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Plywood drone crashes in Lithuania, alarming
Unmanned aircraft made of plywood and foam crashed in NATO member Lithuania after flying into Belarus. The crash caused alarm, but authorities later determined that the aircraft was not dangerous. According to their respective spokespersons, the Prime Minister Gintautas Palauckas and the Speaker of Parliament Saulius Skvernelis have been briefly taken to bomb shelters as a result of the object entering Lithuanian Airspace. The NATO Baltic Air Policing Jets were sent to the area, but were then recalled when the object was found around 1 km (0.62 miles) away from the border. This was revealed by Gintautas Ciunis, the spokesperson for the armed forces at a press briefing. He said, "The object is not dangerous at this time but we do not know its purpose." The investigation was continuing to find out what the object was and where it originated. In a press release, the Lithuanian defence ministry stated that it appeared to be "homemade". A video and images shared by the Army showed a device with wings that looked like a small plane lying on grass. The body of the device was cut in two places to reveal a wooden compartment with wiring. A border guard sent an emailed statement stating that a preliminary assessment indicated that the object was made from plywood and foam and that there was no indication that it contained anything. A Russian drone that was carrying explosives, likely intended for use in Ukraine, crashed in Latvia in September of last year. The drone was about 90 km (60 mi) away from the Belarus border. (Reporting from Andrius Sytas, Vilnius; Writing by Stine Jacobsen, Editing by Anna Ringstrom & Peter Graff).
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Red Sea insurance increases after deadly Houthi attacks
Industry sources reported on Thursday that the insurance costs for shipping goods across the Red Sea have more than doubled since Yemen's Houthis attacked two ships and sank them, killing four seafarers, after months of calm. The Red Sea is an important waterway for oil, commodities and other goods. However, traffic has declined sharply ever since the Houthi began their attacks on Yemen's coastline in November 2023. This was said to be in solidarity with Palestinians fighting in Gaza by the Iran-aligned Houthi group. Sources familiar with the issue said that war risk premiums had risen from 0.3% to 0.7%, compared with 0.3% the week prior to the recent attacks. Some underwriters have also paused coverage for certain voyages. This week, rates for a seven-day period of travel, set by each underwriter, were quoted at up to 1 percent, the same as in 2024, when there was a daily attack. The additional costs of each shipment can be hundreds of thousands. The recent attacks on the Red Sea have shown the importance of caution when planning a transit, said Neil Roberts. Roberts is the head of marine aviation at the Lloyd's Market Association. This association represents all Lloyd's of London underwriting companies. Officials from the maritime industry confirmed that four people on board the Greek ship Eternity c were killed in a Houthi attack Wednesday. Rescuers rescued four more survivors on Thursday from the Red Sea. Houthi militants claimed to be holding some of those still missing. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attack, which came after the sinking on Monday of a Greek-operated ship. An analysis of shipping data revealed that some of the vessels' sister ships had called at Israeli ports during the last year. From November 2023 until December 2024, the Houthis have attacked over 100 ships. The U.S. announced in May a deal that would stop bombing Houthis if they stopped attacking ships. However, the Houthis claimed the deal didn't include Israel. Insurance sources say that underwriters will try to avoid any vessel with a connection to Israel, no matter how indirect. Munro Anderson is the head of operations for marine war risk insurer Vessel Protect. He said: "What we've seen in the past week appears to... be a return to targeting criteria mid-2024, which involves essentially any vessel with a distant Israeli connection." "With ambiguity, comes risk." (Reporting and additional reporting by Michael Jones, The Insurer. Editing by Ros Russel)
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S&P and Nasdaq fall as investors focus on trade talks; Delta Air soars
S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all edged lower on Thursday as investors watched developments surrounding U.S. president Donald Trump's policies regarding trade. Meanwhile, airline stocks jumped after Delta's positive forecast. 10:02 am At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 39.82 points or 0.09% to 44,498.12, while the S&P 500 dropped 9.36 points or 0.15% to 6,253.90, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 89.97 or 0.44% to 20,523.04. Delta Air Lines' stock jumped 12.9% following the company's announcement that it would exceed Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter profit and annual profits. Peers United Airlines grew 9.7% while American Airlines grew 9%. This helped boost the Dow Jones Transport Average 2.3%. The markets are preparing for a rush of earnings from the second quarter, which will begin in full force on Monday. Eric Beiley is a wealth manager at Steward Partners. He said, "Investors must continue to be able to justify the valuations by proving that corporate earnings are continuing." Investors are likely to have slowed down their buying spree due to the recent tariff announcements. The S&P 500 index was up in nine of the 11 major sectors, while technology and communications services were the only ones to fall. Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer, however, rose 2.7% amid discussions about its next annual Shareholder Meeting In November, Trump announced Wednesday that a new tariff of 50% on copper would begin on August 1. He also threatened to impose a tariff of 50% on Brazilian exports to the United States. He also sent tariff notices out to seven minor trading partners. Investors are closely watching the trade negotiations as they progress. Nvidia, the world's first $4 trillion company, reached that milestone on Wednesday. In morning trading, the chip giant's stock fell 0.2%. Minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting in June showed that most officials expect rate reductions to be appropriate this year. Trump's new import taxes are expected to have "temporary" or "modest" price shocks. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, while a rate cut in July seems unlikely, the odds for a reduction in September are 67%. The robust Labor Market Report last week sent Wall Street's major indices to new record highs. This is a sign of a recovery from the sharp sell-off in April following the "Liberation Day", tariff announcements. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is only 1.1% from its all-time December 4 high. A poll showed that the initial jobless claims were 227,000. This was below the consensus of 235,000. Also, Federal Reserve Board governor Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed president Alberto Musalem, as well as San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly, are expected to make remarks later that day. WK Kellogg, among other stocks rose 30.5%. It was on course for its largest single-day movement following reports that Italian confectioner Ferrero is nearing an agreement to buy the cereal manufacturer. On the NYSE and Nasdaq, the ratio of advancers to decliners is 1.26:1, while it's 1.24:1 on the NYSE. The S&P 500 recorded 14 new 52-week lows and four new highs, while Nasdaq Composite registered 44 new highs with 18 new lows. Reporting by Pranav Kahyap, Bengaluru. Editing by Maju Sam.
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Middle East flights suspended by airlines
After the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which ended in a ceasefire brokered by the United States at the end June, many airline services are still disrupted throughout the Middle East. The main Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran reopened on 4 July after a suspension of flights of 20 days due to Israeli attacks against Iran. However, airspace closures and safety concerns are still affecting airline traffic. Here are some airlines that have cancelled flights from and to the region. AEGEAN AIRLINES From July 10, the Greek airline will resume a part of its schedule for flights to and out of Beirut, as well as from Erbil. The cancellations of flights from Tel Aviv and back will continue until the early flight on September 8th. AIR ARABIA Starting on July 10, the UAE low-cost carrier will resume flights to Damascus. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, announced that it had cancelled all flights from and to Tel Aviv up until September 30. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier suspends its flights between Toronto and Dubai until the 4th of August. The Canadian carrier had already delayed the resumption to service between Canada & Israel until September 8. AIR EUROPA The Spanish airline announced that it would cancel its flights from and to Tel Aviv up until the 13th of July. The airline will fly Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from July 14 until July 31. From August 1, it will fly every day except Saturdays. AIR FRANCE-KLM KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of the group, said that it would cancel all flights to and out of Tel Aviv up until August 30. DELTA AIR LINES Travel to, from, or through Tel Aviv could be affected between June 12 and July 31. EMIRATES Emirates has cancelled all flights from and to Tehran until July 17. FINNAIR Finnish Airlines announced that between July 10th and September 2nd, all Doha flights would be rescheduled so they depart 25-30 minutes sooner. The airline added that it does not fly through the airspaces of Iraq, Iran or Syria at this time. British Airways, owned by IAG, has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv until July 31. Iberia Express is IAG's low cost airline. It has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv up until October 25. ITA AIRWAYS Italian Airlines announced that it will extend the suspension of Tel Aviv flight until July 31. This includes two flights scheduled for August 1. LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa has announced that it will suspend all flights from and to Tel Aviv, including the 31st of July and from and to Tehran until August 17th. Amman flights are cancelled up to July 11. PEGASUS Turkish Airlines has announced that they have cancelled all flights from Turkey to Iran through the end of July. QATAR AIRWAYS Qatar Airways has announced that flights to Iran are temporarily suspended. RYANAIR Ryanair has cancelled all flights from and to Tel Aviv, and Amman until the 25th of October. UNITED AIRLINES The U.S. airline said it will resume its daily flights to Tel Aviv starting July 21. A second flight is expected to resume on July 22. WIZZ AIR The Hungarian carrier announced that its flights between Tel Aviv and Budapest will resume on August 8, 2008. Amman flights are suspended until 15 September. Reporting by Bureaus, compiled by Agnieszka Olesnka, Elviira Loma, and Tiago Braadao; Editing by Matt Scuffham Alison Williams, and Milla NissiPrussak
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In June, the share of Russian aluminum in LME storages fell as Indian metal rose.
LME data on Thursday showed that the proportion of aluminium stock of Russian origin registered in warehouses at the London Metal Exchange fell to 66% from 69% in may, but the proportion of Indian origin rose to 34%. The LME has prohibited metal produced in Russia from its warehouse system after April 13, 2024 to comply with U.S., British and European sanctions imposed due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine 2022. Metal made before this date can still trade. Stocks of aluminium with Russian origin, or those on warrant The end of June saw little change, with 221,875 tons. A LME warrant is an ownership document. The data shows that the stocks of aluminium made in India rose from 97.950 tonnes to 114.150 tons. The share of copper produced in Russia that is available on the LME Last month, the percentage dropped to 53% from 54%. The amount also fell from 39.350 tons to 31.225 tons. The amount of copper produced in China dropped from 30,825 tons to 24,900 tonnes. At the end of May, nickel made in China accounted for 63% of LME stock. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Polina Devlin)
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Spain's tourism industry expects a slowdown in summer sales
The Spanish tourism industry is expecting a sharp slowdown in the growth of summer sales as uncertainty surrounding U.S. Tariff Negotiations threatens to reduce global consumer spending. However, it still expects record visitor numbers. The group anticipates that revenues from hotels, airlines and restaurants as well as other tourism-related business will grow by 2.7% on an annual basis in the third quarter of the year, which is the peak season for tourism. This compares to a 6.3% growth in 2024. Sales rose by 4.5% in the second quarter. The group predicted fewer arrivals in Germany and France. The group estimated that international arrivals from the United Kingdom (UK), the U.S.A., Japan and China will still grow, but at a slower rate. Oscar Perelli, Exceltur's Vice President of Marketing and Communications, told a press conference in Madrid that there has been a decline in U.S. tourism since the end 2024 because of a change in exchange rates. He expects this trend to continue into the current year. He said that "at the same time we are experiencing an acceleration of redistribution in travel to Europe as Europeans prefer staying and traveling within Europe and Asians looking for alternatives to the United States." Exceltur revised its estimate of tourism growth for the full year to 3.3%, down from 4% earlier in the year. This still beats out a projected expansion of 2.4% by Spain's economy. "At first, we thought that it would be an excellent year. Perelli stated that they now believe the year will be good. He added that "the uncertainty scenario has affected the confidence of tourism business owner". The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the private sector of the travel industry, anticipates 100 million record-breaking visitors by 2025. Exceltur estimates that tourism revenue will make up 13.2% of Spain’s Gross Domestic Product this year. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, Jan Harvey, and Corina Pons)
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Armenia and Azerbaijan have substantive talks but no major breakthrough
Their governments reported that the leaders of Armenian and Azerbaijan had substantive talks on Thursday in Abu Dhabi, which amounted to their most serious direct discussions yet in an effort to end nearly four decades of conflict. In March, the two sides announced that they had reached an agreement on a draft of a peace accord. However, progress has been slow and sporadic since then. The first official meeting between the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates was the first since the leaders approved the draft. The two foreign ministers of the two countries said in statements that Pashinyan, and Aliyev discussed issues including the delimitation their 1,000 km (621 mile) shared border and agreed to keep dialogue going at different levels. A senior Azerbaijani source stated that the discussions took place in "a highly constructive atmosphere." Armenia claimed that both sides had agreed on continuing bilateral talks and that the dialogue was "results-oriented". Peace could be achieved in the South Caucasus region, an energy producing region bordering Russia, Europe and Turkey, and crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines. However, it is also riven by ethnic conflict and closed borders. Since the late 1980s, when Nagorno Karabakh, an Azerbaijani area with a majority ethnic Armenian population, broke away from Azerbaijan and received support from Armenia, Armenia has been at odds with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will retake Karabakh in 2023. This will cause 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing to Armenia. Since then, both sides have said that they would like to sign a peace treaty to end the conflict. There are still some issues to be resolved, such as Azerbaijan's request that Armenia amend its constitution so as to remove any indirect reference to Karabakh. The Russian government, which had previously sent peacekeepers to Karabakh in the past, has said that it supports the diplomatic process, and hopes it will bring "predictability and stability" to the region. (Reporting and writing by Felix Light, Nailia Bagirova and Lucy Papachristou. Editing and rewriting by Timothy Heritage.)
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Portugal launches a new privatisation of TAP airline, with aims to sell 49.9%
Luis Montenegro, Portugal's Prime Minister, announced on Thursday that the government had decided to restart a long-delayed TAP privatisation, with a goal of selling a 49.9% share of its capital. A 5% stake will be offered to TAP employees. In a short televised announcement, he stated: "We made this decision because we have already spent a great deal of money... We do not want to keep pouring money down a bottomless hole." Three major European airlines have already expressed interest in the airline's privatisation. These include Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways' owner IAG. They met with the government last year. Montenegro stated that "we are confident that there will many interested parties". The government also said that by selecting a strategic partner it "wants the company to be sustainable and profitable, as well as to be able contribute to the economic development of the country". The government is keen to keep and even expand TAP's key slots from Lisbon to Brazil, Portuguese speaking African countries and the United States. Montenegro said TAP was crucial for Portugal, as it brings in the majority of air travelers. This has supported the tourism boom that Portugal has experienced over the past few years. TAP suffered a loss of 1.6 billion euro in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to reorganization and a bailout from the state. However, the company has returned to profitability in the past three years. TAP, which employs approximately 8,000 people and has a fleet of 99 aircraft, will transport more than 16 millions passengers in 2024. This includes the 19 aircraft that TAP Express, a subsidiary of TAP, uses to fly short and medium distance flights. . TAP had been set up for privatisation since the mid-90s, but it was halted again when the centre right minority government fell in March. After a May national election, the coalition is back in power, but it still lacks a majority of parliament members, which would prevent TAP from being sold. (Reporting from Sergio Goncalves & Andrei Khalip).
Nigeria secures $747-million Deutsche Bank-led syndicated loan for coastal highway
The Nigerian Finance Ministry announced on Thursday that the country has received a $747-million syndicated loan led by Deutsche Bank to fund the construction of the 700-km (435 miles) first phase of the planned coastal highway project.
Mohammad Manga, spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, said that the loan was the first of this size in Nigeria.
The syndicate includes First Abu Dhabi Bank as the global coordinator, African Export-Import Bank (AEIB), Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEO), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (ECOWAS Bank) and Zenith Bank.
Manga reported that the first section of the highway to be financed with the loan is 47.47 kilometers long. The project will cost approximately $11 billion, and should be completed within eight years.
The highway will eventually connect the commercial capital Lagos to the port city in the south-east, Calabar.
(source: Reuters)