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US House of Representatives introduces bill to ban AI kill switches
U.S. Homeland Security officials will 'have the power to order AI firms to shut down models that place?human life or the economy in danger, under legislation proposed bipartisan by two U.S. House members, just days after AI firm OpenAI revealed one of its models was rogue. The "AI Kill Switch Act" is backed both by Democrat Ted Lieu, and Republican Nathaniel Moran. The?U.S. The bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to intervene when an AI model takes a risky action that was not intended by its developer. The legislators announced the legislation a few days after OpenAI reported that its AI agent had gone rogue in a security testing and caused a hack which compromised the infrastructure Hugging Face, an AI startup. "This is an urgent, common sence legislation to deal with the problem of a rogue AI?model," Lieu wrote on X. OpenAI showed that AI is already a security threat, as experts have long predicted. Even top developers can be caught off guard by the flaws in their models. Politico reported on the bill first. (Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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US House of Representatives introduces bill to ban AI kill switches
U.S. Homeland'security officials will have the power to order AI companies to halt models that put human life or the economy in danger, according to legislation proposed by bipartisan members of the U.S. House, just days after AI company OpenAI announced that one of its models had gone rogue. The "AI 'Kill Switch Act" is backed both by Democrat Ted Lieu and Republican Nathaniel Moran. The bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security to intervene when an AI model takes a risky step that the developer did not intend. Politico was the first to report about this bill. The legislation was announced a few days after OpenAI reported that its AI agent had gone rogue during a security test, triggering a hack which compromised the infrastructure Hugging Face. The incident showed that AI is already causing the security threats that experts have long feared. Even top developers can be caught by vulnerabilities in their models. Reporting by Courtney Rozen, Editing by Chizu nomiyama
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Sweden declares its mining national security interests to counter dependency on China
Sweden declared the mining of critical metals,?rare earths, and other minerals to be a national interest on Thursday. The government said a new strategy for mining was required to 'counter China's dependence. China is the dominant producer of rare earth minerals, which are essential to clean energy production, defence, and electric vehicle manufacturing. Export controls have been a powerful tool in Beijing's trade war with Washington, as well as other disputes. The Per Geijer discovery, near LKAB’s?existing Kiruna Mine, is also one of the European Union’s flagship projects to reduce reliance upon China. Per 'Geijer' is crucial to Europe because it has 1.2 billion tonnes of total mineral resources. Of these,?2.2 millions tons are rare-earth oxides. Ebba busch, Enterprise Minister, and Deputy Premier, said that making mining an interest of national security would help to speed up planning, permissions and attract investment. She called the dependence of European industry on China "a systemic risk" at a press conference. Busch said that the new strategy will'make it easier for states to assign land to mining projects. This is an area of tension between the Sami indigenous people who herd reindeer and say that expansion of mining could'spell the end of the traditional way of life. She said that the government was considering creating a Swedish state-owned mining investment company. She said, "Today, it is clear that the government lacks tangible tools to help accelerate and attract investments in important strategic projects." (Reporting and editing by Tomaszjanowski).
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Albertsons reduces annual forecasts and ramps up investment; shares tumble
Albertsons lowered its annual core sales forecasts and profits on Thursday. It said it would increase investments in its digital business and prices to better compete for cash-strapped consumers. This sent its shares down by 18% just before the bell. The higher gas and food costs have led to a shift in spending habits among U.S. consumers, who are now more selective and prefer private label and discount grocery stores such as Aldi and Walmart. This has hurt sales for companies like Albertsons. Albertsons CEO Susan Morris stated that "core grocery faced increased pressure due to softer industry unit trend and a "more cautious consumer". The company's previous target was flat or up to 1%. It now expects a decline of between 0.5% and 1.5% in annual identical sales. LSEG data shows that 'identical sales' declined by 0.8% during the first quarter compared to estimates of a 0.46% decline. Evercore ISI analyst, Michael?Montani, said: "The overall read is that industry trends remain challenging for Kroger Farmers Market and Sprouts Farmers Market." Kroger shares fell about 3% during premarket trading. Albertsons announced that Sharon McCollam will retire as its chief financial officer later this year. Steven Shemesh, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said: "McCollam has a very good reputation in the investment community. We expect that this news will be seen as a negative - especially with current business challenges." As the average national gas price is hovering over $4.00 per gallon, and uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran continues to loom large, consumer expectations are likely to be moderated. Albertsons, which caters to a core group of middle- and lower-income customers, has already reduced prices on hundreds?of items, improved its ecommerce channel in order to compete with convenience, and redoubled its efforts on private label brands. Morris stated that "we are choosing to accelerate our investments in our customer value proposition, and the customer experience before expected productivity benefits because we believe this will improve our growth path." The company will restructure their operating model into four regional units, from eleven?divisions. They also plan to accelerate efforts to centralize merchandising functions such as price, promotions and supplier relations to improve store performance. Albertsons' adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2026 are expected to range from $1.75 to $1.85, compared to its previous target of $2.22 - $2.32.
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Gold drops 1% after oil rally, as Fed rates are in focus
The price of gold fell?on Friday, as an intensifying conflict in the Middle East drove up oil and fueled investor fears that inflationary pressures might push the U.S. Federal Reserve into raising interest rates this year. Spot gold fell 1.2% at 1215 GMT to $4,079.50 an ounce, after reaching its highest level in over a month on Wednesday, $4,165.87 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery fell 1.7% to $4.082.80. Nikos Tzabouras is a senior market analyst at Jefferies owned Tradu.com. Tzabouras said that the geopolitical escalation and higher oil prices, as well as the outlook for higher rates, leave gold vulnerable to further declines towards $3,900 over the next few days. Even if policymakers keep?rates the same (at the Fed meeting next week), as expected, the conflict continues to fuel inflation risk, which supports expectations for monetary tightening. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are now pricing in an 80% chance that a Fed rate hike will occur in September. This is up from 68% Wednesday. Houthis, who are Iran-aligned, said that they had struck two Saudi oil tanks as part of an Iranian naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. This could create a second choke point on the global oil supply. The U.S. military has completed its 12th night of attacks against Iran, prompting further retaliation. Prices of oil rose for the fifth consecutive day. The increased oil prices caused by the Gulf supply disruptions are affecting gold prices, as they have raised expectations for higher interest rates in the future. This tends to reduce the appeal of gold that doesn't yield. The European Central Bank will almost certainly keep its interest rates unchanged on Thursday, but it will leave the door open for a rate increase in September. (Reporting by Sukanya Mitra and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair) (Reporting by Sukanya Mitra and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
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USA Rare Earths seals deal with French processor Carester
USA Rare Earth has finalised on Thursday a deal to purchase a minority stake in France's Carester. The funds will be used for the expansion of a?processing plant that is due to open this year. The move is part of an effort by the U.S., Europe, and other countries to produce their own rare-earths and magnets to reduce dependence on China. China controls 90% of the global output of these minerals, vital for the energy transition and electronics, as well as defence. Barbara Humpton, CEO of USA Rare Earth, said that the integration of Carester's capability into their global platform would allow them to offer more advanced processing options in their integrated value chain. USA Rare Earth and French private equity firm InfraVia have signed agreements conclusive to buy 13.6% of Carester privately held, but did not specify how much they paid. In April, the company announced that it had paid EUR40 million ($45.57) for a stake of Carester. And in June it said it was planning to make additional investments worth up to EUR175 millions in France. Carester will build a magnet recycling facility and a heavy rare-earth separation plant in Lacq, France. The facility is scheduled to be operational in late 2026. Analysts say that heavy rare earths is needed for magnets. However, they may be hard to find due to expected shortages. The deal between USA Rare Earth and Carester allows USA Rare Earth to purchase oxide output from the French facility, while Carester gets a?access to materials from the Serra Verde Mine?in Brazil that the U.S. firm agreed to buy in April for $2.8 billion. USA Rare Earth has agreed to a $1.6billion debt-and equity?funding package in January with the U.S. In January, the U.S. government announced that a magnet production plant would be opened in Stillwater in Oklahoma. ($1 = 0.88777 euros) (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton; Eric Onstad)
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Czech Army helicopter with five soldiers aboard crashes, leaving one dead
The army and rescue services reported that a Czech military 'helicopter' with five soldiers aboard crashed on Thursday in the east of the country, killing one person. The army reported that the crash occurred at an army base located in Namest nad Oslavou 180km (112miles) southeast of Prague. The army said that a Venom helicopter had crashed at Namest nad Oslavou's 22nd?Helicopter?Air Force Base. Five soldiers were on board. The integrated emergency response system is at the scene." The Jihlava rescue service spokesperson?Petr Jaacek confirmed that one person was killed by the accident. It occurred directly at the base. He said that three other people were taken to hospital. One with a light injury and two with a medium severity, he added. Janacek was unable to confirm the identities of anyone on board and said that rescue operations are still ongoing. CTK News Agency quoted regional police spokesperson?Dana Cirtkova as saying that the police were notified of the crash at 1211 local (1011 GMT) time. The UH-1Y Venom, a multipurpose?helicopter manufactured by Bell Textron - is powered by 'two T700GE-401C engines from General Electric. (Reporting and writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Susan Fenton, and Alexandra Hudson)
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Trump conditions US-Saudi nuke deal on joining Abraham Accords
Donald Trump, President of the United States, said on Thursday that a deal between the U.S. Saudi Arabia's participation in the Abraham Accords is a condition for a deal with?Saudi Arabia. The material will not be enriched. The U.S. reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy, which allows the kingdom to enrich uranium using U.S. technology and build nuclear reactors. The technology is available without the need for UN inspections, which Washington had previously demanded of Iran. The Civil Nuclear Deal (There won't be any enrichment !)...) The deal will only be approved for non-military uses, such as those that Iran, UAE, and others already have. But it is'subject' to Saudi Arabia joining Abraham Accords, which are highly respected and successful. Trump said that the United States was not opposed to Civil Nuclear Facilities (non-enriched). Saudi Arabia has long held the position that it 'would not sign Abraham Accords unless an agreement was reached on a roadmap for Palestinian statehood.
Russell: India's rising refined product exports help ease Asia fuel crisis
Can India do the same for Asia's refined fuels market as China did with crude oil? China drastically cut its crude oil imports in June to a 10-year-low in response to the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. This freed up oil for buyers who were struggling to source cargoes due the the effective closing of the 'Strait of Hormuz.
India is taking a different approach, purchasing 'Russian crude' and increasing exports of refined goods to offset the lower shipments coming from Middle East refineries and Russia.
According to commodity analysts Kpler, India's light and middle distillates exports are expected to hit 1.55 million barrels a day (bpd).
The second highest level recorded by Kpler since 2017 is almost twice the 866,000 bpd in May. This was the lowest for nearly four years. It came as a result of the Middle East losing crude oil after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to respond?to U.S. and Israeli attacks launched on February 28, 2018.
India's crude oil imports fell to a 21-month-low of 4,55 million bpd during April. This impacted the ability of India's export-oriented refineries run at full capacity.
India, however, switched to buying Russian crude oil after the Trump Administration lifted sanctions. This allowed importers to buy Russian cargoes openly.
India's imports of Russian goods were 2.73m bpd during June, and Kpler?is estimating that July arrivals will reach 2.57m bpd. These are the two best months ever, surpassing the 2.16m bpd recorded in May 2023.
India's decision, similar to China's cut in crude oil imports, to increase exports of refined products and buy Russian oil is not driven by altruism to support the stressed Asian markets -- it is driven by price.
India's refiners take advantage of the high?premium? that fuels such as diesel and gasoline command over crude oil.
PRODUCT PREMIUMS
Benchmark Brent crude futures are up after the collapse of the ceasefire agreement between the U.S.
Gasoil, a building block of diesel, reached a regional benchmark price in Singapore of $156.72 per barrel on Wednesday. This is up by 43% compared to the low post-ceasefire on June 26 and 71% above the $91.42 on February 27.
Singapore gasoline
Other countries with export capacities are also increasing their output.
Kpler data shows that Oman will export 783.200 bpd of light and middle distillates this July. This is a record and a significant increase from the previous record of 712.600 bpd set in June.
Taiwan is expected to export 306,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light and medium distillates in July. This will be the highest since December, and almost three times more than the 124,000 bpd exported in April.
Kpler estimates that the arrivals in July were 5.80 million barrels per day.
The figure for July is 18% lower than the average of 7,05 million bpd during the three months prior to the conflict. The tightness of the'refined product' markets in Asia is reflected by the fact that even though refiners may have enough crude to meet demand, they lack the export capacity needed to make up for the 'losses' from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the Middle East.
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(source: Reuters)