DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

But satellite images and photos show the Chinese-owned ship had loaded the oil four months earlier in Venezuela, an OPEC nation in South America under U.S. oil sanctions. Two of those tankers, including the Young Yong, were designated this month by U.S. authorities for violating sanctions on Iran, one of Venezuela's closest allies. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the involvement of the Young Yong or the other vessels identified by Reuters in shipping Venezuela crude. Indonesian authorities said in early November that the Young Yong had run aground off the Riau Islands on Oct. 26. The United States imposed oil trading sanctions on Venezuela in 2019 after calling Maduro's re-election the previous year a sham.

[1/10] Delegates applaud as COP27 President Sameh Shoukry delivers a statement during the closing plenary at the COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 20, 2022. "We had to fight relentlessly to hold the line of Glasgow," a visibly frustrated Alok Sharma, architect of the Glasgow deal, told the summit. He listed off a number of ambition-boosting measures that were stymied in the negotiations for the final COP27 deal in Egypt: "Emissions peaking before 2025 as the science tells us is necessary? Another section of the COP27 deal dropped the idea of annual target renewal in favour of returning to a longer five-year cycle set out in the Paris pact. "I recognise the progress we made in COP27" with the loss and damage fund, Aminath Shauna told the plenary.

☆ Factbox: COP27: Major players at the U.N. climate talks in Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Rachel Parsons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Here are some of the main stakeholders and negotiating blocs engaged in the U.N. climate conference (COP27) that starts on Nov. 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. A diplomatic row over Taiwan led Beijing to cancel bilateral climate talks with the United States. EUROPEAN UNIONGreenhouse gas emissions from the 27-country European Union comprise about 8% of the global total, and have been trending downward for years. Negotiating as a single group at the U.N. climate talks, the EU intends to push other major emitters to raise their targets. Meanwhile, long-time climate champion King Charles III said he will skip the COP27 conference in Egypt.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on oil smuggling network backing Iran's Quds Force, Hezbollah
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force, targeting dozens of people, companies and tankers as Washington sought to mount pressure on Tehran. The latest U.S. move against Iranian oil smuggling comes as efforts to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal have stalled and ties between the Islamic Republic and the West are increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The move targeted a Gulf-based network that the Treasury said as of mid-2022 were blending and exporting Iranian oil. The 2015 agreement limited Iran's uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms in return for lifting international sanctions.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Shipping Firm, Individuals for Alleged Oil Exports to North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. imposed sanctions against a shipping company and two individuals for allegedly exporting oil to North Korea, which the U.S. said supports Pyongyang’s nuclear and military programs. The U.S. said the Courageous, also known as the Sea Prima, has participated in several deliveries of refined petroleum to North Korea, including ship-to-ship transfers to North Korean vessels that violated United Nations sanctions. North Korea faces sanctions from the U.S. and the U.N., including restrictions on its import of petroleum products. Ship-to-ship transfers have been identified as one way North Korea circumvents these sanctions. PREVIEWFriday’s sanctions come after the U.S. Justice Department filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Kwek in April 2021 for allegedly conspiring to evade economic sanctions on North Korea and for conspiracy to money launder.

☆ Biden Administration Grants Waiver Allowing Diesel Shipment Into Puerto Rico
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paul Page | Andrew Restuccia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration on Wednesday approved a temporary waiver to Jones Act shipping restrictions to allow a tanker to deliver diesel fuel to Puerto Rico needed to run generators following the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona. The BP vessel, which picked up its fuel cargo in Texas, is flagged to the Marshall Islands. The law is aimed at preserving U.S. maritime operations as a national security backup to the armed forces. Critics say the law drives up shipping prices and creates a barrier to speedy services following natural disasters and other times of need. Mr. Mayorkas said he made the decision to grant the waiver in consultation with the departments of Transportation, Energy, and Defense, and with input from Puerto Rico Gov.

Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific island states are taking part in the summit. Washington and its allies want to boost maritime security and island states' communication links with countries like Japan, Australia and India, he said. SOLOMON ISLANDS TIES TO CHINAIn a statement on the first day of the talks, Henry Puna, secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, said he was confident the islands and the United States "can, and ... will secure and build a partnership." Sogavare has repeatedly appeared to snub the United States, heightening Washington's concerns. Wednesday's talks included a session hosted by U.S. special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, who praised Pacific island leaders for a more ambitious global climate target than agreed at the 2015 Paris climate summit.

REUTERS/Akhtar SoomroUNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Countries on the front lines of the climate crisis are fed up. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked world leaders why his people were paying the price of global warming. "We renew our call to the world to declare total war on this century's greatest challenge: the climate change monster. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the least responsible for climate change are suffering the most. And yet, we are the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change," he told the U.N. gathering.

☆ Marshall Islands urges U.S. to better address climate change and its nuclear legacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS — The president of the Marshall Islands on Tuesday welcomed what he called progress toward a new association agreement with the United States, but said it is vital to better address the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing and climate change. President David Kabua made the remarks at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he also appealed more broadly for help and action to address climate change, to which his low-lying Pacific island nation is especially vulnerable. The Marshall Islands and other Pacific island states, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, signed agreements known as compacts with the United States in the late 1980s that give the U.S. defense responsibility and the right to military bases in return for economic support. “While we have shared goals and a strong partnership with the United States of America, we also have grave development challenges and essential needs,” Kabua said. “We welcome recent progress with the United States of America towards a renewed Compact of Free Association and with it a targeted trust fund,” he said.

☆ Pacific islands a key U.S. military buffer to China's ambitions - report
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's plane makes its landing approach on Pohnpei International Airport in Kolonia, Federated States of Micronesia August 5, 2019. China had made progress in the Pacific on geostrategic goals it has been unable to achieve elsewhere, said the report for the United States Institute for Peace, whose co-authors include former senior military officials. This was cause for concern but not alarm, the report added, saying the U.S. should bolster support for island states in the north Pacific where it had the strongest historical ties. A U.S. missile defence test range in the Marshall Islands is critical to U.S. space and missile-defense capabilities, it added. "China views the Pacific Islands as an area of significant strategic interest," it said.

☆ Bucket-list travel experiences like Singapore Airlines' first-class suite cost thousands of dollars, but they're much more attainable if you earn credit card points
▼ + stars: | 2020-02-20 | by ( Elizabeth Aldrich | Read More | Read Less | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Some of the world's best first-class flights cost well over $10,000 but you can often get them for under 100,000 miles. A good travel credit card will help you accumulate these miles faster. See Business Insider's list of the best travel rewards credit cards »Get the latest tips you need to manage your money — delivered to you biweekly. Aspirational, bucket-list travel is one of the best uses of travel points and airline miles, in my opinion. You can transfer Amex points, Chase points, Citi points, and Marriott points to Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program, so you have lots of options for earning the requisitive rewards.

Search resuls for: "Marshall Islands"

11 mentions found