2025-01-16 12:06

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Miner Ferrexpo (FXPO.L) , opens new tab said on Thursday it has noted media reports of accusations made by the prosecutor's office in Ukraine against four senior managers of its unit Ferrexpo Poltava Mining about illegal mining and sale of waste products. The group, one of the world's third-largest exporter of iron ore pellets, said its operations were unaffected by the legal case, while FPM was of the view the accusations were "without merit". Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ferrexpo-notes-media-reports-its-ukraine-unit-faces-accusations-illegal-mining-2025-01-16/

2025-01-16 11:52

Salit and Malone fight fire by hand, saving homes Firefighters' efforts reignite shed, neighbors form bucket brigade Street known as Christmas Tree Lane was a historic landmark with giant cedars ALTADENA, California, Jan 16 (Reuters) - As embers began raining down on Altadena last week, Jason Salit sent his wife and two college-age children away. The 60-year-old technology consultant vowed to evacuate too if the Eaton Fire escalated. "I don't want to die here either," he assured his wife and their children. "I'm going to stay here and see what I can do." His next-door neighbor and friend of 20 years, Billy Malone, wasn't sticking around. But the 63-year-old restaurant supervisor and his wife, Nina, didn't get far as they drove down the hillside before dawn Wednesday on Jan. 8. Within minutes, a burning car rolled by with an elderly man trapped inside. The couple and another bystander dragged him out seconds before the car exploded. Malone drove the man to a nearby shelter, and he and his wife went to stay with friends. Salit sprayed a garden hose on his house and yard on Santa Rosa Avenue. The idyllic street, known as Christmas Tree Lane, is a historic landmark and draws thousands each year to see the towering deodar cedar trees decorated in lights. Salit feared floating embers would set the tree canopy ablaze. Shortly after 5 a.m., his hose went dry, extinguishing any hope he had of fending off a raging firestorm. As defeat set in, Salit headed inside and sobbed. He walked through his house and bid goodbye, filming family photos and other keepsakes on his phone just before 6 a.m. His house is a century-old and had been in his family since the 1950s. Salit took a deep breath. His house wasn't on fire yet, and he had a backyard pool and two small, white buckets. "Let's give it a chance," he recalls thinking. His mind raced on how to save his house and a neighboring home that was already burning. "The math was one bucket for my building and one for my neighbor's house. Then it was one for my roof, one for my siding and then one for them," he said. Salit couldn't save that neighbor's house, but he tried to limit the spread. Still, he was no match for the blaze as it jumped to a metal shed. The fire was just a few feet (meters) away from Salit's backyard garage. At around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, he was slinging buckets of water on the fire, but the heat was overpowering. Thirty minutes later, the smoke cleared and blue skies appeared. Salit had no idea it was daytime. "It gave me hope. Maybe somebody will come," he said. For luck, Salit squeezed a small, knitted pickle in his pocket, a Christmas present from his daughter. An ear-splitting explosion shattered this fleeting moment of peace. A propane tank had shot through another neighbor's house and set fire to a 70-foot (21-meter) eucalyptus tree and a power pole. The tree or pole might crush his car or block his escape if they fell. It was 8:46 a.m. on his phone and Salit gave it 15 minutes. By 9 a.m., the pole and tree were no longer burning. "All right, I'm back in the bucket business," he said. BUCKETS NAMED 'SAVING' AND 'GRACE' The fire raced through nearby houses, leaving entire blocks destroyed. By 11 a.m., the houses behind Malone's backyard next door were fully engulfed, and flames were licking at his wooden garage. Salit texted his friend the grim news. Malone replied: "Are you still there?" Yes, Salit told him. Malone grabbed his keys and started weaving his way back to Altadena. In the meantime, Salit smashed a four-foot (1.2-meter) hole in Malone's fence to gain access to his friend's property right next to his pool. Then he set a ladder there. For nearly an hour, he climbed the ladder and swung his two buckets through the hole first. Then he squeezed through and doused the flames bearing down on Malone's garage, a children's playhouse and two citrus trees. Malone was astonished to see the front of his house intact when he arrived an hour later, at around noon. "Jason singlehandedly saved our house," Malone said. Salit beamed at the sight of reinforcements. "Thank God Billy came because I was pretty much spent," he said. Now Salit filled the buckets and handed them to Malone through the fence. In his mind, Salit conjured up names for his life-saving vessels. "I named my buckets. One is Saving and one is Grace," he said. Together, those buckets helped beat back the fire, and the situation seemed under control by late Wednesday afternoon. Both Salit and Malone's houses were spared from any major damage. Salit took a break and slumped in a chair in his home office. He called his family at around 5 p.m. to share the good news. "I think we're done, and Billy is here." Then Salit straightened up at the shrill sound of a saw. Next door, firefighters were slicing into the shed that Salit had extinguished earlier. The structure had kept smoldering, and Salit and Malone assumed firefighters wanted to let more air in so it would burn out faster. The fire crew left and the shed erupted in flames 10 feet (3 meters) high, just feet (meters) from Salit's garage. "Jason saved our house, and now we're trying to save his," Malone said. Malone's wife and two more neighbors joined in a bucket brigade that lasted two more hours. Into the night, Malone and Salit patrolled the block on the hour to detect any threats. At 3 a.m. on Thursday, Salit ran across the street to douse a fresh brush fire. A police officer driving through shined a flashlight in his face. "Are you OK?" For either man, not really. "We're safe, but no we're not OK," Malone said. "At my friend's house across the street, that is where my daughter did her very first egg hunt in his yard. There is nothing left. That is the history of our family." He marveled that most of the cedar trees survived, while homes did not. Salit said "mornings are brutal for me. So much is unsettled. You look outside and it's like a horror show all over again." They find solace and humor in each other as they live side-by-side with no power or running water. They joke about repurposing the buckets to refill toilets so they can flush. And Salit has even bigger plans for the plastic tubs. "I love these buckets," he said. "I want to bronze them." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/neighbors-christmas-tree-lane-battled-california-wildfire-two-buckets-time-2025-01-16/

2025-01-16 11:48

SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp (IOC) (IOC.NS) , opens new tab is seeking high-sulphur oil from the spot market in its first sour crude import tender since March 2022, expecting the latest U.S. sanctions to hit supplies from Moscow, trade sources said on Thursday. IOC and other Indian refiners boosted purchase of discounted Russian oil after western entities imposed sanctions and shunned purchases from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, severe new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and tankers are pushing Chinese and Indian refiners to seek alternative supplies. Besides looking for sour crude, IOC has issued a separate tender to buy sweet crude for loading between Feb. 16 and March 15, the sources said. The tenders close on Thursday. Spot premiums for Middle East crude rose to their highest in more than two years on Thursday on strong demand from China and India while tanker rates have soared. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indian-oil-corp-seeks-sour-oil-spot-market-trade-sources-say-2025-01-16/

2025-01-16 11:42

Burgum emphasizes energy production for national security Criticizes Biden's electric vehicle support, cites China dependency Says he plans to expand drilling leases, reform permitting processes Jan 16 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's pick to lead the Interior Department, Doug Burgum, said on Thursday he will vigorously pursue the president-elect's goals of maximizing energy production from U.S. public lands and waters, calling it key to national security. Burgum's comments to lawmakers during his nomination hearing signal a coming sharp turn in policy after President Joe Biden attempted for years to limit oil and gas drilling by reducing federal lease auctions and banning future development in some offshore waters to fight climate change. "America produces energy cleaner, smarter and safer than anywhere in the world. When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn't reduce demand, it just shifts production to countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran – whose autocratic leaders don't care about the environment," Burgum told a U.S. Senate panel considering his nomination. Maximizing energy output can lower consumer prices, and can be done while ensuring clean air and water, he added. The Interior Department oversees millions of acres of lands and offshore waters stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, and leases out parcels for drilling operations that now produce around a quarter of the U.S. oil and gas output. The U.S. is already the world's top oil and gas producer thanks to a years-long drilling boom, mainly on private lands in Texas and New Mexico, fueled by improved technology and strong world demand since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. ELECTRICITY 'AT THE BRINK' Burgum said that, as Interior secretary, he would expand drilling lease auctions on public lands in accordance with the law. He said he would also support permitting reforms that could speed the pace of energy projects, including those that help boost transmission and pipelines feeding the power sector. "Electricity is at the brink. Our grid is at a point where it could go completely unstable," he said. "We've got to get to work in permitting reform and speeding permitting right now." Burgum said the U.S. currently has an imbalance of intermittent power sources like wind and solar, and needs to offset that with an increase in baseload generation - like natural gas-fired power plants - that can produce electricity regardless of weather conditions. "Because if the sun's not shining, the wind's not blowing, and we don't have base load, then we've got brown outs and blackouts," he said. He also criticized Biden's support for the electric vehicle industry, saying it increases U.S. dependence on critical minerals from China. Burgum, who served as governor of North Dakota - a big oil and wind power producer - is also being considered to head a new national council to coordinate policies to boost U.S. energy output after Trump takes office. He declined to say if he would support the wind power industry if confirmed by the Senate to lead the Interior Department. Trump has vowed to put an end to the industry, which he says is too expensive and can harm whales offshore. North Dakota ranks third among U.S. states, after Texas and New Mexico, in crude oil reserves and production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-nominee-interior-backs-full-throttle-drilling-federal-lands-2025-01-16/

2025-01-16 11:41

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Voters in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, go to the polls on Feb. 23. With the country's auto industry in turmoil, here is what the major parties are saying in their manifestos on cars and the auto industry: CDU/CSU Topline: "Yes to cars: keep the automotive industry’s position as a leading industry." The conservative Christian Democrats, running with Bavarian sister party CSU, want to reverse the 2035 ban on fossil fuel-emitting cars. Framing individual mobility as a matter of personal freedom, the party rejects what it calls "anti-car" policies like a speed limit on Germany’s motorway and banning cars in city centres. Carbon emissions targets which could result in heavy fines for non-compliance must be reviewed and fines prevented, they said. The party supports expanding EV charging infrastructure but also stands for “technological openness”, including towards e-fuels, though it does not specify whether these should be used for passenger cars or other forms of transport. AFD Topline: "Let the market decide." The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) also supports withdrawing the 2035 phase-out off fossil fuel-emitting cars, wanting to safeguard production of combustion engine cars as long as possible to protect jobs. The party wants to end public funding for EV charging infrastructure and let the market, not the law, decide on the appropriate technology for cars. All car types should be given equal tax relief policies, the party’s manifesto said. SPD Topline: "Germany is a car country. The future of cars lies in electromobility." The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) propose tax reductions for buying or leasing EVs, expansion of charging stations and a cap on transmission network fees to make charging more affordable. The party also opposes fining carmakers for failing to meet the EU’s emissions targets, saying carmakers need the money for EV development. Greens Topline: "We will ensure that access to electric vehicles makes travel more comfortable and cars more affordable." The Greens have a stricter approach to ensuring carmakers commit to EVs. They stand by the 2035 fossil fuel car ban and think carmakers should be fined for not meeting CO2 targets but could be given more time to pay, with the funds used for European initiatives supporting the EV industry. They propose research programmes for software and battery development and building up production capacity for critical technologies like semiconductors and batteries. Reminiscent of the U.S.’ Inflation Reduction Act, the party says the state should provide support for consumers buying EVs mostly produced in Europe and give tax incentives to people on lower incomes for EV charging. It also supports EU tariffs on China-made EVs. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-parties-car-policies-february-national-election-2025-01-16/

2025-01-16 11:40

COPENHAGEN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Finland's customs office said on Thursday it had no grounds to pursue a criminal investigation against the crew of the Eagle S oil tanker over the ship's Russian fuel cargo. Finnish police last month seized the tanker and said they suspected the vessel had damaged a Finnish-Estonian power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed. The customs office has separately impounded the cargo of unleaded petrol and diesel, and reiterated on Thursday that these are classified as products subject to sanctions against Russia. But as the ship entered Finnish territorial waters at the request of Finnish authorities, the crew could not be considered to have intentionally violated the sanctions legislation, the customs office said in a statement. "The cargo of the ship will remain detained by Finnish Customs for the time being," it added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-customs-will-not-pursue-criminal-investigation-eagle-s-crew-2025-01-16/