Homeowners and housebuilders pin hopes on ECB rates cut
In the west Frankfurt suburbs on a plot wedged between a motorway and a wooded park, excavators are preparing the ground for 400 new apartments. The busy work at the…
Growing tanker fleet, cheaper freight challenge Russian oil price cap
Russian crude oil producers are enjoying the cheapest costs to ship to refiners in China and India in almost a year thanks to a growing number of vessels plying the…
Russian oil sanctions fuel boom for old tankers
The market for old oil tankers is booming, and it’s all down to efforts by Western nations to curb trade in Russian crude. As Western shipping and maritime services firms…
Russia’s state-owned RNRC to reinsure Russian oil shipments
State-controlled Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNRC) is now the main reinsurer of Russian ships, including Sovcomflot’s fleet, after Western insurance firms withdrew cover for Russian shipowners, three people familiar with…
India’s Essar seeks loans from traders as banks fear Russian links
Indian refiner Essar Oil is looking to raise over $1 billion from trading houses after its new Russian owners could not raise loans from major Western banks due to sanctions…
The great Russian oil game in Iraqi Kurdistan
Last October, at the height of a political crisis in Iraq's Kurdistan region, a letter arrived at the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad from Igor Sechin, head of Kremlin oil…
Fuelled by China fears, Russians protest Baikal bottling plant
A China-funded project to bottle water from Russia's Lake Baikal has caused a backlash in Siberia, where people are increasingly angry about what they see as a Chinese land-grab. Ecologists…
Russian jet crash puts Sharm resort staff on ‘unpaid leave’
The Russian plane crash in Egypt has forced hotels in Sharm el-Sheikh to send dozens of staff on "unpaid leave" as tourist numbers plunge, with tens of thousands of jobs…
Pressure mounts from Russia and US ahead of German election
Germany is set to start 2025 with an increasingly heated election campaign attracting attempts at influence not only on the part of Russia but also from Berlin’s traditional ally, the…
On thin ice
PAKISTAN skates too dangerously on thin ice. Despite the blunt-bladed incompetence of its governments, it has managed to wobble and stumble for 77 years. Today, many Pakistanis wonder how long…
