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Russia tightens law on sabotage citing NATO and Ukraine threats
On Monday, Russian lawmakers announced that they had drafted legislation mandating the life sentence for anyone who involves minors in sabotage. The law also lowers the age limit for criminal responsibility of such crimes from 18 to 14. Since 2022 when it sent its military forces to Ukraine, Russia has passed a number of laws that give the state security agencies the power to hold anyone accused of misrepresenting war or of being against the state. Vasily Piskaryov is the chairman of the lower chamber of parliament's Security Committee. He said that a bill, which was introduced in the lower chamber of parliament on monday and supported by 419 of 450 members, would improve the state's security. 'INEVITABILITY OF PUNISHMENT' Piskaryov stated that the bill would "increase inevitability" of punishments for those who attempt to undermine the foundations our state. He said that those who involved children in terrorism or sabotage would face harsher punishments, including life imprisonment, and the age limit for such crimes will be lowered to 14 years of age. Piskaryov stated that the law was necessary because sabotage is a serious threat to the Russian State. He accused secret services from Ukraine and NATO of intensifying subversive activities against Russia, including the involvement of minors. He did not give any specific examples, but instead cited data provided by prosecutors that showed 204 subversive offenses were registered in 2024 but only 174 during the first half 2025. NATO and Ukrainian authorities didn't immediately respond to comments. Kyiv accused Russia in the past of using Ukrainian minors to try and destroy Ukrainian infrastructure in the war. RUSSIA SAYS THE WEST IS HELPING UKRAINE TO ATTACK IT'S ENERGY SITES In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian oil refineries as well as other energy installations. According to Moscow, the West and major NATO countries have provided Kyiv with intelligence. Both Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of killing people. The Kremlin said that a general tightening up of the laws is necessary to maintain order, as Russia faced an unprecedented hybrid attack by the West. This was a result of hundreds of billions in arms and intelligence from the West. Alexei Navalny - who died in a prison in the Arctic in 2024 - was one of those Kremlin critics that said President Vladimir Putin had created a fragile dictatorial regime which would be overthrown by history. (Reporting and editing by Mark Heinrich; reporting by Guy Faulconbridge)
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Climate Investment Funds backs Fiji nature financing plan
Climate Investment Funds, a multilateral lender, announced on Monday that its board had approved a plan for helping restore Fiji's ecosystems and strengthening the island's capacity to withstand global warming. The Climate Investment Funds announced the agreement on Monday, ahead of the November round of U.N. talks. Fiji and the other Small Island Developing States are pushing for the world to do even more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CIF announced that it would provide $27 millions in financing, and hopes to attract an additional $20 million from World Bank and Progreen. This multi-donor initiative is designed to support the development of a sustainable way while protecting biodiversity. CIF stated that the money would fund a variety of projects on land and at sea, and will impact over 80,000 people. The country relies heavily on tourism, which accounts for 40% of economic output, and agriculture, fishing and forestry, which employs 40% of population. CIF's Chief Executive Tariye gbadegesin stated in a press release that "Investing nature is an investment in a prosperous and secure future, especially for Fiji where the natural environment supports the economy." CIF said that cyclones and floods cost the island about 5% of their economic output each year. (Reporting and editing by Mark Porter; Simon Jessop)
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Brazil's Indigenous Battle with a Dry Amazon Rainforest
Brazil's indigenous land is being invaded by farms Fire and drought hazards increase in the territory Native residents change farming practices By Andre Cabette Fabio This scene has been repeated for generations by the Kalapalo tribe's Tanguro Village in Brazil's Xingu Indigenous Park. Instead of the traditional thatched roofing, the communal home is covered in a white plastic sheet, which has been decorated with the brand logo and "for agricultural use only." The roof is just one of the many signs of increased cattle- and soybean-farming on the Amazon's heavily deforested Southeast edges, where the rainforest is warming the fastest. In this region the dry season has gotten several weeks longer. The rainforest is becoming drier and flammable, forcing the 16 ethnic groups that inhabit the area, and the more than 6,000 residents, to adapt their ancient farming techniques to preserve the land and provide enough food for themselves. The people of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s soybean and beef center, are surrounded by fields and pastures that support Brazil’s exports. But they're running out of water and require government assistance to compensate for the poor harvests. Private landowners are converting low-productivity pastures to water-intensive soybean crops and removing trees from their properties. Conservation of the Amazon rainforest is vital for Indigenous peoples and the entire world. The Amazon rainforest is vital for the world and Indigenous peoples. It absorbs and stores huge amounts of carbon dioxide that warms our climate. Carbon is released into the air as the Amazon is cut. TIPPING POINT Scientists say that the Southeast Amazon is vulnerable to a "tipping-point" due to its high temperatures, long dry season, fire rates, and deforestation. There is no turning back once a tipping-point is reached. Nature is forced into a downward spiral that is self-reinforcing. According to Carlos Nobre, a Brazilian climatologist, the forest would turn into a degraded form or even a "savannah" - an ecosystem of dry grassland with clusters and trees. Experts say that large areas of Amazon are more prone to wildfires due to the deforestation, and warmer temperatures, which have reduced shade and moisture. Ongoing scientific debates are attempting to determine the exact location and extent of the tipping point in the Amazon. Nature published a study in 2021 that found the Southeast Amazon emits more CO2 than it absorbs. This means more vegetation is dying rather than thriving. Farmers tend to have a different perspective, distancing themselves from climate change. Endrigo Dacin, a local producer's association Aprosoja councillor and soybean farmer, said that humans have little impact on climate. He added, "Our rains depend heavily on the oceans." A study published in Nature Communications in September showed that deforestation is responsible for 74% reduction of rainfall in the Amazon rain forest dry season since 1985. Scientists say that localized versions of the tipping points may already be in play on the fragile Xingu Territory. Residents say that as the water level drops and forests warm up, agriculture and fishing are becoming more difficult. "We never imagined we would reach this point. The river is so dry that we are forced to push our boat at certain points," said Sikan Kalapaloo, a nursing students who lives in Tanguro Village. He said, "We're now facing food shortages and certain plants are no longer producing." FIRE CONTROL The indigenous people of Xingu use fires for clearing land to cultivate small plots. This is a low impact intervention, as the plots are usually abandoned after a few years to allow the forest to regenerate. In the last decade, more communities are taking precautions to prevent fires. PrevFogo is a fire brigade operated by the Brazilian federal government. Local residents can also help. Yunak Yawalapiti, a farmer in Yunak Village, watched PrevFogo agents burn 700 square meters of forest so that he could plant his manioc roots. A firefighter issued a warning within minutes, signaling the spread of flames into the forest. Agents were notified to rush with water pumps. The farmer remembered that the forest in the 90s was so humid, that fires did not spread during midday. He said that it doesn't really matter when you start the fire. It spreads. It's as if there is gasoline everywhere. Even under unsupervised slash and burn practices, the Xingu forest did not burn more than 10,000 hectares in a year. Scientists have predicted that as forests near tipping points, they will see a change in the forest's fire proneness. According to MapBiomas' 40-year data, the Amazon saw twice as many fires last year as the previous record in 2016. In 2023, a technical analysis presented at the Brazilian Symposium of Hydraulic Resources revealed a connection between deforestation in the Xingu River Basin and lowered discharges of water. Taliko Kalapalo, a linguistics student swimming in the Xingu river near Tanguro Village, pointed out children kicking water near a sandy shore. He said that the river had lowered and the port was no longer as deep. Adeal Carneiro is a city councillor for Querencia, where a part of the Xingu Territory is located. He said that the use of irrigation water by agribusinesses contributes to desiccation. Imagine irrigating 2,900 acres (4,900 hectares) of land day and night. "It's a lot of water," said he. The manioc roots, which are used to make tapioca (a staple food in Xingu), have also failed due to rising temperatures and drought. Sikan Kalapalo said that communities rely on cash transfers or government aid packages to purchase food. He said, "We cannot live this way forever and rely on assistance".
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Cleveland-Cliffs posts narrower-than-expected Q3 loss on improving auto business
Cleveland-Cliffs posted a loss for the third quarter that was smaller than Wall Street expectations, with its automotive-grade steel division benefiting from recent U.S. Trade policies. Shares of the company rose 22%. Lourenco Goncalves, the CEO of the company, also stated that it had signed a memorandum with a global steel producer. The company is currently exploring rare-earth mining opportunities in Michigan and Minnesota. Analysts at Jefferies said that a potential deal with a global producer of steel could be beneficial to Cliffs' shareholders. We have seen foreign producers willing to invest materially in the US to gain un-tariffed access to US markets under the current administration. Goncalves said that if Cliffs' rare earth exploration was successful, it would align the firm with the national strategy of critical material independence. Goncalves stated that "American manufacturing should not rely on China, or any other foreign nation, for essential minerals." Goncalves noted in the earnings call that on Monday "Cleveland Cliffs has been able to secure 2 or 3 year agreements with all major auto OEMs, covering increased sales volumes and favorable prices through 2027 or 2020." The development comes at a moment when the U.S. Steel industry is seeking to recover demand amid a market surplus resulting from cheaper imports. In an effort to combat the rising competition from abroad, Donald Trump raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year. He also set new tariffs of 25% on medium- and heavy duty trucks and parts imported last week to move more auto production into the United States. LSEG data shows that the adjusted loss for the quarter ending September 30 was 45 cents a share. Analysts had estimated a loss of 48 cents based on LSEG's data. Revenue for the third quarter rose by 3.6% compared to a year earlier, reaching $4.73 billion versus estimates of $4.90. Reporting by Aatreyee dasgupta from Bengaluru, editing by Shailesh Kuber
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Investors are watching US-China trade talks as gold prices rise on bets of rate cuts and broader uncertainty.
Gold prices increased by more than 1% on the first day of this week, boosted by expectations for further U.S. rate cuts, and by sustained demand from investors who were awaiting upcoming U.S. China trade talks, and U.S. inflation data due out later in the week. As of 1330 GMT, spot gold rose 1.6% to $4,318.50 an ounce. U.S. Gold futures for delivery in December rose 2.8%, to $4333.10 an ounce. Gold prices reached a record-high of $4,378.69 per ounce on Friday but ended 1.8% lower, their biggest drop since mid-May, after Donald Trump's comments eased concerns about U.S. China trade tensions. After Friday's steep sell-off, CPM Group managing director Jeffrey Christian said that political and economic concerns have driven prices higher. He added, "We expect the price to increase over the next few weeks and months. We wouldn't be shocked if it reached $4,500/oz very soon." After senators failed to break the impasse for the 10th consecutive time last week, the U.S. shutdown reached its 20th date on Monday. The shutdown also delayed the release of key economic data, leaving investors and policymakers with a data vacuum before next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting. The U.S. Consumer Price Index data that was delayed because of the shutdown is due on Friday. The traders have priced in a 99% probability that the Federal Reserve is going to cut interest rates in December. Gold is a non-yielding investment that tends to perform well in low interest rate environments. Investors will also be looking for updates on U.S. China trade talks after Trump said on Friday that a meeting planned with Chinese President Xi Jinping will go ahead. "I wouldn't be surprised if gold reaches $5,000/oz next year." Christian stated that the price of gold would rise if political issues continue to worsen. Silver spot rose by 1.3%, to $52.53. After hitting a record-high of $54.47 on Thursday, the metal dropped 4.4% to $52.53 on Friday. Palladium rose 0.4% and platinum 1.3% to $1.630.24 an ounce. Noel John in Bengaluru, Pablo Sinha, Kavya Baliaraman and Susan Fenton are responsible for the reporting.
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Andy Home shares five key takeaways for London Metal Exchange Week.
Metals are a hot topic these days. Silver is catching up to gold in terms of record-breaking prices. Rare earths are at the center of the U.S.-China trade dispute, and the industrial metal supply chain is bending under the new global order of tariffs. The London Metal Exchange Week (LME Week) seminars and parties this year were full of interesting topics. The annual metals conference in London last week was a great success. Here are five key takeaways. GREEN PREMIUMS Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearings (HKEx), the owner of LME, surprised LME Week by announcing a new Dubai-based subsidiary. Commodity Pricing and Analysis Ltd. (CPAL), a subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearings, will be the pricing administrator in the roll-out for "green" premiums. CPAL will use the LME's criteria for responsible sourcing and data from the digital platform Metalshub. Metalshub traded more than $220 millions of Class I refined Nickel in 2023. Since March 2024, it has traded 488 tonnes of greenish nickel. Green-ish nickel is defined as metal that has a carbon footprint of less than 20 metric tons for every ton of metal. Metalshub's prices will be used to create a nickel premium that is sustainable, and this template can then be applied to other metals like copper and aluminum. CPAL, assuming that premiums are always available, will "apply structured expertise judgment" if there are not enough trades. It's an interesting venture into the worlds of price reporting agencies like Fastmarkets Media, Argus and S&P Global Platts. The pivot towards Dubai is also significant. HKEx presents it as a means of enhancing the connectivity between China's metal markets and those in the Middle East that are growing rapidly. SMELTERS VERSUS MINERS "You can't be secure if all you have is stuff in the earth." Richard Holtum said that smelting was more important than mining at the LME Seminar. Holtum stated that if the West is to break China's monopoly on exotic metals like gallium and Germanium, they will need to build base metal smelters in order to produce these metals. This argument has been echoed by the Australian government which has committed A$135m ($87.4m) to keep Trafigura's two plants operational. A collapse in the smelting fee for zinc and copper is the backdrop. China's aggressive expansion in processing capacity has squeezed profit margins elsewhere. Spot copper treatment conditions are negative and eroding the revenue streams of smelters. Japan, Spain and South Korea released a rare statement on Wednesday to express deep concern over the current state of affairs in copper raw materials markets. As smelters consider bilateral agreements or tolling contracts, they may no longer be able to maintain the current benchmark pricing system. Everyone loves Doctor Copper Copper was voted the metal with most potential price growth at the LME Seminar. It always does. The bulls in London were in full force this year. The reasons for a higher price of copper include the reallocation of funds to hard assets, the dysfunctional raw material market and the low stock levels resulting from redistribution to the U.S. Even the self-proclaimed contrarians, such as Ken Hoffman from Traubenbach Associates, admit that in the long-term there is a robust growth of demand and a challenged supply. Wood Mackenzie predicts a 24% increase in global copper demand by 2035. Wood Mackenzie warns that data centers and other disruptive industries could "amplify the demand for copper and increase price volatility beyond expectation." The bull story is reinforced by the sharp increase in producer premiums for deliveries next year to European customers. Codelco, a Chilean producer, will now charge $325 per ton above LME cash price for 2026 term shipment. This is an increase from $234 in this year. Aurubis, a German producer, had announced an increase of $315 per tonne. This is a sign that we are in the tariff era. It's a sign of the times. ALUMINIUM: A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER Jorge Vazquez of HARBOR Aluminium, the head of the consultancy, graced the LME Seminar with a maroon sweater number. He surprised the audience by turning bullish about the light metal. Vazquez, who has consistently been bearish on aluminium in past years, now believes that the price will be above $3,000 per tonne, and possibly even $4,000 next year. This is compared to a current rate of $2,765 a tonne. The market has reassessed the dynamics of aluminum supply. Analysts are beginning to question whether the supply will be enough to meet demand for the first decade. GERMANIUM Theo Ruas is the head of global sales for specialty materials at Indium Corp. in the United States. He said that there was no germanium. China's chip-making materials exports have dropped this year, after Beijing tightened the export restrictions by the end of 2020. Project Blue says the price of this material has reached a 25-year high, but Ruas said that some buyers struggle to find it at any price. Gallium may be where germanium is now. Or any other mineral that is dominated by Chinese processing. Rare earths are a major source of friction between the U.S., China and other countries. Beijing recently added five more elements to the list of restricted exports. Most metal traders are unaware of the existence of holmium (also known as erbium), thulium (also called europium), and ytterbium. But they now hold the keys to global markets. These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for.
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Russian steelmaker Severstal skips Q3 dividend amid weak market
Severstal, a Russian steelmaker, said that its board had recommended against paying a third-quarter dividend after the net profit fell dramatically due to a weakening economy in Russia. Severstal reported that its Q3 net profit fell by 62% on an annual basis to 12,99 billion roubles (US$159.9 millions). Profits for the first nine-months of the year fell 57%, to 49.7 bn roubles. Free cash flow also turned negative. Since last year, the demand for steel in Russia has declined due to a slowdown in activity among major customers such as the construction industry. Severstal reports that domestic steel consumption dropped by 15% between January and September. Severstal said that high interest rates and limited market financing for construction and engineering projects as well as the postponement or cancellation of infrastructure projects are affecting demand. The third-quarter revenue fell 18% due to lower steel costs. Sales rose by 3%, to 2.86 millions tons. In order to combat inflation, the central banks raised its interest rates last year. The rate was the highest since the early 2000s. The central bank began lowering the rate in June, and it has now dropped to 17%. The crisis in the Russian metal industry and the global metal industry will continue to worsen during the third quarter 2025. The domestic demand continued to decline in tandem with the further cooling down of the economy, said CEO Alexander Shevelev. Shevelev stated that the decision to not pay dividends allowed the company to "preserve financial resources to implement key strategic projects unconditionally in the future, and to ensure the long-term financial stability of the company during the difficult market period." In order to maintain financial stability in the face of weak demand, the company hasn't paid any dividends since 2024.
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Investors with $3 trillion of assets call on countries to end deforestation
Investors from around the world, who manage assets worth over $3 trillion, called on governments to reverse and stop deforestation by 2030. The statement was signed before a U.N. Climate Conference in Brazil. Belem Investor Statement for Rainforests is now open to sign up until November 1 and has attracted around 30 institutional investors, including Pictet Group, a Swiss private bank, as well as DNB Asset Management in the Nordic countries. Last week, a report found that the world has fallen far short of its goal to stop deforestation. In 2024, the area of England's forest will have been reduced by 8.1 million hectares (or 20 million acres). This is largely due to agricultural expansion and forestfires. The statement stated that "as investors, we have become increasingly concerned by the financial risks tropical deforestation poses to our portfolios." Jan Erik Saugestad is the CEO of Storebrand Asset Management, a Nordic firm. "Deforestation undermines natural systems on which global markets depend - from food and water safety to climate regulation." The European Union delayed its anti-deforestation legislation by one year earlier this year. This was due to opposition from the industry and trading partners, such as Brazil and Indonesia, who said that complying with these rules would be expensive and harm their exports into Europe. Ingrid Tungen is the head of Rainforest Foundation Norway's deforestation free markets. She said that Donald Trump, a climate sceptic, has also hampered action by rolling back support to global environmental efforts. She said that Trump had made it harder for managers and investors to consider climate change and biodiversity in a volatile environment. All the investors we have spoken to believe that there is a great risk if we do not take climate change and diversification into account in the long term. This will not only harm the markets and their profits, but also their morals. (Reporting and editing by Nia William; Sharon Kimathi)
Stocks rise as Fed rate-cut bets calm earnings season fears
The world stock market held steady on Monday, as traders bet that the U.S. would cut rates and Japan would increase stimulus spending. They also balanced worries about regional banks in the U.S. with expectations of a boom in quarterly earnings for Wall Street's artificial intelligence giants.
Wall Street futures trading implied that the blue-chip S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq would open 0.3% higher, as expected market volatility remained relatively high.
Last week, the VIX index of expected volatility on S&P 500 reached its highest level since U.S. president Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs on April 2, 2018. It was stuck at 21 on Monday, still above the long-term average.
Caroline Shaw, Fidelity's multi-asset manager, said that risks are piling up everywhere. There's...a lot of volatility in that."
On Monday, there was a rotation to international stocks. European equities were 0.6% higher while Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.8% and set a new record. A coalition agreement had paved the way for Sanae Takaichi, a pro-stimulus politician to become Prime Minister.
AI DRIVES WHILE CREDIT DOUBTS RISE
Safe-haven Gold rose by 0.3% to $4,263 per ounce on Monday after a 6% jump last week due to the growing doubts surrounding the U.S. Credit Sector and the stress signals that are raging across regional banks in the United States.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, warned last week about the "cockroaches", or credit market snags that would appear after two bankruptcys in the automotive sector in September.
Investors said that such trends made it more important for AI titans, like Nvidia or Microsoft, to not slow down their capital expenditure plans or business investment plan for the new technology in future earnings.
If the U.S. stock market begins to fall because the AI theme loses steam, then everything will be falling. Oliver Blackbourn, Janus Henderson's multi-asset manager, said: "You don't want to invest in stocks at that stage."
As a percentage of wealth, U.S. household stock exposure is at a 75-year record high. Retail investor participation is driven by optimism over tech earnings while AI performance and that of the rest of market are divergent.
Since July, the proportion of S&P500 stocks in a downward trend has nearly doubled.
Investors are still nervous about the earnings of regional U.S. banks that will be announced soon. Some said tighter credit terms could reduce some of the froth in AI share prices, even if spending on data centres and advanced chips continues to boom.
Jason da Silva, Arbuthnot latham's global investment strategy director and a steadfast supporter of U.S. stocks, said: "I would not say that it's early innings in big tech, but I still think there's enough scope for healthy return." According to LSEG IBES, analysts forecast an 8.8% growth year-on-year for the S&P 500 for this quarter.
Tesla and Netflix could release earnings reports that will also affect sentiment. Meanwhile, consumer groups like Procter & Gamble or Coca-Cola may provide a glimpse of the U.S. economic health.
RATE CUT BETS IN JOBS DATA VACUUM
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates next month by a quarter point and again in December. Its funds rate will drop to 3% the following year. Central bank chair Jay Powell, however, has not refuted this optimism.
The Fed will go into its next meeting with limited information on the U.S. economic situation because the White House has been shut down since October 1, which means that the data it closely monitors about employment is not available.
The core inflation data, due to be released on Friday, are expected to confirm that prices grew by 3.1% in September. This is still above the Fed’s average target of 2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is used to set global debt costs for corporates and households, has dropped more than 50 basis point since June, and last stood at around 4.01%.
The Fed's cut theme also contributed to further depressing the U.S. Dollar against European and higher yielding currencies. On Monday, the euro edged up to $1.1662 after enduring pressure following last week's shock credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's of France.
The dollar at least held up against the Japanese yen Monday as currency markets reduced odds of a Bank of Japan interest rate hike to just under 20%. They also viewed the central banks as more likely to support government initiatives than to fight inflation.
Brent crude, the international benchmark oil, fell 0.8% to $60.8 a barrel. The OPEC+ plan for increased supply also weighed on commodities.
(source: Reuters)