The launch of the Torcal SUV comes just months after Ferrari’s Luce debut, an EV whose design invited criticism from the brand’s fans for deviating from the company’s traditional low-slung, petrol-powered cars.

Bentley has opted for a conservative approach by ensuring its debut EV retains styling cues from the luxury carmaker’s combustion-engine models, including diamond-shaped lights designed to evoke a traditional front grille, although EVs do not require a grille for engine cooling.

While the EV has replaced Bentley’s traditional V8 engine, the new powerplant has retained the engine’s traditional feeling by having a soundtrack based on orchestral timpani, or kettledrums, supported by smaller drums that quicken as the vehicle accelerates.

“Our intention was always to make a Bentley first,” Bentley CEO Frank‑Steffen Walliser told Reuters.

“We feel people are not asking for an entirely different car just because it’s electric,” he added further.

Beyond Ferrari, BMW-owned Rolls-Royce is the only other major ultra-luxury carmaker having an EV in its vehicle portfolio.

Lamborghini, which, like Bentley, is owned by the Volkswagen Group, has delayed its first EV until the end of the decade amid the parent group’s struggles against headwinds like low vehicle demand in Germany, increasing Chinese competition, and US tariffs.

Another British giant, McLaren, said last week it had no plans for an EV.

Both Lamborghini and McLaren have cited limited customer demand while justifying their decisions.

Bentley, too, delayed the launch of its first EV until 2026 and abandoned a target of becoming fully electric by 2030, saying customers were not ready to make the shift.

However, the Torcal SUV has arrived. Unlike the Luce EV, whose starting price stands at 550,000 euro (USD 628,000), the Torcal sits at the lower end of Bentley’s range, with a starting price of 173,000 pounds (USD 230,000).

As per Walliser, Bentley has tried to keep the model in a “more affordable” category, seeking a new market and customer base.

Bentley has been showcasing the vehicle to existing and prospective customers.

It has reportedly drawn strong interest from Europe, the Middle East, and American states where EV adoption is high.

A launch campaign in China, the world’s largest auto market, will begin in 2027.

“Half of the interest comes from ⁠existing customers, looking for a new EV or to replace a car in their fleets, while approximately 50% are new to the brand,” Walliser said.

The launch of the Torcal SUV should also be seen as the first act of a comeback from the struggling British automobile sector, especially in the EV domain.

To build Torcal, Bentley has invested 350 million pounds at its Crewe plant.

Taking together the announced commitments from McLaren and Nissan, total sector investment went past more than 1 billion pounds in seven days.

Bentley has given a British spin to its EV narrative, stating that the Torcal SUV has been designed, engineered, and built in the European country, and the project will support around 4,000 existing jobs in Crewe while reinforcing domestic automotive supply chains.

The investment also includes new manufacturing, design, and logistics capabilities at the site, alongside workforce training and skills development.

British business minister Jonathan Reynolds said Bentley’s investment was “proof once again that we’re creating the right conditions for good growth.”

Image Courtesy: Bentley

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OpenAI, already facing criticism for its rogue AI agents escaping the Frontier Lab’s sandbox environment and attacking two platforms—Hugging Face and RubyGems—has now set the unwanted precedent of being the first tech company whose AI agent hacked a government website.

Confirming the incident, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the OpenAI agent gained unauthorised access to the medical statistics portal of Medicare, Australia’s universal health insurance programme, while conducting research on public medical spending.

“Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the … network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable,” Albanese told reporters on Wednesday in New York, in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Investigations continue, ⁠and Australia has voiced its “extreme concern about this incident” to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Albanese said, adding that he was deeply disappointed by the Frontier AI lab’s slow notification to the government.

“It took until September 10 before there was any notification at all,” Albanese said, adding that the investigation would also examine why government systems had failed to detect the breach in the first place.

Albanese also cautioned that the rogue agent’s activity may have affected three other government health-related websites.

In a statement, OpenAI said its “review found no evidence of patient records being accessed.”

“We identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services as our models attempted to look up answers … our models took actions we did not intend,” the AI research lab stated.

The AI agent breach, apart from handing OpenAI another chapter of shame, will further add to tensions between Australia and the American Big Tech.

Canberra has already drawn criticism from social media firms and Washington after introducing a world-first ban on social media for children under 16 and new rules that force tech firms to let users switch off algorithm-driven ‌content on ⁠their feeds.

The Albanese administration has set up a task force to investigate the breach and establish whether existing network security is adequate for preventing similar incidents.

The news couldn’t have come on a worse day for OpenAI and Altman, as the latter will be among the world’s leading AI players, who warned the United Nations Security Council of the risks the technology posed to humanity, appealing for governments to work together to manage the increasingly powerful technology.

While the rogue AI agent allegedly gained unauthorised access to files, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the affected Medicare portal did not contain ⁠individual medical claims, benefit payments, personal banking details, or patient medical histories for Australia’s 27 million people.

Instead, the website holds only aggregated data on healthcare use across the country, he said. However, Australia considered the breach serious.

“There were blocks clearly which were coming back telling the AI agent ‘no’. The AI agent found a way around those blocks – didn’t accept no for an answer,” Albanese told ⁠reporters.

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The agreement covers 100 firm Boeing 737-8 aircraft and options for a further 50 737 MAX jets. Turkish Airlines will also have substitution rights for the larger 737-10, giving it flexibility to adjust capacity as demand develops. Boeing described the agreement as the airline’s largest single-aisle order from the US manufacturer.

Deliveries are scheduled between 2033 and 2037, according to Turkish Airlines’ disclosure to Turkey’s Public Disclosure Platform. The order is part of the carrier’s strategic plan to expand its fleet and network while increasing the proportion of new-generation aircraft. Turkish Airlines has previously said its wider fleet strategy targets an average annual growth rate of about 6% and aims for a fully new-generation fleet by 2035.

The finalisation is significant because the narrow-body portion of the Boeing deal had been held up for almost a year. Turkish Airlines had completed negotiations with Boeing but made the aircraft purchase conditional on reaching an agreement with CFM International, the engine manufacturer whose LEAP-1B engines power the 737 MAX.

The dispute centred on the commercial terms of long-term engine maintenance, including pricing and the allocation of risks associated with future repairs.

Turkish Airlines had also sought to establish a maintenance facility for 737 MAX engines that would give it earlier access to advanced repair technologies.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the disagreement had put the Boeing order at risk and raised the possibility that the airline could switch the narrow-body purchase to Airbus.

The resolution removes a major obstacle for Boeing as it seeks to rebuild momentum in its commercial aircraft business. The 737 MAX remains central to Boeing’s single-aisle product line, but the manufacturer continues to face challenges in increasing production.

Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said last week that efforts to stabilise 737 MAX production at 47 aircraft a month were taking longer than expected. The company has been dealing with supply-chain constraints, including a slower supply of wings, while it works to certify a new production line in Everett, Washington. Boeing is targeting the production of 52 737s a month next year.

For Turkish Airlines, meanwhile, the order provides additional capacity for its extensive network centred on Istanbul. The 737 MAX is designed for short- and medium-haul operations and will allow the airline to add capacity on routes where smaller single-aisle aircraft are appropriate while replacing older aircraft over time.

Boeing says the 737 MAX family can deliver fuel savings of about 20% and a similar reduction in emissions compared with the aircraft it replaces. For an airline operating a large and geographically diverse network, those efficiency gains can be significant as fuel remains one of the industry’s major operating expenses.

The order also completes the narrow-body element of a much larger Boeing purchasing plan announced in 2025. Turkish Airlines had agreed to buy 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and take options on another 25 aircraft while planning the 150-aircraft MAX purchase. The combined commitment could therefore reach 225 aircraft, although the Dreamliner and MAX components have been subject to separate engine and commercial negotiations.

The carrier’s Boeing relationship is already substantial. Turkish Airlines operates a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft and has been pursuing an aggressive expansion programme as Istanbul strengthens its position as an international connecting hub.

The 737 MAX order also gives Boeing an important customer in a strategically located aviation market. Turkish Airlines connects Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East through Istanbul, making its fleet decisions significant beyond the country’s domestic market.

The agreement comes as airlines globally continue to place large aircraft orders despite supply-chain constraints and lengthy delivery schedules. Limited production capacity at the two major commercial aircraft manufacturers has made long-term fleet planning increasingly important, with carriers securing delivery positions years ahead.

Turkish Airlines has indicated that its fleet expansion will continue beyond the Boeing order. Reuters reported earlier this month that the carrier was also evaluating regional aircraft, including Embraer’s E2 family and Airbus’ A220, while considering larger wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350-1000 for future long-haul requirements.

The finalisation of the 737 MAX agreement, therefore, represents more than just the conclusion of a delayed purchase. It gives Turkish Airlines greater visibility over its future single-aisle fleet while securing Boeing a major long-term customer order.

With deliveries stretching into the 2030s, the deal forms part of the carrier’s broader strategy to expand its network, modernise its fleet and reinforce Istanbul’s role as a global aviation hub.

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Airtel Africa said on Wednesday that Airtel Money intends to proceed with an initial public offering and seek admission to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The proposed transaction will be a secondary offering of existing shares, meaning Airtel Money itself will not raise new capital through the flotation.

Airtel Africa, which currently owns 77.85% of Airtel Money, expects to remain a long-term strategic shareholder after the listing.

The announcement follows reports that Airtel Money is targeting a valuation of between USD 8 billion and USD 9 billion and hopes to raise at least $800 million through shares sold by existing investors. The company is expected to provide further details on the offer in October, including the number of shares and indicative pricing.

The flotation could become one of London’s largest in recent years, at a time when the City has struggled to maintain its position as a global destination for new equity listings. The Financial Times reported that only seven companies had listed in the UK in 2026 as of this week, highlighting the thin pipeline of major initial public offerings.

Airtel Money gives London exposure to one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital financial services markets. The business has about 54 million customers, operates across multiple African markets, and generated USD 1.355 billion in revenue in the financial year ended March 2026, according to Airtel Africa. The total value of transactions processed reached USD 196 billion during the year.

The business has expanded beyond basic person-to-person transfers and cash withdrawals into merchant payments, enterprise payments, international transfers, lending, savings, insurance, and digital cards. Its distribution network includes about 2.4 million active agents, allowing it to reach customers in markets where conventional banking infrastructure remains relatively limited.

Airtel Money’s growth is closely linked to the wider expansion of mobile financial services across sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile phones have often provided a route into formal financial services for consumers without traditional bank accounts.

The company says its strategy is increasingly focused on converting that distribution advantage into a broader digital financial ecosystem. Airtel telecommunications boasts over 75 million subscribers across its footprint, all of whom could potentially access its financial services platform.

As of June, Airtel Money’s penetration among those subscribers stood at about 41%.

The company is also pushing into merchant and digital payments. Its merchant and bill-payment revenue increased by 61% in the 12 months to June 2026, while the app-based transaction processed value roughly doubled to USD 10.95 billion. Lending is already available in five markets, where more than USD 1 billion was disbursed during the same period.

For London, the listing offers more than another addition to the exchange. It could provide a test of whether the city can attract large international growth companies at a time when several businesses have chosen New York or other markets for their primary listings.

Airtel Money executives have pointed to London’s pool of international institutional investors and its established understanding of emerging markets as reasons for choosing the exchange. The company had also considered Middle Eastern venues, particularly given Airtel Africa’s presence in Dubai.

The decision is notable because Airtel Africa itself has been listed in London since 2019. The parent company’s shares have benefited from the group’s exposure to African telecommunications and mobile-money growth, while the separate listing would give investors a more direct way to value Airtel Money as a standalone fintech business.

The proposed flotation has already demonstrated the sensitivity of the market to valuation and investor appetite. Earlier reports said Airtel Money had considered a larger fundraising of up to USD 1.5 billion-USD 2 billion before scaling back its ambitions following investor feedback.

That caution reflects broader volatility in global equity markets, which had previously prompted Airtel Africa to postpone the fintech listing from the first half of 2026 to the second half.

Nevertheless, the proposed London debut gives the UK market an unusually large African fintech offering at a time when policymakers and city institutions are seeking to revive London’s appeal as an international listing center.

For Airtel Money, the challenge will be converting its rapidly expanding customer and transaction base into a public-market valuation that investors can sustain. For London, the flotation will provide another measure of whether the exchange can once again attract ambitious international companies seeking deep pools of institutional capital.

If completed at the upper end of its targeted valuation range, Airtel Money would rank among the most significant new London listings in years—and one that places Africa’s digital-finance expansion directly before global investors.

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The world’s largest asset manager said the shift was creating opportunities across infrastructure and private markets, as Gulf states increasingly move from being primarily exporters of capital to becoming destinations for international investment.

“The GCC is equipped with a reasonably solid balance sheet position, but at the margin, our analysis suggests that we are going to see something like USD 100 billion in capital that may have flowed out is going to stay here,” Ben Powell, chief investment strategist for the Middle East and Asia-Pacific at the BlackRock Investment Institute, told Zawya.

BlackRock manages more than USD 175 billion in the Middle East, according to the asset manager, giving it a substantial footprint in a region where governments are deploying sovereign capital to accelerate economic diversification.

The potential capital shift comes as GCC governments expand spending on infrastructure, industry and digital assets while seeking to monetise or privatise state-owned businesses.

BlackRock estimates that GCC countries will invest about USD 2.1 trillion through 2030, with more than 80% of that spending outside upstream oil and gas. Its latest regional analysis identifies energy and industry, strategic trade infrastructure, digital infrastructure, urban development, and human and environmental resilience as major areas of investment.

The infrastructure opportunity extends well beyond conventional transport projects. BlackRock’s estimate includes ports, logistics networks, pipelines, power and water infrastructure, data centres and other assets designed to improve resilience in the face of disruptions to trade and energy flows.

Digital infrastructure alone accounts for an estimated USD 323 billion of the GCC’s strategic investment cycle through 2030, while energy, resources and industry represent about USD 735 billion. Strategic redundancy – including alternative trade routes, ports, power and water projects – accounts for another USD 660 billion.

The changing role of Gulf sovereign wealth funds is also central to the trend.

Ayman Daif, managing director and head of Aladdin business development for the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and India at BlackRock, said sovereign investors were increasingly becoming “market architects”. Rather than simply allocating capital, they are working with regulators, international companies and asset managers, while anchoring funds and partnerships designed to develop local economies.

That evolution is already visible in infrastructure. In May, BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) joined Singapore’s Temasek, Abu Dhabi wealth fund L’IMAD and ADNOC in a partnership targeting up to USD 30 billion of investments across the Gulf and Central Asia. The partnership covers energy, transport, logistics, digital infrastructure, water and waste management.

More recently, GIP and Qatar’s Lesha Bank signed a memorandum of understanding under which Lesha intends to invest more than USD 1 billion alongside GIP, with the partners targeting infrastructure and real-asset opportunities in the GCC and international markets.

The shift is also changing the composition of private-market activity. BlackRock said Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds allocate about 43% of their exposure to private capital, compared with 35% among peers elsewhere. The proportion of Middle Eastern limited partners that are positive on or considering private-equity mandates has risen from 70% in 2019 to 83% in 2026.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are driving much of this activity. BlackRock said fundraising in the region has shifted significantly towards private equity, with private-equity fundraising rising from USD 100 million in 2015 to USD 4.5 billion so far in 2026. Real estate fundraising, by contrast, fell from USD 4.2 billion in 2021 to USD 100 million last year.

The changing capital flows also coincide with efforts by Gulf governments to open more state-owned assets to private investors. Energy, utilities and water are among the sectors where privatisation and asset monetisation are creating opportunities for both mid-market investors and large infrastructure funds.

Powell said the trend was not driven by an urgent need to find alternatives to US assets, noting that US Treasuries would remain important in global portfolios. Instead, investors are gradually diversifying into private credit and emerging-market bonds, while Gulf allocators increasingly deploy capital domestically.

For global asset managers, the development offers a growing pipeline of investable Gulf assets. For the GCC, it represents a further evolution of the region’s role in global capital markets – from a major source of sovereign investment abroad to a market capable of retaining more capital and attracting international investors into its own transformation.

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The companies have entered into a new, five-year commercial agreement focused on expanding USDC access across emerging markets. Further, Binance has made a USD 100 million strategic equity investment in Circle.

Circle is working to create a foundation for a more open, global economy through programmable blockchain infrastructure, digital assets, and payment applications.

Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest stablecoin network anchored by USDC, the Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet.

“Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation,” the venture stated further.

Under the new agreement, Binance will accelerate the promotion, awareness, and integration of USDC on its platform, especially across emerging markets, and Circle will provide the infrastructure services that support holding and using USDC.

“Binance has built one of the largest and most dynamic platforms in the world for using digital currency, creating the internet’s largest financial super app, and becoming the most widely used wallet in the world for dollar stablecoins,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle.

“Together, we see incredible opportunities to leverage USDC to expand dollar access, support savings and investment with innovative digital asset products, and reach people and businesses throughout global emerging markets,” he added further.

Binance’s equity investment in Circle was made through a private placement of Class A common stock at a purchase price reflecting a 5% discount to the market price of CRCL prior to closing.

Binance has agreed not to transfer the shares for a period of up to two years from the closing date, subject to customary exceptions.

“Circle has earned its place as one of the most credible issuers in the world, spanning USDC, Arc, and the infrastructure reshaping how value moves across borders. Our $100 million investment and five-year commitment represent long-duration conviction,” said Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance.

“We are helping to build a more inclusive, transparent, and compliant digital economy. A stable, trusted digital dollar should not be a privilege—it should be available to anyone with a phone. That’s the future this partnership is designed to deliver,” Teng concluded.

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The Kingdom’s crude oil production increased to 8.135 million bpd from June’s ratio of 7.122 million bpd. However, the JODI website, which displays monthly export data for OPEC member countries, stated that Saudi’s refinery crude throughput declined by 0.020 million bpd to 2.478 million bpd in July from 2.498 million bpd the previous month.

Direct crude-burning, on the other side, decreased by 22,403 bpd to 561,097 bpd.

While UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo linked the increase in Saudi ⁠crude and product exports with slowing down of the regional conflict, he added that exports could be weaker in August, particularly from Red Sea terminals, due to the renewed tensions involving the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia ‌has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu, as per the reports.

Drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia has blamed on Iraqi ⁠militia, forced the Kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11, halting crude loadings at the Yanbu Port.

As the Iran war began in February, Tehran, in retaliation to the US-Israeli joint airstrikes on its territories, put an embargo on the energy trade activities through the strategically crucial maritime chokehold called the Strait of Hormuz.

Riyadh, to bypass the roadblock, has been using the East-West Pipeline to reroute around four million barrels per day—around 4% of global supply—to Yanbu.

While the pipeline is pumping at a low rate after its restart, state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco is reportedly seeking to get the pumping rate back to four million bpd. The pipeline has a capacity of seven million bpd.

Reaching a rate of 40% of capacity will take ‌a ⁠couple of days, and a full restart will take six to eight weeks, a security source told Reuters.

Another oil industry source said a return to full pumping rates would take up to six weeks.

Three of the 11 pumping stations serving the East-West Pipeline got damaged in the drone attack, according to satellite imagery and industry sources.

The pipeline will resume crude supply to Aramco refineries located on the Red Sea coast, with one cargo already scheduled to load at Yanbu. As per some sources, the consignment will be dispatched for China.

Traders were also getting ⁠ready for Saudi oil loadings by moving tankers to Egypt’s Mediterranean Port Said for ship-to-ship transfers and also to Sidi Kerir.

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The figure, based on a rolling three-month average, represents a 2.5 percentage-point increase in just nine months, according to Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

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As the Lagos-based refinery, led by Dangote Group, headed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, filed its IPO last week, it also registered another striking figure: a net profit of USD 1.82 billion in the first half of 2026 on revenue of more than USD 13 billion.

The figure, as per the company, was the result of the refinery ramping up fuel exports during the global energy shock.

The latest profit figure also marks a tremendous recovery for the Dangote refinery, after the USD 476 million loss recorded in 2025.

Built to end Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel, Dangote’s refinery has ended up influencing global fuel flows at a time of market stress. Dangote Group sees the trend continuing for the rest of 2026 as disruptions to Middle East supply persist and ⁠the refinery expands capacity.

After Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on its territory, which started at the end of February, Europe lost a quarter of its supply of diesel and jet fuel.

As per the reports, the resulting drop in Middle East exports has caused fuel inventories in Northwest Europe to fall to their lowest level in 12 years.

Amid the backdrop of the crisis, Dangote emerged as a worthy replacement by exporting about 80,000 barrels per day of jet fuel to the continent during the second quarter.

The figure was equivalent to roughly 13% of the resulting supply shortfall, making the refinery Europe’s largest supplier of the fuel, according to Kpler data.

Nigeria trailed only behind the United States, as the latter provided a lion’s share of Europe’s imports on a country level.

Dangote also boosted exports of diesel and gasoil, which, like jet fuel, are among a group of fuels known as middle distillates.

Dangote’s diesel and gasoil exports rose by 23% to 48,000 bpd in 2026 to date, according to Kpler.

“These barrels have increasingly supplied West Africa and Europe, where they have helped ease an otherwise tight middle-distillate market,” Kpler analyst Sumit Ritolia told Reuters.

Dangote, which started its operations in 2024, has produced roughly 270,000 to 300,000 bpd of gasoline in 2026 to date. According to Kpler, this had a straight impact on Nigeria’s imports of the fuel, with the ratio going down from around 400,000 bpd in 2024 to just 83,000 bpd this ⁠year.

In 2026, the dynamics shifted as Dangote took the lead in Nigeria’s ambition to become a significant energy exporter, moving away from Europe’s traditional role as a gasoline supplier.

Dangote is seeking to double its production capacity to 1.4 million bpd by 2029, which would make it the joint-largest refinery in the world alongside Reliance’s Jamnagar facility in India.

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China spent about USD 158.8 billion on gold imports during the first eight months of the year, already well above the USD 96.5 billion spent on 886 tonnes during the whole of 2025, according to data reported by the Financial Times.

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