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US legislator wants Trump to restrict Chinese flight over rare earths access
The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on China called on the Trump Administration to restrict or suspend Chinese airlines landing rights in the U.S. until Beijing restored full access to magnets and rare earths. John Moolenaar (a Republican) said that the U.S. export control policy should be reviewed to ensure the sale of parts, commercial aircraft and maintenance services in China is compliant. "These steps will send a clear signal to Beijing that they cannot cut off vital supplies to our defence industries without consequences for their own strategic sectors," Moolenaar stated. The rare earths group is made up of 17 different elements that are used in a variety of products, from military equipment and lasers to consumer electronics and wind turbines. China is concerned about rare earths, and it wants to control the supply. In April, in response to U.S. tariff increases, China added several rare earth products and magnets on its export restrictions list. U.S. Airlines are only allowed to fly a small percentage of the flights they can operate to China due to low demand between both nations. China may be considering a nuclear power plant, according to reports. As part of the trade negotiations with the U.S., China is buying up to 500 Boeing aircrafts. The U.S. Transportation Department granted another extension of six months on Wednesday. This allows United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines only 48 flights per week to China, out of the 119 that were approved. Chinese carriers fly the same number of flights to the U.S. A group representing U.S. carriers declined comment. The Chinese Embassy at Washington declined to comment immediately. Major U.S. Airlines and Aviation Unions successfully asked former President Joe Biden to stop approving additional flights between China & the U.S. last year. They cited the "anti-competitive" policies of the Chinese Government. Flights between China, the U.S. and Canada were at the center of controversy during the COVID-19 epidemic. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, David Gregorio and David Shepardson)
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Lyft has paid New Jersey $19.4 Million for driver misclassification.
Officials from New Jersey announced on Thursday that Lyft had paid New Jersey $19.4 millions after an audit revealed the ride-sharing firm incorrectly classified over 100,000 drivers as independent contractors. Lyft, according to officials including the state attorney general Matthew Platkin, made the payment only after it retracted its request for an hearing to contest a New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development audit of its records and books from 2014 to 2017. New Jersey's audit revealed that Lyft had not contributed to the state fund for these years on behalf drivers. This deprived them of benefits such as unemployment compensation and temporary disability benefits. Lyft owed more than $10,8 million in unpaid contributions plus $8.5 million in penalties and interest. It paid $10.8 million in order to stop the interest running and the remaining amount after it ended its challenge. In June 2024, the San Francisco-based firm reached a settlement of $27 million with Massachusetts. Lyft stated that it believes it has classified drivers correctly under New Jersey law and that most drivers prefer to work on their terms, rather than as an employee. We will not challenge the NJDOL assessment further, even though we disagree with its findings. Over the past few years, many regulators have said that Uber and Lyft's alleged misclassifications deprive drivers other benefits such as a minimum wage and overtime pay. Robert Asaro Angelo, New Jersey's Labor Commissioner, said that there is no reason why temporary and on-demand workers, who work flexible hours or minutes at a given time, cannot be treated the same as other employees. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese in New York, Jonathan Stempel from New York)
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Oneworld Alliance looks to India as a partner in its expansion.
Oneworld Alliance, a 15-member airline group that includes American Airlines, Qantas Airways and other airlines, is looking at a possible Indian airline partner, as the Indian market continues to grow. "India is a marketplace that we all have an interest in finding someone," Nat Pieper, CEO of the company, said on Thursday at a meeting in New York with aviation executives and analysts. Piper stated that adding a new team member is "always difficult" as it must work for both the entire group and each of its 15 members. He added that, given the fact that many of the alliance's members serve India, they are also looking at ways to leverage the joint presence. For example, through a loyalty program or joint lounge initiative. "We have 10 employees who serve in India, so it's a market that is growing at a rapid pace." Hawaiian Airlines will join the alliance by 2026. Alaska Air acquired the airline in 2024. (Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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Panama Canal begins process to select companies to build and operate LPG pipeline
After meeting with interested companies, the Panama Canal Authority announced on Thursday that it had begun a competition to select a company to design, build, and operate a pipeline for transporting liquefied petrol gas (LPG). The project is expected to cost between $4 billion to $8 billion. It will be part of the move by the waterway to increase its services, including trans-shipment, and to generate additional revenue. This follows the Supreme Court's decision last year to expand the area of the waterway. The 2 million-barrel-per-day pipeline alone is forecast to contribute between $1 billion and $1.2 billion to the waterway's annual income, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the canal, told in an interview after the meetings. The project will move U.S. LPG bound to Asia from the one side to the other of the canal. As part of the plan, a power transmission line will also be built. The canal released a statement saying that Exxon Mobil and Phillips 66 were among the companies who met with the authorities to discuss the pipeline. Other companies included Puma Energy (Puma Energy), SK Energy (SK Energy), Vitol, Mitsubishi Itochu, Sumitomo, Vitol Energy, Energy Transfer Puma Energy. Vasquez, who attended the meeting said that there were many people interested in the project. He added that the next step will be a prequalification process. He said that the winner of the competition will be chosen in the fourth quarter of 2026. A parallel project, to build and operate new ports near the canal, will begin between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. Vasquez stated that the canal expects to make a profit of $3.5 billion in the fiscal year which ends in September. This is in line with last year's result. The canal expects to counteract a decrease in traffic at the end of the fiscal year by consolidating cargo tonnage through the reception of larger vessels. He said, "This year we have seen a change in seasonality, as more cargo is being shipped to the United States, now instead of October-December." (Reporting and editing by Gabriel Araujo, Marguerita Choy and Elida Parraga)
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FedEx's quarterly profits rise, but US tariffs dent 2026 earnings forecast
FedEx posted a higher profit for the quarter, but projected 2026 earnings per shares that were largely below analyst's estimates. This is because it expects to take a hit due to U.S. tariffs ending on low-value direct-to consumer shipments. In extended trading, shares of the company rose by about 6% on Thursday. On May 2, the U.S. government ended the "de minimis exemptions" that allowed packages valued below $800 to be imported duty-free from China and Hong Kong. These shipments represented about three quarters of the roughly 1.4 billion packages which entered the United States every year under this program. On August 29, the U.S. removed "de minimis exemptions" for all countries. FedEx is expected to see the impact of this in its results for the next few quarters. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, Memphis-based package-delivery company expects adjusted earnings for the full year in a range between $17.20 and $19.00 per share. The mid-point is slightly below analyst estimates of $18.21. FedEx has reported an adjusted profit for the first quarter ending August 31 of $0.91 billion or $3.83 a share. This is up from $0.89billion or $3.60 a share in the year before. Since 2023, the company has been working to reduce operating costs by billions of dollars. This was achieved through parking planes and closing facilities. The company has a plan to save $1 billion in the fiscal year ending May 2026. It reported first quarter revenue of $22.2billion, an increase from $21.6billion a year ago. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein from Los Angeles, and Abhinav Paramar from Bengaluru. Editing by Shinjini Ganuli.
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FedEx's earnings forecast for 2026 is below expectations due to US tariff impact
FedEx posted a higher profit for the quarter, but projected earnings per share in 2026 that were largely below analyst's estimates. This is because it expects to take a hit due to U.S. tariffs ending on low-value direct-to consumer shipments. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the Memphis-based company expects adjusted earnings for full-year in a range between $17.20 and $19.00 per share. The mid-point is slightly below analyst estimates of $18.21. Since 2023, FedEx has been working to reduce operating costs by billions of dollars. This is done through parking planes and closing facilities. It has a plan to save $1 billion in the fiscal year ending May 2026. Analysts and investors are waiting to see if this will be sufficient to counteract the threats of U.S. Trade Policy and global economic uncertainty. The company's adjusted profit for the first quarter ending August 31 was $0.91 billion or $3.83 a share. This is up from $0.89 million or $3.60 a share in the same period last year. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, Los Angeles; Abhinav Paramar, Bengaluru. Editing by Shinjini Ganuli.
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Texas Governor signs bill to crack down on abortion pills ordered by mail
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a law to clamp down on the mail-order sale of abortion pills, which are already prohibited in his state. The bill empowers private citizens to sue companies and individuals who ship these pills to Texas. Abbott, an anti-abortion Republican who is adamantly opposed to abortion, signed the bill without any announcement on Wednesday night. The bill was passed by the Republican-led state legislature in early October. The bill aims to make it more difficult for women to get the prescription drugs they need to terminate their pregnancy at home, in violation of Texas' ban on abortions. The Texas law has not yet been answered in terms of whether it will affect "shield" laws enacted by Democratic-led states, where abortion is still legal. These laws are intended to protect providers from criminal and civil penalties resulting from abortion laws in another state. In about three months, the Texas measure will take effect. It is similar to an enforcement mechanism for citizens contained in a state law that prohibited abortions when a fetal beat could be detected. Abortion rights advocates claim that pharmacologically-terminated pregnancies account for 63% percent of all abortions in the United States, three years after Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case which established a constitutionally protected right to abortion, was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Telehealth consultations, as well as mail-order deliveries have allowed women to perform abortions at home in areas where the only alternative is for them to travel to another state where abortions are still legal. Turning Citizens into Whistleblowers The new law allows citizens to sue medical providers, pharmaceutical companies and delivery services, as well as individuals who helped women obtain abortion pills mifepristone or misoprostol. If a plaintiff proves their case, they will receive $100,000 per violation. The measure exempts women who use abortion pills from any liability. The use of misoprostol and mifepristone in medically-necessary procedures for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy is also exempted. If it is shown that shipping companies and drug manufacturers such as FedEx, United Parcel Service, and Amazon.com have adhered to state-imposed bans then they will not be held responsible. John Seago of Texas Right to Life - which heavily lobbied for the bill - said that it was primarily designed to "hold individuals accountable" who mail abortion pills to Texas in order to avoid criminal prosecution. Critics claim that the measure will encourage ordinary citizens to spy on their neighbors. When speaking against the bill, state senator Carol Alvarado (a Democrat from Houston) said: "The bill will only work if we turn Texans on each other." According to Seago’s group, abortion tablets are being imported into Texas at a rate of over 19,000 orders per year from other states and foreign countries. The measure to stop the shipments was modeled on "qui tam," provisions in federal and state False Claims Act laws designed to expose fraud by allowing whistleblowers the opportunity to sue the wrongdoers, and receive a portion of the proceeds. Some social conservatives have used citizen lawsuits in recent years to enforce anti-abortion legislation. In a Texas law passed in 2021, which prohibited abortions after fetal heart activity was detected, a provision was included for citizen lawsuits. In the year following the Supreme Court's Roe decision, Texas and thirteen other states were able to ban all abortions. This led to the anti-abortion movement seeking new enforcement tools. Steve Gorman, Los Angeles (reporting) and Leslie Adler, editing.
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NY asks National Grid for better natgas forecasts in advance of possible NESE pipeline
The New York utility regulator asked some U.S.-based units of UK energy company National Grid to report how they would optimize their natural gas supply if or not the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline project or NESE is put into service. The New York Public Service Commission, NYPSC, said that if NESE (the proposed gas supply increase from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and New York by Williams Cos Transco), is not put into service, it wants the National Grid companies report on their reliability plans. NYPSC reported that the three National Grid utilities, Brooklyn Union Gas KeySpan Gas East, and Niagara Mohawk Power, serve approximately 2.5 million gas consumers in New York. This makes them the largest natural gas distribution system for the state. Williams canceled the first attempt at building NESE by 2024 largely because of opposition from New York's and New Jersey's environmental regulators. The project was revisited earlier this year, with the support of U.S. president Donald Trump's Administration. NESE, and another gas pipeline proposed by Williams from New York to Pennsylvania have been linked with a deal made between the Trump Administration and New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The Trump administration agreed to lift a federal order that stopped construction on the Norwegian energy company Equinor’s Empire Wind offshore project near New York. Hochul didn't endorse gas pipelines, but she said that New York would collaborate with the U.S. government and private entities to develop projects that met state legal requirements. (Reporting and editing by Scott DiSavino)
Libya's first oil company to be owned by a private firm is growing in the shadow of eastern commander
According to U.N. experts and shipping records, a Libyan company that is linked to a powerful faction in eastern Libya has exported at least $600,000,000 worth of oil since May. This marks the end of the National Oil Corporation’s monopoly over exports.
The little-known Arkenu Oil Company was established in 2023 and is the first private Libyan oil company to ship. This means that some of the oil revenue of Libya will likely be diverted away from the Central Bank of Libya.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been divided by armed groups. It is now largely split between an internationally recognized government in Tripoli, located in the west, and a rival administration, controlled by Khalifa Hastar's forces, in the east.
The central bank of Tripoli has been at the center of many disputes, mainly over the distribution and use by that institution of the oil revenues. Haftar's troops, who control the majority of Libya's fields, have shut down production and exports periodically, most recently last August, to make sure money flows east.
Arkenu's ownership could not be determined. In a report submitted to the Security Council on Dec. 13, a U.N. expert panel said that Arkenu is indirectly controlled by Saddam Haftar. He is one of Khalifa Haftar’s sons.
Charles Cater is the director of investigations for The Sentry, a global investigative and policy organization.
For this article, we also interviewed Libyan experts, diplomats, traders, and reviewed over two dozen documents including letters from oil companies, government decisions, and bills of lading.
Arkenu's website and LinkedIn profile indicate that the company is headquartered in Benghazi. This city, located in eastern Libya, has a Mediterranean port with a terminal of oil under Haftar’s control.
Two sources claim that the company was founded in early 2023, by former employees of state-owned National Oil Corporation.
Arkenu website, but never received a response. A spokesman of the Libyan National Army (which Haftar commands) was also contacted without a response.
OPEC MEMBER
According to a U.N. Report, Saddam Haftar became chief of staff for the army's ground force in May of last year. This gave him control over the country's relations with its neighbouring countries, as well as its economic interests.
Arkenu's first connection to oil exports was when the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, a subsidiary of NOC awarded it ownership of a cargo in May. A letter dated 11 July seen by was the proof.
Arkenu exported seven more oil cargoes since then. Its total exports from May to December 2024 will be 7.6 million barrels based on shipping records and worth approximately $600 million if Brent crude average monthly prices are used.
Exxon Mobil, the U.S. oil giant, bought one of the cargoes destined to Italy on October 28, according documents and data reviewed by LSEG and Kpler.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Exxon purchased the cargo not directly from Arkenu but from another trader.
Unipec is the trading arm for China's Sinopec - the largest refiner in the world. At least two of these were destined for Britain or Italy.
Sinopec didn't respond to a comment request. It wasn't immediately clear whether Sinopec purchased the cargoes from Arkenu or another trader.
Requests for comments from the NOC, AGOCO, and central bank were not answered. The oil ministry refused to comment.
Libya, Africa's second largest oil producer, and a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has been in chaos since Gaddafi was overthrown, but oil exports remained under the control of the central government.
The NOC still accounts for a large part of Libyan exports. It has operated independently in this volatile country and maintained political neutrality.
Based on Kpler's data and calculations, it shipped 264 million barrels worth $21 billion in the same time period for Arkenu’s eight shipments.
SARIR AND MESSLA FIELD
Payments are made for NOC crude cargoes in dollars at the Libyan Foreign Bank, New York. Then they are transferred to the Tripoli Government's central bank account.
Shipping documents indicated that payments for Arkenu cargoes were to be made into accounts at the Dubai-linked state bank Emirates NBD, and Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, both in Geneva. The documents did not indicate whether payments had been made to these accounts or where the money might have been deposited.
Emirates NBD stated that it could not confirm or deny client relationships because of internal policies and regulatory requirements. Banque de Placement confirmed or denied any client relationships in accordance with its policy.
U.N. experts say Haftar has the support of Egypt, Russia and United Arab Emirates.
He spent 20 years in the U.S. before returning to help rebels overthrow Gaddafi. He launched the Battle of Benghazi in 2014 and it has been his stronghold since then. His forces have a tight hold on the east of Libya where the majority of the main oilfields of the country are located.
Arkenu, in addition to being allowed to export crude oil, was also made a part-owner of the Sarir and Messla major oilfields. This is according to a letter from the NOC dated 10 July, during the tenure then NOC chairman Farhat Bengdara who resigned last week.
The letter didn't give any details about the partnership. AGOCO, a subsidiary of NOC, runs the two fields. They account for around 300,000. barrels of high-quality crude per day - same grade that Arkenu exports.
Cater, of The Sentry, said that there was no evidence to suggest that Arkenu had performed any development or services at the Mesla oil fields. Arkenu’s claims of hundreds of millions in NOC payments, made as oil export cargoes to Arkenu, raise serious suspicions of corruption.
Arkenu became a partner in the development of three smaller oilfields, Sultan and Latif (in Libya's east) and Tahara (in the west), according to an November 2023 cabinet resolution.
According to the U.N. Report, members of armed groups were appointed to different posts at the NOC as part of a reshuffle. This included setting up a separate office responsible for service contracts with private companies.
The U.N. report stated that "among them was an arrangement with the first privately owned oil company in Libya, Arkenu Oil Company."
(source: Reuters)