Transport Infrastructure

Commodity traders Trafigura and Prateek Gupta, both Indian businessmen, told London's High Court that they had failed to prove their employees knew about or participated in a $600,000,000 metals fraud. This was as lawyers made final arguments in the long-running case. Gupta’s lawyers countered that?unusual trade practices indicated Trafigura employees devised the scheme underlying the dispute. This involved substituting low-value metals or nickel for cheap ones. Trafigura of Geneva, which sued Gupta in court more than two year ago, has insisted that no employees were aware of the fraud before cargo inspections, scheduled for November 2022, Gupta alleged that Trafigura...

Warren Buffett, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, has been a symbol of Berkshire Hathaway since 1960. He built a conglomerate that is admired by many shareholders and is arguably one of the most respected investors in history. Investors are faced with the fact that Buffett's aura will diminish as he prepares for the handover of the torch to Vice Chair Greg Abel. Abel is the CEO-designate at Berkshire Hathaway and has been since 2004. This change will likely bring more hands-on management from the top of Berkshire’s businesses. Some investors might demand Berkshire to follow a traditional corporate path such...

These are the most popular stories from the business pages of the New York Times. The New York Times has not verified the accuracy of these stories. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a $900 Billion Defense Policy Bill that codifies much of President Donald 'Trump's agenda for national security. However, it also seeks to 'curb Trumps move to withdraw from Europe. Jennifer Homendy warned that a "provision" in the new defense legislation would increase the risk of mid-air collisions around the Washington area airport, where a fatal crash killed 67 in January. - President Donald Trump announced on...

A?U.S. A?U.S. The U.S. district judge in Sacramento, Dale Drozd, rejected the Justice Department's argument that the lawsuit filed by the California High-Speed-Rail authority in July was filed in the wrong venue and should have gone to the?U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The state agency that is responsible for the development of the high-speed railway system filed a lawsuit challenging the cancellation of the grant as "arbitrary and capricious". After cancelling $4 billion of federal grants, the Transportation Department in August canceled an additional $175 million for projects that are part of California's high speed rail project. The department did...

The Senate Commerce Committee's top Democrat said that the Federal Aviation Administration chief failed to divest a?his holdings in Republic Airways, in violation of an ethics agreement. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington stated that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford who was previously CEO of Republic Airways had agreed to sell his holdings in 90 days after confirmation. Bedford, at the time of confirmation, reported owning stock in Republic Airways worth between $6 and $30 million. It appears you have retained significant equity in the conflicting asset for months after the deadline set to divest fully from Republic. This is a...

The EU antitrust regulators warned that the BlackRock-MSC bid to buy CK 'Hutchison terminal in Barcelona port may lead to "higher prices" or a reduction in 'quality' of container terminal services. They opened a full investigation on Wednesday. The EU could force the two countries to make concessions in order to address "regulatory concerns". Terminal Investment Limited Holding, a subsidiary of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company based in Switzerland, and BlackRock, will acquire joint control over Hutchison’s terminal at Barcelona Port. The port is the main deep-sea gateway to and from Barcelona, as well as connecting with traffic from and to...

U.S. Transportation Department threatened on Tuesday to withhold funding for Chicago 'trains and buses' and demanded increased police protection citing an attack and burning of a woman, 26 years old, last month. In letters sent to Illinois Governor JB Prattker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the?Federal Transit Agency warned that if they did not develop a plan for reducing assaults against transit workers and passengers as well as addressing unsafe conditions, federal funding could be lost. Similar letters were sent by the department to 'New York' and 'Boston, expressing concerns over transit issues. Chicago is also heavily Democratic, as are...

Officials said that an anti-graft committee in Nepal charged 55 'officials', including five ex-ministers and a Chinese contractor, with?corruption? in the construction of a Chinese funded airport in western Nepal. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed the case on Sunday at the Anti-Corruption Special Court, accusing the officials and the Chinese company of illegally?inflating the costs of building the Pokhara International Airport to more than $74 millions. Yagya?Regmi is the assistant spokesperson for the Special Court. She said that CIAA demanded that the inflated cost of?the project be repaid by the accused. This included China CAMC...

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Australia will announce Tuesday that it has signed a contract worth A$1 billion (663,30 million dollars) with Boeing Australia for the production of six Ghost Bat air drones. The Australian Defence Force has said that the Ghost Bat, or MQ-28A, is a development aircraft designed by Boeing Australia and the first military aircraft to be designed in Australia for more than 50 year. The announcement coincides between talks between Australian Defence and Foreign Ministers and United States in Washington as the U.S. pushes its Indo Pacific allies to increase defence expenditure. Ghost Bat will...

Waymo announced Friday that it would recall its self-driving cars after Texas officials reported that the Alphabet Unit's vehicles illegally passed at least 19 school buses in recorded incidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which opened its first investigation in October of Waymo's vehicles near school busses, asked the self driving car company to answer questions on Wednesday about the Texas incidents. "Holding to the highest safety standards requires that we recognize when our behavior needs improvement. We have decided to file a voluntary recall of software with NHTSA in order to ensure that vehicles are appropriately slowing...

The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday that it had selected Peraton, owned by Veritas Capital and a national-security company, to be the project manager for a $12.5 billion effort to revamp the U.S. aging air traffic control system. After decades of complaining about airport congestion, technological failures, and flight delays, Congress approved in July a plan worth $12.5 billion to overhaul the system and increase controller hiring. Peraton is the only integrator that will manage this massive project, and it will deliver it on schedule without causing any disruptions to air traffic, according to the FAA. The FAA chose...

According to the German road traffic agency KBA, on Wednesday, the number of new registrations from Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD exceeded that from Tesla. KBA reported that Tesla sold 1,763 vehicles in Germany in November. This is 20.2% lower than the same month last year. Tesla sold 17,358 cars in the period January-November, which is 48.4% less than the same period the previous year. The volume of Chinese electric vehicles manufacturer BYD sales increased by more than nine times year-on-year in November, to 4,026 unit, reaching 19,197 units from the start of the year. KBA reported that the number...

Five shipping and insurance sources reported on Thursday that the cost of war insurance for ships sailing into the Black Sea has increased again. Insurers are reviewing policies every day as the conflict in Ukraine spills over onto sea lanes. Black Sea is vital for shipping grain, oil and oil-based products. Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania, as well Russia and Ukraine, share its waters. Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday that recent attacks on Russian-linked tankers on the Black Sea threatened the safety and security of everyone in the region. Ships entering Russian or Ukrainian Black Sea terminals...

The Turkish maritime authority reported on Tuesday that a Russian-flagged oil tanker, sailing from Russia to Georgia with sunflower oil loaded aboard, was attacked near the Turkish coast. However, its 13 crew members were not injured. The Maritime Affairs Directorate reported that the vessel MIDVOLGA-2 had been attacked 80 miles (129 kilometers) off the Turkish coastline, but it did not request assistance. It was heading towards the Sinop port in Turkey. The report did not give any other details. Last Friday, Ukrainian drones targeted two tankers that were sanctioned in the Black Sea, as they approached a Russian port with...

After a drone attack that severely damaged the loading infrastructure and halted oil exports, Kazakhstan asked Ukraine to stop attacking its Black Sea terminal, which is used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. This terminal handles more than 1 percent of all global oil. CPC, which has shareholders from Russia, Kazakhstan and the United States, announced that it had stopped operations after an attack by a Ukrainian drone on a mooring in its Russian terminal at the Black Sea caused significant damage. In an effort to undermine the Russian war economy, Ukraine launched a wave of attacks this year on Russia's...

The city's mayor reported that Russian air defences destroyed eight drones on their way to Moscow, just a day after an attack by Ukraine on a heat and power station had cut off the heating for thousands of people outside the Russian capital. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, 10 Ukrainian drones were downed in three Russian regions, including Moscow and Kaluga, as well as Bryansk which borders Ukraine, on Monday. In a press release, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that emergency services are working on the site of the drones. The drone attack on the Shatura Power Station in...

Sources say that the differentials between Russian Urals crude and other grades are under pressure due to the weakening value of the grade in India's ports. Three sources in the oil trade reported that discounts for Russian Urals crude have tripled in Indian ports since August compared to Brent dated as U.S. sanction drive key buyers from Moscow-supplied fuel. According to traders, the December Urals cargoes are currently trading at a discount of $5-$6 per barrel compared to Brent. This is about three times greater than the $1-2 seen in August. PLATTS WINDOW There were no bids or offers reported...

The Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday that Poland had identified two individuals responsible for the explosion that occurred on a rail route leading to Ukraine. He added that these were Ukrainians that collaborated with Russian intelligence, and that they fled to Belarus. The explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin Line, which connects Poland's capital with the Ukrainian border, came after a wave arson, cyberattacks and sabotage in Poland and other European nations since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Warsaw said that Poland is now one of Moscow's main targets because it acts as a hub to aid Kyiv....

Rostec, a Russian state-owned conglomerate, said that on Tuesday its defence exports had fallen by half since the year 2022 due to domestic orders becoming a priority in light of the conflict in Ukraine. However, Rostec expects a recovery within upcoming months. Sergey Chemezov, Rostec's chief executive officer, told reporters that until 2022 Russia ranked second in the world in terms of defence exports after the United States. However the volume has dropped "because we had to supply the majority of our production to our own army". He said that sanctions have caused problems in both the civil and defense...

Last week, Ukraine attacked the port of Novorossiysk in Russia and forced it to suspend its oil exports. The Neptune rocket it used was one of many long-range weapons Ukraine developed since the invasion in 2022. According to Kyiv, here is a list of the new Ukrainian weapons. LONG NEPTUNE Ukraine claims its "Long Neptune", a land-attack cruise rocket with a maximum range of 1,000 km (621 mi), is produced domestically. The missile was developed using the Neptune antiship missile, which had a shorter range before the invasion. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the President of Russia, announced in March that its range...

The oil prices dropped in the early Asian trading on Monday, wiping out the gains of last week, as loadings were resumed at Novorossiysk, the major Russian export hub, after a suspension of two days at the Black Sea Port that was hit by an attack from Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 58 cents or 0.9% to $63.81 per barrel at 0050 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $59.50 per barrel, down by 59 cents or 1.0% since Friday's closing. The benchmarks both rose by more than 2% to close the week on a modest note. Exports...

Two industry sources and LSEG data show that the Russian port of Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings Sunday, after a suspension lasting two days due to a Ukrainian drone and missile attack. Novorossiysk temporarily halted oil exports on Friday, equating to 2.2 millions barrels of oil per day or 2% global supply. According to two anonymous industry sources, loadings have resumed. According to LSEG, two tankers - the Suezmax and Aframax classes Rodos - are loading oil on the port's berths. Two oil berths were damaged by a Ukrainian drone at the Russian Black Sea port Novorossiysk on Friday, which forced...

The airport director announced on Tuesday that talks are in progress between the Moldovan government and Russia's Lukoil about buying the energy company’s infrastructure at Chisinau Airport as part of an effort to implement U.S. Sanctions imposed last month. Serdgiu Spoiala stated that he did not see any risk of the airport running out of aviation fuel, after the government proposed to buy Lukoil’s facilities on Monday. The sanctions imposed by the United States on Lukoil and Rosneft were linked to the war that has lasted for more than three-and-a-half years in Ukraine. Currently, it is the only supplier of...

Two industry sources said on Tuesday that the Russian energy company Novatek had restored to full capacity its gas condensate facility at the Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga following repairs of damaged equipment caused by drone attacks in August. The fire was caused by Ukrainian drones on August 24. This led to the complete shutdown of the operation, including the fuel export loading. It is one of many disruptions in Russia's energy sector as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks during the ongoing conflict between the two neighbours. One source said that the daily processing of stable condensate (a type of lighter...