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Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, disagrees with US decision to cancel 13 Mexican airline routes
The Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Wednesday that she does not agree with the U.S.'s decision to revoke the approval of 13 Mexican airlines routes to the United States, and to cancel combined passenger and freight flights from Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles International Airport. Sheinbaum said that in her daily press briefing, she will request a discussion between the Mexican foreign minister and U.S. Secretary State to examine the reasons for the unilateral action. She also added that she is confident an agreement can be reached. Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary, said on Tuesday that Mexico had "illegally cancelled and frozen U.S. carrier flight for three years without any consequences". The Transportation Department stated that Mexico has not complied with a bilateral agreement in aviation since 2022, when it revoked U.S. airline slots for passenger carriers and forced U.S. cargo carriers to relocate their operations. Sheinbaum said she will be meeting with Mexican Airlines on Friday in order to get their perspective.
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MISO warns that the power grid in the Midwest, South, and Manitoba is ready for winter, but there are still risks.
It said that an assessment by Midcontinent Independent System Operator showed that there are enough resources to provide power during winter, but also highlighted the risks and challenges of cold and extreme weather operations. In a press statement, MISO said that its annual Winter Readiness Workshop will take place on October 29, and include transmission and generation forecasts as well as weather predictions for the coming season. Jason Howard, MISO director of operations and risk management, said that a clear understanding of risks was essential to stay ahead of extreme weather. The release stated that the winter forecast indicates near- to slightly-below-normal temperatures across MISO's North and Central regions, while the South region is expected to experience above-normal temperatures. MISO serves Manitoba, Canada. It added that an active storm pattern will likely create above-normal rainfall across the Great Lakes region, while the South region is expected remain dry. MISO said that the peak winter demand could be as high as 110 gigawatts. Last winter, MISO reached a demand of 108 gigawatts on 21 January 2025 during Winter Storm Enzo.
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Why is Lithuania's main international airport closed due to smuggling of balloons?
The Lithuanian capital Vilnius was closed down for four nights last week due to smuggling balloons that floated over the border. Authorities branded it as a "hybrid" attack by the Kremlin's ally. The airport is located 30 km (19 miles) away from Belarus and thousands of passengers have been affected. Lithuania, which is a NATO member and a European Union state, has closed its border with Belarus to the end of November as retaliation. It also threatened NATO Article 4 consultations in case these incidents continued. What is known about these balloons? What are they? High-altitude balloons filled with hydrogen or helium can fly wherever the wind takes, but their altitude is controlled remotely by the ground. Meteorologists use them to determine weather conditions in stratosphere which begins at 15 km (9.3 mi) above the ground. The Vilnius government claims that smugglers have repurposed them to transport cheaper cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania. This is because a crisis in 2021 over a surge of migrants crossing the border led to tighter restrictions on the movement across the land border. The smuggling ballons were first spotted in 2023 and became widespread in 2024, when they reached several hundred. The balloons pass the border at a height of 3-4 km. Smugglers can communicate with the balloon in Lithuania to track its position and tell it where to land. A balloon is usually able to carry 500- 1,500 packs, each of which costs less than one euro. In Lithuania, the same brand cigarettes cost 4.5 euros. Why are the balloons a problem? The balloons are flying at the same height as airliners that approach an airport. This increases the risk of a collision. Recently, local rules have been updated to include balloons as a mid-air threat. Recently, Lithuanian authorities fine-tuned the detection systems they use to determine whether any balloons identified pose a danger to civil aviation. What happens to the cigarettes? Lithuania claims that smuggled cigarettes manufactured in Belarus are consumed by many Lithuanians. In 2024, the Lithuanian Border Guard confiscated over 1.4 million illegal cigarettes. Of these, 1.2 million were marked to be sold in Belarus. Why did Lithuania close its border with Belarus? The Lithuanian government has said that Belarus authorities contribute to the problem, by not crackingdown on smugglers in their country. They have dubbed the situation as a "hybrid assault". What is the position of Belasis? If they are going to Lithuania, and there are air balloons filled with cigarettes or other things flying around, then the answer is there. "They are not flying in to nothing, someone there is receiving them," said Alexander Lukashenko. He called the Lithuanian border closure a "crazy swindle" and accused the West, in turn of waging an hybrid war against Belarus, Russia, and ushering in a brand new era barbed-wire divide. Maxim Ryzhenkov, Foreign Minister of Belarus, called Lithuania's action "a provocation" and said it was intended to justify anti-Belarus sanction. WHY ARE THE BALLOONS NOT SHOT DOWN? The Lithuanian government originally said that they weren't being shot down due to the danger posed by their payloads. These can weigh as much as 50 kilograms or 110 pounds if they fall uncontrollably. Inga Ruginiene, the Prime Minister, told the Army on Monday to use "kinetic" measures to destroy the balloons. She didn't elaborate, citing the need for security. (Reporting from Andrius Sytas, Vilnius; Editing by Mark Heinrich.)
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Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to ever hit Jamaica, continues its roaring into Cuba
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica, caused devastation. Later on Wednesday, it roared into eastern Cuba and destroyed the city of Santiago, flooding rural areas and the surrounding countryside. The National Hurricane Center of the United States (NHC), which is based in Miami, said that Melissa, a Category 5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 185 mph and 298 kph when it hit Jamaica, was downgraded into a Category 3 storm, with winds of 120 mph. The center reported that "life-threatening storm surges, flash floods and landslides as well as damaging hurricane winds were all ongoing this morning." The storm, which was a historic one, ravaged western Jamaica. It destroyed homes, knocked down trees, and washed out roads. Authorities have not released details on fatalities, but they expect a lot of deaths. Social media videos and eyewitness accounts from Jamaica show cars destroyed by flying debris. Hotel doors are blown off their hinges, and roofs are scattered throughout neighborhoods. The Montego Bay airport was inundated with water, and the ceilings were collapsed. It was predicted that the storm would weaken as it crossed Cuba, but remain a dangerous Hurricane once it reached the Bahamas. Authorities said that as the storm approached in eastern Cuba, 735,000 people had to be evacuated. At mid-morning President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced that Cuba had suffered extensive damage. He warned residents not to let down their guard and urged them to stay sheltered. JAMAICAN LEADERS SAYS: 'SOME LIFE LOSS IS EXPECTED' An official reported that the parish of St. Elizabeth in southwestern Jamaica was "underwater" with over 500,000 residents left without power. After the storm, Jamaican Prime minister Andrew Holness told CNN that "the reports we have received so far include significant damage to residential and commercial properties, as well as damage to our road network." Holness stated that the government has not received any confirmation of deaths caused by the hurricane, but "we expect some losses of life" given the severity of the storm and the extent of its damage. It was crazy. Journie Ealey (34), a U.S. visitor on vacation in Jamaica who was reached by telephone, described the experience as "like a freight-train trying to stop for eight long hours." "I've not experienced anything like it before." Meteorologists from AccuWeather say Melissa is the third-most intense hurricane in the Caribbean after Wilma and Gilbert, the last major storms to land in Jamaica. Scientists claim that hurricanes are becoming more intense and occurring with greater frequency due to the warming of ocean water caused by greenhouse gas emission. Many Caribbean leaders called on wealthy nations that pollute heavily to compensate tropical island countries with aid or debt relief. Melissa's winds weakened as the storm passed through the mountains of Jamaica. It pounded highland communities that were vulnerable to flooding and landslides. "Our country was ravaged by hurricane Melissa, but we will rebuild it and do so better than ever before," said Prime Minister Holness early on Wednesday. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Wednesday that he would be willing to help Jamaica recover. The State Department announced that it would be sending search and rescue teams. The Bahamas government, which is next after Cuba on Melissa's route to the northeast, ordered the evacuation of residents of the southern parts of the archipelago. Authorities in Haiti and Dominican Republic, which share an island with Haiti, said that torrential rains had caused at least four deaths on the island. CUBA HIT The storm center, which was accompanied by violent winds gusting over 125mph and heavy rainfall, hit early Wednesday morning in Guama. This rural area is located 25 miles west from Santiago de Cuba, second largest city on the island. The storm moved north-northeast through eastern Cuba. Authorities had cut power to almost all of eastern Cuba. They had evacuated the most vulnerable areas, and asked residents to take shelter in Santiago, the provincial capital of 400,000. Images and videos published early Wednesday morning on local media, as well as eyewitness reports in the city, revealed a chaotic scene with trees, power lines and shattered glass littering the streets. Videos from the more rural west showed torrents of rainwater flowing down dark roads in the shadows of Cuba's Sierra Maestra Mountains. The storm had passed by midday, but the winds were still too strong for people to go out on the streets. Early on Wednesday, authorities reported widespread flooding in lowland areas from Santiago to Guantanamo where up to 35% of residents had been evacuated. It is unfortunate that the island communist has been suffering from food, medicine, fuel and electricity shortages, which have made life difficult. Cuban President Diaz-Canel announced that 2,500 workers had been mobilized to repair the electric lines immediately after the storm passed through the island on Wednesday. Havana, the capital of Cuba, was not expected directly to be affected by this hurricane.
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Data shows that another tanker has left the Portovaya LNG plant sanctioned by Russia.
LSEG data revealed on Wednesday that a second gas carrier had left the U.S. sanctioned Portovaya LNG Plant in Russia on the Baltic Sea, after a long hiatus. The ship was looking for a foreign buyer. This shows Russia's ongoing efforts to circumvent restrictions on LNG sales. The ship tracking data showed that the gas carrier Valera (formerly Velikiy Novgorod) had left the Gulf of Finland. The data indicated that it was expected to arrive in an unspecified place on January 15. This is the second tanker to leave the factory in the last three months. Perle (formerly Pskov) was the first tanker to leave Portovaya, in mid-July. On Wednesday, it was heading north-west through the Strait of Malacca. The tanker has discharged LNG in an unknown location. In September 2022, the small-scale Portovaya LNG facility, with a production capability of 1.5 million tonnes of LNG annually, will begin operations. The exports were suspended in February of this year due to the U.S. sanction. During the initial stages of operation, Portovaya's cargoes were mainly delivered to Turkey and Greece. The supply markets were then expanded to include China, Spain and Italy. In September, Russia shipped a first cargo from its Arctic LNG 2 plant to China, also under U.S. Sanctions, revitalizing the project. The plant started production in December 2023, but was unable to market the frozen gas because of the restrictions. Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" is a collection of aging vessels owned by opaque parties that it uses to circumvent the sanctions imposed on its oil. Shadow fleet tankers often turn off their automatic identification system (AIS), which signals their location. Or they manipulate it in order to send false tracking data. This tactic is commonly used by crews who want to camouflage their activities. It's called spoofing. (Reporting and Editing by Aidan Lewis).
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Old Dominion's cost control helps it beat quarterly profits
By Aishwarya Jain Oct 29 - Old Dominion Freight Line surpassed third-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday. The company was able to do so due to tight cost control as it operated in a long freight recession. The U.S. trucking sector is struggling with low volumes, overcapacity and a persistent recession. Experts predict that the current downturn will continue through the first quarter of next year. This is despite the fact that extra capacity has been gradually removed from the market. The sector faces challenges due to a changing global macroeconomic climate. Old Dominion’s operating costs were $1.05 billion in the third quarter. This is down 2.1% compared to $1.07 billion from a year earlier. The operating ratio of the company, which is a key metric indicating operating expenses as percentages of revenue, dropped 30 basis points sequentially to 74.3% during the third quarter. A lower operating rate indicates that an organization spends less per unit of revenue. Stephanie Moore, an analyst at Jefferies, said: "The sequential improvement in the operating ratio, despite the expected softness of tonnage per day and revenue, came as a big surprise." Early morning trading saw shares of the company rise by nearly 5%. Less-than truckload (LTL), or less-than-truckload, companies operate by transporting multiple shipments for different customers in a single truck. These shipments are then transferred through a network service centers to other trucks that have similar destinations. LSEG data shows that the revenue of Thomasville, North Carolina based company fell by 4.3% during the third quarter to $1.41billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40billion. The company's profit per share fell 10.5%, to $1.28. This was higher than Wall Street expectations of $1.22. Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Abhinav Paramar; editing by Shreya biswas
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India's Akasa Airlines targets IPO within 2-5 years and to resume pilot hiring
The chief executive of India's Akasa Airlines said that the airline plans to go public within the next two-five years, and to resume hiring pilots by the second half next year. Due to Boeing's delayed deliveries and regulatory scrutiny, Akasa - India's third-largest airline - hasn't had enough pilot work. The airline's executives privately expressed their frustration with Boeing's delays. Vinay Dube, CEO of Akasa, said on the sidelines an Aviation India event that "in the next 60-days, 100% of our Pilots will begin accruing hours. This means they'll all be in the cockpit." He said that he didn't see the need to raise any capital before an IPO after raising an undisclosed amount earlier this year. When asked about future plans, he said: "Our next stage should be an IPO within a time frame of two to five years." He didn't say where the airline planned to list. Dube also denied that Akasa expansion plans had been delayed due to delays in jet deliveries. He told the audience, "I'm extremely happy that we have 30 aircraft ..... We should be exactly where we are now." He refused to reveal how many aircraft Akasa expects to receive this year and over the next few years. The company's executives had previously predicted that Akasa will have approximately 54 planes in October 2026. The airline estimated earlier that it would have 72 planes by March 2027. Mark Potter, Abhijith Ganadavaram and Abhijith Ganapavaram (Editors)
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Old Dominion's cost control helps it beat quarterly profits
Oct 29th - Old Dominion Freight Line surpassed third-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday. The company was able to do so thanks to tight cost control as it operated in a long freight recession. The U.S. trucking sector is struggling with low volumes, overcapacity and a persistent recessionary phase. Experts predict that the current downturn will continue through the first quarter of next year. This is despite the fact that extra capacity has been gradually removed from the market. The sector is facing the challenges posed by a changing global macroeconomic climate. Old Dominion’s operating costs were $1.05 billion in the third quarter. This is down 2.1% compared to $1.07 billion from a year earlier. Less-than truckload (LTL), or less-than-truckload, companies operate by transporting multiple shipments for different customers in a single truck. These shipments are then transferred through a network service centers to other trucks that have similar destinations. The Thomasville-based North Carolina company's third quarter revenue dropped 4.3%, to $1.41billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40billion, according to LSEG data. The company's profit per share fell 10.5%, to $1.28. This was higher than Wall Street expectations of $1.22. Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Abhinav Paramar; editing by Shreya biswas
New sanctions have yet to impact on Russia's oil exports.
According to LSEG and market sources, the new sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU against Russia and its oil giants Rosneft Lukoil and Lukoil are yet to affect physical crude shipments out of Russia's western ports.
LSEG data and sources indicate that despite weather-related restrictions and sanctions pressure, October exports of Primorsk and Novorossiisk ports in western Russia are expected to be around 2.33 million barrels a day (bpd), which is in line with Russia’s revised monthly program.
Sources say that new U.S. restrictions are putting pressure on Russia's oil exports to the west. Urals oil is being purchased from ports by India and Turkey, who are expected by the West to adhere with their new restrictions.
The U.S. has set a deadline of November 21 to end all business with Rosneft, Lukoil and other Russian oil companies. Due to the approximately four-week journey from Baltic ports to Indian refining plants, shipments loaded today may arrive at buyers after the deadline, increasing logistical and financial risk.
One source said that everything loaded in Primorsk will arrive in India by November 21. He said that banks may have problems with payments, as Russian oil suppliers don't like to be paid in Indian rupees.
Indian refiners are still deciding what to do with their Russian oil purchases. Reliance Industries in India, a major Rosneft client, has said that it is assessing how the sanctions will affect its crude supply contracts.
Sources expect that Russian oil sales will be passed on to trading firms and intermediaries, which may increase the costs for sellers while shielding buyers from sanctions related risks. Reporting by Elaine Hardcastle; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
(source: Reuters)