World briefs | IAEA confirms strikes near Bushehr plant, no damage reported

Bengaluru — The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday said it could confirm recent military strikes near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, but that the facility itself was not damaged.

The UN atomic watchdog said that the confirmation was based on its independent analysis of new satellite imagery and detailed knowledge of the site, adding that one strike had hit only 75m from the site perimeter.

Last week the agency had said it had been informed by Iran about a projectile striking close to the premises of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Reuters

Bangladesh launches measles vaccination for 1-million children

Dhaka — Bangladesh on Sunday launched an emergency vaccination campaign targeting more than a million children as a fast-spreading measles outbreak sweeps across the country.

Health ministry figures show there have been 17 confirmed deaths from measles so far, with 113 suspected deaths and more than 7,500 suspected infections nationwide.

The campaign, led by the health ministry with support from Unicef, the World Health Organisation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, began in 18 high-risk districts, according to a joint press release. Reuters

Oracle names Hilary Maxson CFO amid AI cloud surge

Bengaluru — Oracle said on Monday it had appointed Hilary Maxson as CFO, effective immediately.

Maxson joins when demand for AI computing and cloud databases is outpacing available capacity, pushing the company to accelerate investments in data centres and infrastructure.

Before joining Oracle, she served as group CFO at Schneider Electric, an energy management and automation company with more than $45bn in annual revenue, the company said.

Doug Kehring will step down as Oracle’s principal financial officer following the appointment and will return to focusing on the company’s go-to-market operations. Reuters

Morocco debuts futures trading on Casablanca Stock Exchange

Rabat — Morocco on Monday began futures trading in financial instruments with its first listing of a standard futures contract on the MASI 20 equity index, the central bank and the AMMC — the capital markets regulator — said.

The contract, called the “MASI 20 Future”, is based on an index that tracks the 20 largest and most liquid stocks listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, they said in a joint statement.

The contract’s launch coincided with the unveiling of an institutional website by the Futures Market Co-ordination Body, a joint authority established to co-ordinate oversight of the futures market between the central bank and the AMMC. Reuters

Russia says Ukraine damaged CPC mooring point

Moscow — Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukraine attacked facilities at the maritime transhipment complex in the port of Novorossiysk overnight, damaging a mooring point for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and causing four oil product reservoirs to catch fire, Russian media reported.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium carries the bulk of Kazakhstan’s oil exports to energy markets, but Kazakhstan said earlier on Monday that export volumes had not been affected. Reuters

Greece to offer €100m annual aid to ease energy costs

Athens — Greece will offer annual aid worth €100m in the next five years to help industries and smaller businesses with rising energy costs, Greek energy minister Stavros Papastavrou said on Monday. Reuters