2024-11-15 12:44

STILFONTEIN, South Africa, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Desperate family members of illegal miners believed to number in the hundreds waited outside a disused mine shaft in South Africa on Friday in the hope of their loved ones emerging from the hole in the ground. The miners are in a standoff with police, who have blocked their supplies of food and water and are trying to force them out to arrest them for illegally entering the abandoned mine in search of leftover gold - a common problem in South Africa. More than 1,000 illegal miners have already resurfaced in recent weeks as the police have cracked down, and at least one dead body has been brought up. It was unclear if those remaining in the mine in Stilfontein, North West province, were unwilling or unable to get out of the shaft, which descends vertically for more than 2 km (1.2 miles) underground. Police and community members stood around the rocky entrance, where a pulley had been set up to hoist men out. "I'm here waiting for young people who are underground, who are dying," Zimbabwean national Roselina Nyuzeya told Reuters from behind the police barricade blocking access to the gaping hole. A woman crying nearby was waiting for her husband, who had been underground since April, Nyuzeya said. Illegal mining has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organised criminal networks. Many of those who do the risky work of breaking into old industrial mines are immigrants from neighbouring countries. They are referred to as zama-zamas - a local term that comes from the Zulu expression for "taking a chance". Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Wednesday the government would not send help for criminals but instead would "smoke them out". Some community members held signs that read "Smoke ANC out" in response, referring to the governing African National Congress party. "We are asking for help from the government to assist us so our children can come out of the mine. All we are asking for is their remains to come out," said Matsidiso Ramolla, a 41-one-year-old resident of Stilfontein. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/families-gather-south-african-mine-shaft-where-hundreds-are-feared-underground-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 12:28

S. Africa's carbon offset allowance to rise to 25%, from 10% But tax free allowances to ratchet down from 2026 Caught between climate activists and recalcitrant industry JOHANNESBURG, Nov 15 (Reuters) - South Africa's revised carbon tax aims to balance the rival demands of climate activists and polluters by lowering tax-free allowances while letting companies make greater use of offsets, the Treasury's acting tax chief said on Friday. The changes, to come into effect in 2026, will help South Africa meet climate commitments but give 'hard-to-abate' sectors more flexibility, said Chris Axelson, Acting Head of Tax and Financial Sector Policy at the Treasury. South Africa is one of the world's top 15 greenhouse gas emitters and the only country in Africa with a carbon tax. "It definitely is a change to the previous structure (in which) ... the offsets were quite a small percentage," Axelson told Reuters in a videocall interview. At COP29 talks in Azerbaijan, developing countries pressured their richer counterparts for up to $1 trillion in climate finance to help nations historically least responsible for the crisis to shift to greener energy and adapt. A Treasury policy paper released on Wednesday shows the offset allowance for combustion emissions going up to 25%, from 10%, after 2026. But this is counterbalanced by slashing tax-free allowances from 60% currently to half in 2026, and by a further 2.5 percentage points annually until 2030. South Africa enacted its carbon tax in May 2019 after nearly a decade of shelving it over objections from mining companies, steelmakers and state-owned power utility, Eskom. Since then, industry has complained the tax is too onerous while climate activists decry it as too generous. "We're in a place where they're all shouting at us," Axelson said. "We're trying to find that balance ... We don't want one side to say, 'well, you're hurting us too much' and the other side to say, 'well, you aren't doing enough'." The proposal also replaces a 3.5 cent per kilowatt levy on non-renewable power with the carbon tax, which Axelson said would encourage Eskom - whose overreliance on coal has made South Africa a bigger emitter than Britain or France - to use renewables but "but without the potential of passing on costs to the consumers." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/south-africas-revised-carbon-tax-be-harsher-with-more-offsets-treasury-says-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 12:04

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 14 (Reuters) - South African police were in a standoff on Thursday with hundreds of illegal miners believed to be underground in a disused shaft, a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to "smoke them out". Police have been trying for weeks to empty the abandoned gold mine in the North West province as part of a crackdown on illegal mining, which has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organised criminal networks. More than 1,000 illegal miners resurfaced after police cut off their food and water supplies, but a police spokesperson said hundreds more could still be underground. A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said. On Wednesday, asked whether the government would send help to the zama-zamas - a local term for illegal miners from the Zulu expression for "taking a chance" - Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said: "We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out." Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to "reinforce the government's commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion", according to a media advisory from the police. Illegal gold mining costs South Africa's government and industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost sales, taxes and royalties, according to an estimate by a mining industry body. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-police-standoff-with-hundreds-illegal-miners-disused-shaft-2024-11-14/

2024-11-15 12:03

Nov 15 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab dropped for a sixth consecutive week to a near 3-month low of $675.65 billion as of Nov. 8, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday. The reserves fell by $6.5 billion in the reporting week and are down $29.2 billion from the record-high of $704.89 billion hit in late September. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the central bank's intervention in the forex market as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves. The RBI intervenes on both sides of the forex market to prevent undue volatility in the rupee. In the period for which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee had weakened to its then-all-time low of 84.38, pressured by a surge in dollar strength and US bond yields following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. elections. The central bank's strong interventions helped the local currency avert deeper losses, traders said. The currency settled at 84.3950 on Thursday, after slipping to a record low earlier in the week. The forex reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars) --------------------------------------------------------- Nov 08 Nov 01 2024 2024 --------------------------------------------------------- Foreign currency assets 585,383 589,849 Gold 67,814 69,751 SDRs 18,159 18,219 Reserve Tranche Position 4,298 4,311 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total 675,653 682,130 ---------------------------------------------------------- Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx , opens new tab) ((India Headline News Team; +91 80 6749 1310)) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-forex-reserves-decline-sixth-week-its-lowest-nearly-3-months-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 11:52

TSX ends down 0.6% Pulls back from record closing high For the week, the index adds 0.5% Energy falls 1.2%; oil settles 2.5% lower Nov 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index posted broad-based declines on Friday as the prospect of a slower pace of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts spurred investors to take some profits on gains made since the U.S. presidential election. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended down 158.99 points, or 0.63%, at 24,890.68, after posting a record closing high on Thursday. For the week, the index was up 0.5%, as the prospect of tax cuts and looser business regulations under the incoming Trump administration boosted investor sentiment globally. "The U.S. market is giving back some of the Trump rally and that's what's filtering over into Canada," said Lorne Steinberg, president, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. "It's got nothing to do with any fundamentals but probably a lot of the Trump rally had not much to do with fundamentals for Canadian stocks anyway." Shares on Wall Street tumbled after comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a slower pace of interest rate cuts. Seven of ten major sectors on the Toronto market lost ground, including the resource sectors. Energy <.SPTTEN> was down 1.2%, with the price of oil settling 2.45% lower at $67.02 a barrel as investors fretted about weaker Chinese demand. The materials group (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab , which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, ended 0.9% lower. Heavily weighted financials lost (.SPTTFS) , opens new tab 0.6% and industrials <.GSPTTIN> were down 0.9%. One bright spot was a modest gain for the shares of BCE (BCE.TO) , opens new tab. BCE pays a dividend in excess of 10%, but the shares have been in a downward spiral since the company's announcement of a U.S. acquisition earlier this month. "There are people chasing the dividend for BCE," Steinberg said. Mixed domestic economic data included a 7.7% jump in October home sales, extending the rise in activity since the Bank of Canada began cutting interest rates. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-edge-lower-oil-weakness-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 11:40

Some 3.6 mln people already internally displaced by war Ukraine's energy production heavily damaged UN Winter Response Plan faces funding shortages GENEVA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Any additional Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system could trigger a further wave of mass displacement as winter approaches, a senior U.N. official said on Friday. As the war grinds towards its third winter, civilians are more vulnerable than at any other winter during the conflict due to Russian strikes on its energy system and donor fatigue, said U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale. "The real concern is if they were to target the energy sector again, this could be a tipping point...for further mass movements, both inside the country and outside the country," he told reporters in Geneva. Any further displacement would add to the 3.6 million that are currently displaced within Ukraine and the more than 6 million who have fled across its borders to escape the conflict that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Around 65% of Ukraine's own energy production is currently offline due to Russian strikes which is more than at this same point of the year in 2022 or 2023, Schmale said. Ukraine now relies mostly on power generated by its nuclear plants and its grid operator this week introduced power limits for businesses in the first such move since August after a massive Russian missile and drone attack. The United Nations and partners are implementing the Humanitarian Winter Response Plan aiming to address emergency needs by delivering fuel and other items to help people stay warm. Shelters, known as Invincibility Points, where residents can warm up and drink tea have also been set up, he said. Schmale voiced particular concern about people stranded in high-rise buildings and the disabled and elderly living close to the front line in Kharkiv and Kherson. So far, aid workers have reached about half of the 1.7 million people targeted but funding shortages are constraining efforts, he said. This year, the U.N. humanitarian response has received $1.8 billion out of $3.1 billion sought which is less than in 2022 and 2023, he said. "So the trend is clearly downwards, but we still get a lot of money compared to other crisis situations and our plea is that this is maintained because the war is not over." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/further-mass-displacement-possible-ukraine-if-energy-sector-hit-un-warns-2024-11-15/