Europe

The executive board of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), announced late Friday, approved a EUR650.7m ($746.2m) loan to Uganda 'to help finance its standard gauge rail project. Uganda is raising money for the EUR2.7billion?project. It has already received backing from lenders such as the World Bank and?African Development Bank. Citibank has been appointed to assist in the mobilisation of?financing. Turkish company Yapi Merkezi is responsible for the construction of the railway. IsDB was one of Uganda's largest sources of external funding and had, as of the end May, projects in a country east of Africa worth $896.5 Million, according to...

The British Transport Police said on Friday that it was responding to media reports about a major collision between two trains, 60 miles north-east of London. Media reports claimed the incident resulted in'multiple injuries. The video was posted on Facebook and showed what appeared to be the front of a train intertwined with the?back of another train, both of which were still on the track. The East of England Ambulance Service sent multiple resources, including an air ambulance, to the accident on the rail south of Bedford and advised people to avoid that area. In a post to X, Heidi...

Adif, the rail operator in Spain, said that a wildfire near a section of the high-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona was responsible for Thursday's disruption. The national weather service warned that the fire risk will increase sharply in the northern interior zones of Spain from Sunday. Last summer, Spain & Portugal?suffered the worst heatwave on record for 16 days and?helped to stoke devastating fires in forests. Scientists claim that extreme weather events are becoming more common due to climate change. Firefighters asked Renfe to suspend services between Lleida-Pirineus station and Camp de Tarragona at the request from Adif and...

Chaiyaporn?Arunrasamee, hunched with his nets over the Andaman Sea, is a Thai government official proposing a "Land Bridge", which will ferry goods from ports on either side of the peninsula. Chaiyaporn stated that he did not want the project to be implemented. The Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul revived the project after the war with Iran and the closing of the Hormuz Strait revealed the countries' dependence on strategic maritime chokepoints. Plans envisage a '1 trillion baht logistics corridor ($30.45billion) to provide an alternative route through the Strait of Malacca, which is currently clogged with traffic. The corridor will connect...

The Russian crude oil exports were higher than expected in early June as drone attacks on refineries released a large amount of extra volumes for shipping, according to trade sources and port sources. Russia planned to reduce its crude oil exports to cover fuel shortages and boost refinery runs in June, but was unable to do so because Ukraine intensified its drone campaign, which targeted major?facilities such as the TANECO complex and the Moscow refining facility. According to three sources who are familiar with port operations, the average daily loadings of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk on the Black Sea and...

IFM Global Infrastructure announced on Wednesday that its offer to purchase Australia's Atlas Arteria (valued at A$7.40 billion) ($5.23billion), which values the toll road operator a A$7.40 billion ($5.23billion), would not be extended past June 25. Diamond Infraco 1 of IFM added that it was not certain that the company would purchase any additional?shares after the closing date. The toll road operator, on Monday, called for its shareholders to reject IFM’s "best and final" offer after the company raised it to A$5.10 from A$4.75. It said that the 'bid is still below value. The revised offer represented a 17.8% increase...

The Netherlands' transport minister denied on Tuesday that the influential 'RDW' authority had used statistics provided by Tesla to approve the "Full Self Driving" software of the company for use on Dutch highways. RDW approved Tesla's software on 10 April, a European-first. It said it thought it would contribute to safety. The agency has requested that the European Union approve FSD for use in the entire 27-nation block. This led to preliminary approvals being granted to Belgium, Denmark and Estonia. Minister Vincent Karremans who oversees infrastructure faced questions in parliament after a report that claimed Tesla had misled the RDW...

The U.S. Transportation Department announced Tuesday that Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air won the rights to fly to and from the United States. Last week, the airline began its first London flight using its new Boeing fleet. Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia's next national airline, will be launched in 2023. It is owned by Saudia's Public Investment Fund. USDOT stated that "the grant of this authority is in the public's interest." Riyadh Air informed the?USDOT last month when it requested approval that it intended to operate to more than 100 destinations Delta Air Lines, for example, has or is planning partnerships with...

Two trade sources reported that freight rates for tanker shipments of Urals crude oil from Russia's western port 'to India' eased in June compared to last month due to seasonal factors, increased 'availability' of vessels and shippers' optimistic view of the opening of Strait of Hormuz. Two trade sources said that the United States and Iran reached a deal on a peace agreement, which would end the?war? in Iran and allow free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Sources said that the blockade caused a dramatic increase in freight rates around the world, including on the Russian oil shipping markets....

Seven people have been arrested by the Italian police for allegedly 'belonging to a militant anarchist network' and sabotaging a high-speed rail line during the Winter Olympics in February. In a?statement? on Tuesday, the police stated that a judge ordered that five suspects be kept in prison while two were placed under house-arrest. Charges include terrorist associations and subversion of democratic order. Two of the arrested people were accused by police of being involved in an attack on the Rome to Florence high-speed railway line that took place on February 14. Investigators claim that the'sabotage' was committed using improvised explosives....

Loss of?barrels, and increased prices are already signs that the Iran war has disrupted global crude oil and gas markets. With a U.S. peace deal with Iran expected to reopen Strait of Hormuz in the near future, it's time to assess whether this was a 'watershed moment or just another blip. Consider two precedents. Volkswagen's "Dieselgate", a scandal in 2015 over rigged emission tests, seemed innocent at first. But it signaled the end of diesel cars for passenger vehicles and the rise?of electric vehicle (EVs). The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked a dramatic rise in energy prices. However, the...

Here are some company news stories and updates from France and Benelux that could have an effect on individual stocks or the markets in these regions. Aeroports de Paris, a French airport operator, reported that May group traffic rose by 1.2% to 32.8 million passengers. Traffic at the Paris Aeroport was up 1.0%, at 9.5 millions passengers. This is due to easing Middle East instabilities. EDENRED - French payment solutions provider Edenred has acquired Mobility House Solutions to strengthen its position in Germany, Austria and the rest of Europe. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter 2026....

Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), welcomed on?Thursday the interim agreement that ended the?Iran War and?called for a reopening without conditions of the?Strait?of Hormuz. Birol said that several countries are reviewing their energy policies, as it is clear that the waterway may be closed again. Iran has already shut down the waterway during the war. Birol, speaking at an Istanbul event, said that the IEA would discuss new strategies with a number of countries, as the energy crisis has redrawn global maps. He added that "trust" was crucial in the global markets for energy, where prices...

Middle East oil producers will have to face the consequences. The Iran War exposed the dangers in relying solely on one chokepoint to export vital oil and gas. Gulf governments were left with a clear strategy imperative: diversify at all costs. A blockade by Iran of the Strait of Hormuz was long viewed as an "event of doomsday". It would never occur. Experts believed it would take a massive effort from the military and that Tehran wouldn't be willing to stop its exports. These assumptions were 'proven painfully incorrect. Iran used cheap drones and small vessels to impose a nearly...

Two industry sources confirmed that a Moscow oil refinery stopped operations on Tuesday after a?Ukrainian drone attack. Sources said that the strike was claimed by Ukraine and caused a fire at the primary refinery CDU-6, which can process 21,400 metric tonnes of oil per day. This is 53% of its capacity. Sources who requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak in public said that the refinery is expected to resume its operations at its second primary unit soon. This unit can process 18,800 tons per day. The local?emergency service said earlier on Tuesday that the fire at the...

Two industry sources have confirmed that the TANECO oil'refinery in Russia has suspended all crude 'processing after a drone attack on June 12th. Sources said that the fires and strike at the refinery led to the closure of both primary processing units: CDU-6 with a capacity?of 20,000 tonnes per day, or 45% of the total capacity?of the refinery,?and CDU-7 which?processes more than 23,000 tons each day. Tatneft did not reply to our request for a comment. TANECO is one of Russia's technologically most advanced refineries. It has?hydrocracking and catalytic cracking units, as well as delayed?coking?units. According to data from the...

Ali Nizar, head of Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO said on its official website that Iraq has asked Turkey to extend the current Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline agreement for a minimum of a year in order to give more time to negotiate. Since the beginning of June, Iraq has exported 12,000,000?barrels? of crude oil through its southern ports. Ali Nizar, the SOMO's chief Ali Nizar, said that the Iraqi Government had requested Ankara for more time to?talks about a replacement contract covering the main export route. The long-standing Turkey-Iraq Crude?Pipeline??Agreement that governs the exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline is due to expire?on?July...

The Channel Tunnel's owner announced on Friday that it would "challenge" the British government by all means possible after its business rates had tripled in the past three years, resulting in a decision to no longer invest in the UK. Eurotunnel, owned by Getlink of Paris which operates car and lorry trains through the tunnel between England & France. * Yann Leriche, CEO of the FT, told them that they are facing a rise from PS40million a yearly to PS118million a yearly increase in their rateable value. * In a press release, the company stated that it had "no justification"...

The British tax authority won an appeal on Friday?in a dispute with Estonian 'ride-hailing' and food delivery company Bolt. This ruling could impact Uber's case, which is worth more than PS1 billion ($1.3billion). Bolt argued that in its PS190million dispute with HM Revenue and Customs, it was liable to charge a 20% value added tax on its'margin' rather than the total fare charged by customers. The London Court of Appeal, however, ruled in HMRC’s favor and overturned two lower tribunal decisions. Bolt was told by the court that it could not use a tax system originally intended for tour operators...

Budapest's chief prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that Hungarian prosecutors had ordered a police investigation into certain transactions relating to shares of oil company MOL in order to determine if they had violated the rules on insider trade. The police investigation follows a February probe by the??National Bank of Hungary into the sales of MOL stock by company officials following the January 27 suspension of crude oil shipments via the Druzhba Pipeline to Hungary. The shipments resumed only in late April. In an email?reply, prosecutors stated that "based upon current data, circumstances of relevant share?sales cannot be clarified without an...

The DiXi Group, a think tank, predicts that Ukraine's energy system, which has been under constant Russian assault, will face power shortages in the summer months, and consumers may be affected by outages, despite the strong output of solar power plants and the imports. Russia has been attacking Ukraine's energy generation and transmission system throughout the war. This has caused severe damage to thermal power plants, forcing Kyiv to import more and to resort to massive power cuts for consumers. DiXi stated in a press release that, under moderate temperatures and with no further damage done to the energy grid,...

TASS reported?on?Tuesday, citing the regional ministry of emergency, that three?explosions?hit a gas pipe in 'the town 'of 'Kizilyurt, in Russia’s Dagestan Region in the North Caucasus. However, emergency crews managed to control the resulting blaze. Three explosions were reported by the?ministry on a trunk 1,200 mm gas pipeline. No injuries have been reported. TASS?quoted?officials in the?region who said that emergency crews brought under control flames which had risen 15 metres (50 feet). It said that grassy areas were burning near the explosion site. Russian news agencies reported that residents who were ordered to evacuate from 300 homes are now returning....

According to a draft document that was seen on Tuesday, the German government wants to "make Germany a leading hub" for sustainable, safe, and competitive aviation. This will be achieved through a 15-year plan which includes cutting costs, increasing research, and accelerating the use of cleaner fuels. Wednesday the German cabinet will approve the aviation strategy, which outlines short- and mid-term plans for civil and military aviation. The aim is to give greater planning certainty to policymakers, companies, military personnel and the general public. The strategy is based on four pillars, including economic competitiveness and technological 'competitiveness. The aim is...

Three trading sources have confirmed that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium plans to export 1.7 million barrels of CPC Blend crude per day in June, compared with an initial estimate of 1.45 million barrels. They said that maintenance at Kazakhstan's Kashagan field was postponed, and production at Tengiz, the country's oilfield, has been restored following a technical problem in May, which resulted in the higher forecast. The initial June plan was revised upwards by 17%. According to calculations, the?May?loading plan was expected to reach a multi-month peak. Calculations show that the May loading plan would reach a multi-month high of 1.8...