Latest News
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Mercuria sets up jointly-owned metals trading unit with Zambia's IDC
Swissbased products trader Mercuria said on Thursday it had actually established a metals trading arm with Zambia, Africa's secondlargest copper producer. The trading unit is collectively owned by Mercuria and an arm of Zambia's Industrial Development Business (IDC), the commodities trader said in a declaration. It's being established to enable Zambia to get involved straight in minerals trading, Mercuria stated. The joint venture envisages the establishment of a car to market and trade Zambian copper by shared utilize, Cornwell Muleya, IDC's president, stated in the statement. The Zambian federal government stated in June it would establish a. minerals trading unit as it seeks to enhance incomes from the. mining market. The southern African nation intends to increase. copper output to about 3 million metric lots within the years. Zambia produced about 698,000 lots of copper in 2023, down. from 763,000 metric heaps the previous year. Financiers consisting of Very first Quantum Minerals and. Barrick Gold are increase production, with output. expected to receive a more boost as Vedanta Resources'. Konkola Copper Mines resume activities. Our joint endeavor with IDC marks a considerable milestone. for Zambia as it positions itself more tactically in the. global minerals market, Kostas Bintas, Mercuria's worldwide head. of metals and minerals, stated in the statement.
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Tata Steel's Dutch plant gets year to tidy up coke oven
Dutch regulators on Thursday threatened to close down among Tata Steel's. main ovens at its enormous plant in IJmuiden if it does not restrict. contamination within a year. The regulators said Tata's coke oven at the plant continued. to run in breach of ecological regulations and they would. think about withdrawing the licence for the oven if contamination wasn't. cut within a year. Coke ovens are producing plants or blast heating systems for. making coking coal, an essential raw material in steelmaking. Tata has consistently stated closure of the oven would threaten. the presence of the entire steel plant on the Dutch coast west. of Amsterdam. Tata's factory in IJmuiden is among the largest emitters of. greenhouse gases in the Netherlands and research has actually found it is. also responsible for a range of illness in the region. The company's Dutch arm on Thursday questioned the way. regulators had determined pollution at the plant and stated it had. already enhanced the situation at the oven substantially. It had previously guaranteed to close the oven when its guarantees. to transform the steel mill to a cleaner one powered by natural. gas or hydrogen have actually been realised by the end of the years. Tata has been in talks with the Dutch government about. aids for making this transition for several years, without. reaching a deal.
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Belgium to become first EU nation to prohibit disposable vape sales
Belgium will in January end up being the first European Union country to prohibit sales of disposable vapes due to the fact that of concerns about their usage amongst children and the ecological damage they can cause. The move becomes part of an anti-tobacco drive in the western European country, where government data reveals most young smokers start the habit with electric cigarettes (vapes), instead of routine tobacco cigarettes. Non reusable e-cigarettes are created to bring in young people, to attract brand-new users who maybe never ever smoked, Belgian health minister Frank Vandenbroucke informed Reuters. E-cigarettes are partially attracting a brand-new generation of smokers, he stated. Advocates state vapes can assist individuals to quit smoking regular cigarettes, however health authorities are worried that their colourful designs and fruity flavours attract children. It is illegal in Belgium to sell vapes to anybody under the age of 18. Belgian teen Luque de Smet, 17, told Reuters he favoured disposable vapes over refillable ones. You can experience more flavours that way. They also come in various colours. The ones you have to refill are always so boring, in grey or black. And those colours attract us, all those special flavours, he said. In a 2022 World Health Organization study of 20,000 Belgian 11 to 18 year olds, 12% stated they had actually used a vape in the last 30 days - more than double the quantity in 2018. Germany and France are dealing with laws to prohibit single-use vapes. Britain, no longer an EU member, will ban their sale in June. Belgium hopes its ban will likewise lower the ecological impact of disposed of single-use vapes that contain plastics, chemicals and a non-rechargeable battery. Steven Pomeranc, who owns an e-cigarette store in Brussels, said he supported the restriction which the majority of clients did not recycle their batteries. I believe it's an advantage for customers to utilize reusable models, he said.
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BP, Iraq agree on technical terms to redevelop Kirkuk oil fields
British oil major BP stated on Thursday it has actually reached a deal with the Iraqi government on the technical terms to redevelop the Kirkuk oil and gas fields. The business had actually signed an arrangement with the Iraqi federal government in August to establish and check out the Kirkuk oilfield in the north of the nation, which will also consist of building power plants and solar capacity. Unlike historical contracts that provide foreign companies razor-thin margins, the brand-new agreements are expected to consist of a. more generous profit-sharing model, sources have informed Reuters. Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of. the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, has the. capacity to produce nearly 5 million barrels per day. BP was a member of the consortium of oil companies that. discovered oil in Kirkuk in the 1920s. BP has actually estimated the. Kirkuk field holds about 9 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Today's signing is an essential step toward a completely described. agreement, BP executive vice president William Lin said in a. declaration. The company stated negotiations are expected to. complete early in 2025. The business holds a 50% stake in a joint venture operating. the giant Rumaila oilfield in the south of the country, where it. has been running for a century.
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Where will Trump and China drive products in 2025?: Russell
Donald Trump's. go back to the U.S. presidency and China's spluttering economy. will form global commodity markets in 2025. Without any foreseeable mould for how this will work, the just. certainties will likely be volatility and many elements. operating in opposing instructions. Making forecasts about rates for significant products such. as crude oil, melted gas, iron ore, coal and metals. like copper will therefore be more fraught than typical in 2025. For example, consider Trump's signature project pledge:. tariffs. The president-elect's range of threatened tariffs,. including approximately 60% on China and 20% on all other countries, could. hinder global financial development, force a realignment of trade. flows, boost inflation and result in tighter financial policy. However it's similarly possible that none of these things will. take place if the tariff hazards end up being absolutely nothing more than. negotiating techniques. In this circumstance, Trump may pass up any. destructive policy actions if he thinks he has actually scored enough. wins in his dealings with other countries. For commodities most exposed to the worldwide economy, such as. copper and iron ore, this means traders will likely take a. wait-and-see method. Price volatility based on day-to-day news. headlines is therefore apt to be the standard till the wider policy. picture becomes clearer. A lesson from Trump's very first term in workplace is that it's more. important to focus on what his administration in fact does. rather than the nearly non-stop, and frequently baffled, messaging. from the president and his allies on social media. Trump's first term likewise revealed that he typically thinks about. the act of negotiating more crucial than the real material. of that offer. Simply take a look at his first round of tariffs versus China. He. continues to champion them, despite the fact that they failed in nearly. every regard. They didn't lower the U.S. trade deficit with China, they. didn't trigger a production renaissance in the United States,. they didn't raise much profits, and China came nowhere near. fulfilling its commitments to massively increase imports of U.S. crude, coal and LNG. It's possible that Trump's group has actually learnt from this. experience, however if the lesson they've gleaned is that they require. to take a harder line, then the risks of a trade war and the. attendant global financial weakness will rise. Much has been made of the view that China is far less. geared up to hold up against a trade war with the United States now. than it remained in 2018, due to the slow growth of the world's. second-biggest economy. There is an element of reality to this, but China likewise has actually a. range of tools readily available to assist it successfully navigate a. trade war. It could injure the U.S. economy by interfering with supply chains,. offer an enormous amount of U.S. Treasuries, devalue its own. currency, increase stimulus spending and advance its management in. renewable energy innovations and setups. China may also seek to compensate for any loss of access to. U.S. markets by increasing trade and investment in Europe and. what's broadly termed the worldwide south. Once again, it's far from specific that these strategies will be. used, with much depending upon what real policies Trump's. administration puts in place as soon as he is sworn in on Jan. 20. However, it's worth taking a look at the existing and likely. patterns that could play out in 2025. TARIFFS, STIMULUS First, it's almost particular that Trump will enforce some form. of tariffs on imports into the United States. Simply how big and destructive they will be remains to be. figured out, but it's most likely safe to say that any tariffs will. be a negative for the international economy, and thus put downward. pressure on products such as petroleum, iron ore, and LNG. Second, China's economy is revealing some indications of. enhancement, with factory activity expanding at the fastest pace. in five months in November. If Beijing keeps injecting stimulus. in a determined method, the healing is likely to continue. This would be favorable for iron ore, copper and LNG. It may. not be as positive for petroleum, considered that China's quick shift. to electrification of light automobiles is cutting fuel demand. and its relocate to LNG for trucks is starting to injure diesel. demand. One pattern that is highly likely to continue is China's. increasing price-sensitivity as a commodity purchaser. This appeared this year in petroleum, as China's imports. dropped 2.1% on a barrels each day basis in the first 11 months,. regardless of expectations of strong need development by organisations. such as OPEC and the International Energy Firm. While China's soft economy and increased electrification. represent a few of this decline, China's refiners likewise simply. cut down on imports due to the fact that of their view that OPEC+'s output. cuts were keeping costs expensive. The overall photo for 2025 is that the year begins with a. high degree of unpredictability, which makes it important to mostly. ignore Trump's rhetoric and concentrate on actual policies being. implemented and what the data show. The views expressed here are those of the author, a writer. .
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Libyan rivals agree to work with UN to end political deadlock
Delegations from competitor Libyan legal bodies agreed at talks in Morocco on Thursday to collaborate with a United Nations mission to pave the way for elections to end years of political deadlock. Libya has actually undergone a chaotic years because it split in 2014 between two administrations in its east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that fell Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The talks in Bouznika, near the Moroccan capital Rabat, were between rival legislatures known as the High Council of State based in Tripoli in the west and your home of Representatives based in Benghazi in the east. Bring back stability in Libya requires free and reasonable elections, the 2 bodies said in a last statement. To that end, they consented to cooperate with the U.N. mission in Libya to elaborate a roadmap to end the crisis in a way that guarantees Libyan ownership of the political process. The two bodies also agreed to cooperate to form a nationwide unity federal government in addition to launch institutional, financial and security reform. Stephanie Koury, acting head of the U.N. mission in Libya ( UNSMIL), said recently the United Nations would convene a. technical committee of Libyan experts to fix contentious. concerns and put the country on a path to nationwide elections. A political procedure to end years of institutional department,. outright warfare and unstable peace has been stalled since an. election set up for December 2021 collapsed, amidst disputes. over the eligibility of the main candidates. Your Home of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the. nationwide parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a. political shift. Under a 2015 Libyan Political Contract the High State. Council was formed as a consultative second chamber with an. advisory role. But your house of Representatives then designated. its own competing government, stating the mandate of the prime. minister of a government of national unity had actually ended. The eastern-appointed government has had little influence, but. its appointment restored Libya's east-west division. Many Libyans have actually voiced scepticism that their political. leaders are negotiating in great faith, believing them to be. reluctant to advance elections that may remove them from. their positions of power. Libyans are distressed about their nation's future, Koury. said in remarks to the U.N. Security Council on Monday. The success of the UN-facilitated political process first. and foremost requires political will and the dedication of. Libyan actors to refrain from unilateral actions that continue. to entrench institutional departments and polarization..
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Lawmaker in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia shot dead at parliament
A legislator in Abkhazia, a. breakaway Georgian region supported by Russia, was shot dead at. the parliament building, journalism service of the region's. presidency stated. Legislator Vakhtang Golandzia passed away of wounds sustained in the. shooting at the parliament structure, journalism office of the. acting president, Badra Gunba, said in a post on Telegram. Another legislator was wounded in the arm. Abkhazian state news company Apsnypress stated the interior. ministry had actually recognized another lawmaker, Adgur Kharazia, as the. suspect in the shooting, which he had fled the scene. Its. report did not offer any indicator as to a motive. A rich subtropical area on the Black Sea coast,. Abkhazia broke from Georgia's control in a war after the. collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, during which. hundreds of countless ethnic Georgians left. Russia has long supported Abkhazia and another breakaway. Georgian region, South Ossetia, and recognised them as. independent after winning a five-day war versus Georgia in. 2008. Abkhazia was plunged into crisis last month when protesters. stormed the parliament in opposition to an investment arrangement. with Russia, requiring the region's president, Aslan Bzhania, to. resign. His vice president, Gunba, became the interim leader. Deputies voted versus ratifying the arrangement with Russia. previously this month. Opposition leaders in Abkhazia had actually opposed the agreement. over fears it would clear the method for wealthy Russians to purchase up. home, pricing out locals. Moscow, which heavily finances Abkhazia's spending plan, desires. Russian investors to be able to obtain property rights and to. can establish the area.
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South Africa's Eskom reports $3 billion loss on transmission system split
South African utility Eskom on Thursday reported a higher fullyear loss of 55.0 billion rand ($ 3 billion) since of a oneoff charge linked to the separation of its transmission system, but it anticipated a. revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2025. State-owned Eskom is being split into three business that. will individually manage electrical energy generation, transmission and. circulation, as part of a reform plan revealed by President. Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019 to make the energy more efficient. The business made a loss after tax of 26.1 billion rand in. the year to the end of March 2023. Eskom blamed bad efficiency of its coal-fired power. station fleet, a lack of cost-reflective tariffs, intensifying. local arrears, and unsustainable financial obligation levels among factors. for its latest loss. Earnings in the year to end-March 2024 increased 14% to 295.8. billion rand, a presentation on the business's website showed. Sales volumes dipped 3% to 183.3 terawatt hours, as the company. executed scheduled power cuts on 329 days throughout the year. Eskom's power cuts, known locally as load-shedding, have. curbed economic development in Africa's a lot of industrialised country. for more than a years. But a remarkable turn-around in Eskom's electricity supply this. year has actually seen South Africa go without power cuts for about nine. months, boosting business self-confidence and resulting in optimism. that financial growth levels could increase. Eskom projection on Thursday a profit after tax of more than. 10 billion rand for the 12 months to end-March 2025.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards - a powerful group with a wide regional reach
Iranian English-language Press TV reported Iranian sources saying that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards carried out a drone strike against Israel targets on Saturday.
Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Leader, vowed revenge after a senior commander of the Corps' Quds Force, Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed in an airstrike that Iran blamed Israel for on April 1, in Damascus.
Here are some questions and their answers regarding the IRGC - Iran's most powerful military force, which includes its own army and navy, as well as an air force and intelligence wing.
What is the IRGC?
The Shi'ite Muslim ruling clerical system was protected by the IRA shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It also provided a counterweight for the regular armed force.
The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is the one who answers to it. It is estimated that the IRGC's military comprises 125,000 soldiers, including army, navy, and air units. The IRGC also commands the Basij, a religious paramilitary that is loyal to the clerical regime and often used to suppress anti-government demonstrations.
In the 1980s, Basijis launched "human waves" against Iraqi soldiers during a conflict. They enforce the social codes of Shi'ite Iran in peacetime. Analysts estimate that Basij volunteers could number millions with around 1 million being active.
Quds Force, the IRGC overseas arm, has a major influence on its allied militias in the Middle East - from Lebanon to Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. The Quds Force has fought alongside President Bashar al Assad in the civil war in Syria and has supported Iraqi security forces against Islamic State militants.
In 2020, the United States killed its top commander, Major General Qassem Solimani, in a drone strike in Iraq, which raised fears of an escalating conflict.
Since its founding in 1982, the IRGC has been attempting to mold the Middle East to Iran's liking. It founded in 1982 the heavily armed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah to fight Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon and export Iran's Islamic Revolution.
Hezbollah has become a major force in the military and played a significant role in conflicts across the region.
WHAT ARE THE IRGC'S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?
Experts consider Iran's missile programme to be the largest in the Middle East.
The Guards used missiles to attack Sunni Muslim militants and Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq. The United States and European powers, as well as Saudi Arabia, blamed Iran for the 2019 missile and drone attacks that crippled Saudi Arabia's largest oil processing facility. Iran, however, denied any involvement.
Donald Trump, the former U.S. President, cited Iran's missile program as one of the issues not addressed in the 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers. He cited this as the reason for withdrawing from the deal in 2018.
The Guards' conventional combat capabilities and hardware were demonstrated in their participation in the conflict in Syria and Iraq.
What is the IRGC’s position in Iran’s political system?
From the government to the parliament, former Revolutionary Guards officers hold key positions within Iran's establishment. Former IRGC officers make up the majority of President Ebrahim Raisi's Cabinet.
Its mandate, to protect revolutionary ideals, has led it to speak up when the system is threatened.
What about business interests?
The IRGC was heavily involved in Iran’s reconstruction after the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Since then, it has expanded its economic interests into a vast business network worth billions of dollar, from oil and gas to construction and telecommunication. (Reporting and editing by Kevin Liffey, Michael Georgy)
(source: Reuters)