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US airlines cancel 1,330 flights due to shutdown
U.S. Airlines canceled 1,330 flights in the United States on Saturday as part of the government-mandated flight cutbacks. The industry is bracing for further cancellations if the shutdown continues. Federal Aviation Administration has instructed airlines to reduce 4% of their daily flights at 40 major airports starting Friday due to safety concerns regarding air traffic control. Air traffic controllers are in short supply because they haven't been paid for several weeks. On Tuesday, the reductions will reach 6% before reaching 10% on November 14. Flights Delayd in at Least 12 Major Cities The FAA reported on Saturday that there were staffing problems at 25 airports, and other centers. This caused delays in flights at least in 12 major U.S. Cities, including Atlanta, Newark and Chicago. The FAA implemented ground delay programs on Saturday at several airports, with average delays of 337 minutes at Atlanta, the busiest U.S. Airport. On Saturday, 5,450 flights were cancelled and 7,000 delayed after Friday's 7,000 delays. Friday morning, at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), the cuts began. About 700 flights were affected by the cuts on Friday morning (1100 GMT). These include flights operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines (Southwest Airlines), United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. On Saturday, these airlines cancelled roughly the same number flights. In an interview earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that 20% to 40% controllers had not shown up for work in the last few days. During a U.S. Senate discussion on Friday, Ted Cruz blamed air traffic control issues on the shutdown. Cruz, a Texas Republican and chair of the Senate Commerce Committee said that since the start of the shutdown, more than 500 pilots had filed voluntary safety reports regarding mistakes made by air-traffic controllers due to fatigue. The record-breaking 39-day shutdown of the government has forced 13,000 air traffic control operators and 50,000 security screening workers to work without pay. This has led to an increase in absenteeism. On Thursday, many air traffic controllers learned that they wouldn't be paid for the second consecutive pay period in the coming week. Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said he might require a 20% reduction in air traffic if controllers don't show up to work. Duffy said, "I evaluate the data." We're going make decisions based upon what we see on the airspace. Trump's administration has cited problems with air traffic control as Republicans attempt to pressure Senate Democrats into supporting what they refer to as a "clean" funding bill for the government without any strings attached. Democrats blame Republicans for refusing to negotiate on health insurance subsidies which will expire by the end of the year. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Rod Nickel, and David Shepardson)
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Minister: Hungary's exemption from US sanctions against Russia energy is permanent
Hungary claimed on Saturday that it had received an indefinite waiver of U.S. sanctions for the use of Russian oil and natural gas. However, a White House representative reaffirmed that this exemption was only valid for one year. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions related to Ukraine on Russian oil firms Lukoil & Rosneft. These sanctions carried the threat of additional sanctions against entities who buy oil from these firms. Viktor Orban met Trump, a Trump ally for many years, at the White House last Friday in order to push for a reprieve. Hungary heavily relies on Russian energy, and Orban faces an election in close proximity next year. The prime minister was very clear. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign minister, said on Facebook that he had agreed with President Obama to obtain an exemption from sanctions for all time. There are no sanctions indefinitely on the oil and gas exports to Hungary. In an email sent on Saturday, a White House official reiterated that the exemption was for a year. HUNGARY IS EXPECTED BUY U.S. LNG Officials added that Hungary will also diversify their energy purchases, and have committed to buy U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas with contracts worth around $600 million. Hungary's continued reliance on Russian Energy since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in 2022 has prompted criticism from several European Union allies and NATO members. Orban said that Hungary has received a permanent exemption from energy imports through the TurkStream pipeline and Druzhba pipeline. Orban said that there are no sanctions in place to restrict or increase the cost of supply for Hungary through these routes. Orban stated that this exemption was general and had no time limit. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Hungary purchased 74% of gas and 86% oil in 2024 from Russia. The IMF warns that a cutoff of Russian gas across all of Europe could cost Hungary over 4% of GDP. Orban stated that without the agreement energy costs would have soared, hitting the economy as a whole, increasing unemployment, and causing "unbearable price increases" for both households and businesses.
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Delhi Airport operator confirms that all flight operations are back to normal following glitch
Delhi International Airport announced on Saturday that all flight operations are running as usual at the airport, following a technical problem which caused hundreds of delays over the last two days. Delays were caused by a malfunction in the software used to create flight plans. India's airports authorities had announced late Friday night that the system is "up and working" following a technical error. In a press release, the Indian government stated that the system, called Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), was back in automatic mode on Saturday afternoon. The government reported that Ram Mohan Naidu, minister of civil aviation, has instructed officials to prepare for system upgrades including the addition of additional servers or fallbacks to improve air traffic operations.
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Minister: Hungary's exemption from US sanctions against Russia energy is permanent
Hungary announced on Saturday that it has been granted an indefinite exemption from U.S. sanction for its use of Russian oil and natural gas. This is contrary to a White House official, who claimed it was only granted a year-long exemption. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions related to Ukraine on Russian oil firms Lukoil & Rosneft. These sanctions carried the threat of additional sanctions against entities who buy oil from these firms. Viktor Orban met with Trump, a longtime ally of Trump, at the White House last Friday in order to push for a reprieve. Hungary heavily relies on Russian energy, and Orban faces a tight election in 2019. The prime minister was very clear. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign minister, said on Facebook that he had agreed with President Obama to obtain an exemption from sanctions for indefinite time. There are no sanctions indefinitely on the oil and gas exports to Hungary. The White House official noted that in addition to the exemption from sanctions, Hungary had also committed to buy U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas with contracts worth around $600 million. Hungary's continued reliance on Russian Energy since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine 2022 has prompted criticism from several European Union allies and NATO members. Orban said that Hungary has received an exemption indefinitely for energy imports via TurkStream and Druzhba pipelines. Orban said that there are no sanctions in place to restrict or increase the cost of supply for Hungary through these routes. Orban stated that this exemption was general and had no time limit. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Hungary purchased 74% of gas and 86% oil in 2024 from Russia. The IMF warns that a cutoff of Russian gas across all of Europe could cost Hungary over 4% of GDP. Orban stated that without the agreement energy costs would have soared, affecting the economy as a whole, increasing unemployment, and causing "unbearable price increases" for both households and businesses.
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Trump calls on lawmakers to give healthcare funds 'directly' to the people
The President Donald Trump floated on Saturday a possible compromise amid the impasse surrounding the U.S. Government shutdown. He urged Republicans to redirect federal funds that are currently going to health insurance companies in accordance with the Affordable Care Act to give them to individuals. Trump said in a post on social media that he recommended to Senate Republicans to send the hundreds of billions of dollars currently going to Insurance Companies to save the poor Healthcare provided by ObamaCare directly to the people so they can purchase their own, much better, healthcare and still have money leftover. He added that the "worst healthcare anywhere in the world, ObamaCare, is the one provided by the BAD, BIG Insurance Companies. Take it from them and give it to people. Trump's remarks on Truth Social were made just hours before the U.S. Senate reconvened at noon (1700 GMT), after rejecting legislation that would have reinstated pay for hundreds of thousands federal workers who had been without pay during the longest U.S. shutdown in history. The two sides are still at odds on how to reopen government. Democrats want to include in a funding measure the healthcare subsidies for 24 million Americans that will expire at the end of this year. Republicans, however, say Congress should first pass a bill with no strings attached to allow government reopening. White House representatives did not respond immediately to a comment request on Trump's tweet. The representatives of U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senate majority leader John Thune did not respond immediately to a comment request. (Reporting and editing by Alistair Bell, Sergio Non, and Jonathan Landay)
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Tornado in southern Brazil kills six, injures hundreds
The state government reported that a tornado, accompanied by high winds and heavy rainfall, struck Parana in the south of Brazil, killing six. Rio Bonito do Iguacu, the town that was hardest hit, suffered multiple structural failures and roof collapses. The state's civil defence agency reported that more than half of the city area had been affected. The power lines and roads were damaged. The authorities reported that 437 people received treatment for injuries, and approximately 1,000 were forced to relocate. Guarapuava, a nearby city, was also affected. According to the Parana Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring System the winds of the tornado reached speeds between 180 km/h (111mph) and 250 km/h (155mph). Gleisi-Hoffman, the Institutional Relations Minister, said that she will travel to the affected area with Adriano Massuda, acting Minister of Health and other federal officials on Saturday to assist in relief and reconstruction efforts. "We will continue our assistance to the people of Parana, and provide any help that is needed," wrote President Luiz inacio da Silva on X. He also expressed condolences to families of the victims. (Reporting and editing by Alistair Bell; Marcela Ayres)
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US cuts flights for a second day as the shutdown continues
U.S. Airlines and travelers endured a second day on Saturday of flight cancellations across the nation as the shutdown is expected to cause more cancellations over the next few days. Due to the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration has instructed airlines to reduce 4% of flights at 40 major airports on Saturday. The cut will increase to 6% by Tuesday, and to 10% on November 14. These cuts began at 6 am. About 700 flights were affected by the cuts on Friday morning, 1100 GMT, from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. Due to a lower volume of flights, airlines will cancel fewer flights Saturday than they did on Friday. United Airlines will cancel 168 flights on Saturday, down from Friday's 184, and Southwest will cancel a little under 100 flights. The record-breaking 39-day shutdown of the government has forced 13,000 air traffic control operators and 50,000 security screening workers to work without pay. This has led to an increase in absenteeism. On Thursday, many air traffic controllers learned that they wouldn't be paid for the second pay period in the next week. The Trump administration is increasing pressure on Congressional Democrats in order to get them to accept a Republican-led plan to fund federal government and reopen it. One such attempt is to raise the specter dramatic disruptions in air travel. Democrats claim Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, because they refused to negotiate on extending health insurance subsides. Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said that he might require a 20% cut in air traffic if conditions worsen and more controllers fail to show up. Duffy stated, "I evaluate the data." We're going make decisions based upon what we observe in the airspace. In addition to the cancellations, the FAA was forced by the absence of air traffic control on Friday to delay hundreds flights in 10 airports, including Atlanta, San Francisco Houston, Phoenix, Washington D.C. and Newark. Over 5,600 flights were canceled or delayed on Friday. In a statement earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that 20% to 40% controllers did not show up to work on any particular day.
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UPS grounds its MD-11 fleet after Louisville crash
UPS announced on Friday that it had grounded its fleet McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. This is the type of aircraft involved in the crash of Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky which resulted in at least 13 deaths. UPS spokesperson stated in an email that "out of an abundance caution and for the sake of safety, we've made the decision to ground temporarily our MD-11 fleet". The spokesperson said that MD-11s make up about 9% the fleet of the company. The grounding takes effect immediately. NBC News was the first to report on this news. On Tuesday evening, a UPS cargo flight bound for Honolulu took off. crashed just after takeoff at Louisville International Airport. U.S. safety inspectors reported that three UPS pilots tried to control the cargo plane as the bell rang in the cockpit on Friday. Todd Inman, National Transportation Safety Board Member, says that UPS flight 2976 began without incident, but a repeated bell could be heard in the cockpit voice recorder 37 seconds after the crew had called for the takeoff thrust. Tell reporters. FedEx and Boeing, who own the MD-11 program following their 1997 merger, both operate MD-11 cargo planes, but did not respond immediately to comments. Reporting by Rishabh J. Jaiswal in Bengaluru and Dheeraj K. Kumar; Editing by William Mallard, Thomas Derpinghaus
Maguire: US power system more fossil-dependent that China
Since June, utilities in the United States rely on fossil fuels for a greater share of their electricity generation than their counterparts from China. This undermines U.S. claims that they are leaders in energy transition.
According to Ember, an energy think tank, U.S. utilities rely on fossil fuels for 62.4% average of their total electricity production over the last four months.
This fossil fuel share is higher than the 60.5% in China over the same time period, which is the largest polluter and power producer on the planet.
The U.S.'s high fossil dependency occurred in the summer, when air conditioner usage is at its highest. In contrast, China's relative lower fossil dependency has been during a prolonged economic slowdown.
The higher U.S. fossil dependence highlights the fact that China has been much more aggressive in increasing clean power production, which has brought China closer to a peak of fossil power use than the United States.
The U.S. risks losing its credibility as a climate leader if it does not make rapid cuts in fossil power generation and increase the output of clean energy.
PATCHY PROGRESS
The global power providers have a two-pronged strategy to advance the energy transition. They are reducing the use of fossils fuels and increasing the supply of clean power.
According to Ember, the United States has prioritized clean energy generation over the last five years. The electricity produced from clean sources of energy has increased by 16% in the last year.
The steadily increasing total demand for electricity has made it difficult for the power companies to reduce their fossil fuel generation.
In fact, the fossil fuel-fired power generation in the first nine months 2024 was only down 0.8% compared to the same period in 2019. This equates to 1,967 Terawatt Hours (TWh).
The U.S. fossil-fuel use pattern has changed since 2019. Coal-fired power generation dropped by 34%, from 750 TWh in January to September of 2019 to just 497 TWh for the same period this year.
Coal's contribution to the U.S. mix of energy generation dropped from 25% in 2019 down to 15% this year.
As the total demand for electricity has been increasing each year, it was necessary to increase gas-fired production in order to compensate.
The gas-fired generation from January to September of this year was 1,450 tWh. This is an increase of 20% over the same period in 2019. Gas' share in generation has risen from 38% to 43%.
Electric vehicles, data centers and artificial intelligence applications have increased the overall energy consumption in the U.S. by approximately 5.5% between 2019 and 2024.
Outpaced
Ember data show that China's massive manufacturing-led economy faced a much steeper rise in its total power consumption in the last few years. Electricity consumption rose by almost 37% between 2019 and 2024.
China's utilities, in order to keep up with the demand growth, have had to increase both fossil fuel and renewable energy production by more than any major economy.
The fossil fuel-fired power output has increased by 23% between 2019 and 2024 to reach a record of 4,618 TWh. More than 95% of this power was generated by coal plants which produced 4,394 TWh.
The clean-powered electricity production - from nuclear plants, renewables and hydro dams has increased by 67%, to 2,834 TWh.
China's energy firms have been able to increase their overall power supply while decreasing coal's share in the mix of generation by boosting clean generation three times faster than fossil-based generation.
According to Ember, coal was responsible for 66% of the total electricity produced in 2019.
As power companies add renewables and other cleaner power sources to their generation systems, the coal share is expected to continue to decline.
CAPACITY CATCH UP
The most effective way for U.S. energy producers to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels is by increasing the clean generation capacity across the country.
Ember data indicates that between 2018 and 2023 the U.S. clean-generation capacity will increase by 40%, to 438 Gigawatts.
U.S. companies also reduced fossil capacities by around 4% during that period, mainly due to the closure of old coal plants.
China has increased clean energy generation by more than 100% in the last year and is on a clean energy development plan that is aggressiver than any other major economy.
China's clean-energy capacity is also growing, surpassing fossil capacity by around 20%. The U.S. clean-generation capacity is still around 35% lower than fossil generation.
If the U.S. wants to be a leader in climate action and decarbonisation it must develop a more aggressive pipeline of clean capacity that will shift the generation mix away sharply from fossil fuels.
(source: Reuters)