2025-12-07 10:10
ACEH TAMIANG, Indonesia, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Hit by deadly floods, Indonesians in the region around Aceh Tamiang are grappling with worsening diseases and a lack of medical care as workers struggled to help dozens of residents at the lone hospital in the area. Cyclone-induced floods and landslides last week devastated three provinces on Indonesia's Sumatra island, including Aceh, killing at least 940 people, with an additional 276 people listed as missing, government data showed on Sunday. Sign up here. As residents lost their homes to pools of mud and debris, diseases got worse. Diseases included diarrhoea, fever or myalgia, triggered because the "environment and places of stay have not recovered post-disaster," Indonesia's health ministry said last week. At the only hospital in Aceh Tamiang, a patient and medical workers told Reuters on Sunday of worsening diseases there. Reuters' witnesses said medical equipment was covered with mud, syringes were scattered on the floor and floods swept medicines away. "These workers do not know what tired means," said Ayu Wahyuni Putri, who gave birth to her child days before the floods hit. Nurhayati, a 42-year-old nurse, said the hospital was nearly paralysed due to a lack of medicine. Workers tried to save ventilators at an intensive care unit for babies, but were unsuccessful as rising water covered them. A baby died, while six others survived, she said. "People know me as a nurse. When I couldn't do something, it felt devastating. I can only give the available medicine," she said, hoping that the hospital would be reactivated. "This is an extraordinary disaster. Everything is destroyed." Ruined bridges made it nearly impossible for medical workers to go around Aceh, said Dr. Chik M. Iqbal, who traveled by boat to reach Aceh Tamiang, adding that emergency rooms would only be up and running on Monday. Some 31 hospitals and 156 smaller health centres across the three provinces were impacted by the floods, the health ministry said on December 5. On Sunday, President Prabowo Subianto visited Aceh, ordering authorities to fix bridges and dams, as well as cancel state-backed microloans for farmers. Local government officials on Sumatra have called on the national government in Jakarta to declare a national emergency to free up additional funds for rescue-and-relief efforts. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/everything-destroyed-indonesias-aceh-grapples-with-disease-after-floods-2025-12-07/
2025-12-07 09:55
NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - India does not have any immediate plans to add coal power generation capacity beyond 2035, a top power ministry official said on Sunday. "India wants to secure its energy requirements," Pankaj Agarwal, secretary at the power ministry told Reuters on the sidelines of a power ministry event. "As on 2035, we want to have a coal capacity of 307 gigawatts." Sign up here. He said it would be "premature to say what we want to do beyond 2035". India this year proposed increasing its coal power capacity by 46% from the current 210 GW while doubling its non-fossil fuel capacity of 500 GW by 2030. Agarwal said the coal power plans are in line with the country's energy requirements. India, facing grid challenges due to the integration of surplus clean energy into the grid, has curbed power output for most months this year. Agarwal said the country may take a call on adding more coal capacity after taking three years to understand how power demand is growing and the speed of integration of clean energy into the grid. India should also evaluate grid challenges and the cost of storing excess clean energy in batteries and sending it to the grid before taking decisions on adding more coal capacity beyond 2035, he said. India's coal-fired generation, which typically accounts for about 75% of electricity output, has fallen on an annual basis in seven of the 11 months this year, the most since 2020 as temperate weather reduced cooling demand. Still, several Indian utilities are signing long-term contracts with coal-fired power generators to meet a projected surge in evening demand. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-has-no-immediate-plans-add-coal-power-capacity-beyond-2035-official-says-2025-12-07/
2025-12-07 08:02
ABU DHABI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S.-based Guggenheim Investments, with assets of about $357 billion, is actively considering an office in Saudi Arabia and wants to capitalise on investment opportunities in infrastructure and transportation as part of its expansion in the Gulf region. The firm has an office in Dubai, the region's top financial and trade hub, and is in the process of getting licensed in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's oil-rich capital city and home to sovereign wealth funds managing around $2 trillion. Sign up here. "We are very, very positive on the region," Anne Walsh, chief investment officer at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Milken Institute's Middle East and Africa summit in Abu Dhabi. "And to be a leader in artificial intelligence and technology investment, which I see amongst the countries in the region, and the ability to harness energy, both fossil fuels and others, here in the region is going to be strong as well to support that technology business. So I see a great deal of opportunity." Asked whether Guggenheim was looking at Riyadh, Walsh said the company was in "active due consideration, yes." "And, you know, we are looking to deploy capital in Saudi Arabia as well. So not just with an office, but to actually make investments, and particularly from our transportation equipment and infrastructure investing. That makes a lot of sense to us." Saudi and U.S. officials touted billions of dollars in new investments and growing financial ties between the two countries in November. Gulf states have accelerated efforts to diversify their economies away from hydrocarbons for longer-term sustainable growth, investing heavily in non-oil sectors like financial services, tourism, technology and manufacturing. Earlier this year, Guggenheim Investments became a strategic partner of the Future Investment Initiative Institute, which organises Riyadh's flagship annual investment conference. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/asset-manager-guggenheim-plans-saudi-presence-part-gulf-investment-push-2025-12-07/
2025-12-07 06:52
MUMBAI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - India's clean energy ministry on Sunday said it had not issued any advisory to pause or halt new financing for the sector. The clarification came after Reuters reported on Friday that the ministry had urged lenders to proceed slowly in financing new solar module plants because supply had exceeded demand. Sign up here. The clean energy ministry's letter rattled solar manufacturers in the country, with many raising concerns that the move could choke financing for the entire sector. On Sunday, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that it had asked the finance ministry to advise lenders to adopt a “calibrated and well-informed approach” when evaluating proposals for additional standalone solar photovoltaic module capacity, citing oversupply risks. It added that the advisory was not intended to stop funding for the entire clean energy sector. “This broad-based caution, if applied without distinction, could hurt solar cell manufacturing,” said Chetan Shah, the chairman and managing director of Solex Energy. “Restricting financing now will disrupt under-construction projects and deepen reliance on imported cells," he said. Several Indian firms ramped up module production in recent years, betting on exports to the U.S. But higher American tariffs and tighter scrutiny of Indian shipments for Chinese-origin components have hit exports, raising fears of a glut at home. India’s module capacity is projected to surge by a third to 200 gigawatts (GW) in the next few years, while cell output could quadruple to 100 GW, according to the clean energy ministry. The ministry remained committed to strengthening solar manufacturing through policy support and infrastructure development, it said on Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-says-no-advisory-stop-clean-energy-funding-2025-12-07/
2025-12-07 01:46
Dec 7 (Reuters) - Russian forces launched an overnight combined air strike on infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, causing power and water outages, its mayor Vitalii Maletskyi said on Sunday. Located on the Dnipro River, Kremenchuk is a major industrial hub and home to one of Ukraine's biggest oil refineries. The city has been repeatedly hit by Russian missiles, including a 2022 strike on a crowded shopping mall that killed at least 21 people. Sign up here. Maletskyi said in a social media post that details of consequences of the strike would be released later on Sunday after damage assessment is completed. City services were working to restore electricity, water and heating in districts where supplies were disrupted, he added. Russia has intensified long-range strikes on Ukraine's power, heating and water infrastructure ahead of winter and seeking to sap public morale and disrupt industry after previous cold seasons in the nearly four-year war saw nationwide blackouts and emergency rationing. A photo posted by the mayor showed a large blaze engulfing what looked like industrial buildings at night. "We will restore everything," he wrote. Reuters could not independently verify Maletskyi's report. Ukraine's Air Force warned several times overnight on its Telegram messaging that the city was under threat from Russia's drone and missile attacks. https://www.reuters.com/world/russian-strike-hits-ukrainian-city-kremenchuk-cutting-utilities-mayor-says-2025-12-07/
2025-12-06 23:36
WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to establish food supply chain security task forces in the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address risks from price fixing and anti-competitive behavior, the White House said on Saturday. "My Administration will act to determine whether anti-competitive behavior, especially by foreign-controlled companies, increases the cost of living for Americans and address any associated national security threat to food supply chains," Trump said in the order. Sign up here. The attorney general and the FTC chairman may bring enforcement actions and propose new regulatory approaches if they uncover anti-competitive behavior during the investigation, according to the order. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/trump-signs-order-create-food-supply-chain-task-forces-protect-competition-2025-12-06/
