Europe

A court in Italy sentenced Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Atlantia, to 12 years in prison on Thursday for the fatal 2018 collapse of an autobahn bridge in Genoa's port city in the northwest. Atlantia owned the majority of shares in the motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia when the tragedy occurred. 43 people were killed as their cars plunged off the flyover. The court was packed with relatives of the victims to hear the verdict of a case that became a symbol for the slow pace of justice in Italian criminal proceedings. The Italian legal system allows for at...

The Russian defence ministry announced on Thursday that it had struck military and industrial facilities in Kyiv and infrastructure in Odesa, Pivdennyi, and Odesa ports as well as a vessel. Moscow and Kyiv both intensified their attacks against key economic targets. Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian energy infrastructure including oil tankers. Meanwhile, Russia has intensified attacks on Black Sea ports over the past few weeks. Officials in Ukraine said that Russian missiles?hit at least two districts?in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv?early on Thursday morning, causing fires and killing 2 people. The Russian defence ministry has said that it struck Ukrainian...

Taras Vysotskiy said that Ukraine would do all it could to protect its seaports, and ensure grain exports are at least equal to last season. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its attacks on the infrastructure of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and cargo ships entering Odesa port to export grain and agricultural products. Vysotskiy stated that the state recognizes the importance of agricultural exports. He added, "It'll be hard, but we will do everything to maintain minimum guaranteed export volume to support international food security at a level that is no lower than the last year." Before the recent attacks?Ukraine...

The race to secure vital minerals has created a wealth of opportunity for countries that have the fortune of having the right metal deposits. The goal is to extract as much value as you can from the metals in the earth. The obvious answer is processing. Smelters that convert ore to metal are not only more valuable, but also provide a path to greater industrial and economic growth. It's a way for Western policymakers to loosen China's grip over midstream capacity in a large part of the critical metals spectrum. According to a joint study by the consultancy CRU, and...

Iran warned that if U.S. strikes continue, its campaign to choke global energy markets may expand from the Strait-of-Hormuz?to the crucial Red Sea route. This threat is dependent on the Houthi allies of Iran in Yemen. Here's why it matters, and what that means for the Iran War and the global energy crises: How big is the risk to global energy markets? The Bab el-Mandeb strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, would be closed and open a whole new front in the conflict between Iran and the U.S. The Red Sea is now an important alternative outlet for Gulf...

White paint is a simple, yet effective, solution to the aging infrastructure of Europe's railways, which are buckling under record temperatures, melting roads and straining power grids. Drones, AI-powered sensors and AI-powered sensors, to name a few, have been used to inspect tracks. Workers at the Oslo Airport in Norway sprayed water on the tarmac to 'keep it cool'. The temperature was expected to reach 30 degrees Celsius, 10 degrees above the normal average for this time of the year. The country is adjusting to the rising temperatures in Europe, which are fueling wildfires and killing thousands. Infrastructure is also...

The race to secure the critical minerals is opening up new opportunities for countries that have the fortune to possess the right deposits. The goal is to extract as much value from the metal?riches' in the earth as possible. The obvious answer is to process the ore. Smelters that convert ore to metal are not only more valuable, but also offer a path to economic and industrial development. It's a way for Western policymakers to loosen China's grip over midstream capacity in many critical metals. According to a joint study by the consultancy CRU, and the World Bank, the number...

Douala, the main port in Cameroon, has resumed its operations, said its transport minister?on a Tuesday. A collision between two cargo ships?at a weekend temporarily blocked?the navigational channel. The accident occurred early Sunday morning near buoy number 20. The collision occurred on 20 in the Douala - Bonaberi port canal when the cargo vessel MV Sea Honor, registered in Tuvalu, collided into the MV Black Rhino, flying the flag of Cyprus. The collision caused a temporary blockage of the channel and disrupted the maritime traffic in one of Central Africa’s busiest port. The impact of?disruption has not been disclosed. Port...

The Dutch court rejected Glencore’s bid to buy back Access World Group, its former logistics unit through a private transfer. Opponents said that the price proposed was too low. According to a ruling of the Amsterdam District Court dated July 2, which was released last week, Glencore, a London-listed company, could not transfer Access World Shares?to Tironimus. Hearing was held on 21 May. The court stated that Glencore did not demonstrate that a public auction was harmful. The court added that Tironimus might participate as a bidder at a public sale that could also identify other potential buyers. Glencore sought...

Andrea Cerulli was driving his car to work in the port of Voltri on the western edge of Genoa when the Morandi Motorway Bridge collapsed under him. He was one of 43 people who died in the worst infrastructure disaster in Italy in years. Cesare Cerulli, son of Cerulli, has spent the last eight years completing high school. He also passed his final exams, and will be starting university in the fall. When his father died, he was only 10 years old. He is now an adults. Cesare, along with dozens of relatives of victims, will return on July 16...

The container carrier, operated by CMA CGM, refuelled?with the ethanol during a port stop in Santos, Brazil. This is the first time this type of fuel has been used to move the engines of deep-sea vessels in Brazil. CMA CGM IRON received 650,000 liters anhydrous alcohol from Brazilian ethanol and Sugar merchant Copersucar in a refueling service provided by Danish marine services group Bunker One. The CMA vessel, one of the 12 vessels operated by the group, is equipped with a trifuel engine. This engine can run on any combination of bunker fuels or methanol. The CMA vessel is a...

Kernel Holding, a Ukrainian agricultural group, announced on Monday that it had halted?operations? at its port infrastructure?in Chornomorsk following the significant damage caused by Russian missiles and drones. The company said that the attacks from July 10 to 12, damaged the grain, sunflower oil, and meal storage, and the infrastructure for transshipment. It added that the timing of restoring operations was uncertain. The Russian defense ministry announced on Monday that its forces had struck infrastructure at the Chornomorsk Port, claiming?that it was being used to handle military cargo by the Ukrainian armed force. Kernel, in a regulatory filing described the...

Fuel shortages are affecting Russians in all 11 time zones. Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries have disrupted supply and caused long queues, high gasoline prices, and even rationing?in some regions. Fuel access has improved in Moscow and other cities, mainly due to measures such as increasing imports and clearing low-quality fuels for use. However, the situation in Russian-annexed Crimea is still tense. Fuel shortages began in June, when some regions began to restrict gasoline and diesel use. Here is the situation in some Russian regions: CENTRAL RUSSIA According to 'witnesses, local media, and service aggregators who monitor the availability of...

Trafigura has "walked away" from a proposed 2,050 megawatt transmission line that would have transported surplus hydropower in Angola to copper mines and cobalt deposits in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to two sources who are directly involved. This is one of three private-backed transmission projects, worth billions, that aim to supply electricity from Angola – which has an abundance of stranded hydropower – to vital minerals operations in neighbouring countries facing power shortages. Trafigura signed a non-binding agreement in July 2024 with the Angolan Government and engineering firm ProMarks to conduct feasibility studies. One industry source...

In the last two weeks, Ukrainian forces have intensified their attacks on Russia's infrastructure for energy. Fuel shortages are worsened by the drone attacks in Russia. People have reported high prices and long lines at fuel stations in most regions. Here is a brief summary of recent attacks, starting with the latest. SALAVAT According to industry sources, the Salavat Petrochemical Complex, located in Bashkortostan's Urals region, stopped operations on July 14th following an attack by a Ukrainian drone. A fire broke at the Afipsky refinery, in southern Krasnodar Region of Russia. The cause was drone debris that fell from the...

The main Ukrainian farmers' union has said that Ukraine has lost a third of its ability to export grain via its Black Sea ports because of the 'intensifying' Russian missile and drone strikes. Ukraine has been at war with Russia for more than four years, but agricultural exports such as grains and vegetable oil remain its biggest source of foreign exchange earnings. More than 90% are shipped through three ports located in southern Odesa. Odesa ports handled about?6 millions metric tons per month of cargo under a deal that allowed both countries to ship grains through the Black Sea. Moscow...

At least two people were arrested on suspicion of starting the fire in a forest near Paris. Laurent Nunez, Interior Minister, said on Monday evening that "it is not under control." The main fire in Fontainebleau, and a second one that began nearby on Monday afternoon, had scorched over 1,300 hectares (3.212 acres). Nunez said the fire was only a few kilometers away from the Palace of "Fontainebleau", which explained the deployments of significant resources, such as water-carrying aircraft and helicopters. Canadair's aircraft skimmed across the River Seine on Monday to fill up their fuel tanks in an attempt to...

Drones are cheap, mass-produced and have revolutionized modern warfare. They expose critical energy infrastructures as the Achilles heel of modern economies. Unmanned aircraft are able to evade air defences on the battlefields in Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East. This makes oil refineries and power stations as well as export terminals and pipelines prime targets. The energy industry is affected by the implications. Swarms of drones, which cost a few hundred dollars up to several thousand dollars each, can threaten facilities that have taken decades and billions to build. This will dramatically shift the balance of power between attackers and...

EU data revealed on Monday that the European Union imported record volumes of liquefied gas from Russia's Yamal facility during the first half of this year. This is ahead a ban which will come into effect in 2019. The EU banned Russian LNG imports from April, but imports of long-term contracts are allowed until January 1, 2027. According to data from commodities intelligence company Kpler, EU countries imported 136 loads containing 9.97 metric tons of LNG from Yamal between January and June, an increase of 16% over the same period in the previous year. Novatek, a private Russian company, controls...

According to three sources, the freight rates for tanker shipments from western ports of Russia's Urals crude to India have fallen in July compared to last month. This is because increased vessel availability and the summer season eased pressure on the market. The lower transportation costs are a relief for Russian oil exporters whose margins were under pressure due to the wider discounts on Urals crude, as a result of weak demand in Asia. Sources claim that the cost to ship a cargo of 100,000 metric tonnes of Aframax from the Baltic port of Primorsk, in the Baltic Sea, to...

Open-source analysis shows that Russia is using small drones to damage high-voltage substations of electricity in the frontline region of Sumy in northern Ukraine. The Centre for Information Resilience in London is an open-source investigative group that has verified the footage of a new wave of strikes posted on Russian social media. Throughout the war, Russia bombarded Ukrainian power plants, particularly in frontline regions. As a response, Ukrainian authorities covered high-voltage converters with concrete sarcophagis and anti-drone webs. Ukraine's frontline areas are also filled with electronic warfare systems, which aim to interfere with the radio signals that control drones. As...

Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor-General denied Kyiv's role in the 2022 explosion of the Nord Stream Gas Pipelines and suggested forming a joint investigative team with Germany. Germany suspects Ukrainian state entities are behind the explosions. The explosions occurred months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. They damaged the Nord Stream 1 pipe, a crucial route for?Russian exports of gas to Europe. In a press release, the Prosecutor's Office said that, according to the findings of the investigation, there was no evidence that Ukraine or its officials or officials had been involved in the explosions that occurred in the Baltic Sea...

Offshore -Norway, an industry group, said on Thursday that a strike by oil service workers has resulted in historical and future production losses for operators worth 1.6 billion Norwegian crowns (approximately $163.62 million) this year. About?1,000 Norwegian Oil Service Workers were locked out in late June as a result of a?strike being carried out by several hundred members from Norway's Safe Union. Offshore Norway reported that five mobile drilling rigs and five fixed offshore installations, as well as?one well-intervention vessel, had suspended all drilling and well-operations. It also said that four inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR),?vessels, were affected. The production...

90% of Tulsans can expect to be able order deliveries by autonomous drones within the next 12 months, said Manna on Wednesday. The company has begun a push in the American Southwest it believes will "be the battleground" for this?fast-growing sector. Executive chairman Kenny Jacobs said that the Irish-founded startup, based in Oklahoma City, will begin flying orders for partners like DoorDash, McDonald's, and Uber Eats by mid-2027. It will operate 40 bases throughout Oklahoma's second largest city. Jacobs said at the launch of the first full-scale U.S. operations. The technology has been proven. It's now about commercial scalability, and...