European Gas Prices Jump as Middle East Risk Returns to Market
European natural gas prices surged after Israel carried out a wave of strikes against Iran, raising fears of a wider war in a region that's key to global energy supplies.
Benchmark futures jumped as much as 5.7% on Friday, the most in more than five weeks. Gas rose in tandem with broader markets, with oil spiking.
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22 minutes ago
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Why Volkswagen is convinced Waymo and Tesla are vulnerable in the $500 billion robotaxi race — ‘not a winner take all market'
The German carmaker is preparing to enter the market for autonomous ride-hailing services next year with its Volkswagen ID. Buzz AD. But instead of competing against existing transportation providers, it aims to work with them as a partner. The different approach comes amid continued popular resentment towards robotaxis. When Big Tech first began deploying self-driving cars to San Francisco two years ago, companies encountered something unusual—popular resistance. Angry residents would sabotage the robotaxis with the help of traffic cones, while the city's fire department chief herself would regularly malign them as a dangerous nuisance. Even today, during the recent outbreak of civil unrest in Los Angeles over mass deportations, protesters caused hundreds of thousands of dollars when they deliberately torched Waymo cars. One old economy company preparing to enter the autonomous ride-hailing space is taking a completely different approach when it launches next year. Germany's Volkswagen is wagering society at large is increasingly fed up with the collateral damage left behind by Silicon Valley's move-fast-and-break-things mentality. 'Our approach is different—we deliberately want to act as partners that build upon existing infrastructure,' VW Group executive Sascha Meyer told Fortune during a test drive of its robotaxi. 'A key point for social acceptance we believe is being a service provider whose presence is desired precisely because we will not be competing with systems already in place.' This week, VW revealed the series production version of its autonomous ride-hailing cab based on its retro-styled VW ID. Buzz EV microbus. Packaged together with the requisite fleet management software and digital customer booking platform, it wants to offer local transportation authorities and other commercial fleets a turnkey solution that can be integrated effortlessly into their service. While a Waymo or a Tesla plan to compete with existing providers, the German carmaker aims to be an equal partner working hand in glove with communities that want their help. Even if the first roughly 500 vehicles won't be deployed to Uber for use in Los Angeles until next year, VW believes the race for market share is only just beginning. It's convinced there will be more than enough demand to grab a bite out of the €350 billion-€450 billion in revenue McKinsey projects for autonomous ride-hailing services in North America and Europe by 2035. That's more than half a trillion dollars worth of growth over the next 10 years, potentially. Meyer runs MOIA, the mobility services subsidiary of the VW Group which will offer a high-tech version of the zero-emission Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric minivan complete with the backend software ecosystem around it. Fortune had a chance to ride along with Meyer in one as the robotaxi navigated its way—with a safety driver behind the wheel at all times—through the busy streets of Hamburg. Here in Germany's second-largest city, Volkswagen has quietly been testing the technology for several years now thanks to the active support of city officials. The white label service Volkswagen has in mind means all customers need to do is slap their logo on the vehicle and adorn the customer-facing front end with their respective corporate identity and they are ready to go. The group's go-to-market strategy heavily incorporates public transit authorities, an approach influenced by its European roots. With their extensive wealth of well-built mass transit networks, these mainly state and municipal-owned companies play a role in urban, suburban and ex-urban mobility so crucial it would be difficult to displace them. Take for example the BVG authority operated by the German capital of Berlin, with whom VW Group already has signeda letter of intent. Three million people entrust their everyday transportation needs to its fine meshed web of buses, streetcars, subways and commuter trains to get back and forth in the greater metropolitan area every day. A BVG-branded robotaxi integrated into its service should see far faster adoption than were Volkswagen to compete alongside it. In a way, VW's partnership approach to the market is a natural fit. Carmakers have decades of experience working closely with regulators from various agencies, state and federal, to ensure their cars conform with traffic safety and environmental standards. In Silicon Valley, however, regulators are often viewed with suspicion—at best an irritant, at worst the enemy. The debacle around robotaxi developer Cruise proved that: following a fateful October 2023 accident in San Francisco, the tech startup deliberately withheld crucial information from crash investigators, shattering what trust was placed in them by the state of California only weeks earlier. When Cruise owner General Motors found out, it acted swiftly to sideline the CEO, but by then it was too late and the reputational damage was done. Cruise ceased all operations and GM pulled out of the autonomous ride-hailing race in December. With crosstown rival Ford already giving up even earlier, only Volkswagen and Hyundai, through its Motional subsidiary, still remain in contention from the legacy car industry. The rest are AI tech companies like Waymo, Tesla, Amazon subsidiary Zoox as well as their foreign equivalents like China's Baidu and Wayve in the UK. Of course, Meyer knows that the competition has a head start they won't hand over willingly. 'Waymo has an indisputable lead, that's clear, and I don't believe they're going to slow down in any way,' he told Fortune. Then there's Tesla, which is gearing up to launch its own pilot in Austin due to launch Sunday. While Meyer readily admits it's likely only a matter of time until Tesla can graduate to a full commercial robotaxi service, he believes all is not lost. For one, neither is present in Europe, a market known for being far more risk-averse towards unproven technologies and quick to regulate against threats towards public safety. Tesla's vaunted Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, a software stack that will imbue its robotaxis with the requisite intelligence, hasn't yet been approved for use anywhere on the continent. In fact, it's not even available as an advanced driver assist. This offers enough of an opportunity for Volkswagen to greenlight the production of at least 10,000 robotaxi vehicles, potentially more. And even if Waymo and Tesla do retain their lead by the time VW is ready, Meyer believes communities will demand some degree of healthy competition among autonomous ride hailing providers in order to ensure an optimum service for a low cost. 'No one, not even in the United States, will be happy if there's a monopoly,' he said. 'We don't believe it will be a winner-takes-all market.' This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
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U.S. bombs Iran nuclear sites, Trump issues warning
U.S. bombs Iran nuclear sites, Trump issues warning originally appeared on TheStreet. The U.S. has carried out a major strike on Iran on Saturday, bombing three of its key nuclear facilities — Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. President Donald Trump confirmed the move on Truth Social, calling it a 'successful attack' and warning Iran not to retaliate. In an address to the nation, Trump said, 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities were completely and totally obliterated,' he said. 'Any future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.' The strikes come on the ninth day of escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, with the U.S. now directly involved. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reacted swiftly, calling the attacks a 'grave violation' of international law and said Iran 'reserves all options' to defend itself. 'The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,' he posted on X, adding that Iran would act under the UN Charter's self-defense provisions. U.S. officials are on high alert for possible retaliation over the next 48 hours, especially against U.S. bases in the Middle East. In Latin America, however, the reaction has been less supportive. Leaders from Mexico and Cuba condemned the strike and urged diplomatic solutions. At the White House, top officials including VP JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard were present in the Situation Room during the attack. The U.S. Navy also launched 30 Tomahawk missiles as part of the strike. And Trump's message to Iran was loud and clear: 'ANY RETALIATION... WILL BE MET WITH EVEN GREATER FORCE.' As war jitters spread globally, crypto markets responded. Bitcoin slipped below $103,000, and Ethereum dropped 5.7% to $2,287. The total crypto market cap fell 3.7% to $3.26 trillion in the past 24 hours. Traders seem to be taking profits and hedging risk amid geopolitical uncertainty. U.S. bombs Iran nuclear sites, Trump issues warning first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 22, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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an hour ago
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Carney travelling to Europe for security, defence talks with EU, NATO
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will depart for Europe on Sunday for back-to-back summits where he is expected to make major commitments for Canada on security and defence. Carney will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Defence Minister David McGuinty and secretary of state for defence procurement Stephen Fuhr at the EU and NATO summits, where military procurement and diversifying supply chains will top the agendas. The international meetings come as Canada looks to reduce its defence procurement reliance on the United States due to strained relations over tariffs and President Donald Trump's repeated talk about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Carney will fly first to Brussels, Belgium, starting the trip with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. He will also meet with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At the EU-Canada summit, Anand and McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the EU in what one European official described Friday as one of the most ambitious deals Europe has ever signed with a third country. The agreement will open the door to Canada's participation in the ReArm Europe initiative, allowing Canada to access a 150-billion-euro loan program for defence procurement, called Security Action for Europe. An EU official briefing reporters on Friday said once the procurement deal is in place, Canada will have to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the European Commission to begin discussions with member states about procurement opportunities. A Canadian official briefing reporters on the summit Saturday said the initial agreement will allow for Canada's participation in some joint procurement projects. However, a second agreement will be needed to allow Canadian companies to bid. At the EU-Canada summit, leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement to underscore a willingness for continued pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions, and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. After Brussels, Carney heads to The Hague in the Netherlands for the NATO leaders' summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. There, Carney will meet with the King of the Netherlands and later with leaders of Nordic nations to discuss Arctic and transatlantic security. At the NATO summit, Carney will take part in bilateral meetings with other leaders. The summit agenda includes a social dinner hosted by the king and queen of the Netherlands and a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the North Atlantic Council. NATO allies are expected to debate a plan to hike alliance members' defence spending target to five per cent of national GDP. NATO data shows that in 2024, none of its 32 members spent that much. The Canadian government official who briefed reporters on background says the spending target and its timeline are still up for discussion, though some allies have indicated they would prefer a seven-year timeline while others favour a decade. Canada hasn't hit a five- per- cent defence spending threshhold since the 1950s and hasn't reached the two per cent mark since the late 1980s. NATO says that, based on its estimate of which expenditures count toward the target, Canada spent $41 billion in 2024 on defence, or 1.37 per cent of GDP. That's more than twice what it spent in 2014, when the two per cent target was first set; that year, Canada spent $20.1 billion, or 1.01 per cent of GDP, on defence. In 2014, only three NATO members achieved the two per cent target — the U.S., the U.K., and Greece. In 2025, all members are expected to hit it. Any agreement to adopt a new spending benchmark must be ratified by all 32 NATO member states. Former Canadian ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck told The Canadian Press the condensed agenda is likely meant to "avoid public rifts among allies," describing Trump as an "uncertainty engine." "The national security environment has really, really shifted," Buck said, adding allies next door to Russia face the greatest threats. "There is a high risk that the U.S. would undercut NATO at a time where all allies are increasingly vulnerable." Trump has suggested the U.S. might abandon its mutual defence commitment to the alliance if member countries don't ramp up defence spending. "Whatever we can do to get through this NATO summit with few public rifts between the U.S. and other allies on anything, and satisfy a very long-standing U.S. demand to rebalance defence spending, that will be good for Canada because NATO's good for Canada," Buck said. Carney has already made two trips to Europe this year — the first to London and Paris to meet with European allies and the second to Rome to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
