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India plane crash victim flew home to bury father
Lawrence Christian flew to India to bury the father he had lost. His family is waiting for him to be buried a week later. Christian, 30, was a British citizen and one of 242 passengers aboard the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed in London last week, just seconds after it took off from Ahmedabad. His mother Ravina, who was sitting with her daughter Rinal at home in Ahmedabad and sobbing uncontrollably, said that when he sat in the plane he saw me on a video call. The last thing that he said is that he would call me when he lands. The worst aviation accident in a decade claimed the lives of all but one passenger. Around 30 people were killed on the ground. Ravina Christian's husband Daniel died in May from heart-related complications. Their son was the sole breadwinner for the family. Salvina Christian said, "We've lost everything. The three of us are left here." Everything has disappeared, including our strength, pride and dignity. "We have lost the light in our home." The family waited to receive Christian's body. The doctors at Ahmedabad’s largest government hospital rely on dental records and samples of DNA to identify the deceased. Imitaz Sayed, one of these people, is waiting to learn if Sayed Javed, his brother's spouse, son, aged six, and daughter, aged four, have been identified. The four passengers were in India to celebrate Eid with their family and visit their mother. They are presumed dead, but the pilot says that he has not given up hope they could have survived. There is still hope within. Everything is possible. He said outside the hospital that it is God who decides whether someone lives or dies. Reporting by Sunil Kataria, Sudipto Ganuly, Writing by Shilpa jamkhandikar and Editing by Alison Williams
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Sources say that Boeing's top executive Pope visited Air India's headquarters to discuss the plane crash.
Two sources say that the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Stephanie Pope met with the chairman of Air India in India on Monday. The companies are trying to determine the cause of the fatal Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash last week. One source said that Pope met Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran in Gurugram near the New Delhi airport. He was accompanied by Boeing India President Salil Gupte. Details of the discussion were not immediately available. The discussions took place four days after an Air India flight bound for London crashed seconds after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India. All but one of the 242 passengers on board were killed. According to Boeing's website, Pope is responsible for the design, production, and delivery of advanced aircraft to Boeing customers worldwide. One source said that the Dreamliner is fitted with GE engines. Russell Stokes, GE Aerospace CEO for Commercial Engines and Services and Vikram Rai its South Asia Chief, met Chandrasekaran Monday. Boeing, GE, and Air India have not responded to comments immediately. Sources declined to name themselves as the meetings took place in private. Boeing's new management has been trying to improve the public's perception of the company and gain trust after a series safety and production crisis. Air India has ordered more than 200 Boeing planes, including 20 787s, and is Boeing's largest customer. (Reporting and editing by Aditi Kalra, Aditya Shah)
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Cyprus is asked to assist Portugal and Slovakia in evacuating their citizens from the Middle East
Cyprus received requests from Portugal and Slovakia to help evacuate their citizens from the Middle East. Cypriot foreign minister Constantinos Kombos announced this on Monday. Kombos, a reporter, said that there were two requests in progress. This depends on their ability to get their civilians into neighbouring countries via road. Last week, Cyprus activated an evacuation mechanism that would assist third-country nationals if necessary. Hermes, the airport operator of Hermes, has confirmed that dozens flights from the Middle East have been diverted to Larnaca and Paphos airports following the suspension of most flights to and out of Israel after the conflict between Israel and Iran began. Many foreigners are looking for ways to leave Israel after Iranian missiles hit residential areas of Israeli cities. The Croatian ambassador to Israel said on Monday that 28 citizens of Croatia expressed their desire to be evacuated.
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Naval agencies report a surge in shipping disruption around Hormuz following Israeli attacks against Iran
Naval forces reported on Monday that electronic interference with commercial ship-navigation systems has increased in recent days, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, and the wider Gulf. This is having a negative impact on vessels travelling through the area. After four days of fighting, Israeli civilians suffered casualties after Iranian missiles hit major Israeli cities. Israel's Prime Minister said that his country is on its way to eliminating the "threats," posed by Iranian nuclear and missile facilities. Conflict Tehran has threatened to close critical airports in the past Strait of Hormuz Retaliation against Western pressure. The closure of the Strait could impact on global oil prices and trade. The JMIC Information Centre of the U.S.-led Combined Maritime Force, which is multinational and U.S. led, said that it continues to receive reports about electronic interference coming from the area of Port of Bandar Abbas in Iran. These interferences continue to intensify in the Gulf and are affecting the entire region. This disruption affects the ability of vessels to accurately transmit data via automated Identification Systems (AIS), creating operational and navigational difficulties for maritime traffic. The AIS system is widely used by merchant ships around the world. The UKMTO maritime agency had issued an earlier warning on Monday, which pointed out an increase in interference with navigation in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz. However, no one was identified as being the source of this interference. Last week, Greek authorities asked their merchant fleet to log all Travelling is a great way to discover new places. Through the Strait Greek operators are amongst the largest tanker providers around the world. "The regional level of threat remains high as both Iran and Israel continue to strike. The JMIC stated that the maritime threat level remained elevated. (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, Alex Richardson, and Ahmed Elimam)
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UN Ocean Conference announces financial deals
Third U.N. The third U.N. Here are some of the announcements made during the past week. EIB and ADB The European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank and other development banks have announced that they plan to invest 3.5 billion euros (3 billion dollars) by the end decade to prevent plastic pollution from reaching the ocean. The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean said that it would invest $2.5 billion in investments between 2025 and 3025 to protect the oceans and support sustainable marine economic activity. GUINEA The World Bank and AFD, the French Development Bank, have mobilized 119 million Euros in Guinea in order to improve living conditions for coastal and rural communities facing climate change. NORTH AFRICA The AFD has provided 2 million additional euros to continue work on the preservation of Mediterranean coastal eco-systems in North Africa through 2029. COSTA RICA A total of 1.8 millions euros was allocated to strengthen Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean and Costa Rica. SWEN CAPITAL Partners Swen Capital Partners, a leading investment firm, announced that it raised 160 million euro for its SWEN Blue Ocean 2 Fund. It also said it aimed to raise 300 million euro for the largest ocean impact fund in the world. The fund will support start-ups who are interested in supporting ocean biodiversity. Reporting by Simon Jessop, Editing by Emelia Matarise.
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Norway Oil Sector Workers Threaten Strike from June 21,
The oil and gas unions announced on Monday that Norwegian drilling rig workers will strike on the 21st of June if wage negotiations with employers do not succeed. Total 438 unionists are ready to strike. This includes 175 members of the largest union, Styrke; 193 members of the second-largest union, SAFE; and 70 members from the smaller DSO. The SAFE and stryke unions said that the initial strike would not have an impact on oil and gas production, but the strike could expand as more than 7,200 oil drilling workers and other service workers are involved in the annual wage negotiations. The first wage negotiations between the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA) and the three unions failed last month. They will be resumed on 20th June under the guidance and mediation of a mediator appointed by the state. Styrke stated that a strike by their members would affect Transocean’s rig Encourage, and Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Bollsta which is drilling wells in the Norwegian Sea for Equinor, and OMV, respectively. The SAFE and DSO strikers have not yet announced which drilling rigs will be affected. Equinor and OMV didn't immediately respond to comments. Frode Alfheim, the union leader of Styrke, said in a press release that "we have clear expectations" for a general wage increase. The details of the wage demands and offers are usually confidential and not disclosed. The Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA), which negotiates for the companies that own rigs, did not respond immediately to a comment request. In March, a broad group of workers in the onshore sector reached an agreement with their employers for a pay increase of 4.4% this year. However, other sectors may have different demands. Last month, workers directly employed by oil companies agreed on a separate wage agreement. This prevented a strike. (Reporting and editing by Terje Sollvik and Barbara Lewis.
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Russian Urals prices surpass western price cap on Brent for the first since April
Calculations based on data from traders showed that the price of Russia's Urals crude rose above the $60 limit set by Western nations, as the Brent price surged last week due to rising tensions in Middle East. The oil prices rose on Friday, and ended 7% higher after Israel and Iran exchanged air strikes. This fueled investor concerns that the conflict could disrupt Middle East oil exports. As part of a wide range of sanctions, the U.S. and other Group of Seven nations, including Australia, imposed a price cap on Russian oil exports by sea in late 2022. According to the cap's terms, Russian oil suppliers are only allowed to use Western services like shipping and insurance if the price of Russian crude falls below $60 per barrel. The European Union's latest initiative is to lower price caps for Russian oil to $45 a barrel. This will complicate oil trade in Moscow. Calculations show that the price of Urals oil loadings at Russia's Baltic Sea and Black Sea ports was $62-63 per barrel on a "free-on-board" basis last Friday, excluding charter costs and insurance. Calculates Urals oil prices using the data from the previous business day. Calculations showed that this is the first time since April 2 that the price of Russian Urals oil was above $60 per barrel. The Urals price is tied to Brent, meaning it changes with the value of the benchmark.
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Interparking acquires Spanish parking operator Saba with EU approval
In a Monday statement, the European Commission announced that it had approved Interparking of Belgium's acquisition of Spanish parking operator Saba Infrastructuras. The Commission stated that this transaction will not cause any competition concerns as it has a limited impact on the market where these companies operate. The companies, which have been in discussions to combine their businesses to become a major European actor since November 2022, announced plans to merge last October without disclosing the value of the transaction. The statement said that the Belgian insurer AG property subsidiary would remain as the majority and controlling shareholder of the new group, along with Dutch pension fund APG (and Spanish holding company Criteria). Criteria is the investment arm of La Caixa Foundation and the largest shareholder in Caixabank. Interparking Group's headquarters will remain in Brussels. Interparking announced on its website that the combined entity would operate more than 2,000 parking lots in 600 cities and 16 countries. (Reporting and editing by Benoit van Overstraeten; GV de Clercq)
After Israel's attack on Iran, airlines suspend flights
International airlines have stopped flights to certain Middle East destinations following Israel's attacks against Iran.
Here are some airlines that have canceled flights from and to the region.
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Aegean Airlines, a Greek airline, announced that all flights from and to Tel Aviv, including the early morning flight of July 12, had been cancelled.
AIRBALTIC
AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has announced that it will cancel all flights from and to Tel Aviv up until the 23rd of June.
AEROFLOT
After Israel's attack on Iran, Aeroflot announced that it has cancelled flights between Moscow-Tehran and changed other routes in Middle East.
AIR EUROPA
Spanish airline cancels flights from and to Tel Aviv through July 31.
AIR FRANCE-KLM
Air France has suspended flights to and out of Tel Aviv, until further notice.
KLM announced that all flights from and to Tel Aviv have been cancelled until July 1. Some flights from, to or via Beirut could also be affected.
Transavia has announced that it will not be operating flights between Tel Aviv and Amman, or Beirut and Beirut.
AIR INDIA
Air India announced that several flights are either being diverted to another destination or returning back to their original origin.
Israeli Airlines announced that all flights will be cancelled until June 21, 2018.
BLUEBIRD AERWAYS
The Greek airline announced that all flights between June 13 and 21 (inclusively) had been cancelled and new bookings are not allowed for those flights between June 22 to June 30 until security is clarified.
DELTA AIR LINES
Travel to, from or through Tel Aviv could be affected between June 12 and July 31.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES
El Al Israel Airlines announced that it has cancelled all of its flights for EL AL, Sundor and EL AL through Thursday, June 19,
ETIHAD AERWAYS
Etihad Airways has announced that it will cancel flights between Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv from June 22 to August 22.
EMIRATES
Emirates has temporarily suspended flights to Jordan (Amman), Lebanon (Beirut), Iran (Teheran), and Iraq (Baghdad, Basra) until June 30, and said it will suspend all flights until June 22.
FLYDUBAI
Flydubai has suspended its flights to Jordan, Lebanon, Minsk, St. Peterburg, and Iran until 20 June.
ISRAIR
Israeli Airlines has announced that all flights to and from Israel have been cancelled until June 30, 2018.
ITA AIRWAYS
Italian Airlines announced that it will extend the suspension of Tel Aviv flight until July 31. This includes two flights scheduled for August 1.
LUFTHANSA GROUP
Lufthansa announced that it has suspended all flights from and to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Amman until July 31, and to and and from Beirut, Erbil and Amman until June 20, and said that they have suspended all flights from and to Tel Aviv until July 31. Lufthansa added that they would avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Israeli skies for the time being.
PEGASUS
Turkish Airlines announced that they had canceled flights to Iran and Jordan up until June 16, and flights to Iraq until June 19. The airline said that it will only operate flights into Lebanon during daylight hours.
QATAR AIRWAYS
Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq Iran and Syria.
RYANAIR
Ryanair has announced that it will cancel flights from and to Tel Aviv up until September 30.
Romania's flag airline said it has suspended all commercial flights from and to Tel Aviv, as well as to Beirut and Amman, until June 20, and until June 23, respectively.
TURKISH AIRLINES
Turkish Airlines, along with other Turkish operators, have cancelled flights until June 16 to Iran, Iraq and Syria, according to the Turkish transport minister.
UNITED AIRLINES
According to the U.S. airline, travel from and to Tel Aviv could be affected between June 13, and August 1.
WIZZ AIR
Wizz Air has suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Jordan until 20 June. (Reporting and compilation by Bureaus, Elviira Louma, Tiago Brancao and Matt Scuffham, Editing and Alison Williams).
(source: Reuters)