North America

Amid the rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, several countries have started to withdraw dependents of diplomats and 'non-essential personnel from certain locations in?Middle East. Or they advise citizens to postpone travel to Iran. Here are some of the most popular moves: AUSTRALIA - The Australian government has advised dependents of Australian diplomatic staff in Israel and Lebanon that they should leave these two countries due to a deteriorating regional security situation. The government also offered voluntary departures for the?dependents of Australian diplomats in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, and Qatar. It continues to encourage?citizens of Israel and Lebanon...

Iraq's Oil Minister said that Chevron is in exclusive talks with Lukoil to take over the West Qurna 2 oilfield. Iraq is seeking to increase its oil and gas production. Oil majors are competing to expand their operations, after years of political insecurity. Hayan Abdel-Ghani, the Oil Minister of Iraq, told Kurdish TV Rudaw in an interview that production could increase to 750,000-800,000. bpd once Chevron took over operations. The U.S. The?U.S. Iraq, which is the second largest oil producer in the OPEC+ Group, comprising Organization?of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, has plans to increase the...

Democrats in the Senate Banking Committee criticized President Donald Trump on Tuesday for not stepping up sanctions against Russia to force it to end the four-year war in Ukraine. They noted that the European Union had?designated nearly 900 targets by 2025, compared to only two?for?the?U.S. Democratic staff from the Republican-led panel released an analysis on the fourth anniversary. They identified hundreds of targets that Trump could have sanctioned during his first year as president. The war in Ukraine, Russia’s western neighbor, has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and ravaged large areas of Ukraine. They said that...

ONEOK, a U.S.-based pipeline operator, reported a drop in profit % per share for the fourth quarter on Monday. This was due to a'sharp decline in earnings from its natural gas & transportation segment that is linked to a 'divestiture in 2024 of a 'interstate pipeline network. In extended trading, shares of the company fell 2.8%. ONEOK was also affected by low oil prices in the quarter ending December 31 as geopolitical risk outweighed concerns over an oversupply. Benchmark Brent crude averaged $63.13 per barrel in the quarter, down 11.3% compared to a year ago. The fall in oil prices...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy's bid to quash a lawsuit filed by Boulder, Colorado officials who want to hold oil companies responsible for climate change. The Supreme Court heard an appeal from the companies against a ruling of the lower court that allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The lawsuit alleging violations of state law by the companies seeks unspecified damages for "costs incurred" by Boulder in mitigating climate change. Boulder is just one of the dozens of climate-related cases filed by U.S. states against companies that produce, extract, distribute, or sell fossil fuels....

Congress may vote next week on whether to prevent 'President Donald Trump' from striking Iran without the approval of lawmakers. The U.S. Military is preparing for a possible serious conflict with Iran if diplomacy fails. Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to pass resolutions, which would prevent Trump from taking military action without the approval of lawmakers. The Constitution of the United States gives Congress, not the president, the power to send U.S. troops into war. The Constitution gives Congress the power to send U.S. soldiers to war, except for limited strikes to protect national security. Last week, it was...

Indian share benchmarks recovered from initial jitters to rise?by mid-day on Friday as heavyweight stocks clawed back some?of the previous session's loss. As of 12:11 p.m. IST, the Nifty '50?added 0.54%, to 25,592.6. The BSE Sensex rose 0.48%, to 82897.3. The indexes had dropped about 0.3% on the opening, adding to a drop of 1.5% in the previous session. This was their biggest single-day decline in over two weeks. 15 of 16 major sectors were higher. The small-caps, mid-caps, and large-caps all added 0.1% to 0.5% respectively. Naveen Vyas is the head of the?family office of Anand Rathi Global Finance....

Alberta will hold a referendum in the fall asking residents whether the government should limit?the number of international students, 'temporary foreign workers' and asylum seekers who?arrive?into the oil-rich Canadian Province. Alberta's Premier Danielle Smith announced the move in a television address on Thursday night. It is an attempt to take control of this important issue away from the federal government. Ottawa is responsible for the majority of immigration policy in Canada, and not the provinces. This is a blow to Canadian unity at a time when the Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to improve relations with resource-rich western provinces,...

Chris Wright, the U.S. Energy Secretary, gave an ultimatum to the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday. The agency had one year to abandon its support for goals to reduce energy emissions to zero net or else risk losing membership. At the biennial meeting of the agency, European countries downplayed the "threat" and reaffirmed their commitment to cleaner fuel. In 2015, the U.S., along with nearly 200 other nations, signed the Paris Accords. This international agreement aims to reduce global warming through the burning of less oil, coal and gas, and to reach net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050....

The main Canadian stock index was a little subdued Thursday as declines in healthcare and financial shares overshadowed gains in energy stocks. As of 10:15 a.m., the S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.06%, at 33,368.79. ET. Bausch Health, a specialty pharmaceutical firm, fell 4.1% following a quarter-end loss. Healthcare shares were down 1.8%. Wall Street's main indexes fell on Thursday. Heavyweight technology stocks dropped after recent gains. The TSX tech stocks fell by 1.4% after a strong session. Heavyweight Financials fell by 0.8% The TSX Energy Index gained the most, 2%. Oil prices reached a six-month high amid fears of...

U.S. officials reported that General Francis Donovan and Joseph Humire, a senior Pentagon official, made a surprise visit to Venezuela for security discussions on Wednesday. This is the first trip by a U.S. Military delegation since U.S. Forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month in an audacious operation and whisked to New York for drug-trafficking accusations. First reported by. The Venezuelan government reported that the U.S. delegation met with interim President Delcy Rodriquez, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. Both sides have agreed to collaborate to fight drug trafficking, terrorism, and migration. Padrino and?Cabello both face...

HF Sinclair CEO Tim Go will take a 'voluntary leave' amid a 'disclosure review. The U.S. refinery announced this?on a Wednesday. Its shares plummeted despite a higher-than expected fourth-quarter profit. Dallas-based refiner Go said he has requested an internal review of the company's disclosure processes. Franklin Myers, the board chair, has been appointed interim CEO. The shares of the refiner dropped 14% during the morning trading after the company announced that the audit committee was evaluating the disclosure processes. Myers said during a conference called that the company is working to finish this review as quickly as possible. He said...

The French utility Engie announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to purchase electricity distributor UK Power Networks for $14.2 billion. This was in an effort to expand the power business. The company stated that the deal, which is due to be completed in mid-2026 will boost earnings per share from the first full year. UK Power Networks, currently owned by Hong Kong listed CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited, is expected to boost per-share earnings from the first year. Engie, a company that produces, trades, and sells gas and electricity, wants to protect its business against energy market fluctuations due to...

Louisiana utility regulators deny a group of environmental lawyers' claims Request for Investigation Earthjustice, a law group, said on Wednesday that a $27 billion Meta Platforms Data Center 'deal was being negotiated. Earthjustice sent a request to the Louisiana Public Service Commission last month asking them to investigate project financing. The group argued that this could lead to unfair costs being passed on the utility customers. The motion focused on Meta's proposed Richland Parish data center project, where three new gas-fired energy plants would be built. Earthjustice's petition stated that Meta had signed a new financial agreement for the data...

Pinnacle West Capital announced a 'profit' in the fourth quarter on?Wednesday compared to a loss a year ago, as it benefited from a robust demand for electricity and higher rates of electricity. U.S. utilities are seeking to increase 'customer power bills' in 2026, to fund infrastructure improvements. The country's electrical grids are facing extreme weather conditions and a growing demand from industry electrification as well as data-center expansions. Rate case proceedings are used by regulated utilities to determine how much customers will have to pay for electricity, natural gas, steam, and private water. Pinnacle West also reported that it benefited...

The race for artificial intelligence dominance by Big Tech may soon hit a bump in the road as U.S. power grids struggle with keeping up with hyperscalers who spend big. Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, among other technology giants in the US, announced in recent months that they plan to spend $600 billion in AI by 2026. Some investors are already concerned about the profitability of this strategy due to the investment wave. The ambitious U.S. AI plans will be hindered by severe power-infrastructure bottlenecks including turbine shortages and slow grid expansion. The processing and cooling of data centers that are...

EDP Renovaveis is "very confident" of its future growth in the United States. The CEO of the company said that a lot of last year's regulatory uncertainty has been cleared. In January 2025 President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop issuing any new or renewed approvals of offshore wind projects and to "consider terminating or amending leases already in place, delaying many investments." Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, who heads EDPR as well as its parent company EDP, said that despite the initial perception of risk, "overthe past year there has been a significant?clarification to the regulatory framework in the...

NRG Energy beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter profit on Tuesday as increasing U.S. consumption of electricity has prompted the 'independent power producer' to essentially double its generating footprint. The U.S. power demand is expected to reach new highs by 2025 as major tech companies increase consumption in their rapidly expanding data centres. Some of these data centers use as much power as an entire town. NRG, along with a number of independent power producers, are looking to capitalize on the surge in data center demand by selling power from their existing generation and building brand new power...

Google, owned by Alphabet, has stepped up its efforts to ensure power for its data centers in the United States. On Tuesday, it signed separate agreements with AES Corp. and Xcel Energy. Big Tech firms have ?been scouring for new, ?reliable ?and cleaner energy sources to power their rapidly expanding data centers, which have been driven by increasing use of artificial-intelligence applications. Utilities have invested heavily in upgrading the grid to meet the surge in demand. However, this has led to concerns over the increasing cost of customer bills. Xcel has entered into an agreement with Google to power its...

Xcel Energy announced on 'Tuesday that it had partnered with Google in order to 'power the tech giant’s new data centre in Pine Island, Minnesota. while contributing 1,900 Megawatts a new - clean energy to the grid. The U.S. is expecting its power consumption to rise rapidly in the coming years, mainly due to the rapid expansion of data centers, which are used for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Utility companies have invested billions of dollars to upgrade the electric grid in order to meet this demand. However, this has led some customers to worry about their?bills increasing. Xcel stated that...

NRG Energy's?fourth quarter profit surpassed Wall Street expectations on Tuesday as the utility was aided by rising?demand for power. This sent?its shares up 1.7% in premarket trading. The U.S. demand for power reached record levels in 2025, and it is expected to continue growing as major tech companies expand their data centers. Some of these use as much energy as an entire city. NRG will 'benefit from the surge of power demand in Texas. It is one of the largest data center markets across the country. CEO Larry 'Coben stated that the company has doubled its footprint in terms of...

AES Corp. announced on Tuesday that it had signed a?20-year agreement with Google to?supply energy to the U.S. technology giant's Wilbarger County data center. AES has said that it also signed deals with energy generators which will be located?co-located to the new data centers and allow?Google?to expand its operations in order to meet the demand for 'its core services. The shares of the utility rose by 1.2% during premarket trading. U.S. ?utilities are racing to sign supply ?deals with data-center operators ?as the artificial-intelligence boom sparks a surge in power demand. However, the demand has stoked fears about rising power...

Keidanren has postponed a meeting with activist investor, Elliott Investment Management, scheduled for next month, a spokesman from the lobby group announced?on Tuesday. Last month, it was reported that the meeting planned for March 5 would be an opportunity to have an Elliott portfolio manager responsible for Japanese equity investments outline their investment strategy and how they engage with companies. This would then be followed by a "frank exchange" of views. Keidanren's official declined to elaborate on the reasons for postponing the meeting. Elliott didn't respond to our request for comment. Elliott is a major player in Japan. It has...

Is this the Art of the Deal, Gregor Stuart Hunter? U.S. president Donald Trump warned that trade partners should not "play games" and back out of recently agreed trade agreements after the Supreme Court ruled against his 'emergency tariffs. Some foreign governments want to check if they still have the same terms that were originally negotiated. Trump will "come out smokin'" in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, after the tariff setback. He may even take aim at the Supreme Court Justices who are seated there. However, governments in Asia still have concerns. Japan wants to know if...