PetroChina hopes impending industry reform will be gradual as it posts lower first-half profit

PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas producer, on Thursday hinted its vast oil and natural gas pipeline network is likely to be spun off into an independent operation as part of Beijing's reforms to enhance efficiency.

Speaking after the firm posted a 62.7 per cent year-on-year fall in net profit for the year's first half to 25.4 billion yuan, president Wang Dongjin said: "The spin-off of oil and gas pipelines forms part of the key points of the industry's restructuring. The reform's ultimate goal is for the assets' operation to become independent and market-oriented."

Chairman Wang Yilin said while a spin-off would be in line with the trend of specialised asset management, since the nation's pipeline network has not been fully developed, it would better serve the industry's development for the reform to be executed in stages instead of a "big bang" approach.

PetroChina commands some 70 per cent of the nation's natural gas market and owns most of the pipelines. Gas distribution and logistics are its second biggest profit contributors after oil and gas production.

Beijing has completed an industry consultation but has yet to launch the reform.

PetroChina's profit drop in the first half was due to a 48 per cent year-on-year decline in average oil selling price to US$52.10 a barrel, which more than offset a 2.9 per cent increase in oil and gas output to 735.9 million barrels of oil equivalent.

After years of rapid rises, the energy giant has frozen its staff costs at just over 57 billion yuan in the first half compared to the year-earlier level, mainly through reduction of new hires and natural attrition.

It had also sold some assets in Algeria and Kazakhstan to bolster its cash flows amid the oil price slump, and expected to soon clinch an overseas assets swap deal to enhance efficiency of its asset portfolio, Wang Dongjin said.

PetroChina has further cut its capital expenditure budget for this year by just under 4 per cent, after slashing it in March by 12.7 per cent compared to last year's spending. Most of the latest cuts were on the exploration and production operation and gas logistics business.

It will seek to further cut spending in the next two years as it prepares for a prolonged period of low oil prices.

"Unlike in 1998 and 2008, the current industry downturn is not only affected by financial crises, but also fundamental oversupply," Wang Dongjin said.

But a lower value of the yuan would help, as the firm estimated that for every 1 per cent devaluation of the yuan against the greenback - assuming the greenback's value does not change against other currencies - it would result in 1 billion yuan of profit gain, he added.

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China's leadership angered by slow response to Tianjin disaster

The Communist Party's prime leadership was maddened with the T'ien-ching government's makes an attempt to underplay the cost of the dual blasts that rocked the port town quite period of time agone, and that has currently up to one hundred forty five, the South China Morning Post has learned.

The revelation came as prosecutors yesterday reprehensively detained eleven senior officers and port executives for alleged negligence in reference to the disaster.

Hours once the explosions smitten a warehouse storing venturous chemicals on August twelve, authorities place the initial cost at fourteen, however the figure was quickly raised to forty four, as news of the disaster unfold and its scale became apparent.

Sources aforementioned that but per week later, the party's information department referred to as a gathering with one or two of designated media to encourage them to seem into the corporate that ran the power - Ruihai International provision.

On August nineteen, Xinhua revealed Associate in Nursing inquiring report that quoted company executives United Nations agency had been detained by the police as oral communication they'd smart connections with administration. The article shocked several since Xinhua is never aggressive in its coverage on major accidents on the solid ground, given its standing because the state-run press agency.

"The prime leadership of the party was discontent with however the T'ien-ching authority handled the blasts initially, and that is why we've got state media excavation into the corporate," the supply aforementioned.

A T'ien-ching port police supply earlier told the Post officers had been referred to as to assist recover bodies from the disaster scene however the bodies weren't being additional to the official cost at that point.

The latest spherical of detentions includes officers at the Ministry of Transport, Tianjin's local government and its port authority. Among them area unit town transport chief Wu dialect Dai, T'ien-ching Port cluster president Zheng Qingyue, yet as officers from the Binhai New space, wherever the warehouse was set.

Officials from the city's transport commission are defendant of illicitly provision business licences and failing to handle black work meted out by Ruihai. T'ien-ching Port cluster, that is to blame for the port's operations, was defendant of poor management and failing to rectify safety risks at Ruihai.

Wang Jinwen, a Transport Ministry deputy inspector, was detained for alleged abuse of power, Xinhua rumored.

Also detained were Government Accounting Office Huaiyou, Tianjin's deputy work safety administration chief, and Wang Jiapeng, Tianjin's deputy customs chief.

Police had earlier detained another twelve folks together with Ruihai homeowners Yu Xuewei and Dong Shexuan.

Song Tianyi, a friend of a fireman United Nations agency died within the explosions, involved the harshest social control. "If they're not sentenced to death, my brother and that i cannot die in peace," Song aforementioned.

Sixty-three firefighters are confirmed dead and another seventeen stay missing.

Dozens of householders whose properties were broken by the blasts staged a rally outside the T'ien-ching local government workplace yesterday demanding  a concrete set up for the govt. to shop for back their flats.

"We have received calls from police and also the neighbourhood committee to steer North American country to remain within the space, however United Nations agency dares to? i do not believe those assessment reports," one house owner, United Nations agency gave his name as Wu dialect, said.

Other residents aforementioned they were inspired by the most recent spherical of detentions.

"I see this as a symptom that officers are going to be admonished, despite however elite they're," aforementioned Zheng carver, another landowner. "We were distressed that they might not."

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Deaths in Austria, Mediterranean raise migration's grim toll in Europe

The discovery of dead migrants in the back of a truck in Austria, just a day after the Italian coast guard said 54 people lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean, has highlighted once again the scale of the migration crisis gripping Europe.

An Austrian Interior Ministry statement said it appeared that the "many bodies" found in the truck, whose number has not yet been confirmed, are refugees.

The truck was abandoned on the side of the A4 highway, which links Budapest in Hungary to the Austrian capital, Vienna, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry told CNN on Thursday.

When police opened the back of it, they found the bodies, Alexander Marakovits said. He added that he wasn't able to say how many bodies were found and that police are seeking the driver.

"These people seem to have died a while ago. It is not clear what the cause of death was, the investigation is ongoing," said the director of state police, Peter Doskozil.

The truck was left in an emergency stopping zone in the Neusiedl district of Burgenland, the Interior Ministry said.

"This horrible crime shows that we must get even tougher in the battle against people smuggling," Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said at a news conference.

"People smugglers are criminals and not well-minded helpers. They do not care about the well-being of the refugees, they care about profit."

The Italian coast guard earlier said that 54 migrants were found dead on boats in the Mediterranean on Wednesday.

Another 3,000 men, women and children were rescued in multiple operations off the Libyan coast Wednesday, the coast guard said. They were found on vessels ranging from rubber dinghies to fishing boats.

"Last year, from late August through the end of December, over 1,200 migrants died at sea," its news release said. "IOM is concerned that as summer turns to autumn and then winter, additional deaths at sea could well surpass 2,000 through the final third of this year."

The so-called central route, from North Africa to Italy and Malta, is the deadliest of three commonly used by traffickers who cram migrants onto often unseaworthy boats in a bid to reach European soil, the IOM said.

There have been 2,267 deaths on that route so far this year, the IOM said, with another 83 on the eastern route -- Turkey to Greece -- and 23 more on the western route between Africa and Spain, including the Canary Islands.

Those rescued so far this year at sea include Eritreans, Somalis, Sudanese, Sub-Saharan Africans, Syrians and Bangladeshis, the IOM said. While some are refugees fleeing conflict, others are making the perilous journey in hope of finding work.

Bodies found in boat's hull

A Swedish coast guard vessel, operating on behalf of the European Union border agency, found 51 of the migrants who lost their lives in the hull of a large fishing boat and saved 439 other people who were on board.

It's not yet confirmed what caused the deaths, but in the past, migrants trapped on the lower decks of vessels have died of asphyxiation or been poisoned by the fumes from leaking engines. The Italian coast guard initially said 50 had died.

On the same day, the Italian coast guard found three women dead in a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean.

A number of international ships working under the EU border agency, Frontex, also took part in the rescue operations, the Italian coast guard said.

Humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said its own ships also carried out rescues.

One, the Argos, was headed to Italy on Wednesday evening with more than 700 people on board, it said on Twitter.

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Fresh blow to Iraqi military: Suicide bombing kills 2 generals

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A joint operation by the General Security Services (Israel Security Agency) and therefore the military group reticular atiny low however doubtless fatal terror cell getting to attack human worshippers at Joseph's topographic point in Nablus (biblical Shechem).

The topographic point is that the ancient place wherever the Bible says the youngsters of Israel buried Joseph's bones, that they carried from Egypt (Joshua 24:32).

Joseph's topographic point holds a special place within the hearts of the many Israeli Jews as an area of journey. however it's location typically makes treks to the positioning dangerous. guests ar imagined to coordinate their pilgrimages with the military group, however some put into effect returning at their own risk.

Palestinian cell members arrangened to use explosives and automatic rifles to attack whoever was unfortunate enough to be at the positioning once they administered the plan.

The General Security Services known the four members, all residents of P.A.-controlled cities in Samaria (West Bank), and their handler, Mohammed Darwish, a senior Islamic Jihad member WHO directed operations from the geographical area.

Darwish was accountable for recruiting and equipping the cell and leading the assault against Jews visiting the historical web site.

Cell members enclosed Nasim Damiri, 30, a antecedently imprisoned political movement member, and his cousin-german Mohammed Damiri, 23, a Palestinian Authority peace officer. the 2 cousins, each residents of Tulkarm, were the active men WHO would carry it out.

The two others, Yasser Tzarawi, 25, a familiar FTO member and resident of Nablus, and Adwan Nizel, 24, a familiar Islamic Jihad member from Jenin, would prepare a bomb and provide the Damiri cousins with their weapons.

During interrogation, the four careful their individual assignments from scoping out the positioning to putting together a bomb, receiving weapons and composing an area to remain before the attack.

Thanks to Israel's extremely honed security personnel this attack was prevented.

In Gregorian calendar month 2011, Ben-Yosef Livnat, the 24-year-old kinsman of then-Culture Minister Limor Livnat, was shot dead by a Palestinian lawman as he drove home from the positioning. associate degree investigation into the incident terminated that whereas the shooting wasn't "premeditated," it absolutely was administered with malicious intent.

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A joint operation by the General Security Services (Israel Security Agency)

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A joint operation by the General Security Services (Israel Security Agency) and therefore the military group reticular atiny low however doubtless fatal terror cell getting to attack human worshippers at Joseph's topographic point in Nablus (biblical Shechem).

The topographic point is that the ancient place wherever the Bible says the youngsters of Israel buried Joseph's bones, that they carried from Egypt (Joshua 24:32).

Joseph's topographic point holds a special place within the hearts of the many Israeli Jews as an area of journey. however it's location typically makes treks to the positioning dangerous. guests ar imagined to coordinate their pilgrimages with the military group, however some put into effect returning at their own risk.

Palestinian cell members arrangened to use explosives and automatic rifles to attack whoever was unfortunate enough to be at the positioning once they administered the plan.

The General Security Services known the four members, all residents of P.A.-controlled cities in Samaria (West Bank), and their handler, Mohammed Darwish, a senior Islamic Jihad member WHO directed operations from the geographical area.

Darwish was accountable for recruiting and equipping the cell and leading the assault against Jews visiting the historical web site.

Cell members enclosed Nasim Damiri, 30, a antecedently imprisoned political movement member, and his cousin-german Mohammed Damiri, 23, a Palestinian Authority peace officer. the 2 cousins, each residents of Tulkarm, were the active men WHO would carry it out.

The two others, Yasser Tzarawi, 25, a familiar FTO member and resident of Nablus, and Adwan Nizel, 24, a familiar Islamic Jihad member from Jenin, would prepare a bomb and provide the Damiri cousins with their weapons.

During interrogation, the four careful their individual assignments from scoping out the positioning to putting together a bomb, receiving weapons and composing an area to remain before the attack.

Thanks to Israel's extremely honed security personnel this attack was prevented.

In Gregorian calendar month 2011, Ben-Yosef Livnat, the 24-year-old kinsman of then-Culture Minister Limor Livnat, was shot dead by a Palestinian lawman as he drove home from the positioning. associate degree investigation into the incident terminated that whereas the shooting wasn't "premeditated," it absolutely was administered with malicious intent.

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Nigerian Troops Rescue 178 from Boko Haram Camps

Boko Haram is losing ground in Nigeria. Government troops attacked several Boko Haram camps and rescued 178 hostages from the terrorist group's grasp.

More than 100 of those rescued hostages are children and most of the others are women.

The Nigerian Air Force reports killing "a large number" of terrorists. This latest mission comes after the army rescued 71 kidnapped people last week.

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Boko Haram Slits Throats of 16 Christian Fishermen

The Muslim State-affiliated militant cluster killed sixteen Christian fishermen last Monday on lake in Nigeria's Borno state, in keeping with the Italian web site for Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in would like.

The the top of the fisher's union in Borno state, Abubakar Gamandi, same the attack happened within the villages of Bundaram, Fishdam and Dwatar African country.

"Boko Haram determined to not use guns therefore as to not attrack the eye of troopers from Baga," Gamandi told the AFP. "This is why they used knives to slaughter their victims."

Communications within the space ar tough as a result of Boko Haram has destroyed mobile masts, which suggests attacks usually go unreported for days.

The cluster has killed thousands of Muslims and Christians in African country and is liable for the snatch of many schoolgirls from the Christian village of Chibok last year.

Boko Haram attacks in and around Chad have redoubled because the {terrorist cluster|terrorist organization|foreign terrorist organization|FTO|political movement} is attempting to penalize the government's intervention against the group within the region.

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Pastor: Boko Haram Killed 70 Percent of My Church

A Nigerian pastor says Boko Haram terrorists have killed 8,000 members, 70 percent, of his church.

Rev. Samuel Dali is president of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. At his office in Jos, Dali told journalists the terror group has destroyed church facilities in Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno states, leaving most of his pastors without jobs.

He also said 176 of the 276 Chibok girls kidnapped last year were from his church.

Earlier this month, Boko Haram jihadists slit the throats of 16 Christianfishermen in three villages in Borno state.

The head of Borno state's fisher's union told AFP they used knives to slaughter their victims so as not to alert soldiers from Baga, a town in northeastern Nigeria near Lake Chad.

Still, Dali said he's hopeful the end of the terrorist group is near.

"Nigeria will overcome the Boko Haram challenge soon," he said.

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August 21: The day that changed politics, forever

An Awami League rally was in progress at the Bangabandhu Avenue and it was around 5.15pm at the fag end of the rally when Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition leader, started her speech from the top of an open truck.
Suddenly apocalypse happened as one after another 13 grenades rained down the buildings around and blasted with perilous effects.  At least 23 persons met the most excruciating death and hundreds others maimed. AL’s women’s affairs secretary Ivy Rahman met the most brutal death one could imagine. Her legs were blown off from below her waist and she sat like a statue in deep shock. Hundred others lay like her, some dead and some alive that nobody could differentiate.
The target and the intention of the grenade attack in 2004 were clear. The attackers wanted to finish off Sheikh Hasina and the entire top leaders of the AL. They wanted to exterminate AL forever and turn Bangladesh into another land of terror.
Luckily for us that did not happen and Sheikh Hasina survived. The terrorists’ monstrous plan did not come true.

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Little girl with robotic hand throws first pitch at Orioles game

 Hailey Dawson, 5, has quite an arm -- and attached at the end -- is a "special hand."

She was born with Poland Syndrome, a rare birth defect, causing her right hand to not fully develop.

But through some research, professors and a team of whizzes at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Hailey doesn't have to miss a beat. In fact, her hand is functional enough for the big leagues.

 he Dawsons are big Orioles fans. Hailey's 10-year-old brother even plays for a little league team in Las Vegas also called the Orioles. With baseball on the brain and a determination in her spirit -- one day Hailey asked her mom, "Wouldn't it be cool if I could throw the ball for the big Orioles?"

The Dawsons thought "why not?" A few calls and emails later, and Hailey was scheduled to throw the first pitch with her biggest fans -- her family -- in the crowd.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen" her mother, Yong Dawson said, "She loved it."

The "special hand," as Hailey calls it, was based on designs from Robohand with specifications created from molds of Hailey's hand. The mechanics are simple: When Hailey moves her wrist, cables strung through the 3D-printed prosthesis create tension, causing the fingers to curl.

Under the supervision of professors Brendan O'Toole and Mohamed Trabia, the students completed the project in about five months.

When the Dawsons presented this project to the engineering department over a year ago, the team didn't hesitate -- they were game.

"I had a few second thoughts -- if we could really do it or not -- but that didn't lost for too long," said O'Toole, "None of us had done anything with prosthetics before."

But the risk was worth the reward, according to graduate student Zach Cook, who saw the project from start to finish. They are now on the fourth version of Hailey's hand, making improvements and adjustments based on her growth.

"It was fulfilling working on a project and seeing an impact on someone's life," he said.

And thanks to their team, and Hailey's "go getter" attitude, she's just a normal little girl.

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Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city

TIANJIN, China -- The Chinese are saying that 50 are dead, but that is sure to rise. At least 700 are injured, dozens are missing. The blast erupted at the seaport, in a warehouse for hazardous materials.
A stunning video taken by a drone gives an aerial view of the aftermath: The skeleton of burned buildings, shipping containers smoldering, acrid smoke belching into the sky.



More than a thousand firefighters were sent in, but they were stopped as authorities tried to figure out which chemicals were burning -- and their risk.
At one building, on the side facing the blast, every single window is blown out. The second explosion had the power of more than 20 tons of TNT.
Kelly Wang and Nathan Liu didn't have time to collect their belongings. "My home destroyed," she said. "No home to go to."
She described the explosion: "Everybody just ran out," she said. "We saw fire and a mushroom cloud. It's terrifying. Very terrifying."







 








 

The explosion in the Binhai New Area on the city's coast happened at about 11.30pm local time, with videos posted on social media showed a towering inferno above one of China's largest urban areas.
Reuters cited a statement by the city's government that 50 people were confirmed dead - including 12 firefighters - and as many as 700 injured, over 71 seriously. The Beijing News, an official outlet, reported that authorities had lost contact with 36 firefighters on the scene.
As many as eight fire engines were destroyed by the blast. Nearby, firefighters wept as they worked to extinguish the flames, Beijing News reported.

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Bangkok shrine bombing: Thai police hunt for suspect seen in video

Suspicions focused on one man as investigators picked through the wreckage of the powerful bomb blast that brought death and destruction to a popular shrine in the Thai capital.

Police said Tuesday they are hunting for a suspect seen in CCTV footage who they believe is connected to the bombing, which ripped through crowds gathered near the Erawan Shrine on Monday evening, killing at least 22 people and reportedly injuring about 120.

In one CCTV image released by police, the man carries a dark-colored backpack near the shrine. In another, he no longer has the backpack. He's wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark-framed glasses.

Royal Thai Police Commissioner Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung said authorities don't yet know the man's identity or whether he is Thai or a foreigner.

At a later news conference, police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri said authorities were "very sure" the man in the yellow shirt was the bomber.

The commissioner said the man sat down at 6:52 p.m. local time (7:52 a.m. ET) Monday and hid the backpack underneath a bench.

Investigators believe he left a pipe bomb. 

 

The shrine, situated at a bustling intersection near a large shopping mall, is a big draw for tourists. At least seven people from other Asian countries were reported to be among the dead as well as one Briton. The site is popular among Buddhists as well as Hindu and Sikh members of Thailand's Indian community.

After being swarmed with police investigators Tuesday, the shrine reopened to the public Wednesday morning.

Prawut told Thai TV 3's talk show "Joa Khao Den" that tips have led authorities to check out Suvarnabhumi Airport and parts of Chonburi Province, to the southeast of the capital. He didn't specify what information led investigators there.

Police believe the man assembled the bomb in Thailand because many pieces of the explosive device, including the pipe, were made in the country, he said.

"From this incident, it is apparent that there are active individuals or groups that harbor the intention to damage Thailand, who may be pursuing political gain or other intentions by damaging the economy and tourism," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said.

Adding to the jitters, a new explosion was heard Tuesday at a pier on the Chao Phraya River that flows through Bangkok, police told CNN. No injuries were reported and the pier was closed, said Prawut.

The second explosion was caused by the same type of bomb as the earlier one, Prawut told reporters.

Police are looking into the possibility that Tuesday's blast happened when someone on a motorcycle threw a bomb toward the floating pier, he said. The second bomb eventually fell into the water, he said.

Bodies thrown, bikes mangled and a vibrant city on edge

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