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Pictured above: PetroChina storage tanks (Bloomberg) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the next round of U.S.-China talks could include a discussion of China’s purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, a signal that the focus could shift from more traditional trade issues to ones that cross over into matters of national security.  U.S. President Trump has threatened 100% secondary tariffs against countries who purchase sanctioned oil “Trade is in a good place,” Bessent said on CNBC, referring to recent and ongoing negotiations with China. “And I think now we can start talking about other things. The Chinese,…

Twenty-seven blue, pink and purple trunks, adorned with yellow roses and other flowers, were placed within view of the White House on Monday – each representing a child who perished when Camp Mystic in Texas was overwhelmed by a devastating flood.“We are gentle, angry people and we are singing for our lives,” sang a group of activists, including mothers from Texas, as they protested against the deadly consequences of government cuts and Donald Trump’s inaction on the climate crisis.Flash floods killed at least 135 people over the Fourth of July weekend. Most of the deaths were along the Guadalupe River…

Tech CEOs are in their extremely hardcore, “No More Mr. Nice Guy” era. At TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, the idea of prioritizing performance over being “nice” has long been part of its DNA.ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming once said that “people who always try to be nice aren’t really moral,” according to company materials. He was discussing differentiating performance, and said that trying to make everyone happy by giving low and high performers equal grades could harm TikTok’s best workers.Zhang left the company in 2021, but his line on niceness remains in updated materials for managers, BI has learned.TikTok did…

(World Oil)– BP Plc has agreed to sell its U.S. onshore wind business to LS Power, as the company continues efforts to pivot back toward its core oil and gas business and reverse years of share underperformance. The deal completes the UK energy giant’s exit from wind power generation, transferring ownership of 10 assets across seven US states, according to a statement. The value wasn’t disclosed, but bp said will provide an update on divestment proceeds when it reports second-quarter results early next month. bp shares rose 1.8% to 404 pence at 9:08 a.m. in London. LS Power is a…

Making it as a social media startup ain’t easy.Zeen, the maker of a social collage platform, confirmed to Business Insider on Monday that it was shutting down operations.”If there was any other way to keep it going, we would’ve done that,” cofounder Miri Buckland told BI. “Ultimately, over the last couple of months, it became clear that it wasn’t going to grow to the scale that it needed to as a VC-backed startup.”Buckland cofounded the company, which was originally called Landing, with Ellie Buckingham in 2019. It raised a total of $9 million, Buckland told BI in April. Its investors…

In this photo illustration, the logo for the US tech firm “Block” is displayed and reflected in a number of digital screens on March 03, 2023 in London, England. Leon Neal | Getty ImagesBlock shares jumped 7% on Monday after S&P Global said the company will join the S&P 500, replacing Hess, which was acquired by Chevron’s for $54 billion.The stock rose following the announcement late Friday as investors sought to get in ahead of index fund managers, who will need to buy shares to mimic the changes. Square’s $48 billion market cap at Monday’s close places it well above the…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the next round of US-China talks could include a discussion of China’s purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, a signal that the focus could shift from more traditional trade issues to ones that cross over into matters of national security. “Trade is in a good place,” Bessent said on CNBC, referring to recent and ongoing negotiations with China. “And I think now we can start talking about other things. The Chinese, unfortunately, are very large purchasers of sanctioned Iranian oil, sanctioned Russian oil — so we could start discussing that.” Bessent was also asked about…

Oil edged down, extending its losing streak from last week, on lingering worries about crude demand as US trade talks stall and the European Union’s latest sanctions have yet to dent Russian energy exports. West Texas Intermediate crude ended the day marginally lower near $67 a barrel on Monday, after slipping 1.6% last week. EU envoys are set to meet as early as this week to formulate a plan to respond to a possible no-deal scenario with US President Donald Trump, whose position is seen to have stiffened ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline. Late last week, the 27-nation bloc…

Slovakia’s government is planning to increase its intake of Russian pipeline gas under a temporary EU exemption, reversing earlier commitments to phase out Russian energy supplies in a controversial move amid a growing bloc-wide crackdown on Russian fossil fuels. The exemption allows Bratislava to continue drawing from Gazprom supplies until 2027, aligning with a long-term contract that runs through 2034. The decision comes after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico lifted his veto on the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia, which includes a new oil price cap and sweeping blacklists. In negotiation, the EU agreed to guarantees on energy security and…

(World Oil)– SLB, the world’s largest oil-services provider, sees resiliency in the industry and remains constructive about the second half of 2025 despite uncertainties in customer demand. “Despite pockets of activity adjustments in key markets, the industry has shown that it can operate through uncertainty without a significant drop in upstream spending,” SLB Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch said in a statement Friday. “This has been driven by the combination of capital discipline and the need for energy security.” His comments came as SLB posted second-quarter adjusted profit of 74 cents a share, exceeding analyst expectations. SLB, which gets about 82%…