2025-11-22 21:15

Nov 22 (Reuters) - A fire on a cargo ship that sent smoke billowing through parts of the second most populous U.S. city has been “substantially contained” after several hours, the Port of Los Angeles said on Saturday. Shelter-in-place orders for two of the city's neighborhoods were lifted. No injuries have been reported. Sign up here. The blaze began with an electrical fire at about 6:30 p.m. local time Friday on the ship One Henry Hudson at a dock in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles. Fire crews and ship crew members continued fire suppression efforts on Saturday, officials said, after the vessel was towed away from its berth at the Yusen Container Terminal. Marine units continued cooling the ship's exterior, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. TV footage from an ABC affiliate showed firefighting boats shooting streams of water on the ship's sides and over containers on fire on the deck. On Friday, the fire and subsequent explosion on the ship spurred concerns that hazardous materials were burning. All 23 crew members were quickly evacuated from the vessel, as the fire disrupted power and crane operations. Officials issued shelter-in-place orders for the Los Angeles communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. Those orders were lifted on Saturday, and officials also removed work restrictions that had been in place for the port's terminals. Earlier, fire officials said four of the port’s seven container terminals had resumed operations. The One Henry Hudson sails under a Panama flag and arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday from Tokyo's Shinagawa port, according to LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/container-ship-fire-la-substantially-contained-officials-say-2025-11-22/

2025-11-22 20:39

Negotiators overcome EU concerns over draft Deal would triple climate finance for developing nations by 2035 Colombia, Panama, Uruguay demand fossil fuel transition language Sierra Leone criticizes unclear adaptation indicators BELEM, Brazil, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's COP30 presidency pushed through a compromise climate deal on Saturday that would boost finance for poor nations coping with global warming but that omitted any mention of the fossil fuels driving it. In securing the accord, Brazil hoped to demonstrate global unity in addressing climate change impacts even after the world's biggest historic emitter, the United States, declined to send an official delegation. Sign up here. Acknowledging that the deal left many frustrated, the head of the U.N. climate secretariat (UNFCCC) praised the delegates for coming together in an year of denial and division. "I'm not saying we're winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said in a statement. The agreement, which landed in overtime after two weeks of contentious negotiations in the Amazon city of Belem, exposed deep rifts over how future climate action should be pursued. After gaveling the deal through, a weary Brazilian COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago told delegates he recognized the talks had been tough. "We know some of you had greater ambitions for some of the issues at hand," he said. Several countries objected to the summit ending without stronger plans for reining in greenhouse gases or addressing fossil fuels. Brazil's Latin American neighbors Colombia, Panama and Uruguay made multiple objections before Correa do Lago suspended the plenary for procedural consultations. After about an hour, he resumed the plenary and said the decisions as gaveled would stand. Colombia's negotiator had noted that fossil fuels were by far the biggest contributor of planet-warming emissions, and said her country could not go along with a deal that ignored science. "A consensus imposed under climate denialism is a failed agreement," the Colombian negotiator said. The Russian delegate, Sergei Kononuchenko, accused those objecting of "behaving like children who want to get their hands on all the sweets." The comment, made through a translator, was called out by many Latin American delegates who said they were deeply offended by Russia's remarks, and defended their role in advocating for their countries' best interests. The three Latin American countries had been objecting not to COP30's overall political deal, but to one of the other more technical negotiating texts being approved alongside the headline deal. The three had joined the European Union demanding the deal include language on a transition away from fossil fuels - while a coalition of countries including top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said any fossil fuel mention was off-limits. After tense overnight negotiations, the EU agreed on Saturday morning not to block a final deal, but said it did not agree with the conclusion. "We should support (the deal) because at least it is going in the right direction," the European Union's climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said before the deal was sealed. FINANCE BOOST The summit also launches a voluntary initiative to speed up climate action to help nations meet existing pledges to reduce emissions, and calls for rich nations to at least triple the money they provide to others for adapting to a warming world by 2035. Developing countries say they urgently need funds to adapt to impacts that are already hitting, like rising sea levels and worsening heat waves, droughts, floods, and storms. Avinash Persaud, Special Advisor to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, a multilateral lender focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, said the accord's focus on finance was important as climate impacts mount. "But I fear the world still fell short on more rapid-release grants for developing countries responding to loss and damage. That goal is as urgent as it is hard," he said. Several countries including Sierra Leone also objected at the final plenary to a list of indicators for what they should be measuring in areas such as food security in order to prepare for climate impacts. Sierra Leone's climate minister, Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai, said the list agreed "is not the list crafted by experts." "Instead, we leave COP with indicators that are unclear, unmeasurable, and in many cases, unusable" he said. FOSSIL FUEL SIDE TEXT The overnight impasse between the European Union and the Arab Group of nations over fossil fuels had pushed the talks past a Friday deadline, triggering all-night negotiations before a compromise could be reached. Correa do Lago said on Saturday morning that the presidency was issuing a side text on fossil fuels - as well as on protecting forests - keeping it out of the main accord because of the lack of consensus. But he urged countries to keep discussing the issues. Saturday's agreement also launches a process for climate bodies to review how to align international trade with climate action, according to the deal text, amid concerns that rising trade barriers are limiting the adoption of clean technology. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/cop30-talks-grind-into-overtime-eu-objects-proposed-deal-2025-11-22/

2025-11-22 14:49

Fed's Collins remains hesitant to cut interest rates again Collins says Fed facing conflicting movement in mandates Collins says will go into FOMC with open mind BOSTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said Saturday that she’s still leaning against the U.S. central bank cutting its interest rate target next month as it faces ongoing risks to both its inflation and job mandates. “I do see reasons to be hesitant” about lowering the cost of short-term borrowing at the December 9-10 Federal Open Market Committee meeting. “My own view is that policy is currently in the kind of mildly restrictive range after the 50-basis-point easing that we did in September and October, and that's appropriate” given the current state of the economy, Collins told reporters at a conference at her bank. Sign up here. The challenge for the Fed right now is that it faces ongoing risks created by above-target inflation while at the same time the job market is softening, she said. For monetary policy, “I see risks on both sides and it’s really about balancing those risks.” Collins was asked if she was willing to dissent against a rate cut at the upcoming Fed meeting, which is likely to be unusually fractious for a committee that typically sees policymakers set policy by clear consensus. She said she has not decided what she wants the Fed to do at the meeting and would like to see more data before making a call. Over recent days, a wide range of officials have staked out positions on whether the Fed should cut what is now a 3.75% to 4% federal funds rate target range by a quarter-percentage-point. The Fed’s other two rate cuts were driven by officials’ desire to support a softening job market while still keeping interest rate policy in a place where it can depress inflation that continues to overshoot the Fed’s 2% target. Fed officials are also moving toward the meeting with a dearth of the data they usually rely on to set monetary policy, with the government shutdown only recently resolved. A substantial number of policymakers have been against cutting rates amid ongoing inflation concerns. Some of the gravity on that internal debate shifted Friday with a speech by New York Fed leader John Williams, who said “I still see room for a further adjustment in the near term to the target range for the federal funds rate to move the stance of policy closer to the range of neutral.” That caused futures markets to increase what had been declining odds of a near-term easing. Some on the Fed have prepared observers to see an unusual level of formal disagreement at the FOMC meeting. For those who have accused the Fed of groupthink when it comes to setting policy, “get ready: You might see the least groupthink you've seen from the FOMC in a long time,” Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday. Collins told reporters “we’re in a complex period” for setting monetary policy. “I think having a range of views is important, and I think there are some periods where there's, you know, more of a range. If we all thought exactly the same thing, I think that would be, would be problematic.” The Boston Fed bank president also said in her comments to the press that her outlook for the future of the economy is relatively benign, with unemployment rising a bit, and inflation pressures eventually moderating from current levels. She added that financial conditions are putting some wind at the economy’s back. Collins also explained what could alter her view on the right path for interest rate policy. “Looking at both sides of the mandate, there are risks on the employment side, and certainly, if I saw more evidence of more softening and weakness, I would take that seriously.” https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/feds-collins-monetary-policy-currently-right-place-hesitant-about-cutting-rates-2025-11-22/

2025-11-22 14:40

DUBAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Iran has sought help to fight a devastating fire in UNESCO-listed forests in its north, with neighbouring Turkey sending firefighting planes, Iran's top environmental official said on Saturday. The fire threatens the Hyrcanian forests, which stretch along the southern Caspian Sea coast and date back 50 million years. They are home to 3,200 plant species - a "floral biodiversity ... remarkable at the global level", according to UNESCO , opens new tab, which listed them as a World Heritage site in 2019. Sign up here. "Two firefighting aircraft (and) one helicopter ... are being dispatched by the Turkish government today. There is also the capacity to have cooperation from Russia if needed," Vice-President Shina Ansari told state television. Two Iranian Ilyushin firefighting aircraft, seven helicopters and about 400 firefighters are battling the blaze, which follows a drought marked by rain levels across Iran at 85% below average. The fire reignited last Saturday following media reports that it was put out after breaking out in late October. Meanwhile, the head of a provincial nature protection unit said unauthorised hunters may have started the blaze and Reza Aflatouni, the head of Iran's forestry body, suggested that the fire may be linked to illegal efforts to destroy forested areas in order to build private residences, according to Iranian media reports. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/iran-battles-fire-unesco-listed-forest-gets-turkeys-help-2025-11-22/

2025-11-22 11:05

BRUSSELS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Group of Seven nations, EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, and other European leaders were discussing Washington's proposed peace plan for Ukraine on Saturday afternoon on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, sources familiar with the matter said. The E3, an informal security alliance of France, Britain and Germany, met ahead of the wider discussion. Sign up here. The attendees included Finland, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands, one of the sources specified. The United States and Russia are negotiating a 28-point road map to end Russia's war in Ukraine but Brussels has not been included in the negotiations. European Commission president Von der Leyen said on Friday she would reach out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy said he was ready for "constructive, honest and prompt work" with Washington. Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, said on Saturday that Kyiv was holding consultations in Switzerland with the U.S. on ending the war. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/g7-eu-leaders-discuss-ukraine-peace-plan-sidelines-g20-summit-sources-say-2025-11-22/

2025-11-22 10:24

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The Leaders' Declaration from a Group of 20 summit in South Africa on Saturday stressed the seriousness of climate change, in a snub to U.S. President Donald Trump, who boycotted the gathering and doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/g20-summit-declaration-stresses-seriousness-climate-change-snub-trump-2025-11-22/