Author: omc_admin

Climate change could make the UK vulnerable to insect-transmitted tropical diseases that were previously only found in hot countries, scientists have warned, urging ministers to redouble efforts to contain their spread abroad.Leading mosquito experts said the government’s cuts to international aid would lead to a collapse in crucial surveillance, control and treatment programmes in endemic countries, leading to more deaths.This week, the UK Health Security Agency announced the discovery of West Nile virus in UK mosquitoes for the first time. The agency said it had found no evidence of transmission to humans and the risk to the British public was…

Oil prices held near two-week highs in early trading on Wednesday, supported by an agreement between the U.S. and China to temporarily lower their reciprocal tariffs and a falling U.S. dollar.Imaginima | E+ | Getty ImagesA protracted slump in crude prices has ramped up the pressure on Big Oil’s commitment to allocate cash to shareholders.Western energy supermajors have long sought to return cash to investors through buyback programs and dividends to keep their shareholders happy. Energy executives have also expressed confidence that they can continue to reward investors following a relatively robust set of first-quarter earnings.Some analysts, however, are less…

The CEO of one of the internet’s biggest gatekeepers has warned that content creators are at risk of losing out on subscription and advertising money as people increasingly turn to AI for search purposes.Matthew Prince, the billionaire cofounder and CEO of cybersecurity giant Cloudflare, told CNBC on Wednesday that creators need to push back as more of their value is captured directly by AI searches.”I think that the economy is for sure changing,” Prince said.”What’s changing is not that fewer people are searching the internet,” he continued. “It’s that more and more of the answers to Google are being answered…

Can the $59.51 Pivot Hold in the Face of Bearish Pressure? A bounce from $59.51 could form a secondary higher bottom, giving bulls a potential setup to retest the 50-day average. However, if this support fails, technical selling could intensify, targeting a deeper support zone between $54.83 and $54.01. The price action suggests traders are hesitating as they weigh technical signals against bearish fundamental drivers. OPEC+ Output Hike Looms Large Over Oil Prices Forecast This week’s losses, with both Brent and WTI down roughly 2%, are largely tied to growing expectations that OPEC+ will raise output again in July. Market…

Investment giant BlackRock issues a strong statement following the release of a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in support of a Texas-led multistate lawsuit accusing asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street of using ESG investing to manipulate coal markets, calling the case “baseless,” and “based on an absurd theory.” The case, launched by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and joined by 10 other Republican states in late 2024, claimed that the asset managers acquired large shareholdings in major coal producers in the U.S., and used their combined influence to coerce the companies to cut…

U.S. refining giant Phillips 66, which will close its LA refinery later this year, will lay off in December most of the workers at the plant, Reuters reports, citing sources with knowledge of the plans.  Last October, Phillips 66 said it would shut down its refinery in the Los Angeles area in the fourth quarter of 2025, due to “market dynamics.”Approximately 600 employees and 300 contractors currently operate the Los Angeles-area refinery, Phillips 66 said when it announced the closure.“We understand this decision has an impact on our employees, contractors and the broader community,” Mark Lashier, chairman and CEO of Phillips…

  The Trump Administration has invited officials from allied nations in North Asia to Alaska to assess potential investment in an LNG project and a proposed 1,300km gas pipeline. Officials from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan may visit Alaska’s North Slope to see the location of the vast pipeline, two people familiar with the planning told Reuters. Governments in these countries are considering investments in the US in the hope of getting relief from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.   ALSO SEE: China’s Top Regulator Says it Will Help Tech Firms List Overseas   Trump’s energy czar, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and…

Ford is continuing to scale back its electric car offensive: due to weak demand and high costs, the US car manufacturer is now apparently allowing its Japanese competitor Nissan to use Ford’s battery production in Kentucky. The plant is part of a joint venture with the South Korean battery manufacturer SK On. Ford and SK On founded their joint venture called BlueOval SK in 2022 and began building two battery factories in Glendale, Kentucky. These were to produce batteries for electric cars from Ford and its subsidiary brand Lincoln, each with an annual capacity of 43 GWh. According to a…

The U.S. Administration wants the EU to make unilateral cuts to its tariffs on American goods and abolish a proposed digital tax for trade negotiations to advance, sources briefed on the U.S. trade negotiators’ latest stance have told the Financial Times.The U.S. hit the EU with a 20% ‘reciprocal’ tariff in early April, but the Trump Administration later backtracked on the so-called reciprocal tariffs following a major market rout triggered by fears of recession. The United States has now left a baseline 10% tariff on all countries by July 8 as it is engaging in negotiations to secure trade deals. The…

Chemical compounds that efficiently remove CO2 from the air do not easily release it once captured, and compounds that release CO2 efficiently are not very efficient at capturing it. Optimising one part of the cycle tends to make the other part worse. Now, using nanoscale filtering membranes, researchers at MIT have added a simple intermediate step that facilitates both parts of the cycle. The new approach could improve the efficiency of electrochemical carbon dioxide capture and release by six times and cut costs by at least 20 percent, they said.   MIT researchers added…