2024-08-16 18:15

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Hurricane Ernesto was on track to slam Bermuda on Saturday morning, pummeling the British island territory with dangerous storm surges, flash flooding, strong winds and up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rainfall over the weekend. Bermuda, with a population of 64,000 spread over dozens of small islands, has a long history with storms in the Atlantic. Tropical cyclones bring stormy weather every year and a particularly damaging event once every six or seven years. Hurricanes have rarely made landfall on Bermuda - meaning the eye of the storm passed directly over the islands - because of its small size. Only 11 storms have done so since records began in 1851. Here are the most significant hurricanes to have hit Bermuda in recent times: FABIAN, 2003 The Category 4 hurricane did not make landfall on Bermuda, but its eastern eyewall struck the islands as a Category 3 storm, causing the most devastation in recent memory. With wind speeds over 120 mph (193 kph) and waves that reached 20 to 30 feet (6-9 m) high, the storm left Bermuda with $300 million in property damage. Four people died when their cars were swept off a causeway due to a storm surge, the first deaths on the island caused by a hurricane since 1926. FAY AND GONZALO, 2014 In 2014, two hurricanes - Fay and Gonzalo - made landfall on Bermuda within six days. It was the first time the territory experienced two landfalls in a single season since records began. As residents were cleaning up after Category 1 Fay, Gonzalo hit as a Category 2 hurricane soon after being downgraded from Category 4. The storms cost the islands between $200 million-$400 million in damage. NICOLE, 2016 Nicole hit the islands as a Category 2 hurricane after it had weakened from a Category 4. Wind gusts up to 119 mph (192 kph) toppled trees and power lines, cutting electricity to 90% of the island's customers. Nicole was one of Bermuda's wettest storms on record with 6.77 inches (17.2 cm) of rainfall, second only to an unnamed 1939 hurricane that dropped 7.35 inches (18.67 cm) on the islands. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/recent-hurricanes-that-have-hit-bermuda-2024-08-16/

2024-08-16 18:04

Aug 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday tossed out several natural gas pipeline safety standards adopted by President Joe Biden's administration following industry criticism about the massive costs on pipeline operators. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said , opens new tab the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration failed to adequately explain why the revised standards' benefits outweigh their costs. The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, a trade group, had largely supported the revisions, but sued last year to challenge five that PHMSA adopted over its objections. Those highly technical standards, finalized in 2022, included new requirements for operators to carry out repairs to address pipeline walls thinning or corroding or developing cracks and dents. The trade group welcomed the ruling. The agency did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, writing for Friday's three-judge panel, said the PHMSA's analysis of the costs of the new standards were inadequate, inconsistent or missing. "Because the agency imposed a new safety requirement without properly addressing the costs of doing so, the standard cannot stand," Pan, a Biden appointee, said of one of the new requirements. The court upheld a fifth new standard the trade group had challenged, which addressed monitoring for a type of pipe anomaly that occurs when corrosion and high pressure cause cracks. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-appeals-court-scraps-natural-gas-pipeline-safety-standards-2024-08-16/

2024-08-16 15:05

BRASILIA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank is committed to lowering the risk premium associated with uncertainties surrounding monetary policy, its head Roberto Campos Neto said on Friday as he sets the stage for an imminent leadership transition. "The premium associated with that has decreased a little bit," he said during an event hosted by Barclays. "It's a game of credibility, we need to continue demonstrating coherence." Campos Neto, whose term ends in December, emphasized that all of the bank's board members are delivering the same message: the central bank is data-dependent and will not provide any guidance on future steps, but will do whatever is necessary to bring inflation to the target. "If hiking rates is necessary, we will do it," he said. "People are now understanding that regardless of who is in charge of the central bank or who the directors are, the direction is set." In recent weeks, monetary policy director Gabriel Galipolo has been leading more hawkish remarks that helped strengthen the Brazilian real following a depreciation spiral against the U.S. dollar. Sources told Reuters that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would soon nominate him to succeed Campos Neto. Lula said on Friday that he did not know for sure if Galipolo would be his pick for the position. Galipolo has highlighted that, in his view, the balance of inflationary risks is now asymmetric, tilted to the upside. In the minutes of its latest rate decision, where borrowing costs were held steady at 10.5% for the second consecutive time, the central bank revealed that its board members now see more upside than downside risks to inflation, though there was no consensus on whether the balance is asymmetric. When asked about his personal opinion, Campos Neto responded that he could not answer the question, noting that not all members' views are publicly disclosed. He said upcoming inflation figures should be lower after the 12-month reading showed an increase to 4.5% in July, noting that economic activity continues to surprise policymakers on the upside. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-central-bank-focused-reducing-risk-premium-linked-monetary-policy-2024-08-16/

2024-08-16 13:29

BRASILIA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The Brazilian economy closed the second quarter showing resilience after much stronger-than-expected activity data in June, central bank figures showed on Friday, reinforcing forecasts of a solid year for Latin America's No.1 economy. The IBC-Br index, a key predictor of gross domestic product, increased by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in June from the previous month, beating the 0.5% growth expected by economists in a Reuters poll. The monthly performance led to a 1.1% expansion in the second quarter compared with the previous three months. Brazil's economy has been supported by a strong labor market and booming services sector, which hit an all-time high in June. Following the latest activity data, Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos said he now expects the country's GDP to grow 2.5% this year, up from the 2.3% previously forecast. Santander also hiked its projections for Brazil. "We are impressed by the current strength of Brazil's economy," Santander chief economist Ana Paula Vescovi said in a note to clients. "We now expect an even stronger short-term dynamic, as the labor market remains robust and floods in Rio Grande do Sul had a smaller impact on economic activity than we anticipated," she added, revising her 2024 GDP growth estimate to 2.3% from 2.0%. The second quarter's performance showed resilience despite the severe floods that hit the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul in May, devastating cities and displacing more than half a million people. These events led many economists at the time to predict potential economic losses for the country. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said this week that the government would likely revise this year's expected economic growth forecast upwards to more than 2.5%, after maintaining the estimate at that level in July. The official gross domestic product (GDP) figures will be released by the statistics agency IBGE on Sept. 3. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-economy-shows-strength-q2-june-activity-overshoots-forecasts-2024-08-16/

2024-08-16 12:13

CHISINAU, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Moldova launched its first tender for wind and solar power plants on Friday as part of a push to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. "Opening up for investors to develop renewables is yet another critical step towards ensuring greater energy security for Moldova," Energy Minister Victor Parlicov told Reuters. "The development of renewables will empower us to produce our own energy, further solidifying Moldova's path to true energy independence." Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, was in "an incredibly vulnerable position" when Russia launched its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, but worked hard to reduce its reliance on Russia, he said. That action, he said, included connecting Moldova's grid to the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E), upgrading energy infrastructure to receive natural gas from diverse sources, and building electricity lines to enhance its connection with the European Union. Moldova has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and its pro-western government hopes to take the small agricultural economy into the EU by 2030. The tender aims to construct wind power plants with a capacity of up to 105 megawatts and photovoltaic plants with a maximum capacity of 60 MW, the energy ministry said. The winning investor will get a 15-year fixed price guarantee for the electricity generated. Official data shows Moldova increased the share of renewable energy sources in its electricity consumption to 10.5% in 2023 from 3.6% in 2021, driven by wind and solar. Officials said the total installed capacity was around 400 MW at the end of the second quarter of 2024. Once the new power plants start working, the share of electricity from renewables would grow to about 16.6%, the ministry said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/moldova-seeks-investment-wind-solar-plants-with-first-tender-2024-08-16/

2024-08-16 11:59

ATHENS, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Greece said on Friday that it would partially lift a ban on transporting sheep and goats that it imposed last month after goat plague was detected in the country. Goat plague, also known as Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), was detected in July for the first time in Greece. The virus does not infect humans, but is highly contagious among goats and sheep and can kill up to 70% of those infected. "The movement of animals for slaughter will be allowed from Monday in the regional units that have not been affected by the plague of small ruminants," the country's agriculture ministry said in a statement. More than twenty farms have been infected, mostly in the centre of the country, and thousands of animals have been culled in previous weeks. Once a case is detected, the entire flock is culled, in line with protocols set by the European Union. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greece-partially-lifts-ban-transporting-animals-after-goat-plague-2024-08-16/