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Austria's OMV terminates Gazprom gas agreement after supply row
Austria's OMV stated on Wednesday it had actually ended its long-lasting gas supply contract with Gazprom after the Russian firm stopped shipments last month in the middle of a row that has been highly politicized due to the war in Ukraine. The step formally ends the moribund contract considering that Gazprom stopped 50 years of gas flows to the Austrian firm after OMV won an arbitration case against Gazprom over a separate agreement and said it would recoup its 230 million euros ($ 241. million) in damages by not paying Gazprom's invoices for the. primary agreement. OMV today announced the termination of its long-lasting. natural gas supply agreement with Gazprom Export in reference to. several fundamental breaches of legal responsibilities by. Gazprom Export. This termination takes instant result, OMV. said in a statement, describing Gazprom's shipment stop. The contract was due to run until 2040. OMV was amongst the couple of staying large, long-term buyers. of Russian pipeline gas in Europe after Gazprom lost almost all. its clients there after Russia's intrusion of Ukraine in 2022. Before the war, Russia was Europe's single most significant. provider of gas. Russian gas has kept streaming into Austria through pipeline. through Ukraine and Slovakia, albeit at lower volumes now OMV. has actually been cut off. The spat has placed the spotlight on Austria's. continued dependence on Russian gas although it has made. contingencies for a cut-off and has big volumes in storage. Gazprom did not comply with the contracts, which is why. OMV is instantly terminating the agreement, Austrian. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on X after OMV's statement. The Austrian state owns 31.5% of OMV. Our energy supply is secured due to the fact that we are well. prepared. Austria will not be blackmailed by Russia, Nehammer. added, accusing Russia of trying to weaponize its energy. materials.
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Serbia's Vucic assures to satisfy protesters' demands after train station catastrophe
Besieged by weeks of protests by trainees over a fatal train station catastrophe last month, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic acted on Wednesday to pacify the unrest by vowing to satisfy all their demands. The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof of the train station in the northern city of Novi Sad caved in on Nov. 1, eliminating 14 individuals and hurting three. One of those injured later on died of their injuries. Following the catastrophe, opposition celebrations, students and the public took to the streets, blaming the mishap on federal government corruption, negligence and nepotism that resulted in shoddy construction. The ruling union and Vucic denied the charges and said all those accountable for the catastrophe needs to be held to account. Students' demands included publication of all documents related to reconstruction of the station and release of jailed protesters. Vucic has faced other anti-government rallies considering that he initially pertained to power as deputy prime minister in 2012, however this is the very first time he has actually acquiesced protesters' needs. Everything we have and what the district attorney's workplace has ... will be made available to the general public tomorrow, Vucic told a. press conference. He said those jailed during protests had been released,. and pledged to pardon all who might be founded guilty at subsequent. trials. While Vucic spoke, numerous trainees who collected in. front of his office in the city centre jeered and required his. resignation. For these people who hear this sound, it's the noise of. somewhere around 600 of them ... I regard and appreciate them. tremendously, Vucic stated in a live TV broadcast. Irina Sekulic, a trainee activist, said day-to-day protests would. continue till authorities capture individuals who often clashed. with trainees at the rallies. We will not pull back, she said. Savo Manojlovic, leader of the Kreni-Promeni (Move-Change). opposition movement, criticised Vucic's handling of legal. files associated with the disaster. What a disgrace,
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Nigeria's Dangote Refinery makes first gas export to Cameroon
Nigeria's Dangote Refinery said on Wednesday it has made its very first export of gas to Cameroon, a milestone that could pave way for local energy integration and aid stabilise fuel costs across the area. The 650,000 barrel refinery built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos intends to take on European refiners when operating at full capacity and is expected to alter trading of refined items in the Atlantic basin. The business did not supply details of just how much was exported. Cameroon's energy firm Neptune Oil said in the declaration that both business were exploring new efforts to establish a trusted supply chain that will help support fuel prices and opportunities across the area. Neptune Oil said the gas supply deal was executed without intermediaries.
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Brazil's Petrobras awards $800 mln agreement to SLB for services in offshore fields
Brazil's Petrobras has awarded an $800 million agreement to significant oilfield providers SLB for integrated services across all overseas fields operated by the staterun oil company in the country, said SLB on Wednesday. SLB will supervise the building and construction of more than 100 deepwater wells, the firm said in a declaration, as part of Petrobras' strategies to rejuvenate already efficient fields and check out new areas. The three-year contract, set to start in April, will see the company supplying services generally in the Campos, Santos, and Espirito Santo basins, stated SLB. Operations in Brazil's so-called Equatorial Margin are also prepared, stated SLB, if Petrobras obtains a long-sought license to check out there throughout the agreement period. Petrobras has actually recently increased the amount it plans to purchase exploration and production as it seeks to renew its reserves, with its strategic strategy for the 2025-2029 period earmarking $77 billion for E&P activities.
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Why Nigeria's power grid is failing
Nigeria's national power grid is vulnerable to regular collapses, with the resulting power shortages proving a challenge to economic development and financial investment in Africa's most populated nation. The World Bank approximates that the Nigerian economy loses $29. billion a year due to its unsteady power supply, which causes. electrical power blackouts across the nation. Here is why Nigeria's grid is stopping working. WHAT CAUSES BLACKOUTS? Nigeria's aging power facilities is at the heart of the. crisis. Transmission lines and substations, some of which are. more than 40 years of ages, are prone to frequent failures. The government-owned Transmission Business of Nigeria (TCN). reports average transmission losses of 7.79 megawatts for each. 100 megawatts injected into the grid. Years of under-investment have actually left the grid susceptible to. tripping when need varies all of a sudden, stated Lagos-based. energy lawyer Ayodele Oni. Intensifying this is vandalism and attacks on transmission. infrastructure, particularly in Nigeria's north. In the last two. years, TCN taped 108 attacks on its towers and lines. GENERATION SPACE Another significant factor is that Nigeria, with a population of. more than 200 million individuals, only produces and distributes a. third of its set up generation capacity of 13,500 megawatts. And despite having the world's seventh-largest gas reserves,. Nigeria produces less than 10% of the electrical energy produced by. South Africa, a nation with a population a third the size. More than 75% of Nigeria's electrical power comes from gas-fired. power plants, mostly located in its southern region. The. rest is created by hydroelectric stations in the north. Power generation companies feed electrical power into the nationwide. grid, controlled by the federal government, which disperses it. through 11 regional distribution business to consumers. IS THERE A FIX? More than a decade after Nigeria privatised its electrical energy. sector, Nigeria's grid has actually hardly enhanced. However in 2015 the government permitted its 36 states to. create and transmit their own power. States like Lagos, the. nation's commercial hub, and 5 others have currently started. establishing independent power markets. The government is likewise dealing with the World Bank to develop. 1,000 mini solar grids to broaden power gain access to in backwoods A more resistant method is needed in Nigeria to. integrate decentralised energy sources, such as solar power. paired with storage, to complement the nationwide grid, stated. Sherisse Alexander, chief service officer at independent power. manufacturer WATT Renewable Corporation.
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Erdogan meets Somalia, Ethiopia leaders individually amid Somaliland dispute
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held different conferences with the leaders of Somalia and Ethiopia on Wednesday as part of his efforts to resolve a. disagreement in between the two Horn of Africa neighbours at odds over. the breakaway Somaliland region. In 2 posts on X, the Turkish Presidency said Erdogan held. bilateral meetings with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ankara. There were no. other details about the contents of the conferences. Abiy held a bilateral meeting with Erdogan and their. particular delegations, Ethiopia's Workplace of the Prime Minister. validated. Somalia's nationwide broadcaster SNTV reported Sheikh Mohamud. and Erdogan held discussions on reinforcing bilateral. relations and paving the way for a third round of talks in between. Somalia and Ethiopia, mediated by Turkey, during their bilateral. meeting. Turkey has actually so far hosted 2 rounds of conferences in between. the East African neighbours in an effort to repair their. relations. A third round of talks that had actually initially been set to. happen in September were cancelled, highlighting the stress. between the 2 countries. Somalia and Ethiopia fell out earlier this year after the. Ethiopians revealed strategies to construct a port in Somalia's. breakaway area of Somaliland, which has struggled to get. international recognition despite governing itself and enjoying. comparative peace and stability since stating independence in. 1991. Somalia is securely opposed to Somaliland's self-reliance quote. Landlocked Ethiopia, which has thousands of soldiers in. Somalia to combat al Qaeda-linked insurgents, stated it would. formally recognise Somaliland's independence in exchange for a. tactical strip of land, near where the Red Sea satisfies the Indian. Ocean. The spat has actually drawn Somalia closer to Egypt, which has. quarrelled with Ethiopia for many years over Addis Ababa's. construction of a vast hydro dam on the Nile River, and to. Eritrea, another of Ethiopia's opponents. Turkey has close ties with both Ethiopia and Somalia,. training Somalia's security forces and providing development. support in return for a grip on a crucial international shipping. path.
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Irish High Court refers Dublin Airport seat cap to EU court
Ireland's High Court has referred a conflict over a guest cap at Dublin Airport to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), according to a. judgment provided on Wednesday. The variety of passengers at Dublin airport, which carries. around 80% of the nation's air traffic, was topped at 32. million when planners authorized the building and construction of a 2nd. terminal in 2007, in part to avoid local roadway congestion. The airport has actually warned it is on course to overshoot that by. a million travelers this year. While a planning application has. been lodged to lift the cap to 40 million, the process is commonly. anticipated to take years. A variety of airlines, consisting of Ryanair and Aer. Lingus, challenged the restriction and in November the. High Court positioned a short-term remain on the Irish Aviation. Authority (IAA) cutting the number of traveler seats available. at Dublin Airport next summer season. Ryanair has stated the cap is in breach of EU legislation on. liberty of motion. Offered the midpoint of the EU law measures involved ... it. would not be possible to resolve the proceedings without a. referral to the CJEU, Thursday's judgment said.
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Air Canada CEO to attend to Canadian federal government hearing on carry-on baggage fees
The CEO of Air Canada will address a Canadian federal government committee panel on Friday about carryon luggage fees, according to a conference notification, after the nation's biggest provider just recently revealed such charges for some guests. Legislators in both Canada and the United States have slammed airlines in recent weeks for levying extra costs on baggage and seat projects, following an outpouring of anger by travelers on social media. Chief Executive Mike Rousseau will speak by videoconference, signing up with other airline company executives, after the carrier said last week it would charge for bigger carry-on bags from travelers going with its lowest-priced fare for North American paths starting on Jan. 3. The CEO of WestJet Airlines will likewise resolve the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities, according to a conference notification. Carry-on baggage charges will likewise be gone over throughout a. Friday meeting in between Transport Minister Anita Anand and. Canadian airline company executives ahead of the hectic winter travel. season. Previously this month, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. called out rising airline costs following testament by executives. from American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta. Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier. Airlines nowadays view their customers as little more. than strolling piggy banks to be shaken down for every possible. dime, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who chairs the. Long-term Subcommittee on Investigations, said at the hearing.
Biden's long-awaited Africa journey to promote a win against China
Joe Biden
sets off for Angola on Sunday on a journey that will deliver on a guarantee to visit Africa during his presidency and focus on a major, U.S.-backed train task that intends to divert vital minerals away from China.
The project, partly moneyed with a U.S. loan, links the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, offering a. quickly and efficient path for exports to the West.
At stake are huge supplies of minerals like copper and. cobalt, which are discovered in Congo and are a crucial part of. batteries and other electronics. China is the leading player in. Congo, which has actually become an increasing concern to Washington.
China signed a contract with Tanzania and Zambia in. September to revive a rival railway line to Africa's eastern. coast.
While Biden's journey is occurring in the subsiding days of his. presidency, Donald Trump will likely back the train and stay. a close partner to Angola when he returns to the White Home in. January, according to 2 officials who served under the. previous Trump administration.
Tibor Nagy, a retired profession ambassador and leading envoy to. Africa under the last Trump administration, stated Trump will. likely have two overarching issues concerning Africa. The first. is competition with China and Russia, the 2nd is access to. vital minerals.
This checks both boxes, he stated in an interview, referring. to the Lobito Atlantic Train (LAR).
The job is backed by global commodities trader. Trafigura, Portuguese building group Mota-Engil and train. operator Vecturis. The U.S. Advancement Finance Corporation has. supplied a $550 million loan to recondition the 1,300-kilometre. ( 800-mile) rail network from Lobito to Congo.
Biden was set to land briefly in West Africa's Cape Verde on. Monday morning, and meet the president there before flying on to. Angola. He will check out the nation's slavery museum in the capital. Luanda during the two-day trip and stop at the Lobito port on. Wednesday.
His trip provides on among a sweeping set of pledges to. Africa. Others remain latent, such as backing 2 permanent. seats for Africa at the U.N. Security Council.
Beyond the train project, Washington has actually likewise done little bit. to advance access to large reserves of African minerals that it. says are critical for nationwide security, and has racked up other. diplomatic problems.
This summer, it lost America's major spy base in Niger and. has actually not had the ability to discover an ally that will host those assets. This leaves the U.S. without military grip in the large Sahel. area that has become a hotspot of Islamist militancy.
Angola has actually long nurtured close ties with China and Russia. but has actually just recently moved more detailed to the West. Angolan officials say. they are keen to deal with any partner that can advance their. agenda to promote financial growth and hope the task spurs. investment in a variety of sectors.
China has just acquired prominence because Western nations. have probably not been paying much attention to Africa,. Angola's transportation minister, Ricardo Viegas d'Abreu, said in an. interview.
GROWING TIES WITH ANGOLA
Biden's go to shows a turnabout in U.S. ties with Angola. after a complicated and bloody history. The U.S. and the Soviet. Union backed rival sides in nation's 27-year civil war. Washington established relations with Angola in 1993, almost two. decades after it gained independence.
It's most likely poetic justice that the United States should. finance the rehabilitation of this route to which it had. contributed destruction a lot of years ago, said Akashambatwa. Mbikusita-Lewanika, a former Zambian government minister who. also ran part of the train that is to form the Lobito. passage.
Biden administration authorities have said the Lobito rail. job is not a one-off, but a trial run to prove the. private-public collaboration works, which it will result in other. major facilities tasks in Africa. They also hope it will. deepen U.S. ties with Angola, consisting of in security cooperation.
Critics have actually questioned whether the job, which has no. date for completion, will deliver the assured objectives. A. particular source of scrutiny is a 2nd stage, which would. connect the railway to Africa's east coast through to Tanzania,. possibly offering a rival path to China.
Judd Devermont, up until recently Biden's leading Africa consultant,. said Congo wishes to diversify its mining partners and turned down. the idea that linking the task to an eastern port in. Tanzania undermines the effort to loosen Beijing's grip on. Congo's minerals.
The Congolese have been extremely clear that they don't want to. see their entire mining sector dominated by China, he said in. an interview. It benefits everybody if there's a simple method to. relocation across the continent, whether that's critical minerals or. just moving stuff from India to Brazil to New York..
(source: Reuters)