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Korean Air completes Asiana takeover to form one of Asia's biggest airline companies
Korean Air has finished its protracted purchase of indebted South Korean rival Asiana Airlines, the airline said on Thursday, a major action towards forming among Asia's most significant carriers. The 1.8-trillion-won ($ 1.3 billion) M&A deal, which stands as one of the longest to conclusion in the sector, was initially unveiled 4 years earlier by South Korea's largest provider to rescue Asiana, facing a plunge in demand throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Korean Air acquired 131,578,947 newly issued shares in Asiana on Thursday, for a stake of 63.88% stake in the airline company, which becomes a subsidiary. A new Korean Air group might account for just over half of South Korea's guest capability, and would end up being the world's. twelfth-largest airline by international capacity, a Reuters. analysis of airline company information from Cirium and OAG programs. Korean Air said Asiana's combination would not consist of. layoffs. The combined organisation projects natural staff development. through organization growth, with workers in overlapping. functions being reassigned within the organisation, it said in. a statement.
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UK announces preparing overhaul to help meet 1.5 million brand-new homes target
Britain on Thursday described information of an overhaul to its planning system to help improve development and hit a target of 1.5 million new homes in the next 5 years, consisting of buying local authorities to develop more homes. The housebuilding target was one of 6 quantifiable milestones announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer a week ago, as he promised to revamp a planning system he referred to as having a chokehold on development. Although no British government has struck such a target in years, Starmer on Thursday said there was no shying away from a real estate crisis which indicated the imagine homeownership seems like a remote reality to lots of people. Our plan for modification will put home builders not blockers first, overhaul the damaged preparation system and put roofings over the heads of working families and drive the growth that will put more money in individuals's pockets, he said in a statement. The City government Association stated planning reform required to be combined with work to deal with labor force obstacles, the costs of construction and the monetary headroom of local authorities and real estate associations, adding that swifter planning decisions didn't ensure more housebuilding. The government said there would be brand-new immediate necessary real estate targets, with the least inexpensive areas requiring the most rigid targets. Local authorities would have 12 weeks to come up with timetables for brand-new housebuilding plans, it stated, or else threat intervention from ministers. Previously industrialized land, known as brownfield sites, would be prioritised for advancement. Councils need to likewise review boundaries of the green belt - a classification planned to avoid urban spread - to meet targets, and seek to establish lower quality grey belt land. The federal government stressed that green belt advancement would need to make sure advancement of needed facilities was prioritised. Councils will be given an extra 100 million pounds ($127.60 million) to support their work.
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FAA extends United States ban on flights to Port-au-Prince up until March 12
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it will extend a restriction on U.S. airlines flying in or out of PortauPrince, Haiti by another 90 days to March 12. On Nov. 12, the FAA said it was disallowing U.S. airlines from running in Haiti for 1 month after three industrial jetliners were struck by shooting. On Nov. 21, the FAA stated it would allow U.S. airlines and basic air travel pilots to fly to 6 airports in northern Haiti - Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien, Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon and Jacmel-- even as it kept in location the ban on flights to the Haitian capital.
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Austria's OMV terminates Gazprom gas agreement after supply row
Austria's OMV stated on Wednesday it had actually ended its long-lasting gas supply contract with Gazprom after the Russian firm stopped shipments last month in the middle of a row that has been highly politicized due to the war in Ukraine. The step formally ends the moribund contract considering that Gazprom stopped 50 years of gas flows to the Austrian firm after OMV won an arbitration case against Gazprom over a separate agreement and said it would recoup its 230 million euros ($ 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.
Trump may cancel United States Postal Service electrical mail truck agreement, sources state
Donald Trump's transition group is thinking about canceling the United States Postal Service's. agreements to electrify its shipment fleet, as part of a broader. suite of executive orders targeting electrical lorries, according. to 3 sources knowledgeable about the strategies.
The relocation, which might be revealed in the early days of. Trump's administration that starts on Jan. 20, is in line with. Trump's campaign promises to roll back President Joe Biden's. efforts to decarbonize U.S. transportation to combat environment. change-- an agenda Trump has stated is unneeded and potentially. damaging to the economy.
Reuters has formerly reported that Trump is planning to. eliminate a $7,500 customer tax credit for electric-vehicle. purchases, and plans roll back Biden's stricter fuel-efficiency. requirements.
The sources informed Reuters that Trump's shift group is now. examining how it can relax the postal service's multi-billion. dollar agreements, including with Oshkosh Corp. and Ford. , for 10s of thousands of battery-driven delivery van. and charging stations.
Oshkosh shares fell by approximately 5% to 105.65 per share after. the Reuters report.
Oshkosh and Ford did not react to requests for remark.
In 2023, Congress provided USPS $3 billion as part of a $430. billion environment costs to purchase EVs and charging facilities. It. plans to purchase some 66,000 electrical cars to construct one of the. largest electrical lorry fleets in the nation by 2028.
As part of that, Oshkosh is expected to deliver about 45,000. electric cars, with the staying coming from mainstream. automakers like Ford, according to the USPS. The preliminary batch. of 14,000 battery chargers are being supplied by Siemens, ChargePoint. and Blink, according to the USPS.
The USPS is a self-governing federal company with its own. governing board, making severing the contract lawfully. challenging, but Trump's specified policy objectives are poised to test. the limits of executive power on a range of problems, from. trade to federal spending.
The USPS did not respond to requests for remark.
Trump's team did not comment straight on prepare for the USPS. contract.
President Trump will protect the liberty of Americans to. drive whichever lorry they select, enhance his hard tariffs. on Chinese-imported cars, and save the U.S. auto market for. generations to come. No policy ought to be deemed official unless. it comes straight from President Trump, Trump transition team. spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a declaration.
In 2021, Biden provided an executive order on EVs declaring. that 50% of all new passenger cars and light trucks would be. zero-emission automobiles. To attain that objective, Biden directed. numerous federal firms to carry out rules on brand-new emission and. fuel standards created to speed adoption of electric automobiles.
(source: Reuters)