Latest News
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Egypt finishes trial run of new Suez Canal channel extension
Egypt said on Saturday it had effectively evaluated a brand-new 10 km channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal, even as its profits from the waterway has plunged considering that Yemen's Houthi militants began attacking vessels in the Red Sea. The Suez Canal Authority stated in a declaration that during a. trial run two ships travelled through a brand-new stretch of the canal's. two-way area without event. Following the 2021 grounding of the container ship Ever. Considered that obstructed the important waterway for 6 days, Egypt. sped up strategies to extend the 2nd channel in the southern. reaches of the canal and broaden the existing channel. Its revenue from the waterway, the entrance to the fastest. path in between Europe and Asia, has nonetheless tumbled considering that. Yemen's Houthi militants began attacking ships in the Red Sea in. November 2023 in what they say is uniformity with Palestinian. militants in Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday. that due to local challenges, the nation had actually lost. roughly $7 billion in Suez Canal income in 2024, marking. more than a 60% drop from 2023. According to the Suez Canal Authority, the current growth. extends the overall length of the canal's two-way section to 82 km. from a previous 72 km. The canal is 193 km long in total. This growth will boost the canal's capability by an. additional 6 to 8 ships daily and enhance its ability to deal with. possible emergency situations, the Suez Canal Authority said in its. statement. Previously this year, Egypt said that it was thinking about an. extra expansion task different to the 10 km channel. extension.
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Gazprom states it will stop gas exports to Moldova from January 1
Russian energy giant Gazprom stated on Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on January 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova. It said the business booked the right to take any action, including terminating the supply agreement with Moldova. The supply suspension is a precursor for an overall shutdown of Russian gas exports through Ukraine and to Europe, where it streams even more to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy, as soon as the existing transit handle Ukraine ends on Dec. 31. Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic metres of gas annually through Ukraine. This is piped to the breakaway region of Transdniestria which utilizes the gas to produce low-cost power, which it sells on to the rest of Moldova. Moldova's population of 2.5 million has been preparing for long power cuts since Kyiv stated it will not extend its transit contract with Gazprom.
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Putin apologises to Aliyev over 'terrible event' with Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for a awful incident which happened in Russian airspace including an Azerbaijan Airlines guest aircraft that crashed on Wednesday. Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be assaulting numerous cities. A minimum of 38 individuals were killed while 29 survived. ( President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the terrible incident that happened in Russian airspace and once again revealed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wanted a speedy recovery to the injured, the Kremlin said in a statement. It was kept in mind in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was taking a trip according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial cars, and Russian air defense systems warded off these attacks, the Kremlin said.
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Cyber attack on Italy's Foreign Ministry, airports declared by pro-Russian hacker group
Hackers targeted around 10 main websites in Italy on Saturday, consisting of the websites of the Foreign Ministry and Milan's 2 airports, putting them out of action briefly, the country's cyber security agency said. The pro-Russian hacker group Noname057( 16) claimed the cyber attack on Telegram, stating Italy's Russophobes get a well was worthy of cyber reaction. A representative for Italy's cyber security firm said it was possible that the so-called Dispersed Denial of Service ( DDoS) attack might be linked to the pro-Russian group. In such attacks, hackers try to flood a network with abnormally high volumes of data traffic in order to paralyse it. The representative stated the company supplied quick support to the institutions and companies targeted which the attack's. impact was alleviated in less than 2 hours. The cyber attack has actually not caused any interruptions to flights. at Milan's Linate and Malpensa airports, a spokesperson for SEA,. the company which handles them, stated. While the sites were unattainable, the airports' mobile. apps continued to work, the SEA representative added.
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Finland moves tanker suspected of undersea cable damage closer to port
Finnish authorities said on Saturday they are moving an impounded tanker closer to port after boarding the vessel carrying Russian oil previously today on suspicion it had actually harmed an undersea power line and four telecoms cable televisions. Baltic Sea nations have actually been on high alert after a string of failures of power cable televisions, telecom links and gas pipelines because Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, and NATO said on Friday it would enhance its presence in the region. The Cook Islands-registered ship, named by authorities as the Eagle S, was boarded on Thursday by a Finnish coast guard team that took command and cruised the vessel to Finnish waters, a coast guard official said. Finnish authorities think the Eagle S might have triggered the damage to undersea cable televisions the previous day by dragging its anchor along the seabed. The police start an operation to transfer the Eagle S. tanker from the Gulf of Finland to Svartbeck, an inner anchorage. near the port of Kilpilahti, the Helsinki authorities department. said in a statement on Saturday. This would be a much better place to perform. examinations, it added. Finland's customizeds service believes the ship becomes part of a. shadow fleet of ageing tankers being used to avert sanctions. on the sale of Russian oil. The Kremlin stated on Friday Finland's seizure of the ship was. of little concern to it. In the past, Russia has actually denied. participation in any of the Baltic infrastructure incidents.
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Russia's pipeline gas exports to Europe up 13% in 2024, calculations show
Pipeline gas exports by Russian energy giant Gazprom to Europe increased by 13% in 2024 to around 32 billion cubic metres (bcm), Reuters estimations showed on Saturday, slightly more than the 31 bcm supplied to China. Gazprom's average daily pipeline exports have actually been stable this December, at 91.3 million cubic metres (mcm), in contrast with November, but rose by 7% from December 2023, estimations based upon data from European gas transmission group Entsog and Gazprom's everyday reports on gas transit by means of Ukraine revealed. Its overall supply to the European Union stood at about 2.8 bcm in December, the preliminary data showed, including 1.5 bcm, or 49.2 mcm each day, sent via Turkey. Gas transit by means of Ukraine has actually reached around 1.3 bcm this month, or 42.1 mcm each day, nearly unchanged from November despite Russia stopping gas exports to Austria's OMV in mid-November over a legal conflict. Gazprom's exports to Europe through Ukraine this year have reached about 15 bcm. The transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv ends in the end of the year and is not likely to continue as Ukraine has repeatedly stated it hesitated to do so amid the armed force conflict. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new Ukrainian gas transit offer, and laid the blame securely on Ukraine for refusing to extend the contract that brings gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. Gazprom, which has actually not published its own month-to-month stats because the start of 2023, did not respond to a request for comment. Russia provided about 63.8 bcm of gas to Europe by various routes in 2022, Gazprom data and Reuters computations show. That fell by 55.6% to 28.3 bcm last year. At their peak in 2018-2019, annual flows to Europe reached between 175 bcm and 180 bcm.
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WHO chief explains ordeal during Israeli strike on Yemen airport
The head of the World Health Company said on Friday he was not exactly sure he was going to survive an air strike on Yemen's primary airport carried out by Israel a day previously throughout a series of attacks on the Iranaligned Houthi movement. Speaking after his ordeal at the Sanaa International Airport on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the surges that rocked the building were so deafening that his ears were still ringing more than a day later on. Tedros said it rapidly became apparent the airport was under attack, describing people running in disarray through the website after roughly four blasts, one of them amazingly close to where he was sitting near the departure lounge. I was not exactly sure really I might make it through because it was so close, a couple of meters from where we were, he told Reuters. A. minor variance might have led to a direct hit. Tedros stated he and his colleagues were stuck at the airport. for the next hour approximately as what he believed were drones flew. overhead, feeding issue they might open fire again. Among the. particles, he and associates saw rocket fragments, he stated. There (was) no shelter at all. Absolutely nothing. So you're just. exposed, just waiting for anything to occur, he said. The Israeli strikes on Yemen followed Houthis repeatedly fired. drones and missiles toward Israel in what they describe as acts. of uniformity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated afterwards. that Israel was just starting with the Houthis. The Houthi-controlled Saba News Agency said three people. passed away in the strikes on the airport and three were killed in. Hodeidah, with 40 others injured in the attacks. Speaking by telephone from Jordan, where he flew on Friday,. helping to evacuate a U.N. associate seriously hurt at the. airport for additional medical treatment, Tedros stated he had. received no caution Israel might be about to strike the airport. The hurt male, who worked for the U.N. Humanitarian Air. Service, was now OK and in a steady condition, he stated. Tedros took a trip to Yemen over Christmas to attempt to negotiate. the release of U.N. personnel and others held there. He acknowledged. that he and colleagues knew the trip was dangerous due to high. stress in between Israel and the Houthis. However such was the window of opportunity to work for the. release of the U.N. workers that they believed they had to. take it, stated Tedros, a previous Ethiopian foreign minister. He said talks with Yemeni authorities had actually worked out which. he saw a chance that the 16 U.N. staff along with workers of. diplomatic missions and NGO employees held there might be released. He decreased to take part in recriminations over the attack however. stated his schedule had actually been shared publicly and expressed. surprise that civilian facilities must have been targeted. So a civilian airport should be protected, whether I am in. it or not, he said, before observing there was nothing. special about what he had actually dealt with in Yemen. Among my colleagues. stated we narrowly escaped death. I'm just one human being. So I. feel for those who are facing the very same thing every day. But at least it allowed me to feel the method they feel. I'm concerned about our world, where it's heading, Tedros. included, advising world leaders to interact to end global. disputes. I have never ... as far as I can keep in mind, seen the. world actually remaining in such a really dangerous state..
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Bezos' Blue Origin gets FAA license for its very first New Glenn rocket launch
The Federal Aviation Administration stated on Friday that it has actually released a business space launch license for Blue Origin's-- Jeff Bezos' rocket company-- New Glenn launch. Blue Origin entered into an extremely competitive area it has actually long looked for to sign up with, as the U.S. Department of Defense chose the company, along with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, to compete for nationwide security area missions. The Pentagon had made initial selections under a $5.6 billion program in June. The five-year license permits Blue Origin to conduct orbital missions from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with the recyclable New Glenn very first phase landing on an intrude the Atlantic Ocean, the FAA stated in a statement. The New Glenn launching will be an accreditation objective required by the U.S. Area Force before the company can start launching nationwide security satellites. The launching objective was formerly indicated to launch a pair of NASA spacecraft to Mars before late October, but New Glenn had not finished its advancement by then, triggering NASA to move the spacecraft off the rocket. Rather, New Glenn will release innovation related to its Blue Ring program, a line of service that will provide maneuverable spacecraft to the Pentagon. SpaceX has dominated the launch market with its partly multiple-use Falcon 9 rocket and is in the procedure of checking its next-generation rocket, Starship, which is designed to be fully recyclable. Throughout a flight test in October, Starship's towering first-stage booster had the ability to return from the edge of area to its Texas launch pad for the first time. Blue Origin, on the other hand, has struggled to bring its giant New Glenn rocket to market. In December last year, it tapped Amazon veteran Dave Limp to speed up development of its New Glenn rocket.
Suspension of flights to Middle East
Concerns about dispute in the Middle East have triggered international airline companies to suspend flights to the area or to prevent afflicted air area.
Below are some of the airlines that have actually suspended services to and from the region:
AEGEAN AIRLINES
The Greek airline has actually cancelled flights to and from Beirut up until March 29.
AIR ALGERIE
The Algerian airline has suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.
AIR ARABIA
The United Arab Emirates provider
resumes
flights to Beirut on Jan. 9.
AIRBALTIC
Latvia's airBaltic has actually cancelled flights to and from Tel . Aviv till Jan. 28. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France has extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv. flights up until Dec. 31 and Paris-Beirut flights up until Jan. 5.
KLM has actually extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until. the end of the year at least.
The group's low-priced unit Transavia has cancelled flights to. and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut up until end-March.
AIR INDIA
The Indian flag provider has actually suspended flights to and from. Tel Aviv up until further notification.
BULGARIA AIR
The Bulgarian carrier resumed flights to and from Tel Aviv. on Dec. 26.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has cancelled flights to Tel . Aviv until
Oct. 25, 2025. CORENDON AIRLINES
The Turkish airline company cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv. till January.
DELTA AIR LINES
The U.S. provider has paused flights between New York and Tel . Aviv through March 2025.
EASYJET
EasyJet will not hurry to resume flights to Tel Aviv. after a ceasefire in between Israel and Hezbollah entered into effect,. its incoming CEO stated on Nov. 27. The UK spending plan airline had. previously suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv till March.
EMIRATES
UAE's state-owned airline company has actually cancelled flights to Beirut. and to Baghdad till Jan. 15.
FLYDUBAI
Flights to Beirut are suspended, a flydubai spokesperson. said on Nov. 28.
IAG
IAG-owned British Airways has actually suspended flights to Tel Aviv. up until the end of March 2025.
IAG's low-cost airline Iberia Express has cancelled flights. to Tel Aviv up until March 29, while Vueling has cancelled. operations to Tel Aviv and to Amman till at least early 2025.
IRAN AIR
The Iranian airline company has actually cancelled Beirut flights until. even more see.
IRAQI AIRWAYS
The Iraqi national carrier has suspended flights to Beirut. till more notification.
ITA AIRWAYS
The Italian carrier has actually extended the suspension of Tel Aviv. flights through Jan. 31.
LOT
The Polish carrier prepares its very first scheduled flight to. Beirut for April 1.
LUFTHANSA GROUP
The German airline group has actually extended the suspension of its. flights to Tel Aviv up until Jan. 31.
Flights to Tehran are cancelled till Jan. 31 and to Beirut. until Feb. 28.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish. Airline companies, has suspended flights to Beirut until March. 31.
PEGASUS
The Turkish airline company has actually cancelled flights to Beirut until. Jan. 1.
RYANAIR
Europe's most significant budget plan airline does not plan on resuming. operations to Israel till March 31 at the earliest, while a. decision to resume operations to and from Jordan from December. is under conversation, a Ryanair representative said on Nov. 27.
SUNDAIR
The German airline company has actually cancelled flights between Beirut and. Bremen until March 26.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
The UK carrier has actually suspended Tel Aviv flights till. end-March.
WIZZ AIR
The Hungary-based airline company has suspended Tel Aviv flights. through Jan. 14, other than for those from Larnaca.
(source: Reuters)