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Hope fading for new Boeing deal during US-China summit, sources say
Two people who were briefed about the matter on Wednesday said that hopes for a new China-US commitment to purchase 'Boeing aircrafts are fading ahead of the Thursday summit between the US and Chinese Presidents. Negotiations remain in flux. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the talks were private, said that the planemaker is instead trying to finalize an agreement for China to purchase 200 planes in May, and not earlier hopes to secure new commitments for several hundred more jets. Boeing is now competing for Chinese jetliner order after the provisional agreement struck at Donald Trump's final summit in Beijing with Xi Jinping. Airbus, the European competitor to Boeing's US-based planemaker, has continued to grow its market share on one of the largest aviation markets in the world. According to Airbus and Boeing's market forecasts, China will order more new jets than any other region by 2045. Both Trump-Xi Summits in this year were expected catalyze a second round of Boeing purchases. Before the spring summit, Boeing officials, Chinese and US officials discussed a deal that could include 500 jets. After the May summit, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the smaller-than-expected 200-jet deal was an "initial tranche" of orders and that reopening the China market was the real win. Analysts and investors had anticipated that another "large order" would be placed at the Thursday summit. But Ortberg played down this prospect last week. Richard Aboulafia is the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, an aerospace consulting firm. Scott Kennedy, China specialist at Center for Strategic and International Studies said that brokering new jetliner agreements was not the top priority of this summit. He said that US and Chinese officials were more interested in extending the trade truce, discussing AI safeguards and weapons sales to Taiwan, as well as trade deals for soybeans and rare earth minerals. Kennedy stated that "These meetings are holding a lot of business relationships hostage." "New aircraft orders are a good thing, but I do not think they're a requirement for this summit." Boeing refused to comment on Ortberg's remarks from last week. The Chinese commerce ministry in Washington and the embassy of China there did not respond to comment requests. The US Trade Representative's Office has not responded to a comment request. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that the US and China had agreed to extend a two-month trade truce, which was set to expire on 10 November. This will give them more time to negotiate a?potentially bigger trade agreement. Loss of Influence Shukor Yusof of Singapore's aviation consultancy Endau Analytics said that Airbus had made more progress in China in recent years than Boeing, in part due to the fact that?it has an assembly line in Tianjin, and China-European relations are "more benign" than China-US ones. He said that "Boeing's influence has diminished in our region due to its internal problems, and partly because of politics." Still, there is hope for progress between Boeing and China. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Fox News that "there are approximately 140 (jetliner) orders that are in good condition," with 10 more orders being?finalized. A person briefed in the matter said that final details of a part of the deal signed in May could be announced at the summit, if contracts are finalized despite the challenges. China was concerned about whether it would be able to access spare parts after Trump's earlier threats. China's Commerce Ministry said in May that the US had guaranteed supply of aircraft engine parts and other components under the Boeing agreement.
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Hope fading for new Boeing deal during US-China summit, sources say
Two people who were briefed about the issue on Wednesday said that hopes for a new China agreement to purchase Boeing planes have sunk ahead of a summit on Thursday between the US president and the?Chinese leader. Negotiations are still in flux. People who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the planemaker is instead trying to finalize an agreement for China to purchase 200 planes in May, as opposed to earlier hopes for securing commitments for hundreds of more jets. Boeing is now competing for Chinese jetliner order after the provisional agreement struck at Donald Trump's final summit in Beijing with Xi Jinping, China's counterpart. Airbus, the European competitor to Boeing's US-based planemaker, has continued to grow its market share on?one of world's largest aviation markets. According to Airbus' and Boeing's market forecasts, China will order more new jets than any other region by 2045. Both 'Trump-Xi Summits' this year were expected catalyze a second round of Boeing purchases. Before the spring summit, Boeing officials, Chinese officials and US representatives were discussing a possible deal for 500?jets. After the May summit, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the smaller-than-expected 200-jet deal was an "initial tranche" of orders and that reopening the China market was the real win. Analysts and investors had anticipated that another large order would follow at Thursday's Summit, but Ortberg played down this prospect last week. Richard Aboulafia is the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, a consulting firm in aerospace. Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that brokering new jetliner agreements was not top priority during this summit. He said that US and Chinese officials were more interested in extending the trade truce, discussing AI safeguards and weapons sales to Taiwan, as well as trade deals for soybeans and rare earth minerals. Kennedy stated that "These meetings are holding a lot of business relationships hostage." "New aircraft orders are a good thing, but I do not think they're a requirement for this summit." Boeing refused to comment on Ortberg's remarks from last week. The Chinese commerce ministry in Washington and the embassy of China there did not reply to requests for comments. The US Trade Representative's Office has not responded to a comment request. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that the US and China had agreed to extend a two-month trade truce, which was set to expire at the end of November. This will give them more time to negotiate a potential 'bigger' trade deal. Loss of Influence Airbus made more progress in China in recent years than Boeing, in part due to the fact that it has a final assembly in Tianjin, and because China-European relations were "more benign" compared to those between China and US, according Shukor Yusof of Singapore aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. He said that "Boeing's influence has been reduced in our region, partially due to politics but mainly because of internal problems." There is still hope for progress between Boeing and China, especially on the 200-jet contract announced in May. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Fox News that "there are approximately 140 (jetliner) orders that are in good condition," with 10 more orders being?finalized. According to a person briefed about the issue, "final details" for a part of the deal signed in May could be revealed during the summit if the contracts are finalized despite the challenges. China was concerned about whether it would be able to access spare parts after Trump's earlier threats. China's Commerce Ministry said in May that the US had guaranteed supply of aircraft engine parts and other components under the Boeing agreement.
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OpenAI data breach is the latest in a long list of cyber-attacks on Australia
Australia announced on Thursday that an OpenAI agent had breached the government's health data portal in June and gained unauthorised access. This could be the first instance known of an AI agent hacking into a government website. This breach is just one of a?dozen? that have affected some of Australia's largest companies in the past few years. The frequency and size of the attacks have been cited by experts as evidence that Australia's cybersecurity industry is understaffed. The following is a list with the biggest data breaches of recent years: SEPTEMBER: OPTUS Optus Australia, the second largest mobile operator in Australia, is owned by Singapore Telecommunications. The breach affected 9.5 millions customers, or about 40% of Australia's population. Data exposed included home addresses, driver's licences, and passport numbers. OCTOBER: WOOLWORTHS Woolworths, Australia's largest grocer, said that its majority-owned MyDeal online retailer identified a "compromised credential" used to access their systems. This exposed email addresses, phone numbers, and delivery addresses for about 2.2 millions customers. NOVEMBER: MEDIBANK Medibank, Australia's biggest health insurer, which covers around one-sixth Australians, has revealed that the personal data and health claims of approximately 9.7 million current and former clients were compromised. LATITUDE: FINANCIAL SERVICE MARCH 2023 Latitude, a digital lending and payments firm in Australia, said that a hacker stole millions of records from customers including 7,9 million Australian and New Zealand driver's license numbers. MAY 2024: MEDISECURE MediSecure, a provider of electronic prescription services, disclosed a cyberattack. It later said that the attack exposed?personal information and health records of about 12,9 million people. This was one of the biggest cyberattacks ever recorded in Australian history. The size of the breach forced the company to go into administration. JULY 2025: QANTAS Qantas Australia's largest airline said that in July 2025, a breach on a third party platform exposed the personal data of 5.7 millions customers. AUGUST - 2026: ORIGIN ENERGY Origin Energy, the largest electricity and natural gas provider in the country, announced that a data breach occurred late July, exposing credit card information and bank account numbers of around 900,000.
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Bangladesh buys 11 additional Boeing jets to strengthen trade relations with the US
Bangladesh will buy 11 more aircraft from Boeing. Officials announced this on Wednesday. The order, which was originally planned for Biman?Bangladesh Airlines, has now been increased to 25 planes. Dhaka is seeking closer trade relations with the US due to concerns about tariffs on exports. The agreement is scheduled to be signed in New York, on Wednesday. It is part of Bangladesh's efforts to increase imports from United States and ease the pressure from a $6 billion trade deficit. Brent Christensen confirmed the Boeing order in a post on Facebook, calling it a "win-win situation" for US-Bangladesh relationships. Boeing announced that Biman had ordered 11 Dreamliner 787 and 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing announced in a statement that the order included five 787-10 jets and six 737-8 aircraft. Biman renews its fleet to "improve connectivity" and "expand capacity". The order comes after a $3.7billion deal in April that included?14 Boeing aircraft including 10 Dreamliners and 4 737 MAX 8 jets with delivery scheduled between 2031 and 2030. Airbus, the European rival, is still in contention. A government-appointed technical panel will be reviewing a proposal for 10 aircraft.
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US FAA: Error messages in the telecommunications system prompted Sunday's shift to backup
The head of US Federal Aviation Administration, said that a series?of error messages in a Telecommunications circuit? prompted the agency to switch on a 'backup -fiber line? before an outage caused thousands of flights to be snarled along the East Coast. The FAA reported that its contractor L3Harris informed them they wanted to switch on the backup Sunday in order to begin troubleshooting the circuit at an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia before a New Jersey Transit worker?on Monday, accidentally cut the backup fibre line near New Brunswick. L3Harris didn't immediately reply to a comment request. Congress approved $12.5 billion for air traffic control reform last year. However, the project has taken on a new urgency after the major telecom failure that paralyzed East Coast traffic for hours. About 9,500 US flights have been delayed or cancelled on Monday after the FAA had to halt flights at airports including New York, Philadelphia Boston and Washington for several hours. The incoming flights were halted at the major airports the day 130 world leaders, including dozens of ministers, arrived in New York to attend the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. At an event held in Washington, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said to reporters that the "old system" must be discarded. When it fails, "we just don't have the redundancy we would get with a modern architecture." Bedford stated that he believes the total cost of the upgrade to be $27 billion. Congress must approve an additional $10.5 billion to cover the cost of the project, including money from other funds. Bedford stated that the FAA requires a modern telecommunications system to be installed on an existing network, such as Verizon or AT&T. Bedford stated that the replacement of copper wires by fiber will be complete in September 2027, but it won't be enough to prevent future power outages. The first phase of this project was not able to afford a new telecommunications system, "which could have been a mistake," Bedford said.
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Turkish Airlines will purchase up to 150 Boeing 737 MAX jets
Turkish Airlines announced Wednesday that it has placed firm orders for '100 Boeing 737-8 Max jets with options to purchase another 50. The agreement allows Turkish Airlines to switch its orders from the smaller 737-10. The jetliners will be delivered between 2033-2037. Turkish Airlines has concluded discussions that began 2025, but were held up due to a dispute about engine maintenance terms. Turkish Airlines?had threatened last year to pull out of the deal over a?dispute with engine manufacturer CFM. CFM is owned by GE Aerospace, France's Safran and Turkish Airlines. First reported last week, the deal was close to being finalised. GE Aerospace did not respond immediately to a request for comment on behalf of CFM. This agreement is a significant step towards the expansion of our fleet. The new Boeing 737 MAX will provide greater 'efficiency and flexibility' to our operations. This will support the extensive network that we serve out of our hub in Istanbul," said Murat?Seker, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the board. The United Nations General Assembly held a signing ceremony with Seker, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Stephanie Pope. Last year, during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, the agreement was announced, as were orders for 75 Dreamliners. Turkish Airlines operates approximately 400 Boeing and Airbus jets.
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Ukraine exports to Baltic ports, just like Russia
Ukraine is looking at using Baltic Sea ports for grain exports. The agriculture ministry announced a similar move on Wednesday. Both sides are seeking alternatives to the Black Sea routes that were disrupted by their war. Sources have told us that Russian companies are repurposing terminals for fertiliser, coal and other cargo at their Baltic and Arctic ports in order to export grain after Ukrainian drones attacked the Black Sea and disrupted the shipments. After Russian attacks, 90% of Ukraine's exports, including grain, were redirected to the three Danube River ports. This adds around $50 per metric tonne?in logistic costs, making Ukrainian grains uncompetitive and creating bottlenecks. HIGH COST AND DIFFICULT TRANSPORTATION Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry?stated in a press release after a meeting between Estonian and Ukrainian agriculture ministers that Baltic ports could handle up to 20 millions tons of grain. The ministry stated that transport via the Baltic would increase export costs by about $100 per ton. It added that Ukraine could need international assistance of up to $2 billion. The ministry failed to identify any potential sources of funding or explain how the grain would be transported to Baltic ports. Ukraine is not near the Baltic States, so transiting through Poland would be the most likely route. In the early stages of the war, Ukraine transported grain through Poland between 2022 and 2023. Polish farmers protested the route, claiming that Ukrainian grain was cheaper and threatened their domestic production. Ukraine continues to export grain via its eastern European neighbours but volumes are still relatively low. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, only 340,000 tons of grain were transported through these routes in the first half September. By the middle of September, only 65 grain wagons per week were bound for Poland. Ukraine exports grain through Poland, Hungary and Romania.
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Germany plans to phase out fossil fuels and promote EVs and heat pumps
Germany's Cabinet approved on Wednesday a roadmap to phase out coal by 2045. The plan reaffirmed a climate strategy that focused on electrification, despite the minister's call for more flexibility in regards to cars, heating, and carbon pricing. A spokesperson for the Environment Ministry said that the plan will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly later this Wednesday in New York. The spokesperson added that Germany will be the third nation?after France?and the Netherlands?to adopt a national road map?as part of an international effort?to move away from fossil-fuels? Spiegel reported earlier that Wednesday, "under the plan, Germany will examine whether a deadline agreed to to end coal-fired electricity generation by 2038 could be brought forward to 2020." Spiegel reported that the plan envisages that by 2035 all new passenger cars will be battery-electric. This?contrasts to demands by some conservatives including Economy Minister?Katherina?Reiche, that a greater role be given to combustion-engine vehicles using alternate fuels. According to Spiegel, heat pumps will be the dominant heating system for buildings in Germany within the next few years. Oil?and gas boilers, which use a growing % of climate-neutral fuels, are only mentioned as a part of the transition. Politico has also covered the issue earlier.
French energy unions are threatening strikes in the next week due to a proposal to reduce benefits and pay
Three union members told us that French energy sector 'unions' are planning to strike on Tuesday, August 8, over a recomendation made by the French Court of Auditors in July to curb wage growth and employee perks such as cheaper power and gas.
The Belgian Gas Terminal Operator Fluxys, the French Gas Terminal Operator Elengy and state-owned EDF have all filed strike notices.
The unions of French energy workers and retirees pay reduced rates for electricity and gas. This is a key part of their compensation package. This court determined that EDF would lose over EUR700 millions in revenue by 2024.
EDF spokesperson said that this type of preferential access is common in major companies. Employees value the energy-related benefits while encouraging responsible consumption.
The spokesperson stated that it was "perfectly appropriate" for the company, whose success in the industry relies on the commitment of its employees.
Gas deliveries could be disrupted if a strike occurs in Europe, as the continent works to fill up its storage before winter. Power cuts may also occur if wholesale electricity prices remain high.
France is Europe's biggest LNG importer. These cargoes are transported throughout the continent. Around 70% of the country's electricity is generated by nuclear power.
A union source said that further strikes could be possible following Tuesday's 24 hour action.
An official from the government said that 'discussions are being held and some changes are being considered, such as moving away from a flat-rate for cheaper energy, to an allowance based upon consumption.' But the government must follow the Court of Auditors guidance.
The court recommended that EDF limit annual wage increases and phase out energy benefits. EDF faces significant investment costs in upgrading its nuclear fleet, and planning new reactors.
A CGT member in the gas industry said that a large turnout is expected due to opposition of the auditors' reports.
Fluxys stated that it was too soon to determine the impact on operations, but terminals located outside France were not affected. Elengy confirmed all the unions in the energy sector had called for strike action, but was unable to indicate any potential impact.
(source: Reuters)