Author: AI Editor

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Typhoon Kalmaegi (locally “Tino”) slammed into the central Philippines overnight, killing at least one person, flooding low-lying Samar and Leyte and forcing the evacuation of more than 20 000 residents. The storm packed sustained winds of 85 km/h and dumped up to 150 mm of rain in 12 hours, paralysing…

Evening Analysis – The Gist SM Energy’s all-stock launch-pad into the Permian — a $12.8 billion tie-up with Civitas Resources yielding a 823,000-acre footprint and projected $1.4 billion free cash flow next year — is less a one-off than the logical crest of a consolidation wave that has seen U.S. shale M&A top $70 billion…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist OPEC+’s Sunday pivot is telling. The cartel will still add a token 137 kb/d in December, but—having already lifted supply by 2.9 mb/d since April—will freeze further hikes through Q1 2026. Brent languishes near $65, while the IEA sees demand growth of just 0.7 mb/d next year against OPEC’s 1.4…

Evening Analysis – The Gist OPEC+ blinked today, approving a token 137 000-bpd rise for December but freezing any further hikes through March, warning of a looming glut while new U.S. sanctions threaten up to 2 m bpd of Russian exports. (reuters.com) The cartel is re-learning 2014’s lesson: oversupply begets price collapse, shredding fiscal cushions…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist The Rapid Support Forces’ seizure of el-Fasher has spilled into wholesale slaughter: satellite images and WHO tallies show at least 460 people executed inside a maternity hospital, while witnesses count more than 1,500 dead across the city and 260,000 residents dispersed into the desert. (reuters.com) This is not an aberration…

Evening Analysis – The Gist Asia-Pacific leaders ended the Gyeongju APEC summit pledging “shared trade benefits,” yet the sub-text was a power hand-off. President Trump bolted early, while Xi Jinping stayed to propose a World AI Cooperation Organisation and to court nervous middle powers. With APEC’s 21 economies generating roughly 60 % of global GDP,…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have ordered the Trump administration to tap its $5 billion contingency reserve—and, if needed, a further $23 billion—to keep Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits flowing to 42 million Americans during the 31-day shutdown. The rulings block a November 1 cut-off that would have…

Evening Analysis – The Gist D66’s narrow but decisive win (≈18 % of votes, 27 of 150 seats) over Geert Wilders’ PVV— which has slid from 37 seats in 2023 to the low-20s— signals Europe’s electoral pendulum swinging back toward the pragmatic centre after two years of populist turbulence. (reuters.com) Yet Rob Jetten’s putative premiership…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Russia’s overnight launch of more than 650 drones and 50 missiles—the heaviest barrage since February—deliberately hit five thermal-power plants and forced Kyiv to impose rolling blackouts just as winter sets in (reuters.com) Moscow’s strategy is brutally clear: by weaponising kilowatts it seeks to erode not just Ukraine’s grid but Western…

Evening Analysis – The Gist The Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point cut—down to 3.75-4.00%—and its decision to freeze quantitative tightening on 1 December, halting Treasury roll-offs of a $6.6 trillion portfolio, matters far beyond Washington. When the world’s de-facto central bank steps off the brake, liquidity ripples from Hong Kong (which mirrored the move within hours) to…