Five things to know to start your Thursday

Israel launched air strikes on Yemen power plants, oil facility, port

Israel’s military attacked Houthi fighter bases in Yemen after stopping a missile the Houthis fired at Israel.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said their forces hit Houthi military locations, including ports and power facilities in Yemen’s capital city Sanaa.

According to Houthi-run TV channel Al-Masirah, several attacks hit Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah early Thursday.

The TV channel reported that the attacks “hit two main power plants” in Sanaa. In Hodeidah, they said “the enemy launched four attacks on the port… and two attacks” on an oil facility.

Yemen’s SABA news agency also reported four strikes on Hodeidah, with two hitting the Ras Issa oil facility, causing deaths and injuries among workers there.

Two Epic Games directors resigned amid an antitrust investigation

Two board members from Epic Games (the company that made Fortnite) have stepped down after a U.S. antitrust investigation. Chinese company Tencent Holdings originally appointed these directors.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that they were concerned these directors were breaking the law by serving on both Epic’s and Tencent’s boards, since Tencent owns Riot Games, a game company based in Los Angeles.

According to the Justice Department, Section 8 of the Clayton Act “prohibits directors and officers from serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors, subject to limited exceptions.”

Markets plummeted after the Fed hinted at raising interest rates next year

The Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate for the third time in a row but indicated it will make fewer rate cuts in 2025 than previously planned. The Fed is being more careful about how fast it reduces borrowing costs.

In a vote of 11-1 on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s policy committee lowered their key interest rate to between 4.25% and 4.5%. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack voted against this cut, wanting to keep rates unchanged.

After this news, major market indicators – the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Bitcoin – all dropped, while U.S. Treasury yields went up.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell explained at a news conference: “With today’s action, we have lowered our policy rate by a full percentage point from its peak and our policy stance is now significantly less restrictive.” He added, “We can therefore be more cautious as we consider further adjustments to our policy rate.”

However, Powell noted that their policy was still “meaningfully” holding back economic activity, and confirmed the Fed is still “on track to continue to cut.”

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Diaspora remittances are up 61%, according to the CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria reported that money sent home by Nigerians living abroad through official transfer companies reached $4.22bn from January to October 2024.

This amount is almost twice the $2.62bn that was sent during the same months in 2023.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso shared these details while speaking to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Cardoso noted that this represents a significant increase of about 61.1% compared to the previous year.

He also showed that monthly transfers increased from $336m in September 2024 to $402m in October 2024.

Nigeria is exempting cooking gas importers from duty payment

The Nigerian government, through the Customs Service, has announced that importing cooking gas (LPG) under specific codes (HS Codes 2711.12.00.00, 2711.13.00.00, and 2711.19.00.00) won’t be charged import duty or VAT.

The Customs Service will also cancel all payment notices they gave to gas importers who brought in LPG using these codes since August 26, 2019, following earlier approvals.

This information was shared in a statement on Wednesday by Abdullahi Maiwada, the National Public Relations Officer of the Customs Service.

Maiwada explained that this aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s plans to invest in climate-friendly policies and increase gas use within Nigeria, saying “The service will be implementing fiscal incentives under the Presidential Gas for Growth Initiative.”

He confirmed: “Furthermore, the importation of LPG under HS Codes 2711.12.00.00, 2711.13.00.00, and 2711.19.00.00 are exempted from both Import Duty and VAT. Consequently, all debit notes issued to petroleum marketers who have imported LPG using these codes from August 26, 2019, to date will be withdrawn by the NCS in line with previous approvals.”