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Japan's major earthquakes over the last 15 years
On Tuesday, a powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, causing thousands of houses to lose power, and many factories to be suspended. Many people are presumed dead inside a partially-collapsed shopping center. Japan is located on the "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes, oceanic trenches, and other geological features that partially surrounds the Pacific Basin. It accounts for 20% of all earthquakes of 6 or higher magnitude in the world. Each year, up to 2,000 quakes can be felt. Here are a few of the most significant quakes to have struck Japan over the past 15 years. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami struck northeast Japan. The earthquake killed nearly 20,000 people, and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant melted down, causing the worst nuclear disaster in the world since Chernobyl. On April 16, 2016, an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude struck Kumamoto. This is the same place where the temblor occurred on Tuesday. More than 270 people were killed, including some who were caught in landslides or heavy rains in the aftermath. On June 18, 2018, an earthquake measuring?magnitude 6.1 in Osaka (Japan's second largest metropolis) killed four people and injured hundreds. It also halted the production lines of factories in a nearby industrial area. On September 6, 2018, an earthquake measuring 6.7 magnitude paralyzed Japan's northern Island of Hokkaido. The quake killed more than 40 people and triggered landslides, knocking out electricity to 5.3 million residents. On?February 13th, 2021, an earthquake measuring 7.3 magnitude struck off the coasts of Fukushima and eastern Japan. Dozens of people were injured, and there was widespread power outage in Greater Tokyo. On March 16, 2022 a magnitude-7.4?earthquake again jolted?off Fukushima, leaving behind three dead and more than 200 injured, and reviving the memories of the quake that devastated?the Pacific Coast region just over 10 years earlier. On January 1, 2024 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked central Japan's west coast on New Year's Day. More than 300 people died. On August 8, 2024, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the southern coast of Miyazaki triggered Japan’s first ever advisory about higher-than-usual megaquake risks. The advisory was lifted one week later. (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson; Kantaro Kommiya)
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Boeing's Q2 losses are higher than expected as Air Force One costs increase
Boeing reported on Tuesday a higher-than-expected quarter loss, after taking a charge of $280 million on its troubled Air Force One Replacement Program. However, the company's turnaround plans have gained momentum. It took on the cost to deliver the two U.S. Presidential planes that were delayed in 2028. This contributed to a net loss of $428 million for the second quarter. According to LSEG, the core loss per share was 76 cents. This is a lower figure than the 30 cents analysts expected, but still higher than the $1.24 core loss per shares in the same time period last year. Boeing's free cash flow was $631 million, as opposed to $200 million in the second quarter 2025. According to Boeing, the cash flow boost was partly due to "higher than expected customer payments." Boeing shares gained a little more than 1.5% during premarket trading. Boeing's shares rose a little over 1.5% in premarket trading. This would be the first positive result for 2023 as it maintains its guidance of $1 to $3 billion of free cash flow. Boeing increased its capital investment in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. This was due to the expansion of?capabilities in South Carolina for the production 787 and the military jet production in the St. Louis area, Missouri. The planemaker also works to deliver two 747-8 jets that will serve as Air Force One under a $3.9 Billion fixed-price agreement signed in 2018. This contract is now four years behind schedule, and is more than $1 Billion over budget. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, accepted a 747-8 jet donated by Qatar that serves as an Air Force One plane in the interim. He said this month that it would be sent to be upgraded after questions were raised about its security features.
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Airbus A350 jets fly non-stop for 24 hours from Australia to France
Airbus has completed a marathon flight lasting more than 24 hours. The A350 jet, which is being 'developed for record-beating commercial flights' touched down in France on Tuesday. The test is a crucial step in Qantas Project Sunrise. It aims to launch one of the longest commercial passenger flights and revolutionize long-haul travel, by eliminating stopovers from Australia to Europe. The A350-1000ULR, specially adapted for the Australian airline's Sydney-London nonstop route is due to debut in 2027. Airbus has been testing the aircraft for two months since June. Airbus said the aircraft, which has a specially-designed extra fuel tank, was in the air for 24 hours and 24 mins, traveling 23,075 km (14 338 miles) before landing in Toulouse, France. Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service provider, said that the flight was the second most-tracked on their channels - behind a flight in 2024 carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin - with more than 3.6 millions people following its northward progress via Canada. In 2005, a Boeing 777 200LR?Worldliner flew 13,422 km (21,601.7 km) from Hong Kong, to London, in just 22 hours and 42 min. Qantas ordered '12 modified A350 1000ULR aircraft to connect Australia’s east coast with London and New York within 20 hours. The service aims to reduce the five-day journey on the "Kangaroo Route", from Australia to London, to a single flight lasting between 19 and 21 hours depending on wind direction and routing. The first aircraft, which can carry 20,000 litres?of?fuel, and seat 238 people, is due to be delivered in April 2027. Qantas plans to offer daily nonstop flights from Sydney to London starting in October 2027. (Reporting and editing by Milli Nissi Prussak; Gianluca Nostro)
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Boeing's Q2 losses are higher than expected as Air Force One costs increase
Boeing reported on Tuesday a larger than expected quarterly loss after taking a $280-million charge on its troubled Air Force One Replacement Program, but it generated positive free cash flow due to the progress of its turnaround plans. It took a 'charge' due to higher engineering cost to ensure that it delivered the two delayed U.S. Presidential plane replacements by 2028. This contributed to a net loss of $428 million for the second quarter. According to LSEG, the core loss per shares of 76 cents is worse than analysts' average expected loss of 30 cents per share, but narrower than $1.24 core loss per share in the same period of last year. Boeing reported $631 million in free cash flow despite?the losses. This compares to a negative 200 million dollars during the second quarter of 2025. According to Boeing, the cash flow boost was partly due to higher than expected customer payments. The U.S. aircraft manufacturer is keeping its guidance for free cash flow of $1 billion to 3 billion dollars in the coming year. This would be their first positive result since mid-2013, and they are increasing production of their best-selling 737 MAX jets. Boeing also increased its capital investment in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. This was due to the expansion of 787 production capabilities in South Carolina, and the military jet production area in St. Louis, Missouri. The planemaker is also delivering two 747-8 aircraft to serve as Air Force One, under a $3.9 Billion?fixed-price agreement signed in 2018. This contract has now been four years behind schedule and over $1 Billion over budget. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, accepted a Qatari-donated 747-8 jet that is currently serving as Air Force One. He said in this month that it would be sent for upgrades after questions were raised about its security features. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed in Seattle)
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Sinograin will auction imported soybeans in preparation for US shipments
Sinograin, China's state-owned stockpiler, said it would auction 500,000 metric tons of?imported?soybeans this Friday. This will be the first sale of such a size since January. The market is expecting the state stockpiler free up space to receive U.S. soybeans. According to a notice issued by the National Grain Trade Centre, this sale is scheduled for 1:30 pm (0530 GMT) and will offer 504,000 tons of soybeans that were produced between 2022-2025. The 'auction' is probably to clear storage space in preparation for the purchase of 25 million metric tonnes of U.S. soya beans, said Johnny Xiang of AgRadar Consulting. An Asian trader stated that the market expects China will auction off around 500,000 metric tonnes of imported soybeans every week in the upcoming weeks. Chinese buyers waited to buy soybeans from last year's harvest in the U.S. until October's summit between leaders of Washington and Beijing helped ease trade tensions between Beijing. State traders COFCO and Sinograin bought approximately 12 million metric tonnes of U.S. soya beans. China began 'buying' new-crop U.S. soya beans after a May 14-15, 2017 summit between Presidents Donald Trump & Xi Jinping. The summit?left unchanged China’s commitment...to purchase 25,000,000 metric??tons of soybeans per year through 2028. Reporting by Ella Cao and Shi Bu, Editing by Louise Heavens & Leroy Leo
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Royal Caribbean trims revenue outlook as bookings soften
Royal Caribbean reduced its 'annual revenue forecast' on Tuesday, citing a'modest near-term impact" on bookings for certain sailings as a result of the geopolitical uncertainty. The company's profit forecast was raised for the year, but shares were still down about 5%. The company expects its annual revenue to increase by 9% as opposed to the 10% it had predicted in its previous forecast. High fuel prices are a problem for cruise operators, as they have to pay higher operating costs and face a squeeze on profitability. This is due to the uncertainty surrounding U.S. - Iran negotiations. The company's?previous forecast? of $17.10 to $15.50 was replaced by a profit adjusted for fiscal 2026 between $17.73 and $17.87 per share. Royal Caribbean said the increase in earnings expectations reflects ?stronger-than-expected second-quarter performance and an ?improved outlook for the remainder of the year, even ?as it accounted for a "modest ?booking impact ?for select itineraries primarily due to prolonged geopolitical activity."
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The largest US power grid is moving ahead with a plan to meet rising demand
PJM Interconnection is the largest U.S. Grid Operator. They are moving forward with plans for backstop procurement of power to 'help ensure adequate -electricity supply if demand from data centers surges. The grid operator that serves 13 states, including the District of Columbia and will file two proposals to federal regulators. The first would be to establish a "reliability-backstop procurement" in order to deal with potential power supply shortages. PJM stated that the second tool would be an operational tool designed to?help maintain system reliability in periods of?supply shortfalls? while managing rapid load growth. PJM is'seeking ways to bring more generation online in order to meet the rapidly increasing electricity demand, especially from data centers. It anticipates that demand for electricity from large new customers, such as data centers, will rise by about 70 gigawatts in 2038. In its latest annual capacity auction, held 'this month', power prices were near records highs at?about $325 per megawatt day. PJM failed to meet its reliability requirements for a second consecutive auction. PJM announced on Monday that it would hold the 'one-time backstop purchase' from September 30 through October 21. Results are expected to be available in early December. Reporting by Kavya BALARAMAN and Noel John from Bengaluru. Mark Potter edited the article.
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Singapore Airlines reports first quarterly loss since 2020 as Air India losses and fuel costs weigh
Singapore Airlines reported its first net loss since 2022 on Tuesday, due to losses at its 'associate Air India' and higher jet fuel costs because of the Middle East conflict. The flag carrier of the city-state posted a loss of S$76.79million ($58.79million) for three months ending June 30 compared to a profit last year of S$186.79million. The last time SIA posted a quarterly loss, it was during the pandemic in the fourth quarter of FY2021/22, which ended on March 31, 2022. This compares to the LSEG's estimate of a loss at S$4.3m. The airline's record revenue for the quarter was S$5.71bn, an increase of?19.3% on a year-on-year basis, thanks to strong passenger demand, and a 12% rise in passenger yields. Scoot and SIA carried 10.9 million passengers in a record, an increase of 6.3%. Cargo revenue increased by 33.5%, to S$708 millions, on the back of higher yields and more passengers. Total expenditure increased by 27.9%, to S$5.61 Billion, mainly due to a 78.5% increase in net fuel prices, which jumped from S$2.25 Billion. After the Middle East conflict broke out on February 28, jet fuel prices spiked, causing fuel cost before hedging to double. Operating profit dropped 73.8%, to S$106 million. A S$42m drag on the net?loss from a larger share of losses at Air?India in which SIA has a 25% stake was partially offset by an S$85m reduction in tax expenses. Singapore Airlines reported that demand for air travel and cargo remains strong, but warned that a prolonged Middle East conflict could impact supply chains, global commerce and macroeconomic conditions. ($1 = 1.2927 Singapore Dollars) (Reporting from Julie Zhu and Kumar Tanishk, in Bengaluru. Editing by Vijay Kishore & Louise Heavens).
JetBlue Airways reports bigger loss in second quarter as fuel prices surge
JetBlue, the U.S. airline, reported an even bigger?loss in its second quarter on Tuesday. This was due to a'surge' in fuel prices after the war in Iran curbed oil supplies.
The airline also announced a?long-term profit target of $1.00 per share by 2028. It cited benefits from its recent strategic overhaul.
After the announcement of results, shares were up by about 1%.
The Middle East conflict between the U.S. and Israel, as well as?Iran, has caused airlines to have difficulty in accurately forecasting earnings and jet fuel costs which make up roughly one-fourth of their operating expenses.
After a June peace agreement between Washington and Tehran, jet?fuel prices fell from their spring highs. In July, the fighting between the two countries resumed. This pushed fuel prices up. As they stopped fighting at the weekend, however, oil prices fell to a new low.
Energy market volatility has increased the quarterly bills of U.S. Airlines by billions, and has thrown off margin recovery plans for smaller airlines like JetBlue who have limited financial flexibility.
JetBlue's adjusted loss per share was 66 cents, a larger figure than the 21 cents reported in the previous year.
Fuel costs for the airline increased by nearly 81% in just three quarters, adding an additional $407 million to its total expenses. The airline paid $4.23 on average per gallon for fuel during that time period.
JetBlue has said that it expects to spend $3.49 per gallon on jet fuel in the third quarter. JetBlue has also re-established its annual fuel forecast, and expects to spend $3.49 a gallon in fuel by 2026. Nandan Mandayam, Bengaluru. Devika Syamnath, editing.
(source: Reuters)