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Judge blocks Trump's plan to limit mail-in voting
A federal judge blocked the U.S. The Postal Service is not allowed to implement the core 'parts' of a new rule that it adopted at Donald Trump’s request?to tighten voting requirements for mail-in ballots ahead of November congressional elections. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining in Boston at the request of Democratic-led States and voting rights groups, after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Monday that led to lifting earlier injunctions which blocked Trump's plans for restricting mail-in voting. This decision prompted a frantic effort by dozens of Democratic State Attorneys General and voting rights organizations, including the League of Women Voters, to renew their legal fight and obtain an order to prevent the USPS enforcing the rule that had been allowed to take affect on Wednesday. Talwani's restraining orders will remain in effect while she decides whether or not to issue a more-term injunction that would block the rule. The judge is a Democrat President Barack Obama appointee and plans to decide whether or not to block the rule during a hearing on September 3. According to the rule, all envelopes for outgoing and return mail ballots must have unique barcodes. Under the rule, the USPS may refuse to deliver any ballots that are not compliant with the new standards, or those associated with voters not appearing on the list. The rule was issued to implement the executive order signed by the Republican President in March. Trump had called for stricter?rules regarding voting by mail after years of calling for tighter 'rules and claiming that his defeat in the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden resulted from widespread voter fraud. All 50 states allow some form of mail in voting. 29 of them let voters request to vote that way without stating a reason, and eight conduct their entire elections by mail. According to the states, USPS processed more than 100 million ballots during the election of 2024. About 30% of voters nationwide cast their ballots via mail. The new federal restrictions, they say, will disenfranchise voters and burden the states during the weeks leading up to an election by forcing them to purchase new envelopes, equipment and training staff. Plaintiffs?argue that the USPS lacked the authority to issue this rule?and, by doing so, usurped Congress and the states' authority under the U.S. Constitution in regulating elections. The plaintiffs claim that the rule undermines USPS' neutral role as a mail carrier, and violates federal laws that protect voters' rights.
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Rescuers search for flood debris in Nepal as the risk of new flooding increases
Heavy machinery was used by rescue teams to dig through the mud and debris of Nepalese cities that were devastated two days earlier by a flash flooding. Officials also worked hard to reduce the risks of new flooding. Early on Friday morning, the death toll was 389 in Nepal, and almost a thousand more were missing in both countries. In Tibet, where a Wednesday morning 'glacier collapse' sent a torrent of mud, rock, and debris crashing through Himalayan river systems, there are also a few hundred people still unaccounted for. The flood destroyed power stations, bridges and roads along the popular route linking Kathmandu and Lhasa, Tibet. At least 540 of the missing are foreigners. Authorities in Nepal have used helicopters to look for survivors and deliver emergency supplies to thousands of people cut off in the towns and valleys. Emergency services, some using sniffer dog teams, recovered dozens bodies that were swept into the plains. Dibga Tamang, along with three other people, was airlifted to Nuwakot on Thursday after being rescued by the town of Rasuwa. "All our people are gone," Tamang said. "They are dead," Tamang replied. "I don't have anyone left to wait for me." "Everything is gone. "The end" Water and debris have been thrown up in such a way that they could trigger a new disaster. Nepal's disaster-management authority warned of an erupting lake created by debris that blocked the Bhotekoshi River. On the other side, China reported that 3 million cubic meters of water – the equivalent of 1,200 Olympic swimming pools – was expected to flood into a dammed lake in the next three days. The water resources ministry, according to Chinese state media, said that there is a high chance of the lake breaching. Peak flow is expected around September 1. Zhu Jinfeng is a researcher in the hydrology department of the Ministry. He told CCTV that the volume of water continues to grow, as does the risk. TORRENT TORE THROUGH BORDER CROSSING State media reported that Chinese rescuers still had not reached the worst-hit area of the Chinese border at the Gyirong crossing by Thursday evening as crews cleared debris from the main?access road leading into the area. Gyirong's border port is a vital part of China's Belt and Road Network, which links the country with South Asia. Parking lots and logistics zones have been built in the last decade. On Wednesday, dramatic footage showed torrents of muddy debris and water tearing through the structures at the border crossing within seconds. They also engulfed people who were trying to flee. China's state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that 558 people were missing in Tibet’s Gyirong County, including 260 non-Chinese nationals. Just three Chinese nationals have been confirmed as dead so far. Li Qiang is China's premier and the No. 2 official in the country. The state-run Xinhua agency reported that Li Qiang, China's No. Beijing's visit indicated that the disaster was a top priority for the country. "EXPLODED Like a Bomb" Janak Bahadur, a survivor in Devighat in Nepal said that the flood "came suddenly and exploded as a bomb." The river appeared small at first, but suddenly it began to overflow and sweep through. India, Australia, and South Korea sent rescue and aid teams to Nepal in order to find the missing foreigners. Donald Trump, President of the United States, said that the U.S. has offered support. "Nobody has ever seen something like that. Very powerful, strong, well-built structures were destroyed like toothpicks. It's terrible. We're sending aid, we've talked to the leaders and told them that they can have anything they desire. Families of the?missing' were desperately searching for information on their location. Vasanthi Muniandy's sister Vennila, who was part of an Hindu pilgrimage group in Malaysia, told her that Vennila last spoke to her after Vennila crossed the border from Nepal into Tibet. "I'm totally broken." Vasanthi said, "My sister is important to me." "I want her to come back. She is the only one I have. I want her home. "I want her to be in safety." Ganesh Aryal is the administrator for the Chitwan District. He said that authorities had recovered 103 corpses in the river system of his district. His district is located in the plains, about 100 km away from the worst affected region of Trishuli. He said that because local hospitals could not accommodate all of the bodies, district officials were setting up tents for families to collect their "dead" relatives. Balendra Shah, Nepal's prime minister, visited flood-hit Nuwakot, Nepal on Thursday and said that the situation is still difficult. "All state agencies are working at full capacity. "Our first priority is now to save the lives of every citizen, to search for the missing and to treat the injured, and to provide immediate relief to affected families," said he. The disaster poses a significant challenge to Shah's government, which has only been in place for five months. However, officials say that the country already has systems and officials with experience dealing with such tragedies. This includes the 2015 earthquake where nearly 9,000 people were killed. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma, Sahana Bajracharya, Aftab Ahmed, Saurabh Sharma, Liz Lee, Yukun Zhang, Xiuhao Chen, Shi Bu, Sakshi Dayal, Kanjyik Ghosh, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Hritam Mukherjee, Ashley Tang and Christine Chen; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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Virgin Australia will trim capacity following a profit beating and stronger revenue
Virgin Australia announced on Friday that it expected to reduce domestic capacity by 3%, in line with Qantas Airways,?in?the first?half. This would support a?revenue increase, after reporting higher-than-expected earnings for the full year. Australia's No. Australia's No. Profits were driven by a strong travel demand, and a transformation program that aimed to boost loyalty earnings, efficiency, pricing, as well as solid fuel hedging. It declared a fully-franked dividend of 7,6 Australian cents per share, its first dividend since it relisted in 2025. Virgin Australia CEO Dave Emerson stated that "we delivered?strong earning growth and?further profit expansion despite significant pressure on inflation across the aviation supply chains and a more difficult operating environment." The airline forecasts first-half revenue for available seat kilometers (RASK), which is ahead of the market's expectations. This highlights resilient travel demand and disciplined capacity management. Virgin Australia stated that RASK (a key measure for revenue generated from each seat flown) is expected to grow between 6%-8% in the six month period ending December '2026. This is ahead of Visible Alpha's consensus estimate of 5.15%. Qantas announced on Thursday that it would increase its total revenue per available seat-kilometre by 8% to 10% during the same period, which was also higher than analyst expectations. This measure also includes baggage fees, other fares and charter revenue in addition to taking into consideration the percentage of filled seats.
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Air New Zealand records its biggest loss since 2023 due to fuel and engine costs
Air New Zealand reported its largest 'annual loss' in three years last Friday as higher fuel prices, linked to the Middle East conflict and persistent engine shortages squeezed earnings. Since the U.S. - Iran war began, jet fuel costs have increased by more than doubled. Air New Zealand's fuel bills increased by NZ$205m after hedging against what they expected at the beginning of the second half of fiscal 2026. New Zealand's largest?carrier? reported a loss of NZ$336 (US$199.85) million for the year ending June 30 compared to a profit NZ$189.9 million a year ago. Visible Alpha had forecast a NZ$356.5 pretax?loss. The impact of engine availability on profitability was estimated at NZ$190 millions. Air New Zealand stated that it is not yet in a position to give earnings guidance for the year 2027. The company added that this will be a year of transition and recovery with improved operational performance even though fuel prices are increasing. The airline didn't?declare final dividend.
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Sources say that FAA has fired two controllers for leaving work before a fatal LaGuardia accident.
Sources say that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is moving to 'fire' two air traffic control officers at New York LaGuardia Airport who allegedly left a few minutes before an Air Canada flight?collided?"with a firetruck on March 22 killing both pilots. Sources say that the crash has renewed attention on chronic staffing shortages in U.S. Air Traffic Control, and investigators are examining if adequate staffing was available when the accident happened. The National Air traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)?said that it is actively discussing the allegations with FAA leaders, refusing to comment further. The FAA stated that it "is committed to hold employees accountable and will not compromise safety or efficiency of 'National Airspace System. The FAA said that the two employees who were supposed to have been on duty at the time of the accident had left the facility. Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary, said that most controllers are doing a good job. Duffy stated that "we have no choice" but to take action when a few individuals abuse the American taxpayers, add unfairly more work to their co-controllers and disrupt the airspace. "We won't tolerate fraud and are taking the appropriate actions to hold people accountable and prevent illegal practices from disrupting travelers." Several controllers interviewed by described the workload that night as busy and said other controllers would typically be brought in or stay on ?past their normal shift end time to manage the heavier-than-scheduled number of ?flights. One controller informed? One controller told?sprachvermögenodatătrittscheinzeug vo A controller toldun ein One controller said that the FAA was cracking down against "early pushes", an industry term used to describe controllers who leave before the scheduled end of their?shift, after having completed their assigned duties. According to a third controller, allowing employees to leave before the scheduled time has been a common practice in many facilities for many years. The Wall Street Journal had reported earlier on the FAA's plans to fire employees. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Sanjeev Miklani and Chris Reese)
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Report says that the Marine One helicopter crew did not reach air traffic control in time to prevent a safety incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported on Thursday that the crew of a helicopter carrying President Donald Trump, which came too close to an aircraft on August 4, failed to contact air traffic controllers prior to departing. The incident with a plane leaving Reagan Washington National Airport has raised questions as to why the passenger aircraft was allowed to leave while Marine One was near, at a time that commercial traffic would normally be halted. NTSB said that the Marine One crew tried at least two times to give controllers the required three-minute notice of departure, but was hampered by communication issues. The NTSB stated that the crew tried to contact controllers via the helicopter facility of Joint Base Anacostia - Bolling, but was unsuccessful. Bryan Bedford, the director of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said on Tuesday that the agency had relocated a?antenna after the incident and altered a procedure. The NTSB stated that checks done after the relocation showed no communication issues. The NTSB revealed that there were also other communication problems. The NTSB reported that on July 30, Marine One staff and air traffic controllers met to "discuss concerns with recent reports about their inability to receive the required 3-minute liftoff call." NTSB: The Marine One crew reported that communications were "spotty". FAA regulations require aircraft to be separated at least by 1.5 miles (2.4km) horizontally and 500 feet (152m) vertically when they are near airports. Marine One and plane were separated at one time by 0.82 nautical miles laterally, and 700 feet up vertically. Envoy Air 3742 was an Embraer E170 Regional Jet bound for Pensacola in Florida. Republic 4700 was also 3 miles from Reagan at the time of the incident and was diverted out of caution. After a mid-air collision in January 2025 between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter, the?FAA placed permanent restrictions on helicopter operation around Washington's Reagan Airport. (Reporting and editing by Lisa Shumaker; reporting by David Shepardson)
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Enbridge and KKR create joint venture to invest Westcoast natural gas pipeline
Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, announced on Thursday that it had 'agreed' to a joint venture with KKR and Apollo in which they will invest C$2.7 billion to expand its Westcoast Natural Gas Pipeline System?in British Columbia. KKR, Apollo and Enbridge are investing 'alongside Enbridge' as the demand for natural gas -infrastructure grows in Western Canada and U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Westcoast system is also a route to international LNG markets. The agreement provides that the two companies will receive a 29% indirect interest in the Westcoast system once the Sunrise expansion is operational in exchange for C$0.7billion in cash. According to the agreement, Enbridge will retain a majority?ownership? and operational control over the system. The Sunrise Expansion Program is scheduled to begin in late 2028. $1 = 1.3883 Canadian Dollars (Reporting and editing by Shreya Biwas in Bengaluru)
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What has been attacked by Ukraine in its attacks on Russian energy sites?
Ukrainian forces continue to strike at Russian energy infrastructure, as well as other sites. Kyiv claims that this is part of an effort to deny Russia resources for funding its military. The following is a list of recent attacks, starting with the latest. NORSI Ukrainian drones attacked NORSI this week, Russia's 4th largest oil refinery owned by Lukoil. The crude oil processing was suspended on August 26. NORSI is Russia's second largest gasoline producer. It can process?15,000,000 metric tons per year. NOVOSHAKHTINSK A drone from Ukraine damaged the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, located in southern Rostov Region of Russia. The governor announced that operations had been suspended. The refinery can process more than 5 million tons per year. AFIPSKY A drone attack on the Afipsky refinery in southern Krasnodar, Russia caused it to catch fire. The regional governor announced this on August 25, 2018. The refinery is capable of processing over 9 million tonnes of oil each year. Two industry sources reported that the Perm oil refinery - Russia's seventh largest oil processing plant in terms of volume - halted operations on August 21 after a drone attack from Ukraine caused damage and fire to technical units. The refinery will process about 12,6 million tons of crude oil by 2024. The Ukrainian military attacked TANECO Tatneft oil refinery on August 10 and 19. TANECO will process 17?million tonnes of crude oil by 2024. UFA The regional governor of Bashkortostan said that a drone strike in Bashkortostan caused a slight damage to a Russian oil refinery. Ukraine also attacked the refinery in Ufa on July 1, near the Ural Mountains. The refinery is capable of processing more than 7,000,000 tons of oil each year. Three industry sources have confirmed that a drone attack in August '14 damaged the gas condensate-processing complex of UST-LUGA Russian Gas Producer Novatek at the Baltic Port of Ust-Luga. Three industry sources said that the complex processed 3.8 millions tons of gas condensate during the first half this year. ORSK Russia's Orsknefteorgsintez mid-sized oil refinery stopped processing on August 11, after an fire caused by a drone attack from Ukraine, according to two industry sources. The regional governor stated on August 13 that repairs could take six months. The design capacity of the refinery is approximately 6 million tons per year. ZAPSIBNEFTEKHIM Russia’s Sibur Zapsibneftekhim Petrochemical Complex in Tobolsk in the Tyumen Region of Western?Siberia was damaged by a drone on August 10?three sources in industry told. The Sibur Holding plant has a total design capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. ILSKY Following a drone attack by Ukraine, a fire broke out in the Ilsky oil refinery. Five people were injured. Fire was extinguished. Local officials reported that the Ilsky refinery caught fire as well after a drone strike on July 10. The design capacity of the refinery is more than 6 million tons per year. YAROSLAVL The Yaroslavl Russian refinery, located about 250 km (160 mi) northeast of Moscow was on fire after a Ukrainian drone strike on August 6, but it was extinguished by emergency crews, according to regional governor Mikhail Evrayev. Ukrainian forces attacked Russian oil installations in Yaroslavl on July 27, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Yaroslavl refinery has a processing capacity of up to 15 million tons each year. VOLGOGRAD A drone attack on the Volgograd refinery has caused a complete shutdown of crude oil processing at that facility since July 31, according to two industry sources. Five people were injured in the attack that set fire to an energy facility in Volgograd and its warehouses, according to regional governor Andrei Bocharov, without providing any further details. The Lukoil refinery will process 13.5 million tonnes of oil in 2024. SARATOV According to the military of Kyiv, on August 2, Ukrainian forces attacked Rosneft's Saratov oil refining plant in southwest Russia. Two sources claim that the refinery stopped processing oil?on 2 August due to damage caused by the attack. The plant will process 5.8 millions tons of oil in 2024. RYAZAN Russia’s Ryazan refinery, which is one of the largest in the country, halted crude processing on July 29, following a drone strike, and could close for a period of?two weeks. In 2024, the refinery will process 13.1 million tonnes of crude oil. SYZRAN According to industry sources, the Russian oil refinery Syzran on the Volga River in the Samara Region halted operations after a drone strike on July 12, which damaged a primary unit. The Rosneft refinery was also attacked by Ukrainian drones on May 21. After the attack, which damaged a primary unit of processing, the refinery stopped operations. The refinery had suspended operations after an attack on April 18th. The refinery can process 8.5 million tons per year. OMSK On July 6, Ukrainian drones attacked the Omsk refinery, causing a large fire. Governor Vitaly Khotsenko stated that Russian air defences destroyed the majority of drones. The extent of the damage to the refinery was not immediately known. The design capacity of Omsk's oil refinery is 22 million tonnes of oil per annum. MOSCOW A Moscow refinery stopped operations on June 16 after an attack by a Ukrainian drone, according to sources. On June 18, a second attack caused damage to processing units and multiple fires. The Kapotnya district in the southeast of the capital has an annual production capacity of approximately 11 million tons. Mark Potter (Reporting and Editing)
Judge blocks Trump's plan to limit mail-in voting
A federal judge blocked the U.S. The Postal Service is not allowed to implement the core elements of a new rule that was adopted by President Donald Trump. This rule would have tightened mail-in voting requirements ahead of the November congressional elections.
U.S. district judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining in Boston at the request of Democratic-led state and voting rights organizations after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a Monday ruling which led to the lifting earlier injunctions that blocked Trump's plans for restricting mail-in voting. This decision prompted dozens of Democratic state attorney generals and voting rights organizations, including the League of Women Voters, to renew their legal battle and to secure an order to prevent the USPS enforcing the rule that took effect on Wednesday.
Talwani, in his ruling on Thursday, said that the rule "risks preventing citizens from voting by mail" unless the states obtain the Postal Service’s signature on the envelopes for this purpose and upload voter information into an electronic portal run by the agency.
The judge said that the agency did not present any evidence of fraudulent mail-in votes, which would have required such a rule. She said it was likely illegal and adopted in violation of the U.S. Constitution which gives the states the authority over elections.
She wrote that "USPS's desire to correct an unsubstantiated issue through unconstitutional methods is dwarfed by the risk of widespread disenfranchisement?of citizens who require access to mail-in ballots to vote."
Talwani's restraining orders will be in effect for 14 days, while she decides whether or not to issue a more permanent preliminary injunction against the rule. The judge, a Democratic President Barack Obama appointee, will decide whether to block the rule during a hearing on September 3.
In a statement, Sophia Lin Lakin said, "Today's orders puts a halt to an unlawful power grab which would cause chaos and confusion among millions of voters who rely on mail ballots."
Requests for comments from the White House or USPS were not immediately responded to.
USPS released the rule in order to implement the executive order that the Republican President signed in March - after years of Trump calling on tighter rules for voting by mail, and promoting the false claim his 2020 'presidential' election loss to Democrat Joseph Biden was due to widespread voter fraud.
The rule requires that states provide the USPS lists of recipients for mail ballots. All outbound and returned ballot envelopes will have unique barcodes. The USPS may refuse to deliver any ballots that are not compliant with the new standards, or that are associated with voters not listed on the list.
All 50 states permit some form of mail in voting. 29 allow voters to request to cast their ballots this way without a?reason and eight conduct their elections exclusively by?mail.
According to the states, USPS processed more than 100 million ballots during the election of 2024. About 30% of all voters in the country voted by mail.
The new federal restrictions, they say, could disenfranchise voters and burden the states during the final weeks before the election by forcing them to purchase new envelopes, equipment and systems, and train their staff. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Christian Schmollinger, and Nate Raymond from Boston)
(source: Reuters)