2025-04-12 06:32
YENAGOA, Nigeria, April 12 (Reuters) - Nigerian oil producer Oando Plc (OANDO.LG) , opens new tab said three sabotage attacks had targeted its pipelines in the oil-rich Bayelsa state in the south of the country over the past week. The incidents involved the 18-inch Tepidaba-Brass crude oil pipeline in the Brass local government area and the 24-inch Ogboinbiri/Obiobi gas link in Southern Ijaw district, Oando, which now owns Eni's former unit Nigerian Agip Oil Co, said late on Friday. Sign up here. The company has activated emergency response to contain the impact and deployed leak repair teams to the affected sites, a spokesperson said in a statement. Oando said it is working with authorities to conduct a joint investigation visit to determine the extent and cause of the sabotage. After the visit, the company will commence full-scale repairs to resume operations "as quickly as possible", Oando said. Pipeline sabotage and crude theft are some of the major reasons that oil majors like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and Eni have sold their onshore and shallow-water fields in Nigeria to concentrate on deep-water operations. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oando-pipelines-nigerias-oil-rich-bayelsa-state-hit-by-sabotage-attacks-2025-04-12/
2025-04-12 04:35
BEIJING, April 12 (Reuters) - China's capital hunkered down on Saturday as rare typhoon-like gales swept northern regions, forcing the closure of historic sites and disrupting travel while bringing late snowfalls and hailstone showers in some areas. Windows shook and trees crashed onto footpaths and cars, rocked by gusts of wind driven by a cold vortex from neighbouring Mongolia that sent temperatures plunging. Sign up here. The winds, which started on Friday, are set to continue over the weekend, packing gusts of up to 150 kph (90 mph), the official Xinhua news agency said. They brought late snowfalls in Inner Mongolia and hailstones in southern China. Beijing issued its second-highest gale alert this weekend, for the first time in a decade, warning 22 million residents to avoid non-essential travel as winds could potentially break April records dating from 1951. After earlier warnings, some residents said they were very nervous but still managed to get around. "It wasn't as severe as I had imagined - not to the point where it was impossible to go out - though it is having some impact on daily life," said 30-year-old local resident, surnamed Li. By 2 p.m. (0600 GMT), winds had felled 703 trees in Beijing while 693 flights had been cancelled at Beijing's two international airports - Beijing Capital and Beijing Daxing, state media reported. The winds dominated social media chats, with many people expressing concern for food delivery workers braving the conditions. "In weather like this, we can choose not to order delivery - it's too hard for them," one Weibo user wrote. The winds forced the postponement of a half-marathon set for Sunday featuring humanoid robots competing with humans in a bid to showcase China's technological advances. Sandstorms raging over a stretch from Inner Mongolia to the Yangtze River region crippled road travel in eight provinces, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV said. Sandstorms were expected to impact Shanghai from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday morning. Strong winds bringing sand and dust from Mongolia are routine in spring, but climate change has made weather events more extreme. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/cold-winds-sweep-beijing-closing-key-sites-disrupting-travel-2025-04-12/
2025-04-12 04:09
Education Department moves to cut off Maine's federal education funding Judge issues temporary restraining order blocking USDA from cutting off federal school lunch funding April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday moved to cut off all federal education funding for Maine's public schools after state officials said they would not comply with demands that it ban transgender athletes from girls' sports teams. The U.S. Department of Education's announcement came shortly before a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting off federal school lunch funding over the same issue. Sign up here. The Education Department said it would initiate an administrative proceeding to terminate the state's federal K-12 education funding. The state had received about $250 million in such funding. It said it was also referring its Title IX investigation into the Maine Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Justice for a potential enforcement action. Trump's administration has taken a series of actions against Maine since Democratic Governor Janet Mills clashed with the Republican over the issue of transgender athletes during a White House event in February. During the February 21 meeting with governors, Trump threatened to withhold funds from Maine if it did not comply with an executive order he signed banning transgender athletes from playing girls' and women's sports. Mills responded: "We're going to follow the law, sir. We'll see you in court." The Education Department's action on Friday came after the agency's Office for Civil Rights last month alleged that education officials in the state were violating the Title IX federal anti-discrimination law by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports and use girls' facilities. Maine officials have declined to comply with Trump's demands. Maine legislators in 2021 updated a state law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. "Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls' and women's sports teams," Sarah Forster, an assistant state attorney general, wrote in a letter to the Education Department earlier on Friday. Earlier in the week, the state had sued to block USDA from cutting off grant money the state uses for nutrition programs as it announced it would do last week. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr issued a temporary restraining order blocking USDA from doing so on Friday. https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-administration-cannot-freeze-maine-school-lunch-funds-over-transgender-2025-04-12/
2025-04-12 02:18
April 11 (Reuters) - Binance executives met U.S. Treasury officials last month and discussed loosening government oversight of the company, while exploring a business deal with President Donald Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, the Wall Street Journal said. Executives of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange asked Treasury officials to remove a U.S. monitor overseeing its compliance with anti-money-laundering laws, the paper said on Friday, citing people familiar with the talks. Sign up here. Binance has also been in talks to list a new dollar-pegged cryptocurrency from World Liberty Financial, it added. At the meeting, Binance CEO Richard Teng and Chief Legal Officer Eleanor Hughes asked for the removal of monitorship or reduction of its duration and scope, the paper said. Binance, the Treasury Department and World Liberty Financial did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Last month, the Journal said Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao had been pushing for a pardon from the administration. In November 2023, Zhao stepped down from his CEO role and pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws in a $4.3-billion settlement that resolved a years-long investigation. https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-seeks-curb-us-oversight-while-deal-talks-with-trumps-crypto-company-wsj-2025-04-12/
2025-04-12 01:38
April 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's board approved a 48-month, $20 billion extended fund facility arrangement for Argentina and the immediate disbursement of $12 billion, the fund said on Friday. Argentina needs the cash to unlock capital controls and bolster its foreign currency reserves. Sign up here. The approved Extended Fund Facility is Argentina's 23rd program with the IMF, to which Argentina is already the largest debtor. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-approves-20-billion-extended-fund-facility-arrangement-argentina-2025-04-12/
2025-04-12 01:28
April 11 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Friday announced a $12 billion support package for Argentina to support economic reforms and boost government measures to promote job creation. The support package for Argentina signals "a strong vote of confidence in the government’s efforts to stabilize and modernize the economy," the bank said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/world-bank-announces-12-billion-support-package-argentina-2025-04-12/
