2024-12-24 20:03

PARIS, Dec 24 (Reuters) - French officials raised the death toll in Mayotte to 39 from 35, about 10 days after the islands were battered by a devastating cyclone. Authorities have said thousands may have died in Storm Chido when it hit the islands, a French overseas region off the coast of East Africa. They have said efforts to count the dead may be complicated by people burying their loved ones quickly, per religious custom, and by the fact that many of the deceased may have been undocumented migrants. The slow pace of aid and delays in the arrival of clean water - a flashpoint even before the disaster - have angered residents of Mayotte, France's poorest territory located between Madagascar and Mozambique. Mohamed Abdou, a doctor in Pamandzi, called France's national day of mourning as a "political stunt" amid reports of historic neglect around infrastructure, electricity and distribution of aid, while other residents heckled President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week. Mozambique has said 94 people died when the storm hit mainland Africa, while neighbouring Malawi has reported 13 deaths. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/french-officials-raise-mayotte-death-toll-39-after-storm-chido-2024-12-24/

2024-12-24 18:05

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son and adviser on Tuesday described allegations of corruption involving the family in the 2015 awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract as "completely bogus" and a "smear campaign". Bangladesh's Anti Corruption Commission said on Monday it had launched an enquiry into allegations of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, backed by Russia's state-owned Rosatom. A deal for two power plants, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, was signed in 2015. The commission has alleged that there were financial irregularities worth about $5 billion involving Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed and her niece and British treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, through offshore accounts. Rosatom, the world's largest supplier of enriched uranium, refuted the allegations, adding that it was committed to combat corruption in all its projects and that it maintains a transparent procurement system. "Rosatom State Corporation is ready to defend its interests and reputation in court," it said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "We consider false statements in the media as an attempt to discredit the Rooppur NPP project, which is being implemented to solve the country's energy supply problems and is aimed at improving the well-being of the people of Bangladesh." Siddiq did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Siddiq had denied any involvement in the claims and that he had confidence in her. Siddiq would continue in her role, the spokesperson added. Wazed, speaking on behalf of the family, said they were the targets of a political witch hunt in Bangladesh. "These are completely bogus allegations and a smear campaign. My family nor I have ever been involved or taken any money from any government projects," he told Reuters from Washington, where he lives. "It is not possible to siphon off billions from a $10 billion project. We also don't have any offshore accounts. I have been living in the U.S. for 30 years, my aunt and cousins in the UK for a similar amount of time. We obviously have accounts here, but none of us have ever seen that kind of money." Reuters could not contact Hasina, who has not been seen in public since fleeing to New Delhi in early August following a deadly uprising against her in Bangladesh. Since then, an interim government has been running the country. The government in Dhaka said on Monday it had asked India to send Hasina back. New Delhi has confirmed the request but declined further comment. Wazeb said the family had not made a decision on Hasina's return to Bangladesh and that New Delhi had not asked her to seek asylum elsewhere. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/ousted-bangladesh-pm-hasinas-son-denies-graft-1265-billion-nuclear-deal-2024-12-24/

2024-12-24 17:21

Canadian dollar falls 0.1% against the greenback Trades in a range of 1.4364 to 1.4419 Price of US oil increases 1.3% Yield curve trades at steepest in 2-1/2 years TORONTO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, but the move was modest ahead of the Christmas Day holiday and as investors awaited clarity on the position of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at 1.4380 to the U.S. dollar, or 69.54 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.4364 to 1.4419. Last Thursday, the currency touched its weakest intraday level since March 2020 at 1.4467, weighed by the threat of U.S. trade tariffs, a more hawkish Federal Reserve and domestic political uncertainty. "Narrow range trading should persist over the holiday break, with no major data reports due until the New Year," Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note. "Developments on the domestic political front could add to volatility, however, and the uncertainty over the position of PM Trudeau and his minority government is enough to keep the CAD tone on the defensive." Trudeau, whose party looks set to lose power early next year, is under increasing pressure from his own legislators to step down and let someone else take over. The U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab rose against a basket of major currencies, maintaining its recent dominance as investors considered the prospect of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, reversed the prior session's losses. U.S. crude oil futures were up 1.3% at $70.17 a barrel. Canadian bond yields moved higher across a steeper curve. The 10-year was up 2.6 basis points at 3.317%, while the gap between it and the 2-year rate widened by 1.8 basis points to 27.5 basis points, the widest spread since May 2022. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-edges-lower-political-risk-lingers-2024-12-24/

2024-12-24 17:10

SARAJEVO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall left thousands of homes without power across Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, blocking roads and disrupting traffic, with access to some towns and villages entirely cut off. The authorities banned heavy vehicles from main roads and appealed to citizens to avoid traveling, warning that fallen trees and vehicles without proper winter equipment were posing a risk. The snowdrifts were about 2 m (6.56 ft) high in some areas. Bosnia's two power utilities reported that more than 170,000 households, mostly in the northern and western parts of the Balkan country, had no electricity due to power line failures, affecting the heating and water supplies. The railway traffic was halted and schools and kindergartens closed in many areas due to inaccessible roads and power cuts. The northwestern town of Drvar was completely cut off from the outside world on Tuesday, according to the town's municipal council's president Jasna Pecanac. On Monday night, dozens of vehicles were stuck in the snow for hours and travelers rescued in early hours on Tuesday. (This story has been refiled to fix typos in the headline) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/snowfall-halt-traffic-bosnia-leave-thousands-without-power-2024-12-24/

2024-12-24 15:46

Lawsuit challenges Fed's stress test procedures and transparency Supreme Court rulings embolden banks to challenge regulatory powers Fed plans changes for 2025 exams amid ongoing industry concerns Dec 24 (Reuters) - Major banks and business groups sued the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, alleging the U.S. central bank's annual "stress tests" of Wall Street firms violate the law. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, claims the Fed's practice of determining how big banks perform against hypothetical economic turmoil, and assigning capital requirements accordingly, do not follow proper administrative procedure. Plaintiffs included the Bank Policy Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bank Association. The lawsuit marks the latest example of the banking industry growing bolder and challenging in court their regulators' powers, particularly in the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings placing fresh restrictions on administrative authority. In June, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to such power by overturning a 1984 precedent that granted deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer. The so-called "Chevron doctrine" had called for judges to defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of U.S. laws deemed to be ambiguous. While the 2010 Dodd-Frank law passed following the global financial crisis broadly requires the Fed to test banks' balance sheets, the capital adequacy analysis the Fed performs as part of tests, or the resulting capital it directs lenders to set aside, are not mandated by law. Specifically, the groups are calling for the Fed to make public and subject to feedback the now-confidential models they regulators use to gauge bank performance, as well as details of the annual scenarios they create to test for weaknesses. The groups said they did not want to kill the stress testing program, which provides an annual bill of health to the nation's biggest firms, but argue the process needs to be more transparent and responsive to public feedback. On Monday, the Fed announced plans to pursue similar changes ahead of the 2025 exams, citing recent legal developments, but the industry opted to proceed with its lawsuit. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit on Tuesday. "The opaque nature of these tests undermines their value for providing meaningful insights into bank resilience," Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement. "We remain hopeful the Fed will address long-standing issues with the stress tests, but this litigation preserves our ability to seek legal remedies if the Fed falls short.” These tests, which banks have complained for years are opaque and subjective, are a central piece of the U.S. regulatory bank-capital structure. The Fed has long resisted calls to completely open up the testing process, due to concerns that it could make it easier for banks to clear the exams. How banks perform on the test informs how much capital they must set aside to meet their obligations and also dictate the scope of dividend payouts and stock buybacks. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-bank-business-groups-sue-fed-over-stress-test-framework-2024-12-24/

2024-12-24 13:12

MUMBAI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India sold a net of $9.28 billion in the spot foreign exchange market in October, data released as part of its monthly bulletin showed on Tuesday. The central bank said it purchased $27.5 billion and sold $36.78 billion during the month. It had bought a net of $9.64 billion in the spot market in September. The RBI intervenes in the spot and forwards market to curb exchange rate volatility. Over the last few months, the RBI has been intervening in the foreign exchange market to ensure an orderly movement of the Indian rupee. The local currency had depreciated by 0.3% against the U.S. dollar in October and traded in a broad range of 83.79 to 84.0950. The RBI's net outstanding forward sale stood at $49.18 billion as of October end, compared with a net sale of $14.58 billion at the end of the previous month, the data showed. The rupee declined to 85.2075 against the dollar on Tuesday, hitting an all-time low for the sixth consecutive trading session and ended at 85.20. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/india-cenbank-sold-net-928-bln-spot-forex-market-october-bulletin-shows-2024-12-24/