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Transport ministry: Lithuania closes airports because of balloons from Belarus
The Lithuanian Transport Ministry said that the Vilnius and Kaunas Airports in Lithuania were closed Friday night because of meteorological weather balloons coming from Belarus. This is the third disruption to the airports this month. In recent weeks, drone sightings have caused chaos at European airports including Copenhagen, Munich, and the Baltic region. In a press release, the Lithuanian transport ministry stated that all traffic was suspended at both airports until 2200 local (or 1900 GMT). National Crisis Management Centre said that "tens" of balloons were noted on radar. Authorities have confirmed that the Vilnius Airport was closed on Tuesday, October 5 and 5, after smugglers balloons carrying contraband cigarettes from Belarus entered the airspace of the capital city. Inga Ruginiene, the Lithuanian prime minister, said that Wednesday The Baltic country will close its border to Belarus if balloon smugglers enter again from Belarus. (Reporting and writing by Andrius Sytas; editing by Terje Solsvik).
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US to expect more flight delays, as controllers will soon miss their paychecks
Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said on Friday that he expected more flights to get delayed. Air traffic controllers will miss their first pay as a government shutdown enters its second week. The government shutdown will force 13,000 air traffic control officers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay. The first full pay for controllers is not due until Tuesday. Duffy told Fox News' America Reports that "you'll see more disruption as we approach Tuesday" and "after." Duffy told a press conference in Philadelphia Airport that Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control academy would run out of funds within weeks and that some students have already decided to drop out. Airlines prepare for more disruptions. Nick Daniel, President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said during a press conference that controllers face immense stress. Some are even taking on second jobs to pay for their bills. Daniels stated that the shutdown is "an unnecessary distraction" and makes it impossible for employees to focus on their jobs. This, in turn, makes the system less safe. "We didn't start a shutdown. Our elected officials end the shutdown, not us. "Our message is clear: End the shutdown now." The Transportation Department reported that about 6.6% of the flights were delayed on Thursday due to the absence of air traffic controllers. This is slightly higher than the 5% normal but still lower than the 53% experienced in the days prior during the shutdown. The FAA reported that staffing problems at the air traffic control caused delays in travel to New York, Washington DC, Newark, and Houston airports on Thursday. This is slightly higher than the normal 5%, but much lower than 53% of flights delayed during previous days. During a 35-day government shutdown in 2019, the number of controllers and TSA agents absent increased as they missed their paychecks. This led to longer wait times at airport checkpoints. New York and Washington authorities were forced to slow down air traffic. Even before the shutdown, many air traffic controllers were working six-day weekends and mandatory overtime. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, David Gregorio, and David Shepardson)
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US increases facial recognition at border to track non-citizens
According to a document released by the government on Friday, the U.S. plans to expand its use of facial recognition to track noncitizens who enter and leave the country to combat visa fraud and overstaying. New regulations will expand on a pilot program that allowed border officials to take photos of non-citizens at airports or other points of departure. The regulation is set to come into effect on December 26 and could require that other biometrics such as DNA or fingerprints be submitted. The law also allows border officials to use facial recognition on children under 14 years of age and older people over 79 years, two groups currently exempted. The new border rules are part of a larger effort by U.S. president Donald Trump to crackdown on illegal immigration. The Republican president has increased resources to secure border between the U.S. and Mexico, but he's also taken steps in order to reduce the number people who overstay their visas. Watchdog groups are concerned about privacy issues raised by the growing use of facial identification in U.S. Airports. In a report from 2024, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights stated that tests showed facial recognition had a higher likelihood of misidentifying Black people and other minorities. In 2023, the Congressional Research Service estimated that 42% of 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. at the time overstayed a Visa. In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed a law mandating an automated entry/exit system. However, it was never fully implemented. The regulation stated that U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses facial recognition to verify all commercial air entry but only for exits in certain locations. CBP estimates a biometric system for entry-exit can be implemented in all commercial seaports and airports within three to five year. (Reporting Ted Hesson, Additional reporting David Shepardson, Editing Chris Sanders and Margueritachoy)
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Sources say that Russia's fourth largest oil refinery has halted a processing unit following a drone attack.
Two industry sources said on Friday that the fourth largest oil refinery in Russia, located in Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, had halted its primary crude distillation unit following an attack by a Ukrainian drone on Wednesday. Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, as the peace talks that were mediated by U.S. president Donald Trump failed to progress. Local authorities in Russia have reported that such attacks are the cause of fuel shortages in several regions. The Ukrainian General Staff said that Kyiv forces struck the Ryazan Oil Refinery on Thursday. Industry sources in Russia said that the CDU-4 unit was shut down on Thursday, after it caught fire due to a drone attack. The unit has a capacity of 4 million metric tonnes per year or 80,000 barrels a day. This is about a quarter the total plant capacity. The oil company Rosneft that owns the refinery did not reply to a comment request. Sources said that the refinery is still processing oil but in a smaller volume. According to one source, some units adjacent were also shut down, including a vacuum gasoil hydrotreater, catalytic cracker and reformer. In 2024 the refinery will process 13.1 million tonnes of crude oil, resulting in 2.3 millions tons of gasoline, 3.4million tons of diesel, and 4.2million tons of fuel. Reporting by Elaine Hardcastle; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
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Carney: Canada is ready to resume trade talks with the US
Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said on Friday that his country was ready to resume trade negotiations with Washington when Washington was ready. He added that Canada could not control the trade policy of its southern neighbor. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Thursday that trade negotiations with Canada are over. He cited a political advertisement in Ontario that quoted Ronald Reagan as saying tariffs lead to trade wars and economic catastrophe. Carney, who was on his first official visit in Asia, said that "my colleagues and their American counterparts have been working on detailed, constructive negotiations, discussions, on specific sectors -- Steel, Aluminum, and Energy", before leaving Ottawa for Kuala Lumpur. He said, "We are ready to continue on this progress." Carney said that Canada has the ability to control new partnerships, including those with "economic giants in Asia", the focus of his visit. Reporting by Maiya Kiedan in Toronto, and Katharine J. Jackson in Washington. Editing by Susan Heavey.
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India Central Bank to Exempt Sovereign-backed Real Estate Fund from Alternate Investment Fund Rules
In a Friday notification, the Reserve Bank of India announced that it would exempt an alternate investment fund (AIF) backed by the government from its stricter rules. The Special Window for Affordable Housing and Mid-Income Housing Fund (SWAMIH) was established in 2019 to provide debt financing for housing projects that were stalled. SWAMIH, managed by SBICAP Ventures - a government-owned unit of State Bank of India – is a fund that's heavily invested in. The lender is a major investor in the fund. The RBI requested banks and nonbanking finance companies last year to increase provisions for AIF investment, including sovereign funds. This was if the lenders were also lending to the projects that the AIFs invested in. In March, the RBI partially relaxed some of the tightened lending rules introduced to reduce indirect lending risk and possible ever-greening. In response, the government sought to exempt sovereign-backed funds from these rules by citing their "socioeconomic purpose". The current framework limits the investment of a single regulated institution in an AIF to 10% of its corpus. All lenders combined can only invest up to 20%. (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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Sources say that the Urals freight rate to India increased in October due to high exports and tighter sanctions.
Industry sources say that the rate of shipping Urals crude oil from Russia's western port to India has risen sharply since October due to increased exports and sanctions. The U.S. president Donald Trump imposed additional sanctions on Russia's largest oil producers Lukoil, and Rosneft on Wednesday. The European Union also approved its 19th set of sanctions against Moscow on the same day. The EU added 117 vessels, mostly tankers, to its shadow fleet of ships that are linked to Russia. This brings the total up to 558. The crude oil loadings in Russia's western port of Primorsk remained high in October, at around 2.3 millions barrels per day. This is slightly lower than the record of 2.5 million barrels a day fetched in Septembre, due to volumes released by unplanned refinery repairs. The cost of transporting Urals to India from the Baltic port of Primorsk or Ust-Luga for loading in November has risen from $7 million for one-way trips at the beginning of the month. One trader stated that the offer prices for individual vessels had approached $10 million. However, no fixtures at these levels have been confirmed. Sources said that Urals shipments out of Russian ports are now handled largely by tankers in the shadow fleet while Greek shipowners reduce their presence on the market. One source stated that "the number of Greek shipowners actively involved in the market is at a minimum." The United States has launched a new round of sanctions against Russia's oil industry, among the most severe yet. These sanctions have hit major exporters, insurance companies, traders, and shipping firms and caused a dramatic rise in freight costs. (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens).
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Asian spot prices barely changed due to high inventories and softer demand
The Asian spot prices for liquefied gas were largely unchanged this week, as low inventories and weaker demand countered regional cold snaps. Further sanctions against Russian LNG are also a possibility. Average LNG price for delivery to North-east Asia in December Industry sources estimate that the price per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu) was $11.20, up from $11.10/mmBtu in the previous week. Go Katayama, Kpler analyst, said: "An early chill in North China boosted demand and supported regional prices." He added that "next week, the price downside due to higher domestic gas production, high inventories in China and softer demand in Thailand, as well as softer demand is offset by upside from additional heating demand due to cold spells in Korea, northern China and Russian LNG sanctions risk." The European Union adopted this week a 19th set of sanctions against Russia, including a prohibition on Russian LNG imports. Meanwhile, the United States imposed sanctions against Russia's major oil companies. Martin Senior, head LNG pricing at Argus, says that in Japan, a stronger heating demand will be expected this month, as temperatures are forecasted to fall below the seasonal averages. However, this has yet to translate into an additional spot demand. The European Picture Gas prices in Europe fell on Friday, despite concerns about the impact of Russian sanctions on energy supplies. TTF trading was relatively quiet in the week ended October 17. Seb Kennedy, an independent gas analyst, noted that the net long positions held by hedge funds and commercial participants were mostly unchanged. This reflects confidence in Europe's short-term gas supply outlook. Kennedy said that the number of funds with positions has increased to 438. This is a record-high, and Kennedy believes it could lead to big moves. Katayama, from Kpler, said that prices are expected to stay stable next week. This is due to the fact that there will be ample LNG and pipeline supplies, and strong wind power generation, which puts downward pressure on gas for electricity demand. These factors will be offset by temperatures lower than average and renewed geopolitical tensions. Aly Blakeway is the manager of Atlantic LNG for S&P Global Commodity Insights. She said that Europe, with less storage than in the past two years, may experience a strong demand this winter from Central and Eastern Europe to replace lost Russian volumes during the heating season. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimated its daily North West Europe LNG Marker price benchmark (NWM) for cargoes to be delivered in December ex-ship on October 23 at $10,534. This is a $0.55/mmBtu reduction from the December futures prices at the TTF Hub. Spark Commodities estimated the October price to be $10.421/mmBtu. ATLANTIC FREIGHT RATES AND PACIFIC RATES RISE Qasim Afghanistan, Spark Commodities analyst, says that the U.S. arbitrage for front-month cargoes going to Asia via Cape of Good Hope has caused U.S. cargoes being delivered to Asia. The global LNG freight rate in the Atlantic has risen for the second consecutive week, and is now $34,500/day. Pacific rates have risen for the first nine weeks, to $28,250/day. Marwa Rashad reported. Mark Potter (Editing)
Trump targets Democratic areas with Chicago transit funding freeze
The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump froze $2.1 Billion in Chicago transit funding Friday, starving yet another Democratic city as the government shutdown enters its third day.
Budget director Russ Vought stated that the money, which was earmarked to build elevated train lines, has been placed on hold in order to prevent it from "flowing through race-based contracts."
Trump has escalated his campaign to use extraordinary powers of the U.S. Government to punish political opponents. Later in the day, The White House announced that it would identify funds that could be held back from Portland, Oregon. Portland is a left-leaning town that hosted high-profile protests under Trump's first tenure.
Trump has threatened to dismiss more federal employees, in addition to the 300,000 that he will be letting go this year. A White House source, speaking under condition of anonymity, said dozens of agencies had submitted plans to reduce their workforce.
The Republican President has used Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, as a punching bag for his rhetoric and has even threatened to send National Guard troops.
Illinois Governor JB Pratt, a prominent Trump critic who is seen as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, said that the funding freeze was tantamount to hostage taking.
He said that the move was a political stunt, but it actually hurts our economy and hardworking people who depend on public transportation.
The Illinois funding freeze comes after moves made on Wednesday to stop transit projects in New York - home of the two top Democrats in Congress - and green energy projects in Democratic states such as California and Colorado.
Kathy Hochul, Democratic Governor of New York, said that the Trump Administration reversed its decision to reduce $187 million from security funds in New York.
SWIFT SOLUTION WITHOUT SIGN
The Washington shutdown impasse showed no sign of a resolution. On Friday, the U.S. Senate will vote on two competing plans to end this shutdown. However, neither plan is likely to pass. The shutdown will become the longest in U.S. History if it continues through Saturday.
Democrats and Republicans blamed each other over the last few days for failing to fund the government beyond October 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year. They did not seem to make any progress toward a deal to allow money to flow once again.
The standoff between Congress and the agencies has frozen approximately $1.7 trillion of funds, which is roughly one quarter of all federal spending. The remainder is devoted to retirement and health programs, as well as interest payments on the $37.5 trillion growing debt.
Democrats insist that any funding package should also extend the pandemic-era health care subsidies, which are due to expire by the end of December. Republicans disagree and say this issue should be addressed separately. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, nearly 8 out of 10 Americans are in favor of keeping these subsidies in place.
House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from the House, said that he was not concerned by Trump's campaign of pressure, which undermines Congress' constitutional power over spending issues.
He told reporters that "President Trump wants the government to be open as much as we do." "Is President Trump trying to put pressure on that to happen?" He's probably doing it, yes. "I applaud you for that."
Services Interrupted
The 15th shutdown since 1981 has affected scientific research, financial regulations, and many other activities. The pay of approximately 2 million federal employees has been suspended, but troops, airport security screens, and other "essential workers" are still required to report to work.
Wall Street was left guessing Friday about the state of the largest economy in the world, as the government failed to release its monthly report on unemployment.
A prolonged shutdown would disrupt air travel for millions of Americans and could also cause federal courts to shut down. If the standoff continues, federal workers will miss their first pay in mid-October.
The longest shutdown was 35 days, which occurred in 2018-2019 during Trump's first year in office.
The Senate has already rejected three Republican plans, one of which funded the government until November 21. Another Democratic plan would have also supported expiring health subsidies. Both plans will be voted on again by the chamber on Friday.
Republicans control both chambers, but need at least 7 Democratic votes in the Senate to pass spending legislation.
Senators from both sides have said they are exploring a possible compromise. Some Democrats, however, say that they don't trust Republicans to adhere to any agreement which would first reopen government and then address the healthcare subsidies. These subsidies were approved as part of the Democratic COVID relief package in 2021 and help 24,000,000 Americans pay for insurance.
(source: Reuters)