A delay in completing Cyprus’ strategic petroleum-products terminal has shifted €1.67 million in expected payments into the 2026 budget, prompting a revised budget allocation for the state’s fuel-storage organization, CODAP. The project was completed on June 30, 2026, later than the December 2025 handover originally anticipated.

The change in timing has altered the project’s payment schedule, but it will not increase CODAP’s overall 2026 budget of €111.3 million. After contractual deductions for the delay, payments to the contractor are expected to total €48.2 million, compared with the original contract value of €51 million.

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Why The Budget Is Being Revised

When CODAP prepared its 2026 budget in June 2025, it expected construction to finish by the end of that year. The organization therefore forecast that the main payments to the contractor would be made during 2025 and included lower construction funding in its 2026 budget.

But delays by the contractor pushed completion to June 30, 2026. As a result, payments that had been expected earlier must now be covered through a budget amendment. The revised allocation will be discussed by Parliament’s Finance Committee on Friday.

Of the €1.67 million adjustment, €1.27 million relates to the first half of the contractor’s retention payment, which is payable upon handover under the contract. The remaining half is due 24 months after delivery.

A further €250,000 is set aside for work that has not yet been certified. The contractor is expected to complete these non-critical items during 2026. Another €150,000 covers payments to the project’s engineering consultants, whose fees are linked to construction progress and completion.

Contractual Deductions Reduce The Final Cost

CODAP withheld €1.27 million from the contractor in 2025 because of the late delivery. The deduction represents the maximum penalty stipulated in the contract: 2.5% of the contract value, applied in response to the delay against the agreed construction period of 24 months.

After accounting for that deduction and the scheduled retention payment, the total amount expected to be paid to the contractor is €48.2 million—below the original €51 million contract price.

A Critical Part Of Cyprus’ Fuel Reserves

The terminal is located at the Vasilikos Energy Centre and has seven petroleum-product storage tanks. It holds most of Cyprus’ fuel reserves, which are intended to help protect the country against supply disruptions.

Countries are required to maintain fuel stocks equivalent to 90 days of consumption. Those reserves must remain available for release to the market if supply problems arise, making the terminal a key part of Cyprus’ energy-security infrastructure.

Anthropic is giving Claude a more direct role in users’ financial lives. Its new Personal Finance tool lets people connect bank and credit card accounts through Plaid and ask questions about their money in plain language.

The feature, announced Thursday, provides read-only access: Claude can review financial information, but it cannot move, manage, or invest users’ money. The launch positions the chatbot as a tool for understanding personal finances—not just a source of generic financial advice.

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From Account Data To Practical Answers

Users can ask questions such as, “Where did my money go this month?” Claude can summarize spending across connected accounts and organize transactions into categories such as housing, food, and shopping. Follow-up questions—including whether spending is higher than usual or whether a pattern needs attention—let users explore the results further.

Anthropic says Personal Finance can also flag potential issues, including duplicate charges, unexpected fees, and bills that have gradually increased. Users can ask broader questions, such as whether they are spending more than they earn, or request explanations of financial terms such as annual percentage rate (APR). Claude can also calculate how much interest a user has paid over the past year.

“Claude gives you answers in everyday language, from your balances and transactions, and explains any term that’s new to you,” Anthropic said in its announcement. The company added that Personal Finance has no ads or sponsored recommendations and does not offer financial products such as credit cards, loans, or savings accounts.

A Growing Contest For Financial AI

The launch brings Claude closer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which introduced similar account-connection features in May. Those tools let users query financial activity and explore topics ranging from spending patterns to longer-term planning, putting the two AI companies in direct competition for a role in consumers’ everyday money decisions.

Privacy And Access Limits

Connecting financial accounts to an AI assistant may raise privacy concerns. Anthropic says Claude can access only limited account details: the bank’s name, account name and type, the last four digits of the account number, balances, credit limits, and up to two years of transaction history.

The company also says conversations in Claude’s Personal Finance hub are not used to train its models. These safeguards address key questions about access and data use, though users should review the terms of both the AI service and their financial-data connection before linking accounts.

Beta Launch And Broader Expansion

Personal Finance begins rolling out in beta this week to users in the United States on Claude’s Pro, Max, and Ultra plans. The release is part of Anthropic’s broader effort to build specialized tools for professional and industry-specific work, following launches including Claude for Legal and Claude for Financial Services.

For consumers, the tool’s value will depend on whether it can turn account data into clear, useful insights—and whether users are comfortable giving an AI assistant access to that information. Anthropic’s read-only approach draws a boundary around what Claude can do, while the ability to analyze transactions across accounts could make routine financial reviews faster and easier to understand.

Airbnb plans to launch its own AI travel agent in the first half of 2027, promising an experience built around the way people explore and plan trips—not just a chatbot that returns text answers.

The company outlined the timeline and shared new details about the product in its third-quarter shareholder letter. The agent will draw on Airbnb’s marketplace experience to help guests discover places to stay, make decisions and manage parts of their trip after booking.

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A Travel Interface Built Around Discovery

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has argued that travel calls for a different approach to AI than routine tasks such as scheduling appointments. Planning a trip, he says, is part of the experience: travelers want to browse, compare options and build anticipation.

On the company’s earnings call, Chesky said 80% of travelers enjoy spending time researching trips. They want to look at photos, compare homes and make choices with the people they are traveling with—activities that a general-purpose agent may not be designed to support.

Rather than rely on a text-heavy chat interface, Airbnb says its agent will assemble a tailored experience from a library of travel-specific components, including maps, photos, comparisons, calendars and itineraries.

“Instead of relying on traditional chat alone, which is very text-heavy — which, again, is definitely not the way you should plan travel, our agent draws from a library of hundreds of travel-specific interface components — maps, photos, comparisons, calendars, itineraries — and composes them in real time to match what they’re looking for,”

Chesky said.

He described the approach as similar to generative UI: the system would present the most useful interface for a traveler’s particular question or need, rather than deliver the same conversational format for every request.

Support That Extends Beyond Booking

Airbnb says its nearly 20 years of experience connecting hosts and guests will inform how the agent works. The company also expects the tool to assist travelers after they have made a reservation.

In its shareholder letter, Airbnb said the agent is intended to help with tasks such as changing a reservation, resolving a payment issue, requesting a refund, rebooking and accessing 24-hour safety support—functions the company says an outside agent would have difficulty handling independently.

Over time, Airbnb expects the agent to cover more of the trip, including not only homes and hotels but also services and experiences. Those categories have gained prominence since the company’s redesign introduced a stronger focus on services and experiences.

A Product Bet Backed by Growth

The first-half 2027 launch target gives Airbnb a clearer timetable for a product it had previously said would arrive within the next year. The announcement came alongside strong third-quarter results: revenue rose 19% to $4.87 billion, exceeding Wall Street estimates, and the company raised its 2026 revenue growth forecast to the high teens from the mid-teens.

“Airbnb is back in growth mode,” Chesky told analysts, adding that the third quarter delivered the company’s fastest revenue growth in more than three years.

The challenge for Airbnb will be to make its AI useful without reducing travel planning to a transaction. Its strategy rests on a distinctive premise: for a trip, the best digital assistant may not be the one that answers fastest, but the one that helps travelers explore, decide and get support throughout the journey.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks in the European Union continued to decline in 2025, although the United States and the United Kingdom remained the bloc’s largest investment partners, both as destinations for European capital and as sources of inward investment.

The figures represent accumulated investment positions at the end of the year, rather than new capital entering or leaving the EU during 2025. This distinction matters because changes in investment stocks do not directly reflect annual investment flows.

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Inward investment stocks have been declining since 2022, when holdings by non-EU investors reached €7.88 trillion, their highest level since 2013.

Special-Purpose Entities Retain A Significant Share

Special-purpose entities (SPEs) accounted for 26.2% of EU outward FDI stocks and 33.3% of inward stocks held by non-EU residents at the end of 2025.

These legal entities are primarily used to facilitate financial transactions and investment structures rather than conduct substantial operational activities, highlighting the role of corporate and financial arrangements in cross-border investment.

US And UK Lead As Investment Destinations

The United States remained the largest destination for EU investment outside the bloc, accounting for €2.79 trillion, or 29.4% of outward FDI stocks. The United Kingdom ranked second at €1.88 trillion (19.8%), followed by Switzerland with €812 billion (8.6%).

Other major destinations included Brazil (€310 billion), Canada (€246 billion), the Cayman Islands and Mexico (2.4% each), China excluding Hong Kong and Singapore (2.3% each), and Bermuda (2%).

US Remains The Largest Source Of Investment

The United States was also the leading source of foreign investment within the EU, with €2.08 trillion, representing 29.7% of inward FDI stocks. The United Kingdom followed with €1.26 trillion (18.1%), while Switzerland accounted for €602 billion (8.6%).

Other significant sources included the Cayman Islands (€323 billion, 4.6%) and Japan (€249 billion, 3.6%). Singapore represented 3.5% of inward stocks, Canada 3.2%, Bermuda 2.8%, while Gibraltar and Jersey each accounted for 2.1%.

Investment Ties Remain Concentrated

The figures underline the importance of the United States and the United Kingdom to the EU’s international investment relationships. Both remain its leading partners in terms of outward and inward FDI stocks, alongside Switzerland and several major financial centres.

Gas prices for businesses across the European Union edged higher in the first half of 2026, but remained below their level a year earlier, according to Eurostat. The figures show a modest increase in average costs alongside a rising tax share of the final bill.

For non-household consumers using between 10,000 and 100,000 gigajoules of gas annually, the average price reached €0.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). That was 1.8% above the second half of 2025, but 6.7% lower than in the first half of 2025.

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Taxes Make Up A Larger Share Of Business Bills

Taxes accounted for 17.5% of the final gas price in the first half of 2026, up from 15.9% in the previous six months and 16.4% in the same period a year earlier.

The increase in the tax share came even as average prices fell year over year. It highlights how the composition of energy costs can shift independently of the overall price businesses pay.

Sweden Has The EU’s Highest Business Gas Prices

Gas prices varied considerably across the bloc. Sweden recorded the highest average price for non-household consumers, at €0.11 per kWh, followed by Finland at €0.09 and the Netherlands at €0.08.

Bulgaria and Belgium had the lowest prices, with businesses in both countries paying an average of €0.04 per kWh.

Prices Fell In 24 Of 25 EU Countries

The annual decline was widespread. Of the 25 EU countries with available data, 24 reported lower average business gas prices in the first half of 2026 than in the same period of 2025.

Belgium and France saw the sharpest falls, with prices down 13.1% in each country. Lithuania recorded a 12.5% decline, followed by Hungary at 11.6% and Bulgaria at 10.8%.

Sweden was the sole country where prices rose year over year, increasing 3.1%.

A Mixed Picture For Business Energy Costs

The data points to lower gas costs for businesses across most of the EU compared with a year earlier, despite a slight increase from the previous half-year. At the same time, the growing tax share means that falling average prices have not translated into a smaller tax contribution to the final bill.

Instagram is bringing its Edits video-editing app to Mac, giving creators a desktop workspace for projects that outgrow the phone screen—and putting the company in more direct competition with ByteDance’s CapCut.

Announced Thursday, the Mac version is built for more complex editing, with a larger display, mouse and keyboard controls. CapCut, a popular creator tool that Meta sought to challenge when it launched Edits last year, has offered desktop apps for Windows and Mac since 2021.

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A Desktop Toolkit For More Ambitious Edits

The desktop app includes a multitrack timeline, keyframes for transitions and audio waveforms to help creators make precise cuts. Users can also import their own font files and customize keyboard shortcuts—or bring in shortcuts from other editing software.

Edits for Mac also offers licensed and royalty-free music, sound and video effects, and automatic captions in multiple languages. Audio and text styles saved in the mobile app sync to desktop, helping creators carry their preferred look and sound across devices.

“A lot of creators have described the same moment to us: a project gets too big for your phone,” Brett Westervelt, head of Edits, said in a company blog post. He described projects with numerous clips, where a small screen can make it difficult to see the timeline and place a cut precisely. “Your work is growing, and your tools should grow with it,” he said.

Publishing Directly To Instagram

Creators can publish from the desktop editor straight to Instagram, with features such as tagging and location available in the workflow. That removes a cumbersome handoff: editing on a computer, transferring the file to a phone, and making final changes before posting.

The app supports horizontal and vertical video, and Instagram says creators can export watermark-free files in 4K for use on other platforms or for personal projects.

More Updates Are Planned

Instagram says it plans to release weekly updates as it improves the desktop editor. One priority is enabling creators to move seamlessly between desktop and mobile while working on the same project.

The company also plans to keep developing the mobile Edits app, which Instagram says is used by more than 50 million creators. The Mac launch broadens the product’s reach, but its longer-term appeal will depend on how smoothly it connects the flexibility of desktop editing with the speed of publishing on Instagram.

TikTok is expanding its e-commerce ambitions with a standalone shopping app, positioning Shop as a more independent business rather than a feature embedded in its social media platform.

The new app brings together product discovery, in-app checkout, order tracking and customer support. Its listing also highlights app-exclusive deals, free shipping, first-order benefits and secure payment options.

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These incentives could encourage shoppers to use the dedicated app instead of making purchases through TikTok’s main platform. The move also gives the company an opportunity to attract consumers who want to browse and buy products without engaging with its wider social network.

By separating shopping from social content, TikTok is positioning itself to compete more directly with established e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Temu.

A New Challenge For Established E-Commerce Platforms

TikTok has not confirmed whether the standalone app will expand into additional markets, including the United States. A US launch would place it in a competitive market where Amazon and Temu face established retailers such as Walmart and Target, whose apps are already part of many consumers’ shopping routines.

TikTok And Amazon Reverse Their Shopping Strategies

The launch marks an interesting shift in the rivalry between TikTok and Amazon. Amazon previously introduced Inspire, a short-form shopping feed featuring photos and videos, to attract users accustomed to browsing social platforms and convert that engagement into purchases.

TikTok is now pursuing a similar strategy in reverse. Through a dedicated commerce app, it aims to attract more shopping activity and keep transactions within its own ecosystem rather than lose potential customers to competing marketplaces.

Part Of TikTok’s Broader Super-App Ambitions

The standalone Shop app is part of TikTok’s wider effort to expand beyond social networking and entertainment. Its broader ambitions include services spanning games, restaurant guides, sports hubs, hotel bookings, microdramas and payments.

By bringing more services under its brand, TikTok is seeking to become a broader digital platform where users can discover content, access services and make purchases. A dedicated Shop app gives that strategy a more focused e-commerce presence and creates another route for the company to compete for online spending.

As artificial intelligence reshapes classrooms, the European Union is preparing a new credential to help students use the technology critically and responsibly. The proposed AI literacy certificate would give 15-year-olds practical guidance on how AI works, how to assess its answers and when to question or step away from it.

Aiming For The 2027–2028 School Year

The European Commission is targeting the 2027–2028 school year for the certificate’s launch. The initiative comes as educators and students across the world grapple with AI’s growing role in teaching and learning.

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“It will help young pupils understand how AI works, check what it tells them, spot manipulation, and know when to switch off,” said European Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Minzatu.

The proposal also arrives amid concerns about foundational skills. The Commission has reported that roughly one in three 15-year-olds in the EU underachieves in reading or mathematics, against a broader backdrop of declining basic skills and teacher shortages. The Commission’s findings underscore the pressure on education systems to improve learning outcomes while adapting to new technologies.

Building AI Literacy Across Schools

Education policy remains the responsibility of EU member states, rather than Brussels. The Commission can nevertheless support research and coordination on how AI might be introduced safely into classrooms.

The certificate reflects a broader argument: students and teachers need more than access to AI tools. They also need to understand how those tools produce information, where they can fail and what risks they may pose. That knowledge, the Commission argues, can help people use AI to support learning rather than accept its outputs uncritically.

Distinguishing Learning Tools From Social Platforms

The EU is also pressing for measures to limit young teenagers’ access to social media. Minzatu said that effort does not conflict with encouraging educational uses of AI.

“AI has the potential of really amplifying certain educational processes: tutoring, personalised learning,” she said. Those applications, she added, are distinct from the addictive algorithms used by social platforms.

The distinction points to the policy challenge facing schools and governments: capturing AI’s potential to support teaching while giving young people the skills to recognize its limits and risks.

Airline tickets may become more expensive as volatility in global energy markets drives up the cost of jet fuel. Major carriers have warned that, without a positive shift in the conflict involving the United States and Iran, further fare increases may be difficult to avoid.

Higher operating costs could gradually be passed on to passengers, said Maria Kouroupi, director of aviation development and communications at Hermes Airports, in comments to Sigma TV. Travelers are already facing sharply higher fares than a year ago, prompting some to seek cheaper itineraries—even when that means taking multiple connecting flights.

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Fuel Costs Put Airlines Under Pressure

Attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran began in late February. Although initially expected to last only a few weeks, the conflict has continued for about eight months, contributing to instability in international oil markets.

Fuel is typically one of an airline’s largest operating expenses, accounting for roughly 25% to 30% of total costs. During an energy crisis, that share can rise to between 31% and 35%, putting significant pressure on airline finances.

Some Fares Have Climbed More Than 39% In A Year

Airfares have risen by more than 39% in some cases over the past year, while increases compared with two years ago have approached 50%.

Recent analysis by aviation data company Cirium found that low-cost carriers recorded the steepest increases in economy fares. Compared with May 2025, their fares were up 39.20%; since early 2024, they had more than doubled. Fares at Europe’s three major airline groups—Lufthansa, IAG and Air France-KLM—were 48.41% higher than at the start of 2024.

How Much Of The Cost Will Reach Passengers?

Airfares are shaped by demand, supply and competition, Kouroupi said. Rising costs for airlines may therefore lead to a gradual transfer of some expenses to passengers. For now, she noted, stronger market performance appears to be absorbing part of the pressure, with travel activity across Europe increasing.

That cushion may not last. European carriers have warned that higher fuel costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East could weaken their financial outlook, while fares are expected to move higher next year.

Fuel Hedging Could Offer Less Protection

One factor is the gradual expiration of fuel-hedging contracts—agreements that help airlines manage exposure to price swings. As those arrangements run their course, carriers may become more directly exposed to market rates, according to Reuters.

German airline group Lufthansa said it expects its 2026 fuel bill to be €2 billion higher than last year, reaching €9.3 billion. That is €600 million above its previous estimate. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, speaking recently to CNBC, warned that European airfares could rise by as much as 20% next year.

For travelers, the outlook will depend on how long fuel-market volatility persists, how much of the additional cost airlines can absorb and whether competition limits their ability to raise fares. But with fuel among the industry’s largest expenses and hedging protection gradually falling away, further increases are becoming a more prominent risk.

Three students entering the University of Cyprus MBA programme will receive full-tuition scholarships for the 2026–2027 academic year, following a €30,000 award from entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The scholarships, awarded for the fourth consecutive year, were granted after an assessment based on academic and socioeconomic criteria. The recipients are George Solomonides, Kartik Rautela and Loizos Georgiades.

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Scholarships Expand Access To Education

The awards were presented Thursday at the University of Cyprus by Rena Rouvitha Panou, a member of the board of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, on Haji-Ioannou’s behalf.

Haji-Ioannou, founder and chairman of the foundation and creator of the easy brand family, has made education and equal opportunity for young people central to his philanthropic work.

Speaking at the ceremony, Rouvitha Panou said education remains a priority for Haji-Ioannou and the foundation. She described the scholarship initiative as an expression of confidence in young people and of the belief that knowledge is an essential asset for the future.

She also noted the significance of including the University of Cyprus in the foundation’s international scholarship programme, giving Haji-Ioannou’s home country a distinct place in the initiative. Congratulating the recipients, she encouraged them to pursue ambitious goals, apply their abilities in service of society and embrace the principle of giving back without expecting anything in return.

University Leaders Emphasize Opportunity And Responsibility

University of Cyprus Rector Professor Tasos Christofides thanked the foundation, describing the ceremony as a celebration of academic achievement and the impact of its vision and generosity.

Christofides urged the recipients to recognize the responsibility that comes with studying in an MBA programme of international standing. He added that Haji-Ioannou’s sustained support for philanthropy, education and youth empowerment was changing lives.

Professor Sofronis Clerides, dean of the university’s School of Economics and Management, said the ceremony marked the continuation of a partnership established four years ago. He said the university was particularly honoured to be the only institution supported by Haji-Ioannou at which he had not studied.

“We believe that Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s confidence in the University of Cyprus, and particularly in the School of Economics and Management, reflects the significant progress the university has made since its establishment,”

Clerides said.

An Internationally Accredited MBA Programme

The University of Cyprus MBA programme holds international quality accreditations from EFMD and AACSB and is regarded as one of the leading business administration programmes in Cyprus and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

Its curriculum focuses on management and finance, combining high-quality teaching with modern, innovative and practical approaches.