Russia and the West are in a showdown over continuing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria’s mainly rebel-held northwest after the current U.N. mandate expires on Friday. Germany and Belgium on Thursday called for a vote on a draft resolution that would maintain the two border crossings from Turkey to the northwest for six months — a position supported by the U.N. secretary-general, U.N. humanitarian chief, and many aid organizations.

A U.S. envoy reassured top Japanese officials Friday of the importance of their alliance in dealing with regional security threats, just as the North Korean leader's sister expressed low expectations of a summit between her brother and President Donald Trump this year. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun is in Tokyo after his visit to Seoul where he discussed nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, which has refused to resume talks due to what it calls hostile American policies. Biegun met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Taro Kono separately and reaffirmed the importance of their alliance in maintaining and strengthening “the free and open Indo-Pacific” and dealing with regional concerns including North Korea and China.

There was a preliminary total of 248 tornadoes across May and June — a combined count less than April's 256 and among the lowest numbers in history.

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s new 777X jet is likely to miss its planned debut next year, according to the aircraft’s top customer Emirates, which doesn’t expect to receive any planes before 2022.Deliveries of the wide-body jet, which first flew in January, will probably be held up by Boeing’s shutdown at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, together with a lengthy certification process, Adel Al Redha, the Gulf carrier’s chief operating officer, said Thursday in an interview.Emirates is also considering whether to seek a swap of some of the 115 777Xs it has on order -- representing more than a third of the total backlog -- for the smaller 787 Dreamliner, which might be better matched to demand, he said. Accelerating deliveries from an earlier Dreamliner order is a “possibility,” he said.“We will be discussing with Boeing in that regard, if we look what we can do with the 787,” Al Redha said. “We are in a fluid discussion and in the peak of re-examining all these kind of things. It does require re-examination, it does require re-thinking, it does require renegotiation.”Other buyers are also resisting taking delivery of such a large plane when they’re being compelled to shrink operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Boeing is looking at delaying the upgraded 777’s introduction, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters. The company’s first new-jet introduction since the grounding of its 737 Max after two fatal crashes also faces increased scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators.“I don’t see that they will be able to deliver the aircraft in 2021,” Al Redha said. “We will engage with Boeing to get more visibility. I think 2022 is a safe assumption to make.”Making ProgressBoeing said it’s working closely with its customers to adapt to the evolving Covid-19 situation. The Chicago-based company also said that it would soon add a third aircraft to its flight-testing program.“We continue to execute our robust test program for the 777-9, which began flight testing in January,” Boeing said in a statement, referring to the longest version of the 777X. “We remain pleased with the progress we are making and with the airplane.”Boeing fell 3.8% to $173.28 Thursday in New York. The shares have fallen 47% this year, the biggest drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.The FAA said it can’t comment on its efforts to review the manufacturer’s work to upgrade the 777.While the agency is taking steps to make risk assessments more rigorous in the wake of the Max grounding, the certification process for the 777X began before the crashes and shouldn’t be affected by the reforms. All the same, the spotlight on the process could trigger other actions that slow down approval.The timing of the 777X commercial debut has been at the heart of complex negotiations with Emirates, which has already converted some of its original order for the smaller and more versatile Dreamliner. The first delivery for the 777X was originally set for this year, though the date was pushed back to 2021 following issues including delays to the plane’s General Electric Co. turbines.While Emirates’ 2013 order was instrumental in Boeing’s decision to go forward with the 777X, it isn’t clear if the airline or another of the launch group of customers would take the initial delivery.Cash SourceBy potentially accelerating its 787 deliveries, Emirates would help support a critical cash source for Boeing amid an uncertain market for wide-body aircraft. The planemaker has outlined plans to halve Dreamliner production as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads, citing fading demand for near-term deliveries.Chicago-based Boeing will also be eager to begin handovers of the 777X after the Max crisis deprived it of revenue from its best-selling program. But the twin-aisle model, which boasts bigger wings and new engines, is arriving at a time when the high-volume long-haul market it’s designed to serve may be depressed for years.The 777-9 variant is longer than the 747 jumbo Boeing is winding down, and is the first twin-engine jet able to carry a similar number of people. It’s also the company’s priciest model, selling for $442.2 million before customary discounts.Sales, though, have stalled since an initial order flurry when the aircraft was unveiled at the 2013 Dubai Airshow, and anticipated orders from China haven’t materialized amid trade tensions.For the U.S. planemaker, there’s a risk that additional order conversions and deferrals will leave it manufacturing the jet in such low quantities that 777X profitability would be hurt. Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Deutsche Lufthansa AG are among customers that are restructuring their fleet plans.Long-Haul SlumpEmirates, the world’s largest long-haul airline, has been hard hit by the unprecedented slump in travel caused by the coronavirus. It’s already had to rethink plans for the double-decker A380, a mainstay of its all wide-body fleet, after a dearth of demand elsewhere led Airbus SE to decline to upgrade the jet and then to terminate the program early.The Gulf carrier, also the biggest customer for the Airbus super-jumbo, plans to take delivery of three A380s during the fiscal year ending in March, Al Redha said. While the delivery schedule for the last five planes remains unchanged, “if the need comes to re-visit, obviously we will do that.”Read more:Boeing Quietly Pulls Plug on the 747, Closing Era of Jumbo JetsEmirates Weighs Biggest Cut Yet as Airline Industry ShrinksEmirates and FlyDubai Evolve From Odd Couple to Best BuddiesHe said he expects 60% to 70% of the current A380 fleet to be back in the air by December. Load factor now exceeds 55% and demand for both economy and premium travelers has strengthened, he said. The airline plans to keep all 115 of the double-decker jets.The Dubai-based carrier will roll out premium economy seats on its newest A380 aircraft slated to be delivered in November, Al Redha said. Some of the existing fleet will be retrofitted from economy to premium economy.Two BrandsEmirates Group is also looking for ways to streamline operations and increase efficiencies, Al Redha said. One of the possibilities that is being considered is combining the back office operations of Emirates with discounter Flydubai, while maintaining two separate companies and identities. Both carriers are owned by Dubai’s government.“There is definitely a scope having to look at how we can reduce the expenses and become more efficient in certain areas, even if requires combining some back office activities,” Al Redha said. Emirates is re-examining all companies within the group, including ground-handling and catering arm Dnata.Emirates and Flydubai have deepened their ties since 2017, embracing route rationalization to minimize duplication.(Updates headline, share price)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) -- As the highest ranks of the world’s palm oil industry gathered in a virtual conference last month, it became clear they were anxious about the same issue: The oil has a severe image problem in India.The South Asian nation, home to more than $5 billion in palm sales a year and the top export market, is no longer enthralled with the oil. Demand, mostly driven by the service sector, has dried up due to the Covid-19 lockdowns, and households just don’t want it.The hurdle is that palm is viewed as a cheaper, less healthy option, and households prefer oils made from soy, sunflowers and mustard seed. With restaurants, hotels and school cafeterias -- the largest buyers -- unlikely to return to normalcy any time soon, the industry needs to find a way to change people’s minds.“During the early years, palm was distributed in India through ration shops, which gave it the tag of being a poor man’s oil,” said Atul Chaturvedi, president of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. “No attempt was ever made to rectify this wrong perception about this wonderful gift of nature.”In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, state-run ration shops sell refined palm oil to impoverished communities at a subsidized price of 25 rupees (33 cents) per liter, more than a third cheaper than usual. Meanwhile, retail prices of cooking oils such as soyoil and sunflower oil cost between 125 rupees to 200 rupees a liter, giving them the air of being better oils.Bad ImageAs well as the bargain oil image, local media reports that say palm has a high saturated fat content have turned people off. That’s kept a lid on household demand, which account for just 18% of total palm usage.Now, Covid-19 has exacerbated the problem as more people avoid eating out, hurting demand from a service sector that makes up more than 30% of imports. Total palm oil purchases shrunk 31% in the first eight months of the marketing year that began in November, while sunflower grew 17% and soybean oil climbed 13%.To boost household consumption, the palm industry needs to launch a nationwide campaign similar to how poultry farmers began promoting eggs in the 1980s, said Angshu Mallick, deputy chief executive officer of Adani Wilmar Ltd., a vegetable oil processor.Egg ExcitementPoultry farmers began running adverts on TV where cricket players and other professional athletes promoted eggs as a healthy food. The PR campaign worked, with per capita egg demand almost doubling in the last two decades, said Jaison John, a general manager at Suguna Foods Pvt., a top poultry producer in India.As part of the efforts, palm producer Sime Darby Oils and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council will organize seminars and workshops in India to showcase the latest developments in the industry, said Sandeep Bhan, chief operating officer for trading at Sime Darby Oils. But more has to be done, and importers as well as exporters need to work together to jointly promote palm oil, he said.If the palm exporting countries refuse to see the “writing on the wall,” the discount of palm over the other edible oils will be difficult to close, Chaturvedi said.“After a dream run in the last few decades in India, palm oil has now started to see headwinds,” said Chaturvedi. “It’s time for palm stake holders to re-look at their long term strategies.”India’s demand for vegetable oils, including palm, is seen recovering to pre-Covid-19 levels in the second quarter of 2021, according to veteran analyst Dorab Mistry, a director at Godrej International.“I am looking forward to high commodity prices from the second quarter of 2021” helped by a recovery in the global economy next year, Mistry said. Until then “we have to live with low prices.”“If we push up prices unnecessarily we are going to destroy demand,” he said.(Updates to add analyst comment in final three paragraphs)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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