War Financial News

Russia and China have pledged to deepen their growing alliance and shared opposition to what they describe as the U.S.’s attempts to dominate the world order, with Moscow again seeking to boost trade with Beijing as it looks for new ways to bypass the Western sanctions imposed for its war on Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday after the U.S.

The drone in the video, which is clearly modeled after Iran’s Ababil model — the workhorse of paramilitaries across the Middle East since it was developed in the 1990s — reflected a design tweak: Its two front tires, instead of the usual one, provided actual battlefield evidence that Sudan is modifying the Iranian drone into its own weapon, which it calls the Zagel-3. That revelation follows the emergence in the last two years of ramped-up Iranian drone production in at least five other countries, from South America to Central Asia. Most recently, Russia has started making Iranian drones for its war in Ukraine, bringing the number of countries using Iranian technology, assistance, or parts to at least a dozen.

Russia captured a larger share of India's crude imports in the just-ended fiscal year despite narrowing discounts on its oil and sanctions imposed by G7 nations due its invasion of Ukraine. The share of Russian oil in India's total imports rose to 35% in 2023-24 from 23% in the previous year, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa. During the year, all other key suppliers, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the US lost share in the Indian market. Iraq's share fell to 20% (from 21%). Similar drops were noted for Saudi Arabia (15% from 17.5%), UAE (6% from 9%), and the US (3.5% from 5.5%). Russia supplied 1.57 million barrels a day (mb/d) in FY24, up from 1mb/d in the previous year. Iraq's supply of 0.89 mb/d in 2023-24 was lower than 0.95 mb/d in the previous year. Saudi's supply fell to 0.69 mb/d from 0.78 mb/d.

French troops joined their British counterparts in the famous Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace for the first time Monday, marching together in a display of solidarity between Britain and France amid the war in Ukraine. At a parallel ceremony in Paris, British soldiers donned tall bearskin hats to take part in an unprecedented joint military parade in front of the presidential Elysee Palace, as the French army choir sang the two national anthems, «God Save the King» and «La Marseillaise.» The twin events were to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, the 1904 diplomatic agreement between Britain and France that paved the way for their collaboration in both World War I and World War II.

Gaza, as Israel pulled all of its ground troops out of southern Gaza. Israel's army cited “tactical reasons", for their sudden withdrawal. The move, however, has raised questions about the future direction of the war.

Stocks are holding steadier on Wall Street after last week's roller-coaster end left them shy of their records

The nation’s most influential banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors that he continues to expect the U.S. economy to be resilient and grow this year

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the Biden administration will push China to change an industrial policy that poses a threat to U.S. jobs

foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) would have an impact on the movement of rupee against the US dollar bringing it to the downside on occasion. While the USD-INR pair is expected to remain in a range between 82 and 84 for FY 2025, in the near term 83.50 looks like a strong resistance for the pair while 82.50 acts as a strong support. These aforementioned support and resistance levels will remain sacrosanct for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank will likely keep the pair within this range to ensure all-round stability.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors Monday that he continues to expect the US economy to be resilient and grow this year. But he worries geopolitical events including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war, as well as US political polarisation, might be creating an environment that «may very well be creating risks that could eclipse anything since World War II.» The comments came in an annual shareholder letter from Dimon, who often uses the letter to weigh in broad topics like politics, regulation and global events and what it might mean to JPMorgan Chase, as well as the broader economy.

DMK leader and Thoothukudi MP candidate Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said on Monday that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party is not silent on the Katchatheevu island row, alleging that the BJP-led ruling government is raising issues for the election campaign and not for the people's welfare. «DMK is not silent on this issue. We raised this issue many times but PM Modi and the BJP government never replied. Speaking about Katchatheevu is just for election campaigning, not for people's welfare,» she said. DMK Deputy General Secretary Kanimozhi on Monday campaigned for South Chennai DMK candidate Sumathi, alias Tamilachi Thangapandiyan, in Tiruvanmayur.

Switch Hit on Election Pitch BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, one of the most active office-bearers of the party, is creating a record of sorts. He has been presiding over the induction of leaders from other parties into BJP at New Delhi headquarters. Hardly a day goes by when some leader or celebrity is not inducted into BJP.

Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is considering some major changes in the private placement memorandum of alternative investment funds. To facilitate the ease of doing business, Sebi has proposed that the PPM of the AIF can be directly submitted to the market regulator rather than processing it through a merchant banker. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over his comment on Article 370.

Reddy came out all guns blazing at the BJP-led Centre saying that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will pit two families against each other--the NDA and central agencies at its disposal and the Congress family, many of whose members sacrificed their lives for the country. Addressing people at the release of the Congress's 'Nyay Patra' or manifesto in the state during the 'Jana Jatara Sabha', Reddy said on Saturday, «Congress is a family. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that the upcoming elections are not just electoral contests but a war that pits two families against each other. This is an all-out war between the Congress family and the one headed by PM Modi.» «Modi's family features EVMs, ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department. Our family has martyrs--Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and a leader who sacrificed the PM's chair, Sonia Gandhi. This is a family whose members, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, have selflessly dedicated their lives to the country,» the Congress leader added.

US on high alert as Iran-Israel shadow war spurs chance of wider Middle east row The bloodiest-ever Gaza war began on October 7 with an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants resulting in the death of 1,170 Israelis. Thereafter, Israel relentlessly bombarded Gaza by air, land, and sea, killing at least 33,137 people, mostly women and children so far. Israel says that around 250 of its citizens and foreigners were taken hostage by militants on October 7.

Peter Pellegrini won Slovakia's presidential election Saturday against pro-Western diplomat Ivan Korcok. Opposition-backed Korcok conceded defeat as nearly complete results showed he had received 47 percent of the vote against former prime minister Pellegrini's 53 percent.

Sonam Wangchuk on Saturday alleged that the administration has turned Leh into a war zone to instigate protestors and considering such situation the proposed Pashmina March towards the border on April 7 has been cancelled. Wangchuk informed that the government is behaving like a “mad elephant." With the deployment of forces across Leh, Wangchuk said, there is a possibility of reaction from people and something can be «orchestrated as well» so that the ongoing peaceful protest is labelled as violent and then scuttled. “Our aim was not to confront the administration or create any law and order situation. But considering the risk of violence we are withdrawing the protest march,” said Wangchuk.

Uttam Kumar during a ride on the Kolkata Metro. The voice announced Kumar's 'comeback' to the big screen in Srijit Mukherji's latest film, Oti Uttam — a neat play of words on the actor's name, and the title which literally means 'Most Excellent'. But what was 'oti' interesting, was that the voice was that of Uttam Kumar. Any Bengali, millennials included, worth his salt and her slice of lime will tell you that the great 'matinee idol' passed away in 1980. They will also tell you how the great man exuded charm and appeal, which is believed to be transcendental. I suspect that the 'Uttam Kumar' voice I heard in the Metro was AI-generated, rather than a manifestation of an elaborate planchette. The main character of Mukherji's film currently playing in theatres is portrayed using old B&W footage featuring Uttam Kumar. The screenwriter-filmmaker painstakingly selected clips and dialogues from 56 of Uttam Kumar's films, and reportedly hired an AI company to 'clone' the actor's voice, even deliver dialogues in this movie that the actor may have never uttered.

Nilesh Shah while underscoring India's favourable economic situation due to cheaper oil prices and strong GDP despite geopolitical tensions. To prove that “god exists upstairs and is an Indian", Nilesh Shah, referred to double-digit oil prices in India despite the Israel-Hamas war, Red Sea disturbance and other geopolitical tensions. He also mentioned US Fed hints on rate cuts, and strong GDP growth rate numbers.

Vistara citied "various operational reasons" and "high utilisation of resources" as a cause of the cancellations and delays. In a statement, Vinod Kannan said the situation has already improved with its on-time performance improving for the last three days. "We hope to stabilise our operations for the rest of April 2024 by this weekend." Referring to the new contract for pilots, the CEO of the airline with 1,000 pilots, said “over 98 per cent of pilots have signed the new contract", however some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract.

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan on Saturday said the airline hopes to stabilise operations for this month by this weekend and that more than 98 per cent of pilots have signed the new contract. The full service carrier faced significant disruption in operation earlier this week due to the non-availability of crew and many flights were cancelled. In a statement, Kannan said the situation has already improved with its on-time performance improving for the last three days. «We hope to stabilise our operations for the rest of April 2024 by this weekend,» he said.