Latest News
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Irish PM: Drones didn't threaten Ukrainian President's aircraft
The Irish Prime Minister said that the drones which appeared in the vicinity of Dublin last week, shortly after the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was a 'not a threat? to his aircraft. However, the incident is very worrying. Prime Minister Micheal Mart told the parliament that a small number of unidentified UAVs were seen in the area of a naval vessel patrolling the coast of Dublin the evening before?Zelenskiy arrived for a visit of state. Martin said that the drones posed no threat to President Zelenskiy’s aircraft, because it had safely landed a long time before this incident. He didn't directly respond to Irish media reports that drones were flying near Zelenskiy’s flight path. 'RUSSIAN-INSPIRED ?HYBRID CAMPAIGN' Martin said that the circumstances suggest this is part of a hybrid campaign inspired by Russia against European Union interests and Ukrainians. A spokesperson from the Russian Embassy in Dublin stated that any suggestion of Russia's involvement was unfounded and that European politicians were spreading a "myth", about the danger Russia poses to Europe. In recent months, drone flights, whose origin is mostly unknown, disrupted airspace operations across Europe. On a?visit to Dublin, Tuesday, European Council President Antonio Costa described the incident last week as "another?hybrid attack from Russia." Ireland, a militarily neutral country, has the lowest level of defence spending of all of?Europe. Martin has pledged to increase this and has announced plans to invest anti-drone technologies. He said: "It's very clear that there is a threat to Ireland's security." Martin stated on Tuesday that the government is "fully certain" that it can protect European leaders who are due to attend a Summit during Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union (CEU) in the second half of the next year. Conor Humphries, Nia Williams and Conor Humphries wrote the article.
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Azerbaijan SOCAR and Hungary MVM sign new Gas Supply Deal
SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state energy company, and MVM ONEnergy of Hungary have?signed a natural gas supply contract?that takes effect on 'January '1, 2026. Azerbaijani gas is gaining in importance since the collapse of Russian gas exports to Europe following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and subsequent Western sanctions. SOCAR stated that the new agreement was based on the old contract. SOCAR signed an agreement with MVM CEEnergy in June 2023 for a?supply? of 100 million cubic meters?of natural gas. Deliveries will begin in April 2024. A source familiar with the deal said that Azerbaijan would export around the same volume in 2026 that it did in?2024. This is approximately 100 million cubic meters. The volumes will be supplied during the winter. MVM Group owns a 5% stake in Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Gas Field and a 4.5% stake in South Caucasus Pipeline Company. Azerbaijan exports gas to 15 countries mostly in Europe. According to the energy ministry, its gas exports reached 18.3 billion cubic meters in the first nine month of 2025. Reporting by Nailia bagirova, Editing by Tomaszjanowski
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Source: Shell wants to dissolve Rosneft joint venture through which it holds CPC shares
Shell is looking to dissolve its joint venture with Rosneft in Russia, which allows the London-listed company to hold a part of its stake in Caspian Pipeline Consortium. A source who has direct knowledge about the matter confirmed this on Wednesday. In October, the United States imposed sanctions against?Rosneft over Russia's involvement in the?Ukraine war. On 'Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin released a decree clearing potential deals with Rosneft's and Shell’s joint-venture stakes in CPC which exports oil mostly from Kazakhstan. Shell owns a total of 7.4% of the?CPC through three entities. One of these is the Rosneft/Shell Caspian Ventures entity. Shell holds around half of the vehicle which is equivalent to a stake of roughly 3.7%. The vehicle itself owns?7.5% and Shell has a total of about 7.4%. Shell is aiming to keep its stake in CPC at the same size, according to the source.
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Bangladesh signss letter of intent to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon Jets
As part of its modernisation plan, the Bangladesh Air Force signed a letter?of intent with Italy's Leonardo S.p.A for the purchase of?Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft?multi-role?. An army official stated that "it was signed yesterday and is a pre-step to start discussions." The Air Force did not say how many jets it plans to buy. The Bangladesh interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, is currently taking several "major" aviation decisions. In July, it announced plans to purchase 25 aircraft from Boeing in order to avoid the proposed 35% tariff by U.S. president Donald Trump. This raised questions regarding an earlier plan to purchase 10 Airbus planes, which was made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but left in doubt after her removal. The Typhoon contract, if finalised, would be Bangladesh's largest purchase of a Western-built jet fighter. No official data is available on the number of aircraft that Bangladesh's air force possesses. Defence analysts estimate that the total number of aircraft in Bangladesh's?air force is around 200. This includes nearly 50 fighter jets. Reporting by RumaPaul and YPrajesh, Editing by Mark Potter
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The share of Chinese-made copper increases in LME stock due to higher exports
Data from the London Metal Exchange showed that, in November, the share of copper made in China among all available stocks increased. A favorable price arbitrage encouraged Chinese exports. The percentage of copper stock that is available or on a warrant The data revealed that the percentage of - of Chinese Origin in LME Warehouses had increased to 85% by the end of the last month from 82% at the beginning of October. A LME warrant is an ownership document. The absolute amount of Chinese copper stocks on the LME rose to 130,225 tonnes at the end last month from 100,400 tonnes in October, as the higher LME prices than domestic prices in China made it more lucrative to ship metal abroad. The U.S. Comex Exchange, which holds over 60% of global copper inventories, does not accept Chinese copper brands. However, the metal may still be stored at U.S. storage facilities outside the Comex network. China-made Nickel accounted for 70% available LME nickel stock, a flat rate compared to the previous month. The percentage of aluminium stock available The data shows that the percentage of aluminium with a Russian origin at LME warehouses rose to 53% from 51% last month, and the percentage of Indian origin aluminium remained constant at 40%. The amount of Russian metal decreased by a mere?850 to 256.875 tons but the percentage share increased as aluminium from Bahrain Oman Qatar and Indonesia was exported. Indian aluminium stock increased by 12,175 tons, to 214,525 tonnes. LME has prohibited metal produced in Russia after April 13, 2024 from its warehouse system. This is to comply with U.S., and British sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine 2022. Metal produced before April 13, 2024 can still be traded but many traders are avoiding it. (Reporting and editing by Alison Williams; Tom Daly)
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Protesting Greek farmers disrupt port operations as nationwide blockades persist
On Wednesday, dozens of Greek farmers disrupted the operations of the regional port in Volos as part of a national?demonstration protesting delays in farm assistance payments and high production costs. The farmers have been blocking traffic along major highways and at border crossings for days with thousands of trucks and tractors. They are facing a deficit of over 600 million euros in EU aid and other payments. Investigations into a corruption case in which some farmers, with the help of state employees, fabricated land ownership to be eligible for payments, led to delays. The audits have slowed down subsequent payments. These delays coincide also with an outbreak undefined of sheep pox that has forced farmers to cull hundreds and thousands of sheep. Farmers from 'Thessaly in central Greece, where flooding devastated crops and livestock back in 2023 parked their tractors for a couple of hours outside the port. The police blocked the entrance in order to keep them from entering passenger and cargo terminals. A Greek Supreme Court prosecutor has ordered the authorities to detain immediately any farmers who intentionally threaten the safety of traffic. "We are not going to back down." "If they want to arrest thousands of protesters, let them arrest us," Costas Sefis told ERT, a public broadcaster. He claimed that compensation for the 2023 disaster was limited and too late. KyriakosMitsotakis' centre-right government, which has been criticized over the?scandal, has stated that it is open to discussion and has "urged" farmers to stop their blockades. The government has admitted that payments have been delayed and promised to provide'more assistance' in the near future. But protests are still going on. Farmers intermittently blocked traffic at the Promachonas crossing in the north. Stamos and Louisa Gouliamaki report from Volos, Angeliki Koutantou writes the article; Gareth Jones edits it.
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India deploys personnel at IndiGo headquarters after mass flight cancellations
India's aviation regulator deployed some of its own personnel at IndiGo's corporate HQ to monitor the carrier’s network and recovery. The country is tightening its scrutiny after mass flight cancellations. IndiGo?did not immediately respond to an inquiry for a?comment. An order stated that the personnel would monitor IndiGo operations, including crew utilization, unplanned leave, and routes affected due to "crew shortages", and be required to submit a report daily to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. IndiGo will have a second set of personnel to oversee its on-time performance. They will also be responsible for flight cancellations, luggage returns, and refunds. It has been criticized for cancelling 2,000 flights because it underestimated the number of pilots needed to run its winter schedule, due to new rules on duty and rest that took effect November 1. (Reporting and editing by Abhijith Gaapavaram)
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German regulator allows higher earnings on power grid from 2029
The German energy regulator has proposed new regulations that would allow power grid operators to earn at least 1.4% extra from 2029 when the next five-year regulation period begins. Bundesnetzagentur announced ahead of a press conference that in exchange for the stronger incentives, around 900 companies qualifying will be subject to tougher efficiency goals. "Investments in?German electric grids are becoming increasingly attractive." "We are also ensuring grid operators run their operations more efficiently," said Bundesnetzagentur President Klaus Mueller. He was referring to an upcoming draft which includes provisions for gas grid companies from 2028. The regulator is responsible for the earnings of?electricity networks and gas networks. These are natural monopolies. The statement outlined steps to be taken. Reform A system of spending return for the new frameworks five-years in power and gas. It said that the new framework will continue to cap returns over multiple-year periods, but that it would track global interest rates closer. It said that the 1.4% figure reflects changes made under NEST, an agency process. Companies could earn more by increasing investment volumes and a higher interest rate, independent of this process. Germany's power grids Need major upgrades to cope with the surge in demand from AI-driven data centers and the electrification of heating and transportation. As fossil fuel consumption declines, gas operators are facing a shrinking client base. Invest Now Infrastructure ready for hydrogen.
Transnet, South Africa's container terminal operator, signss agreement with ICTSI for upgrade of main container terminal
South African state logistics group Transnet signed a 25-year ?deal with Philippines-headquartered terminal operator ICTSI ?on Wednesday to upgrade the ?African ?country's busiest container terminal in Durban.
The government plans to use the concession agreement as a way to deal with Transnet's chronic performance problems, which have stifled Africa's largest economy's exports.
Transnet announced in a'statement' that the development and upgrade of Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 (which handles over 40% of South -African container volumes) will begin in January next year when ICTSI takes over operations.
The introduction of new technology and equipment is expected to increase Pier 2's efficiency and capacity.
Transnet's Chief Executive Michelle Phillips stated that working with private companies is an important part of the company's strategy for modernisation and performance improvement.
Transnet will own a majority stake in a new special-purpose vehicle?created for the ICTSI Partnership, which has been delayed?by a lengthy legal dispute regarding Transnet's choice of ICTSI to be a partner. Anathi Madubela is the reporter. (Editing by Alexander Winning, Mark Potter and Mark Potter.)
(source: Reuters)