Reuters World News - Nikkei record, Iranian missiles in Russia and Trump at CPAC

Episode Date: February 22, 2024

Japanese stocks have surpassed their 1989 peak. Iran has sent hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia at a critical point in the Ukraine conflict. Donald Trump stars at the annual conference for conservative leaders. And Serbia’s pollution problem is a stumbling block for EU accession. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Japanese investors party like it's 1989. Reuters reveals Iran is sending surface-to-surface missiles to Russia. Speculation about Trump's running mate dominates CPAC. And why raw sewage is complicating Serbia's bid to join the European Union. It's Thursday, February 22nd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. Every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in London.

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is a super-exit to Shopify. Empeza to period of per year for a euro at month in Shopify.coms bar records. Traders clapping as

Japanese stocks surge to an all-time high. Chipmaker NVIDIA's buoyant outlook is lifting stocks around the world,

but the Niki is on a tear. It's broken through levels last seen in the bubble economy days of 1989.

Vidia Ranganathan is in Singapore. So first off, Vidya, why is this happening now? Indeed, it's been 34 years in the making. And what changed, I think, was three things. One was Warren Buffett at the beginning of 2023 coming in and saying he's putting more money in Japan. The second one was just in terms of the Tokyo Stock Exchange coming out and saying, we want to see better corporate governance.

And Japanese companies sit on a lot of cash. And so they've been doing a record amount, I think, about $60 billion, dollars worth of buybacks last year. So huge amount of share dividend. And the final thing was China's collapse and foreign investors who had always been waiting and hoping that China will recover, now finally throwing in the towel and saying, let's move to the next best thing in Asia, which is Japan. Is this going to last? We are on a poll just today, which shows that most investors are already predicting that the NICA should hit 39,000, which it did today, and that it's going to hit 40,000. and beyond that, it's blue skies, and some people are saying 50,000.

Is this different to the late 80s? The main thing to remember is that in the late 80s, much of the rally, it was a big bubble in property. It was the composition of the NICA was different. And it was everything linked to property and the financial sector, which was rallying. And the moment the Bank of Japan saw the bubble and decided they're going to raise interest rate. It all came crashing down. In that sense, this seems a little more sustainable. now. It's a much broader rally and the valuations are much, much cheaper than it was in 1989.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gans saying early signs of progress have emerged over a ceasefire deal to release hostages from Gaza. Gantz has warned that if a deal is not agreed, then the fighting in Gaza will continue into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The head of Boeing's troubled 737 Max program is out of the company. Ed Clark's departure, announced in a memo seen by Reuters, comes after a panel flew out of an Alaskan Airlines flight mid-air in January. Clark oversaw the production facility where the plane was completed. Iran has sent hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia,

according to new reporting by Reuters. The missile shipments are a sign of, the deepening relationship between the two countries increasingly left out in the cold by the West. National security reporter Jonathan Landay is in Washington, D.C. We've heard since last year that the Russians and the Iranians were in discussions about the provision of munitions to Russia for use in Ukraine. The Iranians, although they deny this, have been supplying the Russians with hundreds of explosive drones that the Russians have been using Ukraine. And now, according to six sources, the talks have resulted in the actual supply of a large

number of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles by Iran to Russia. Now, proxies for Iran are waging attacks across the Middle East. Are there concerns that Iran may be receiving military supplies from Russia? That's a really good question. It's not apparent what Iran is. getting in response to its supplies of drones and missiles to Russia at this point. There are major concerns among Western nations that Russia could begin transferring fighter jets, attack helicopters, training aircraft to Iran. And some of the experts with whom I've spoken are concerned that perhaps Iran may receive Russian assistance with its nuclear program, which Iran claims is for civilian purposes, but which the International Atomic Energy Agency

has said was a military program at least until 2003. Russia's Defense Ministry and Iran's Revolutionary Guard both declined to comment on this reporting. To read more, visit Reuters.com. CPAC, the annual conference for conservative leaders, is underway in the nation's capital. The star of this year's show is once again Donald Trump. But there's also expected to be plenty of focus on a potential vice presidential running mate. Political reporter Tim Reid is in Washington, D.C. Tim, at this point, is CPAC a Trump rally? Yes, it's a MAGA rally. And it'll be the latest and very vivid manifestation of how Trump has completely conquered the modern Republican Party. And

it's no longer really the Republican Party. It's the party of Donald Trump. And CPAC will be a very vivid and colorful manifestation of that. Okay, other than Trump, who are some of the stars we should look out for who could eventually join a Trump ticket? Among some of them who will be speaking is Kristy Noem, the governor of South Dakota, Elise Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, J.D. Vance, who's a senator from Ohio. There's also a couple of Trump-like foreign leaders, including President Malay of Argentina, President Buckeli, who was just recently re-elected in El Salvador.

And there's also a session highlighting Hungary, Victor Orban will not be there, but he is an authoritarian leader who's often praised by Trump in his speeches. Now, that sort of illustrates the party's love, of strong men. I noticed that Zaire Bolsonaro's son is also speaking. Yes, there's definitely a strong man theme running through the conference. And another

major theme of the conference is anti-globalism. There will be speakers who will be raiding against the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the European Union, the World Economic Forum. So there will be a very America-first isolationist,

anti-globalist theme also running through the conference. Serbia is grappling with a pollution problem. Lacking adequate infrastructure, Belgrade dumps enough untreated sewage each year to fill 60,000 Olympic swimming pools. And that's threatening not just wetlands and wildlife, but also its ability to join the European Union. Alexander Vasevich visited one spot in the capital. Along the Sava River, buskers are playing, fishermen are fishing.

But Alexander, there's a lot more going on below the surface, right? At this spot in Belgrade, there's a huge outlet which dumps raw sewage straight into the Sava. And it's like literally meters away from elite neighborhood with brand new high-rise and super expensive apartments. and people are walking by like really nice area for afternoon strolls, but it stinks because it's raw sewage, being dumped literally meters away from people jogging or fishing. I spoke with Vladimir Stakeech and angler who said he was appalled with what he sees along the banks of the Sava and the denials.

that pollution there is affecting fish stocks. And he was also appalled to see people fishing around these sewer outlets and actually also taking that fish home to eat and sell it. The problem extends far beyond this one river. Murko Popovich is the program director of the Environmental Regulatory Institute and says only 15% of wastewater across. Serbia is treated. In most of the EU, that number is more like 75%. And if Serbia wants to join the EU, then it needs to meet European pollution standards. That's expensive.

The country has to invest big money. It has to invest around 15 billion euros of its own money before it joins the European Union. So it's not only waste water, it is solid waste, it is landfills, it is climate change, it is air pollution, it is CO2 emissions, so it's really a mammoth task for Serbia to fulfill. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.