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Von der Leyen: EU will provide 200 million euros to boost South Caucasus Connectivity
In a speech to the European Commission in Baku, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that up to EUR200m ($228m) would be provided as grant funding for boosting transport, energy, and digital links across 'the South Caucasus. Von der Leyen met with Azerbaijani president?Ilham Alyeev along with EU Enlargement commissioner Marta Kos. She said the initiative was intended to support peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia through strengthening regional connectivity and providing targeted assistance to local communities. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at war for nearly four decades, over the mountainous region Nagorno Karabakh. They reached a peace agreement in August last year after meeting with President Donald Trump at The White House. Von der Leyen stated that "our 'Peace through Connectivity Package' would help to build a prosperous and peaceful future for the South Caucasus." Together, we can turn peace on paper into reality. The Commission announced that a further EUR20million would be allocated to a program supporting local communities in Armenia and Azerbaijan. This will include investment?in healthcare?, demining?, skills -development and local businesses.
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There are some flights to the Middle East that have resumed but there is still disruption.
Some airlines have resumed flights to certain parts of the Middle East, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran gain momentum. However, many carriers continue to suspend their flights and disrupt travel around the world. The following is an alphabetical list of the current status of flights. AEGEAN AIRLINES The largest airline in Greece has cancelled flights to Dubai and Erbil until September 30. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, resumed its Tel Aviv flights on July 1. Dubai flights are suspended until October 24. AIR CANADA Canadian Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until October 24. AIR EUROPA On June 29, the Spanish airline began flights to Tel Aviv. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France suspends its Tel Aviv flight until July 2. Dubai flights will be suspended until July 5. Beirut flights will be suspended until September 9. KLM has suspended all flights to Riyadh and Dubai until the 23rd of August. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong Airlines has suspended its flights to Dubai and Riyadh until August 31. The U.S. carrier suspended service for the Atlanta-Tel Aviv routes until December 18, 2018. The airline plans to resume New York JFK-Tel Aviv flights starting September 6. FINNAIR It has cancelled all Doha flights up to October 2 and continues to avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran Syria, and Israel. The airline will resume its Dubai flights in October, which are only operated during the winter. British Airways, owned by IAG, delayed the return of its flights from Doha to August 1, and to Riyadh to August 8. Flights from Amman, Bahrain, Amman, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Dubai are suspended until the end the summer season. They are expected to resume on October 25. When the flights resume, it plans to reduce service to Dubai, Doha and Riyadh to just one flight per day, and drop Jeddah from its list of destinations. JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines has suspended its scheduled Tokyo-Doha and Doha-Tokyo flight until August 31, and Doha-Tokyo until September 1. Polish Airlines has suspended flights to Riyadh from June 30 to July 2, and will resume them on July 2. LOT will begin operating its winter route from Dubai in October, and resume its Beirut operations during the Summer of 2027. LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa, ITA Airways and British Airways have resumed Tel Aviv flights on 1 July. SWISS delayed the return of flights to August, and Brussels Airlines suspended operations until October 24, The suspension of Dubai flights by SWISS and Lufthansa will continue until September 13th. Until October 24, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS have suspended their flights to Abu Dhabi and other destinations, including Amman, Beirut and Dammam as well as Riyadh. Erbil, Muscat, Tehran and Riyadh are also affected. Eurowings, a low-cost carrier, resumed its operations in Beirut and Erbil as of July 1, and will resume flights from Tel Aviv by July 10. The airline plans to resume flights to the remaining Middle East destinations by autumn. Operational reasons also led ITA Airways to extend the suspension of flights to Riyadh and Dubai to July 31. MALAYSIA AIRLINES From July 2, the Malaysian airline will resume daily flights from Doha. The second daily service will continue to be suspended. NORWEGIAN AIR No new dates have been set for the launch of Tel Aviv or Beirut flights by the low-cost carrier. ROYAL MAROC The Moroccan carrier announced that flights to Doha will be cancelled until June 30, and they plan to resume their operations on July 2. SINGAPORE Airlines In response to a 'higher demand,' the carrier has extended its Singapore-Dubai flight suspension until August 2. It also added services on Singapore-London Gatwick and Singapore-Melbourne routes between late March and October 24. TURKISH AIRLINES SunExpress, Turkish Airlines’ joint venture with Lufthansa has cancelled flights from Dubai to Bahrain, Beirut, and Erbil up until July 14. WIZZ AIR Low-cost airlines have suspended flights from Europe to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman until mid-September. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed. Elviira Louma, Tiago Branao, Agnieszka Olesska, Bernadette HOG, Boleslaw LaSocki, Alexander Klyve Gudbrandsen, Romolo Tosiani. Matt Scuffham and Sanjeev Mikleni edited the book.
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German media reports that Germany has indicted Ukraine over the Nord Stream Pipeline explosions.
German federal prosecutors 'have filed charges against a Ukrainian citizen over 'the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, ARD, Sueddeutsche... and Zeit,?German media outlets reported on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors declined comment. The explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines that carried Russian gas into Europe was a major flashpoint between Moscow and 'the West. It came just months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. According to ARD, prosecutors accuse a Ukrainian national known as Serhii K - according to German privacy laws - of 'attacks on civil energy infrastructure, causing explosions and destroying structures. The suspect was detained in Italy's Rimini Province on August 21, 2025 and then transferred to Germany on November 27, 2025. The next day, a German judge issued the arrest warrant. Serhii k has denied any involvement. Nicola Canestrini, his lawyer, said he was confident that Serhii K would be acquitted in a German trial. Serhii K. was previously represented by a?Berlin-based law firm. As a client in Germany, I was not immediately reachable on the phone.
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ICE confirms raw sugar deliveries of 796 500 metric tons in July, all from Brazil
The exchange confirmed on Wednesday that the deliveries of 'raw sugar' at the expiry -of the contract for July -were 15,678 lots or or 796,500 metric tons. This confirms the preliminary information provided by sugar traders the previous day. ICE's Wednesday delivery notice?said 100% of this sugar would be?loaded in the Santos Port, Brazil. The traders?said Chinese commodities trader COFCO?was the only deliverer, and French soft commodities trader Sucden was viewed as the largest recipient, with 7,209?lots. They said that Louis Dreyfus had 4,181 lots of sugar, Bunge had 2,300 lots, and Wilmar had 1,988 lots. COFCO, besides being a major sugar producer in Brazil, has almost 200,000 acres of sugarcane fields, and four mills. July's delivery was neither large nor small. According to ICE data, the biggest contract month delivery was in 2019, with 41 488, according to. The July delivery of last year was just 888 contracts. (Reporting and editing by Mark Porter; Marcelo Teixeira)
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The largest US power grid prepares for record demand with warnings galore
PJM, America's largest electric grid operator, warned on Wednesday of a massive transmission line backlog as it prepared for record-breaking demand due to a heatwave in advance of the July 4th celebrations. PJM, the largest U.S. electric grid operator, warned of massive transmission line congestion and a price spike on Wednesday as it prepared for record-breaking demand driven by a heatwave ahead of?July 4 celebrations. PJM’s low-voltage warning signaled a higher risk of rotating power outages as transmission?lines' voltage levels weakened. Grid operator has also warned power plants that they should bring their generators back into service to be ready for a surge in demand. Grid expert Georg Rute of Gridraven said that extreme heat, low wind and a surge in demand coincide at a moment when transmission lines are least safe. This is contributing to a spike in electricity prices as the cost to move power increases amid heavy congestion. The temperatures are expected to be around 100deg Fahrenheit (38deg Celsius) this week from Boston to Washington, D.C., close to Northern Virginia's massive data center hub. This will cause a surge in demand for air conditioning, further straining PJM and regional power grids. PJM will be put to the test at 6 p.m. on Thursday, when demand for grid power is expected to reach 166.3 gigawatts. According to PJM’s latest forecast, this would be a record-breaking demand of 165.6 GW. This was set 20 years earlier. PJM has 18 GW of reserve power that can be turned on within 30 minutes to meet any unexpected shortages. This is about six times higher than the reliability requirements. Spot electricity prices are expected to spike Wednesday evening to over $1,000 per MWh as PJM operators manage the congested powerlines around Virginia's hub of data centers and dispatch expensive power plants, mainly powered by coal and gas to meet day's largest electricity consumption. Another 'electric demand record' could be broken in the Midwest as early as Wednesday evening. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the regional grid operator of 15 U.S. States in the Midwest and South, has forecast that demand records as high as 127.1 GW may fall.
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Russian fuel shortages boost EV charging use, Rosatom says
Alexei Likhachev, the CEO of Rosatom, said that fuel shortages had prompted a rise in demand for electric vehicles. He predicted that this would lead more drivers to choose battery-powered cars. Fuel restrictions have been imposed across the country due to intensifying Ukrainian strikes against Russian energy infrastructure. Likhachev, a reporter, said: "We have already seen a significant rise in the use of our electric charging stations." He said that between June 21 and 28 the demand for Rosatom's?over 290 stations of charging rose by 40%. Likhachev said that although the current situation is unlikely to lead to an immediate switch from internal combustion engines to electric, it may prompt car owners to consider the options in the future. The development of the EV sector in Russia is still at an early stage due to severe weather conditions, long distances, and limited charging infrastructure. According to Autostat, the number of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles in Russia was 208,000 at the beginning of April. It said that from January to May, 24600 plug-in hybrids were sold in Russia. This is 125% more than the same period in last year. (Reporting Anastasia Lyrchikova; additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Alessandra Prrentice, editing by Mark Trevelyan).
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LME looks at easing rules for Hong Kong to become a metals hub
Four industry sources have said that the London Metal Exchange is looking at easing its rules to promote Hong Kong as a "metals location". This is in response to China's desire for greater control over global metals markets. Hong Kong became an LME warehouse in July 2025. However, very little metal was deposited since then. Two sources claimed that HKEx executives asked warehouse companies to remove any barriers in order to make Hong Kong a viable storage location. In a consultation paper published in March, the 149-year old LME suggested outside storage for aluminum "on a site-by-site basis". Four sources claimed that this was intended for Hong Kong where space is a problem. The exchange stated that "conversations about space availability at certain places have raised the question of whether outside storage can alleviate space concerns." The results of the consultation are not yet public. The exchange has had a long-standing ambition to secure LME approved storage facilities in China, which is the top industrial metals consumer in the world. China is also keen to play a larger role. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing owns the LME. It is regarded as the oldest and largest metals exchange in world. In the mid-1990s, the exchange briefly permitted outside storage of aluminium but stopped the practice due to concerns about weather damage and safety. LME Chairman John Williamson stated in May that LME had expanded its warehouse network into Hong Kong. This "reinforced" the exchange's role as a "hub with unparalleled connectivity to the Chinese continental". Sources said that as part of this effort, the LME is approving warehouses in any location within Hong Kong. This is unlike other locations where storage facilities are typically required to be near the port. The most expensive location LME warehouses tend to be located in areas where there is a net demand for metal, i.e. manufacturers need physical metal. Hong Kong is not in that mould. Services account for more than 90 percent of its revenue. Rents are 66 cents per metric ton per day, which is 21% more expensive than the average for other LME locations. The rent is 66?U.S. Rents for copper, nickel and other metals are also 21% more expensive in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's multi-storey warehouses are not suitable for heavy metal storage, as the higher floors can't support their weight. Hong Kong only accounted for?1.7% of the total LME warehouse stock in May. LME data from May shows that warehouses in Hong Kong held 24,665 tons of metal compared to 483,381 in Singapore, 286,646 in South Korea, and 265,345 in Taiwan. "We are delighted with the success of Hong Kong warehousing... The LME responded to a comment request by saying that it is now the ninth largest?location in terms... The addition of Hong Kong strengthens our commitment to provide LME warehousing along key global trade routes. In the next few weeks, we will be sharing our feedback on warehousing with the market.
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Data shows that Venezuelan oil exports dropped slightly in June to 1.2m bpd.
According to data from tanker monitoring and documents of the state-run PDVSA energy company, Venezuelan oil exports dropped slightly last month?to 1.24 million barrels per daily from 1.24 bpd in may?as a result of two deadly quakes causing?minor delay at terminals operated. The vast PDVSA infrastructure was mostly unaffected by the twin earthquakes, which left nearly 2,000 dead and hundreds of buildings damaged according to official statistics. The power issue must be resolved before all the oil refineries, including El 'Palito, can resume operation. Documents show that the main oil terminal for the state-owned company in the eastern part of the country, Jose, did not experience long delays. Last week, Oil Minister Paula Henao stated that fuel stocks and production were sufficient to meet demand. The condition of the oil infrastructure near the epicenter of the earthquakes, including PDVSA’s Catia la Mar Domestic Fuel Terminal, has not yet been reported. Exports to India dropped to 277,000 from 427,000, and shipments to Europe decreased to 99,400 from 169,000. Documents and data indicate that a greater?number? of Venezuelan fuel and oil cargoes are stored at Caribbean terminals. Chevron exported 293,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude in June, up from 268,000 in May. Trading firms such as Vitol, Trafigura, and others?exported 775,000, a little less than the 787,000 in the previous month. PDVSA didn't immediately respond to a comment request. Reporting by Marianna Pararaga, Houston; and Mircely Guianipa, Maracay. Editing by Oliver Griffin & Joe Bavier
US LNG exports to Europe fall as Asia prices rise
According to preliminary data on ship tracking from LSEG, for the first time in almost two years, less than half of U.S. exports of LNG last'month went to Europe. Stronger prices in Asia, and record imports to Egypt, diverted cargoes. This is the first time that Europe hasn't taken the majority of U.S. LNG exports since July 2024. European buyers who need to replenish storage before the winter season have been waiting for better pricing. Last month, Asian spot prices were higher than those in Europe. This encouraged exporters to reroute shipments to the east. LSEG data showed that the Asian benchmark JKM averaged 17.33 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu), compared to the European TTF benchmark of $13.19 per mmBtu in June.
Egyptian buyers paid a premium of up to one dollar per mmBtu compared with TTF prices.
The price difference was widened by the Middle East supply constraints, which were linked to geopolitical tensions in the region, and the softer European demand, creating arbitrage opportunities for U.S. Exporters. The total U.S. exports of LNG rose "slightly" to 10,6 million metric tonnes (MT) in June, despite having one less day than May. The output was boosted by the return of facilities such as those at Cheniere Energy and Freeport LNG from scheduled maintenance.
In May, 5.13 MT or over 50% of the total exports were shipped to Europe. Analysts have noted a tepid demand for LNG in Europe. Some traders are holding back their purchases because they expect global LNG supplies to increase, easing prices.
Hans van Cleef is the head of Eqolibrium's energy research. He said that this backwardation means traders are holding firm and are presently?purchasing very small amounts of gas. "The fear that you will pay too much is prevalent."
Egypt?emerged a major buyer in June importing a record 1,06 MT U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas, which accounted for almost 10% of the total exports.
According to LSEG, shipments?to Asia totaled 3,25 MT or approximately 31% of exports. This is slightly lower than May levels but significantly higher than early in 2026.
Exports to Latin America rose also to 0.96 MT, as buyers replaced the reduced supply from 'Trinidad and Tobago', where maintenance on Atlantic?LNG plants owned by Shell and BP decreased?output. LSEG data revealed.
Around 0.73 MT (or 0.7 tons) of U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas was shipped with no fixed destination. Cargoes were looking for buyers at sea.
Additional single cargoes have been sold to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa, and Senegal. Curtis Williams, Houston (reporting): Nathan Crooks & Paul Simao, editing.
(source: Reuters)