Russian Fuel Flows Surge to 1-Year High Despite Refinery Attacks
Russian oil products exports remain resilient with volumes climbing last month to the highest in a year, despite repeated drone strikes against the country's refining operations.
Seaborne exports jumped to 2.5 million barrels a day in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Vortexa Ltd. Observed volumes rose from previous estimates as a rush of shipments late in the month fueled an overall 7% gain from January levels. That lifted average monthly exports to a one-year high.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russian billionaire and Putin critic launches AI data centres in the UK
A Russian billionaire and critic of Vladimir Putin is preparing to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in the UK. Nebius, a technology company headquartered in the Netherlands, will invest £200m to establish an 'AI factory' in Britain, deploying 4,000 graphics-processing chips designed to power the latest generation of machine-learning technology. The $12bn (£9bn) business is assessing potential data centre sites in the South East. Nebius was formed as part of a carve-up of Yandex, a company known as 'Russia's Google'. Arkady Volozh, a Russian entrepreneur worth a reported $2bn, founded Yandex in 1997 as a Russian rival to the US search engine. The business later listed in New York and in 2021 was valued at more than $30bn. However, its shares were suspended in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Mr Volozh was sanctioned by the European Union. Over the years Yandex faced growing pressure from the Kremlin to censor online news and search results, and the company was accused by Brussels of helping to spread Kremlin propaganda. In 2023, Mr Volozh labelled Putin's invasion 'barbaric' and said he was 'horrified' by the war. He said: 'I am categorically against it. Although I moved to Israel in 2014, I have to take my share of responsibility for the country's actions. 'There were reasons to stay silent during this long process. While there will anyway be questions about the timing of my statement today, there should be no questions about its essence. I am against the war.' The European Union removed its sanctions of Mr Volozh last year. Nebius was formed as part of a carve-up of Yandex, which spun off its Russian search division in a $5bn deal to Russian investors. Nebius, which is listed in the US, is made up of the remaining European, US and Israeli assets, including several data centres powered by Nvidia microchips and its self-driving car technology. Mr Volozh, Nebius's chief executive, said: 'The UK is where AI is being built, tested, and deployed at scale across industries from fintech to life sciences. Being here puts us closer to the start-ups, researchers, and enterprise leaders shaping what's next.' Nebius's UK investment comes after Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, announced plans to spend more than £1bn to boost the UK's computing power in a speech at London Tech Week alongside Jensen Huang, the Nvidia chief executive. On Monday, the Government announced a series of AI investments ahead of this week's Treasury spending review. These included £1bn for an AI research resource, made up of powerful AI data centres and supercomputers, as well as £187m to boost the technological skills of the UK workforce. On Tuesday, Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, also announced plans for a new Turing AI fellowship in a speech at London Tech Week. Backed by £25m, the programme will seek five AI experts who will be offered a substantial package to relocate to the UK and hire a team to conduct AI research. Mr Kyle said: 'We will harness the vast potential of our trillion-pound tech sector to help remake our country for the better.'
Newsweek
29 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Telegram Messenger's Ties to Russia's FSB Revealed in New Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Telegram messaging app may have ties to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), according to an investigation. Independent Russian investigative outlet IStories said it has uncovered evidence suggesting that the platform's server infrastructure is maintained by companies who have collaborated with Russian intelligence services, raising significant concerns about potential government surveillance. Responding to a request for comment, Telegram's head of Press and Media Relations Remi Vaughn said in a statement to Newsweek: "As a global company, Telegram has contracts with dozens of different service providers around the world. However, none of these service providers have access to Telegram data or sensitive infrastructure. "All Telegram servers belong to Telegram and are maintained by Telegram employees. Unauthorized access is impossible. Throughout its entire history, Telegram never disclosed any private messages to a third party — and its encryption has never been breached." In another auto-message sent after reaching out for comment, Telegram said: "Telegram is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. It has played a prominent role in pro-democracy movements around the world, including in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong. "Pavel Durov is the founder, owner and CEO of Telegram. He left Russia in 2014, after losing control of his previous company for refusing to hand over the data of Ukrainian protesters to security agencies. Pavel Durov lives in Dubai and holds a dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France." Why It Matters Telegram has long held a reputation as a secure messaging app, and it is used globally by journalists, activists, and ordinary users seeking privacy. Its founder, Russian-born Pavel Durov, who was detained by French authorities in August 2024, has cultivated an image that the platform protects digital privacy. The IStories report challenges that image by linking the platform to Russia's FSB, which jails individuals critical of the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. What To Know Telegram's infrastructure is managed by Global Network Management (GNM), a small firm registered in Antigua and Barbuda, which provides the platform with over 10,000 IP addresses, according to IStories. GNM's owner, Russian national Vladimir Vedeneyev, previously testified in a U.S. court that he has employees based in Russia. IStories also found that Vedeneyev serves as Telegram's chief financial officer. Many of these IP addresses were previously owned by Globalnet, a St. Petersburg-based telecommunications operator. IStories reported that Globalnet has connections to the Kremlin and Russian intelligence services, including the FSB. Electrontelecom, a St. Petersburg-based company, also reportedly provided Telegram with another 5,000 IP addresses, according to IStories, which identified the firm as an FSB contractor. Electrontelecom has provided services for the installation and maintenance of "a complex system for transmitting classified information from fixed facilities operated by the FSB's Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, which is used to carry out operational investigative activities," it said. The investigation comes days after Russian human rights NGO First Department warned that the FSB had gained access to Russians' communication with Ukrainian Telegram channels, which provide vital updates and reporting on Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "We know that by the time the defendants in cases of 'state treason' are detained, the FSB is already in possession of their correspondence. And the fact that neither defendants nor a lawyer are named in the main case allows the FSB to hide how exactly it goes about gaining access to that correspondence," First Department said. First Department head Dmitry Zair-Bek said that material from Telegram had already been used as evidence in "a significant number of cases." "On most cases, they have been accessed due to compromised devices. ... However, there are also cases in which no credible technical explanations consistent with known access methods can be identified," he said, Novaya Gazeta reported. "This could indicate either the use of undisclosed cyber espionage tools or Telegram's cooperation with the Russian authorities, obvious signs of which we see in a number of other areas," Zair-Bek added. What People Are Saying Cybersecurity expert Michał Woźniak told IStories that beyond storing decrypted messages, Telegram also attaches a unique device identifier to each message sent on the platform, known as auth_key_id, which can determine where a user is located and reveal their IP addresses. "If someone has access to Telegram traffic and cooperates with Russian intelligence services, this means that the device identifier becomes a really big problem—a tool for global surveillance of messenger users, regardless of where they are and what server they connect to," Woźniak said. What Happens Next Telegram has not commented publicly on the investigation or the allegations. The company is being paid $300 million to roll out Elon Musk's Grok chatbot on the messaging app. "This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI's @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps," Durov announced on May 28.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Report: Meta taps Scale AI's Alexandr Wang to join new ‘superintelligence' lab
Meta plans to unveil a new AI research lab dedicated to 'superintelligence' as the company works to compete in the AI race, according to several reports. Meta has tapped Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang to join the new lab, The New York Times reports. Meta has been in talks to invest billions into Scale AI as part of a deal that would bring Scale AI employees to Meta. Meta has also been poaching lead researchers from OpenAI and Google, per the Times. The new lab comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg grows frustrated with his company's AI shortfalls. Bloomberg reports he has been meeting with AI researchers and engineers at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto to personally recruit a team of around 50 people, including a new head of AI research. Sources told Bloomberg that Zuckerberg believes Meta can and should outpace other tech companies gunning to achieve AGI, the still-undefined idea that AI systems could exceed human performance in many tasks. Meta AI last month reached 1 billion monthly active users. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
