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Spain dismantles a major human trafficking network in the Mediterranean
Authorities said that the Spanish police dismantled a smuggling network they called one of the biggest in the Mediterranean. They believe it brought more than 2,000 migrants to the country. Spain's Civil Guard reported that "the?Civil Guard...?" had successfully dismantled a?most??complex?, active?and dangerous? transnational criminal network detected so far in the Mediterranean. Operation comes at a time when migration and human trafficking are once again in the spotlight across Europe and Spain after a massive border rush last week on the Spanish enclave Ceuta saw 72,000 people entering the city. According to the statement the network used high speed boats to transport synthetic drugs from Spain to Algeria to distribute across North Africa where the demand for drugs like MDMA is high. The boat returned to Spain and smuggled migrants into the Ibiza island, the south-east coast of Spain. Police believes the group, which used extreme violence to defend its vessels, carried out at least 64 smuggling transactions and generated profits of?of EUR24million ($27million). According to data from the Interior Ministry, the decline in the number of irregular migrants arriving in Spain by sea between January and July was due in large part to a drop of 60% in the arrivals in the Canary Islands. As smugglers changed routes through Algeria, the number of irregular migrants to Spain mainland and the Balearic Islands increased by 22% and 10% respectively. During an investigation conducted in conjunction with Europol, police in France and Portugal, and the authorities in Poland, 18 high-speed boats were seized, and 77 people arrested in Spain, and one person in Algeria. According to a statement, the network charged up to EUR12,000 per migrant. It also transported as many 50 people at a time. Civil Guard officials said that sea crossings are extremely dangerous, as migrants travel in overcrowded 'boats' at high speeds and in rough seas without lights and in many cases life jackets. The police reported that "sometimes the occupants are?even tethered to prevent them from falling overboard while crossing," adding that the group perpetrates extraordinary violence against both its members and migrants as well as police forces. Reporting by Javi Larranaga and editing by Aislinn laing and Ros Russell.
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Rosatom announces that seven Chinese vessels will sail from China to Europe via the Russian Arctic route
Rosatom, the operator of the Northern Sea Route via Arctic, said on Friday that it had issued permits for seven Chinese transit ships to sail to Europe through the NSR. Alexei Likhachev said that the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev plans to launch a 'first regular container service from Europe to the NSR. "Unlike the previous 'container shipments along the Northern Sea Route which were mostly 'experimental and one-off, the 2026 programme will provide a regular, full-fledged service, with ships sailing every week during the navigation season." Likhachev made a statement. Moscow has long wanted to transform the NSR into a Suez Canal. However, higher shipping costs and seasonal ice make this difficult to achieve. Likhachev stated that the route is becoming a major transport artery as the situation in the Persian Gulf worsens - a reference to the Strait o f 'Hormuz - as well as the?logistical & political uncertainty grows. (Reporting and writing by Anastasiya lyrchikova, Editing by Andrew Osborn).
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Norway's government will accelerate the development of onshore wind energy, it says
The Norwegian government presented plans on Friday to 'cut red tape' and'shorten the processing of applications for new onshore wind plants and transmission lines. This is in response to concerns that a slow buildout over recent years might impede economic activity. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said at a press briefing that the Labour Party government hopes to reduce grid development time by half through a simplified application process and by removing bureaucratic barriers. Stoere stated that "A faster development of more'renewable energy and electricity grids are crucial to cutting emissions, boosting employment and protecting?existing companies and jobs." Terje Aasland, Norway's Energy Minister, said that developing more wind power was the fastest way to increase Norway's electrical output. It is also the least expensive. RENEWABLES ARE? THOUSANDS??????????? LARGELY?? based on RENEWABLES Norway's electricity is based largely on renewables. The majority of the plants are hydropower along rivers and reservoirs. Most were built decades ago. Onshore wind has also grown rapidly between 2015-2021. The Nordic country only increased its capacity by about 1,000 megawatts since then, a mere 2.5% increase, due to a reaction from residents and indigenous groups of?Samis against the development of onshore wind. One of the measures that was presented on Friday was to make wind farms?attractive for municipalities by bringing developers' payments forward based on planned production. In most years, Norway produces more electricity than it consumes. It is also a net exporter. However, this surplus is threatened by forecasts of rising domestic consumption as industries move away from fossil fuels. Data centre operators are also increasingly interested in obtaining clean energy input. In April, the national transmission grid operator Statnett announced that it would not be allocating new connections to its Arctic region's major industrial plants due to capacity constraints. (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik, with Nora Buli)
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UK watchdog targets unregulated lenders for financial crime
The British Financial Watchdog has said that it is stepping up its scrutiny of unregulated lending companies, leasing companies and money brokers because of concerns they could facilitate financial crimes. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that it is concerned by the risks to consumers and the markets from unregulated lending which often involves complex structures. In a'statement, it said that it had sent information requests to 900 'Annex 1 firms. These include lenders, leasing companies, and other financial firms which are subject to anti -money laundering rules, but not fully regulated by FCA. This increased scrutiny comes after the collapse of Market Financial Solutions in February. The FCA, who supervises MFS to ensure compliance with anti-money-laundering?rules, but does not regulate the firm as a fully authorized firm, launched an?investigation into the mortgage lender in the following month. The FCA had already expressed concerns about this sector. In March 2024 it wrote to Annex 1 companies?to warn them that supervisors found weaknesses in their control against financial 'crime, such as inadequate'staff training and underresourced compliance teams. In 2025, it sent a second letter. (Reporting and editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Alexander Smith and Phoebe Seers)
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Reliance, an Indian company, has booked a supertanker for Iraqi crude at a record-breaking freight rate
Three shipping sources reported that India's Reliance Industries paid between $23 and $25 million for a charter of a "supertanker" to lift Iraqi crude. This is due to the limited number of ships in the Gulf, as well as the high cost of each voyage. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is well below the average of between 125 and 140 vessels per day before the Iran War began in February. This puts further pressure on buyers who are trying to move their cargoes. Reliance, operator of the largest refining facility in the world, located in India's western state?Gujarat booked the tanker for 2 million barrels at 1200 World Scale, a measure freight costs that was?12 more than the benchmark freight rate to lift Iraqi crude. According to ship brokers, this translates into a total of $23 to $25 million in charter hire fees - one of the highest rates paid during the war. Prior to the war, the freight cost was 0.8-0.9 times the benchmark. This equates to about $2 million. Sources said that despite paying the record freight rates, Reliance will still save millions on the cargo due to the steep discounts offered by Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO. The vessel is supplied by South Korea’s Sinokor. It's one of the few shipowners who continue to send tankers across the Strait of Hormuz despite the increased risks of navigating this waterway due to attacks on commercial ships. Reliance or Sinokor didn't respond to requests for comments sent via email. Iraq offers its crude oil at a discount of between $25 and $30 per barrel compared to Dubai benchmarks in order to encourage buyers to lift cargoes out of terminals within the Strait of Hormuz. This was revealed by a document this week. Other shipping sources reported that several Indian and Chinese'refiners' have been looking for vessels to enter the Strait this week and load crude oil?at Iraq’s Basrah Oil Terminal. They were attracted by steep discounts. They said that no ships have been repaired yet because shipowners were hesitant to enter the waterway. Reporting by Nidhi verma and Jonathan Saul, Editing by Kirby Donovan
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Putin opens the way for the state to sell 30% of its stake in Moscow's largest airport
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has approved the sale of the 30.4% government stake in the Sheremetyevo airport, the largest airport in Moscow, at a moment when Russia seeks to?restore its war-depleted finances. Putin signed a decree Thursday removing Sheremetyevo's name from the list of official strategic enterprises. The state will still retain a "golden share" that allows it to block management decisions. The decree prohibits the sale of a stake to foreign investors and requires that the purchaser continue with 'the core business' and modernisation. The four-and-ahalf years of conflict in Ukraine have put a strain on the state budget for Russia. According to data published in the last month, its federal deficit may exceed official plans by over 1?trillion (or $12.85 billion) roubles in 2026. In the first half of this year, the deficit was 6.73 trillion roubles (69.6 billion dollars), or 2.5%, which is 1.7 times more than the same period in 2025. The Russian Sheremetyevo Holding owns 66 percent of the airport. Its ultimate owners have not been revealed. It was owned by Arkady Rotenberg, Putin's friend and Rotenberg's associates before it redomiciled from Cyprus in 2022. Sheremetyevo Airport is the largest airport in Russia. It owns and operates terminals that can handle up to 87 million passengers per year. In 2025, the actual number of passengers was 43.5 million. Airports continue to be profitable despite Western sanctions and flight restriction. This is due to the growth of?traffic to domestic routes, and "friendly" countries like Turkey, Egypt, and Vietnam. Sheremetyevo purchased 100% of Domodedovo Airport, another major Moscow airport, at an auction in January for 66 billion rubles. Domodedovo has an annual passenger traffic of 15 million. Reporting by Gleb Stolarova; editing by Mark Trevelyan. $1 = 82.3000 Roubles
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Taiwan's annual war games sees Taiwan scramble French-made jets for rapid turnaround drills
Taiwan's Mirage fighters, made in France, were scrambled on Friday during an annual war game to show how they could be quickly re-armed and sent back into the sky during a conflict with China. The Han Kuang exercise began in Taiwan on Wednesday. The drills, which last 10 days, are aimed at assessing Taiwan's readiness to fight a possible attack by China. China regards Taiwan as its territory and has promised to take it back, if necessary, with force. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty. The crew of a Mirage fighter towed Magic II and MICA, both French-made, to an airbase in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan. Air force officer Yang Shang-ru said the "loading-and-mounting" mission was a very important ?part of combat operations. He said that after an aircraft has completed its mission, the control tower relays the information about the fuel and ammunition used by the aircraft to the ground crew. We complete all the preparations and stay on standby. We quickly re-arm and service the aircraft once it taxis back so that they can "quickly return in an emergency to the air to carry out combat mission." France, which provided the Mirages and other weapons to Taiwan in the 1990s, continues to provide technical support. RUNWAY REPAIRS The air force demonstrated how to repair bomb and missile damages on runways and taxiways by first filling the crater in with stones and sand, and then covering it up with a fibreglass floor mat. Lin Chih Hsuan, a second air force officer, stated that the goal is to repair such craters within four hours in wartime and use civilian contractors for help. He said, "This shows the ability of the Air Force to quickly restore runway operational capability." The Hsinchu Air Base was a Japanese air force base that was bombed during World War II by the U.S. During the Cold War, it was home to the Black 'Bat Squadron which flew high risk spy missions over China with the CIA. China's Air Force flies almost daily in the skies around Taiwan as part of Beijing’s ongoing pressure campaign. Taiwanese fighters scramble regularly to warn and shadow them away. On Friday morning, the army had deployed to a part of Taiwan's?international airport in Taoyuan to simulate defending a major artery that connects the island to the outside world. During the drills, the Taiwanese military spreads out all over the island. BRIDGE DIVING DRILLS Late Thursday night, troops practiced defending an important bridge that could allow Chinese forces to'shortcut' the capital Taipei. The Danjiang Bridge?opened in early this year - crosses the Tamsui River entrance, which leads to Taipei. Soldiers built barbed-wire defences, sandbag positions and barriers during the late-night exercise on the world's largest single-mast cable-stayed bridge. (Reporting and editing by Ben Blanchard, with additional reporting by Yimou Lee in New Taipei, Fabian Hamacher and Tsai Hsin-Han from Taoyuan and Yimou Lee in New Taipei; and Tsai Hsin-Han and Yimou Lee in Taoyuan.
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Wall Street Journal, August 7,
These are the?top stories from?the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has not verified these'stories' and cannot vouch for the accuracy of their content. Nielsen Holdings has agreed to purchase DoubleVerify for an enterprise value of approximately $2.15 billion. EasyJet, a British budget airline, has agreed to Apollo Global Management's takeover offer of 5.7 billion pounds ($7.68billion). ConocoPhillips' Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Lance, is retiring and will be succeeded by Andy O'Brien, Chief Financial Officer. Suncor Energy has named Peter Zebedee its new chief executive. Troy Little, the Chief Financial Officer of Suncor Energy, is no longer with the company. The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered that Boeing 737 Max jets be inspected for cracks in a component which could affect the structural integrity of the planes. A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay?more than $900 million? after a jury found that the company had failed to protect youth. (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)
Sources say that drone attacks have reduced the oil loadings at CPC by about a fifth in July.
Four sources with knowledge of the data claim that drone attacks in the Black Sea wiped out a fifth or more of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) oil loads in July, as the Russia/Ukraine conflict spilled over and affected?Kazakhstan, as well as western oil majors.
Sources said that CPC loadings were more than 20% behind schedule in July, at 1.2 to 1.3 millions barrels per day after drone attacks near Black Sea export terminal disrupted supply.
CPC, the pipeline that transports crude oil from Kazakhstan to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk accounts for around 1.8% of world oil supply. This disruption has increased supply concerns, at a time that markets are already focused primarily on the risks associated with the Middle East conflict. The CPC terminal has been experiencing frequent interruptions since mid-July. Two sources reported that oil loadings were again suspended on Friday morning, after briefly resumed on Thursday.
CPC Blend crude exports are still below July's reduced level, according to data from Kpler, an analytics firm, and two other sources.
Sources claim that Kazakhstan's oil production dropped by 14% in July compared to June. Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other major Western oil companies are active in Kazakhstan. The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that Ukrainian forces attacked oil tanks during loading operations at the CPC terminal and accused Kyiv for trying to destabilise oil markets worldwide. Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, but Ukraine has neither claimed responsibility nor commented on the drone attacks on facilities that handle primarily Kazakh crude.
CPC refused to comment on July and August loadings.
The government has not made any public comments about the latest disruption. Kazakhstan has few alternative routes to replace CPC volumes, which are typically between 1.5 and 1.7 million barrels per day. This makes the pipeline crucial for the country's revenue from oil and its oil sector.
(source: Reuters)