range ballistic missiles, which carry a 500 kilogram warhead up to 300 miles, the ministry said.
“If Russia succeeds in bringing a large number of Iranian ballistic missiles into service, it will likely use them to continue and expand its campaign of strikes against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure,” the ministry said on Twitter.
The worst of the strikes cut water supply in major cities and knocked out half of Ukraine’s power grid, forcing rolling blackouts across the country.
This week, Russian President
Vladimir Putin
admitted to targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure, despite previously repeatedly asserting that Russia’s forces don’t hit civilian targets. He vowed to continue the campaign.
A Ukrainian soldier takes a break from the front line near the Donbas city of Lyman.
Photo:
STRINGER/REUTERS
Fighting has increased around Donbas, which Ukrainian forces retook this fall.
Photo:
STRINGER/REUTERS
“There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighboring country,” Mr. Putin said. “Yes, we do that.”
Criticism of the strikes would “not interfere with our combat missions,” he said.
Russia’s deployment of drones in Ukraine’s south came as its forces are working to make incremental gains in the country’s eastern Donbas region, with much of the fighting concentrated around the city of Bakhmut. With much of Russia’s artillery ammunition running low, Russia has been forced to make gains on foot.
Russian troops have also boosted fighting around the Donbas city of Lyman, which Ukrainian forces took earlier this fall, causing large portions of the Russian front line to crumble.
The “Russian enemy suffered the greatest losses of the past day near Bakhmut and Lyman,” Ukraine’s general staff said in a statement.
Late Friday Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
held a meeting with officials from the Vatican City, following
Pope Francis
‘ increasingly harsh condemnation of the war. The pope has compared the suffering of Ukrainians to 20th century genocides.
Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com
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Confusion deepens over whether any of the 4 University of Idaho students were targeted in fatal stabbings
CNN
—
Detectives do not know whether one or more of the four University of Idaho students killed in their off-campus home last month were specifically targeted, police said Wednesday – in what may be their strongest departure yet from their earlier statements.
Police say they’re reacting specifically to information they say a prosecutor’s office released this week about the killings in the college town of Moscow: that “the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence,” and “that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted.”
That information released by the prosecutor’s office “was a miscommunication,” police said Wednesday.
“Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate,” the police statement reads.
Details about what the prosecutor’s office said this week weren’t immediately available. CNN has reached out to the Moscow police and the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office for clarification about Wednesday’s police statement.
Wednesday’s police statement also differs from statements police themselves have made earlier about whether the students were targeted.
The four students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 – were found stabbed to death November 13 in an off-campus Moscow home, upending a town that hadn’t recorded a single murder since 2015.
On November 15, Moscow police said they preliminarily “believe this was an isolated, targeted attack and there is no imminent threat to the community at large,” and that “evidence indicates that this was a targeted attack.”
Yet the following day, police backtracked some of that, saying they couldn’t actually say whether there was a threat to the public.
Still, as the investigation advanced, authorities publicly maintained investigators believed the killings were targeted, including during a November 20 police news conference.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are still working to determine who is responsible for the killings. At least 150 interviews have been conducted and more than 1,000 tips from the public have been received, police say.
No suspect has been identified and the murder weapon – believed to be a fixed-blade knife – has not been found. Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person may be involved in the stabbings.
Wednesday’s police statement came on a day the campus community gathered to pay their respects for the slain students.
The university community gathered at the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center – also known as the Kibbie Dome – to honor the lives of the four students. School officials and three of the four families spoke about how the four would be missed after their sudden deaths.
“The circumstances that bring us here tonight – they’re terrible,” said Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin. “The hardest part – we cannot change the outcome.”
Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were friends since 6th grade, Steve Goncalves said.
“They just found each other, and every day they did homework together, they came to our house together, they shared everything,” he said. “In the end, they died together, in the same room in the same bed.”
“When I look at all of you guys, there’s only one way for this to get a little better, to heal a little bit … you are just going to have to love each other,” Goncalves added.
Ben Mogen, the father of Madison Mogen, shared memories of her love for live music, her hard work ethic and how meaningful it was to him that she was able to experience love with her boyfriend.
While it’s unclear how long the investigation will take or “the why in this horrific act,” the community “will all go through this together,” said Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students.
He also encouraged everyone to “tell the fun stories, remember them in the good times and do not let their lives be defined by how they died, but instead remember them for the joy they spread and the fun times they shared while they lived.”
Eckles also reminded students of the different resources available to them, like counseling, and to share their feelings with those around them.
Since the discovery of the attack, investigators have built a timeline of the four students’ last known whereabouts.
On the night of the killings, Goncalves and Mogen were at a sports bar, and Chapin and Kernodle were seen at a fraternity party.
Investigators believe all four victims had returned to the home by 2 a.m. the night of the stabbings. Two surviving roommates had also gone out in Moscow that night, police said, and returned to the house by 1 a.m.
Police initially said Goncalves and Mogen returned to the home by 1:45 a.m., but they later updated the timeline, saying digital evidence showed the pair returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a food truck and being driven home by a “private party.”
The next morning, two surviving roommates “summoned friends to the residence because they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” police said in a release. Somebody called 911 from the house at 11:58 a.m. using one of the surviving roommates’ phones.
When police arrived, they found two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor. There was no sign of forced entry or damage, police said.
Investigators do not believe the two surviving roommates were involved in the deaths.
A coroner determined the four victims were each stabbed multiple times and were likely asleep when the attacks began. Some of the students had defensive wounds, according to the Latah County coroner.
Pakistan Names New Army Chief As Strife With Imran Khan Deepens
Asim Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed General Asim Munir as Pakistan’s next army chief, a move that could further deepen the nation’s political crisis and exacerbate former premier Imran Khan’s high-stakes clash with the powerful military.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced the appointment on Twitter. Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa, whose six-year term ends Nov. 29.
The appointment has been sent for approval to President Arif Alvi, who belongs to Khan’s party, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters. Asif said he doesn’t expect any delays and the president’s approval would come later Thursday.
However, the new appointment is likely to be a setback for Khan, who had removed Munir as chief of the military’s elite spy wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence, within eight months of his appointment. Khan replaced him with an officer considered close to him.
Munir is currently serving at the army headquarters as quartermaster general, overseeing supplies for all military units. Apart from the ISI, he has also led the military intelligence department. He has served under Bajwa’s direct command in the often-troubled northern areas that border Afghanistan, China and India.
The appointment of Pakistan’s army chief is watched keenly because the institution wields outsized influence over the country’s politics — particularly its foreign and defense policies. The army has also directly ruled the nuclear-armed nation for about half of its history since its creation in 1947.
This time the announcement has garnered even more attention as tensions between the military and Khan have soared. The former leader has blamed Sharif of colluding with the US to manipulate his exit from office through a no-confidence vote in April. Meanwhile, Khan accused the army of not doing enough to save his government. It’s a charge all three have denied.
The former cricket star has also named Sharif and a powerful general from the military’s spy wing of being responsible for a shooting attack earlier this month that left him wounded in the leg.
Khan has been leading his supporters in large rallies and marches demanding Sharif hold snap elections — which he is confident of winning after the success he’s seen in recent by-elections. He’s also said earlier that the new army chief should be named by the new government — giving him a chance at making the crucial appointment.
The new chief and the core military leadership “will likely be struggling to manage Khan’s populism and popularity because it could return him to power in the 2023 elections next year,” according to Kamran Bokhari, director analytical development at the Washington-based New Lines Institution for Strategic & Policy.
The markets reacted cautiously to the announcement. The KSE-100 Index gained as much as 0.3% to 42,994.2. Pakistan’s 7.375% 2031 dollar bond was indicated up 0.2 cents to trade at 32.6 cents on the dollar while the rupee traded steady.
Investors are a little concerned about potential delays in the appointment getting the president’s approval, said Adnan Khan, head of international sales at Intermarket Securities Ltd., in Karachi.
Khan’s attempts to control military promotions have been at the root of Pakistan’s recent political tensions. Late last year, he publicly opposed Bajwa’s choice to lead the nation’s spy agency, voicing support for one of his own allies to stay in the role. The army chief eventually got his way, but the incident sowed the seeds for Khan’s ouster roughly six months later.
The new military leader will also have to deal with a revived debate on the role of the institution in nation with a history of civilian rulers being overthrown by the army.
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Russia deepens Europe’s energy squeeze with new gas halt
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FRANKFURT/LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Russia halted gas supplies via Europe’s key supply route on Wednesday, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region’s richest countries.
European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine and have accused Russia of using energy supplies as a “weapon of war”. Moscow denies doing this and has cited technical reasons for supply cuts.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer Germany, will be out for maintenance from 0100 GMT on Aug. 31 to 0100 GMT on Sept. 3. read more
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The president of the German network regulator said that Germany would be able to cope with the three-day outage as long as flows resumed on Saturday.
“I assume that we will be able to cope with it,” Klaus Mueller told Reuters TV in an interview. “I trust that Russia will return to at least 20% from Saturday, but no one can really say.”
Further restrictions to European gas supplies would deepen an energy crunch that has already triggered a 400% surge in wholesale gas prices since last August, squeezing consumers and businesses and forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden. read more
In Germany, inflation soared to its highest in almost 50 years in August and consumer sentiment soured as households brace for a spike in energy bills. read more
LOWER SUPPLIES
Unlike last month’s 10-day maintenance for Nord Stream 1, the latest work was announced less than two weeks in advance and is being carried out by Gazprom rather than its operator.
Moscow, which slashed supply via the pipeline to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in July, blames maintenance issues and sanctions it says prevent the return and installation of equipment.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia remained committed to its gas supply obligations, but was unable to fulfil them due to the sanctions, according to the Interfax news agency.
Gazprom said the latest shutdown was needed to perform maintenance on the pipeline’s only remaining compressor at the Portovaya station in Russia, saying the work would be carried out jointly with Siemens specialists.
Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), which has carried out maintenance work on compressors and turbines at the station in the past, said on Wednesday it was not involved in the maintenance but stood ready to advise Gazprom if needed. read more
Russia has also stopped supplying Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland, and reduced flows via other pipelines since launching what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. read more
Gazprom said on Tuesday it would also suspend gas deliveries to its French contractor because of a payments dispute, which France’s energy minister called an excuse, but added that the country had anticipated the loss of supply. read more
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on a mission to replace Russian gas imports by mid-2024, earlier this month said Nord Stream 1 was “fully operational” and there were no technical issues as claimed by Moscow.
‘ELEMENT OF SURPRISE’
The reduced flows via Nord Stream have complicated efforts across Europe to save enough gas to make it through the winter months, when governments fear Russia may halt flows altogether.
“It is something of a miracle that gas filling levels in Germany have continued to rise nonetheless,” Commerzbank analysts wrote, noting the country has so far managed to buy enough at higher prices elsewhere.
In the meantime, some Europeans are voluntarily cutting their energy consumption, including limiting their use of electrical appliances and showering at work to save money while companies are bracing for possible rationing. read more
With storage tanks filled in 83.65%, Germany is already close to its 85% target set for Oct. 1, but it has warned reaching 95% by Nov. 1 would be a stretch unless companies and households slash consumption.
European Union as a whole reached 80.17% of its storage capacity, already ahead of the 80% target set for Oct. 1, when the continent’s heating season starts.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said their base scenario was that the latest Nord Stream 1 outage would not be extended.
“If it did, there would be no more element of surprise and reduced revenues, while low flows and the occasional drop to zero have the potential to keep market volatility and political pressure on Europe higher,” they said.
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Reporting Nina Chestney and Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Bharat Govind Gautam and Eileen Soreng; Editing by Veronica Brown, Carmel Crimmins, Lincoln Feast and Tomasz Janowski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Trump’s bond with GOP deepens after primary wins, FBI search
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment.
In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, a fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump’s election lies upset the state GOP’s endorsed candidate. Meanwhile in Washington, Republicans ranging from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended Trump against an unprecedented FBI search.
And that was just this week.
The rapid developments crystalized the former president’s singular status atop a party he has spent the past seven years breaking down and rebuilding in his image. Facing mounting legal vulnerabilities and considering another presidential run, he needs support from the party to maintain his political career. But, whether they like it or not, many in the party also need Trump, whose endorsement has proven crucial for those seeking to advance to the November ballot.
“For a pretty good stretch, it felt like the Trump movement was losing more ground than it was gaining,” said Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who is urging his party to move past Trump. But now, he said, Trump is benefiting from “an incredibly swift tail wind.”
The Republican response to the FBI’s search of Trump’s Florida estate this week was an especially stark example of how the party is keeping Trump nearby. Some of the Republicans considering challenges to Trump in a 2024 presidential primary, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were among those defending him. Even long-established Trump critics like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan questioned the search, pressing for details about its circumstances.
But even before the FBI showed up at Mar-a-Lago, Trump was gaining momentum in his post-presidential effort to shape the GOP. In all, nearly 180 Trump-endorsed candidates up and down the ballot have won their primaries since May while fewer than 20 have lost.
Only two of the 10 House Republicans who supported Trump’s impeachment after the Jan. 6 insurrection are expected back in Congress next year. Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R-Wash., who conceded defeat after her Tuesday primary, was the latest to fall. Leading Trump antagonist Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is at risk of joining her next week.
The Trump victories include a clean sweep of statewide primary elections in Arizona last week — including an election denier in the race for the state’s chief elections official. Trump’s allies also prevailed Tuesday across Wisconsin and Connecticut, a state long known for its moderate Republican leanings.
In Wisconsin’s Republican primary for governor, wealthy Trump-backed businessman Tim Michels defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, an establishment favorite. And in Connecticut, Leora Levy, who promoted Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, surged to an unexpected victory over a more moderate rival after earning Trump’s official endorsement.
On Monday, just hours after the FBI search, Trump hosted a tele-town hall rally on her behalf. Levy thanked Trump in her acceptance speech, while railing against the FBI’s search.
“All of us can tell him how upset and offended and disgusted we were at what happened to him,” she said. “That is un-American. That is what they do in Cuba, in China, in dictatorships. And that will stop.”
Despite his recent dominance, Trump — and the Republicans close to him — face political and legal threats that could undermine their momentum as the GOP fights for control of Congress and statehouses across the nation this fall.
While Trump’s picks have notched notable victories in primaries this summer, they may struggle in the fall. That’s especially true in several governor’s races in Democratic-leaning states such as Connecticut and Maryland, where GOP candidates must track to the center to win a general election.
Meanwhile, several Republicans with White House ambitions are moving forward with a busy travel schedule that will take them to politically important states where they can back candidates on the ballot this year and build relationships heading into 2024.
DeSantis plans to boost high-profile Republican contenders across Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Former Vice President Mike Pence, another potential 2024 presidential contender, is scheduled to appear next week in New Hampshire.
On the legal front, the FBI search was part of an investigation into whether the former president took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence. While Republicans have rallied behind Trump, very few facts about the case have been released publicly. Trump’s attorneys have so far declined to release details from the search warrant.
Prosecutors in Washington and Georgia are also investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election he falsely claimed was stolen. The Jan. 6 congressional commission has exposed damning details about Trump’s behavior from Republican witnesses in recent hearings, which have prompted new concerns, at least privately, among the GOP establishment and donor class.
And on Wednesday, Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he testified under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general’s long-running civil investigation into his business dealings.
Trump’s legal entanglements represent a distraction at best for Republican candidates who’d rather focus on President Joe Biden’s leadership, sky-high inflation and immigration troubles to help court moderate voters and independents in the general election.
“Today, every Republican in every state in this country should be talking about how bad Joe Biden is, how bad inflation is, how difficult it is to run a business and run a household,” said Duncan, the Georgia lieutenant governor. “But instead, we’re talking about some investigation, we’re talking about Donald Trump pleading the Fifth, we’re talking about Donald Trump endorsing some conspiracy theorist.”
Trump critics in both parties are ready and willing to highlight Trump’s shortcomings — and his relationship with midterm candidates — as more voters begin to pay attention to politics this fall.
“This is, and always has been, Donald Trump’s Republican Party,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in an interview, condemning “MAGA Republicans” and their “extreme agenda” on abortion and other issues.
At the same time, the Republican Accountability Project and Protect Democracy launched a $3 million television and digital advertising campaign this week across seven swing states focused on Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The ads, which will run in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, feature testimonials from Republican voters who condemn Trump’s lies about nonexistent election fraud that fueled the Capitol attack.
One ad features congressional testimony from Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has publicly declared that Trump should never hold public office again.
Still, Cheney faces her own primary election against a Trump-backed challenger next week in Wyoming. One of Trump’s top political targets this year, she is expected to lose. Anticipating a loss, Cheney’s allies suggest she may be better positioned to run for president in 2024, either as a Republican or independent.
Trump’s allies are supremely confident about his ability to win the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2024. In fact, aides who had initially pushed him to launch his campaign after the November midterms are now encouraging him to announce sooner to help freeze out would-be Republican challengers.
“It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to take the nomination away from him in 2024,” said Stephen Moore, a former Trump economic adviser who has spoken with Trump about his 2024 intentions. “He is running. That is a certainty.”
Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., predicted that Trump would “lose in a landslide” if he sought the presidency again, adding that the former president’s overall grasp on the party is “eroding on the edges.”
“In a normal election, you’ve got to win not just the base. You’ve got to win the middle, too, right, and maybe crossover on the other side,” said Rice, who lost his recent primary after voting in favor of Trump’s second impeachment.
Rice warned that Trump far-right candidates could lead to unnecessary losses for the party in November. “Donald Trump is pushing things so far to the right,” he said in an interview.
Meanwhile, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, eyeing a 2024 bid himself, warned against making bold political predictions two years before the Republican Party selects its next presidential nominee.
“We’re sitting here in August of 2022,” Christie said in an interview. “My sense is there’s a lot of water over the dam still to come before anybody can determine anybody’s individual position in the primaries of ’24 — except to say that if Donald Trump runs, he will certainly be a factor.”
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Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Japan PM shuffles cabinet as anger deepens over ties to Unification Church
TOKYO, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday amid growing public anger about the ruling party’s ties to the controversial Unification Church, saying the group had held no sway over party policy.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s longstanding links to the Unification Church, which critics call a cult, has become a major liability for Kishida in the month following the killing of former premier Shinzo Abe, helping send Kishida’s approval ratings to the lowest since he took office in October.
Abe’s suspected killer has said his mother, a member of the church, was bankrupted by it and blamed the politician for supporting it. Founded in South Korea in the 1950s and known for its mass weddings, the group has come under criticism for its fundraising and other issues.
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Since then, a dozen or so politicians from the conservative LDP have disclosed links to the church or affiliated organisations – such as speaking at events – highlighting a relationship with the fiercely anti-communist church that stretches back to the Cold War. read more
“We need to respect freedom of religion but it’s only natural that these groups need to obey laws and be dealt with if they veer from them,” Kishida told a news conference, adding he did not believe he had any connection with the church.
“I don’t think the Unification Church’s policies have unjustly influenced party policies,” he said.
Key cabinet members, such as the foreign and finance ministers, retained their posts, but some seven ministers who had disclosed links to the church were moved out of the cabinet.
Among those was Abe’s younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, who had been defence minister, although many had expected him to leave for health reasons.
The cabinet shake-up came earlier than analysts had expected, underscoring how quickly the issue has spun into a crisis for Kishida. read more
“Criticism over the Unification Church caused a big drop in public support for the administration and stopping that decline was a big reason for bringing forward the reshuffle of the cabinet and major party positions,” said Shigenobu Tamura, a political commentator who previously worked for the LDP.
DAMAGE CONTROL
Kishida’s support had fallen to 46% from 59% just three weeks ago, public broadcaster NHK said on Monday, his lowest rating since becoming prime minister in October.
“He’s basically doing damage control,” said political commentator Atsuo Ito.
Even as the LDP has sought to distance itself from the church, with a top party official recently saying it would sever ties, the church defended its right to participate in politics, and highlighted its relationship with LDP lawmakers in a rare news conference. read more
Tomihiro Tanaka, head of the Unification Church in Japan, said it was “extremely unfortunate” if Kishida was directing lawmakers to break ties with the group.
It was the duty and right of religious organisations to be involved in political activity, he said, noting his church and its affiliates had more interaction with LDP lawmakers than those from other parties.
DELICATE BALANCE
Kishida said he chose experienced ministers to deal with crises he termed some of the toughest in decades, including surging tensions with China over Taiwan, but only those who had agreed to “review” their ties with the church.
Analysts said that while Kishida sought to limit fall-out from the controversy, he also had to keep a delicate balance in appeasing powerful factions within the LDP, particularly the largest, to which Abe had belonged.
For example, Kishida removed industry minister Koichi Hagiuda, giving him a key party position instead. Hagiuda is a member of Abe’s faction and was close to the former premier.
Abe’s brother Kishi was replaced as defence minister by Yasukazu Hamada, reprising his former role, and likely to help push for the increased defence budget and stronger defence posture Kishida has promised, a vow the premier repeated on Wednesday.
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Reporting by Elaine Lies, Yoshifumi Takemoto, Sakura Murakami, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Tim Kelly; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by David Dolan, Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.