After lock repairs, the Mosel River in Germany is now open to shipping

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• After lock repairs, the Mosel River in Germany is now open to shipping

  Navigation authorities announced that the Mosel River in West Germany was reopened for cargo shipping following repairs of a damaged lock. The repairs were completed quicker than expected. In December, after an accident that damaged a lock in Mueden, south of Koblenz, the river was closed for inland waterways traffic. WSA, the inland navigation agency, reported that new lock gates had been installed. The river has now reopened for commercial shipping. Repairs were initially expected to continue until the end March. The river was closed for 55 days. Euronext, the trading platform, said that it would suspend physical deliveries to river ports in east France for the February contract due to the blocking of the Mosel. (Reporting by Michael Hogan, Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

• Greece issues a warning about Santorini earthquake activity

  After increased seismic activity, Greek authorities on the Aegean Island of Santorini have advised residents to close schools on Monday. They also advise people not to gather in enclosed spaces and avoid two small ports. The civil protection ministry announced in a Saturday afternoon statement that a series of tremors of up to a magnitude of 4.3 were recorded on Friday and on Saturday between the volcanic islands of Santorini, and Amorgos. According to the ministry, the activity is not related to volcanic activity. It has also receded. However, experts have proposed precautionary measures such as the closure of schools on February 3. The ministry also warned people not to enter or stay in the small port Ammoudi, and Fira harbour which is mainly used by cruise ships. According to the Athens Geodynamic Institute, Sunday morning there were a series of earthquakes measuring between 2.8-4.5, but no damage was caused. Greece is located on several fault lines, and earthquakes are common. Santorini, Greece's most popular tourist destination. Around 1600 BC, one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history shaped the island into its present shape. The last eruption that occurred in the area was in 1950.

• Norway Releases Ship Suspected of Baltic Sea Cable Damage

  Police in Norway said that a Norwegian cargo ship, with a crew made up entirely of Russians, suspected of damaging a Baltic Sea Telecoms Cable has been released after authorities found no connection to the incident. Tromsoe police, in northern Norway, said that the Silver Dania had been seized on the request of Latvian officials and with the assistance of the Norwegian coast guard. "The investigation is continuing, but there's no reason why the ship should remain in Tromsoe." The police stated that no evidence has been found to link the ship with the act of damaging the cable. Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reports that Silver Sea Shipping Group, owner of the Silver Dania, denies involvement in the incident. Sweden and Latvia have launched an investigation into the Sunday suspected sabotage of the cable connecting the two countries. The Swedish police boarded and seized the Maltese flagged cargo ship Vezhen, on suspicion that it was the cause of the damage. The Bulgarian operator of Vezhen, the head of that company, admitted on Monday they may have hit the cable with their anchor, but denied malicious intent. Mats Ljungqvist said that the Swedish prosecutor who is handling the investigation dismissed the Norwegian ship's involvement on Friday. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic Sea region has been on high alert. This is because there have been a series of power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines outages. NATO recently increased its presence by adding aircraft, frigates and naval drones.

• Spanish port traffic surges due to Red Sea crisis

  In 2024, the volume of goods passing through Spanish ports increased by 6% after many companies chose to send their goods south of Africa in order to avoid attacks by Houthi militias on ships in the Red Sea. The state port agency reported on Friday that Las Palmas, Canary Islands, and Barcelona both saw a 13% and 10% increase in volume of goods, liquid bulks, and dry bulks respectively. The agency said that Spanish ports had adapted to the situation, which has led to some peak times of extra activity. It added that it expects higher port traffic as long as the Red Sea remains unstable. Yemen's Houthis launched more than 100 attacks against ships in November 2023. They sank two vessels and seized another, claiming to be in solidarity with Palestinians living in Gaza. Following a Gaza ceasefire agreement, the Houthis announced last week that they would stop attacking vessels owned or operated by U.S. and British companies. They will instead limit their attacks to commercial ships with ties to Israel. Transport companies, however, have stated that the risks are still too high for them to re-use the Red Sea route. Emily Stausboll is a senior shipping expert at Xeneta. She said that carriers will want to know if there are any long-term plans for safe passage in the Red Sea before they return. This would help them avoid further disruptions if conditions worsen and they have to once again divert around Cape of Good Hope. According to the agency, container traffic through Spain's port increased by 11% in 2018. Spanish ports also saw an increase in vessel bunkering in preparation for longer routes. The ports will see a drop of 4.5% in 2023 for container traffic. Two executives from the fashion industry in Spain claim that some Spanish retailers have increased their air shipping to Europe to meet the demand. This is due to the two-week delay required to ship goods via Southern Africa to Europe. Corina Pons is the reporter. (Editing by Charlie Devereux, Mark Potter and Mark Potter.)

• Suez Canal Authority: Red Sea stability is returning

  Osama Rabi, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told AP Moller Maersk that there were signs that stability was returning to the Red Sea and urged them to consider this when planning their sea routes. Rabie's comments were made at a meeting between the CEO of a Danish container shipping company and other senior executives. However, the statement did not specify when this meeting was held. Rabie said, "We will take into consideration the positive indicators in the Red Sea Region when planning our maritime schedules for the next period." A number of major shipping companies around the world have suspended Red Sea voyages, and rerouted their vessels to southern Africa in order to avoid possible attacks by Yemen's Houthis. In December, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stated that the disruption would cost Egypt $7 billion in revenue from the Suez Canal by 2024. Maersk announced last week that it will continue to divert ships away from the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the southern tip of Africa in spite of the Houthis' announcements they would reduce their attacks on vessels. Since November 2023, the Houthis of Iran have launched more than 100 attacks against ships. They have sunk or seized two vessels and killed four seafarers. Reporting by Yusri Mohammed. Jana Choukeir wrote the article. Mark Potter (Editing)

• Financial Times - Jan 31

  These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines -The European Union is debating the return of Russian gas in Ukraine as part of peace deal Shell boss says he will take the Jackdaw Gasfield case to Britain's highest Court Norwegian government falls over EU energy dispute British regulators proposes to ease Royal Mail obligations View the full article European officials are debating if Russian pipeline gas sales should be restarted to the European Union as part of an eventual settlement to end the conflict against Ukraine. Shell boss Wael sawan has said that he will fight to the British Supreme Court for permission to develop Jackdaw's North Sea gasfield, after a court had revoked the project. A dispute over European Union policies on energy has led to the fall of Norway's government coalition, just as U.S. president Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs or take over Greenland was set to reignite the debate about Oslo joining the EU. The British postal regulator proposed to ease the Royal Mail's duties, allowing it to make fewer delivery as the group prepares itself for a new ownership under Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

• Atlantic Shores Reaffirms Commitment to New Jersey Offshore Wind Despite Shell's Write-off

  Atlantic Shores is a joint venture between Shell Plc, France's EDF and the State of New Jersey. It reiterated on Thursday its commitment to deliver New Jersey's 1st offshore wind project, despite Shell’s recent $1 billion write off related to this venture. Shell's fourth quarter earnings included $2.2 Billion in impairments. Part of this was a $1 Billion write-off on Atlantic Shores. Chief Financial Officer Sinead GORMAN stated that the project didn't align with the company’s capabilities or goals. Shell now wants to monetize the stake. Atlantic Shores submitted a proposal to New Jersey in July of last year as part the Fourth Offshore Wind Solicitation. Atlantic Shores, in response to Shell's write off, affirmed its commitment to moving forward with the project. The company stressed its compliance with existing leases and permit obligations with local, state, and federal partners, according to a statement. The company said that "business plans, portfolio projections and scopes change over time. As is expected with large capital-intensive projects such as ours, shareholders have always developed long-term strategies which consider multiple scenarios to enable Atlantic Shores reach its full potential." According to the U.S. Interior Department, Atlantic Shores South is expected to generate electricity up to 2,800 Megawatts, which would be enough to power about 1 million homes. Interior Department. The offshore wind industry has been faced with significant economic challenges. These include soaring material costs, high interest rate and supply-chain delays. Several major developers including Orsted Equinor BP Avangrid Shell have canceled power contracts or attempted to renegotiate them for planned U.S. Wind Farms with start dates expected between 2025-2028. Offshore wind is still a target as the new U.S. president Donald Trump will follow through with his promise to stop such projects. This creates ongoing uncertainty for this industry. Reporting by Sherin Varghese, Bengaluru. Editing by Matthew Lewis

• Marianne Faithfull dies at 78, the voice of Britain's Swinging '60s

  Marianne Faithfull died at the age of 78. She was the wild woman from London's Swinging 1960s. She survived drug addiction, homelessness and two comas. She also battled cancer and COVID-19. Her singing career began when she was a teenager, and lasted into her 70s. In a Thursday statement, her spokesperson stated: "It's with great sadness that we report the death of Marianne Faithfull, singer, songwriter and actor." "Marianne died peacefully today in London, in the presence of her loving family." She will be missed dearly." Faithfull, the convent-educated child of a World War Two British Intelligence officer, was a front row seat to the drug, alcohol, and sexual excess that characterized the early days of rock music. The slow, haunting tone of her first hit "As Tears Go By" in 1964 presaged a darker side of the British pop music that had won hearts all over the world thanks to the breezy tunes by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Faithfull, the ex-girlfriend of Mick Jagger became addicted to heroin after the relationship ended. She suffered from anorexia and spent two years on the streets in London's Soho area. Faithfull never gave up, no matter how bad she fell. She has released 21 solo albums including "Broken English", which was critically acclaimed in 1979 and earned her a Grammy nod. She also wrote three autobiographies, had a career as a film actor, and published 21 books. In 2020, she made a comeback after contracting COVID-19 during the early days. She went into a 3-week coma in a London hospital. Nicholas, her son, told her that the medical staff was so certain she wouldn't recover that they had written a note at the foot of her bed saying "Palliative Care Only." "They thought I would croak!" Faithfull spoke to the New York Times April 2021. She recovered and finished her album within a year: "She Walks in Beauty," which was a collection Romantic poems that she read and then set to music. She complained later of symptoms such as fatigue, breathing difficulties and a lack of memory. In June 2021, she had to cut off a podcast interview due to these symptoms. According to media reports, Faithfull moved into Denville Hall in March 2022. This retirement home is located in London and houses professional actors. Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull, born in London on December 29, 1946 to a British intelligence agent who interrogated prisoner of war. Her mother was a close relative of the Austrian aristocracy. She was sent to a Roman Catholic convent school at the age of seven, but she still had a rebellious spirit. In her book "Faithful: An Autobiography" published in 1994, she said, "Eversince my days at convent, my secret heroes have been decadents and aesthetes. They are doomed Romantics. They are mad Bohemians. And they eat opium." Faithfull spent her formative years in swinging London during the mid-1960s, when she was an aspiring folk singer. She married at 18 and had a child, but she attended a party which changed her life. She met Rolling Stones Manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who launched her music career. He also brought her to the inner circle of the band. She left her artist husband John Dunbar in 1966 and began a relationship Jagger. Together, they formed the "It couple" of London's vibrant psychedelic music scene. Faithfull sang backing vocals on the Beatles' single "Yellow Submarine." She also inspired the Stones for "Sympathy for the Devil." Her fame was largely due to her drug and alcohol-fuelled antics with rock's bad boys. In 1968, she and Jagger were both arrested for cannabis possession. Her most famous caper may have been when she was found wrapped in a rug made of bearskin by police during a raid on Keith Richards' home. Faithfull was forever immortalized for the incident, but later revealed that she did not take part in an orgy as reported in British tabloids. Faithfull claimed that she had just taken a shower when the police came into the house. She grabbed a rug to cover herself up. She claimed that the double standard for women meant she was slandered, while the arrests helped to boost Jagger's and Richards' image as rock outlaws. Faithfull took issue with Jagger's portrayal of her as a mere artistic muse. "It is a horrible job." You don't have any male muses do you? What do you have in mind? "No," she replied in 2021. Faithfull's glamorous life faded fast as the 1960s ended. She spent two years on the streets in London, anorexic and addicted to heroin after she and Jagger separated in 1970. She found a positive in the chaos. "For me, I found being a drug addict to be an admirable lifestyle. The anonymity was something I had not experienced since I was 17 years old. In London, as a street addict, I found it. In her autobiography, she said: "I had no phone and no address." She described the experience as "meat for the mill" for her gritty album, "Broken English," that she called her masterpiece. Faithfull was grateful for the opportunity to learn from the greats, such as Jagger, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon, despite the personal costs, which included an overdose in Australia in 1969, that left her in a state of coma. She was planning to go to Oxford University and study comparative religion, philosophy, literature but ended up getting a different kind of education. "You know, I did not go to Oxford. But I went to Olympic Studios to watch the Rolling Stones and the Beatles record. I observed the best artists at work and I learned a lot from them. I also watched how Mick worked. She told The Guardian that she learned a great deal from him and will be forever grateful. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft; Alistair Bell)

• Marianne Faithfull died at the age of 78, an English singer and actress.

  British media reported that Marianne Faithfull died on Thursday at the age of 78. She had a long and successful singing career, which began when she was a teenager. The BBC reported that her spokesperson said, "It's with great sadness that we announce Marianne Faithfull's death." "Marianne died peacefully today in London, surrounded by her loving family." She will be missed dearly." Faithfull, the convent-educated child of a World War Two British Intelligence officer, was a front row seat to the drug, alcohol, and sexual excess that characterized the early days of rock music. The slow, haunting tone of her first hit "As Tears Go By" in 1964 presaged a darker side to British pop music that had been winning over hearts all around the globe with the breezy, early tunes by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Faithfull, the former girlfriend of Mick Jagger fell victim to heroin addiction and anorexia after the relationship ended. She spent two years on the streets in London's Soho area, early 1970s. Faithfull never gave up, no matter how bad she fell. She has released 21 solo albums including "Broken English", which was critically acclaimed in 1979 and earned her a Grammy nod. She also wrote three autobiographies, had a career as a film actor, and published 21 books. In 2020, she made a comeback after contracting COVID-19 during the early days. She fell into a 3-week coma in a London hospital. Nicholas, her son, told her that the medical staff was so certain she wouldn't recover that they had written a note on the chart under her bed saying "Palliative Care Only." "They thought I would croak!" Faithfull spoke to the New York Times about April 2021. She recovered and finished her album within a year: "She Walks in Beauty", a collection Romantic poems that she read and put to music. She complained later of symptoms such as fatigue, breathing difficulties and a lack of memory. In June 2021, she had to cut short an interview for a podcast. According to media reports, Faithfull moved into Denville Hall in March 2022. This retirement home is located in London and houses professional actors. Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull, born in London on December 29, 1946 to a British Intelligence officer who interrogated POWs. Her mother was related to Austrian royalty. She was sent to a Roman Catholic convent school at the age of 7, but she still had a rebellious spirit. In her book "Faithful: An Autobiography" published in 1994, she said, "Eversince my days at convent, my secret heroes have been decadents and aesthetes. They are doomed Romantics. They are mad Bohemians. And they eat opium." Faithfull spent her formative years in swinging London during the mid-1960s, when she was an aspiring folk singer. She married at 18 and had a child, but she attended a party which changed her life. She met Rolling Stones Manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who launched her music career. He also brought her to the inner circle of the band. She left her artist husband John Dunbar in 1966 and began a relationship Jagger. Together, they formed the "It couple" of London's vibrant psychedelic music scene. Faithfull sang backing vocals on the Beatles' single "Yellow Submarine." She also inspired the Stones for "Sympathy for the Devil." Her fame was largely due to her drug and alcohol-fueled antics, which she shared with rock's bad boys. In 1968, she and Jagger were both arrested for cannabis possession. Her most famous caper may have been when she was found wrapped in a rug made of bearskin by police during a raid on Keith Richards' home. Faithfull was forever immortalized for the incident, but later revealed that she did not take part in an orgy as reported in British tabloids. Faithfull claimed that she had just taken a shower when the police came into the house. She grabbed a rug to cover herself up. She claimed that the double standard for women meant she was slandered, while the arrests boosted the image of Jagger as a rock outlaw. Faithfull took issue with Jagger's portrayal of her as a mere artistic muse. "It is a horrible job." You don't have any male muses do you? What do you have in mind? "No," she replied in 2021. Faithfull's glamorous life faded fast as the 1960s ended. She spent two years on the streets in London, anorexic and addicted to heroin after she and Jagger separated in 1970. She found a positive in the chaos. "Being a drug addict was an admirable lifestyle for me." The anonymity was something I had not experienced since I was 17 years old. In London, as a street addict, I found it. In her autobiography, she said: "I had no phone and no address." She described the experience as "meat for the mill" for her gritty album, "Broken English," that she called her masterpiece. Faithfull was grateful for the opportunity to learn from the greats, such as Jagger, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon, despite the personal costs, which included an overdose in Australia in 1969, that left her in a state of coma. She was planning to go to Oxford University and study comparative religion, philosophy, literature but ended up getting a different kind of education. "You know, I did not go to Oxford. But I went to Olympic Studios to watch the Rolling Stones and the Beatles record. I observed the best artists at work and I learned a lot from them. I also watched how Mick worked. She told The Guardian that she learned a great deal from him and will be forever grateful. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft; Alistair Bell)

• Norway Finance Minister Resigns In Exodus Of Eurosceptics

  Trygve Slagsvold-Vedum, Norway's Finance minister, said that his eurosceptic Centre Party and he would resign as a result of a disagreement between the Labour Party and him over the adoption by EU energy policies. Centre Party, which has been in power since 2021 and holds eight of the 20 seats in the Norwegian cabinet, including Finance Minister, Defence minister, and ministers of justice and security, and Labour holds the other 12 positions. Labour, who has stated that Norway must maintain good relationships with the EU due to the threat of a trading war between Europe an the United States, can now govern alone as a minority until the September elections. Ministers of the government have stated that Labour wants Norway, an EU member state outside the EU, to adopt union directives regarding renewable energy consumption, energy performance in buildings and increased energy efficiency. The Centre Party has opposed all three directives because it believes they will undermine Norwegian autonomy. It has also maintained for years that Norway, a power and gas exporter, should seek to take back control of regulation from the EU. Vedum said at a press briefing that "the conclusion for us is the Centre Party doesn't want to be a part of this" development. In opinion polls, Norway's centre-left two-party minority government trails right-wing parties ahead of parliamentary elections in the fall. (Reporting and editing by GwladysFouche, Terje Solsvik)

• UPS projections weak 2025 earnings as it pares Amazon exposure, shares fall

  United Parcel Service on Thursday anticipated 2025 income below expectations as the parcel delivery huge works to lower direct exposure to its largest consumer, Amazon, and as other consumers go with more affordable, slower groundbased deliveries. UPS' shares fell 5% before the bell after the company said it had reached a contract with Amazon-- without naming the firm however referring to it as its largest consumer-- to cut volumes it transports with UPS by more than 50% by the 2nd half of next year. The move comes as Amazon has also been reducing its reliance on UPS as the e-commerce company continues to expand its own shipment network. UPS forecast 2025 revenue of $89 billion, compared with the average expert price quote of $94.88 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. It likewise anticipate full-year revenue of $89 billion, compared with quotes of $94.88 billion. UPS and competing FedEx have actually been cutting costs given that customers switched to slower, less expensive deliveries in the wake of the early pandemic's e-commerce boom. Atlanta-based UPS also anticipated full-year combined running margin at 10.8%, a boost from the 9.8% it reported for 2024. The business reported fourth-quarter profits of $25.3. billion, missing out on price quotes of $25.42 billion. UPS reported an adjusted revenue of $2.75 per share for the. quarter ended Dec. 31, beating price quotes of $2.53 per share.

• Morning Bid AMERICAS - Megacaps mixed with Fed pause; ECB cuts and GDP next

  Mike Dolan gives us a look at what the U.S. market and global markets will be like today. With Federal Reserve policy likely to be paused until next year and megacaps delivering mixed results, overnight stock markets were calm as they shifted their attention towards European interest rates and an assessment of U.S. GDP for the fourth quarter. Microsoft's and Meta's quarterly results after the bell Wednesday attracted different reactions. China's DeepSeek disclosure this week has thrown the artificial intelligence topic into flux more generally. Microsoft shares fell 4% overnight due to their heavy AI spending, which was defended by the respective CEOs. Meta, however, jumped 4%. The cloud business outlook of the former was a concern for traders, but Meta's performance was taken at face value. Tesla's stock rose 4% in the meantime as it appeared that plans to release cheaper models next year had offset a disappointing earnings report. Apple and Intel topped another busy earnings report on Thursday. Before Thursday's opening, index futures were up to a half-percent higher. This was despite the Fed's decision on Wednesday to hold rates while it assessed the impact of Washington's new policies. Jerome Powell, the Fed's Chairperson, said that the Fed is not "hurried" to change its "well-positioned" position even though President Donald Trump blasted the central bank as doing a terrible job in tackling inflation and claimed it was spending too much time on climate change and diversity. Fed futures are largely unchanged. They price in another cut for mid-year. There is only a 20% probability of an earlier March move and two cuts in total in 2025. Treasury yields, however, have fallen since the decision. This is partly due to signs that the economy weakened in the last quarter of 2014 and the fact that interest rates fell elsewhere. Bank of Canada reduced its policy rate by another quarter-point on Wednesday. The Bank cited in part Trump's tariffs as a threat to the economy. It is widely expected that the European Central Bank will slash another 25 basis points from its key interest rate on Thursday. TRADE DEFICIT As traders awaited Thursday's release of U.S. gross domestic product figures for the fourth quarter, the news on Wednesday of a dramatic increase in the international trade deficit re-calibrated some estimates about how fast growth will be this year. The U.S. trade deficit in goods reached a new record in December. This prompted the Atlanta Fed’s closely watched "GDPNow” model to recalibrate its estimate to 2.3% from an earlier estimate of 3.2%. Prior to the release of the trade report, the GDP growth forecasts were based on a rate of 2.6% annualized for the third quarter. This was down from the 3.1% pace during the period July-September. The economy will have grown by 2.8% for the entire year, just shy of the 2.9% growth rate recorded in 2023. The yields on ten-year Treasury bonds fell to near the lows of the year, around 4.5%. This was helped by the fact that U.S. crude prices have fallen to their lowest level since January 2, with crude falling as much as 7.0% year-on year for the first month. The dollar index remained steady while the euro dipped slightly before the anticipated ECB rate reduction. The ECB has every reason to continue easing its policy despite the disappointing German and French GDP figures for Q4. Germany's economy shrank more than expected during the fourth quarter of 2013. Europe's largest economy is struggling with trade concerns and uncertainty ahead of federal elections next month. The GDP dropped by 0.2% compared to the previous three months in the fourth quarter. France also contracted unexpectedly, amid budget and political impasses. Italy stagnated as well, leaving Spain the only big country in the Eurozone with a positive Q4 growth rate. The reports contained a sliver optimism from a rise in the economic sentiment of the euro zone in January. Also, thanks to ECB easing measures, stocks in the euro zone rose another 0.5% Thursday. This was despite some major European companies suffering losses on earnings days. Deutsche Bank dropped 6% following a larger-than-expected decline in profits for the fourth quarter and full year 2024. STMicroelectronics, one of Europe’s largest chipmakers fell 8% after a bad forecast for the first three months. Trade worries are high, and the possibility of Trump's first tariffs being implemented as early as next week is still very real - even if officials have indicated that they will continue to review the situation until April 1 despite expressing optimism about a possible deal. Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, said Canada and Mexico could avoid Trump's threatened 25 percent U.S. tariffs on imports if both countries act quickly to stop allowing illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the United States. He said: "And from what I can tell, they're acting quickly, and if the execute, there won't be any tariff." The following developments should give U.S. stock markets more direction on Thursday: