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A union representing nearly 12,000 railroad workers on Monday voted down the tentative contract agreement between freight railroad companies and all 12 of their unions brokered by the White House last month. Why it matters: The rejection, by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the Teamsters (BMWED), raises the prospect once again of a nationwide rail strike.

Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has declared force majeure on gas supplies to Europe to at least one major customer, according to the letter from Gazprom dated July 14 and seen by Reuters on Monday. The letter said Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, could not fulfil its supply obligations owing to "extraordinary" circumstances outside its control. It said the force majeure measure, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, was effective from deliveries starting from June 14.

By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Last updated: 27/06 - 19:01 LIBYA The Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) on Monday warned to declare a "force majeure" on its facilities in the northern Gulf of Sirte within 72 hours, as it is unable to meet its contractual obligations due to their forced closure. "We are considering declaring a state of force majeure in the next 72 hours if oil production and exports do not resume at the Gulf of Sirte terminals," NOC boss Mustafa Sanalla warned in a statement, calling on "all parties" to work for "the reopening of the oil fields...

Russia's failure to pay $1.9 million in accrued interest on a dollar bond will trigger payouts potentially worth billions of dollars, a panel of investors determined on Wednesday, as the country teeters on its first major external debt default in over a century.

The only logical/honorable way out of this **** for Zelenski is sepuku...

KYIV/LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday it would suspend the flow of gas through a transit point which it said delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere. Ukraine has remained a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe even after Moscow's invasion. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine's gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring "force majeure", a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control. But...

As you may recall, ten days ago I warned that rail carriers were declaring “force majeure” and halting shipments of grain to dairy herds and other cow herds across America. In that announcement, I also warned that this was an engineered collapse of the food supply, where rail carriers were essentially being ordered to drop certain loads in order to maximize the coming wave of food scarcity and famine.Now, devastating news from CF Industries — one of the largest fertilizer producers in the world — confirms the engineered food collapse plan is being expanded to include fertilizer shipments.According to an...

The closure of Libya's El Feel and Sharara oilfields resulted in the loss of 330,000 barrels per day (bpd), and over 160 million dinars ($34.69 million) on a daily basis, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Sunday. Last week, two oil engineers at Libya's main Sharara field said operations had been paused after a pipeline valve was shut down, without giving further details. NOC head Mustafa Sanallah said in a statement on Facebook that shutting down pipeline valves enforced the corporation to declare force majeure on oilfields. The country's oil output has been halted repeatedly during periods of political...

Widespread disruption brought on by the coronavirus outbreak has hammered global supply chains and spurred Chinese companies to declare “force majeure” — a provision that exempts them from contractual obligations. But experts warn there’s a high chance such a move may not work. A force majeure event occurs when unforeseeable circumstances, such as natural catastrophes, prevent one party from fulfilling its contractual duties, absolving them from penalties. Since late January, the Chinese government has implemented city-wide lockdowns and large-scale quarantines that effectively curbed the movements of millions in China as the country seeks to contain the COVID-19 virus. Those restrictions...

European railway companies must give partial refunds to passengers who are significantly delayed by bad weather, natural disasters or strikes after a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The judgment is a blow for train firms who up until now only had to pay out if they were at fault. … The Luxembourg court ruled on Thursday that the rules exempting train companies in cases of force majeure, i.e. where the problems are out of their control, “relate only to the right of passengers to receive compensation for damage or loss resulting from the delay or cancellation of...

When Super Storm Sandy flooded lower Manhattan, it also flooded the vaults of at least one gold depository. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko Monday, the CME declared force majeure at a precious metals depository in New York, Manfra, Tordella and Brookes ("MTB") effective immediately. This depository is one of five locations listed by the CME for the warehousing of physical gold.

Reuters reports that Libya has just declared force majeure on its oil exports. As a reminder, Libya exports (under non-force majerue conditions) about 1.5 million barrels per day. That's a lot of barrels, especially for Italy which relies on 425,000 barrels a day from Libya to keep its economy going. According to 2009 official trade data as reported to the Global Trade Atlas, the vast majority of Libyan oil exports are sold to European countries like Italy (425,000 bbl/d), Germany (178,000 bbl/d), France (133,000 bbl/d), and Spain (115,000).

The delivery committee of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., convened this morning to review deliveries in progress related to the NYMEX Division natural gas futures contract for August 2005. Based upon the shutdown and force majeure declaration by the Sabine Pipeline, which operates the Henry Hub facility in Louisiana, all remaining delivery obligations in the August contract month are operating under force majeure considerations subject to NYMEX rule 220.18. The committee is currently in contact with Sabine regarding handling of any outstanding delivery obligations as expressly prescribed in NYMEX rule 220.18, section (C)(6). All market participants with any outstanding...

SEVERAL dozen European victims of Asia's tsunami disaster have filed a lawsuit demanding that Thai authorities, US forecasters, and a French hotel chain prove that they reacted adequately. In what is believed to be the first tsunami claim worldwide, US lawyer Edward Fagan and two other lawyers have filed the suit with a New York district court on behalf of more than 60 plaintiffs from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The suit was filed against the Thai government, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Tsunami Warning Centre, and the French hotel group Sofitel, said...

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. and Austrian lawyers have filed a lawsuit demanding Thailand, U.S. forecasters and the French Accor group answer accusations they failed in a duty to warn populations hit by December's Tsunami disaster, a lawyer said Monday.   The lawsuit was filed Friday at a New York district court on behalf of tsunami victims by lawyers including U.S. attorney Edward Fagan, internationally renowned for 1990s lawsuits against Swiss banks over Holocaust-era accounts. It demanded an account of their actions on Dec. 26. "We expect a hearing within 30 days," Austrian lawyer Gerhard Podovsovnik told Reuters. "We don't...