US judge confirms Red Tree's offer as starting bid in Citgo parent's shares auction
The offer had been recommended by a court officer overseeing the auction due to its certainty of closure.
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Scotsman
21 minutes ago
- Scotsman
ScotRail passengers travelling without tickets face minimum fares deterrent under new plans
Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Passengers who travel without a ticket face a new crackdown under ScotRail plans to combat fare dodging, The Scotsman has learned. They could be charged a minimum fare if they had not bought a ticket before boarding the train. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A minimum fare would be introduced under ScotRail plans The move is seen as deterring passengers from claiming they had made shorter journeys than they had travelled. It is aimed ay reducing the estimated £10 million a year lost to the Scottish Government-owned operator through ticket fraud, which would cut the amount of public funding it needs. Unlike most English operators, ScotRail passengers do not face penalties for not buying a ticket before travelling. However, the proposal could mean passengers making short journeys which cost less than the minimum fare having to pay more if they did not buy a ticket before boarding their train. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The minutes of a ScotRail board meeting in January show strategy and planning director Scott Prentice said the introduction of a minimum fares scheme was among 'key initiatives' in the firm's 2025-26 draft business plan, subject to Transport Scotland approval. An industry source said minimum fares was a 'slightly softer approach' than the £100 penalty fares which can be imposed south of the Border. Another industry insider said: 'This looks like a revenue protection initiative, where a passenger with no ticket on a train or at the end of their journey is obliged to buy a 'minimum fare' ticket. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This would probably be more expensive than many low value ScotRail tickets, such as a £3 Mount Florida to Glasgow Central single, and act as an encouragement for passengers to buy a ticket before boarding a train. It's believed to be better than a penalty fares scheme. READ MORE: The place in Scotland where 94 per cent of people travel by ScotRail 'ScotRail is right to continue to work hard on reducing ticketless travel, and needs some incentives as it's practically not easy to check that everyone has a ticket on board on short journeys and busy trains.' However, the Scottish Conservatives questioned the merits of the scheme. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Party transport spokesperson Sue Webber said: 'Hard-pressed passengers will want to see stronger action on fare dodging, but this policy might not be the silver bullet SNP ministers want it to be. 'It's simply not practical to expect smaller stations to enforce this policy, after the SNP's botched nationalisation of ScotRail.' Claire Baker, her Scottish Labour counterpart, said: 'It is not right that commuters are forced to pay more because a small minority are trying to game the system. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The SNP should work with ScotRail to design plans to tackle fare dodging without penalising other passengers.' READ MORE: The challenge to make ScotRail peak fares abolition succeed second time round A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: 'ScotRail has a number of ways to make it easy for passengers to buy their tickets before they board - online, via the app, ticket machine or from ticket offices.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Man Utd splashing cash on new strikers adds pressure on Amorim to deliver
MANCHESTER, England, Aug 9 (Reuters) - After their worst season in 51 years last term, the only way is up for Manchester United. Complete with a new 200 million pound ($269 million) strike force, coach Ruben Amorim has the backing of fans to bring about lasting change. Now he must deliver. From the start, Amorim has always said, given the choice, he would not have taken on the monumental task of awakening English football's most successful club from its slumber when he did, mid-season. The Portuguese coach insisted he was given a "now or never" ultimatum before succeeding Erik ten Hag last November, taking an underperforming side to plentiful lows – worst finish, most defeats, fewest points and fewest goals in their Premier League history. Amorim asked supporters to judge him after he had a full pre-season to instil his ideas properly. Three new forwards gives him greater tools to succeed. Such spending comes as a surprise. New co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe insisted only in March that the club were so low on cash when his company Ineos bought a minority stake in late 2023 they faced going "bust by Christmas". RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko is expected to be confirmed as a United player this weekend and could be flanked for next week's season opener against Arsenal by exciting forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who both have something United attackers of late have lacked – Premier League goalscoring pedigree. As United slumped to an unfathomable 15th last term, the concession of 54 goals was their joint-third worst defensive record in Premier League history. It was their inability to score that proved more damaging, however. They mustered a record-low 44 league strikes, five fewer than in any Premier League season. "The hardest part of last season was to go to the games and know that we are not going to be competitive,' Amorim told reporters on the club's pre-season tour of the United States. "Nowadays I'm better, I'm more excited. I also think I learned a lot. We will be a better team. Not just because I truly believe that we can be better, but I truly believe that I will be better at managing this season. "Now we are in a better place, but we are just beginning. We have to perform. And I really like the pressure. If I have the feeling that before the game we are going to be competitive, we'll be OK. I just don't want to return to that feeling that we are thinking it's not a 50-50 game.' MAN UTD PULL STILL THERE Supporters have been buoyed that new signings have not been put off by the fact United will not be competing in any European competition this season for the first time in 11 years. Mbeumo and Sesko especially had plenty of other clubs reportedly interested in them, but the pull of United, despite being without a league title since 2013, remains. "From the start, I wanted to join this massive club," Mbeumo said after signing. "Now I'm here, I'm just really happy. For me, it's the biggest club in the world. The fans are crazy, the stadium is amazing. Every player wants to play here." More new signings are needed across the team for any major improvement this season, however. Skipper Bruno Fernandes labelled the last U.S. tour performance in a 2-2 draw with Everton as "lazy" and called on the club to make more additions before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month. Otherwise, their trip across the Atlantic was unanimously positive. With a starting line-up retaining nine of the team that performed so poorly in their Europa League final loss to Tottenham Hotspur, United looked energised and, at times, entertaining in a 4-1 win over Bournemouth, while also beating West Ham to finish unbeaten in their three-match series. Amorim faces some daunting early fixtures, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea in their opening five games. Nonetheless, he needs to harness some rare positivity gleaned from scoring some goals over pre-season to at least start setting United back on the right path. ($1 = 0.7438 pounds)
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump hosts Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to announce peace accord
The 20-mile route, a key element in the deal, will be a multi-modal transit corridor through the South Caucasus connecting the two countries. The United States will have exclusive development rights along it. More: Trump greenlights Putin sit-down, even if Russian leader does not meet with Zelenskyy "By locking into this path to peace, we are unlocking the great potential of the South Caucasus region in trade, transit and energy flows," Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, told reporters. "This president has yet again shown that we can move beyond longstanding conflicts of the past and move toward the future." A senior Trump administration official said that the new Trump corridor will open trade and connectivity to Armenia, which has been effectively blocked from access along its border with Azerbaijan. More: US plan sees Hezbollah disarmed by year-end, Israeli withdrawal Trump administration officials have quietly worked for months to secure an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "These two Nations have been at War for many years, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people," Trump said in an Aug. 7 post on his social media site Truth Social, lauding his victory. "Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP.'" Additionally, Trump will sign agreements with leaders of both countries on energy, technology, economic cooperation, border security, infrastructure and trade with the United States. No additional details were provided. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh - an Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population - broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Contributing: Reuters Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
