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Documents show that Libya's central Bank governor has resigned.
According to two documents seen on Monday, Naji Issa has submitted his resignation to the rival legislative chambers of Libya. On Monday, two documents seen by? revealed that the governor of Libya's Central Bank (CBL), Naji Issa, had submitted his?resignation to the country's rival legislative chambers. The documents, whose authenticity was verified by 'Issa', stated that he would not be able to continue his position, but he did not elaborate on the reason, citing their sensitivity. Issa stated in documents sent to the leaders of the two chambers that he would not be able to continue his position. The two documents stated: "I apologize that I am not able to continue my duties as Governor of Central Bank of Libya without stating their reasons due to their sensitive nature." Issa, in a message to the?public, confirmed the authenticity and the letter. He declined to give any further information about his decision. Both documents date from August 9. The eastern House of Representatives, elected in 2014, and the western High Council of State were formed in 2015 as part of an agreement. Members of this council were selected from a 2012 parliament. Since 2014, Libya is divided into two rival authorities in the east and west. This division was born out of the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising following the fall Muammar Gadhafi. Mohamed Takala, the?head of High Council of State asked Issa not to resign "in order to preserve financial, economic, and political stability". Issa has yet to receive a response from the House of Representatives. Issa assumed the position in 2024, when both legislative chambers agreed to his?appointment to resolve a dispute over the control of the CBL which led to Sadiq al Kabir's ouster. The standoff began when western factions acted?in August of 2024?to oust Kabir?and replace him?with a rival?board?, leading the eastern factions?to shut down?all oil production?. This move drastically reduced Libya's output of oil and its exports throughout the crisis. Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, Hani Amara and Yasmine Gahania; Writing by Ahmed Elumami, Yasmine Ghania and William Maclean. Editing by William Maclean.
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First death in wildfire in British Columbia is an octogenarian
Canadian police confirmed that an 80-year old woman died in the rapidly spreading Bald Range Wildfire in British Columbia’s wine country. The blaze had nearly doubled its size over the past weekend, forcing the evacuation of residents in the area. This was the first death reported in connection with the wildfires in the area, which were engulfed in smoke and flames as the hot and dry weather conditions exacerbated the fire. In a late Sunday statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that a Meadow Valley resident had been 'evacuating with a member of her family when she died suddenly. The statement stated that the police believe her death was caused by the wildfire. They are currently investigating. Summerland is a nearby district municipality with a population of about 12,000, and a significant senior population. This was evacuated at the weekend. Summerland mayor Doug Holmes confirmed that the senior citizens' homes had been notified in advance. LONGEST EVACUATION Canada experienced a very hot summer, resulting in more than 4,600 forest fires and 4 million hectares being burned. The Bald Range wildfire has triggered the largest evacuation in British Columbia this summer, according to officials. Over 20,000 people in the province were forced to leave their homes. Wildfires are also a problem in the United States. On Sunday, evacuees who were forced to flee from a cluster of fires near Spokane in Washington, Washington, could return home. As many as 64,000 residents were ordered to evacuate at the height of this conflagration. The BC Wildfire Service stated?on Monday that it expected lightning to ignite new wildfires, in the Okanagan Region. This region has received limited rainfall. The agency stated that high temperatures and increased wind gusts would continue in the Okanagan region and the southeastern part of B.C. This could increase the number of fires. Since it was discovered last Friday, the Bald Range Fire has spread to over 33,606 acres (13600 hectares). Reporting by Nivedita Balu, Toronto; Editing and production by Caroline Stauffer & David Holmes
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Gold prices fall on a strong dollar; markets watch US inflation data to get Fed policy clues
Gold prices fell on Monday due to a stronger dollar and investors awaiting key U.S. data about inflation that could influence expectations of the Federal Reserve. By 09:33 am EDT (1333 GMT), spot gold had fallen 0.2%, to $4335.27 an ounce. After an unexpected decline in U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls, it reached its highest level since Friday. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 0.1% to $4,394.00. Jim Wyckoff is a market analyst at American Gold Exchange. He said, "Gold is under pressure from the firm dollar index today and is taking a break?ahead?of a key inflation report due later this week." Dollar-priced gold is now more expensive to buyers abroad. Investors are waiting for the U.S. consumer price data, due Wednesday, and the producer price data, due Thursday. These data will give them a clue as to?the Fed’s outlook on interest rates. Economists surveyed by?expected the consumer price index for July to have increased 3.4% year-onyear, compared with 3.5% in June. The CPI data will be crucial. The markets are expecting a report which will not be very positive on inflation and lead to gold trading in the short term. Last week, data showed that the U.S. economy lost jobs unexpectedly in July. Previous job gains reported for the previous two months were revised sharply lower. This tempered financial market expectations about a rate increase?from Fed?next. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders still price in a 46 percent chance of a rate increase in September, and a 79 percent chance in December. Bullion's non-yielding characteristics make it less appealing in an environment with high interest rates. Iran announced that it was close to a final agreement with Oman, which would define new'shipping lanes' between the two countries through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the U.S. The strategic waterway must be reopened after meeting other conditions. Silver spot rose 0.6% per ounce to $63,96, while platinum fell 0.5% to 1,736.45, and Palladium dropped 1% to 1,363.50.
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Wildfires in southern Spain worsen as gusts of wind hamper firefighting efforts
Regional authorities reported that a large wildfire burning in southwest Spain was beyond the ability of firefighters to extinguish on Monday. Meanwhile,?hot, windy weather? fueled other fires across the country. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, a series of heatwaves has scorched?much? of Europe. The Mediterranean nation is now facing a disastrous summer wildfire season. Over 244,000 hectares (603,00 acres) of land have been burned in 400 fires this year. This is an area that is six times bigger than it was at the same point last year. Scientists say global warming has exacerbated heat and droughts across Europe this summer, which have caused havoc with power production, shipping, and public health systems. FLYING EMBERS - FIRE IN ALL DIRECTIONS Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s regional head for emergencies, told reporters the extinguishing of the fire around the medieval city of Niebla in the south-west of the county was like a “long-distance obstacles race” and would take several days. The area affected by the fire is already close to 20,000 hectares. The combination of wind gusts and the rugged terrain in the area, along with convective phenomenon creating fire clouds, spread flying embers all over the place, causing secondary blazes to start. Sanz stated that nearly 500 people had been evacuated from the area, while other precautionary measures are being evaluated. There were also wildfires in the provinces of Segovia in the centre and Castello in the east. A fire in Segovia that began on Saturday when a vehicle ignited on an autoroute forced 176 residents of two towns to flee their homes. The fire spread rapidly across the surrounding pastures. Authorities in the area said that the situation had improved after the humidity levels increased over night, but the number of trees scattered across the granite landscape could make firefighting more difficult. According to the Valencia regional government, a second fire in Castellon’s Tirig has still not been fully contained but is close to stabilising after the "very favorable" weather conditions overnight.
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Documents show that Libya's central Bank governor has resigned.
According to documents seen on Monday, Naji Issa has submitted his resignation to both the legislative chambers of Libya. The documents, whose authenticity was confirmed by Issa in the document, stated that he could not continue to hold his position, but he did not elaborate on the reason, citing the sensitive nature of the issues. Issa stated in documents sent to the leaders of the two chambers that he would not be able to continue his position. The two documents stated: "I apologize that I am unable to continue my duties as Governor of Central Bank of Libya without disclosing the reasons due to their sensitive nature." Issa sent a message to confirm?the authenticity? of the letters, but declined to give any more information about the reasons?for his decision. Both documents date from August 9. The two legislative chambers are the eastern based?House of Representatives, elected in 2014, and the High Council of State located in the western part of the country. This council was formed in 2015 as part of an agreement between the government and its members elected in 2012. Since 2014, Libya is divided into two rival authorities in the east and west. This division was created by the chaos that followed the fall of Muammar Gadhafi during a NATO-backed revolt in 2011. Issa has not received a response from either chamber. Issa was appointed to the post in 2024 after the two legislative chambers agreed to his appointment to resolve a'standoff' over the control of the CBL, which led to Sadiq Al-Kabir being ousted as former governor. The standoff began when, in August 2024, western factions attempted to oust Kabir from his position and replace him with a rival board. This led eastern factions to stop all oil production. This move dramatically reduced Libya's output of oil and its exports throughout the crisis. Ahmed Elumami (Reporting and Hani Amara, Writing by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by William Maclean).
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Aluminium prices rise for the 6th consecutive session as inventories continue to be drawn.
Aluminium prices rose on Monday for the sixth consecutive day, reaching their highest level in nearly seven weeks, as exchange inventories continue to deplete. Open outcry activity on the benchmark?three-month aluminum at the?London Metal Exchange increased by?1.2% to $3,320 per metric tonne. The price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange had earlier reached $3,336.50 - its highest level since June 23. Ewa Mnthey, ING commodities analyst, said that the recent rally of copper, which reached a six-month peak last week, has reinforced a bullish sentiment in industrial metals. She added that "Aluminium fundamentals are still supportive with low exchange inventories and the market expecting to remain in deficit for this year." LME's overall aluminium inventories have dropped to their lowest level in a century, at 254,900 tonnes. Available or on-warrant stock is the lowest it has been since April 2025. China, the world's largest metals consumer, saw a draw of 13,000 tons on Shanghai Futures Exchange Aluminium stocks ?last week. Citi said in a Friday note that Chinese end-users' demand was weak during the first half of this year, but the risks for further declines appear to be limited. The bank stated that "low inventory levels make the market more sensitive to changes in physical demand and expectations of demand." There is only 5 tons of aluminium in Owensboro in Kentucky, unlike the huge cushion for copper. COMEX - The COMEX Donald Trump, the president of the United States, announced on Friday that his government would invest $3 billion into critical battery and minerals projects in order to increase domestic production as well as boost national security. LME copper, on the other hand, gained 0.5%, to $14150 per ton. It has now consolidated above $14,000, after posting its strongest weekly gain since last week. Manthey said that copper prices continue to be supported due to tight physical markets, low inventory levels, and ongoing supply concerns. Other metals include zinc, which rose 0.4% to $3720, lead, up 0.7% at $1,900, and nickel, which fell 0.2% to $15,970. Tin, however, rose 1.2% to $56,150. (Reporting and editing by Harikrishnan Nair; Additional reporting by Dylan Duan, Lewis Jackson and Joyjeet Das.)
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Hormuz, inflation and global stocks are in the spotlight
Markets remained focused on Federal Reserve interest rate expectations and a possible deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz as they climbed higher Monday. The Stoxx 600 index, which covers Europe as a whole, rose by 0.2%. Futures for the U.S. S&P 500 increased by 0.1%. Nasdaq futures also gained 0.2%. The U.S. stock market hit a new record on Friday, after traders cut their bets about Fed rate increases due to a weaker than expected jobs report. Iran announced on Sunday, as markets focused on inflationary pressures that a deal was being finalized with Oman?about transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has reiterated its position that the waterway will only be reopened once the United States?mets other conditions. These include compensation, the end of sanctions and military threat and the lifting of the sanctions. Brent crude grew 2% to $85 per barrel, as the shipping through the Strait remained?at a trickle. Although it was still well below its peak in late April of over $126 per barrel. Wednesday's U.S. Inflation reading will have a major impact on the Fed officials' rate decisions. The economists surveyed by are expecting the consumer price index will have increased 3.4% year-on-year on Wednesday. This is compared to a 3.5% increase in the previous month. Mohit Kumar is a senior European analyst at Jefferies. He said, "We remain confident that the Fed will not hike rates this year." The key would be the inflation report this week. Kumar said that if oil prices remain stable and continue to fall from their current levels, the Fed would not need to raise rates. Asian shares grew overnight in line with Wall Street, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining 2.1% and South Korea adding 0.7%. The MSCI global index rose 0.1% on Monday. EARNINGS HELP POWER STOCK In recent weeks, stock markets have soared to record levels around the globe. This was largely due to strong corporate earnings. Analysts from BofA stated that earnings per share were 30% higher than the previous year, even after taking out investment gains made by Alphabet and Amazon. The 76% EPS?rate was the highest since 2021. JPMorgan strategists revised their estimate of 2026 EPS to $365. This represents a 35% annual increase. They also raised their S&P500 price target from 7,800 to 8,000. It is currently at 7,758. This week's earnings are lower, but semiconductor company Applied Materials and cloud infrastructure technology provider CoreWeave all posted positive results. The yield on 10-year Treasuries has risen very slightly, to 4.664%. This week the market is expecting $125 billion of new issuance. The currency markets were largely stable, with the euro only a few cents off its seven-week high at $1.155. Investors remained wary about possible intervention, but the dollar rose 0.5% to 158.68 yen. A summary of the opinions expressed at the Bank of Japan's July meeting shows that policymakers are concerned about inflation, which could force them to increase interest rates faster than expected. This is a strong argument for an increase in September. Harry Robertson reported from London, Wayne Cole from Sydney and Sharon Singleton edited the article.
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Russell: The demand for crude oil in Asia is balanced by the ROI-China.
China is reducing crude oil demand across Asia by itself to compensate for the reduced Middle East shipments as a result of the Iran War. The world's largest oil importer reported arriving 8.41 million barrels a day (bpd), up from the near decade-low of 7.12 millions in June but still 24.3% less than July last year. When June and July's "imports" are combined, the average for these two months is 7.78 million bpd. The average for the three-month period ending in February was 11,99 million bpd. This is 4,21 million bpd less. The United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on 28 February. The conflict escalated to the point that the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down, cutting off the waterway which carried about 20% of crude oil and refined goods in the world before the war began. Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, two of the Middle East’s largest crude exporters have been able to increase shipments outside the Strait of Hormuz. However, flows have fallen by about 5 million barrels per day. Crude oil exports to Asia have dropped significantly. Asia is the largest importer of crude oil. According to commodity analysts Kpler, Asia's total imports of oil in July reached 22.82 millions bpd. Although this is an increase from April's 18,77 million bpd (which was the lowest since Nov 2015), July's imports are still about 4 million below the average of 26,89 million bpd for the three months before the start of the Iran conflict. The data shows that China's imports have dropped by about the same amount as Asia's imports over the last two months. Price Moves China's reduced imports are partly due to price volatility. Brent futures hit a four-year peak of $126.41 per barrel on April 30 – a date when cargoes for June and July would have been scheduled. China has historically reduced imports as prices increase, but this drop is unprecedented. Analysts estimate that China's crude oil stockpile is at least 1.2 million barrels, and could even be higher. How long will China be able to balance crude oil in Asia with China? Imports from China are expected to show a slight recovery in August as the cargoes which managed to leave the Strait of Hormuz despite the short ceasefire between Iran and the United States are delivered. Kpler estimates that China's Middle East imports?will reach 2.71 million barrels per day (bpd) in August. This is up from the 2.43 million bpd of July, and the 1.42 mbpd of June. Kpler estimates that China's crude oil imports in August will be 5.97 million barrels per day. This is up from 2.43 million barrels per day (bpd) for July and 1.42 millions bpd for June, which was the lowest since 2013. September imports will 'likely be more telling, given that flows from the Middle East are more restricted due to the sharply reduced shipments via the Strait of Hormuz following the failure of the ceasefire agreement between U.S. president Donald Trump and Tehran. Even if recent moves to restore vessel movement through the strait are successful, it will still take several weeks before exports ramp up and for these tankers to arrive at?Chinese port. China's refiners have two options: they can continue to suppress their appetite for import crude and dip into stocks, or bid for cargoes coming from outside the Middle East. You like this column? Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. ROI provides data-driven, thought-provoking analysis on everything from soybeans to swap rates. The markets are changing faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X. These are the views of the columnist, an author for.
Saudi Aramco delays Jazan oil refinery restart to August 30, IIR note shows
Saudi Aramco has ?postponed the restart of its ?400,000-barrel-per-day ?Jazan refinery to August 30 after two Houthi attacks since late July, according to an alert from industry monitor IIR seen by .
The extended outage may further disrupt global fuel markets, already affected by the Iranian war and refinery failures in the Middle East. Ukrainian attacks against Russian refineries could also boost refining margins.
Yemen's Houthi fighters claimed on Sunday that they had attacked the refinery. The refinery has been closed since July 27, following an earlier Houthi attack, according to previous IIR alerts seen by. The previously planned restart was set for August 15.
Saudi Aramco?did not immediately respond? to a request for a comment.
Last month, the Houthis announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. They cited what they called a Saudi siege. Riyadh has denied the claim.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said that Aramco firefighting teams extinguished an early morning blaze at a refinery facility.
The plant did not provide any further information on its operations.
According to 'IIR', the attack on July 27 damaged the refinery’s Integrated Gasification -Combined Cycle (IGCC), as well as the tank farm area. The report also stated that the refinery's 80,000 bpd reformer has been unpredictably offline since May 27 due to operational issues.
Reformers transform naphtha to high-octane blendstocks and produce hydrogen for other refinery units.
According to Kpler data for July, Saudi fuel exports including liquefied gas averaged 1.32 million bpd, an increase from 1.16 million bpd during June, but still about 30% below the levels before the Iran War began late in February. Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar. Kirsten Donovan and Aido Lewis edited by Mark Potter.
(source: Reuters)