2025-06-15 16:24
JERUSALEM, June 15 (Reuters) - Israel's annual inflation rate eased more than expected to 3.1% in May, official data showed on Sunday, although it is still slightly above target and the escalation of the country's conflict with Iran poses additional risks to the outlook. Inflation (ILCPIY=ECI) , opens new tab eased from 3.6% in April when it was boosted by a spike in airfares. Sign up here. The May rate was below expectations of 3.4% in a Reuters poll and stayed above the government's 1%-3% annual target range. Government officials have largely blamed war-related supply issues for a spike in inflation over the past year, even as price pressures eased globally. Israel's central bank believes demand is also helping to keep prices high. It will now be watching to see how the sudden escalation in Israel's conflict with Iran in recent days, which has already pushed oil prices higher, affects overall prices. Israel's annual inflation rate reached 3.8% in January, its highest level since September 2023. The central bank in April projected a 2.6% rate for 2025. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (ILCPI=ECI) , opens new tab fell by 0.3% in May from April, after a 1.1% rise the prior month, led by declines in the cost of transport and telecommunications, fresh vegetables and housing services, the Central Bureau of Statistics' data showed. These were partly offset by higher prices of fresh fruits, clothing, entertainment, health and food. A Reuters poll had expected a 0.1% rise month-on-month. The Bank of Israel on May 26 held its benchmark interest rate at 4.5% due to inflation worries stemming from Israel's war with Hamas militants in Gaza. A day later, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron told Reuters that monetary policy needed to remain "cautious" given the uncertain geopolitical situation and near-term inflation environment, with policymakers ready to delay any rate cuts until inflation eased. The next policy decision is slated for July 7. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-inflation-rate-eases-more-than-expected-31-may-2025-06-15/
2025-06-15 13:30
CAIRO, June 15 (Reuters) - Egypt signed a financial closure deal on Sunday with Norwegian renewable energy developer Scatec (SCATC.OL) , opens new tab for a 1 gigawatt solar plant, which will allow the project to move into its construction phase, the Egyptian cabinet said. The project will involve a $600 million investment, a cabinet statement said. Sign up here. The government also signed a power purchase agreement for a 900 megawatt wind project that is being developed in the Gulf of Suez with Scatec. Investment in the project is estimated at $1 billion. Egypt is aiming for renewable energy to provide 42% of its electricity generation mix by 2030. However, the country has in recent years relied heavily on natural gas, with solar, wind, and hydropower making up only 11.5% of its electricity generation. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/egypt-signs-financial-closure-deal-with-norways-scatec-1-gw-solar-plant-2025-06-15/
2025-06-15 10:15
MOSCOW, June 15 (Reuters) - Russian forces carried out an overnight strike on the Kremenchuk oil refinery that supplies fuel to Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced the attack on the central Poltava region as a vile strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Sign up here. "Unfortunately, there was damage to the energy infrastructure," Zelenskiy said in his evening address to the nation. "This is Russia’s (effort to) spit on everything that the international community is trying to do to stop this war." He said it occurred "after the Americans asked us not to strike at Russian energy facilities." The Russian defence ministry's statement said that missiles had been fired at the refinery in Ukraine's Poltava region from both sea and air and that strike drones were also used in what it said had been a successful attack. Russia has claimed Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as its own and controls most of its two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine is fighting to stop Russia from taking control of the rest of Donbas and has said it plans to retake territory it has lost, through a combination of force and diplomacy. The Russian Defence Ministry said separately that its forces had taken control of the village of Malynivka in the Donetsk region, known in Russia as Ulyanovka. It also said its forces had advanced deep into enemy defences in Ukraine's Sumy region and inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian units there. Sumy is not one of the regions Russia has formally claimed as its own, but it has spoken of creating a buffer zone there. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in northeastern Sumy as part of a drive to expel Russian forces from the area. He said Russia has amassed 53,000 troops in the vicinity. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russia-says-it-struck-oil-refinery-that-supplies-ukrainian-army-with-fuel-2025-06-15/
2025-06-15 07:49
DUBAI, June 15 (Reuters) - Iran does not want its conflict with Israel to expand to neighbouring countries unless the situation is forced, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday, adding its response had been based on self-defence. Araqchi said Tehran had been responding to foreign aggression, and that if this aggression stopped, Iranian reactions would also cease. Sign up here. The foreign minister said the Israeli strikes on the offshore South Pars gas field Iran shares with Qatar were "a blatant aggression and a very dangerous act". "Dragging the conflict to the Persian Gulf is a strategic mistake, and its aim is to drag the war beyond Iranian territory," he said. The foreign minister accused Israel of seeking to sabotage ongoing Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, which according to him could have opened the way for an agreement. Tehran was set to present a proposal this Sunday during a sixth round of talks, which were cancelled following recent escalations. "Israel's attack would never have happened without the U.S. green light and support," Araqchi said, adding Tehran does not believe American statements that Washington had taken no part in recent attacks. "It is necessary for the United States to condemn Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if they want to prove their goodwill." https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-does-not-want-conflict-with-israel-expand-will-defend-itself-foreign-2025-06-15/
2025-06-14 22:33
June 14 (Reuters) - Social media platform X showed signs of recovery on Saturday after an outage disrupted access for thousands of users in the United States, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Reports of disruptions had dropped to around 1,041 by 7:42 p.m. ET, down from a peak of more than 10,000, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from various sources. Sign up here. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. In May, Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to back U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential campaign and other Republicans last year, said he'll resume working '24/7' at his companies. "Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms. I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out," Musk had said , opens new tab in an X post. "As evidenced by the X uptime issues this week, major operational improvements need to be made," he added. Earlier in March, Musk had blamed a cyberattack after a similar outage at X. X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/business/elon-musks-x-down-thousands-us-users-downdetector-shows-2025-06-14/
2025-06-14 21:17
June 14 (Reuters) - Iran said the Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack on Saturday but that the "situation was under control". "The fuel volume in the targeted tank was not high, and the situation is fully under control," Iran's oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-shahran-oil-depot-targeted-israeli-attack-2025-06-14/
