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China's COMAC ARJ21 regional jet painted with C909 branding, images reveal
Chinese planemaker COMAC has actually painted among its ARJ21 local jets with C909 branding, lining up with the maker's calling conventions for its other models, according to pictures posted on aviation enthusiast online forums and Chinese social media. Although mainly symbolic, a possible rebranding ahead of China's primary air program in Zhuhai next month signals Beijing's. growing objective to emerge as a full-scale option. to Western aircraft giants Jet and Boeing. An ARJ21 aircraft was photographed with C909 painted on its. blue tail at Shanghai Pudong airport on Sunday by 2 users of. plane-spotting website jetphotos.com and one user of. planespotters.net, and other pictures of it appeared on Chinese. social media site Weibo on Monday. Reuters has actually been not able to separately verify the photos. COMAC did not immediately react to an ask for remark. The ARJ21 got in service in 2016 and is operated by numerous. Chinese airline companies and Indonesian carrier TransNusa. However market. analysts state the local aircraft, China's first jet to reach. commercial production, remains uncompetitive worldwide. COMAC's subsequent plane, the single-aisle C919, entered. service in 2023 and the planemaker has stated it is developing a. twin-aisle aircraft called the C929. The business has actually also hinted at. an even bigger C939 in the future. The C929 was renamed in 2023 from the CR929 after Russia. left a China-Russia joint venture establishing it. The photographed aircraft, painted with registration number. B-099A and manufacturing serial number 10156, belongs to COMAC. and is signed up as an ARJ21 test flight airplane, according to. Flightradar24 tracking data. On Monday it conducted what seemed a test flight. from Shanghai Pudong airport, Flightradar24 shows. The International Civil Aviation Organization's airplane. type designator database still records COMAC's regional jet as. the ARJ21. ICAO did not right away react to an ask for. comment. The practice of renaming models to develop a single brand is. typical in aviation. Jet in 2018 renamed Bombardier's CSeries. the A220 after buying the program. COMAC this year has increased sales and production strategies and. has actually been marketing its planes outside China. However industry. sources warn COMAC is a long way from making inroads. globally, particularly without benchmark accreditations. from the EU - which COMAC is pursuing for the C919 - or the U.S.
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Mussels attack Swiss lakes, finish fishing webs and threatening wildlife
Angler Claude Delley rattles the metal frame of his web versus the side of his boat on Switzerland's Lake Neuchatel, trying to get rid of dozens of tiny, brown mussels. Some plop back into the water however most sit tight. The sharp shells of the creatures - a fast-spreading, invasive species originally from the Black Sea - work away at the netting, suggesting he needs to change it twice as often as before. There is no option, he said. As quickly as the mussel clings to the web, it stays there. It is not just the webs. The Quagga mussels have actually blocked undersea pipelines. Stéphan Jacquet, one of a group of researchers studying the species, stated he had actually seen Swiss local crayfish, whose population remains in decline, encrusted in the animals, threatening suffocation. The mussels also consume substantial amounts of microscopic plants called phytoplankton, leaving less for other lake animals to eat. Potentially all biological classifications and significant links in the food cycle can be impacted, Jacquet, who operates at the INRAE CARRTEL lab even more south in Thonon-les-Bains, said. The mussels were very first identified in Switzerland in the River Rhine near Basel in 2014. Ever since they have spread to colonise at least six Swiss lakes consisting of Lake Geneva. The population, which has few predators, is poised to increase approximately 20 times in Switzerland in the next two decades, according to a 2023 study by marine research institute Eawag and Swiss universities based upon trends seen in the Fantastic Lakes of the United States considering that the 1980s. The mussels are currently present in France and Germany. It is not understood precisely how each lake was invaded, however mussel larvae can spread on rivers or currents and be introduced into brand-new bodies of water when boats or devices are moved. As soon as in, the species multiplies quickly with one individual capable of producing numerous countless larvae. When we look undersea, we can see that it has an rapid colonisation, really considerable, as these communities are now completely covered, from the surface to the depths, Jacquet said. Some Swiss lakes have actually been spared, consisting of Lake Zurich and Lake Lucerne. In some locations, authorities are now thinking about new rules for cleansing and shipping boats to stop the spread.
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Stellantis' CEO decreases to rule out job cuts in challenging market
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares on Monday decreased to rule out task cuts and stated staying up to date with Chinese competition and remaining profitable would need a huge effort, potentially including plant closures or offloading brand names. We will need to make huge efforts, Tavares informed French radio station RTL, including that it depended on the corporation's. customers to decide which brand names had a future and which may be. divested. It's the customers, not me, but there is no taboo. Tavares likewise stated the business's problems with the U.S. market, the main factor for its recent earnings caution, ought to be. fixed by the end of the year. It's basically an issue of extreme inventories, stated. Tavares, including: I think I can securely state that the problem will. be solved before Christmas 2024.
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Virgin Australia reports 2nd successive annual earnings ahead of possible IPO
Virgin Australia said on Monday it had taped its 2nd successive annual profit and a 6.8%. yearonyear boost in earnings, putting it in a more powerful. monetary position as it looks to pursue an ultimate initial. public offering. Qatar Airways stated two weeks ago it would purchase a 25% stake in. Australia's No. 2 provider, which would act as a cornerstone. financial investment ahead of an awaited return of Virgin Australia. into public ownership. The airline was bought by U.S. private equity firm Bain. Capital after it collapsed into voluntary administration in. 2020, and the essential competitor to Qantas Airways in 2015. returned to profit for the very first time in 11 years. Continued enhancement in profitability suggests we are. well-positioned to deliver great value and choice to Australian. tourists, Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said in a. statement. It is essential to our capability to re-invest in our. business and client experience, and strongly compete with. our major rival. Hrdlicka, who said in February she prepared to step down as. CEO when a replacement was discovered, said it had been a challenging. year for the air travel industry. Chief Financial Officer Race. Strauss recognized expense inflation as a crucial challenge. Virgin Australia did not release after-tax profit figures,. however reported hidden profits before interest and tax of. A$ 519 million ($ 350 million) for the financial year ended June. 30, a boost of 18.2% over in 2015's result. Qantas in August reported a 16% drop in yearly underlying. revenues before tax to A$ 2.08 billion, which it credited to. lower fares, greater spending on consumers and weaker freight. profits.
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North Korea set to explode cross-border roads with South amid drone row, Seoul says
North Korea is preparing to explode roads that cross the heavily militarised border with South Korea, Seoul said on Monday, in the middle of an intensifying war of words after the North implicated its rival of sending out drones over its capital Pyongyang. North Korean troops were working under camouflage on the roads on its side of the border near the west and east coasts that are most likely preparations to explode the roads, perhaps as early as on Monday, South Korea's military spokesperson stated. Last week, North Korea's Army stated it would completely cut roads and railways connected to South Korea and fortify the locations on its side of the border, state media KCNA reported. Individually, North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of sending drones to scatter a big number of anti-North brochures over Pyongyang, in what it called a political and military justification that could cause armed dispute. Lee Sung-jun, a representative for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, decreased on Monday to answer concerns over whether the South Korean military or civilians flew the drones. In further declarations over the weekend, North Korea cautioned of a horrible catastrophe if South Korean drones were again discovered to be flying over Pyongyang. On Sunday, it stated it has actually put 8 fully armed artillery units at the border on standby to open fire. South Korea's armed force has said its rejection to answer questions on the drones is due to the fact that resolving what the North has alleged would be to get drawn into a technique by Pyongyang to fabricate excuses for justifications. South Korea has looked for to boost its anti-drone defences considering that 2022, Lee said, when 5 North Korean drones entered its airspace and flew over the capital Seoul for several hours. Lee Kyoung-haing, a professional in military drone operations at Jungwon University, said civilians would have no difficulty getting drones with ranges of 300 km (186 miles), the round trip from the South to Pyongyang, with light payloads such as brochures. On Sunday, North Korea's defence ministry said the drones, which it stated were identified over Pyongyang on three days earlier this month, were the kind that required an unique launcher or a. runway and it was impossible a civilian group could introduce them. The two Koreas are still technically at war after their. 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The cross-border links are remnants of durations of. rapprochement in between the nations including a 2018 top. in between the leaders when they declared there would be no more. war and a new era of peace had opened. North Korea has actually reestablished heavy weapons into the. Demilitarized Zone border buffer and restored guard posts, after. the 2 sides stated a 2018 military arrangement targeted at easing. tensions no longer valid.
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India's space strategy: harness information and tiny satellites to catch market beyond SpaceX
India has a plan to sculpt out a beachhead in the fight for business area, officials say: crunching space information, building small satellites and introducing them inexpensively into orbit rather than challenging heavyweights such as SpaceX headon. In specific, it is taking goal at supplying economical services and hardware to sectors such as communications, farming and commodities, where top quality information is a. valuable resource. At stake is a launch market worth $14.54 billion by 2031,. and an associated data services market pegged at $45 billion by. 2030. The world has actually gone from satellites the size of a Boeing. plane to the size of a laptop computer, stated AK Bhatt, director general. of the Indian Space Association, an industry body. This is a sector that India can win, rather of challenging. heavy launches where Elon Musk has dominance. The country. currently has a historic benefit in data mining and. analysis. Because February, India has opened its area sector to private. players and developed a 10 billion rupee ($ 119 million) endeavor. fund to support space startups. It has likewise revealed prepare for. crewed area exploration and a mission to Venus, however the focus. is on establishing business ventures. In numerous ways it will be an uphill battle. Other nations. such as Japan and China have advanced area industries, and. styles on low-cost launches. Spaceflight itself is tough; the. start-up landscape worldwide is cluttered with failed boosters and. satellite designs. For India, the tech exists and the ability exists ... however space is challenging and really competitive, and while private. companies have actually shown that they can create a specific niche for. themselves, we need more evidence of idea, stated Namrata. Goswami, an area policy expert at Arizona State University. She added that the Indian federal government must be an anchor. customer for private market. The majority of the earnings growth is expected to come from. so-called downstream information applications, said Pawan Goenka,. chairman of IN-SPACe, India's space regulatory body. Those involve crunching data from orbit to assist improve crop. yields on earth, build more accurate navigation systems, strengthen. telecommunications, tighten up border security and fight climate. change, Goenka stated. Indian business such as Bellatrix Aerospace, Pixxel,. Agnikul Cosmos, Dhruva Space and others are already constructing or. have actually introduced little satellites or satellite elements. India's space firm, ISRO, last month finished the third. and last developmental flight for its Small Satellite Launch. Automobile. The style will then be handed to private business. Completion uses of Earth observation are large, Goenka said. What we are doing is address numerous parts of the puzzle. Bengaluru-based SatSure, for example, has been offering. real-time satellite information to the Airports Authority of India to. enhance air traffic management and security, assisting planes prevent. weather condition hazards. The project is expected to save 37.5 billion. rupees ($ 446 million) in fuel costs for airline companies each year by. 2025 and lead to an approximately 70% decrease in airport process. planning timelines, the authority said. Earth observation (EO) satellites - orbiting cams and. sensors - can open comparable cost savings in other areas, stated the. company's president, Prateep Basu. EO is solving problems that span throughout energies,. navigation, trading, markets, helping save millions of. dollars, Basu stated. GOVERNMENT PUSH Given that the government opened up the market, business big and. small have leapt in, with tradition IT firms like Infosys. investing in satellite imaging business GalaxEye Area. Solutions, Google-backed Pixxel signing agreements with. NASA, and Baring- and Promus-backed SatSure handling clients. such as HDFC Bank and worldwide seed company Syngenta. Dhruva Area turned into one of the very first to be handed a permit. to operate satellite communication centres on earth - to date. the dominion of ISRO. India is a software application powerhouse and produces some of the. best minds in the world in data science, artificial intelligence, and. expert system. The area downstream market is, at the. end of the day, a software application play, stated Aravind Ravichandran,. founder of France-based advisory company Terrawatch Space. The consultancy Euroconsult forecasts that in between 2023 and. 2032, about 26,104 little satellites - weighing less than 500. kilogrammes (1,100 lb) - will be put in orbit, averaging 1.5. lots of everyday launch mass. The firm expects the total little. satellite industry to be worth $110.5 billion in the next. decade. Indian space companies have actually already seen an influx of. financing - $126 million in 2023, a 7% increase from the $118. million raised in 2022 and a boost of 235% from the $37.6. million raised in 2021, according to Tracxn data. However India has just about 2% of market share in industrial. area activities, demand is still mainly dependent on international. clients, and reputable U.S., Russian and Chinese. business are formidable rivals. To really make a dent, (Indian) options need to scale to. the rest of south Asia and after that to the remainder of the world, stated. Pixxel founder and CEO Awais Ahmed.
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Port Tampa Bay resumes vessel operations
Port Tampa Bay resumed vessel operations and the port's shipping channels reopened, with vessel motions restricted to daylight hours, it stated on Saturday, days after Hurricane Milton barreled through Florida. A few of the very first vessels to return will be fuel tankers, cruise liner and vessels bring disposable freight, Port Tampa Bay stated in statement. Port Tampa Bay, Florida's largest freight port by tonnage, was shut for all vessel traffic from Oct. 8 due to typhoon Milton. More than 43% of Florida's fuel imports move through Port Tampa Bay, according to the port's website. Increasing floodwaters, fuel lacks and power blackouts are hindering cleanup efforts in Florida after Milton, that made landfall as a Classification 3 typhoon. Milton compounded the destruction left by Hurricane Helene which hit less than two weeks previously. At least 17 deaths have been reported from Milton, far less than the more than 200 individuals killed by Helene.
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During visit, Chinese premier may inaugurate airport built by Beijing in Pakistan
Attaullah Tarar, the Pakistani information minister, told reporters that the Chinese premier Li Qiang may inaugurate the operations of an airport built by China in Pakistan's Balochistan Province during his visit in the next week. Government and aviation sources confirmed that the start of operations for the $200 million Gwadar International Airport was delayed to allow time for a review of security following the August attacks in the region by militant separatists. Li will be visiting Pakistan with other ministers and officials from October 14 to 17. Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced this on Sunday. The meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes nine members including China, India Iran and Russia will be held in Islamabad on October 15 and 16. According to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (PAA), the new airport will handle both domestic and international flights and will be one country's largest airports. Officials said that the initial plan called for Shehbaz to open the airport with Chinese officials on August 14, but this was cancelled after an ethnic Baloch group began a sit-in demonstration. Separatist militant groups have been waging a decades-long war in Balochistan, resulting in frequent attacks on the Chinese government and army in the area to demand a piece of the mineral-rich resources in the region. The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan reported that two Chinese nationals died in an explosion last week near the international airport in the southern Pakistani town of Karachi. The Baloch Liberation Army, a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said that it targeted Chinese nationals including engineers. China announced on Thursday that it will work with Pakistan to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan. The region is home to a number of Islamist militants who are active since 2022, after the government revoked a ceasefire. (Reporting and writing by Gibran Pishmam in Islamabad, Ariba Sharif in Karachi, Editing by Emelia S. Sithole-Matarise).
US electric utilities promote more rate hikes after record year of increases
U.S. electric utilities are looking for to trek consumer power costs in 2024, extending last year's record rise in electrical energy rate increases, the Energy Information Administration stated on Monday.
Energies have increasingly requested for rate boosts in recent years to spend for power infrastructure as the nation's. grid faces an attack of extreme weather condition and ballooning demand. from the electrification of markets and the innovation. sector's information center construct out.
In 2023, state utility regulators approved almost $10. billion in rate increases, more than doubling the $4.4 billion. authorized in 2022, the EIA stated.
Two California utilities aiming to secure power. infrastructure versus wildfires by burying transmission lines,. and taking other costly procedures to solidify the electrical. network, represented one-third of last year's increases, the. EIA said.
The EIA estimates that another $8.9 billion of rate. increases will be authorized this year, but only if regulators. continue to approve demands at the same speed they have because. 2023.
From the beginning of 2023 through August 2024, regulators. authorized 58% of energy rate increase requests, the group stated.
Total rate requests so far in 2024 are $12.7 billion,. according to information from Regulatory Research study Associates (RRA),. which is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
RRA has actually been tracking rate cases considering that the early 1980s, and. 2023 was the most quantity of rate boosts requested in our. history, RRA senior research analyst Dan Lowrey stated.
(source: Reuters)