The first U.S. pope, who has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump with his more outspoken comments, told worshippers at a Mass in Saurimo that violence and oppression went against the Christian message

International News via Reuters:

Pope Leo lamented during an event in Angola on Monday that many people in the world were being “exploited by authoritarians and defrauded by the rich”, the latest example of a forceful new speaking style he has adopted on his four-nation Africa tour.

The first U.S. pope, who has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump with his more outspoken comments, told worshippers at a Mass in Saurimo, near the Democratic Republic of Congo border, that violence and oppression went against the Christian message.

“Every form of oppression, violence, exploitation and dishonesty negates the resurrection of Christ,” said the pontiff, referring to the core belief of Christianity that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified.

His visit to Angola marks the third leg of an ambitious 10-day Africa tour, one of the most complicated ever conducted by a pope, with stops in 11 cities and towns in four countries, traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights.

Leo, who became the head of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church last May, kept a relatively low profile in the first 10 months of his papacy but has issued forceful denunciations of war and inequality during his Africa tour.

He has also repeatedly criticised world leaders, without naming individuals.

On Saturday the 70-year-old pontiff decried exploitation of natural resources in Africa by “despots and tyrants”. Last Thursday he said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.

The pope told journalists on Sunday that his speeches during the tour were written weeks ago and not aimed directly at Trump. He has strongly criticised the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, which began on February 28.

ENTHUSIASTIC CROWDS

Crowds in Angola, where 80% of the population identifies as Christian – and about half of them as Catholic – have been enthusiastic for Leo, with people lining streets along his routes and dancing and screaming to greet him.

Two events on Sunday, a Mass attended by throngs in a dirt field and a prayer at a site that was once a hub for transatlantic slavery, drew roughly 130,000 people.    

Monday is Leo’s last full day in Angola. He heads on Tuesday to Equatorial Guinea, the final leg of his Africa tour. 

He will give a speech there to the country’s political leaders after meeting with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979, making him the world’s longest-serving president.

Equatorial Guinea is widely criticised as one of the most repressive countries in the region. The government denies allegations of human rights abuses and corruption.

Additional reporting by Joshua McElwee in LuandaEditing by Gareth Jones

The potential deal could involve two distinct chips: a memory processing unit to complement Google’s tensor processing unit and a new TPU built for running AI models

International News via Reuters:

Marvell Technology’s shares jumped 7% in premarket trading on Monday following a report that Alphabet’s Google is in talks with the chip designer to develop two new chips aimed at running AI models more efficiently.

The potential deal could involve two distinct chips: a memory processing unit to complement Google’s tensor processing unit and a new TPU built for running AI models, The Information reported on Sunday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

Big Tech such as Google and Facebook-parent Meta are moving fast to reduce dependence on external chip suppliers by expanding their custom chip efforts.

Google deploys TPUs for training AI models and to respond to user queries, a process known as inferencing, and works with Broadcom to design its chips.

The report signals that Google might be looking to diversify from Broadcom amid surging demand for its chips as businesses seek alternatives to Nvidia’s pricey chips.

Google and Marvell did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

AI lab Anthropic uses a range of chips, including TPUs designed by Google, to develop and run its AI software and chatbot Claude.

Last week, Meta extended its deal with Broadcom to produce several generations of custom AI processors. The social media giant paid Broadcom $2.3 billion last year for AI chip design and related services.

Both Marvell and its larger rival Broadcom help clients with designing chips, as growing adoption of AI tools boost demand for specialized processors used in advanced data centers powering AI workloads.

Marvell trades at 33.35 times the estimates of its earnings for the next 12 months, compared with 27.84 for Broadcom.

Average stock rating of 44 analysts covering Marvell is “buy” and their median price target is $125, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Marvell is set to add more than $9 billion in its market value of $122.15 billion, if the premarket gains hold.

Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur

The oil products tanker Nero, which is under British sanctions for Russian oil activities, left the Gulf and was sailing through the Strait

International News via Reuters:

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a virtual standstill on Monday with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.

The oil products tanker Nero, which is under British sanctions for Russian oil activities, left the Gulf and was sailing through the Strait, according to satellite analysis from data analytics specialists SynMax and tracking data from the Kpler platform.

Two other ships – a chemical tanker and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker – sailed into the Gulf through the critical waterway separately on Monday, the data showed.

The LPG tanker, Axon I, was under separate U.S. sanctions for Iran trading activities.

A ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Monday after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.

“Recent weeks have brought several false starts, and although some form of resolution is likely at some point, the timing of any durable breakthrough remains highly uncertain,” ship broker Clarksons said in a note on Monday.

Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Brent crude futures advanced $4.19, or 4.6%, to $94.57 a barrel by 1027 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was up $4.60, or 5.5%, at $88.45

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices jumped around 5% in early Monday trading on fears that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran could collapse after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely halted.

Brent crude futures advanced $4.19, or 4.6%, to $94.57 a barrel by 1027 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was up $4.60, or 5.5%, at $88.45.

Both contracts tumbled by 9% on Friday, their largest daily declines since April 18, after Iran said that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was open for the remainder of the ceasefire. 

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said that Iran had agreed never again to close the strait through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed before the war began almost two months ago.

“Within 24 hours of Friday’s ‘completely open’ announcement, there were already tankers that were fired upon by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” said Sparta Commodities analyst June Goh.

“Market fundamentals are getting worse, as 10-11 million barrels per day of crude oil remains shut in,” Goh added, referring to losses in oil production.

The United States said on Sunday that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to break through its blockade while Iran said it would retaliate, heightening fears of a resumption in hostilities.

Tehran also said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the U.S. had hoped to start before the two-week ceasefire expires this week.

“The financial market is trading negotiations, improvements and resolution while at the same time the physical market is deteriorating day by day,” said SEB Research analyst Bjarne Schieldrop. “Physical oil flows remain constrained by disrupted flows, longer voyage times and elevated freight and insurance costs.”  

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a virtual standstill on Monday, with only three crossings in the past 12 hours, shipping data showed.

More than 20 ships passed through the strait on Saturday, carrying oil, liquefied petroleum gas, metals and fertilisers, Kpler data showed. That was the highest number of vessels crossing the waterway since March 1.

Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London and Florence Tan and Siyi Liu in SingaporeEditing by David Goodman

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington has shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands

International News via Reuters:

A ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Monday after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington has shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands, adding that it did not believe in deadlines or ultimatums when safeguarding national interests.

The U.S. had hoped to start negotiations in Pakistan shortly before the two-week ceasefire expires, with sweeping security preparations under way in Islamabad, but Baghaei said the U.S. was “insisting on some unreasonable and unrealistic positions”.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters the continuation of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports was undermining the prospect of peace talks, and Tehran’s “defensive capabilities”, including its missile programme, were not open to negotiation.

A Pakistani security source said Pakistan’s key mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had told U.S. President Donald Trump the blockade was an obstacle to talks, and that Trump had replied that he would consider the advice.

U.S. MARINES BOARD IRANIAN VESSEL

The U.S. has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas supply.

Oil prices rose more than 6% and stock markets wobbled as traders fretted that the ceasefire would collapse and traffic in and out of the Gulf would remain at a bare minimum. [O/R]

The U.S. military said it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Sunday after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines. U.S. Central Command released video showing Marines descending ropes from helicopters onto the vessel.

Iran’s military said the ship had been travelling from China and accused the U.S. of “armed piracy”, according to state media. They said they were ready to confront U.S. forces over the “blatant aggression”, but were constrained by the presence of crew members’ families on board.

China expressed concern over the “forced interception”, and a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson urged relevant parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement in a responsible manner.

Tehran refused new peace talks for now, citing the ongoing blockade, threatening rhetoric, and Washington’s shifting positions and “excessive demands”.

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref wrote on social media. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”

Trump earlier warned that the U.S. would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if it rejected his terms, continuing a recent pattern of such threats.

Iran has said that if the United States were to attack its civilian infrastructure, it would strike power stations and desalination plants in its Gulf Arab neighbours.

PREPARING FOR TALKS THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN

Trump said his envoys would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening, one day before the two-week ceasefire ends.

A White House official told Reuters the U.S. delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation to the first round of talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. But Trump told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.

Pakistan, which has served as the main mediator, was still gearing up for the talks.

Nearly 20,000 police, paramilitary and army personnel have been deployed across the capital Islamabad, a government and a security official said.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has led Iran’s side in the talks, said on Saturday the two sides had made progress but were still far apart on nuclear issues and the Strait.

European allies, repeatedly criticised by Trump for not aiding his war effort, worry that Washington’s negotiating team is pushing for a swift, superficial deal that would require months or years of technically complex follow‑on talks.

Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait.

Thousands of people have been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel since the war began on February 28, where a truce is also currently in place.

Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against Israel and nearby Arab countries that host U.S. bases.

Reporting Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andy Sullivan and John Geddie; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Alexandra Hudson