Aurelia Butler

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LA PAZ (Reuters) -Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday evening and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a “coup” attempt against the government and called for international support.Earlier in the day, military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, recently stripped of his military command, had gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, home to the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness saw an armored vehicle ram a door of the presidential palace and soldiers rush in.”Today the country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Today the country faces once again interests so that democracy in Bolivia is cut short,” Arce said in comments from the presidential palace, with armed soldiers outside.”The Bolivian people are summoned today. We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d’état in favor of democracy.”A few hours later, a Reuters witness saw soldiers withdraw from the square and police take control of the plaza. Bolivian authorities arrested Zuniga and took him away, though their destination was unclear. Inside the presidential palace, Arce swore in José Wilson Sanchez as the military commander, Zuniga’s former role. He called for calm and order to be restored.”I order that all personnel mobilized on the streets return to their units,” Sanchez said. “We entreat that the blood of our soldiers not be spilled.”The United States said it was closely monitoring the situation and urged calm and restraint. Tensions have been building in Bolivia ahead of general elections in 2025, with leftist ex-President Evo Morales planning to run against former ally Arce, creating a major rift in the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty.Many do not want a return of Morales, who governed from 2006-2019 when he was ousted amid widespread protests and replaced by an interim conservative government. Arce then won election in 2020.Zuniga said recently that Morales should not be able to return as president and threatened to block him if he attempted to, which led Arce to remove Zuniga from his post.Ahead of the attack on the presidential palace, Zuniga had addressed reporters in the square and cited growing anger in the landlocked country, which has been battling an economic slump with depleted central bank reserves and pressure on the boliviano currency as gas exports have dried up.”The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay,” Zuniga told a local TV station, calling for a new cabinet of ministers.”Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army,” he said in full uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the public.’STRONGEST CONDEMNATION’Morales, head of the ruling MAS socialist party, said that his supporters would mobilize in support of democracy.”We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” Morales said.Bolivia’s public prosecutor’s office said it would launch a criminal investigation against Zuniga and others involved in the attempted coup.Public support for Arce and Bolivia’s democracy has poured in from regional leaders and beyond.”We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia. Our total support and support for President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on X.Even conservative political opponents of the government in Bolivia condemned the military action, including ex-President Jeanine Anez, who was imprisoned in 2022 amid political turmoil. “I fully reject of the mobilization of the military in the Plaza Murillo attempting to destroy constitutional order,” she wrote on X. “The MAS with Arce and Evo must be got out through the vote in 2025. We Bolivians will defend democracy.” More

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The yen languished near a 38-year low on Thursday and struggled on the weaker side of 160 per dollar, keeping markets on alert for any signs of intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the currency.In the broader market, the dollar was on the front foot and stood near an eight-week high against a basket of currencies, helped in part by a weaker yen and as it rose in step with U.S. Treasury yields.The yen edged a marginal 0.1% higher to 160.63 per dollar in the early Asian session, though remained just a fraction away from Wednesday’s low of 160.88, its weakest level since 1986.The Japanese currency has fallen some 2% for the month and 12% for the year against a resilient greenback, as it continues to be hammered by stark interest rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan, which has maintained the appeal of using the yen as a funding currency for carry trades.In a carry trade, an investor borrows in a currency with low interest rates and invests the proceeds in higher-yielding assets.Still, the yen’s latest slide past the key 160 per dollar level has kept traders nervous over possible intervention from Tokyo, after authorities spent 9.79 trillion yen ($60.94 billion) at the end of April and in early May to push the yen up 5% from its 34-year low of 160.245 then.Analysts said while the risk of intervention has increased, Japanese authorities could be holding out for Friday’s release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index before entering the market.”Both the level of the exchange rate and pace of the depreciation are important for the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to consider intervening in FX markets,” said Boris Kovacevic, global macro strategist at Convera.”However, subdued volatility in options markets suggests that the recent leg higher has not met all criteria the MoF is looking for.”Policymakers could wait out Friday’s PCE report that is expected to show continued disinflation in the U.S. before making a final decision before the weekend.”DOLLAR STRENGTHSterling struggled to break away from an over one-month low of $1.2616 hit the previous session and last bought $1.2622, succumbing to a stronger dollar.The euro, which on Wednesday similarly fell to its weakest level since the beginning of May, was last 0.01% higher at $1.0680.The common currency was on track to lose roughly 1.5% for the month, weighed down by political turmoil in the euro zone in the lead up to France’s snap election set to begin this weekend.The dollar index meanwhile hovered near a roughly two-month high and steadied at 106.05, drawing support from elevated U.S. Treasury yields. [US/]The benchmark 10-year yield rose two basis points to 4.3392% on Thursday, while the two-year yield last stood at 4.7576%.”I just think it’s a combination of things,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY), of the higher U.S. yields.”A few people have been mentioning when (Japan) intervened back in April, May, that there was some suggestion that if the Bank of Japan was going to have to be offloading Treasuries to fund the intervention, it could have an impact.”But I think there’s maybe a bit of a… lag effect of – Aussie yields were much higher after the CPI, and I think for once, that actually had a little bit of contagion impact to bond markets elsewhere.”An upside surprise in Australian inflation on Wednesday had caught traders off-guard and prompted markets to raise the chances of another interest rate hike this year, which in turn sent domestic yields higher.That gave the Australian dollar a slight boost in the previous session, though it was short lived as the Antipodean currency failed to sustain its gains against a stronger dollar.The Aussie was last 0.02% lower at $0.6646, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.07% to $0.6079.($1 = 160.6500 yen) More

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2022 rollback of rules that critics said impeded the independence of proxy advice firms that help investors vote in corporate elections.By a 3-0 vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the SEC’s explanation for rescinding rules adopted just two years earlier during the Trump administration was “arbitrary and capricious and therefore unlawful.”The rollback covered requirements that proxy firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis notify companies about their advice no later than when they notify clients, and provide clients a means to obtain companies’ written responses to that advice.In announcing the changes, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said it would promote “the timeliness and independence of proxy voting advice, which would help to protect investors and facilitate shareholder democracy.”An SEC spokeswoman said the regulator is reviewing the decision and will determine its appropriate next steps.The rollback was challenged by Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS), which supplies compression equipment to the energy industry, and the National Association of Manufacturers.”Today’s decision confirms that federal agencies are bound by the rule of law, even as administrations change,” Linda Kelly, the trade group’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.The dispute is part of a long-running battle over how to regulate firms that advise investors how to vote on corporate matters such as shareholder proposals, the election of directors, and whether to approve mergers.Writing for the appeals court, Circuit Judge Edith Jones said the SEC failed to adequately explain what was wrong with its earlier finding that the 2020 rules posed little or no risk to the timeliness and independence of proxy voting.She also said the SEC failed to reasonably explain why the risks were so significant that rescission became necessary.”This was the agency equivalent of saying, ‘That was then–this is now,'” Jones wrote.The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit is perhaps the most conservative of the 13 federal appeals courts. The three judges in Wednesday’s panel decision were appointed by Republican presidents.The case is National Association of Manufacturers et al v SEC et al, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-51069. More

The Brazilian real closed Wednesday at about 5.52 per greenback, its lowest closing price since January 2022, amid high interest rates in the U.S and local fiscal uncertainties.”We need to wait and see where it stabilizes, the oscillation harms the predictability of business,” Prazeres told journalists at the sidelines of an event in Rio de Janeiro. She, however, avoided comments on whether the 2024 trade balance could be worse than expected due to a rising U.S. dollar. In April, Brazil’s Development, Industry, Trade and Services Ministry reduced its projection for the trade balance in 2024 to a $73.5 billion surplus, from a $94.9 billion surplus it had previously forecasted.Prazeres, who works at the ministry, also said that a Mercosur’s trade agreement with the European Union is still viable, although there are still issues to be resolved in the talks. More

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(Reuters) -A New York transit agency voted on Wednesday to indefinitely halt congestion pricing in Manhattan that was set to start on June 30 after the state’s governor directed the action. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted to halt the program and said it was putting $16.5 billion in capital projects on hold — including major expansion projects such as extending the Second Avenue Subway, upgrading aging signal systems and train cars and purchasing 250 electric buses.New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report on Tuesday the state had estimated $17 billion would need to be removed from the current $55.4 billion transit capital plan to address the loss of congestion pricing revenue.The MTA has already canceled contracts and halted work on one key subway expansion project and has said it could put federal grant funding at risk. “Whatever you think about congestion pricing, you cannot deny the harm that unchecked traffic does to New York’s economy; not only that, but also to cities all over the country,” said MTA CEO Janno Lieber.Governor Kathy Hochul cited high inflation and a desire to prevent commuters or tourists from opting not to visit because of the additional charge in her decision to halt implementation.Hochul said in a statement Wednesday she would work with the MTA “to further develop a comprehensive approach to fund” capital projects and work with the state legislature “to implement comprehensive solutions and ensure appropriate funding sources in next year’s budget.”New York City’s congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the U.S., would have charged a toll of $15 during daytime hours for vehicles driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street. London implemented a similar charge in 2003.MTA has said the charge would cut traffic by 17%, improve air quality and increase mass transit use by 1% to 2%, as well as generating $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year and supporting $15 billion in debt financing for mass transit improvement.In 2019, state lawmakers approved the plan to help fund improvements in mass transit using tolls to manage New York City’s traffic, the most congested of any U.S. city.Congestion pricing had been projected to start in 2021 but the federal government under former President Donald Trump took no action.New York says more than 900,000 vehicles enter the Manhattan Central Business District daily, which reduces travel speeds toaround 7 miles per hour on average. More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are to agree on Thursday on the strategic course for the EU and on the people to run its institutions for the next five years, with special focus on helping Ukraine fend off Russia and bolstering the EU’s own defences.Leaders of the 27 EU countries are to start their two-day summit by signing a security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to demonstrate their support for the country fighting off Moscow’s invasion for a third year.The leaders will reiterate their pledge to support Ukraine as long as it takes, stressing that “Russia must not prevail” and that Ukraine must get back the land annexed by Moscow, draft conclusions prepared for the summit showed.They will also ask EU institutions to work out the details of a 50 billion euro loan for Ukraine that would be serviced by profits generated by Russian central bank assets frozen in the West after Moscow’s invasion.The war in Ukraine laid bare the EU’s lack of preparedness for a conflict as the bloc struggles to supply Kyiv with enough weapons against Russia, prompting calls for more EU coordination of defence systems and investment in defence industries. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia called on Wednesday for the European Union to build a defence line along the bloc’s border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful activities from Moscow.Investment in defence is to be part of the EU’s “strategic agenda” that the leaders aim to agree on at the summit — a document that tells EU institutions what European governments want them to focus on during their 2024-2029 term.Apart from defence, the draft strategic agenda seen by Reuters calls for boosting EU competitiveness to better withstand economic pressure from China and the United States and for preparing the bloc for enlargement that would include Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans. The agenda is to help the next head of the European Commission, due to start in October, prepare a work programme. The 27 national leaders are expected to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second term as Commission president.As part of a package agreed by three pro-EU centrist political groups, Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Costa would preside over the European Council of EU leaders and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas would be foreign policy chief.The three groups – the centre-right, centre-left and liberals – have the necessary majority to get the package approved at the summit. But there could still be some resistance, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban critical of the deal. More