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US declares "economic D-Day" as Iran threatens to stop all oil exports
As it prepared to launch economic sanctions against Iran's trading partners on Monday, the U.S. warned Iran of "the greatest financial assault ever marshalled". Iran, in turn, vowed "to shut down all oil exports" from the Gulf if the economic "war" continues. U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a news conference on Monday at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT), promising even harsher measures against a country which has been subjected to economic sanctions almost continuously since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Bessent, in a Sunday Financial Times opinion piece, wrote: "At dawn starts an economic D-Day - the greatest financial offensive against an enemy ever mounted." They haven't engaged in meaningful discussions to end this six-month conflict, nor have they conducted any military attacks against each other. Since the U.S. began its strikes against Iran on February 28, it has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. The U.S. and Israel have also caused economic damage and degraded much of Iran's conventional weapons capability. Iran still has enough drones and missiles to threaten its Gulf neighbors and oil tankers on the Strait of Hormuz. This would bring shipping to a standstill in this key waterway and put pressure on world fuel prices. Iran's exact nuclear program status, which Israel and the US aspire to eliminate, is unknown. Bessent did not specify specific measures but said that the U.S. will target "fearful countries" who engage in "appeasement", by engaging Iran's financial system and economy. He wrote in the Financial Times that "they would do well to think about the consequences of maintaining it." Iran has been preparing for the sanctions since days. It issued a series strongly worded declarations suggesting that it planned a significant military response. Mohsenrezaei suggested economic retaliation on Sunday, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei said in a post on social media that if the economic war continued, no oil would be exported through the Strait of Hormuz or from anywhere else in the Persian Gulf. "Iran will consider any country that supports or participates in America's war on the Iranian people an act of war." Bessent had previously urged China, noting that China imports half its oil from the Gulf Region. A spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Washington stated that "sanctions and pressuring do not solve the problem" while calling for diplomacy. Iran's economy had already been under international sanctions prior to the U.S.-Israeli attacks that destroyed some of its infrastructure. Iranian officials have warned, despite 'Tehran's outward defiance, that more economic sanctions could worsen hardships, reignite discontent and undermine the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy. Iran began the war with high levels of inflation, a weakening dollar, energy shortages and sanctions. Now, it must deal with the damage to its infrastructure, disruption of trade, loss in production, and the cost for rebuilding. Qatar, Pakistan, and Turkey are all trying to foster diplomacy in the absence of face-to-face official talks between the U.S., Iran and Switzerland. These last took place in June, Switzerland. Iran confirmed that Pakistan's Army Chief, Asim Muniz, would visit Tehran on January 9th as part of efforts to restore security and peace in the region. However, it gave little information. Pakistan has been mediating in the conflict, and a source within the Pakistani government said that Munir will touch on recent developments such as the U.S. threat to impose new sanctions. During the war, U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran as well as Israeli attacks on Lebanon have caused thousands of deaths and millions of refugees. The U.S. has reported 18 deaths and over 750 injuries. Reporting by Yasmine GHANI in Cairo and Kanishka SINGH in Washington, Writing by Daniel Trotta, Editing by Chris Reese
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Shein, a fast fashion company, is valued at $27 billion dollars in Hong Kong's IPO
Shein, an online fast-fashion retailer, has seen its valuation drop by 70% since it peaked at a private market value of $100 billion four years ago. It now aims to raise HK$13.86 'billion ($1.77 bn) through its Hong Kong IPO that was launched on 'Monday. The filings show that Shein is selling 280,000,000 shares at HK$47.60 to HK$49.50 each, valuing the company at nearly $27 billion if the price range is at its highest. Shein's valuation has fallen dramatically from previous private fundraising rounds, which valued Shein at 98.2 Billion dollars in 2022. The company's valuation was $64 billion between April 2024 and 2023. The company will announce its final price on August 31, and begin trading on September 1. Shein, known for its $5 dresses and $10 denim jeans sold in 160 countries around the world, had initially sought an IPO value of $30 billion to 40 billion when investor meetings prior to the IPO began. Shein was questioned about slowing growth, rising cost and changing market conditions. Investors were not sure Shein would be able to return to growth rates that valued the company at almost $100 billion four year ago. The prospectus revealed that cornerstone investors, including existing shareholders Boyu and Tiger Global, as well as General Atlantic, had subscribed for approximately $383 million in Shein shares. Tencent, Greenwoods Taikang Life, UBS Asset Management, and Taikang Life will also purchase shares. Shein stated that it would spend 80% of its IPO proceeds to upgrade its technology and increase its global presence. According to the prospectus, it has agreed to pay up $3.5 billion to certain investors that purchased special shares during earlier private funding rounds. The Hong Kong IPO shares will have a tenth of the voting rights as the shares owned by the founders. The prospectus stated that Sky Yangtian Xu and Maggie Gu will have 90% of Shein’s voting rights. GROWTH SLOCKS DOWN QUICKLY Shein's business is suffering from a slowdown in revenue growth, and its core earnings are weakening. Meanwhile, shrinking margins and increased trade costs have raised concerns about the expansion of Shein, as well as tighter regulations and increasing competition. Shein stated in its prospectus that its first-half revenue growth in 2026?is likely to be roughly in line with 1.1% growth in the first quarter. Its operating margin is expected to be slightly lower than the first-quarter. This is attributed to increased European import duties, price pressure and a weaker Middle East demand due to the Iran War. After an accounting change, it swung from a quarterly profit of $99 million to a loss of $328 millions on convertible redeemable preferred stock. Shein's IPO in Hong Kong is the biggest new share sale to date in 2026. It surpasses Momenta Global, which raised $751 million in July. It is the third largest IPO in Asia behind?CXMT, China Resources New Energy and $9.8 billion, respectively, in Chinese onshore IPOs. LSEG data shows that Hong Kong IPOs raised $41 billion in the first half of this year. This is a record and double what was raised a year ago.
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Fire threatens Reno, Nevada and tens of thousands are ordered to evacuate
Tens of thousands have been evacuated from Reno this weekend, and others were ordered to leave on Sunday, as a wildfire raged near the outskirts of Nevada's third most populous city. Local officials reported late Sunday that the Hawk Fire was threatening northern Reno and had forced 42,000 residents to leave their homes or evacuate. Another 45,000 were in "be ready to evacuate" mode. Local TV footage showed flames encroaching on roads. Eyewitness footage?verified as true by eyewitnesses shows smoke billowing over residential neighborhoods. Websites that track fires showed evacuation zones extending from the Sierra Nevada Hills to the University of Nevada, located in Reno's northwest. Officials said that the fire had burned approximately?13,000 acres (5.261 hectares) to date, at a Sunday press conference. They said the fire was caused by humans and is still under investigation. Three civilians as well as three first responders were injured, according to?Shane Akerson. He is a commander in charge of?fire-and-rescue operations. Richard Edwards of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection district said that officials first heard reports of an alleged fire on Hawk Meadow Trail around 11:15 am PDT (1815 GMT), Saturday. He said that firefighters worked in "extremely red flag" conditions on Saturday. Conditions that are red flags include high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. These conditions increase the risk of wildfires. Edwards stated on Sunday that he expects the same conditions to return this afternoon. Nevada - Governor Joe Lombardo declared an emergency state late Saturday night in Washoe County. This includes Reno and some parts of Lake Tahoe. In a recent statement,?Lombardo stated that the situation was "active and rapidly evolving". He urged residents to be vigilant and to follow local officials' directions. Officials said that Lombardo had authorized the deployment of 60?National Guard members to support operations in conjunction with?the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. Commercial flights continued to operate normally on Sunday at the?Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which was outside of the evacuation zone.
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Government says 30 people killed in landslide at Guinea landfill
The government announced on Sunday that 30 people were killed in a landslide near a landfill?in Guinea's capitol after heavy rains caused a mound of?waste to collapse, engulfing nearby tents and shelters. The incident happened less than one week after the government announced its plans to relocate waste and close the landfill site. This was due to the danger it posed. According to a government statement, the landslide occurred?at 2 a.m. (0200 GMT), in the Gbessia community of Conakry. According to the government statement, 30 people were killed and six others seriously injured. Another 16 people suffered only minor injuries. Rescue workers were using excavators, among other tools, to clear the area of the landslide. Witnesses said that the slide was large enough to bury a building and several more homes. Cire Diallo told reporters that all five of her children had been killed. "I've lost all my kids." "All I can do now is trust God," said the woman. Guinea has the largest bauxite deposits in the world and is home to?the richest untapped iron ore at Simandou. A massive mining project began there in November. Guinea has a poor infrastructure and widespread poverty. According to a World Bank Report published in April, 3.7 million out of the 15.1 million residents 'live on less than $4.20 a day. Djenab toure, Guinea's Minister of Territorial Administration, announced Thursday that the government would close the landfill due to its unsafe condition and relocate the waste outside Conakry. The?government said that Prime Minister Amadou?Oury Bah had visited the landfill on Sunday to assess?damage, supervise the response and ensure the people remained calm and showed solidarity. Reporting by Guinea Newsroom, Writing by Robbie Corey Boulet; Editing and Mark Porter.
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Kazakhs vote in elections that will tighten President's powers
Kazakhs began voting 'Sunday in a snap election for a new parliament that appeared to be strengthening the power of President Kassym Jomart Tokayev over this 'Central asia country. The election was triggered after the adoption of a revised constitution in early this year. This new constitution consolidated parliament into a single chamber, reducing it from two. Kazakhstan's Supreme Court said last month that Tokayev who took office in 2019 was allowed to run for another seven-year term under the new constitution. Opinion polls show a majority of people support 'Adilet', a pro Tokayev party that was founded only a few months ago. The previous ruling party Amanat has been dissolved. The election is also being contested by a number of opposition parties who are all viewed as generally loyal to Tokayev. Tokayev, who voted in Astana's capital, told journalists that it was too early to decide whether he would run for another term. Tokayev is the successor of Kazakhstan's first President, Nursultan Nazabayev. He split with his predecessor after the 2022 unrest, which he has characterized as a coup by Nazarbayev's allies. Reporting by Felix Light, Mariya Gordeyeva and Elaine Hardcastle
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Former world boxing champion Tete of South Africa is shot dead outside his house
?Police?and?the country's Sports Minister?have confirmed that former world boxing champ?Zolani 'Last Born' Tete has been shot dead outside his home on Friday in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Two armed men in balaclavas jumped out of the vehicle as the 38-year old was approaching his home in Mdantsane Township and opened fire. Gayton McKenzie, Sports Minister Gayton said in a press release: "I won't speculate on who did it? Or why." Tete's murder will bring attention to violent crime in South Africa. Despite recent declines, the country continues to have one of highest murder rates in the world. The murder of Tete has also touched a nerve in Mdantsane. This township, located in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, has produced many of South Africa's best-known?boxers. A woman aged 27 who was travelling with Tete, was shot several times and taken to hospital. The police have begun an investigation and the motive is still unclear. Tete won the IBF junior bantamweight title in 2014, after beating Japan's Teiru "Kinoshita" in Kobe. Later, he?won a WBO bantamweight title. His '11-second knockout' of South?African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017 is what he will be remembered for internationally. It was the fastest finish in a world title bout.
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Ukrainian drones kill multiple people in warehouse of Russian online retailer Ozon
Russian officials reported that Ukrainian drones had killed at least six civilians in an overnight wave of strikes against Russia. The strike also targeted a warehouse owned by the online retailer Ozon, as well as an industrial facility located in Samara. Vyacheslav Federishchev, the Governor of Samara, posted on Telegram that several people were injured in the strikes. He did not mention the industrial facility that was struck but Ukraine's Military?said they had struck the Novokuibyshevsk Refinery in the region, causing an fire. Ozon, Russia’s second largest?online retailer said in a Telegram statement that the work at its Samara region logistics centre in Chapayevsk was halted following the strike. It said the strike caused?injuries. This is the first strike on Ozon after weeks of drone attacks against its larger rival Wildberries. Ukraine has framed this as part a broader campaign to attack the economic infrastructure that underpins the Russian war on Ukraine. Veniamin Kodratyev, the governor of the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said two children were killed and two adults injured?in an attack on the Sea of Azov Port Town of Yeysk. He claimed that a fire broke out at an unnamed building in the port of the town. In an attack on the Ukrainian border region, Belgorod, a region of?Russian?Belgorod, which borders Ukraine said that two people were killed and thirteen others wounded. The local governor of Bryansk said that four people had been injured in the?border region. The governor of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, which is almost entirely controlled by Russia, said that two civilians including a 16 year old boy, were killed, and nine others wounded. The Russian Defence Ministry announced that it had shot down 457 Ukrainian drones over night. (Reporting and editing by Alexandra Hudson, Emelia Sithole Matarise and Felix Light)
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US and Iran continue to use hostile rhetoric in advance of new sanctions
The United States, Iran and China exchanged defiant e-mails ahead of the scheduled announcement on Monday of new U.S. sanctions that may?impact Iran and its most important trading partners such as China. The war was approaching six months and the two sides were not only not exchanging shots but they also weren't pursuing any peace talks. Oil shipments have been virtually stopped through the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran holds on to its leverage, threatening to hit any unauthorised oil tankers who attempt to cross the narrow waterway. Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, will hold a news conference on Monday at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT), promising to unveil "the most severe sanctions in history" against Iran and urging China's cooperation with Washington. According to data from Kpler, China bought more than 80% (of the oil shipped by Iran) in 2025. ?Beijing urged diplomacy. Esmaeil baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that the impending announcement by the United States of new economic sanctions against Iran is an "assertion extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations." In a blog post on X, he stated that "Such secondary sanctioned have no basis in international law." Donald Trump, the U.S. president who warned against economic sanctions for any country providing "any kind of lifeline" to Iran, said on Friday Washington was watching "what happens". Trump said that Iran would like to do a deal but was not prepared to make it. HORMUZ?TRAFFIC HALTED While U.S. effectively blockedaded Iranian vessels, the Strait of Hormuz remains bottled up. Thousands of seafarers are stranded aboard hundreds of?vessels. Ship-tracking data revealed that only four commodity ships were sailing along the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. None of these vessels were large crude carriers, or liquefied gas tankers. Iran, however, has allowed a number Iraqi oil tankers the opportunity to pass through this Strait after repeated requests by Baghdad. This was reported Saturday by Iran's official news agency IRNA. IRNA reported that Baghdad had made a number of requests to Baghdad during the visit by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. Energy Secretary Chris Wright of the United States said that the U.S. Military helped move an average of 8,000,000 barrels of oil per day through the Strait in a week. This is down from over 20 million barrels per day prior to the war, or approximately?one out of every five oil barrels consumed globally. The U.S. has severely damaged Iran's economy, its navy and its air force. But Tehran still maintains enough drone and missile capability to attack regional rivals and impede oil tanker travel. Trump has not yet achieved the objectives he set for himself at the beginning of the war, such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear program – the status of which is uncertain, given that U.N. Inspectors are no longer allowed to enter the country since 2025 – and creating conditions so Iranians can overthrow the clerical leaders. On the first day of war, thousands have died. 168 Iranian children were among them. More than 750 US military personnel have been reported as wounded, and 18 people killed. The Iranian Economy is Damaged On Friday, the chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi promised that Iran will respond militarily to threats from enemies with "crushing and punishing responses" as well as "devastating ones." Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Armenia, called for a diplomatic resolution. Pezeshkian, speaking to ISNA, said that it would be better to end this war now, when America is powerful and has dignity. The world will acknowledge our victory, and recognize the fact that America, in violation of all laws, attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure, and is hated around the world. In comments made late Thursday to Iranian and Iraqi entrepreneurs, Iran's parliament Speaker,?Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf acknowledged the strains on Iran's economic system. Qalibaf told the official news agency IRNA that "no matter how much power we have in terms of military, we will not survive without food for our people, financial turnover, economic development and national production." (Reporting and writing by Kanishka Singa and Ismail Shakil, Editing by Cynthia Osterman).
Ampol reports near five-fold increase in profits as Iran War boosts refining margin
Ampol, Australia's largest fuel retailer, posted a nearly five-fold increase in?interim profits to a record high on Monday. This was largely due to the sharp rise in refinery margins as a result of supply disruptions in Middle East.
Ampol operates one of Australia's?refineries. Profit margins have more than tripled since the beginning of the U.S. War with Iran.
The company reported a nine-fold increase in its earnings from the fuel and infrastructure (F&I), while its earnings from convenience retail rose by 12%.
The underlying net profit after taxes reached a record A$857.2?million ($614.44?million) for the six-month period ended June 30. This compares to A$180.2 million a year ago and easily beats?the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$840?million.
Ampol announced an interim dividend of 185 Australian Cents per share. This is more than quadrupling last year's interim?dividend of 40 Australian cents.
(source: Reuters)