2024-11-03 19:45

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday they would maintain their maritime blockade against Israeli vessels in response to "intelligence information" regarding Israeli shipping companies selling their assets to other companies. The Iran-aligned Houthis have said they are intensifying their attacks to support Hamas and Hezbollah in their resistance against Israeli actions in the region. "Intelligence information confirms that many companies operating in maritime shipping affiliated to the Israeli enemy are working to sell their assets and transfer their properties from shipping and maritime transport ships to other companies," said Yahya Sarea, military spokesperson of the group. The Houthis will not recognise any changes of ownership and warned against any collaboration with these companies, Sarea said in a televised address. Sarea also said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel and would target any ships belonging to, linked to, or heading to Israel. He said the blockade would continue until "the aggression stops and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted and the aggression on Lebanon stops." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-will-keep-blockade-israeli-vessels-after-asset-sale-reports-2024-11-03/

2024-11-03 18:16

Spain's deadliest floods in modern history leave 217 dead Residents angry at tardiness of flood alert, slow relief effort Thousands of troops join clean-up effort PAIPORTA, Spain, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Hundreds of residents of a Valencia suburb badly hit by last week's deadly floods protested on Sunday during a visit by Spanish King Felipe, Queen Letizia, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, with some throwing mud at them. Chanting "Murderers, murderers!" they vented pent-up anger over what has been widely perceived by local residents as tardy alerts from the authorities about the dangers of Tuesday's flooding, and then a late response by the emergency services when disaster struck. "Please, the dead are still in the garages, the families are looking for their relatives and friends. Please come, we only ask for help ... All we wanted was to be warned and we would have been saved," yelled one resident, Nuria Chisber, with tears in her eyes. "It was known and nobody did anything to avoid it," a young man told the king, who insisted on staying to talk to people despite the turmoil, while the prime minister had quickly withdrawn. Spain is a parliamentary monarchy where the king is head of state. At one point in the visit to the stricken suburb of Paiporta, Felipe, wearing a simple dark raincoat, distinguishable from distance by his height and grey hair, held to his shoulder a man who was crying. Online footage showed his wife, Letizia, crying as she hugged some residents. Her hair and face had traces of mud and one of her bodyguards had blood on his face, apparently from a hurled object. Bodyguards had opened umbrellas to try to protect the royals. The death toll from the country's worst flash floods in modern history edged higher to 217 on Sunday - almost all in the Valencia region and over 60 of them in Paiporta alone. Some of Sunday's protesters wore clothing with the symbols of far-right organisations which often stage protests against the leftist government. "We are not going to get sidetracked by some marginal acts," Sanchez said, referring to the incidents and the need to repair damage caused by the flood. Photos showed his official car with windows broken. As the king tried to calm the mood, he also referred to attempts by agitators to destabilise the situation. "There is a lot of toxic information going around and a lot of people interested in chaos," he told the crowd. As it started drizzling, police cars with loudspeakers drove around Valencia warning of more heavy rains coming later on Sunday. BLAME GAME The central government has said issuing alerts to the population is the responsibility of regional authorities. But the Valencia authorities have said they acted as best as they could with the information available to them. Dozens of people were still unaccounted for, while some 3,000 households had no electricity, officials said. "With a timely warning to the population, many fatalities could have been avoided," Jorge Olcina, climate expert at the University of Alicante, told Reuters, also pointing to poor coordination between national and regional authorities. He added though that the magnitude of the disaster made it "difficult to handle". Sanchez said on Saturday that any potential negligence would be investigated and called for political unity in the face of the tragedy. Valencia's regional leader Carlos Mazon, who also visited Paiporta to boos and insults from protesters, posted on X: "I understand the public anger and of course I will stay to receive it. It is my political and moral obligation. The King's attitude this morning has been exemplary." Thousands of additional troops and police joined the disaster relief effort over the weekend in the largest such peacetime operation in Spain. The floods engulfed streets and lower floors of buildings, sweeping away cars and pieces of masonry in tides of mud. The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster in a single country since 1967, when at least some 500 people died in Portugal. Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe and elsewhere due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/protests-over-spain-flood-response-interrupt-visit-by-king-stricken-valencia-2024-11-03/

2024-11-03 17:26

Output hike of 180,000 bpd had been due to proceed in December Sources cite concern about economic backdrop and demand OPEC+ next scheduled to meet on Dec. 1 LONDON/DUBAI/MOSCOW, Nov 3 (Reuters) - OPEC+ has agreed to delay a planned December oil output increase by one month, the group said on Sunday, as weak demand notably from China and rising supply outside the group maintain downward pressure on the oil market. Eight members of OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, were due to raise output in December as part of a plan to gradually unwind the group's most recent layer of output curbs - a cut of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd). However, weak demand and economic data raised concern in the group about adding more supply, sources told Reuters last week ahead of the decision to postpone the hike made on Sunday after consultations between ministers. The eight countries decided to extend the 2.2 million bpd cut for a month until the end of December, OPEC said in a statement. They also "reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity" with output targets, it said. Oil prices closed on Friday just above $73 a barrel, supported in part by the prospect of a further delay to the OPEC+ increase. Even so, Brent crude is still not far from its lowest levels this year of below $69, reached in September. OPEC+ had already delayed the increase from October because of falling prices, weak demand and rising supplies. An easing of investor concern about conflict in the Middle East disrupting the region's oil output has also weighed on prices. OPEC and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly said they do not target a certain price and make decisions based on market fundamentals and in the interest of balancing supply and demand. The December hike was due to be 180,000 bpd, a small part of the total 5.86 million bpd of output OPEC+ is holding back, equal to about 5.7% of global demand. OPEC+ agreed those cuts in separate steps since 2022 to support the market. COMPLIANCE IN FOCUS Countries' compliance with agreed output curbs has been in focus, particularly that of Iraq and Kazakhstan, which have been pumping above targets and have promised additional cuts to compensate for the excess. OPEC's statement said the eight countries took note of recent announcements by Iraq, and by Russia and Kazakhstan, reaffirming their commitment to the OPEC+ agreement including making the compensation cuts. Before Sunday's one-month postponement, the eight OPEC+ members were due to gradually unwind the 2.2 million bpd cut by increasing supply in December 2024 and over the following months into next year. The remaining OPEC+ cuts of 3.66 million bpd will stay in place until the end of 2025, as per an agreement in June 2024. OPEC+ ministers hold a full meeting of the group to decide policy for 2025 on Dec. 1. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/opec-agrees-delay-december-output-hike-one-month-sources-say-2024-11-03/

2024-11-03 14:37

KAMPALA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - A lightning strike on a church on Uganda killed at least 14 people and injured 34 as they gathered for prayers on Saturday, police said. The incident occurred in the Palabek refugee camp in Lamwo district in northern Ugandan, police said in a post on the X platform on Sunday. "The victims... had gathered for prayers when the rain started around 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), and the lightning thunder struck at 5:30 p.m.," police said. Police did not identify the nationalities of the victims but the camp and others in the region mostly hosts refugees from South Sudan. Most of those refugees had fled during a bloody civil war that gripped the country shortly after its independence in 2011. The victims were mostly juveniles and included a nine-year-old girl, police said. Fatal lightning strikes are common in the east African country, especially in schools where structures rarely have lightning conductors. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/14-people-killed-by-lightning-strike-uganda-police-say-2024-11-03/

2024-11-03 05:04

JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - President Prabowo Subianto visited the Papua region of Indonesia on Sunday to oversee the development of a key food programme aimed at creating three million hectares (7.4 million acres) of food estates across the country. Prabowo has promised that the country could reach food self-sufficiency in the next four years. An advisor to Prabowo has said the food estates programme may add 20 million tons of paddy rice or 10 million tons of harvested rice. One million hectares will be located in the Merauke regency of South Papua province, which Prabowo visited on Sunday. The remaining will be located in Sumatra and Kalimantan islands. The government has said the food estates will focus on increasing rice production, with the country relying on imports of rice and other commodities such as sugar. To support the Merauke food programme Jakarta plans to build a dock in the Wanam region and a 135 kms (84 mile) road from Wanam to Muting region to assist farmers, according to a statement from the palace. It was Prabowo’s first visit to the Papua region after being inaugurated as Indonesia’s 8th president last month. The food programme was started during former president Joko Widodo's era. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesias-prabowo-visits-papua-check-key-food-estate-project-2024-11-03/

2024-11-03 04:21

BEIJING, Nov 3 (Reuters) - China's electric vehicle giant BYD (002594.SZ) , opens new tab, ramped up production by nearly 200,000 units from August to October, while hiring close to 200,000 new employees in car manufacturing and components, Executive Vice President He Zhiqi said on Weibo on Saturday. BYD posted an 11.5% rise in third-quarter net profit as it maintained strong sales momentum. Revenue for the July-September period surged 24% on year to 201.1 billion yuan ($28.24 billion), the first obvious win for BYD on quarterly revenue versus Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab since the Chinese automaker stopped producing gasoline engine vehicles in 2022. ($1 = 7.1214 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-byd-boosts-production-hiring-amid-q3-growth-2024-11-03/