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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-ZW link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=916 style='width:687.2pt;border-collapse:collapse'><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:solid #D9D9D9 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:33.35pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><a href="https://bullszimbabwe.com/"><span lang=EN-ZW style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=246 height=120 id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image001.png@01DBEA80.F28B71E0"></span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:32.1pt;text-indent:7.5pt;line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#002060'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:32.1pt;text-indent:7.5pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.bullszimbabwe.com"><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'>Bullszimbabwe.com </span></b></a></span><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0'> </span></b><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:info@bulls.co.zw?subject=View%20and%20Comments"><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'>Views & Comments</span></b></a></span><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'> </span></b></span><span lang=EN-US><a href="https://bullszimbabwe.com/category/blogs/bullish-thoughts/"><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'>Bullish Thoughts</span></b></a></span><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'> </span></b></span><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.twitter.com/BullsBears2010"><b><span 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style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'> </span></b></span><span lang=EN-US><a href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/CF6wllAfScU9Wr6dXxoQnO"><b><span style='color:#70AD47;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'>WhatsApp</span></b></a></span><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><span lang=EN-US style='color:#70AD47;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'> </span></b></span><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:bulls@bullszimbabwe.com?subject=Unsubscribe"><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'>Unsubscribe</span></b></a></span><span class=style30><span style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;color:#00B050'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoSubtitle style='margin-left:32.1pt;text-indent:7.5pt;line-height:105%'><span class=style30><b><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:32.1pt;text-indent:7.5pt;line-height:105%'><span class=style30><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Major International Business Headlines Brief ::: 03 Jul 2025 </span></b></span><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span class=style30><b><span lang=EN-US> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.0pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:info@bulls.co.zw"><span lang=EN-ZW style='color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=804 height=268 id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image002.jpg@01DBEA80.F28B71E0"></span></a></span><span class=style30><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:54.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;line-height:115%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>South African manufacturing sentiment shows tentative improvement in June<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump to host five African leaders next week to discuss ‘commercial opportunities’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Vukile Property Fund FY25 HEPS up 20.7%<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Africa must take ownership of its future<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>TLcom secures $70mn pan-African tech fund<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Kenya looks to privatise state assets to draw private-sector investments, says President Ruto<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>South African inflation expectations drop sharply in quarterly survey<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter: UK’s millionaire exodus spells more trouble for Labour<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump's mega-bill heads for final vote in overnight US House session<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Microsoft to cut up to 9,000 jobs as it invests in AI<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Tesla deliveries fall for second quarter in a row<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Qantas data breach exposes up to six million customer profiles<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump calls on US central bank head to quit immediately<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:72.0pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo2;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Wingdings;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>ü<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Why the world's superyachts are getting bigger and bigger<span style='color:#222222'><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;line-height:115%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:info@bulls.co.zw"><span lang=EN-ZW style='color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=804 height=268 id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.jpg@01DBEA80.F28B71E0"></span></a></span><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 rowspan=3 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>South African manufacturing sentiment shows tentative improvement in June<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>(Reuters) – A gauge of South African manufacturing sentiment showed signs of improvement in June, reaching its second-highest level this year though output is stillweak and logistics bottlenecks remain, a survey showed on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The seasonally-adjusted purchasing managers’ index (PMI) sponsored by South African bank Absa rose to 48.5 points in June from 43.1 in May.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The PMI has now been below 50 for eight consecutive months, reflecting depressedfactory activity in Africa’s most industrialised economy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>“The June PMI results suggest that South Africa’s manufacturing sector may be turning a corner, with firmer demand and easing cost pressures laying the groundwork for recovery. However, output remains weak and structural logistical challenges persist,” Absa said in a statement.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The new sales order sub-index contributed to the increase in the headline PMI, rising by 7.8 points to 46.1 in June.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>However the improvement in demand failed to boost production as the business activity sub-index decreased by 1.6 points to 41.9 last month.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>South Africa’s economy stagnated in the first quarter of 2025, partly due to a weak performance by its manufacturing sector.-cnbc<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump to host five African leaders next week to discuss ‘commercial opportunities’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will host leaders from five African nations in Washington next week to discuss “commercial opportunities,” a White House official said on Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump will host leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal for a discussion and lunch at the White House on July 9, the official said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>“President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners,” the official said, referring to the reasons why the meeting was arranged.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Africa Intelligence and Semafor reported earlier that the Trump administration would hold a summit for the five countries in Washington from July 9-11.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Trump administration has axed swaths of U.S. foreign aid for Africa as part of a plan to curb spending it considers wasteful and not aligned with Trump’s “America First” policies. It says it wants to focus on trade and investment and to drive mutual prosperity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was abandoning what he called a charity-based foreign aid model and will favor those nations that demonstrate “both the ability and willingness to help themselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrel said in May, describing it as the new strategy for support on the continent.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Vukile Property Fund FY25 HEPS up 20.7%<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>JSE-listed SA real estate investment trust Vukile Property Fund reported gross property revenue up 9.4 per cent and a 20.7 per cent increase in headline earnings per share as profit for the year more than doubled. The group expects to deliver growth in funds from operations (FFO) and dividend per share of at least 8 per cent for the 2026 financial year. Laurence Rapp, CEO, Vukile Property Fund joins CNBC Africa for more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Africa must take ownership of its future<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>A realignment of global trade can unlock a new era of African self-determination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>As African leaders gather in Angola for the US-Africa Summit, we welcome every opportunity to strengthen cooperation and drive investment. But we also come with a clear-eyed view of the world: one in which Africa must take increasing ownership of its own development.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The global landscape is changing. The United States is reassessing its global role, refocusing aid and taking steps to strengthen its own trade position. These shifts have implications for Africa, but they also offer clarity. We have an opportunity for the continent to chart its own course with greater confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>In the past, such shifts might have prompted handwringing across African capitals. But under President Samia’s leadership, Tanzania is responding differently. Rather than lament what has been lost, we are focused on building what comes next.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>When the United States redirected over $100 million of USAID funding to Tanzania (most of it for health and education), we recognised the need to act swiftly and decisively. The Tanzanian government has absorbed the funding gap into its own budget to ensure continuity of services. In doing so, we are not replacing our partners but reinforcing the progress we’ve made together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Beyond funding, one of USAID’s greatest contributions has been in human capital. America has helped cultivate a generation of skilled professionals across vital sectors. President Samia has instructed to integrate many of these individuals – both Tanzanian and international – into our national institutions and affiliated agencies. This ensures their expertise remains embedded in our systems, strengthening our long-term resilience.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>President Trump’s tariff proposals are part of a broader global realignment that may, in fact, create new openings for Africa. As companies look to diversify supply chains and build resilience, African manufacturing is emerging as an attractive alternative. We are already seeing signs of investment being redirected toward the continent. African nations will go from aid recipients to investment hubs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>This is an opportunity we must seize. But to do so, we need more than just capital and infrastructure. We need policy certainty, regional integration, and a skilled, empowered workforce.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>That is why Tanzania remains committed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). With a unified market of 1.4 billion people, the AfCFTA is Africa’s best tool for building resilience, scaling local industries, and unlocking our full economic potential. It allows us to depend more on each other and less on decisions made thousands of miles away.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Today, only around 15% of Africa’s trade is intra-African. We export raw materials to distant markets and import finished goods we could make ourselves. That must change. President Samia’s radical infrastructure plan investing in ports, bridges, railways, and energy is laying the foundation for industrial growth that is regional by design and global in ambition.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Beyond infrastructure, Tanzania is investing in strategic sectors like industrialisation and agriculture – two powerful engines of inclusive, long-term growth. These sectors are central to our economic transformation agenda, creating jobs, adding value to raw materials, and ensuring that prosperity reaches every part of society.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>We are also committed to reforming and digitising our customs processes, harmonising standards with our neighbours, and eliminating non-tariff barriers. These practical steps are turning AfCFTA from a vision into a working reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>At this week’s Summit, many voices will call for partnership. Tanzania warmly welcomes this. We believe in a model of partnership that is collaborative, forward-looking, and grounded in mutual investment. Africa’s future will not be delivered from abroad. But with the right partners, it can be accelerated and amplified.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Advertisement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>We are not turning away from the world. We are turning toward ourselves with confidence, clarity, and commitment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It is time for Africa to own its future. And that future begins now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>TLcom secures $70mn pan-African tech fund<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>TLcom has secured $70 million in funding, the first tranche of its $150-million Africa-focused tech fund. The venture capital firm says it plans to expand to Egypt as it focuses on tech-enabled African start-ups.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Kenya looks to privatise state assets to draw private-sector investments, says President Ruto<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>(Reuters) – Kenya is planning to privatise some state assets via initial public offerings in order to bring in more private sector investment, President William Ruto said in remarks at the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The government plans to start with listing the Kenya Pipeline Company via an IPO on the Nairobi Securities Exchange this year, Ruto said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>“We are committed to a structured, time-sensitive programme that identifies and prepares a robust pipeline of key government assets to be privatised through the stock exchange or improved through private sector participation,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ruto also said that well-functioning domestic capital markets could reduce reliance on external debt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Kenya has been seeking new sources of funding since deadly nationwide protests last summer forced it to pursue austerity measures and scrap planned tax hikes worth more than 346 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.68 billion).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Separately, at the Africa Debate event later on Wednesday, Ruto said that following shocks such as U.S. President Donald Trump’s elimination of USAID this year, Kenya is working to rely on its own resources, and private investments, rather than “resources that we do not have any control over.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>He cited plans to partner with the private sector to provide hospital equipment on a fee-per-use basis and said Kenya had raised $1.3 billion by securitising assets such as roads to raise funding.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>“We are now going to be listing some of those bonds in the securities exchange so other investors can have a bite of the cherry,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>($1 = 128.9500 Kenyan shillings)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>South African inflation expectations drop sharply in quarterly survey<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>(Reuters) – South African analysts, business people and trade unions lowered their inflation expectations in the latest survey published on Wednesday, which could embolden the central bank to keep cutting interest rates.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The average forecast for consumer inflation during 2025 fell to 3.9% in the second-quarter survey from 4.4% in the previous quarter, the first time in more than four years that the current year’s forecast has been below 4%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>For 2026, the average dropped to 4.3% from 4.6% in the first quarter, and for 2027 it fell to 4.5% from 4.7%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The South African Reserve Bank, or SARB, which commissions the survey, takes inflation expectations into account when taking its monetary policy decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>“The second-quarter survey reflects a broad-based and significant decline in the inflation expectations. … This decline was present among all three social groups and for the entire forecast horizon,” the Bureau for Economic Research, which conducts the survey, said in a report.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The SARB targets inflation of 3%-6% but has been pushing to lower the target. Its preference is for a 3% objective, it said at its last policy meeting in May, when it cut its key lending rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Consumer inflation was 2.8% year-on-year in May, the third month in a row it has been below 3%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Advertisement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The SARB’s next monetary policy announcement is scheduled for July 31.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The survey also showed analysts, business people and trade unions had become more pessimistic about economic growth, on average expecting growth of 0.9% this year whereas they had predicted growth of 1.2% in the last survey.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Africa’s biggest economy expanded just 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025, dragged down by a poor performance by its mining and manufacturing sectors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter: UK’s millionaire exodus spells more trouble for Labour<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>For most of this century, the U.K. — and London in particular — has been one of the most popular destinations for the world’s super rich to live, work and play in.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The U.K.’s approach in this period was best summed-up by Peter Mandelson, a senior minister in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s Labour governments and now U.K. ambassador to the United States. In 1998 he told a group of Silicon Valley business leaders: “We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they pay their taxes.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>However, that is now changing as the wealthy flee a punitive new tax regime, with potentially severe consequences for the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Arguably this began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and hundreds of Russian oligarchs left the U.K. after being sanctioned. This in itself was meaningful; the upmarket estate agent Aston Chase estimated that, at the time of the invasion, some 150,000 Russians were living in ‘Londongrad’ owning £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) worth of residential property.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>But that was a specific Russian issue and apart from those who had profited from Russian activity, few mourned their departure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Things began to change more broadly during the run-up to last year’s general election, when Jeremy Hunt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, sought to steal the clothes of his Labour rivals in his March 2024 Budget.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>He announced that, as of April 2025, the U.K. would abolish so-called ‘non-dom’ status — a quirk of the tax system dating back to 1799, that allowed wealthy people living in Britain but who did not consider it to be their permanent home, or ‘domicile,’ to pay U.K. tax only on income earned in, or transferred to, the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>This had been a flagship Labour policy and Labour had made hay from the fact that Akshata Murty, the Indian-born wife of Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, was one of around 74,000 people who had enjoyed non-dom status in 2022-23 (the latest tax year for which figures are available).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Hunt claimed replacing non-dom status with his “simpler, residency-based system” would raise £2.7 billion annually. Crucially, though, he chose not to subject overseas assets placed in offshore trusts by non-doms to U.K. inheritance tax.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>When Labour won the election, in July last year, newly-appointed Chancellor Rachel Reeves, decided she needed to maintain the party’s leadership on the issue. So she abolished the exemption on offshore trusts — potentially exposing the entire global wealth of these individuals to the 40% levy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Overnight it turned the U.K. from one of the most attractive destinations for the world’s wealthiest people into one of the most expensive places in the world to die.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The upshot has been an exodus of the super rich.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Super rich exodus<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It is hard to know precisely how many people have left. The analytics firm New World Wealth and the investment migration advisers Henley & Partners suggested in March this year that Britain had lost a net 10,800 millionaires to migration in 2024, up 157% on 2023 and more than any other country except China.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Some dispute those figures, among them Stephen Kinsella, a legal advisor and member of Patriotic Millionaires U.K., a nonpartisan network of British millionaires calling for a wealth tax. He told me recently the numbers were an extrapolation based on the number of people on LinkedIn who had said they had left.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>He added: “There are about 3 million millionaires in Britain so, even if 10,000 had left, that would be about 0.3% of millionaires.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Henley & Partners and New World Wealth published a new report last week predicting that 16,500 millionaires would leave the U.K. this year, more than twice as many had been expected, representing the highest net outflow of high-net-worth individuals from any country since they began tracking millionaire migration 10 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Although the actual numbers will not be known until the U.K. tax authorities crunch the numbers some years hence, there have been plenty of straws in the wind. LonRes, which tracks activity in London’s prime property markets, estimates there were 36% fewer transactions involving such homes in May this year than in the same month last year. Meanwhile, Companies House data suggests more than 4,400 directors have left the U.K. in the last year, with departures accelerating in recent months.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Among those leaving have been some very high-profile individuals, including Richard Gnodde, the South African-born vice chairman of Goldman Sachs; Nassef Sawiris, Egypt’s richest man and co-owner of Aston Villa FC co-owner and John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born shipping magnate. Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian-born steel billionaire who regularly tops the rankings of Britain’s richest people, is said to be weighing up his options and is widely expected to give up his U.K. tax residency.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Compounding the problem is that other countries are currently welcoming the rich with open arms. They include Italy, where Gnodde has relocated, which allows wealthy foreigners to pay an annual fee of up to 200,000 euros to exempt their overseas assets and income from tax. The top destination for migrating millionaires though, is the United Arab Emirates, now home to Sawiris and Fredriksen. The latest Henley & Partners/New World Wealth report predicts it will attract a net 9,800 millionaires this year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Advertisement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>None of this has yet appeared in the U.K.‘s fiscal forecasts. Indeed, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility still assumes Reeves’ move will raise £2.7 billion in extra taxes a year by 2028-29. It assumes that between 12%-25% of non-doms would go, which now looks an underestimate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Research published by the consultancy Oxford Economics in September last year, based on a survey of non-doms and their advisors, suggested 63% would leave within two years of the measure being implemented. Survey aside, Oxford Economics expects up to 32% of non-doms to leave and under that scenario, with non-doms having paid £8.9 billion in taxes in 2022-23, the policy would start costing the Treasury money.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It is not just the foregone taxes such people would have paid that will hurt. Thousands of jobs in sectors like retail, hospitality, legal services and luxury goods depend on the continued presence in the U.K. of the former non-doms. Scores of charities, cultural and sporting institutions depend on their patronage and philanthropy. There would therefore be a much broader impact than just the fiscal one.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Belatedly, the government has realized it has a problem. Unfortunately, it is probably too late to lure back those non-doms who have already gone, along with others who have left due to the imposition of VAT on school fees and changes in agricultural property relief and business property relief that exposed previously exempt estates and businesses to inheritance tax for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>However, the government can still act to stop further departures. The most effective thing to do would be to restore the exemption from inheritance tax granted to offshore trusts. This would be problematic for Reeves, since taxing the wealthy more is highly popular among Labour voters, even when — as one poll last weekend suggested — it hurts the public finances.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>But the Chancellor needs to find some way of backing down without it looking too much like a U-turn. And, with many wealthy people looking to relocate in time for the start of the new school year in September, she should probably not leave it until her autumn Budget.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump's mega-bill heads for final vote in overnight US House session<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The US House of Representatives is working through the night as Donald Trump and his allies try to pressurise holdouts in the president's own Republican Party to back his mega-bill on tax and spending in a final vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The sprawling legislation, which could define Trump's second term in office, passed a key procedural vote after 03:00 EDT (07:00 GMT).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump's bill has been opposed not only by opposition Democrats, but by a handful of Republicans who criticise its potential impact on national finances, healthcare and other issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The bill ground through the Senate earlier this week in another overnight session. Trump has given a deadline of Friday for a final version to reach him for sign-off.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Both chambers of Congress are controlled by Trump's Republicans, but within the party several factions are fighting over key policies in the lengthy legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The House, or lower chamber, approved an earlier version of the bill in May with a margin of just one vote, and this bill, with new amendments that have frustrated some Republicans, must now be reconciled with the Senate version.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The bill narrowly cleared the Senate, or upper chamber, on Tuesday. Vice-President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote after more than 24 hours of debate and resistance from some Republican senators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It has so far proven equally tricky for Trump's allies to pass the bill through the House.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>After about seven hours of wrangling that led to most lawmakers clearing from the chamber on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson scheduled a vote on the rule - a procedural vote that allows the legislation to be brought to the floor for a full vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>This hurdle was ultimately cleared several hours later, and was seen as a signal that Republicans might have the support they needed after all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Facing intense pressure, House must decide if Trump's bill is good enough<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>What's in Trump's budget bill?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump and Musk feud again over budget plans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The president has been very involved in attempting to persuade the holdouts and held several meetings at the White House on Wednesday in hopes of winning them over.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>On Wednesday, he took to social media to apply further pressure, saying that the "House is ready to vote tonight". He added that Republicans are "united" to deliver "massive growth".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ralph Norman, a House Republican from South Carolina, attended one of the meetings but was not persuaded, further fuelling the overnight jeopardy for Trump and his allies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"There won't be any vote until we can satisfy everybody," Norman said, adding he believes there are about 25 other Republicans who are currently opposed to it. The chamber can only lose about three Republicans to pass the measure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"I got problems with this bill," he said. "I got trouble with all of it."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Sticking points have included the question of how much the bill will add to the US national deficit, and how deeply it will cut healthcare and other social programmes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>During previous signs of rebellion against Trump at Congress, Republican lawmakers have ultimately fallen in line, and they now look likely to do so in the final House vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>What is at stake this time is the defining piece of legislation for Trump's second term. But several factions have stood in its way as the bill has worked through Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The deficit hawks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the version of the bill that was passed on Tuesday by the Senate could add $3.3tn (£2.4tn) to the US national deficit over the next 10 years. That compares with $2.8tn that could be added by the earlier version that was narrowly passed by the House.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The deficit means the difference between what the US government spends and the revenue it receives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>This outraged the fiscal hawks in the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who have threatened to tank the bill.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Many of them have echoed claims made by Elon Musk, Trump's former adviser and campaign donor, who has repeatedly lashed out at lawmakers for considering a bill that will ultimately add to US national debt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Shortly after the Senate passed the bill, Texas congressman Chip Roy, of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, was quick to signal his frustration.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>He said the odds of meeting Trump's 4 July deadline had lengthened.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Congressman Ralph Norman is among the Republicans threatening to vote down the bill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Freedom Caucus chairman Andy Harris of Tennessee told Fox News that Musk was right to say the US cannot sustain these deficits. "He understands finances, he understands debts and deficits, and we have to make further progress."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>On Tuesday, Conservative congressman Andy Ogles went as far as to file an amendment that would completely replace the Senate version of the bill, which he called a "dud", with the original House-approved one.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ohio Republican Warren Davison posted on X: "Promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>A pair of bar charts compare the estimated increases and savings in US federal spending from Trump's budget bill. The first bar chart shows the cumulative cost increases over 10 years. It highlights tax-cut extensions (worth $4.5tn), defence (worth $150bn) and borders (worth $129bn). The bar representing tax-cut extensions is much longer than any of the bars on the bar chart that shows total savings. This second bar chart highlights Medicaid (worth $930bn in savings), green energy (worth $488bn) and food benefits (worth $287bn)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Medicaid guardians<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Representatives from poorer districts have been worried about the Senate version of the bill harming their constituents, which could also hurt them at the polls in 2026.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>According to the Hill, six Republicans were planning at one point to vote down the bill due to concerns about cuts to key provisions, including cuts to medical coverage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Some of the critical Republicans have attacked the Senate's more aggressive cuts to Medicaid, the healthcare programme relied upon by millions of low-income Americans.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"I've been clear from the start that I will not support a final reconciliation bill that makes harmful cuts to Medicaid, puts critical funding at risk, or threatens the stability of healthcare providers," said congressman David Valadao, who represents a swing district in California.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>This echoed the criticism of opposition House Democrats, whose leader, Hakeem Jeffries, posted a picture of himself on Wednesday to Instagram, holding a baseball bat and vowing to "keep the pressure on Trump's One Big Ugly Bill".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Other Republicans have signalled a willingness to compromise. Randy Fine, from Florida, told the BBC he had frustrations with the Senate version of the bill, but that he would vote it through the House because "we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>House Republicans had wrestled over how much to cut Medicaid and food subsidies in the initial version their chamber passed. They needed the bill to reduce spending, in order to offset lost revenue from the tax cuts contained in the legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Senate made steeper cuts to both areas in the version passed on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) in the Senate's bill would see roughly 12 million Americans lose health insurance by 2034, according to a CBO report published on Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Under the version originally passed by the House, a smaller number of 11 million Americans would have had their coverage stripped, according to the CBO.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Hakeem Jeffries/Instagram US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries holds a brown baseball bat while standing in an office. He is surrounded by chairs including a brown couch with yellow cushions which is behind him. He is wearing a blue dress shirt and black trousersHakeem Jeffries/Instagram<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>House Democrats, led by Hakeem Jeffries, are united against the bill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The state tax (Salt) objectors<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The bill also deals with the question of how much taxpayers can deduct from the amount they pay in federal taxes, based on how much they pay in state and local taxes (Salt). This, too, has become a controversial issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>There is currently a $10,000 cap, which expires this year. Both the Senate and House have approved increasing this to $40,000.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>But in the Senate-approved version, the cap would return to $10,000 after five years. This change could pose a problem for some House Republicans.-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Microsoft to cut up to 9,000 jobs as it invests in AI<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Microsoft has confirmed that it will lay off as many as 9,000 workers, in the technology giant's latest wave of job cuts this year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The company said several divisions would be affected without specifying which ones but reports suggest that its Xbox video gaming unit will be hit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Microsoft has set out plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), and is spending $80bn (£68.6bn) in huge data centres to train AI models.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>A spokesperson for the firm told the BBC: "We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The cuts would equate to 4% of Microsoft's 228,000-strong global workforce.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It has initiated three other rounds of redundancies so far in 2025, including in May when it said it would cut 6,000 roles.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>An official database maintained by Washington state shows that more than 800 of the positions eliminated will be concentrated in the city of Redmond as well as in Bellevue, another Microsoft hub in its home state.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>In recent years, like many other big technology firms, Microsoft has refocussed its business towards developing AI, including investing in data centres and chips.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Last year, the company hired British AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman to lead its new Microsoft AI division.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>A top Microsoft executive recently told the BBC that the next half century will "fundamentally be defined by artificial intelligence,", changing the way we work and interact with one another.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Microsoft is also a major investor and shareholder in OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT, although the relationship has reportedly grown tense in recent months.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Bloomberg reported that Microsoft has struggled to sell its AI assistant, known as Copilot, to business customers because many office workers prefer ChatGPT.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The layoffs among rank and file workers at Microsoft come as major US tech companies court top AI talent.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has been poaching talent from rivals to form a 'superintelligence' lab.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly been personally involved in recruitment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>OpenAI boss Sam Altman said recently that members of his team had been getting offers of more than $100m (£74.3m) as "signing bonuses" from Meta.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Last month, Amazon boss Andy Jassy said he expected AI would replace some of his firm's workers.-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Tesla deliveries fall for second quarter in a row<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Elon Musk's Tesla has reported a 14% decline in vehicle deliveries in the second quarter of the year, as the electric car-maker's problems show no sign of abating.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The just over 384,000 vehicles it delivered between April and June represents the second quarterly drop in a row.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Tesla faces increasing competition from rivals, including China's BYD. Musk's controversial role as a government efficiency czar in the Trump administration has also been blamed for the plummeting numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Musk has since left the role - but has publicly sparred with US President Donald Trump over a massive spending bill pushed by the White House.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>In response, Trump floated cutting the subsidies received by Musk's firms or even deporting him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump suggested that the ad-hoc Department of Government Efficiency - known as Doge - could be used to harm the billionaire's companies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far," Trump wrote on social media Tuesday. "Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now," Musk replied.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump has said that Musk's opposition to the spending bill stems from a provision that removes incentives to buy electric vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"He's upset that he's losing his EV mandate, he's very upset, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you that," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Though the quarterly deliveries metric is tracked closely by investors, some analysts have shrugged off the figures.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"The good news: that ~14% should mark the bottom," wrote Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster on Musk's social media site X. "I have September down 10% and December flat."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Munster said he expected uncertainty about the US EV tax credit to boost near-term sales as buyers scramble to purchase before it expires.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Tesla's push into robotaxis which kicked off in Austin, Texas last month in uncertain fashion could prove critical, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"Over the next two years, I think investors will be fine with flat deliveries as long as autonomy shows measurable progress," Munster added.-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Qantas data breach exposes up to six million customer profiles<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Qantas is contacting customers after a cyber attack targeted their third-party customer service platform.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>On 30 June, the Australian airline detected "unusual activity" on a platform used by its contact centre to store the data of six million people, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Upon detection of the breach, Qantas took "immediate steps and contained the system", according to a statement.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The company is still investigating the full extent of the breach, but says it is expecting the proportion of data stolen to be "significant".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>It has assured the public that passport details, credit card details and personal financial information were not held in the breached system, and no frequent flyer accounts, passwords or PIN numbers have been compromised.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Qantas has notified the Australian Federal Police of the breach, as well as the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"We sincerely apologise to our customers and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause," said Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>She asked customers to call the dedicated support line if they had concerns, and confirmed that there would be no impact to Qantas' operations or the safety of the airline.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The attack comes just days after the FBI issued an alert on X warning that the airline sector was a target of cyber criminal group Scattered Spider.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>US-based Hawaiian Airlines and Canada's WestJet have both been impacted by similar cyber attacks in the past two weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>BBC revealed that the group has also been the key focus of an investigation into the wave of cyber attacks on UK retailers, including M&S.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Qantas breach is the latest in a string of Australian data breaches this year, with AustralianSuper and Nine Media suffering significant leaks in the past few months.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>In March 2025, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released statistics revealing that 2024 was the worst year for data breaches in Australia since records began in 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"The trends we are observing suggest the threat of data breaches, especially through the efforts of malicious actors, is unlikely to diminish," said Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind in a statement from the OAIC.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Kind urged businesses and government agencies to step up security measures and data protection, and highlighted that both the private and public sectors are vulnerable to cyber attacks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump calls on US central bank head to quit immediately<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>US President Donald Trump has called for the chair of the Federal Reserve to quit right away, in an escalation of his attacks on Jerome Powell.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"'Too Late' should resign immediately!!!", Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>He also included a link to a news article about a US federal housing regulator calling for Mr Powell to be investigated over his testimony about renovations to the central bank's Washington headquarters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump nominated Mr Powell to be the Fed chair during his first term. Since then, he has repeatedly criticised him for not cutting interest rates but it is unclear whether the president has the authority to remove him from the post.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Despite the president's continued criticism of Mr Powell, he said earlier this year that had "no intention of firing him".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Trump wants the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to help boost economic growth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Mr Powell said on Tuesday that the Fed would have cut rates already had it not been for the impact of Trump's tariff policies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>When asked during a meeting of central bankers in Portugal whether US rates would have been cut again this year if the administration had not announced its plan to sharply increase tariffs on countries around the world Mr Powell responded, "I think that's right."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The US Federal Reserve declined to comment about Trump's remarks when contacted by the BBC.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Mr Powell was renominated to the position by then-President Joe Biden and his current term is set to end in May 2026.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ahead of Trump's return to power at the start of this year, Mr Powell said he would not step down if the president asked him to and that it is "not permitted under law" for the White House to force him out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Board members of independent federal agencies like the Federal Reserve can only be forced out before their terms expire "for cause," according to a landmark US Supreme Court ruling in 1935.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>However, Trump has often challenged political norms, including firing some independent regulators, actions that have been contested in court.-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Why the world's superyachts are getting bigger and bigger<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Business is booming in the luxury world of superyachts, with the super-rich wanting ever bigger floating palaces.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Paola Trifirò knows a thing or two about superyachts – she and her husband have owned more than a dozen over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The Italian couple, who have made their fortune in law, and continue to run a global legal firm, like to sail around the world in the height of luxury.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Trifirò describes their boats, which can be more than 50m (164ft) long, as being like floating five-star hotels. And she likes to get involved in the design process.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>One criteria she insists upon is that the crew have ample kitchen space, so they can cook gourmet meals for up to 15 people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Trifirò explains her reasoning: "If you are used to eating well, not everywhere [in the world] are there restaurants good enough."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>She also says that the large size of the vessels is reassuring. "Whether it's sailing alongside humpback whales, or receiving greetings by fishermen on the Fiji islands, my boats allow me to sail… with strength and safety."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>But what exactly is a superyacht? While there is no official global classification, industry website and magazine Boat International describes one as "a luxury, privately-owned yacht that measures 24 metres or more in length, and is professionally crewed".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>The magazine says that global sales boomed after Covid. With the super rich suddenly unable to go to luxury hotels, as they were all closed during the pandemic, many switched to superyachts instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>As a result, 1,024 new superyachts were built or on order around the world in 2022, a 25% jump from 2021, and a then all-time high, according to Boat International's figures. This then increased to 1,203 in 2023, another new record.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"After the pandemic people considered their super yachts as safe islands both for themselves and their relatives," says Barbara Armerio who co-owns Italian family-run superyacht builder Amer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>She adds that billionaires cherished their personal space and independence even more. "They asked for bigger windows, more space outside, and to be able to touch the seawater more easily".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>While the overall number of superyachts being built or ordered is expected to fall slightly this year to 1,138, they are getting bigger on average, Boat International's data also shows. So far this year, 61 boats of 76m or more in length are being made, up from 55 in 2024.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>And in the 46m to 60m grouping, numbers have increased to 175 from 159. Meanwhile, sales of the smallest superyachts, between 24m and 27m are down to 286 from 321.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"It's clear that some of those new clients the industry found in the Covid-19 years are trading up," says Ms Armerio.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Boat International's editor in chief Stewart Campbell says that whatever size superyacht people buy "designers and naval architects are getting very clever at packing ever more volume into hulls, giving owners lots more space on board".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>As a result, today's superyacht's increasingly have everything from helipads to cinemas, gyms, beauty salons, and saunas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Getty Images Koru, the superyacht owned by Jess Bezos, the founder of AmazonGetty Images<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Koru, the retro-styled superyacht owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is reported to have cost more than $500m to build<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>As you'd imagine, prices are extremely high. You can pay €36m ($41m; £30m) for a new smaller boat, up to €295m for a 105m-long vessel with all the optional extras.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Half of all superyachts continue to be built in Italy, with its yards currently working on a combined length of 22,195m, or approximately 22km (13 miles), of boats. Turkey is in second place, followed by the Netherlands, the UK, Taiwan, Germany, the US and China.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Back in 2023, Italian shipbuilders earned €8.3bn from making superyachts, a record high.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Armerio says her shipyard "produces only a few high-grade" superyachts per year, "masterpieces with unique details".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>She adds that Italian yacht-makers like hers are supported by a solid network of local artisans. "In Italy we find everything we need."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Armerio points to being able to drive to Tuscany's stone quarries from her company's base on the coast of Liguria if she needs to order marble.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Barbara Armerio Italian shipbuilder Barbara Armerio smiles at the camera while crossing her arms, in front of a superyacht being builtBarbara Armerio<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Italian shipbuilder Barbara Armerio says buyers want ever more luxury<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Regarding the billionaires and multimillionaires who buy superyachts, Boat International says that most are from the US. Yet it points to more coming from Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico as those countries' economies grow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Meanwhile, sales to Russian buyers have fallen to due to the sanctions against the country and its elites as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>If the appeal of a superyacht wasn't immediately obvious, Ms Trifirò says they enable her to see the world and fulfil her wanderlust. And she likes to be at the controls of the boat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>"My curiosity to explore new places pushes me to cruise the oceans while in the driver's seat," she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Ms Trifirò adds that her crew is paid double what they'd likely earn on land "as it is very important to keep them happy. Our captain has worked for us for 22 years."-BBC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:50.35pt;line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:10.05pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=X-NONE style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> </span><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Invest Wisely!</span></i><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Bulls n Bears </span></b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Courier New";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Cellphone: +263 71 944 1674 | +27 79 993 5557 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Email: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:bulls@bullszimbabwe.com"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>bulls@bullszimbabwe.com</span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Website: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.bullszimbabwe.com"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>www.bullszimbabwe.com</span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Blog: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog</span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Twitter (X): @bullsbears2010<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>LinkedIn: Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%;background:white'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Facebook: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe</span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:33.35pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><img border=0 width=278 height=115 id="_x0000_i1028" src="cid:image004.png@01DBEA80.F28B71E0"></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:115%;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#222222;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:10.05pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><strong><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#345883'>INVESTORS DIARY 2025</span></strong><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=175 style='width:131.3pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:12.6pt;line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Company</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=207 style='width:155.5pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Event</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Venue</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Date & Time</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=207 style='width:155.5pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:72.0pt;text-indent:-72.0pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=207 style='width:155.5pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:72.0pt;text-indent:-72.0pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=207 style='width:155.5pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=top style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:72.0pt;text-indent:-72.0pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#D9D9D9;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Companies under Cautionary<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#D9D9D9;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#D9D9D9;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>CBZH<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>GetBucks<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>EcoCash<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Padenga<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Econet<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>RTG<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Fidelity<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>TSL<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>FMHL<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:3.25pt'><td width=382 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:286.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=353 style='width:264.7pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=175 valign=bottom style='width:131.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-right:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoBodyText style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:3.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style='height:99.35pt'><td width=910 colspan=4 style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:99.35pt'><p class=MsoBodyText align=center style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:info@bulls.co.zw"><span lang=EN-ZW style='color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=804 height=268 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image005.jpg@01DBEA80.F28B71E0"></span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;height:99.35pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#1F497D;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#1F497D;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:white'>DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from s believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.</span></i><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><i><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=top style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> (c) 2025 Web: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://www.bullszimbabwe.com"><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>www.bullszimbabwe.com</span></a></span><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> Email: </span><span lang=EN-US><a href="mailto:bulls@bullszimbabwe.com"><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>bulls@bullszimbabwe.com</span></a></span><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> Tel: +27 79 993 5557 | +263 71 944 1674</span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td width=910 colspan=4 valign=bottom style='width:682.8pt;border:solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt;border-top:none;background:#F2F2F2;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></td><td width=6 style='width:4.4pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>