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Bangladesh orders tax officials to return to work after striking; port operations are hindered
The Bangladesh government has ordered all tax and customs workers back to work on Sunday, ending a two-day strike which had brought the tax operation to a halt. This included customs operations in Chittagong Port, a major trading hub. "All employees and officials must immediately return to their jobs and refrain from any activities that could harm the national interest. The government would be forced to take harsh measures to protect people and national economy if it did not. In a press release, the interim government of Muhammad Yunus stated that import-export operations should continue unabated to protect the economy. It also added that all jobs held by the National Board of Revenue were considered essential services. Protests started after the government ordered on 12 May to dissolve the NBR and create new revenue divisions. The government said that the changes were needed to modernise, streamline, reduce overlaps and improve efficiency. Many officials fear losing their institutional independence, and they demand reforms to the new structure. They also want the NBR Chairman resigned. On Saturday, they launched a nationwide shutdown to push their demands. Business leaders are concerned about the situation. They warn that a prolonged impasse could disrupt supply chains and squeeze revenue collections, as well as deal a further blow to investor confidence, already shaken due to macroeconomic pressures. In recent weeks, Yunus’ administration has been facing growing discontent. This is after the student-led protests that forced Sheikh Hasina, then Prime Minister, to flee India. Ruma Paul Reporting and Frances Kerry Editing
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Aviation sector is targeted by 'Scattered Spider" hacking, warns tech firms
Google and Palo Alto Networks have raised the alarm about the hacking group "Scattered spider"'s interest in aviation. In a statement posted on LinkedIn on Friday, Sam Rubin, an executive at Palo Alto's cybersecurity-focused Unit 42, said his company had "observed Muddled Libra (also known as Scattered Spider) targeting the aviation industry." In a similar statement, Charles Carmakal, an executive with Alphabet-owned Google's cybersecurity-focused Mandiant unit, said his company was "aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations of UNC3944 or Scattered Spider." Both executives have not identified the specific companies that were targeted. However, Hawaiian Airlines owned by Alaska Air Group and WestJet of Canada both reported recent cyber incidents. The companies have not commented on the possible links between these incidents and Scattered Spider. It is believed that the loose-knit, but aggressive hacking team, which allegedly includes at least some young people operating in Western countries has been responsible for some of most disruptive hacks in recent history to have hit the United States or Europe. Hackers linked to this group infiltrated gaming companies MGM Resorts & Caesars Entertainment in 2023. They partially paralyzed casinos and took out slot machines. The group caused havoc among British retailers earlier this year. The insurance industry in the United States has been a recent target. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul, Sam Holmes, and Raphael Satter)
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Petroperu accelerates the talks with Amazon Oil Block Partner
A company executive revealed late Thursday that Petroperu, Peru's state oil company, is in discussions with five companies, including Canada’s PetroTal and U.S. based Upland Oil and Gas. The company is looking for a partner to help reactivate an important Amazon oil block. Tomas Diaz is the manager of Petroperu’s exploration and exploitation division. He said that Petroperu expects to sign an agreement on Lot 192 between mid-late July. Reactivating Lot 192 near the Ecuadorian border is vital for Petroperu to supply its newly modernized Talara refining plant. After a $6.5 billion revamp of the plant, the company is in a financial crisis with significant debt. Diaz stated that "we are in direct negotiations" and added that a PetroTal meeting is scheduled for the next week. "We will select our operating partners in two weeks. Then, it will be submitted to Petroperu board for approval." PetroTal and Upland Oil and Gas have not responded to our requests for comment. Petroperu has been looking for a partner to take over its 39% stake in Lot 191 since April, after Altamesa Energy Canada withdrew the 61% remaining stake from the project due to debts owed by suppliers and local communities. Diaz said that any new operator will be required to honor the existing service agreements made with local companies. Oil companies in the Peruvian Amazon are often at odds with local communities who demand jobs and social investment. Petroperu anticipates that the block will produce up to 12 000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), within six months after restarting. After the new operator has completed a drilling programme, this output could reach around 21,000 barrels per day. PIPELINE TALKS Diaz confirmed that Petroperu and PetroTal are in separate discussions to renew a crude transport contract through the Northern Peruvian Pipeline. The 1,100-kilometer (684 mile) pipeline is operational, but it sits idle with no active contracts. PetroTal, the operator of the nearby Lot 95, had previously stopped using this pipeline because of repeated shut-downs caused by attacks against the infrastructure. Instead, it chose to ship its crude to Brazil by barge. Diaz stated that a new crude transport contract would be beneficial and profitable for Petroperu. Petroperu reported a loss of $111m in the first quarter, compared to $183m a year ago. (Reporting and editing by Marco Aquino)
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Tesla does not end Florida lawsuit regarding fatal Model S crash
Tesla has failed to convince a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a woman who died after a Model S equipped with Autopilot ran off the road at Key Largo in Florida. This could lead to a trial next month. U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom said that the estate of Naibel and Dillon Angulo may bring design defect and failure-to-warn claims against Elon Musk's billionaire automaker and seek punitive damage. The trial for July 14 has been scheduled. Tesla's lawyers and plaintiffs have not responded to comments made by the media. Tesla, located in Austin, Texas has faced many questions regarding the safety of their self-driving technologies. The company has stated that its features are intended for "fully-attentive" drivers who hold the steering wheel and do not make the vehicles autonomous. The lawsuit relates to an incident that occurred on April 25, 2019, when George McGee drove a 2019 Model S, at 62 mph through an intersection and into the victims' Chevrolet Tahoe parked in a side-by-side position. McGee reached down to grab a phone he had dropped on the floorboard of his car, but allegedly did not receive any alerts while he was running a stop sign, stop light, and hitting the SUV that struck the victims. Angulo was said to have suffered serious injuries while Benavides Leon reportedly died after being thrown 75 feet. Bloom stated that the plaintiffs had provided sufficient evidence to show that Autopilot defects played a "substantial role" in their injuries. McGee is not a defendant but he admitted that he did not drive safely. However, this does not make him the solely responsible party, especially given McGee’s testimony that Autopilot would have prevented the accident, the judge wrote. Bloom explained that the claim of failure to warn survived partly because Autopilot's potential risks may be difficult to extract from an owner's guide on the Model S touchscreens. The judge dismissed claims of manufacturing defects and negligent misrepresentation. Benavides v Tesla Inc. is a case before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. 21-21940. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York; Editing by William Maclean
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Sources say that Russia's daily oil exports to its western ports will drop by 3% in July.
Calculations based on two sources indicate that Russia's daily oil output from its western ports is expected to be 1.93 million barrels a day in July. This is a slight decrease from the plan for June, due to an anticipated increase in refinery runs. Daily oil loadings in Russia from Primorsk and Novorossiisk, as well as from Kazakhstan's KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades of oil, will decrease by 3% from this month. According to calculations based upon data from industry sources, the offline primary oil refinery capacity of Russia is expected to fall by 3.7% from June to 3,21 million metric ton (about 23.4 million barrels) in July. The data are provisional, and will be updated at the end of each month. The Russian oil companies are able to export more crude oil because of the higher refinery run in July. While oil exports to the Far East from Russia's Kozmino Port are expected rise in July, they will likely be a smaller percentage. (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens).
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Middle East flights suspended by airlines
There are still many airline services that have been disrupted across the Middle East as a result of the 12-day air conflict between Iran and Israel, which ended on Tuesday with a ceasefire brokered by the United States. Safety concerns and airspace closures continue to impact airline traffic in the area. Here are some airlines that have canceled flights from and to the region. AEGEAN AIRLINES The Greek airline has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut as well as to Amman and Erbil until the early flight on September 8th. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, announced that it had cancelled all flights from and to Tel Aviv up until September 30. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier suspends its flights between Toronto and Dubai until the 4th of August. The Canadian carrier had already delayed the resumption to service between Canada & Israel until September 8. AIR EUROPA Spanish airline cancels flights from and to Tel Aviv through July 31. AIR FRANCE-KLM Starting July 7, the French flag carrier will resume its flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Tel Aviv. The French flag carrier plans to resume flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Beirut on June 28. KLM has cancelled all flights from and to Tel Aviv, until at least the 31st of July. AIR INDIA It said that the Indian airline would "gradually" resume flights from and to the Middle East beginning June 24, and it will also resume flights between the East Coast of the U.S.A. and Canada at the "earliest possible opportunity." The Indian airline will resume flights to and from Europe from June 24. All flights from and to Israel, except for New York, are being cancelled by the Israeli airline until June 30. Flights to Eilat have been cancelled until June 28. DELTA AIR LINES Travel to, from or through Tel Aviv could be affected between June 12 and July 31. EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES The Israeli airline increased flight frequencies and added more flights from major destinations as of June 24. It added that flights will continue to operate according to schedule, with the exception of a few cancelled ones, starting next week. ETIHAD AERWAYS Etihad has announced that it will no longer be operating flights between Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv after July 15. EMIRATES Emirates has temporarily suspended its flights to and out of Iran and Iraq, until June 30. FINNAIR Finnair has cancelled all flights from and to Doha until June 30 as well as flight AY1982 for July 1. Finnair also added that they would not be flying over the airspaces of Iraq, Iran or Syria. FLYDUBAI The UAE airline announced that it plans to resume its full network schedule on July 1, 2019. On June 26, it will resume flights to Tel Aviv and Damascus. British Airways, a subsidiary of IAG, has announced that flights to Tel Aviv will be suspended until July 31, and flights to Amman or Bahrain will be suspended up to June 30. British Airways also suspended flights from and to Doha until June 25. Iberia Express' low-cost airline IAG had announced that it would cancel its flights to Tel Aviv up until June 30. Iberia resumes its Doha flights on the 27th of June. 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. JAPAN AIRLINES The Japanese airline has cancelled all flights to Doha from July 2 until July 2. LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa has suspended flights from and to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until July 31. Amman and Erbil flights are cancelled through July 11. German Airlines added that they would not use the airspace of these countries until further notice. PEGASUS Turkish Airlines has announced that they have cancelled all flights to Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan until the 7th of July. QATAR AIRWAYS Qatar Airways has temporarily canceled flights from and to Iraq, Iran and Syria. RYANAIR Ryanair has cancelled all flights from and to Tel Aviv, and Amman up until October 25. Romania's flag airline said that flights from Tel Aviv to Beirut would resume on the evening of June 27 and 28. TUS AIRWAYS Cypriot Airlines has announced that it will resume flights to and from Israel. UNITED AIRLINES According to the U.S. airline, travel from and to Tel Aviv could be affected between June 13, and August 1, 2013. There may be problems with flights to and from Dubai between June 18th and July 3th. WIZZ AIR Wizz Air announced that it would suspend its flights to Tel Aviv, Amman and the United Arab Emirates from June 30 to September 15, and cancel all other flights until then. Hungarian Airlines will not overfly Israeli, Iraqi and Iranian airspaces until further notice. (Reporting and compilation by Bureaus, Elviira Louma, Tiago Brandao; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Alison Williams.
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Germany is considering a law reform to stop the Russians from acquiring Nord Stream
A document published on Friday revealed that Germany may change its foreign trade laws to prevent the Nord Stream 2 company from being takenover. This is part of Berlin’s efforts to stop any resumption in Russian gas imports. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Germany has been looking for alternatives to cheap Russian gas. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would ensure that Nord Stream 2, a project the country had once backed, wouldn't go into operation. However, the country currently has no legal way to stop the sale of assets owned by Russian giant Gazprom. The Nord Stream system consists of two double pipelines that cross the Baltic Sea and go to Germany. It was the largest route for Russian gas entering Europe. It could deliver 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The second Nord Stream 2 link was completed in 2021. The project never reached its operational phase due to the deteriorating relationship between Russia and Western countries. In 2022, it was also hit by mysterious explosions that destroyed one of two lines. The Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 is going through an insolvency procedure that could result in asset sales. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that U.S. Investor Stephen P. Lynch attempted to purchase Nord Stream 2. The Russian government denied this report. In a response to a question from the German Parliament dated 24 June, the German Economy Ministry stated that the government is discussing a potential amendment in this legislative session to the Foreign Trade Law as it currently does not provide any investment review if a takeover occurs. Der Spiegel published the first news. Michael Kellner, former state secretary of the economy ministry and Green legislator Michael Kellner, said that this loophole must be closed by the government. He said that Russian and American companies should not be allowed to own pipelines in Germany or Europe. Gazprom has not responded to our request for comment. (Reporting from Riham Alkousaa in Berlin and Andreas Rinke; additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Ludwig Burger & Barbara Lewis.
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Asian spot LNG prices drop as the supply disruption risk fades
The price of Asian LNG spot fell from its four-month peak this week, as the threat of a supply disruption was reduced by a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran. Average LNG price for August deliveries into North-East Asia According to industry sources, the price was $13,10 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu), a drop from $14.00/mmBtu a week ago. This was the highest rate since February 21. "We have a slightly negative outlook for Asian prices (which is stable)." "A sustained Iran-Israel truce would reduce geopolitical risks, and refocus on the weak demand in China, South Korea, and Japan," said Charles Costerousse senior LNG analyst of data analytics firm Kpler. The Asian price premiums for Europe rose over the last week despite the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz closing down. However, a rise of charter rates in the Atlantic basin curbed a swathe of mid Atlantic diversions. Gas prices in Europe have fallen this week. The focus is now on weather conditions, as warmer temperatures are expected in Europe. The filling of the gas inventories continues to go relatively smoothly, but will continue to be a focus in the months ahead," said Hans Van Cleef. He is the head of EqoLibrium's energy research. Aly Blakeway is the manager of Atlantic LNG for S&P Global Commodity Insights. She said that a steady supply of LNG cargoes along with a healthy pipeline gas supply will meet power generation requirements and contribute to replenishing Europe's underground storage of gas ahead of winter. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimated its daily North West Europe LNG Marker price benchmark (NWM) for cargoes to be delivered in August ex-ship on a DES basis at $11.362/mmBtu, a $0.365/mmBtu reduction from the August futures prices at the TTF Hub. Spark Commodities set the price of July at $11.320/mmBtu. Argus, on the other hand, assessed the August price at $11.380/mmBtu. Costerousse, from Kpler, said that the outlook for Henry hub prices in the U.S. remains bearish. Traders are looking beyond the current heatwave to a more milder forecast for early July. Qasim Afghan, an analyst at Spark Commodities, says that the U.S. Arbitrage to North-East Asia via Cape of Good Hope points to Europe by a small margin, whereas the arbitrage via Panama still points to Asia, for the fourth consecutive week. Afghan said that on the LNG market, Atlantic rates were relatively stable at $48,750/day last Friday. Meanwhile, Pacific rates increased and are now at $42,500/day. (Reporting and editing by Nina Chestney; Marwa Rashad)
Air traffic controllers say that a radar glitch has caused a flight to be halted in northern Italy.
The air traffic controller in Italy, Enav, said that flights in northwestern Italy were delayed by two hours on Saturday because of a malfunctioning radar transmission system in Milan.
In a Sunday statement, the company announced that new departures and entry into the airspace covered under the system would be halted between 8:20 pm and 10:20 pm (1820-2020 GMT). The capacity was gradually restored, returning to normal at midnight.
Enav activated a satellite emergency system to ensure safe management of existing flights in the air during the incident. Then, new air traffic was halted in accordance with international safety standards.
The problem was with the connectivity which allows the radar data to be sent to the Operations Room, provided by a telecommunications provider external to Enav, namely Telecom Italia.
TIM didn't immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Ansa, the Italian news agency, reported that 320 flights had been affected by the radar malfunction. It also said that 200 camp beds were set up in Milan's airports for those affected. (Reporting and editing by Helen Popper; Angelo Amante)
(source: Reuters)