Brazil's Ecorodovias wins 30-year highway concession in Sao Paulo

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• Brazil's Ecorodovias wins 30-year highway concession in Sao Paulo

  Brazilian transport firm Ecorodovias has won a 30year highway concession in Sao Paulo state for 30 years, with a proposition for 2.19 billion reais ($ 365.9 million), stock market B3 revealed on Thursday. The concession is for a 92-kilometer stretch of highway connecting Latin's America most populous city, Sao Paulo, to other cities in the state, and would need around 8 billion reais in investments over the 30-year concession. Brazilian concession operator CCR presently runs the highway, though its concession is set to end early next year. Shares in Ecorodovias extended their losses after winning the highway auction, trading down 9% before closing.

• United States railroad Amtrak sets passenger record in 2024

  U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said on Tuesday ridership topped 2019 preCOVID levels for the very first time in 2024 and reached a record high even with less capability. Ridership increased 15% over 2023 to a record 32.8 million customer trips, as traveler income hit $2.5 billion, up 9%. over the prior year, while total operating profits was $3.6. billion, up 7%. Amtrak reported an adjusted operating loss of. $ 705 million for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, down 9% over. 2023. Amtrak's prior record was 32.3 million travelers in 2019,. which was up 45% from 2003. Amtrak in March stated it was enhancing traveler services on. the East Coast as it aims to double ridership nationwide by 2040. to 66 million passengers and deals with concerns to expand service. Amtrak said in June it had fewer seats since of a number. of elements consisting of hold-ups in beginning service while waiting for. brand-new train cars. Congress approved $66 billion in financing for rail projects. as part of an enormous facilities bill in 2021, with $22. billion devoted to Amtrak and $36 billion made available for. grants. Amtrak's future financing is uncertain. President-elect Donald. Trump during his very first term consistently looked for to cut funding to. Amtrak, which received about $2.4 billion in yearly federal. assistance this year. In November 2023, the White Home revealed $16.4 billion in. new financing for 25 passenger rail jobs on Amtrak's Northeast. Passage, which is the busiest U.S. rail passage with 800,000. daily journeys in an area that represents 20% of the U.S. economy. Numerous bridges, tunnels and other parts of the passage are in. serious need of repairs. Amtrak has actually suffered a series of service disturbances over the. last 6 months. Last month, the railroad was required to. temporarily suspend all train service in between New york city and. Washington for a number of hours due to overhead power problems in. Philadelphia, interfering with the travel plans of countless. riders. Simply over 14 million passengers took a trip in the 12 months. ending Sept. 30 on the hectic northeast corridor consisting of. Washington and Boston. Amtrak carries about 5 times as. lots of passengers between New York and Washington as airlines.

• Angry Bosnian villagers wait for assistance months after lethal floods

  D rivers getting in Donja Jablanica in Bosnia pass under a banner with a mad message from residents who say authorities have done bit to help given that deadly floods devastated the town in October. Pity on the State and Federal Government of the Federation BiH, reads the banner, hanging from an underpass, describing the Bosniak-Croat region of decentralised post-war Bosnia. Heavy rain triggered flooding and a landslide that swept through the village in an uneven location 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Sarajevo, trashing homes, dropping trees and disabling a. railway line. Of the 27 people killed in the flooding throughout. Bosnia, 19 died in Donja Jablanica. 2 months on, the disaster has actually laid bare the difficulties. of carrying funds in the fragmented Balkan nation whose. numerous federal governments have struggled to respond. Locals say they. have actually counted on charitable contributions. We have got nothing from the state, not a single fening,. stated Esad Begovic, 72, while cleaning up mud and debris from his. house. I don't sleep here. A guy has let me use his apartment,. and I even do not understand the guy. Begovic stated the only assistance has come from a local charity. called Pomozi.ba which has gathered contributions and provided. food, clothing and tools. The local government of the southern Herzegovina-Neretva. canton, where the floods inflicted the best damage, said it. had actually sent out funds to regional communities and allocated 3.4 million. marka ($ 1.83 million) to fix roads under its jurisdiction. However it said it was unclear where the cash would come. from, or when it would show up. This disaster has actually proved once again it is necessary to. enhance channels of communication between all levels of. governance in Bosnia, spokesperson Pero Pavlovic said. Under a peace deal that ended its 1992-95 war, Bosnia is. made up of 2 autonomous areas, the Bosniak-Croat Federation. and a Serb Republic, connected via a weak main federal government. The federal government of the Bosniak-Croat Federation, where the. disaster occurred, did not react to ask for comment. Last. week it put the flood damage estimate at 308 million marka. ($ 166.3 million). Today Donja Jablanica is deserted, its houses mainly. damaged by the collapse of a nearby quarry during the floods. Each week, individuals hold serene demonstrations at the entrance to the. town requiring government help. Dzevad and Mirsada Grlica wonder if they will be able to. return to another mountain town near the town of Konjic after. the road was damaged in a landslide which left cracks in the. structures of their home. They say that nobody has actually provided aid, other than for Dina Alic,. an activist linked to a local women-run charity called NERA. Alic assisted raise cash for a new greenhouse for the couple. Mirsada has currently planted out green salad leaves, onion. and spinach. This means so much to me, she said. It's a brand-new. beginning.

• Start of Biden's check out to Angola overshadowed by boy's pardon

  U.S. President Joe Biden landed in Angola on Monday for a go to focused on a U.S.backed train project and on the tradition of slavery, but his choice to pardon his kid Hunter Biden threatened to overshadow the main agenda. The go to satisfies a pledge to check out Sub-Saharan Africa throughout his presidency and intends to reinforce the Lobito Passage project, which links resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean. At stake are vast supplies of minerals like copper and cobalt, which are discovered in Congo and are a crucial component of batteries and other electronic devices. 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 competing railway line to Africa's eastern coast. It's going to create amazing financial opportunities here on the continent, Biden's national security spokesperson John Kirby stated, speaking about the Lobito Passage throughout a. rundown to press reporters on Flying force One throughout the flight to. Luanda. He said Biden would reveal extra commitments to the. job during his check out, along with to health, climate and. tidy energy programs. However, reporters on the flight had more questions. about the Hunter Biden pardon than they did about investment in. Africa. The president's spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre. reacted to them primarily by duplicating Joe Biden's own declaration. on the issue. The president, whose term in workplace surfaces in January,. flew out of Washington soon after pardoning his kid, who had. pleaded guilty to tax infractions and been founded guilty on. firearms-related charges. Biden himself did not address press reporters' questions on the. pardon throughout a brief refueling drop in the little island nation. of Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, earlier on Monday. During his two-day check out to Angola, Biden is set up. to meet with President Joao Lourenco and the Zambian leader. President Hakainde Hichilema, and to visit the national slavery. museum and numerous facilities in Lobito. Partly funded by a U.S. loan, the Lobito Passage would. make it faster and easier to export critical minerals towards. the United States, which has been widely seen as a way to divert. a few of those resources from China. There is no Cold War on the continent. We're not asking. nations to select in between us and Russia and China, Kirby. stated. We're just searching for dependable, sustainable,. proven financial investment opportunities that individuals of Angola. and individuals of the continent can depend on, because too many. countries have actually counted on spotty investment opportunities and are. now racked by financial obligation, he said. The Lobito task is backed by global commodities. trader Trafigura, Portuguese building group Mota-Engil. and railway operator Vecturis. The U.S. Development. Finance Corporation has actually supplied a $550 million loan to. refurbish the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) rail network from. Lobito to Congo.

• Uber releases boat hailing service on Kashmir's picturesque Dal Lake

  Uber released a water transport hailing service on beautiful Dal Lake in India's Kashmir region on Monday, providing trips on boats popular with travelers. Users of the service can book journeys on the lake's. traditional wood Shikara boats if they book at. least 12 hours and up to 15 days in advance, Uber officials. stated. The ride-hailing app currently provides water transport services. in London and some other cities however this is its first in India. Around 4,000 Shikaras, often ornately decorated and. canopied, run on Dal Lake and are popular among locals as. well as travelers. Uber will match clients with Shikara operators however will. not charge a fee on rides scheduled through its app. All of the. boat ticket paid by guests would go to the Shikara operator,. it stated. Uber Shikara is our modest attempt to blend technology and. tradition to give a seamless experience to travellers for their. Shikara ride, said Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India and. South Asia. Shikara operators were divided on Uber's entry to their. sector, with some stating it would boost their company now that. travelers can book rides well ahead of time, while others insisted. it would make little difference. It will enhance our company. There will be repaired rates, no. cheating, and no scope for bargaining, stated Wali Mohammad. Bhatt, president of the Shikara Owners Association. Shikara operator Shabir Ahmed was sceptical, saying. operators would not be impacted. We have our own client base, he said. Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by India and. Pakistan. The part under India's control - the nation's just. Muslim-majority area - has actually been roiled by violence for decades. as militants have battled security forces. Nevertheless, violence has. fallen in current years and the Kashmir Valley - called the. Switzerland of India - has actually seen a gradual rise in the variety of. travelers.

• Biden makes no discuss kid's pardon in Cape Verde stopover on method to Angola

  U.S. President Joe Biden did not respond to press reporters' concerns on the approving of a pardon to his child Hunter Biden when he landed in Cape Verde for a brief stopover on his method to Angola. Joe Biden, whose term in office surfaces in January, flew out of Washington soon after pardoning Hunter, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and been convicted on firearms-related charges. The president did not react to questions on the concern from reporters on the tarmac at Amilcar Cabral International Airport. He was set up to hold a meeting with the island country's. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, who welcomed him at the. airport. The White House hailed Cape Verde as a design of stable. democratic governance and said it had been a consistent partner. of the United States on worldwide health, security, and other. concerns. Biden, making his only see to sub-Saharan Africa as U.S. president, was set up to fly out of Cape Verde quickly after. his conference bound for the Angolan capital Luanda, where he will. concentrate on a U.S.-backed train project that aims to divert. vital minerals far from China. The task, partially moneyed with a U.S. loan, connects the. resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the. Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, using a quick. and efficient route for exports to the West.

• Poland to build brand-new grain terminal in Gdansk to reinforce food security

  Poland prepares to construct a new grain terminal at the Port of Gdansk by 2026, which will enable the nation to respond to crisis situations, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday. Farmers have repeatedly obstructed Poland's eastern border over the past year in demonstration against food imports such as grain from the east, consisting of from Ukraine. Tusk informed reporters in the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk, in the north of Poland, that the new terminal there will be at the disposal of the Polish state. It will not just perform commercial functions, however will be a security gadget in the hands of the Polish state as part of protecting Polish interests and Polish farmers, Tusk stated. Poland's Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Arkadiusz Marchewka stated that the whole financial investment would cost 500 million zloty ($ 122.40 million). The terminal's trans-shipment capacity in 2026 will be and preliminary 2 million metric tons, which will then be increased to 3 million lots, Marchewka included.

• Biden's long-awaited Africa trip to tout a win versus China

  Joe Biden headed to Angola on Sunday for a journey that will provide on a pledge to go to Africa during his presidency and focus on a. significant U.S.-backed railway task that intends to divert crucial. minerals far from China. The job, partially funded with a U.S. loan, links the. resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the. Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, offering a quick. and effective path for exports to the West. At stake are vast materials of minerals like copper and. cobalt, which are discovered in Congo and are an essential element of. batteries and other electronic devices. China is the top player in. Congo, which has actually ended up being an increasing concern to Washington. China signed an agreement with Tanzania and Zambia in. September to revive a rival railway line to Africa's eastern. coast. While Biden's journey is happening in the waning days of his. presidency, Donald Trump will likely back the railway and stay. a close partner to Angola when he returns to the White House in. January, according to 2 authorities who served under the. previous Trump administration. Tibor Nagy, a retired career ambassador and leading envoy to. Africa under the last Trump administration, said Trump will. likely have 2 overarching issues concerning Africa. The first. is competitors with China and Russia, the 2nd is access to. critical minerals. This checks both boxes, he said in an interview, referring. to the Lobito Atlantic Train. The project is backed by international commodities trader. Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil. and train operator Vecturis. The U.S. Advancement Financing. Corporation has actually offered a $550 million loan to refurbish the. 1,300-kilometer (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 Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. there before flying on to Angola, the White Home stated. He will. go to the National Museum of Slavery in the capital Luanda. during the two-day journey and stop at the Lobito port on. Wednesday. His journey delivers on among a sweeping set of pledges to. Africa. Others remain latent, such as getting 2 permanent. seats for Africa at the U.N. Security Council. Beyond the train job, Washington has actually likewise done little. to advance access to large reserves of African minerals it says. are crucial for nationwide security and has acquired other. diplomatic setbacks. This summertime, it lost America's major spy base in Niger and. has not been able to find an ally that will host those possessions. This leaves the U.S. without a military grip in the vast. Sahel area that has ended up being a hotspot of Islamist militancy. Angola has actually long supported close ties with China and Russia. but has actually just recently moved closer to the West. Angolan officials say. they are eager to work with any partner that can advance their. agenda to promote economic development and hope the job stimulates. investment in a variety of sectors. China has actually just acquired prominence due to the fact that Western nations. have most likely 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 see shows a turnabout in U.S. ties with Angola. after a complicated and bloody history. The U.S. and the Soviet. Union backed competing sides in the nation's 27-year civil war. Washington established relations with Angola in 1993, nearly 2. years after it acquired independence. It's probably poetic justice that the United States should. fund the rehab of this route to which it had. contributed destruction so many years earlier, said Akashambatwa. Mbikusita-Lewanika, a previous Zambian federal government minister who. likewise ran part of the railway that is to form the Lobito. corridor. Biden administration authorities have stated the Lobito rail. job is not a one-off, however a test run to prove the. private-public collaboration works, and it will cause other. significant facilities jobs in Africa. They also hope it will. deepen U.S. ties with Angola, including in security cooperation. Critics have actually questioned whether the task, which has no. date for conclusion, will deliver the assured goals. A. particular source of scrutiny is a 2nd phase which would. link the train to Africa's east coast through to Tanzania,. possibly providing a competing route to China. Judd Devermont, till just recently Biden's leading Africa consultant,. said Congo wishes to diversify its mining partners and rejected. the concept that linking the task to an eastern port in. Tanzania weakens the effort to loosen Beijing's grip on. Congo's minerals. The Congolese have actually been very clear that they do not want to. see their entire mining sector controlled by China, he stated in. an interview. It benefits everyone if there's an easy way to. move throughout the continent, whether that's critical minerals or. just moving stuff from India to Brazil to New York..

• Ukraine says war has harmed most of its civilian airports

  Fifteen of Ukraine's civilian airports have been damaged given that Russia attacked the country in February 2022, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as stating by regional media on Saturday. Ukraine, which the state air travel service says has 20 civilian airports, has been exploring opportunities to partly open its airspace. It has actually been totally closed because the start of the war. Ukrainians who want to fly abroad presently have to go via roadway or rail to neighbouring nations to capture flights. For those living in the east, the journey out of Ukraine can take a. day in itself. We conducted a risk assessment and figured out the requirements of. the air defence forces to partly open the airspace, local. news firm Ukrinform estimated Shmyhal as saying at a. transportation conference. Security problems and the military situation stay essential to. this choice, he stated. Shmyhal added that Russia had assaulted Ukraine's port. infrastructure almost 60 times in the last three months,. harmful or ruining nearly 300 centers and 22 civilian. vessels. A senior partner at insurance coverage broker Marsh McLennan told. Reuters previously this month that Ukraine could reopen the airport. in the western city of Lviv in 2025 if regulators consider it safe. and a political choice is made.

• Vietnam approves information, electrical energy laws, $67 bln rail strategy

  Vietnam's parliament authorized laws on information defense and electrical power, along with a resolution supporting a $67 billion highspeed rail job on Saturday, the last day of its twiceyearly regular session. The railway, Vietnam's the majority of ambitious facilities project, is to run from the capital Hanoi to the southern service center of Ho Chi Minh City. The 1,541-km (958-mile). project is anticipated to be completed in 2035. The information law tightens up requirements on personal data. processing and data transfer overseas, a move that groups. representing U.S. tech firms have stated could hamper their. operations in the Southeast Asian country. The law will likewise help with the government's access to information. when authorities in the Communist-run country think about that. essential. The electrical energy law is expected to remove some hurdles for. investment in energy jobs in Vietnam and speed up approvals. of so-called direct power purchase arrangements, which allow. makers to negotiate electrical power materials straight with. suppliers of renewable energy. The measure intends to produce a more thorough legal system. for the energy sector, which is now based on numerous,. separate guidelines. Additional legal texts will require to be authorized to. finish the regulatory structure for particular energy sectors,. such as offshore, wind and nuclear power.

• EU approves 1.9 bln euro state aid for DB Cargo, based on reorganizing plan

  The European Commission has approved 1.9 billion euros ($ 2.01 billion) in state aid for German rail freight operator DB Freight, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, the European Union said on Friday. The help is contingent on the implementation of a. restructuring plan focused on ensuring the business's long-term. practicality, the EU said in a statement. The choice follows a thorough investigation introduced in. January 2022 after a rival raised concerns about potential. market distortions. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT. The approval of this aid might make sure the long-term practicality of. DB Cargo, vital for sustainable logistics circuits as a. lower-emissions alternative to roadway transport. CONTEXT. DB Freight has been under analysis considering that a competitor's problem. sparked an in-depth investigation in 2022. The probe focused on. a revenue and loss transfer agreement between Deutsche Bahn AG. and DB Freight, intra-group services, group funding conditions. of loans, and the partial coverage by the German Federal Train. Fund of reimbursement for civil servants. KEY QUOTE. The Commission is pleased that divestitures of activities and. possessions of DB Cargo, committed by Germany, will mitigate. distortions of competition caused by that state help, the. EU stated. BY THE NUMBERS. The approved German State aid amounts to 1.9 billion euros and. is aimed at supporting DB Freight's ongoing change and. restructuring strategy to ensure its long-lasting practicality by the end. of 2026. WHAT'S NEXT. From Jan. 1, the earnings and loss transfer agreement, recognized. as state aid, will no longer be in location. A restructuring plan,. consisting of a package of steps to enhance activities and. reduce expenses, is set to guarantee DB Cargo's long-term survival.

• Traders using STS transfers near Senegal to export Russian naphtha to Brazil, data shows

  Traders are using shiptoship loadings near the Senegalese port of Dakar to manage Russian naphtha exports to Brazil, market sources stated and LSEG data shows. Because a complete European Union embargo on Russian oil items went into effect in February 2023, the bulk of Russia's naphtha has actually been rerouted somewhere else. Loadings to larger vessels help to accelerate tanker turnover and reduce freight costs on long routes through the Atlantic Ocean, traders stated. STS transfers have likewise end up being more appealing considering that recent Western sanctions on some foreign vessels carrying Russian oil products restricted the variety of ships offered for exports from Russia. Russia has exported an average 100,000 metric tons of naphtha a month to Brazil, however because September 2024 direct fuel materials have been up to around 35,000 tons monthly, according to delivering information. Instead, around 160,000 tons of naphtha were loaded in between September and November in the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga and released at a ship-to-ship website near Dakar port to different tankers, including the Pantera and Minerva Mediterranea vessels, the information showed. All those transshipped freights were predestined for Brazil, according to market sources and LSEG information. Ship-to-ship transfers are also actively used near the Italian port of Augusta, the Greek islands and Malta for export products of Russian oil products to Asian nations, according to LSEG data.