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German navy makes uncommon transit of delicate Taiwan Strait
2 German navy ships including a frigate sailed through the delicate Taiwan Strait on Friday in the very first such transit in 20 years and at a time of skyrocketing tensions in between Taipei and Beijing. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says just it works out sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait. Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait - a. major trade route through which about half of international container. ships pass - is an international waterway. Speaking in Berlin, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. said he might validate the passage of the frigate. Baden-Württemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main. International waters are international waters. It's the. quickest and, provided the weather, the safest path. So. we are going through, he stated. Taiwan's defence ministry decreased immediate comment. A security source familiar with the situation stated the ships. would likely fully clear the strait on Saturday. Speaking in Beijing before the transit was verified on. Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry representative said it. condemned reasons for infringing China's sovereignty. We strongly oppose provocations and threatening of China's. sovereignty and security under the banner of 'freedom of. navigation', Mao Ning informed a routine press conference. U.S. warships cruise through the strait around when every 2. months, drawing the ire of Beijing, and some U.S. allies like. Canada and Britain have also made occasional transits. A 2nd security source, speaking like the very first on. condition of privacy given the level of sensitivity of the situation,. said the ships sailed in a southerly instructions through the. strait. The cruising was a clear and loud statement made by Berlin. that it is standing with its allies to maintain. international rules, the source added. China, which has never ever renounced using force to bring. Taiwan under its control, has over the past five years stepped. up military activities around the island, including staging war. games. Taiwan's government declines China's sovereignty claims and. says just the island's individuals can decide their future.
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NET4GAS says it wins arbitration case versus Gazprom Export payments
Czech gas transmission system operator NET4GAS has won an arbitration case against Russian group Gazprom Export over payments it was owed, the Czech business said. In a filing late on Thursday, NET4GAS said a tribunal had bought (Gazprom Export) to pay the claimed amount together with default interest and reimburse N4G for the costs of the proceedings. Gazprom and Gazprom Export did not immediately respond to a. request for remark. NET4GAS has said it was declaring 113 million euros from. Gazprom Export after the Russian carrier stopped working to make payments. under contracts following the halt in products to Europe by means of the. Nord Stream pipeline in 2022. A spokesperson decreased on Friday to provide any even more. details on the claim. NET4GAS has stated that payments form. Gazprom contributed 3 quarters of its income before. Russia's full invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Gazprom in the meantime won a claim of equivalent size in a. Russian court against NET4GAS, which NET4GAS said remained in blatant. breach of international law. Gazprom was a significant shipper through the NET4GAS network,. which carried gas from northern border with Germany to southern. Germany through the Czech Republic along with to Slovakia. The stop in shipments through the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022. and rearrangement of gas flows in Europe have triggered the company. to lose a considerable part if its company, and at present. mostly serves only for imports for domestic needs. The Czech federal government obtained the company consisting of. arrearage of around 33 billion crowns
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DSV to produce worldwide logistics giant with $15.9 bln Schenker takeover
Denmark's DSV has actually consented to buy Schenker, the logistics arm of German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn, for 14.3 billion euros ($ 15.85 billion) in an offer that would make it the world's. most significant logistics company. The acquisition will be the most significant by a Danish company and. move DSV above Swiss group Kuehne und Nagel in both. volume and income. The all-cash transaction will be financed through a. combination of an equity raising of 4-5 billion euros and financial obligation. funding, DSV stated. DSV, which began as a small business of 10 truckers in. 1976, said the industrial and operational fit between the two. groups will contribute to development, job development and strong. financial returns. Shares in DSV were up 4% by 0701 GMT, extending recent gains. activated by reports that an offer impended. The acquisition of Schenker is a transformative transaction. for DSV, producing a world-leading player within the worldwide. transport and logistics industry, DSV said in a statement. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Danish group had actually won. the race to purchase Schenker, citing Deutsche Bahn and German. government sources. PLEDGES ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT As part of the deal, DSV has actually promised to invest 1 billion. euros in Germany over the next 3-5 years and keep numerous key. jobs in the country. The combined group will have more workers. in Germany five years from now than Schenker and DSV have today,. the Danish company said. The offer, based on regulatory and German ministerial. approval along with by Deutsche Bahn's supervisory board, is. anticipated to close in the second quarter of next year. The combined group will have earnings of 293 billion Danish. crowns ($ 43.52 billion) based on 2023 outcomes, with a workforce. of about 147,000 across more than 90 nations, DSV added. ( It) marks the largest deal in DB's history ... It. has been important for us to discover a strong partner for Schenker. and a long-lasting home for the employees of the company, Deutsche. Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in the statement. DSV has proliferated through a string of successful. acquisitions - some bigger than the company itself - in an extremely. fragmented logistics market. Schenker, which has actually been Deutsche Bahn Group's biggest. revenue motorist over the last few years, has more than 70,000 staff members in. about 130 countries, including approximately 15,000 in Germany.
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Charleroi airport flights cancelled for second day due to strike
All flights to and from Belgium's Charleroi airport, a major center for budget airline company Ryanair, were cancelled on Friday for a second day as the airport's employees continued to strike. A joint union strike has been announced at Charleroi airport. All flights set up for this Friday are cancelled, Charleroi Airport said in a statement, advising guests to not go to the airport but to contact their airline. According to its website a minimum of 87 flights were meant to depart from the airport on Friday and 6 of those would depart from Brussels Airport instead, about 70 km (44 miles) away. The strike began as a wildcat strike, labour union CNE told Belgian media on Thursday, as unions were still at the same time of arranging action they had actually revealed last week. Unions and the airport have been in talks for months over improving worker working conditions.
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South Korea's carefully watched nuclear power pivot: Maguire
South Korea produced more electrical energy from nuclear reactors than from coal and gas for the very first time throughout the opening half of 2024, and plans to include four more nuclear plants to its power fleet by 2038. The heavy nuclear emphasis marks a crucial tactical shift by the world's third-largest buyer of melted natural gas (LNG). and fourth-largest importer of thermal coal, and may result in. decreased purchases of fossil fuels for power moving forward. South Korea's nuclear welcome also contrasts with power. patterns in Europe and North America, where utilities have. retreated from nuclear recently but struggle to produce enough. clean power from renewables alone to fulfill increasing energy need. If South Korea's energies can effectively satisfy the needs. of its manufacturing-heavy economy through broadened nuclear. output, the country might supply a practical blueprint to enhancing. tidy power materials without sole dependence on renewables. TAILORED SERVICE Historically, coal and natural gas have been the primary power. sources sustaining South Korea's economy, with cheap and plentiful. energy important for the nation's cost-sensitive makers of. cars and trucks, chemicals and electronic devices. An average of 68% of the country's electricity came from. nonrenewable fuel sources from 2010 to 2023, with approximately 40% from coal and. 25% from gas, according to energy think tank Ember. With little ideal land for hydro dams, solar parks and. wind farms, the nation's primary source of clean generation has. been nuclear plants, which have supplied approximately 28% of its. electrical energy since 2010. Renewables generation has actually jumped by over 150% since 2018,. thanks primarily to a doubling in solar output. However the renewables. share of electrical power output stays under 6% and too little to. make a meaningful effect on national power circulations. NUCLEAR STRUCTURE To accomplish emissions decrease goals - targeted as a 40% cut. to greenhouse gases from 2018 levels by 2030 - the nation has. dedicated to decreasing the burning of nonrenewable fuel sources for power. generation and industrial procedures. To avert any significant drop in power output, authorities have. detailed a significant expansion in tidy generation over the next 15. years, consisting of a tripling in solar and wind output by 2030. However the central pillar of South Korea's future power plans. is its nuclear fleet, which is set to grow from 26 to 30. reactors by 2038. In addition to approximately 4.4 gigawatts (GW) of brand-new. large-reactor nuclear capability, there are plans for the. nation's very first small modular reactor, with a capacity of 0.7. GW. These planned boosts come on top of 2 brand-new reactors that. began industrial operations this year, and assisted drive South. Korea's total nuclear-powered electricity output to a record. over the past year. GROWING COMPETENCE South Korean nuclear firms are likewise hectic overseas. Korea Hydro & & Nuclear Power (KHNP) won a contract from the. Czech federal government this year to build 2 brand-new reactors. KHNP outbid France's EDF and other competitors to win the deal,. which marked South Korea's very first overseas order for a large. reactor considering that 2009. That has helped Korean firms establish themselves as international. leaders in the nuclear building area. KHNP was likewise associated with the successful completion of the. United Arab Emirates' very first nuclear plant, the 5,600 MW-capacity. Barakah project. The last of Barakah's 4 reactors started industrial. operations this month, within 8 years from first concrete. pour to sustain load, said Mohamed Al Hammadi, president of. Emirates Atomic energy Corporation at an event marking the. occasion. The Barakah atomic energy plant offers a brand-new design for the. world and shows that atomic energy is bankable and can. be provided effectively. Offered the reports of years-long building hold-ups and. billions of dollars in expense overruns at other nuclear tasks,. many energy developers will stay sceptical of nuclear's. potential. But if South Korean firms can build on their recent. successes and help steer the nation's clean energy supply. levels progressively greater, international energy system organizers are. likely to remember. << The opinions revealed here are those of the author, a. columnist .>
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Wall Street Journal - Sept 13
The following are the leading stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not confirmed these stories and does not vouch for their precision. - Mastercard said it would get cybersecurity business Tape-recorded Future in a $2.65 billion deal, as intelligence on cyberattacks handles higher importance amid growing hazards from hackers. - Amazon.com is putting billions of dollars towards the drivers that deliver its plans following union arranging activity among such employees. - Boeing's biggest labor union voted overwhelmingly to strike, halting production of its very popular jets and dealing the current blow to the struggling aerospace giant. - Mitsubishi Corp remains in speak with buy a stake in Exxon Mobil's project in Baytown, Texas, which aims to be the world's biggest low-carbon ammonia center. - Air Canada President Michael Rousseau said settlements with the airline company's over 5,000 pilots have stalled, and Canada's Liberal government need to be prepared to step in to avoid a lengthy shutdown.
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Germany's Scholz looks for Central Asian energy ties in shadow of Ukraine war
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz starts his very first visit to Central Asia on Sunday, taking a trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as Berlin tries to find new markets and sources of energy and minerals in the wake of the Ukraine war. He currently has some key offers under his belt. Kazakh crude started streaming through the Druzhba pipeline in 2015, keeping Berlin's Schwedt refinery running after the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow, and Russian supplies dropped off. This marked a totally brand-new instructions in bilateral cooperation, as no Kazakh oil had actually previously flowed through this pipeline, a Kazakh government official said. Scholz's visit will provide some ideas on where Germany wants to take the relationship next. On top of the oil, Kazakhstan has more than two trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, according to Kazakh government data. Lots of German business who shut down companies in Russia - traditionally an essential hub for Central Asia - have actually set up their own sales offices and operations across the area, Eduard Kinsbruner, Central Asia regional director at the German Eastern Organization Association, stated. German groups have actually been negotiating agreements in chemicals, knowledgeable labour, renewable resource, logistics and education among other sectors, Kinsbruner included. Much of those agreements are anticipated to be signed throughout Scholz's visit, he added. HYDROGEN HOPES Kazakhstan - 7 times the size of Germany - has great deals of space, along with sun and wind, for energy tasks. In Kazakhstan's southwestern region of Mangystau, Germany-based SVEVIND Energy Group is establishing what it states is one of the world's largest green hydrogen jobs, with a. prepared 40 gigawatts of sustainable power capability. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited in June. last year. Germany's brand-new push is currently showing up in the stats. In 2023, Kazakhstan exported 8.5 million lots of oil to. Germany, representing 11.7% of Germany's total oil imports,. and up from round 6.5 million loads before the Ukraine war. That dive made Kazakhstan Germany's third-largest supplier. after Norway and the United States, information from Germany's Federal. Statistics Office revealed. German investments in Kazakhstan increased by 64% in 2015. compared to 2022, according to data from Kazakh Invest, a. federal government company. Since of the programs and the political system, Central. Asia wasn't a leading priority for Germany, Stefan Meister, a. Central Asia specialist at the German Council on Foreign Relations,. stated. However the war has fundamentally altered this dynamic. Trade between Kazakhstan and Germany nearly doubled after. Russia's February 2022 intrusion of Ukraine, with turnover increasing. by 89.5% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to. data from the German Eastern Business Association. ' LOOK TO THE FUTURE' When we seek to the future, we see fantastic potential, a. German federal government official stated ahead of the journey. We will require gas for 2 more decades. The tenders for brand-new. gas power plants (in Germany), which will all be hydrogen-ready,. are presently in their final stages. This indicates they will need. to get gas from somewhere. Behind all the new plans, there are still old historic and. geographic truths. Kazakhstan may use an option to Russia for Germany. But it is likewise weighed down by an outdated Soviet-era grid and. complex tangle of red tape. If it (huge renewables growth) is complicated in. Germany, it's much more complicated in a country like. Kazakhstan, stated Thomas O'Donnell, an energy professional at Berlin's. Free University. Russia still has considerable influence in Kazakhstan, which. has actually avoided taking sides in the Ukraine war. Many tellingly of. all, that Druzhba pipeline bring Kazakh oil to Berlin,. changeovers Russian area. So a relationship with Russia, of a sort, will continue. On one hand, we support Ukraine, said Meister of the. German Council on Foreign Relations. On the other, our. services still need resources..
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Cathay Pacific buys back warrants from Hong Kong government's 2020 bailout
Airline Cathay Pacific has actually bought back all warrants provided to the Hong Kong federal government in 2020, another step in repaying the federal government for a pandemicrelated recapitalisation package, the business stated on Friday. Cathay stated the buyback was for HK$ 1.53 billion ($ 196.2. million). At the end of July, the carrier performed a buyback of the. last part of HK$ 19.5 billion in preference shares provided to the. Hong Kong federal government as part of the HK$ 39 billion rescue bundle. in June 2020. It likewise paid a total of HK$ 2.44 billion in choice share. dividends. Completing the buyback of the choice shares and the. warrants marks the close of a considerable chapter in Cathay's. history. Now, we are firmly focused on the future, CEO Ronald. Lam stated. Cathay made heavy losses and layoffs during the COVID-19. pandemic and reported its very first yearly revenue in four years in. March, and paid its first dividend given that 2019. It reported a 15% drop in interim earnings in August, mainly due to lower air fares, and announced a. HK$ 100 billion
HR Watch calls Israel's July attacks on Yemen's Hodeidah Port a "possible crime of war".
Human Rights Watch (HRW), on Monday, said that the Israeli airstrikes against Yemen's Hodeidah Port last month were an indiscriminate and disproportionate attack on civilians. This may have amounted to a crime of war.
Israel announced on July 20, that its warplanes had struck military targets near Hodeidah.
HRW reported that the attack, which targeted oil installations and a power plant, killed or wounded at least 6 people.
The attack took place just a day after an Israeli drone killed one person when it struck Tel Aviv's economic center. HRW also said that this may have been a war crimes.
Human Rights Watch reported that the retaliatory Israeli strikes on Hodeidah targeted more than 20 oil storage tanks, two shipping cranes, and a power station in Salif district of the province.
The attacks seemed to have caused disproportionate damage to civilians or civilian objects. War crimes are serious violations of laws of war that were committed with intent, meaning deliberately or recklessly.
According to the HRW report, satellite images revealed that the oil tanks had been burning for at least 3 days. This poses environmental concerns.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.
Hodeidah is crucial for the Yemeni people, who rely on imports, to get food and other essentials. Around 70 percent of Yemen’s commercial imports, and 80 percent its humanitarian aid pass through the port.
In response to Israel's attack on Gaza, the Houthis launched missiles and drones against Israel and disrupted the global trade via the Red Sea. This further destabilised the Middle East at a time when the war in Gaza has raged for 10 months.
Israel claims that the Houthis launched 200 attacks on it since the Gaza War began. Many of these were intercepted, and the majority of them were not fatal.
Israel announced its first strike against the group on the following day after a rare Houthi-led drone attack that struck Tel Aviv the previous day.
In response, the Houthi group, also known as Ansar Islam, has said that it will continue to attack Israel. (Reporting and editing by Clauda Tanias, Mohammed Ghobari)
(source: Reuters)