Latest News
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Sony Financial shares soar 40% on their debut market
Sony Financial shares jumped up to 40% on their Tokyo debut after being spun off from the entertainment and technology conglomerate Sony. Sony, which focuses on entertainment, distributed shares of its finance division, including banking and insurance, through dividends-in-kind to shareholders. This is the first partial spinoff in Japan to take advantage of the 2023 tax changes and the first direct listing for more than two decades. After trading for the first hour and thirteen minutes in Tokyo at 10:13 am, the shares reached 210 yen before trading at 201.6 at 10:30 am. The reference price is 150 yen. Direct listing is a stock market listing without the traditional initial public offer. Sony Financial announced that it would buy back shares worth up to 100 billion Japanese yen (671.1 million dollars). Sony wants to expand into movies, music and games and continue to be the leader in image sensors.
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Oil prices drop as Kurdistan resumes crude exports, OPEC+ plans to increase output
Oil prices fell by nearly 1% Monday, after the Kurdistan region of Iraq resumed crude exports through Turkey at the weekend. OPEC+ also plans to increase oil production in November. Brent crude futures dropped 63 cents or 0.90% to $69.50 per barrel at 0023 GMT, after Friday's settlement, which was the highest since July 31, had been reached. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was trading at $65.07 per barrel, down 65c or 0.99%. This is a significant reversal of Friday's gains. Michael McCarthy, CEO Moomoo Australia & New Zealand, said that "ongoing fears of increased production are limiting gains but a tight outlook near term has crude prices in an abyss as trading week starts." Iraq's oil minister said that crude oil began flowing through the pipeline on Saturday for the first time since 2-1/2 years after a deal was reached to break a deadlock. Iraq's oil ministry told Kurdish radio Rudaw that the agreement between Iraq's Federal Government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and foreign oil companies operating in the area will allow for 180,000-190,000 barrels of crude oil to flow into Turkey's Ceyhan Port each day. The U.S. pushed for a restart that is expected to bring 230,000 bpd or more of crude oil back to the international market at a moment when OPEC+ increases output to gain share. Three sources familiar with the discussions said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) will likely approve a crude production increase of at least 137,000 bpd during its Sunday meeting, as the rising oil price encourages the group to continue to gain market share. OPEC+, however, has been pumping nearly 500,000 bpd below its targets. This is contrary to market expectations that there would be a glut of supply. Brent and WTI both rose by more than 4% in the past week. This was their largest weekly gain since June as Ukraine's drone strikes on Russia's infrastructure for energy cut off fuel exports. Russia launched a sustained attack on Kyiv, and other parts in Ukraine, early Sunday morning. It was the longest assault on the capital city since the war started. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, Jamie Freed, and Florence Tan)
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Indonesia's Pertamina says fuel retailer Vivo agrees to purchase gasoline
Pertamina, the Indonesian state energy company, said that Vivo Energy Indonesia, a private retailer, has agreed to purchase 40,000 barrels out of 100,000 barrels imported by Pertamina to relieve fuel shortages in private retailers. Shell, BP AKR – the operator of BP’s fuel stations – Vivo and other companies ran out of supplies this month after more customers sought them out following a report on the quality of Pertamina’s gasoline. In order to alleviate the shortages, the government has allowed private retailers to import additional fuel via Pertamina. Vivo has agreed to an inter-company process with Pertamina. Vivo will take 40,000 barrels of the 100,000 barrels offered by Pertamina Patra Niaga to serve its clients. Pertamina Patra Niaga said it had ordered 16,000 kilolitres of gasoline (100,640 barrels) that arrived this past week. The state firm offered the cargo to petrol stations including Shell and BP AKR. Dumatubun stated that a surveyor will be appointed by both parties to conduct a quality-and-quantity test of the gasoline following the agreement. A spokesperson for the energy ministry also stated that fuel was now available to private retailers and companies were in discussions about distribution. Shell declined to immediately comment. Shell refused to comment immediately. According to the energy ministry, the remaining import quota of Pertamina of 7.52 million kilolitres could be used by private retailers. Reporting by Fransiska Nanangoy, Jakarta; Editing and proofreading by Kirsiska Donovan and Kim Coghill
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Michigan church shooting leaves 1 dead and 9 injured, police report
Local police reported that a man drove through the doors of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shot at least ten people and killed one of them. The gunman got out of the vehicle and fired an assault-style weapon. William Renye, Grand Blanc Police Chief said. He said that the car smashed into the church and set it on fire. Social media footage showed smoke billowing from the building while firefighters sprayed water on the fire. Fire trucks and emergency vehicles parked nearby. The chief of police said that authorities believe they will discover additional victims among the ruins. The police did not immediately reveal the name of the suspect who died on the scene after an exchange of gunfire. The chief said that there were no officers at the church. Renye said he was a 40-year old man from Burton in Michigan. No further details are available at this time. In a social media statement, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer stated that her heart was breaking for the Grand Blanc Community. She said that violence, especially in places of worship is unacceptable. Officials from the United States, including U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi and U.S. president Donald Trump, announced that they were briefed about the shooting. Bondi wrote on X: "Such violent acts in a place for worship are heartbreaking and terrifying." In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said that this shooting "appears yet another targeted assault on Christians in the United States of America", and the FBI were on the scene. "THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!" Informally, the Mormons are known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grand Blanc is a small town with 7,700 residents located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Detroit. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien, in Chicago; Joseph Tanfani, in New York; and Rebecca Cook, in Grand Blanc. Editing by Will Dunham and Leslie Adler.
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Turkish prosecutors have ordered the detention of Ciner, according to state media.
In an investigation of media company Can Holding, which purchased TV channels from Ciner Group's mining-to energy conglomerate, Turkish prosecutors ordered Turgay Ciner to be detained and some of his companies seized. Prosecutors ordered Can Holding to be seized on September 11 as part of an investigation into money-laundering, tax evasion, and organised crime. Can Holding purchased major television channels Haberturk Show TV and Bloomberg HT, from Ciner Group in late 2018. In a report by the state-owned Anadolu News Agency, Istanbul's chief prosecutor said that Turgay Ciner was arrested on Sunday after a suspicion of money laundering was raised. In the statement of the prosecutor, it was also stated that state trustees were appointed to manage Ciner’s Park Holding Inc. and its affiliated companies AFC Import Export Tourism and Zeyfa Import Export. The statement also said that detention warrants had been issued to 10 executives from companies connected to the group in connection with the investigation. Turgay Ciner was not immediately available for comment. Reporting by Darryl Butler and Can Sezer, Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Peter Graff
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Nigeria's oil union stops gas supply to Dangote Refinery due to mass dismissals
The Nigerian oil workers' union ordered its members to stop gas supplies to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. This escalated a labour conflict after hundreds of workers had been dismissed, and threatened to disrupt fuel supplies in Africa's largest nation. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN), has directed major oil companies to immediately stop crude and natural gas deliveries to refineries. According to a letter from September 26, the union accused Dangote of "misinformation" and "propaganda" rather than addressing allegations of wrongfully disengaging unionised employees. Dangote Refinery announced on Friday that it had fired a few workers citing sabotage at various units. This sparked criticism by an oil workers union who claimed that over 800 Nigerians were fired and replaced with foreigners, mostly from India. DISPUTE ADDS FURTHER PRESSURE ON DANGOTE REFINERY PENGASSAN's General Secretary Lumumba OKugbawa said that crude oil valves should be closed and vessels heading there immediately stopped being loaded. Dangote Refinery stated that the dismissals are part of an organisational reorganization to improve safety, efficiency and productivity. It stated late Saturday that "absolutely, no law" gives PENGASSAN authority to order its branches to "cut off" gas and crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery at all or even to 'interfere' or disrupt their contracts with suppliers and vendors. This dispute puts pressure on the $20-billion refinery that announced it would stop selling petrol in naira as of September 28th due to a shortage of crude and mismatches with foreign exchange rates. This has led to concerns over fuel prices rising and further pressure on Nigeria's currency. PENGASSAN has said that chairs of union chapters in oil majors should "report immediately the progress of the Directive", signaling a coordinated shut down could disrupt the fuel supply of the country. Reporting by Tife owolabi, Isaac Anyaogu and Ben Ezeamalu. Editing by Toby Chopra, Bernadette Baum and Bernadette Chopra.
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Media reports: At least 29 people killed and 50 injured in Indian actor-politician Vijay’s rally
The Hindu newspaper, citing state Health Minister Ma, reported that at least 29 people died and 50 were injured during a protest held by Tamil actor-politician Vijay, in Tamil Nadu state, south of India. Subramanian. The report stated that large crowds attended the meeting as part of Vijay’s ongoing tour of the state for his political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Vijay is a single-named candidate who will be running in the state elections to be held at the beginning of next year. The report also stated that at least 44 doctors were sent from nearby districts Tiruchirappalli (Tirupati) and Salem (Salem). In a recent post, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the incident at a Karur political rally is "deeply saddening". The health ministry of Tamil Nadu and the office of Chief Minister MK STALIN in Tamil Nadu did not respond to calls. The news from Karur was worrying, said Stalin in an X-post. He added that he directed ministers and other officials to provide immediate medical aid to those who had collapsed during the Karur rally. Additionally, he ordered Tiruchirappalli to send additional help. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis in Bengaluru, with reporting by Devika Nirra from Bengaluru)
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Peru's Gen-Z protests pensions, corruption and President Boluarte
On Saturday, Peruvian youth will rally for a second round of protests to protest against President Dina Boluarte, one week after clashes between police and protesters in the capital left over a dozen officers, journalists, and protesters injured. Protests broke out on September 20, following changes to Peru's pension system, which required all Peruvians over 18 years of age to sign up with a pension provider. However, they were also fuelled by anger that had been building against Boluarte for a long time. "There has been a low level of simmering discontent in Peru for quite some time," said Jo-Marie Burt. She is a visiting professor in Princeton University's Latin American Studies program and has studied Peruvian politics over the past decade. Burt stated that the discontent was fueled by corruption, economic insecurity and rising crime. There is also anger about the lack of accountability for dozens of protesters killed by security force when Boluarte took power late in 2022, after former president Pedro Castillo had been removed from office. According to the July report of the Institute of Peruvian Studies, Boluarte has a 2.5% approval rating while Congress is at 3%. Apart from the unrest, protests in the mining industry have shaken the country. Hudbay Minerals announced on Tuesday that it had temporarily closed its mill in Peru due to the ongoing unrest. Peru is the third-largest copper producer in the world and also a major gold and silver producer. The Peruvian Youth Take to the Streets The Gen Z protests in Peru follow the youth demonstrations that took place in Nepal and Indonesia. The demonstrations have been marked by a skull wearing a straw cap, a symbol taken from the Japanese manga "One Piece", about pirates who are on the hunt for treasure. Leonardo Munoz, a protester in Lima who has adopted the symbol. Munoz explained that "the main character Luffy travels from one town to another, freeing people of tyrannical and corrupt rulers who rule over slave towns." It represents what is happening in different countries. "That's what's happening in Peru right now." According to the INE statistics agency in Peru, 27% percent of Peruvian population are between 18 and 29 years old. "We are tired of it being normalized. "Since when have normalized death? Since when have normalized corruption and extortion?" asked Santiago Zapata a student activist. "My generation is now coming out to protest because we are tired of being made to feel scared when the government that we elected should be afraid of us." DEMOCRATIC BACSLIDING IN PERU & ABROAD Burt says that the protests are part of a larger context where democracies around the world are under pressure. They also follow the efforts by the administration to weaken the courts, watchdogs, and prosecutors. She said: "It is very similar to what happened under Fujimori in the 1990s, when the justice was captured essentially for the consolidation of authoritarian controls." Burt pointed out that while the United States is less inclined to support democracy abroad and there are still concerns about the administration's erosion of electoral institutions in the run-up to the 2026 elections in Peru, previous protests helped to "hold the line" against institutions being taken over and even led to the removal of presidents. "Democratic forces can mobilize, and act in unexpected, positive ways, even if there is almost total control from these authoritarian system," Burt said. He added that the key will be whether or not protests are sustained over time. "The opera is still not over."
Why one Eastern European nation was slow to give up its Russian oil addiction: Vladimirov
By Martin Vladimirov
Czechia, on April 7, has the infrastructure, reserves and access to other suppliers that it needs to stop importing Russian oil. Three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on a large scale, the Czech Republic has continued to delay a strategic shift despite viable alternatives. According to a Center for the Study of Democracy analysis, Czechia imported Russian crude oil worth 1.5 billion euros in 2024. The volume was down 30% compared to 2023. However, this wasn't due to a proactive strategy to phase out Russian crude. It was mainly the result of 3 major disruptions in the Druzhba Pipeline. After the completion of the Trans-Alpine pipeline expansion in 2024, Czechia should have been able to replace Russian crude. As of February, however, neither the state-owned MERO CR nor the dominant refiner Orlen Unipetrol were able to fully exploit this new resource. In the end, each month more than 100 millions of euros were sent to the Kremlin.
This is not a technical problem. MERO CR had confirmed, even before the final certification of TAL-plus was granted, that the spare capacity in pipelines would be sufficient to meet Czechia’s entire annual crude oil demand.
The country's strategic reserve of 3.6 millions tonnes could also cover almost half its annual consumption. The volume of Russian oil imported in 2024's final quarter increased by 30% compared to the previous year, and reached 970,000 tonnes. This was the highest quarterly level since the European Union oil embargo came into effect in 2022. In 2025, Czechia purchased an additional 220,000 tons of Russian crude. Orlen Unipetrol claims that Rosneft's long-term contract obligations, which expire in mid-2025 prevented an immediate withdrawal from Russian crude. It is not certain that this is the case. Take-or-pay provisions - which are often used as a justification – are uncommon in the global oil market, where flexibility of supply is the norm. Orlen appears to be primarily motivated by financial concerns. Russian crude, on average, was 20% cheaper than Azeri oil in 2023-2024. Retail fuel prices were stable, with average gasoline and diesel costs of 1,500 euros and 1,360 euro per tonne respectively. Orlen Unipetrol, which relied heavily on Russian crude oil during its peak years, was able to take advantage of the cost difference and report EBITDA in excess of 600 million euros per year.
The discount on Russian crude could increase in the future, as tariffs recently implemented by the U.S. government may dampen demand for oil globally, forcing Russia lower its prices.
REPERCUSSIONS
This passive attitude has had important geopolitical consequences. Since the beginning of the war, Czechia has contributed almost 3 billion euros to the Russian government in the form of tax revenue. Czechia spent 8.4 billion euro on Russian gas and oil since February 2022. This is more than six-times the amount of money it gave to Ukraine in aid.
Czechia also continues to import refined petroleum products from Slovakia, Hungary and other EU-exempt countries, where refineries are processing Russian crude oil. This exemption is extended until June 2025. Slovakia exported 710,000 tons of fuel worth 520 millions euros to Czechia in 2024 despite alternatives being available. Germany, for example, only charges a 6-7% higher price than Slovak suppliers on gasoline and diesel.
Czechia also follows a similar pattern in its natural gas imports. Czechia's Russian gas purchases increased by almost 400% in 2024 in anticipation of Ukraine terminating its Russian transit in January 2025. Imports of Russian gas in the last quarter of 2024 were 62% more than average.
The Czech government can unilaterally ban Russian crude imports. It can also stop purchases of fuels refined using Russian oil in Slovakia or Hungary. And it can make full use both of the TAL pipe and its domestic reserves. Bulgaria has shown that a complete phase-out of Russian oil is possible. Sofia ended its exemption early in 2024 by invoking the force majeure clause, and cut off Russian crude over night. The result was neither an increase in fuel prices nor a threat to the security of oil supplies, despite Bulgaria relying on Russian crude for 90% of its crude imports.
Czech Government Officials on April 17,
The country is now fully independent from Russian oil after the completion of the capacity upgrades to the TAL pipeline. Czechia appears to be able to align its actions with European imperatives for energy security without suffering severe economic consequences. If the current halt of Russian oil imports doesn't hold, then it will struggle justifying why it has not done so.
(source: Reuters)