2025-10-25 19:19

Melissa expected to make landfall as Category 4 hurricane Slow-moving storm could impact Jamaica for days PM advises evacuation from low-lying areas Cuba also in Melissa's sites KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Melissa has become a hurricane and is expected to strengthen into at least Category 4 intensity, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. The rapidly intensifying storm is expected to wreak havoc across the Caribbean with catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges expected in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola into early next week, forcing authorities and residents to batten down. Sign up here. Hurricane Melissa is located about 130 miles (210 km) southeast of Kingston and about 250 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according to the NHC advisory. Maximum sustained winds increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h). A hurricane warning is in place for Jamaica, and a hurricane watch for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti and parts of Cuba, including Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin. "I would urge all my fellow citizens, now is the time to be prepared," Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said during a press conference in Kingston, adding that the "entire Jamaica will be impacted" for multiple days. Holness advised people in low-lying areas like Port Royal in Kingston to evacuate but did not issue a mandatory evacuation order. Evan Thompson, Jamaica's principal director at the Meteorological Service, said Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica as a Category 4 storm on Tuesday, and remain for five days. Category 4 hurricanes have sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph. "Today is really the last day to do what you have to do on the outside," Thompson said. People around the country were rushing to gather supplies and secure their homes while fishermen and vendors in Kingston raced to prepare their boats and sell their goods before the storm hits. “When it's moving slow, it’s the worst because no one knows what's next,” said Diane Thompson, a local herb seller. “I asked God this morning to see if he can turn back the storm. Because no matter what, we cannot manage it.” The NHC said the storm is currently moving west at 3 mph (6 km/h) and predicts 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) of rainfall in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a possible local maximum of 40 inches. Eastern Cuba is expected to get 6 to 12 inches with local amounts of 18 inches. Jamaica's south coast is expected to see storm surges of up to 13 feet (3.96 m) accompanied by large, destructive waves. Significant storm surges are expected on the southeast coast of Cuba early next week, the agency added. Clive Davis, a fisherman from Kingston, prepared his boat “Prince Daniel” along the shoreline and said he feared Melissa will bring more damage than last year's devastating Hurricane Beryl, which passed just south of the island. “But this now, she wants to come stay, visit Jamaica for three days, why? It’s gonna slow down business, but it’s nature. We can’t fight against nature,” he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/tropical-storm-melissa-now-hurricane-nhc-says-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 19:06

VALENCIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Saturday and called for conservative regional leader Carlos Mazon to resign over his handling of flash floods that killed 229 people a year ago. Displaying banners with messages such as "Mazon to prison" and chanting, "They didn't die, they were murdered," protesters filled the centre of Valencia for the 12th time since the flash floods occurred almost exactly one year ago. Sign up here. "I have lost everything, but what matters is not the material losses but the human losses. And they could have been avoided," 71-year-old flood survivor Cristina Guzman Trabero told Reuters. "And we are here demanding justice. We don't want anything else." Residents of the affected areas accuse the regional government of issuing an alert too late after buildings were already under water and many people were drowning in the most catastrophic flood-related event in Europe since 1967. A judicial investigation is under way into the emergency response. On Thursday, the court summoned a local journalist who had lunch with Mazon on the day of the floods - October 29, 2024. Spanish authorities said on Thursday that the body of a 56-year-old man had been found buried in mud a year after he was swept away by the water. The catastrophic floods were caused by a destructive weather system, known locally as DANA, in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be growing more frequent due to climate change. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/protesters-urge-regional-spanish-leader-quit-year-after-deadly-floods-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 17:09

TUNIS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the capital Tunis on Saturday to protest a severe environmental crisis , opens new tab caused by pollution from a state chemical plant in Gabes, as protests that began there widen outside the southern city. The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have underscored growing public frustration over the government’s handling of pollution and worsening state of public services, marking the biggest challenge to President Kais Saied since he seized all power in 2021. Sign up here. Residents of Gabes have reported rising rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, which they blame on toxic gases from the state chemical group’s phosphate plants, which dump thousands of tons of waste into the sea daily. The latest wave of protests in Gabes was triggered this month after dozens of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties caused by toxic fumes from a plant that converts phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers. Protesters in Tunis carried banners and chanted slogans in solidarity with residents of Gabes, calling the response of authorities "repression." The government said it arrested people for violence. "It’s that simple, the people of Gabes want to breathe," Hani Faraj, a protester from the “Stop Pollution” campaign, told Reuters. "Gabes is dying slowly ... We will not remain silent. We will escalate our peaceful protests." Saied's administration fears protests in the capital could spark unrest elsewhere in Tunisia, deepening pressure as it struggles with a prolonged economic downturn and political instability. Saied has described the situation in Gabes as an "environmental assassination,” blaming criminal policy choices by a previous government. In an effort to quell the protests, he has called for repairs to the industrial units to stop leaks as an immediate step. Health Minister Mustapha Ferjani said this week the government would build a cancer hospital in Gabes to deal with rising cases. However, protesters have rejected the fixes as temporary, and are demanding the polluting facilities be permanently shut and relocated. Environmental groups warn that tons of industrial waste are discharged daily into the sea at Chatt Essalam, severely damaging marine life. Local fishermen have reported a sharp decline in fish stocks over the past decade, threatening a vital source of income for many in the region. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/hundreds-protest-tunisias-capital-over-worsening-pollution-crisis-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 16:14

Oct 25 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab said it, along with its project partners, had lifted force majeure on their $20 billion Mozambique LNG project, four years after an Islamist militant attack brought construction to a halt. Notice was sent to the Mozambican government via letter on Friday, a TotalEnergies press officer said. Sign up here. The company said, however, the project would only be relaunched once the government had approved an updated budget and schedule. "Before fully relaunching the project, Mozambique's council of ministers needs to approve an addendum to the plan of development," the company said. TotalEnergies, the project's operator and leading shareholder, forecasts the 13 million metric-ton-per-year project will come online in 2029, around five years later than initially expected. COSTS RISE BY AT LEAST $4 BILLION? Costs related to security and the four-year halt had added at least $4 billion to the project's stated $20 billion price tag, Indian shareholder Bharat Petroleum said last year. Shareholders have been in negotiations with the Mozambique government to decide how the additional costs should be split. Contracts have been agreed to sell nearly 90% of the project's future output, TotalEnergies has said, with long-term buyers including China's CNOOC, France's EDF, and British major Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab. A portion of the gas is reserved for Mozambique's state energy company ENH. Major discoveries of offshore gas lured investors to Mozambique - where companies including Italy's ENI (ENI.MI) , opens new tab and U.S major ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab also have stakes - but the project's resumption will focus attention on whether Mozambique can provide the political stability and security needed to exploit those reserves. The project, known as Mozambique LNG, is 40% complete. Remaining works will take place in "containment mode", with workers allowed in by air or sea only for security reasons, TotalEnergies told a September 29 Investor Day. Mozambique LNG is owned by TotalEnergies (26.5%), Japan's Mitsui (20%), ENH (15%), Bharat Petroleum (10%), Oil India (10%), ONGC Videsh (10%), and Thailand's PTTEP (8.5%). https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/totalenergies-partners-lift-force-majeure-20-billion-mozambique-lng-project-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 14:05

BERLIN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A senior lawmaker from Germany's Social Democrats, a junior partner in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government, called on Saturday for a change of China policy after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul postponed a trip to Beijing. Wadephul, a member of Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), cancelled the trip on Friday after Beijing confirmed only one of his requested meetings, a move that pointed to rising tensions over trade and security matters. Sign up here. "The short-term cancellation of the trip to China does not bode well for an improvement in tense German-Chinese relations," said Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesperson for the Social Democrats (SPD). "We need to rethink Germany's China strategy. More than ever, we need an active, strategic foreign policy that focuses on dialogue, clarity and long-term interests," he said. Germany is Europe's biggest economy. China is Germany's biggest trading partner and the largest economy in Asia. The only meeting Beijing had confirmed during Wadephul's planned trip had been with his direct counterpart, Wang Yi. A German foreign ministry spokesperson, commenting on the trip's postponement on Friday, also said Germany was concerned about constraints placed on rare earth exports. WADEPHUL UNDERLINED IMPORTANCE OF FAIR TRADE Wadephul told Reuters this week he planned to urge China to relax export restrictions on rare earths and semiconductors during his trip, which had been due to start on Sunday, and underlined fair trade as a cornerstone of successful relations. In a strategy on China agreed in 2023, Berlin urged the "de-risking" of the two countries' economic relationship, calling Beijing a "partner, competitor and systemic rival". China provides Germany with critical components such as rare earths and chips, two areas that have been subject to severe bottlenecks as global trade tensions intensify. "Direct dialogue with China is particularly important in a phase of global tension," Ahmetovic said. Talks should be deepened "especially on issues of peace, security, the economy, trade and human rights," he said. Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the CDU, said China was trying to use trade policy as a means of exerting pressure and that Wadephul had been right to postpone the trip. "The German government is not playing along with this game," he said, adding that Germany continued to value good and fair relations with Beijing. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/germany-should-rethink-china-strategy-spd-lawmaker-says-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 10:43

BRUSSELS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The European Union is developing a new plan to curb its reliance on Chinese critical raw materials, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, as she criticised Beijing for its expanded restrictions on the export of rare earths. The European Union has for years attempted to reduce its dependence on China for the minerals that are needed for the transition to cleaner energy, the defence sector and electric vehicle production. Sign up here. Von der Leyen said the EU would seek to speed up critical raw materials partnerships with countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. The plan would also include greater efforts to recycle critical raw materials in products sold in Europe, she said. "The aim is to secure access to alternative sources of critical raw materials in the short, medium and long term for our European industries," she told a conference in Berlin. The scheme, called RESourceEU, would be similar to a plan the EU developed after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to cut its reliance on Russian energy, known as REPowerEU, she said. "We will focus on everything from joint purchasing to stockpiling. We will boost investment in strategic projects for the production and processing of critical raw materials here in the European Union," she added. On October 9, China imposed export restrictions on rare earths and battery materials. Western governments and analysts view the increased curbs as part of China's response to trade tariffs imposed by the United States. But von der Leyen said it also had a huge impact on Europe, in industrial sectors, including automotive, defence, aerospace, AI chips and data centres. "If you consider that over 90% of our consumption of rare earth magnets comes from imports from China, you see the risks here for Europe and its most strategic industrial sectors," she said. "In the short term, we are focusing on finding solutions with our Chinese counterparts. But we are ready to use all of the instruments in our toolbox to respond if needed," she said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-steps-up-efforts-cut-reliance-chinese-rare-earths-2025-10-25/