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United States firm proposes to improve self-driving vehicle exemption reviews
The National Highway Traffic Security Administration on Friday proposed a brand-new process to streamline evaluations of exemptions filed by car manufacturers seeking to release selfdriving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals. NHTSA has authority to grant petitions to allow as much as 2,500 automobiles per maker to run on U.S. roads without needed human controls but the firm has actually invested years examining several petitions without doing something about it. Efforts in Congress to make it simpler to deploy lorries on U.S. roadways without human controls have been stymied for many years. Car manufacturers have expressed disappointment with the company's slow reviews of autonomous cars. Under the law, totally self-driving lorries do not need NHTSA approval if they have required human controls. The market faces scrutiny after a pedestrian was seriously injured in October 2023 by a General Motors system Cruise lorry. NHTSA has actually opened a variety of investigations into self-driving vehicles consisting of Cruise , Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon.com's Zoox . The Alliance for Automotive Development, representing GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and other major automakers, said the proposal will provide a. path to significantly expand the variety of commercial AVs. operating in the U.S. We urgently require a regulative framework. for AVs in the U.S., so we do not deliver leadership to China and. other nations. Reuters and other outlets have actually reported that President-elect Donald Trump wishes to reduce implementation barriers for. self-driving automobiles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close adviser to. Trump, stated in October the car manufacturer would roll out driverless ride-hailing services in 2025. NHTSA in October opened an examination into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with full. self-driving (FSD) after four reported collisions, including a. 2023 deadly crash. In 2018, GM petitioned NHTSA to deploy approximately 2,500 cars. without steering wheels or brake pedals on U.S. roadways. In 2020,. GM withdrew the petition. GM in 2022 again looked for NHTSA approval to release automobiles without human controls. GM withdrew the petition in October. and revealed this month it would exit the Cruise robotaxi business. Ford last year withdrew its self-driving petition submitted in July 2021 with NHTSA, citing its decision to close. its self-driving venture Argo AI in 2022.
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Spire's sale of ship tracking arm raises antitrust concerns
French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wishes to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite information is a crucial resource for oil traders and shipping business, but some Spire clients fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust issues to U.S. authorities, sources familiar with the matter say. The $241 million deal announced on Nov. 13 would provide Kpler control over Spire's satellites and maritime Automatic Recognition System (AIS) data stream, which tracks ships internationally, especially in the open ocean, with a refresh rate of every 15 minutes. This capability is unequaled by rivals, including Orbcomm, which has 7-10 satellites and takes about 36 hours to update. Spire's advanced innovation enables it to track tens of thousands more ships than its rivals, making it an attractive info source for various consumers consisting of freight trackers, the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. The data is likewise used by business maritime companies and commodities and energy desks at Wall Street companies who utilize it to trade oil contracts. Other clients consist of Maxar Intelligence, Polestar Global, Lloyd's List Intelligence, Windward, Vortexa, MapLarge too as shipping and cruise business, the people said. Veson Nautical, which lists Cargill and Trafigura among its clients, and ShipTracks, which serves Chevron, are amongst the analytics business that use Spire information. If the deal goes through Spire will still service existing contracts with the U.S. government for maritime data. However, the acquisition has raised concerns that software application and analytics consumers who depend on Spire's AIS information, and might compete in some applications with Kpler, might lose access to that data if the deal moves forward. Kpler has actually been actively obtaining competitors to strengthen its marine traffic and fleet tracking capabilities. There is a. worry that this vertical integration could also affect prices. and suppress development, stated the sources. Spire's data is also used in items used by LSEG Data &&. Analytics. LSEG pays Reuters for news. Kpler's acquisition spree has actually currently raised eyebrows in the. industry. Over the last few years, the business has bought up a number of. competitors including UK-based maritime data supplier. MarineTraffic and Norwegian firm Nortek. These acquisitions have. expanded Kpler's abilities and market share but have also. raised concerns about the company's growing supremacy in the. maritime information market. Kpler's acquisition of MarineTraffic, which was formerly a. major rival in the AIS information market, resulted in a loss of data. access for some analytics business that were outside Kpler's. targeted consumer base, the sources said.
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What we know about Malaysia's missing out on MH370 aircraft, 10 years on
The disappearance 10 years ago of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 with 239 people on board remains one of the world's greatest air travel secrets. The Boeing 777 went missing on its method from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Satellite data analysis revealed the plane most likely crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, off the coast of western Australia. However, two significant searches failed to come up with any considerable findings. Here are some information of the search for MH370 and the unsolved mystery of what took place: WHAT IS KNOWN? The last transmission from the plane was about 40 minutes after it removed from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah signed off with Great night, Malaysian 3 7 no, as the plane got in Vietnamese air area. Quickly afterwards, its transponder was turned off, which meant it could not be easily tracked. Military radar showed the airplane left its flight course to fly back over northern Malaysia and Penang island, and then out into the Andaman Sea towards the idea of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It then turned south and all contact was lost. UNDERSEA SEARCHES Malaysia, Australia and China released an underwater search in a 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) area in the southern Indian Ocean, based on data of automatic connections in between an Inmarsat satellite and the airplane. The search, which cost about A$ 200 million ($ 143 million),. was called off after 2 years in January 2017 without any traces of. the plane discovered. In 2018, Malaysia accepted a no-cure, no-fee deal from. U.S. exploration firm Ocean Infinity for a three-month search,. indicating the business would only earn money if it found the plane. That search covered 112,000 sq km (43,243 square miles). north of the initial target location and likewise showed useless,. ending in May 2018. PARTICLES More than 30 pieces of thought airplane debris have been. gathered along the along the coast of Africa and on islands in. the Indian Ocean, however only 3 wing pieces were validated. to be from MH370. The majority of the debris were used in drift pattern analysis in. the hopes of limiting the aircraft's possible location. EXAMINATION REPORT A 495-page report into MH370's disappearance, published in. July 2018, said the Boeing 777's controls were likely. deliberately controlled to take it off course, however. detectives could not determine who was responsible. The report also highlighted errors made by the Kuala. Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control service centres and. issued recommendations to prevent a repeat event. Investigators stopped short of using any conclusions. about what happened to MH370, saying that depended upon finding. the aircraft's wreckage. CONSPIRACY THEORIES The failure to find MH370's crash website has actually sustained. numerous conspiracy theories, ranging from mechanical error or a. remote-controlled crash, to more bizarre descriptions like alien. abduction and a Russian plot. In recent years, some aviation professionals have said one of the most. most likely explanation was that the aircraft was intentionally removed. course by a skilled pilot. Detectives, nevertheless, have. said there was absolutely nothing suspicious in the background, financial. affairs, training and mental health of both the captain and. co-pilot. RESUMPTION OF SEARCH Malaysia's transportation minister announced on Friday the. government had concurred in principle to resume the search for the wreckage following a brand-new proposal from Ocean. Infinity, which would receive $70 million if substantive. wreckage is found. The new search, when a contract is signed, would expand the. previous search area by 15,000 sq km, the minister stated. The. contract would cover 18 months and the firm had actually indicated the. finest time for the search would be between January and April.
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Asian spot LNG costs at 10-week short on weak need, moderate weather
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates fell this week to its most affordable level in 10 weeks in the middle of mild weather condition and strong storage stocks. The typical LNG rate for February shipment into north-east Asia was at $13.30 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), its least expensive level because mid October and down from somewhat lower than $14.50/ mmBtu recently, industry sources approximated. The market is fairly comfy in instant supply/demand terms. China seems well-stocked and Japan is bringing some brand-new nuclear plants back in coming weeks, said Alex Froley, senior LNG analyst at information intelligence company ICIS. Given typical weather and an absence of supply shocks, the conditions could be in location for prices to start a sluggish slide over the very first quarter of 2025, similar to in 2015, Froley included. Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at Argus, stated the easing of Asian rates was due to weak downstream consumption in the face of moderate weather and was satisfied by a spate of cargo deals. Both Beijing and Seoul are anticipated to have mostly above-average daily minimum temperatures for the end of this month and through January. Nevertheless, Tokyo was set for continued cooler weather condition throughout the period which might support Japanese terminal throughput in the coming weeks, Good stated. In Europe, gas costs rose this week as unpredictability stays over Russian gas flows to Europe with the end of the Ukraine gas transit offer looming. Russia's pipeline streams through Ukraine will stay a secret focus of attention for traders across the vacation duration, ICIS' Froley said. Florence Schmit, a European energy strategist at Rabobank, said that Russian circulations through Ukraine is unlikely to resume in the first quarter of 2025, leaving Europe more exposed to higher LNG import need in the new year. As the quantity of gas that will need to be changed is little, real concern about supply availability is restricted. Demand in Asia and the pace of Europe's gas storage withdrawals will be key in identifying which market will become the premium market in Q1, she added. S&P Global Product Insights assessed its everyday North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price criteria for cargoes provided in February on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $12.967/ mmBtu on Dec. 19, a $0.20/ mmBtu discount to the February gas price at the Dutch TTF hub. Argus assessed the price at $12.990/ mmBtu, while Spark Products assessed the cost for January delivery at $ 12.913/ mmBtu. The U.S. arbitrage to north-east Asia through the Panama Canal is presently also signalling U.S. cargos are incentivised to provide to Northwest Europe, said Glow Commodities expert Qasim Afghan. In LNG freight, Atlantic rates rose for the fourth week going to $23,500/ day on Friday, while Pacific rates rose to $22,000/ day, Afghan included.
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Airlines suspend flights as Middle East stress increase
Concerns over a wider dispute in the Middle East have actually prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the area or to prevent affected air area. Below are a few of the airline companies that have actually cancelled services to and from the area: AEGEAN AIRLINES The Greek airline has cancelled flights to and from Beirut until March 29 and to and from Tel Aviv until Dec. 9. From Dec. 10, some flights to and from Tel Aviv will run as regular. AIR ALGERIE The Algerian airline company has suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice. AIRBALTIC Latvia's airBaltic has cancelled flights to and from Tel . Aviv till Jan. 28. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France has actually extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv. flights till Dec. 31 and Paris-Beirut flights till Jan. 5. KLM has actually extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv till. completion of the year at least. The group's affordable system Transavia has actually cancelled flights to. and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut up until end-March. AIR INDIA The Indian flag carrier has actually suspended flights to and from. Tel Aviv up until further notice. BULGARIA AIR The Bulgarian provider has actually cancelled flights to and from. Israel until Dec. 23. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has actually cancelled flights to Tel . Aviv till Oct. 25, 2025. CORENDON AIRLINES The Turkish airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv. till January. DELTA AIR LINES The U.S. carrier has actually paused flights in between New York and Tel . Aviv through March 2025. EASYJET EasyJet will not hurry to resume flights to Tel Aviv. after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect,. its inbound CEO said on Nov. 27. The UK spending plan airline had. formerly suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv till March. EMIRATES UAE's state-owned airline has actually cancelled flights to Beirut. and to Baghdad up until Dec. 31. ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES The Ethiopian carrier has actually suspended flights to Beirut until. further observe, it stated in a Facebook post on Oct. 4. FLYDUBAI Flights to Beirut are currently suspended, a flydubai. spokesperson stated on Nov. 28. IAG IAG-owned British Airways has actually suspended flights to Tel Aviv. until the end of March 2025. IAG's Spanish inexpensive airline company Vueling has cancelled. operations to Tel Aviv and to Amman until a minimum of early 2025. IRAN AIR The Iranian airline company has actually cancelled Beirut flights till. further discover. IRAQI AIRWAYS The Iraqi national carrier has suspended flights to Beirut. up until further notification. ITA AIRWAYS The Italian provider has actually extended the suspension of Tel Aviv. flights through Jan. 31. LOT The Polish provider has actually cancelled flights to Tel Aviv up until. Dec. 20. Its first set up flight to Beirut is planned for. April 1. LUFTHANSA GROUP The German airline company group has extended the suspension of its. flights to Tel Aviv until Jan. 31. Flights for Tehran are cancelled till Jan. 31 and for. Beirut till Feb. 28. SunExpress, a joint endeavor between Lufthansa and Turkish. Airline companies, has suspended flights to Beirut up until March. 31. PEGASUS The Turkish airline has actually cancelled flights to Beirut till. Jan. 1. RYANAIR Europe's biggest spending plan airline does not intend on resuming. operations to Israel until March 31 at the earliest, while a. choice to resume operations to and from Jordan from December. is under discussion, a Ryanair spokesperson stated on Nov. 27. SUNDAIR The German airline company has cancelled flights in between Beirut and. Bremen till March 26 and between Beirut and Muenster/Osnabrueck. up until March 29. TAROM Romania's flag provider will resume flights to Beirut on Dec. 27. UNITED AIRLINES The Chicago-based airline company has suspended flights to Tel Aviv. for the foreseeable future. VIRGIN ATLANTIC The UK provider has suspended Tel Aviv flights up until. end-March. WIZZ AIR The Hungary-based airline has actually suspended Tel Aviv flights. through Jan. 14, except for flights from Larnaca to Tel Aviv. which are set to reboot on Dec. 20.
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Turkey's affordable carrier AJet in talks with lessors for 36 jets, following Boeing delays-CEO
Turkey's lowcost provider AJet, a completely owned subsidiary of Turkish Airline companies, is in talks with lessors to procure 36 aircraft to keep its development plans on track, following delays in Boeing deliveries, its president stated. We remain in talks with lessors to supply 36 jets next year, with Plane airplane primarily in focus. We are seeking to leasing and acquiring options, AJet CEO Kerem Sarp told Reuters. Turkey's flag provider Turkish Airline companies spun off its low-cost sub-brand AnadoluJet in 2015, as part of a more comprehensive rearranging, and developed a new business in a transfer to boost competitiveness and permit the airline to grow quicker in the affordable air travel arena. Introducing its flights in March under the new brand name AJet, it is currently working out with lessors with Plane designs in focus, in order to attain its 13% available seat per kilometer ( ASK) growth and 23 million guest targets for 2025, as deliveries of 36 MAX jets set for next year have been postponed, Sarp told Reuters. According to our 10-year tactical strategy, we anticipate our fleet size to tap 200, up from current 86, AJet CEO Kerem Sarp said in an interview. In line with this target, we were expecting to be delivered 36 Boeing jets next year. But we are facing delays for the deliveries, due to issues at Boeing, Sarp added. The aerospace maker Boeing had actually dealt with production hold-ups due to supply chain issues, security issues and a seven-week strike by factory employees. In order to offset the delay, AJet is looking for to obtain additional aircraft and the settlements are continuous with lessors, Sarp stated. Since March, AJet is anticipated to have actually carried an overall 16 million passengers this year and targets 23 million for 2025, with some 70% traveling in domestic flights, the CEO said. The carrier's domestic market is rather competitive even with government imposed price ceilings for local flights. The biggest inexpensive competitor Pegasus has actually likewise revealed a. recent order of approximately 200 narrow body Boeing airplanes. AJet's priority will be increasing the share of its. global flights to over 50% from the current 30% to. enhance profitability, the CEO said, as it intends an average. yearly development of 16% and 5-6% for worldwide and domestic. flights respectively in the 10-year duration. The inexpensive provider, which performs its operations from. its two bases Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Ankara Esenboga. Airport, is also preparing to increase the variety of its. international destinations to 104 from the existing 54; with. Europe, North Africa and Middle East in focus.
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Slovak PM Fico cautions of gas crisis without Ukraine transit path
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico warned of a gas crisis on Friday as Ukraine continued to decline extending the transit of gas through its area after an agreement expires at the end of the year. Ukraine has actually repeatedly stated it would not continue a gas transit deal with Russia as the 2 nations are at war. Slovakia, which has a long-term agreement with Russian oil huge Gazprom, has actually been trying to keep receiving gas through Ukraine, stating purchasing somewhere else would cost it 220 million euros ($ 228.73 million) more in transit expenses. Fico pressed the topic on Thursday at a European Union top in Brussels, which was likewise attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy who reiterated that his nation would not continue the transit of Russian gas. We are demonstrably facing a gas crisis thanks to President Zelenskiy, Fico stated at the start of a news conference in Bratislava on Friday, without elaborating. Fico had actually spoken before the EU summit of alternative setups in which the gas Ukraine is transiting would not be Russian but owned by someone various. However directly after the summit, Fico stated late on Thursday that Zelenskiy had ruled out any gas transit. Fico also turned down Zelenskiy's recommendation that Kyiv might think about continued transit of Russian gas on the condition that Moscow does not get cash for the fuel up until after the war. The European Commission has stated it has no interest in continuing Russian gas flows through Ukraine. Fico said he could not dismiss that Slovakia may need to think about reciprocal measures without the gas transit. Slovakia has actually provided energy to Ukraine over the last few years, such as electrical energy and diesel products, and provides humanitarian aid for its neighbour. But Fico has actually stopped state military help to Kyiv, has actually said the war with Russia does not have a military option and has criticised sanctions against Moscow. Slovakia states stopping gas streams at the start of 2025 would not threaten its supplies due to adequate storage, however it would hit transit operations and has actually alerted it would affect market value.
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Oil circulation via Russia's Druzhba pipeline suspended considering that Dec 19 over technical problems, sources state
Oil materials through Russia's. Druzhba pipeline, which has actually been supplying Russian oil by means of. Belarus to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, along with. passing on Kazakh oil to Germany, have actually been suspended considering that. Thursday, according to 4 people familiar with the matter. Druzhba had actually been pumping some 300,000 barrels each day (bpd),. supplying feedstock for MOL refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. Transneft, Druzhba's Russian operator, Hungary's MOL and. Belarus's Belneftekhim did not instantly respond to Reuters. requests for remark. But a spokesperson for the Czech refiner Orlen Unipetrol. stated that crude oil materials through the Druzhba pipeline are. presently undisturbed. Druzhba is among the world's biggest oil pipelines,. efficient in bring 2 million barrels daily. Circulations have. plunged considering that 2022 after the European Union sharply restricted. imports of Russian oil. The sources stated Transneft had spotted an issue at the. Unecha pumping station in Russia's Bryansk region, some 70 km. ( 45 miles) from the Belarus border. They stated materials of Russian oil to Belarus and EU. nations were impacted, while loadings from Russia's western. ports - Novorossiisk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk - were intact. One. of the sources stated oil might be diverted from Druzhba to the. ports. One source stated the issue might be resolved within a. couple of days, but another one stated supplies would be suspended. till the end of the month. The cause of the issue was unclear. Kazakhstan had. formerly stated that a Ukrainian attack on Dec. 11 on oil infrastructure in the Bryansk area had. not impacted the oil supply by means of Druzhba. Kazakhstan's energy ministry and its pipeline operator. Kaztransoil did not immediately answer Reuters requests.
India's Zoomcar to launch taxi rental item to evaluate need in bigger market
Zoomcar will introduce a. chauffeurdriven cab rental product in the southern Indian city. of Bengaluru as it looks to check the waters in a majority of. the transport market, the selfdrive carsharing platform. told Reuters on Friday.
The move comes months after the cash-strapped company. terminated co-founder Greg Moran as CEO after an over a. decade-long tenure at the helm that saw the firm go public in. the United States.
Zoomcar could face stiff competitors in a market dominated. by well-off gamers like Ola and Uber that mainly. deal intra-city ride-hailing services, however also use taxi. rentals.
The company said it will use leasings for durations varying. from two hours to over a month, aiming to accommodate higher. demand for automobiles with motorists compared to its existing self-drive. options.
If we look at the market in India, most of the marketplace is. constantly including chauffeurs. So that is really larger for. sure, CEO Hiroshi Nishijima said in an interview.
Previously this year, Zoomcar left worldwide markets. citing a funding crunch and high marketing expenses to grow outside. its home market, India.
In November, the business stated it had substantial doubt about. its ability to continue as a going concern amid continuing. losses and the need to raise funds to satisfy debt and working. capital needs.
The taxi rental product will be available on Zoomcar's app. and consumers will get to choose particular cars and trucks rather of a. category of automobiles.
The firm will aggregate cars and chauffeurs for the service, a. model usually executed to decrease expenses related to getting. possessions and employing personnel.
The company does not prepare to burn cash to supply discounts. and incentives to contend in the cab rental market, however will. cost the service magnificently, the CEO said.
Zoomcar is raising funds and expects to use profits to. pay back financial obligation, cover monthly losses and invest in growth, Nishijima. said.
(source: Reuters)