Tag Archives: MDIA08

Technology

Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal – sources

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BRUSSELS, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal.

The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks, the people said.

The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment.

Microsoft said: “We’re continuing to work with the European Commission to address any marketplace concerns. Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.”

The U.S. software giant and Xbox maker announced the acquisition in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T).

U.S. and UK regulators, however, have voiced concerns, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going to court to block the deal.

Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avert a statement of charge and shorten the regulatory process, other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in November.

The EU competition enforcer, however, is not expected to be open to remedies without first sending out its charge sheet, although there are ongoing informal discussions on concessions, the people said.

Microsoft last month reached a 10-year deal with Nintendo (7974.T) to make “Call of Duty” available on Nintendo consoles, saying it was open to a similar agreement with Sony, which is critical of the acquisition.

The deal has received the green light without conditions in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
Editing by Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Shares rise, yen climbs as BOJ battles bond bears

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  • BOJ under intense pressure as it defends yield policy
  • Yen hits 7-mth high, yuan climbs as dollar eases
  • More earnings ahead, many central bank speakers
  • Britain’s FTSE flirts with record high

SYDNEY/LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Shares firmed on Monday as optimism over corporate earnings and China’s reopening offset concerns the Bank of Japan (BOJ) might temper its super-sized stimulus policy at a pivotal meeting this week, while a holiday in U.S. markets made for thin trading.

The yen climbed to its highest since May after rumours swirled the BOJ might hold an emergency meeting on Monday as it struggles to defend its new yield ceiling in the face of massive selling. read more

That had local markets in an anxious mood, and Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) slipped 1.3% to a two-week low.

Yet MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.27%, with hopes for a speedy Chinese reopening giving it a gain of 4.2% last week.

And European shares opened positively with the STOXX 600 (.STOXX) up 0.1% by 0850 GMT driven by healthcare stocks (.SXDP) which gained 0.6%.

Britain’s benchmark FTSE index (.FTSE) edged close to the record high of 7903.50 it hit in 2018, with banks and life insurance companies among the top gainers.

Earnings season gathers steam this week with Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Netflix (NFLX.O) among those reporting.

World leaders, policy makers and top corporate chiefs will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, and there are a host of central bankers speaking, including no fewer than nine members of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The BOJ’s official two-day meeting ends on Wednesday and speculation is rife it will make changes to its yield curve control (YCC) policy given the market has pushed 10-year yields above its new ceiling of 0.5%. read more

The BOJ bought almost 5 trillion yen ($39.12 billion) of bonds on Friday in its largest daily operation on record, yet 10-year yields still ended the session up at 0.51%.

Early on Monday, the bank offered to buy another 1.3 trillion yen of JGBs, but the yield stuck at 0.51%.

“There is still some possibility that market pressure will force the BOJ to further adjust or exit the YCC,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note. “We can’t ignore this possibility, but at this stage we do not consider it a main scenario.”

“Although domestic demand has started to recover and inflation continues to rise, the economy is not heating up to the extent that a sharp rise in interest rates and potential risk of large yen appreciation can be tolerated,” they added.

THE YEN UN-ANCHORED

The BOJ’s uber-easy policy has acted as a sort of anchor for yields globally, while dragging down the yen. Were it to abandon the policy, it would put upward pressure on yields across developed markets and most likely see the yen surge.

The dollar has been undermined by falling U.S. bond yields as investors wager the Federal Reserve can be less aggressive in raising rates given inflation has clearly turned the corner.

The Japanese yen rose to a more than seven-month peak against the dollar on Monday, as market sentiment was dominated by expectations that the BOJ would make further tweaks to, or fully abandon, its yield control policy.

The yen jumped roughly 0.5% to a high of 127.215 per dollar, before easing to 128.6 by 0915 GMT.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, recovered from a 7-month low touched earlier in the session to be at 102.6 .

Futures now imply almost no chance the Fed will raise rates by half a point in February, with a quarter-point move seen as a 94% probability.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries are down at 3.498%, having fallen 6 basis points last week, close to its December trough, and major chart target of 3.402%.

Alan Ruskin, global head of G10 FX Strategy at Deutsche Securities, said the loosening of global supply bottlenecks in recent months was proving to be a disinflationary shock, which increases the chance of a soft landing for the U.S. economy.

“The lower inflation itself encourages a soft landing through real wage gains, by allowing the Fed to more readily pause and encouraging a better behaved bond market, with favourable spillovers to financial conditions,” Ruskin said.

“A soft landing also reduces the tail risk of much higher U.S. rates, and this reduced risk premia helps global risk appetite,” Ruskin added.

Commodities prices which had rallied last week, dipped on Monday.

The drop in yields and the dollar had benefited the gold price, which jumped 2.9% last week, but the precious metal slipped 0.4% to $1,911 an ounce in early trading on Monday .

Oil prices slid as a rise in COVID cases clouded the prospects for a surge in demand as China reopens its economy.

Brent crude fell 73 cents, or 0.83%, to $84.57 a barrel by 0857 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 61 cents, or 0.6%, at $79.24 a barrel.

($1 = 127.8000 yen)

Reporting by Wayne Cole and Lawrence White;
Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Iran executes British-Iranian accused of spying

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  • Alireza Akbari was a former Iranian deputy defence minister
  • Arrested in 2019, he was accused of spying for Britain
  • Execution piles more strain on fraught ties with West
  • UK’s Sunak calls it ‘a callous and cowardly act’
  • U.S. joins UK in condemning ‘barbaric act’

DUBAI/LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, its judiciary said, defying calls from London and Washington for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain.

Britain, which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari politically motivated, condemned the execution, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling it “a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”.

Akbari, 61, was arrested in 2019.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the execution without saying when it had taken place. Late on Friday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had urged Iran not to follow through with the sentence.

Also condemned by the United States and France, the execution looks set to further worsen Iran’s long-strained relations with the West, which have deteriorated since talks to revive its 2015 nuclear deal hit deadlock and after Tehran unleashed a deadly crackdown on protesters last year.

In an audio recording purportedly from Akbari and broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, he said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture.

“Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s internal and external security through espionage for the British government’s intelligence service … was executed,” Mizan said.

The Mizan report accused Akbari of receiving payments of 1,805,000 euros ($1.95 million), 265,000 pounds ($323,989.00), and $50,000 for spying.

Cleverly said in a statement the execution would “not stand unchallenged”. He later announced Britain had summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires, imposed sanctions on Iran’s prosecutor general, and temporarily withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran for further consultations.

It marks a rare case of the Islamic Republic executing a serving or former senior official. One of the last occasions was in 1984, when Iranian navy commander Bahram Afzali was executed after being accused of spying for the Soviet Union.

British statements on the case have not addressed the Iranian charge that Akbari spied for Britain.

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador over what it called London’s “meddling in Iran’s national security realm”, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Iranian state media, which have portrayed Akbari as a super spy, broadcast a video on Thursday which they said showed he played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in an attack outside Tehran which authorities blamed at the time on Israel.

In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.

Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically-charged cases.

Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when or where they were recorded.

Akbari was a close ally of Ali Shamkhani, now the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who was defence minister from 1997 to 2005. Akbari fought during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as a member of the Revolutionary Guards.

Alireza Akbari, Iran’s former deputy defence minister, speaks during an interview with Khabaronline in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained on January 12, 2023. Khabaronline/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Ramin Forghani, a nephew of Akbari, told Reuters the execution had come as a shock.

“I don’t think a person who spent all his life, from an early age, to serve the country – since the Iran-Iraq war – would spy for any country,” he said, noting Akbari had the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary Guards.

Speaking by phone from Luxembourg, he said Akbari’s wife, who lives in London, had tried but failed to persuade Iranian officials to spare his life. Reuters was unable to reach her.

‘DESPICABLE AND BARBARIC’

The U.S. State Department described the execution as politically motivated and unjust. The U.S. ambassador to London called it “appalling and sickening”. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a “despicable and barbaric act”.

Iran’s ties with the West have also been strained by its support for Russia in Ukraine, where Western states say Moscow has used Iranian drones.

Along with other Western states, Britain, which has a long history of fraught ties with Iran, has been fiercely critical of Tehran’s crackdown on anti-government protests, sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in September.

Iran has issued dozens of death sentences as part of the crackdown, executing at least four people.

A British minister said on Thursday Britain was actively considering proscribing the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation but had not reached a final decision.

In the recording broadcast by BBC Persian, Akbari said he had made false confessions due to torture.

“With more than 3,500 hours of torture, psychedelic drugs, and physiological and psychological pressure methods, they took away my will. They drove me to the brink of madness… and forced me to make false confessions by force of arms and death threats,” he said.

Amnesty International said the execution displayed again Tehran’s “abhorrent assault on the right to life”. In Akbari’s case, “it is particularly horrific given the violations he revealed he was subjected to in prison”.

The Iranian authorities have not responded to accusations Akbari was tortured.

An Iranian state TV report – details of which Reuters could not independently verify – said he was arrested on espionage charges in 2008 before he was freed on bail and left Iran.

In an interview with BBC Persian broadcast on Friday, Akbari’s brother Mehdi said he had returned to Iran in 2019 based on an invitation from Shamkhani.

($1 = 0.9235 euros)

($1 = 0.8179 pounds)

Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Michael Holden in London, Tassilo Hummel in Paris and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by William Mallard, Angus MacSwan, Tomasz Janowski and Christina Fincher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

China acquires ‘golden shares’ in two Alibaba units

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BEIJING, China, Jan 13 (Reuters) – China has acquired minority stakes with special rights in two domestic units of tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), business registration records showed, as Beijing extends a campaign to strengthen control over online content.

Beijing has been taking ‘golden shares’ in private online media and content companies for more than five years, and in recent years expanding such arrangements to companies with vast troves of data.

The stakes taken over the last four months in the Alibaba units are the first ones to come to light for the e-commerce firm. Alibaba has been one of the most prominent targets of China’s two-year-long regulatory crackdown on tech giants.

These golden shares, typically equal to about 1% of a firm, are bought by government-backed funds or companies which gain board representation and/or veto rights for key business decisions.

Public business registration records showed that in September last year an investment vehicle of state-owned Zhejiang Media Group took a 1% stake in Alibaba’s Youku Film and Television unit, which is based in Shanghai.

Zhejiang Media Group has also appointed Jin Jun, the general manager of one of its subsidiaries, to the board of the Alibaba unit, the records showed.

[1/3] The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China Jan. 5, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Separate business registration records showed that in December WangTouSuiCheng (Beijing), an entity under the China Internet Investment Fund (CIIF) set up by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), acquired a 1% stake in Alibaba unit Guangzhou Lujiao, whose main focus is “research and experimentation”.

The Financial Times, which first reported the WangTouSuiCheng investment on Friday, said the goal of the investment is for Beijing to tighten control over content at the e-commerce giant’s streaming video unit Youku and web browser UCWeb.

Alibaba didn’t respond to a request to comment.

The FT also reported, citing unidentified sources, that discussions was under way for the government to take golden shares in gaming giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) which would involve a stake in one of the group’s main subsidiaries. Tencent declined to comment.

Other firms that have such golden share arrangements include Full Truck Alliance Co (YMM.N), as well as mainland subsidiaries of TikTok owner ByteDance, Kuaishou Technology (1024.HK) and Weibo , Reuters previously reported.

Having such golden shares can be helpful to firms when they try to secure licences to disseminate online news and to show online visual and audio programmes, sources have told Reuters.

Reporting by Yingzhi Yang, Brenda Goh and Josh Horwitz; Additional reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Mrinmay Dey; Editing by Uttaresh.V, Rashmi Aich and Kenneth Maxwell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Wall Street ends higher, Powell comments avoid rate policy

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  • Investors await CPI data Thursday
  • U.S. earnings season begins this week
  • Jefferies shares rise after results
  • Indexes: Dow up 0.6%, S&P 500 up 0.7%, Nasdaq up 1%

NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended solidly higher on Tuesday, led by a 1% gain in the Nasdaq, on relief that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained in a speech from commenting on rate policy.

In his first public appearance of the year, Powell said at a forum sponsored by the Swedish central bank that the Fed’s independence is essential for it to battle inflation.

Recent comments by other Fed officials have supported the view that the central bank needs to remain aggressive in raising interest rates to control inflation. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Tuesday the bank will have to raise interest rates further to combat high inflation.

“Everybody hangs on every word from the Fed,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. Powell “didn’t really say anything” about policy, he added.

Investors anxiously awaited the U.S. consumer prices index report Thursday, which is expected to show some moderation in year-on-year prices in December.

Traders are betting on a 25-basis point rate hike at the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting in February.

“There are some indications that inflation is slowing significantly. What investors are really looking for is a gap down in major inflation data that could probably get the Fed’s attention,” Ghriskey said.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) shares rose 2.9% and gave the Nasdaq and S&P 500 their biggest boosts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 186.45 points, or 0.56%, to 33,704.1; the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 27.16 points, or 0.70%, at 3,919.25; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 106.98 points, or 1.01%, at 10,742.63.

Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Shares of Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) rose 0.8%, a day after Semafor, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the tech company was in talks to invest $10 billion in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI.

Communications services (.SPLRCL) was the day’s best-performing sector, while energy (.SPNY) rose along with oil prices.

This week marks the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season for S&P 500 companies, with results from several of Wall Street’s biggest banks due later this week.

Shares of investment bank Jefferies Financial Group (JEF.N) rose 3.8% on Tuesday, a day after it posted its second-best year for investment banking revenue. It also reported a 52.5% slump in fourth-quarter profit.

Analysts expect overall S&P 500 earnings to have declined 2.2% in the fourth quarter from a year ago, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, as worries about rising rates and the economy mounted.

Some investors are hoping for signs that the Fed may soon take a break after raising the federal funds rate seven times in 2022.

The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.02 billion shares, compared with the 10.91 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.33-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.45-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 71 new highs and 30 new lows.

Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas, Amruta Khandekar and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

S&P 500 near flat as investors weigh chances of less aggressive rate hikes

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  • Tech shares gain
  • Macy’s, Lululemon drop on holiday-quarter warnings
  • Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.6%

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 index (.SPX) erased early gains to close nearly flat on Monday as expectations that the Federal Reserve will become less aggressive with its interest rate hikes were offset by lingering worries about inflation.

The Dow ended lower, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) ended well off the day’s highs.

Investors are awaiting comments Tuesday from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who some strategists expect could say more time is needed to show inflation is under control.

Money market bets were showing 77% odds of a 25-basis point hike in the Fed’s February policy meeting.

A consumer prices report due Thursday could be key for rate expectations, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The CPI report this week is going to be essential for fine-tuning the Fed funds futures market.”

Investors also may have sold some shares after recent strong market gains, said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago. “You’re seeing a little bit of profit-taking ahead of the CPI number due out this week.”

The technology sector (.SPLRCT) gained as Treasury yields fell. Consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) also rose, with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) up 1.5% after Jefferies said it saw cost pressures easing for the e-commerce giant in the second half of the year.

Also, S&P 500 companies are about to kick off the fourth-quarter earnings period, with results from top U.S. banks expected later this week.

Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 112.96 points, or 0.34%, to 33,517.65, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 2.99 points, or 0.08%, to 3,892.09 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 66.36 points, or 0.63%, to 10,635.65.

Shares of Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) fell in late trading to end down 2% after Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) plans to drop a Broadcom chip in 2025 and use an in-house design instead.

Friday’s jobs report, which showed a moderation in wage increases, lifted hopes that the Fed might become less aggressive in its rate-hike push to reduce inflation.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares rose 5.9% after the electric-vehicle maker indicated longer waiting times for some versions of the Model Y in China, signaling the recent price cuts could be stoking demand.

Macy’s Inc (M.N) fell 7.7% and Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O) dropped 9.3% after both retailers issued disappointing holiday-quarter forecasts.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.35 billion shares, compared with the 10.90 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.85-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.48-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 32 new lows.

Additional reporting by Shubham Batra, Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Brazil police amass at camp of Bolsonaro’s backers after capital stormed

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  • Lula promises justice for those behind Sunday’s riots
  • Bolsonaro, in Florida, says protesters ‘crossed the line’
  • Biden and other world leaders condemn ‘outrageous’ act
  • Lula took office in January after narrow October win

BRASILIA, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Brazilian police amassed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil’s state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s.

After thousands of Bolsonaro’s backers stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback deployed at the pro-Bolsonaro camp outside Brasilia’s army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed art work and stole guns and artifacts.

Lula, who was back at work at the Planalto presidential palace, planned to meet his defense minister and armed forces commanders to discuss the attacks that recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in condemning Sunday’s riots, calling them “outrageous”, while Bolsonaro who is now in Florida denied inciting his supporters and said the rioters had “crossed the line”.

Pro-Bolsonaro truckers, who have caused havoc on Brazil’s highways for weeks, held more protests through the night.

A toll road operator for the BR 163 highway that cuts through Brazil’s top grain producing state Mato Grosso reported several blockades that were cleared by dawn. Police said blockages on another highway in Parana state were also cleared.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings and demanded that social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.

Facebook parent Meta (META.O) said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend actions. Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

‘FASCIST’ ASSAULT

Lula, a former union organizer who was also president from 2003 to 2010, said the local militarized police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, did nothing to stop the protesters advancing.

[1/7] A demonstrator reacts next to members of security forces as supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro leave a camp outside the Army Headquarters, in Brasilia, Brazil, January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Lula decreed federal intervention of public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.

“All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula told reporters from Sao Paulo State.

He blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud after the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

From Florida, where Bolsonaro flew 48 hours before his term ended, the former president rejected the accusation. He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”

The assault raised questions among Lula’s allies about how security forces in the capital were so unprepared for rioters who had discussed their plans on social media for days.

The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group “the seizure of power by the people.”

Police retook the damaged public buildings in the futuristic capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said 200 demonstrators had been arrested, although that number is expected to rise.

Dino said investigations aimed to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and question the suspended Brasilia governor.

Bolsonaro faces legal risks from several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he traveled on a visa issued only to sitting presidents, is in question.

“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said on CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”

Live: Bolsonaro supporters camped outside military HQ

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Gabriel Stardgarter, Gabriel Araujo, Anthony Boadle and Sergio Queiroz; Editing by Brad Haynes and Edmund Blair

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Bolsonaro backers sack Brazil presidential palace, Congress, Supreme Court

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BRASILIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Supporters of Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump.

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in an October election, announced a federal security intervention in Brasilia lasting until Jan. 31 after capital security forces were initially overwhelmed by the invaders.

Lula, who was only inaugurated on Jan. 1, blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about potential election fraud following the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

The president’s allies also raised questions about how public security forces in the capital Brasilia were so unprepared and easily overwhelmed by rioters who had been planning on social media for days to gather for weekend demonstrations.

“These vandals, who we could call … fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country,” said Lula in a press conference during an official trip to Sao Paulo state. “All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished.”

The capital invaders left a trail of destruction in their wake, throwing furniture through the smashed windows of the presidential palace, flooding parts of Congress with a sprinkler system and ransacking ceremonial rooms in the Supreme Court.

The sight of thousands of yellow-and-green clad protesters running riot in the capital capped months of tension following the Oct. 30 vote.

Bolsonaro, an acolyte of Trump’s who has yet to concede defeat, peddled the false claim that Brazil’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud, spawning a violent movement of election deniers.

“This genocidist … is encouraging this via social media from Miami,” Lula said, referring to Bolsonaro. “Everybody knows there are various speeches of the ex-president encouraging this.”

Bolsonaro was silent for nearly six hours about the chaos in Brasilia before posting on Twitter that he “repudiates” Lula’s accusations against him.

The former president, who has rarely spoken in public since losing the election, also said peaceful demonstrations are part of democracy but invading and damaging public buildings “crosses the line.” He flew to Florida 48 hours before the end of his mandate and was absent from Lula’s inauguration.

The violence in Brasilia could amplify the legal risks Bolsonaro faces. It also presents a headache for U.S authorities as they debate how to handle his stay in Florida. Prominent Democratic lawmakers said the United States could no longer grant Bolsonaro “refuge” in the country.

The Bolsonaro family lawyer, Frederick Wassef, did not respond to a request for comment.

By 6:30 p.m. local time (2130 GMT), some three hours after initial reports of the invasion, security forces had managed to retake the capital’s most iconic three buildings.

Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a longtime Bolsonaro ally facing tough questions after Sunday’s security lapses, said on Twitter more than 400 people had been arrested and authorities were working to identify more.

The invasions were condemned by leaders around the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the events an “assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power,” adding that Brazil’s democratic institutions had full U.S. support.

“Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter. “We join Lula in urging an immediate end to these actions.”

Far from the capital, Brazilian industries were on alert for a fresh round of unrest from Bolsonaro supporters, whose post-election highway blockades have disrupted grains shipments and meatpacking operations in recent months.

State-run oil company Petrobras stepped up security at its refineries, in a cautionary measure after attack threats against assets including Brazil’s biggest fuel plant, three company officials said, declining to be named as information is private.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), as the company is formally known, said in a statement that all its assets and refineries are operating normally.

Analysts warned the unrest could trigger more volatility in Brazil’s financial markets, which have swung sharply in recent weeks on doubts about how Lula will reconcile big spending promises with stretched public finances.

JUDGES DENOUNCE “TERRORISTS”

The Supreme Court, whose crusading Justice Alexandre de Moraes has been a thorn in the side of Bolsonaro and his supporters, was ransacked by the invaders, according to images from social media showed protesters clubbing security cameras and shattering the windows of the modernist building.

Both Moraes and the court’s Chief Justice Rosa Weber vowed punishment for the “terrorists” who had attacked the country’s democratic institutions. The heads of both houses of Congress denounced the attacks publicly and moved up plans to fly back to the capital, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rocha, the Brasilia governor, said he had fired his top security official, Anderson Torres, previously Bolsonaro’s justice minister. The solicitor general’s office said it had filed a request for the arrest of Torres.

Torres told website UOL he was with his family on holiday in the United States and had not met with Bolsonaro. UOL reported he was in Orlando, where Bolsonaro is now staying.

“Vandalism and ransacking will be combatted with the rigor of the law,” Anderson tweeted on Sunday afternoon, adding he had directed police in the capital to restore order urgently.

On Saturday, with rumors of a confrontation brewing in Brasilia, Justice Minister Flávio Dino authorized the deployment of the National Public Security Force. On Sunday, he wrote on Twitter, “this absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail.”

In Washington in 2021, Trump supporters attacked police, broke through barricades and stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to prevent congressional certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Trump, who has announced a third bid for the presidency, in 2024, had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, not to certify the vote, and he continues to claim falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.

Reporting by Adriano Machado, Anthony Boadle, Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito, Peter Frontini, Gabriel Araujo; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Brad Haynes, Daniel Wallis and Lincoln Feast.

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Entertainment

Prince Harry says UK royals got into bed with tabloid press ‘devil’

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LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Prince Harry has said he had made public his rifts with the British royal family and taken on the press to try to help the monarchy and change the media, the latter described by his father King Charles as a “suicide mission”.

In the first of a series of TV interviews broadcast on Sunday ahead of the launch of his memoir, Harry accused members of his family of getting into bed with the devil – the tabloid press – to sully him and his wife Meghan to improve their own reputations.

He told Britain’s ITV he had fled Britain with his family for California in 2020 “fearing for our lives” and said he no longer recognised his father or his elder brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.

“After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where, going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil … to rehabilitate their image,” he said.

“The moment that that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others, me, other members of my family, then that’s where I draw the line.”

On Thursday, Harry’s book “Spare” mistakenly went on sale in Spain five days before its official release, chronicling not only hugely personal details, such as how he lost his virginity and took illegal drugs, but more intimate private instances of family disharmony.

His elder brother had knocked him over in a brawl, and both siblings begged their father not to marry his second wife, Camilla, now the Queen Consort, the book says.

Commentators say the book has plunged the monarchy into its biggest crisis since the days of the royal soap opera in the 1990s around the break-up of Charles’ marriage to his late first wife Princess Diana, the mother of William and Harry.

It all comes just four months after Queen Elizabeth died and Charles acceded to the throne.

In the ITV interview, Harry repeated and elaborated on accusations that he and Meghan have made since they left royal duties; that the royals and their aides not only failed to protect them from a hostile and sometimes racist press, but actively leaked stories about them via anonymous sources.

CONFLICT

“The saddest part of that is certain members of my family and the people that work for them are complicit in that conflict,” he said, indicating that included both Charles and Camilla.

So far, there has been no comment from Buckingham Palace. Harry said he didn’t think his father or brother would read his book.

An unnamed friend of William told the Sunday Times that the Prince of Wales was “burning” with anger, but would not respond “for the good of his family and the country”.

Harry told ITV he wanted reconciliation with his family members but said they had shown no interest, giving the impression it was better to keep him and Meghan as villains.

“I genuinely believe, and I hope, that reconciliation between my family and us will have a ripple effect across the entire world. Maybe that’s lofty, maybe that’s naive,” he said.

Harry also said he hoped his multiple legal actions against newspapers would help change the media, saying it was “at the epicentre of so many of the problems across the UK”.

“My father said to me that it was probably a suicide mission to try and change the press,” he said.

Polls suggest many Britons are becoming bored of the whole royal melodrama, and further revelations are unlikely to shake their views, whether sympathetic to Harry and Meghan, or to those they criticise.

“I love my father. I love my brother. I love my family. I will always do. Nothing of what I’ve done in this book or otherwise has ever been to … to harm them or hurt them,” he said.

Reporting by Michael Holden and Sarah Mills; Editing by Frances Kerry and Paul Simao

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World

Journalists detained over footage appearing to show South Sudan president wet himself

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NAIROBI, Jan 7 – Six journalists in South Sudan have been detained over the circulation of footage showing President Salva Kiir appearing to wet himself at an official event, the national journalists union said on Saturday.

The footage from December showed a dark stain spread down the 71-year-old president’s grey trousers as he stood for the national anthem at a road commissioning event. The video never aired on television but subsequently circulated on social media.

The journalists, who work with the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, were detained on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Patrick Oyet, president of the South Sudan Union of Journalists.

They “are suspected of having knowledge on how the video of the president urinating himself came out,” he told Reuters.

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei and National Security Service spokesperson David Kumuri did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kiir has been president since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Government officials have repeatedly denied rumours circulating on social media that he is unwell. The country has been embroiled in conflict for much of the past decade.

The detained journalists are camera operators Joseph Oliver and Mustafa Osman; video editor Victor Lado; contributor Jacob Benjamin; and Cherbek Ruben and Joval Toombe from the control room, Oyet said.

“We are concerned because those who are detained now have stayed longer than what the law says,” he added.

By law, South Sudanese authorities are allowed to detain suspects for only 24 hours before bringing them before a judge.

The incident “matches a pattern of security personnel resorting to arbitrary detention whenever officials deem coverage unfavorable,” said the sub-Saharan Africa representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Muthoki Mumo.

Reporting by Ayenat Mersie
Editing by Frances Kerry

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