2025-12-27 18:01
GUATEMALA CITY, Dec 27 (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and 19 injured after a passenger bus plunged into a ravine on the Inter-American Highway in western Guatemala, authorities said on Saturday. “Fifteen people have died in this traffic accident — 11 men, three women and a minor,” Leandro Amado, a spokesperson for local firefighters, told reporters, adding that around 19 injured people were taken to hospitals near the scene. Sign up here. The crash occurred in the Solola Department between kilometres 172 and 174, an area known for dense fog that reduces visibility for drivers. Images shared by the fire department on social media early on Saturday showed the wrecked bus in the ravine as firefighters worked to rescue victims. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/least-15-dead-19-injured-guatemala-bus-accident-2025-12-27/
2025-12-27 16:00
TAIPEI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - TSMC (2330.TW) , opens new tab, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said on Saturday that a small number of its facilities in the Hsinchu science park, where it is headquartered, reached evacuation criteria following an earthquake. "Prioritising personnel safety, we are conducting outdoor evacuations and headcounts in accordance with emergency response procedures. Work safety systems at all facilities are operating normally," it said in a brief statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tsmc-says-some-facilities-evacuated-after-quake-2025-12-27/
2025-12-27 11:07
Spanish father, three children missing after boat sinks Vessel capsized near Labuan Bajo island in extreme weather Remaining passengers rescued and safe, authorities say Indonesian rescue teams to resume search in the morning MADRID/JAKARTA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Four members of a Spanish family are missing after a boat carrying eleven people sank off the coast of Indonesia in extreme weather, Spanish and Indonesian authorities said on Saturday. The father and three of his children, who were on holiday in Indonesia, have been missing since Friday night when the boat capsized in waves of up to three metres in the Padar Island Strait near the island of Labuan Bajo, a popular tourist spot. Sign up here. Rescue teams searched the waters, still choppy with high waves and strong currents, from the early morning until 6 p.m. local time, finding wreckage and debris of the boat. Authorities halted the search overnight and will resume on Sunday morning local time, Indonesia's search and rescue agency SAR said in a statement. The mother and one daughter from the Spanish family, as well as four crew members and a tour guide, were rescued and safe, the agency added. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/spanish-family-missing-after-boat-sinks-off-indonesia-2025-12-27/
2025-12-27 09:41
Zaporizhzhia nuclear station among the war's contested issues Zelenskiy-Trump talks fail to deliver breakthrough on plant Russia controls the plant, wants to restart production Russia and Ukraine differ over how US may be involved KYIV, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, is one of the main sticking points in U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. The issue is one of 20 points laid out by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a framework peace plan that he discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday. Sign up here. Here are some of the issues regarding the facility: WHAT PLANS ARE BEING DISCUSSED? Russia took control of the plant, which lies close to the front lines, in March 2022 and announced plans to connect it to its power grid. Almost all countries consider that it belongs to Ukraine but Russia says it is owned by Russia and a unit of Russia's state-owned Rosatom nuclear corporation runs the plant. Zelenskiy stated in December that the U.S. had proposed joint trilateral operation of the nuclear power plant with an American chief manager. Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian proposal envisages Ukrainian-American use of the plant, with the U.S. itself determining how to use 50% of the energy produced. Russia has considered joint Russian-U.S. use of the plant, according to the Kommersant newspaper. After his talks with Zelenskiy on Sunday, Trump said negotiators had made progress on deciding the fate of the plant, which can "start up almost immediately." The U.S. president said "it's a big step" that Russia had not bombed the facility. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS? The plant is located in Enerhodar on the banks of the Dnipro River and the Kakhovka Reservoir, 550 km (342 miles) southeast of the capital Kyiv. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed reactors with a total capacity of 5.7 gigawatts, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) database. It is not currently producing electricity but relies on external power to keep the nuclear material cool and avoid a meltdown. The plant's equipment is powered by electricity supplied from Ukraine. Over the past four years these supplies have been interrupted at least 11 times due to breaks in power lines, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators. Both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of striking the nuclear plant and of severing power lines leading to it. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi says fighting a war around a nuclear plant has put nuclear safety and security in constant jeopardy. The Russian head of the station said on Monday the facility could restart power generation by mid-2027 if the war concluded soon. WHY DOES RUSSIA WANT THE ZAPORIZHZHIA PLANT? Russia has been preparing to restart the station but says that doing so will depend on the situation in the area. Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev has not ruled out the supply of electricity produced there to parts of Ukraine. Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Centre in Kyiv, said Moscow intended to use the plant to cover a significant energy deficit in Russia's south. In December, Russia's Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision issued a license for the operation of reactor No. 1, a key step towards restarting the reactor. Ukraine's energy ministry called the move illegal and irresponsible, risking a nuclear accident. WHY DOES UKRAINE NEED THE PLANT? Russia has been pummelling Ukraine's energy infrastructure throughout the war. In recent months, Russia has sharply increased the scale and intensity of its attacks, plunging entire regions into darkness. Analysts say Ukraine's generation capacity deficit is about 4 gigawatts, or the equivalent of four Zaporizhzhia reactors. Kharchenko says it would take Ukraine five to seven years to build the generating capacity to compensate for the loss of the Zaporizhzhia plant. Kharchenko said that if Kyiv regained control of the plant, it would take at least two to three years to understand what condition it was in and another three years to restore the equipment and return it to full operation. Both Ukrainian state nuclear operator Energoatom and Kharchenko said Ukraine did not know the real condition of the nuclear power plant today. WHAT ABOUT COOLING THE FUEL? In the long term, there is the unresolved problem of the lack of water resources to cool the reactors after the vast Kakhovka hydro-electric dam was blown up in 2023, destroying the reservoir that supplied water to the plant. Besides reactors, there are spent fuel pools at each reactor site used to cool down used nuclear fuel. Without water supply to the pools, the water evaporates and temperatures increase, risking fire. An emission of hydrogen from a spent fuel pool caused an explosion in Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Energoatom said the level of the Zaporizhzhia power plant cooling pond had dropped by more than 15%, or 3 metres, since the destruction of the dam, and continued to fall. Ukrainian officials previously said the available water reserves may be sufficient to operate one or, at most, two nuclear reactors. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-lies-ahead-ukraines-contested-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-2025-12-27/
2025-12-27 05:37
California High-Speed Rail Authority cites lack of federal trustworthiness State plans to proceed without federal funding, seeks private investors by summer of 2026 Project costs rise to $89 billion-$128 billion, completion expected by 2033 WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - California has dropped a lawsuit challenging the decision by the administration of President Donald Trump to cancel more than $4 billion in federal grants for the state's high-speed rail project, the state said late on Friday. The California High-Speed Rail Authority, which filed the lawsuit in July, said the decision to abandon it reflected the state's "assessment that the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California." Sign up here. The agency said it plans to move forward without federal funding, adding that only 18% of program expenditures for the long-delayed project have come from federal funds. A judge this month rejected a bid to dismiss the lawsuit. The Federal Railroad Administration issued a 315-page report in June finding the project was plagued by missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and questionable ridership projections. The U.S. Transportation Department said on Saturday that the FRA investigation demonstrated that after more than 15 years, the California high-speed rail authority "would be unable to deliver on their high speed rail promises on time or on budget." The department added, "American tax dollars will be spared from being wasted on this train to nowhere and will instead support real projects that improve the lives of rail passengers, local drivers, and pedestrians." PROJECT HAS BEEN PLAGUED BY DELAYS, COST OVERRUNS California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in July that termination of the grants by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump amounted to "petty, political retribution, motivated by President Trump's personal animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not the facts on the ground." The funding cuts are the latest hurdle in the 16-year effort to link Los Angeles and San Francisco by a three-hour train ride, a project that would deliver the fastest passenger rail service in the United States. Originally planned for completion by 2020 at a cost of $33 billion, the project is now forecast to cost between $89 billion and $128 billion, with service now expected to start by 2033. The rail system, whose first bond issue was approved by California voters in 2008, has built more than 50 major railway structures, including bridges, overpasses, undercrossings and viaducts, and completed nearly 80 miles (130 km) of guideway for the project. The Transportation Department in August canceled another $175 million for four projects that are part of the high-speed rail program, following the cancellation of $4 billion in federal grants. The California agency said this week it was beginning a process to attract private investors and developers by summer 2026. The agency said on Friday that the loss of federal funding will not derail the project or construction, adding that it was making progress. "Rather than continuing to spend time and money challenging the termination, the state is moving forward without them," the agency said, noting legislation signed in September secures $1 billion for the program annually through 2045. During his first term, Trump revoked $929 million in federal grants, a move challenged by the state, leading to a settlement in 2021 under Democratic President Joe Biden restoring the full amount. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-drops-lawsuit-challenging-trump-decision-pull-4-billion-high-speed-2025-12-27/
2025-12-27 05:07
Airline flight cancellations, delays mount Up to foot of snow fell in New York state Officials warn of treacherous road conditions NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - A mix of snow and ice bore down on the U.S. Northeast early on Saturday, disrupting post-holiday weekend airline traffic and prompting officials in New York and New Jersey to issue weather emergency declarations even as the storm ebbed by mid-morning. People in much of the Northeast were advised to stay off the roads because of treacherous conditions, with states of emergency declared in New York and New Jersey. Sign up here. "The safety of New Yorkers is my top priority, and I continue to urge extreme caution throughout the duration of this storm," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement. By early Saturday, about six to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) of snow had fallen across an area from Syracuse in central New York to Long Island in the southeast of the state, as well as Connecticut, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center near Washington, D.C. New York City received two to four inches of snow overnight, with 4.3 inches reported at Central Park, Oravec said, the most since 2022. "The good news is that the heaviest snow is done," he said. "Only a few flurries remain this morning and those will taper off by the afternoon." But the effects were felt by travelers. More than 9,000 domestic U.S. flights on Saturday were canceled or delayed as of early-evening, with many in the New York area, including at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Representatives from American Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue Airways told Reuters that the carriers had waived change fees normally charged to rebook for passengers whose travel plans may be affected by weather-related disruptions. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories were also posted for most of Pennsylvania and much of Massachusetts. New Jersey and Pennsylvania issued commercial vehicle restrictions for some roads, including many interstate highways. "This storm will cause dangerous road conditions and impact holiday travel," New Jersey's acting governor Tahesha Way said in a statement. "We are urging travelers to avoid travel during the storm and allow crews to tend to roads." https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/winter-storm-bears-down-us-northeast-disrupting-airline-travel-2025-12-27/
