2025-10-30 12:40

At least 30 confirmed dead in Haiti, 19 in Jamaica Forecaster estimates up to $52 billion in damages Melissa was among strongest-ever storms at landfall Hurricane passing to the west of Bermuda PORT-AU-PRINCE/KINGSTON/HAVANA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Hurricane Melissa's confirmed death toll climbed to 49 on Thursday, according to official reports, after wreaking destruction across much of the northern Caribbean and picking up speed as it headed past Bermuda in the North Atlantic. Authorities in Haiti, which was not directly hit but nevertheless suffered days of torrential rains from the slow-moving storm, reported at least 30 deaths and 20 more missing. Sign up here. At least 23 people, including 10 children, died in Haiti's southern town of Petit-Goave when a river burst its banks. Roads, houses and farmlands were also damaged by the rains. Jamaica's information minister confirmed at least 19 deaths, but said authorities were continuing search and rescue efforts. The storm left hundreds of thousands without power, ripped roofs of buildings and scattered fields with rubble. Jamaica's military has called on reserve personnel to report for duty to help with relief and rescue operations. Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday as a powerful Category 5 hurricane, the Caribbean nation's strongest-ever storm to directly hit its shores, and the first major hurricane to do so since 1988. Windspeeds were well above the minimum level for the strongest hurricane classification. Forecasters at AccuWeather said it tied in second place for strongest-ever Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of windspeed when in struck land. The forecaster estimated $48 billion to $52 billion in damage and economic loss across the western Caribbean. Melissa also hit eastern Cuba, where some 735,000 evacuated, but as of Thursday, no deaths were reported there, despite extensive damage to homes and crops. At 11:00 p.m. (0300 GMT), Melissa was a Category 2 storm 264 km (164 miles) west of the North Atlantic British island territory of Bermuda, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, packing maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (161 kph). Residents in Bermuda had remained calm as the storm was expected to give the island a relatively wide berth. Authorities said they would close its causeway Thursday night and shut schools and ferries on Friday "out of an abundance of caution." In the Bahamas, which Melissa cut through Wednesday night, authorities lifted storm warnings but did not give the "all clear". An official said authorities expected to decide by Saturday whether it was safe for the hundreds of people who evacuated off affected islands to return to their homes. WADING BAREFOOT THROUGH MUD The front page of Thursday's Jamaica Observer newspaper read: "DEVASTATION." Densely populated Kingston was spared the worst damage. Its main airport was set to reopen on Thursday, as was the capital's port. Relief flights and aid had begun to flow into Jamaica's airports, authorities said. But across the country, more than 130 roads remained blocked by trees, debris and electric lines, authorities said, forcing the military to clear roadways on foot into isolated areas, with ambulances following close behind. Satellite imagery showed swaths of trees and homes devastated in the hardest-hit areas of Jamaica, sparse remaining greenery defoliated and most structures destroyed. In a neighbourhood of the island's Montego Bay, 77-year-old Alfred Hines waded barefoot through thick mud and debris as he described his narrow escape from the rising floodwaters. "At one stage, I see the water at my waist and (after) about 10 minutes time, I see it around my neck here and I make my escape," he told Reuters on Wednesday. "I just want to forget it and things come back to normal." In western parts of the island, people crowded by supermarkets and gas stations to fill up on supplies. "Montego Bay hasn't got any petrol. Most of the petrol stations are down," British tourist Chevelle Fitzgerald told Reuters, adding it took her at least six hours to cross the 174 km (108 miles) to Jamaica's capital. "The highway was closed. You had some blockage on the road and trees falling down," she said. Over 70% of electrical customers in Jamaica remained without power as of Thursday morning, said Energy Minister Daryl Vaz, with power lines felled across the island's roadways. Many schools remained without power or water, officials in the capital Kingston said. IMMEDIATE HUMANITARIAN AID Scientists say hurricanes are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief. Despite the U.N. setting up a fund for developing nations to quickly access reliable financing for more extreme weather events in 2023, donations have not met targets. U.S. forecaster AccuWeather said Melissa was the third most-intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean, as well as its slowest-moving, compounding damages for affected areas. U.S. search and rescue teams were headed for Jamaica on Thursday to assist in recovery efforts, Jamaican authorities said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was prepared to offer "immediate humanitarian aid" to the people of Cuba, a long-time U.S. foe. Authorities in Cuba - which Melissa struck in the night as a Category 3 storm - said they were "awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are willing to assist." At least 241 Cuban communities remained isolated and without communications on Wednesday following the storm's passage across Santiago province, according to preliminary media reports, affecting as many as 140,000 residents. Residents of Santiago, Cuba's second-largest city, began returning to repair their homes. Authorities had evacuated 735,000 people to shelters outside the hurricane's cone and relocated tourists in northern cays to inland hotels. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/hurricane-melissa-smashes-through-caribbean-accelerates-towards-bermuda-2025-10-30/

2025-10-30 12:39

KYIV, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine will resume importing gas from Greece via the Transbalkan pipeline in November following a sharp increase in Russian attacks on the country's gas and energy infrastructure, ExPro consultancy said on Thursday. Russia stepped up strikes on Ukraine's gas sector in October, depriving Kyiv of 55% of its own gas production and forcing it to look at importing an additional 4 billion cubic metres of gas to prevent cities from freezing this winter. Sign up here. ExPro said Greek DEPA Commercial, D.Trading - a subsidiary of Ukraine's largest private energy firm DTEK - and Swiss Axpo Trading had booked capacities to import gas from Greece to Ukraine with a daily amount of 0.6 million cubic meters. The Transbalkan route, which links Greece's LNG terminals to Ukraine, was not used in September and October, and prior to that it only operated in July and August. Ukraine imports about 24 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas daily, including more than 10 mcm from Poland, about 10 mcm from Hungary and more than 4 mcm from Slovakia. The Transbalkan pipeline was not in demand due to the high cost of gas transit across the four countries and via Ukraine. However, tariff reductions by Moldovan and Romanian operators had helped booking capacities in November, ExPro said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ukraine-will-resume-gas-imports-via-transbalkan-route-november-expro-says-2025-10-30/

2025-10-30 12:30

US Treasury secretary says China approved transfer agreement in Kuala Lumpur TikTok's U.S. operations to be sold by January 2025 ByteDance to hold less than 20% in TikTok U.S WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China has approved the transfer agreement for the short video app TikTok, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, adding that he expects it to move forward in coming weeks and months but giving no other details. "In Kuala Lumpur, we finalized the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval, and I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we'll finally see a resolution to that," he told Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" following President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Sign up here. China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement earlier on Thursday that the country would properly handle TikTok-related issues with the United States. A Chinese spokesperson added, "the Chinese side will work with the U.S. side to properly address issues related to TikTok." TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, did not immediately comment. The fate of the app used by 170 million Americans has remained uncertain for more than 18 months after the U.S. Congress passed a law in 2024 that ordered TikTok's Chinese owners to sell the app's U.S. assets by January 2025. Trump signed an executive order on September 25 declaring that the plan to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in the 2024 law and gave them 120 days to complete the transaction. He also delayed enforcement of the law until January 20, 2026. Trump's order said the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company's security partners, and that operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture. The agreement on TikTok's U.S. operations includes the appointment by ByteDance of one of seven board members for the new entity, with Americans holding the other six seats. ByteDance would hold less than 20% in TikTok U.S. to comply with requirements set out in the law that ordered it to be shut down by January 2025 if ByteDance did not sell its U.S. assets. U.S. Representative John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on China, said this month that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm, as part of the deal by ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the short video app, would raise "serious concerns." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-us-trade-deal-could-be-signed-next-week-us-treasurys-bessent-says-2025-10-30/

2025-10-30 12:26

GABORONE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Botswana's central bank hiked its main interest rate by 160 basis points on Thursday to try to narrow the gap with market lending rates, which have been driven higher by a liquidity squeeze caused by an economic slump. The decision takes the Southern African country's Monetary Policy Rate to 3.5% (BWRATE=ECI) , opens new tab, up from 1.9% previously. Sign up here. Botswana's economy contracted last year and is expected to do so again this year because of a prolonged downturn in the global market for diamonds, its key export. Banks have been raising their lending rates as liquidity has dried up because of lower diamond sales and increased government borrowing to cover the budget deficit. The Bank of Botswana said the rate hike should improve monetary policy transmission. Central bank governor Cornelius Dekop told a press conference that banks were directed not to increase their prime lending rates further. This month credit rating agency Moody's downgraded Botswana's sovereign rating, citing the government's difficulties adjusting to the downturn in the global diamond industry and increasing government debt. Inflation accelerated to 3.7% year-on-year in September (BWCPIY=ECI) , opens new tab from 1.4% in August, still within the central bank's 3%-6% target range. The central bank now forecasts inflation will rise from an average of 2.7% this year to 5.9% next year. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/botswana-central-bank-hikes-policy-rate-by-160-basis-points-2025-10-30/

2025-10-30 12:26

Vessel carrying Russian naphtha stuck off Indian port of Mundra Ship carrying 40,000 metric tons of naphtha, shipping data shows Indian refiners ready to cut Russian imports after US sanctions India is the biggest importer of Russian naphtha after Taiwan MOSCOW/NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A ship carrying Russian naphtha has been stuck off India's western coast, unable to unload, since October 26 after U.S. sanctions on two key suppliers disrupted Indian oil and fuel imports, traders said and shipping data confirmed. Following new Ukraine-related U.S. sanctions on Russia last week, Indian refiners said they were ready to sharply curtail Russian oil imports, as New Delhi already faces punishing 50% tariffs on its exports to the United States. Sign up here. India is the second biggest buyer after Taiwan of naphtha from Russia, which in September shipped around 170,000 metric tons of the fuel used as a feedstock for petrochemicals and gasoline to India, market sources said and shipping data showed. All of these cargoes have already been discharged in India, with the exception of around 40,000 tons of naphtha on the vessel that has been stuck near the port of Mundra in the western state of Gujarat, the sources and shipping data showed. The cargo, of which the buyer and seller could not be ascertained, was loaded at the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga and was destined for Mundra, LSEG and Kpler data showed. India's HPCL-Mittal Energy, which operates the 226,000 barrel per day Bathinda refinery in the northern Punjab state, gets all of its crude and naphtha supplies at Mundra port. HPCL-Mittal Energy, which said on Wednesday it has stopped purchasing Russian oil, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday. "We will not buy from any sanctioned entity," a source at HPCL-Mittal Energy told Reuters, adding that the refiner has a planned turnaround coming up in November and has ample stocks of naphtha for its cracker. In October so far, naphtha loadings from Russian ports bound for India totalled around 185,000 tons and most of the cargoes are still at sea, LSEG data shows. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ship-carrying-russian-naphtha-india-limbo-after-us-sanctions-2025-10-30/

2025-10-30 12:21

BERLIN, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Germany's automotive industry association VDA plans to set up a temporary information platform via a neutral third party to help manufacturers and suppliers avoid the negative consequences of a possible chip shortage, it said on Thursday. The platform will enable companies to anonymously offer available Nexperia semiconductor capacities, with negotiations handled outside the exchange, and has received clearance from the German antitrust authority, VDA said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/german-auto-industry-plans-temporary-chip-information-platform-ease-supply-risks-2025-10-30/