Latest News
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Kremlin: It's 'highly probable' that Ukraine planted explosives in the vicinity of a gas pipeline bound for Hungary
The Kremlin said on Monday that although there was not conclusive proof, it was "highly probable" that evidence would be found that 'Ukraine planted explosives near a pipeline in Serbia that carries Russian gas into Hungary. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister who is facing a tough reelection campaign on Sunday, convened a?emergency defense council' on Sunday following explosives found near the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia. Orban claimed that Ukraine has been trying to cut Europe off from Russian oil for years, but he did not directly blame Kyiv. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry rejected any attempt to?link it with the?explosive. "The situation could be very dangerous." It is a vital energy channel that is under severe strain. As we all know, the Kyiv government was directly involved with such "acts of sabotage" against critical energy infrastructure prior to this. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed reporters. He added that it was highly likely that signs of Kyiv's involvement would?be discovered?this time as well, and said Moscow hoped Budapest and Belgrade will act to minimise the threat. "We hope that during recent talks (Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy) held in Ankara the head of 'the Kyiv regime' was made aware if such aggressive actions against infrastructure of South Stream and Blue Stream pipes are unacceptable". Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Anna Peverieri, Editing by Andrew Osborn
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Ship-tracking data indicates that Qatar LNG vessels with cargoes of LNG are retreating after approaching the Strait of Hormuz.
Ship-tracking data revealed that two LNG-laden vessels from Ras 'Laffan in Qatar turned around after moving?eastward toward the Strait of Hormuz. If the vessels had successfully crossed the strait, it would have been first transit of LNG cargoes along the waterway after the U.S. Israel war with Iran began February 28. The data from Kpler and LSEG shows that the Al Daayen tanker and?Rasheeda vessel loaded their cargoes at the end of February. Data also showed that the tanker?Al Daayen was currently signaling for China. Also, Kpler data showed that both tanks were controlled by QatarEnergy. QatarEnergy has not responded to an immediate request for comment. A Japanese LNG tanker named Sohar LNG had previously managed to cross the strait. Lines announced on Friday. Lines said on Friday. The U.S. and Israel have been attacking Iran for more than five weeks. This war has caused thousands of deaths and has damaged economies through the increase in oil prices. Tanker traffic along the Strait of Hormuz has also been slowed by the fighting and retaliatory strikes on this route, which carries a fifth of the global oil and LNG flows. Qatar is the second largest LNG exporter in the world, with most of its shipments going to Asian buyers. The Iranian attacks have knocked out 17% of Qatar's LNG?capacity. Repairs are expected to take three to five more years to complete.
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Official: Senior Russian commander killed by March air crash
According to a senior official quoted by Russian media, a senior Russian air force officer?was killed in a crash of a military transport aircraft last week that?killed 30 people. The crash killed Alexander Otroshchenko who was the commander of the 45th Army of the Northern Fleet Air Force and Air Defence. An-26 military transportation plane crashed on March 31,?into the cliff of Crimea. The Russian Defence Ministry announced shortly after that the initial cause of the crash was a technical malfunction. The An-26 is a model that has been in service since the 1960s. It has been used to transport freight by airlines, but it has also been involved in several deadly crashes during the past decade. One person was killed when a Ukrainian An-26 aircraft crashed in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine in 2022. In 2020, a?training?flight was lost in the?northeast Ukraine. All but one person on board died. In 2020, eight people, including five Russians?were killed in a crash of an An-26 in South Sudan. In 2017, four?of the 10 people onboard?were fatally injured when an An-26 crashed in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Reporting by Felix Light. Writing by Andrew Cawthorne. Editing by Andrew Cawthorne.
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AirAsia X is committed to opening Bahrain hub despite Middle East Conflict
'Budget carrier AirAsia X' said on Monday it remained committed to opening a planned Bahrain hub in 'June. However, the airline’s?chief exec was non-committal about if?the plans will go ahead if?the Middle East conflict continues. AirAsia X announced in February that it would resume flights between Kuala Lumpur and London via its Bahrain hub. This was the airline's first flight outside Asia. Services were due to start on June 26. This announcement was made before the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran that took place later in the month. These airstrikes disrupted air travel across the Middle East and many airlines cancelled routes to avoid the airspace. Bo Lingam, AirAsia's X chief executive, told a news conference that the Bahrain service will definitely be offered if the conflict ends before June. However he declined to confirm if they would continue in the event of a prolonged conflict. When asked if AirAsia?X would explore alternative routes to Europe via existing flights in Turkey, he replied, "Anything is possible." Jet fuel prices have soared during the conflict and the airline, which took over the short-haul business in January from its former parent Capital A, has been?hit hard. Bo stated that fuel shortages in Asia led to some countries - including Thailand and Vietnam - limiting plane refuelling. Tony Fernandes, a Capital A CEO and AirAsiaX co-founder, said that the airline would need to increase fares in areas where it cannot cover fuel costs. Jet?fuel is now up to $300 a barrel in certain markets. Fernandes, however, said that demand for flights was still 'high' and he felt confident that?the airline will return stronger once the crisis is over. Fuel surcharges have been raised by around 20% and fares increased between 31% to 40%.
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Russia claims to have shot down 148 Ukrainian drones within three hours
The Russian military announced early Monday morning that its air defence units had shot down 148 Ukrainian drones in a period of three hours. Officials also said that emergency crews were working to restore power to nearly half a million households who suffered outages due air attacks. A drone struck an apartment in the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk on Sunday evening. The drone also killed a volunteer for civil defence in Russia's border area of Belgorod. According to a?statement from the Russian Defence Ministry, air defence units intercepted between 8 and 11 pm 148 'drones', mainly in the central and southern regions of the country. Sundasy (1700-2100 GMT). Andrei Kravchenko said that?drone debris struck a high rise apartment building. No word yet on the number of casualties. The governor of Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea that was seized by Russia and annexed 10 years ago, said four drones had attacked his city throughout the day. Seven drones have been?struck down in the latest wave. Andrei Chertkov said that in the Russian-occupied Donetsk Region?in eastern Ukraine, repair crews have restored power to two major cities: Donetsk & Makiivka?after Ukrainian assaults on energy infrastructure. Chertkov said earlier that a half-million households were left without electricity. The work was still being done in areas that were still without electricity. Crews also restored power in areas held by Russia of the Zaporizhzhia Region. (Reporting and editing by Cynthia Osterman).
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Bloomberg News reports that the Russian Baltic port has resumed crude loading following an attack.
Bloomberg News reported that a major Russian Baltic port, 'Ust-Luga, resumed crude loading after days of disruptions due to multiple Ukrainian drone strikes in the area. Bloomberg's shipping data revealed that The Jewel, Aframax class vessel, started a cargo load on Saturday. In late March, Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days. Industry sources said that the drones hit crude oil loading stations operated by Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft. The report could not be verified immediately. Transneft didn't immediately respond to a comment request. Last month, calculations based on data from the market showed that at least '40%' of Russia’s oil export capability has been affected by a series of?drone strikes, a disputed strike on a pipeline, and the seizure of tankers. (Reporting and editing by Cynthia Osterman in Bengaluru)
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Charity groups say that ships near Italy have rescued 32 migrants and 71 others who were lost at sea.
Rescue charities reported that two merchant ships near the Italian coast recovered the bodies?of?two migrants?and rescued 32 survivors?from a boat attempting to?cross?to europe from Libya at Easter weekend. The survivors claimed 71 other people were lost at sea. Mediterranea Save Humans and Sea-Watch, two groups that work together to save lives in the Mediterranean, have confirmed the victims' transfer to a patrol boat of the Italian coast guard and their arrival on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian?interior minister said that it did not have any comment to make on the report. The Italian?Coast Guard didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment. Sunday is Easter in Italy. The rescue charities reported that survivors said 105 people were on board the ship, but 71 of them drowned at sea. A video released by Sea-Watch showed a dozen people holding on to a capsized, orange boat when the merchant ship approached it. The 'Mediterranean has been ravaged by bad weather this year. This has limited the number of departures out of North Africa, and caused serious problems for those who have managed to set sail. IOM estimates that at least 683 people have died in the central Mediterranean this year. This is the highest death toll since 2014. (Reporting and Editing by William Maclean, Joshua McElwee and Matteo Negri)
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Trump says he will strike Iran's infrastructure on Tuesday, if the Strait is blocked
In a sarcastic social media post published on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States would target Iran's bridges and power plants on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened. In Iran, Tuesday will be "Power Plant Day" and "Bridge Day", all rolled into one. It will be a first !!!" Trump stated in a "Truth Social" post that Tehran had effectively closed the main shipping lane since the U.S. launched its attacks against Iran over a month ago. Trump concluded his?Easter Morning post by saying: "Praise to Allah." Separately, the president said that he would hold a news conference in the Oval Office on Monday after?the U.S. The?pilots of the?downed aircraft in Iran. (Reporting and editing by Susan Heavey; Dan Burns, Ros Russel)
Worldwide tech failure hold-ups flights and disrupts services worldwide
A global tech interruption that appeared to be connected to issues at worldwide cybersecurity company CrowdStrike and Microsoft affected operations in various sectors on Friday including airports, airlines, media and banks.
Below is a list of disruptions that have actually been reported:
AIRLINE COMPANIES, AIRPORTS
Airline companies and airports around the globe have actually alerted of hold-ups, cancellations or switched to manual check-in due to the massive IT blackout.
- Berlin airport temporarily halted all flights due to a. technical fault, a spokesperson told .
- Spanish airport operator Aena reported a. computer systems occurrence while Lisbon airport, Portugal's. biggest, also experienced disruptions. Amsterdam's Schiphol. Airport and supposedly Brussels airport were impacted as well.
- Top Dutch airline KLM said it might not handle. flights on Friday and that it suspended the majority of its operations. Air France, KLM's moms and dad business, stated that its operations were. interrupted.
- Turkish Airline companies is experiencing problems with ticketing,. check-in, and reservation, it stated in a post on X. Budapest Airport. said that numerous airline company check-in systems were out of. operation.
- Significant U.S. providers consisting of American Airlines,. Delta Airlines and United Airlines halted. flights on Friday morning mentioning communication issues. American. Airline companies later stated it had re-established operations. Frontier. and Spirit too cancelled instructions to ground planes.
- A SAS representative stated the Scandinavian airline company was. expecting delays. Australia's nationwide airline Qantas. and Sydney airport also stated airplanes were postponed however still. flying.
- Swiss air traffic control business Skyguide said it had. momentarily reduced capability in Swiss air traffic by 30% amid. the international tech blackouts.
- Indian airline companies, consisting of SpiceJet, Indigo,. Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India and Air India Express were likewise. dealing with concerns on Friday.
FINANCIALS
- Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, said. some consumers had actually been unable to transfer cash due to the. service outage.
- Several significant oil and gas trading desks in London and. Singapore were struggling to carry out trades due to a cyber. outage on Friday, 6 industry sources told .
- Macquarie Capital was unable to supply liquidity for. unexpired warrants on HKEX due to technical problems.
- South Africa's Capitec stated card payments, ATM and app. services were fully brought back following significant nationwide. disruptions connected to CrowdStrike.
- LSEG Group's Work space news and information platform. suffered an outage on Friday that affected user gain access to. worldwide, causing disruption throughout financial markets.
- Some brokerages in India are dealing with technical. problems, traders at the brokerages informed .
- German insurance provider Allianz said it was experiencing. a major blackout that is impacting workers' capability to go to to. their computer systems.
- Some German banks are dealing with disruptions amidst reports of. worldwide failures, a spokesperson for the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft. financial market association, said on Friday, without. providing additional information.
- Barclays said its digital investing platform. Smart Financier was affected by the international tech blackout.
MEDIA
- Britain's Sky News was back on air on Friday after an. hours-long outage, however operating at very little capacity and without. a number of its usual services.
- Australia's state broadcaster ABC stated it was experiencing. a major network interruption, without giving a reason.
- Routine programming at Sky News Australia was disrupted.
EMERGENCY SITUATION SERVICES, HEALTHCARE
- England's National Health Service (NHS) said bookings of. physicians' appointments and client records were interrupted, however. emergency services had actually not been affected.
- Several medical facilities in the Netherlands had to scale down. their operations due to the fact that of the power outage, Dutch press agency. ANP reported.
- Victorian state police in Australia said some internal. systems had actually been hit by the blackout but emergency services were. running usually.
- Copenhagen's fire department stated on X it was experiencing. issues receiving immediately transmitted smoke alarm. following the blackout, and advised individuals to call 112 in case of a. fire.
- 2 medical facilities in the northern German cities of Luebeck and. Kiel have actually cancelled optional operations scheduled for Friday.
OTHER
- Critical infrastructure in Germany has been affected, an. interior ministry spokesperson said.
- New Zealand's parliamentary computer systems were also. affected, according to Rafael Gonzalez-Montero, head of the. parliamentary service.
- Australia's Telstra Group was facing interruptions. to some of its systems, a representative with the telecom company. informed on Friday.
- The Baltic Center container terminal in the Polish city of. Gdansk stated on Friday it was struck by an international interruption in Microsoft. systems and was working to resolve the issue.
- The Paris Olympics organising committee said the cyber. blackout was slowing its operations, but the effect was restricted. and ticket sales were unaffected.
- In the United Arab Emirates, some electronic systems of. the foreign affairs ministry had been impacted by the failure,. the ministry said on social networks.
(source: Reuters)