Ivory Coast Starts Construction of Abidjan Port Upgrades
Ivory Coast began construction on Tuesday of a four-year, 560 billion CFA franc ($962 million) project to build a second container terminal and widen the canal leading to its main port in the commercial capital Abidjan. Among the busiest in sub-Saharan Africa, the port serves Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa's largest economy and the world's top cocoa producer, and is also a gateway for landlocked nations to the north. China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd was awarded the construction contracts for both projects with the bulk of the cost covered by a loan from China's Eximbank. Construction of the new container terminal, which will be managed by consortium led by France's Bollore, will last 48 months and cost 409 billion CFA francs.
US Preparing to Weaken Cuba Embargo
The White House is drafting sweeping regulations to further weaken the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba that would ease restrictions on U.S. companies and make it safer for Americans to travel there, U.S. government sources said on Thursday. The regulations could be announced as soon as Friday. U.S. companies would be allowed to establish offices in Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, according to a draft of the new rules seen by Reuters. The regulations make it easier for airlines and cruise ships to import parts and technology to improve safety in Cuba; loosen restrictions on software exports; and allow authorized companies to establish subsidiaries with Cuba, possibly via joint ventures with Cuban firms such as state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa.
Sea Urchin Haven Disturbed by Oil Spill
Stephanie Mutz makes a living plucking sea urchins from the Santa Barbara coast and selling the prickly treasure to upscale restaurants in Southern California. Now, she needs new hunting grounds. The coast, thought to be one of the world's best places for harvesting sea urchins, suffered its worst oil spill in 46 years this week, forcing authorities to ban fishing in an area 23 miles (37 km) long by seven miles (11 km) wide. "That was one of my predominant fishing spots, so I just have to think of a Plan B," said Mutz, who supplies restaurants from Santa Barbara to Orange County, including the Michelin-starred Providence in Los Angeles.
U.S. Senators Urge Obama to Block Arctic Oil Drilling
A group of 18 mostly Democratic U.S. senators on Friday urged the Obama administration to stop Royal Dutch Shell's preparations for oil exploration in the Arctic, saying the region has a severely limited capacity to respond to accidents. The senators, from both coasts and several Midwestern states, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, urging her to retire Arctic leases in the Chukchi Sea. Jewell's department earlier this month conditionally approved Shell's exploration plan in the Arctic. The move means the company is likely to return to the Chukchi Sea this summer for the first time since a mishap-filled drilling season in 2012.
U.S. Ports Deal 'huge relief' for Workers, Economy
The White House said on Friday a deal between West Coast ports and the dockworkers union was "a huge relief" for the economy, businesses and workers affected by the lengthy labor dispute. President Barack Obama had received an update on the talks late on Thursday from Labor Secretary Tom Perez, whom he had dispatched to help resolve the dispute, the White House said in a statement. Obama "calls on the parties to work together to clear out the backlogs and congestions in the West Coast ports as they finalize their agreement," the White House said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Ken Wills)
U.S. West Coast Ports Reach Tentative Deal
A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union clinched a tentative labor deal on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia. The settlement, confirmed in a joint statement by the two sides, was reached three days after U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday to broker a deal with the help of a federal mediator who had joined in the talks six weeks earlier. The White House called the deal "a huge relief" for the economy, businesses and workers. President Barack Obama urged the parties "to work together to clear out the backlogs and congestion in the West Coast ports as they finalize their agreement…
Petrobras Delays Results as Corruption Scandal Grows
Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it delayed the release of its third-quarter financial results for a second time on Friday as a result of new developments in a widening corruption probe. Prosecutors on Thursday indicted executives of some of the country's largest engineering firms for allegedly skimming billions of dollars off overpriced contracts with the oil giant in a kickback and bribery scheme. Petrobras had set Friday as a deadline for the release, but it said in a statement it has until Jan. 15, 2015, to present the unaudited results without breaking covenants. If broken, the covenants could put some of the company's debt into technical default, forcing early repayment.
Nicaragua Searches for 26 Fishermen after Shipwreck
Nicaragua's navy said on Thursday it was searching for 26 fishermen whose boat was shipwrecked off the Central American nation's Caribbean coast due to heavy swells earlier this week. A military spokesman said 24 of the 50 passengers had been rescued or found alive after the incident early on Wednesday. (Reporting by Ivan Castro; Editing by Ken Wills)
Maduro Says Venezuela's 2015 Budget to Put Oil at $60
Venezuela's 2015 budget will be based on a target oil price of $60 dollars per barrel, President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday night, but he repeated expectations that prices will recover. Venezuela routinely underestimates oil prices when planning its budget to permit more spending later with fewer budget restrictions. The OPEC country's 2014 budget proposal also put oil prices at $60 dollars. Oil has dropped more than 25 percent since June on strong supply, signs of weak demand growth and indications that key oil producers, particularly Saudi Arabia, have a limited appetite to cut output to bolster prices. U.S. November crude settled at $82.75 on Friday.
Hurricane Gonzalo Knocks out Bermuda Power
Power was knocked out to 80 percent of Bermuda's electricity grid due to Hurricane Gonzalo, the island's only power company, Bermuda Electric Light Co., said on Friday evening. The company reported that about 29,000 customers were without electricity, out of 36,000 metered connections. The eyewall of Hurricane Gonzalo made a direct hit on Bermuda on Friday evening, becoming the strongest storm to hit the tiny Atlantic island chain in a decade, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. (Writing by David Adams; Editing by Ken Wills)
Mexico's Senate OKs Bills Expanding Power of Energy Regulators
Mexico's Senate gave general approval on Monday to legislation laying out expanded powers for energy regulators, part of the fine print needed to implement a constitutional reform that overhauls the oil, gas and electricity sectors. Senators must still debate reservations to the regulatory legislation, which is likely to last into the night. The legislation forms part of the so-called secondary laws needed to flesh out the opening of the energy market, which is the centerpiece of the government's reform agenda. Once the reservations have been voted on in the Senate, the focus will move to the lower house of Congress, which is already debating the secondary laws passed by the upper chamber.
Pipeline Breaks, Spills Crude Oil Into LA Neighborhood
A faulty Valve Pump station at a Petroleum Pipeline Ruptured Early on Thursday in an Industrial corner of Los Angeles, spewing Crude Oil 40 Feet (12 meters) into the Air, onto the Roof of a strip club next door, and leaving four people sick from the fumes. An Estimated 10,000 gallons of Oil gushed from the Pipeline before it was shut down and the spill was halted, soaking an Area about a half-Block Long, Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Jaime Moore Said. The Company that runs the Pipeline, Plains All American Pipeline LP, a Unit of Plains Pipeline LP, put the Volume of the spill at "less than 450 barrels (18,900 gallons)" based on Current field Inspections.
White House Says No Issue With Biden's Son - Ukraine Co.
The White House on Tuesday brushed aside questions about whether the involvement of Vice President Joe Biden's son in a Ukrainian natural gas company raised ethical issues at a time when the administration is promoting energy diversity in the country. R. Hunter Biden, a lawyer and a partner in an investment firm, was named this week to the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, a private company that has drilled for natural gas in Ukraine since 2002. In a statement on Burisma's website, Hunter Biden said he would help the company with "transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion," and other issues.
Putin set on defusing Ukraine crisis
Foreign ministers from East and West will try to defuse the Ukraine crisis on Thursday in Geneva, once frequently the scene of Cold War negotiations, but will risk being upstaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin. With Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine, prospects of significant progress at the four-way talks appear slim. By contrast, what Putin says during his annual "hotline" session with the Russian people may have far greater influence on events in Ukraine's rebellious east. Thursday's talks will bring the ministers of Russia, Ukraine and the United Statestogether with the European Union's foreign policy chief to discuss a crisis in which Kiev is struggling to reassert its authority in eastern towns largely controlled by armed pro-Russian separatists.
Navy Cuts One Littoral Combat Ship in 2015
U.S. WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy hopes to smooth out the impact on Lockheed Martin Corp and Australia's Austal of a budget-driven decision to order three Littoral Combat Ships instead of four in fiscal year 2015, the Navy's top weapons buyer said on Thursday. The Navy had planned to buy two of each of the different small warships built by Lockheed and Austal in fiscal 2015 and 2016, but it scaled back those orders to three ships a year as a result of budget cuts mandated by Congress. Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee that Navy officials would now meet with both companies…
Family Rescued by U.S. Navy Heading Home
A family of four rescued from their sailboat after the youngest of two children became seriously ill are due to return to California on Wednesday aboard a U.S. warship that picked them up over the weekend, Navy and Coast Guard officials said. Military officials declined on Monday to give any details on the medical condition of 1-year-old Lyra Kaufman except to say that she, her 3-year-old sister, Cora, and their parents, Eric and Charlotte Kaufman, were all safe as they headed back to port in San Diego.
Defense: USS Cole Bomber Should Not Face Death
Defense lawyers for the Saudi man charged with masterminding the 2000 USS Cole bombing that killed 17 American sailors argued on Friday he should not face the death penalty because the murders were not premeditated. The move was among several pre-trial motions heard in the murder case against Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, viewed by closed-circuit television at Fort Meade. The charges Nashiri is faced with - among them murder, terrorism and conspiracy - carry the death penalty.
