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Next week, the US House of Representatives will consider legislation relating to aviation safety.
The House of Representatives is set to consider aviation safety legislation on Monday. This will address dozens of recommendations made by the National Transportation 'Board. It was formed after a collision in January 2025 between a regional jet of 'American Airlines and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, which killed 67. The U.S. Senate passed legislation unanimously in December known as the ROTOR Act that would require aircraft operators by the end of 2031 to equip their fleets with a safety system ?known as automatic-dependent-surveillance-broadcast system, or ADS-B. The bill will also increase oversight of commercial helicopter and jet traffic, as well as flight routes near airports. A spokesperson for the House Transportation Committee said that leaders of the House Transportation and Armed Services Committees were?working separately to introduce a comprehensive House Bill to address the issues raised by the crash. Major aviation unions, as well as many families of those killed on Wednesday, urged the House to pass the ROTOR Act quickly. The NTSB concluded last month that systemic failures on the part of the FAA caused the crash, which was the worst U.S. airline disaster since 2001. The NTSB determined that the FAA allowed helicopters to fly close to the airport without any safeguards to keep them separate from planes, and failed to act on its recommendations to move helicopter traffic away. The NTSB sent more than 30 recommendations to the FAA, citing several failures that occurred before the Washington crash. There have been 15200?air separation?incidents between commercial planes and helicopters near Reagan Airport since 2021. This includes 85?close call events. The NTSB has found problems with the way that the FAA manages traffic at Reagan. The NTSB also stated that the FAA rejected advice from its own staff to include hot spots on a chart of helicopter routes. FAA Chair Jennifer Homendy stated that the agency did not also review helicopter routes as required annually and had routes which were not designed to provide proper separation. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson)
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Oil prices settle at 4% due to tensions between Iran and the US, while Russia-Ukraine negotiations end without a breakthrough
The oil prices rose by more than 4% on Wednesday, as traders priced-in potential supply disruptions due to concerns about conflict between the U.S.A. and Iran and after talks in Geneva failed to produce a breakthrough. Brent crude futures settled up $2.93 or 4.35% at $70.35 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $65.19. This is a gain of $2.86 or 4.59%. Both contracts reached their highest settlements in the past 30 days, rebounding from two-week lows. According to Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group, both contracts rose late in the session, by more than three dollars, on reports that Israel raised its alert levels on signs of an attack by the U.S. or Israel on Iran. U.S. Heating Oil Futures also rose?around 5%. Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said that the oil price movements today are solely geopolitical. They continue to respond to headlines about meetings between U.S., Iran and Russia,?and Ukraine and Ukraine. He added that "the oil market prices in an additional risk of supply disruption." Oil fell on Tuesday after Iran's Foreign Minister said that Tehran and Washington reached an agreement regarding the principles to be used in nuclear talks. The semi-official Iranian Fars news agency announced on Wednesday that Iran and Russia would conduct naval drills in both the Sea of Oman and northern Indian Ocean. Iranian state media reported that Iran temporarily closed parts of the Strait?Hormuz - a vital oil supply route for the world - due to "security precautions" while its elite Revolutionary Guards were conducting military drills in this area. State media reported that the strait was closed for a few minutes, but did not specify if it was fully reopened. "Iran is aware of (U.S. president Donald) Trump's negotiating tactics." It also knows that Trump does not want a disruption of oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz or a rise in oil prices up to $150 per barrel. "Iran can negotiate calmly." In a note sent to clients on Tuesday, the political consultancy Eurasia Group stated that it believes there is a probability of 65% of a U.S. strike against Iran before April's end. John Kilduff is a partner with Again Capital. He said: "Everyone is watching the amount of military gear that is flooding into the region from the U.S. This is an indication that hostilities will be imminent." RUSSIA AND UKRAINE PEACE TALKS END AFTER BREAKTHROUGH The two days of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Geneva ended on Wednesday without a breakthrough. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Moscow of blocking U.S.mediated efforts to end this four-year war. Trump has repeatedly pressed Ukraine to accept a deal which could involve painful concessions. This is because Russian forces have been pounding Ukraine's power grid and advancing on the battlefield. Zelenskiy called the discussions "difficult." Kilduff, of Again Capital, said that if the talks go as Zelenskiy has suggested, we may finally see a drop in Russian exports to the world market. This would be a positive development. U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories Last week, the temperature dropped. Market sources said that American Petroleum Institute figures released on Wednesday were in stark contrast to the expectations of analysts. Crude stocks will rise by 2.1 millions barrels. The Energy Information Administration will release its official U.S. crude oil inventory report on Thursday. Reporting by Georgina Mcartney in Houston; Siddharth Cavale in New York; Stephanie Kelly and Alex Lawler, in London; Mohi Nrayan, in New Delhi, and Katya Glubkova, in Tokyo. Editing by Mark Potter and Kirby Donovan.
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After a massive blackout, power returns to Paraguay’s capital.
Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, began receiving power on Wednesday after some transmission lines were taken offline. This knocked out power in much of South America. The state power company ANDE said that one of the transmissions lines was re-started, and it is normalizing the?power distribution in Asuncion and its surrounding metropolitan area. ANDE released a statement saying that "technicians are continuing to do the necessary work to restore service across the country." The outage affected the northern and eastern regions of the country. Drivers in the capital were thrown into chaos when traffic lights went dark. The blackout occurred as Paraguay is experiencing the austral summer, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The state water utility ESSAP said that its services may also be affected by the "blackout". ANDE stated that it was 'investigating the cause of the outage. (Reporting and writing by Daniela Deantis, Sarah Morland, Cassandra Garrison).
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The Argentine maritime workers’ strike for reform of labor halts grain shipments
The Argentine maritime workers of the maritime workers federation FESIMAF began a 48-hour walkout on Wednesday in protest against a planned 'labor reform', which was deemed by the grain exporters' chamber to be paralyzing shipments through the nation's ports. Argentina is the top grain supplier in the world, and it's also the largest exporter of soy oil and meal. Gustavo Idigoras is the president of Argentina’s CIARA CEC grain exporters chamber. He added, "We think it's a purely political measure which is a long way from any specific needs." The FESIMAF stated that the strike action, which comes one day before the planned walkout nationwide called by Argentina's powerful CGT labour federation, is to "defend the workers' rights in the workplace and their job security from the proposed changes in labor laws. The SOEA oilseed crushing union in Argentina has also announced that it will be on strike for 24 hours on Thursday. Daniel Succi, leader of SOEA, said in a press release: "We condemn this misnamed modernization which only seeks to?legalize labor setbacks and destruction of thousands jobs. We also condemn the dismantling our national industry." The strike was a protest of President Javier Milei’s proposed labor reform bill. It would limit the right to strike and cap severance payments, tighten sick leave, and limit the ability for workers to claim damages following dismissal. The reform package, a flagship for Milei’s administration, is being strongly opposed by Argentine unions who claim that it threatens the long-standing protections of workers. According to industry sources, the maritime strike would disrupt services such as cargo loading,?unloading and pilot transfers, and other commercial vessel activities, especially in the port of Rosario. Rosario is one of the largest agricultural export hubs around the world. Guillermo Wade of the 'Chamber of Port and Maritime Activities' told ' Earlier on Wednesday, Guillermo Wade, manager of the?Chamber of Port and Maritime Activities told? The lower house of Argentina is scheduled to discuss the bill Thursday after it was approved by the Senate last Monday. (Reporting and writing by Maximilian Heath and Nicolas Misculin; Writing and editing by Aida Pelaez Fernandez and Sarah Morland, and Lucinda Elliot, Chizu Nomiyama, and Alistair Bell).
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Canadian arbitrator upholds Air Canada wage agreement
The Canadian arbitrator has largely accepted Air Canada's offer to increase its flight attendants' salaries by more than 20% in four years. This puts an end to the bitter dispute that led to a four-day cabin crew strike of 2025. The arbitrator's ruling is a blow for flight attendants, who had demanded higher wages. They claimed that the raises Air Canada offered did not cover their rising cost of living in cities like Toronto. The tentative agreement was signed between the airline, the Canadian Union of Public Employees in August 2025. However, the wage issue went to arbitration after both sides were unable to reach an agreement. The union stated that the arbitrator Paula Knopf?found wage rates offered by Canadian Airlines were generally within normative ranges for this sector, and needed to be evaluated in light of other improvement,' According to the agreement, flight attendants are now paid for their work both on the ground and in the air. They receive a portion of the hourly wage for tasks such as boarding passengers. Cabin crew unions in North America have been pushing this change for a few year now. Delta Air Lines will be one of the first companies to offer ground compensation in 2022. Knopf has also increased the wages offered to employees of Rouge, Canada's budget airline. They argue that the rates must not be lower than other Canadian airlines. (Reporting and editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri in Bengaluru)
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New York tunnel construction will resume after Trump releases funding
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that construction on the massive $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project would resume next week, after the Trump?administration released $127?million of frozen funding on Wednesday. New York and New Jersey filed a lawsuit after the U.S. Department of Transportation withheld $200 million in funding from the project since October 1, 2017. The funding freeze led to a construction halt on February 6, which put 1,000 workers unemployed. The Hudson Tunnel Project is aimed at building a new commuter train tunnel between Manhattan and?New Jersey, and repairing a century-old one used by over 200,000 passengers and 425 trains?daily. Hochul posted on social media that the new law was "a major victory for commuters and workers." "We will continue to fight for the federal government to meet its commitments." The Department of Transportation has not yet commented on whether it intends to withhold future funds for this project. Sources said that Republican President Donald Trump had offered to unfreeze funds last month in exchange for Democrats' support to rename Washington Dulles Airport, and New York Penn Station, after him. Democrats strongly criticised the suggestion. The Hudson Tunnel, which was heavily damaged by hurricane Sandy in 2012, requires frequent emergency repairs, causing travel to be disrupted on the country's busiest passenger rail line. Trump posted on Monday, 'on social media, that he was against the project and worried about cost overruns of billions of dollars. Trump stated that "Gateway would be a financial catastrophe for the region if hard work and proper preparation is not done NOW to avoid future cost overruns insurmountable," Hochul claimed that she called Trump Monday, after his posting and informed him that the project did not face cost issues. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas has ordered the federal government to release funding for this project. Under then-Democratic President Joe Biden, the project received federal funding of about $15 billion. So far, nearly $2 billion has already been spent. (Reporting and editing by Edmund Klamann; David Shepardson)
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Suriname, Guyana exploring possible gas interconnection, Staatsolie says
Annand Jagesar, the managing director at Suriname’s Staatsolie state-run company, stated that a pipeline connecting the two neighbors Guyana and Suriname would be of 'high interest,' to increase the?availability?of fuel. The two countries have developed their offshore oil and gas industries separately. An Exxon Mobil consortium is 'rapidly increasing crude output' and aims to begin non-associated gas production in Guyana within the next few years. A consortium led by TotalEnergies in Suriname is expected to "begin oil production" through the $12 billion Gran Morgu Project, while another natural gas project nears a final investment decision. Since years, Guyana and Suriname had discussed the possibility of integrating as part a "energy corridor", which could include French Guiana and Brazil. However, no concrete steps have been taken yet. Jagesar stated in a Georgetown conference that the final investment decision for 'Petronas’ Sloanea Gas Project at?offshore Block 52 will be made this year, after 'the Malaysian Company and?Staatsolie declare it commercial in 2025.
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Next week, the US House of Representatives will consider legislation relating to aviation safety.
The House of Representatives will?consider aviation safety legislation in the next week after the 'National Transportation Safety Board' issued dozens recommendations following its investigation into a collision that occurred between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional jet operated by American Airlines on January 20, 2025. The U.S. ?Senate passed legislation unanimously in December that would require ?aircraft operators by the ?end of ?2031 to equip their fleets with a key safety system known as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, also known as ADS-B. The bill also increases oversight of commercial jet traffic, heli-traffic and flight routes near 'commercial airports. A spokesperson for the Transportation Committee said that leaders on the House Transportation and Armed Services Committees are working separately to introduce a comprehensive House Bill to 'address a range of issues raised by the accident.
Leader of the busiest US port says: 'Exports look dismal'
The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest U.S. ocean gateway. Exports fell by 8% in January, to the lowest output monthly in almost three years.
Seroka, after the Port of Los Angeles handled 104.297 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of loaded export containers in January, said that "exports to China are?dismal".
The aggressive tariffs of President Trump have disrupted global trade. Retaliatory trade duty from China and other countries has hit U.S. farmers and exporters particularly hard.
Soybean
Seroka stated that shipments to China from the Port of Los Angeles dropped by 80% in the past year. He also said that trade between the two countries did not improve after discussions held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
The United States exports very little to China today, according to Chad Bown. Bown is a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute of Economics. He added that shipments of beef, corn, crude oil, and coal from the United States to China will also be down in 2025.
Seroka reported that the number of TEUs imported into the Port of Los Angeles in January was 421,594, a decrease of 13% from the unusually high result the previous year.
Imports for February are relatively flat in comparison to a year ago. He said that imports would slow down in March due to factory closures in China for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Seroka still expects the total volume of goods at the port in the first quarter to be less than 10% lower than the previous year's quarter when U.S. Importers were hurrying to import before President Donald Trump's tariffs against countries such as China went into effect.
I don't think the economy will fall off a cliff after that. And even though the holiday sales were lower than we had hoped, "I do not see a dire scenario," Seroka said. He was referring to the lackluster U.S. retail sales in December that indicated a possible weakness in the consumer spending that drives 70% of the country's economic activity. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski, and Lisa Baertlein)
(source: Reuters)