Latest News
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Logitech: Production shift to China reduces tariff impact
Hanneke Faber, the chief executive of Logitech International, said that they are making progress in moving their production lines from China to reduce any impact from U.S. duties on computer peripherals. In April, the changes were announced to reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. These duties currently range between 20% and 30% for the Logitech keyboards and mice that are made in China. Faber said after Logitech announced its Q1 2026 results that "we stated in April that we were at 40 percent of products bound for U.S. coming from China, and by the year's end we will be at 10 percent." She added, "We're a bit better than 30% right now. We are on track." She said that the shift of production lines from Malaysia to Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan did not lead to an increase in material costs. (Reporting and editing by John Revill)
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Microsoft restores service to Russia-backed Nayara Energy
Microsoft has restored its services to the Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara, Nayara’s lawyer said in a New Delhi Court, just days after it terminated services because of European Union sanctions. Nayara has been forced to scale back operations at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery for lack of sufficient fuel storage and vessel owners' demand to end their contracts after it was hit by the EU's latest sanctions. Microsoft has suspended its service following the EU's new round of sanctions against Russia, its energy sector and Nayara. Nayara is majority owned by Russian entities like oil giant Rosneft. Nayara approached a New Delhi Court to order the restoration of Microsoft services. It claimed that its employees could not access company emails or data for their day-today operations. Nayara’s lawyer informed the judge on Wednesday that "the matter has been resolved", as Microsoft had restored services to Nayara. Microsoft has confirmed that it has restored Nayara Energy's services in a press release. Microsoft also added, "We are in constant discussions with the European Union regarding service continuity for the Organization." Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, owns 49.13% of Nayara, and a consortium led by Italy's Mareterra Group, and Russian investment group United Capital Partners, also holds a similar share. Nayara runs India's largest refinery and third-largest retail fuel outlet at Vadinar, in western Gujarat. As reported previously, Nayara turned to the Indian company Rediff.com for communication between its employees after Microsoft's services were discontinued. Reporting by Arpan chaturvedi Editing done by Eileen Soreng, Frances Kerry
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Kazakhstan and Turkey discuss an increase in oil exported via BTC
The press service for the president of Kazakhstan said that the two leaders discussed a possible increase of oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Baku, Tbilisi and Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline. The statement did not provide any additional information. "The delegations talked about issues of energy cooperation, including the prospects for increased exports via Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipe." Tokayev visited Turkey to attend a high-level meeting of the strategic cooperation council between Turkey and Russia. The agenda included cooperation on power generation, agriculture, and mining. According to state statistics, Kazakhstan increased its oil exports via BTC by 12% in the first half 2025 compared to last year's same period to 785,000 tonnes (34,000 barrels per days). Oil is transported to Baku via tankers from Aktau through the Caspian Sea. This port would need to be upgraded to increase export levels. The quality of the crude oil that enters the BTC pipeline also limits the amount of oil exported via BTC. In its development plan for the period up to 2029, Kazakhstan considered the construction of a transcaspian oil pipeline as well as marine terminals along the Kazakh and Azerbaijani coastlines of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked nation in the world. Its main source of income is oil exports. The two main routes to export its oil to the international market pass through Russia, to its Black Sea or Baltic ports. Statisticians state that the share of Kazakh oil exported outside Russian ports was just 5.9% in the first six months of 2025, and this percentage remained the same as it was in 2024. Tokayev has called for a rise in oil exports to bypass Russia by 2022. Kazmunaigaz, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and the Tengiz Oil Field in Azerbaijan signed an agreement to transport 1.5 million tonnes per year of oil from the Tengiz field to BTC.
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Aena's net profit in Spain increases 10.5% with passenger traffic
Aena, the Spanish airport operator, announced on Wednesday that its net profit for the first half of the year was up 10.5% compared to the same period last year as the passenger traffic in the second most visited country worldwide after France continued to increase. The company that manages Spanish airports, the largest airport system in the world in terms of passenger traffic, announced on Wednesday that it had made a profit of 893.8 millions euros ($1.03billion) during the first half of the year. This was slightly below the average analyst's forecast of 904.2million euros based on an LSEG study. Aena saw a 4.5% increase in passenger traffic year-on year. 150.6 million passengers passed through its terminals in Spain over the first half of the year. This helped the company to boost revenues by 9%, reaching 2.9 billion euro. Aena, the Spanish airport authority, reported that international traffic at Spanish airports increased by 6.5% during the first half of this year while domestic traffic grew by 0.4%. Spain's strategy to target long-haul visitors, who spend more, was reflected in the results. Tourism is projected to grow by 3.3% in 2018, outpacing the Spanish economy's 2.4% growth. Commercial revenues increased by 10% while flight-related incomes grew by 6%. Aena approved an increase of 6.5% in the fees that airlines will pay next year. They can expect to pay up to 11.03 euros for each passenger. The company wants to partially fund the expansion of Madrid's main airports. Barcelona More flights to Asia and America.
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New York Times Business News - July 30,
These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Vinay Prashad, chief medical and scientific officer of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has resigned from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees the FDA). After a rare 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Russia's east coast, the National Weather Service upgraded its tsunami warning to cover a 100-mile stretch of Northern California coastline between Cape Mendocino bordering Oregon. Union Pacific announced that it would purchase smaller rival Norfolk Southern for $85 billion, creating the first coast-tocoast freight railroad operator in the United States. This will reshape how goods are moved across the country from grains to automobiles. Apple is closing a retail store in Northeastern China this August. This will be the first time Apple has closed a location since opening its first outlet there in 2008. (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)
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Wall Street Journal, July 30,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. California-based Palo Alto Networks has entered into talks with Israeli cybersecurity company CyberArk Software to purchase it in a deal valued at over $20 billion. Union Pacific announced that it will buy the smaller competitor Norfolk Southern for $85 billion. This deal will create the United States' first coast-to-coast rail freight operator, and change the way goods are transported across the nation from grains to automobiles. CBL Properties, based in Tennessee, has acquired four malls for the middle market from Washington Prime Group. The purchase price was $178.9m. This indicates that mall recovery extends beyond high-end and luxury properties. Mars, the candy and snack giant, announced that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its U.S. business through the end of next year. This investment is part of the company's efforts to continue to expand production in the U.S. JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, is in advanced discussions to acquire Apple's credit cards program from Goldman Sachs. After senior White House officials intervened, a Trump administration attempt to block funding to all outside health researchers has been scrapped.
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Ferrovial's profit for the first half of 2018 is up 30%, thanks to U.S. highways
The Spanish construction giant Ferrovial announced late on Tuesday that its first-half profits had increased by 30% as revenues from the toll roads business in North America and Canada continued their strong performance. The net income increased to 540 millions euros (623.92millions) from 414 millions euros in the same period last year. Ferrovial Chief Executive Ignacio Madridejos said that the company's revenues increased by 5% during the first half of this year, partly because "the strong performance across all its North American assets". Ferrovial's revenue in the first half of its fiscal year from its highways division increased 15% thanks to the performance and traffic increase on its U.S. Express Lanes and Canada's 407. Ferrovial reported an increase in freight traffic in the United States during the first few months of this year. This reflects a rise in commercial activity in ports and on roads, while the Trump administration is discussing new tariffs. The company's construction division, which manages and builds concessions for motorways and airports, achieved an adjusted EBIT of 3.5%. North America represented 45% of the company's 17.3 billion euro order book. Ferrovial will build a new terminal for the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, which is expected to be finished by 2027. It is also focusing its efforts on bidding projects for express lanes in the U.S.
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Wordline forecasts decline in 2025 organic revenue
Worldline, a French digital payment company, said that it expects to see a decline of organic revenue in the low single digits by 2025 after a "challenging first half". The Paris-based firm has set a target of adjusted earnings before tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), between 825 to 875 million euros ($1 billion), this year. In a conference call with journalists, CEO Pierre-Antoine Vacheron stated that there was still work to do over the next few quarters to return to a growth level consistent with the market. Worldline delayed its annual guidance in April, following a strategic revamp initiated in May after the appointment of Vacheron. In February, the company forecast a similar growth rate in revenue for 2025 as it did last year. In June, the shares of Worldline lost more than a third in value on a single morning after a group consisting of 21 European media outlets claimed that Worldline had covered up fraud by clients to protect its revenue. The shares of the company hit a low point of 2.70 euros, before recovering in part. They closed at 3.57 euros, Tuesday, which valued the business at one billion euros. In June, Belgian prosecutors began an investigation into possible money laundering activities in its Belgian unit. Worldline engaged Accuracy as an auditing firm in July for its remaining merchant portfolio that engages in "risky activities". The company announced on Wednesday that the preliminary findings of this review indicate that there is no "material" reason to terminate any more client relationships. The company's analyst poll predicted 2.22 billion euros for the half-year, but it was only 2.20 billion. The company stated that the performance reflects challenges faced in the past months. Worldline announced on Tuesday that it had sold its Mobility & E-Transactional Services business to Magellan Partners for a price of up to 410 millions euro. Srikanth Seshadri, who will replace Gregory Lambertie as Chief Financial Officer at the company on September 8, was also announced. (1 dollar = 0.8663 euro) (Reporting and editing by Leo Marchandon)
What is the mistral wind that's causing the Marseille fire?
The "Mistral", a wind that can reach 70 kph, is causing a wildfire to spread in the suburbs of Marseille.
The fire had advanced at times by over 1 km/minute, but now it has been contained. The front line is still at risk of moving forward, as the Mistral will blow throughout the evening and night.
What is the MISTRAL WIND?
The Mistral, a cold, dry and strong wind blowing from the north or the northwest across the Rhone valley in southern France to the Mediterranean Sea.
The geography of the region, especially the funnel-shaped Rhone Valley, shapes the wind, which speeds up as it moves to the south. The word Mistral is derived from "mistrau", which means "masterly" in Occitan.
It is known to blow clear, dry air under bright blue skies. It impacts agriculture, architecture, and the daily life of Provence and its surrounding areas.
When does the MISTRAL WIND blow?
Mistrals can occur any time of the year, but are most common in winter and spring.
This occurs when a system of high pressure over the Atlantic Ocean or Northern France meets with a system of low pressure over the western Mediterranean. The pressure difference pushes the air to the south, and it intensifies when it passes through Rhone Valley.
Wind can last for a few days or even longer.
How powerful is the mistral wind?
Mistral is Europe's strongest regional wind. The Mistral is a powerful regional wind that can reach speeds of up to 90 km/h. However, gusts are often higher, exceeding 100 km/h. It has even been measured at 120 kph.
It can also damage crops, cause trees to fall and disrupt air and road traffic. The Mistral can also cause dangerous conditions for sailors and whip up the waves. Mistral has its own challenges but also benefits. It dries out the many vineyards and olive trees in southern France reducing the spread of fungal diseases.
Vincent van Gogh's Pine Trees Against a Red Sky With Setting Sun captures the unique weather and light of this region in his paintings. (Editing by Richard Lough & Timothy Heritage)
(source: Reuters)