2026-01-28 07:42
Regional airports heighten Nipah screening Virus has high fatality risk but not spread easily person-to-person India traces contacts linked to cases, all test negative Singapore to temperature check passengers on some flights Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal tighten border health measures NEW DELHI/BANGKOK/SINGAPORE, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Two cases of the deadly Nipah virus in India have prompted authorities in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia to step up airport screening in an effort to prevent the infection from spreading. The virus, which is carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, can cause fever and brain inflammation and has a fatality rate of between 40% and 75%. Although it can spread from person to person, transmission is not easy and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected individual. Sign up here. It more commonly spreads to humans from infected bats, or fruit contaminated by them. The infections were confirmed in India in late December. Small-scale outbreaks are not unusual and virologists said the risk to the general population remained low. Several vaccines are in development but are still undergoing testing. "While vigilance is warranted, there is no evidence to suggest a broader public health threat at this stage," said Efstathios Giotis, lecturer in molecular virology at the University of Essex in Britain. INDIAN HEALTH WORKERS INFECTED The two people infected in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal in late December were health workers and both are under treatment at a local hospital, a district health officer told Reuters. Authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to the two cases with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus, the Indian health ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday. "Speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah virus disease cases are being circulated," the statement said. "Enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing, and field investigations were undertaken ... which ensured timely containment of the cases." Reports of the infections put authorities on alert in neighbouring Southeast Asian nations as well as Nepal and Hong Kong. TEMPERATURE SCREENING AT SINGAPORE AIRPORT Singapore's Communicable Diseases Agency said on Wednesday that it will set up temperature screening at its airport for flights arriving from areas affected by the infections in India. "We are also reaching out to our counterparts in South Asia, to better understand the situation. Work is ongoing to establish a global platform for countries to report genome sequencing of detected cases," the agency said in a statement. A Hong Kong airport authority spokesperson said it was facilitating enhanced health screening measures enforced by the health department at Hong Kong International Airport, including temperature check at gates for passengers arriving from India. DESIGNATED AIRCRAFT PARKING IN THAILAND Thailand earlier this week tightened airport screening measures, with neighbouring Malaysia following suit. Thailand has assigned designated parking bays for aircraft arriving from areas with Nipah infections, its health ministry said, while passengers must complete health declarations before clearing immigration. Malaysia's health ministry said it was boosting preparedness through health screening at international ports of entry, particularly for arrivals from countries deemed at risk. China's disease control authority said on Tuesday that no Nipah infections had been detected in the country but there were risks of imported cases, state broadcaster CCTV said. Nepal, which shares a busy border with India, said it was on "high alert" and had tightened screening for travellers. NIPAH NOT NEW TO INDIA Nipah was first identified just over 25 years ago during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore, although scientists believe it has circulated in flying foxes, or fruit bats, for thousands of years. The WHO classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because there are no licensed vaccines or treatments, its high fatality rate, and the fear that the virus could mutate and become more transmissible. India regularly reports sporadic infections, particularly in the southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world's highest-risk regions for Nipah. The virus has been linked to dozens of deaths there since it first emerged in the state in 2018. Bangladesh also reports cases regularly. As of December 2025, there have been 750 confirmed Nipah infections globally, with 415 deaths, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding a vaccine trial to help stop Nipah. The West Bengal cases are the state's first in nearly two decades, following five fatal infections in 2007, local media reported. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/india-reports-two-nipah-virus-infections-thai-malaysia-step-up-screening-2026-01-28/
2026-01-28 07:41
Heatwave linked to climate change, says meteorologist Power outages affect thousands, bushfires continue to rage SYDNEY, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A record-breaking heatwave baked Australia's southeast for a fifth straight day on Wednesday, fanning bushfires and straining the power grid, leaving thousands of properties without electricity. The heatwave is the worst seen in Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, since the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires that killed 173 people and is not expected to ease until the weekend, authorities said. Sign up here. "We are now into day five of the severe to intense heatwave here in Victoria and we are starting to see some of those impacts," said Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch. "An extreme heat warning is still in place, and we are expecting to see eight consecutive days of severe to extreme intensity heatwave." David Crock, a forecaster from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, said the heat was being driven by climate change and called the temperatures "very unusual". "The severity of this heatwave is comparable to the heatwave in January 2009, and also the heatwave in January 1939," Crock said. "The data shows a long-term increase in heatwave frequency and intensity, particularly since the year 2000 due to climate change." Crock said a host of temperature records had been broken in Victoria on Tuesday. "About 20 stations, mostly across western Victoria saw either all-time records or January records fall," he said. Towns in the Mallee region reached a high of 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), the hottest temperature ever recorded in the state. The conditions in Victoria had eased slightly on Wednesday, while the upper western region of the state of New South Wales and south-western Queensland state recorded temperatures above 48 C (118 F) by the late afternoon. Around 11,000 properties were without power in Victoria, down from 105,000 a day earlier. Firefighters were also battling six major fires, with three out of control. A blaze at Carlisle River in the Otways region has burnt more than 11,000 hectares (27,181 acres) and destroyed at least 16 buildings. "This fire at Carlisle River is a long way from over," said Chris Hardman, the chief fire officer of Forest Fire Management Victoria. "We are early in the summer. We'll see the heating of the environment and winds come again well before that fire is fully contained." Many communities in the state are still recovering from large bushfires at the start of the month, also triggered by a severe heatwave. More than 400 homes and 400,000 hectares of land have been lost so far. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/record-breaking-australia-heatwave-fuels-bushfires-cuts-power-thousands-2026-01-28/
2026-01-28 07:34
U.S. dollar near four-year lows Brent and WTI headed for biggest monthly percentage rises since July 2023 U.S. and Kazakh outages support prices NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose to their highest since late September on Wednesday on looming Iran concerns while a weak U.S. dollar lent further support. Brent crude futures settled up 83 cents, or 1.23%, to $68.40 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed 82 cents, or 1.31%, higher at $63.21. Sign up here. Both benchmarks were headed for their biggest monthly rises in percentage terms since July 2023, with Brent set to rise around 12% and WTI around 10%. U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or the next U.S. attack would be far worse, but Tehran said that if that happened it would fight back as never before. A U.S. aircraft carrier and supporting warships arrived in the Middle East, U.S. officials said earlier this week. "The markets were up on concerns about the U.S.' armada, but they pulled back on the possibility of peace (between Russia and Ukraine)," Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. Trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. are set to resume in Abu Dhabi on February 1, Russia's Interfax news agency cited the Kremlin as saying. US CRUDE INVENTORY DRAW A surprise storage draw also supported oil prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday the country's crude oil inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels in the week ended January 23, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel rise. "A solid report, with a modest gasoline and distillate build and a larger crude draw. Strong crude exports and lower imports helped to see another crude draw. The next report will be more interesting, to see the impact of the cold weather on the data," said Giovanni Staunovo, UBS analyst. A winter storm swept across much of the U.S. over the weekend, straining energy infrastructure and power grids. U.S. oil producers were bringing wells back online on Wednesday. Domestic crude output was estimated to be down around 600,000 barrels per day, roughly 4% of total output. A weak U.S. dollar kept the prices elevated. The greenback is hovering near four-year lows against a basket of other currencies (.DXY) , opens new tab, making dollar-denominated commodities such as oil cheaper for those holding other currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, citing still-elevated inflation alongside solid economic growth, and giving little indication in its latest policy statement of when borrowing costs might fall again. Elsewhere, lost production in Kazakhstan is also underpinning the price rally, though the OPEC+ member hopes that output at the Tengiz field might resume gradually within a week. Sources, however, have said this might take longer. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-mixed-us-supply-worries-linger-after-winter-storm-2026-01-28/
2026-01-28 07:33
MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Spanish renewable energy company Ignis has hired Citigroup (C.N) , opens new tab to prepare a potential initial public offering, newspaper Expansion reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified market sources. The process remains at an early stage, and several options are under review, including a conventional IPO with new shares, a sale of existing shares, or a combination of both, according to the report. Sign up here. Neither Ignis nor Citigroup immediately replied to requests for comment. Expansion also said a dual-track process is being considered, in which part of the capital could be floated on the stock market and the rest placed with one or more large funds. Citi is sounding out possible listing venues, although Madrid is the initial option given the company's headquarters are in Spain, the report added. According to Expansion, Ignis' valuation has not yet been set, but the starting point would be no lower than 1 billion to 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion-$1.4 billion) - the valuation at which investors led by Egypt's EFG Hermes joined the company , opens new tab a few years ago. Spain has seen no IPOs of green-energy companies since Ecoener's (ECNER.MC) , opens new tab listing in May 2021 and Acciona Energia's (ANE.MC) , opens new tab in June 2021. Some later deals instead involved delistings after takeovers, including Opdenergy in April 2024 following a bid by Antin and Solarpack's 2021 buyout by EQT. ($1 = 0.8338 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/spanish-renewables-company-ignis-eyes-ipo-expansion-reports-2026-01-28/
2026-01-28 07:32
BERLIN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The European Union has acknowledged that Uniper (UN0k.DE) , opens new tab can't meet one of the key conditions for approving a 13.5 billion euro ($16.2 billion) bailout, the German utility's CEO said, adding its Russian division Unipro was currently unsellable. Uniper had to be rescued by Berlin in 2022 in the wake of Europe's energy crisis and Brussels set a number of conditions to approve the bailout, including the disposal of ten assets by end-2026, nine of which have been divested or are being sold. Sign up here. Russia's Unipro (UPRO.MM) , opens new tab, in which Uniper holds an 83.7% stake currently valued at 106.5 billion roubles ($1.4 billion), remains on the list but has been put under administration by Moscow, effectively stripping its owner of any control. "Brussels understands that Unipro is in a different category from all of the other assets on the list," the group's CEO Michael Lewis told Reuters at the Handelsblatt energy summit. "Brussels understands that we don't have control over it and we can't sell it." Lewis said any proceeds from a potential Unipro sale down the line would be an upside since it was written off, adding he expected the division to remain under Russian control for now. ($1 = 0.8338 euros) ($1 = 76.2455 roubles) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-accepts-uniper-cant-sell-russian-unit-bailout-deal-ceo-says-2026-01-28/
2026-01-28 07:25
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's commodity-linked rand edged higher in early trade on Wednesday, boosted by record gold prices as markets awaited interest rate decisions from the United States and Africa's most industrialised economy. At 0652 GMT, the rand traded at 15.8150 against the dollar , roughly 0.3% up on Tuesday's close and at its strongest level since June 2022. Sign up here. Gold, a major South African export, broke through $5,200 for the first time on Wednesday, as the dollar plunged to a near four-year low amid persisting geopolitical concerns and ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy decision later in the day. Wichard Cilliers, head of market risk at TreasuryONE, said markets expect the Fed to keep rates on hold and will be watching for clues on the pace and timing of future cuts. The rand, like other risk-sensitive currencies, often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. policy. Investors' focus will pivot to South Africa's first interest rate announcement (ZAREPO=ECI) , opens new tab of 2026 on Thursday, where 18 of 26 analysts polled by Reuters expected the central bank to leave its repo rate unchanged, and eight predicted a 25-basis-point rate cut to 6.50%. Other domestic releases this week include producer inflation (ZAPPIY=ECI) , opens new tab numbers on Thursday, while money supply (ZAM3=ECI) , opens new tab, private sector credit (ZACRED=ECI) , opens new tab, trade balance (ZATBAL=ECI) , opens new tab and budget balance (ZABUD=ECI) , opens new tab figures are all due on Friday. "The rand is well-positioned to appreciate further for now, especially against the dollar," ETM Analytics said in a research note, adding that a firmer currency could ease pressure on importers, help curb inflation, and create room for lower interest rates to support a broader credit recovery. South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond also gained in early deals, with the yield falling 6.5 basis points to 8.045%. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-rand-gains-gold-hits-fresh-peak-before-key-interest-rate-decisions-2026-01-28/
