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School bus fire in Thailand kills at least 23
At least 23 individuals passed away in Thailand when a school bus bring more than 40 students and instructors on an expedition ignited in the outskirts of the capital Bangkok, cops said on Tuesday. Twenty 3 bodies have been determined, Trairong Phiwpan, forensic science commissioner told press reporters, with an investigation on the causes underway. Sixteen trainees and 3 instructors were sent out to a healthcare facility for treatment, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit stated. Images posted on social media and carried by regional news outlets revealed thick grey smoke putting out of the bus, parts of which were still on fire. The blaze was later on snuffed out. A Reuters professional photographer saw fire trucks, police and rescue vehicles parked around the blackened vehicle, with a cluster of firefighters at the entrance. Teachers told us that the fire sparked extremely rapidly, acting police chief Kittirat Phanphet told an interview. From talking to witnesses, our company believe the surge was caused by a stimulate from the tyre that lit the gas cylinder that was powering the automobile, he stated, adding that some trainees gotten away through the window. We are examining all individuals, consisting of the bus company to see if this was a case of carelessness. The bus was a gas vehicle (NGV), according to Transport Minister Suriya. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the trainees were on a field trip from the province of Uthai Thani, about 250km ( 155 miles) north of the capital. As a mother, I would like to reveal my inmost acknowledgements to the families, she said in a social media post on X.
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UK's last coal plant shutdown bodes well for US LNG exports: Maguire
United States exporters of melted natural gas (LNG) are likely cheering the shutdown of the last coalfired power plant in the United Kingdom, as the relocation locks in longterm gas need by the world's 6th largest economy. By closing the 2,000 megawatt (MW) coal plant in Nottinghamshire, Britain has ended up being the very first G7 country to end coal-fired power production and make significant progress versus energy shift and contamination decrease targets. However the move likewise elevates natural gas to the UK's the majority of vital power fuel, and indicates the country will likely require to boost gas imports moving forward even as power firms continue to roll out renewables and other types of tidy power output. That's excellent news for LNG exporters in the U.S., which are the world's largest providers of the super-chilled fuel and are targeting growth into European markets which are quicker and less expensive to service than more remote buyers in Asia. GAS DEFICIT UK gas intake has surpassed domestic gas production for the past 20 years, according to the 2024 Energy Institute Analytical Review of World Energy. In 2023, the UK's gas shortfall was just over 29 billion cubic meters, which is comparable to the yearly gas output of Kazakhstan, which was the 24th largest gas manufacturer internationally last year. Historically, the UK has actually depended on Norway to offer a bulk of the UK's gas imports by pipeline, and around 41% of total UK gas imports came from Norway in 2023, according to UK government information. Nevertheless, pipeline capacity constraints combined with a. drive to improve UK energy security has spurred a constant rise in. UK LNG imports over the past years. LNG imports enable power companies to increase the quantity of gas. that is stored within the UK, and can function as a hedge against the. rate and supply volatility stemming from heavy dependence on only. a couple of pipeline suppliers. In between 2018 and 2023, UK LNG imports leapt by 171% from. 7.2 billion cubic meters (BCM) to 19.4 BCM, according to the. Energy Institute. That growth surpassed that of Europe as a whole over that. duration, and in volume terms positioned the United Kingdom second. only to France amongst LNG importers in Europe from 2018 through. 2023. US BOOM This climb in UK LNG demand came at a best time for U.S. LNG exporters, who have actually been on a drive to diversify LNG sales. beyond Asia. Between 2008 and 2018, around 64% of U.S. LNG exports was. shipped to Asian markets such as Japan, China and South Korea. Those nations are thought about long-term growth markets for. gas, therefore are natural targets for all LNG exporters. However, U.S.-based sellers are at a serious competitive. drawback compared to Australia and Qatar in serving Asian. markets, due to longer journey times. The trip from the U.S. East Coast to Southern China, for. instance, can take 35 days, according to LSEG. That is almost 4 times longer than from Australia and two times. the period from Qatar, and implies U.S. vessels are tied up for. far longer on those routes compared to their competitors. The freight economics turned, nevertheless, on European routes. The journey time from Cove Point on the U.S. East Coast to the. U.K.'s Grain LNG import terminal is approximately 11 days. That compares to nearly 20 days from Qatar and 30 days from. Australia, therefore suggests that U.S. LNG shippers can provide faster. shipment schedules and lower freight expenses than their peers. And during 2022 and 2023 - when Europe's power markets were. rising following Russia's invasion of Ukraine - lots of buyers. were happy to pay leading dollar for rapid and regular LNG materials. in order to avoid power failures. CAPTIVE U.S. exporters took full advantage of the boom in European. LNG import demand in 2022 and 2023, more than doubling shipments. to the continent in 2022 to a record 52.5 million metric loads,. and after that raising sales volumes by an additional 8% in 2023. Up until now in 2024, however, the speed of sales to Europe has. contracted by 22%, dealing a blow to the short-haul service. paths from the U.S., Kpler data shows. Sales to the UK so far this year are down. roughly 60%, and the lowest since 2021. Fortunately for U.S. LNG sellers, an approximately 43% increase in LNG. imports from Asia has balanced out the volume loss to Europe, and has. pushed total LNG exports to a new high so far this year. Nevertheless, the greater deliveries to Asia have come at the cost. of lengthier journeys and longer turn-around times before vessels. can get refilled. Moving forward, nevertheless, U.S. LNG exporters will be hoping. for a rebound in UK LNG demand, which might help prevent any power. supply problems following the coal plant closed down, and fuel fresh. growth in one of the most profitable U.S. LNG trade paths. << The viewpoints expressed here are those of the author, a. columnist .>
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Airlines suspend flights as Middle East stress increase
Concerns over a broader dispute in the Middle East have triggered international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to prevent afflicted air space. Below are some of the airlines that have actually changed services to and from the region: AEGEAN AIRLINES The Greek airline company cancelled flights to and from Beirut until Oct. 31 and to and from Tel Aviv up until Oct. 6. AIR ALGERIE The Algerian airline company suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice. AIRBALTIC. Latvia's airBaltic cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv up until. Oct. 31. AIR EUROPA. The Spanish airline cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until Oct. 2. AIR FRANCE-KLM. Air France on Sept. 30 suspended Paris-Tel Aviv and Paris-Beirut. flights until Oct. 8. KLM has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv till Oct. 26. The Franco-Dutch group's affordable unit Transavia cancelled. flights to and from Tel Aviv up until March 31, 2025, and flights. to Amman and Beirut up until Nov. 3. AIR INDIA. The Indian flag provider suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv. till further notice. BULGARIA AIR. The Bulgarian carrier cancelled flights to and from Israel up until. Oct. 15. CATHAY PACIFIC. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv. until March 27, 2025. DELTA AIR LINES. The U.S. provider stopped briefly flights between New York and Tel Aviv. through Dec. 31. EASYJET The UK spending plan airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in. April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025, a spokesperson. stated. EMIRATES. UAE's state-owned airline company cancelled flights in between Dubai and. Beirut till Oct. 8. FLYDUBAI. The Emirati airline on Sept. 30 cancelled Dubai-Beirut flights. up until Oct. 7. IAG IAG-owned British Airways cancelled flights to and from Tel . Aviv through Oct. 7, the airline company said in an e-mailed remark. Spanish inexpensive carrier Vueling cancelled operations to Tel . Aviv until Jan. 12, 2025, while flights to Amman were cancelled. until more notification. IRAN AIR. The Iranian airline cancelled all flights to Beirut till. further see, a company representative told regional media consisting of. the Tasnim news agency on Sept. 28. IRAQI AIRWAYS. The Iraqi nationwide carrier suspended flights to and from Beirut. up until further notification, Iraq's transportation ministry stated on. Sept. 27. ITA AIRWAYS. Italy's ITA Airways extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights. through Oct. 31. LOT The Polish flag provider suspended flights to Lebanon until. further observe, it said in an emailed talk about Sept. 20. LUFTHANSA GROUP. The German airline group, that includes Lufthansa, SWISS,. Austrian Airline Companies, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, on Oct. 1. extended the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv until. Oct. 31 and Beirut up until Nov. 30. Flights to Tehran are. suspended till Oct. 14 for the group and until Oct. 26 for the. Lufthansa airline. SunExpress, a joint endeavor between Lufthansa and Turkish. Airline companies, has actually suspended flights to Beirut through. Dec. 17. PEGASUS The Turkish airline company cancelled flights to Beirut till Oct. 7, a business representative stated. RYANAIR. Europe's most significant budget airline company cancelled flights to and from. Tel Aviv till Oct. 26, pointing out functional limitations. QATAR AIRWAYS. The Qatari airline temporarily suspended flights to and from. Beirut until additional notification. SUNDAIR. The German airline company cancelled Berlin-Beirut and Bremen-Beirut. flights until Oct. 31. UNITED AIRLINES. The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the. foreseeable future due to security reasons. VIRGIN ATLANTIC The UK airline extended the pause of its flights to and from. Tel Aviv till completion of March 2025, a spokesperson said in an. e-mailed remark. LEBANESE AIRSPACE SIGNALS Britain recommended UK airline companies not to get in Lebanese airspace. from Aug. 8 until Nov. 4 citing prospective threat to aviation from. military activity.
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Ireland edges into leading 10 international tax haven ranking
Ireland has leapfrogged the Bahamas to become the world's ninth most considerable tax sanctuary, according to a ranking by pressure group the Tax Justice Network, which projects for tax openness. Ireland first look in the international leading ten puts it along with countries such as the British Virgin Islands, which tops the list, and the Netherlands, having actually edged up from eleventh place in the previous report in 2021. The study determines the quantity of business financial activity in countries, consisting of cash circulations, in addition to openness and tax schemes on offer, designating a points-based ranking. The Tax Justice Network is extremely critical of Britain's. abroad areas, such as the Virgin Islands. But it likewise. highlights the growing significance of Ireland. The list was released soon after Ireland received $14. billion in back taxes from Apple, after the European Court of. Justice said the nation's favourable tax treatment of the. iPhone maker had actually been illegal. A representative for Ireland's Department of Financing said. Ireland was not a tax sanctuary and that it had taken actions to. take on aggressive tax preparation by reforming its tax code and. that it supported international tax reform. Nessa Ni Chasaide of Ireland's Maynooth University stated. Dublin had actually responded to criticism by altering instead of. dropping beneficial tax plans, enabling international. business write off the value of intellectual property against. earnings to pay less tax. Ireland plays international tax video games in a really sophisticated. method, she said. Every time it comes under pressure, it has a. new video game. Ireland is chuckling all the method to the bank. Business tax revenues have blown up in Ireland over the. last years, leaping from 4.4 billion euros in 2015 to an. expected 29.5 billion euros this year, not including the Apple. windfall. The invoices, primarily paid by a handful of U.S. multinationals, now comprise 28% of all tax gathered in Ireland. each year, moving its public finances to becoming the. strongest in Europe.
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Tesla raises Sweden market share regardless of labour strike
Tesla has increased its market share in Sweden in 2024 in spite of a labour dispute targeting the business for practically a year, automobile sales data from the Nordic country showed on Tuesday. Tesla offered 16,478 cars in Sweden in the first 9 months of the year, a boost of 1% from the same duration of 2023, raising the car manufacturer's overall market share to 8.5% in 2024 from 7.8% a year prior, according to Movement Sweden statistics. The U.S. group headed by billionaire Elon Musk is at the centre of a dispute in Sweden over its refusal to sign a. collective bargaining arrangement and thus allow labour union IF. Metall to negotiate on behalf of workers. The conflict started when a group of Tesla mechanics went on. strike in late October of 2023, and more than a dozen unions. have because announced sympathy actions, consisting of dockworkers,. electrical experts, maintenance crews and cleaners. On Monday, labour union Vision joined the fray, announcing. that up to 40 members at the city of Gothenburg's power business. will stop servicing Tesla charging points unless the conflict is. resolved by Oct. 10. Tesla has stated it offers as excellent, or much better, terms than. those required by the union, and the business has found methods to. stay in operation, consisting of by using non-union staff. While dockworkers throughout the Nordic region have actually sought to. prevent Tesla from carrying vehicles to Sweden through their. countries, the Swedish transport union has said the company has. bypassed its blockade by bringing vehicles in on trucks or by train. Musk in April said he thought the storm had actually passed for. Tesla's Swedish organization even as the labour union action. continued. Neither Tesla nor IF Metall union right away reacted. to ask for remark when gotten in touch with .
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US health department sees restricted impact to medicine supply from East Coast ports strike
The U.S. Department of Health and Person Provider (HHS) stated on Tuesday its initial analysis revealed that a strike by U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers need to have a minimal influence on the schedule of essential products such as medicines and medical devices. The dockworkers began their very first large-scale interruption in almost 50 years earlier on Tuesday, halting about half the nation's ocean shipping after settlements for a brand-new labor contract broke down over salaries. We take our dedication to protecting and reinforcing supply chains really seriously, and HHS has been carefully tracking the situation at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports in preparation for possible effect, the department said in a declaration. The HHS said it would work with other federal agencies and makers to recognize and minimize potential scarcities of life-saving items.
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2 vessels harmed in attacks off Yemen's Hodeidah
Two vessels sustained damage after being hit with missiles and a sea drone off Yemen's. Hodeidah port early on Tuesday, maritime security companies and. sources keeping track of the location said. Both vessels reported that their teams were safe. One of the vessels, which sources said was a Panama-flagged. tanker, reported being struck by an Uncrewed Surface Area Vessel (USV). 64 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, the United Kingdom. Maritime Trade Operations firm stated. It was harmed on its port side ballast tank, British. security company Ambrey said, adding that it was continuing to its. port of call. The vessel had actually earlier reported seeing 4 splashes on the. water near it, which a maritime security source said were. attempted rocket attacks. The 2nd vessel, which sources stated was a Liberia-flagged. bulker, continual damage after it was hit by a rocket about 97. nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, Ambrey and maritime. security sources said. The firm said it was bound for Suez. Authorities were examining both events. There was no. immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants have actually released attacks. on worldwide shipping near Yemen considering that last November in. solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and. Hamas.
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Russia's Jan-Sept LNG exports up 7.3%, data programs
Russia's JanuarySeptember exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased by 7.3% from a. year earlier to 23.5 million metric lots, LSEG information revealed on. Tuesday. Products in September alone rose by 2.6% from August to 2.81. million lots, according to the information. Europe represented one of the most of the exports, taking around. 12.2 million tons, or 52% of total Russian supply, in the first. 9 months of the year. Last month, materials to Europe reached 980,000 heaps,. slightly below 1 million heaps in August 2024 and September. 2023 each. According to LSEG and the U.S. State Department,. sanctions-hit Arctic LNG 2 has actually dispatched 6 LNG freights from. August. The Novatek-led Yamal LNG plant increased exports. in January - September by 10.6% year on year to 14.6 million. lots. In September, deliveries declined by 4.7% from August to 1.63. million heaps. Sakhalin-2, controlled by Gazprom, exported 7. million lots from the Pacific island in January - September,. down 2.8% year on year. Last-month supplies from the plant declined a little to. 830,000 lots from 890,000 heaps in August.
What are countries doing to get nationals out of Lebanon?
Western nations are upgrading contingency prepare for organising evacuations from Lebanon after a sharp escalation in border warfare in between Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah.
Cyprus, the closest European Union member state to the Middle East, is a likely hub, having processed around 60,000 people fleeing the Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006.
Neighbouring Turkey has actually offered facilities as well.
No nation has actually activated a massive military evacuation yet, though some are chartering aircraft to help in their nationals leaving as Beirut airport remains open. There have also been plans to evacuate by sea to Cyprus, making it possible for the movement of larger groups of people at a time.
Here are information on contingency preparation:
AUSTRALIA
Authorities have made contingency plans that could consist of evacuation by sea, though it has actually urged an approximated 15,000 of its people in Lebanon to leave while Beirut airport remains open.
CANADA
News reports from Canada suggest it will cooperate with Australia in leaving nationals by sea. The plan involves contracting a commercial vessel to transfer 1,000 people out each day, The Toronto Star reported.
FRANCE
France, which has been prompting residents not to take a trip to Lebanon, has had evacuation plans in place for numerous months but has not issued an evacuation order. Present contingency plans centre around Cyprus and Beirut airport, while it is likewise talking about evacuations by means of Turkey. France has a warship in the region, while a French helicopter carrier will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days and take up position in case a decision is taken to leave foreign nationals from Lebanon, a French army spokesperson said on Tuesday.
GERMANY
Germany has evacuated non-essential staff, families of embassy employees and German nationals who are medically susceptible out of Lebanon and will support others trying to leave, a joint statement by the foreign and defence ministries stated on Monday. Germans in the region can leave the nation on business flights via airports that are still open, a. representative for the German foreign ministry stated on Monday.
GREECE
The Greek foreign ministry has actually prompted its citizens to leave. Lebanon and avoid any travel to the country. A frigate is on. standby in case assistance is needed.
UK
Britain has called for its nationals to leave immediately. It has moved around 700 soldiers to Cyprus, reinforcing its. presence in the location where it already has military possessions,. including two Royal Navy ships. It also has 2 military bases. on the island. The British government has actually chartered a flight to. assistance fulfill any additional demand from Britons wanting to leave on. Wednesday, and will fly directly back to London.
ITALY
Italy has lowered unneeded diplomatic personnel and. beefed up security workers at its embassy in Beirut, a source. informed Reuters. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has consistently. advised nationals to leave the nation and sought guarantees from. Israel over the security of Italian soldiers running in. peacekeeping operations in the area.
UNITED STATES
The U.S. has ordered the deployment of dozens of troops to. Cyprus to assist get ready for circumstances, consisting of an evacuation of. Americans from Lebanon.
PORTUGAL
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has actually encouraged versus travel to. Lebanon. The country helped in the evacuation of a little. variety of Portuguese citizens living there.
(source: Reuters)