Latest News
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Colombia's Petro names the interior minister as the energy minister leaves in a reshuffle
Sources within the office of President Gustavo Petro confirmed on Tuesday that Armando Benedetto has been named as Colombia's new Interior Minister. This confirms his place in the inner circle of the leftist despite scandals surrounding the former lawmaker and opposition from other members in the cabinet. Andres Camacho, the Energy Minister, said on X Tuesday in a posting that Petro had accepted his resignation as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Camacho thanked President Macron and praised the progress made in renewable energy production. Petro requested that all of his ministers submit their resignations in early April, following a tense cabinet meeting televised during which several high-ranking officials objected Benedetti’s presence as Petro’s then-head-of-office and Laura Sarabia’s appointment as Foreign Minister. Benedetti replaces Juan Fernando Cristo who, along with outgoing Environment Ministry Susana Muhamad, resigned. Petro has changed at least seven members of his cabinet, including the defense minister. Muhamad stated during the meeting on television that she was against the appointment of Benedetti as cabinet member due to allegations of violence towards women and influence-peddling. Benedetti has denied all wrongdoing. Benedetti and Sarabia were briefly forced out of government in 2023 after a probe was launched into the disappearance of money and illegal phone interceptions. Benedetti's role will be to help Petro push through various complex reforms, including the beleaguered healthcare system. Petro has yet to name a successor for Camacho. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb & Marguerita Choy
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Sources say that Zelenskiy will travel to the US to meet Trump to discuss a mineral deal.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday to meet U.S. president Donald Trump. This follows an agreement between officials on terms of a draft mineral deal. The White House declined to comment. The mineral deal is central to Kyiv’s efforts to win U.S. backing as Trump seeks a rapid end to the war with Russia. Trump and Zelenskiy had a heated exchange of words last week. Trump called Zelenskiy a unpopular "dictator", who had to make a quick deal with the Ukrainian government or risk losing his country. The Ukrainian leader responded that the U.S. President was in a "disinformation" bubble. According to a source who asked for anonymity in order to discuss sensitive issues, the White House was the one that proposed the visit. Source: Both sides have approved the draft and instructed that it be signed. Trump is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for Washington's support. A source with knowledge of the situation said that Zelenskiy could meet Capitol Hill lawmakers, but the exact schedule was not yet finalized. Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Erin Banco and David Gregorio; editing by David Gregorio
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Wall Street US yields fall amid uncertainty about Trump and growth; euro gains
The major Wall Street indexes fell on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq hit a six-week low as Treasury yields plunged amid signs of a slowing U.S. economy and uncertainty about Trump administration policies. The euro strengthened after the German election results, while European shares fell. Worries about U.S. Tariffs caused oil prices to fall by 3%. The market was tense after Wednesday's market closure due to Nvidia’s fourth-quarter results. The release of the Personal Consumption Spending Price Index on Friday, which is monitored by the Federal Reserve to help control inflation, also dominated market attention. By 2:39 pm, the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 225.96, or 1.17 percent, and the S&P 500 was down 22.15, or 0.37 percent, at 5,961.19, while S&P 500 dropped 22.15, or 0.37% to 5,961.19, ET (1939 GMT). Investors were temporarily rattled by the order of U.S. president Donald Trump to restrict Chinese investment in strategic U.S. industries such as chipsets, AI and aerospace. Investors are constantly looking for the smallest of differences to identify investable catalysts. In a recent note, Nicholas Colas said that this phenomenon is favoring non-US stocks. U.S. Single-family House Prices Increased in December The housing market is growing, but the cost of mortgages has increased. The mood was exacerbated by a weak reading on consumer confidence in the United States. Will Campernolle, FHN Financial's macro strategist, said Tuesday that "bearish growth sentiment" - perhaps from Friday's poor PMIs or geopolitical concerns - will linger until investors are convinced otherwise. He said that the Treasury coupon auctions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday would test the strength of the rally. This will be the case at least until Friday's PCE inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 150.19 points or 0.35% to 43,611.40. The 10-year yield fell 8.3 basis point to 4.31%, while the yield on the 2-year notes, which moves typically in line with expectations of interest rates for the Fed's, dropped 6.4 basis points. Shares of European companies The market closed down 0.2% Tuesday after gains by banks and healthcare companies off-set declines by technology stocks. Dollar index was impacted by the soft U.S. data, which measures greenbacks against a basket currencies. Due to its high tariff risk, the euro is among the worst performing major currencies against dollars. Trump's proposed duties on U.S. imported goods could push up inflation in the United States, and his mass firings from government positions could have an impact on the labor market just as the Federal Reserve is looking to reduce interest rates. The tension between the U.S., Europe and Russia has also increased over Ukraine. How to broker a ceasefire with Russia three years after Moscow invaded its neighbor is a major issue. Chris Beauchamp is the chief strategist of IG. He says that the market sentiment has been fragile, but volatility has been minimal. He said: "This is in stark contrast to recent years, when crises seemed to occur one at a moment and you could deal with them as they happened. Now, it seems like 'everything', everywhere at once," REASONS TO BE OPTIMISTIC? CBOE’s VIX volatility indicator rose to its highest level in a week on Tuesday. However, it has not yet reached the highs of late January. Beauchamp says there are many reasons to be hopeful. If you look at the earnings season, everything has gone well. The headlines, and signs of fracture between Europe, and the U.S., don't directly impact... stocks but they make sentiment more frantic. While negative surprises have increased in the U.S. economy this month. This is due to unwelcome increases in consumer inflation expectations, and most recently a decline in business activity. The futures markets shows that traders now expect the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points in this year. This is up from 40 basis points a week earlier. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that U.S. economic indicators are misleading. He cited interest rate volatility and inflation, as well as job growth in the government sector. Investors have been questioning whether China's low cost AI model, DeepSeek, is worth the huge investment. A lot will depend on Nvidia’s fourth-quarter results. Chinese retail investors have been pouring money into AI-related stocks on the local market in the last month. This has sent the Hong Kong equity index up to a three-year-high. U.S. crude oil fell by 2.42%, to $68.99 per barrel. Brent oil futures fell 2.29% to $75.07 per barrel after hitting a record high $2,956.15 per barrel on Monday. Gold fell to its lowest point in more than a week. Spot gold fell 1.42%, to $2.909.22 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures closed 1.5% lower, at $2.918.80. Bitcoin pared losses after falling to below $87,000 as traders processed last week's hacking of $1.5 billion in ether from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
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Saipem, an Italian company, reinstates its dividend before merging with Subsea 7.
Italian energy contractor Saipem has announced that it will resume dividend payments after a 4-year hiatus. The group announced that it would pay out 333 million Euros ($350 million) as dividends in this year. The group expects to pay another $300 million by 2026. The company also pledged to reduce its gross debt by 650 million euro by paying all maturities due between 2025 and 27 to raise its credit rating. The merger of Saipem and Subsea 7, announced at the weekend, creates a global leader in offshore energy services. Saipem has published its results for the past year and updated strategy. This does not include the merger that is expected to be completed in the second half 2026. Saipem's goal is to offer a project management consultancy in the period 2025-2028 and to be more selective when it comes to onshore engineering and building contracts, to increase margins and to reduce risk. The company plans to generate revenues of 15 billion euro and earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation, and amortization of 1.6 billion euro this year. Saipem finished 2024 with record orders, increasing its backlog from 34 billion euros to a new high. The adjusted EBITDA increased by 44% on a year-on-year basis to 1.3 billion euro. In a press release, it stated that "Saipem’s performance in 2020 confirms... the trajectory for growth and margin recovery." In 2022, the group, which counts energy company Eni and Italian state banker CDP as its key investors, had to sell assets and raise 2 billion euro to fill a hole on its balance sheet for 2021 due to cost overruns in several contracts. Since then, it has restructured its operations under a newly appointed management team. It is now on track to return to a full-year profit by 2023.
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 50 people have died from two clusters of unknown illnesses
The World Health Organization reported on Tuesday that more than 50 deaths have occurred in the past two weeks, in two clusters of illnesses with an unknown cause in the northwest Democratic Republic of Congo. In a WHO bulletin, it was reported that as of 16 February there were 431 cases in two separate outbreaks in remote villages located in different health zones within the province of Equateur. The country is about the same size as Western Europe. "The outbreaks pose a serious public health risk. Cases have risen rapidly in a matter of days." Tarik Jasarevic, WHO spokesperson told a press briefing on Monday that the exact cause is still unknown. He noted that the villages' surveillance and health infrastructure is limited. Out of 419 reported cases, 45 deaths were caused by the larger outbreak. It was first reported in Bomate village, Basankusu, Equateur, on 13th February. WHO reported that almost half of the 419 cases died within 48-hours after becoming ill. Symptoms included fever, pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. The WHO reported that 13 samples tested negative for Ebola or Marburg. However, local health teams are investigating other possible causes including malaria, food-poisoning, typhoid and other viral haemorrhagic diseases. WHO reported that on January 21 an earlier outbreak involving 12 cases and eight deaths was reported in Boloko Village, Bolomba Health Zone. The outbreak was traced to three deaths of children aged under five in the village that occurred earlier that month. The symptoms of fever, fatigue and haemorrhagic manifestations such as nosebleeds or vomiting blood were all present. According to reports, the children had consumed a dead bat prior to becoming ill. All of the other cases, which had similar symptoms, were also found in Dondo and the same village. The samples from the patients were all negative at the end of January. WHO has said that no link between the two clusters was established. We are investigating whether this is a new infection or if it's a toxic agent. "We have to determine what can be done, and when WHO can help," Jasarevic said. A malaria outbreak reported in Congo last December has been confirmed. Reporting by Jennifer Rigby, Olivia Le Poidevin and Richard Chang; editing by Richard Chang
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Eastern and Southern African blocs consider deployment in eastern Congo
According to a document that was seen on Tuesday, countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are considering the possibility of sending troops to secure eastern Democratic Republic of Congo areas now controlled by M23 rebels. EAC and SADC have called before for a ceasefire to be declared in the conflict in this mineral-rich area, where the Congo's Prime Minister said that 7,000 people had been killed since January. This document contains detailed recommendations for defence chiefs following a meeting with technical experts on the 23rd of February in Tanzania. Defence chiefs will prepare a report to be discussed at the weekend. The document states that the blocs may seek a mandate from the African Union to secure M23 controlled areas in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces. It also says that MONUSCO, the U.N. mission for peacekeeping in the region, could be asked to increase its presence. A source from the African Union said that it was a proposal, but they had not been notified yet. They added that any AU involvement would have to be approved by their Peace and Security Council. The Rwandan-backed rebellions have taken control of the two largest cities in the country, Goma, and Bukavu. They also captured the airports serving them, cutting off main aid routes to hundreds of thousand of displaced persons. Experts from the two blocs suggest that M23 be negotiated with to reopen routes and Goma Airport in order to improve humanitarian assistance and help repatriate and evacuate the wounded. Document stating that the SAMIDRC mission, which is the Southern African Block's mission in Congo, should be discussed with the parties to the conflict. Since the beginning of 2025, the 16-member Southern African Development Community has suffered losses. The SADC extended its mission to the Congo in late 2018 to assist the Congolese Army fight the rebels. Rwanda denies that it has provided arms and troops to M23. M23 is the latest of a series of rebel groups led by ethnic Tutsi in eastern Congo. It claims to be defending itself from the threat of a Hutu-led militia that it claims is fighting with the Congolese army.
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EIA: US coal-fired electricity retirements will double by 2025
The Energy Information Administration announced on Tuesday that U.S. power producers plan to retire about 8.1 gigawatts of coal-fired generation capacity in 2019. This would be roughly twice the amount retired in 2024. The EIA's analysis shows that coal retirements slowed to 4 GW last year, a dramatic decrease from the 9.8 GW annually retired over the past decade. Why it's important As a result, the country's electricity production from coal has fallen to 16%. Natural gas and renewable energy are now cheaper alternatives. Government goals based on climate change have led to a decline in coal-fired electricity, which emits significantly more carbon dioxide than other sources of electricity. In the U.S. however, where a third of all data centers in the world are located, utilities have become more efficient. Retirement is delayed As a wave of new, sprawling data centers connect to the grid, fossil-fuel powered power plants will be displaced. By the Numbers The EIA stated that by 2025 some of the largest coal-fired power plants in the United States will be shut down. These include the 1.8 GW Intermountain Power Project, J H Campbell, in Michigan, and Brandon Shores, in Maryland. Both have a capacity of 1.3 GW. This year, more than 12,3 GW in total power capacity will be retired. That's a 65 percent increase compared to 2024. The coal-fired power plants account for 66% and the natural gas, 21%. The majority of natural gas power plants that will be retired in the future use single turbines which are less efficient than combined cycle plants. RENEWABLES on the Rise The EIA expects that as fossil-fired power plants retire in 2025, 63 gigawatts will be added to utility-scale electricity generating capacity. The EIA stated that solar power will make up the majority of these new additions. This will be followed by wind, battery storage and natural gas. The agency stated that the additions would represent a 30% increase over 2024 when the largest capacity was installed in a single calendar year since 2002.
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UAE's e& will sell a 40% stake in Khazna, a data center company for $2.2 billion
UAE telecoms group e& announced on Wednesday it had agreed with artificial intelligence company G42 to sell its 40% share in Khazna Data Center Holdings, for $2.2 billion. In a statement, the telecoms company said that this deal would generate a capital profit of $1.4 billion prior to federal royalty and corporate taxes and that the proceeds would be used to pay down its debt. Khazna designs, builds, and operates wholesale datacenters. Separately, MGX and Silver Lake will become minority shareholders in addition to G42, the majority shareholder. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end the first quarter. The UAE, an oil-rich country, invests billions in AI to increase its global influence long after the oil industry has ceased. The state-backed G42, MGX and Mubadala are the main players in this effort. e& acquired a 40% stake in Khazna in 2022. According to the website of this company, there are nine data centers in operation and many more in construction. e& stated in its statement that it will remain a "strategic partner" and a "major tenant" of Khazna. The Abu Dhabi Exchange has seen a 2.8% increase in the shares of e& this year.
Companies are urged to contribute to a new UN fund for nature protection
A dedicated fund launched by the U.N. at a conference in Rome on Tuesday was a reminder to companies that use genetic coding to create products, ranging from cosmetics to weight loss drugs.
This week, countries are participating in the COP16 to raise funds to stop the destruction of species and ecosystems. Many people argue for a greater role for the private sectors.
The 'Cali Fund,' named after the Colombian town that hosted the beginning of the conference in last year's, is the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity's first attempt to raise money directly from the business community.
"The Cali Fund can be a game changer for communities that protect genetic resources. Environment Programme (UNEP), said a press release in Rome.
Companies will be encouraged by the Fund to donate a portion of profits or revenues. At least half will go to local communities and indigenous peoples.
The secretariat has said that although no companies have made any firm commitments yet, they are in advanced discussions with firms across several jurisdictions including the United States.
Susana Muhamad said that the willingness of U.S. companies to participate, despite not being party to the agreement in the United States, showed that businesses recognised that nature is a global good that transcends the associations of a business with a particular country.
The money raised by the fund is going to be used to help raise the $200 billion per annum that the United Nations has stated as being needed to protect the environment. Countries are working in Rome on a plan for raising this amount.
The conference began on Tuesday with many countries reiterating their positions taken in Cali. They focused on who pays, where money should be kept, and who should supervise it.
Panama, Egypt, and Russia expressed frustration at the developed countries. They urged them to first deliver on their agreement of finding $20 billion per annum for biodiversity, and not to pass that burden onto developing nations.
On Tuesday evening, smaller negotiating groups will gather to refine their positions. EU Commissioner Jesskia Roswall informed reporters that she expects an updated draft text by Wednesday morning. (Editing by Simon Jessop & Gareth Jones).
(source: Reuters)