Latest News
-
BBC: UK PM Burnham promises help for business in a 'difficult financial outlook'
In an interview on Wednesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that the British government would do everything it could to help lower business costs. However, this was against a backdrop of a "difficult" financial outlook. Burnham told?BBC Radio?s?Wake Up To?Money??programme that his government would examine business rates, a tax levied against shops, offices, and other commercial premises, more broadly in its budget due on October 28. He said that he would also look at redesigning Britain's railway fares to the benefit of the public and reiterated?his goal to increase state control over housing, water and energy services to lower costs for households. Burnham stated, "I'm aware that the cost of doing a business is high for many businesses. I would not want to make promises and claim everything can be fixed because I think people understand I have a challenging financial outlook. I won't propose anything I can't fully finance." "I am signaling that I will be going further with business rates. There are things we can do and we will do all that we can. "But I'm sure everyone understands that my room for maneuvering is limited." Recent opinion polls show that Burnham's first few weeks as Prime Minister were marked by "relatively modest but overwhelmingly popular reforms". These include cracking down on high-priced?street vape? shops, capping the bus fare, reducing sales tax on electric bills, lowering rates for pubs and music venues and curbing misleading product discounts and subscribing traps. Burnham said that this strategy, which involves "accumulating smaller things", could help to ease household financial pressure. He had previously ruled out tax increases on workers, but hasn't ruled them out for other tax increases to enact social care reforms. He and John Healey have pledged to adhere to government fiscal rules to limit the scope for borrowing. (Reporting and editing by Andy Bruce)
-
The mayor of Novorossiysk in Russia’s Black Sea port says that drones have hit residential buildings.
According to the mayor of Novorossiysk in Russia, six residential buildings have been damaged by drone debris. On Telegram, Mayor Andrei Kravchenko stated that the injured received medical attention and that a commercial property was also damaged. Unverified posts on Telegram claimed to show photos of an enormous?tower? of flames rising from Novorossiysk. Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram that more than 30 drones had been shot down in Sevastopol, Crimea. The attack damaged a few houses, but no one was injured, the governor said. Ivan Fedorov, regional governor of the region, posted pictures of the burning building on Telegram. Fedorov said that the attack had cut power to about 1,200 Zaporizhzhia consumers. In response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian energy, port, and logistic hubs, Moscow has recently intensified its strikes on Ukraine’s food and agricultural facilities. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's President, said on Tuesday that Kyiv has submitted proposals to U.S. negotiators regarding a plan for ending the 'war' which began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine at full scale in February 2022. (Reporting and editing by Edwina G Gibbs in Tokyo)
-
US freight railroads lose their appeal against the new rule that requires at least two-person crews
Six U.S. railways and a pair of industry groups have lost their appeals against a new rule requiring many 'trains to operate with at least two crew members. This ruling was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit. The Federal Railroad Administration has imposed crew requirements on freight railroads. This includes Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF and other rail companies. This rule was enacted after organized labor fought for crew levels in the face of a heightened scrutiny on railroad safety, following a derailment that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio?in 2023, which caused cars containing toxic vinyl chloride and other hazardous chemicals to spill out and catch fire. The railroads, among other things argued that the rule on crew size fell outside of the FRA’s general rulemaking powers. The agency also refused to take into account the costs that the rule would have on railroads who would have otherwise switched to a single-person crew. They said that the final rule was arbitrary and capricious because it didn't consider a major cost category. The court denied the railroads? petitions for review of the rule. One judge dissented from the ruling, stating that the FRA's analysis and research did not support the minimum crew size rule and that its cost-benefit analysis had failed to account for the labor costs railroads would face if they were required to comply with the rule. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, Editing by Chris Reese
-
Ryanair expands AI use in airline operations with a five-year Google Cloud agreement
Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it will 'deploy Google Gemini AI tools, and DeepMind models throughout its operations as part of a five-year cloud partnership. The technology is used to help manage crew scheduling and make operational decisions. Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline based on passenger numbers, announced that it would offer Alphabet’s Google Workspace services and Google Cloud to 35,000 of its employees. This will support its efforts toward a goal to?carry 300 million passengers per year by 2034. Eddie Wilson, Ryanair's CEO, said: "To support our growth, we must ensure that we have excellent infrastructure reliability. Our new dual-cloud approach provides this, along with technology partners who match our speed and relentless emphasis on efficiency." Ryanair's agreement with Google Cloud is an addition to the Amazon Web Services it already uses as part of its strategy to reduce risk of technology failures. The Irish airline announced that it will use Gemini Enterprise's custom AI agents in order to automate certain decisions, improve crew scheduling, and reduce disruption. The carrier stated that it would also use Google DeepMind Models, including AlphaEvolve, and WeatherNext to support fleet operation and maintenance scheduling. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This agreement shows 'how deploying generative AI at scale...can help industry leaders scale secure, reduce operational costs and redefine the 'travel experience, said Maureen Costello. Google Cloud Vice President for the United Kingdom Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa. According to aviation technology provider SITA, and airline trade group IATA studies, the aviation industry is increasing its use of AI for customer service, operations, and maintenance. Airlines are looking to improve efficiency and reliability. (Reporting and editing by William James; Sam Tabahriti)
-
Air Canada restores its annual core profit forecast
Air Canada restored its core profit targets on Tuesday, but at a lower rate than its previous outlook. It expects that oil supply disruptions related to the 'war in Iran' will continue to impact jet fuel prices. The cost of jet fuel, which accounts for about a quarter of airline operating costs, soared after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz as a response to 'the U.S. and Israeli strikes in late February. This waterway is responsible for a fifth of the world's oil supplies. The disruption has led to higher fuel costs across the airline industry. Air Canada stated that the disruptions to international shipping routes have further increased pressure on jet fuel prices and supply. Canada's largest airline?now anticipates a core adjusted profit of C$2.9 billion (2.08 billion) up to C$3.2billion in 2026. It had previously projected C$3.35 to C$3.75billion. LSEG data shows that the airline posted a profit adjusted of C$0.40, which was higher than Wall Street's estimate of?C$0.13. This was due to the strength of premium and corporate travel as well as fare increases and cost-control measures. Air Canada announced earlier in the day that funds managed by Blackstone, three Canadian asset managers and other Canadian fund managers would make a C$2.5billion minority equity investment in its travel loyalty program Aeroplan. Aeroplan is valued at C$10billion by the 'investor group led?by Blackstone, Quebec's La Caisse and PSP Investments, as well as British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and PSP Investments. ($1 = 1.3926 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru, Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
-
Judge stops US Postal Service from restricting voting by mail
On 'Tuesday,' a federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a part of the President Donald Trump executive order which aims to tighten voting rules by mail in advance of the November elections that will determine control of Congress. The decision by the?U.S. The ruling by?U.S. District Judge Indira?Talwani in 'Boston expanded upon an earlier order that she issued in June, which prevented the?Trump administration from implementing it in 23 mainly Democratic-led States. She was urged by several voting rights groups to prevent USPS from implementing a proposed rule that would require states to provide lists of voters and adopt new?balloting procedures before the mail agency made deliveries. USPS could have refused to deliver ballots if states didn't comply. Plaintiffs had argued that USPS would not have any legal basis to refuse. Reporting by Nate Raymond and Luc Cohen, both in Boston.
-
Alpha Compute says it will purchase Pennsylvania land and gas rights to build a $55 million datacenter campus in Pennsylvania.
Brittany Kaiser, CEO of Alpha Compute's AI infrastructure company, announced on Tuesday that the company had signed a "binding" agreement to purchase land in Pennsylvania and natural gas rights for $55,000,000 to build a campus with 200 megawatts of data centers. Data center developers are scrambling to find power sources in the United States due to the surge in demand for artificial intelligence. Pennsylvania, with its natural gas abundance from the Marcellus Shale Basin, existing power infrastructure, and proximity to major population centers on the East Coast has become one the most sought after locations in the United States for new data centres. Amazon announced last year that it would invest $20 billion into the state. Kaiser stated that Alpha Compute anticipates the northern Pennsylvania site to include gas-fired generation of power, and begin operation in the third quarter 2027. Kaiser said that the facility could be expanded in the future to produce one gigawatt of power. The project will 'combine data centers development with on-site natural gas production, a popular approach to connecting large AI facilities quickly to the grid. Kaiser stated that the deal includes undeveloped Marcellus rights covering approximately 1,800 mineral acres. The agreement grants the British Virgin Islands company a sole option to purchase the assets. However, the transaction is still subject to due diligence and other agreements such as financing, permits, and final agreements. Kaiser stated that she expected to close the transaction after a diligence period of 60 days. The project's details have never been reported before. This project will also require local approvals, at a moment when certain communities have tightened their restrictions on data centers due to their high 'electricity and water consumption. Kaiser stated that local communities have been open to the proposal. The exact location of the data center has not yet been revealed. While Alpha ?Compute has traditionally provided confidential-computing services, it is a recent entrant to data center ?development. If the Pennsylvania project is approved, it would be Alpha?Compute's first US data center. Kaiser stated that after the initial investment of $55 million, she expected the construction of the data center campus to cost a total amount of $500 million over several years. Kaiser stated that potential users were interested in secure computing solutions which use end-toend encryption. These services are used by government, military and increasingly private sector organizations to protect sensitive information.
-
Malta flights disrupted by ash cloud from Mount Etna in Sicily
On?Tuesday an ash cloud from Sicily’s Mount Etna volcanic eruption drifted over?Malta, forcing some airlines to cancel flights to the Mediterranean Island at the height tourism season. Malta International Airport posted a message on Facebook saying that "we're experiencing flight delays due to volcanic ash clouds" over the Maltese Islands, following recent activity at Mount Etna. A spokesperson stated that 19 flights were cancelled by mid-afternoon Tuesday, and a number of?other flights?were significantly delayed. Malta Airport is located 220 kilometers (140 miles), south of Mount Etna. Mount Etna is the most active volcanic mountain in Europe. It erupted again last week and forced the closure of Sicily’s main airport, in the city Catania, for several days. Catania Airport, Italy's 5th busiest airport by passenger traffic, announced?on? Tuesday that it would extend the halt on all arrivals and departures to 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Wednesday. Before travelling to either airport, passengers with flights out of both?Catania or Malta were advised to check the status of their flight. Reporting by Chris Scicluna, Crispian Balmer and Jan Harvey.
Trump claims his plane was at greater risk in secret flight changes
U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he secretly changed planes last month in Turkey at the direction of U.S. Secret Service. However, the plane he flew on is still more vulnerable than Air Force One.
U.S. media revealed that Trump, after a NATO summit held in Ankara was transferred to a military aircraft via a caterer truck, in a deception inspired by an Iranian threat of assassination. The White House didn't disclose the change, and it was kept a secret until Monday when the Washington Post reported on it. Some media commentators questioned if the operation put Trump's aides or journalists who were traveling with him on the plane that was presumed to carry?the President at risk.
Trump said to reporters that he believed the plane he flew in was at greater danger. "I believe it was at greater risks?because I think they would more likely go for that plane."
After a day in which social media memes depicted Trump hiding out in a catering truck, image-conscious President, who often promotes himself as a courageous and bold leader, said that he was following directions from the Secret Service, an agency that protects him.
"Well, that's up to the Secret Service." Trump said that he follows what the Secret Service and military want to do.
"I suppose?there was an outside threat. I didn't ask about it too much. Trump said, "I get a lot threats."
At the time, the White House claimed that the president would be flying on Air Force One to Britain from Turkey. The Post reported on Monday that, moments after Trump boarded, he secretly left the plane via the catering truck to board another aircraft.
Trump took a newly renovated Qatari jet to Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit. But he announced unexpectedly that he would be using an older Air Force One on his way out of the country. This prompted concerns about the security of the newer aircraft.
The NATO trip was the first international flight for the new plane. Its rapid 'upgrades' prompted questions about its cost and safety, as well as the hostilities with Iran which borders Turkey. (Reporting from Kanishka and Jasper Ward, Washington; Additional reporting provided by Humeyra Pamuk & Christian Martinez; Writing and editing by Daniel Trotta.
(source: Reuters)