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UK awards space launch license to Scottish firm
The UK has awarded its first space launch license to a Scottish rocket company. This will allow the Scottish startup to launch satellites from the first vertical launch site in the country. Skyrora was founded in 2017 and will be able launch up to 16 rockets per year. This is subject to the UK Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) approval, the regulator announced on Tuesday. The company based in Scotland would launch rockets from the SaxaVord Spaceport, located in the Shetland islands, north Scotland. This site received a safety license last year and could therefore be used in the future. The first company to receive a launch licence from the site was Germany's Rocket Factory Augsburg. Rob Bishton, CAA's Chief Executive Officer said: "Giving a homegrown company Skyrora its launch license is a significant milestone for our space industry and our nation." By 2030, the space market will be worth more than $1 trillion as companies from around the globe plan to deploy thousands internet-beaming Satellites. The British space industry employs more than 45,000 people, and produces more satellites outside of the United States. These efforts suffered a major setback in 2023, when a horizontal launch of a rocket from Newquay (south-west England) failed. SaxaVord's vertical launch would be a major boost to the industry. Skyrora's Chief Executive Volodymyr Lvykin stated that the company was proud to lead efforts to enable launch activities from the UK. "We look forward to achieving an effective commercial launch program that will benefit us all," he said. Before launching, the company must meet certain conditions, such as securing adequate insurance, signing a data sharing agreement with the British Government, and signing airspace agreements in other countries. (Reporting and editing by Sarah Young; Sachin Ravikumar)
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Air Lease profits, increased revenue from insurance payouts and aircraft demand
Air Lease Corp, a lessor of aircraft, reported on Monday a higher second-quarter profit as well as revenue due to an insurance settlement of $344 million and a robust demand for aircraft rentals. As airlines scramble to acquire jets due to persistent supply-chain issues and limited aircraft availability, aircraft lessors are benefiting from high lease rates. Production delays at Boeing and Airbus, however, have caused delivery schedules to be extended, which has limited lessors' abilities to capitalize on the increasing demand. Boeing and Airbus intend to increase production, but "even after these increases, which are not yet all achieved with certainty, there will still be a shortage in supply over the next three to four years," Air Lease CEO John Plueger stated during a Monday conference call with analysts. Last month, the company confirmed it had canceled its order for seven Airbus A350 Freighters in 2021. Plueger stated that the delivery of the planes had already been delayed by one year. He said that the demand for air freighters fluctuated over recent months. This is due to the aggressive tariffs used by the United States in trade negotiations. The U.S.-EU provisional agreement Commercial aerospace products are exempted from tax He said that the removal of tariffs would set a "clear example" for all countries. According to the lease agreements of the company, customers are responsible for all applicable tariff payments. Air Lease reported net income of $374.1m, or $3.33 a share, for the three months ended June 30. This compares to $90.4m, or 81c per share in the same quarter a year ago. This increase is largely due to a $344m insurance settlement for aircraft that were prevented from leaving Russia following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. Air Lease has so far received $676 in settlement payments this year. In the third quarter 2025, the company anticipates a net gain of approximately $60 million from additional insurance claims. The company's revenue increased by 9.7%, to $731.7 millions during the quarter. Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary, Anshuman Tripathy and Dan Catchpole from Bengaluru; editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi & Stephen Coates
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ONEOK's profit increases on the back of acquisition gains
ONEOK, a U.S.-based pipeline operator, reported a higher profit for the second quarter on Monday. This was boosted by acquisitions. The company increased its presence in Permian basin by acquiring a 43% control interest in Enlink Midstream in late last year for approximately $3.3 billion. ONEOK acquired the remaining shares of EnLink Midstream that were publicly held on 31 January 2025. A year ago, the company's adjusted core profit for natural gas gathering and converting segment was $540 million. This is largely due to the acquisition. ONEOK has expanded its portfolio by acquiring other companies, including Medallion Midstream as well as an NGL pipeline from Easton Energy. In a press release, CEO Pierce Norton II stated that "our recent strategic acquisitions deliver synergies while strengthening our position as the leading midstream player." The company entered the market for refined products and crude transport in 2023, after purchasing rival Magellan midstream in a $18,8 billion deal. The raw feed volume of Rocky Mountain natural gases liquids (NGL) increased by 11% in comparison to the previous year. ONEOK operates a 60,000 mile network of pipelines that transports natural gas, NGLs and refined products, as well as crude oil. The Tulsa-based company, which is headquartered in Oklahoma, reported a net profit attributable shareholders of $841,000,000, or 1.34 dollars per share for the quarter that ended on June 30. This was up from $780,000,000, or 1.00 dollar per share a year ago. (Reporting and editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi; Khusbu Jena)
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MercadoLibre misses profit estimates as Brazil free-shipping boost hurts margins
MercadoLibre, the Latin American ecommerce giant, reported a 1.5% drop in its net profit for the second quarter of 2014, falling short of analysts' expectations. Free shipping in Brazil boosted sales, but it also hurt margins. MercadoLibre reported a net profit of $523 millions for the three months ending June 30, below the $596 that analysts had predicted in a LSEG poll. MercadoLibre is a Uruguay-based e-commerce company that operates Mercado Pago and an ecommerce platform. It sells in more than 20 countries in Latin America. Sales measured by gross merchandise values increased 37%, compared to the $6.7 billion estimate, on a currency-neutral basis. MercadoLibre launched its early June sale Cut the threshold After reducing shipping costs in May for users and companies selling on the platform, Amazon has now made purchases in Brazil eligible for free delivery. This comes amid fierce competition within Brazil's ecommerce sector. Brazil, the main market of the company, and Mexico helped MercadoLibre increase the total number of items sold in the third quarter by 31%, the highest rate year-on-year seen since mid-2021. Martin de los Santos, Chief Financial Officer, stated that this also affected margins. In an interview, he stated that "we don't want the growth opportunities to pass us by." "This might create some structural margin pressure but we are very confident about the long-term trend of our profitability." EBIT (earnings before taxes and interest) hit a record of $825m, but fell short of the forecasted $869m. EBIT margin was 12.2%, down on 14.3% from a year ago. The CFO stated that investments in free shipping, marketing and growth of its 1P business (which sells directly to the customer) were amongst the biggest impacts on margins. The CFO of MercadoLibre said that the fintech division grew its portfolio by 91%, to $9.3billion, and the 15-90 day default rate fell 1.5 percentage points, to 6.7%. This is the lowest figure since the company began releasing the figures seven years ago. Reporting by Andre Romani, Editing by Richard Chang
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German Minister says that institutions must be independent when asked about Trump's firing
Lars Klingbeil, German Finance Minister, said that state institutions should be independent of politics and free of politics. He was responding to a question about Donald Trump's decision to fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics head. Klingbeil stated that he believes this approach is wrong. He said it's important for independent institutions to stay independent, and for politics to not interfere. Trump dismissed Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), after a shockingly weak scorecard on the U.S. employment market. He accused her of manipulating figures without any evidence. Klingbeil, ahead of a meeting he will have with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday, said that democracies take the right course when they maintain the independence and power of their institutions. Klingbeil stated, "I cannot tell you my style of politics, but I do not attack independent, neutral and proven institutions as it appears to be happening here." Klingbeil said that there were many things to clarify regarding the EU's trade agreement with the United States. He also added that the bloc was too weak in the negotiations. (Reporting and editing by Matthias Williams, Helen Popper and Maria Martinez)
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Consultancies predict a rise in Brazil's soya output
On Monday, agribusiness consultants released their first predictions for Brazil's soybean production in 2025/2026. They expect an increase due to geopolitical uncertainty. Brazil and the United States are the top two soybean producers in the world. Celeres Consultoria forecasts soybean exports at 110 million tonnes, an increase of 106 million from last season. Celeres stated that factors such as the expected rise in Brazil's surplus, and uncertainty regarding U.S. Foreign Policy are driving growth in oilseeds exports for 2025/26. Last week, the U.S. government imposed a tariff of 50% on certain Brazilian goods that will take effect on 6 August. However, some sectors were exempted from this duty. This sparked expectations of further negotiations. StoneX analyst Ana Luiza Lodi stated that "Geopolitical issues and tariffs could benefit Brazilian soybeans," especially because of the possibility of friction between China and the U.S. StoneX predicts that Brazil's soybean crop will increase by 5.6% in 2025/26, with a production forecast of 178.2 millions tons based on increased planted area and yields. The consultancy predicts that the soybean area will increase by 2% by 2025/26, with an increase in productivity being driven by the recovery of the crop, in Rio Grande do Sul, the state which was severely affected by extreme flooding last year. StoneX has also increased its forecast of Brazil's second corn crop for 2024/25 to 111.7 millions tons, an increase of 3.2% over the previous estimate. AgRural, an agribusiness consulting firm, released data on Monday showing that 81% of the second corn crop for 2025 had been harvested by farmers in Brazil's central-south region as of last week. Reporting by Isabel Teles & Roberto Samora. Mark Potter edited the article.
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Sources claim that drone attacks on Russia's Ryazan oil refining plant have reduced its capacity by half.
Three industry sources reported that the Rosneft oil refinery in Ryazan, which is operated by Rosneft, has stopped around half of its refining capacities since August 2, following an attack on a Ukrainian drone last week. Sources claim that two oil refinery units have been shut down following the drone strikes. CDU-3, with an output of 8,600 tons per day and CDU-4, with an output of 11,400 tons. Rosneft didn't respond to our request for comment immediately. The Ryazan refinery currently operates with the primary oil-refining unit CDU-6 which has a capacity of 23,200 tonnes per day, or around 48 percent of the total capacity. According to industry sources, last year the refinery processed 13,1 million tons crude oil and produced 2.3 millions tons motor gasoline, 3.4million tons diesel, 4.2million tons fuel oil, as well as 1.0million tons jet. Rosnefts Novokuibyshevsk refining plant was also damaged by drones and is currently halted.
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New pilot program could see the US require bonds of up to $15,000 for certain tourist visas
A U.S. notice on Monday said that the U.S. may require bonds of up to $15,000 for certain tourist and business visas as part of a pilot program starting in two weeks. The new program is intended to crackdown on visa overstayers. According to a Federal Register announcement, the program allows U.S. consular officials to decide whether to charge bonds to visitors from countries that have high rates of visa-overstays. The notice stated that the bonds could also be applied to those coming from countries with insufficient screening and vetting data. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has made illegal immigration the central focus of his administration. He has increased resources to secure the border as well as arresting those who are in the U.S. without authorization. In June, the Republican president issued a ban on travel that prevents citizens of 12 countries from entering the U.S. for national security reasons. The government's notice stated that the new visa program will be in effect from August 20 and last approximately one year. The U.S. launched a pilot program similar to this in November 2020, during the last few months of Trump’s first term, but the program was not fully implemented because the global travel drop associated with the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the notice. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul, Toby Chopra, Ted Hesson)
Williams Pipeline Company profits rise on expansion of pipeline and higher gas fees
Williams Companies, a U.S.-based pipeline operator, reported an increase in its second-quarter profits on Monday. It benefited from increased service revenues and gains related to expansion amid a recovery in natural gas prices.
The U.S. Natural Gas prices have recovered from multi-year lows. This is due to record flows of LNG exports and increasing electricity consumption.
Williams's results were boosted both by the higher fees for fuels transported through its pipelines and revenues from expansions projects and acquisitions. The company operates and owns more than 32,000 miles in pipeline infrastructure.
After a U.S. Court revoked the original approval in 2023, the U.S. Energy regulator reinstated its certificate for Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco) and allowed Williams to continue with the expansion.
The service revenues increased to $2.04bn during the three-month period ended June 30 from $1.84bn a year ago.
Transco's average daily transport volumes of natural gas rose from 12.9 million dekatherms per day to 14 MMdth in the second quarter, compared with the same period in last year.
The company's Transmission & Gulf of America segment reported a 17% increase in natural gas gathering volume, which came to 680 million cubic foot per day during the quarter.
In July,
Chad Zamarin
After retiring longtime CEO Alan Armstrong after 14 years, he took over the position of chief executive officer.
Williams reported a profit for the quarter ending June 30 of $546,000,000 or 45 cents a share. This is up from the $401,000,000 or 33 cents if you compare it to the same period in 2013. (Reporting from Vallari Srivastava, Bengaluru. Editing by Tasim Zaid)
(source: Reuters)