2025-02-16 22:11

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Severe weather killed eight people across Kentucky after storms dumped more than 8 inches (200 mm) of rain on parts of the state, with water rescues continuing on Sunday as the rain turned into slushy snow, officials said. Governor Andy Beshear reported six floodwater-related deaths, including those of a woman and a child in central Hart County, and two from vehicle accidents. "Kentucky, we are seeing dangerous and life-threatening conditions across the state, and things are only going to get tougher due to widespread flooding and incoming weather," Beshear told a briefing on Sunday. Heavy rainstorms battered multiple states, mostly on Saturday. More than 128,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Virginia as of Sunday afternoon, with tens of thousands more outages in each of Georgia, West Virginia, Alabama and North Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us. In Atlanta, one man was killed early Sunday when heavy storms brought down a tree that crashed into his home as he slept, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing a fire department spokesperson. Most of the storm had moved off the Mid-Atlantic Coast by Sunday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist David Roth said, with fierce wind accompanying lower temperatures. Swift water rescue teams deployed throughout the state, with 19 of them still active in eastern Kentucky, Beshear said. Wolfe County posted images of its search and rescue team paddling through the street in an inflatable raft, bringing people and at least one dog to safety. Rescuers in red jumpsuits and white helmets waded through waist-high water to reach one home. The city of Manchester's fire department reported rescuing 14 people and eight animals as of Sunday. "These guys worked tirelessly throughout the day and night yesterday for over twelve hours responding to call after call with no break," the city posted on Facebook. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kentucky-floods-claim-eight-lives-water-rescues-continue-2025-02-16/

2025-02-16 21:48

Feb 17 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Asian markets go into the new week on the front foot, supported by the weaker dollar, an ongoing rebound in China, and a wider switch into global assets as investors rotate out of the 'U.S. exceptionalism' trades that served them so well last year. The main calendar event is fourth-quarter GDP data from Japan. Economists are expecting annualized growth of 1.0%, according to a Reuters poll, slightly less than the revised 1.2% expansion in July-September, with business investment making up for weak consumption. The dollar is at a two-month low, dragged down by the delay in the Trump administration's tariff proposals actually being implemented. President Donald Trump's ultimate tariff destination may not have changed, but the journey is taking longer than many analysts had perhaps expected, and that is giving some relief to markets and weighing on the dollar. The dollar is down four days in a row, its longest losing streak since August. Most key emerging market currencies are now up against the greenback year-to-date, apart from the Indian rupee. Emerging and Asian assets more broadly are getting a lift. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index has rebounded 8% in the last month, an impressive move but not a patch on Hong Kong stocks - the Hang Seng is up 20% in the last month and the Hang Seng tech index is up 30%. Bank of America analysts note that since Trump's inauguration on January 20, shares in China's big tech 'BATX' firms - Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi - are up 22%, while America's 'Magnificent Seven' are up 0%. WisdomTree's head of equities Jeff Weniger notes that China's 'Terrific Ten' group of top tech stocks is now "crushing" the 'Magnificent Seven. How much juice is left in this move? If DeepSeek shows that China is very much in the global AI race, this trend could continue - Chinese stocks are extremely undervalued relative to their U.S. peers, and as BofA analysts note, 'BATX' market cap is currently only $1 trillion compared with the Mag Seven's $17 trillion. Elsewhere in the tech/AI space, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Broadcom are each eyeing potential deals that would break U.S. chipmaking icon Intel in two, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Meanwhile, fast-moving geopolitical developments around the Russia-Ukraine war are back on investors' radar. French President Emmanuel Macron will host an emergency European summit on Monday after U.S. officials suggested Europe would have no role in any talks on ending the conflict, a peace process that will seemingly be conducted between the U.S. and Russia. Leaving aside the politics of it all, the prospect of even an imperfect peace is pushing oil and the dollar lower, and lifting European stocks. Other risk markets, like Asian and emerging assets, should benefit too. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to Asian markets on Monday: - Japan GDP (Q4) - Thailand GDP (Q4) - Indonesia trade (January) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphics-2025-02-16/

2025-02-16 19:55

US seeks mineral deal with Ukraine after giving billions in military aid Negotiations coincide with Trump bid to kick-start peace talks Zelenskiy questions if Russia would be given Ukraine minerals Feb 16 (Reuters) - Ukraine and the United States need to discuss the fate of mineral deposits in areas captured by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as Washington negotiates with Kyiv to open up Ukraine's natural wealth to U.S. investment. The talks on a minerals deal, presented to Kyiv on Wednesday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, coincide with a bid by President Donald Trump to kick-start negotiations to end Russia's nearly three-year war in Ukraine. Zelenskiy in an NBC interview broadcast on Sunday questioned if minerals in areas occupied by Russia would be given to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his partners Iran, North Korea and China. "It seems to me important to understand what we will do with those rare earths that now cost billions, hundreds of billions, that Putin occupied," Zelenskiy said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Is it to give to him? ... This is what I want to discuss." The United States has so far provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded three years ago and Trump has said a minerals deal could ensure "that we're going to in some form get this money back." Trump has said that he backs Ukraine but has not committed to continuing vital military assistance. Three sources told Reuters on Saturday that the United States had proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine's critical minerals. Zelenskiy said on Friday, after meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, that talks were continuing on a possible deal. 'HELP US DEFEND THIS' Zelenskiy has said that the draft deal does not yet contain the security provisions that Kyiv needed. Zelenskiy elaborated on that during the "Meet the Press" interview, which was filmed on Friday and broadcast on Sunday. "Help us defend this, and we will make money on this together. And here it's very important that in this document shall be a term to protect it. And that is the security guarantees," Zelenskiy said. "If we are not given the security guarantees from the United States, I believe that the economic treaty will not work. It must all be fair. The second part that is not discussed yet but it must be, that is what Putin captured," he said. The minerals in Ukraine include rare earth varieties as well as titanium, uranium and lithium, among others. Zelenskiy, in a meeting with U.S. senators on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, said he tried to illustrate how Ukraine could be an alternative source of rare earth minerals, citing titanium as an example. "We say that we have titanium in Ukraine ... and it is sufficient for industry for 40 years. Forty years," he told NBC. "And today you import titanium from China and from Russia and from other sources, but these are the two main countries. "We say, 'Let us defend titanium in Ukraine, and you will not need to pay money neither to Russia nor to China'," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines-zelenskiy-wants-discuss-with-us-fate-minerals-areas-held-by-russia-2025-02-16/

2025-02-16 19:50

Trump admin rescinds many previous layoffs of about 325 workers NNSA manages US nuclear weapons, global non-proliferation work NNSA sources say confusion about cuts distracted workers from critical national security work Democratic lawmakers slam NNSA purge as 'shocking' WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk purged less than 50 workers from the agency that maintains the country's nuclear weapons arsenal, the Department of Energy said on Sunday, after far wider layoffs there were suddenly rescinded, causing chaos among staff. On Friday, sources told Reuters that 325 workers had been sent notice that they had been laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration, part of the department which employs about 2,000 people and works around the world to secure dangerous nuclear materials, including in Ukraine as Russia's war continues. Later that day, an uncertain number of those layoffs were rescinded, causing chaos in NNSA offices in Washington and other places in the country, as many workers were unsure of their employment, the sources said. On Sunday, a department spokesperson said less than 50 were dismissed. "These staff members were probationary employees and held primarily administrative and clerical roles," the spokesperson said. NNSA will continue all of its protection of national security, the development and management of atomic weapons, and non-proliferation work, the spokesperson said. The NNSA cuts are part of a broader purge across the federal government as Trump, a Republican, and Musk cut thousands of workers at the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. One NNSA source said that managers had been called on Thursday evening and told to inform people they had been let go, but got emails on Friday saying things had suddenly changed. "STOP ALL ACTIONS WITH TERMINATIONS," said one email sent to managers, one source said, adding that they were told to re-justify employment of some workers. "It's nuts," the source said. Another NNSA source said the confusion distracted NNSA workers and managers from their critical national security work. Democratic lawmakers blasted the layoffs at NNSA, calling them "shocking." “Until such time as we are briefed on these developments, we will not know the damage to our country and the world as a result of these haphazard and thoughtless firings," Senator Patty Murray and Representative Marcy Kaptur said in a release. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-energy-department-says-less-than-50-purged-nuclear-security-office-2025-02-16/

2025-02-16 18:27

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Russian drone strikes have damaged a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine overnight, leaving at least 100,000 people without heating as temperatures plunge below freezing, top Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. "This has nothing to do with the fighting and the situation at the front, but it proves once again that the Russians are fighting against our people and against life in Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messenger. "And they are fighting meanly, without relieving pressure. This is not what those who really want peace to be restored and are preparing for negotiations do." Earlier, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the attack on the power plant was "done deliberately to leave people without heat in sub-zero temperatures and create a humanitarian catastrophe." Russia attacked Ukraine with 143 drones overnight but Ukrainian military said it had shot down 95 of them while 46 did not reach their targets, likely thanks to the use of electromagnetic countermeasures that disrupt drone attacks. At least one person was injured in the overnight attacks which also damaged houses in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian officials said. The temperature in Mykolaiv is expected to fall to minus 7 degrees Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit) on Sunday night. Zelenskiy again urged Western allies to give Ukraine more air defences, with Russia now holding 20% of Ukrainian territory and slowly advancing in the east as Moscow's full-scale invasion nears its third anniversary. He cited data showing that in the past week Russia had unleashed about 1,220 aerial bombs, over 850 drones and more than 40 missiles into government-controlled areas of Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with its invasion in Ukraine nearly three years ago. "Europe and the world must be better protected from such evil and prepared to confront it," Zelenskiy said in his Telegram post. "Together with Europe, the U.S., and all our partners, we can end this war with a just and lasting peace." However, U.S. President Donald Trump shocked European allies and Ukraine this week by calling Putin without consulting them or Kyiv beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks. Trump's Ukraine envoy then said Europe won't have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv. European countries are planning a meeting on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-overnight-attacks-injure-one-damage-infrastructure-houses-ukraine-2025-02-16/

2025-02-16 15:49

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday said he would travel to Saudi Arabia later in the day with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for talks on how to end Russia's war on Ukraine. His remarks to Fox News were the first official confirmation that the talks would take place. "I am going tonight," Witkoff said of the trip in a Fox News interview. "I'll be traveling there with the national security advisor, and we'll be having meetings at the direction of the president, and hopefully we'll make some really good progress." The upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia will be among the first high-level in-person discussions between Russian and U.S. officials in years and are meant to precede a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian leaders and officials in other European countries have publicly expressed frustration that U.S. officials have excluded them with some negotiations with the Russians. Ukrainian officials have said they were not invited to the upcoming meeting in Saudi Arabia and that they would not be bound by any agreement that comes out of any dialogue there. Witkoff pushed back against the idea that the Ukrainians have been cut out of talks with the Russians. In the Fox interview, he noted that Ukrainian officials met with several high-ranking U.S. officials during the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, though he did not say that the Ukrainians were welcome in Saudi Arabia. "I don't think this is about excluding anybody," Witkoff said. "In fact, it's about including everybody." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-envoy-national-security-advisor-head-saudi-arabia-russia-talks-2025-02-16/