United States

The companies and government of Andhra Pradesh announced on Wednesday that a joint venture between Reliance Industries and the state will invest $11 billion in five years for the development of 1 gigawatt AI data capacity. Digital Connexion is a joint venture between the Canadian multinational Brookfield Corporation, and the U.S. real estate investment trust Digital Realty. The project will establish a campus of AI-native data centres on 400 acres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Google announced in October that it would build AI data centres in Visakhapatnam, India, over a five-year period. This will be the largest AI hub the...

The NOVA.RS TV in Belgrade reported that the operations at Serbia's Russian owned NIS oil refinery had ceased due to a shortage of crude oil. This is the latest indication that U.S. sanction on the project may threaten fuel supplies throughout the Balkan nation. NIS officials and the Serbian government declined comment. In January, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector, including NIS. NIS is owned in majority by Russia’s Gazprom and Gazprom. US repeatedly granted NIS waivers until the sanctions came into force in October. The banks then stopped...

Honeywell has been contracted by Nigerian oil refinery Dangote to help double the capacity of its refinery to 1.4million barrels per day in 2028. This is the clearest sign yet that the company's plans to become the largest refinery in the world are taking shape. Honeywell's equipment and catalysts will help Dangote process a wider range of crude grades, which is needed to support their planned expansion of output. Dangote also plans to license Honeywell's Oleflex Technology to increase its polypropylene production - a material used in plastic containers and auto parts. The financial terms of the agreement were not...

The author of the report that plunged BBC into crisis claimed the broadcaster wasn't "institutionally bias" but had editorial flaws. He hoped his criticisms could help to fix these. Michael Prescott, former external editorial advisor, has compiled a dossier of issues at BBC News. This includes allegations of bias regarding its coverage of the Israel/Hamas conflict and trans issues. The leaked report led to the resignations by Director General Tim Davie, and Deborah Turness as head of news, as well as a threat from Trump to sue up to $5 billion. This plunged the public broadcaster in its worst crisis...

The author of the report that plunged BBC into crisis claimed the broadcaster wasn't "institutionally bias" and had hoped to improve things with his criticisms. Michael Prescott, former editorial advisor, has compiled a dossier of issues at BBC News. This includes allegations of bias regarding its coverage of the Israel/Hamas conflict and trans issues. Leaked reports led to the resignations by Tim Davie, Director General, and Deborah Turness as head of news, and Trump threatened to sue the broadcaster for up to five billion dollars. This was the biggest crisis the public broadcaster has faced in decades. Prescott said to...

The United States officially designated Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist group on Monday, adding additional sanctions related to terrorism against the group that includes Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and high-ranking officials. Venezuela's government has rejected what it calls a "ridiculous plan" by the United States to designate a "nonexistent" group. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this month that his country will announce its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) due to its alleged role in the importation of illegal drugs to the U.S. Maduro is under increasing pressure because President Donald Trump has increased the U.S.'s...

Shumeet Baniaerji, an independent director of the BBC board, resigned on Friday after the broadcaster claimed that a speech given by Donald Trump was incorrectly edited. The BBC has threatened to sue for $5 billion over the matter. Banerji resigned a couple of weeks before the end of his four-year tenure. He is also a member of the board of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, and a former CEO of management consulting firm Booz & Company. Banerji, according to the broadcaster's news department, had written in his resignation letter that he felt upset by governance issues at top management. BBC News...

Eli Lilly's market value surpassed $1 trillion on Friday. It is the first pharmaceutical company to join the exclusive club of tech giants, and it highlights its growth as a weight loss powerhouse. The explosive growth in the weight loss drug market has been a major factor behind the more than 35% increase in the stock price of the company this year. As new and highly effective treatments for obesity have hit the market in the past two years, this category has become one of the most profitable segments in healthcare. The world's top-selling drug is now Lilly's Tirzepatide. It's...

Eli Lilly's market value surpassed $1 trillion on Friday. It is the first pharmaceutical company to join the exclusive club of tech giants, and it highlights its growth as a weight loss powerhouse. The explosive growth in the weight loss drug market has been a major factor behind the more than 35% increase in the stock price of the company this year. Obesity treatments, once considered a niche, are now among the most lucrative segments of healthcare. Demand is steadily increasing. Novo Nordisk was the first to market, but Lilly’s drugs Mounjaro & Zepbound have grown in popularity & helped...

Saudi Arabian crude oil exports reached a record high of seven months in September, according to data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Wednesday. The world's biggest oil exporter has increased its crude exports to 6,460 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), a slight increase over August's 6.407 millions bpd and the highest level since February. Saudi Arabian crude production, on the other hand, reached a peak of nearly 2.5 years, 9.966 millions bpd, in September. This was its highest level since April 2023. In August, the output was 9.722 millions bpd. JODI publishes the monthly export...

Sources familiar with the situation said that Exxon Mobil, a U.S. oil giant, is considering buying parts of Lukoil’s international assets. Sources claim that Exxon is evaluating options to purchase Lukoil assets, in Kazakhstan. Both the U.S. firm and the Russian company have stakes in the Karachaganak field and Tengiz field. Chevron, a partner in these assets as well, is also examining options to purchase them, according to a report on Monday. Two sources claim that Exxon could also be considering a bid for the West Qurna 2 oil field in Iraq. This field is operated by Lukoil, and is...

The U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion made by Toronto-listed Gold Reserve on Tuesday to stop all proceedings in the court ordered auction of Citgo Petroleum’s parent company in Delaware. This is yet another setback to the miner, who has been fighting in court for its $7.9billion bid for Citgo Holding's parent PDV Holding. PDV Holding is a U.S.-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). In late August, a court officer supervises the sale of goods. Recommended by A rival offer by an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management. Motions Disqualify The earlier this month,...

Apple has denied the allegations, but a U.S. advocacy group filed a suit in Washington. The lawsuit accuses Apple of using minerals that are linked to human rights violations and conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. International Rights Advocates, a group based in the United States, has sued Apple, Tesla and other tech companies over cobalt sourcing. However, U.S. court dismissed this case last year. In December, French prosecutors dropped Congo's conflict mineral case against Apple subsidiaries citing a lack of evidence. An investigation is ongoing in Belgium into a criminal complaint related to this issue....

Mitsubishi Materials, a Japanese company, said it would shift its focus to secondary smelting in order to increase profitability. Due to a tight supply of concentrates and the expansion of smelting capacity by China, Japanese copper smelters face a tumbling treatment charge and refining charge (TC/RC) as well as shrinking smelting profits. Mitsubishi Materials announced in October it would cut the refined copper production at its Onahama Smelter & Refinery in the period October-March by a quarter. It plans to integrate its copper products sales and procurement of copper concentrates with rival Pan Pacific Copper owned by JX Advanced Metals...

Barrick Mining, a Canadian mining company, has signed an agreement with the Mali government to settle all disputes relating to the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex until 2023. The dispute centered on the implementation of the new Mali mining codes that increases taxes and gives a larger share of gold mines to the government. The miner - formerly known as Barrick Gold - said that it would drop its arbitration case with Mali before the World Bank dispute tribunal. Mali, in return, will drop all charges and release employees against Barrick, its affiliates and the Canadian miner. The following is a...

Gold prices increased by more than 1% Monday. This was due to the growing expectation of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December and fresh U.S. data that could provide further insight into monetary policy. By 01:43 pm EST (1843 GMT), spot gold was up 1.2% to $4,111.86 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery settled 0.4% higher, at $4094.2 per ounce. Bart Melek is the head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. John Williams, the New York Fed president, said that U.S. rates could drop "in the short term" without jeopardizing the Fed's goal of inflation and while...

Barrick Mining announced on Monday that it had reached a settlement with the Mali government regarding all their disputes regarding the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex. Shares of the Toronto-listed firm rose by nearly 3%. The Friday report stated that Barrick had agreed in principle to settle the dispute with Mali. In a press release, the Canadian miner announced that it would drop its arbitration case against Mali before the World Bank dispute tribunal. Mali, in turn, will drop all charges and free four employees who are currently in jail and will return operational control to Barrick. Mali's miner ministry didn't...

Gold prices increased on Monday due to a falling dollar and growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month. As of 09:12 am, spot gold was up by 0.4% to $4,081.52 an ounce. ET (1412 GMT). U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery were unchanged at $4,079.30 an ounce. Dollar index fell, making dollar priced bullion more accessible to holders of other currencies. Bart Melek is the head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. Melek continued, "A combination (of lower expectations) and a stronger U.S. Dollar has helped gold in the current environment." John Williams, the New...

On Monday, European Union ministers were to encourage top U.S. officials to implement more of the EU-U.S. July trade agreement by reducing U.S. duties on EU steel as well as removing them on EU goods like wine and spirits. In their first trip to Brussels after taking office, U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer would meet EU ministers for trade in a 90-minute lunch meeting. Before that meeting, European ministers met to discuss urgent trade issues including Chinese restrictions on rare earth and chips exports. No IMMEDIATE Breakthroughs Expected Maros SEFCIOVIC, European Trade Commissioner, said...

Gold prices were stable on Monday as the growing expectation of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December helped to offset pressures from a strong dollar. As of 1153 GMT, spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,069.10 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.3%, to $4.065.40 an ounce. Gold priced in greenbacks is now more expensive than it was on Friday when the dollar hit a six-month high. "Gold stabilized as investors assessed the prospect of a further Fed rate cut, after New York Fed president John Williams indicated there may be space to lower borrowing rates...

On Monday, European Union Ministers will urge U.S. top trade officials to implement more of the EU-US July trade agreement. For example, by reducing U.S. steel tariffs and removing them from EU goods like wine and spirits. On their first trip to Brussels after taking office, U.S. Commerce Secretaries Howard Lutnick & Jamieson Greer will be meeting EU Ministers for Trade. Lutnick and Greer will be hosted for 90 minutes at lunch by the EU Ministers to discuss important trade issues including Chinese restrictions on rare earths and chips. The United States imposed a 15% tariff on the majority of...

Gold prices fell for the third consecutive session Monday as the dollar strengthened near six-months highs and investors awaited further clarity about the U.S. rate trajectory. As of 0536 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.4%, at $4,045.58 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell by 0.9% to $4.042.50 an ounce. The dollar index has reached near six-month highs and is above 100. If it continues to trade over 100, there will be more pressure on the gold price, said Jigar Trivedi. Senior research analyst at brokerage Reliance Securities. Gold priced in greenbacks is more expensive to holders...

Gold prices fell for the third consecutive session on Monday, as the dollar climbed to six-month highs. Market participants are awaiting more clarity about the U.S. rate path. As of 0353 GMT, spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,051.31 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery edged up 0.8% to $4,047.70 an ounce. The dollar index has reached a six-month high, is above 100, and if the index continues to rise above 100 then it will put further pressure on gold's price, said Jigar Trivedi. Senior research analyst at brokerage Reliance Securities. Gold priced in greenbacks is more expensive to...

Ford Motor Company on Friday reiterated its guidance for the annual EBIT of $6 billion to $6 billion for this coming year, following a second fire at Novelis' New York aluminum plant this week. Ford's shares rose by about 4% on Friday, continuing gains made after the automaker confirmed the outlook that it had already revised due to production disruptions caused by a devastating fire at the supplier's factory in September. In October, Ford cut its profit projection, citing an incident that could have cost up to $2 billion. Ford said it would offset approximately $1 billion by increasing production...