#Cargo traffic in august

[beardedmrbean]

On a warm spring night in Athens, shortly before midnight, a senior executive at a Greek shipping company noticed an unusual email had landed in his personal inbox.

The message, which was also sent to the manager's business email address, warned that one of the company's vessels travelling through the Red Sea was at risk of being attacked by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

The Greek-managed ship had violated a Houthi-imposed transit ban by docking at an Israeli port and would be "directly targeted by the Yemeni Armed Forces in any area they deem appropriate," read the message, written in English and reviewed by Reuters.

"You bear the responsibility and consequences of including the vessel in the ban list," said the email, signed by the Yemen-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), a body set up in February to liaise between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators.

The Houthis have carried out nearly 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November, acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's year-long war in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.

The email, received at the end of May, warned of "sanctions" for the entire company's fleet if the vessel continued "to violate the ban criteria and enter the ports of the usurping Israeli entity".

The executive and the company declined to be named for safety reasons.

The warning message was the first of more than a dozen increasingly menacing emails sent to at least six Greek shipping companies since May amid rising geopolitical tension in the Middle East, according to six industry sources with direct knowledge of the emails and two with indirect knowledge.

Since last year, the Houthis have been firing missiles, sending armed drones and launching boats laden with explosives at commercial ships with ties to Israeli, U.S. and UK entities.

The email campaign, which has not been previously reported, indicates that Houthi rebels are casting their net wider and targeting Greek merchant ships with little or no connection to Israel.

The threats were also, for the first time in recent months, directed at entire fleets, increasing the risks for those vessels still trying to cross the Red Sea.

"Your ships breached the decision of Yemen Armed Forces," read a separate email sent in June from a Yemeni government web domain to the first company weeks later and to another Greek shipping company, which also declined to be named. "Therefore, punishments will be imposed on all vessels of your company ... Best Regards, Yemen Navy."

Yemen, which lies at the entrance to the Red Sea, has been embroiled in years of civil war. In 2014, the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognized government. In January, the United States put the Houthis back on its list of terrorist groups.

Contacted by Reuters, Houthi officials declined to confirm they had sent the emails or provide any additional comment, saying that was classified military information.

Reuters could not determine whether the emails had been also sent to other foreign shipping companies.

Greek-owned ships, which represent one of the largest fleets in the world, comprise nearly 30% of the attacks carried out by Houthi forces to early September, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence data that did not specify whether those ships had any ties with Israel.

In August, the Houthi militia - which is part of Iran's Axis of Resistance alliance of anti-Israel irregular armed groups - attacked the Sounion tanker leaving it on fire for weeks before it could be towed to a safer area.

The strikes have prompted many cargoes to take a much longer route around Africa. Traffic through the Suez Canal has fallen from around 2,000 transits per month before November 2023 to around 800 in August, Lloyd's List Intelligence data showed.

Tensions in the Middle East reached a new peak on Tuesday as Iran hit Israel with more than 180 missiles in retaliation for the killing of militant leaders in Lebanon, including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

NEW PHASE

The European Union's naval force Aspides, which has helped more than 200 ships to sail safely through the Red Sea, confirmed the evolution of Houthis' tactics in a closed door meeting with shipping companies in early September, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.

In the document, shared with shipping companies, Aspides said the Houthis' decision to extend warnings to entire fleets marked the beginning of the "fourth phase" of their military campaign in the Red Sea.

Aspides also urged ship owners to switch off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, which shows a vessel's position and acts as a navigational aid to nearby ships, saying they had to "shut it off or be shot".

Aspides said the Houthis' missile strikes had 75% accuracy when aimed at vessels operating with the AIS tracking system on. But 96% of attacks missed when AIS was off, according to the same briefing.

"Aspides are aware of those emails," its operational commander, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, told Reuters, adding that any response should be carefully considered and that companies are strongly advised to alert their security experts if contacted before sailing.

"In particular, for the HOCC, the advice or guidance is not to respond to VHF calls and e-mails from “Yemeni Navy” or the “Humanitarian Operations Command Center” (HOCC)."

The Houthis' email campaign began in February with messages sent to shipowners, insurance companies and the main seafarers union from HOCC.

These initial emails, two of which were seen by Reuters, alerted the industry the Houthis had imposed a Red Sea travel ban on certain vessels, although they did not explicitly warn companies of an imminent attack.

The messages sent after May were more menacing.

At least two Greek-operated shipping companies that received email threats have decided to end such journeys via the Red Sea, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, declining to identify the companies for security reasons.

An executive at a third shipping company, which has also received a letter, said they decided to end business with Israel in order to be able to continue to use the Red Sea route.

"If safe transit through the Red Sea cannot be guaranteed, companies have a duty to act – even if that means delaying their delivery windows," said Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation, the leading union organisation for seafarers, which received an email from HOCC in February. "The lives of the seafarers depend on it."

The email campaign has increased alarm among shipping companies. Insurance costs for Western ship owners' have already jumped because of the Houthi's attacks, with some insurers suspending cover altogether, the sources told Reuters.

Greece-based Conbulk Shipmanagement Corporation stopped Red Sea voyages after its vessel MV Groton was attacked twice in August.

"No (Conbulk) vessel is trading in the Red Sea. It mainly has to do with the crew safety. Once the crew is in danger, all the discussion stops," Conbulk Shipmanagement CEO Dimitris Dalakouras told a Capital Link shipping conference in London on Sept. 10.

Torben Kolln, managing director of German-based container shipping group Leonhardt & Blumberg, said the Red Sea and wider Gulf of Aden was a "no go" area for their fleet.

Contacted by Reuters, the companies did not respond to a request for comment on whether they had been targeted by the Houthi email campaign.

Some companies continue to cross the Red Sea due to binding long-term agreements with charterers or because they need to transfer goods in that particular area. The Red Sea remains the fastest way to bring goods to consumers in Europe and Asia.

The Houthis have not stopped all traffic and the majority of Chinese and Russian-owned ships - which they do not see as affiliated with Israel - are able to sail through unhindered with lower insurance costs.

"We are re-assuring the ships belonging to companies that have no connection with the Israeli enemy that they are safe and have freedom (of movement) and (to) keep the AIS devices going on all the time," according to an audio recording of a Houthi message broadcast to ships in the Red Sea in September shared with Reuters.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Out."

[usafphantom2]

NATO Baltic Air Police Mission enters the 20º year

Spanish F-18 aviators and fighters are on deployment to Estonia to join NATO's latest Baltic Air Police mission, which turned 20 on March 29.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/31/2024 - 15:30 in Military

NATO's Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission entered its 20º year on March 29, 2024, at a time when eight Spanish F-18 fighters and 150 members of the Spanish Air Force's 'Vilkas' tactical air detachment move to Estonia to take responsibility for airspace security in the region.

The total number of Spanish Air Force personnel will also include aviators from the Armament and Experimentation Logistics Center to help in electronic warfare, and an additional A400 and its crew, bringing the number of employees to almost 190 soldiers.

The BAP is a purely defensive development, according to NATO, intended to offer protection to NATO members, as well as partner nations and potential future members.

?? On March 29th, we celebrated not only the 20th anniversary of Lithuania's NATO membership but also the anniversary of NATO#BalticAirPolicing. On this occasion, we spoke with ?? Major General Harold Van Pee, the first commander of the Baltic Air Policing mission back in 2004.

In the absence of the means of air force necessary to participate in the BAP, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia shared a single standard of security throughout NATO's European airspace through the four-month rotation of external air forces stationed at air bases in Siauliai, Lithuania and Ämari, Estonia.

The three NATO Allied Baltic nations contribute to the mission through infrastructure and air command and control personnel and other support from the host nation. The expansion of the mission's area of operation includes Ämari Air Base, which began after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014.

2?? 0?? years guarding the skies! ??

Today our Chief of Staff, Admiral Joachim Rühl, celebrates the first@NATO fighter jet, that landed in ?? in 2004, marking the start of the crucial #BalticAirPolicing mission!

— SHAPE_NATO Allied Command Operations (@SHAPE_NATO)March 28, 2024

Considering the geographical circumstances of Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave separated from mainland Russia, Russian air activity in the region is large, but the aircraft of the Russian Federation were diverted from NATO airspace over these countries on repeated occasions during the 20 years of the BAP.

In 2014, after Russia's annexation of ?? Crimea, NATO realized that what were once considered outdated military threats had not disappeared. Since then, our Allies have taken important steps to strengthen deterrence & defence on the NATO Eastern flank. We are sincerely grateful.

— Lithuanian MOD ?? (@Lithuanian_MoD) March 24, 2024

NATO aircraft are used to visually confirm and divert violations of Russian aircraft that often fly close to NATO airspace without transponders and without communicating with NATO air traffic control or presenting a flight plan, according to NATO.

After the completion of a Royal Air Force (RAF) BAP rotation in Estonia in August 2023, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense declared that since March 2023 RAF Typhoon jets have intercepted 50 Russian aircraft, with more than 300 interceptions occurring in 2023 alone.

Tags: Military AviationEjército del Aire/Spanish Air ForceNATO Baltic Air Policing Mission

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[hirazuki]

Would you do 2, 33, and 34 for the ask game, please?

Hi! Sure!!

I answered 2 here!

33. the last adventure you’ve been on?

Ohoho, it was the summer of 2018 and my sister and I decided to pack up our dogs and take a roadtrip to the coast -- we grew up virtually in the sea, and living so far away (i.e. further than a 10 min drive) from swimmable salt water for so long has been very weird and we hit a high point of longing for it -- so, a week-long vacation it was.

There was a huge accident on the freeway as we were on our way, so instead of being stuck in backed-up traffic for countless hours, we decided to take the old highways. You know, the scenic route....... through very rural, very remote, very endless........ um. hm. Americana, for lack of a better word. I thought I had seen Things™ when I lived in upstate NY. Nope. Nowhere close. I've done some pretty insane traveling (2 am on Turkish back roads that are unpaved, while a military base turns its search lights on you and there are dogs barking behind chicken-wire fencing and guys with automatic rifles? 👌), but this was actually the freakiest experience by far. Uncanny valley. Time-loop zone. I swear the clock was stuck on 2pm for hours. We got caught up in some kind of off-the-road grounds (I swear it was a weird unmarked government facility, because I couldn't find it on any map) that got our GPS all wonky and we couldn't find the way out and kept going in circles but there was no signage anywhere, just unmarked roads, so we literally were going off of "I think I saw that tree seven minutes ago"???? There was a guy with a straw hat and a pitchfork just chilling in the middle of nowhere by the road at the base of the mountains (literally no sign of habitation within miles)?? I thought he was a scarecrow at first. Like, I knew that shows like Supernatural and stuff are obviously based somewhat on reality, but I thought they really exaggerated the backwater horror aspect. I was so very wrong.

I legit thought we'd disappear and no one would hear from us again. I have never been more grateful for my cargo van and the amount of gas it can hold. To top it off, when we got to our destination, it was far more hmm. touristy? -- but like the really fake, Stepford-smile, we'll-kill-you-in-your-sleep type -- than we had been led to believe, far more expensive than we anticipated, it was thunderstorming and freezing (... in August T_T It had been 90 degrees F/32 degrees C when we set out), so we couldn't swim; my sis ended up getting food poisoning, so we went home the very next day. The weather was brilliant and sunny and perfect beach weather as we drove away.

The dogs, in case you're wondering, had a blast.

This European is still recovering from the experience. It was certainly. An Adventure.

(completely miserable at the time, but it makes for very fun memories now!)

34. is there a song you know every word to by heart?

Ha, so, every song that I really like I end up memorizing all the words to. Literally every one, by heart. Even if it's in a foreign language. And I'll remember them years down the line, too. I don't really do it consciously, though, it just happens over time; I guess it's just how I partake of music?

[blonde0chaos]

Just in case some people see this and don't take it seriously. Even if you don't hit another person with your car, your careless driving CAN KILL someone.

Late August of 2023 I was nearly beheaded as a result of two other road raging drivers. I first noticed them when I was checking my mirrors to change lanes. I saw an older black Silverado and a brand new red RAV4 speeding a weaving in and out of lanes (im talking at least 100mph). I maintained my speed and position waiting for them to pass (this is the safest action to take when people are acting a fool. You don't want to throw them a curveball and have them collide with you or another car). The RAV4 swerved into my lane in front of me to shoot the gap between me and a truck hauling a cargo trailer in the lane to my right. He slammed into a piece of debris in the lane. He hit it so hard it sent it airborne, launched backward at my car.

The debris in question was a 15lbs metal sphere, it looks like a piece of an electric motor or something. It was shot back at my car, going who knows how fast, as I drove toward it at highway speeds. It shot thru my front windshield, passed inches from my head between the front seats, smashed my back windshield out, and finally slammed into the tailgate of my truck where it left a baseball sized dent in the metal.

I was covered in broken glass head to toe, bleeding all over from tiny lacerations. I had glass in my hair, ears, mouth, and right eye. Had that sphere pulled 2 inches to the left it would have crushed my head like a beer can on a frat boys forehead. Had anyone been in the back seat of my truck I have no doubts it would have killed them. I'm, amazingly, fine other than the nightmares I had for the next 3 weeks. It cost roughly $3,000.00 to fix my car between repairs and insurance premium increases (yeah fun fact, the insurance refused to call this a hit and run because there was no vehicle contact so my premiums went up for the next 6 months).

The sad part is, I have the whole encounter on dashcam. The police do not care and I can't even read the RAV4s stupid paper plates to find them. For that they need to pray to whatever God they worship. After weeks of nightmares of reliving the accident and turning back to see my dog dying slowly from a crushed rib cage. Or nightmares of having my friends and family die in that accident. If I ever find the person who did this to me, I just might blow their brains out.

So yeah, fucking be responsible. The ONLY reason that RAV4 isn't in jail for manslaughter is because of 3 inches of space. Had that debris killed me, there would have been a man hunt to find them and they would have gone to prison.

TLDR; Secure your load, respect traffic laws, and keep your emotions off the road and your eyes on it. Otherwise you might just kill someone and spend the rest of your life in lockup.

Why do so many people make tiktoks while they're clearly driving. What the fuck. Stop that shit, you're gonna kill someone.

[nsfwhiphop]

Part 1 - Can you tell @elonmusk to see my idea about Hyperloop?

Question:

What were Elon Musk's ideas about the Hyperloop, and how did he envision it revolutionizing transportation?

ChatGPT Answer:

Elon Musk first introduced the idea of the Hyperloop in a white paper titled "Hyperloop Alpha," published in August 2013. In it, he proposed a high-speed transportation system that would revolutionize travel, reducing the time it takes to travel between cities. Musk envisioned the Hyperloop as a fifth mode of transportation, distinct from cars, planes, trains, and boats.

Key Features of Musk's Hyperloop Concept:

Low-Pressure Tubes: Musk's idea relied on tubes with very low air pressure to minimize air resistance. These tubes would house passenger or cargo pods that could travel at high speeds, significantly reducing travel time over long distances.

Magnetic Levitation and Propulsion: The pods would be levitated and propelled by magnetic systems. The use of linear induction motors and air-bearing skis (or magnetic levitation) would eliminate friction between the pod and the tube, allowing near-silent, smooth travel.

High Speed: Musk's Hyperloop proposed speeds of up to 760 mph (1,220 km/h). This speed would allow, for example, a journey between Los Angeles and San Francisco (about 380 miles or 610 km) to take only around 30 minutes.

Sustainable Energy: Musk emphasized that the system could be powered by renewable energy sources, particularly solar panels mounted along the top of the tubes. This would make the system more sustainable and environmentally friendly than existing transportation methods.

Affordability: One of Musk's key points was that the Hyperloop could be cheaper to build and maintain compared to traditional high-speed rail systems. He envisioned the entire project costing a fraction of the price of California's proposed high-speed rail.

Autonomy and Efficiency: The Hyperloop would be autonomous and on-demand, meaning pods could leave as soon as passengers are ready, reducing the need for large stations or scheduled departures. It would be point-to-point, so there would be no intermediate stops, and there would be no traffic or weather delays.

Challenges:

Although Musk’s vision captured the imagination of the public and engineers, it faced significant technical, financial, and regulatory challenges. Building the infrastructure for such a system, ensuring safety at high speeds, and mitigating the effects of the vacuum environment on passengers were major hurdles. Additionally, the cost estimates and economic viability of the project have been debated.

Musk's Role:

While Musk provided the initial concept and vision for the Hyperloop, he did not pursue the project through his companies directly (Tesla or SpaceX). Instead, he released the idea as an open-source concept, encouraging other companies and entrepreneurs to develop the technology. This led to the formation of multiple companies like Virgin Hyperloop, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and others, all working to make the Hyperloop a reality.

In recent years, Musk's involvement with the Hyperloop has been more indirect. His tunneling company, The Boring Company, has focused on developing low-cost tunnel infrastructure that could be used for transportation, including future Hyperloop systems.

[truuther]

Houthis' email alert to Red Sea ships: Prepare for attack, with best regards

[ymijeansblog]

Detail-Oriented Divas: 3 Style Tips for Virgo Season

We all have that friend who seems too good to be true. She’s always on time, no matter the weather or traffic. Whether she’s wearing a sleek ponytail or a stylish messy bun, she never has a single strand out of place. She’s effortlessly stylish yet never overdressed. Even when she messes up, she messes up perfectly. No—she’s not a psychic or a sorceress. She’s simply a Virgo.

Whether your birthday falls between August 23rd and September 22nd or you’re an eclectic water sign who’s in awe of your balanced earth sign besties, check out these three fashion tips to curate that chic, sleek Virgo style.

Focus on Fit

How does this diligent sign always look so put together? It’s by design—literally. Virgos are known to be perfectionists, so when it comes to choosing clothes, they take the time to find great-fitting, high-quality staples. After all, when your clothes fit well, it instantly elevates your outfit, whether you’re wearing a figure-flattering pair of curvy jeans or your favorite LBD.

Luckily, you don’t need to visit a tailor to wear clothes that fit perfectly. Finding clothes that look like they were made for you can be easy with the right brands. While you might opt to take high-end investment pieces to a trusted tailor, you can enhance your everyday staples by choosing brands that offer comprehensive size guides and inclusive sizing.

Refine Your (Color) Palette 

Do people always compliment your eyes when you wear emerald green? Or do you just love how your favorite pastel low rise flare jeans bring out your natural tan? It’s more than just your imagination; understanding what colors enhance your natural glow can take your outfits from simple to stunning.

Virgos are known for being diligent, so what could be more indicative of this detail-oriented sign than doing your fashion homework? Take a color analysis quiz or visit a professional color specialist to learn more about your perfect palette. Understanding whether you’re a cool spring or a deep autumn can help you curate outfits that highlight your best features and develop an impeccable sense of style.

Accessorize with Intention

Just ask any Virgo: The details make all the difference! Finding accessories that highlight your personal style while striking that perfect balance between understated and elegant is the key to curating a Virgo-approved outfit. To accessorize like this detail-oriented sign, think of dainty jewelry, tortoise-shell claw clips, and earrings that add a demure touch of glimmer.

When it comes to accessorizing like a Virgo, less is often more. If you’re wearing your favorite statement sunnies, keep things simple with an understated gold necklace and stud earrings. Remembering to match your metals—from belt buckles to bracelets—is the key to accessorizing cohesively and making any Virgo proud.

Whether you’re known for your punctuality and polished appearance or you’re inspired by your favorite in vogue Virgo, these three tips can help you curate a style so perfect it’ll seem like it was written in the stars.

About YMI Jeans

Now that we’ve soaked up every second of New York Fashion Week, examined every page of those highly anticipated September magazine issues, and curated our fall mood boards, it's time to refresh our closets with chic staples and fresh trends. To nail this fall’s trends and give your style a seasonal refresh, turn to YMI Jeans, an it-girl denim brand based in the heart of Los Angeles. By blending runway-worthy trends with sleek streetwear staples, YMI Jeans has the denim fashion you need to curate the fall fits of your dreams. Feel effortlessly cool in womens curvy jeans, or turn heads in a pair of junior cargo pants on crisp fall mornings. Wherever your fall fashion journey takes you, YMI Jeans has fashionable pieces to suit your seasonal aesthetic. 

Daily Horoscope: Your next best denim fashion pieces are waiting for you at https://ymijeans.com/

Original Source: https://bit.ly/4ed5fGC 

[newstfionline]

Friday, August 23, 2024

Labor Dispute Halts Rail Freight in Canada, Raising Supply Chain Concerns (NYT) Rail freight traffic in Canada came to a standstill early Thursday as the country’s two main rail companies locked out about 10,000 employees, a move that could cause supply chain disruptions in the United States and serious economic consequences within Canada. The move follows months of contract talks that failed to reach an agreement. The two companies, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, said before the lockout that their extensive routes within the United States would continue to operate, but many businesses there are likely to be affected. About 6,500 containers enter the United States by rail from Canada every day, according to the Railway Association of Canada, an industry lobbying group. That includes cargo from Asia and Europe that lands in Canadian ports. Rail shipments into Canada from the United States will also be halted.

Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat (NYT) President Joe Biden approved in March a highly classified nuclear strategic plan for the United States that, for the first time, reorients America’s deterrent strategy to focus on China’s rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal. The shift comes as the Pentagon believes China’s stockpiles will rival the size and diversity of the United States’ and Russia’s over the next decade. The White House never announced that Biden had approved the revised strategy, called the “Nuclear Employment Guidance,” which also newly seeks to prepare the United States for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea. The document, updated every four years or so, is so highly classified that there are no electronic copies, only a small number of hard copies distributed to a few national security officials and Pentagon commanders. But in recent speeches, two senior administration officials were allowed to allude to the change—in carefully constrained, single sentences. “The president recently issued updated nuclear-weapons employment guidance to account for multiple nuclear-armed adversaries,” Vipin Narang, a nuclear strategist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who served in the Pentagon, said this month before returning to academia. “And in particular,” he added, the weapons guidance accounted for “the significant increase in the size and diversity” of China’s nuclear arsenal.

Panama starts returning migrants on US-funded flights (BBC) Panama on Tuesday started repatriating undocumented migrants on flights financed by the United States. The move comes less than two months after José Raúl Mulino was sworn in as Panama’s president. Mr Mulino campaigned on a promise to “close” the Darién Gap, the dangerous stretch of jungle which more than half a million migrants crossed last year on their way north from South America. The Biden administration said it had agreed to pay for the flights as part of its efforts to deter irregular migration. A group of 29 Colombians with criminal records were the first to be returned on Tuesday.

German warship blasts Darth Vader anthem in heart of London. ‘No deeper message,’ navy says. (AP) Germany’s navy says there was “no deeper message” in the choice to blast the famed Imperial March—Darth Vader’s theme song in the “Star Wars” films—from one of its warships as it cruised down the River Thames through London this week. A bystander captured the spectacle Monday on video, which quickly went viral on social media. The song selection made waves across Europe. The warship was in the area for training and dropped anchor in London for a normal supply stop, the German navy said. “The commander can choose the music freely,” the navy said in a statement Thursday. “The choice of music has no deeper message.” There’s no word whether Anakin Skywalker himself was aboard.

This superyacht hotspot for the uber-wealthy is heating up—and becoming more dangerous (CNN) The storm that sank the “Bayesian,” a luxury yacht anchored off the Sicily coast, was sudden, violent and deadly. The superyacht, which was carrying 22 people, sank in the early hours of Monday morning, near the port of Porticello, claiming at least five lives. Rescue operations have been hampered by the difficulties of reaching the vessel, which is resting on the sea floor approximately 165 feet deep. The incident has shocked many. The Mediterranean, prized for its crystal clear, tranquil waters, is a prime summer destination for the very wealthy and their superyachts. But these waters can still be dangerous—one of the reasons thousands of people die every year trying to migrate across it. Many believe the yacht was struck by a waterspout—one of several types of tornadoes. The coast guard reported the yacht was struck by a tornado, and a waterspout was reported to the European Severe Weather Database around the same time. Storms that day resulted in at least two dozen waterspout reports across Italy.

Poorly trained recruits contribute to loss of Ukrainian territory on eastern front, commanders say (AP) Some new Ukrainian soldiers refuse to fire at the enemy. Others, according to commanders and fellow fighters, struggle to assemble weapons or to coordinate basic combat movements. A few have even walked away from their posts, abandoning the battlefield altogether. While Ukraine presses on with its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, its troops are still losing precious ground along the country’s eastern front—a grim erosion that military commanders blame in part on poorly trained recruits drawn from a recent mobilization drive, as well as Russia’s clear superiority in ammunition and air power. Commanders say the recruits have contributed to a string of territorial losses that enabled Russia’s army to advance, including near the city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub. If it falls, the defeat would imperil Ukraine’s defenses and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region. Russian soldiers are now just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.

Myanmar households crippled as currency tumbles to record low (Reuters) A rapid depreciation of Myanmar’s currency is pushing up the prices of essentials, including food and medicine, crippling ordinary households in the Southeast Asian country wrecked by civil war and a crumbling economy. The Myanmar kyat has been extremely volatile in recent days, plunging to a low of 7,500 to the dollar in the black market last week from 5,000 earlier in the month, according to four foreign exchange traders. The plunge followed reports that the Myanmar junta was printing more kyat to prop up the currency, two traders said. The kyat has since recovered to around 6,000 to the dollar in the black market while the central bank’s official reference rate was 2,100 on Tuesday, with an online market trading rate of 3,400. But prices of essentials have not come down, six residents said. The kyat’s fall, rising transportation costs and disruptions in border trade have sent costs of some medicines and groceries soaring in Myanmar’s main cities in recent weeks, they said. “It used to cost about 25,000 kyat ($11.94) per week for our household groceries until about a month ago but now it costs about 40,000 kyat,” said a 27-year-old housewife from Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital.

Hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox Israelis Clash With Police Over Draft (NYT) Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israeli men protested outside a conscription center in Jerusalem on Wednesday and clashed with police officers amid rising national tensions about a court decision ordering a draft for the insular community. Israel’s military began sending conscription orders last month to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 26 after the Supreme Court in June ordered an end to exemptions that had been in place for decades. Military service is mandatory for most Israelis over 18, with some exceptions, such as for most Arab citizens. Before the ruling, over 60,000 ultra-Orthodox religious students of draft age were also formally exempt from service. The Israeli police said that they had sent reinforcements to try to maintain order, and Israeli news media reported that officers had sealed off several streets, used water cannons to disperse crowds and beaten some protesters with batons. The protest highlights the increased friction between Israel’s mainstream secular society and the ultra-Orthodox, the fastest-growing part of the population. Many ultra-Orthodox see full-time Torah study as crucial, arguing that this scholarship is what has ensured the survival of Jews for centuries.

The War in Gaza Is Making Thousands of Orphans (NYT) The war in Gaza is taking children from parents and parents from children, undoing the natural order of things, rupturing the basic unit of Gazan life. It is making so many orphans in such chaos that no agency or aid group can count them. Medical staff say children are left to roam hospital hallways and fend for themselves after being rushed there bloodied and alone—“wounded child, no surviving family,” some hospitals label them. Neonatal units house babies whom no one has come to claim. In Khan Younis, a volunteer-run camp has sprung up to shelter more than 1,000 children who have lost one or both parents, including the Akeilas. One section is dedicated to “only survivors,” children who have lost their entire families, except perhaps a sibling. There is a long waiting list. Amid the bombing, the constant pell-mell evacuations from tent to tent and apartment to hospital to shelter, no one can say how many children have lost track of their parents, and how many have lost them for good.

Copper and robbers (Wired) In most places, power companies are a pretty dull business. But in South Africa they are under a literal assault, targeted by heavily armed gangs that have crippled the nation’s energy infrastructure and claimed an ever-growing number of lives. Practically every day, homes across the country are plunged into darkness, train lines shut down, water supplies cut off, and hospitals forced to close, all because thieves are targeting the material that carries electricity: copper. The battle cry of energy transition advocates is “Electrify everything.” Meaning: Let’s power cars, heating systems, industrial plants, and every other type of machine with electricity rather than fossil fuels. To do that, we need copper—and lots of it. Second to silver, a rarer and far more expensive metal, copper is the best natural electrical conductor on Earth. We need it for solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. (A typical EV contains as much as 175 pounds of copper.) We need it for the giant batteries that will provide power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. We need it to massively expand and upgrade the countless miles of power cables that undergird the energy grid in practically every country. In the United States, the capacity of the electric grid will have to grow as much as threefold to meet the expected demand. A recent report from S&P Global predicts that the amount of copper we’ll need over the next 25 years will add up to more than the human race has consumed in its entire history. “The world has never produced anywhere close to this much copper in such a short time frame,” the report notes. The world might not be up to the challenge. Analysts predict supplies will fall short by millions of tons in the coming years. No wonder Goldman Sachs has declared “no decarbonization without copper” and called copper “the new oil.” In the past four years, the price of a ton of copper has shot from about $6,400 to more than $9,000. That, in turn, has made electrical wiring, equipment, and even raw metal fresh from the mines into juicy targets for thieves.

[airsllides]

airsLLide No. 3455: N342HA, Lockheed L-188PF Electra, Zantop International, Detroit-Willow Run, August 27, 1989.

Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan, is located just a few miles West of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. While the latter serves the classic passenger airlines, Willow Run is, apart from some general aviation traffic, a dedicated cargo airport. For decades, it's core business was to serve the US automotive industry and its frequent need to ship spares and parts overnight.

In the glory days of the US carbuilders, several air freight carriers specialised to this need, basing their fleets of cargo aircraft at Willow Run and offering a network of scheduled cargo flights radiating from there. One such carrier - perhaps the best known of them - was Zantop International. In the late 1980s, it still employed a fleet of over 50 freighters: 25 Lockheed L-188 Electras and 14 Convair 580/640 turboprops accounted for the largest part of the fleet. They were joined by around eight to ten DC-8F-50/DC-8-62F jets that were used both for domestic cargo and international military transport flights. The last two or three of the once 16 aircraft strong fleet of Douglas DC-6 freighters were still kept serviceable, too, serving as stand-by aircraft in case of sudden, unforeseen demand.

[industrynewsupdates]

Uncovering the Latest Developments in Airlines Procurement Intelligence

The airlines category is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7% from 2023 to 2030. The North America region accounts for the largest share. This category is expected to experience significant growth due to the rapid increase in air passenger traffic, and a strong focus on improving the passenger experience. This category expansion is being driven by ongoing advancements in wireless technology and a rising preference for intelligent airport designs. One of the major technologies in the airline industry is the use of blockchain to track luggage, improve passenger comfort and flight data security while obtaining greater transparency and efficiency.

Intelligent airports are growing because of the development of Metaverse, a technology that uses a mix of virtual, augmented reality, and advanced internet. For instance, in 2022, Qatar Airways launched QVerse, where visitors can experience Qatar's website through novel virtual reality. Similarly, in 2022, Bangalore International Airport in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched BLR Metaport to offer a 3D virtual experience of its newly launched terminal.

Autonomous robots are revolutionizing the baggage handling process at airports. They are designed to transport luggage from the check-in counter to the aircraft or from the aircraft to the baggage claim area. For instance, in 2022, in the U.S., Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Pittsburgh implemented autonomous robots, named Ottobots, to deliver retail, food and beverages.

The utilization of IoT technology enables the tracking of luggage, monitoring equipment performance, and enhancement of aircraft maintenance. For instance, sensors installed on aircraft engines can identify potential issues and notify maintenance airline crews in advance, averting any breakdowns. Additionally, cloud-based networks and IoT technologies help the passenger from the check-in to boarding process autonomously.

Order your copy of the Airlines Procurement Intelligence Report, 2023 -2030, published by Grand View Research, to get more details regarding day one, quick wins, portfolio analysis, key negotiation strategies of key suppliers, and low-cost/best-cost sourcing analysis

In the airlines category, the use of blockchain traceability can aid various functions related to maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO). By generating digital product passports, it establishes a documented history of parts and components, including their composition and origins. These passports may also incorporate disassembly manuals or instructions. Consequently, airline companies can prolong the lifespan of their products and effectively monitor the subsequent reuse of parts and components. For instance, in August 2022, Boeing partnered with Canada's TrustFlight and RaceRock to create a digital aircraft record system using blockchain technology for aircraft maintenance. The system is an expansion of Boeing-Honeywell's GoDirect Trade platform. The maintenance system would help the company improve productivity and efficiency by 25%.

Labor and fuel cost are the major expenses in the airlines category. Labor costs, which account for 20 - 30% of the airline's operating expenses are generally fixed in the short run. Whereas fuel costs highly depend on the price of oil. Fuel costs account for approximately 10 - 12% of the operating expenses. In January 2023, the freight rate reduced due to a decrease in cargo volumes. The Europe region saw a decrease in cargo ton-kilometers of 20.4%, followed by Asia Pacific, which saw a reduction of 19.0% in January 2023 compared to January 2022.

Airlines Category Procurement Intelligence Report Scope

• Airlines Category Growth Rate (CAGR): CAGR of 7%, from 2023 to 2030

• Pricing growth Outlook: 10 - 18%

• Pricing Models: Dynamic pricing model

• Supplier Selection Scope: Cost and pricing, Past engagements, Productivity, Geographical presence

• Supplier selection criteria: Inflight services, entertainment, storage space, analytics and reporting modules, integrations, technical specifications, operational capabilities, regulatory standards and mandates, category innovations, and others.

• Report Coverage: Revenue forecast, supplier ranking, supplier positioning matrix, emerging technology, pricing models, cost structure, competitive landscape, growth factors, trends, engagement, and operating model

Browse through Grand View Research’s collection of procurement intelligence studies:

• Yacht Charter Procurement Intelligence Report, 2023 - 2030 (Revenue Forecast, Supplier Ranking & Matrix, Emerging Technologies, Pricing Models, Cost Structure, Engagement & Operating Model, Competitive Landscape)

• Fixed Line Services Procurement Intelligence Report, 2023 - 2030 (Revenue Forecast, Supplier Ranking & Matrix, Emerging Technologies, Pricing Models, Cost Structure, Engagement & Operating Model, Competitive Landscape)

Key companies 

• Qatar Airways

• Delta Air Lines Inc.

• American Airlines Group Inc.

• Southwest Airlines Co.

• United Airlines Holdings Inc.

• International Airlines Group (IAG)

• Lufthansa Group

• Air France-KLM

• Emirates Group

• China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd.

• Singapore Airlines

• ANA All Nippon Airways

Brief about Pipeline by Grand View Research:

A smart and effective supply chain is essential for growth in any organization. Pipeline division at Grand View Research provides detailed insights on every aspect of supply chain, which helps in efficient procurement decisions.

Our services include (not limited to):

• Market Intelligence involving – market size and forecast, growth factors, and driving trends

• Price and Cost Intelligence – pricing models adopted for the category, total cost of ownerships

• Supplier Intelligence – rich insight on supplier landscape, and identifies suppliers who are dominating, emerging, lounging, and specializing

• Sourcing / Procurement Intelligence – best practices followed in the industry, identifying standard KPIs and SLAs, peer analysis, negotiation strategies to be utilized with the suppliers, and best suited countries for sourcing to minimize supply chain disruptions

[alertfacts]

The Russian Brick Incident: A Tragic Reminder of Road Safety

On August 12, a seemingly ordinary day in Russia, an incident occurred that would forever change the lives of many and serve as a stark reminder of the importance of road safety. Dubbed the Russian Brick Incident, this tragedy involved a brick falling off a truck and hitting the windshield of a car, leading to the untimely death of Olga Gaikovich, a 29-year-old woman. The incident, caught on video, went viral, highlighting the often-overlooked dangers of driving and the necessity for stringent road-safety practices.

The Unfolding of the Russian Brick Incident

A Routine Drive Turns Fatal

It was just another day on the Russian roads, with vehicles moving briskly, people rushing to their destinations, and the usual hustle and bustle of city life. Olga Gaikovich was on her way to an appointment, navigating the familiar routes she had taken countless times before. Little did she know, a few moments later, her life would come to a tragic end.

As Olga's car approached an intersection, a truck carrying construction materials took a sharp turn. In that instant, a loose brick dislodged from the back of the truck and plummeted towards the ground. With no time to react, the brick shattered Olga's windshield, causing catastrophic damage. The scene was captured by a nearby dashcam, and the footage quickly spread across social media, earning the incident its infamous name: the Russian Brick Incident.

The Aftermath and Viral Sensation

A Nation in Shock

The immediate aftermath of the incident was chaotic. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but it was too late to save Olga. Her death sent shockwaves through the community, sparking a nationwide conversation about road safety and the responsibilities of drivers and transporters.

The viral nature of the footage added to the intensity of the public's reaction. People from all walks of life shared the video, expressing their condolences and outrage. Hashtags like #RussianBrickIncident, #RoadSafety, and #RememberOlga began trending, emphasizing the collective grief and demand for change.

The Role of Social Media

Social media played a crucial role in bringing attention to the Russian Brick Incident. The harrowing footage served as a powerful visual reminder of the potential dangers on the road. As the video circulated, it garnered millions of views and sparked debates about road safety regulations, vehicle maintenance, and the responsibilities of both drivers and transport companies.

While the virality of the incident helped raise awareness, it also brought about a deeper understanding of the fragility of life and the importance of vigilance while driving. The video became a catalyst for change, prompting authorities to take a closer look at existing safety measures and implement stricter regulations.

The Importance of Road Safety

Learning from Tragedy

The Russian Brick Incident, while devastating, served as a crucial lesson in road safety. It highlighted the need for better enforcement of safety regulations and the importance of proper vehicle maintenance. Transport companies were urged to ensure their loads were secure, and drivers were reminded of the potential consequences of negligence.

To drive home the importance of road safety, consider these key points:

Secure Loads Properly: Ensuring that all cargo is securely fastened can prevent accidents like the Russian Brick Incident.

Regular Vehicle Maintenance: Regular checks and maintenance of vehicles can identify and fix potential hazards.

Stay Vigilant: Always be aware of your surroundings and be prepared for unexpected situations on the road.

Follow Safety Regulations: Adhering to traffic laws and safety guidelines is crucial for the well-being of all road users.

Practical Steps for Road Safety

To prevent similar incidents in the future, authorities and individuals alike can take several practical steps:

Strengthening Regulations: Implement stricter regulations for securing loads on trucks and other heavy vehicles.

Increasing Inspections: Conduct regular inspections of commercial vehicles to ensure compliance with safety standards.

Raising Awareness: Launch public awareness campaigns to educate drivers and transport companies about the importance of road safety.

Improving Infrastructure: Invest in better road infrastructure to minimize risks and enhance overall safety.

Encouraging Responsibility: Foster a culture of responsibility and accountability among drivers and transporters.

The Human Element

Remembering Olga Gaikovich

Amid the discussions about road safety, it's essential to remember the human element of the Russian Brick Incident. Olga Gaikovich was not just a statistic; she was a beloved daughter, sister, and friend. Her untimely death left a void in the lives of those who knew and loved her.

In memory of Olga, her family and friends have advocated for road safety reforms, hoping to prevent other families from experiencing similar heartache. Their efforts have contributed to the broader movement for change, ensuring that Olga's legacy serves as a beacon for safer roads.

Personal Stories and Testimonials

The Russian Brick Incident also brought to light numerous personal stories and testimonials from individuals who had experienced similar close calls on the road. These stories underscored the randomness of such incidents and the importance of always being prepared for the unexpected.

For instance, Ivan, a truck driver with over 20 years of experience, shared his near-miss story. "I've seen it all on the roads," he said. "But that day, a brick falling off a truck ahead of me nearly ended my life. Since then, I've been extra cautious with my cargo and always double-check my load before hitting the road."

The Broader Impact

Policy Changes and Reforms

The public outcry following the Russian Brick Incident led to significant policy changes and reforms. Authorities took swift action to address the gaps in road safety regulations, implementing measures to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Among the changes were:

Stricter Penalties: Increased fines and penalties for violations of load-securing regulations.

Mandatory Training: Implementation of mandatory safety training programs for truck drivers and transport companies.

Enhanced Monitoring: Introduction of advanced monitoring systems to track the safety compliance of commercial vehicles.

These reforms aimed to create a safer environment for all road users, reducing the likelihood of tragic incidents like the Russian Brick Incident.

Global Awareness and Advocacy

The impact of the Russian Brick Incident extended beyond Russia's borders. The viral video and widespread media coverage sparked global discussions about road safety, leading to similar movements and advocacy efforts in other countries. Road safety organizations and advocacy groups used the incident as a case study to push for reforms and improvements in their regions.

The international response underscored the universal nature of road safety concerns and the shared responsibility of drivers, transporters, and authorities worldwide. The incident became a rallying point for collective action, emphasizing that safer roads are a global priority.

Conclusion

The Russian Brick Incident was a tragic event that left an indelible mark on the lives of many. It served as a powerful reminder of the importance of road safety and the potential consequences of negligence. While Olga Gaikovich's death was a devastating loss, her memory has inspired positive change and a renewed commitment to safer roads.

Through policy reforms, increased awareness, and personal responsibility, we can honor Olga's legacy and work towards a future where such incidents are rare. The Russian Brick Incident may have been a moment of tragedy, but it also ignited a movement for safer roads, reminding us all of the value of life and the importance of vigilance behind the wheel.

[beardedmrbean]

Russia's Baltic Fleet no longer has the ability to launch large-scale amphibious operations, according to a new report.

The findings are based on analysis of recent drills—dubbed Ocean Shield 2023—conducted by the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea, according to a report from Rochan Consulting. The firm specializes in open source intelligence, conflict reporting and analysis, the global defense market, and national security, and currently focuses on monitoring military operations in Ukraine.

Russia's Baltic Fleet began its Ocean Shield 2023 naval exercises in August under the command of Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it involved more than 30 military vessels and boats, 20 support vessels, 30 aircraft, and some 6,000 military personnel.

The exercise took place at the same time as NATO was holding its own Baltic Sea drills.

Rochan Consulting noted that the exercise came at a time when the relationship between Russia and NATO member states was at its lowest. At the same time, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has negatively impacted its armed forces, including the Russian Navy.

"The Baltic Fleet, in particular, has had its capacities degraded," the report said, noting that three of its large landing ships had been deployed to the Black Sea prior to the war, and because of the closure of the Bosphorus Strait to military traffic, they have not been able to return to their home port of Baltiysk.

"Likewise, the Baltic Fleet's 336th Naval Infantry Brigade suffered significant losses in the war, significantly degrading the fleet's capacity for power projection," it said.

The consulting firm assessed that the Ocean Shield 2023 military drills "attempted to showcase to NATO that Russia could still project its power across the Baltic Fleet and damage NATO's potential in the region."

Russia's Defense Ministry said in August that the drills were designed to test "the navy's readiness to protect the national interests of the Russian Federation in an operationally important area" and would involve forces practicing how to "protect sea lanes, transport troops and military cargo, as well as defend the coastline."

But the exercises only confirmed that the Baltic Fleet has lost its ability to conduct a large-scale offensive amphibious operation "due to the involvement of its Ropucha-class landing ships and the 336th Naval Infantry Brigade in the war in Ukraine," the report said.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

[mariacallous]

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine’s national railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, assumed massive strategic importance in the war effort. It ferried troops to the front lines and refugees away from them. It transported hundreds of diplomatic delegations to Kyiv. It rapidly restored rail connections to de-occupied areas, such as Kherson and Izyum. And when Russian warships made the seas too dangerous to export Ukrainian goods, the railways picked up the slack. Feted at home and abroad, Ukrzaliznytsia has come to symbolize Ukrainian resilience and resourcefulness in the face of crisis.

But the wartime story of Ukraine’s railways isn’t just one of survival, it’s also one of expansion. As Russia constructs its own lines to newly occupied Ukrainian territories, Ukraine is taking matters into its own hands. With the help of hundreds of millions of euros from international institutions—including a 200-million-euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development last year—Ukraine is building and restoring freight and passenger lines, creating the infrastructure to deepen its ties to Europe in ways that may outlast Russia’s invasion.

But there is one major problem: Ukraine’s rail infrastructure is a legacy of a time when the region’s political and economic center of gravity lay in Moscow. The country’s railway gauge, which differentiates the width of the tracks in many post-Soviet states from those in the rest of Europe, means that cross-border transit takes longer than usual. The last few years have made clear that Ukraine’s old orientation toward Russia is no longer viable. If its European aspirations hinge on its ability to connect itself with its neighbors to the west, then the railway gauge difference will be a significant obstacle to this future.

In April, Foreign Policy traveled into Ukraine on the 10-hour direct train from Vienna and left on the night train to the neighboring Moldovan capital, Chisinau. The first route began in late 2023 as one of several new international connections launched by Ukrzaliznytsia, and the latter was restored in late 2022 after a 24-year hiatus.

Ukrzaliznytsia officials told Foreign Policy that the number of passengers who traveled annually on their international routes skyrocketed from 40,000 in 2021 to 2.1 million in 2023, not including passengers who traveled on special evacuation trains. This growth “doesn’t happen by itself,” head of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Lyashchenko said at a press conference in Kyiv. ��Serious work was carried out.”

Although less visible to the average passenger, Ukrzaliznytsia’s European cargo expansion has been central to the country’s broader railway ambitions. According to Ukrzaliznytsia figures, in 2023 rail transport made up 62 percent of the country’s total cargo traffic. “Ukrzaliznytsia is mostly a freight company; transporting passengers is more of a social function,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, a former journalist and member of Ukrzaliznytsia’s supervisory board, in an interview in Kyiv.

This infrastructure has proved critical now that safe use of the country’s skies and seas is no longer guaranteed. Take, for example, Ukraine’s massive grain sector. Prior to the war, some 90 percent of Ukrainian grain was exported from ports on the Black Sea. But with part of the coast under occupation or frequent attack, exporters needed an alternative route. In 2022, Ukraine started building a series of dry ports—large hubs where cargo is loaded between trains and trucks—to help.

In August 2022, Ukraine and Moldova also reopened a 22-kilometer stretch of railway in the town of Basarabeasca that had gone unused for 23 years, allowing Ukrainian grain to pass through Moldova and be exported from ports in Romania. This meant that in July 2023, when Russia refused to renew a grain deal that allowed Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea, Kyiv had safer export routes to fall back on. The small stretch of railway “saved us,” as Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for restoration and minister of infrastructure until May, put it.

Ukraine’s work in this area is far from over. Big plans are already underway to further expand the country’s railways, not only refurbishing old cross-border lines and transport facilities on its borders but also constructing new ones. But these ambitions are complicated by the infrastructure Ukraine inherited. Many locomotives and wagons still in use were built elsewhere in the former Soviet Union; those made in Ukraine were built to run on post-Soviet rails. Most important, however, is the railway gauge, or the width between rails. Gauge sizes are not standardized worldwide. Ukraine uses the 1,520 mm railway gauge, but with the exception of Moldova, its western neighbors use the narrower 1,435 mm European gauge.

This means that a train running from, say, Warsaw to Kyiv must adjust the width of the axle between its wheels as it crosses the border. This can add several hours onto any rail journey depending on the context, which limits the number of trains able to use cross-border routes.

There are several ways that Ukraine could go about converting its tracks to the European gauge. Ukrainian officials have signed a memorandum on the use of Spanish technology that, by allowing the train’s wheels to slide along their axis as the track narrows or widens, makes it possible to switch between two gauges without stopping. Ukraine could also convert its tracks to dual-gauge lines, allowing trains of different gauges to use the same tracks. Another option would be to lay standard and wide-gauge tracks alongside each other, which already exists at one cargo facility near the Romanian border. Seven tracks converge here: three wide gauge, three European gauge, and one track with four rails, on which all trains can run.

Kubrakov told Foreign Policy that because there are thousands of kilometers of wide-gauge railways across Ukraine, replacing them all would be unrealistic and financially impractical. A July 2023 feasibility study commissioned by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank estimated that modernizing just 1 kilometer of Ukraine’s railways on flat terrain would cost around 1 million euros, and converting double tracks to European gauge could cost up to eight times that amount.

Railway officials told Foreign Policy that there are 308 kilometers of European-gauge tracks across Ukraine, but only 155 kilometers are currently used, concentrated on the western border. The current plan is to extend these tracks on key routes to connect a handful of cities in western Ukraine, then improve the capacity of these cities’ domestic connections within existing railway lines.

Any project to change gauge, Lyashchenko said, will have to be piecemeal. In April, officials announced the construction of 22 kilometers of European-gauge railway. A more ambitious plan, to which the U.S. Agency for International Development will contribute $225 million, is to build 75 kilometers of European-gauge track from a planned station outside Lviv to the Polish border at Mostyska, where a new dry port is located. Last October, Ukrzaliznytsia also reopened a border crossing at Rava-Ruska with a small section of European-gauge track and launched a direct train from Lviv to Warsaw for the first time in 18 years.

The longer-term ambition is to make Lviv into a European transport hub, with European-gauge intercity railways connecting it to Uzhhorod and Chernivtsi. Oleh Vasilyev, who runs Iron Highways, a popular YouTube channel about Ukraine’s railways, said that if the European-gauge railway crosses the Carpathian Mountains and reaches Lviv, “there will be a big effect” because the city is central to so many of the country’s transport routes. But this is “a project of decades, not years,” Vasilyev said.

Completing this transition is an extreme expense for any country to undertake—not least one at war. But the cost of not doing so could have real strategic impact for a country whose survival now depends on support from neighbors. “As I see it, European gauge isn’t a project of Ukrzaliznytsia, but of the Ukrainian state,” Lyashchenko said. “Because it’s about more than a gauge, but an economic path.”

The strategic importance of Ukraine switching to European gauge is obvious. After all, delays at the border don’t just affect passengers or commercial exports. “In the case of war, the same gauge greatly improves the efficiency of weapons deliveries,” said Konrad Poplawski of OSW, a Warsaw-based think tank.

To Poplawski, the decadeslong and still ongoing efforts of the Baltic states to link their railways with Europe demonstrates that the massive short-term investment is worth the long-term strategic benefits. They, too, inherited Soviet gauges, and since the fall of the Soviet Union, they have sought to integrate their transit networks with the rest of Europe as part of the Rail Baltica project. Potentially the largest Baltic infrastructure project in a generation, it has been mired by delays, and full integration won’t be possible for years to come. Because they were still dependent on Russian gauges, the shock of decoupling after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was especially steep. “Trying to sit on the fence in the case of transport infrastructure doesn’t pay off,” Poplawski said. “The Baltic states were slow to realize this and maintained their dependence on the Russian market for much longer.”

A switch to the European gauge may symbolize broader hopes, but experts in Kyiv say it is a distraction from more pressing issues. For Serhiy Vovk, director of the Kyiv-based Center for Transport Strategies, there is no point in discussing European-gauge railways in Ukraine without talking about the speed of transport, which will increase capacity for both freight and passenger services. That means completing electrification, which the country has already achieved in one crucial freight-only line to Poland since the Russian invasion. New routes and ambitions also require updating Ukraine’s diesel locomotive fleet, the vast majority of which is reportedly more than 25 years old. “In the case of the Warsaw-to-Kyiv route, demand exceeds our supply. The wagons are old and of a limited number; we could replace them, but it’s serious money,” noted Kubrakov.

Ultimately, the goal of Ukraine’s commercial and passenger railway expansion is not to replace other transport modes but to diversify them. Ukrzaliznytsia hopes this will pay financial dividends in the long run. Yet given Ukraine’s precarious geopolitical state, this diversification is also tied up in a sense of survival—as Vovk put it: “In the case that, God forbid, something else happens … we can quickly reorient.”

European support for this expansion is underpinned by the hope that an enhanced export capability will help Ukraine pay for its economic recovery. Following Russia’s invasion, the EU suspended import duties and tariffs on several Ukrainian agricultural exports to help the country’s economy stay afloat. But as Ukrainian railways stretch into the continent, European anxieties and regulations are meeting them head on.

Ukrzaliznytsia has already registered its own subsidiary in Poland to enter the freight market on EU railways. As it becomes cheaper for Ukraine to export many of its harvests through Europe, some European operators may be afraid of a new competitor entering the European market that does not yet play by the same rules. For instance, the rerouting of large-scale Ukrainian grain exports by land has been so successful that it inflamed tensions with Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Agricultural lobbies feared that prices would be undercut by the influx of Ukrainian grain, despite Ukrainian assurances that it would only travel through neighboring countries and not be sold in their markets.

Poplawski said that EU states in central Europe are cautiously optimistic about Ukraine’s attempts to reorient its transport networks to the west, but with major caveats. “Accession to the single market cannot be introduced without serious adjustments on the Ukrainian side to maintain a level playing field. The first stage when the Ukrainian economy had to be rescued from collapse is over, and some temporary schemes should be reassessed,” he argued. “The goal of the EU should be to make Ukrainian grain more competitive toward Russian grain on third markets.”

Many of the foreign friends that have assisted Ukrzaliznytsia’s expansion are also pushing for liberalization and de-monopolization reforms that could weaken its leading role in Ukrainian rail transport. Under its association agreement with the EU, Ukraine must pass a law on rail transport that includes certain norms for a competitive railway market, but it has made little progress toward this goal.

The proposed “unbundling” of Ukrzaliznytsia, a joint-stock company in which the Ukrainian state is the sole shareholder, would split the company up into entities handling passenger services and freight. Lyashchenko told Foreign Policy that “different understandings” of this concept existed even within EU institutions, yet the contours of the proposal are clear enough to worry Ukrainian officials and analysts.

“The European model is built to externally finance unprofitable sectors. Here in Ukraine, we subsidize unprofitable passenger transportation with cargo transport. Many don’t like it. But the company is stable in Ukraine,” Lyashchenko explained.

For Ukraine’s railway enthusiasts and transport planners, the switch to the European gauge isn’t just about connecting Ukraine to Europe but also maximizing Ukraine’s transit potential more broadly. While Russia’s invasion has severed Ukraine’s railway links toward Asia, it does not make them impossible, Vovk said. These trains can still link to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, allowing for trade with the Caucasus, Turkey, and the rest of the world beyond Russia’s reach.

“Europe has an interest in the growth of Ukraine’s economy,” Vovk said. The more effectively goods can enter and leave Ukraine, the more attractive the country will be as a place to do business, and thus the less macroeconomic support it will need from the EU. The immediate expense of threading Ukraine’s railway network into Europe’s is steep, but Ukrainian policymakers believe that such an investment may be one of the best chances to set up the country to stand on its own two feet.

[bizworldinsights]

Aircraft Sensor 

The estimated value of the global aircraft sensor market stood at US$ 4.3 billion in 2019 and is poised to witness a steady growth with a projected CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period. This growth is primarily attributed to advancements in the semiconductor industry and the declining costs of sensors and associated devices.

As of now, wired-based aircraft sensors continue to dominate the global market, securing over 90% revenue share in 2019. However, there is a notable expectation of significant growth in the wireless segment in the near future. The increasing adoption of wireless sensors is driven by the desire to reduce the overall weight of aircraft and maximize payload space by eliminating physical cables.

In a significant development, the Armstrong Flight Research Center announced the development of wireless sensors based on a gateway utilizing software-defined radio (SDR) to manage information flow among various wireless devices and a vehicle's avionics.

Regional Analysis:

North America: Currently leading the global aircraft sensor market with over 25% revenue share in 2019, North America is driven by consistent investments in military aircraft.

Europe: Following North America, Europe holds over 20% revenue share in 2019. This is fueled by ongoing investments and developments in military aviation.

Asia Pacific: Anticipated to experience substantial growth during the forecast period, Asia Pacific is driven by the increasing air passenger and cargo traffic, representing over 30% of passenger traffic and over 35% of cargo traffic globally. Notably, China and India are the leading countries in terms of both passenger and cargo traffic.

Top Aircraft Sensors Manufacturers:

Honeywell International, Inc.: A key player in the industry, Honeywell focuses on continuous innovation and expansion. In August 2017, the company launched a new series of self-diagnosing sensors for aircraft.

UTC Aerospace Systems: Renowned for its expertise in aerospace technologies, UTC Aerospace Systems remains at the forefront of the global market.

TE Connectivity Ltd.: With a strong presence in the market, TE Connectivity is recognized for its commitment to introducing new products and enhancing connectivity solutions.

Ametek, Inc.: As a prominent player, Ametek contributes to the industry through its diverse product offerings and commitment to technological advancements.

General Electric Company: A leading conglomerate, General Electric plays a vital role in the aircraft sensor market, offering a broad range of solutions.

Meggitt PLC: A key player in aerospace, defense, and energy markets, Meggitt PLC contributes to the industry with its innovative sensor technologies.

Safran S.A.: Renowned for its aerospace and defense solutions, Safran S.A. continues to be a major player in the global market.

Woodward Inc.: A global leader in aerospace control systems, Woodward Inc. is recognized for its contributions to the industry.

Thales Group: A prominent multinational company, Thales Group is known for its expertise in aerospace, defense, and security solutions.

Zodiac Aerospace: Acquired by Safran Group, Zodiac Aerospace remains a significant player in the market, offering a variety of aerospace technologies.

Research Scope:

By Aircraft Type:

Commercial

Military

By Platform Type:

Rotary Aircraft

Fixed-wing Aircraft

UAV

By Sensor Type:

Temperature

Pressure

Position

Flow

Speed and Torque

Radar

Accelerometers

Proximity

Other

By Connectivity:

Wired

Wireless

By Application:

Engine

Airframe

Flight Deck & Control System

Fluid Conveyance

Landing Gear

Environment Control System

Interior

Others

The global aircraft sensor market, characterized by continuous innovation and expanding applications, presents diverse opportunities for manufacturers. As the industry witnesses technological advancements, the top players continue to enhance their product offerings, contributing to the overall growth of the market

[spacenutspod]

The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, rolls out from its park site location to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2023 for testing ahead of the agency’s Artemis II mission.NASA/Ben Smegelsky Another jam-packed year is in store for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the momentum of a busy 2023 is carried forward into the new year. On the horizon are missions to the Moon, more crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station, and several upgrade projects across the spaceport. NASA’s first CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative mission with Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is set to begin work in 2024 after lifting off on the inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. These missions will help the agency develop capabilities needed to explore the Moon under Artemis ahead of sending astronauts to the lunar surface.  Another CLPS mission, set for launch early in the year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will send the Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander to a landing site at the Moon’s South Pole region. The mission will carry NASA payloads focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.   The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in November 2023 on the company’s 29th commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. SpaceX Development toward Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed test flight of its lunar-focused Artemis program continues across Kennedy. SLS (Space Launch System) hardware, including twin solid rocket boosters and a 212-foot-tall core stage for the Artemis II mission, will begin stacking and integration inside the Vehicle Assembly Building in the coming months, after which teams will begin a series of testing prior to launch. Processing also is underway on the core stage for Artemis III.  The Artemis II Orion crew and service modules will continue prelaunch processing inside Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building alongside the crew modules for Artemis III and Artemis IV– NASA’s initial missions to land the next humans on the lunar surface.   The Starliner team works to finalize the mate of the crew module and new service module for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test that will take NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to and from the International Space Station.Boeing/John Grant NASA and its commercial partners, Boeing and SpaceX, have three Commercial Crew Program missions set to fly from Florida’s Space Coast, setting up another busy year of traffic for the International Space Station in 2024. Teams are readying for the short-duration Crew Flight Test of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner no earlier than April. Meanwhile, NASA and SpaceX will continue crew rotation missions to the orbiting laboratory with Crew-8 expected no earlier than mid-February and Crew-9 to follow in mid-August.   Other crewed missions to the space station include SpaceX and Axiom Space’s short-duration Axiom Mission 3 and Axiom Mission 4 private astronaut missions.   SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn, the second private short-duration orbital flight will also lift off from Kennedy with four individuals that plan to attempt the first-ever commercial spacewalk.  Along with crewed flights, three of the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services missions hosted on SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus, and the debut flight of Sierra Space’s cargo spaceplane, Dream Chaser, are slated to fly from Kennedy next year to deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment, and science investigations to the orbiting laboratory.  The four SpaceX Crew-8 crew members (from left) Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos, and Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, all NASA astronauts, are pictured training inside a Dragon mockup crew vehicle at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. SpaceX NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy has several science and CubeSat missions manifested to fly on commercial rockets next year. They represent a mix of some of the agency’s most complex robotic and scientific missions, as well as smaller cost-efficient missions, and missions sponsored by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative.  The first of three primary missions is NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft that will launch early next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. PACE’s science goals include extending ocean color, atmospheric aerosol, and cloud data records for Earth system and climate studies.   GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U) is slated to launch in April on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the fourth and final satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series of advanced geostationary weather-observing satellites. Scheduled for an October launch on a Falcon Heavy, the agency’s Europa Clipper mission will investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa to determine if it has conditions suitable to support life.   Among the small spacecraft and CubeSat missions slated to launch in 2024 are two dedicated launches on Rocket Lab’s Electron for PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Infrared Experiment), which aims to give researchers a more accurate picture of the energy entering and leaving Earth. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket will host NASA’s EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission that will send two spacecraft to study solar wind energy and momentum through Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere.  Technicians process the NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA/Kim Shiflett While next year’s expected cadence of nearly 100 launches from Florida’s Space Coast is likely to mirror 2023’s record-setting pace, something else to look out for will be upgrade and sustainability efforts around the spaceport.   The Indian River Bridge construction project, which opened the first of two spans in June of 2023, and the solar site 6 project of the Utility Energy Services Contract, are expected to wrap up and become fully operational next year.  Restoration and beautification efforts across Kennedy also include the consideration of several sites for development into natural wildflower prairies. In the spring, Spaceport Integration’s sustainability team will work on “Project Arbor at the Spaceport.” It will focus on planting Florida native trees and one seedling from the Artemis Moon Tree project along the Fitness Trail near Operations Support Building II to provide shade, benefit wildlife, and help improve air quality.  A historical marker sponsored by NASA and the Florida Department of State will be installed in early 2024 at the site of Kennedy’s original Headquarters Building making it the first to be located within Kennedy’s secure area.  As 2023 draws to a close, Kennedy Space Center is gearing up to support more groundbreaking missions that will expand human knowledge of Earth and our solar system while protecting the local ecosystem and natural resources. 

[sudeepkedar]

Cargo Bike Market to surpass USD 2 Bn by 2032

Cargo Bike Market is projected to cross USD 2 Bn by 2032. The global cargo bike market is anticipated to grow at a significant rate through 2032. The pressing need to beat traffic congestion will raise the demand and production of cargo bikes across the globe. These bikes offer improved maneuverability in traffic-congested regions due to their small size.

Major market players are implementing a variety of growth tactics including alliances, collaborations, and the construction of new manufacturing facilities to increase their business share globally. For instance, in August 2021, Giant Bicycles, a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, opened a new production facility in Vietnam with a $48 million investment to penetrate the market and generate more profit.

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Based on type, the industry is segregated into two-wheeled, three-wheeled, and four-wheeled. The four-wheeled segment is set to witness an upsurge in growth through the forecast timeframe. These cargo bikes are largely used in last-mile delivery applications. Manufacturers are also launching new four-wheeled electric cargo bikes to stay competitive in the market.

With respect to the drivetrain, the cargo bike market share from the non-electric segment is expected to record over 8.4% CAGR between 2023 to 2032. Fundamental challenges presented by densely populated places including traffic congestion, pollution, health hazards, and fuel expenditure will support product deployment.

In terms of application, the segment has been classified into parcel delivery, courier, food delivery, and others. The others segment is slated to proliferate at a CAGR of 4% through 2032 attributed to the additional advantages they offer over motorized cars and vans, including reduced prices and fewer carbon emissions.

On the basis of sales channels, the offline segment is projected to register a steady growth rate through the forecast timeframe. The market for offline sales channels is being pushed by an increase in the number of customer interaction in retail stores. These stores, unlike online sales channels, allow customers to test-drive and experience new cargo bikes before purchase.

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From the regional outlook, Asia Pacific accounted for over 38% share of the global cargo bike market in 2021, owing to the highly congested nature of most of the regional roadways in the region and the higher affordability of cargo bikes. The regional market is also being driven by rapidly expanding urbanization and a waning consumer for large vehicles such as vans and trucks, especially in the more compact areas of urban cities. Many in the region's logistics sector prefer cargo bikes due to their highly maneuverable designs.

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 2   Executive Summary

2.1    Cargo Bike industry 3600 synopsis, 2018 – 2032

2.2    Business trends

2.2.1    TAM, 2023 - 2032

2.3    Regional trends

2.4    Type trends

2.5    Sales channel trends

2.6    Drivetrain trends

2.7    Application type trends

Chapter 3   Cargo Bike Industry Insights

3.1    Introduction

3.2    Impact of COVID-19 outbreak

3.2.1    By region

3.2.1.1   North America

3.2.1.2   Europe

3.2.1.3   Asia Pacific

3.2.1.4   Latin America

3.2.1.5   Middle East & Africa

3.3    Impact analysis of Russia-Ukraine war

3.4    Cargo Bike industry ecosystem analysis

3.4.1    Raw material and component suppliers

3.4.2    Technology Providers

3.4.3    Manufacturers

3.4.4    End-use landscape

3.4.5    Profit margin analysis

3.4.6    Distribution channel analysis

3.4.7    Vendor matrix

3.5    Key initiatives & news

3.6    Patent analysis

3.7    Technology and innovation landscape

3.8    Regulatory landscape

3.8.1    International Standards

3.8.2    North America

3.8.3    Europe

3.8.4    Asia Pacific

3.8.5    Latin America

3.8.6    MEA

3.9    Industry impact forces

3.9.1    Growth drivers

3.9.1.1   Increasing deployment of cargo bikes in last mile delivery application

3.9.1.2   Growing manufacturing and export of cargo bikes in Europe

3.9.1.3   Growing usage of cargo bicycles due to rising traffic congestion across globe

3.9.1.4   Growing inclination towards recreational activities in Latin America and MEA

3.9.1.5   Shifting focus of commuters toward personal mobility solutions in North America

3.9.2    Industry pitfalls & challenges

3.9.2.1   High initial cost of electric cargo bikes

3.10    Growth potential analysis

3.11    Porter’s analysis

3.11.1    Bargaining power of suppliers

3.11.2    Bargaining power of buyers

3.11.3    The threat of new entrants

3.11.4    The threat of substitute

3.11.5    Competitive rivalry

3.12    PESTEL analysis

3.12.1    Political

3.12.2    Economic

3.12.3    Social

3.12.4    Technological

3.12.5    Legal

3.12.6    Environmental

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