2025-08-18 11:55

SKENDERBEGAS, Albania, Aug 18 (Reuters) - As wildfires raged across Albania last week, people were forced to flee for their lives, with no time to save their livestock. Now the fires are subsiding, some volunteers are turning their attention to caring for the scorched animals. Sign up here. Swiss national Maria Cristina Medina, who runs the Tierhilfe animal shelter, near the capital Tirana, watched on as a veterinarian administered antibiotics and applied lotion to a horse that sustained burns in Delvina – one of the worst affected towns in the south of the country. “Delvina has a good chance to survive, as her lungs were not damaged, and she is fighting for her life,” Medina said. The injured horse, which now shares its name with the town, began eating and drinking after receiving treatment. A donkey with burns is also under care. Medina said she has received a steady stream of calls accompanied by photos of scorched animals, many of which ultimately had to be euthanised due to the extent of their injuries. “I saw pictures of burned animals, and I cried and even threw up, but then I got back and carried on because they need my help,” Medina said. She and her team later headed to the village of Skenderbegas, some two hours away from Tirana in the eastern part of the country, to check for more burned animals. More than 30 houses and barns were destroyed in the village and evidence of devastation is stark, with the skeletons of goats, cows and donkeys scattered amid the ruins. “The flames arrived so quickly. We were rushing to save the children, but I could not unchain the cow,” said Manjola Doci, whose one-month-pregnant cow suffered burns over large parts of its body. One neighbour lost all 12 of his goats, another three cows, a profound loss in a region where such animals are often the primary means of food and transport for locals. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/albanian-volunteers-struggle-save-scorched-livestock-wildfires-subside-2025-08-18/

2025-08-18 11:47

KYIV, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russian drones on Monday intentionally attacked an oil depot belonging to Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR in Ukraine's southern Odesa region for the second time in two weeks, Ukrainian officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing on X, said the "deliberate Russian strike...was an attack not only on us but also on our relations and energy security." Sign up here. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for "an appropriate diplomatic and legal response" by Baku to what he described as moves "against Azerbaijan’s interests". There was no immediate comment from SOCAR, which operates around 60 fuel stations across Ukraine, or Azerbaijani officials. Russia has not publicly commented on the matter. Ukraine's energy minister told reporters in Kyiv it was "hard to assess the damage" and said rescue crews were still at work. Monday's attack follows an August 8 Russian drone attack that damaged a SOCAR oil depot, two industry sources told Reuters. At least four people had been injured in that strike, they said. Russian forces have frequently targeted Ukrainian infrastructure and energy facilities far behind the front line. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-striking-azerbaijans-socar-oil-facilities-ukraine-purpose-kyiv-says-2025-08-18/

2025-08-18 11:38

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Hindustan Zinc (HZNC.NS) , opens new tab will spend 38.23 billion rupees ($437.5 million) to set up a metals reprocessing plant, the Indian miner said on Monday, as a part of its plans to ramp-up capacity. The new plant, with a processing capacity of 10 million tons per annum, will recover metal from tailing dumps - a phrase used to refer to the piles of waste left behind after the metal is extracted from ores. Sign up here. The factory will boost the company's overall mineral recovery, Hindustan Zinc added in its statement, helping its larger aim of doubling its annual capacity to 2 million tons. In June, Hindustan Zinc announced investment plans of $1.39 billion to set up a metals complex in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, where it already operates a zinc smelter. ($1 = 87.3740 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-hindustan-zinc-invest-438-million-build-reprocessing-plant-2025-08-18/

2025-08-18 11:26

Odds of Fed cut in September a tad lower at 83% Zelenskiy flies to Washington on Monday to meet Trump Focus on Fed's Jackson Hole symposium for rate clues MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The dollar gained on Monday ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian and European counterparts, while focus also turned to the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium for policy cues. The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.1680, the yen slipped by a similar magnitude to 147.445, while the British pound was down about 0.1% at $1.3544. Sign up here. The paring of wagers on a rate cut by the Fed next month helped the dollar find some support amid otherwise muted moves in foreign exchange markets on Monday. Money markets are now pricing in an 83% chance the Fed will ease rates by a quarter point next month, as traders pulled back wagers on the certainty of a cut after a raft of data including a jump in U.S. wholesale prices last month and a solid increase in July's retail sales figures. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework at the Jackson Hole symposium between August 21 and 23. MUFG expects the U.S. central bank to cut rates in September as well, but it's unlikely that the Fed chair will give a clear signal towards that later this week, said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank. Powell's last speech to the conference before his term ends next May comes as he looks to straddle the Fed's twin goals of stable prices and low unemployment. Inflation in the U.S. is running above the central bank's target while recent data has also pointed to a slowing of the labour market. "There is a majority expectation of further dollar weakness, but the minority, who would rather buy at current levels and don’t see convincing evidence of weak U.S. growth, has a reasonable following too," Kit Juckes, chief FX strategist at Societe Generale, said in a Monday note referring to interactions with clients. The dollar was up 0.1% against a basket of peers on Monday but has declined over 9.5% over 2025 so far. The main event for investors on Monday is a White House meeting between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who will be joined by some European leaders, as Washington presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. Trump had met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday and agreed that a peace deal should be worked upon without a ceasefire. "Financial markets are continuing to trade like there could be some – still undetermined – path to peace," an ING analyst note said. "With risk assets bid and energy prices offered, we expect the dollar to stay under a little pressure as dollar-based investors continue to put money to work," the note said. Trump told Ukraine to give up hopes of getting back annexed Crimea or joining NATO as he prepared to host Zelenskiy and European leaders in Washington to press Kyiv into accepting a peace deal with Russia. In other currencies, the Swiss franc was little changed at 0.80965 while the Australian dollar rose 0.1% to $0.6515 and the New Zealand dollar rose 0.2% to $0.5941. Cryptocurrency bitcoin halted its towering rally and eased from a record high. It last traded 2.2% lower at $115,129.46. Ether similarly slid 4.6% to $4,275.85, after hitting its highest in nearly four years last week. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-firms-heading-into-busy-week-geopolitics-fed-speak-2025-08-18/

2025-08-18 11:23

US stagflation would hit bonds and stocks globally Equities far from pricing in US stagflation risks Gold, some inflation-linked products might offer refuge LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The spectre of U.S. stagflation is stalking global markets, causing some investors to position portfolios to dodge the potential damage that tariffs could wreak on growth and inflation in the world's dominant economy. Some 70% of global investors surveyed by BofA Global Research in early August said they expect stagflation - the combination of below trend growth and above trend inflation - in the next 12 months. Sign up here. Recent data showing U.S. labour market weakness, a sharp rise in U.S. core inflation and an unexpected surge in producer prices justifies this concern. But stocks around the world, including in the United States, remain near record highs and bond markets are calm, suggesting little panic even as U.S. stagflation risks move increasingly onto the radar. "Stagflation is in the mind of the market, but not the price," said Carmignac fixed income manager Marie-Anne Allier. Here's a rundown of how U.S. stagflation risks could play out across global markets. BEWARE BONDS Persistent inflation, or the fear of it, can pummel longer-dated bonds by eroding the real value of fixed interest payments over time. Paul Eitelman of Russell Investments, which helps institutions manage more than $1 trillion of assets, said pension funds and insurers have become increasingly nervous about inflation hitting their bond portfolios. "If we had a another very weak employment report, that would significantly ramp up (U.S. stagflation) concerns," he added. Nor would non-U.S. bonds offer much protection. "Interest rates and the long end of the bond curve are highly correlated between the G7 economies," said Mayank Markanday, portfolio manager at Foresight Group. "If you see a big selloff in the long end of the U.S. curve we are likely to see impact on some of the others." There has already been a selloff in long-dated bonds across major markets. While 2-year yields are lower in the U.S., Germany and Britain this year, 30-year yields are higher. If sticky inflation stops the Federal Reserve from cutting rates this year, short-dated bonds would suffer too. WALL STREET WOES Fidelity International multi-asset manager Caroline Shaw said the group expected U.S. growth to slow and stagflation was one of their two core scenarios. She remains positive on U.S. big tech stocks but in mid-July bought derivatives called put options that would profit should the more cyclical Russell 2000 small cap index fall. (.RUT) , opens new tab As with bonds, stocks globally are likely to suffer, even if stagflation is confined to the U.S. Since 1990, world stocks (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab have fallen by an average of 15% at times when U.S. manufacturing activity data showed both a contraction and higher than average prices, according to State Street head of macro strategy Michael Metcalfe. But stocks keep surging for now, which Metcalfe says suggests investors think "the disruption to the global trading system isn't going to disrupt big tech earnings." Markets are ignoring bad news and focusing on the good, said Man Group chief market strategist Kristina Hooper. "It's like parenting, you only want to see the best in your children, and we're at a stage where it's possible for markets to do that," she said. SELL THE DOLLAR Nabil Milali, multi-asset and overlay portfolio manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, is another investor who says data shows the U.S. economy is heading for stagflation. He anticipated further weakness in the dollar against the euro . Stagflation presents twin risks for the greenback, said Milali, because weak growth can devalue a currency and persistent inflation erodes its purchasing power abroad. The euro is up over 12% against the dollar so far this year. Other currencies like the Japanese yen and Britain's pound have also strengthened. BUY WHAT, THEN? Here's where it gets harder, but stagflation could provide another reason to keep buying gold, already the go-to asset class for investors worried about a variety of risks, said Man Group's Hooper. Other assets that offer protection against inflation could be attractive, such as short-dated inflation linked bonds, said Foresight Group's Markanday. Professional investors are turning to complex derivatives products like inflation swaps, which rise in value when price indices exceed a certain level, Russell's Eitelman said. The U.S. two-year inflation linked swap is near its highest in over two years. https://www.reuters.com/business/global-markets-stagflation-graphic-2025-08-18/

2025-08-18 11:18

BUDAPEST, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russian crude oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were halted on Monday, officials in Hungary and Slovakia said, with Budapest blaming a Ukrainian attack on a transformer station. Unlike most other EU countries, Hungary has kept up its reliance on Russian energy since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It imports most of its crude via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Ukraine to Hungary and also Slovakia. Sign up here. Szijjarto wrote on Facebook that he had talked to Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin who told him that experts were working to restore the transformer station, but it was unclear when deliveries would resume. "This latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable," Szijjarto wrote. He did not say when or where the attack took place. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha neither confirmed nor denied the account of the attack, but wrote on X that Hungary "can now send complaints" to Moscow, not Kyiv. "It is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it. Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner. Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia," Sybiha wrote. Slovak pipeline operator Transpetrol confirmed that the supply of oil to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline had stopped. "Our company does not know more information about the reason for the suspension, which is outside the territory of the Slovak Republic. Oil transportation through Slovak territory is ensured and carried out in accordance with the pumping plan," the company said. Ukraine's defence ministry and armed forces, and Hungarian oil company MOL , did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last year Szijjarto said the Druzhba pipeline would remain Hungary's primary route for crude oil imports. Monday's suspension of oil deliveries comes after a temporary halt last week when Ukraine's military said on August 13 that its drones had hit the Uniecha oil pumping station in Russia's Bryansk region. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-flows-hungary-slovakia-halted-after-ukrainian-attack-2025-08-18/