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Saluda Medical shares plummet on Australian market debut
Saluda Medical shares listed on the Australian Securities Exchange fell nearly 45% in their debut at the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday after raising A$231,000,000 ($152.67,000,000) through its initial public offer. Saluda is a U.S. medical device company that develops neuromodulation treatments to treat chronic neurological conditions. The company sold 87.1 new CHESS depositary interests at A$2.65, which valued the company at approximately A$775 millions at listing. In the first few trading minutes, the stock fell almost half its value to A$1.48. Saluda was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2010. The FDA-approved Evoke Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) System is a closed-loop system that uses neural biomarkers to measure and adapt therapy in real-time. Saluda made its debut after GemLife Communities Group IPO of A$750 Million in early July. This was the largest 2025 listing in Australia and surpassed Virgin Australia's A$685 Million offering at the end of June. (1 Australian dollar = 1.5131 dollars) (Reporting and editing by Alan Barona in Bengaluru)
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Irish media reported that drones were spotted near Zelenskiy's flight path from Dublin.
Local media reported that an Irish navy ship saw up to five drones near the flight path for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he arrived in Ireland on Monday to make a state visit. Irish Times reported that the sighting caused a major alert due to fears of an attempted interference with the flight path. The Irish Times cited unnamed sources who said that the aircraft was not in danger, despite its arrival a little early. The Ukrainian delegation arrived on Monday late and left late the following day, as part of an effort to drum up support for Kyiv in Europe as Russia continues its war against Ukraine. Ukrainian media reported that Dmytro Litvyn was an adviser to Zelenskiy. He said that Ukrainian officials had been informed of the drones but took no action. Lytvyn is quoted as saying "The host country is responsible for the security." According to their data there were drones. However, this did not impact the visit. There was no need to change the visit. Recent drone flights originating from unknown origins have disrupted airspace operations across Europe. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has called these incursions hybrid warfare. The Journal website first reported that drones were spotted at Dublin Airport. They said they arrived at the exact location where Zelenskiy’s plane had been expected to be, at the exact time it was due to pass. The authorities said they were conducting investigations to determine if the drones had taken off from a ship or landed on land. Both news outlets reported that they were first seen northeast of Dublin at a distance of around 20 km (12miles) from the airport. Ireland's Defence Forces stated that it could not comment on any specifics about any alleged incident for operational security purposes. A spokesperson stated that "However, Defence Forces Support to the Security Operation, led by An Garda Siochana, was successfully deployed through multiple means, ultimately leading to a successful and safe visit," (Reporting and editing by Timothy Heritage Ron Popeski Stephen Coates).
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CANADA CRUDE-Western Canada Select trades at steepest discounts ever since March
The difference between the West Texas Intermediate benchmark futures and Western Canada Select futures, which is North American benchmark, has narrowed slightly on Thursday. However, it remains larger than ever before. CalRock reported that WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $12.85 per barrel, which is lower than the U.S. benchmark WTI. This compares to $13 Wednesday. The WCS discount on increased Canadian oil production has recently increased after spending most of the year in historically tight levels. This is largely due to the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline which has provided additional export capacity for Canadian oil producers. According to government statistics, the oil-producing province Alberta has set a record for production in 2024 with an average of 3.98 million barrels per day. The first 10 months of the year 2025 have been 3.8% higher than the same period of last year. * Oil prices fell globally on Thursday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut. Meanwhile, the stalled Ukraine talks dampened expectations that a deal would be reached to restore Russian oil supplies. (Reporting from Amanda Stephenson, Calgary; Editing done by Maju Sam)
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Brazil 2026 Budget Sponsor proposes $1.9 Billion Exclusion for State-run Firms' Fiscal Target
Gervasio maia, the Brazilian congressman who sponsored the bill on budget guidelines for 2026, proposed to exclude up to 10 billion reals ($1.9 billion) of next year's fiscal goal for state-owned enterprises. According to Maia’s amendment, this amount will cover the expenses of companies that have an active and approved economic-financial plan. The proposal gives President Luiz inacio Lula da Silveira fiscal flexibility. It comes at a time when the postal service Correios is facing a cash crisis. Last month, it approved a restructuring program as its losses soared this year. This raised doubts over the viability of state-run Correios. The company reported a loss for the year to date of 6 billion reals ($1.13 billion), nearly three times the amount reported a year ago. The government has to compensate state-owned companies when they exceed their fiscal targets. This often means freezing federal spending. This is what happened with this year's Budget, when the government in November approved it. It was necessary to offset the 3 billion reais deficit that had been expected at state-owned firms due to Correios’ troubles. Maia removed from her proposal a clause on compensation. This effectively prevents the government from implementing it in the event that state-owned companies miss their targets next year. After the bill was passed, the change to the budget proposal for 2026 was announced ahead of the joint session of the Congress on Thursday. Committee approval is expected to be made on Wednesday. Correios stated earlier this week that the Treasury Blockage It was prevented from taking out a loan of 20 billion reais (3.67 billion dollars) from a bank consortium with a guarantee from the government because the interest rates exceeded the limit for deals backed by the state. ($1 = 5.3048 reales) ($1= 5.3133 reales) (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft; Marcela Ayres)
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Irish media reported that drones were spotted near Zelenskiy's flight path from Dublin.
Local media reported that an Irish navy ship saw up to five drones near the flight path for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he arrived in Ireland on Monday to make a state visit. Irish Times reported that the sighting caused a major alert due to fears of an attempted interference with the flight path. The Irish Times cited unnamed sources who said that the aircraft was not in danger, despite its arrival a little early. The Ukrainian delegation arrived on Monday late and left late the following day, as part of an effort to drum up support for Kyiv in Europe as Russia continues its war against Ukraine. Recent drone flights in Europe have disrupted airspace operations. Their origin is mostly unknown. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has called these incursions hybrid warfare. The Journal website first reported that drones were spotted at Dublin Airport. They said they arrived at the exact location where Zelenskiy’s plane had been expected to be, at the exact time it was due to pass. The authorities said they were conducting investigations to determine if the drones had taken off from a ship or landed on land. Both news outlets reported that they were first seen northeast of Dublin at a distance of around 20 km (12miles) from the airport. Ireland's Defence Forces stated that it could not comment on any specifics about any alleged incident for operational security purposes. A spokesperson stated that "however, the Defence Forces' support to An Garda Siochana's (police) security operation was successfully deployed by multiple means, ultimately leading to a successful and safe visit,"
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US investigations report that Waymo's self-driving car illegally passed 19 school buses in Texas
The U.S. government said Thursday that it had asked Waymo for more information after Texas officials claimed that Alphabet's self-driving cars had passed school buses illegally 19 times since the beginning of the school year. In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation after an incident that occurred in Georgia. A Waymo was not stationary as it approached a school bus while its red lights were flashing and its stop arm was deployed. The Austin Independent School District posted a letter on November 20, 2018 by the NHTSA. In the letter, they stated that five incidents had occurred in November following the announcement from Waymo that it had updated its software to fix the problem. They asked the company not to operate around schools at pick-up or drop-off hours until it was able to ensure the vehicles wouldn't violate the law. Waymo didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. A lawyer for the district wrote: "We cannot let Waymo continue to endanger our students as it tries to fix the problem." Citing an incident in which a Waymo was "recorded" driving past a school bus that had stopped only moments after the student who crossed in front, while still on the road, had been in front of the vehicle. A spokesperson for the school district did not respond immediately to whether Waymo had met this request. NHTSA was prompted by the letter to ask Waymo if it would comply to the request that self-driving vehicles cease operations during pick-up or drop-off hours for students. They also asked: "Was a software fix developed or implemented to mitigate this concern?" If so, will Waymo file a recall to fix the problem? In a letter sent to Waymo by the NHTSA on Wednesday, it demanded answers to questions about school bus incidents and software updates that address safety concerns. David Shepardson is reporting.
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US investigations report that Waymo's self-driving car illegally passed 19 school buses in Texas
The U.S. government said on Thursday that it had asked Waymo for more information after Texas officials claimed that Alphabet's self-driving cars had passed school buses illegally 19 times since the beginning of the school year. In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation after a Georgia incident where a Waymo failed to remain stationary as it approached a school bus that had its red lights flashing with a stop arm deployed. In a letter published by NHTSA on Nov. 20, the Austin Independent Schools District stated that five incidents had occurred in November, after Waymo claimed to have made software updates to fix the problem. The district asked the company to stop operations near schools at pick-up or drop-off hours until it could be ensured the vehicles wouldn't violate the law. Waymo didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. David Shepardson reports.
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Sources: Deutsche Bahn will return to profitability this year and next.
According to sources close the company, Deutsche Bahn will return to profitability this year and next, despite its underinvestment in trains and delays. After more than a decade underinvestment by the state-owned Deutsche Bahn, it has begun upgrading its tracks and overhead lines, as well as cutting administrative costs. This has led to major delays and cancellations across the country. Positive outlook is also a result of CEO Evelyn Palla's task to turn the company around. She took over on October 1. Palla will present her restructuring plan for the company at a meeting of the supervisory board scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Significant job cuts are expected. Deutsche Bahn has declined to comment. Sources said that the company expects a slightly positive profit before interest and tax (EBIT) in 2025 after a loss last year of 388 million euros. EBIT is expected to reach 500 million euros by 2026. The German Bahn also aims at reducing its net loss from 820 million euros to 180 million next year. Revenues are expected to stay stable, around 28 billion euro next year.
How Biden's Gaza pier project unwinded
The first time President Joe Biden's administration considered buying the U.S. armed force to build a drifting pier off Gaza to deliver help in late 2023, it was put on the backburner.
The United States was under pressure to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, which had been worsened by Israel's closure of many land border crossings, and sea deliveries were viewed as a possible service.
U.S. Admiral Christopher Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Personnel and a career Navy surface area warfare officer, told a conference that he was very worried that the sea could end up being too rough for a pier to provide humanitarian help and laid out weather-related risks, a former U.S. authorities and an existing U.S. official said.
It wasn't until early 2024 that the idea showed up again as the scenario in Gaza grew more desperate and aid organizations alerted that mass starvation among Palestinian civilians was looming.
We sort of reached a point where it appeared proper to take more risk due to the fact that the need was so excellent, a former senior Biden administration official said.
The resulting pier objective did not work out.
It included 1,000 U.S. soldiers, provided only a portion of the promised aid at an expense of nearly $230 million, and was from the start beleaguered by bad luck and mistakes, including fire, bad weather condition and dangers on coast from the fighting in between Israel and Hamas.
Biden, after assuring a massive increase in help, acknowledged that the pier had disappointed his goals. I was enthusiastic that would be more successful, he told reporters on July 11.
The internal discussions about the Gaza pier, consisting of discarded alternatives to briefly deploy soldiers to the enclave, have not been previously reported.
The pier objective, which was officially ended recently, was the most controversial of the U.S. military's attempts to help include the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war that appeared on Oct. 7, 2023, and has actually drawn criticism from Biden's Republican critics and numerous present and former help employees.
The effort also underscores the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's battles to bring the conflict to a close, both of which are in focus during his see to Washington today.
The Pentagon referred questions about the pier to remarks made at a July 17 rundown with Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy leader of U.S. Central Command. In it, Cooper said the mission was a success, delivering the largest quantity of help ever into the Middle East.
Mike Rogers, the Republican who leads the Pentagon's. oversight committee in your house of Representatives, called the. pier a humiliation.
The pier was an ill-conceived political computation by the. Biden administration, Rogers told .
NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND
With alarm rising over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in. 2023, Curtis Reid, chief of staff at the White Home National. Security Council, was tasked with creating a working group with. various government firms to take a look at ways to increase help. into Gaza.
( It) was an ask for firms to put whatever you got. on the table, the previous senior official said. The Pentagon. then started taking a look at alternatives.
Requested comment, the NSC acknowledged inter-agency. conversations on possible policy choices.
Due to the fact that of this work, we had the ability to advance the delivery. of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, making use of every tool. possible, stated Adrienne Watson, an NSC representative.
When the head of the armed force's Central Command, General. Michael Erik Kurilla, at first briefed Defense Secretary. Lloyd Austin about the pier objective, his very first proposition included. a minimal variety of U.S. soldiers on the ground, briefly, to. attach the pier to the shore, the previous authorities stated.
Austin knew that the White Home was opposed to. releasing U.S. forces to Gaza and asked Kurilla to go back and. rework it, a current U.S. official and the previous authorities said.
Kurilla produced a plan to train Israeli forces to do the. setup of the pier on the shore, the former authorities. added. Israeli forces later carried out the plan. The Israeli. prime minister's workplace and defense ministry referred '. concerns about the pier to the U.S. military.
Kurilla's Central Command declined to discuss the record. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of privacy,. rejected the account and said boots on the ground was never a. factor to consider.
Present and former officials explained Central Command as. incredibly positive the pier task would succeed.
CENTCOM and General Kurilla, from Day 1, they were. consistent in stating: 'We can do this,' the previous U.S. official stated.
The first turn of misfortune began April 11, when a fire. broke out in the engine room of the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, a. Navy ship transferring part of the pier system to the. Mediterranean.
The team put out the fire but the ship had to reverse to. the United States.
THREE FOOT WAVES
Weather condition was an even larger issue.
An early warning of the difficulties from rough seas came last. summertime, when U.S. troops attempted to set up the pier on an. Australian shore during a military workout.
The sea was too rough, a military officer who straight. dealt with the pier workout told .
In the end, the soldiers could not connect the pier to the. beach itself, and rather brought products ashore utilizing boats to. bridge the gap in between completion of the drifting pier and the. beach.
U.S. officials acknowledge that the Mediterranean weather. was a worry. However they were unprepared for how bad the sea. conditions turned out to be.
The forecast that they had (was) essentially that the sea. state was going to be three or less up till around September,. said one senior U.S. defense official, referring to sea state. three, when waves do not go beyond three feet.
Instead, waves broke the pier simply 9 days after it became. operational on May 16. The damage was so bad that it had to be. relocated to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repair work.
The occurrence would be show the norm, with bad weather condition. keeping the pier inoperative for all but 20 days-- half as long. as it required to bring the system across the sea to Gaza.
While there were no deaths or understood direct attacks on the. pier, three U.S. soldiers suffered non-combat injuries in assistance. of the pier in May, with one medically left in crucial. condition.
OVER-ESTIMATING DISTRIBUTION
Providing the food, shelter and medical care that was. brought onshore through the pier likewise proved more difficult than. expected.
The U.S. military aimed to increase to as many as 150 trucks. a day of help coming off the pier.
However since the pier was just operational for a total of 20. days, the military says it moved an overall of only 19.4 million. pounds of help into Gaza. That would have to do with 480 trucks of help. provided in total from the pier, based upon estimates by the. World Food Programme from earlier this year of weight brought by. a truck.
The United Nations states about 500 truckloads of aid are. needed everyday to deal with the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
Simply days after the very first deliveries of aid rolled off the. pier in Gaza, crowds overwhelmed trucks and took a few of it.
Israel's killings of 7 World Central Cooking area employees in. April and its usage of an area near the pier as it staged a. hostage rescue healing objective in June also dented the. self-confidence of help companies, on whom the U.S. was relying to. bring the supplies from the coast and distribute to citizens.
A senior U.S. defense authorities acknowledged that aid. delivery showed to be possibly more difficult than the. organizers anticipated.
One previous authorities said Kurilla had actually raised distribution as. an issue early on.
General Kurilla was also really clear about that: 'I can do. my piece of this, and I can do circulation if you task me to do. it,' the former authorities stated.
However that was clearly scoped out of what the job was. Therefore we were reliant on these global companies.
Present and former U.S. officials informed that the. United Nations and help companies themselves were always cool. to the pier.
At a closed-door conference of U.S. officials and aid. companies in Cyprus in March, Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, offered. tacit support for Biden's pier project.
But Kaag worried the UN preference was for land, land,. land, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
The United Nations decreased to talk about the meeting. It. referred to a rundown on Monday where a spokesperson for the. company said that the U.N. appreciated every way of getting. help into Gaza, consisting of the pier, but more gain access to through land. routes is needed.
The hidden concern for aid companies was that Biden,. under pressure from fellow Democrats over Israel's killing of. civilians in Gaza, was pushing a service that would at finest be. a short-term fix and at worst would take pressure off Netanyahu's. federal government to open land routes into Gaza.
Dave Harden, a previous USAID objective director to the West. Bank and Gaza, explained the pier project as humanitarian. theater.
It did ease the pressure, sadly, on having the.
(source: Reuters)