North America

The Middle East's oil market is being reshaped by a new system of shuttling, as producers try to keep exports flowing despite an escalating conflict in the region. This complex and expensive process will either be a temporary measure or the 'new normal' for the global energy markets. Rows of tankers are anchored several miles off the coast of Oman, south of Strait of Hormuz. They sit next to each other and are connected by ropes or hoses. This allows them to transfer crude oil from one vessel into another. Transfers from ship to ship (STS), which are now in...

The Middle East oil markets are being reshaped by a new system of shuttling, as producers try to maintain exports despite the escalating conflict in the region. The question is now whether this expensive, complex process is just a temporary measure or is the new norm for the global energy markets. Rows of tankers are anchored several miles off the coast of Oman, south of the Strait of Hormuz. They sit next to each other and are connected by ropes or hoses. This allows them to transfer crude oil from one vessel?to another, forming a floating link between the Middle...

According to Downdetector.com, Meta's social media platforms Facebook and Instagram recovered after a brief outage on Sunday disrupted service for thousands of U.S. users. Around?8.55 p.m. ET, the disruption began. ET peaked with more than 17,000 Facebook outages and 5,000 Instagram reports, according to Downdetector.com, which tracks outages through a collection of status reports from various sources. By 10 p.m., the number of reports of service interruptions had dropped dramatically. ET, which indicates that the services have recovered in large part. Meta did not respond immediately to a request for a comment about the outage. The actual number of users...

The head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said that the agency 'expects a cost of about $100 million from tariffs for the government's more than $12.5 billion plan to modernize air traffic control. U.S. Representative 'Rick 'Larsen is a Washington Democrat and ranking member of the FAA committee. He said that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told lawmakers the tariff cost of $100 million was largely attributed to the air traffic radars they are buying. Larsen said that the tariffs were increasing government costs. Larsen stated, "I have asked them for specific figures and which equipment is affected." "I...

Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday that it had approved a waiver to the airplane emission rules, allowing Boeing to continue selling 35 more 777F Freighters after 2028. Boeing will be able to continue selling the planes until January 1, 2028 when new emission rules come into effect. This would have prevented the sale of this plane. Boeing had asked for approval in December 2025, citing a strong demand from customers and a delay with the certification of the next-generation aircraft. The 777F remains the only large-widebody freighter currently in production. Its next-generation replacement, the 777-8F (which is expected to...

The Canadian Transport Minister said that he expected a'strong interest' from Canadian pension funds and possibly Australians as well, when the country opened its four biggest airports for private investment. In an interview, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said: "We expect a very strong Canadian participation in these concession agreements." The Canadian investors have proven over time that they are very adept at investing in other jurisdictions. Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said earlier that his government is seeking private investment via long-term concessions for airports to be operated in Toronto, Montreal?Vancouver?and Calgary as part a campaign to stimulate the...

Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, said that the country is looking for?private investments through long-term concessions to 'operate' the four largest airports in the nation as part a campaign to stimulate the economy. Toronto, Montreal Calgary and Vancouver are the airports. Last year, the Liberal government announced that it was exploring ways to boost airport investment but did not provide specific details. Carney will welcome dozens of international investors to Toronto in the coming 'week. He hopes to attract investments for more than 160 projects, which he believes are crucial to Canada's economic survival during a trade conflict...

This week, the cost of'shipping' oil in the largest tankers reached record levels following the most intense wave of attacks against shipping since the U.S. - Iran war began late in February. According to Baltic Exchange, the shipping rate for supertankers, also known as very large crude carriers (VLCCs), loading oil in the Gulf of Oman to be shipped to China, reached around 450 on Worldscale, which is?roughly?$11.50 per barrel. The rate is at its highest level since it was introduced earlier this year after the U.S. and Israel war against Iran. The increase in rates is a sign of...

Africa could transform itself as global competition increases for essential minerals. Although the continent has a large amount of energy transition metals like copper, manganese and cobalt but it is still far from its full potential. According to the Brookings Institution, Africa's share of global mineral revenue is only 10%, even though it holds 30% of world reserves. It's possible that there are still more hidden treasures underground. According to CSIS, the U.S. think tank, only 10% of the global mineral exploration was focused on the continent in 2024. As Africa moves to the forefront of the global battle for...

Africa could transform itself as global competition increases for essential minerals. Although the continent has a large amount of energy transition metals like copper, manganese and cobalt but it is still far from its full potential. According to the Brookings Institution, Africa's share in global mineral revenue is only 10%, even though it has 30% of the world’s reserves. It's possible that there are still more hidden riches underground. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. think tank, only 10% of global exploration will be focused on the continent by 2024. As Africa moves to the...

The?U.S. Postal Service was urged by lawmakers to halt the work on new mail-in voting rules. Postal Service ordered the halt to "work" on new rules for mail-in voting, Friday. In a letter to the USPS, Senator Gary Peters from Michigan and six other Democrats on the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote: "The Postal Service’s continued illegal efforts to transform itself into an electoral administration agency under the direction of President Trump risk disenfranchising American voters and threatening the integrity of the upcoming elections." On Thursday night, the Trump administration requested that the Supreme Court allow it...

The French Ministry of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, announced that France had begun testing two cars in order to assess Tesla's FSD (advanced driver assistance system). This could be a major step towards Europe's approval of Elon Musk’s autonomous driving technology. The Netherlands Road Authority RDW approved Tesla’s Full Self Driving System for use on Dutch highways on a proviso basis in April. This prompted Belgium, Denmark and Estonia to follow suit in anticipation of a bloc wide vote on the plan that could happen as soon as next month. FSD is an assistance system for drivers that allows them to...

According to traders, Russia increased its diesel exports in Central Asia countries by a significant amount during August, despite the ban on most foreign markets. Russia has repeatedly curtailed gasoline and diesel exports in order to curb rising fuel prices, and address shortages caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries. Moscow extended its ban on diesel exports to the end of September, while still allowing supplies for countries like former Soviet republics or Mongolia under intergovernmental agreements. The Financial Times reported that a shortage of diesel and an increase in fuel costs prompted US President Donald Trump's call to...

Sinograin, China's state stockpiler, resumed large-scale??auctions? of imported soybeans? after a pause??? of???month?, ahead???of an???expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping? in Washington next?week? National Grain Trade Centre announced that the auction will take place at 1:30 pm CST (0530 GMT), next Tuesday. It will include 543,00 metric tons (?543,000 t) of soybeans grown between 2023 and?2025. Sinograin has held five auctions for more than 200,000 tonnes of?imported soya beans since July. Traders say this was done to free up storage space in anticipation of U.S. arrivals. China has reached the half-way point of its...

Norfolk Southern executives told investors on Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley conference that higher fuel prices will 'create a significant headwind for the third quarter. CFO Jason Zampi stated that fuel prices were expected to peak in May. However, continued increases now represent a roughly 250-basis point headwind for Norfolk Southern's Operating?ratio when compared to expectations two months earlier. He said that the third-quarter performance is expected to be slightly lower than normal seasonal trends. Executives see continued incremental gains in freight market share, even with the current fuel pressure. Norfolk Southern's next big opportunity to move freight from highways...

ProRail, the rail infrastructure operator, said that deliberate acts of sabotage disrupted train services across 'the Netherlands on Tuesday just hours before a ceremonial opening of Parliament. ProRail reported that pipes were found on railways at over 20 locations in rural areas, mostly in the middle and east of the country. We found materials that were deliberately placed. Joke van Der Cruysen, spokesperson for ProRail, said that they now consider this a'sabotage of railway infrastructure. The King Willem-Alexander was set to open the new session of Parliament on Tuesday with a speech presenting the budget plans for 2027. All trains...

The railroad fuel surcharges on U.S. grain shipment have more than doubled in the last year. This has impacted the entire farm belt, increasing transportation costs at a time when many farmers are also struggling with higher production costs. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the average fuel surcharge on grain shipments rose to 48 cents per mile for rail cars in the second?week of September. This is a?153% increase compared to the weighted averaging rate a year ago. Surcharges are used by railroads to recover the majority of fuel costs and add them to long-haul rates. According to...

Tesla will bring its Semi-electric truck to Europe, expanding its reach beyond North America. It is looking to gain a foothold in the heavy-duty market where competitors already sell battery-powered models. Elon 'Musk-led 'automaker will reveal European specifications and launch information at the IAA Transportation Trade Fair in Hanover Germany next week. It said in a posting on X. The European push comes almost a decade after Tesla unveiled the Semi back in 2017. The company initially planned to produce the Semi by 2019, but this timeline was continually delayed because the company prioritized the supply of battery cells for...

These are the top stories from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall 'Street Journal has not?verified?these stories or?cannot?guarantee?their accuracy. - The Pentagon is in talks to lend roughly $5 billion to AI cloud-computing startup Fluidstack, adding the U.S. military ?to the growing list of financiers of artificial-intelligence infrastructure. - 'Lineage, world's biggest cold-storage operator based on capacity, is suing Altus Power, a solar-panel supplier, and Pearce Services. They claim that their negligence led to a fire in a Los Angeles warehouse. The prediction markets platform Kalshi plans to apply for regulatory approval in order to offer the first U.S. perpetual...

According to a government announcement posted on Thursday, the Trump administration is proposing to eliminate a grace period of 60 days that allowed certain immigrants to remain in the U.S. and find a new employer after losing their jobs. This includes skilled workers on H-1B visas. According to the proposed rule change published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register, those with H-1B visas and certain other temporary work permits would be required to leave the United States as soon as they finish their employment. This could cause a major blow to American tech companies who...

A Democratic lawmaker called for a U.S. agency responsible for auto safety to take action against misuse of Tesla Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Systems, citing videos that appeared to show drivers sleeping or disengaged. In a letter sent to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, Illinois Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi cited a report by NBC News that identified 43 videos of individuals sleeping in the driving seat of Teslas moving, including 17 of them this year. Krishnamoorthi, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's director of safety policy and research, said that "the agency must ensure that manufacturers provide adequate safeguards for...

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The summer is officially over. Buckle up! Carry trades are starting to fail as the markets expect a path of rate increases from the Bank of Japan. The?Japanese?currency?traded as much as 1 percent firmer at 152.89. This is its highest since February. Just weeks after it hit a four-decade low, the U.S. government and Japanese authorities intervened to stabilize the currency. The yen was also boosted by data released on Wednesday showing that Japan's economy expanded faster than originally estimated from the previous...

The Nikkei reported that GLP - Japan has raised 600 billion dollars ($3.76 billion) to create a fund for building logistics centers. This is a result of an influx in overseas capital. GLP Japan is a Japanese subsidiary of Singapore-based logistics firm GLP. The?Tokyo GLP Japan fund's investments, including borrowings, will total 1.7 trillion yen. This makes it the largest real estate fund in the country, according to?Nikkei. The report stated that the majority of investors are from outside Japan. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board allocated 150 billion yen. The funds raised are expected to be used for the...

A drone attack overnight?caused?minor damage and??temporarily???closed? a logistics complex operated by Russian online retailer Ozon, according to the company on Thursday. Ukraine has been 'attacking' several Ozon facilities in the city of Ufa since Saturday as it continues its campaign against Russia by targeting ecommerce giants who are?key employers in an?expanding?sector. The company stated that no fire broke out at the Ufa Complex in Bashkortostan Region, but the complex sustained minor damages. The area is temporarily closed as it undergoes an inspection. The company said that a second Ozon facility in the southwest city of Orenburg had been evacuated due...