Brooks Koepka feels Bryson DeChambeau is &#8220;fair game&#8221; for a public feud.
DeChambeau thinks a Ryder Cup pairing with his rival would be &#8220;funny&#8221; and a potential advantage over their opponents.
The latest round of barbs began when Koepka once again addressed questions about his distaste for DeChambeau during his pre-tournament press conference at the Open Championship at Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, England.
Koepka explained that DeChambeau didn&#8217;t appreciate it when Koepka mentioned him as a slow player during a discussion at the 2019 Northern Trust. They had a man-to-man conversation about it on the practice green at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J.
&#8220;We both agreed we&#8217;d leave each other out of it and wouldn&#8217;t mention each other, just kind of let it die off, wouldn&#8217;t mention each other&#8217;s names, just go about it,&#8221; Koepka said.
In Koepka&#8217;s view, DeChambeau reneged on that agreement during a Twitch stream in which he was playing video games and mocked Koepka for his physique and his participation in ESPN The Magazine&#8217;s Body Issue.
&#8220;So then he decided I guess he was going on that little, whatever, playing video games online or whatever and brought my name up and said a few things, so now it&#8217;s fair game,&#8221; Koepka said.
Koepka also disagreed with the notion that their feud could be harmful if and when they end up on the U.S. Ryder Cup team together later this year.
&#8220;It&#8217;s only a week,&#8221; Koepka said. &#8220;I mean, look, I can put it aside for business. If we&#8217;re going to be on the same team, I can deal with anybody in the world for a week. I&#8217;m not playing with him. I&#8217;m pretty sure we&#8217;re not going to be paired together, put it that way. I think it&#8217;s kind of obvious.&#8221;
During his press conference later Tuesday, DeChambeau responded by saying he would have no issue being paired with Koepka for a Ryder Cup match.
&#8220;Oh, no, not at all. I think would be kind of funny actually,&#8221; DeChambeau said. &#8220;I think we&#8217;d do well, to be honest. It would create a little interesting vibe for the team or for the guys we&#8217;re playing against.&#8221;
He added he didn&#8217;t know what Koepka was talking about in terms of not upholding a verbal agreement from 2019.
&#8220;Maybe that&#8217;s on me. Maybe I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; DeChambeau said. &#8220;I really don&#8217;t remember anything about that. We just had a conversation that I really don&#8217;t know what happened, because we haven&#8217;t really bantered back and forth until now, so it&#8217;s like, why is that happening now?&#8221;
Koepka has four major titles to his name versus DeChambeau&#8217;s one, though DeChambeau&#8217;s triumph at the 2020 U.S. Open is the most recent.
Neither of them have won the Open Championship &#8212; and golf fans won&#8217;t get to see them paired together in the first two rounds. DeChambeau will play with Jordan Spieth and South Africa&#8217;s Branden Grace, while Koepka will be with Jason Kokrak and South Africa&#8217;s Garrick Higgo.
The possibility exists at each event that Koepka and DeChambeau would be paired together for the third or fourth round based on their standing on the leaderboard.
&#8220;I would enjoy it,&#8221; Koepka said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be close to the final group come Sunday. I always feel like I play well in the big events, the majors. I think it would be a lot more people tuning in, with everything that&#8217;s gone on over the last two years, something like that, three years.
&#8220;So yeah, I think there would be a lot of people tuning in.&#8221;
&#8211;Field Level Media
(c) Copyright Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved. 2021
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Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau fuel feud at The Open

CAIRO, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Bahrain civil aviation affairs said on Tuesday that entry will be banned from 16 new countries including Tunisia, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Philippines, south Africa and Indonesia over coronavirus concerns, the state news agency (BNA) reported.
Bahrain had suspended entry of travellers from countries on its &#8220;Red List&#8221; in May, a list that included India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Bahrain has excluded citizens and residents with valid residency visas from the ban. (Reporting by Nayera Abdallah, writing by Alaa Swilam, editing by Chris Reese)
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Bahrain bans entry from 16 new countries including Iran, Tunisia and Indonesia -BNA

(Adds Treasury auction, quotes, latest prices)
* U.S. consumer prices surge in June
* U.S. Treasury yields slip after initial jump
* Treasury auction of 30-year bonds poorly received
* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
By Herbert Lash and Tom Arnold
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Bond yields spiked and global share prices slipped after hitting new highs on Tuesday after the biggest jump in U.S. inflation in 13 years scared investors who have seen equity prices double from last year&#8217;s lows.
U.S. equity futures and the yield on benchmark U.S. government debt initially fell on news the U.S. consumer price index in June jumped 5.4% year over year, the largest gain since August 2008, the Labor Department said.
A poorly received Treasury auction sparked a 5-basis point jump in the benchmark 10-year note to 1.413% in early afternoon trade, after earlier falling to 1.343%.
The inflation spike followed a 5.0% increase in the 12 months through May, while CPI rose 0.9% month over month after advancing 0.6% in May, gains that spooked investors.
Stocks on Wall Street initially took the CPI data in stride to bid up technology stocks that typically thrive with low interest rates.
Then came the Treasury sale of $24 billion in 30-year bonds, with the yield, at 2.000%, significantly above the market at the bidding deadline, which was indicated to be 1.976%, said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Holdings in Chicago.
The jump in inflation ultimately is a negative hanging over a market that has enjoyed a remarkable rally since the lows of March 2020, said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.
&#8220;Inflation is not the worst news for stocks, but it&#8217;s very bad news for bonds,&#8221; Meckler said. &#8220;You&#8217;re starting to see some of the potential negatives that could bring an end to this incredible rally this year.&#8221;
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, fell 0.15% to 726.27, while Europe&#8217;s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index added 0.07% to close at 1,779.34.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.78 points, or 0.22%, to 34,918.4, the S&amp;P 500 lost 9.85 points, or 0.22%, to 4,374.78 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.06 points, or 0.27%, to 14,693.18.
Traders are looking forward to Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifying before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday for any signals on the timing of a potential tapering of its bond-buying program.
The euro was last down 0.62% at $1.1785 and the yen was last up 0.25% at $110.6300.
Overnight in Asia, MSCI&#8217;s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%, its best daily gain since late June, led by a 1.6% rise in Hong Kong, where tech stocks rose broadly. Japan&#8217;s Nikkei was up 0.5% while Australian shares closed broadly flat.
In Hong Kong, tech behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd jumped 3.9% after China&#8217;s antitrust regulator on Tuesday approved its plan to take China&#8217;s No.3 search engine, Sogou Inc , private in a $3.5 billion deal.
&#8220;We have clearly seen a (new) round of corrections of the technology sector, which places a heavy weight on Hong Kong&#8217;s stock market, due to concerns over a new round of regulatory crackdown following the probe into Didi. Against this backdrop, there is room for a short-term rebound,&#8221; said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.
Euro zone government bond yields have fallen in line with U.S. Treasuries in recent weeks, and are running close to their lowest levels since early April.
Germany&#8217;s 10-year bond yield was unchanged at -0.30%, close to a three-month low of -0.344% that was hit last week.
South Africa&#8217;s rand dropped to a three-month low, slipping 1.2% to 14.4000 against the dollar, as violence escalated over the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.
Oil prices edged up as tight supply and expectations of a further draw in U.S. and global crude inventories provided support, though fears over the spreading COVID-19 variant capped gains.
Brent crude was last up $1.19, or up 1.58%, at $76.35 a barrel. U.S. crude was last up $1.09, or up 1.47%, at $75.19 per barrel.
Spot gold prices rose $0.8326, or 0.05%, to $1,806.71 an ounce.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; additional reporting Karen Brettell and Saqib Ahmed in New York, Karen Pierog in Chicago, Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Sujata Rao and Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Stephen Coates, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Gareth Jones, Dan Grebler and Sonya Hepinstall)
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, debt yields slip on U.S. CPI, poor bond auction

July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Captain Andy Balbirnie scored a stylish century as Ireland recorded their first ever One-Day International victory over South Africa with a win by 43 runs in the second match of their five-game series in Malahide on Tuesday.
Balbirnie stroked 102 from 117 balls as the home side posted 290 for five in their 50 overs, before restricting the tourists to 247 all out in their reply to secure the historic victory and a 1-0 lead in the series after Sunday’s opener was washed out.
After being sent in to bat, opener Balbirnie received excellent support from Harry Tector (79 from 68 balls), while there was also a flourish from George Dockrell (45 from 23) at the end.
South Africa, who again rested key batsman Quinton de Kock, battled to keep up with the run-rate throughout and when opener Janneman Malan (84 from 96) and Rassie van der Dussen (49 from 70) fell in quick succession with the score on 160, their chances of victory slipped away.
The third match in the series will be played at the same venue on Friday.
(Reporting by Nick Said Editing by Toby Davis)
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Cricket-Brilliant Balbirnie leads Ireland to first ever win over South Africa

Jul 13 (OPTA) &#8211; Scoreboard at close of play of 2nd odi between Ireland and South Africa on Tuesday at Dublin, Ireland Ireland win by 43 runs Ireland 1st innings Paul Stirling b Keshav Maharaj 27 Andrew Balbirnie c Temba Bavuma b Kagiso Rabada 102 Andy McBrine lbw Tabraiz Shamsi 30 Harry Tector c Kagiso Rabada b Andile Phehlukwayo 79 George Dockrell c Rassie van der Dussen b Andile Phehlukwayo 45 Mark Adair Not Out 1 Extras 0b 3lb 0nb 0pen 3w 6 Total (50.0 overs) 290-5 Fall of Wickets : 1-64 Stirling, 2-124 McBrine, 3-194 Balbirnie, 4-284 Tector, 5-290 Dockrell Did Not Bat : Campher, Tucker, Singh, Young, Little Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Kagiso Rabada 10 0 58 1 5.80 Anrich Nortje 10 0 64 0 6.40 Andile Phehlukwayo 10 0 73 2 7.30 2w Keshav Maharaj 10 0 50 1 5.00 Tabraiz Shamsi 10 1 42 1 4.20 1w &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; South Africa 1st innings Janneman Malan c Mark Adair b George Dockrell 84 Aiden Markram c Andy McBrine b Craig Young 5 Temba Bavuma c George Dockrell b Joshua Little 10 Rassie van der Dussen lbw Andy McBrine 49 Kyle Verreynne c Lorcan Tucker b Joshua Little 13 David Miller c Harry Tector b Simi Singh 24 Andile Phehlukwayo c Craig Young b Andy McBrine 2 Keshav Maharaj c Harry Tector b Mark Adair 17 Kagiso Rabada Run Out Curtis Campher 16 Anrich Nortje b Mark Adair 10 Extras 4b 6lb 1nb 0pen 6w 17 Total (48.3 overs) 247 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-28 Markram, 2-51 Bavuma, 3-159 Malan, 4-160 van der Dussen, 5-184 Verreynne, 6-199 Phehlukwayo, 7-201 Miller, 8-234 Rabada, 9-247 Maharaj, 10-247 Nortje Did Not Bat : Shamsi Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Craig Young 8 0 34 1 4.25 2w Mark Adair 8.3 1 43 2 5.06 1w 1nb Joshua Little 10 0 45 2 4.50 1w Simi Singh 8 0 44 1 5.50 George Dockrell 7 0 37 1 5.29 2w Andy McBrine 7 0 34 2 4.86 &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; Umpire Mark Hawthorne Umpire Roland Black Video Paul Reynolds Match Referee Kevin Gallagher 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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South Africa in Ireland 2021 Scoreboard

* Surveillance firm set to go public in $2.4 bln deal
* Critics accuse it of supplying repressive governments
* Cellebrite says it keeps a close eye on who uses its tools
By Avi Asher-Schapiro
July 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Digital rights groups urged U.S. regulators and investors on Tuesday to block plans by surveillance technology company Cellebrite to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange, saying the Israeli firm continues to sell tools to repressive governments.
Cellebrite supplies digital forensic tools that can extract data from cell phones, and its technology is widely used by law-enforcement agencies around the world.
In April, the company announced it would go public through a merger with a blank-check firm, valuing the equity of the combined company at about $2.4 billion.
But in an open letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and investors, digital rights groups urged all &#8220;parties to halt this deal until Cellebrite demonstrates that it has taken sufficient measures to comply with human rights&#8221;.
The coalition of organizations said the company &#8220;continues selling its products to repressive regimes&#8221; and had failed to properly disclose the potential risks to investors from the human rights abuses some of its customers are linked to.
&#8220;Multiple actors must cobble together their power to protect human rights. The SEC, Nasdaq, investors, and policymakers all have roles to play,&#8221; said Hinako Sugiyama, a legal fellow with Access Now, a digital rights group leading the effort.
A Cellebrite spokesperson said the company has &#8220;strict licensing policies and restrictions that govern how customers may utilize our technology&#8221; and considers &#8220;a potential customer&#8217;s human rights record and anti-corruption policies&#8221;.
The company&#8217;s SEC filing says it does not do business with Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia and Venezuela, &#8220;partially due to concerns regarding human rights and data security&#8221;.
Last year, Cellebrite said it would no longer sell to Hong Kong and China after its technology was used by police to hack into the phones of opposition figures and demonstrators. In 2021, it halted sales to Russia and Belarus.

MAJOR CONSEQUENCES?
Environmental groups have often protested against IPOs (initial public offerings) by mining and oil companies, but opposing a technology firm&#8217;s record on digital rights issues is unusual, said Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack.
&#8220;Everyone is holding their breath to see what is happening with the Cellebrite IPO,&#8221; he said, adding that it could have a significant impact on stock market operations by other firms linked by critics to digital rights abuses.
&#8220;This could have major consequences,&#8221; he added.
U.S. Congressman Tom Malinowski raised questions last month about Cellebrite&#8217;s Nasdaq plans, telling regulators and potential investors the company had a record of selling tools to &#8220;the most repressive security forces around the world&#8221;.
&#8220;If industry doesn&#8217;t self-regulate, Congress will need to impose stronger requirements on the SEC to police these kinds of listings,&#8221; Malinowski said this week.
Tuesday&#8217;s letter said Cellebrite&#8217;s sales of surveillance tools were still &#8220;enabling detentions, prosecutions, and harassment of journalists, civil rights activists, dissidents, and minorities around the world&#8221;.
The letter was signed by Access Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International and dozens more digital rights groups.
Jonathan Rozen, a senior Africa researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Cellebrite&#8217;s tools are used &#8220;in numerous countries whose security forces have seized and searched journalists&#8217; phones or computers, and committed other abuses.&#8221;
Last month, the lawyer Mack wrote to Cellebrite and Israel&#8217;s defence ministry &#8211; which oversees surveillance exports &#8211; to urge the company not to sell products to Vietnam&#8217;s Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam due to human rights concerns.
Cellebrite did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its business activities in Vietnam or Africa.
&#8220;Their client list is a real problem,&#8221; Mack said. (Reporting by Avi Asher-Schapiro @AASchapiro; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Israeli surveillance firm’s Nasdaq plans challenged by digital rights groups

By Tanisha Heiberg
JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South African farmers have been hit by days of unrest and looting as trucks carrying produce are prevented from delivering to markets, threatening food supplies, industry officials said.
Crowds have this week clashed with police and ransacked shopping malls, with dozens reported killed as grievances unleashed by last week&#8217;s jailing of former president Jacob Zuma boiled over into the worst violence in years.
Some of the country&#8217;s major highways have been closed off.
&#8220;Farmers have already had major losses because they cannot get their products to local markets and to shops,&#8221; Christo van der Rheede, executive director at the country&#8217;s main agricultural body AgriSA, said.
One of AgriSA&#8217;s farmers has already reported the loss of 3 million rand ($205,333) of perishable produce that could not be transported, van der Rheede said.
All sugar mills in Kwazulu-Natal &#8211; the main sugar growing area and one of the provinces hardest hit by the unrest &#8211; have closed after cane trucks were hijacked, mills threatened and cane farms set alight, said South African Canegrowers Chief Executive Thomas Funke.
&#8220;Around 300,000 tonnes of cane to date has been burnt. This is roughly 180 million rand of grower revenue,&#8221; said Funke.
Sugar producer Tongaat Hulets said its mills and refinery were also closed.
Citrus growers Association Chief Executive Justin Chadwick said citrus exports had also been halted, with trucks unable to use the main arterial roads to the Durban port, where more than half of the citrus is exported.
South Africa is the world&#8217;s second largest exporter of fresh citrus after Spain.
President Cyril Ramaphosa warned on Monday that disruption to supply chains could lead to food and medicine shortages in the coming weeks.
The impact was already being seen in Durban. On Tuesday, consumers stood in queues at a few supermarkets that remained open to buy basics.
In some areas, where supermarkets remained closed, panic was setting in over food supplies.
&#8220;All the shops are closed. We are going to run out of bread soon,&#8221; said Neli Zulu, a resident of Pietermaritzburg, another area badly affected by the unrest.
($1 = 14.6104 rand) (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg Additional reporting by Zandi Shabalala Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Mark Potter)
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South Africa unrest hits farming, threatens food supply

By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria expects to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including from a U.S. government donation, the head of its primary care agency said on Tuesday.
Faisal Shuaib, head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said Nigeria exhausted its initial supply of nearly 4 million shots last week and aims to resume vaccinations within weeks, when the new doses arrive.
Nigeria expects delivery of 3.924 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca shots from global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX by the end of July or early August, Shuaib said, and an additional 3.93 million doses of either Pfizer/Biotech or Moderna, donated by the U.S. government via COVAX, in August.
The White House last month outlined a plan to share 55 million U.S. COVID-19 vaccine doses globally via COVAX.
Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s most populous nation, recently detected the highly contagious Delta variant, while the governor of its commercial centre, Lagos state, warned that it was on the verge of a third wave of infections.
The 3.92 million Oxford/AstraZeneca doses Nigeria received in March from COVAX covered a small fraction of its 200 million citizens, and Shuaib, in an Abuja press briefing, urged citizens to abide by &#8220;non-pharmaceutical&#8221; measures, such as mask wearing and social distancing, to stem the spread of the virus until fresh doses arrived.
He said Nigeria expects another 3.577 million doses of Pfizer/Biotech or Moderna from COVAX in the third quarter, as well as 29.85 million Johnson &amp; Johnson shots purchased via the African Union, though he did not say when these would arrive.
Shuaib said Nigeria recorded 14,550 of mild to moderate adverse reactions to the vaccines but no fatalities linked to the shots.
(Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha, editing by Libby George and Steve Orlofsky)
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Nigeria expects nearly 8 mln more COVID-19 vaccines by end-August -official

* U.S. consumer prices surge in June
* U.S. Treasury yields slip after initial jump
* German Bund yields hover near 3-month lows
* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
By Herbert Lash and Tom Arnold
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Global share prices slid from record highs on Tuesday after U.S. inflation rose by the most in 13 years in June, driving the dollar up, the yield on benchmark U.S. government debt initially down and stocks on Wall Street to trade near break-even.
The U.S. consumer price index jumped 5.4% year over year last month, the largest gain since August 2008, following a 5.0% increase in the 12 months through May, the Labor Department said. CPI increased 0.9% month over month after advancing 0.6% in May.
One print on inflation will not significantly change the outlook of policymakers at the Federal Reserve, said Michael Brown, senior analyst at Caxton in London.
The immediate market reaction was tame &#8220;as people try to dig into all of these numbers because they don&#8217;t want to get wrong- footed in the way they did after the May CPI,&#8221; said Jim Vogel, fixed income strategist at FHN Financial in Memphis.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 1.4 basis points to yield 1.3493%, after jumping to 1.39% following the inflation data&#8217;s release.
Gold edged higher but an advancing dollar and bond yields kept the metal confined to a tight range and Latin American currencies came under pressure from the U.S. inflation spike as investors feared the Fed would tighten monetary policy.
&#8220;A lot of this will play into the Fed&#8217;s transitory story,&#8221; said Gennadiy Goldberg, interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York.
&#8220;There is certainly some concern that some of these price increases are coming in much quicker than expected, but you can argue that a lot of this is due to the recovery,&#8221; he said.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, rose 0.06% to 727.8, while Europe&#8217;s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 0.11% at 1,776.18.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.57 points, or 0.2%, to 34,927.61, the S&amp;P 500 gained 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 4,385.2 and the Nasdaq Composite added 43.78 points, or 0.3%, to 14,777.02.
Traders are looking forward to Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifying before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, for any signals on the timing of potential U.S. tapering.
The euro was last down 0.32% at $1.1821 and the yen was last down 0.04% at $110.3100.
Overnight in Asia, MSCI&#8217;s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%, its best daily gain since late June, led by a 1.6% rise in Hong Kong, where tech stocks rose broadly. Japan&#8217;s Nikkei was up 0.5% while Australian shares closed broadly flat.
In Hong Kong, tech behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd jumped 3.9% after China&#8217;s antitrust regulator on Tuesday approved its plan to take China&#8217;s No.3 search engine, Sogou Inc , private in a $3.5 billion deal.
&#8220;We have clearly seen a (new) round of corrections of the technology sector, which places a heavy weight on Hong Kong&#8217;s stock market, due to concerns over a new round of regulatory crackdown following the probe into Didi. Against this backdrop, there is room for a short-term rebound,&#8221; said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.
Euro zone government bond yields have fallen in line with U.S. Treasuries in recent weeks, and are running close to their lowest levels since early April.
Germany&#8217;s 10-year bond yield was unchanged at -0.30%, close to a three-month low of -0.344% that was hit last week.
South Africa&#8217;s rand dropped to a three-month low, slipping 1.2% to 14.4000 against the dollar, as violence escalated over the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.
Oil prices edged up as tight supply and expectations of a further draw in U.S. and global crude inventories provided support, though fears over the spreading COVID-19 variant capped gains.
Brent crude was last up $0.26, or up 0.35%, at $75.42 a barrel. U.S. crude was last up $0.05, or up 0.07%, at $74.15 per barrel.
Spot gold prices rose $5.4926 or 0.30%, to $1,811.37 an ounce.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; additional reporting Karen Brettell and Saqib Ahmed in New York, Karen Pierog in Chicago, Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Sujata Rao and Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Stephen Coates, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Gareth Jones and Dan Grebler)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar gains, stocks falter after U.S. inflation data

SANDWICH, England, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Defending British Open champion Shane Lowry has been grouped with former winner Louis Oosthuizen and Spain&#8217;s recent U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm for the start of the year&#8217;s fourth major at Sandwich on Thursday.
The first ball of the 149th championship, taking place a year late after last year&#8217;s cancellation because of COVID-19, will be struck by England&#8217;s Richard Bland.
&#8220;Truly an honour, something I&#8217;ll remember for the rest of my life,&#8221; Bland, who won his first European Tour event on his 478th start in May, said after the first-round tee times were released.
Play will get under way at 0635BST on the undulating Royal St George&#8217;s links course alongside the English Channel on England&#8217;s Kent coast.
Other notable groups for the first two rounds include four-time champion Rory McIlroy, winner of the Open in 2014, playing alongside American Ryder Cup rival Patrick Reed.
American Phil Mickelson, who won the US PGA title for his sixth major in May, aged 50, will be alongside compatriot Kevin Kisner and England&#8217;s Ryder Cup player Tyrell Hatton.
World number one Dustin Johnson tees up along with England&#8217;s reigning Olympic champion Justin Rose and American Will Zalatoris while big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau will be with fellow American Jordan Spieth and South Africa&#8217;s Branden Grace.
Northern Ireland&#8217;s Darren Clarke, winner of the Open the last time it was in Sandwich in 2011, will be joined by English amateur Joe Long and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. (Reporting by Martyn Herman Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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Golf-Defending champion Lowry grouped with Rahm in Open first round

(Repeating to additional subscribers; no changes to text)
* U.S. June CPI comes in hotter than expected
* Weaker oil prices, stronger USD hurts loonie
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Marc Jones
NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. dollar jumped against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after data showed U.S. inflation data for June coming in hotter than expected, raising the prospect that inflationary concerns are set to linger.
U.S. consumer prices rose by the most in 13 years in June https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-inflation/u-s-consumer-prices-surge-in-june-idUSL1N2OO1VQ amid supply constraints and a continued rebound in the costs of travel-related services from pandemic-depressed levels as the economic recovery gathered momentum.
&#8220;(This was) clearly an upside surprise. It will make (Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome) Powell&#8217;s testimony on Capitol Hill tomorrow a much trickier exercise than it would&#8217;ve otherwise been given that it will put some additional pressure on the &#8216;transitory&#8217; narrative,&#8221; said Michael Brown, senior analyst at payments firm Caxton in London.
Traders are looking forward to Powell testifying before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, for any signals on the timing of potential U.S. tapering. Powell has repeatedly stated that higher inflation will be transitory, noting that he expected supply chains to normalize and adapt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shares that view.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was 0.41% higher at 92.6, its highest since July 8. The index is just shy of the three-month high of 92.844 touched last week.
The possibility of U.S. stimulus withdrawal &#8211; brought to the fore by a surprise shift in tone last month from the Fed &#8211; has boosted the dollar in recent weeks despite a renewed rise in coronavirus cases in many parts of the world.
U.S. consumer price inflation data is likely to help boost the dollar higher.
&#8220;It kind of reinforced the Fed taper story and the dollar has been consolidating for the front of the week, and I think this was the kick that it needed to renew its gains,&#8221; said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York.
Modest weakness in the price of oil, a major export for Canada, combined with the broadly stronger greenback sent the Canadian currency down 0.6% to a four-day low against its U.S. counterpart. The Canadian central bank is due to update its economic forecasts at a policy announcement on Wednesday.
Sterling fell lower on Tuesday https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-sterling/update-1-pound-extends-fall-after-u-s-inflation-data-lifts-dollar-idUSL1N2OP17X after the Bank of England scrapped pandemic-era curbs on dividend payments by banks but warned some asset prices look stretched.
The pound was last down 0.48% against the dollar, with the bulk of the day&#8217;s losses coming after the release of the U.S. CPI data.
Escalating violence over the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma https://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-zuma/update-3-worst-violence-in-years-spreads-in-south-africa-as-grievances-boil-over-idUSL1N2OP0HW sent South Africa&#8217;s rand down about 1.6% to a three-month low against the U.S. dollar.
China&#8217;s yuan rose to a near one-week high after surprisingly strong trade data https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-june-exports-growth-beats-fcast-easing-global-lockdowns-boost-demand-2021-07-13 eased fears about a slowdown in what has been one of the world&#8217;s strongest economic recoveries.
Cryptocurrencies remained on the back foot on Tuesday, with bitcoin down about 1.75% at a four-day low of $32,525.06, as investors shed riskier assets following U.S. inflation data.
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Marc Jones; Additional reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Angus MacSwan, John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)
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RPT-FOREX-Dollar advances as U.S. data shows inflation running hot

(Updates prices, market activity, comments to U.S. market open; previous LONDON)
* U.S. June CPI comes in hotter than expected
* Weaker oil prices, stronger USD hurts loonie
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Marc Jones
NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. dollar jumped against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after data showed U.S. inflation data for June coming in hotter than expected, raising the prospect that inflationary concerns are set to linger.
U.S. consumer prices rose by the most in 13 years in June https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-inflation/u-s-consumer-prices-surge-in-june-idUSL1N2OO1VQ amid supply constraints and a continued rebound in the costs of travel-related services from pandemic-depressed levels as the economic recovery gathered momentum.
&#8220;(This was) clearly an upside surprise. It will make (Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome) Powell&#8217;s testimony on Capitol Hill tomorrow a much trickier exercise than it would&#8217;ve otherwise been given that it will put some additional pressure on the &#8216;transitory&#8217; narrative,&#8221; said Michael Brown, senior analyst at payments firm Caxton in London.
Traders are looking forward to Powell testifying before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, for any signals on the timing of potential U.S. tapering. Powell has repeatedly stated that higher inflation will be transitory, noting that he expected supply chains to normalize and adapt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shares that view.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was 0.41% higher at 92.6, its highest since July 8. The index is just shy of the three-month high of 92.844 touched last week.
The possibility of U.S. stimulus withdrawal &#8211; brought to the fore by a surprise shift in tone last month from the Fed &#8211; has boosted the dollar in recent weeks despite a renewed rise in coronavirus cases in many parts of the world.
U.S. consumer price inflation data is likely to help boost the dollar higher.
&#8220;It kind of reinforced the Fed taper story and the dollar has been consolidating for the front of the week, and I think this was the kick that it needed to renew its gains,&#8221; said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York.
Modest weakness in the price of oil, a major export for Canada, combined with the broadly stronger greenback sent the Canadian currency down 0.6% to a four-day low against its U.S. counterpart. The Canadian central bank is due to update its economic forecasts at a policy announcement on Wednesday.
Sterling fell lower on Tuesday https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-sterling/update-1-pound-extends-fall-after-u-s-inflation-data-lifts-dollar-idUSL1N2OP17X after the Bank of England scrapped pandemic-era curbs on dividend payments by banks but warned some asset prices look stretched.
The pound was last down 0.48% against the dollar, with the bulk of the day&#8217;s losses coming after the release of the U.S. CPI data.
Escalating violence over the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma https://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-zuma/update-3-worst-violence-in-years-spreads-in-south-africa-as-grievances-boil-over-idUSL1N2OP0HW sent South Africa&#8217;s rand down about 1.6% to a three-month low against the U.S. dollar.
China&#8217;s yuan rose to a near one-week high after surprisingly strong trade data https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-june-exports-growth-beats-fcast-easing-global-lockdowns-boost-demand-2021-07-13 eased fears about a slowdown in what has been one of the world&#8217;s strongest economic recoveries.
Cryptocurrencies remained on the back foot on Tuesday, with bitcoin down about 1.75% at a four-day low of $32,525.06, as investors shed riskier assets following U.S. inflation data.
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Marc Jones; Additional reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Angus MacSwan, John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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FOREX-Dollar advances as U.S. data shows inflation running hot

JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s health department said on Tuesday that violent protests had disrupted the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and essential healthcare services like the collection of chronic medication by tuberculosis, HIV and diabetes patients.
The department said in a statement that it was temporarily closing some vaccination sites, adding that anyone with a inoculation scheduled in an area affected by ongoing unrest was advised to defer their vaccination.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning Editing by Promit Mukherjee)
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South Africa says vaccine rollout, essential healthcare disrupted by unrest

Jon Rahm, who arrived at Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, England, as the favorite to win this week&#8217;s Open Championship, revealed during a press conference that he overcame being born with a clubbed foot on his journey to golfing greatness.
The Spaniard who won last month&#8217;s U.S. Open was responding to a question about how he works on the mechanics of his swing, which features a notably shorter backswing than most of his PGA Tour peers.
&#8220;I have the swing I have, and I&#8217;ve gotten more mobile and stronger in some parts of my swing so that might slightly change it,&#8221; Rahm said. &#8220;But I have certain unique parts and certain unique, let&#8217;s say, physical limitations that let me swing the way I swing, and I don&#8217;t deviate from that.&#8221;
A follow-up question about what those limitations were produced Rahm&#8217;s disclosure.
The Mayo Clinic defines clubfoot as a range of fairly common congenital foot abnormalities where the tendons are shorter than usual.
Rahm, 26, said that when he was born, his right foot was turned 90 degrees inside from the usual resting foot position.
&#8220;So when I was born, they basically relocated, pretty much broke every bone in the ankle&#8230; within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down,&#8221; Rahm said. &#8220;So I have very limited ankle mobility in my right leg. It&#8217;s a centimeter and a half shorter.&#8221;
For a time, he recalled, his foot had to be re-casted every week at a local hospital.
&#8220;What I mean by limitations is I didn&#8217;t take a full swing because my right ankle doesn&#8217;t have the mobility or stability to take it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I learned at a very young age that I&#8217;m going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing.&#8221;
The obstacle didn&#8217;t prevent Rahm from growing into one of the strongest players in the game. He has spent some time at the No. 1 ranking in the world this season, including right after his first major victory at the U.S. Open, but this week Dustin Johnson eked back in front of him for the top spot.
Rahm&#8217;s best finish in four Open starts is a T11 in 2019. But he&#8217;s placed in the top 10 of all three majors so far this season: He finished in a tie for fifth at the Masters and tied for eighth at the PGA Championship before his U.S. Open breakthrough.
Rahm was grouped with defending Open champion Shane Lowry of Ireland and South Africa&#8217;s Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds, beginning Thursday at 9:58 a.m. local time (4:58 a.m. ET).
&#8211;Field Level Media
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Jon Rahm reveals clubfoot as reason for short backswing

* U.S. consumer prices surge in June
* Data boosts expectations of tapering by Fed
* German Bund yields hover near 3-month lows
* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn (Updates with quote, pricing after US inflation data)
By Tom Arnold
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Global shares dipped back from record highs on Tuesday as investors digested news of U.S. consumer prices rising by the most in 13 years, reinforcing expectations of tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The consumer price index rose 0.9% last month, the largest gain since June 2008, after advancing 0.6% in May, the Labor Department said.
&#8220;It was a very, very strong number&#8230;,&#8221; said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York. &#8220;It kind of reinforced the Fed taper story and the dollar has been consolidating for the front of the week and I think this was the kick that it needed to renew its gains.&#8221;”
MSCI&#8217;s all-country equity index dipped slightly, having touched a record high earlier in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat after hitting a record high in early trading.
S&amp;P e-mini futures extended slight losses and were last off 0.3%, pointing to a soft open on Wall Street.
MSCI&#8217;s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%, its best daily gain since late June, led by a 1.6% rise in Hong Kong, where tech stocks rose broadly. Japan&#8217;s Nikkei was up 0.5% while Australian shares closed broadly flat.
POWELL TESTIMONY
Investors are navigating a busy week, with the onset of U.S. earnings season and a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which will also be scrutinised for any indications on the timing of potential U.S. tapering.
In Hong Kong, tech behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd jumped 3.9% after China&#8217;s antitrust regulator on Tuesday approved its plan to take China&#8217;s No.3 search engine, Sogou Inc , private in a $3.5 billion deal.
&#8220;We have clearly seen a (new) round of corrections of the technology sector, which places a heavy weight on Hong Kong&#8217;s stock market, due to concerns over a new round of regulatory crackdown following the probe into Didi. Against this backdrop, there is room for a short-term rebound,&#8221; said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.
Overnight, Wall Street&#8217;s main indexes closed at their highest levels ever, lifted by Tesla and bank stocks.
The S&amp;P 500 banks index climbed 1.3% ahead of quarterly earnings reports this week from major banks. JPMorgan Chase rose over 1% and Goldman Sachs rallied more than 2%, fuelling the Dow&#8217;s gains.
The next question is whether company earnings will support Wall Street&#8217;s run higher.
S&amp;P 500 companies&#8217; earnings per share for the June quarter are expected to rise 66%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and other big banks kick off results from Tuesday.
In the short term, equity markets have &#8220;considerable support from earnings revisions&#8221;, said Michel Iglesias del Sol, managing director, Investment Strategy Advisory, Kempen Capital Management, who expects this season to mark the peak of the earnings rebound in the United States, with Europe likely to peak in coming months.
&#8220;Equity valuations are high when compared to historical levels, but not when you compare them with other asset classes,&#8221; he said.

DOLLAR NUDGES HIGHER
Concerns that increasing Delta variant cases around the world could derail a global economic recovery have fuelled appetite for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries. The benchmark U.S. 10-year bond yield fell last week to a five-month low of 1.25%.
While markets have since stabilised, yields are not far off last week&#8217;s lows at 1.3577%.
Euro zone government bond yields have fallen in line with U.S. Treasuries in recent weeks, and are running close to their lowest levels since early April.
Germany&#8217;s 10-year bond yield was unchanged at -0.30%, close to a three-month low of -0.344% that was hit last week.
The U.S. dollar currency index rose after the data and was last up 0.4% at 92.541 against a basket of major currencies.
South Africa&#8217;s rand dropped to a three-month low, slipping 1.2% to 14.4000 against the dollar, as violence escalated over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
U.S. crude ticked up 0.1% to $74.18 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.3% to $75.40 per barrel.
Spot gold traded up 0.1% at $1,806.90 per ounce.
(Reporting by Tom Arnold in London and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Sujata Rao and Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Stephen Coates, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Gareth Jones)
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip after U.S. inflation data

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Africa-focused Moxico Resources is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares in London within the next twelve months, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The UK-based company, run by ex-Rio Tinto executive Alan Davies, is developing its flagship Mimbula project in Zambia&#8217;s copper belt but also has other assets under development.
Moxico secured about $75 million in equity from investors in May to help fund the construction of Mimbula, one of the sources said.
They added that the company is currently focusing on raising between $65 million to $70 million of debt, mainly from commodity trading houses, to complete construction funding.
The source said the company planned to list by the end of this year or in the first half of 2022, while the second person gave a narrower timeframe, saying the deal was planned for the fourth quarter of 2021.
No decision has been made on which banks will be in involved in the transaction nor a likely valuation, the sources said, with both issues still under discussion.
A spokesperson for Moxico declined to comment.
Demand for copper is expected to soar in coming years due to the global shift to a lower carbon economy, where the metal is crucial for its conductive properties.
Once in full production, Mimbula, which is 85% owned by Moxico and 15% by Zambian partners, will produce 30,000 tonnes of copper cathode per year.
A bid by Moxico to buy a copper smelter that was owned by Vedanta earlier this year and which is under control of a court-appointed liquidator was not successful, multiple sources told Reuters.
(Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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Africa-focused Moxico Resources plans London IPO within the next year- sources

DURBAN, July 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Looters ransacked warehouses and supermarkets in the South African port city of Durban on Tuesday despite the efforts of heavily outnumbered police.
A Reuters cameraman saw hundreds of people raiding a warehouse belonging to the retailer Game, which sells items including groceries and home appliances. People took everything they could lay their hands on, and some drove off with stolen goods in pick-up trucks with covered number plates.
Vandals also trashed a Makro supermarket and shops in the city centre. Police were overwhelmed and unable to control the rioters.
Aerial footage shot from a helicopter by the local television channel eNCA showed black smoke rising from several warehouses and surrounding roads strewn with debris.
Durban has one of the busiest shipping terminals on the African continent, is home to dozens of industrial parks and is a hub for imports and exports into and out of southern Africa.
The violence was triggered by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma as his supporters took to the streets last week, but the situation has evolved into an outpouring of anger over persistent poverty and inequality, 27 years after the end of apartheid.
Rioters also set fire to a chemical plant close to Umhlanga, a town north of Durban, emergency services said. Firefighters were on the scene trying to prevent the fire spreading to an adjacent clothing factory.
(Reporting by Siyabonga Sishi in Durban and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town Writing by Alexander Winning in Johannesburg; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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FOREX-Dollar advances as U.S. data shows inflation running hot

South Africa says vaccine rollout, essential healthcare disrupted by unrest

Jon Rahm reveals clubfoot as reason for short backswing

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Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau fuel feud at The Open

Bahrain bans entry from 16 new countries including Iran, Tunisia and Indonesia -BNA

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, debt yields slip on U.S. CPI, poor bond auction

Cricket-Brilliant Balbirnie leads Ireland to first ever win over South Africa

South Africa in Ireland 2021 Scoreboard

Israeli surveillance firm’s Nasdaq plans challenged by digital rights groups

South Africa unrest hits farming, threatens food supply

Nigeria expects nearly 8 mln more COVID-19 vaccines by end-August -official

GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar gains, stocks falter after U.S. inflation data

Golf-Defending champion Lowry grouped with Rahm in Open first round

RPT-FOREX-Dollar advances as U.S. data shows inflation running hot

FOREX-Dollar advances as U.S. data shows inflation running hot

South Africa says vaccine rollout, essential healthcare disrupted by unrest

Jon Rahm reveals clubfoot as reason for short backswing

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip after U.S. inflation data

Africa-focused Moxico Resources plans London IPO within the next year- sources

South African looters raid Durban warehouses as riots escalate

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