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AfDB lends Morocco $234 million for rail expansion project
The African Development Bank (AfDB), announced on Thursday that it had approved a loan of 205 million euros to upgrade the rail infrastructure in one of Morocco's most important?transport corridors. The bank said that the loan was intended to 'boost capacity and improve operational performance on the Kenitra-Marrakech rail corridor which is responsible for a significant share of Morocco's passenger traffic and freight. * Morocco will invest $10 billion in expanding its intercity rail network and urban rail network, including a?high-speed line from Rabat to Marrakech ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2030, which it is slated to co-host with Spain, Portugal and France. The new?high-speed 'line will run from Kenitra, on the Atlantic coast,?430 km (267 mi) south to Marrakech. It will also serve?Rabat & Casablanca. (Reporting and Editing by William Maclean, Ahmed Eljechtimi)
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Kremlin: US is wrong to believe that escalating strikes against Ukraine can end the war
Russia warned on Thursday that the United States was wrong to think that deep Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory would help end more than four years war and could prolong it. Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, said that Russia is finding it difficult to defend its skies. He added that this will?hopefully give more room to negotiate a peace. Donald Trump, the U.S. president said: "It is an escalation but it can also help bring an end." Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson, told reporters that there are "certain misconceptions?within the White House Administration... about the idea that military pressure and escalation can pave the road for a peaceful resolution." He called this a "flawed" premise and said that Russia's "special military operations" in Ukraine could last longer as a result. Peskov stated that "it will lead to us having to create a bigger security zone - a greater buffer zone." "Stoking tensions or taking actions to escalate the situation will not contribute in any way to the peace process." PUTIN'S POINT OF VIEW According to three sources close to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin has rejected calls for peace talks with Kyiv and believes that Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's oil refining and ports have strengthened his resolve to continue fighting. Two sources claimed that Putin would escalate the conflict. One of the sources, who regularly meets with the president described an "high probability" of escalation. Peskov, when asked about Trump's decision allowing Ukraine to manufacture Patriot?air defense interceptors under licence, said that Moscow is not in denial about U.S. weapon supplies to Kyiv. "We don't see the situation with rose-tinted lenses, and President Putin is fully aware of that. There is also a duality in the U.S.'s position. Unlike the Europeans the United States still wants to move towards a peaceful process. The United States may make mistakes or be wrong, but their desire to achieve peace is sincere. Trump's attempts to end the conflict in Ukraine have been stalled as Washington has been focused on the war against Iran. Peskov, however, reiterated the Kremlin's hope that U.S. mediation would resume when the Middle East crisis is resolved. (Reporting and Writing by Dmitry Antonov; Editing by Timothy Heritage).
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Maguire: The next big thing in climate adaptation isn't going to be solar panels, but asphalt.
The latest heatwave in Europe was a painful reminder that climate change is not just about cutting emissions. Temperatures in parts of Western Europe reached 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Roads buckled, rail tracks warped and traffic lights malfunctioned. Transport operators also imposed speed restrictions or cancelled services. According to the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, transport infrastructure in the region is more exposed to thermal stress and deformation of rails as heat extremes increase. Decarbonisation has dominated Europe's narrative on infrastructure spending for years. Investors have focused on windmills, solar panels and electric vehicles. A different infrastructure story is emerging as it becomes apparent that Europe was built largely for a climate which no longer exists. It may be that the next major investment cycle is less about generating cleaner energy, and more about making sure trains run, roads are intact and electricity systems function during summer heatwaves. THE ROAD TRADE The European Environment Agency identified the protection of infrastructure against heat-related risk as one of Europe's urgent adaptation priority. The problem is most evident on the road surface. Asphalt binders that are conventionally used soften in heat and cause cracking, rutting and deformation. Many of Northern Europe's transportation infrastructures were designed to withstand temperatures that are no longer relevant with the fall in heat records. This indicates an increase in demand for polymer modified bitumen, and other high-performance pavement materials that are already widely used in hotter climates. TotalEnergies' Styrelf polymer-modified binder range is specifically marketed for its resistance to rutting and thermal cracking, as well as heavy climate stress. These products are used on a wide range of demanding applications, from highways to airport runways to?racing tracks. Shell is also a potential winner. The company is still one of the largest bitumen suppliers in the world and has increased its range of advanced binder designed to increase pavement life span and withstand harsher operating conditions. Investment opportunities do not always lie in the development of breakthrough technologies. It may be as simple as selling Northern Europe road materials that are standard in Southern Europe or the Middle East. The RAIL RESILIENCE BOOM Railways are a greater challenge. The European Union's ambitions to reduce carbon emissions are heavily dependent on the shift of passengers and goods onto rail. Rail systems are sensitive to temperature extremes, because steel expands when heated. Heatwaves in recent weeks have caused service disruptions in multiple countries. Operators are dealing with deformation of rails, melted sealants, signalling problems and speed restrictions. UNECE warned that such disruptions will become more common if?adaptation is not taken. This creates new opportunities for rail infrastructure specialists. The German company Vossloh?supplies concrete sleepers and rail fastening system designed for various climate zones around the world. When thermal expansion occurs, concrete sleepers and stronger fastening systems are used to maintain track stability. Pandrol's fastening system, which is used in rail networks all over the world, will also benefit from efforts made to increase track resilience and reduce maintenance requirements under climate conditions that are becoming more volatile. voestalpine Rail Systems, Austria, also stands to benefit from increased spending on rail components and turnouts. The climate adaptation strategy of Europe for transport could require that significant sections be rebuilt to standards previously associated with regions much hotter. The Unsung Materials Story Those investors looking for adaptable winners should also pay attention to cement, specialty chemicals, and construction materials. Thermal expansion and accelerated wear are the main effects of heat stress on bridges, tunnels, and other civil structures. Companies like Heidelberg Materials, Holcim, and Sika are in a position to be attractive players on this theme, as they provide advanced concretes and specialty additives. They also supply sealants, reinforcements systems, and other products which can prolong asset life even under more harsh conditions. It is possible that the adaptation trade will end up being as much a story of materials as it will be an engineering story. Climate adaptation, just as the energy shift created a demand for lithium and copper, could also create a sustained demand?for polymer add-ins, high performance concrete, advanced steel and construction chemicals. DON'T FORGET THE GRID Power sector is another story. Electricity is increasingly important for transport systems. Power networks are required to operate in extreme temperatures for railways, signalling equipment and charging infrastructure. This should encourage the demand for higher-performance cables and transmission systems with upgraded conductors. Prysmian, Nexans and other major European grid expansion projects are all already being supplied by these companies. The Nordic cable manufacturer NKT will benefit from the network reinforcement and underground wiring programmes. French grid operator RTE recently announced plans to lay 45,000 km of transmission and distribution cables by 2030. THE NEXT SUPER-CYCLE IN INFRASTRUCTURE? The decarbonisation of the market is a shortsighted focus. If rail services are not available during heatwaves, every euro spent on electrifying transportation is less valuable. If transmission systems are unable to cope with extreme weather, then every investment in clean energy loses value. Europe's policymakers spent more than two decades trying to reduce emissions. It may be more important to ask how we can keep society running in a world that is warmer. Heat-resistant asphalt, advanced elastomeric lubricants and expansion joints are unlikely to generate the same excitement as solar and battery stocks. When temperatures exceed 40C, they can be just as important. These are the opinions of a columnist, who is also an author. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets 7 days a weeks.
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NATO announces $50 billion worth of arms deals at Ankara Leaders' Meeting
Defense companies from NATO member countries gathered in Ankara for an industry forum held in conjunction with the annual summit of the alliance. Officials touted over $50 'billion worth of defence procurement and industrial deals as allies tried to demonstrate their commitment?to bolstering a military budget. Some announcements are based on firm contracts or procurement plans while others are'subject to further negotiation, approvals, or future developments. These agreements are made as European allies continue to be under pressure from U.S. president Donald Trump, who wants them to shoulder more of the defence burden for their alliance. Here are some of the recent deals that have been announced: SAAB Swedish defence company Saab announced that NATO would begin formal negotiations to acquire up to 10 GlobalEye aircraft for airborne early-warning and control. Micael J. Johansson, CEO of the company, told reporters that deliveries could begin as early as 2030. The final price would be between $400 and $450 million for each aircraft. LOCKHEED MARTIN RHEINMETALL Lockheed Martin signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rheinmetall on Tuesday, committing to?jointly manufacture ATACMS ballistic missiles in Germany. This would be the first time the missile was manufactured outside of the United States. Separately the United States 'will establish a maintenance facility in Europe to maintain Lockheed Martin’s advanced PAC-3 missile for air defence, U.S. Michael Duffey, the Undersecretary for Defense, said Tuesday. Washington is not ruling production abroad out, Duffey said, though it's not clear where the facility is located. The UK Ministry of Defence announced that it will spend $254 million on Lockheed Martin’s long-range Precision Strike Missiles. First deliveries are expected to take place in 2027. The UK may join its current partners Australia and the U.S. in further developing the missile. NORTHROP GRUMMAN NATO - Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that allies would buy five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton drones for high altitude surveillance. Norway, Finland Germany and Denmark signed a letter committing to the purchase. AIRBUS NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that the alliance will expand its A330 MRTT fleet by one aircraft and launch a fleet of Airbus A400M strategic airlift planes. ISAR AEROSPACE German Rocket Maker Isar Aerospace has signed a contract to?build and utilize a dedicated launchpad for its Spectrum rocket in Spaceport Nova Scotia (east Canada) with Canada's Maritime Launch Services. ACCENTURE, LEONARDO The IT consulting company Accenture and the Italian defence company Leonardo have signed a contract worth about 200 million euro for a seven-year period to design and run a "secure NATO communication network". GERMANY, U.S. Germany and the U.S. have agreed to purchase Raytheon Tomahawk cruise'missiles from the U.S., and station them in Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday in Berlin. This removes uncertainty about the future of this programme, after President Donald Trump announced in May that he was reducing the U.S. Military presence in the country.
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Ukraine claims it has hit more Russian fuel tanks as the Crimea campaign intensifies
Ukraine's military said on Thursday that Ukrainian drones had hit 12 more Russian tankers in the Sea of Azov overnight. This was the latest of a series of strikes aimed at disrupting the fuel supply to Russian forces, and isolating the Moscow-occupied Crimea. General Staff of the Ukrainian military said that the vessels were used for the supply of fuel to the Russian army and to transport oil products and petroleum products to circumvent international sanctions. The report added that both a tugboat as well as a dry cargo ship had been hit. According to the Ukrainian defence ministry, the strikes brought the total number of vessels that were?targeted? in the Sea of Azov or the Black Sea during the last four days up to?36. The list included 32 Russian "shadow fleet" tanks and two dry cargo ships. The ministry stated that "they all tried to deliver fuel to Crimea". On Thursday, the regional governor of Russia’s Rostov Region said that two tankers were attacked by Ukrainian drones on the Sea of Azov. Moscow has not made any further comments. Ukraine intensified its attacks on Crimea's logistics and energy infrastructure over the past few weeks. This has contributed to fuel shortages, prompting the authorities to declare "a state of emergencies" in this peninsula that is a key hub for Russia’s war effort. The campaign is a potential pressure point for the oil markets. They are already focused on the risks of disruptions to supply in the Gulf, and the safety of the key maritime trade routes. Robert Brovdi, Kyiv's top?drone commander, spoke to? In an interview with?
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Source: Air India chairman to oversee firm with interim panels; CEO search continues
According to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran will set up an interim committee, which includes himself, to oversee the airline while it searches for a replacement for CEO Campbell Wilson. Former top civil aviation ministry officials Pradeep Singh Kharola and Ajay Kumar will be included in the committee. According to the source, one of the goals of this panel is to maintain continuity at Air India during Chandrasekaran’s tenure as chairman Tata Sons, which is still pending. Tata Sons, the Tata Group's?principal holding firm, controls Air India, with 75% of the shares, while Singapore Airlines holds the remaining 25%. A second person who has direct knowledge of the situation said that Wilson, a New Zealander by birth, will be out on notice at the end of September. Sources cited in the article have requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with media. Previous reports indicated that Air India commercial head Nipun Aggarwal and Singapore Air executive Vinod Kanan were the leading candidates to succeed Wilson. Wilson announced his resignation in April after almost four years at the position. The Economic Times reported earlier that Chandrasekaran has set up an interim committee to run Air India as the CEO's appointment is expected to be?delayed by a few month. The Economic Times reported that Aggarwal's proposed appointment as CEO was opposed by several people, including Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata. Tata Trusts is the owner of approximately 66% of Tata Sons. Tata Sons and Air India did not respond immediately to an email seeking a comment. Air India Express and its budget-friendly subsidiary, Air India, both recorded record losses of over $2 billion during the last fiscal. Air India is under intense scrutiny following a series?of safety?lapses, and the Boeing?Dreamliner accident in Gujarat, India last year, which claimed?260 lives. Air India has been hard hit by the Pakistani airspace ban and U.S./Israeli war against Iran which have increased fuel and operational costs. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus; Abhijith Ganahapavaram)
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US power companies scramble for equipment to meet the surge in demand from data centers
The demand for critical grid equipment, such as transformers, is increasing across the U.S. This has led to a shortage of these items, which in turn increases costs and delays, and forces utilities and developers into placing orders well in advance. Transformers - which are used to increase or decrease electricity voltage - have been in short supply for the past five years, when demand started to rise faster than supply because of COVID-19 related lockdowns. Experts say that the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is further reducing supplies. The lead times, which is the time between an order and delivery for high-voltage converters, have increased from around one year in 2020 or 2021 to several years. Ben Boucher is a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie and said that the most important concern for developers today is equipment availability. He said that while large power transformers face the greatest shortages on the market, data center construction is driving demand for circuit breakers and other switchgear. These items are expected to experience greater market deficits. The power industry is struggling to bring more equipment online in order to meet the accelerating demand for data centers and lower prices. Federal regulators, for example, ordered grid operators last month to investigate new protocols that would quickly connect data centres and other large energy consumers. LONG WAIT, HIGHER PRICE According to an analysis by Wood Mackenzie, the U.S.'s data center capacity will reach 110 gigawatts in 2030, up from 24 GW today. This means that electric vehicles would consume eight times as much electricity over this period. The consultancy firm? said that the share of data centers in the electrical equipment market would increase to 40% under scenarios with accelerated growth, up from just 2% by 2020. According to Boucher, the lead time for generator step-up-transformers will exceed 160 weeks by the first quarter 2026. This compares to an average of only 143 weeks between 2024 and 2026. For high-voltage breakers, the lead time climbed to 125 week in the second half last year compared to just 77 weeks from 2023. Prices are also rising due to the surge in demand. The cost of transformers could rise by 4% up to as much as 10% in the next 12 months, depending on their type. Although long-term agreements for supply can ease the burden, they "don't solve everything," according to Louis Finkel. Senior vice president of Government Relations at the National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association. ADVANCE BUYING OF EQUIPMENT 5 YEARS IN ADVANCE Utility companies and developers responded to the challenge by buying equipment in advance, refurbishing transformers that are older, asking their customers to pay upfront for equipment with long lead times and diversifying their sourcing. California's Roseville Electric Utility, according to CEO Dan Beans used to purchase equipment for projects that were a year away, but now operates on a 3-year timeline in order to secure all the supplies they?need. He added that because the waiting period for large transformers used in?substations has exceeded three years, the utility purchases equipment for projects it knows will be completed five years ahead of time. Miska Pukkila is the senior manager for strategic sourcing at Wartsila?Storage. She said that developers are increasingly sourcing multiple suppliers from different geographies to ensure they are not dependent on a single manufacturer or region, and lock in deliveries through long-term contracts. Beans said that as the shortage of transformers became more acute, suppliers who bid to sell to Roseville Electric Utility began to shift overseas. About three-fourths (74%) of their bids are now from countries such as China or South Korea. He noted that domestic?suppliers typically quote longer lead-times and higher prices than their overseas competitors. According to Pukkila, in some cases utilities and developers offer more favorable payment terms or pay upfront to secure earlier production slots, and shrink lead times. Utility companies and industry will look to reduce long lead times for equipment, as well delays in projects like the queues to connect the grid, by delaying the retirement of power plants, as well expanding the domestic manufacturing capacity.
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Norway's oil service workers strike results in production losses of 2.4 millions barrels of oil-equivalent, according to an industry group
Offshore -Norway, an industry group, said on Thursday that a strike by oil service workers has resulted in historical and future production losses for operators worth 1.6 billion Norwegian crowns (approximately $163.62 million) this year. About?1,000 Norwegian Oil Service Workers were locked out in late June as a result of a?strike being carried out by several hundred members from Norway's Safe Union. Offshore Norway reported that five mobile drilling rigs and five fixed offshore installations, as well as?one well-intervention vessel, had suspended all drilling and well-operations. It also said that four inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR),?vessels, were affected. The production losses continue to increase and are expected to reach 120,000 barrels equivalent of oil per day by mid-July.
Ukraine's top prosecutor: No signs that Kyiv is behind Nord Stream explosions
Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor-General denied Kyiv's role in the 2022 explosion of the Nord Stream Gas Pipelines and suggested forming a joint investigative team with Germany. Germany suspects Ukrainian state entities are behind the explosions.
The explosions occurred months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. They damaged the Nord Stream 1 pipe, a crucial route for?Russian exports of gas to Europe.
In a press release, the Prosecutor's Office said that, according to the findings of the investigation, there was no evidence that Ukraine or its officials or officials had been involved in the explosions that occurred in the Baltic Sea in September 2022, or that Ukraine or its officials issued any orders related to the events.
It said that the investigation was not complete and evidence needed to be gathered and examined. German federal prosecutors accused a former Ukrainian officer of being a coperpetrator in the explosions. They said he acted on behalf of an unspecified Ukrainian entity.
Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August and transferred to Germany in Nov. He has denied all charges.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Ukraine will try to'set up a joint investigative team with German authorities to enable a prompt exchange of information and continue to work with them.
German prosecutors claim that Serhii?K., a Ukrainian army officer who was active in 2022, worked with other military personnel on the plan and execution of pipeline attacks, which were designed to disrupt gas supplies and cut off funding for Russia's war efforts.
(source: Reuters)