2025-10-26 03:34

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Hurricane Melissa has developed into a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of up to 140 mph (220kmh) and is expected to strengthen as it heads towards Jamaica, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday. Melissa is about 110 miles (180 km) south of Kingston and expected to make landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning and hit southeastern Cuba late Tuesday, the NHC said, with catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges expected in the region. Sign up here. During a press conference in Kingston on Sunday, authorities said both international airports were closed and 881 shelters have been activated around the country. "Many of these communities will not survive the flooding," Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government, said at the press conference. "Kingston is extremely low. No community in Kingston is immune." Authorities said a decision on whether to issue a mandatory evacuation order would be made later in the day, while imploring residents to evacuate, with assistance being provided. Some residents, however, chose to stay put, and authorities said some have refused to board evacuation buses. "We are riding out the storm, we're not going to go anywhere. Just sitting down and watch everything, make sure everything's working good,” said Douglas Butler, a local boat captain in Port Royal. “I just take things easy. As long as I have my food, I can eat. That is the most important thing." The NHC said Melissa is expected to bring 15 to 30 inches of rain to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a local maximum of up to 40 inches. Eastern Cuba is expected to receive 10 to 15 inches, with local amounts of up to 20 inches. Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's information minister, said the regional disaster agency, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, is ready to provide assistance, and several international partners have already pledged support. "We will experience the intensity of the hurricane tomorrow night Monday going into Tuesday," Morris Dixon said. "This is rainfall we've not seen before." https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/melissa-now-category-3-hurricane-saffir-simpson-hurricane-wind-scale-us-2025-10-26/

2025-10-26 02:36

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Saturday that food benefits under one of the country's biggest social assistance programs will not be issued next month amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. The shutdown is now in its 25th day, with Republicans and Democrats in Congress remaining at an impasse over how to fund and reopen the federal government. Sign up here. "Bottom line, the well has run dry," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a post on its website. "At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01." More than 41 million depend on the monthly payments, according to the USDA. In some states, like New Mexico, dependence on the program is as high as 21% of residents, it said. The agency's announcement came after more than 200 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday called on USDA to draw on its emergency reserves to fund November food benefits. However, according to a memo seen by Reuters, the department indicated that it would not do so. Governors in Louisiana , opens new tab and Virginia declared states of emergencies this week to make funds available to help with hunger relief in anticipation of SNAP benefits not being issued next month. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-department-agriculture-says-no-food-aid-benefits-will-be-issued-next-month-2025-10-26/

2025-10-25 19:19

Melissa expected to make landfall as Category 4 hurricane Slow-moving storm could impact Jamaica for days PM advises evacuation from low-lying areas Cuba also in Melissa's sites KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Melissa has become a hurricane and is expected to strengthen into at least Category 4 intensity, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. The rapidly intensifying storm is expected to wreak havoc across the Caribbean with catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges expected in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola into early next week, forcing authorities and residents to batten down. Sign up here. Hurricane Melissa is located about 130 miles (210 km) southeast of Kingston and about 250 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according to the NHC advisory. Maximum sustained winds increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h). A hurricane warning is in place for Jamaica, and a hurricane watch for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti and parts of Cuba, including Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin. "I would urge all my fellow citizens, now is the time to be prepared," Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said during a press conference in Kingston, adding that the "entire Jamaica will be impacted" for multiple days. Holness advised people in low-lying areas like Port Royal in Kingston to evacuate but did not issue a mandatory evacuation order. Evan Thompson, Jamaica's principal director at the Meteorological Service, said Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica as a Category 4 storm on Tuesday, and remain for five days. Category 4 hurricanes have sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph. "Today is really the last day to do what you have to do on the outside," Thompson said. People around the country were rushing to gather supplies and secure their homes while fishermen and vendors in Kingston raced to prepare their boats and sell their goods before the storm hits. “When it's moving slow, it’s the worst because no one knows what's next,” said Diane Thompson, a local herb seller. “I asked God this morning to see if he can turn back the storm. Because no matter what, we cannot manage it.” The NHC said the storm is currently moving west at 3 mph (6 km/h) and predicts 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) of rainfall in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a possible local maximum of 40 inches. Eastern Cuba is expected to get 6 to 12 inches with local amounts of 18 inches. Jamaica's south coast is expected to see storm surges of up to 13 feet (3.96 m) accompanied by large, destructive waves. Significant storm surges are expected on the southeast coast of Cuba early next week, the agency added. Clive Davis, a fisherman from Kingston, prepared his boat “Prince Daniel” along the shoreline and said he feared Melissa will bring more damage than last year's devastating Hurricane Beryl, which passed just south of the island. “But this now, she wants to come stay, visit Jamaica for three days, why? It’s gonna slow down business, but it’s nature. We can’t fight against nature,” he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/tropical-storm-melissa-now-hurricane-nhc-says-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 19:06

VALENCIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Saturday and called for conservative regional leader Carlos Mazon to resign over his handling of flash floods that killed 229 people a year ago. Displaying banners with messages such as "Mazon to prison" and chanting, "They didn't die, they were murdered," protesters filled the centre of Valencia for the 12th time since the flash floods occurred almost exactly one year ago. Sign up here. "I have lost everything, but what matters is not the material losses but the human losses. And they could have been avoided," 71-year-old flood survivor Cristina Guzman Trabero told Reuters. "And we are here demanding justice. We don't want anything else." Residents of the affected areas accuse the regional government of issuing an alert too late after buildings were already under water and many people were drowning in the most catastrophic flood-related event in Europe since 1967. A judicial investigation is under way into the emergency response. On Thursday, the court summoned a local journalist who had lunch with Mazon on the day of the floods - October 29, 2024. Spanish authorities said on Thursday that the body of a 56-year-old man had been found buried in mud a year after he was swept away by the water. The catastrophic floods were caused by a destructive weather system, known locally as DANA, in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be growing more frequent due to climate change. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/protesters-urge-regional-spanish-leader-quit-year-after-deadly-floods-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 17:09

TUNIS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the capital Tunis on Saturday to protest a severe environmental crisis , opens new tab caused by pollution from a state chemical plant in Gabes, as protests that began there widen outside the southern city. The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have underscored growing public frustration over the government’s handling of pollution and worsening state of public services, marking the biggest challenge to President Kais Saied since he seized all power in 2021. Sign up here. Residents of Gabes have reported rising rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, which they blame on toxic gases from the state chemical group’s phosphate plants, which dump thousands of tons of waste into the sea daily. The latest wave of protests in Gabes was triggered this month after dozens of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties caused by toxic fumes from a plant that converts phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers. Protesters in Tunis carried banners and chanted slogans in solidarity with residents of Gabes, calling the response of authorities "repression." The government said it arrested people for violence. "It’s that simple, the people of Gabes want to breathe," Hani Faraj, a protester from the “Stop Pollution” campaign, told Reuters. "Gabes is dying slowly ... We will not remain silent. We will escalate our peaceful protests." Saied's administration fears protests in the capital could spark unrest elsewhere in Tunisia, deepening pressure as it struggles with a prolonged economic downturn and political instability. Saied has described the situation in Gabes as an "environmental assassination,” blaming criminal policy choices by a previous government. In an effort to quell the protests, he has called for repairs to the industrial units to stop leaks as an immediate step. Health Minister Mustapha Ferjani said this week the government would build a cancer hospital in Gabes to deal with rising cases. However, protesters have rejected the fixes as temporary, and are demanding the polluting facilities be permanently shut and relocated. Environmental groups warn that tons of industrial waste are discharged daily into the sea at Chatt Essalam, severely damaging marine life. Local fishermen have reported a sharp decline in fish stocks over the past decade, threatening a vital source of income for many in the region. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/hundreds-protest-tunisias-capital-over-worsening-pollution-crisis-2025-10-25/

2025-10-25 16:14

Oct 25 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab said it, along with its project partners, had lifted force majeure on their $20 billion Mozambique LNG project, four years after an Islamist militant attack brought construction to a halt. Notice was sent to the Mozambican government via letter on Friday, a TotalEnergies press officer said. Sign up here. The company said, however, the project would only be relaunched once the government had approved an updated budget and schedule. "Before fully relaunching the project, Mozambique's council of ministers needs to approve an addendum to the plan of development," the company said. TotalEnergies, the project's operator and leading shareholder, forecasts the 13 million metric-ton-per-year project will come online in 2029, around five years later than initially expected. COSTS RISE BY AT LEAST $4 BILLION? Costs related to security and the four-year halt had added at least $4 billion to the project's stated $20 billion price tag, Indian shareholder Bharat Petroleum said last year. Shareholders have been in negotiations with the Mozambique government to decide how the additional costs should be split. Contracts have been agreed to sell nearly 90% of the project's future output, TotalEnergies has said, with long-term buyers including China's CNOOC, France's EDF, and British major Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab. A portion of the gas is reserved for Mozambique's state energy company ENH. Major discoveries of offshore gas lured investors to Mozambique - where companies including Italy's ENI (ENI.MI) , opens new tab and U.S major ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab also have stakes - but the project's resumption will focus attention on whether Mozambique can provide the political stability and security needed to exploit those reserves. The project, known as Mozambique LNG, is 40% complete. Remaining works will take place in "containment mode", with workers allowed in by air or sea only for security reasons, TotalEnergies told a September 29 Investor Day. Mozambique LNG is owned by TotalEnergies (26.5%), Japan's Mitsui (20%), ENH (15%), Bharat Petroleum (10%), Oil India (10%), ONGC Videsh (10%), and Thailand's PTTEP (8.5%). https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/totalenergies-partners-lift-force-majeure-20-billion-mozambique-lng-project-2025-10-25/