China’s premier seeks coalition with Indonesia
Beijing — China is willing to work with Indonesia to strengthen co-operation, elevate political mutual trust and strategic co-ordination to a higher level, and jointly address risks and challenges, Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday.
In a meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Li said both sides should explore co-operation in areas such as finance, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and the maritime sector, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Amid the ongoing trade war with the US, China is trying to build a global coalition, intensifying its engagement with countries like Indonesia.
Earlier this month, Beijing and Washington agreed to a 90-day tariff truce. Meanwhile, Indonesia — whose largest trading partner is China — has offered several concessions to the US to ease tariffs imposed on its exports. Reuters
Nvidia CEO applauds Trump’s technology efforts
Norrkoping — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Saturday praised US President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost US technology as the leading chipmaker announced a partnership with a group of Swedish businesses to develop AI infrastructure in Sweden.
Nvidia will provide its latest generation AI data centre platform to a group of Swedish companies, including telecom gear maker Ericsson and drug developer AstraZeneca.
Huang, who had earlier called controls “a failure”, said President Donald Trump wanted US firms to “win”. Reuters
Niger aims to cut number of Chinese oil workers
Niamey — Niger has asked that some Chinese employees working on oil projects leave the country, documents seen by Reuters on Friday showed, a move that could affect dozens and further strain bilateral ties.
Similar to other West African countries, junta-led Niger has been trying to assert greater control over its natural resources and promote local employment.
Oil minister Sahabi Oumarou has asked the China National Petroleum Corporation and its refinery Soraz to terminate the contracts of expatriates who have been working in Niger for more than four years, two letters showed. Reuters
DRC upbeat on US minerals investment in peace deal
Bengaluru — Officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo are optimistic they can reach a deal with Washington next month to secure US investment in critical minerals alongside support to end a Rwandan-backed rebellion in the country’s east, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Congolese minerals such as tungsten, tantalum and tin, which Kinshasa has long accused neighbouring Rwanda of illegally exploiting, could be exported legitimately to Rwanda for processing under the terms of a peace deal being negotiated by the US, Reuters reported last week.
An investment deal with the US and separate peace deal with Rwanda were possible “by the end of June”, the newspaper said, citing two people close to the negotiations. But potential stumbling blocks remain substantial, the FT said. Reuters
Call for Dynavax to re-elect all company directors
New York — Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) urged Dynavax Technologies shareholders on Friday to re-elect all of the company’s directors instead of backing the four nominees of life sciences investment firm Deep Track Capital.
“Vote for all four management nominees,” ISS wrote in a note to clients that was seen by Reuters. “The dissident has failed to present a compelling case that change is necessary at this meeting.”
Investors will vote on June 11. Recommendations from ISS and its rivals Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones, which also supported management's directors, often help guide shareholders’ decisions. Reuters
Portland General plans to become a holding company
Portland General Electric said on Friday it plans to reorganise into a holding company and had filed a notice with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission to seek approval.
The contemplated structure involves establishing a non-operating corporate entity above its current organisation, the company said. In addition, a subsidiary would be formed to own and manage Portland General’s existing and future transmission assets.
The reorganisation is intended to provide potential strategic and financial flexibility as well as support the construction of new transmission assets, reliability planning and economic development initiatives. Reuters
Brazilian tycoon targets controlling stake in Braskem
Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro — Brazilian businessman Nelson Tanure has made an offer to acquire a controlling stake in Braskem, a securities filing showed on Friday, as Tanure seeks to expand his broad investment portfolio with Latin America’s largest petrochemical firm.
Tanure’s offer was reported earlier in the day by local media and Reuters, driving Sao Paulo-traded shares of Braskem up more than 9%, the biggest gainer on Brazilian benchmark stock index Bovespa, which closed up 0.4%.
The tycoon is looking to acquire conglomerate Novonor’s controlling stake in Braskem for an undisclosed value, according to the filing from the petrochemical firm, which cited a letter it received from Novonor.
Tanure in a separate statement confirmed the offer, saying he was committed to a long-term investment to build a stronger Braskem. Reuters
Britain unlocks Telegraph deal with US RedBird fund
London — RedBird Capital Partners, the US fund that bought Britain’s Telegraph newspaper in partnership with UAE-owned IMI, will take control of the publication after agreeing a deal that values the enterprise at £500m.
The ownership of the right-leaning broadsheet has been in flux after the Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI bought the Telegraph and the Spectator magazine in 2023, before Britain’s then government moved to ban foreign state investment in British newspapers, forcing it to sell.
The move followed an outcry among some politicians over the independence of the media and whether foreign states would be able to buy political influence.
The current government’s decision last week to allow foreign state-owned investors to own up to 15% of British newspaper publishers helped unlock a deal. Reuters
Xiaomi to invest $27.8bn in five-year R&D plan
Beijing — China’s Xiaomi plans to invest a further 200bn yuan ($27.8bn) in core technology research & development over the next five years, founder and CEO Lei Jun said on Thursday.
Lei announced the decision at an event in Beijing, where the company is due to launch its first electric SUV and advanced mobile chip Xring O1, among other products. Reuters
US agency planning to end greenhouse gas limits
Washington — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed on Saturday that it was drafting a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the US and would be published after inter-agency review.
“Many have voiced concerns that the last administration’s replacement for that rule is similarly overreaching and an attempt to shut down affordable and reliable electricity generation in the US, raising prices for American families, and increasing the country’s reliance on foreign forms of energy,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “As part of this reconsideration, EPA is developing a proposed rule.”
The draft plan was first reported by the New York Times, which said the EPA argued in its proposed regulation that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels “do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution” or to climate change because they are a small and declining share of global emissions. Reuters
Egypt to spend up to $3bn on securing LNG cargoes
Cairo/London — Egypt is in talks with energy firms and trading houses to buy 40-60 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid a worsening energy crunch ahead of peak summer demand, three sources aware of the matter told Reuters.
The country faces spending up to $3bn at current prices to secure the LNG, squeezing government coffers already under strain to keep the lights on amid falling gas production and a cost of living crisis.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday directed the government to “preemptively take whatever needs necessary to ensure stable electricity flow,” according to a statement. Reuters
Informatica shares surge on news of takeover bid
Bengaluru — Informatica is exploring a sale after attracting renewed takeover interest from suitors, including Salesforce, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Shares of Informatica had surged as much as 20% in afternoon trading after Bloomberg News first reported that the two companies are in discussion again. They were up 2.8% in extended trading.
The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Informatica offers subscription-based data management services over cloud and helps automate tasks for its customers.
Salesforce and Informatica abandoned their advanced talks for a deal in April 2024 after failing to agree on the terms. Reuters
Pakistan allows surplus electricity for bitcoin mining
Islamabad — Pakistan will allocate 2,000MW of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative to power bitcoin mining and AI data centres, its finance ministry said on Sunday.
The allocation is part of Islamabad’s plans to use its surplus electricity to bitcoin mining and AI data centres.
Pakistan’s energy sector is grappling with challenges, including high electricity tariffs and surplus generation capacity. The country’s total installed capacity was just more than 42,000MW in June last year.
The rapid expansion of solar energy has further complicated the landscape, as more consumers turn to alternative energy sources to mitigate high costs. Reuters
BlackRock slams US for backing coal competition case
London — US government support for a “baseless” case alleging asset managers conspired to reduce competition in the coal sector risks undermining its goal of energy independence, BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, said on Friday.
The US department of justice and federal trade commission (FTC) on Thursday filed a statement of interest in the case by Texas and 12 other states against BlackRock and fellow large investors Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors.
The states claim the companies used their substantial holdings in US coal companies to discourage competition.
“The department and FTC’s support for this baseless case undermines the Trump administration’s goal of American energy independence,” BlackRock said in a statement. Reuters
Chevron may get nod for maintenance in Venezuela
Bengaluru — US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to issue a narrowly tailored licence to Chevron, allowing the company to conduct minimal maintenance of essential operations in Venezuela, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
The US treasury department plans to grant the waiver allowing Chevron to carry out only critical upkeep and safety-related functions in Venezuela, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chevron, the US state department and treasury department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US company’s licence to do business in the South American country is set to expire next week, but most partners of Venezuela’s sanctioned state-run oil firm PDVSA have requested extensions. Reuters
Oracle to buy Nvidia chips for OpenAI’s data centre
Bengaluru — Oracle will spend about $40bn on Nvidia’s higher-performance chips to power OpenAI’s new US data centre, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The data centre, situated in Abilene, Texas, is part of the US Stargate Project, led by top AI firms in the country, to boost America’s heft in the AI industry amid heating global competition.
The cloud service provider will purchase about 400,000 of Nvidia’s most powerful GB200 chips and lease the computing power to OpenAI, the report said, citing several people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI and Oracle did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, while an Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment. Reuters
McDonald’s to close five CosMc’s beverage stores
Bengaluru — McDonald’s is shutting down the five beverage-centred CosMc’s stores it opened in 2023, but said some drinks from the stand-alone concept would be tested in McDonald's restaurants.
The company said on Friday it had opened the stores as a test to learn more about the “fast-growing beverage space,” which it said it had a “right to win.”
It said the stand-alone stores — in markets including San Antonio, Texas — allowed it to test new flavour and technologies without affecting existing McDonald’s restaurants.
The company said it will test “CosMc’s-inspired” drinks to its main menu at hundreds of US stores. The company has more than 14,000 locations in the US. Reuters
US deal allows Boeing to avoid prosecution
Washington — The US justice department said it has struck a deal in principle with Boeing to allow it to avoid prosecution in a fraud case stemming from two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people.
The agreement allows Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon and is a blow to families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take the US plane maker to trial.
Boeing has agreed to pay an additional $444.5m into a crash victims’ fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim on top of an additional $243.6m fine.
The justice department expects to file the written agreement with Boeing by the end of next week. Reuters
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