United States

In the weeks following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. troops, local members of the ruling socialist Party went door to door in Maracaibo's oil-rich city, asking the residents if they supported the party which has ruled the country for almost 20 years. About half of the members responded that they did not. "The response was very poor," said someone who led the effort. "There is division among us." Although I was unable to independently verify the results of the canvassing, the reported decline in support was consistent with the information collected from three other areas of the...

Iran's foreign minister stated on Saturday that it will attack U.S. bases if they are attacked by U.S. troops who have gathered in the Middle East. He also insisted that this was not an attack against the countries that host them. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi appeared on Al Jazeera TV in Qatar a day following the announcement by Washington and Tehran that they would continue their indirect nuclear talks after what both sides called positive discussions held Friday in Oman. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that while Araqchi had said that no date has been set yet for the...

Cuba detailed on Friday an extensive plan to protect essential services and to ration fuel, as the communist government dug in its heels to defy a U.S. attempt to cut off?oil supplies to the Caribbean Island. Cubans are already facing severe shortages in food, fuel and medicine. The first rationing measure announced is the first since President Donald Trump warned of tariffs being imposed on any country that exports fuel to Cuba. Ministers of the government said that these measures will ensure fuel supply to key sectors such as agriculture, education, water, healthcare, and defense. As he outlined the details...

United Steelworkers of the United States adopted a national agreement regarding pay and benefits on Friday, averting an nationwide strike which could have affected up to 30,000 workers at?26 companies that operate crude oil refineries or petrochemical facilities. The union and the leading U.S. refining company Marathon Petroleum negotiated the agreement on behalf of refiners, chemical producers and other interested parties. Jamal Kheiry, a spokesperson for Marathon, said: "We are happy that Marathon and USW have successfully concluded a model agreement for new collective-bargaining contracts in the U.S. refinery industry." "We are looking forward to the local sites moving ahead...

The oil prices rose on Friday as traders feared that the talks this week between the U.S.A. and Iran failed to reduce the threat of a war between the two countries. Brent crude futures settled on $68.05 per barrel, up?50 cents or 0.74%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended up 26 cents or 0.41% at $63.55 per barrel. Both benchmarks declined overnight, but both Brent and WTI gained more than $1 per barrel during the U.S. trading session before settling. Iran and the U.S. conducted negotiations through Omani mediation in order to resolve?sharp disagreements over Tehran's nuke program. John Kilduff...

Shell has chosen PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ?as its next auditor after a ?tender process, with PwC set ?to replace ?EY from 2027, the oil major said on Friday. The Financial Reporting Council of Britain announced in December that it had launched an investigation into EY’s audit of Shell's financial statements for 2024 due to possible breaches regarding audit partner rotation rules. Shell stated in a regulatory filing from July that EY violated the rules that require accounting firms to change their lead audit partners 'every five or seven years. Shell announced that it would amend the 2023 and 2024 reports, but...

Sources familiar with the situation said that Mexican officials are looking at ways to ship fuel to Cuba in order to meet basic needs, such as electricity and transportation, without provoking Washington's retaliation. Washington has threatened to impose tariffs on countries supplying fuel to the Caribbean Island. Sources said that high-level Mexican officials had been in contact with their counterparts in the United States to clarify the extent of the tariff threat described by President Donald Trump through an executive order, and to see if there was a possible way to get the fuel they desperately needed. Mexico's ability to...

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Thursday that his government will implement a plan to address fuel shortages in the 'next week' as the U.S. attempts to cut off oil supplies to the Caribbean Island nation. Last week, tensions escalated after the U.S. announced it would impose tariffs on products from countries that supply oil to Cuba. This led to a spike in prices for transportation and food, and a severe shortage of fuel. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that Cuba would cease to receive oil from Venezuela, its largest supplier. Diaz-Canel stated in a two-hour long televised...

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Foreign minister, has left?for Muscat in the Omani capital at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks to be held with the U.S. on Friday. Officials from both sides confirmed that the U.S. has agreed to hold talks with Iran in Oman this Friday. However, they are still at odds over Washington's demand that Tehran's arsenal of missiles be included in negotiations and Iran's refusal to talk about anything but its nuclear program. Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian spokesperson, said on Thursday that Iran will engage in talks with...

The Italian tyremaker Pirelli has said that it opposes any spin-off of its 'cyber tyre' activities. This was in response to a proposal put forward by Sinochem, a Chinese shareholder, to settle a governance issue. Directors are against "any project or initiative that might lead to any form of compartmentalization, separation and/or segregation, even only partially, and of any nature," ?Pirelli said in a statement. It added that the board supported the position by a vote of 9-5, with five directors appointed in China voting against. Sinochem, a Beijing-controlled company, is the largest shareholder in Pirelli with a stake of...

India and the U.S. are expected to sign a "formal" trade agreement in March. After that, New Delhi will lower tariffs on U.S. products, said Trade Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday. This was the first official timeline of the adoption of the deal. Washington will then reduce the duty on Indian exports from 50% to 18% within a few days. Goyal stated that India will purchase about $500 billion worth of U.S. products over the next five years. This includes $70-80 billion of Boeing aircraft. In the deal announced Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reduced U.S. Tariffs on Indian Goods...

Alexei Zabotkin, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, said that the outlook for Russian exports in the first quarter of 2026 will be more difficult than it was last year. This will have a negative impact on the federal budget. A?source near the government said earlier that the Russian budget deficit would be nearly three times higher than the official target at the end of 2026 due to falling Indian purchases?of Russian oil, and the widening of trade discounts. "The situation for our exports continues be challenging." Zabotkin, a RBC radio host, said that the situation is likely to...

Argentine Foreign minister?Pablo Quirno said that a deal between Argentina and 'the U.S. on critical minerals signed this week doesn't rule out Chinese investments?into the mining sector of the country. As of today, this does not mean that China will or cannot invest in Argentina. Quirno stated at a press briefing that China has made investments in Argentina in the form of minerals. The agreement was announced following a meeting in Washington of over 50 countries where U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested a trading block for critical minerals. On Thursday, the two countries finalized their reciprocal trade agreement and...

Itochu, Japan's largest retailer, posted a record-breaking 4% increase in its nine-month net profits through December 31st, to 705.3 billion dollars. This was a result of strong consumer businesses, such as food, textiles and the convenience store chain. The trading house's food unit saw a 38% increase in profit to 82.5 billion Japanese yen, up from 60 billion last year. This was due to higher banana sales and production, as well as growth of the packaged foods division at Dole agriculture. Tsuyoshi Hachimura, Chief Financial Officer of the company, said at a press conference that "core profits in non-resources sectors...

Muyuan Foods shares closed slightly higher on Friday in Hong Kong, following the world's largest pig breeder. raised HK$10.7 Billion ($1.4 Billion) in a share sale This is the largest city-wide event so far in this year. The shares of the firm opened at HK$39 per share, matching their initial offer, and ended 3.9% higher, at HK$40.52, after trading between HK$38.98 and HK$41.72, with 40.59 millions shares worth HK$1.63billion changing hands. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 1.2% lower. This is the biggest share sale in Hong Kong in recent memory, surpassing Zijin Gold International $3.5 billion in September. Dickie...

Canada announced on Wednesday that it would be scrapping its national mandate for electric vehicles, marking yet another retreat from climate measures by the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Ottawa mandated in 2023 that by 2026, 20% of vehicles sold would be emission-free. Vehicle manufacturers were not happy with the push, claiming it imposed unsustainable cost and made them vulnerable to a new U.S. -administration that cut support for EVs. Canada is introducing stronger emission standards for the 2027-2032 model years, which will help it achieve its goal of 75%?EV sales in 2035 and 90%?EV sales in...

Pandora has switched to platinum-plated items to reduce its exposure to the wild swings of the silver market. This comes after a speculative frenzy drove the metal's prices to record highs over the last year. Silver's sharp movements have become a major factor in the share price of the Danish company. Last week's drop in the metal sparked a surge in the stock. In an interview, CEO Berta De Pablos Barbier said: "We must decouple the performance of the company from the value of its shares." "We are not a trader of silver, we are a jewellery company." Pandora's most...

The prices of commodities such as crude oil, silver, and gold, all fell on Thursday after the leaders of China, the United States, and Iran spoke by phone. Investors reduced their positions due to a stronger dollar in which commodities are priced. Silver fell almost 15%, while gold, crude and copper dropped about 2%. Tony Sycamore is an analyst at broker IG. He said, "We have seen extreme volatility this week in precious metals, other commodities, and we are now experiencing some aftershocks." He added that "talks between Iran and United States seem to be on track again, which has...

Maas Group, an Australian company, announced on Thursday that it would be selling its building materials division up to A$1.70billion ($1.19billion) in order to pivot to artificial intelligence infrastructure. This caused its shares to drop by more than 26%. Maas Group is selling its Construction Materials (CM), a?unit, to Heidelberg Materials' local subsidiary, HMA. It will also invest A$100m in Nvidia AI infrastructure?firm Firmus Group, for a 1.7% share. The conglomerate was founded by former rugby player Wes Maas over 20 years ago. It is now selling an unit that generated approximately half of the A$219 millions in core operating...

Australia's Ardea Resource said that on Thursday, its Kalgoorlie Nickel Project received separate letters from Export Finance Australia (A$1 billion) and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to support a possible funding of up A$1 Billion ($699.90 Million). The funding will be used to support Kalgoorlie Nickel’s Goongarrie hub?project in Western Australia. This project is expected to supply nickel and cobalt which are both critical minerals in lithium batteries. Ardea shares jumped 9.6% by 0058 GMT to A$0.745, their highest level for nearly two weeks. They also snapped out of three sessions in losses. The 'Trump administration' has increased efforts to secure...

U.S. U.S. Washington has taken steps to counter what policymakers see as Chinese price manipulation for minerals such as lithium, nickel and rare earths, which are essential to the production of electric vehicles, high tech weapons and many other manufactured products. Cramer is a Republican Senator from North Dakota. He co-sponsors the reauthorization bill with Warner, a Democrat senator from Virginia. Both are members of the Senate Banking Committee. Financial Times was the first to report the news. Cramer will?also seek to raise the bank's loan cap by $70 billion, to $205 billion, as part of a?reauthorization plan. "A 10-year...

On Wednesday, the United States and Mexico unveiled a plan for developing a coordinated trade policy to?mitigate vulnerabilities in critical supply chains of minerals. This could include possible price floors on certain mineral imports. The plan does not mention China or its chokehold over the processing of these minerals. Instead, it calls on both nations to consult about including price floors into a binding multilateral agreement on trade. Separately Vice President JDVance announced plans on Wednesday to marshal allies to a preferential?trade?bloc in order to secure supply chains vital to advanced manufacturing. U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer stated that the...

The CEO of the company said that an Australian scandium project, backed by mining billionaire Robert Friedland, will contribute to the 'planned 12?billion U.S. stockpile of critical minerals. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, announced on Monday plans to build a strategic stockpile for critical minerals backed up by $10 billion of seed funding from U.S. Export-Import Bank. A further $2 billion of private capital will be used to fund the project. Sam Riggall is the CEO of Sunrise Energy Metals which is developing the Syerston scannerdium mine in Australia's New South Wales. He said the company would likely contribute to...

Tianqi Lithium Corp announced on Wednesday that it would raise approximately HK$5,86 billion ($750m)?via a convertible bond and share placement, and hoped to sell a?small stake?in Chilean'miner SQM?to bolster liquidity. The Chinese lithium producer listed on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock exchange announced that it had struck a deal with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to issue 65,000,000 new H shares for HK$45.05 per share, or a discount equivalent to 9% of Tuesday's closing HK$49.50. This is worth approximately HK$2.9billion. Tianqi has also entered into a'subscription agreement' for 2.6 billion yuan ($375m) in zero-coupon convertible bonds due February 9, 2027. These...