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Officials claim that the Russian attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine has cut power to 30,000 people.
Local officials reported that Russian forces had attacked Kharkiv on Monday with guided bombs, knocking out electricity to 30,000 people in three districts. In a Telegram message, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote that Russian forces had used guided bombs against the Nemyshlianskyi, Slobidskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts to the south and north of the city. Interviewed on local TV, Mayor Ihorterekhov said that the three bombs had damaged a hospital as well as power transmission lines. Nearly 30,000 people were affected by power outages. Four people were injured by glass that was flying, he said. Some patients had to be transferred from one ward to another. "Unfortunately, there were many patients in the hospital. Terekhov reported that four people suffered injuries of varying degrees, and 200 windows had been smashed. "The attacks are usually on energy targets, such as generation transmission and the power network. The goal is to stop the power transmission system from working. As winter nears in the war that has lasted more than three-and-a-half years, Russian forces have focused their attacks on targets related to Ukraine's gas and electricity industry. Last week, a massive attack on Kyiv as well as other cities left over a million homes and businesses in the entire country without electricity. The water supply was also interrupted. The head of Kostiantynivka's military administration confirmed that a Russian drone killed two people on Monday in their car. Kostiantynivka is one of the main targets of Russia's slow march through the region. The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Monday that its forces had taken two new villages during their offensive through eastern Ukraine. One was in Donetsk and the second near Kupiansk, which has been under siege for months. The first corps of the Ukrainian National Guard has said that it has repelled another attempt by Russian forces near Dobropillia, in the Donetsk Region. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, along with other officials, have reported military successes around Dobropillia near Pokrovsk. (Reporting and editing by Mark Porter, David Gregorio and Oleksandr Kozoukhar)
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DHT claims its fleet is not linked to the US after China's new port fees move
DHT Holdings, the operator of oil tankers in China, said that their fleet is not subject to China's special port fees aimed at vessels with ties to the United States. China has begun charging fees to U.S. vessels that visit its port, starting October 14. This is a response to the U.S. fees charged by China-linked vessels. China has targeted U.S. flagged, built and operated ships as well as companies where 25% or more of the shares or board positions are held by U.S. investment funds. DHT stated that "each vessel is owned directly by a foreign entity, built in a country outside the United States, doesn't fly the U.S. Flag, and is managed from management companies located in Monaco, Norway Singapore and India." The company also stated that U.S. citizens only make up 20% of its board. DHT also stated that it is not aware of any U.S. shareholders, reporting groups or voting rights that exceed 25% of DHT's shares. The company warned that it could not accurately verify each shareholder's ownership. (Reporting and editing by Shash Kuber in Bengaluru, with Sumit Saha reporting from Bengaluru)
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Safran CEO: Company on "good path" to catch up with engine delays
Safran's chief executive said that the French engine manufacturer is "on the right track" to catch up with Airbus on the engine delivery delays by the end this month. Olivier Andries replied that Airbus had announced a good Q3 of deliveries and that we had a good performance with engine deliveries to Airbus during the quarter. Andries, in a telephone conversation about separate plans to build a new engine plant in Morocco noted that Airbus reported a decrease in the number planes waiting for their engines in September. This naturally strengthens our confidence. "I have always said we wanted to make up for the delays by October's end and I believe we are on the right track," Andries said. Airbus said Last week It had delivered 507 aircraft in the first nine-month period, and 313 more are needed in the fourth quarter in order to meet the full-year goal of 820. The European planemaker stated that the number of gliders or other fully assembled aircraft waiting to be powered up had dropped from the peak announced earlier this summer of 60. However, it did not provide a new estimate. (Reporting and editing by Richard Chang; Tim Hepher)
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Safran CEO: Company on "good path" to catch up with engine delays
Safran's chief executive said that the French engine manufacturer is "on the right track" to catch up with Airbus on the engine delay by the end this month. Olivier Andries, when asked after a Moroccan plant event whether CFM, owned jointly by Safran Aerospace and GE Aerospace would be able to deliver enough engines for Airbus to reach its 2025 targets, said: "Airbus announced that they had a good quarter in Q3, and we had a good performance in engine delivery to Airbus during the quarter." "Airbus has also stated that the number of aircraft without engines is down: this reinforces our confidence. "I have always said we wanted to make up for the delays before the end of October, and I believe we are on the right track," he said.
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Safran opens new Airbus engine assembly plant in Morocco
Officials from the French aerospace group Safran confirmed that they signed agreements with Morocco on January 29th to establish a new assembly line for Airbus Jets, and a maintenance and repair facility near Casablanca. Morocco has been encouraging investment from aerospace suppliers over the past few years in order to replicate its success in automobile manufacturing. This is done by creating hubs that will shorten supply chain and share expertise. Ross McInnes, chair of Safran, said that the company will invest 120 millions euros in the construction of an assembly line which will provide 25% or 350 LEAP-1A engine output annually. McInnes, after the signing ceremony presided by King Mohammed VI, said: "This will Safran's sole assembly line outside France. It will be finished in 2028." Safran and GE Aerospace jointly produce LEAP engines through CFM International. The LEAP-1A is a competitor with Pratt & Whitney for the Airbus A32neo while the LEAP-1B powers the Boeing 737 MAX. China's COMAC uses a third variant of the LEAP-1C for its C919. (Reporting and additional reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by Lisa Shumaker; Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi)
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Urals Diffs Stable Despite Low Activity
The differential between Brent and Urals crude oil dated on Monday remained unchanged due to low activity, as the majority of October cargoes were cleared. OPEC's monthly data revealed that Russian oil production increased in September by 148,000 barrels per day compared to August. This is due to the fact that world oil producers continue to increase production. PLATTS WINDOW There were no bids or offerings reported on Platts Monday for Urals, Azeri BTC Blend or CPC blend crude. * The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has increased its oil exports by 9% per day from August, to 6.6 millions metric tons or 1.75million barrels of oil per day. Data from industry sources showed that Russia's seaborne product exports dropped 17.1% from August to 7,58 million metric tonnes in September due to a decrease in fuel production, as several refineries were affected by drone attacks. (Reporting and Editing by Lisa Shumaker).
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UK stocks rise as Trump softens tone on China tariffs; gold miners shine
London's stocks ended higher on Monday led by the miners after U.S. president Donald Trump lowered his rhetoric about trade tensions with China. Worries over this had caused a sharp drop on Friday. After Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, fears of a global trade war were reignited. Trump's tone was more conciliatory over the weekend. He posted that "it'll be fine", and that the U.S. did not intend to "hurt China". Gold broke through $4100 an ounce on Monday, and precious metal miners closed up almost 10%. Fresnillo, and Endeavour rose 9.1% and 11,3% respectively. The industrial metals miners grew by 3.1% in line with the increase in copper prices. Anglo American and Glencore, two mining giants, rose between 2% to 4.1%. This helped boost the blue-chip index. Investor sentiment improved further after Megan Greene of the Bank of England, who voted with the majority of members of the Monetary Policy Committee to keep the central rate at 4% in the last month, stated that interest rates will probably continue to fall. She warned that inflation in Britain could be slowing down. The latest round of mergers & acquisitions has lifted mid-cap shares, while the broader FTSE 250 Index is up 1.2%. Blackstone, a U.S.-based private equity firm, said that it is in the preliminary stages of considering an offer to purchase Big Yellow Group. This boosted the shares of the self storage company by 15.4%. Rival Safestore also rose 9.4% in response to the news. Tritax Big Box gained nearly 3.8% following Blackstone's agreement to purchase a 9% stake of the UK real estate trust. Tritax has agreed to purchase Blackstone's UK logistic assets for $1.39 billion. The overall real estate sector grew by 2.6%. Oxford Instruments, among other stocks, fell 7.6%. The company expects its first-half revenues to fall and said that it is unlikely the shortfall will be recovered. Reporting by Avinash and Sanchayaita in Bengaluru, Editing by Sahal Muhammad and Jan Harvey
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Airbus' supply is improving, and the Spirit deal will be closed in Q4
Airbus' suppliers have shown a marked improvement in their confidence and performance. They are all ready to help the company achieve its target to increase deliveries by 7%, to 820 jets, this year. Florent Massou Dit Labaquere is the executive vice president for operations at the European planemaker. He told reporters that they are also working towards a long-term goal to increase their production of narrow-body aircrafts from 75 per month today to 75 in 2027. Massou spoke as the largest planemaker in the world Prepare to inaugurate Mobile, Alabama will host a second assembly line in the U.S. for jets of the A320neo family later Monday. Airbus plans to expand in China as well in the coming weeks. He said that the 10 additional assembly lines will be enough to meet the production targets despite the shift in demand to the larger A321neo which takes more time to construct. Airbus announced plans in 2021 to double the production of narrow-body aircraft from 40 per month to 75 per month by 2025. The company has maintained the target, but has pushed back the date by two years because of industry-wide changes. Bottlenecks and delays Airbus, according to industry sources, struggled to convince some suppliers to increase investments in plans that might not come to fruition as targets were continually extended. Massou said that suppliers are more optimistic. He said, "I have seen a totally different picture. I've met a lot more suppliers who understand our situation and can attest to the stability in planning we experienced over the past few months." Massou stated that Airbus hopes to have the separation of Spirit AeroSystems from Boeing by the end the year. He told reporters that the deal was progressing and they expected to close it in Q4. (Reporting and editing by Tomasz Janovski and Louise Heavens.)
Germany working to prevent UniCredit's quote for Commerzbank, sources say
Germany is working to irritate a possible takeover of among its biggest banks by an Italian competitor, a stance that pits Berlin against Rome and Europe's regulators, several people knowledgeable about federal government and regulators' thinking told Reuters.
Berlin was taken aback by UniCredit's swoop to develop a large stake in state-backed Commerzbank, a. move the Italian bank says could cause a merger.
Officials are now bracing for a potential hostile bid that. could tie Berlin's fortunes to those of Italy, whose financial obligation load. overshadows Germany's.
Integrating the banks poses a prospective risk to monetary. stability, they state, as UniCredit owns 10s of billions of euros. of Italian government bonds.
Numerous individuals in the German federal government are now pinning. their hopes on a regulatory review by the country's manager. BaFin, and are lobbying the regulator against an offer.
One essential argument is that Berlin might wind up footing the. costs if UniCredit were to be dragged into an Italian debt. crisis.
BaFin, which plays a crucial role in whether UniCredit can. attempt to get control of Commerzbank, has begun to analyse. UniCredit's demand to enable it to build its roughly 9.9%. shareholding to nearly 30%.
The watchdog will make a proposition to the European Central. Bank, the lenders' regulator, which has the last word, based upon. a handful of requirements such as the financial strength of the. buyer and the reputation of managers.
While Rome meticulously supports the deal, Berlin hopes its. concerns may ward off or at least delay the approval of. UniCredit's plan by the ECB.
BaFin has a delicate balancing act. While it is duty-bound. to deal with UniCredit's application even-handedly, it should likewise. consider the issues of the German federal government, as the. firm reports to the finance ministry.
A number of sources with knowledge of the ECB's thinking, said. there was extensive dispute with Germany's opposition,. although the nation stays prominent and can count on. powerful figures within the organization.
The ECB has stated large, European banks can better support. the economy and take on larger rivals in the United States.
Despite the fact that the 20 nations of the euro zone share a. currency, banking stays mostly national.
For the ECB, its handling of UniCredit's interest in. Commerzbank, balancing the interests of two of the bloc's. biggest countries, will be one of its biggest tests because. becoming the region's primary watchdog a decade ago.
BaFin and the European Reserve bank work closely together,. stated a spokesperson for BaFin, including that BaFin had a right to. suggest to the ECB whether a deal need to be authorized, leaving. the last word with the ECB.
This procedure makes an important contribution to financial. stability, he said.
A spokesperson for the ECB stated it remained in consistent. interaction with national authorities on such matters,. explaining choices as collaborative.
The ECB's chief manager Claudia Buch stated just recently the. organization would do anything to remove hurdles to. cross-border bank mergers, after president Christine Lagarde. explained such deals as desirable.
Italy's Treasury, Germany's finance ministry, Commerzbank,. and UniCredit declined to comment.
HAZARD
BaFin has a seat on the ECB's supervisory board along with. authorities from the 20 other nations that form the banking. union plus a smattering of ECB representatives. The ECB has. approximately 90 days to evaluate the case.
At the heart of Germany's issue is UniCredit's 40 billion. euros ($ 44 billion) of Italian government bonds.
This is seen as a prospective danger due to the fact that Italy is greatly. indebted. Commerzbank, which is smaller sized and financially weaker. than UniCredit, also has billions of euros of Italian bonds.
If Italy were to face trouble after a merger, authorities. fear Germany might have to step in.
However some ECB authorities see an option. Commerzbank could. ended up being a subsidiary within UniCredit, with clear plans on how to. deal with it individually in a crisis.
In the sovereign financial obligation crisis of the early 2010s, some. European nations had to bail out their banks, which were likewise. compromised by their sovereign, showing how linked they. were in a crisis that almost brought down the euro.
Berlin's response signals a lack of faith in the European. architecture put in place to avoid a repeat of the 2010-11. debt crisis, in addition to a deep-seated scepticism over Italy.
The German government believes UniCredit's move on. Commerzbank was aggressive and expect a hostile quote within. months, 3 sources knowledgeable about government thinking told. Reuters.
Individuals near to the federal government likewise stated trust between. Berlin and UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel had actually almost collapsed.
They indicated Orcel's surprise carry on Commerzbank,. consisting of utilizing derivatives that offer him an alternative to get more. shares, in spite of earlier recommending he was acting in line with. Berlin's wishes.
Orcel just recently told an audience he had actually spoken repeatedly. with stakeholders in Commerzbank and was keen to resume. dialogue.
Two of individuals with knowledge of the federal government's. thinking stated Berlin and Commerzbank's working presumption was. that UniCredit might try to buy the bank within months.
(source: Reuters)