2024-10-13 07:57

KARACHI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The Baloch Liberation Army, a militant separatist group in Pakistan, denied involvement in an attack that killed at least 21 mine workers, condemning the violence. Dozens of attackers stormed a cluster of small private coal mines in Pakistan's restive southwest on Friday with guns, rockets and hand grenades, killing some miners in their sleep and shooting others after lining them up. "Baloch Liberation Army condemns the massacre of 21 Pashtun workers in Dukki, making it clear that our organization has no involvement in this tragic incident," the BLA said in an email late on Saturday. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the mines of the Junaid Coal Co in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan that borders Afghanistan and Iran. It was the worst such attack in weeks and comes days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Eurasian group Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region, pressing demands for a share in mineral-rich resources. Besides the separatists, the region is also home to Islamist militants, who have resurged since 2022 after revoking a ceasefire with the government. The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the South Asian nation's government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan's rich gas and mineral resources. The province is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by giant Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) , opens new tab and believed to be one of the world's largest gold and copper mines. China also operates a gold and copper mine in the province. At the time of the attack, a delegation from Saudi Arabia, which says it is set to buy a stake in the Reko Diq mine, was in Islamabad exploring deals as Pakistan seeks to recover from an economic crisis. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-separatist-militants-bla-deny-involvement-attack-mines-2024-10-13/

2024-10-13 06:10

HANOI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Vietnam and China signed 10 agreements ranging from agriculture cooperation to cross-border QR code payments on Sunday, during Chinese Premier Li Qiang's three-day visit to Hanoi, as the two neighbours seek to boost ties. China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector, with bilateral trade jumping 21% for the first three quarters from the same period last year to $148 billion. The signing ceremony followed Li's meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Li and Vietnam's Communist Party chief, President To Lam, agreed on Saturday to boost economic ties, farm produce cooperation. The Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked China to boost agricultural trade with Vietnam, open doors to Vietnamese farm produce and enhance customs clearance at borders, state broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) reported. Vietnam and China also signed a document on updating progress on cross-border railway links related to site survey. "The Vietnamese prime minister also suggested the two countries cooperate to implement signed documents on railway links, modern railway development effectively," VTV reported. The two Asian neighbours have repeatedly showed interest in boosting rail links but have not announced concrete plans or the estimated costs to upgrade connections. The main route relies on tracks connecting Kunming in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan to Hanoi and the Vietnamese port city of Haiphong. That railway was built by the French during their colonisation of Vietnam more than a century ago and is still in use in Vietnam. China has replaced its route with high-speed connections. On Saturday, the National Payment Corp of Vietnam and China's UnionPay International signed an agreement to deploy cross-border payment between the two countries. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-china-sign-10-documents-during-chinese-premiers-visit-hanoi-2024-10-13/

2024-10-12 17:21

MEXICO CITY/HOUSTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Pemex's Deer Park oil refinery near Houston discharged 43,500 pounds of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas over more than seven hours in a deadly incident earlier this week, according to the Mexican state-owned company's disclosure to a Texas regulator. The accident on Thursday killed two contract workers while injuring 35 others during work on a unit at the refinery. According to Pemex's initial report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Oct. 10 leak continued for 7 hours and 40 minutes. Over the course of the incident, the hydrogen sulfide discharge exceeded more than 800 times the hourly emission limit for the dangerous gas of 6.89 pounds per hour. The data from the Texas regulator is dated Oct. 11. The refinery, which features a crude processing capacity of 312,500 barrels per day, will operate this weekend at a "low level" as Pemex investigates the cause of the leak, the company said late on Friday in a statement. Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm said it had been retained by "several families impacted by this horrific incident." Pemex management has operated the facility for nearly three years. Work was underway on a sulfur recovery unit at the time of the fatal discharge, according to people familiar with the matter. The Deer Park refinery is a major motor fuels supplier to Mexico, where the government has sought to reduce reliance on gasoline and diesel imports from non-Pemex refiners in a push to be more energy self-sufficient. Pemex's newly-appointed CEO Victor Rodriguez told reporters on Friday morning that thirteen workers remained hospitalized after being exposed to the leak, while Mexico's energy minister said at the same briefing that she expected the facility to be back to normal operations later on Friday. But the company walked back that expectation with its latest statement. "The refinery continues to operate in stable conditions at a low level, a level that will be kept in place during the weekend as long as it's possible to have access to the areas to carry out the corresponding inspections," the company said in its Friday night statement. Rodriguez, who took over earlier this month, noted on Friday that three or four units had been shut at the refinery following the leak. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which investigates industrial accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future incidents, has also begun a probe of what it described as a "very serious incident." CSB said late on Friday that its investigators should arrive at the refinery on Saturday. Deer Park for decades was operated by oil major Shell, but Pemex took full ownership of the refinery in early 2022, acquiring Shell's 50% stake in what had been a long-standing joint venture. In 2021, Shell disclosed that it sold its interest in Deer Park to Pemex for some $596 million. Pemex's domestic refineries have for years suffered major accidents, including explosions and fires, that have caused deaths in Mexico. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pemexs-deer-park-oil-refinery-scales-back-operations-after-fatal-accident-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 14:56

DUBAI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Iraq produced 3.94 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in September, less than its OPEC+ output quota of about 4 million bpd, an Iraqi official said on Saturday, as the country seeks to boost its compliance with the target. The production figure given by the official, who asked not to be named, contradicts the findings of a Reuters survey published on Oct. 3, which found Iraq had pumped 90,000 bpd more than the quota in September. Asked about the survey's findings, the official said production had come in below the quota due to lower exports, reduced domestic consumption and a decline in output from the Kurdistan Region. Iraq planned to reduce it oil output to between 3.85 million and 3.9 million bpd in September as part of a plan to compensate for producing over its quota, a source told Reuters last month. Sources have told Reuters that countries' compliance with their quotas was in focus earlier this month at a meeting of top ministers from OPEC+, which groups the de facto Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with allies led by Russia. The issue of quota compliance is expected to remain high on the OPEC+ agenda in coming weeks, particularly in the case of Iraq and Kazakhstan. The two countries have promised what are known as compensation cuts of 123,000 bpd in September and more in later months to make up for their previous over-production. Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia told the meeting earlier this month that they had delivered on their promised cuts in September, an OPEC statement following the meeting said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/iraqi-oil-output-was-below-opec-quota-september-says-govt-official-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 14:20

ISTANBUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Ship traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait is set to resume for northbound vessels as of 1420 GMT, after a suspension earlier on Saturday due to an engine failure of a ship, the Tribeca shipping agency said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-bosphorus-traffic-suspended-after-ship-engine-failure-agent-says-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 11:36

Residents determined to stay despite hurricane damage Governor DeSantis supports residents' right to rebuild Climate change linked to stronger, faster hurricanes SIESTA KEY, Florida, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Chris Fiore was supposed to be accepting delivery of new household appliances and furniture, replacing items that were [USN:L1N3LB03H TEXT:“swamped by Hurricane Helene”] just a few weeks ago. Instead, the resident of Siesta Key, the Florida barrier island town where [USN:L4N3LM0G0 TEXT:“Hurricane Milton made landfall “]this week, was using a broom to push muck and seawater out of her ground-floor condo, a dream home she purchased just four years ago. “There is no chance I’m pulling up stakes,” Fiore said on Friday, pointing out the waterline where ocean water earlier this week was 2 feet (60 cm) up a wall. “I’m doubling down, thinking about hurricane windows and doors, figuring out how to stop this water from coming in.” This sentiment was echoed by several residents of Siesta Key who spoke with Reuters on Friday. Residents were outnumbered by clean-up workers and people handing out cards advertising roofing and other construction services following two major hurricanes in two weeks. All were feeling down but none seemed defeated, despite the threats of more and stronger hurricanes in the future. “Paradise is still paradise, despite this mess,” said Pat Hurst, who along with her husband Bill has lived on Siesta Key since 2011 and has been visiting for over two decades. “That said, cleaning up from one hurricane while trying to prepare for another was really stressful.” While those living outside hurricane-prone zones may wonder why their residents choose to stay, it is easy to see Siesta Key’s appeal, even after a hurricane. The place is a [USN:FWN3AD1US TEXT:“Jimmy Buffett song”] come to life. The mix of low-slung homes and three-story condos are painted in pleasant pastels, and downtown is lined with appealing restaurants and bars. After Milton, fine white beach sand covered roads several blocks inland. Homes were turned inside-out, with every imaginable household possession ruined by Helene heaped along roads. Coconuts were blown from trees and thrown asunder. Boats normally docked in canals were tossed on land. Dumpsters already full from the Helene cleanup were being topped by Milton’s debris. Elsewhere in the state, workers on Saturday were rescuing people trapped by rising floodwaters, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, and electricity and fuel was still unavailable in many areas. He said the Biden administration had approved federal aid to help residents and local governments cover their expenses. At least 17 deaths were attributed to Milton, according to media outlets. DeSantis said on Friday he was not inclined to prevent people from rebuilding in vulnerable areas. “People work their whole lives to be able to live in environments that are really, really nice, and they have a right to make those decisions with their property as they see fit,” he told reporters. VULNERABILITY TO HURRICANES Florida has led the nation in population growth since 2021 despite a low-lying topography that leaves it vulnerable to hurricanes and rising sea levels. Florida ZIP codes account for 78 of the 80 [USN:L8N3LL0EH TEXT:“riskiest areas in the country”], according to Weather Source, an environmental risk consultancy. Residents paid an average of $4,060 for property insurance in 2023, nearly $1,000 higher than any other state. Sherry Tom, 49, convinced her husband and three daughters to leave Pittsburgh’s cold winters and move to Siesta Key in 2021. “This place is my whole heart,” she said. “But I will admit - I’m worried about living in fear that this will happen again. But if we can, we’re staying.” Tom said she thinks they will have to knock down what remains of their home and build from scratch. She was [USN:L1N3LK121 TEXT:“resolute about staying”]. Marko Radosavljevic, 54, owns one of the original homes built by Siesta Key’s first developer, Frank Archibald, which was built with water-resistant pecky cypress wood. Water and wind have nonetheless done damage in the past two weeks. As he worked to clean out debris from the house he has owned since 2017, Radosavljevic said he was not even considering leaving behind a place “with a special island vibe.” “I refuse to be pushed out,” Radosavljevic said, referring to both storms and drives to put up hotels in place of older homes like his. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/paradise-is-still-paradise-floridians-vow-rebuild-after-two-hurricanes-2024-10-12/