Higher oil prices due to the Iran war are increasing prices of jet fuel, which accounts for a big portion of airlines’ costs. Brent crude oil rose near $100 per barrel on Thursday on worries about disrupted supply. Spot Northwest European jet fuel prices were at $1,536 per metric tonne on Thursday, trading near an all-time high of $1,633 they reached intra-day on Monday. Some airlines use futures and options to hedge against price increases. They also try to hedge against value changes in the US dollar, in which jet fuel is priced. US airlines, which abandoned the practice of hedging against fuel costs, could be the hardest hit if the war is prolonged. Below is a summary of how some of the world’s largest airlines are hedged: Air France-KLM: The Franco-Dutch group said in February it had adjusted its fuel hedging policy to increase its total exposure over one year consumption to 87 per cent from 68pc. It said it had extended its hedging horizon to eight quarters from six and inc...
A foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in at the bureau’s New York Field Office three years ago, according to a source familiar with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents reviewed by Reuters . The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office, including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time. In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a “cyber incident” was “an isolated one”. “The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time.” Although the source said the intrusion appeared to have been carried out by a cybercriminal rather than a foreign government, the incident underscores the files’ potential intelligence value, one academic said. The legally mandated publication...