2025-11-15 08:37

JAKARTA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A landslide after heavy rains in Central Java killed 11 people, Indonesia's disaster management agency said on Saturday, adding that rescuers were searching for a dozen who are still missing. The landslide in the city of Cilacap on Thursday buried a dozen houses in Cibeunying village, Antara previously reported the agency as saying, adding that the rescue was challenging as people were buried 3 to 8 metres (10-25 feet) deep. Sign up here. "Eleven people have been found dead, three yesterday and eight more today. Twelve people are still missing," the agency's spokesperson Abdul Muhari told Reuters. The Southeast Asian country's wet season started in September and will last until April, the weather agency says, bringing a higher risk of floods and extreme rainfall. Another landslide in January triggered by torrential rain in the Central Java city of Pekalongan killed at least 25 people. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/indonesia-landslide-kills-6-central-java-17-missing-state-media-says-2025-11-15/

2025-11-15 06:10

China's renewable energy dominance boosts climate diplomacy role China fills US void in climate negotiations, aids COP30 agenda agreement COP30 leaders praise China for clean energy leadership BELEM, Brazil, Nov 15 (Reuters) - With the United States absent from the U.N. annual international climate summit for the first time in three decades, China is stepping into the limelight as a leader in the fight against global warming. Its country pavilion dominates the entrance hall of the sprawling COP30 conference grounds in Brazil's Amazon city of Belem, executives from its biggest clean energy companies are presenting their visions for a green future to large audiences in English, and its diplomats are working behind the scenes to ensure constructive talks. Sign up here. Those were Washington's roles, but they now reside with Beijing. "Water flows to where there is space, and diplomacy often does the same," Francesco La Camera, director general at the International Renewable Energy Agency, told Reuters. He said China's dominance in renewable energy and electric vehicles was bolstering its position in climate diplomacy. China’s transformation from a quiet presence at the U.N.’s Conference of the Parties summits to a more central player seeking the world’s attention reflects a shift in the fight against global warming since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to office. Long a skeptic of climate change, Trump has again pulled the United States - the world's largest historic emitter - from the landmark international Paris Agreement to limit global warming. This year, for the first time ever, he declined to send an official high-level delegation to represent U.S. interests at the summit. "President Trump will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Reuters. But critics warn the U.S. withdrawal from the process cedes valuable ground in the climate negotiations, particularly as China, currently the world's top greenhouse gas emitter, rapidly expands its renewable and EV industries. "China gets it," said California Governor Gavin Newsom during a visit to the conference earlier this week. "America is toast competitively, if we don't wake up to what the hell they're doing in this space, on supply chains, how they're dominating manufacturing, how they’re flooding the zone." BEAUTIFUL WORLD Unlike previous years, when China had a modest pavilion with just a handful of seats available for mostly technical and academic panels, its COP30 pavilion occupies prime space near the entrance next to host country Brazil. Cups of sustainable Chinese single-origin coffee, panda toys and branded swag lure in passers-by who can watch presentations by Chinese officials and executives from the world's biggest renewable energy companies. "Let's honor the legacy and fulfill the Paris vision guided by the vision of shared future," Meng Xiangfeng, vice president of China's CATL, the world's largest battery maker, told an audience on Thursday. "Let's advance climate cooperation and build a clean, beautiful world together." The battery giant already supplies one-third of batteries for EV makers including Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab, Ford (F.N) , opens new tab and Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) , opens new tab. It was CATL's first time hosting an event at a COP, seeking to reach an audience of governments and NGOs. Earlier that afternoon, China's vice minister of ecology Li Gao told a packed audience that China's status as the world's leading producer of renewable energy "brings benefits to countries, particularly in the Global South". China's State Grid, the world's largest electric utility, and solar giants Trina and Longi also made presentations. Chinese electric auto giant BYD introduced a fleet of plug-in hybrid vehicles compatible with biofuel manufactured at its plant in Bahia, Brazil, for use at COP30. Both COP President Andre Correa do Lago and COP30 CEO Ana de Toni have praised China's role as a clean energy technology leader. "China has shown leadership not only by carrying out its own energy revolution, but with China's scale capacity, we can now also buy low-carbon... at competitive prices," de Toni told Reuters. "China is very determined not only to continue to be a very stable leader in the Paris Agreement, strengthening climate governance, but also to take very practical actions to support other countries." BEHIND THE SCENES China is playing a more subtle role behind the scenes in the negotiations by filling a void left by the United States, which was known for rallying governments toward agreement, according to current and former diplomats involved in negotiations. "Little by little, China is acting as a guarantor of the climate regime," said one senior diplomat from an emerging economy. "They invested a lot on the green economy. If there's any kind of involution, they will lose." One Brazilian diplomat said China played a key role in helping reach an agreement over the COP30 agenda before negotiations even began, whereas in previous years its diplomats would not get involved unless there was some key issue for them. Sue Biniaz, who served as U.S. deputy climate envoy under John Kerry and was a key architect of the Paris Agreement, said China had the ability to bring together the wide-ranging interests of the developing world, from major emerging economies like the BRICS to small developing nations. She worked closely with Chinese counterparts on four bilateral climate agreements, including the one that unlocked the Paris deal. "They tend to be very tough, take on tough positions like the U.S. did, but then be pragmatic towards the end," she told Reuters. "They have to come up with an outcome that nobody thinks is bad enough to block." Biniaz said she was not yet convinced that China was playing a leadership role beyond the pavilions. "If they had wanted to, they would have put in a more ambitious emission reduction target," she said, referring to China’s announcement in September that it would cut emissions at least 7% from their peak by 2035. Li Shuo, a veteran observer of China at U.N. climate talks who heads the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, countered that China's technology position was already a show of political leadership because its companies were making U.N. pledges achievable. "The most powerful country isn’t the one with the loudest microphone at COP," he said, "but the one actually producing and investing in low-carbon technologies." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/china-finds-bigger-role-us-sidesteps-brazil-climate-summit-2025-11-15/

2025-11-15 01:26

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Global private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Permira are in talks to buy investment and accounting software maker Clearwater Analytics (CWAN.N) , opens new tab, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Boise, Idaho-based Clearwater makes software that helps companies manage their investment portfolios. Sign up here. A deal by the two buyout firms, which helped take Clearwater public in 2021, could take several weeks, the source said. Bloomberg News reported on the talks earlier on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Warburg Pincus, Permira, and Clearwater Analytics Holdings did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Clearwater, which went public in 2021 at a valuation of $5.5 billion, had a market capitalization of around $5.63 billion as of Friday's close, according to LSEG calculations. https://www.reuters.com/technology/warburg-permira-talks-buy-clearwater-analytics-source-says-2025-11-15/

2025-11-15 00:48

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab said on Friday that following Shell’s recent loss in arbitration over liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply claims, an International Chamber of Commerce panel has issued an award ordering Shell to pay its legal fees. "Venture Global looks forward to putting these proceeds toward our coastal restoration efforts along the Gulf of America," a company spokesperson said, referring to the Gulf of Mexico. Sign up here. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab challenged its defeat in the New York Supreme Court, weeks after rival BP (BP.L) , opens new tab won a similar arbitration worth more than $1 billion. Both cases centered on Venture Global's failure to deliver LNG under long-term contracts while selling cargoes on the spot market as prices surged after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-ordered-pay-venture-globals-legal-fees-after-arbitration-loss-2025-11-15/

2025-11-14 23:47

Tariff rollback includes beef, tomatoes, bananas amid inflation concerns Trade deals with Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador to eliminate tariffs Democrats criticize Trump for inflation linked to tariffs WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas and orange juice, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries. The new exemptions - which took effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday - mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fueling inflation. Sign up here. "They may in some cases" raise prices, Trump said of his tariffs when asked about the move aboard Air Force One on Friday evening. But he insisted that overall, the U.S. has "virtually no inflation." Democrats have won a string of victories in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where growing voter concerns about affordability, including high food prices, were a key topic. Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would move forward with a $2,000 payment to lower- and middle-income Americans that would be funded by tariff revenues next year sometime. "The tariffs allow us to give a dividend if we want to do that. Now we're going to do a dividend and we're also reducing debt," he said. The Trump administration announced framework trade deals on Thursday that, once finalized, will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, with U.S. officials eyeing additional agreements before year's end. Friday's list includes products U.S. consumers routinely purchase to feed their families at home, many of which have seen double-digit year-over-year price increases. It includes over 200 items ranging from oranges, acai berries and paprika to cocoa, chemicals used in food production, fertilizers and even communion wafers. The White House, in a fact sheet on the order, said it came on the heels of "significant progress the President has made in securing more reciprocal terms for our bilateral trade relationships." It said Trump decided certain food items could be exempted since they were not grown or processed in the United States, and given the conclusion of nine framework deals, two final agreements on reciprocal trade, and two investment deals. Ground beef, as of the latest available data for September, was nearly 13% more expensive, according to Consumer Price Index data, and steaks cost almost 17% more than a year ago. Increases for both were the largest in more than three years, dating back to when inflation was nearing its peak under Trump's predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. Although the U.S. is a major beef producer, a persistent shortage of cattle in recent years has kept beef prices high. Banana prices were about 7% higher, while tomatoes were 1% higher. Overall costs for food consumed at home were up 2.7% in September. The tariff exemptions won praise from many industry groups, while some expressed disappointment that their products were excluded from the exemptions. "Today’s action should help consumers, whose morning cup of coffee will hopefully become more affordable, as well as U.S. manufacturers, which utilize many of these products in their supply chains and production lines," FMI-Food Industry Association president Leslie Sarasin said in a statement. Distilled Spirits Council president Chris Swonger said that excluding spirits from the European Union and Britain "is yet another blow to the U.S. hospitality industry just as the critical holiday season kicks into high gear." "Scotch, Cognac and Irish Whiskey are value-added agricultural products that cannot be produced in the United States," Swonger added. Asked if further changes were planned, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "I don't think it'll be necessary." "We just did a little bit of a rollback," he said. "The prices of coffee were a little bit high, now they'll be on the low side in a very short period." NEW FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY Trump has upended the global trading system by imposing a 10% base tariff on imports from every country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state. Trump has focused squarely on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by Biden, and not his own tariff policies. Consumers have remained frustrated over high grocery prices, which economists say have been fueled in part by import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies start passing on the full brunt of the import duties. The top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, said the Trump administration was "putting out a fire that they started and claiming it as progress." "The Trump Administration is finally admitting publicly what we've all known from the start: Trump's Trade War is hiking costs on people," Neal said in a statement. "Since implementing these tariffs, inflation has increased and manufacturing has contracted month after month." https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-cuts-tariffs-beef-coffee-other-foods-inflation-concerns-mount-2025-11-14/

2025-11-14 23:24

TOKYO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Japan is considering spending around 17 trillion yen ($110 billion) in new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's first stimulus package, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday, underscoring the administration's focus on expansionary fiscal policy. A supplementary budget to fund the package will likely be sized around 14 trillion yen, exceeding that of the previous year, the paper said, a move that may add to Japan's already huge public debt. Sign up here. Since taking office in October, Takaichi has pledged to compile a sizeable package of spending measures to cushion the economic blow from rising living costs, and boost investment in growth areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The size of the package, which is being worked out by the Ministry of Finance, could change depending on upcoming negotiations among ruling parties, the Nikkei said. The package will include bigger exemptions on income tax, tax cuts on gasoline, subsidies to slash utility bills and funds appropriated to prefectures for spending on food aid, it said. The government was not immediately available to comment. The administration is expected to finalize the package with approval by the cabinet on November 21. ($1 = 154.53 yen) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-considering-stimulus-package-sized-around-17-trln-yen-nikkei-says-2025-11-14/