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No, no, yes: shifting red lines in West's assistance for Ukraine
Given that Russia's fullscale intrusion more than 30 months back, Ukraine has relied heavily on materials of weapons from its Western allies to beat back its much larger enemy. Kyiv's allies have sometimes hesitated to provide it the weapons it has requested for, since of worries the war will intensify. Nevertheless, as the war has actually gone on, one weapons system after another has actually been given to Ukraine after initial hesitation. At present, Kyiv is seeking permission from the United States and its partners to use longer-range missiles they have given Ukraine to strike much deeper inside Russia. Kyiv says this could decrease the threat that Russia presents. Some NATO nations have actually supported Kyiv's plea, but Washington is weighing this versus issues about Moscow's. reaction to the relocation, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has. said would be seen as equivalent to direct Western participation. in the war. Below is a list of some of the weapons systems Western. nations were at first hesitant to provide Ukraine however which were. ultimately handed over. ATACMS Throughout the war, Ukraine has asked its allies to provide it. the capability to strike much deeper behind Russian lines, an important. part of disrupting opponent logistics and command chains. The United States held off on supplying Army Tactical. Missile Systems (ATACMS) - since of concerns that Russia would. see this as escalatory - up until October 2023, when they provided. a short-range version with an optimal series of 165 km (100. miles). This was followed up by deliveries in early 2024 of a. longer-range version of the ATACMS rocket which has a series of. as much as 300 km (165 miles). A U.S. official told Reuters at the. time that the first usage of this variation of the rocket was an. April 17 strike on an air base in the Russian-occupied peninsula. of Crimea. F-16s Ukraine asked for F-16 fighter jets from right after start of. the intrusion to boost its long-range strike capability as well as. to use the jets to shoot down the volleys of cruise rockets. fired deep into Ukraine by Moscow. Ukrainian pilots started to be trained on the jets only in. August 2023, after prolonged negotiations between the union of. allies who would provide airplanes or training. Ukraine was keen to complete the training process as quickly as. possible, and the confirmation that Ukraine had actually received the. initially planes came on July 31 this year. Ever since, one of the aircrafts has actually crashed while trying. to engage Russian missiles fired at land targets in Ukraine. WESTERN TANKS Although Ukraine's eastern European allies offered it with. Soviet-era tanks at the start of the intrusion, Kyiv coveted. Western-built tanks, such as Britain's Challenger 2 and the. German-built Leopard 2, till their transfer was approved after. a lengthy negotiation in January 2023. The agreement on a coalition of nations to provide the. tanks was delayed by concerns in Germany that the move could be. viewed as escalatory by Russia. Berlin eventually approved the. transfer of Leopard 2 tanks from other countries' stockpiles as. well as its own. STRIKES ON RUSSIA For over two years, the United States did not enable Ukraine. to strike Russia with any of its weapons systems. After a Russian assault in May 2024 near the northwestern. city of Kharkiv, Washington changed its stance under pressure. from Kyiv. Ukraine was secretly authorised by President Joe Biden to. fire U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia. that were supporting the Kharkiv offensive.
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Manchester, Birmingham seek brand-new UK train to avoid HS2 capacity crunch
Britain's. second and 3rd cities on Friday published plans for a new. train to counter the blow of in 2015's federal government choice. to gut much of the HS2 northsouth highspeed rail job. The authorities of Manchester and the West Midlands stated a. new line in between Birmingham and Manchester would provide 85% of. the benefits of the planned-but-axed HS2 connection at 60% -75%. of the expense. It might broaden the combined economies of the two cities by. around 70 billion pounds ($ 92 billion) a year, their proposition. paper stated. If we stop working to put in place a plan soon to fix rail capacity. and connection between the North and the Midlands, the. already-congested West Coast Main Line and M6 (freeway) will. end up being major barriers to financial development, said Andy Burnham,. mayor of Greater Manchester. The Conservative prime minister at the time, Rishi Sunak,. cancelled the northern leg of HS2 in October 2023, pointing out. ballooning expenses, and diverted funds into other transportation. jobs such as roadway improvements. Financiers and facilities professionals said the decision. highlighted Britain's systemic failure to promote infrastructure. financial investment. The truncated HS2 between London and Birmingham should open. to passengers between 2029 and 2033. While HS2 trains will continue north of Birmingham using the. existing line - at lower speeds - they will change some. existing trains that carry more passengers. Friday's report intends to win the approval of new Labour Celebration. financing minister Rachel Reeves as she prepares her inaugural. budget plan on Oct. 30. She promised to raise financial investment ahead of July's election. success, but since taking office has actually stressed the bad state of. public finances and the requirement for tough decisions. The report stated a brand-new railway could use much of the land. currently bought for HS2 while saving cash with an easier. style and lower speeds. The Midlands-North West Rail Link would link HS2 in the. south to the Northern Powerhouse Rail task, designed to. overhaul decrepit connections in between the cities of northern. England. The Department for Transportation stated it was committed to. improving rail connections throughout the north and would set out. next actions in due course.
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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.
US West Coast refiners are still waiting for TMX to boost margins
Companies operating on the U.S. West Coast claim that Canada's expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline (TMX), which began commercial operations in May this year, has so far had little effect on crude prices at U.S. West Coast refineries.
The expansion tripled the capacity of the pipeline from Alberta to Canada’s Pacific Coast, to 890,000.000 barrels per days (bpd). This increased access to Canadian heavy oil for West Coast refiners, and opened a new route into Asia.
The barrels from Canada were expected to find their way into U.S. West Coast refining plants, which import crude mainly by ship.
Brian Mandell executive vice president for marketing and commercial at Phillips 66 said that most of the TMX-produced barrels were exported to Asian markets during the first three month period since TMX started operations.
Mandell told investors in a conference call last month that "about two-thirds" of the additional TMX barrels were going to Asia.
The Houston refiner announced in April that the availability of heavy barrels at lower costs from Canada will help increase earnings for its West Coast refining operations, including California and Washington.
Fuel demand is weaker than expected, and this has led to a decline in margins for independent refiners.
Phillips 66 realized margins dropped to $10.01 a barrel, down from $15.32 a barrel compared with a year ago. Marathon Petroleum's second-quarter refining margins were $17.37 per bar, down from $22.10 a year earlier. Valero Energy reported that its refining profits were 28% less than they were last year.
Many investors thought that the majority of TMX oil would be shipped to the West Coast, as shipping to Asia was more expensive and logistically difficult compared to the easily accessible U.S. markets. This was confirmed by Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng in an interview.
He added, "but it turned out this was not the case."
Cheng said that the assumption was that the new flow of crude oil will displace heavy oils imported to the West Coast by Latin America and the Middle East, allowing refineries to save on shipping charges.
Analysts had predicted that the differential between U.S. and Western Canada Select crude would slowly narrow as a result of the extra export capacity offered by TMX. The spare capacity of the pipeline failed to boost Canadian crude oil prices in the first three months.
Marathon's Los Angeles Refinery, with a 365,000 bpd capacity, is the West Coast's largest refinery. It would be the primary destination for TMX heavy sour grades.
TMX is also used by other refineries on the West Coast including Valero Benicia and Chevron El Segundo.
According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. West Coast is capable of producing around 2.5 million barrels per day.
Under Pressure
Executives said that refiners may see a drop in crude prices as the Canadian heavy barrels begin to compete with Alaskan North Slope and other crudes used by West Coast refining companies.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Marathon, Rick Hessling, said: "What's changed is that as more Canadian barrels come onto the market it puts pressure on ANS barrels."
General Index data shows that the average ANS price has dropped to $85 per barrel, down from $90 per barrel in April.
Gary Simmons, Valero's chief operating officer, predicted that lower ANS prices would start to reduce crude costs.
Refiners will continue to refine ANS and other crudes on the West Coast. They are testing whether the Canadian heavy sour oil will cause issues or inefficiency in the future.
Cheng, from Scotiabank, said that as you test the grade over time you will learn what natural oils to use in order to get the best yield for your configuration. This process could take several months.
(source: Reuters)