2025-03-05 11:30

Arrests follow intense fighting in strategic northern town Troops deployed around Machar's residence, spokesman says Analysts say country could slide back to war NAIROBI, March 5 (Reuters) - South Sudanese forces have arrested the petroleum minister and several senior military officials allied with First Vice President Riek Machar, Machar's spokesperson said on Wednesday, jeopardising a peace deal that ended a five-year civil war. The arrests follow intense fighting in recent weeks in the strategic northern town of Nasir between national forces and the White Army militia, a loosely-organized group mostly comprising armed Nuer, Machar's ethnic group. The White Army fought alongside Machar's forces in the 2013-2018 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to President Salva Kiir. Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, who hails from Nasir, and the deputy head of the army Gabriel Doup Lam were arrested, while all other senior military officials allied with Machar were placed under house arrest, said Machar's spokesperson, Puok Both Baluang. "As of now, there's not any reason provided to us that led to the arrest or the detention of (these) officials," Baluang told Reuters. South Sudanese troops were also deployed around Machar's residence, although he had been able to travel to his office on Wednesday morning, Baluang said. In the government's first comments since the arrests, Information Minister Michael Makuei accused forces loyal to Machar of collaborating with the White Army and attacking a military garrison near Nasir town on Tuesday. Makuei did not comment on the detentions, but said Kiir had vowed that the country would not go back to war. "The government is in the process of addressing this situation and people should not panic or listen to unfounded and unrealistic wild rumours that are being spread by enemies of peace and stability," Makuei said in a statement. BRINK OF WAR South Sudan's civil war, which erupted just two years after the country gained independence from Sudan, killed an estimated 400,000 people, drove 2.5 million from their homes and left almost half the nation's 11 million citizens struggling to find enough food. A peace deal struck in 2018 has mostly avoided outright fighting between Kiir and Machar's forces, though localized violence routinely flares up. Daniel Akech Thiong, senior analyst on South Sudan at the International Crisis Group, said the oil-rich country appeared to be on the brink of war, fuelled by increased access to weapons due to the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. "The fragile peace that has maintained a delicate balance among competing armed leaders since 2018 is at risk of collapsing," he said. The war in Sudan has also disrupted South Sudan's oil exports, which represented 90% of its foreign exchange earnings. Last week, the African Union and United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan called for de-escalation in Nasir's Upper Nile State and warned about the potential for "widespread violence". Ter Manyang, head of the Juba-based Center for Peace and Advocacy, linked the arrests to the fighting in Nasir and said he feared for the future. "The country is likely to slide to war unless the situation is managed by the top leadership of the country," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-sudan-detains-oil-minister-several-military-officials-says-vice-presidents-2025-03-05/

2025-03-05 11:30

NAIROBI, March 5 (Reuters) - South Sudanese forces have arrested a senior military official allied with First Vice President Riek Machar, and deployed troops around Machar's residence, risking a 2018 peace deal that ended a civil war, his spokesperson said. South Sudan has formally been at peace since the 2018 agreement ended a five-year conflict between Machar and President Salva Kiir that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but violence between rival communities flares up frequently. On Tuesday, General Paul Nang, the head of South Sudan's defence forces, arrested one of his deputies, Lieutenant General Gabriel Doup Lam, while security forces surrounded Machar's residence, Machar's spokesperson Pal Mai Deng said in a statement late on Tuesday. "This action violates the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and cripples the Joint Defence Board, a vital institution of the Agreement responsible for the command and control of all forces. This act puts the entire agreement at risk," the statement said. "We are also gravely concerned about the heavy deployment of SSPDF (South Sudan army troops) around the residence of... Machar," he wrote. "These actions erode confidence and trust among the parties." Deng did not give a reason for Lam's arrest. Major General Lul Ruai Koang, the South Sudan army spokesperson, said in a statement late on Tuesday he would not comment on the arrest or the troops surrounding Machar's residence. Information Minister Michael Makuei did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The civil war that broke out in December 2013 after Kiir sacked Machar killed an estimated 400,000 people, drove more than 2.5 million people from their homes and left almost half the nation of 11 million struggling to find enough food. Oil production, a vital revenue source for the impoverished nation, also dropped. In July 2016, forces loyal to Kiir and Machar fought each other for about five days in the capital with anti-aircraft guns, attack helicopters and tanks, with both leaders denying responsibility for starting the violence and calling for calm while it continued. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-sudan-vice-presidents-spokesman-says-deputy-head-military-arrested-risking-2025-03-05/

2025-03-05 11:14

Some countries worried targets push up gas prices EU states, lawmakers must negotiate final rules Gas storage levels well below levels one year ago BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - The European Commission proposed on Wednesday retaining the EU's gas storage requirements and targets for two more years, despite concern among some countries that the goals are pushing up gas prices. The proposal said the EU executive favoured keeping until 2027 a target to fill EU gas storage caverns to 90% of capacity by Nov. 1 each year, plus a series of intermediate targets in the months leading up to November. The proposal will now be negotiated and approved by EU countries and the European Parliament. The Commission proposal said the Nov. 1 target would remain binding, but it said the targets in earlier months are "indicative" - which, in EU legislation, typically means not binding. "These targets are indicative and should allow for storage filling in such a way that there is sufficient flexibility available for market participants throughout the year," it said. The gas storage goals were introduced in 2022 after Russia slashed gas deliveries, to ensure EU countries had a buffer of stored fuel during the winter months when gas demand for heating peaks. But they have proved divisive in recent weeks, and countries including Germany and the Netherlands have called for the EU to soften its strict filling deadlines. They and other countries plan to seek more flexibility in the targets, in upcoming negotiations with EU lawmakers to finalise the goals. These countries warn that the EU's fixed targets signal to the market that European buyers are obliged to buy, driving up gas prices and leaving a hefty bill for countries with large storage caverns. EU benchmark gas prices rose to two-year highs last month. The Commission proposal did not include changes to the filling targets for 2025, despite countries including the Czech Republic requesting this. Instead, the Commission recommended that countries make use of existing flexibilities in the rules, and said it may be more lenient towards countries that miss their November target because of conditions in the gas market. EU gas storage sites are now 38% full - far below the 62% level at the same time last year - after cold weather and reduced Russian supplies caused a faster drawdown of stocks, Gas Infrastructure Europe data shows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-proposes-keeping-gas-storage-filling-goals-until-2027-2025-03-05/

2025-03-05 11:12

EPA nominees face questions over greenhouse gas emission rules Democrats want to know if EPA will kill key environmental ruling Senate set to vote on whether to repeal California waiver to set zero emission vehicle rules WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - Two Trump nominees to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's deregulatory efforts faced questions at their Senate confirmation on Wednesday about the agency's plans to gut the basis for greenhouse gas emission rules. At issue is whether the agency intends to unwind the 2009 “endangerment finding”, which cleared a path for regulating greenhouse gases under the U.S. Clean Air Act and formed the basis for numerous EPA climate rules, including on power plants and vehicle tailpipe emissions. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has recommended attempting to reverse the finding to the White House, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The EPA confirmed there was a recommendation, but did not disclose its details. The Senate environment committee on Wednesday weighed the confirmation of Aaron Szabo to be the EPA's assistant administrator for Air and Radiation and David Fotouhi to be deputy administrator - two key roles that would lead any efforts to unwind the endangerment finding. When Fotouhi served as EPA general counsel during the first Trump administration, the agency did not pursue reversal of the endangerment finding amid industry pushback. Ranking member of the Senate panel Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pressed Szabo on his role advising Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that has influenced some of Trump's policies and whether he would implement those recommendations at EPA. Project 2025 called for undoing the endangerment finding. "I believe in an open door policy with respect to ideas from all potential stakeholders, whether they be Conservative or Democratic," Szabo said. "I am open to any group's ideas." CLIMATE FOCUS Democratic senators pressed the two nominees to clearly state their positions about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the atmosphere and the role fossil fuels play in exacerbating climate change. Szabo declined to say whether fossil fuels exacerbate climate change, and pushed back against insinuations that his previous work as a lobbyist for fossil fuel companies affects his judgment. California Senator Adam Schiff questioned Szabo on whether the EPA should reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and said Szabo was having "difficulty" giving a plain answer. "Does the oil industry exert too great an influence on our policy dealing with climate change such that you can't answer that question?" he asked. "No," responded Szabo, "and I am curious if you are insinuating that I'm somehow under the influence of the oil and gas industry." Szabo also did not answer about whether climate change had exacerbated California's wildfires, saying "there are many reasons as to why the wildfires occurred in and of themselves," he said. The Supreme Court ruled in a 2007 case, Massachusetts v. EPA, that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act and that EPA must issue a finding that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endanger public health and the environment. The EPA under former President Barack Obama finalized the finding in 2009, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law - codified language deeming greenhouse gases are air pollutants. The Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group, declined to comment on potential plans to roll back the endangerment finding but referred Reuters to a 2022 legal brief in which it said that the industry has "come to rely on EPA’s authority" to regulate greenhouse gases. The Alliance For Automotive Innovation said its members have not yet weighed in on whether the endangerment finding should be reversed, spokesperson Brian Weiss said. Zeldin, a former New York Congressman, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that the endangerment finding gives EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases, but that the agency isn't obligated to do so. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/top-epa-nominees-face-senate-scrutiny-over-plan-undo-key-climate-finding-2025-03-05/

2025-03-05 11:11

COPENHAGEN, March 5 (Reuters) - Swedish fund manager Areim has secured 450 million euros ($481 million) to support the design and creation of sustainable data centres, it said on Wednesday, as part of efforts to decarbonise the energy-intensive sector. The rise in data centres is expected to produce around 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions globally through the end of 2030, Morgan Stanley said last year. "It is a strong confirmation of our ability to raise capital of this scale," Leif Andersson, Areim founder and chairman of EcoDataCenter, said. "We will continue to drive the market for how digital infrastructure should be built together with our customers," he added. Saying only that the money was from leading international investors without specifying which ones, Areim said the new capital will be used through its company EcoDataCenter. EcoDataCenter, which opened its first facility in Falun in southern Sweden in 2019, says it designs, builds and operates data centres and helps its clients to reduce emissions and maximise energy efficiency, using renewable energy and new technologies. Areim and EcoDataCenter have secured a total of around 1.2 billion euros in funding over the last two years, they said in a joint statement. ($1 = 0.9355 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/swedens-areim-secures-481-million-sustainable-data-centres-2025-03-05/

2025-03-05 11:06

Nuclear waste storage facility planned for Texas US agency sued by Texas, New Mexico and oil interests Lower court ruled against Nuclear Regulatory Commission WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Wednesday to consider whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the authority to license nuclear waste storage facilities amid objections brought by the states of Texas and New Mexico as well as the oil industry. The U.S. government and a company that was awarded a license by the NRC, the federal agency that regulates nuclear energy in the United States, to operate a facility in western Texas have appealed a lower court's ruling declaring this storage arrangement unlawful. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, showed skepticism toward the authority of federal regulatory agencies in several major rulings during former President Joe Biden's administration. The NRC case is being argued at a time when President Donald Trump's administration has taken aim at various federal agencies in his campaign to downsize and overhaul the U.S. government and fire thousands of workers. The NRC issued a license in 2021 to Interim Storage Partners to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews County in Texas, near the New Mexico border. The NRC has issued such licenses to private companies since 1980. A proposal to permanently store the nation's spent nuclear fuel at a federal facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been stalled following decades of opposition in that state. The Interim Storage Partners license was challenged by Fasken Land and Minerals, a Texas-based oil and gas extraction organization, and the nonprofit Permian Basin Coalition of Land and Royalty Owners and Operators. Texas and New Mexico later joined the challenge, arguing the facility posed environmental risks to the states. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the NRC lacked authority to issue the license based on a law called the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Biden's administration appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court and Trump's administration continued the appeal. Biden's Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in a December brief that the 5th Circuit ruling would "entirely gut" the Atomic Energy Act because nuclear power plants cannot operate without creating spent fuel that must be stored somewhere. The Trump administration's acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the justices in February that the 5th Circuit decision could "deprive the commission of authority to license the private storage of spent nuclear fuel in any location" and "grind the operations of nuclear reactors to a halt." The U.S. government also argues that the plaintiffs lacked authority to bring the lawsuit because they failed to participate in the agency's adjudication process. Texas and New Mexico said the NRC had no authority to issue the license, and that Congress "has already legislated a solution to the nation's nuclear-waste problem: permanent storage in Yucca Mountain." A ruling in the case is expected by the end of June. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-consider-nuclear-waste-storage-dispute-2025-03-05/