A draft report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is under final review in Paris this week. The report was three years in the making and is expected to lay out a rescue plan for the world’s vanishing biodiversity. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
Space Station Power Shortage Delays SpaceX Supply Run
A major power shortage at the International Space Station has delayed this week’s SpaceX supply run. SpaceX was supposed to launch a shipment Wednesday. But an old power-switching unit malfunctioned at the space station Monday and knocked two power channels offline. The six remaining power channels are working normally, according to NASA. NASA stressed Tuesday that the station and its six astronauts are safe. But because of the hobbled solar-power grid, the SpaceX launch is off until at least Friday. NASA wants to replace the failed unit to restore full power, before sending up the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. The breakdown has left the station’s big robot arm outside with one functioning power channel instead of two. Two power sources are required — one as a backup — when the robot arm is used to capture visiting spacecraft like the Dragon. Flight controllers will use the robot arm to replace the bad unit with a spare later this week, saving the astronauts from going out on a spacewalk. There’s no rush for this delivery. Northrop Grumman launched supplies two weeks ago. Solar wings collect and generate electricity for the entire space station. Any breakdown in this critical system can cut into power and affect operations. SpaceX, meanwhile, is still investigating this month’s fiery loss of its new Dragon capsule designed for astronauts. Six weeks after a successful test flight without a crew to the space station, the crew Dragon was engulfed in flames during a ground test. SpaceX was in …
Governments Prepare for May Day Protests Worldwide
Major cities around the world have ramped up security, increasing police presence and even using drones to monitor crowds expected at May Day rallies. International Workers’ Day, which is commonly known as May Day, celebrates the international labor movement on the first day of May every year. It’s a national holiday in more than 80 countries around the world. France, which has been recently rankled by violent anti-government yellow vest protests, plans to deploy more than 7,400 police and dozens of drones in Paris. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said there was a risk that “radical activists” could join anti-government yellow vest protesters and union workers Wednesday in the streets of Paris and across the country. He said the goal was to protect demonstrators with “legitimate aspirations” and defend Paris from calls on social media to make it “the capital of rioting.” He said other cities around France were also on alert. In Germany, more than 5,500 officers will be deployed in Berlin where protesters, led by the “1 May Revolutionaries,” have been for weeks calling on people to demonstrate. As many as 20,000 activists are expected to protest against gentrification in the eastern district of Friedrichshain. Across the world in Jakarta, police spokesman Commander Argo Yuwono said there will be 1,500 personnel deployed for a protest in the Istora Senayan area and 25,000 for a protest near the State Palace. He said more than 40,000 protesters are expected to take to the streets of Indonesia’s capital. Turkish police have barricaded …
New French Energy Law Puts off Difficult Climate Decisions
France has set more ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions by 2050 but few measures will take effect on President Emmanuel Macron’s watch as the “yellow vest” protest movement limits his scope for environmental protection. A draft new “energy transition law,” presented to cabinet on Tuesday and seen by Reuters, pledges to reduce carbon emissions by a factor of more than six by 2050 compared to 1990. That increases the emissions’ reduction target from a factor of four stipulated in a 2015 energy law introduced by Macron’s predecessor Francois Hollande. Months after coming to power in 2017, Macron dropped that law’s key provision — despite a pledge to respect it — to reduce nuclear energy’s share in French electricity production to 50 percent by 2025, from 75 percent currently. The new law will delay the 50 percent nuclear target to 2035, transfer the European Union’s 2018 “Winter Package” energy targets into French law and will also form the framework for a detailed “PPE” 2019-2028 energy strategy. However, it includes no landmark measures to reduce CO2 emissions now, and replaces an election promise to close coal-fired power stations with a CO2 emission cap that would not take effect before Jan. 2022, just before the end of Macron’s term. “This government systematically makes vague and very long-term commitments, but never any concrete, short-term policies that would be implemented during this president’s term,” Greenpeace energy campaigner Alix Mazounie said. Macron was breaking his promise to close coal-fired plants by 2022, she said, adding …
Space Rock Left Big Crater on Moon During Full Lunar Eclipse
A space rock left a massive crater on the moon during January’s total lunar eclipse. Spanish scientists reported Tuesday the meteoroid hit the moon at 38,000 mph (61,000 kph), carving out a crater nearly 50 feet (15 meters) across. It was the first impact flash ever observed during a lunar eclipse. The scientists — who operate a lunar impact detection system using eight telescopes in Spain — believe the incoming object was a comet fragment up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) across and 100 pounds (45 kilograms). The impact energy was equivalent to 1 { tons of TNT. Astrophysicist Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva says it was “really exciting” to observe the event, after many unsuccessful tries. The findings appear in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Monthly Notices. …
It Seems Like Alzheimer’s But Peek Into Brain Reveals a Mimic
Some people told they have Alzheimer’s may instead have a newly identified mimic of the disease — and scientists say even though neither is yet curable, it’s critical to get better at telling different kinds of dementia apart. Too often, the word dementia is used interchangeably with Alzheimer’s when there are multiple types of brain degeneration that can harm people’s memory and thinking skills. “Not everything that looks like Alzheimer’s disease is Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Julie Schneider, a neuropathologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. And among all the known dementias, this newly identified kind “is the most striking mimic of Alzheimer’s,” she added. It’s not clear how many people have this particular type, which an international team of scientists defined Tuesday in the journal Brain. But there could be a sizeable number, said Dr. Peter Nelson of the University of Kentucky, the paper’s lead author. The dementia was dubbed “LATE,” an acronym chosen in part because the oldest seniors seem at greatest risk. Here’s a look at various dementias in the confusing Alzheimer’s-or-not mix: Scientists stumbled onto newest disorder Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and autopsies have long found its telltale signs in the brain: sticky plaque from an abnormal buildup of amyloid protein, and tangles of another protein named tau. Only recently have scientists developed special, pricey scans that can measure that buildup in living brains. Then studies with those scans found about a third of people with Alzheimer’s symptoms lack amyloid buildup …
Warren Buffett Bankrolls Occidental’s Anadarko Bid With $10 Billion
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc committed $10 billion on Tuesday to Occidental Petroleum Corp’s $38 billion cash-and-stock bid for Anadarko Petroleum Corp, boosting its chances of snatching a deal from Chevron Corp. Occidental and Chevron are locked in the biggest oil-industry takeover battle in years as they eye Anadarko’s prized assets in West Texas’ huge Permian shale oil field. Anadarko on Monday agreed to start negotiations with Occidental, saying its bid could potentially be superior to Chevron’s existing deal to buy Anadarko for $33 billion in cash and stock. Berkshire’s cash provides Occidental with flexibility to fund and even increase its proposal. Anadarko has previously expressed reservations about the risk of Occidental having to get any deal voted through by its own shareholders. Occidental could now use the majority of the Berkshire investment to add cash to its bid and remove the requirement for a vote, if it so chooses. The Berkshire investment, contingent on Occidental completing its proposed acquisition of Anadarko, could also repay some of the debt being taken on to finance the deal’s cash portion, or cover the $10 billion to $15 billion of proceeds from asset sales which Occidental plans in the two years after closing the acquisition. Analysts said Buffett’s endorsement supports Occidental’s push to get the deal done but comes at a high cost. Berkshire Hathaway will get 100,000 preferred shares and a warrant to purchase up to 80 million shares of Occidental at $62.50 apiece in a private offering, a statement from Occidental …
Argentine Labor Unions Stage Strike, Slam Macri for Subsidy Cuts
Argentine labor unions staged a 24-hour nationwide strike on Tuesday against President Mauricio Macri’s fiscal austerity program, blocking streets in the capital Buenos Aires and shutting down traffic in the city center. The protests partially paralyzed government offices, schools, banks and airports as opposition to Macri’s belt-tightening policies raised fresh doubts about his bid for re-election in October. A proponent of free markets, Macri came to office in 2015 as a favorite among business leaders and investors. Opinion polls show him losing popularity as he raises taxes and cuts public utility subsidies as part of his effort to erase the primary fiscal deficit under his government’s $56 billion standby lending agreement with the International Monetary Fund. “This president is dangerous!” Pablo Micheli, head of the CTA umbrella labor group shouted to a sea of protesters gathered in Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo. “We must hold more strikes and marches to keep these guys from taking any more away from us.” Argentina’s previous leader, Cristina Fernandez, a free-spending populist who increased government’s role in the economy, has been gaining popularity and may run for the presidency again in October. Macri campaigned on promises of “normalizing” the economy after eight years of government intervention in the markets under Fernandez. “To go back to the past would be self destruction. It would mean sacrificing two or three more generations,” Macri said in an address on Tuesday at an event outside the capital. The peso hit a record low on Friday, ending a tough …
Ghana Launches Malaria Vaccine for Children
Children in Ghana are starting to get a new vaccine designed to stop malaria. Ghana is the second African country to get the vaccine, which is expected to reduce cases of the mosquito-borne and sometimes fatal disease. But experts caution that other malaria-prevention measures are still necessary. It took more than thirty years and almost one billion dollars to develop the malaria vaccine launched in Ghana today. The vaccine, known as RTS-S, reduces cases of the mosquito-spread disease in children by up to 40 percent. Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi are participating in a pilot vaccination program, which began last week in Malawi. Over the next four years about one million babies are expected to be vaccinated with four doses of RTS-S. Cape Coast is a city in one of three regions Ghana is targeting due to high levels of malaria. The vaccine is considered an additional tool in the fight against the disease, alongside bed nets and indoor insecticide spraying. The World Health Organization’s Richard Mihigo said the vaccine is needed because progress has stalled in recent years. “This is really something we are considering in public health as a dream coming true, because so far when you look at the intervention that has been used to fight the disease, we believe that this new vaccine is going to add a significant boost to the fight against malaria,” he said. The WHO says malaria infected 219 million people in 2017 and killed 435,000. The disease remains one of …
Report: Climate Change Threatens Half of World Heritage Sites’ Glaciers
Nearly half of the glaciers in World Heritage sites will disappear by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, a report said Tuesday. The new study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) focused on the 46 World Heritage sites where glaciers are found, including Grosser Aletschgletscher in the Swiss Alps, Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier and Khumbu Glacier in the Himalayas. Using a variety of data and advanced modelling, the authors “predict glacier extinction by 2100 under a high emission scenario in 21 of the 46 natural World Heritage sites where glaciers are currently found,” IUCN said in a statement. That “high emission scenario” refers to the status quo, where the commitments made under the 2015 Paris climate pact are not met. Sites likely to see the most severe ice-loss are Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina and Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, which straddles the Canada-US border. The disappearance of small glaciers in the Pyrenees – Mont Perdu World Heritage site could happen before 2040, according to IUCN projections. Even if nations deliver on the terms of the Paris agreement, eight of the 46 World Heritage sites analysed in the report will still be ice-free by the year 2100, IUCN added. “Losing these iconic glaciers would be a tragedy and have major consequences for the availability of water resources, sea level rise and weather patterns,” Peter Shadie, director of IUCN’s World Heritage Programme, said in the statement. IUCN, widely-known for its “red list” of …
НБУ: гривня після вихідних зміцніє на 13 копійок щодо долара
Довідкове значення курсу гривні після Великодніх свят становитиме 26 гривень 49 копійок – такі дані Національного банку України. В останній робочий день перед вихідними, 26 квітня, курс становив 26 гривень 62 копійки. Таким чином, гривня зміцніє щодо долара на 13 копійок. Встановлений НБУ курс євро становитиме 29 гривень 49 копійок за одиницю. Читайте також: Гонтарева дала свій прогноз на курс гривні після виборів За даними нішевого сайту «Мінфін», торги на міжбанку 26 квітня почалися з курсом 26,55 – 26,59 гривень за долар, а закрилися на позначці 26,37 – 26,42 гривні за долар. Свого пікового значення 28 гривень 39 копійок за курсом НБУ впродовж останнього року долар сягнув 30 листопада 2018 року. На 12 березня 2019 року офіційний курс становив 26 гривень 31 копійку, це найвищий курс гривні від липня 2018 року. …
US Treasury Secretary Hopes for ‘Substantial Progress’ in China Talks
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he hopes to makes “substantial progress” in trade talks with China, as the world’s two largest economies try to reach a resolution to their trade war. Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are leading a U.S. delegation meeting with Chinese officials this week in Beijing. Next week, Chinese officials will travel to Washington for another round of talks. Washington and Beijing have held several rounds of talks this year to resolve a trade war that began in 2018 when President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. He has been trying to compel Beijing to change its trade practices. China retaliated with tariff increases on $110 billion of U.S. exports. …
Tariffs Take Toll on Farm Equipment Manufacturers
Their iconic blue-colored planters and grain cars are recognizable on many farms across the United States. They are also easily spotted in large displays, some stacked one on top of the other, in front of Kinze’s manufacturing hub along Interstate 80, where, inside buildings sprawling across a campus situated among Iowa’s corn and soybeans fields, the company’s employees work with one key component. “Steel is the lifeblood of Kinze,” says Richard Dix, a company senior director. “We’re a factory that’s essentially a weld house. We cut, burn, form, shape, cut, paint steel.” WATCH: Kane Farabaugh’s video report Steel now costs more, the result of a 25 percent tariff on the material imported from most countries, including China. “When there is a tariff on steel it cuts rights to the core of our fundamental product construction,” says Dix. In March of 2018, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel, with the goal of boosting U.S. production and related employment. While there has been a modest benefit to the domestic steel industry, Dix says increased costs are negatively impacting smaller manufacturing companies like Kinze. “We see the bills that come in from our suppliers are higher based on those tariffs,” Dix explains. “Not just in steel but also in a lot of the electronics, rubber commodities and other agricultural parts we buy from China as well. Those tariffs take their effect on our cost structure, on the profitability for the family, through our employees, and now to our dealers and …
Kudlow: Trump Administration Eyes More Aid to Farmers if Necessary
The Trump administration is ready to provide more federal aid to farmers if required, a White House adviser said on Monday, after rolling out up to $12 billion since last year to offset agricultural losses from the trade dispute with China. “We have allocated $12 billion, some such, to farm assistance. And we stand ready to do more if necessary,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had previously ruled out a new round of aid for 2019. As of March, more than $8 billion was paid out as part of last year’s program. On Monday, the department said it had extended the deadline to apply to May 17. A constituency that helped carry Republican President Donald Trump to victory in 2016, U.S. farmers have been among the hardest hit from his trade policies that led to tariffs with key trading partners such as China, Canada and Mexico. While farmers have largely remained supportive of Trump, many have called for an imminent end to the trade dispute, which propelled farm debt to the highest levels in decades and worsened the credit conditions for the rural economy. Beijing imposed tariffs last year on imports of U.S. agricultural goods, including soybeans, grain sorghum and pork as retribution for U.S. levies. Soybean exports to China have plummeted over 90 percent and sales of U.S. soybeans elsewhere failed to make up for the loss. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were scheduled to travel …
Do ‘Mechanical Trees’ Offer the Cure for Climate Change?
A Dublin-based company plans to erect “mechanical trees” in the United States that will suck carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, it said on Monday, in what may be prove to be biggest effort to remove the gas blamed for climate change from the atmosphere. The company, Silicon Kingdom Holdings (SKH), will build 1,200 carbon-cleansing metal columns within a year with which it hopes to capture CO2 more cheaply than other methods, following a successful test in Arizona over a two-year period, it said. That is enough to suck up nearly 8,000 cars worth of emissions per year of CO2. “We have to figure out how to act to get to a climate that is safe,” said the technology’s inventor, Klaus Lackner, a professor at Arizona State University. SKH’s pilot would be the world’s largest “direct air capture” operation to date, said Jennifer Wilcox, a professor of chemical engineering at the U.S.-based Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who is not involved in the project. Carbon capture is gradually gaining momentum, with the United Nations saying in a report last year that the technology is likely needed to keep the rise in global temperatures below catastrophic levels. SKH expects its two-year pilot, possibly in California, to capture about 36,500 metric tons of CO2 a year, it said – the equivalent of nearly 7,750 vehicles driven for a year. Full-scale farms would be 100 times bigger. The company’s “mechanical trees”, as the firm has dubbed them because they are tall and slender and absorb …
Congo Registers Record of 27 New Ebola Cases in One Day
Democratic Republic of Congo registered a one-day record of 27 new confirmed Ebola cases on Sunday, raising last week’s number of cases to 126, the biggest since the current outbreak was declared last August, the health ministry said. The previous record was 110 confirmed cases a couple of weeks ago. The outbreak in the country’s eastern regions is now spreading at its fastest rate, due largely to a spate of attacks by militiamen and others distrustful of the international response. In the past two months, five Ebola centers have been attacked and a senior World Health Organization official was killed by militiamen 10 days ago. The assailants have mostly been unidentified but are believed to comprise both local militiamen and community members who oppose the response efforts. Many believe that Ebola is a conspiracy cooked up by the government or foreign countries. The current outbreak of the virus, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, is the second largest in history behind the 2013-16 West African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people. The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces is believed to have killed at least 891 people and infected over 500 more so far. …
Palm Oil Development Leaves Liberians Poorer, says Winner of ‘Green Nobel’
Palm oil plantations in Liberia are billed as bringing jobs and development but actually leave locals poorer, said a Liberian lawyer who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize on Monday. The U.S.-based Goldman Environmental Foundation gives the prize — often known as the Green Nobel — to six grassroots activists each year for efforts to protect the environment, often at their own risk. Alfred Brownell was awarded for his successful campaign to protect more than 500,000 acres of tropical forest from palm oil development in the West African country, after which he was forced to flee Liberia in fear for his life. He now lives in the United States but hopes to return to continue his work, as palm oil development continues to displace farmers without giving them an alternative means to earn a living, he said. “These forests mean a lot to Liberia. The communities that we supported who live in these areas … it is their home and their resources and their farms,” said Brownell, 53. “Instead of trying to empower them, (palm oil) causes the impoverishment of those communities. So this is not development at all,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Sometimes palm oil companies offer jobs, but not enough for the number of people who lose their land, he said. Liberians have protested land grabs by foreign palm oil companies for over a decade, since the former government gave out nearly half the nation’s territory in resource concessions. The World Bank has credited these policies …
Tariffs Taking Double Toll on Some Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers
As U.S. farmers prepare for planting this year, they do so under a cloud of uncertainty created by continuing tariffs on U.S. grain exports. They also aren’t buying new equipment, which VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports is a growing concern for manufacturers who not only see declining sales, but increasing costs for the material they need to create their products. …
Scientists Say They’re Closer to Possible Blood Test for Chronic Fatigue
Scientists in the United States say they have taken a step toward developing a possible diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition characterized by exhaustion and other debilitating symptoms. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine said a pilot study of 40 people, half of whom were healthy and half of whom had the syndrome, showed their potential biomarker test correctly identified those who were ill. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, is estimated to affect some 2.5 million people in the United States and as many as 17 million worldwide. Symptoms include overwhelming fatigue, joint pain, headaches and sleep problems. No cause or diagnosis has yet been established and the condition can render patients bed- or house-bound for years. The research, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed blood samples from trial volunteers using a “nanoelectronic assay” — a test that measures changes in tiny amounts of energy as a proxy for the health of immune cells and blood plasma. The scientists “stressed” the blood samples using salt, and then compared the responses. The results, they said, showed all the CFS patients’ blood samples creating a clear spike, while those from healthy controls remained relatively stable. “We don’t know exactly why the cells and plasma are acting this way, or even what they’re doing,” said Ron Davis, a professor of biochemistry and of genetics who co-led the study. “[But] we clearly see a difference in the way …
Breaking from Tradition, Indigenous Women Lead Fight for Land Rights in Brazil
Brazil’s indigenous women have been overturning tradition to step into the spotlight and lead an international push to defend their tribal land rights, which are up against the greatest threat they have faced in years under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil’s 850,000 indigenous peoples live on reservations that make up 13 percent of the territory. Bolsonaro has said they live in poverty and he wants to assimilate them by allowing development of their vast lands, currently protected by law. The tribal leaders are fighting back — in many cases, led by women. Traditionally, indigenous cultures excluded women from leadership roles that were played by male tribal chieftains. But that is changing, said Joenia Wapichana, who last year became the first indigenous woman elected to Brazil’s Congress and has been seeking to block Bolsonaro’s attempts to dismantle the indigenous affairs agency Funai. “Women have advanced a lot and today there are many taking up frontline positions in the defense of indigenous rights,” said Wapichana, 45, a lawyer who was also the first indigenous woman to argue a case before Brazil’s Supreme Court. Brazil’s top indigenous leader is Sonia Guajajara, who warned at a forum at the United Nations last Tuesday that Bolsonaro’s plans to open up reservations to mining and agriculture could devastate the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, which scientists say is nature’s best defense against global warming. The next day she was back in Brasilia leading a rally of 4,000 indigenous people representing Brazil’s 305 tribes, protesting Bolsonaro’s move …
Pompeo: US-China Trade Talks Will Not Be Impacted by End of Iran Oil Waivers
VOA Mandarin service reporter Lin Feng also contributed to this report. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington’s decision to end Iran oil waivers to China will not have a negative impact on the latest trade talks between the world’s two leading economies. “We have had lots of talks with China about this issue. I’m confident that the trade talks will continue and run their natural course,” Pompeo told an audience in Washington on Monday. China is Iran’s largest oil buyer. Pompeo added the U.S. would ensure the global oil markets are adequately supplied. Last Monday, the United States announced it was ending waivers on sanctions to countries that import Iranian oil, including China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey. Since the sanctions were reintroduced, Italy, Greece and Taiwan have halted their Iranian oil imports. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on Tuesday, for the latest round of negotiations. The two sides will discuss intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, and other issues. Vice Premier Liu will then lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional talks on May 8. Washington and Beijing have held several rounds this year to resolve a trade war that began in 2018 when President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. He has been trying to compel Beijing to change its trade practices. China retaliated with …
US Reports Over 700 Measles Cases in 2019
The U.S. reported a total of 704 cases of measles so far in 2019 – the greatest number since 1994. Seventy-eight new cases were reported last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday. Though no deaths have been reported, 66 people were hospitalized. Thirteen specific outbreaks have been identified by the CDC, and of those six were associated with “underimmunized close-knit communities”, which accounted for 88% of all cases, according to Monday’s CDC report. One such example is the outbreak in New York, which has been traced to Orthodox Jews who contracted the disease while traveling overseas. Cases have been reported in 22 states. The CDC recommends vaccinations for everyone over a year old, except those who contracted measles as children and have since become immune. The vaccine, which first became available in the 1960s, is considered safe and effective by most public health experts. Measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The disease was considered eradicated from the United States in 2000. …
Росія: «Газпром» повідомив про новий наступ «Нафтогазу» на його активи
Російський газовий монополіст «Газпром» повідомив нові подробиці дій «Нафтогазу України» в намаганні арештувати активи російської компанії на виконання рішення Стокгольмського арбітражу, за яким «Газпром» має сплатити українській компанії понад 2 з половиною мільярди доларів із відсотками. Як мовиться в новому фінансовому звіті «Газпрому», ще 15 лютого «Нафтогаз» направив до підрозділів найбільших банків у Люксембурзі і до люксембурзької компанії «Газ Капітал», що є «дочкою» монополіста, сповіщення про арешт будь-якої заборгованості і активів «Газпрому» в цій країні: 15 квітня російський монополіст оскаржив цей арешт у суді міста Люксембурга. Про те, що «Нафтогаз» почав процес виконання рішення арбітражу шляхом стягнення боргу «Газпрому» і в Люксембурзі, обидві сторони раніше згадували лише побіжно. На цей час українська компанія веде такі процеси також у Нідерландах, Великій Британії, Швейцарії і США і заявляє, що найближчим часом можливі такі процеси і в інших країнах, також триває пошук активів «Газпрому» в інших юрисдикціях. У грудні 2017 року і лютому 2018 року Стокгольмський арбітраж виніс рішення у спорах «Нафтогазу» і «Газпрому» про постачання газу в Україну і його транзит через українську територію, в підсумку зобов’язавши російську компанію виплатити українській 2,56 мільярда доларів, із нарахуванням відсотків за прострочену виплату. «Газпром» ці рішення оскаржив, але оскарження не зупиняє права «Нафтогазу» домагатися виконання рішення арбітражу. …
Scandinavian Airlines Strike in 4th Day, Affecting Thousands
A strike among pilots at Scandinavian Airlines has entered its fourth day with the carrier being forced to cancel 1,213 flights Monday and Tuesday, affecting some 110,000 passengers. The flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden says more than 170,000 passengers have been affected since the open-ended strike started Friday. The strike began after the collapse of pay negotiations with the SAS Pilot Group, which represents 95% of the company’s pilots in the three countries. There is no sign of when talks might resume on a new collective bargaining agreement. Jacob Pedersen, an analyst with Denmark’s Sydbank, says the pilots want their share of company earnings after the carrier posted a profit in the past four years following a cost saving program that started in 2012. …