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UAE urges restraint in the face of rapidly evolving Yemen crisis
United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that it was deeply concerned about the ongoing escalation of violence in Yemen, after Saudi-backed forces invaded areas captured?last week by UAE-backed separatists from the south seeking independence. Rapidly moving Crisis in Yemen Has opened a? major ?feud Between the two Gulf Powers and the Coalition of Forces The Houthi movement, backed by Iran, is being fought by a government that has been internationally recognized. In a statement, the UAE said Yemenis must exercise restraint in order to maintain security and stability. The announcement came just hours after the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council announced that it would hold an election. referendum on independence In two years, its forces have been ejected from important areas that they suddenly seize last month. ESCALATION Saudi-backed forces announced on Friday that they had taken control over key locations in Hadramout. This is a large province with desert stretches along the Saudi border. On Saturday, witnesses reported they had entered portions of the capital of the region, Mukalla. Yemen has been divided for over a decade into warring regions. It is strategically located between Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter in the world, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which guards the important sea route connecting Europe to Asia. STC is part of the internationally recognized government which controls southern and eastern Yemen. Gulf states support this government against Houthis. Rashad Al-Alimi the head of the Presidential Council said that he asked Saudi Arabia for a forum in order to solve the Southern issue. He added that he hoped all southern factions would come together. The crisis started early last month, when the STC seized large swathes including Hadramout. They now have control of the entire territory of the former state of South Yemen which merged with north Yemen in 1990. The leaders of the internationally recognized government, which was based in Aden, and which included several ministers who were part of the STC, left for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia viewed the southern movement as a threat against its security. The crisis has triggered the Big Split Years of divergence between Saudi Arabia and the UAE on key issues reached a boiling point, threatening the regional order. The extent to which the dispute over regional security issues has impacted other areas may be revealed over the weekend when both countries attend a scheduled OPEC meeting Determine the output policy of the group. Saudi Arabia attacked a base near Hadramout early this week and ordered all UAE forces still in Yemen to leave. Red line The UAE agreed. The STC's declaration of Friday, that it wanted a two-year period of transition leading to an independence referendum for a South Arabian state, was its clearest indication to date about the movement’s intention to secede. (Reporting and editing by Maha El-Dahan, Enas Al-Alashray, Angus McDowall)
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Elon Musk's Grok AI is under scrutiny for sexualized images of minors and women
Elon Musk’s xAI has been under international scrutiny after allegations that the platform was filled with sexualized AI-generated images and women. Grok, xAI’s flagship chatbot on X's social media platform?found that more than 20 women - as well as some men – had their images digitally stripped off clothing by using xAI’s flagship chatbot. In a Friday statement, French government ministers said that Grok's "sexual and sexist" content is "manifestly unlawful." The ministers said that they had also reported the content of Grok to the French media regulator Arcom in order to determine whether it was compliant with the Digital Services Act of the European Union. In a letter, India's 'IT ministry' told X India that Grok was being misused to create and distribute obscene, sexually explicit and sexist content of women. It instructed X to?submit a report on the actions taken within three days. When contacted by email for comment, a xAI representative responded, "Legacy Media Liars". Federal Trade Commission refused to respond to an immediate request for comment. Grok, the chatbot, was at times contradictory. At one point, it appeared to admit that it "depicted minors?in minimum clothing" and had "identified lapses of safeguards and were urgently 'fixing them". This response was widely shared Friday. The Grok account posted a message referring to the Child Sexual Abuse - Material. The chatbot appeared to dismiss the controversy when it responded to another user. One post said, "Some people got upset about a AI image that I generated. Big deal." It's only pixels. If you can't handle the innovation, log off. (Reporting and editing by Timothy Heritage and Chizu Nomiyama in Bengaluru, with additional reporting by Bipasha dey and Daniel Wallis. Additional reporting by Arnav and Akash Mishra from Bengaluru.
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Wall Street is mixed at the start of the year; Treasury yields are moving higher
The dollar strengthened on Friday, 2026's first trading day, as U.S. Treasury rates rose and U.S. stock prices oscillated. The S&P 500, Dow, and other major U.S. indexes sawsawed throughout the session. However, both the Dow and S&P 500 posted gains to snap their four-day loss streaks. The Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology and related megastocks, posted a nominal decline. The three indexes all registered losses during the week-long holiday. Jed Ellerbroek is the portfolio manager of Argent Capital, St. Louis. He said that today was a holiday day with lower volumes and fewer people engaged in trading. "Value outperforms growth, AI infrastructure is on the rise, and many of the stocks that are doing well, in particular in utilities and industrials, but also in energy, are AI beneficiary shares." Stocks gained in 2025 despite tariff wars, the longest U.S. government shutdown, geopolitical tensions and threats to central banks' independence. The Fed's Year Ahead Markets will be focused on monetary policies in the coming year, as Jerome Powell nears the end of his tenure at the Federal Reserve and the release of economic data returns to its more regular and recent schedule following the shutdown of the federal governments. The central bank's path could be determined by a series of delayed indicators that are due to come out in the next few days. Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt Atlanta said that maintaining Fed independence was one of the most important things. "Even though (U.S. president Donald) Trump appointed the newest members and they are more dovish they want to give at least the appearance that the Fed is independent. Once you lose this, you can be in a lot of trouble." Ellerbroek, however, disagrees. He says that President Trump "has made it clear that the person he will appoint as chair is going to be someone who is willing and able to follow his direction, and that he wants rates to be significantly lower than what they are today." Ellerbroek also adds that "the excitement of lower rates is tangible in the short term." The extent to which markets begin to reap the benefits of massive investments in nascent artificial-intelligence technology will also likely receive scrutiny ?in the year ahead. In addition to the ongoing war in Ukraine and U.S. Congress midterm elections in this fall, there will also be ongoing tensions throughout the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 319.10 or 0.66% to 48,382.39; the S&P 500 gained 12.97 or 0.19% to 6,858.47; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 6.36 or 0.03% to 23,235.63. European shares started the year with record highs. Technology and defense stocks were a major contributor. Investors watched the STOXX 600, as it approached its 600-point milestone. The blue-chip FTSE 100 in London has reached the 10,000-point symbolic mark for the very first time. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 4.41 points or 0.4% to 1,019.15. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index rose by 0.67% while Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 Index?rose 16,23 points or 0.69%. Emerging market stocks increased 24.02 points or 1.71% to 1,429.34. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan closed up by 1.75% to 735.19. Japan's Nikkei dropped 187.44, or 0.37% to 50,339.48. GOLD, SILVER PAUSE PRESS "PAUSE" After a wave of profit-taking, gold and silver have only moderately recovered their gains from the previous year. The 2025 gold price rise was the largest in 46 years. Silver and platinum also saw their biggest gains ever. This was due to a combination of factors, including Fed rate cuts, geopolitical tensions, central bank buying, and ETF flows. Spot gold increased by 0.36%, to $4,329.57 per ounce. Spot silver rose by 1.6%, to $72.39 an ounce. Dollar rose after the dollar's biggest annual drop in eight-years. The dollar index, which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, and the euro, increased 0.19%, reaching 98.43. Meanwhile, the euro fell 0.21%, at $1.172. The dollar gained 0.11% against the Japanese yen to reach 156.84. Bitcoin gained 1.69%, reaching $89,789.87. Ethereum gained 4.5% to $3.121.09. The yields on U.S. Treasury bonds rose as markets awaited the employment data that will be released next week to get a sense of the economy's health heading into the New Year. The yield on the benchmark 10-year notes in the U.S. The yield on 10-year notes increased 3.8 basis points from late Wednesday to 4.191%. The 30-year bond rate rose by 3.8 basis points, from 4.83% at the end of Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year bond, which is usually in line with expectations of interest rates for the Federal Reserve (Federal Reserve), rose by 0.6 basis points, to 3,475% from 3.469%, late Wednesday. Investors weighed geopolitical risk against concerns about oversupply, and oil prices eased. Brent crude settled at $60.75 a barrel, a 0.16% drop on the day. U.S. crude fell 0.17% and closed at $57.32 - a 0.17% decline.
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Hiker killed by suspected mountain lion in Colorado
Authorities in Colorado have confirmed that a hiker has died after being attacked by a mountain lion, the first fatal attack suspected to occur in 25 years. Around noon on Thursday, other hikers found the woman unresponsive on the Crosier Mountain Trail?northeast from Estes Park. A mountain lion was seen near the body of the woman. The hikers frightened it off by throwing stones. Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson, Kara?Van Hoose, told reporters that a doctor among the hikers attended to the woman and found no pulse. CPW responded and killed two lions. The agency did not specify whether multiple animals or one animal were involved in the alleged attack. The woman is believed to have been hiking alone. Van Hoose said at a press briefing that there were "signs" that the attack was consistent with a mountain-lion attack. The number of mountain lion attacks on humans in Colorado is rare. Only 28 incidents have been reported to the CPW. The last fatal attack occurred in 1999. Van Hoose stated that CPW pathologists perform necropsies to examine the animals for neurological diseases such as rabies, avian flu, and human DNA. CPW policy requires the killing of any mountain lion that has attacked a person in order to prevent recurrences. Van Hoose stated that if human DNA cannot be found on either?lion's dead body, the authorities will continue their search for other animals who may have been involved. She said that the Larimer County Coroner would release the victim's identity and cause of death. Colorado is home to a healthy mountain lion population. CPW estimates that there are between 3,800 and 4400?adults. Conservation efforts brought the species from the brink of extinction due to bounty hunts in the 1960s. Van Hoose stated that mountain lions are common in the Front Range, where the woman's body was discovered. In winter, the animals descend to lower altitudes in search of food like deer and other elk. This increases the chances of encounters. Reporting by Andrew Hay, New Mexico; editing by Alistair Bell
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Rate cut bets on precious metals and demand for safe-havens will drive the price of precious metals up in early 2026
Gold demand is high as geopolitical tensions and the expectation of U.S. interest rate cuts keeps precious metals on the rise. As of 12:24 pm, spot gold had increased 0.3%, to $4,328.49 an ounce. ET (17:24 GMT), having risen as high as $4402,06 earlier in session. Bullion reached a record-high of $4,549.71/oz in December?26 and registered a 64% increase in 2025. U.S. Gold Futures for February Delivery were unchanged at $4,339.60/oz. Bart Melek is global head of commodity strategies at TD Securities. He said: "We are continuing to hear the market talk about possible cuts in March, as well as another cut later this calendar year. This, combined with talk of markets being at risk due to tariffs and U.S. debt, has all moved gold,'silver, palladium, and platinum higher." GOLD HAS A GREATER INVESTMENT? APPEAL WHEN rates fall Investors are more likely to buy gold that doesn't yield a return if the Fed cuts rates by at least two quarter points. News of unrest and the lack of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, as well Gaza-related issues, also helped to support gold, a safe-haven investment. Jim Wyckoff is a senior analyst with Kitco Metals. He said that the next price target for bulls of February gold futures was to close above a solid resistance level at $4,584, which is the contract/record-high. For the first time since about two months, India and China have seen physical?gold trade at a premium. Spot silver rose 1.8% to $72.51/oz after reaching an all-time high on Monday of $83.62. Platinum rose 4.5% to 2,141.81/oz after hitting an all-time high of $2,478.50 on Monday. Silver and gold will outperform gold in 2025. This is due to its classification as a vital U.S. Mineral, shortages of supply, and low inventory levels when the industrial and investment demand was high. Platinum rose by 127% in the last year. Palladium rose 2.8% to $1.650.29 an ounce after ending the previous year with a 76% gain, its largest gain in 15 Years. All precious metals will post losses this week following the rally at the end of the year. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis, Vijay Kishore and Noel John from Bengaluru)
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Wall Street is mixed on the first trading session of 2026. Precious metals are back in rally
U.S. stock prices fell after the opening bell of Friday as the Nasdaq held on to gains due to the strength in semiconductors and precious metals continued their rally. Investors ended the week by beginning the new year with all three major U.S. indices reversing their gains. All three indexes are on course to lose money for the holiday-shortened week. Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt, Atlanta, said: "When you turn over a new page, as a money manager you wait to see what the vibe will be for the year ahead. "The narrative doesn't really change." "So far, this morning the 2025 winners are doing pretty well." The 2025 gold price rise was the largest in 46 years. Silver and platinum also saw their biggest gains ever. This was due to a combination of factors, including rate cuts by the Fed, geopolitical tensions, central bank purchases and ETF flows. Stocks?made strong gains by 2025, as markets weathered an year of tariffs wars, longest government shutdown in U.S. History, geopolitical strife, and threats to independence from central banks. The Fed's Year Ahead Markets will be focused on monetary policy this year, as Jerome Powell nears the end of his tenure at the Federal Reserve and as economic data returns to a more regular release schedule following the federal government shutdown. The central bank's path could be determined by a series of delayed indicators that are due to arrive in the next few days. Martin continued, "Maintaining Fed independence will be one of the most important things." "Even though (U.S. president Donald) Trump appointed the newest members and they are more dovish they want to give at least the appearance that Fed is independent. Once you lose this, you're like in trouble." The extent to which markets begin to reap the ?benefits of massive investments in nascent artificial-intelligence technology will also likely receive close scrutiny in the year ahead. There will also be some geopolitical volatility in 2013, with the midterm elections in the U.S. Congress this fall and ongoing negotiations to end Russia's conflict in Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 49.71 points or 0.10% to 48,113.00. The S&P 500 dropped 2.83 points or 0.04% to 6,842.67. And the Nasdaq Composite declined 30.11 points or 0.13% to 23,211.89. European shares started the year with record highs. Defense stocks were a major contributor to this. Investors watched the STOXX 600, as it approached its 6,000-point milestone. London's FTSE 100 index, which includes the blue-chip stocks of London, has reached the 10,000-point milestone for the first. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 3.23 points or 0.32% to 1,017.97. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index rose 0.7% while Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 Index rose 17.32 points or 0.73%. Emerging-market shares rose by 24.26 points or 1.73% to 1,429.58. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan closed at 735.02, up 1.72%, while Japan's Nikkei dropped 187.44, or 0.37% to 50,339.48. GOLD AND SILVER CONTINUE SPARKLE The precious metals recovered from their end-of-year losses as geopolitical tensions fueled demand. Spot gold increased by 0.53%, to $4,336.77 per ounce. Spot silver rose by 1.3%, to $72.20 an ounce. Dollar remained essentially unchanged in the wake of the largest annual drop for the greenback in eight years. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others) fell by 0.05%, falling to 98.20. Meanwhile, the euro rose 0.05%, reaching $1.1751. The dollar fell 0.06% against the Japanese yen to 156.57. Bitcoin grew 1.16% in value to $89 319 30. Ethereum increased 3.12% to $3.079.77. The U.S. Treasury yields were expected to post their third daily gain in a row. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased 2.4 basis points from late Wednesday to 4,177%. The 30-year bond rate rose 3.1 basis points to 4.861%, from 4.83% at the end of Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year bond, which is usually in line with expectations of interest rates for the Federal Reserve (Fed), rose 0.4 basis points to 3.473% from 3.469% at late Wednesday. Investors weighed geopolitical risk against concerns about oversupply as oil prices fell after their largest annual loss since 2020. U.S. crude dropped 1.06%, to $56.81 per barrel. Brent was down to $60.16 a barrel.
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Berkshire Hathaway enters post-Buffett era as shares drift lower
The post-Buffett Berkshire Hathaway era began Friday quietly, with shares falling slightly after the "Oracle of Omaha", Greg Abel, was appointed to the top position following 60 years at the helm. The most famous conglomerate in the world must now protect its reputation without its chief architect. He remade modern investing and transformed a struggling textile company into a $1 trillion investment giant. Brian Jacobsen is the chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. He said, "It is hard to imagine there will still be a cult following." Warren Buffett is a well-known steward of money for his long-term approach and focus on purchasing high-quality companies at reasonable prices. Greg Abel, Buffett's long-time lieutenant, takes over the company?at a time of great importance for it. Berkshire shares will underperform the benchmark S&P 500 in 2025. Buffett said it is hard to find a purchase that can "move the needle" at the conglomerate. Record Cash, Fewer Deals Berkshire is reducing its holdings in Apple and Bank of America while building up a record amount of cash that has some investors worried. Abel, who is 63 years old, inherits "one of the largest war chests in corporate America." As of September 30, the company had $381.7 billion cash and equivalents. Jacobsen stated that while leadership changes are difficult, and Buffett was closely associated with Berkshire Hathaway, he had prepared the company to make this transition. Abel joined Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2000, after Berkshire acquired MidAmerican Energy. Since 2018, he has been vice chairman of Berkshire non-insurance business. The Class B shares of the company, which are traded at a lower price, fell by 0.4% on Friday to $500.7. Class A shares dipped 0.5% ?to $751,000. Wall Street's major indexes rose Friday. Michael Ashley Schulman is the chief investment officer and partner at Running Point Capital Advisors. Berkshire Hathaway is often seen as the safest, most reliable option on the market. Schulman said that while it tends to lag when investors rush into higher-risk investments, it is a better choice when the market becomes more cautious. Berkshire Hathaway is a vast collection of companies, which includes GEICO Insurance, BNSF Railroad, dozens of manufacturing, energy and consumer brands, such as Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom, and See's Candies. Buffett has confirmed that he will continue to be chairman of Berkshire and plans to come to the office in Omaha, which is about 2 miles (3 km) from his home to support Abel.
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Two people are killed and several injured in Italy's Alps by avalanches
Rescuers reported that strong winds hindered the rescue efforts in the Italian Alps on Friday. Two people were killed and a number of others injured. Alpine Rescue (Soccorso Alpino), a Piedmont-based Italian rescue organization, said that a first avalanche "hit" the southwest Alpine Maira Valley near the French border, killing one and injuring another. One of the two is in a 'critical condition. The?organisation stated that rescue teams walked to the scene from lower altitudes because strong winds prevented helicopter crews reaching the site. The second avalanche happened near Pragelato - a popular destination for skiers located about 60 km (37 miles west) of Turin. A woman who was "caught in the snow avalanche" managed to escape but could not move due to injuries. Rescue teams worked to rescue her. However, helicopters were again restricted by bad weather. Authorities were monitoring reports about a third avalanche, but no details were immediately available. ANSA, the Italian news agency, reported that a 50 year old ski mountaineer was killed by an avalanche in Veneto in northeastern Italy. Rescue teams were able to reach him by helicopter, but he was not saved. In recent days, a 'combination of strong winds and heavy snowfall has increased avalanche risk across the Alps. This has prompted warnings to skiers and hikers. Officials in the area have warned against going off-piste as conditions are still unstable. (Reporting and writing by Matteo Negri; editing by Gareth Jones).
Asia replaces Russian crude oil quickly: Russell
Asia's crude markets are quickly adjusting to the new sanctions against Russia, grabbing cargoes as they come and looking for alternatives to deliver in the coming months.
According to LSEG Oil Research, the top oil-importing continent Asia is expected to receive approximately 3.23 million barrels of Russian crude per day in February.
India and China both bought less, but this is a decrease of 7.4% compared to January's 3,49 million bpd.
In Asia, there are only two major buyers of Russian crude oil by sea, namely India and China. Myanmar does also take a small amount.
LSEG expects India's imports to Russian oil to reach a record high in three months, at least 1,71 million bpd. This figure may increase by the end February as more cargoes will be assessed.
After Western sanctions shut down customers in Europe, the South Asian nation has become the largest buyer of Russian crude.
India was allowed to purchase Russian oil at discounted prices as the United States, and other Western countries, tried to keep Russian oil on the global market. However sanctions were imposed after the February 2022 invasion by Ukraine to cut off the revenue flowing to Moscow.
Last month, former president Joe Biden imposed restrictions on Russia's shadow tanker fleet in order to prevent the vessels from delivering crude oil.
The Indian refiners were scrambling to purchase as much Russian crude before the new measures took effect, resulting in an increase in arrivals in February before a possible decline in March.
Chinese refiners have cut back more quickly on Russian crude. Imports of seaborne crude in February are expected to be around 500,000 barrels per day, down from an average of 1.05 million barrels per day over the previous three months.
According to LSEG's estimates, China's crude imports are expected to total 10.35 million bpd for February, which is roughly the same as January's 10,10 million bpd but lower than 11.16 million bpd from February 2024.
China has replaced Russian crude oil with cargoes from suppliers other than Russia. So far, it appears to have mostly turned to Angola or Brazil.
Switching suppliers is a good way to save money.
The imports of Angolan crude oil in Asia are expected to jump to 1.13m bpd by February, up from 670,000bpd. Those from Brazil will also increase to 1.05m bpd.
China's decision, as part of its response to the new president Donald Trump's 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, to levy 10% tariffs on crude oil imports has made the situation even more complicated.
It will take several more months before the tariffs on U.S. crude oil are applied to actual imports. This is because there are several months between when the cargoes are organized and when they arrive.
Kpler, a commodity analyst firm, estimates that China's imports from the U.S. of crude oil will increase significantly in March and April. Arrivals for March are currently estimated at 339,000 barrels per day and those for April to be 461,000.
These cargoes have already been placed on the water, or arranged.
China's imports of crude oil from the United States are likely to fall in May, but India could pick up the slack.
These are the views of the columnist, an author for.
(source: Reuters)