2025-03-16 10:38

MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - One worker was killed and three other were injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in Russia's city of Ryazan, TASS and RIA news agencies reported. "During scheduled technical works at the plant, performed by employees of the contractor organisation... equipment depressurisation occurred," TASS cited the refinery's representative. Sign up here. The refinery, owned by Russian largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab, was several times targeted by Ukrainian drones. In February, it suspended operations after a drone attack. Ryazan refinery processed 13.1 million metric tons (262,000 barrels per day), or almost 5% of Russia's total refining throughput in 2024. It produced 2.3 million tons of gasoline, 3.4 million tons of diesel, 4.2 million tons of fuel oil and 1 million of jet fuel, according to source-based data. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/one-killed-explosion-rosnefts-oil-refinery-news-agencies-report-2025-03-16/

2025-03-16 00:01

PAITA, Peru, March 15 (Reuters) - A Peruvian fisherman who spent 95 days lost in the Pacific Ocean, eating roaches, birds and sea turtles to survive, is returning home to his family. Maximo Napa had set off for a fishing trip from Marcona, a town on the southern Peruvian coast, on December 7. He packed food for a two week trip but ten days in, stormy weather threw his boat off course and he ended up adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Sign up here. His family launched a search but Peru's maritime patrols were unable to locate him until Wednesday, when an Ecuadorian fishing patrol discovered him some 680 miles (1,094 km) off the country's coast, heavily dehydrated and in critical condition. "I did not want to die," Napa told Reuters after reuniting with his brother, in Paita, near the border with Ecuador. "I ate roaches, birds, the last thing I ate was turtles." He said he stayed strong thinking about his family, including his two-month-old granddaughter, even as he survived on rainwater he collected on the boat and ran out of food, ultimately spending the last 15 days without eating. "I thought about my mother everyday," he said. "I'm thankful to God for giving me a second chance. His mother, Elena Castro, told local media that while her relatives had stayed optimistic she had began to lose hope. "I told the Lord, whether he's alive or dead, just bring him back to me, even if it's just to see him," she told TV Peru. "But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he'll come back, he'll come back." Napa was scheduled for more medical checks in Paita before heading south to Lima. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-fisherman-lost-95-days-pacific-ocean-returns-home-2025-03-16/

2025-03-15 23:35

SYDNEY, March 16 (Reuters) - Australia's New South Wales on Sunday sweated in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and prompted authorities to issue a total fire ban for state capital Sydney. New South Wales, coming to the end of a high risk bushfire season that runs until the end of March, was a focus of a catastrophic 2019-2020 "Black Summer" of wildfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people. Sign up here. On Sunday, the nation's weather forecaster said temperatures would be up to 12 degrees Celsius (21.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in some areas of the state, with temperatures in Sydney, Australia's most populous city, set to hit 37C (98.6F). At Sydney Airport, the temperature was already 29.3C (84.7 F) at 9:30 a.m. local time, more than three degrees above the March mean maximum temperature, according to forecaster data. Gusty winds, "hot conditions and low relative humidity will result in extreme fire danger over the greater Sydney region," the forecaster said on its website. The state's Rural Fire Service said on X that a total fire ban was in place for large swaths of the state including Sydney due to the forecast of "hot, dry and windy conditions". In neighbouring Victoria state, a home was destroyed in a bushfire on the outskirts of Melbourne that was being battled by around 200 firefighters, Country Fire Authority official Bernard Barbetti told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Sunday. Climate change is causing extreme heat and fire weather to become more common in Australia, a bushfire-prone country of around 27 million, the country's science agency said last year. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-new-south-wales-sweats-through-heatwave-faces-extreme-bushfire-risk-2025-03-15/

2025-03-15 21:13

March 15 (Reuters) - A fire that was sparked by Ukraine's drone attack on Friday at the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region has been contained but not yet extinguished, the region's administration said late on Saturday. The fire has been contained to an area of 1,250 square metres (13,500 square feet), the administration said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Nearly 200 firefighters are fighting the blaze, it said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/firefighters-rein-fire-russias-tuapse-refinery-regional-authorities-say-2025-03-15/

2025-03-15 19:15

President Trump pledges help to affected states, cites 36 deaths National Guard deployed to Arkansas Missouri has highest number of fatalities among six states Power outages affect more than 340,000 consumers Some states still under watch for wind and potential tornadoes March 16 (Reuters) - Portions of Pennsylvania, New York and Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states were still under a National Weather Service watch for damaging wind and tornadoes, as the death toll from weekend storms rose to 36 people across six states. In a White House statement, President Donald Trump said he was monitoring the tornadoes and storms, adding "36 innocent lives have been lost, and many more devastated." Sign up here. Trump announced the National Guard had been deployed to Arkansas and pledged help to state and local officials. The storms that hit the South and the Midwest headed east on Sunday. More than 340,000 consumers had no power in the affected areas as of late afternoon on Sunday, according to the website PowerOutage. Missouri reported the largest number of deaths, 12 fatalities spanning five counties, the state's highway patrol posted on X. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe said there was still one person missing in the state, which saw widespread destruction across 27 counties. Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management in Missouri's Butler County, told reporters that more than 500 homes, a church and a grocery store in the county were destroyed. A mobile home park had been "totally destroyed," he said. "Everything around it here is really bad," Missouri resident Rick Brittingham told Reuters from Butler County. "The trailer park up the street had fatalities. So, I mean, we don't have nothing compared to anything like that. I still have a home. They don't." Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on X that six deaths had been reported in the state – one in Covington County, two in Jefferson Davis County and three in Walthall County. According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said. In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state's Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries. Eight deaths were confirmed in a crash involving more than 50 cars in Sherman County in Kansas, caused by a severe dust storm, the Kansas Highway Patrol said in a statement. Many injured travelers were taken to local hospitals. At least two people died in Alabama due to the severe weather, Governor Kay Ivey said in a post on X. "We have reports of damage in 52 of our 67 counties," the governor said. Crashes caused by dust storms near Amarillo, Texas, resulted in three deaths, according to the state's Department of Public Safety. Thirty-nine tornadoes were reported from Friday to midday on Sunday, but the number was not yet confirmed, according to the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tornadoes-strike-us-south-leaving-three-dead-amid-rising-risk-2025-03-15/

2025-03-15 17:50

March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed a stopgap spending bill, passed by Congress this week, that averts a partial government shutdown, the White House said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-signs-budget-appropriations-bill-into-law-says-white-house-2025-03-15/