2024-02-27 23:49

SYDNEY, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of residents in Australia's southeast were told to evacuate on Wednesday due to an intense heatwave that authorities said could further spread a massive bushfire in Victoria state, which faces its worst conditions in four years. Extreme fire ratings have been issued for large parts of Victoria with the Wimmera region in the west given a catastrophic ranking, the top warning level. Mildura, a rural city of about 56,000, could touch 45 degree Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), the Bureau of Meteorology said. A potential fire impact zone that covers several rural towns has been identified as officials urged around 30,000 residents there to leave their homes by Wednesday morning. "Today will be a very challenging day for firefighters," Jason Heffernan, Chief Officer at Victoria fire department told ABC television. "Today is one of those days when communities may need to take immediate action at very short notice." Hundreds of firefighters were still battling a massive blaze near the city of Ballarat, 95 km (60 miles) west of Melbourne. The fire, burning since last Thursday, has already destroyed six homes, killed livestock and burnt more than 20,000 hectares (200 square kilometres). A heat wave is set to sweep in from Australia's outback interior, moving across Victoria before likely shifting east to the state of New South Wales on Thursday. Total fire bans are in place across several cities, including Melbourne. Dry lightning could spark new fires while strong winds forecast from Wednesday afternoon could spread the existing one near Ballarat, Heffernan said. Heffernan urged people to reconsider any decision to stay back to protect their homes. "Unless your property is immaculately prepared and you have firefighting resources available and you are fit and you are mentally capable to sustain a long duration firefight ... my strong advice to the community is to leave early," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thousands-told-flee-homes-australia-amid-heat-spike-bushfire-threat-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 23:45

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Beyond Meat (BYND.O) , opens new tab said it would ramp up product prices and "steeply reduce" costs this year after topping market expectations for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, sending its shares up 75% in extended trade. About 40% of the company's shares were short at the end of January, as per LSEG data. Beyond Meat, which supplies its plant-based meat patties to fast food chains such as McDonald's (MCD.N) , opens new tab and Yum Brands (YUM.N) , opens new tab, said it would increase prices on some of its product lines from the second quarter in a bid to restore margins. "Though varied across channels and product lines, we expect the overall impact of these pricing changes to meaningfully impact margin across the balance of the year," CEO Ethan Brown said on a post-earnings call. In the past, the company had lowered prices to bridge the gap between faux meat and traditional protein to appeal to budget-conscious U.S. consumers, as demand lagged in the country. It now expects gross margin in 2024 to be in the mid to high teens range, compared to gross margin of negative 24.1% in 2023, as it benefits from cost cut measures, including the discontinuation of its Beyond Meat jerky product line. "We're cautious in our optimism. We've obviously had some tough years, but by making these changes and creating the sustainable baseline ... we're going to create some room for ourselves to get back on track for growth," Brown added. The company's Beyond IV beef patties, which will be launched in U.S. retail channels, "bodes well" to regain consumers who moved away from the faux meat category due to health concerns and a negative consumer sentiment around Beyond Meat's ingredients, said John Oh, analyst at research firm Third Bridge. Volumes rose 8% in the quarter ended Dec 31, compared to a 3.5% increase in the third quarter. Net revenue for the fourth quarter fell 7.8% to $73.7 million, but topped analysts' average estimate of $66.7 million, as per LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/beyond-meat-tops-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 23:22

Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Caribbean island of Bonaire said that oil from a spill near neighboring Tobago had reached its shores, posing a "serious threat to both humans and nature", and that emergency services had been mobilized. Parts of Bonaire's east coast, including Sorobon, Lac and Lagun, have been contaminated with oil and vulnerable mangrove, fish and coral ecosystems are at risk, the government said in a statement on Monday. Social media posts by residents and a radio station showed pictures of oil-stained sand, reefs and birds at some beaches. "The emergency services are now committed to a rapid and effective cleanup of the oil slicks," the statement said. Bonaire, which is reliant on tourism, has not declared a state of emergency but has advised visitors to avoid the polluted locations. There was no immediate information on the size of the slicks that had reached Bonaire's east coast. Local media quoted officials as saying that protecting the mangrove-rich area of Lac Bay has been made a priority. The oil spill from a capsized vessel was first spotted by Trinidad and Tobago's Coast Guard on Feb. 7 and oil is still leaking, according to authorities. It has blackened Tobago's coastline and is also threatening to reach Grenada. A similar incident occurred in 2017. Residual fuel oil from a storage tank at a refinery operated by Trinidad's state company Petrotrin leaked, spilling about 20,000 gallons and reaching Venezuela's Los Roques and Isla de Aves islands. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/oil-spotted-bonaires-east-coast-could-come-tobago-local-media-2024-02-26/

2024-02-27 23:12

CHICAGO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Millions of Americans across a wide swath of the U.S. Midwest, East Coast and South will enjoy a second day of weather more typical of June than February on Tuesday before a powerful cold front brings back winter with a vengeance. Summer-like temperatures ranging up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit above normal were forecast, setting the stage for a second record-breaking day in a row in some spots. In Texas, temperatures were expected to top 80 degrees F (27 degrees Celsius) after hovering at about 94 degrees F (34 C) in Dallas and other cities on Monday, the National Weather Service said. In Killeen, Texas - home to the U.S. Army's Fort Cavazos base, formerly known as Fort Hood, about 150 miles (241 km) south of Dallas - the high was expected to be 90 degrees F (32 C), after the city of 150,000 people saw a record-breaking 100 degrees F (38 C) on Monday. "This is Texas, we're adapted to the heat," said a barista at Black Rifle Coffee shop in Killeen. "We have big doors that we opened wide to let the breeze in and people mostly ordered cold drinks." Accompanying the hot, arid weather, strong wind gusts will bring the potential for wildfires in the southern Plains. Local officials urged residents to avoid outdoor burning. Forecasters said it was difficult to link the remarkable weather pattern to human-induced climate change, but such extremes were becoming more frequent because of global warming, they say. Scientists say the seasonal El Nino weather pattern - in which the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean heat up - is also contributing to the unusual weather. In Cleveland and Philadelphia, where it is normally in the 40s, the highs were expected to reach well into the 60s on Tuesday. In Chicago, the high was forecast to reach 77 (25°C), a record for any day in February on record. Enjoy the mild weather while you can, forecasters say, forecasting a return of winter to the Central and Eastern U.S. on Wednesday, with temperatures near 0 degrees F (-18 C), heavy snows and gusty winds in many locales, including Chicago. "After summer-like temps in the 70s today, tomorrow morning’s wind chills near or below zero will feel absolutely brutal!," the weather service in Chicago said on X. Parts of the Dakotas and Idaho got a taste of what was to come on Tuesday as temperatures plummeted well below zero F and as much as 7 inches (18 cm) of snow was expected throughout the day. In Mackay, Idaho, a town of some 600 people 200 miles (320 km) east of Boise, Idaho, the mercury dropped to 8 degrees F (-13 C) on Tuesday. "There's no place to hide from the cold," said Edith Wheeler Seay, a manager at Mackay Lumber and Hardware. "All the folks around here are ranchers mostly, and there's nowhere to hunker down," she said. "We bundle up and are out in it." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dog-days-february-more-summertime-weather-forecast-across-us-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 23:11

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The European Union's wind power target for 2030 is within reach due to a rebound in investment and improved permitting procedures, an industry association report showed on Tuesday. In an outlook on the sector to 2030, WindEurope forecast that the EU will install an average of 29 gigawatts (GW) in wind capacity each year, increasing installed capacity to 393 GW. To meet the EU's climate targets, 33 GW a year needs to be installed. Two thirds of the installations will be onshore but offshore installations are expected to pick up rapidly towards the end of the decade. Last year, the EU installed a record 16.2 GW of wind energy capacity, 79% of which was onshore. Permitting procedures for new projects is improving due to new EU rules aimed at streamlining and speeding up the process. Germany and Spain permitted 70% more onshore wind last year than in 2022, while France, Greece, Belgium and Britain also saw higher permitting volumes. Investments in new capacity also increased last year due to the easing of inflation and other factors such as the European Commission's wind power package in October which set out actions to strengthen and support the industry. New investment in offshore wind totalled 30 billion euros ($32.52 billion) last year, up from 0.4 billion euros in 2022, the report said. "Permitting has improved thanks to new EU rules. Investments are up. Record volumes are being auctioned and built. And governments have committed with the Wind Power Package and Charter to strengthen Europe’s wind energy industry," said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson. "Europe’s wind supply chain is returning to profit and building the new factories needed to deliver the EU’s targets. We’re now confident that we can get close to the EU goal that wind is 35% of electricity by 2030, up from 19% today - provided Europe accelerates the build-out of grids to connect all the new wind farms," he added. The main risk to meeting the 2030 target is delays in connecting wind farms to electricity grids and governments need to focus on accelerating the development of grids, the report said. ($1 = 0.9224 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-2030-wind-target-within-reach-thanks-investment-improved-permitting-industry-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 23:11

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Waste management company Republic Services (RSG.N) , opens new tab forecast full-year revenue above market estimates on Tuesday, banking on high prices amid sustained demand for garbage collection and disposal. Shares of the company were up about 3% in aftermarket trading. The company expects its full-year 2024 revenue to be between $16.10 billion and $16.20 billion, above analysts' estimate of $15.85 billion, according to LSEG data. "Our strong financial guidance is supported by pricing in excess of cost inflation," CEO of Republic Services Jon Vander MArk said. It expects 2024 profit per share to be between $5.94 and $6.00, analysts' expected profit of $5.98 per share. Republic Services and WM (WM.N) , opens new tab are the two biggest companies in the U.S. waste services industry and, along with municipal waste departments, they dominate garbage collection from homes and apartments in large parts of the country. Earlier this month, peer WM beat quarterly profit estimates, as waste management companies were able to sustain high prices due to the essential nature of its services. The Arizona-based company posted an adjusted profit of $1.41 per share in the final quarter of 2023, above expectations of $1.29 per share. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/republic-services-forecasts-full-year-revenue-above-estimates-high-prices-2024-02-27/