Latest News
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The Moroccan energy ministry halts gas projects
The Moroccan energy ministry announced on Monday that it had suspended tenders for a LNG terminal in Nador West Med port on 'the Mediterranean coast and related 'gas pipeline projects. It did not give any details as to the reason for the suspension. The tender was for the construction of an LNG terminal at Nador West Med Port on?the Mediterranean Coast and a pipeline connecting it to an existing pipeline which allows Morocco to import LNG via Spanish?terminals to supply two power stations. The project also included a section which would?connect existing pipelines to industrial zones on the Atlantic coast?in Mohammedia, Kenitra and Kenitra. The ministry for energy transition and sustainable growth said that due to "new parameters and assumptions" related to the project, it has postponed the receipt of bids and opening of the applications received as of today. Morocco wants to increase its use of natural gases to diversify from coal. It is also accelerating its renewable energy plan. The goal is to have renewables account for 52% or more of installed capacity by 2030. According to estimates from the ministry, the country's demand for natural gas is expected to increase to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027. It currently stands at around 1 bcm. Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, Editing by Jan Harvey and Lincoln Feast.
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S&P 500 closes higher; chipmakers, small caps and other stocks jump
The S&P 500 ended higher on Monday. Gains in chipmakers, and companies that are related to artificial-intelligence, as well as smaller?companies, were largely responsible for the increase. Russell 2000 index has jumped. The small-cap index is outperforming the S&P 500, Nasdaq and S&P 500 so far in 2026. Alphabet, Amazon and other companies have all risen ahead of their quarterly results this week. This will provide investors with a new glimpse into the race for AI dominance. After the bell, AI-related data company Palantir rose ahead of its quarterly reports. SanDisk Advanced Micro Devices Micron Technology and other chipmakers that benefit from AI-related demand also saw a rise in their stock prices. The S&P 500 gained for the first time in three sessions, following recent concerns about high valuations of tech companies whose stocks have surged in recent years?on optimism regarding AI. The S&P 500 will be up 2% by 2026, lagging behind the Russell 2000 which is expected to rise more than 6%. Gains in small cap stocks are often viewed by investors as a sign of economic confidence. The fundamentals are strong and earnings are high. "We have had positive surprises for both revenues and earnings, almost across the board," Tim Ghriskey said, senior portfolio analyst at Ingalls & Snyder, New York. According to LSEG, analysts expect 'S&P 500 companies' to have increased their earnings by nearly 11% during the December quarter. This is up from an estimated 9% growth at the beginning of January. Most of this growth is driven by technology-related companies. Walt Disney's shares fell, despite its quarterly earnings exceeding Wall Street expectations. The company warned that international visitors were declining to its U.S. parks and earnings in its TV and Film division had fallen. The preliminary data shows that the S&P 500 rose?37.25, or 0.54 percent, to 6,976.28. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 129.69, or 0.55 percent, to 23,591.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew by 519.80, or 1.06% to 49,412.27. The PMI data revealed that U.S. factory activity grew in January for the first time since a year. The CBOE VIX (also known as Wall Street's fear gauge) dropped 1.3 points, to 16.2, after hitting a high of nearly two weeks earlier in the day. Oil prices dropped, and the S&P 500 Energy Sector Index fell. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that Iran is "seriously speaking" with Washington. This comment hints at a de-escalation of tensions and eases fears about supply disruptions. Low energy prices have boosted airline stocks. United Airlines, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines all rose. The House of Representatives has taken up legislation to end a partial shutdown that was entered on Saturday. A final vote is expected on Tuesday. Due to the partial government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the highly anticipated employment report for January will not be released this Friday.
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Small caps surge as S&P 500 reaches record highs
S&P 500 reached a record high on Monday. Gains by chipmakers and companies involved in artificial intelligence were largely responsible for this, but smaller companies rose as well. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.6%. Small-cap indexes have outperformed the S&P 500, Nasdaq and S&P 500 so far in 2026. Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft each gained more than 1% in advance of their quarterly results due later this week. These reports will provide investors with a new look at the race for AI dominance. Palantir, a company that deals with AI-related data, rose 1.6% after the bell to its quarterly report. The chipmakers that benefit from the AI-related demand of their components have also seen a rise. SanDisk soared 15% while Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology and Micron Technology all added around 5%. The S&P 500 gained for the first time in three sessions, following recent concerns about high valuations of tech companies whose stocks have soared on optimism over?AI. The S&P 500 will be up about 2% by 2026. This is less than the Russell 2000, which has risen nearly 7%. Gains in small-cap stock are often viewed by investors as a reflection of confidence in the economy. The fundamentals are good, and earnings are strong. "We have had positive surprises for both revenues and earnings in New York," said Tim Ghriskey. According to LSEG, analysts expect S&P companies to have increased their earnings by nearly 11% during the December quarter. This is up from a?estimate at the beginning of January of around 9%. The majority of this growth is driven by technology-related companies. Walt Disney dropped 5.3% Monday after it Postings The company reported quarterly earnings that were above Wall Street's expectations, but warned about a drop in international visitors at its U.S. parks and a slump of earnings in its TV and Film division. The S&P was up by 0.70% to 6,987.77, setting the stage for a new record close. The Nasdaq rose 0.91%, to 23,674.32 point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.04% to 49,403.02 point. The PMI data revealed that U.S. manufacturing activity increased for the first time since a year ago in January. The CBOE VIX (also known as Wall Street's fear gauge) dropped 1.3 points, to 16.2, after hitting a high of nearly two weeks earlier in the session. Oil prices dropped and the S&P 500 Energy Sector Index fell 1.4%. U.S. president Donald Trump said Iran is "seriously speaking" with Washington. This comment hinted at a de-escalation, and eased concerns about supply disruptions. Low energy prices have boosted airline shares. United Airlines, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest each rose between 4% to 7%. House of Representatives has taken up legislation to end a partial shutdown of the government entered on Saturday. A final vote is expected on Tuesday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the "closely-watched employment report" for January will not be released this Friday because of the partial government shutdown. The S&P 500 has a ratio of 1.3 to one between the number of rising and falling issues. The S&P 500 recorded 28 new highs, and 8 new lowers. The Nasdaq registered 139 highs, and 186 lows.
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The Moroccan energy ministry has put the gas pipeline project on hold
The Moroccan energy ministry announced on Monday that it had suspended a tender launched last month to build a gas pipeline, but did not provide any details as to the reasons. The tender was for the construction of a pipeline connecting a future terminal at the Nador West Med Port on the Mediterranean?to an existing pipe that allows Morocco to import?LNG via Spanish terminals?and supply two power plants? The section would also connect the existing pipe to industrial zones on the Atlantic, in Mohammedia and Kenitra. The ministry issued a statement saying that "due to new parameters and assumptions relating to this project...the ministry of energy transformation and sustainable development has postponed the receipt of applications as well as the opening of the bids received today." Morocco wants to increase its use of natural gas in order to diversify its energy mix and move away from coal. It is also accelerating its renewable energy plan which will see renewables account for 52% by 2030. According to estimates by the ministry, the country's gas demand is expected to increase to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027. It currently stands at around 1 bcm. Ahmed Eljechtimi, Jan Harvey (Editing)
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BAE workers in Northern England are planning a strike over wages, the union claims
A union representing workers at the British defence group BAE Systems, located in north-west England, announced on Monday that they plan to strike from February 2 until at least 20. The dispute is over pay and working conditions. Unite, the union, took this action in response to what it called "bad faith" negotiations on pay and conditions. The?company imposed the 3.6% pay deal in 2025 against their will, arguing that this was below inflation and represented a real pay cut. It said that more than 1,200 members of the company planned to participate in walkouts. BAE's spokesperson stated that the company has enhanced its pay and pensions. They described it as a "market-leading reward and pay", and said it was aimed at balancing their need to be competitive and affordable to customers. "We are committed to working in partnership with all of our trade union groups." "Our production lines are still operational, and we expect them to be so throughout this period," said the spokesperson. BAE, who employs around 50,000 people across 50 sites in UK, said it expected 200 of its employees to take part in the strike action, while another 1,000 could possibly take industrial actions short of a complete stoppage of work without a strike, according to its spokesperson. (Reporting and writing by Sam Tabahriti; editing by Michael Holden).
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Air India grounded Boeing Dreamliner after possible fuel control switch defect
Air India announced on Monday that it has grounded a Boeing Dreamliner aircraft after one of its pilots reported an alleged defect in the fuel control switch of the aircraft, which is currently at center of an investigation into a fatal air crash last summer. The airline didn't specify the nature or flight details. Two sources claim that the pilot reported the problem after landing in Bengaluru, a southern Indian city after departing from London. Air India announced that "after receiving this initial information we have ground?the aircraft", adding that they were in contact with Boeing "on priority basis". Boeing stated that it was supporting Air India. According to Flightradar24, the airline owns 33 Dreamliners. Fuel switches were at the heart of last year's crash of an Air India Dreamliner in Gujarat, which resulted in the deaths of 260 people. This led to a tightening of scrutiny on the airline. Fuel switches control the flow of fuel into an aircraft's engine. The fuel switches are used by the pilots to shut down engines on the ground, or manually restart or shut down engines in case of an engine failure during flight. Report on preliminary findings On the crash of last year, it was reported that the fuel cutoff switches on the engines had been flipped almost simultaneously, depriving them of fuel. Air India, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines said it had notified India's aviation regulator of the latest incident. A spokesperson from the regulator didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. Air India confirmed that it had tested the fuel control switches of all Boeing 787s in its fleet following a directive by the regulator last summer and found no problems. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Gareth Jones and Abhijith Ganapavaram)
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Video shows that IS militants with guns roamed the airport tarmac freely during Niger attack
SITE Intelligence Group's footage, which tracks jihadist activities worldwide, shows that Islamic State militants blew up explosives and ran amok among passenger planes in an attack on Niger's international airport. Washington has ordered non-emergency employees of the government and their families to leave 'Niger due to safety concerns. Abdourahamane Tiani, the military leader of Niger, accused France and the presidents Benin and Ivory Coast of being the sponsors of the attack without providing any evidence. The Benin government denied the allegations, and Ivory Coast summoned Nigerien Ambassador Tiani to condemn his comments. Gunfire and loud blasts were heard throughout the airport on Wednesday night, before the calm returned to the area Thursday morning. UAV AND HELICOPTER? IN FLAMES SITE released footage on Sunday showing militants firing weapons from a motorbike and on foot near aircraft hangars and passenger planes. They also set off an explosive near an unmanned aerial system (UAV) or a helicopter, which were then shown in flames. The video "shows IS terrorists speaking Kanuri, which is a language that's more commonly spoken in the Lake Chad Basin," said Ladd serwat, senior Africa analyst at U.S. Crisis-monitoring Group?ACLED. The attack may have been carried out by more experienced drone operators of the Islamic State West Africa Province. ASKY Airlines, a pan-African airline, said that two of its aircraft suffered minor damage when parked on the tarmac. Air Cote d'Ivoire, the national airline of Ivory Coast, said that an Airbus A319 had been damaged on its right wing and fuselage. The incident took place outside of normal operating hours, and neither company reported any injuries to passengers or crew. Niger reported that it had killed 20 attackers including a French citizen, and injured 11 others. Islamic State has not provided any figures. Niger has, along with its Sahel neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Mali, struggled to contain the attacks of jihadists linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State, which have killed thousands in these three countries and displaced millions. (Written by Robbie Corey Boulet; edited by Bate Felix & Mark Heinrich)
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Venezuelan oil exports rose sharply under US control in January, according to data
Shipping data shows that Venezuelan oil exports increased to 800,000 barrels a day (bpd), from 498,000 in December. This was after the U.S. captured Nicolas Maduro, and the end of a blockade on oil, which allowed traders to carry the majority of exports. Washington imposed a crude oil embargo against the U.S. sanctioned country to put pressure on Maduro in December and seized 7 tankers. The blockade caused the accumulation of 40 million barrels crude oil and fuel in tanks and vessels onshore that couldn't be exported, forcing Venezuela's state energy company PDVSA (the Venezuelan government-owned energy company) to reduce output in early January. The data from tanker movements shows that since the U.S. Treasury Department granted the first licenses in January to traders Trafigura & Vitol to export the stocks, oil production and processing?and shipments have increased. The volume of crude oil and fuel exported in January was similar to the average of 847,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year. PDVSA and its partners would need to accelerate exports in order to remove millions of barrels from inventories. The data showed that January's exports were slightly less than the 867,000 Bpd shipped during the same month in 2025. Treasury Department issued a license last week authorizing businesses between U.S. firms and PDVSA for the export, storage, transport, and refinement of Venezuelan oil. This is another step in untangling exports. PDVSA partners including Chevron are still waiting on individual licenses for expansion. Chevron shipped 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude to the United States, up from 99,000 barrels per day the month before. China, the number one destination for Venezuelan oil exports until December, receiving more than 70% of all exports, received 156,000 barrels per day last month. No oil was exported to Cuba, a political ally. The data shows that Vitol, Trafigura and other companies exported 12 million barrels (or 392,000 bpd) of Venezuelan crude oil and fuel under U.S. licensing in January. These were mainly shipped to storage terminals in the Caribbean from where they then began to export and market cargoes to clients in the U.S.A., Europe, and India. Caracas and Washington agreed to a $2 billion deal for the supply of oil, but between 18 and 38 million barrels are still to be shipped. The proceeds will go to a U.S. supervised fund. Venezuela exported its first cargo liquefied petrol gas (LPG), in nearly three years, on Sunday. The vessel Chrysopigi lady, chartered by Trafigura, left the Jose port. According to shipping data, the South American nation used to export small quantities of LPG into Cuba. In January, Chevron and Vitol delivered heavy naphtha to PDVSA as well as its joint ventures. These imports are crucial to dilute Venezuelan extra-heavy crude and ensure the production of exportable grades.
What is the issue in US discussions with Ukraine and Russia
U.S. officials will meet with negotiators in Saudi Arabia from Ukraine and Russia to discuss details of the proposed 30-day ceasefire for strikes on energy infrastructure as well as an overall peace agreement. Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine will not be present in the same meeting room. On Sunday night, officials from Kyiv will meet with the U.S. delegation in Riyadh. Then, on Monday, the Russian and U.S. negotiators will meet. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in order to promote his efforts to end the three year war in Ukraine. Here are some issues that Russia and the U.S. are currently discussing:
ENDING ATTACKS ENERGY INFRASSTRUCTURE
According to the White House, Trump and Putin agreed last week that "the movement towards peace will begin", with a 30 day pause on attacks against Russian and Ukrainian energy installations.
The ceasefire, which was narrowly defined, has been cast into doubt. Moscow claims that Ukraine struck an oil depot in southern Russia, while Kyiv says Russia struck hospitals, homes and knocked power out to some railways.
Zelenskiy stated that Kyiv will draw up a listing of facilities which could be included in the partial ceasefire. He said that the list could not only include energy infrastructure but also rail or port infrastructure. A moratorium on energy-infrastructure strikes may favour Moscow over Kyiv. This is because it will prevent Ukraine from launching long-range attacks on Russian oil installations, which has been a major way to inflict pain on its adversary.
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
In a U.S. press release, Trump said that during his phone call with Zelenskiy, he had suggested the U.S. might help manage, and even own, Ukraine's energy infrastructure and nuclear power plants.
Zelenskiy stated that he and Trump had discussed the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear facility. Russia and Ukraine both accuse each other of putting the nuclear plant at risk by their actions.
Zelenskiy stated that Kyiv was ready to discuss U.S. participation in modernizing the facility if it returned to Ukraine.
Ukraine will benefit long-term from regaining the control of this facility that generated 20% of all its power production before the war.
Zelenskiy warned that it would take at least two and a quarter years to bring the plant up and running due to the numerous technical problems it faces. According to industry sources, it would take huge amounts of investment.
BLACK SEA SHIPPING The Kremlin stated that Putin had "responded in a constructive manner" to a Trump proposal on protecting Black Sea Shipping and they have agreed to start negotiations.
The United Nations and Turkey helped to mediate a deal in July 2022, the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative. This allowed for the safe exportation of 33 million metric tonnes of Ukrainian grain across Black Sea despite war.
After a year of protesting that the exports of its food and fertilizer were severely hindered, Russia resigned from the agreement.
According to the World Bank's Global Commodities Outlook for April 2024, despite Black Sea shipping risk, both Russia & Ukraine shipped grain to global markets with no major issues. The World Bank also stated that the Black Sea Grain Initiative collapse had minimal consequences.
PRISONER EXCHANGES Russia & Ukraine each exchanged 175 prisoners-of-war on Wednesday. Russia also handed over 22 severely wounded Ukrainian prisoners as part of a gesture of goodwill, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Zelenskiy said that the exchange was one of the biggest of its kind, and the 22 Ukrainians who were involved in it were "severely injured warriors" and people whom Russia had persecuted because of fabricated crimes.
NATO MEMBERSHIP
Putin wants Ukraine to drop its official ambitions to join NATO.
In its constitution, Ukraine states that joining NATO is a priority and that this would be the most effective and efficient form of security that it could receive as part a peace agreement. John Coale said last month that the United States has not ruled out a potential NATO membership for Ukraine, or a negotiated re-entry to Ukraine's pre-2014 border. This contradicted comments made by Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, a day before.
Hegseth told Ukraine's allies in Brussels that a return to Ukraine’s borders prior to 2014 was unrealistic, and that the U.S. didn't see NATO membership as part of a resolution to the war. This sparked concerns that the U.S. made concessions before the talks began.
Trump said that he did not believe Russia "would allow" Ukraine to join NATO. Trump has blamed Joe Biden, his predecessor for pushing this idea. However, it was originally backed by Republican president George W. Bush back in 2008.
UKRAINE POST-WAR SECURITY
Ukraine wants guarantees about its security in the future, but this is at odds with what Kremlin demands.
Kyiv, and its European backers, agree that the key to Kyiv's security is an unfettered Ukrainian army. Moscow has said that a reduced military in Ukraine is one of the conditions for a peace agreement. Britain and France have a plan for a deterrent force made up of foreign ships, planes and troops that will be stationed in or around Ukraine following the signing of a peace agreement. The details of the force's operation and its members are still unclear.
Some Russian officials, however, have stated that they would not be able to accept such a force.
WESTERN SANCTIONES, ELECTIONS Putin said that he wanted the Western sanctions to be eased as well as a presidential vote in Ukraine.
Kyiv is yet to hold any elections in 2019 due to the martial law that governs wartime. Ukrainian officials say that it would be impossible to hold elections during the war.
Officials in Ukraine say that they are a sovereign country and it's not Moscow’s place to tell them when their elections will be held.
Biden led the United States in broad sanctions against Russia. These steps include measures to limit its oil and natural gas revenues. They also include a $60 cap per barrel for Russia's oil. Sources say that since Trump returned to power, he has studied ways to ease sanctions in exchange for Moscow ending the conflict. Trump also hinted at the possibility of large-scale tariffs and banking restrictions on Russia until peace was achieved.
RUSSIAN HOLDED TERRITORY
Russia wants control of all four eastern Ukrainian regions that it claims as its own. It also wants the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed and seized in 2014. Unnamed sources at a private business meeting with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday told Russia's Kommersant that Putin wants the U.S. formally to recognise Luhansk and Donetsk as part of Russia, along with Crimea.
Ukraine has already acknowledged that it is not possible to recapture some of the occupied Ukrainian territories by force, and that they will need to be returned diplomatically in due course. Kyiv, however, says that it will not recognise Russian sovereignty on Ukrainian territory.
On Sunday, Trump's National security adviser Mike Waltz answered a question about whether the U.S. was willing to accept a deal that allowed Russia to retain Ukrainian territory. He replied:
We must ask: Is it in our national interests? Is this realistic? "Are we going to force every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian territory?"
UKRAINIAN RESOURCES Kyiv has been in talks with Washington about a deal that would give the United States a financial reward for the development of Ukrainian resources, namely rare earths which are used to make electronics. The deal fell apart after the disastrous White House meeting that took place between Trump and Zelenskiy towards the end of the last month. Trump announced on March 21 that a rare earths deal would be signed in the near future. The White House may be interested in Ukraine's infrastructure for gas beyond that deal. Ukraine has the third largest underground storage capacity in the world. The country could import liquefied gas from the United States and store it before shipping it to Europe.
(source: Reuters)