2025-05-03 06:01
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The Trump administration sent termination notices late on Friday to employees of a worker health and safety agency that provides research and services for coal miners, firefighters and others, despite appeals by a lawmaker from Trump's Republican Party to preserve its programs. Employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health received reduction-in-force notices that said the job losses were necessary to reshape the workforce of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a copy of the notices reviewed by Reuters. Sign up here. United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts on Saturday condemned the NIOSH firings in a statement, calling them an "attack on the very foundation of worker safety." He said they included the dismantling of an agency division that oversees programs protecting miners and other workers from black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses. Roberts vowed the union would "fight tooth and nail" to restore the programs. Nearly all agency employees were placed on administrative leave in February, but around 40 who worked on coal-mining and firefighter safety were asked to return temporarily to work several days ago, the union for the agency's employees said. At least two of those employees have now been notified of termination. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, had lobbied Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to restore the programs, including the coal-focused work of its Morgantown, West Virginia, office. The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after regular business hours. A spokesperson earlier this week said the agency's functions would join the new Administration for a Healthy America, alongside multiple agencies, part of plans by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reshape federal public health agencies. It was not clear whether any of the terminated employees would be transferred elsewhere. Reuters reported last month that the halting of NIOSH's key services ended vital health and safety programs for coal miners, such as mobile health and lung screenings, and a program to relocate miners afflicted with black lung disease to less dusty parts of a mine. There has been a resurgence of black lung disease in the last decade, including among young coal miners. At the same time, President Donald Trump has led a high-profile campaign to revive coal mining and use, which had been declining in the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/us-worker-safety-agency-notifies-employees-firings-2025-05-03/
2025-05-02 23:58
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. was in a "transition period" and was going to do "fantastically" while downplaying the impact any short-term recession may have. When asked during an interview with NBC News whether it would be OK to have a recession in the short term, Trump said: "Look, yeah, it's — everything's OK. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we're going to do fantastically." Sign up here. Trump's comment on the U.S. economy being in a transition period echoed comments he made earlier on Friday in a social media post, in which he also cited strong employment and reiterated his call for the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. "We’re only in a transition stage, just getting started!" he said in a Truth Social post. The post followed the release of U.S. data that showed job growth slowed marginally for April. Trump, who just passed his 100th day in office, has faced growing public discontent over his handling of the economy, with many economists predicting a wide range of tariffs imposed in recent months will drive up inflation and slow growth. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Sunday showed 42% of respondents approve of Trump's performance in office, a drop of five percentage points from just after his January 20 inauguration. The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday released advance gross domestic product data that pointed to the first quarterly decline in three years, with businesses rushing to import a flood of goods ahead of Trump's tariffs. However, some economists cite robust consumer spending and private investment as a sign growth could soon rebound. https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-says-us-transition-period-downplays-impact-short-term-recession-2025-05-02/
2025-05-02 22:11
Rubio says Iran has to 'walk away' from uranium enrichment Rubio says only countries that enrich uranium are the ones that have nuclear weapons Araqchi says Iran had the right to enrich under NPT and "an agreement is within reach" May 2 (Reuters) - Iran has to 'walk away' from uranium enrichment and long-range missile development and it should allow Americans to inspect its facilities, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday as a round of nuclear talks was postponed. Rubio's comments underscore the major remaining divisions in talks between the countries to resolve the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to bomb Iran if there is no agreement. Sign up here. "They have to walk away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to walk away from helping the Houthis (in Yemen), they have to walk away from building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons, and they have to walk away from enrichment," Rubio said in an interview on the Hannity programme on Fox News. Iran has repeatedly said it would not give up its missile programme or its uranium enrichment - a process used to make fuel for nuclear power plants but which can also yield material for an atomic warhead. On Thursday a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the scheduled fourth round of talks due to take place in Rome on Saturday had been postponed and that a new date would be set "depending on the U.S. approach." Rubio said Iran should import enriched uranium for its nuclear power programme rather than enriching it to any level. "If you have the ability to enrich at 3.67% it only takes a few weeks to get to 20% then 60% and then the 80 and 90% that you need for a weapon," he said. "The only countries in the world that enrich uranium are the ones that have nuclear weapons," Rubio added. But Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X late on Friday: "...repeating falsehoods will not change basic facts. As a founding signatory to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle." "Moreover, there are several NPT members which enrich uranium while wholly rejecting nuclear weapons. Apart from Iran, this club includes several Asian, European, and South American nations. Maximalist positioning and incendiary rhetoric achieve nothing except eroding the chances of success." Araqchi said. "A credible and durable agreement is within reach. All it takes is firm political will and a fair attitude," he added. Iran has said it has a right to enrich uranium under the terms of the NPT. It denies wanting to build a nuclear bomb. Rubio also said Iran would have to accept that Americans could be involved in any inspection regime and that inspectors would require access to all facilities, including military ones. Washington is ramping up pressure on Iran. Trump on Thursday said all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop and that any country or person buying any from the country would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions. Iran spoke out against that approach on Friday. "While stressing its commitment to the path of diplomacy and declaring its readiness to continue negotiations, Iran will not tolerate approaches based on threats and pressure," the Foreign Ministry said. https://www.reuters.com/world/iran-must-walk-away-all-uranium-enrichment-rubio-says-2025-05-02/
2025-05-02 22:07
MEXICO CITY, May 2 (Reuters) - The former head of Mexican state oil firm Pemex's exploration and production arm has returned to his post after the surprise departure of the previous chief this week, three sources told Reuters on Friday. Petroleum engineer Angel Cid Munguia had served as the head of Pemex Exploration and Production through the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, but was replaced by Nestor Martinez when President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October. Sign up here. Three sources with knowledge of the matter said Martinez stepped down on Wednesday. Two of them said Cid Munguia had immediately returned to his former post. Neither Pemex (PEMX.UL) nor the Energy Ministry responded to Reuters' requests for comment. The turnover comes as Pemex, Mexico's largest oil firm and one of its largest companies overall, struggles to stem a downturn in oil and gas output. Pemex, which is also one of the most indebted oil firms in the world, is far from the production target of 1.8 million barrels per day that Sheinbaum has set for her term. The last time Pemex produced within that range was in March 2024. Two of the sources said Cid Munguia had been acting as adviser to Energy Minister Luz Elena Gonzalez before his return. Three sources said that Martinez, once a commissioner at the now-defunct oil regulator CNH, would stay at Pemex as an adviser to CEO Victor Rodriguez. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/former-head-pemex-exploration-production-returns-after-predecessors-surprise-2025-05-02/
2025-05-02 20:58
CALGARY, May 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Friday it expects to make a decision this fall whether to grant a permit to Enbridge's (ENB.TO) , opens new tab proposed Great Lakes tunnel for its Line 5 oil pipeline project. The Army Corps, a federal engineering service, released an updated permitting timeline for the project that includes a 30-day public comment period from May 30 to June 3, followed by the decision in the fall. Sign up here. The Army Corps has permitting authority over U.S. projects involving wetlands and waterways. Last month, Enbridge's Line 5 project received emergency designation after President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency in a January executive order, giving the Army Corps the ability to fast-track its review of the project. An Enbridge spokesperson said in an email on Friday the company is encouraged by the updated schedule. "Enbridge submitted project permit applications for the Great Lakes Tunnel project to state and federal regulators in April 2020 — more than five years ago," the spokesperson said. The project would build a roughly 4-mile (6-km) tunnel for the 645-mile Line 5 that crosses through the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes. The pipeline carries more than 20 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. Michigan regulators had approved Enbridge's application to build the $750-million tunnel under the Great Lakes to house its aging Line 5 oil pipeline in 2023, but the project still awaits Army Corps permitting. Native American tribes and environmental groups who oppose the project because of the potential risk to the Great Lakes have refuted the idea that the tunnel is needed and that a national energy emergency exists. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-army-corps-targeting-fall-decision-enbridge-line-5-tunnel-2025-05-02/
2025-05-02 20:53
May 2 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed and eight others injured after a van carrying more than a dozen tourists collided with a pickup truck in a fiery highway crash near Yellowstone National Park, Idaho state police said on Friday. The cause of the accident, which occurred about an hour and 15 minutes before sunset on Thursday, remains under investigation, according to a state police news release. Sign up here. The Mercedes passenger van was transporting a tour group with 14 people aboard near Henry's Lake when it collided with a Dodge Ram pickup, then burst into flames, police said. Six people from the van as well as the pickup driver, its only occupant, were killed, according to police. All eight of the survivors from the van were taken to hospitals with varying degrees of injuries, police spokesperson Aaron Snell said. Information about the victims was being kept confidential pending notification of next of kin. The New York Times cited Fremont County coroner Brenda Dye as saying that the pickup driver was from Texas and that all six occupants of the van who died were from outside the United States, two of them from Italy. The accident occurred on U.S. Highway 20 near Henry's Lake in eastern Idaho, about 20 miles west of Yellowstone. Weather conditions appeared clear in news video from the scene. Authorities provided no details about the circumstances of the accident. According to Dye, two eyewitnesses to the crash jumped out of their vehicle to pull victims from the van, and managed to extract eight people from the wreckage, including a child, before the van caught fire, the Times reported. State police said the highway was closed in both directions for nearly seven hours while emergency and transportation crews worked to manage the scene and clear the roadway. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/seven-people-killed-two-vehicle-road-crash-near-yellowstone-2025-05-02/
