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Sources say that the Sheskharis terminal in Russia's Black Sea halted loadings following a drone attack.
Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that the?crude oil exports from the?Russian Sheskharis terminal in the Black Sea Port of Novorossiysk had been suspended following a massive drone strike and an fire. The Black Sea's main oil outlet is the terminal that?loads approximately 700,000 barrels of crude per day. The suspension of the terminal will increase the strain on Russian infrastructure that has been repeatedly targeted. Sources in the industry say that Russia's main Baltic Ust-Luga Port's oil 'exports' have been suspended since last Monday 'after heavy drone attacks 'and fires. Sources say that Russia is likely to be forced to reduce its production as storage and supplies fill up, especially when the international demand for Middle Eastern crude oil is high. It could also be doing this to maximize the benefits to its economy from a spike in oil prices caused by the Iran War. Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, the two sources who are familiar with the situation cannot be named. The port has not yet estimated the extent of the damages, they said. A Black Sea Terminal attack early in March caused the suspension of loadings for five days. Novorossiysk Port loads Russian Urals, Kazakh KEBCO oil and sweet Siberian Light crude. Barbara Lewis (Reporting and editing)
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As the Middle East conflict escalates, airlines cancel more flights
The global air travel industry is still severely affected by the Iran 'war,' with many people unable to reach their destinations as planned after major Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi were closed. Here are the latest flight information in alphabetical order. AEGEAN AIRLINES The largest airline in Greece has cancelled flights from Tel Aviv to Beirut and Tel Aviv to Amman. Flights to Riyadh, Amman and Riyadh were also cancelled until June 27, and flights to Tel Aviv to Amman until 26 June. The airline has cancelled flights to Erbil, Baghdad and Dubai until June 29, and Erbil and Baghdad up until July 2. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has announced that flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until May 31. Dubai flights are cancelled through October 24. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier has canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until September 7. AIR EUROPA Spanish Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv till May 3. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France has suspended Tel Aviv flights to Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh until April 19. KLM has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv and Riyadh until May 17. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong Airlines has cancelled all flights to Dubai and Riyadh up until May 31. In April, the airline will increase its passenger flights from London to Paris to Zurich to meet the increased demand for travel to Europe. The U.S. carrier cancelled all New York-Tel Aviv flight and has delayed the start of its Atlanta-Tel Aviv routes until September 5. The launch of the Boston-Tel Aviv flight, originally scheduled for late October, was delayed. EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES Customers who had planned to leave Israel by April 18, 2018, have been informed that their flights, including the return flight, will be cancelled. The airline operates a limited number flights to key destinations. EMIRATES After a partial opening of the regional airspace, Emirates Airlines has announced a reduced schedule. ETIHAD AERWAYS The UAE carrier has announced that it operates a commercial flight schedule from Abu Dhabi to around 80 destinations. FINNAIR The airline has cancelled all flights to Doha until July 2 and continues to avoid the airspaces of Iraq, Iran Syria, and Israel. Dubai flights will only be resumed in October. FLYNAS Saudi budget airline suspends flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi Sharjah Doha, Bahrain Kuwait Iraq and Syria. British Airways, owned by IAG, has extended the cancellation of flights to Amman and Bahrain until May 31 and Doha until April 30. They have also added flights to Bangkok, Singapore, and Maldives. In May, a third daily flight will operate between London and Mumbai. Flights to Abu Dhabi are suspended until the end of this year. Iberia Express is IAG's low cost airline. All flights between Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv have been cancelled until May 31. JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines suspends scheduled Doha-Tokyo and Tokyo-Doha flight schedules until May 10. Japan Airlines has also announced that it will be adding extra flights between Tokyo, London and Doha until May 11. KUWAIT AIRWAYS Starting April 5, the airline will resume its flights from Dammam to India. The Polish airline has suspended flights to Tel Aviv till May 31. The airline also cancelled flights from March 31 until May 30 to Beirut and Riyadh. The airline will operate its winter route from Dubai to October. LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines suspended flights from Dubai and Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi until May 31. They also suspended flights to Amman, Beirut Dammam, Riyadh Erbil Muscat and Tehran to October 24. Lufthansa Cargo will remain the same except for Tel Aviv, which is suspended until April 30. Eurowings, the low-cost carrier, plans to suspend its flights to Tel Aviv and Erbil until April 30, and to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman until October 24. MALAYSIA AIRLINE Malaysian Airlines has suspended all flights to Doha through June 14. NORWEGIAN AIR Low-cost airline 'has delayed planned launches of Tel aviv and Beirut service to June 15 The airline cancelled Dubai flights until April 8 for the rest of the winter. PEGASUS Pegasus Airlines, Turkey's national airline, has cancelled all flights to Iran, Iraq, Amman Beirut, Kuwait Bahrain Doha Dammam Riyadh Dubai Abu Dhabi Sharjah and Abu Dhabi until May 1. ROYAL MAROC Moroccan airline?says that flights to Doha and Dubai have been cancelled until June 30, while flights to Doha will be cancelled until May 31, QANTAS Australia's national carrier has added flights to Rome, Paris and London to respond to a surge in demand on European routes. The number of flights to Paris will be increased from three to five weekly return flights, and the Perth to Singapore service will go from daily to ten flights per week. A new schedule will be implemented gradually for flights starting in mid-April. It will run until late July. QATAR AIRWAYS The airline said that it will gradually increase flights to Doha from 120 destinations by mid-May. SINGAPORE Airlines In response to increased demand, the carrier has extended the suspension of Singapore-Dubai flights until May 31. It also added services on Singapore-London Gatwick (late March) and Singapore-Melbourne (late March-October 24). TURKISH AIRLINES SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa that operates flights to Dubai, has cancelled all flights until 30 April. WIZZ AIR Low-cost airlines have suspended flights from Europe to Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman until the middle of September. All flights to Medina are suspended permanently. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed. Elviira Louma, Tiago Branao, Agnieszka Olesnska, Bernadette HOG, Boleslaw LaSocki, Romolo Tosiani, and Bernadette Hogg. Sumana Nady, Joe Bavier, and Mark Potter edited the book.
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French high-speed trains collide with military trucks, killing the train driver
Separate statements from the local railway operator and prefecture said that a 'high-speed' train in France collided with a truck transporting military equipment near Calais on Tuesday morning, killing the driver. The?prefecture also reported that 16 people were injured, and two of them were in a critical condition. The?prefecture said that more than 200 passengers were aboard the train at the moment of the accident. Around 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), near the town Bully-les-Mines in northern France, a high-speed rail travelling from Dunkirk towards Paris collided with a truck that was?carrying a military vehicle, according to a statement released by railway operator SNCF. SNCF'said that traffic was 'interrupted and disruption is expected until the end of the day. Reporting by Inti Landauro, Sophie Louet and Tomaszjanowski; editing by Sudipkar-Gupta & Tomaszjanowski
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ICE arrests more than 800 after receiving tips from the US Airport Security Agency
Internal ICE data reviewed by?by shows that U.S. Immigration & Customs 'Enforcement' arrested more than 800 individuals following tips from federal airport security officials between the beginning of Donald Trump’s?presidency and February 2026. This figure is far higher than what was previously publicly known. Data showed that the leads were provided by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which had given ICE records of more than 31,000 passengers for possible immigration enforcement. The TSA tips are primarily useful for determining the time of travel. ICE and TSA belong to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The agencies had shared information on national security threats in the past, but began to focus more on immigration arrests as part of Trump’s mass deportation efforts last year. TSA PROGRAM WAS INTENDED TO COUNTER Terrorism. The 31,000 records of travelers were collected by TSA’s Secure Flight Program. This program was established?in 2007, to allow the agency review passenger information to determine if anyone is on U.S. Government watchlists. According to the regulation defining its purpose, the program was designed as a counterterrorism measure and not to track down immigration offenders. DHS didn't respond to questions regarding TSA sharing passenger information with ICE. However, they did say that TSA is "pursuing solutions to improve resiliency and security across our entire system" under Trump. TSA did not have the data on arrests or traveler records it shared with ICE prior to Trump's term. Since mid-February, U.S. immigration enforcement and airports have been the focus of a partisan funding battle. Democrats refused to provide additional funds for the Republican President's immigration crackdown unless reforms were made to reduce aggressive tactics. This standoff prevented the passage of DHS funding, and TSA security agents missed at least two paychecks. Trump sent ICE officers in March after some TSA employees who were not paid began to call in sick. Democrats have criticised the deployment of ICE officers and asked the Trump administration remove them. More than 40 Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter last week to newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, stating that ICE agents "will cause confusion" if they are allowed to remain at airports. Reports of unexpected airport arrests Several cases involving ICE officers 'arresting travellers in U.S. Airports' have sparked a backlash. ICE officers arrested a mother who was sobbing at San Francisco International Airport on the day before Trump began his airport deployment. They also detained a student from Boston traveling to Texas for Thanksgiving. DHS has defended the arrests, saying that they are subject to final removal orders. Three immigration lawyers said that they are familiar with the cases of people being arrested at airports without the proper immigration status. Christina Canty said that one of the cases involved an Irish couple, who had lived in the U.S. more than 20 years, and were detained by immigration officials in front of their kids last summer when they tried to fly from Florida back to New York following a vacation. Canty stated that the parents, who had applied for permanent residence, were deported, leaving their two young children, aged 7 and 10, in the care of adult siblings living in America. One of the lawyers said that ICE detained a Chinese woman who had a final removal order and was en route from Atlanta to Philadelphia last year. (Reporting from Ted Hesson, Washington; Kristina Coooke, San Francisco; editing by Rod Nickel.)
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Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2019
These are the top stories from?Wall Street Journal. The?Wall Street Journal has not?verified?these stories, and does not vouch?for their accuracy. Anthropic plans to invest $200m in a new venture that will?sell AI to portfolio companies. - Broadcom will develop ?and supply custom artificial-intelligence ?chips for Google ?and additional computing capacity to Anthropic in an expansion of the strategic collaboration between the three companies. Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service has reached a new agreement to handle packages, which will?reduce Amazon's volume of packages by 20%. The 'Trump Administration' will increase payments to Medicare insurers next year by a staggering 2.48%. This is a dramatic rise after an initial proposal that held a line on.payments was met with fierce criticism from the industry. It also sank the shares of some of the biggest companies.
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Australian stocks rise as banks and miners rally; Middle East is in focus
Australian shares rose more than 2.5% Tuesday, supported by banks and miners, as investors waited for clarity about the prospects of a?resolution? to the Middle East war. As of 1252 GMT the S&P/ASX 200 was up 2.6% to 8,800 points after losing 1.1% the previous day, Thursday, before Easter. President Donald Trump has maintained that despite the rhetoric, there is still hope for a quick resolution. Investors cautiously returned to risk assets after the U.S. military did not escalate. This helped global equity markets edge higher. U.S. equity indices closed modestly higher on Monday. Japan's Nikkei average futures rose 0.7% early in the day. Investors are watching the developments in Iran as Trump sets a deadline of Tuesday for Tehran to reopen Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Iran would be "taken" if it did not comply. Tehran, however, rejected the temporary ceasefire and opted for a permanent solution to the conflict. Gold stocks in Sydney rose by 2.8% as a result of higher bullion. Shares of Northern Star Resources rose 3.9%, while Evolution Mining gained 1.4%. Since the start of the war, the sector has lost more than 22 %. This is due to a weaker dollar and lower bullion. The mining index as a whole rose 3%. Rio Tinto, BHP and other heavyweights all saw gains of more than 2%. Australian banks rebounded by 2.4% after a recent slump in the sector. The sector is down over 5% since the end of February. Lenders' margins could be supported by the expectation that interest rates will remain high for longer. NEXTDC jumped by 10% after launching a wholesale A$1 billion offer of subordinated hybrid'securities' with a 100-year maturity to fund growth. This lifted the Australian technology indices 6%. Real estate grew by 1.7%, and consumer discretionary stock jumped 2.6%. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 rose by 1.3% to 13,068.22. Investors are now focusing on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's rate announcement scheduled for Wednesday. In a poll of 32 economists, the central bank is expected to keep rates at their current level as it balances inflation risk against weak growth. Reporting by Shruti Aggarwal, Bengaluru. Editing by Sherry Phillips.
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Brazilian government blacklists Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD due to labor violations
According to a document obtained by on Monday, the Brazilian Labor Ministry added BYD to its list of employers who allegedly subjected workers to conditions that were similar to slavery. The document shows that the world's biggest electric vehicle manufacturer has been added to a list of employers who have allegedly subjected workers to conditions similar slavery. This was in a case from December 2024, when Brazilian authorities discovered around?163 Chinese employees in "slavery-like' conditions while building an auto factory in Brazil's northeastern Bahia State. BYD didn't immediately respond to a?request for comment made outside normal working hours. It has denied the claims of the government in previous years. The "dirty" list of Brazil is only created after the appeals process has been exhausted. The list is not only a source of serious reputational risk, but also a barrier to certain types loans by Brazilian banks. However, the companies can still continue to operate. If a court decides to remove a company from the list, then it will remain on the list for two years. Signing a deal with the government and committing to change your practices, as well as compensating workers who have been abused by employers can help you avoid being included. BYD has signed a pact?with labor authorities over the?issue, but not with government. The plant was inaugurated on October. Reporting by Fabio Téixeira, Editing by Christopher Cushing & Lincoln Feast
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Source: Iran stops two Qatar LNG tankers that it had previously approved to transit Strait of Hormuz.
On Monday morning, Iran's Revolutionary Guards stopped two Qatari liquefied natural gas tankers heading towards the Strait of Hormuz and instructed them to remain in position without any explanation. The source, who spoke under condition of anonymity and had been briefed about the agreement, confirmed that Iran had allowed the vessels to pass through the strait as part of an agreement with the United States reached last week by Pakistani mediation. The source stated that "this was part of an agreement negotiated in the context of talks led by Pakistan last Thursday." Ship-tracking data revealed that both ships were located off the coast of the United Arab Emirates Monday evening, and they had not passed through Hormuz. If the vessels had successfully crossed the strait they would have been the first LNG cargoes to transit the waterway after the U.S./Israeli war against Iran began on February 28, The conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran has caused thousands of deaths, as well as a rise in oil prices, which have hurt economies. The fighting and retaliatory strikes have effectively shut down tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. This route carries around a fifth of global oil and LNG flows. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that Iran agreed to allow 10 oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz on March 26, as an apparent gesture of goodwill in negotiations. Trump said: "They said to show that we are real and solid, and we're here, we're letting you have eight boats, or eight big boats, of oil." "I think they were right and they were real. I believe they were Pakistani flagged." The final count was 10 boats. The data from Kpler and LSEG shows that the two Qatari vessels Al Daayen & Rasheeda?loaded their goods in late February. The LNG was loaded from Ras Laffan in Qatar. Ship-tracking data revealed that they had been heading eastwards towards the strait, but turned back on Monday morning. On?Monday, the two vessels switched course signals. The Al Daayen changed its course to Ras Laffan after previously signaling Pakistan as the destination. Meanwhile, the Rasheeda signaled "for orders" (a generic placeholder) from Port Qasim in Pakistan. The data indicated that the Al Daayen was signaling for China earlier on Monday. Kpler data indicated that both tankers were controlled by QatarEnergy. QatarEnergy didn't immediately respond to an inquiry about the Revolutionary Guards of Iran stopping the ships. Mitsui O.S.K., Mitsui's joint owner, reported that a Japanese LNG tanker named Sohar LNG had successfully crossed the Strait. Lines announced on Friday. A company spokesperson refused to reveal when or if any negotiations took place. The tanker was, however, empty. Qatar is the second largest LNG exporter in the world, and most of its shipments are sent to Asia. The Iranian attacks have knocked down 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capability. Repairs are expected to take three to five more years to restore the fuel.
Aviators' group: Airline pilots should have the final say about flying in war zones
The International?Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations said that pilots should be allowed to make a "final, non-negotiable decision" about whether or not they will fly over conflict zones.
The IFALPA position paper was released on Monday. This comes at a time when the six-week long Iran war has reshaped the airspace in the Middle East, and increased disruptions of flights due to missile and drone attacks and interceptions.
The Montreal-based IFALPA says airlines should be aware of how mental and emotional stress can arise in cockpits when operating in conflict zones.
The?paper stated that the decision of the?Commander regarding the conduct or rerouting a flight must be final, non-negotiable, and unaffected by any other factors. This decision should not be influenced in any way by commercial pressures, financial incentives or penalties or career consequences.
Flightradar24 reports that while many airlines have cancelled?services for affected destinations, Dubai's Emirates operates at 69% of normal capacity, and Qatar Airways is at 26%. This translates to hundreds of flights per day that are being targeted by Iranian drones and missiles.
United Arab Emirates has established "safe corridors", with specific flight routes, but planes are still routinely held in holding patterns when attacks occur. In some cases, they have been diverted or turned back to other destinations if airspace is temporarily closed.
Qatar Airways stated that "the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain paramount", and that all flights from and to Doha are being operated on dedicated flight corridors, established in close cooperation with the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
Emirates, who has said that safety is a priority, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the IFALPA document, airlines should provide pilots in conflict zones with mitigation methods such as post-flight recovery time and confidential assistance.
It said that if rerouting delays, hold-ups, increased workloads, complexity of diversion, or sector uncertainty are frequent and predictable, they should be included in scheduling assumptions, fatigue control, and roster buffers, with "additional safety" margins, such as augmented crew rostering.
Separately, on Monday, the United Nations Aviation Agency said that its governing council had condemned Iran for?illegal airspace violations? against Gulf neighbors such as the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, affecting civil aviation safety. The International Civil Aviation Organization issued a statement in which it said that the council "deplored Iran's use of unmanned air systems for military purposes over the territory of the affected member countries." A source familiar with this matter says that the council's decision was based on a paper presented by several Arab countries?concerning Iran's use weaponized drones to attack its neighbors.
The source did not know the specifics, but said that Iran had submitted a separate document regarding its territory. It will be discussed at a future session of the council. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed in Montreal, Allison Lampert)
(source: Reuters)