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Sources: US threatens to cut off intel and weapons to force Ukraine into peace agreement
Two people with knowledge of the situation said that the United States had threatened to reduce intelligence sharing and arms supplies to Ukraine in order to pressure it to agree to the framework for a U.S. mediated peace deal. Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Washington was exerting greater pressure than in previous peace talks, and that it wanted Ukraine to sign the framework of the agreement by next Thursday. One source said, "They want the war to end and they want Ukraine to pay for the price." Washington presented Ukraine with a plan of 28 points, which endorsed some of Russia's main demands during the war. These included that Kyiv cede more territory, reduce the size of its army, and be banned from joining NATO. A senior U.S. delegation met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday in Kyiv to discuss the path to peace. The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and the Army Public Affairs chief traveling with the delegation described it as a successful meeting and said Washington was seeking an "aggressive deadline" for signing a document between U.S.A. and Ukraine. (Reporting and writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Philippa Fetcher and Peter Graff).
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Freeport LNG Texas's export plant will take in more natural gases on Friday, according to data.
LSEG data, as well as regulatory filings, show that the U.S. liquefied gas company Freeport LNG was on schedule to receive more natural gas in Texas on Friday. This is a sign of one of three liquefaction train's return to service following its Thursday shutdown. Freeport has been one of the most closely monitored U.S. LNG plants in the world because its changes in operations have caused price fluctuations in global gas markets. Gas prices in the U.S. typically fall when flows to Freeport decrease due to a reduced demand for fuels from the export facility. Prices in Europe usually rise due to the drop in LNG supply available on global markets. The Freeport outage contributed to a 2% decline in futures prices on Thursday in the U.S. Freeport is not responsible for the drop in prices that occurred in Europe. Freeport informed Texas environmental regulators on Friday that Train 1 was shut down Thursday because of a problem with the compressor system. Freeport officials had no comment to make on the incident, but did note that the plant has loaded its 1,000th shipment this week. LSEG reported that gas flow to Freeport was on track to increase to 1.9 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd), up from 1.3 bcfd Thursday. This compares to an average of 1.9 billion cubic feet per day over the previous seven days. Three liquefaction plants at Freeport can convert about 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of gas to LNG. A billion cubic feet of natural gas can supply five million U.S. households for one day. Reporting by Scott DiSavino. (Editing by David Goodman, Mark Potter and Mark Potter.)
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BA owner IAG confirms its interest in buying stakes in Portugal's TAP
British Airways' owner IAG submitted a formal statement of interest to buy a minority stake (up to 5%) in Portugal's flag airline TAP. However, it said that some issues needed to be resolved before the company would consider investing. IAG has become the third airline in Europe to express interest in privatising TAP. It joins Air France-KLM, and Germany's Lufthansa. A spokesperson for IAG confirmed on Friday that the airline had submitted a declaration of interest to the state-owned holding Parpublica "in accordance with the process of the government for the partial privatisation of TAP". The spokesperson said that "However, there are several conditions IAG would have to address before it could make an investment." PORTUGAL WANTS TO SELL 44.9% OF STAKE Portugal has relaunched its long-delayed TAP privatisation in July. It is looking to sell a stake of 44.9% to an airline that can boost the company's international scale and competitiveness. A further 5% will be offered to TAP staff. TAP's main assets are its connections with Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African nations and the United States, all from Lisbon, the hub that the government is keen to maintain and expand. "We think TAP's potential is significant within IAG. IAG stated that its decentralised model offers industry-leading margins, and is aligned with the Portuguese Government's goal of protecting TAP. Analysts often criticize IAG for its potential bid because the hub in Lisbon is so close to Iberia's base in Madrid, which is owned by IAG. Long-term, IAG could divert routes to Madrid from Lisbon, decreasing the importance of Portugal's hub. IAG, however, said that its record of investment shows "how it invests to strengthen airlines and benefit customers, employees, regional economies, and shareholder". (Reporting and editing by Paul Sandle, Conor Humphries and Sergio Goncalves)
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Schiphol Airport invests $1.2 billion in foreign investment by 2035
A spokesperson for Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport confirmed a report in Financieele Dagblad on Friday that the airport planned to set aside around 1 billion euro ($1.15 billion), to purchase airport assets overseas between 2035 and 2045. A spokesperson for the airport operator said that it was looking to diversify revenues. It owns stakes at two airports located in Australia and other airports situated in the Netherlands. The spokesperson stated that there is no concrete plan yet, but the operator wants to "focus on the areas where the Netherlands have strong social, historic, or economic ties". Schiphol Airport is Europe's 4th largest airport by number of passengers. A mixed post-pandemic recovery in tourism, with leisure travel recovering more slowly than business, has led to a flurry of mergers and purchases by operators looking to diversify their markets or reduce exposure to certain ones. ($1 = 0.8691 euro) (Reporting and editing by Bart Meijer, Inti landauro)
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Two British teenagers plead not guilt to London Transport Cyberattack charges
Two teenagers have pleaded no contest to charges of hacking over a cyberattack in 2024 on London's public transportation system. One of the teens has also denied charges relating to two US health systems. In August 2024, Transport for London (TfL), the British capital’s tube and bus network that operates millions of trips each day was targeted. TfL stated at the time of the attack that personal data about customers was accessed. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers appeared before London's Southwark Crown Court on charges of conspiring to commit acts unauthorised against TfL under the Computer Misuse Act. Flowers has also been charged with crimes relating to California’s Sutter Health System, one of the biggest health systems in the U.S. and conspiring to infiltrate SSM Health Care Corporation’s networks. Jubair faces charges of failing to provide passwords for devices that were seized in March. Both denied the charges, and they will be tried at the same court in June. (Reporting and editing by Catarina demony, Paul Sandle and Catarina Tobin)
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Two British teenagers plead not guilt to London Transport Cyberattack charges
Two teenagers have pleaded guilty to hacking charges in relation to a cyberattack that took place on London's transport system in 2024. One of the teens has also denied charges related to health systems from the United States. In August 2024, Transport for London (TfL), the British capital’s tube and bus network that operates millions of trips each day was targeted. TfL stated at the time of the attack that personal data about customers was accessed. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers appeared before London's Southwark Crown Court on charges of conspiring to commit acts unauthorised against TfL under the Computer Misuse Act. Flowers is charged with crimes relating to California’s Sutter Health System, one of the biggest health systems in the U.S. and conspiring to infiltrate SSM Health Care Corporation’s networks. All charges were denied. (Reporting and editing by Catarina demony; Sam Tobin, Reporting)
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Indian Tejas fighter plane crashes at Dubai Air Show killing pilot
The Indian Air Force confirmed that a Tejas fighter plane, manufactured in India, crashed during a display at the Dubai Air Show on Friday and killed its pilot. Witnesses report that the fighter was at a low level at 2:15 pm (1015 GMT), before it came down in a fireball. Black smoke was seen rising behind an airstrip fence in footage from the scene. In a press release, the IAF stated that a court of inquiry was being formed to determine the cause of this accident. The crash is India's second known crash. It is important for India to modernise the air force fleet, which is mainly Russian or ex-Soviet fighters. The first crash occurred during an exercise in India, in 2024. Dubai's government posted a photo of firefighters dousing a smouldering wreckage. The government said that emergency teams were on site managing the situation. The accident occurred on the last day, Monday, of the Middle East’s largest aviation show. Reporting by Shivam Patel from New Delhi, and Federico Maccioni from Dubai. Editing by YPrajesh and Alex Richardson.
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Officials in Italy are concerned about Chinese involvement in energy grids
Two government sources say that Italy is worried about the impact of Chinese involvement on its energy infrastructure companies, which could hamper their plans to expand in Europe. Other countries, however, are wary of Beijing-linked deals due to security concerns. Last week, Rome's concerns were brought into sharp focus when Italian gas grid operator Snam canceled plans to buy a stake in Germany’s largest independent transmission company of gas after Berlin objected, according to officials who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the matter. According to reports, the German Economy Ministry opposed Snam's deal due to State Grid Corporation of China being an indirect shareholder in Snam. Berlin is a major supporter of European Union efforts in coming up with plans to combat China's increasing industrial and political power, including Beijing dominance in rare earth production. CHINA SEEKS INVESTMENTS as Strategic Sources close to the issue said Berlin wanted to make Snam a financial investor, and thus prevent it from becoming an industrial partner of Germany's Open Grid Europe. The office of Prime Minister Giorgia Melli declined to make a comment. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China, which supervises state-owned firms, has not responded to an email seeking comments. The German economy ministry stated that the decision to abandon this transaction was made by all parties involved. Foreign trade law allows the review of non-EU investments. In this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that only the indirect investment planned by the Chinese State Grid Corporation of China was examined. Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, or CDP, sold to the State Grid Corporation of China a 35 percent stake in CDP Reti in 2014. CDP Reti is a holding firm that owns 31.35 % of Snam and 29.85 % of Terna, a power grid company, as well as 26% of Italgas, Italy's largest gas distributor. Snam owns 13.5% of Italgas. The same representative of the Chinese state-owned company sits on the board of Snam and Terna. He also serves as a director for Italgas, CDP Reti and CDP Reti. This position gives him a good view into Italian energy policy. The first two sources claim that China's State Grid told Rome it was strategic to invest in Italian energy infrastructure. One of them said, "The Chinese group does not plan to sell the stake." Sources said that to liquidate the Asian investor, it would take billions of Euros. No state-backed company has the funds available. The indirect stakes in three Italian companies owned by China's State Grid are valued at more than 5 billion euro ($5.76 billion). CDP has declined to comment. ($1 = 0.8682 euros) (Additional reporting by Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina in Milan, Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by Gavin Jones and Andrew Heavens) The CDP-State Grid pact detailing CDP Reti corporate governance expires next November. It will automatically renew unless either party opts out six months prior to the expiration date. ($1 = 0.8682 euro) (Additional reporting from Valentina Za in Milan and Elvira pollina in Frankfurt, with editing by Gavin Jones & Andrew Heavens).
Sources: US threatens to cut off intel and weapons to force Ukraine to a peace deal
Two people with knowledge of the situation said that the United States had threatened to reduce intelligence sharing and arms supplies to Ukraine in order to pressure it to agree to the framework for a U.S. mediated peace deal.
Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Washington was exerting greater pressure than in previous peace talks, and that it wanted Ukraine to sign the framework of the agreement by next Thursday.
One source said, "They want the war to end and they want Ukraine to pay for the price."
A senior U.S. delegation met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday in Kyiv to discuss the path to peace.
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and the Army Public Affairs chief traveling with the delegation hailed the meeting as successful and stated that Washington was seeking an "aggressive deadline" for signing a document between U.S.A. and Ukraine. (Reporting and writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Philippa Fetcher and Peter Graff).
(source: Reuters)