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US investigations report that Waymo's self-driving car illegally passed 19 school buses in Texas
The U.S. government said Thursday that it had asked Waymo for more information after Texas officials claimed that Alphabet's self-driving cars had passed school buses illegally 19 times since the beginning of the school year. In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation after an incident that occurred in Georgia. A Waymo was not stationary as it approached a school bus while its red lights were flashing and its stop arm was deployed. The Austin Independent School District posted a letter on November 20, 2018 by the NHTSA. In the letter, they stated that five incidents had occurred in November following the announcement from Waymo that it had updated its software to fix the problem. They asked the company not to operate around schools at pick-up or drop-off hours until it was able to ensure the vehicles wouldn't violate the law. Waymo didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. A lawyer for the district wrote: "We cannot let Waymo continue to endanger our students as it tries to fix the problem." Citing an incident in which a Waymo was "recorded" driving past a school bus that had stopped only moments after the student who crossed in front, while still on the road, had been in front of the vehicle. A spokesperson for the school district did not respond immediately to whether Waymo had met this request. NHTSA was prompted by the letter to ask Waymo if it would comply to the request that self-driving vehicles cease operations during pick-up or drop-off hours for students. They also asked: "Was a software fix developed or implemented to mitigate this concern?" If so, will Waymo file a recall to fix the problem? In a letter sent to Waymo by the NHTSA on Wednesday, it demanded answers to questions about school bus incidents and software updates that address safety concerns. David Shepardson is reporting.
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US investigations report that Waymo's self-driving car illegally passed 19 school buses in Texas
The U.S. government said on Thursday that it had asked Waymo for more information after Texas officials claimed that Alphabet's self-driving cars had passed school buses illegally 19 times since the beginning of the school year. In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation after a Georgia incident where a Waymo failed to remain stationary as it approached a school bus that had its red lights flashing with a stop arm deployed. In a letter published by NHTSA on Nov. 20, the Austin Independent Schools District stated that five incidents had occurred in November, after Waymo claimed to have made software updates to fix the problem. The district asked the company to stop operations near schools at pick-up or drop-off hours until it could be ensured the vehicles wouldn't violate the law. Waymo didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. David Shepardson reports.
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Sources: Deutsche Bahn will return to profitability this year and next.
According to sources close the company, Deutsche Bahn will return to profitability this year and next, despite its underinvestment in trains and delays. After more than a decade underinvestment by the state-owned Deutsche Bahn, it has begun upgrading its tracks and overhead lines, as well as cutting administrative costs. This has led to major delays and cancellations across the country. Positive outlook is also a result of CEO Evelyn Palla's task to turn the company around. She took over on October 1. Palla will present her restructuring plan for the company at a meeting of the supervisory board scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Significant job cuts are expected. Deutsche Bahn has declined to comment. Sources said that the company expects a slightly positive profit before interest and tax (EBIT) in 2025 after a loss last year of 388 million euros. EBIT is expected to reach 500 million euros by 2026. The German Bahn also aims at reducing its net loss from 820 million euros to 180 million next year. Revenues are expected to stay stable, around 28 billion euro next year.
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Mercuria's copper takeover from LME Asia increases supply anxiety
Four sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that commodity trader Mercuria plans to remove significant quantities of copper from London Metal Exchange storage facilities in Asia. Prices are rising on account of expectations of a shortage. LME copper prices reached a record of $11,540 per metric ton Wednesday, partly because of anticipated shortages in the coming year due to disruptions to mine supplies including accidents and incidents in Indonesia and Chile. Mercuria, a Swiss company, has cancelled or designated for delivery over 40,000 tonnes of copper stored in LME facilities in South Korea. Taiwan Sources familiar with the situation say that copper was discovered on December 2. The value of copper at current prices would be $460,000,000. Mercuria declined comment. The LME approved warehouses that store copper for the construction and power industries have historically low inventories, which has contributed to an increase in prices in recent months. Copper is a major export from the LME, and prices in the United States are high. This is despite the fact that copper has been exempted from the import tariffs which came into effect on August 1. On December 2, the total amount of copper warrants that were cancelled - documents that confer ownership - was 56,875 tonnes or 35%. LME stocks Mercuria's action helped to boost the premium for cash copper contracts over the three-month ahead price . On Wednesday, premiums, which have been on an upward trend since November, reached $88 per ton, the highest level since October 13. Comparatively, a contango or discount of around $35 was offered on November 19, Last year, the premium per ton was around $38. As the settlement date of December 17 nears, traders expect even higher premiums on cash contracts. Companies with short positions must find copper in order to fulfill their contracts against them or roll them over - a process known as a "short squeeze". According to industry sources, cancellations are more frequent in contango markets where the prices of contracts with longer dates are higher than nearby contracts. It is rare to cancel warrants in a backwardated market, as the premium is usually intended to encourage deliveries at the LME.
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Source: Kazakhstan's oil production declines due to damaged terminals limiting exports.
An industry source reported on Thursday that Kazakhstan's oil-and-gas condensate output fell by 6% during the first two days in December. This was after a Ukrainian drone attacked the Caspian pipeline consortium's (CPC's) Black Sea loading facilities. The CPC pipeline which transports over 80% Kazakhstan's oil and more than 1% global supply has suspended operations after an mooring near Russia's Novorossiysk Port was damaged. Later, it resumed supplying using a single point mooring instead of the usual two. As a back-up, a third unit is currently undergoing maintenance that began before the strikes. According to sources and calculations, Kazakhstan's oil-and-gas condensate output decreased in the first two weeks of December from a November average production to 1.9 millions barrels per day. The Kazakhstani energy ministry has not responded to a comment request. The drop in oil production is a result of the CPC drone strike on OPEC+ Member Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan exported 68.6 millions tons of oil to the world last year, and was the 12th largest oil producer. MINISTER SAYS ONE CPC MOORING IS NOW FULLY OPERATIONAL CPC's pipeline of 1,500 km (930 mi) carries crude oil from Kazakhstan's Tengiz and Karachaganak fields to the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka Terminal in Novorossiysk. CPC gets its crude primarily from fields in Kazakhstan, but also from Russian producers. Yerlan AKBAROV, Kazakhstan's Deputy Minister of Energy, said that on Thursday one of CPC's moorings was fully operational at the Black Sea Terminal and that there were no restrictions regarding oil transportation. On Wednesday, five industry sources said that Kazakhstan would divert more crude oil through the Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC pipeline) in December due the the reduction of capacity at CPC. Kazakh producers can also export crude oil to Russia via Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga and the Druzhba Pipeline and Germany via Druzhba. However, these routes have lower margins because they are dependent on the capacity and the performance of Russian pipeline operator Transneft. As Russia's pipeline network is overloaded after drone attacks on its refineries, the options for rerouting oil from Kazakhstan are limited. One industry source estimated that the CPC's loading capacity would be reduced by 900,000 tonnes per week when only using one SPM. (Reporting and editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Ed Osmond).
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Sources say that war insurance costs for shipowners are increasing as threats to the Black Sea grow.
Five shipping and insurance sources reported on Thursday that the cost of war insurance for ships sailing into the Black Sea has increased again. Insurers are reviewing policies every day as the conflict in Ukraine spills over onto sea lanes. Black Sea is vital for shipping grain, oil and oil-based products. Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania, as well Russia and Ukraine, share its waters. Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday that recent attacks on Russian-linked tankers on the Black Sea threatened the safety and security of everyone in the region. Ships entering Russian or Ukrainian Black Sea terminals or ports, or ships sailing around the Sea of Azov need additional war risk insurance. This is usually set up for a period of seven days. PUTIN THREATENS UKRAINE TO SLAVE OFF ITS SEA ACCESS Sources said that underwriters used to review the terms of war coverage every 48 hours. However, recent developments have led them to do so daily. In response to the attacks on the oil tankers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would cut off Ukraine's sea access. He also added that Moscow would take action against the oil tankers of other countries who helped Ukraine. In the last two days, there has been a narrowing of the difference in war insurance premiums for Russian and Ukrainian port. Sources said that premiums for Russian ports were higher in the past. Some underwriters have quoted war insurance costs between 0.6% to 1% of a ship's value in the last day, up from 0.4-0.6% the week before. Market estimates indicate that rates of 1% will be the highest in the Red Sea since late 2023. However, they are still lower than the peaks of 2 percent for the Red Sea during the peak of the attacks by Yemen's Houthi Militia in 2024. Even small increases can add up to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily insurance costs. Sources said that insurers could cancel the policy altogether, but there are no signs of this happening at present. According to Marcus Baker, Marsh's global marine leader, additional war premiums will likely increase "if Russia's rhetoric translates into attacks against shipping in the Black Sea". We may also see a growth in perceived risk if more attacks on Turkish ships occur closer to Turkey. In order to maintain uninterrupted energy flow, Turkey has asked Russia, Ukraine, and all other parties not to interfere with energy infrastructure. Ukraine, which is targeting Russian oil exports, while Moscow bombards Ukraine's power grid, has taken responsibility for the attack last week on two empty tanks heading to a Russian port. Kyiv, however, denied any connection to an incident that occurred on Tuesday in which a Russian flagged tanker carrying sunflower oil claimed it was attacked by drones. Ambrey, a British maritime security firm, said that the threat levels for vessels and tankers visiting Russian ports as well as Ukrainian ports had increased significantly. The company also recommended that shipping companies request hull checks to look for limpets mines following port visits in Russian ports. (Reporting and editing by Mike Collett White, David Goodman, Jonathan Spicer Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer)
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Nexus, an Indian venture capital firm, has closed a $700 million fund for AI and consumer startups
India's Nexus venture partners announced on Wednesday it had closed a $700-million fund to support AI, enterprise software and consumer fintech startups. Venture capital firm Invested in Zepto, Rapido and Zepto. Nexus, through the fund, is betting on the growing consumption boom of the fourth largest economy in the world, where quick commerce, which promises to deliver iPhones and groceries within 10 minutes, as well as e-commerce, are increasing. The company also intends to concentrate on artificial intelligence. This sector has attracted billions of dollars in venture capital and tech giants. Nexus, founded in 2006, was the first Indian venture-capital firm to invest in software startups based in India and the United States. (Reporting from Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru and Haripriya suresh; editing by Vijay Kishore).
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Spanish police arrest a group accused of forcing migrants to slave-like labor
The Spanish police have broken up a criminal gang accused of bringing hundreds of illegal foreign workers to farms in eastern Spain under conditions that the Interior Ministry called inhumane and slave-like. In a police statement, they said that officers had arrested 11 people, and identified over 300 potential victims. Many of these were from Nepal. The suspects had entered the Schengen Area on tourist visas, before being transported to rural areas of provinces like Alicante and Valencia. In raids conducted in Albacete, the police also confiscated cash, fake documents and mobile phones. Police said that migrants were sleeping on the floors, paying exorbitant fees for transport, rent and food and being crammed into rooms with poor ventilation. Many worked 12 hours or more a day, and in some cases received no pay at all. This is what rights groups call forced labour. Police said that at least one Nepalese died in one accident involving vans being used to transport migrants, despite the lack of basic safety standards. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, Ed Osmond and Jesus Calero)
Senators in the US want airlines to compensate passengers for delays with cash
A group of Democratic Senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would require airlines to compensate passengers for significant delays with cash.
Mark Kelly, Ed Markey, and Richard Blumenthal, senators who are leading the charge, propose to mandate compensation that is in line with European Union (EU) and Canadian requirements. This includes mandating a minimum of $300 for delays of over three hours, and a minimum of $600 for delays of six hours or longer. This proposal was first reported on by after President Donald Trump's administration withdrew his predecessor's plan to force airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays caused by carriers. Kelly said that airlines must be held accountable for their actions when they leave travelers stranded and cost the American public money. "We are working to protect passengers so that they don't have to pay for cancellations or delays out of pocket."
The U.S. Transportation Department, under the then-President Joe Biden in December 2024 sought public comments on writing rules that would require airlines to pay up to $775 per hour for delays exceeding three hours domestically.
Airlines for America (a trade group that represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines) had previously criticised Biden's plan for cash compensation, claiming it would increase ticket prices.
USDOT stated last month that the rule would create "unnecessary regulations burdens," which is why it wouldn't go forward.
In the United States, airlines are required to refund customers for cancelled flights but not compensate them for delayed flights. All four countries - the European Union, Canada and Britain - have rules on airline compensation for delays. No major U.S. airlines currently guarantee cash compensation for flight delays.
USDOT announced in September that it would consider rescinding the Biden regulations, which required airlines and ticket agents disclose service fees along with airfares.
The Trump administration plans to also reduce regulatory burdens for airlines and ticket agents. This will be done by writing new regulations that define a cancellation of flight, which entitles the consumer to a refund. It will also revisit rules regarding ticket pricing and advertising.
(source: Reuters)