Latest News
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Super Hurricane Yagi hits Vietnam after casualties in China's Hainan
Super Hurricane Yagi, Asia's most effective storm this year, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the meteorological firm stated, after tearing through China's southern island of Hainan where it reportedly eliminated two individuals and hurt lots. Yagi, the world's second-most effective cyclone in 2024, has actually already eliminated a minimum of 16 individuals in the Philippines, having actually formed east of the island chain previously in the week. As it hit island districts of north Vietnam around 1300 regional time (0600 GMT) on Saturday, it created winds of as much as 160 kph (99 miles per hour) near its centre, having lost power from its peak of 234 kph (145 miles per hour) in Hainan a day earlier. Vietnam's seaside city of Haiphong, a commercial hub with a. population of 2 million that hosts factories from foreign. multinationals and regional carmaker VinFast, is so far. amongst the hardest struck by the winds. Parts of the city knowledgeable power failures on Saturday,. authorities stated. The wind smashed buildings' glass windows and broke tree. branches, according to a Reuters witness. City streets were. deserted as citizens hearkened authorities' calls to stay inside your home. Previously in Hainan, which has a population of more than 10. million, the storm knocked down trees, flooded roads and cut. power to more than 800,000 homes. AIRPORTS CLOSED Vietnam evacuated almost 50,000 individuals from coastal towns. and deployed 450,000 military workers, the government stated. It also suspended operations for several hours at 4. airports on Saturday, consisting of Hanoi's Noi Bai, the busiest in. the north, cancelling more than 300 flights. High schools were also closed in 12 northern provinces,. including in the capital Hanoi. Tropical cyclones are becoming stronger, fuelled by warmer oceans,. amidst environment modification, researchers say. Last week, Hurricane Shanshan. slammed into southwestern Japan, the strongest storm to strike the. nation in years. Yagi is named after the Japanese word for goat and the. constellation of Capricornus.
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Brazil's Cenipa says icing detectors were triggered on crashed Voepass airplane
Brazil's Center for Research study and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa). said on Friday that an initial report into the August crash. of a Voepass airliner revealed icing detectors had actually been triggered. on the ATR airplane. According to a Cenipa official, the plane's airframe icing. button was activated at least three times throughout the flight,. while cockpit recordings showed the copilot stated there was a. lot of icing. The ATR-72 airplane from local provider Voepass swirled out. of control before plunging to the ground on Aug. 9, killing all. 62 on board. Cenipa said that the copilot's comment suggested that the. aircraft's de-icing system may have failed, however said that still. needed to be verified. According to Cenipa, examinations into the crash will. probably last for over a year. The initial report on the crash verified that the. pilots had repeatedly turned the airframe de-icing system on and. off. The report offers a timeline of the flight but does not. present clear causes. That is consistent with the flight team knowing. airframe icing and them attempting to deal with it utilizing systems on. board the airplane, said Anthony Brickhouse, a U.S. aviation. security expert. The turboprop, bound for Sao Paulo's international airport,. had removed from Cascavel, in the state of Parana and crashed. in the town of Vinhedo, some 80 km
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Carlyle-backed air travel service company StandardAero declare US IPO
StandardAero, an aircraft upkeep companies backed by personal equity company Carlyle Group and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, filed for an going public in the United States on Friday. The aftermarket services market is heating up with a number of aircraft devices makers also broadening into the space over the last few years, as the business can bring strong margins with lighter capital expense. In addition, given that airplane engines have a lifespan of about three to 4 decades, aftermarket services such as inspections, maintenance, repair work and overhauls can be a. long-lasting source of income for the service providers. While some large airlines preserve internal. aftermarket services divisions, smaller sized players contract out such. operations to 3rd parties. StandardAero's IPO comes as the air travel sector recovers. from a COVID-19 pandemic-led slump. Expectations of an impending. rate of interest cut in the United States have actually likewise encouraged some. companies to note their shares. Founded in 1911, Scottsdale, Arizona-based StandardAero. offers aftermarket services to commercial and military. air travel, as well as energy customers. It has partnered with significant aircraft engine makers including. Rolls-Royce, GE Aerospace and Pratt & & Whitney. Reuters reported in April that Carlyle was weighing alternatives. for StandardAero, including a possible sale that could value it. at about $10 billion. The personal equity firm acquired StandardAero from buyout. firm Veritas Capital for about $5 billion in 2019. StandardAero's income leapt 12% to $2.58 billion in the. 6 months ended June 30 from a year previously. Its net income was. $ 8.6 million in the very same duration compared with a $12.6 million. loss in the first half of 2023. J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among the underwriters. for the IPO. The company is looking to list on the New york city. Stock market under the sign SARO..
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American Airlines ex-mechanic gets 9 years prison for smuggling drug concealed under cockpit
A former American Airlines aircraft mechanic was sentenced on Friday to 9 years in jail after being convicted of trying to smuggle cocaine covert below the cockpit of a flight to New york city from Jamaica. Paul Belloisi, 56, of Smithtown, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry in Brooklyn, after being founded guilty in May 2023 of conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to import cocaine and importing drug. The case developed from a regular search of American flight 1349 following its Feb. 4, 2020 arrival at New york city's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Belloisi had been an American mechanic for more than 20 years, from Montego Bay, Jamaica. District attorneys said custom officers discovered 10 drug bricks weighing 25.6 pounds (11.6 kg) in an electronic devices compartment beneath the cockpit, and changed them with phony bricks sprayed with a substance that shines under a special black light. Belloisi apparently drove up to the plane before it could take off again, and went into the electronic devices compartment. District attorneys said police challenged him, and showed that he managed the fake bricks since his gloves shone under the black light. They likewise stated Belloisi was carrying an empty tool bag and wore a coat large enough to hold the cocaine. The cocaine had a street worth of more than $250,000. American was not accused of misdeed. Belloisi's legal representative David Cohen, from the law practice Cohen Forman Barone, stated his client plans to appeal his conviction. Provided Mr. Belloisi's individual history, along with nationwide and district-wide data, this was an excessive sentence, far beyond what is essential to accomplish the objectives of sentencing, Cohen said in an interview. Irizarry on Friday independently declined Belloisi's. request for an acquittal. She wrote that jurors could presume beyond a sensible doubt. that Belloisi knew the drug was aboard flight 1349 and. intentionally conspired and assisted in its importation. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn said. Belloisi's conduct posed a severe risk to the security of a. essential border crossing in our district and our transportation. infrastructure..
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American Airlines ex-mechanic gets 9 years jail for smuggling cocaine hidden under cockpit
A former American Airlines aircraft mechanic was sentenced on Friday to nine years in jail after being convicted of trying to smuggle cocaine covert below the cockpit of a flight to New york city from Jamaica. Paul Belloisi, 56, of Smithtown, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry in Brooklyn, after being convicted in May 2023 of conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to import drug and importing cocaine. A legal representative for Belloisi had no instant comment. American was not accused of wrongdoing. The case occurred from a routine search of American flight 1349 following its Feb. 4, 2020 arrival at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Belloisi had actually been an American mechanic for more than twenty years, from Montego Bay, Jamaica. District attorneys said custom officers found 10 cocaine bricks weighing 25.6 pounds (11.6 kg) in an electronic devices compartment underneath the cockpit, and changed them with fake bricks sprayed with a substance that glows under a special black light. Belloisi presumably drove up to the airplane before it might remove again, and got in the electronics compartment. District attorneys stated police challenged him, and showed that he managed the phony bricks due to the fact that his gloves shone under the black light. They likewise said Belloisi was carrying an empty tool bag and wore a jacket big enough to hold the cocaine. The drug had a street value of more than $250,000. Irizarry on Friday also declined Belloisi's request for an acquittal. She wrote that jurors could infer beyond a reasonable doubt that Belloisi knew the drug was aboard flight 1349 and purposefully conspired and assisted in its importation. In a declaration, U.S. Lawyer Breon Peace in Brooklyn said Belloisi's conduct positioned a severe threat to the security of a. essential border crossing in our district and our transport. facilities..
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New England states are moving forward with three massive offshore wind farms
Government officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced Friday that they are moving forward with three offshore wind power projects, totaling 2.9 gigawatts. This is enough electricity to run about 1.6 millions homes. Following a joint invitation in March to build wind farms off the coasts of New England, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have selected projects that will help them achieve their renewable energy goals to combat climate change. In a press release, Governor Maura healey stated that "we are taking an important first step towards energy independence and cleaner air as well as transforming our economic." After a disastrous year in which developers cancelled multiple contracts for projects and took $9.1 billion of write-offs or impairments, the U.S. offshore industry is stabilizing in the second half 2024. New England has selected SouthCoast Wind as well as New England Wind 1 & Vineyard Wind 2 for its new offshore projects. New England Wind 1 is backed Avangrid, Southcoast by a joint-venture between EDP Energias de Portugal & Engie, and Vineyard Wind 2 by Vineyard Offshore. Vineyard Offshore is managed by funds managed Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Around the end of this decade, the projects should begin to deliver power. The federal and state climate pledges are primarily focused on decarbonizing the electrical grids through replacing fossil-fired energy with renewable wind and sun power. Massachusetts wants to reduce its carbon emissions from the power sector by 50% by 2030, and by 100% by 2050. Rhode Island, a much smaller state, has set the goal of using all renewables before 2033. (Reporting and editing by Jonathan Oatis, David Gregorio, and Laila Kearney)
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EU nations mull 20-year tax vacation for jet fuel, document shows
European Union countries are thinking about delaying the introduction of EUwide taxes on contaminating air travel fuels for twenty years, as they look for a. advancement on tax reforms that have actually been negotiated for several years. with little progress, a draft document seen revealed. The European Commission proposed an overhaul of energy tax. guidelines in 2021 to make them more climate-friendly, including by. slowly presenting taxes on fuels for flights within the. 27-nation bloc, which presently leave EU-wide levies. After countries could not settle on earlier proposals that. would introduce a minimum EU tax rate for jet fuel from 2028,. they are now considering excusing both air travel and maritime. fuels from these taxes for an additional 20 years, a draft. compromise seen revealed. Considering that presently there is insufficient sustainable alternative. fuel (SAF) on the marketplace, the tax of aviation fuels would. result in cost boosts of air tickets and not in a general. switch from fossil fuels to SAF, the document stated. Just little aircraft with a maximum of 19 seats, and boats. used for personal pleasure navigation would face minimum EU. taxes before the twenty years are up, it stated. For other airplane and vessels, nations can present. nationwide levies if they choose - however they are not obliged to. Under the draft compromise, EU countries would reevaluate in. 15 years whether to begin applying EU minimum tax rates to. air travel and maritime fuel once the 20-year vacation ends. Other fuels, such as fuel used in vehicles, along with. electricity, currently face minimum EU tax rates. The compromise was prepared by Hungary, which holds the EU's. rotating presidency and for that reason chairs settlements among EU. countries until completion of the year. A representative for. Hungary's representation to the EU did not immediately react. to a request for comment. EU country diplomats will discuss the proposition later this. month. Altering EU tax policy is fiendishly difficult since it. needs consentaneous approval from EU countries - indicating any one. government can block it. Climate advocates, who have long called for an end to jet. fuel's EU tax holiday, said a 20-year hold-up would be at odds. with the EU's target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. By the time this tax would be in effect, the world is meant. to have reached environment neutrality, stated Jo Dardenne, aviation. director at non-profit group Transport & & Environment.
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Indian guest airplane makes emergency landing in Turkey after bomb risk
A flight run by Indian Vistara Airlines made an emergency landing on Friday around 4.30 p.m. (1330 GMT) in Erzurum in eastern Turkey after a piece of paper with bomb on board composed on it was discovered in a. bathroom, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated on X. Two bomb disposal experts and one search dog were continuing. to search the airplane, Yerlikaya stated, adding that 234. guests and 13 crew had been safely evacuated. Vistara flight UK 27 operating from Mumbai to Frankfurt has. been diverted to Turkey due to a security issue that was noted. by our crew while onboard, a Vistara spokesperson told Reuters,. verifying the aircraft had landed at Erzurum. As per procedure, the appropriate authorities were instantly. alerted and we are fully complying with the security agencies. to complete the necessary security checks, the representative. said. Landings and liftoffs at Erzurum Airport have actually been halted. up until 9 p.m. regional time due to the emergency situation, Transport Minister. Abdulkadir Uraloglu composed on X.
Whoever wins election, Venezuela faces natural gas problem
Griselda Ascanio keeps an improvised woodburning stove ready in her backyard in Maracay, 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Venezuela's capital, for the frequent gassupply interruptions that make it hard to cook.
We can not simply cry about it, said the 44-year-old administrator, who collects branches that fall from trees. So. we have actually found out to solve problems ourselves.
While it sits atop the world's eighth-largest natural gas. reserves and the greatest in Latin America, Venezuela ranked last. year as the 25th-largest international producer, according to the. Energy Institute's Analytical Review of World Energy.
The South American nation's output was up to 4 billion cubic. feet daily (bcfd) this year from practically 8 bcfd in 2016, data. from consultancy Gas Energy Latin America revealed.
A production revival is urgent not only because it would. guarantee more trusted domestic supply, however likewise due to the fact that it could. ease scarcities emerging in surrounding countries while bringing. Venezuela much-needed hard-currency income.
The gas problem is a crucial issue as a governmental election. methods on July 28. Whoever wins faces the challenging task of. protecting financial investment in the OPEC member's gas industry.
President Nicolas Maduro's administration has doubled down. available gas jobs to foreign business because last year,. however longstanding debts to much of the companies, U.S. sanctions and the huge financial investments needed have limited. development.
The primary opposition union, represented by Edmundo. Gonzalez in the ballot, has proposed significantly broadening the. economic sector's role, while restructuring the nation's. $ 150-billion debt, something experts state would take years.
Nobody is going to massively produce gas in Venezuela in. these conditions, but where there is immediate interest remains in. small-scale midstream tasks, said Antero Alvarado, managing. partner of Gas Energy Latin America, describing pipelines and. systems to much better capture and distribute gas.
Venezuela's issues have actually obstructed advancement, leading to. frequent deficiency of the fuel vital for cooking, producing. power and feeding petrochemical plants and factories.
The gas Ascanio periodically gets at her home arrives. in cylinders whose circulation is managed by. government-supported groups. That subsidized gas is among. the most costly fuels PDVSA's refineries produce. Sometimes,. the state-owned business even resorts to importing that gas.
Neighbors from Colombia to Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago,. and numerous European countries, are enthusiastic that Venezuela's. production might ultimately reduce their own gas shortages. They. have pressed the Biden administration to give gas tasks. exemptions from sanctions, company executives and federal government. officials have actually said.
PDVSA and its gas subsidiary did not respond to ask for. remark.
FLARING THE GAS AWAY
Venezuela's nearly 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven. gas reserves are primarily untapped.
Venezuela's natural-gas production has actually traditionally been. limited in comparison to its possible, the U.S. Energy. Info Administration stated in a February report,. associating the circumstance to a poor investment environment, lack of. infrastructure and inability to establish jobs.
Some 80% of Venezuela's gas output is connected with crude. production.
In the last 5 years, unprocessed gas flared into the. environment during oil production has actually surpassed volumes sold. commercially, turning the nation into among the world's. biggest natural-gas flarers, according to the EIA.
Maduro's socialist government has held undetermined talks. with European companies consisting of Repsol, Eni. and Shell, about a capital-intensive task to. recapture approximately 1.5 tcf of flared gas for the domestic market. and exports.
Offshore, large gas exploration and production tasks. stay primarily stalled, especially the enormous 12-tcf Mariscal. Sucre. Just one of its four fields remains in active settlement. in between the federal government and energy companies Shell and Trinidad and. Tobago's NGC for a joint advancement that might see. very first output late next year.
Assisted by a flexible law that requires less bureaucracy for gas. tasks than for oil jobs, Venezuela's government has actually started. internal talks to provide a second field, Rio Caribe, for foreign. financial investment, according to sources knowledgeable about the plan.
A gas license to establish a 1-tcf gas field that extends into. Trinidad's waters, involving BP, is expected to be signed. right after receiving U.S. authorization.
We are open to foreign business coming to Venezuela, Oil. Minister Pedro Tellechea informed reporters in June, describing. energy jobs as Washington just recently resumed providing licenses. for specific advancements in Venezuela.
However numerous gas manufacturers in Venezuela no longer have the methods. to increase production unless PDVSA initially pays back debts, company. executives said.
ANOTHER WAY
In what would be a policy U-turn, the opposition wishes to. reopen the energy market to foreign financial investment through. privatization while restricting PDVSA's function and restructuring. debts, consisting of paying some financial institutions with oil.
The method would brake with twenty years of nationalization. that has actually concentrated almost all production, transportation,. processing and sales in the state's hands, developing a long chain. of financial obligations among state-owned business.
The nation will need more electrical energy, for this reason, more gas,. Alvarado said. If a privatization in the power sector occurs,. there will be economic incentives to produce gas for domestic. sales, while bigger offshore projects might concentrate on exports. even through LNG (melted natural gas).
(source: Reuters)