Sean's Daily Digest

US weighs easing sanctions on 'shadow fleet' tankers to cut freight rates; oil prices slide

The US is considering letting sanctioned 'shadow fleet' vessels carry oil and fuel that is not itself under US sanctions, a US official told Reuters. The aim is to lower high global freight costs and bring more Gulf crude and refined products to market, and oil prices fell on the report. The vessels have carried oil from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela. US firms wanting to use them would need Treasury approval, the Energy Department said, and it said the step would not help Russia move oil. Britain's finance minister, John Healey, urged tougher curbs on shipping services for Russia's fleet.

EU leaders meet in Brussels to seek tougher tools against Chinese imports and clash over 2028-2034 budget

EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss curbing the bloc's large trade deficit with China, and to try to advance talks on the next long-term budget. According to the South China Morning Post, they will tell the European Commission to "urgently" devise new trade weapons against imbalances they blame on China's economic policies. France 24 reports a clash over the size, revenue sources and priorities of the nearly €2 trillion 2028-2034 budget, with no immediate deal in sight and a goal of agreement by Christmas.

Bulgaria joins NATO counter-drone programme as attacks on Black Sea shipping reach five ships

Ongoing · day 4 ↗

Suspected Russian drones have sunk or damaged five ships near Bulgaria and Romania, according to NATO-focused reporting. NATO may redeploy anti-drone defenses in response to attacks that are sinking more Black Sea shipping. Commentary describes the drone campaign over NATO airspace as growing and marked by uncertainty.

Anthropic tells investors revenue rose 45% to $16.8 billion in third quarter ahead of listing

Anthropic said its revenue rose 45% to $16.8 billion in the three months to September, the BBC understands, in a briefing for prospective investors on Wednesday. It reportedly also said it made a profit for a second straight quarter. A stock market listing is expected before the end of the year, as chip and hardware stocks fall on worries about AI infrastructure spending.

Kenya confirms second Ebola case, a relative of the first victim who was already in quarantine

Ongoing · day 7 ↗

Kenya has confirmed a second Ebola case, a relative of the first patient, who died after travelling to Kenya from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kenya's Health Ministry announced the second case on Wednesday.

G20 finance chiefs meet in Bangkok as Iran war strains the global economy; Japan says group is wary of yields and currency swings

Ongoing · day 3 ↗

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting in Thailand as the Iran war drives energy prices higher and clouds the global economic outlook. Japan's finance minister said G20 members are concerned about bond yields and foreign exchange volatility. Asian stocks fell sharply as fears about AI-related debt and inflation weighed on markets.

France's borrowing costs hit two-decade high, above Italy's and Greece's, raising Eurozone fears

French government borrowing costs have reached their highest level in more than two decades, and investors now demand higher yields on French bonds than on Italian or Greek ones, according to Al Jazeera. Public debt is nearing 120 percent of GDP and the deficit is above 5 percent. A divided parliament, protesters demanding more education spending and an approaching presidential election make a fix harder, and the worry is that the strain could spread across the Eurozone.

Brazil's Senate approves five-day workweek, a win for Lula days before the runoff

Brazil's Senate on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment cutting the workweek from six days to five, with a 40-hour limit, according to Reuters and Clarín. The change ends the "6x1" schedule, under which some 16 million Brazilians work six days with one day off. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed the measure as he faces Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff later this month; a Quaest poll published Wednesday had Bolsonaro ahead 46% to 44%.

Nord Stream trial opens in Hamburg; Ukrainian ex-officer denies charges, defence cites lack of evidence

Serhii Kuznetsov, 50, a former Ukrainian military officer, went on trial in Hamburg on Wednesday, accused of leading a team that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. Prosecutors call it a war crime, an attack on civilian objects by military means. Kuznetsov denies the charges, and his lawyers say the investigation found no witness, forensics, DNA or fingerprints. They also argue he cannot get a fair trial because, as a soldier, he is bound to secrecy. The trial is expected to run into February, and Kyiv denies involvement in the blasts.

Citizen Lab: Israeli firms used targeted ads to infect Al Jazeera journalists' phones with zero-click spyware

The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab says Israeli firms delivered Candiru spyware through targeted online ads that victims did not need to click. Its report calls this the first public technical confirmation of such an attack, and links at least 45 Al Jazeera devices to it in 2024 and 2025. The ads, bought by Discover-Tech, ran on almost 200,000 websites and apps, and Google and IAB Europe have reportedly revoked the company's access.

China's exports surge at fastest pace since the financial crisis, putting trade surplus on track for a record

China's exports grew last month at the fastest pace in almost any month since the end of the global financial crisis, according to the New York Times. That puts its trade surplus on track for a record. Economist Alicia Garcia-Herrero of Bruegel and Natixis says the world is at the start of a "China shock 3.0" driven by exports of AI, biotechnology and robots, which she says could hit harder than the current wave.