Latest News
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United Airlines taps Elon Musk's Starlink for in-flight internet
United Airlines stated on Friday it has actually signed a brand-new deal with Elon Musk's Starlink for inflight internet services. Starlink, an unit of SpaceX, has tattooed handle numerous airline companies to supply in-flight web services as it seeks to broaden its reach beyond customers and households in rural areas all over the world with little to no internet access. The satellite-based web services service provider has previously signed deals with Hawaiian Airline companies and regional provider JSX. United anticipates to have Starlink's web connection in all its more than 1,000 aircraft over the next a number of years. Checking for the service will start in early 2025, with the initially traveler flights prepared for later on that year. The provider also exposed its plans to keep Starlink's. services on its flights totally free.
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Asian spot LNG rates down on muted demand
Asian area liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices fell today amidst minimal demand for November deliveries and as supply issues connected to Typhoon Francine's influence on U.S. LNG centers eased. The typical LNG price for October delivery into north-east Asia <( LNG-AS) was at $13.20 per million British thermal systems ( mmBtu), market sources approximated, below $13.40 / mmBtu last week. The rate for November delivery was estimated at ₤ 13.05 / mmBtu, the sources included. Supply concerns in both the Atlantic and Pacific basins have reduced. Typhoon Francine did not pass directly over any LNG export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and has just noticeably impacted one terminal-- the 15 million tons annually Cameron center, said Martin Senior citizen, deputy head of LNG pricing at product rates agency Argus. Regardless of falling back a bit from their mid-August highs, global gas prices are still strong, said Alex Froley, senior LNG expert at data intelligence company ICIS. The market is stabilizing at a high level due to continued strong demand with little additional supply coming into the market. Asia has actually been purchasing more this year, and there is some restored interest in spot freights from China ahead of winter season and Egypt has put out a large tender for winter season freights, Froley said. Egypt's current tender seeking 20 LNG freights to cover winter season need after a steep decrease in domestic gas output has actually been completely awarded, four trading sources informed Reuters. Argus' Senior citizen said that some companies in Europe kept back un-committed cargoes to take part in Egypt's 20-cargo tender, which closed on Thursday and more supply could be provided to the market in the coming weeks now that the tender has concluded. In Europe, the market remains in a comfortable position, with high underground gas storage levels ahead of winter and no. substantial extensions to ongoing Norwegian maintenance. German business Uniper's tanker the LNG Rosenrot has just. diverted its course far from Gate terminal in the Netherlands. to head to Tangshan in China instead, turning south. mid-Atlantic. This could be an indication that Europe stays. relatively comfortable at present, ICIS' Froley stated. S&P Global Commodity Insights evaluated its everyday North West. Europe LNG Marker (NWM) rate standard for cargoes provided in. October on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $11.204 / mmBtu on Sept. 12,. a $0.20 / mmBtu discount to the October gas price at the Dutch TTF. center. Spark Commodities assessed the cost at $11.211 / mmBtu, while. Argus examined it at $11.250 / mmBtu. Atlantic and Pacific LNG freight rates were down for the. 5th week running, with the Atlantic rates being up to. $ 57,750 / day on Friday, and the Pacific rates down to. $ 73,500 / day, stated Glow Commodities analyst Qasim Afghan.
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South Korea's closely watched nuclear power pivot: Maguire
South Korea generated more electricity from nuclear reactors than from coal and gas for the very first time during the opening half of 2024, and prepares to include 4 more nuclear plants to its power fleet by 2038. The heavy nuclear emphasis marks a crucial tactical shift by the world's third-largest buyer of melted gas (LNG). and fourth-largest importer of thermal coal, and may lead to. reduced purchases of fossil fuels for power going forward. South Korea's nuclear welcome also contrasts with power. trends in Europe and The United States And Canada, where energies have. pulled away from nuclear just recently but struggle to generate enough. clean power from renewables alone to fulfill increasing energy demand. If South Korea's utilities can effectively satisfy the requirements. of its manufacturing-heavy economy through broadened nuclear. output, the country might supply a feasible plan to boosting. clean power materials without sole reliance on renewables. TAILORED SOLUTION Historically, coal and natural gas have been the main power. sources sustaining South Korea's economy, with low-cost and plentiful. energy important for the country's cost-sensitive makers of. cars, chemicals and electronics. Approximately 68% of the nation's electricity came from. nonrenewable fuel sources from 2010 to 2023, with roughly 40% from coal and. 25% from gas, according to energy think tank Ash. With little suitable land for hydro dams, solar parks and. wind farms, the country's main source of tidy generation has. been nuclear plants, which have actually provided roughly 28% of its. electricity since 2010. Renewables generation has actually jumped by over 150% considering that 2018,. thanks mainly to a doubling in solar output. But the renewables. share of electrical energy output remains under 6% and too little to. make a significant influence on national power circulations. NUCLEAR FOUNDATION To attain emissions decrease goals - targeted as a 40% cut. to greenhouse gases from 2018 levels by 2030 - the country has. devoted to minimizing the burning of fossil fuels for power. generation and commercial procedures. To prevent any major drop in power output, authorities have. described a significant growth in tidy generation over the next 15. years, consisting of a tripling in solar and wind output by 2030. However the main pillar of South Korea's future power strategies. is its nuclear fleet, which is set to grow from 26 to 30. reactors by 2038. In addition to roughly 4.4 gigawatts (GW) of new. large-reactor nuclear capacity, there are prepare for the. nation's very first little modular reactor, with a capability of 0.7. GW. These organized increases begun top of 2 new reactors that. began industrial operations this year, and assisted drive South. Korea's total nuclear-powered electricity output to a record. over the previous year. GROWING KNOWLEDGE South Korean nuclear firms are likewise hectic overseas. Korea Hydro & & Nuclear Power (KHNP) won a contract from the. Czech government this year to develop two brand-new reactors. KHNP outbid France's EDF and other rivals to win the deal,. which marked South Korea's very first abroad order for a large. reactor given that 2009. That has actually helped Korean companies develop themselves as global. leaders in the nuclear building and construction area. KHNP was also involved in the effective conclusion of the. United Arab Emirates' first nuclear plant, the 5,600 MW-capacity. Barakah project. The last of Barakah's four reactors began business. operations this month, within eight years from very first concrete. pour to sustain load, stated Mohamed Al Hammadi, chief executive of. Emirates Nuclear energy Corporation at an event marking the. occasion. The Barakah nuclear energy plant provides a new design for the. world and shows that atomic energy is bankable and can. be delivered effectively. Given the reports of years-long building and construction hold-ups and. billions of dollars in expense overruns at other nuclear jobs,. many energy developers will stay sceptical of nuclear's. capacity. However if South Korean firms can develop on their current. successes and help guide the country's tidy energy supply. levels progressively higher, international energy system organizers are. likely to remember. << The viewpoints expressed here are those of the author, a. writer .>
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Moscow Oil Refinery resumes operations at drone-hit unit, sources say
Gazprom Neftowned Moscow Oil Refinery on Tuesday resumed operations at unrefined distillation unit6 (CDU6), which was suspended following a drone attack on Sept. 1, two industry sources informed Reuters on Friday. Gazprom Neft did not immediately reply to a request for remark. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated on the day of the attack that a number of drones targeted the Moscow refinery and triggered a. fire at a separate technical room at the plant. Sources said the refinery suspended operations at integrated. refining system Euro+, that includes CDU-6. The Euro+ system accounts for some 50% of the plant's overall. prime refining capability, as its crude distillation unit has actually a. capability of 6 million metric tons of oil each year. In 2023, the Moscow plant processed 11.6 million tons of. petroleum, producing 2.6 million lots of gas, 3.3 million. lots of gasoil, 2.3 million tonnes of fuel oil and 0.9 million. lots of jet fuel.
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Bollore shares increase after revealing buyout deals for subsidiaries
Shares in Bollore rose as much as 7.2% on Friday, topping the SBF 120 index, after the French holding business announced on Thursday buyout offers for 3 subsidiaries, part of plans to retake complete ownership and delist the companies. French billionaire Vincent Bollore's holding company stated in a release it would release tender deals for Compagnie du Cambodge, Financiere Moncey, and Societe Industrielle et Financiere de l'Artois (SIF Artois), payable in money, UMG shares, or a combination of both. The business is intending to take complete ownership of the three subsidiaries and delist them in order to minimize administrative and management expenses. Shares were on track for their best day considering that March 15, 2023, when they closed 8.3 % greater. The offers will be sent to vote to the subsidiaries' shareholders throughout a remarkable general meeting on Oct. 21, 2024. Bollore is providing 93 euros ($ 103.11) per Compagnie du Cambodge share, 118 euros per Financiere Moncey share and 9,300 euros per SIF Artois share. The offers' completion will go through the French markets regulator's clearance.
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No, no, yes: shifting red lines in West's assistance for Ukraine
Given that Russia's fullscale intrusion more than 30 months back, Ukraine has relied heavily on materials of weapons from its Western allies to beat back its much larger enemy. Kyiv's allies have sometimes hesitated to provide it the weapons it has requested for, since of worries the war will intensify. Nevertheless, as the war has actually gone on, one weapons system after another has actually been given to Ukraine after initial hesitation. At present, Kyiv is seeking permission from the United States and its partners to use longer-range missiles they have given Ukraine to strike much deeper inside Russia. Kyiv says this could decrease the threat that Russia presents. Some NATO nations have actually supported Kyiv's plea, but Washington is weighing this versus issues about Moscow's. reaction to the relocation, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has. said would be seen as equivalent to direct Western participation. in the war. Below is a list of some of the weapons systems Western. nations were at first hesitant to provide Ukraine however which were. ultimately handed over. ATACMS Throughout the war, Ukraine has asked its allies to provide it. the capability to strike much deeper behind Russian lines, an important. part of disrupting opponent logistics and command chains. The United States held off on supplying Army Tactical. Missile Systems (ATACMS) - since of concerns that Russia would. see this as escalatory - up until October 2023, when they provided. a short-range version with an optimal series of 165 km (100. miles). This was followed up by deliveries in early 2024 of a. longer-range version of the ATACMS rocket which has a series of. as much as 300 km (165 miles). A U.S. official told Reuters at the. time that the first usage of this variation of the rocket was an. April 17 strike on an air base in the Russian-occupied peninsula. of Crimea. F-16s Ukraine asked for F-16 fighter jets from right after start of. the intrusion to boost its long-range strike capability as well as. to use the jets to shoot down the volleys of cruise rockets. fired deep into Ukraine by Moscow. Ukrainian pilots started to be trained on the jets only in. August 2023, after prolonged negotiations between the union of. allies who would provide airplanes or training. Ukraine was keen to complete the training process as quickly as. possible, and the confirmation that Ukraine had actually received the. initially planes came on July 31 this year. Ever since, one of the aircrafts has actually crashed while trying. to engage Russian missiles fired at land targets in Ukraine. WESTERN TANKS Although Ukraine's eastern European allies offered it with. Soviet-era tanks at the start of the intrusion, Kyiv coveted. Western-built tanks, such as Britain's Challenger 2 and the. German-built Leopard 2, till their transfer was approved after. a lengthy negotiation in January 2023. The agreement on a coalition of nations to provide the. tanks was delayed by concerns in Germany that the move could be. viewed as escalatory by Russia. Berlin eventually approved the. transfer of Leopard 2 tanks from other countries' stockpiles as. well as its own. STRIKES ON RUSSIA For over two years, the United States did not enable Ukraine. to strike Russia with any of its weapons systems. After a Russian assault in May 2024 near the northwestern. city of Kharkiv, Washington changed its stance under pressure. from Kyiv. Ukraine was secretly authorised by President Joe Biden to. fire U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia. that were supporting the Kharkiv offensive.
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Manchester, Birmingham seek brand-new UK train to avoid HS2 capacity crunch
Britain's. second and 3rd cities on Friday published plans for a new. train to counter the blow of in 2015's federal government choice. to gut much of the HS2 northsouth highspeed rail job. The authorities of Manchester and the West Midlands stated a. new line in between Birmingham and Manchester would provide 85% of. the benefits of the planned-but-axed HS2 connection at 60% -75%. of the expense. It might broaden the combined economies of the two cities by. around 70 billion pounds ($ 92 billion) a year, their proposition. paper stated. If we stop working to put in place a plan soon to fix rail capacity. and connection between the North and the Midlands, the. already-congested West Coast Main Line and M6 (freeway) will. end up being major barriers to financial development, said Andy Burnham,. mayor of Greater Manchester. The Conservative prime minister at the time, Rishi Sunak,. cancelled the northern leg of HS2 in October 2023, pointing out. ballooning expenses, and diverted funds into other transportation. jobs such as roadway improvements. Financiers and facilities professionals said the decision. highlighted Britain's systemic failure to promote infrastructure. financial investment. The truncated HS2 between London and Birmingham should open. to passengers between 2029 and 2033. While HS2 trains will continue north of Birmingham using the. existing line - at lower speeds - they will change some. existing trains that carry more passengers. Friday's report intends to win the approval of new Labour Celebration. financing minister Rachel Reeves as she prepares her inaugural. budget plan on Oct. 30. She promised to raise financial investment ahead of July's election. success, but since taking office has actually stressed the bad state of. public finances and the requirement for tough decisions. The report stated a brand-new railway could use much of the land. currently bought for HS2 while saving cash with an easier. style and lower speeds. The Midlands-North West Rail Link would link HS2 in the. south to the Northern Powerhouse Rail task, designed to. overhaul decrepit connections in between the cities of northern. England. The Department for Transportation stated it was committed to. improving rail connections throughout the north and would set out. next actions in due course.
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German navy makes uncommon transit of delicate Taiwan Strait
2 German navy ships including a frigate sailed through the delicate Taiwan Strait on Friday in the very first such transit in 20 years and at a time of skyrocketing tensions in between Taipei and Beijing. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says just it works out sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait. Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait - a. major trade route through which about half of international container. ships pass - is an international waterway. Speaking in Berlin, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. said he might validate the passage of the frigate. Baden-Württemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main. International waters are international waters. It's the. quickest and, provided the weather, the safest path. So. we are going through, he stated. Taiwan's defence ministry decreased immediate comment. A security source familiar with the situation stated the ships. would likely fully clear the strait on Saturday. Speaking in Beijing before the transit was verified on. Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry representative said it. condemned reasons for infringing China's sovereignty. We strongly oppose provocations and threatening of China's. sovereignty and security under the banner of 'freedom of. navigation', Mao Ning informed a routine press conference. U.S. warships cruise through the strait around when every 2. months, drawing the ire of Beijing, and some U.S. allies like. Canada and Britain have also made occasional transits. A 2nd security source, speaking like the very first on. condition of privacy given the level of sensitivity of the situation,. said the ships sailed in a southerly instructions through the. strait. The cruising was a clear and loud statement made by Berlin. that it is standing with its allies to maintain. international rules, the source added. China, which has never ever renounced using force to bring. Taiwan under its control, has over the past five years stepped. up military activities around the island, including staging war. games. Taiwan's government declines China's sovereignty claims and. says just the island's individuals can decide their future.
Hard-pressed Kenyan motorists defy Uber's algorithm, set their own fares
In eight years of working as a cab driver in Kenya's capital, Judith Chepkwony has never ever seen organization this bad.
A bruising cost war in between ride-hailing business Uber Technologies, Estonia's Bolt and regional start-ups Little and Faras has driven fares down to a level that numerous chauffeurs state is unsustainable, requiring them to set their own higher rates.
The majority of us have these cars on loan and the expense of living has increased, Chepkwony told Reuters. I attempt to convince the customers to consent to the higher rates. If they can't pay, we cancel and let them find another chauffeur.
About half the travelers who get in touch ultimately concur to pay more than the cost flashing up on their app produced by the business' algorithms, Chepkwony said, keeping her going.
However Uber has stated such arrangements break its standards and told its drivers to return into line, establishing a clash between the slick, automated world of the worldwide ride-hailing industry and the messier realities of one of its most significant developing markets.
The East African country of 50 million individuals has been rocked by deadly protests versus tax hikes which, together with high rates of fundamental commodities and raised rate of interest, has been blamed for lower non reusable incomes.
Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania - with their growing economies and reasonably low vehicle ownership rates - are amongst the most important markets for Uber in Africa, its executives have actually said.
But there have been obstacles along the method. Drivers have gone on strike in Kenya, two times this year and a minimum of once last year, over low commissions.
Uber Head of East Africa Imran Manji informed Reuters it was reviewing reports of clients being overcharged. We encourage all riders to report such instances.
Linda Ndung' u, Bolt's manager for Kenya, stated they were discouraging fare-hiking while the industry searches for a. service to balance the requirements of motorists and clients.
While everybody waits, the chauffeurs are finding ways to get. round the industry's joined front.
Lots of state they utilize walkie-talkie app Zello to collectively. settle on higher prices, meaning a consumer will get the exact same. rate even if they look around.
Chauffeurs have actually likewise produced a fare guide, which they print,. laminate and publish up inside their vehicles for customers to see.
One seen set the minimum fare at 300 shillings. ($ 2.33), above the 200 shillings set by Uber and Bolt who. in some cases use more discounts.
We first ask the customer where they are going and how much. is revealed on the app. Then we propose a rate based upon our chart. which can also be done by rapidly multiplying by 1.5,. Nairobi-based driver Erick Nyamweya stated.
If they agree, we take the trip. If not we either work out. further or decline due to the fact that the current rates are not sustainable. with higher fuel and extra parts rates.
There has been some movement. Regional start-up Faras Cabs. raised its fares by as much as a fifth this month to accommodate. drivers' demands, Chief Commercial Officer Osman Abdi said.
At the end of the day, it is the customer that pays, in. money and time spent haggling.
The settlements end up taking so much time that it winds up. beating the logic of trying to conserve time by taking a cab, said. one client, Lameck Owesi. It is discouraging..
(source: Reuters)