2025-08-03 05:05
CANBERRA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Several towns in eastern Australia were blanketed with their thickest layer of snow in decades as wild weather swept the area this weekend, causing floods, stranding vehicles and cutting power to thousands of homes, authorities said. A cold air front dropped as much as 40 cm (16 inches) of snow on parts of northern New South Wales on Saturday, the most since the mid-1980s, said Miriam Bradbury, a meteorologist at Australia's weather bureau. Sign up here. Snow also settled in areas of the neighbouring state of Queensland for the first time in 10 years, she said. Bradbury said climate change has made Australia's weather more volatile in recent years but that this sort of event had occurred several times in the historical record. "What makes this event unusual is how much snow we had but also how widespread, covering quite a large part of the northern tablelands," she said. With heavy rain lashing other areas, the New South Wales State Emergency Service said it had responded to more than 1,455 incidents. It said more than 100 vehicles had been stranded by snow, storms had damaged buildings and it had issued several major flood warnings. Tens of thousands of homes spent the night without power, state broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. Police in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, said a car had become stuck in floodwater on Saturday evening and a female passenger in her 20s was swept away. The search was continuing on Sunday, they said. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/australian-towns-blanketed-with-rare-snow-wild-weather-2025-08-03/
2025-08-03 00:59
SAO PAULO, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The majority of minority shareholders of Brazilian poultry and pork processor BRF (BRFS3.SA) , opens new tab have approved a proposed tie-up with beefpacker Marfrig (MRFG3.SA) , opens new tab, according to a securities filing on Saturday. The move will create another global food company with origins in Brazil and factories in South America, North America, the Middle East and China. Sign up here. The filing showed 71.4% of minority shareholders in BRF approved the terms of the deal with Marfrig, not including abstentions. Shareholders representing 90% of BRF's free float cast their votes, the filing said. The results indicate support for the deal's completion ahead of an extraordinary general shareholders meeting scheduled for August 5. In May, Marfrig unveiled a plan to complete its takeover of BRF, a move that could be followed by the listing of shares of the combined corporate entity, to be called MBRF, in the United States. In public disclosures, Marfrig and BRF said the proposed deal would involve a share swap whereby BRF shareholders would receive 0.8521 shares of Marfrig for each BRF share they own. MBRF will also control Marfrig-owned National Beef, a meat processor based in the United States. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/brazils-brf-minority-shareholders-back-marfrig-deal-2025-08-03/
2025-08-02 20:37
SANTIAGO, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Chilean copper miner Codelco has discovered the remains of one of five trapped miners at its flagship El Teniente mine, it said on Saturday, bringing the death toll from a collapse caused by a strong tremor on Thursday to two people. It said that the identity of the second victim must still be confirmed by authorities. One other person was reported dead on Thursday at the time of the accident, which occurred in the Andesita section of the mine. Sign up here. "This discovery fills us with sadness, but it also tells us that we are in the right place, that the strategy we followed led us to them,” Andres Music, general manager of El Teniente, said in a statement. He said Codelco would continue its efforts with "strength and hope," but with increased caution which could slow its progress. Music did not provide more details about how Codelco recovered the worker's remains, or update the progress in reaching the area where others are believed to be trapped. Earlier in the day, Music said Codelco had cleared just over a fifth of the blocked underground tunnels needed to reach the trapped workers, but had not yet made contact with them. Rescue teams were using heavy machinery, and hoped to proceed at a rate of about 15 to 20 meters (49 to 65.6 feet) every 24 hours, he said, but the exact timing would be unpredictable. The accident, which took place around 5:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, was caused by one of the largest tremors ever recorded at El Teniente, with the impact of a 4.2 magnitude quake. Codelco is investigating whether the cause was mining activity or natural tectonic shifts in the earthquake-prone country. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-codelco-reports-death-one-five-trapped-el-teniente-miners-2025-08-02/
2025-08-02 20:02
Aug 2 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday that its team at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) heard explosions and saw smoke coming from a nearby location. The nuclear plant said one of its auxiliary facilities was attacked today, IAEA said in a statement. Sign up here. "The auxiliary facility is located 1,200 metres from the ZNPP's site perimeter and the IAEA team could still see smoke from that direction in the afternoon," the nuclear watchdog said. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/iaea-reports-hearing-explosions-sees-smoke-near-ukraines-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-2025-08-02/
2025-08-02 18:09
Projects stranded equal over 25% of current green capacity Transmission, legal, and regulatory delays cause bottlenecks Government says stranded capacity at 44 GW SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - India's stranded renewable power capacity - projects awarded but unable to come online - more than doubled over nine months, due to unfinished transmission lines, and legal and regulatory delays, letters from an industry group to the government showed. The South Asian nation aims to more than double its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, but the acceleration has left projects without firm agreements to supply power. Sign up here. Renewable projects that won tenders to generate power but are yet to sign power purchase agreements with buyers have surged to over 50 gigawatts, India's Sustainable Projects Developers Association said in a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on June 27. That compared with stranded projects of over 20 GW, another letter sent by the SPDA on October 4 showed. Both letters were reviewed by Reuters. Tendered projects cumulatively worth billions of dollars awarded to companies including JSW, NTPC (NTPC.NS) , opens new tab, (NTPG.NS) , opens new tab, Adani Green (ADNA.NS) , opens new tab, ACME Solar (ACMO.NS) , opens new tab, Renew (RNW.O) , opens new tab and Sembcorp (SEMB.NS) , opens new tab are stranded, two industry officials familiar with the matter said. "Energy transition is not just about building solar and wind capacity, it is also about ensuring that clean power reaches in a most optimum cost and timely manner," the SPDA said in its June 27 letter to the renewable energy ministry. The stranded solar and wind capacity without buyers of over 50 GW reported by the SPDA is about a quarter the size of India's current installed renewable capacity of 184.6 GW. The companies did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment. A spokesperson for India's power ministry told Reuters on Saturday renewable projects of about 44 GW had been awarded generation licences by federal agencies - which account for most tenders - but did not have supply agreements. He did not elaborate on the scale of the increase in stranded projects, the duration of delay or companies affected. Delays in critical transmission infrastructure - especially in sun-drenched states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat - have forced many solar plants to miss commissioning deadlines, the SPDA said in the June letter. Interstate transmission lines connecting renewable energy projects to the grid are being fast-tracked, and compensation for landowners allowing power cables on their property has been increased to facilitate construction, the ministry spokesperson said. India plans to connect 230 GW of renewable energy projects to the grid through interstate transmission lines, of which 20% have been completed, 70% are under construction and the remainder is being bid out, he said, without specifying a timeline for completion. Renewable projects are also stuck due to prolonged legal disputes over land and environmental permissions, SPDA said, adding that several developers have paused operations over unresolved court cases. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/indias-renewable-projects-without-supply-deals-double-nine-months-documents-show-2025-08-01/
2025-08-02 17:30
Uncertain economics contributed to Kraft Heinz write-down Operating profit down 4%, net income down 59% Stock has lagged after Buffett said he would step down Aug 2 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab said on Saturday it took a $3.76 billion write-down on its stake in Kraft Heinz (KHC.O) , opens new tab during the second quarter, an acknowledgment the decade-old investment hasn't worked out. Berkshire also reported a 4% decline in quarterly operating profit as insurance underwriting premiums fell. The write-down and lower gains from common stocks caused a 59% drop in overall net income. Sign up here. Buffett's conglomerate signaled it remains cautious about market valuations, amid uncertainty about tariffs and growth in the broader economy. It reported a near-record $344.1 billion cash stake, and sold more stocks than it bought for an 11th straight quarter. As of mid-July, Berkshire hadn't repurchased any of its own stock since May 2024. Buffett, 94, has led Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire since 1965, though he plans to step down at year-end. "Investors are getting antsy and want to seek activity, and nothing is happening," said Kyle Sanders, an analyst at Edward Jones. "Buffett definitely views the market as overvalued, and will sit back and wait for something to come to him." Uncertainty about trade policies, including tariffs, has become a headwind as delayed orders and shipments led to declining revenue at most of Berkshire's consumer businesses. Jazwares, which makes the popular Squishmallows plush toys, saw revenue fall 38.5% in the year's first half. Analysts viewed overall results as lackluster. "Berkshire and the economy are at an inflection point," said Cathy Seifert, a CFRA Research analyst. "I don't think the market will embrace the combination of mediocre results, a lack of stock buybacks, and Berkshire's recent share underperformance amid a management transition." Seifert and Sanders rate Berkshire "hold." KRAFT HEINZ Second-quarter operating income fell to $11.16 billion, or about $7,760 per Class A share, from $11.6 billion a year earlier. Results included $877 million of currency losses as the U.S. dollar weakened. Net income, including gains and losses on stocks such as Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab and American Express (AXP.N) , opens new tab, fell to $12.37 billion from $30.35 billion. Revenue fell 1% to $92.52 billion. Buffett views unrealized investment gains and losses, including on stocks Berkshire has no plans to sell, as often meaningless to understanding his company. The $3.76 billion after-tax write-down for Berkshire's 27.4% Kraft Heinz stake, equal to $5 billion before taxes, followed the struggling food company's announcement it would consider strategic alternatives, which could include a breakup. Berkshire had carried Kraft Heinz on its books at above-market value but said economic and other uncertainties, and its longer-term plans to remain an investor, made the gap "other-than-temporary." The write-down is Berkshire's second for Kraft Heinz, following a $3 billion write-down in 2019. Buffett acknowledged at the time that Berkshire overpaid in the 2015 merger of Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz, one of his biggest investment missteps. Kraft Heinz has suffered as more shoppers favor healthier and private-label alternatives. Its approximately 200 brands include Oscar Mayer, Kool-Aid, Velveeta and Jell-O. Berkshire also carries another big investment, its 28.1% stake in Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) , opens new tab at $5.3 billion above fair value, but reported no need for a write-down. LAGGING THE MARKET Shares of Berkshire have fallen more than 12%, and lagged the Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab by about 22 percentage points, since Buffett announced on May 3 he would step down as chief executive at year end. Vice Chairman Greg Abel, 63, will succeed him, though Buffett will remain chairman. Analysts said the premium embedded in Berkshire's stock price because of the presence of Buffett, arguably the world's most well-known investor, has eroded, while growth may slow in the insurance sector, a major Berkshire profit center. The lack of new investments has also been a drag. Analysts believe Berkshire's BNSF unit could buy CSX (CSX.O) , opens new tab to create another transcontinental railroad, after Union Pacific (UNP.N) , opens new tab agreed on July 29 to buy Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) , opens new tab. Buffett transformed Berkshire over six decades from a troubled and since-closed textile company into a $1.02 trillion conglomerate. Berkshire owns several insurers and reinsurers, electric utility and renewable energy businesses, several chemical and industrial companies, and familiar consumer brands such as Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies. BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL Berkshire said the 12% quarterly decline in insurance underwriting profit stemmed primarily from reinsurance businesses and some smaller insurance businesses. Geico, its best-known insurance business, saw pre-tax underwriting profit rise 2%, as a 5% increase in premiums offset a smaller rise in accident losses. The car insurer has been ceding market share to State Farm and Progressive (PGR.N) , opens new tab, while focusing on improving underwriting quality and technology and cutting jobs. Analysts said higher tariffs could be a headwind for Geico if the cost of auto parts rose, potentially increasing losses from accident claims. BNSF is also cutting expenses. Lower fuel costs helped boost quarterly profit 19% gain, though revenue and cargo volumes barely changed. The energy business, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, posted a 7% profit increase. Berkshire said it is evaluating the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed last month by U.S. President Donald Trump, on the "economics and viability" of its renewable energy, storage and technology-neutral projects. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/berkshire-takes-38-billion-kraft-heinz-write-down-operating-profit-falls-2025-08-02/
