Ceasefire hopes, the Pope in Africa, Live Nation and AI confessions

Hi, I'm Kim Penel in Wanganui, New Zealand.

It's Thursday, April 16th.

Today.

Pakistan's army chief visits Tehran, as Trump says the Iran war is close to over.

Back home, Trump threatens to fire Jerome Powell from the Federal Reserve Board.

Warnings over how you speak to your AI should it end up in court.

A court finds live nation and ticket master illegally monopolized live event markets.

But don't expect cheap tickets too soon.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in ten

minutes, seven days a week.

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Pakistan's army chief is in Tehran, part of an apparent push to keep a fragile ceasefire

between the US and Iran from falling apart.

There's a lot of optimism from the markets, which are already pricing in an end to the

conflict, and from US President Donald Trump, who says the war is, quote, close to ending.

Trump told ABC News, I think you're going to be watching an amazing two days ahead.

House reporter Steve Holland says part of this is about projection.

What we are told is that they're trying to extend the ceasefire beyond the two-week period

which expires next week and then have another round of talks and talk about Iran's nuclear

program and try to put some controls on that and straighten out who controls the straight

and poor moves and allow the free flow of oil through that strategic waterway.

We're not sure that it's going to be the most exciting two days that he talks about.

It's probably going to take a little longer.

But he wants to try to create a scenario where the war is almost over.

Happy days are here again.

Let's move on.

Let's get gas prices down.

And that's just not where things are at just yet.

The White House says it has not requested a ceasefire extension.

In Lebanon, brothers Wail and Ali Sabah watch as an excavator removes the rubble which

was their family home.

Their mother and brother were both killed in the Israeli strike responsible.

We actually couldn't identify the building.

We couldn't know because as you can tell, it's half gone.

It's not safe to go south to bury their loved ones where tradition dictates in their ancestral

lands.

Instead, like others in South Lebanon, they've been forced to bury them in temporary graves

in Beirut.

Nobody else wants it, so that's our lives.

The Israeli Cabinet met yesterday to weigh a possible ceasefire in Lebanon and US President

Donald Trump posted on true social that the leaders of both countries will talk today.

Washington has been pressuring Israel to agree to a deal, worried Israel's ongoing strikes

in Lebanon could risk the ceasefire with Iran.

Trump says he wrote a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping asking Beijing not to give Iran

weapons.

And he says Xi wrote back saying he's not doing that.

But Reuters China bureau chief Kevin Krolyke says Beijing and Tehran have been close.

Our own reporting has suggested that right up until the cusp of the current conflict Iran

was negotiating to buy advanced supersonic missiles, anti-ship missiles from China.

Analysts believe Iran has been able to use China's Beidou satellite navigation system during

the war.

Kevin says Xi Jinping has been walking a tight rope over the war in Iran when it comes

to US relations.

He said that international relations had to be governed by the rule of law and could

not fall back into the law of the jungle, which is a direct swipe at Trump.

China has called for a ceasefire, has called for an end to hostilities.

The pressure though in recent days has changed because of the blockade and before this conflict

China had been importing something like 80% of Iran and oil exports and that's 12%

of its total supply.

It has a stockpile, but that stockpile is now measured in months.

Back in the US, President Trump is threatening to fire federal reserve chair Jerome Powell

if he doesn't leave the bank's board of governors when his term as chair ends on May 15th.

Powell's seat on the board is distinct from his position as chair and Trump's threat

to target that seat intensifies a confrontation that's now spilling well beyond a routine

leadership change.

Even so, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessens says he's optimistic that Kevin Warsh Trump's

nominee to replace Powell as chair won't be delayed.

And I am very optimistic that the Kevin Warsh will be the chair of the bed on time.

For more, his host of Reuters' e-con world, Kamal Kremens.

Powell chairs usually leave the bank when their term ends, but Powell said last month

he's no intention of leaving until a criminal investigation into the Fed ends.

He says that probe is just a pretext to pressure at a lower rates.

Now, the Trump administration is doubling down on that investigation.

The standoff could hold up Kevin Warsh's confirmation as the next Fed chair.

And even if he does get confirmed, if Powell remains on the board, that could mean less

of a free hand for Warsh in setting monetary policy.

And if you're interested in hearing more about economics and public policy, do check out

my podcast Reuters' e-con world.

The latest episode dropped on Wednesday.

All about the economics of Australia's $60 cigarettes.

We'll put a link to that episode in today's show notes.

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Bosses say US regulators are examining an almost $1 billion bet placed on oil prices,

just hours before the United States and Iran announced a ceasefire.

The trade is one of several now under review, made shortly before major shifts in President

Donald Trump's Iran war policy.

The head of the US commodity futures trading commission, Michael Sillig, says in remarks

to be delivered to Congress today that the agency will go after wrongdoers, though he does

not reference any specific investigation.

The White House has won staff against improperly leveraging their positions to place bets

and futures markets during the war in Iran.

President Donald Trump has posted an image of Jesus embracing him as a war of words

with the Pope shows no sign of abating.

Pope Leo speaking in Cameroon told crowds that peace is threatened by the whims of the

rich and powerful.

Trump has been feuding with the leader of the Catholic Church, calling him liberal and

weak on crime in the wake of the Pope's criticism of war.

Which is Vatican reporter Joshua McCulley is traveling with Pope Leo and says while

Pope Leo has not in recent days called out Trump by name, he is getting his message

across.

The Pope gave remarks to us on the people playing traveling from Algeria to Cameroon.

More centered on his usual message and the Pope also chose to speak in English, he

doesn't always do that.

The Pope normally speaks in Italian, but Leo obviously is an American.

And today on the play he spoke only in English, which maybe was a little sign that he wanted

what he was saying to be heard in the US media or the US realm.

A few big stories from the AI world now.

Some lawyers in the US are warning their clients that chats with AI are not private and are

advising them not to treat AI bots like trusted confidence when they're freedom or legal

liability is on the line.

It comes after a federal judge ruled earlier this year that a former CEO of a financial

services company could not keep his AI chats from prosecutors who were pursuing securities

fraud charges.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman is asking a judge to dismiss punitive damages claims and a civil

lawsuit brought by his sister who accuses him of repeated sexual abuse more than 20 years

ago.

Altman denies the allegations and is counter suing his sister for defamation seeking $1 in

damages.

And finally today, one for the live music fans.

A jury has found ticket master and its parent company live nation legally monopolized US

live events markets.

Shares of ticket rivals like vivid seats and stub hub jumped on the prospect that they

might get more room to compete.

But as Royces Jody Godaway explains, when fans might feel the difference is still up in

the air.

So it's not entirely clear yet what this means for concert goers.

The jury did find that the anti-competitive conduct caused damages, at least in New

York State, overcharges an average of $1.72 per ticket.

So whether fans will get that money back, how that will go, it's still not clear.

One of the things the states could seek going forward in the case is structural remedies.

That means potential breakups.

We don't yet know if they're going to try to seek to have live nation sell-off ticket

master.

For more on any of the stories from today, check out Royces.com or the Royces app.

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days a week.

We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.