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Business

Elon Musk’s arrival stirs fears among some Twitter employees

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  • Concerns center around Twitter’s ability to moderate content
  • Fear Musk’s views on moderation may allow trolling to flourish
  • Twitter management, employees make daily decisions -spokesperson

April 7 (Reuters) – News of Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk taking a board seat at Twitter (TWTR.N) has some Twitter employees panicking over the future of the social media firm’s ability to moderate content, company insiders told Reuters.

Within hours of the surprise disclosure this week that Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” acquired enough shares to become the top Twitter shareholder, political conservatives began flooding social media with calls for the return of Donald Trump. The former U.S. president was banned from Facebook and Twitter after the Jan 6. Capitol riot over concerns around incitement of violence.

“Now that @ElonMusk is Twitter’s largest shareholder, it’s time to lift the political censorship. Oh… and BRING BACK TRUMP!,” tweeted Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on Monday.

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Despite Twitter’s reiteration this week that the board does not make policy decisions, four Twitter employees who spoke with Reuters said they were concerned about Musk’s ability to influence the company’s policies on abusive users and harmful content.

With Musk on the board, the employees said his views on moderation could weaken years-long efforts to make Twitter a place of healthy discourse, and might allow trolling and mob attacks to flourish.

In the wake of Trump’s ban from Facebook and Twitter, the billionaire tweeted that many people would be unhappy with U.S. tech companies acting “as the de facto arbiter of free speech.”

MUSK’S INTENTIONS

Musk has not articulated what he wants to do as a new board member but he has telegraphed his intentions with his Twitter activity. A week before Musk disclosed a 9.1% stake in Twitter, he polled his 80 million followers on whether the site adhered to the principle of free speech, and the majority voted ‘no.’

The employees, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, point to Musk’s history of using Twitter to attack critics. In 2018, Musk came under fire for accusing a British diver who had helped rescue children trapped in a cave in Thailand of being a pedophile.

Musk won a defamation case brought by the diver in 2019.

When asked for comment, a Twitter spokesperson repeated a statement from Tuesday that the board “plays an important advisory and feedback role across the entirety of our service,” but daily operations and decisions are made by Twitter’s management and employees.

“Twitter is committed to impartiality in the development and enforcement of its policies and rules,” the spokesperson said.

Some employees that Reuters spoke to were not so sure about the company’s commitment to this.

“I find it hard to believe (the board) doesn’t have influence,” said one employee. “If that’s the case, why would Elon want a board seat?”

But other employees Reuters spoke to said that Musk’s involvement could help quicken the pace of new feature and product launches, and provide a fresh perspective as an active user of Twitter.

Neither Tesla nor Musk responded to requests for comment.

Twitter’s board figures prominently in discussions within Twitter, more so than at other tech companies, one employee said. That is because unlike Meta Platforms Inc, where founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls the company through a dual class share structure, Twitter only has a single class of shares, making it more vulnerable to activists like Musk. Teams within Twitter often consider how to communicate a strategy or decision to the board, for instance, the employee said.

On Thursday, Musk tweeted an image from 2018 of him smoking weed on the Joe Rogan podcast on Spotify, with the text: “Twitter’s next board meeting is going to be lit.”

TRUMP’S RETURN?

One employee familiar with the company’s operations said there were no current plans to reinstate Trump. A Twitter spokesperson said there were no plans to reverse any policy decisions.

But a veteran auto analyst who covers Musk’s operating style at Tesla said such a decision may only be a matter of time.

“If Donald Trump was actually rich, he would have liked to have done the same thing but he couldn’t afford it. So Elon is doing what Trump would have liked to have done,” said Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid.

“I wouldn’t be surprised” if Twitter restores Trump’s account now that Elon owns nearly 10% of the company,” he said.

Longer term, employees said Musk’s involvement may change Twitter’s corporate culture, which they say currently values inclusivity. Musk has faced widespread criticism for posting memes that mocked transgender people and efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19, and for comparing some world leaders to Hitler.

Several employees were alarmed by the warm welcome Musk received from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and cofounder Jack Dorsey, which prompted them to hit the job market this week.

“Some people are dusting off their resumes,” one person said. “I don’t want to work for somebody (like Musk).”

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Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Editing by Kenneth Li, Aurora Ellis and Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.



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World

Why the U.S. is targeting Putin’s daughters Katerina and Maria

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WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – The United States’ latest round of sanctions on Russia includes two new targets: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, Katerina and Maria, who U.S. officials believe are hiding Putin’s wealth.

Putin’s daughter Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova is a tech executive whose work supports the Russian government and its defense industry, according to details in the U.S. sanctions package announced on Wednesday.

His other daughter Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova leads government-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin toward genetics research, and are personally overseen by Putin, the United States said.

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“We have reason to believe that Putin, and many of his cronies, and the oligarchs, hide their wealth, hide their assets, with family members that place their assets and their wealth in the U.S. financial system, and also many other parts of the world,” a senior U.S. administration official told reporters.

“We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, the Kremlin said it was bewildered by the U.S. decision, and described the move against the daughters as part of a broader Western frenzy against Russia.

Reuters was not able to reach Putin’s daughters or their representatives.

The sanctions announced Wednesday also include the daughter and wife of Russian foreign affairs minister Sergei Lavrov. The U.S. also banned Americans from investing in Russia, and targeted Russian financial institutions and Kremlin officials, in response to what President Joe Biden condemned as Russian “atrocities” in Ukraine. read more

Russia denies intentionally attacking civilians and says images of bodies in Bucha north of Kyiv were staged to justify more sanctions against Moscow.

Moscow says it is engaged in a “special military operation” designed to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and Western governments reject that as a false pretext for Russia’s invasion.

The extent of Putin’s wealth is a sensitive subject in Russia. The Kremlin last year denied that he was the owner of an opulent palace on the Black Sea, as alleged by opposition politician Alexei Navalny in a video that draw a huge audience on YouTube. read more

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in February that sanctions introduced against Putin himself were pointless.

“(Putin) is quite indifferent. The sanctions contain absurd claims about some assets,” Peskov said. “The president has no assets other than those he has declared.”

But U.S. lawmakers believe otherwise.

“Putin and his oligarchs stow their dirty money in rule-of-law nations by purchasing mansions, mega-yachts, artwork, and other high-value assets,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said a few weeks ago, while introducing legislation that offered cash rewards for information that leads to the seizure of assets held by sanctioned Russian oligarchs.

ROCK ‘N ROLL DANCER

Putin’s daughters, who the U.S. believes help him hide his wealth, have never confirmed publicly the Russian leader is their father, and he has refused to answer questions about them.

A Reuters investigation from 2015 detailed the connections and influence Katerina, an acrobatic rock ’n’ roll dancer, holds in the next generation of Moscow’s elite. (For story, see: https://reut.rs/3ubo3kR)

“Katerina, 29, described herself as the spouse of Kirill Shamalov, son of Nikolai Shamalov, a longtime friend of President Putin,” the report said. “Shamalov senior is a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, which U.S. officials have described as the personal bank of the Russian elite.”

As husband and wife, Kirill and Katerina had corporate holdings worth about $2 billion, according to estimates provided to Reuters by financial analysts. This was in addition to other property and assets.

Putin’s elder daughter Maria studied biology at St. Petersburg University and medicine at Moscow State University, according to the Reuters investigation. She is also heavily involved in genetic research work, which Putin has in the past described as a field that will “determine the future of the whole world.”

According to Russian and Western media reports, Maria married Dutch businessman Jorrit Joost Faassen.

She was pursuing a biomedical career specializing in the endocrine system in 2015, as a doctoral candidate at the Endocrinology Research Centre in Moscow, and is the co-author of a book about “idiopathic stunting” in children, the Reuters report said.

Her husband used to work for Gazprombank, a large lender with strong links to the elite around Putin, the report noted. No estimates were immediately available for their assets and holdings.

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Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

EXCLUSIVE China state refiners shun new Russian oil trades, teapots fly under radar -sources

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  • Sinopec, CNOOC, PetroChina, Sinochem refrain from new purchases
  • Worries about sanctions keep state firms at bay
  • Some independent refiners continue ESPO crude imports

SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) – China’s state refiners are honouring existing Russian oil contracts but avoiding new ones despite steep discounts, heeding Beijing’s call for caution as western sanctions mount against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, six people told Reuters.

State-run Sinopec (600028.SS), Asia’s largest refiner, CNOOC, PetroChina (601857.SS) and Sinochem have stayed on the sidelines in trading fresh Russian cargoes for May loadings, said the people, who all have knowledge of the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject.

Chinese state-owned firms do not wish to be seen as openly supporting Moscow by buying extra volumes of oil, said two of the people, after Washington banned Russian oil last month and the European Union slapped sanctions on top Russian exporter Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM). read more

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“SOEs are cautious as their actions could be seen as representing the Chinese government and none of them wants to be singled out as a buyer of Russian oil,” said one of the people.

Sinopec and Petrochina declined comment. CNOOC and Sinochem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China and Russia have developed increasingly close ties in recent years, and as recently as February announced a “no limits” partnership, and China has refused to condemn Russia’s action in Ukraine or call it an invasion. read more

China has repeatedly criticised western sanctions against Russia, although a senior diplomat said on Saturday that Beijing is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia.

China, the world’s largest oil importer, is the top buyer of Russian crude at 1.6 million barrels per day, half of which is supplied via pipelines under government-to-government contracts.

Sources expect China’s state firms to honour its long-term and existing contracts for Russian oil but steer clear of new spot deals.

A drop in China’s imports of Russian oil could prompt its giant state refiners to turn to alternative sources, adding to global supply concerns that had driven benchmark Brent oil prices to 14-year highs near $140 per barrel in early March after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. read more

Brent futures have since eased, to below $110, after the United States and allies announced plans to release stocks from strategic reserves. read more

‘RISK CONTROL AND COMPLIANCE FIRST’

Before the Ukraine crisis, Russia supplied 15% of China’s oil imports – half of that via the East Siberian and Atasu-Alashankou pipelines and the rest by tankers from its Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Far East ports.

Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec and a leading Russian oil buyer, has warned its global teams at regular internal meetings in recent weeks against the risks of dealing with Russian oil.

“The message and tone are clear – risk control and compliance comes before profits,” said one of the sources who was briefed on the meetings.

“Although Russian oil is hugely discounted, there are many issues like securing shipping insurance and payment snags.”

Another of the sources, with a refinery that regularly processes Russian crude, said his plant was told by Unipec to find replacement to maintain normal operations.

“Beyond shipments that have arrived in March and due to arrive in April, there will be no more Russian oil going forward,” said this source.

Unipec loaded 500,000 tonnes of Urals from Russia’s Baltic ports in March, the highest volume in months, supplied by Surgutneftegaz on spot and under a Rosneft export tender that Unipec won for loadings between September 2021 and March 2022, according to traders and shipping data.

Its latest Urals deals will be two April-loading shipments totalling 200,000 tonnes from Russian producer Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM), said two traders with knowledge of the deals.

In contrast, India has so far booked at least 14 million barrels, or about 2 million tonnes, of Russian oil since Feb. 24, versus nearly 16 million barrels in all of 2021, according to Reuters calculations. read more

Other state buyers – PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinochem – have shunned Russia’s ESPO blend for May loading, sources said.

Sinopec is facing payment problems even for deals agreed earlier as risk-averse state banks look to scale down financing Russian oil-related deals, the second source said.

TEAPOTS KEEP DEALS ‘UNDER WRAPS’

Sanction worries have driven some independent refiners known as teapots, once a dynamic group of customers consuming about a third of China’s Russian oil imports, to fly under the radar.

“ESPO trading was really slow and secretive. Some deals are being done, but details are kept under wraps. No one wants to be seen buying Russian oil in public,” a regular ESPO dealer said.

To keep oil flowing, these nimble refiners are deploying alternative payment mechanisms such as cash transfer, paying after cargo is delivered and using Chinese currency.

Russian suppliers – Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, and independent producers represented by Swiss trader Paramount Energy – are expected to ship a record 3.3 million tonnes of ESPO from Kozmino port in May. read more

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Reporting by Reuters, Chen Aizhu and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Himani Sarkar

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

U.S. lawmakers slam Big Oil for high gasoline prices

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Gasoline drips out of a nozzle held by a gas station mechanic in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

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WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – Oil executives defended themselves in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday from charges by lawmakers that they are gouging Americans with high fuel prices, saying that they are boosting energy output and no one company sets the price of gasoline.

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held the hearing to grill companies on why gasoline prices remain elevated even though prices for crude oil, the feedstock for fuels, have dropped.

U.S. gasoline prices have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and after Western countries slapped sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports. Pump prices hit a record, before inflation adjustments, of $4.33 a gallon on March 11, and since then have slipped about 4% to $4.16 a gallon on Wednesday, according to the AAA motorist group.

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In the same time frame, U.S. gasoline futures have fallen more than 7% to $3.07 a gallon as international crude prices have dropped more steeply,about 8%,to about $103.70 a barrel.

“One of the things that has confused me … and it’s making people mad, is why are gas prices still high?” said U.S. Representative Diana DeGette, a Democrat and chair of the subcommittee. “These prices are constraining our constituents’ budgets and patience.”

Retail gasoline prices exceed wholesale costs due to refining, transport, marketing and taxes, and the gap between the two tends to fluctuate – with retail prices often falling more slowly.

Executives from Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Chevron Corp (XOM.N), BP America (BP.L), Shell USA , Devon Energy Corp (DVN.N) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co (PXD.N) testified virtually, despite DeGette’s invitations to do so in person.

Chevron’s Chief Executive Mike Wirth said fuel prices are set by market dynamics that companies have little control over.

“Changes in the price of crude oil do not always result in immediate changes at the pump,” Wirth said, adding that “it frequently takes more time for competition among retail stations to bring prices back down at the pump.”

U.S. President Joe Biden has been struggling to tackle rising consumer prices at the pumps and at grocery stores, a vulnerability for his fellow Democrats as they seek to maintain razor-thin majorities in both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 8 elections.

The Biden administration’s sanctions on Moscow include a U.S. ban on Russian energy imports and the president has said the higher fuel prices result partially from Russia’s invasion.

Biden last week urged oil companies to boost output and service American families instead of investors, as he announced a record release of crude oil from strategic reserves. read more

Republicans, including U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith, blamed for high pump prices on Biden’s policies, including a decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that would have imported crude from Canada.

“It is impossible to generate confidence or invest in production today when future production is clearly being blocked by this administration,” Griffith said. Democrats have said oil companies are sitting on thousands of leases to drill on public lands.

DeGette questioned the billions of dollars in profits earned by the companies, and cited $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies they receive as a reason they should help lower gasoline prices.

Wirth restated Chevron’s plans to boost capital expenditure this year by 50%, with about half going to increasing oil and gas output and half to renewable fuels and lower-carbon energy.

Gretchen Watkins, president of Shell USA, said her company neither controls or owns the 13,000 gas stations that carry its brand. “Each of these independent businesses is responsible for setting the local retail price of gasoline.”

Exxon, the top U.S. oil company, on Monday said first-quarter results could top a seven-year quarterly record. Other oil company earnings could also surge after Russia’s invasion pushed up energy prices. read more

“No single company sets the price of oil or gasoline,” said Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon. “The market establishes the price based on available supply, and the demand for that supply.”

Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield said it would take time to rev up the company’s production in the Permian Basin, citing worker and supply chain shortages and the decommissioning of many rigs and hydraulic fracturing fleets when prices were low in 2020.

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Reporting by Timothy Gardner, David Shepardson in Washington, Liz Hampton in Denver and Sabrina Valle in Houston; editing by Richard Pullin, Jonathan Oatis, David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

U.S. sanctions Putin’s daughters and more Russian banks

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WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – The United States targeted Russian banks and elites with a new round of sanctions on Wednesday, including banning Americans from investing in Russia, in response to what President Joe Biden condemned as “major war crimes” by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The new sanctions hit Russia’s Sberbank (SBER.MM), which holds one-third of Russia’s total banking assets, and Alfabank, the country’s fourth largest financial institution, U.S. officials said. But energy transactions were exempted from the latest measures, they said.

The United States is also sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife and daughter, and senior members of Russia’s security council, the officials said.

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“There’s nothing less happening than major war crimes,” Biden said in a speech to labor leaders, referring to the Ukrainian town of Bucha retaken from Russian forces where civilians were found shot at close range.

“Responsible nations have to come together to hold these perpetrators accountable,” he said. “And together with our allies and our partners, we’re going to keep raising economic costs and ratchet up the pain for Putin.”

Russia, which says it launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24, denies targeting civilians and said images of the deaths were a “monstrous forgery” staged by the West.

Wednesday’s “full blocking sanctions” will freeze the two major banks’ assets “touching the U.S financial system,” the White House said in a statement.

Britain also froze Sberbank’s assets, and said it would ban imports of Russian coal by the end of this year in the latest installment of sanctions coordinated with the United States and other Western allies to “starve Putin’s war machine.”

Sberbank and Alfabank said the new sanctions would not have a significant impact on their operations. read more

The White House also said Biden was signing an executive order to prohibit “new investment in Russia by U.S. persons wherever located, which will further isolate Russia from the global economy.” This will include a ban on venture capital and mergers, officials said.

‘SOVIET-STYLE LIVING STANDARDS’

By cutting off Russia’s largest banks, the United States is “dramatically escalating” the financial shock on Russia, a senior administration official told reporters.

“The reality is the country is descending into economic and financial and technological isolation,” the official said. “And at this rate, it will go back to Soviet-style living standards from the 1980s.”

White House Economic Council Director Brian Deese said that, according to estimates, the Russian economy will contract by 10% to 15% in 2022 and that inflation in Russia is running at 200%.

Daniel Fried, a former State Department coordinator for sanctions policy in the Obama administration, said the latest package “basically makes Sberbank untouchable.” But he added: “What is missing is what are we going to do on oil and gas,” Russia’s most lucrative exports.

In the latest in a series of law enforcement actions against Russia, the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday charged Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev with violating sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, saying he provided financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said authorities had also disrupted a type of global malicious computer network known as a “botnet” controlled by a Russian military intelligence agency.

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In addition, Garland announced the department is cooperating with prosecutors in Europe to start collecting evidence of possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

Seeking to further ratchet up pressure on Putin, the United States is also imposing full blocking sanctions on what the White House called “critical major Russian state-owned enterprises,” which it said would damage the Kremlin’s ability to fund its war effort.

Those entities included United Aircraft and United Shipbuilding, Deese said.

Among those sanctioned on Wednesday were Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and former prime minister and one of Putin’s closest allies. Others included Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko.

Medvedev said earlier on Wednesday, in a post on the Telegram social media network, that Moscow will fight attempts to seize Russian property abroad in courts around the world.

The U.S. government took action amid mounting accusations of war crimes by Russia in Ukraine.

Grim images emerging from Bucha include a mass grave and bodies of people shot at close range, prompting calls for tougher action against Moscow and an international investigation. read more

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said the killings were part of a deliberate Russian campaign to commit atrocities.

Neither Blinken nor Russia provided evidence to support the assertions.

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Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Alex Alper, Nandita Bose; additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson; editing by Heather Timmons, Howard Goller, Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis

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US

Russia to pay Eurobonds in roubles as long as reserves remain blocked

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A view shows Russian rouble coins in this illustration picture taken March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Illustration/File Photo

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LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) – Russia edged closer to a potential default on its international debt on Wednesday as it paid dollar bondholders in roubles and said it would continue to do so as long as its foreign exchange reserves are blocked by sanctions.

The United States on Monday stopped Russia from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at U.S. banks, saying Moscow had to choose between draining its dollar reserves and default. read more

Russia has not defaulted on its external debt since reneging on payments due after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

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“This speeds up the timeline around when Russia runs out of space on willingness and ability to pay,” one fund manager holding one of the bonds due for payment on Monday said.

The Kremlin said it would continue to pay its dues.

“Russia has all necessary resources to service its debts… If this blockade continues and payments aimed for servicing debts are blocked, it (future payment) could be made in roubles,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

With a total of 15 international bonds with a face value of around $40 billion outstanding, Moscow has managed to make a number of foreign exchange coupon payments on its Eurobonds before the United States stopped such transactions. read more

Russia’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it had to pay roubles to holders of its dollar-denominated Eurobonds maturing in 2022 and 2042 as a foreign bank had refused to process an order to pay $649 million to holders of its sovereign debt.

The finance ministry said the foreign bank, which it did not name, rejected Russia’s order to pay coupons on the two bonds and also did not process payment of a Eurobond maturing in 2022.

Russia’s ability to fulfil its debt obligations is in focus after sweeping sanctions in response to what Moscow calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine have frozen nearly half of its reserves and limited access to global payment systems.

‘ARTIFICIAL SITUATION’

JP Morgan, which had been processing payments on Russian sovereign bonds as a correspondent bank, was stopped by the U.S. Treasury from doing for the two payments due on Monday, a source familiar with the situation said. read more

JP Morgan (JPM.N) declined to comment.

Russia may consider allowing foreign holders of its 2022 and 2042 Eurobonds to convert rouble payments into foreign currencies once access to its forex accounts is restored, the finance ministry said.

Until then, a rouble equivalent of Eurobond payments aimed at bondholders from so-called unfriendly nations will be kept in special ‘C’ type accounts at Russia’s National Settlement Depository, the ministry added.

Russia has a 30-day grace period to make the dollar payment, but if the cash does not show up in bondholders account within that time frame it would constitute a default, global rating agencies have said.

Russia dismissed this as being a default situation.

“In theory, a default situation could be created but this would be a purely artificial situation,” Peskov said. “There are no grounds for a real default.”

Bondholders had been tracking bond payments since sweeping sanctions and counter measures from Moscow which have severed Russia from the global financial system.

Russia on Wednesday paid coupons on four OFZ treasury rouble bonds. These were once popular for their high yields among foreign investors, who are now blocked from receiving payments as a result of sanctions and Russian retaliation.

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Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Potter, Hugh Lawson and Alexander Smith

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World

Pope kisses Ukrainian flag, condemns ‘the massacre of Bucha’

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VATICAN CITY, April 6 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned “the massacre of Bucha” and kissed a Ukrainian flag sent from the town where tied bodies shot at close range littered the streets after Russian troops withdrew and bodies poked out of a mass grave at a church.

The deaths in Bucha, outside Kyiv, have triggered a global outcry and pledges of further sanctions against Moscow from the West.

“Recent news from the war in Ukraine, instead of bringing relief and hope, brought new atrocities, such as the massacre of Bucha,” Francis said at the end of his weekly audience in the Vatican’s auditorium.

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“Stop this war! Let the weapons fall silent! Stop sowing death and destruction,” he said, decrying cruelty against civilians, defenceless women and children.

The Kremlin says allegations Russian forces committed war crimes by executing civilians including in Bucha were a “monstrous forgery” aimed at denigrating the Russian army.

Francis said the darkened and stained flag, which had writing and symbols on it was brought to him from Bucha on Tuesday.

Pope Francis holds the Ukrainian flag that was sent to him from the town of Bucha where tied bodies were shot at close range, a mass grave and other signs of executions were found, during the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli


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“It comes from the war, precisely from that martyred city, Bucha,” he said, kissing it and holding it up for the audience of several thousand, which broke into applause.

He then asked a group of children war refugees who arrived on Tuesday from Ukraine to come up to him.

“These children had to flee in order to arrive in a safe land. This is the fruit of war. Let’s not forget them and let’s not forget the Ukrainian people,” he said, before giving each child a gift of a chocolate Easter egg.

Speaking in the earlier part of his audience about the post-World War Two period, Francis said: “In the war in Ukraine, we are witnessing the impotency of the United Nations”.

During a trip to Malta at the weekend, Francis said he was considering a trip to Kyiv and implicitly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine, saying a “potentate” was fomenting conflict for nationalist interests. read more

Francis has only mentioned Russia specifically in prayers, such as during a special global event for peace on March 25, but he has referred to Russia by using terms such as invasion and aggression.

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Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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Business

Musk takes 9% stake in Twitter to become top shareholder, starts poll on edit button

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  • Stake valued at about $3 billion
  • Twitter shares surge 27%
  • Musk starts poll on edit button

April 4 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk on Monday disclosed a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), worth nearly $3 billion, making him the micro-blogging site’s largest shareholder and triggering a rise of more than 27% in the company’s shares.

Musk’s move, revealed in a regulatory filing, comes on the heels of his tweet that he was giving “serious thought” to building a new social media platform, while questioning Twitter’s commitment to free speech.

He also started a poll asking Twitter users if they want an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which the social media platform has been working. It was followed by Chief Executive Parag Agrawal urging users to “vote carefully”.

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Within two hours of starting the poll, more than 1.1 million users voted, with over 75% of them backing an edit option.

Last week, in another poll, Musk had asked if Twitter alogrithm should be open source. More than 82% of the users said yes, while former CEO Jack Dorsey said, “the choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone.”

A prolific Twitter user, Musk has over 80 million followers since joining the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements, including teasing a go-private deal for Tesla that landed him in hot water with regulators.

Of late, however, the world’s richest person has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, and recently ran a Twitter poll asking users if they believed the platform adheres to the principle of free speech, to which over 70% voted “no.” read more

In December, Musk put out a meme that compared CEO Agrawal with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and showed Jack Dorsey as a his close associate who was later on executed.

Twitter’s latest quarterly results and lower-than-expected user additions have raised doubts about its growth prospects, even as it pursues big projects such as audio chat rooms and newsletters to end long-running stagnation.

“It does send a message to Twitter … having a meaningful stake in the company will keep them on their toes, because that passive stake could very quickly become an active stake,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital LLC.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

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Musk – who, according to Forbes, has a net worth of about $300 billion – has been reducing his stake in Tesla since November, when he said he would offload 10% of his holding in the electric-car maker. He has already sold $16.4 billion worth of shares since then.

A regulatory filing on Monday showed that Musk owns 73.5 million Twitter shares, which are held by the Elon Musk Revocable Trust, of which he is the sole trustee. Vanguard is Twitter’s second-biggest shareholder, with an 8.79% stake, according to Refinitiv data.

Twitter shares rose 27.1% on Monday to close at $49.97. The stock, which had fallen 38% in the past 12 months through Friday’s close, on Monday added as much as $8.38 billion to its market capitalization, which now stands at $39.3 billion.

BUYOUT?

“Musk’s actual investment is a very small percentage of his wealth and an all-out buyout should not be ruled out,” CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino wrote in a client note.

The stake in Twitter is more likely to result in positive outcomes for shareholders than negative ones, said Ryan Jacob, chief executive officer of Jacob Asset Management, who said Twitter is one of the fund’s largest holdings.

“If (Musk) decides to take an active position and Twitter goes private, it will probably be at a higher price than it is now,” he said. “If it gets other companies interested (in acquiring Twitter), it’ll probably be at a higher price than right now.”

Musk has previously made early-stage investments in companies, including online payment processor Stripe Inc and artificial intelligence firm Vicarious.

He is also the founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX, and leads brain-chip startup Neuralink and infrastructure firm the Boring Company.

Twitter was the target of activist investor Elliott Management Corp in 2020, when the hedge fund argued the social networking company’s then-boss and co-founder, Jack Dorsey, was paying too little attention to Twitter while also running what was then called Square Inc (SQ.N).

Dorsey, who owns a stake of more than 2% in Twitter, stepped down as CEO and chairman in November last year, handing the reins to company veteran Parag Agrawal.

Meanwhile, Musk and Dorsey have found some common ground in dismissing the so-called Web3, a vague term for a utopian version of the internet that is decentralized. read more

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Reporting by Nivedita Balu, Eva Mathews, Akash Sriram, Praveen Paramasivam and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru;
Additional reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Hyun Joo Jin in San Francisco;
Editing by Anil D’Silva, Matthew Lewis, Rashmi Aich and Arun Koyyur

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.



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Business

Exxon signals record quarterly profit from oil and gas prices

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Signage is seen on a gasoline pump at an Exxon gas station in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

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HOUSTON, April 4 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) on Monday said its first-quarter results could top a seven-year quarterly record, with operating profits from pumping oil and gas alone of up to $9.3 billion.

A snapshot of the largest U.S. oil company’s quarter ended March 31 showed operating profits from oil and gas, its biggest unit, could jump by as much as $2.7 billion over the prior quarter’s $6.6 billion.

Exxon does not hedge, or lock in oil sales, and results generally match changes in energy prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up oil by 45% last quarter over the final period of 2021, to an average of $114 per barrel, the highest in seven years. read more

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The estimates suggest total earnings for the quarter of about $9.8 billion at the mid-point of Exxon’s estimates, according to Scotiabank global equity research.

Exxon shares, which have jumped 36% year to date, rose slightly on Monday to $83.16. Official results are expected to be released on April 29, according to a securities filing.

The outlook implies adjusted earnings around $2.29 per share, Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng said in a note. The total would guarantee Exxon its highest quarterly profit since at least 2014.

The blockbuster oil and gas profits offer a preview of what lies ahead for other firms’ oil earnings. Such results could strengthen calls by U.S. and European Union lawmakers for windfall profit taxes on energy companies.

RUSSIA WRITEDOWN?

Final results could be dampened by impairments to Exxon’s Russian operations. The company last month said it would phase out of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The oil company has $4 billion in assets at risk to potential seizure and faces a 1% to 2% hit to production and revenue from the move. read more

“Depending on the terms of its exit from Sakhalin, the company may be required to impair its investment in the project up to the full book value,” it said in a filing.

High oil and gas prices accelerated after Russia’s invasion and sanctions were imposed on its oil, coal and LNG. Global oil prices hit a 14-year high in the first quarter and have since cooled as the U.S. announced a release of emergency stocks and China began a lockdown.

Operating profits in refining could be up to $300 million higher than the $1.5 billion earned in its fourth quarter, while its chemicals business could decrease by as much as $300 million compared with the previous quarter’s $1.3 billion profit.

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Reporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Stocks, dollar rise; European leaders urge further Moscow sanctions

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A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 4, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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  • U.S. stocks mostly higher in early trade
  • Oil prices gain
  • U.S. dollar strengthens

NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) – Stocks on global indexes rose on Monday, with the Nasdaq leading gains on Wall Street, while the U.S. dollar strengthened as European leaders urged further sanctions against Moscow following war crime allegations in Ukraine.

Investors were closely watching the yield curve between U.S. two-year and 10-year notes, which inverted last week in a signal for some market watchers that a recession may follow in one to two years.

More sanctions against Russia would ratchet up the already huge economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia maintained gas flows through key pipeline routes into Europe, despite uncertainty over payment terms. read more

The dollar gained, rising for three straight sessions, as the prospect of increased sanctions pushed investors to seek safety in the greenback. read more

“The dollar is bouncing higher as geopolitical developments have darkened clouds over the global economy,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington. The Kremlin denied accusations related to the murder of civilians in Ukraine.

The U.S. currency also continued to benefit from a strong non-farm payrolls report for March that backed expectations for a half of a percentage point rate hike by the Federal Reserve at next month’s meeting.

The dollar index rose 0.245%.

The euro , which has been under pressure due to worries about the economic damage from the war in Ukraine, fell 0.6% versus the dollar to $1.0988. Against sterling, the euro fell to a six-day low and it was last down 0.6% at 83.73 pence.

On Wall Street, news that Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has built a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) took the spotlight and sent Twitter shares surging. read more

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 3.76 points, or 0.01%, to 34,814.51, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 21.62 points, or 0.48%, to 4,567.48 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 213.94 points, or 1.5%, to 14,475.44.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.93% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 0.65%.

In the U.S. Treasury market, two-year yields were at 2.44%, while benchmark 10-year yields were at 2.41%.

The recent jump in U.S. bond yields has backed the U.S. dollar, particularly against the yen, given the Bank of Japan acted repeatedly last week to keep its bond yields near zero.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said factory orders fell 0.5% in February. Data for January was revised slightly higher to show orders rising 1.5% instead of 1.4% as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders would decline 0.5%. read more

Oil jumped over 3% as the release of strategic reserves by consuming nations failed to eliminate supply fears arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lack of an Iranian nuclear deal. read more

U.S. crude recently rose 3.52% to $102.76 per barrel and Brent was at $107.58, up 3.06% on the day.

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Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York, Julien Ponthus in London; Editing by Richard Chang and Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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