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Sources say Boeing will win EU conditional approval for $4.7 billion Spirit deal
People with direct knowledge said that Boeing will receive EU antitrust approval of its $4.7 billion purchase of Spirit AeroSystems. Remedies to address EU concerns are expected to include the sale of some of Spirit AeroSystems' businesses. Boeing announced the agreement in July of last year. It aimed to streamline operations and improve the quality control years after the spin-off of the airline supplier. The people who spoke to Boeing said that Boeing's remedies for EU competition concerns are expected to be the same as those announced by the companies at the time of acquisition agreement. Spirit has sold its Europe-focused, loss-making activities to Airbus. It also divested of operations in Prestwick (Scotland), Subang (Malaysia), and Belfast, which support Airbus programs, as well those in Belfast, which do not. The European Commission (EC), which is the EU's enforcer of competition, will make a final decision on October 14. Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems have declined to comment. The British Competition Agency cleared the deal in August without any conditions. Boeing has considered purchasing its former subsidiary for some time. Analysts say that despite working with Airbus in Europe and other companies, the company has not been able to flourish independently. Boeing is trying to solve a corporate and industrial crisis which has affected one of its key suppliers. Reporting by Foo Yan Chee Editing Mark Potter
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Report says global renewable energy output has overtaken coal for the very first time.
A report from the think tank Ember revealed that renewable energy sources produced more electricity globally than coal for the first time during the first half 2025. This was due to rapid growth in China, India and other developing countries, the report showed. Most scientists believe that reducing coal power generation, since it emits twice as much carbon dioxide as the gas-based generation, will help to meet global climate goals. Ember reported that renewables such as solar and wind power provided 5,072 Terawatt Hours (TWh), or electricity, globally between January to June. This was more than coal's 4,896 terawatt hour supply. "We're seeing the first signs that a turning point is near," said Malgorzata Motyka. She's a senior analyst for Ember. Solar and wind power are growing at a rate that is fast enough to satisfy the growing demand for electricity in the world. The global electricity demand increased by 2.6% or 369 TWh during the first half 2025, compared to the same period of 2024. This was more than offset by an increase in solar energy output (306 TWh) and wind power output (97 TWh). China and India were the main drivers of this shift. The Ember report stated that China, as the largest electricity consumer in the world, has reduced its fossil fuel generation by 2%, while its solar and winds generation have grown by 43%, respectively. The report shows that India has seen a 29% and 31% increase in wind and solar power generation, respectively. This helped reduce the country's coal and gas consumption by 3.1%. During the same time period, fossil-fuel production increased in the United States as well as the European Union, due to a stronger demand and a weaker hydro- and wind power output. The report stated that in the U.S. coal-fired electricity generation increased by 17%, while gas-fired generation decreased by 3.9%, and in Europe, gas-fired energy generation increased by 14%, while coal-fired generation increased by 1.1%. The climate-change-skeptic U.S. president Donald Trump signed executive orders earlier this year aimed at increasing coal production. Last month, Trump also pledged his support for coal-fired electricity plants.
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Sources say that the tanker rates for Russian crude oil to India have risen due to increased seaborne exports.
Sources in the industry said that tanker freight rates to ship Urals crude oil from Russia's western port to India increased further at the end of September and in early October. This was in response to a dramatic increase in loadings in August. Indian refiners are continuing to import Russian oil, despite the punitive U.S. duties on Indian goods after India refused to stop importing Russian oil. The increase in crude exports to Russia's west ports of Primorsk (Ust-Luga), Novorossiisk and Ust-Luga from August was 500,000 barrels a day, a record. This is due to unplanned refinery repairs. The sources reported that the freight costs for transporting Urals to India from the Baltic port of Primorsk or Ust-Luga for loading in late October have risen to $7 million, compared to $6-6.5 for one-way trips from late August to mid-September. The rates for similar shipments out of the Black Sea port Novorossiisk, on Suezmax tanks, which carry about 140,000 metric tonnes, increased to around $6.2-6.5million, compared to roughly $6 million one month earlier. According to sources, both Greek shipowners and "shadow fleet" tanks are involved in the transport of Urals from Russian port. The Greeks who worked are still working. "No one has left the markets," said one trader. On October 1, the Group of Seven finance ministers announced that they would increase pressure on Russia, targeting those who continue to buy Russian oil at higher prices and those who facilitate circumvention. In early October, France detained the tanker Boracay which was loaded with 100,000 tonnes of Urals crude oil sourced from Primorsk by Rosneft. The cargo was destined for India’s Vadinar Port. The detention by France of a tanker suspected to be part of Russia's "shadow Fleet" is part a new European approach designed to stop revenue from funding Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. This was announced by President Emmanuel Macron. The Russian President Vladimir Putin called the French boarding of a tanker an act of piratery. (Reporting by ; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Freight rates are still high compared to the levels of January 2025, when shipping costs between Baltic ports and India ranged from $4.7 million to $4.9 million for each voyage. (Reporting and Editing by Emelia Matarise Sithole)
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Minister says there was no manipulation in the Air India crash investigation after a complaint by the pilot's dad
India's civil Aviation Minister denied Tuesday that there had been any "manipulation", in an official investigation of the crash of an Air India Dreamliner, in June. This was after the father the flight's pilot complained about the investigators' actions. This was the first official response to a complaint that Pushkar Raj Sabharwal had sent to a union of pilots last month, in which he claimed investigators had been to his home and suggested that his son may have cut off the fuel after takeoff. Sabharwal (91), complained to the Federation of Indian Pilots about "selective releases" of information by the investigators, which led to speculations regarding the actions of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal. India Today reported that Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said, "There has been no manipulation or dirty business in the investigation." When asked in an interview if he could give Sabharwal any assurances, he replied, "It's a very clean, very thorough process we follow according to the rules set up. So we will ensure that commitment is kept." Air India Flight 171 crashed in June just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 passengers. A preliminary report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed that all of the fuel engine switches on board had been switched to cutoff almost simultaneously just after takeoff. Sources briefed by U.S. officials on their early assessment of the evidence in July said that the cockpit recordings of the dialogue between the pilots confirmed the belief that Captain Sabharwal cut off the fuel flow to the engines. Pushkar Raj Saharwal and FIP did no respond immediately to emails seeking comments. In a letter he sent to the ministry, Sabharwal requested that the government of India open a second investigation into the fatal crash. India's Supreme Court has asked the government for a response to the plea to conduct an independent investigation. On Tuesday, it was reported that India had requested more information from Boeing following the activation of an emergency power system on a separate Air India Dreamliner 787 on Saturday. (Reporting and editing by Gareth Jones, Abhijith Ganapavaram)
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The forecasted growth of tourism in Spain is lower than expected due to a sluggish summer
The growth of Spain's tourism sector has been slowed sharply due to lower spending by Europeans and Americans, according to industry group Exceltur. Its contribution to the economic growth this year will also be less than expected. Exceltur expects that all tourism related activity in the second most visited country in the world will grow by 2.8% by 2025. This is a reduction from its previous estimate of 3.3% and from 5.5% last year. The group's initial estimate of 13,5% for the contribution of tourism to Spain's Gross Domestic Product was revised down to 13.1%. Oscar Perelli, Exceltur's Vice President of Communications, said at a press conference that tourism is not the primary driver of Spain's economy. He added that it will not exceed the expected 2.6% economic growth in Spain. The World Travel and Tourism Council projected that the number of international visitors would fall below the 100 million predicted earlier in the year. Spain recorded a record number of tourists last year. In August of this year, 66.8 millions tourists had visited, an increase of 3.9% compared to the same period last year. Jordi Hieru, the Spanish Tourism Minister, said that "I do not know if" we will reach 100 million tourists. He added that this was no cause for alarm, as tourist spending is still increasing. The sales of hotels, airlines and restaurants as well as other tourism related businesses rose by 2.8% in the peak summer season. This is a marked drop from the 6.3% increase recorded at the same period last year. Exceltur anticipates a 2% increase in sales for the fourth quarter. Exceltur reported that the slowing of growth was due to lower spending by German, French, Turkish and United States tourists. The increase of tourists from Britain (which accounts for 26,5% of the total number of visitors), China, and Poland helped to offset the trend in the peak season. However, the number of local tourists remained the same. Reporting by Corina Poons, Editing by Andrei Khalip & Peter Graff
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Wizz Air claims that a ban on engine disruptions by 2027 is not an 'absolute' guarantee
Wizz Air aims at ending engine-related groundings for its Airbus aircraft before the end of 2027. The CEO added later that the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney would determine the schedule. These comments are made as the airline industry continues its complaints about supply chain issues around the globe, including major engine manufacturers like RTX's Pratt & Whitney or CFM International. Wizz's Chief Financial Officer Ian Malin stated that the number of aircraft grounded due to long inspection waiting times has dropped from 60 at its peak, down to 38. Wizz reported that 41 aircraft were grounded at the halfway point of the year due to GTF engine inspections. The plan is to have the fleet deparked by 2027. "That is the goal that we are working towards," Malin said at the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading conference (ISTAT) in Prague. We don't have full control over our destiny. After his CFO's Tuesday speech, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi told journalists later in Gdansk that "we are at the mercy" of the manufacturer. Varadi said to Bloomberg in September that his goal was to turn Wizz Air around by the middle of 2027. Varadi stated that he was "pretty confident" that the fleet would be ready by the end 2027, but there is no "absolute assurance." Wizz Air's spokesperson refused to comment on the changes made to the schedule. Wizz, a Hungarian airline, has been struggling to compete with other European carriers financially in the last few years due to engine problems. It has been unable to increase its capacity due to the groundings and issued two profit warnings. "Pratt actually shows some availability of engines but the overall turn-around time is not improving...Pratt said that this is coming down. Malin replied, "I haven't yet seen it." He added, "It's extremely frustrating because we have been dealing with this for two and a half years." RTX, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, did not respond immediately to a comment request. Chris Calio, CEO of the U.S. Aerospace Group, said that in September, cases of aircraft landing on the ground because they were powered by Pratt engines had stabilized and would be expected to decrease, but "clearly, we still have work to do." The company anticipates a 30% increase in maintenance, repairs and overhaul services year-over-year.
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Wizz Air CFO expects engine failures to end by 2027
Wizz Air aims at ending engine-related groundings for its Airbus aircraft before the end of 2027. However, a senior executive stated on Tuesday that he has not seen an improvement in Pratt & Whitney's bottlenecks which are blamed for the blocking of dozens of jets. Ian Malin, CFO of Wizz Airlines, said that the number of aircraft grounded due to long inspection waiting times has dropped from 60 at its peak. Wizz reported that 41 aircraft were grounded at the halfway point of the year due to GTF engine inspections. The plan is to have the fleet deparked by 2027. We are working toward that target," he said at the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading conference (ISTAT) in Prague. He said, "That'll be challenging. Especially when we have 38 aircraft on the ground." Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varradi told Bloomberg that he wanted to change the fortunes of Wizz Air by mid-2027. Wizz, a Hungarian airline, has been struggling to compete with other European carriers financially in the last few years due to engine problems. It has been unable to increase its capacity due to the groundings and issued two profit warnings. "Pratt actually shows some availability of engines but the overall turn-around time is not improving...Pratt said that this is coming down. Malin replied, "I haven't yet seen it." He added, "It's extremely frustrating because we have been dealing with this for two and a half years." RTX, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, did not respond immediately to a comment request. Chris Calio, CEO of the U.S. Aerospace Group, said that in September, cases of aircraft being grounded due to Pratt engine failures have stabilized and are expected decrease, but "clearly, we have more to do."
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Indian states sign coal power agreements to meet increasing demand
Indian state electricity distributors sign long-term contracts to coal-fired generators in order to meet an expected surge in evening demand. This is despite efforts by the country to increase clean energy capacity. Bid documents examined by reveal that Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous State, and Assam, a state in eastern India, have recently withdrawn incentives for clean energy project, are hoping to sign deals within the next two month for at least seven gigawatts coal-fired electricity, collectively to be delivered in 2020. India Ratings & Research reports that more than 17 GW coal-fired power capacity was contracted in various stages during the 16 months leading up to July. This is the largest pipeline of this kind since the Covid Pandemic. Analysts say that the rush to purchase, fueled by the projected increase in demand for air conditioning during non-solar times and the slow expansion of battery storage capacity, is driving investment. It is also expected to slow down decarbonisation efforts, in the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Ashis Kumar Prdhan, senior consultant at Wood Mackenzie said that he believes the government's push to promote renewable energy will only prolong India's dependence on coal. India plans to increase coal power by 46%, from 210 GW to 307 GW in 2035. It also targets non-fossil energy capacity of 500 GW or nearly twice the current 251.4 GW. Pradhan stated that "we have revised our projections for coal-fired electricity generation in India. The peak is now expected to occur in the early 2020s as opposed to our previous outlook of the late 2030s." COSTS ARE RISING Adani Power announced in August that it would invest $5 billion into two coal-powered power plants. Torrent Power is evaluating plans for 5-7 GW in capacity over the next decade. This was announced by Jigish Mehta, the company's full-time director. Analysts say that while the plans could increase the coal share of the mix, solar energy is expected to be more popular during the day because it is cheaper. Mehta stated that "grid instability is a problem for state distribution companies due to the variability of renewable energy and the lack of scalable storage." Alexander Hogveen Rutter is an independent energy expert based in India. He said that building renewables and storing them was cheaper than adding new coal-fired power plants. He said that "new coal power is becoming more expensive, and the gap will continue to widen as batteries scale up." According to a report published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis in August, India has sold approximately 12.8 GW of battery energy storage for its development. However, only 219MW hours have been operational. Filings reveal that states such as Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have chosen to build new coal-fired power plants this year despite citing delays in renewable energy projects. Narendra Bhooshan is a senior official in the Uttar Pradesh Energy Department. He said that renewables alone could not fill the gap.
How Biden's Gaza pier project unwinded
The first time President Joe Biden's administration considered buying the U.S. armed force to build a drifting pier off Gaza to deliver help in late 2023, it was put on the backburner.
The United States was under pressure to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, which had been worsened by Israel's closure of many land border crossings, and sea deliveries were viewed as a possible service.
U.S. Admiral Christopher Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Personnel and a career Navy surface area warfare officer, told a conference that he was very worried that the sea could end up being too rough for a pier to provide humanitarian help and laid out weather-related risks, a former U.S. authorities and an existing U.S. official said.
It wasn't until early 2024 that the idea showed up again as the scenario in Gaza grew more desperate and aid organizations alerted that mass starvation among Palestinian civilians was looming.
We sort of reached a point where it appeared proper to take more risk due to the fact that the need was so excellent, a former senior Biden administration official said.
The resulting pier objective did not work out.
It included 1,000 U.S. soldiers, provided only a portion of the promised aid at an expense of nearly $230 million, and was from the start beleaguered by bad luck and mistakes, including fire, bad weather condition and dangers on coast from the fighting in between Israel and Hamas.
Biden, after assuring a massive increase in help, acknowledged that the pier had disappointed his goals. I was enthusiastic that would be more successful, he told reporters on July 11.
The internal discussions about the Gaza pier, consisting of discarded alternatives to briefly deploy soldiers to the enclave, have not been previously reported.
The pier objective, which was officially ended recently, was the most controversial of the U.S. military's attempts to help include the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war that appeared on Oct. 7, 2023, and has actually drawn criticism from Biden's Republican critics and numerous present and former help employees.
The effort also underscores the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's battles to bring the conflict to a close, both of which are in focus during his see to Washington today.
The Pentagon referred questions about the pier to remarks made at a July 17 rundown with Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy leader of U.S. Central Command. In it, Cooper said the mission was a success, delivering the largest quantity of help ever into the Middle East.
Mike Rogers, the Republican who leads the Pentagon's. oversight committee in your house of Representatives, called the. pier a humiliation.
The pier was an ill-conceived political computation by the. Biden administration, Rogers told .
NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND
With alarm rising over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in. 2023, Curtis Reid, chief of staff at the White Home National. Security Council, was tasked with creating a working group with. various government firms to take a look at ways to increase help. into Gaza.
( It) was an ask for firms to put whatever you got. on the table, the previous senior official said. The Pentagon. then started taking a look at alternatives.
Requested comment, the NSC acknowledged inter-agency. conversations on possible policy choices.
Due to the fact that of this work, we had the ability to advance the delivery. of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, making use of every tool. possible, stated Adrienne Watson, an NSC representative.
When the head of the armed force's Central Command, General. Michael Erik Kurilla, at first briefed Defense Secretary. Lloyd Austin about the pier objective, his very first proposition included. a minimal variety of U.S. soldiers on the ground, briefly, to. attach the pier to the shore, the previous authorities stated.
Austin knew that the White Home was opposed to. releasing U.S. forces to Gaza and asked Kurilla to go back and. rework it, a current U.S. official and the previous authorities said.
Kurilla produced a plan to train Israeli forces to do the. setup of the pier on the shore, the former authorities. added. Israeli forces later carried out the plan. The Israeli. prime minister's workplace and defense ministry referred '. concerns about the pier to the U.S. military.
Kurilla's Central Command declined to discuss the record. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of privacy,. rejected the account and said boots on the ground was never a. factor to consider.
Present and former officials explained Central Command as. incredibly positive the pier task would succeed.
CENTCOM and General Kurilla, from Day 1, they were. consistent in stating: 'We can do this,' the previous U.S. official stated.
The first turn of misfortune began April 11, when a fire. broke out in the engine room of the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, a. Navy ship transferring part of the pier system to the. Mediterranean.
The team put out the fire but the ship had to reverse to. the United States.
THREE FOOT WAVES
Weather condition was an even larger issue.
An early warning of the difficulties from rough seas came last. summertime, when U.S. troops attempted to set up the pier on an. Australian shore during a military workout.
The sea was too rough, a military officer who straight. dealt with the pier workout told .
In the end, the soldiers could not connect the pier to the. beach itself, and rather brought products ashore utilizing boats to. bridge the gap in between completion of the drifting pier and the. beach.
U.S. officials acknowledge that the Mediterranean weather. was a worry. However they were unprepared for how bad the sea. conditions turned out to be.
The forecast that they had (was) essentially that the sea. state was going to be three or less up till around September,. said one senior U.S. defense official, referring to sea state. three, when waves do not go beyond three feet.
Instead, waves broke the pier simply 9 days after it became. operational on May 16. The damage was so bad that it had to be. relocated to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repair work.
The occurrence would be show the norm, with bad weather condition. keeping the pier inoperative for all but 20 days-- half as long. as it required to bring the system across the sea to Gaza.
While there were no deaths or understood direct attacks on the. pier, three U.S. soldiers suffered non-combat injuries in assistance. of the pier in May, with one medically left in crucial. condition.
OVER-ESTIMATING DISTRIBUTION
Providing the food, shelter and medical care that was. brought onshore through the pier likewise proved more difficult than. expected.
The U.S. military aimed to increase to as many as 150 trucks. a day of help coming off the pier.
However since the pier was just operational for a total of 20. days, the military says it moved an overall of only 19.4 million. pounds of help into Gaza. That would have to do with 480 trucks of help. provided in total from the pier, based upon estimates by the. World Food Programme from earlier this year of weight brought by. a truck.
The United Nations states about 500 truckloads of aid are. needed everyday to deal with the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
Simply days after the very first deliveries of aid rolled off the. pier in Gaza, crowds overwhelmed trucks and took a few of it.
Israel's killings of 7 World Central Cooking area employees in. April and its usage of an area near the pier as it staged a. hostage rescue healing objective in June also dented the. self-confidence of help companies, on whom the U.S. was relying to. bring the supplies from the coast and distribute to citizens.
A senior U.S. defense authorities acknowledged that aid. delivery showed to be possibly more difficult than the. organizers anticipated.
One previous authorities said Kurilla had actually raised distribution as. an issue early on.
General Kurilla was also really clear about that: 'I can do. my piece of this, and I can do circulation if you task me to do. it,' the former authorities stated.
However that was clearly scoped out of what the job was. Therefore we were reliant on these global companies.
Present and former U.S. officials informed that the. United Nations and help companies themselves were always cool. to the pier.
At a closed-door conference of U.S. officials and aid. companies in Cyprus in March, Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, offered. tacit support for Biden's pier project.
But Kaag worried the UN preference was for land, land,. land, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
The United Nations decreased to talk about the meeting. It. referred to a rundown on Monday where a spokesperson for the. company said that the U.N. appreciated every way of getting. help into Gaza, consisting of the pier, but more gain access to through land. routes is needed.
The hidden concern for aid companies was that Biden,. under pressure from fellow Democrats over Israel's killing of. civilians in Gaza, was pushing a service that would at finest be. a short-term fix and at worst would take pressure off Netanyahu's. federal government to open land routes into Gaza.
Dave Harden, a previous USAID objective director to the West. Bank and Gaza, explained the pier project as humanitarian. theater.
It did ease the pressure, sadly, on having the.
(source: Reuters)