Latest News
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Three people killed in Russia's strikes on Black Sea ports of Ukraine
Officials said that Russia has intensified its pressure on Ukraine’s main trade routes by attacking two Ukrainian Black Sea port cities and killing three people. Regional prosecutors reported that a Russian drone attack in the southern city Mykolaiv caused damage to three civilian foreign flagged vessels. Two Ukrainians were killed in one of the early Friday morning strikes on a foreign vessel. Local officials confirmed that another man was killed during a Russian attack against Odesa, Ukraine’s largest seaport. ATTACKS HAVE DETROYED GRAIN SHIPMENTS The Russian defence ministry has confirmed that its forces have struck Ukrainian port facilities in Odesa, Chornomorsk and overnight. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's export routes during the war. However, the strikes have intensified over the past few weeks and are now focusing on deepwater port facilities that handle a large amount of the country's grain - and other cargo - which is vital to the wartime economy. Ukraine's Seaports Authority said on Thursday that Russia struck Ukrainian ports and civil vessels several times in the month of July, killing eleven people, including port employees and foreign crew members. Analysts and traders say that the strikes have caused a partial suspension in grain purchases, as well as a complete suspension of grain shipments. Local authorities reported that a Russian missile attack late Thursday night on a building housing residential units in Odesa killed two people and injured others. "Never before has anything like this happened. There are so?many air alerts. Viktoriia, an Odesa resident, said that it's "practically one alert after another". Ukraine is continuing its campaign to isolate Russia's annexation of Crimea and disrupt the logistics for Moscow's military. Robert Brovdi said that Ukraine struck another?12 Russian ships in the Black Sea Friday. He said that the total number of vessels that were struck in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov this month was now 159. The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed that Russian forces have attacked 24 Ukrainian military vessels in the last week. (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, Andrew Heavens and Anna Pruchnicka)
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Latvian PM: We are in discussions with a strategic investor to save airBaltic
Prime Minister Andris Kubergs said that the Latvian government was in talks with a strategic investor to help airBaltic. The carrier is trying to stabilize its finances and avoid default. These comments are made ahead of a meeting on August 3, at which airBaltic - in which Lufthansa Germany has a minor stake - will ask bondholders for short-term funding. Kulbergs said in an interview with the?widely-reaching Kulbergs on Thursday that they were talking to a serious company. He declined to identify it. "It's a matter of executing this summer... We have to take the necessary steps to prepare the company for a strategic shareholder... "If that happens, then airBaltic is going to fly," he said. Kulbergs said that Latvia's primary condition for any investors would be to maintain airBaltic hub at Riga Airport, where it's the largest airline. He added: "I think this is a good proposal for the investor." Questions about the stake that a potential investor might be able to take in the carrier were dismissed. AMBITIOUS GROWTH TASKS AirBaltic didn't specify how much money it needs to raise in its announcement about the meeting on August 3. Fitch Ratings stated in a report last week that the Latvian government has not yet repaid a EUR30m ($34m) short-term lending due in August. In June, it failed to replenish a required reserve account under its?2029 Senior Secured Notes. AirBaltic’s financial struggles highlight the fact that rising costs following the U.S./Israeli war against Iran have revealed structural problems at some airlines. This has fueled investor concerns about the ability of these airlines to pay their debts. The airline, which has a fleet consisting of '55 Airbus A220-300 planes and aims to double this number by 2030, repeatedly delayed plans to list on the stock exchange due delays in engine deliveries that have 'ground many of its aircraft. Kulbergs stated that the management would be presenting a new business proposal?next Monday outlining necessary restructuring measures to put the airline back on a sustainable basis. The (business) plan is dependent on a number of factors to be in place. The first is cash and the second is a strategic investor. He said that "airBaltic"s growth targets were unrealistic because it had lost access to Russian and Ukrainian markets due to Moscow's war on Ukraine. He said that the COVID-19 epidemic and the Middle East Crisis had also affected its operations.
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Ukraine's Naftogaz appoints Fedorenko as CEO
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Friday that the state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz would appoint Sergiy Fedorenko as CEO to replace Sergii Koreteskyi, who was appointed prime minister following a sudden government reshuffle. Zelenskiy stated that Fedorenko will be leading the company for a set period of time. However, he did not specify how long this term would last. Zelenskiy wrote in a blog post that it was important to implement all the plans we made for winter, despite 'the ongoing Russian attacks. The Russian campaign against Ukraine's Energy Sector has made Naftogaz the primary target. On Friday, its gas production facility located in the northeastern Kharkiv Region was again attacked. Zelenskiy, who endorsed Koretskyi's appointment as the head of Ukraine's Government, praised his experience in protecting?Naftogaz infrastructure from strikes and ensuring enough gas was stored for the winter season. Officials in Ukraine warn that the country should prepare for the harshest winter yet if it is to continue the four-year conflict with Russia. They say that Russian attacks on the energy sector during the previous winter have caused significant damage. (Reporting and editing by Yuliia Dyesa)
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Twenty pupils die in Uganda bus crash, government bans all school outings
Authorities said that 20 schoolchildren were killed when a bus carrying them crashed late on Thursday night, after returning from a visit to some 'waterfalls' in eastern Uganda. On Friday, the government announced that it would ban all school trips following the tragic events of last week. Online posts and outpourings in grief urged better safety standards. In a police post on X, they said that preliminary investigations?suggested that the driver had lost control and the bus veered?off?the road, then turned over when it hit a large rock. Police said that the bus was owned by King David Junior School, located in Kampala's capital, on its way back from an educational trip to Sipi falls. It crashed in Chekwatit Village in Kapchorwa District. Officials said that three adults, as well as several children, were also injured. Road accidents in Uganda are not uncommon. Experts blame poor maintenance of vehicles and lack of street lighting. In October of last year, 46 people died in a bus accident on one of the main highways of the country between the capital and the northern city?Gulu. Chrysostom muyingo, the Education Minister had "put on hold all school trips and excursions effective immediately" and until further notice. This was announced by a government communications agency on Friday. (Reporting and writing by Elias Biryabarema, Writing by Vincent Mumo Nzilani, Editing by Alexander Winning & Andrew Heavens).
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Air China and Shenzhen Airlines purchase 55 Airbus jets at a list price of $12.4 Billion
Air China and Shenzhen Airlines, China's flag carrier, will purchase 55 -Airbus aircraft at a list price of $12,4?billion. The move is part of the Chinese flag holder's efforts to modernise and expand its fleet. Air China has agreed to purchase 15 A350-900 wide body jets. Shenzhen Airlines, on the other hand, will buy 40 narrow-body A320neo family aircraft. This is according to an Air China filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Delivery of the A350-900 jets is scheduled between 2030 and 2032. The A350 900 jets are valued at about $6.09billion based on Airbus list prices for January 2025. The A320neo aircraft family, worth a total of $6.35 billion, based on the January 2024 list prices, is scheduled for delivery between 2029-2032. Air China stated in its filing that Airbus would offer significant discounts on large aircraft orders, which is a common practice. Both airlines will finance the purchase through a combination of their own funds and commercial bank loans, as well as other financing arrangements. Chinese carriers are re-building and expanding their fleets in response to the pandemic. Air China stated that the new aircraft would help 'optimise its fleet structure,?routes network, improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs. The A320neo competes with the medium-haul Boeing 737 MAX while?the A350 900 is largely?used for long-haul international flights. Reporting by Julie Zhu, Time Hepher, Ethan Wang, Ryan Woo, and Ethan Wang in Hong Kong; editing by Susan Fenton
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Greece warns that EU sanctions against Russia could lead to a loss of LNG market share by rivals
Two Greek government officials stated on Friday that Greece objected to a'sanctions package' against Russia and warned the EU about a possible loss of market share by non-EU competitors if a ban was imposed on the transfer of Russian 'gas' to third countries. Two sources claim that European Union envoys were unable to reach an agreement on Wednesday on the 21st package against Russia because a number of countries, including Greece and Austria, objected. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said on Monday that EU countries are undecided about tightening restrictions against Russian liquefied gas. Greece dominates Europe's market for LNG carriers and is one of the largest players in the world, competing with Japan, China and United States. One of the officials said: "From Athens’ perspective, any new restrictive package must be carefully calibrated in order to maximise pressure on Moscow, while minimising unintended consequences for European consumers, businesses, and competitiveness." As a result of its sanctions policy, Europe should not be able to surrender entire economic sectors or market shares to non-EU actors. The official stated that sanctions should be designed to erode Russia's economic capability, not create strategic windfalls at the expense of Europe. Due to the sensitive nature of the issue, both?officials as well as the two sources spoke under the condition of anonymity. The EU has pushed the talks on the 21st package of sanctions to July 23. Until then, the price of Russian oil will remain at $44.10 per barrel.
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Kuwait claims Iranian attack damages water desalination and power generation station
Kuwaiti authorities reported?on?Friday that an Iranian attack?hit one of Kuwait's power generating and?water -desalination stations, causing a fire, damage, and the interruption of a number of electricity generation units. The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy reported that firefighters brought the fire under control, while technical teams assessed the damage, secured the station and worked to restore service as quickly as possible for the affected electricity generation units. Iran claimed to have launched a new attack on U.S. military facilities in the Middle East on Friday. This included 'the first direct attack on Syria, following a sixth night of 'U.S. Attacks on Iranian military installations. The?Irani military announced early on Friday that it had?attacked?U.S. Facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, Ahmed Elimam)
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Sources: Assailants board a chemical products tanker near Yemen in suspected hijacking.
Sources from maritime security said that armed 'assailants' are believed to be in control of the chemical tanker Asana, which was seized by armed gangs on Friday off the southern coast of Yemen and in the Gulf of Aden. Ship tracking data revealed that the small tanker had not confirmed its flag and had named Bosaso, a port in Somalia, as its next destination. One of the maritime safety sources stated that based on initial assessments the incident seemed to be more related to Somali pirates than Yemen's Iran aligned Houthi militia. The British Navy agency UKMTO reported on Friday that an unauthorised person boarded a vessel while it was transiting east through the Gulf of Aden 65 nautical miles south of Yemen's Al Mukalla Port. Vanguard, a British maritime risk management company, said that details about the number of attackers, the circumstances surrounding the boarding and the condition of the vessel and its crew were still unclear. An official of the Greek maritime security company Diaplous confirmed that a South Korean warship was dispatched to the area. Ambrey, a British maritime security company, said that there was no armed security team on board the vessel when the incident took place. The attackers were believed to be members of a pirate group. Exon Energy of the Marshall Islands was listed as the vessel's operator in?shipping database, but it could not be contacted for comment. Sources told Reuters that Iran had asked Yemen's Houthis if the United States struck Iranian power infrastructure to be ready to shut down?the Red Sea Oil Route. This poses a new and potent threat to global energy supply. Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou. Editing by William Maclean.
Telstra CEO points out undocumented change in software as cause of outage during Senate testimony
Telstra CEO Vicki. Brady said on Friday that the outage last week at Australia's biggest telecoms.firm was probably caused by a.missed software update and an undocumented.design change.on a network.time-keeping.device.
Last Wednesday's outage was the latest of a series that has hit Australia's telecoms sector in the last few years. It cut off phone service for thousands of customers and disrupted wireless payment systems.
Optus, Australia's second largest telecoms company, experienced a?13 hour disruption in emergency call services, which may have led to four deaths.
This was followed by a cyberattack in 2022 that exposed the personal information of millions of people and an outage in 2023, which left millions without internet or phone for a whole day.
Brady stated in her opening remarks to the Senate that maintenance work on network timing and synchronisation gear triggered a software configuration which reset the device's time to 2006.
Telstra's network was affected by this failure, resulting in voice and data services being disrupted, as well as calls to Triple Zero.
This issue occurred because a design change made to the time-keeping system to correct a previous fault was not properly documented. The maintenance team did not know how the equipment would react when it was restarted.
The device also lacked a software update.
Brady said to the Senate that the outage might not have occurred if the software update had been completed or if the design change was properly documented and reviewed after the previous incident and reflected in the maintenance procedure.
Our investigation will examine why the design change wasn't documented, why the software update wasn't completed, and what changes need to be made in our control systems so that known risks can be captured, prioritised, and closed before they affect customers.
Brady moved to Telstra from Optus, owned by Singtel. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore; Rajasik Mukherjee)
(source: Reuters)