2024-09-27 22:37

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Aviation Administration contractor Abouzar Rahmati has been indicted for acting as an agent of the Iranian government, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. Rahmati, 42, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Virginia, made his initial appearance in a Washington, D.C., court on Friday, DOJ said. According to the indictment, Rahmati conspired with Iranian intelligence operatives, obtained employment with an FAA contractor and provided non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry to Iranian intelligence, DOJ said. Reuters was unable to contact Rahmati for comment. Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex-us-faa-contractor-indicted-acting-an-iran-agent-says-doj-2024-09-27/

2024-09-27 22:31

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was released from a correctional facility in California on Friday, Bloomberg News reported, citing a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons. Former CEO Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison earlier this year, after pleading guilty to violating U.S. laws against money laundering at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Reuters could not immediately reach the Bureau of Prisons for comment. Prosecutors had said that Binance adopted a model that welcomed criminals and failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with designated terrorist groups including Hamas, al-Qaeda and Islamic State. They also said Zhao's exchange supported the sale of child sexual abuse materials and received a large portion of ransomware proceeds. Binance agreed to a $4.32 billion penalty, and Zhao paid a $50 million criminal fine plus $50 million to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-founder-zhao-released-us-custody-bloomberg-news-reports-2024-09-27/

2024-09-27 22:04

HOUSTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Friday said Venture Global LNG has taken adequate steps to correct equipment problems at a Louisiana gas-processing plant that has kept the company from delivering cargoes to long-term contract customers for two years. The finding by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lends support to the U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter's claims that it has not fully completed a Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, plant commissioning. Venture Global LNG is fighting a half dozen contract arbitration cases from customers over the plant's problems. Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab, BP (BP.L) , opens new tab, Orlen (PKN.WA) , opens new tab and others say Venture Global has made billions of dollars while improperly withholding LNG cargoes by claiming the plant is not fully functional. BP was not immediately available for comment on the FERC report. Shell and Venture Global LNG declined to comment. "Venture Global team was approaching the diagnosis and remediation of the equipment performance in a careful, technically sound matter," FERC said in a status report. Venture Global could become the U.S. second-largest LNG exporter be year-end when it is expected to begin producing the superchilled gas from another Louisiana plant, which will be the second-largest U.S. LNG facility by annual production volume. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-regulators-back-venture-global-lng-equipment-problems-claims-2024-09-27/

2024-09-27 21:54

Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a public health emergency on Friday for the state of Georgia to address the health impact of hurricane Helene. Additional emergency personnel and resources will be deployed in the region to augment state and local response efforts, the agency said. The HHS had declared an emergency for Florida on Thursday. Helene is tied as the 14th most powerful hurricane to hit anywhere in the United States since records have been kept, and is the 7th most powerful to slam into Florida, according to data from the National Hurricane Center. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hhs-declares-public-health-emergency-georgia-due-hurricane-helene-2024-09-27/

2024-09-27 21:45

Sept 27 (Reuters) - About 24% of crude oil production and 18% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut in response to Hurricane Helene, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Friday. Oil and natural gas production losses fell for the second consecutive day after reaching a peak of 511,000 barrels on Wednesday. Energy producers had shut in 427,000 barrels per day of oil production and nearly 343 million cubic feet of natural gas from Gulf waters, the bureau said. Nine oil and gas platforms had been evacuated as of Friday, about 2.4% of the Gulf of Mexico total, the offshore regulator said, citing reports from producers. The hurricane caused U.S. offshore oil and gas producers to lose 1.66 million barrels of oil and 1.23 billion cubic feet of gas due to shut-ins that began on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally of BSEE daily estimates. Oil and gas producers began shutting in offshore production on Tuesday, as Helene moved through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab said on Friday it had begun to redeploy personnel and restore production at company-operated platforms in the aftermath of the hurricane. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of all domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, federal data showed. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/about-24-oil-production-shut-us-gulf-mexico-due-hurricane-helene-2024-09-27/

2024-09-27 21:40

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Four additional healthcare workers in Missouri who came in contact with a hospitalized bird flu patient developed mild respiratory symptoms but the virus was not confirmed in any of them, U.S. health officials said on Friday. The report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brings to six the number of healthcare workers who cared for the Missouri patient and developed respiratory symptoms. Unlike previous U.S. bird flu cases this year, the Missouri patient, who was hospitalized on Aug. 22, had no known contact with infected animals. Scientists are watching closely for signs that the virus has begun to spread more easily in people. Missouri is leading an investigation with CDC assisting remotely. Missouri health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said in an emailed statement that the investigation is ongoing and there is currently no evidence of person-to-person transmission. According to Cox, one healthcare worker got a flu test and tested negative for the virus. Symptoms in the others were not discovered until it was too late to do testing, she said. A household contact of the patient also developed symptoms but was not tested. All have recovered from their illnesses. The state has collected blood samples of five healthcare workers and the household contact to look for antibodies that would suggest a prior infection. Cox said the CDC is evaluating samples from the unidentified hospitalized patient and the household contact. The state is preparing the other samples to be sent to the CDC as soon as possible, Cox said. "These cases underscore the need to take this outbreak more seriously than it has been taken," said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Results from the antibody testing need to be promptly obtained to assess the risk of human-to-human spread of the virus, Adalja said. "This dripping out of information from Missouri... is not acceptable and the state should ask for official CDC assistance now," he added. Cox said the state is sharing relevant updates as the investigations are completed. The Missouri case was the 14th person in the United States to be diagnosed with bird flu this year. The other 13 cases were among farm workers and linked to outbreaks on poultry or dairy farms. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/four-more-missouri-health-workers-who-had-contact-with-bird-flu-patient-develops-2024-09-27/