Marshall Islands Financial News

Reliance Ethane Holding Pte Ltd. (REHPL) a wholly owned subsidiary of oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries has invested Rs 284 crore each in three of its subsidiaries--Ethane Coral LLC, Ethane Diamond LLC, and Ethane Jade LLC-- aggregating to Rs 852.8 crore ($102.90 million). Ethane LLCs have entered into ship-building contracts (SBCs) to purchase Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) and each Ethane LLC will own a VLEC. VLECs are being acquired for the transportation of Ethane. The investment is made to enable Ethane LLCs to make part payment towards the cost of construction of three VLECs. «Reliance Ethane Holding Pte Ltd. (REHPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has informed that it has today invested in 34,300,000 ordinary shares of face value of $1 each for cash at par, in each of its three wholly owned subsidiaries,» RIL said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Saina Nehwal and PR Sreejesh, have written a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidates, urging them to make climate action their top priority. As IOC members gather in Costa Navarino, Greece, to vote on the seven candidates next week (March 18-21), the Olympians called for stronger commitments from the IOC to cut carbon emissions, promote sustainability in host cities, set clear guidelines on polluting sponsors and use its platform to advocate for climate action. Climate impacts are «no longer a distant threat, but a current and growing harm to the sports we love and to the countries that make up our Olympic family», the letter said. The signatories include 57 Olympic champions and over 100 Olympic flag bearers. They represent some of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations, including Argentina, Aruba, the Bahamas, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Eswatini, Fiji, Ghana, India, Kenya, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Sierra Leone and Zambia. Recognizing that extreme weather events are already disrupting the Summer and Winter Olympics and affecting athlete performance and safety, the letter urges decisive action to ensure the games remain accessible and safe for future generations. Earlier this year, massive wildfires burned large areas of Los Angeles, the host city of the 2028 Olympic Games. The fires killed about 30 people, destroyed thousands of buildings, and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

MAGA star Donald Trump wants to Make America Greater Again. In sq kms, that is. We all know of the US annexing nearly 13 lakh sq km of Mexican territory after winning the war with Mexico in 1848; buying 76,800 sq km in present day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico — the area known as Gadsden Purchase — from Mexico in 1854; buying Alaska from Russia in 1867; annexing independent Hawaii in 1898; procuring 117 sq km of Guantanamo Bay to set up a US detention camp in 1903, which the Cuban communist government has considered illegal since it came to power in 1959. There's, of course, the United States of America itself, carved out of lands not 'owned' by anyone when it was occupied by Native Americans, then turned into a British colony, and ultimately an independent nation state in 1776 according to Westphalian sovereignty norms invented in 17th century Europe. But less well known is America's territorial losses. The Panama Canal Zone, which it acquired in 1904 from private and public Panamanian owners, was returned to Panama in 1979, formally ceding its control in 1999. In Oceania, Japan-occupied Marshall Islands, which the US occupied after WW2, got its independence in 1979. The same 'transition' model was followed with Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, both of which officially gained independence from US 'trusteeship' in 1990 and 1994, respectively.

A group of 50 people and firms across across Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands that have been acting as a “sprawling shadow banking network” for Iran’s military have been hit with U.S. economic sanctions

Spanish rescuers say that a cruise ship has rescued 68 migrants and found five bodies in a wooden dinghy that was drifting off the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean

A Greek-owned and Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier that came under attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels earlier this week had a cargo of grain bound for Iran

A missile attack has damaged a ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen

A European naval force has detained six suspected pirates after they opened fire on an oil tanker traveling through the Gulf of Aden

The U.S. and United Kingdom sanctioned a deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Houthi militant member, Tuesday

Authorities say Yemen’s Houthi rebels have fired missiles at a ship bound for a port in Iran, causing minor damage but no injuries to its crew

Houthis fired two missiles on Monday at an Iran-bound cargo ship in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to the vessel but no injuries, U.S. military officials said. The early morning strikes appeared to be the first time the Houthis have targeted an Iran-bound vessel since starting attacks on international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, shipping sources said. «Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired two missiles from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Bab al-Mandeb,» U.S Central Command said on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

markets. Brent crude futures were down 54 cents, or about 0.7%, at $81.65 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 32 cents, also about 0.4%, to $76.52 a barrel at 1426 GMT.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched a missile at a U.S. warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile

INS Vishakhapatnam reportedly responded to a drone attack distress call in the Gulf of Aden. The drone attack distress call was made from Marshall Islands-flagged vessel in the Red Sea.

Yemen, officials said Tuesday, as the Iran-backed rebel group continues to target vessels in the Red Sea.The early morning strikes destroyed four anti-ship missiles that were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, officials said.The Houthis have not stopped their attacks despite two airstrikes by U.S. and British forces last week that targeted the group’s weapons depots, launching facilities and air defence systems.

Houthi rebels fired a missile that struck a U.S.-owned ship Monday just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, less than a day after they launched an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea. The attack on the Gibraltar Eagle, later claimed by the Houthis, further escalates tensions gripping the Red Sea after American-led strikes on the rebels. The Houthis' attacks have roiled global shipping, amid Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting a crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Mideast waters, said Monday's attack happened some 110 miles (177 kilometers) miles southeast of Aden.

By Jana Choukeir, Ahmed Elimam and Robert Harvey

Former deputy NSA K.T. McFarland discusses the U.S. and U.K. strikes on Houthi forces in Yemen on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’

By Jana Choukeir, Ahmed Elimam and Robert Harvey

By Timothy Gardner

India voted in favour of five resolutions relating to the situation in the Middle East, including one that condemned Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and abstained on one resolution. The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) of the UN General Assembly approved six draft resolutions on November 9 all by recorded votes, relating to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.