2024-08-11 11:34

Aug 11 (Reuters) - A tropical disturbance located roughly midway between the Cape Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles has an 80% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday. The NHC issued a tropical storm watch for the Leeward Islands on Sunday, and said the disturbance is expected to move across portions of the Leeward Islands on Tuesday. The potential tropical cyclone is about 950 miles (1,529 km) east-southeast of Antigua, has maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kmh), and is expected to become a tropical storm by late Monday, according to the U.S.-based forecaster. "The system could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week," the Miami-based forecaster said earlier. The disturbance is expected to approach the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday night, according to the NHC. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-hurricane-center-sees-70-chance-cyclone-near-lesser-greater-antilles-2024-08-11/

2024-08-11 10:17

Death toll has risen progressively since Friday President asks all those living near dump site to relocate KAMPALA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The death toll from a landslide at a vast garbage dump in Uganda's capital Kampala has risen to 21, police said on Sunday, as rescue workers continued to dig for survivors. After torrential rain in recent weeks, a huge mound of garbage at the city's only landfill site collapsed late on Friday, crushing and burying homes on the edge of the site as residents slept. President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement he had directed the prime minister to coordinate the removal of all those living near the garbage dump. The government has also started investigations into the landslide's cause and will take action against any officials found to have been negligent, the Inspectorate of Government said on X. At least 14 people have been rescued so far, police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said, adding that more could still be trapped but the number was unknown. Tents have been set up nearby for those displaced by the landslide, the Red Cross said. The landfill site, known as Kiteezi, has served as Kampala's sole garbage dump for decades and had turned into a big hill. Residents have long complained of hazardous waste polluting the environment and posing a danger to residents. Efforts by the city authority to procure a new landfill site have dragged on for years. There have been similar tragedies elsewhere in Africa from poorly managed mountains of municipal garbage. In 2017 at least 115 people were killed in Ethiopia, crushed by a garbage landslide in Addis Ababa. In Mozambique, at least 17 people died in a similar 2018 disaster in Maputo. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/death-toll-landslide-uganda-garbage-dump-rises-13-2024-08-11/

2024-08-11 07:51

DUBAI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Mohsen Paknezhad has been nominated on Sunday as Iran's oil minister by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's parliament speaker announced live on the Student News Network. Paknezhad served as Deputy Minister of Oil for the supervision of hydrocarbon resources from 2018 to 2021. From 2000 to 2007, Paknezhad was also a member of the board of directors of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company. From 2005 to 2007, he was the Planning Manager of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company, and from then until 2013, he served as the Deputy Director of Integrated Planning at the National Iranian Oil Company, according to the Ministry of Oil's Shana news network. Paknezhad holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-president-nominates-mohsen-paknezhad-oil-minister-2024-08-11/

2024-08-11 06:36

Moscow forces fight Kyiv's troops in Kursk for sixth day At least 13 injured in Kursk from downed missile Russian authorities rush to evacuate residents SUMY REGION, Ukraine, Aug 11 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to "restore justice" and pressure Moscow's forces, in his first acknowledgement of Kyiv's surprise offensive into the western Kursk region. Moscow's forces on Sunday were in their sixth day of intense battle against Kyiv's largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, which left southwestern parts of Russia vulnerable before reinforcement started arriving. Russian authorities rushed to evacuate residents and imposed a sweeping security regime in three border regions on Saturday, after the attack which military analysts say caught the Kremlin off-guard. Belarus, a staunch ally of Moscow, also sent more troops to its border with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of violating its air space. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had discussed the operation with top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, vowing to respond in kind after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. "Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor's territory," he said late on Saturday. "Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and is ensuring the exact kind of pressure that is needed - pressure on the aggressor." Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday it had destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles overnight over the Kursk region, and 18 drones over other Russian regions that Ukraine frequently attacks. In a statement, it called the ground incursion "barbaric" and said it made no military sense. Ukraine has at most occupied several tens of square kilometres of Russian territory without laying claim to it, while Russia controls more than 100,000 sq km of Ukraine's internationally recognised territory. Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday the attacks had been halted, but Russia has not pushed the Ukrainian forces back over the border. Russian military bloggers said the situation had stabilised after Russia's reinforcements, though they said Ukraine was swiftly building up forces. INJURIES AND EVACUATIONS Zelenskiy said on Sunday Russia had launched nearly 2,000 cross-border strikes on Ukraine's Sumy region from the region of Kursk this summer and that such strikes deserved a Ukrainian response. "Artillery, mortars, drones. We also record missile strikes, and each such strike deserves a fair response," the Ukrainian leader said. Earlier, Kursk officials said 13 people were injured in the city after debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile fell onto a nine-storey residential building. An image posted by Kursk's mayor showed flames rising through a shattered apartment block surrounded by charred debris. It was not clear whether there was further damage. Moscow and Kyiv rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by attacks on them unless there are injuries or damage to residential buildings. Alexei Smirnov, Kursk's acting governor, ordered local authorities to speed up the evacuation of civilians in areas at risk. On Saturday, Russia's TASS state news agency reported that more than 76,000 people had been evacuated. Kyiv and Moscow deny targeting civilians in their attacks in the war, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of Ukrainians, and has no end in sight. Russian military bloggers say fighting is taking place as deep as 20 km (12 miles) inside the Kursk region, prompting some of them to question why Ukraine was able to pierce the Kursk region so easily. A few dozen Russian soldiers, including fighters from Chechnya, who were captured allegedly in Kursk were shown in a video posted by "I want to live," a project which is linked to Ukraine's military spy agency. Reuters could not immediately verify the video. After a father and his 4-year-old son were killed near Kyiv in what Zelenskiy said was a Russian air attack using a North Korean missile, the Ukrainian leader asked Western partners for "strong decisions" allowing his troops to strike deep inside Russia with Western weapons. "When Ukraine's long-range capabilities have no limits, this war will definitely have a limit," Zelenskiy wrote on X. Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said she had sent an appeal to the United Nations demanding it condemn Ukraine's actions in Kursk. In a Telegram post, Moskalkova said she was asking the U.N. Human Rights commissioner to "take measures to prevent gross mass violations of human rights". (This story has been refiled to remove an image after a post-publication review) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/downed-ukraine-launched-missile-injures-13-russias-kursk-regional-officials-say-2024-08-11/

2024-08-10 22:34

KYIV, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A 4-year-old boy and his 35-year-old father were killed in an overnight Russian air strike outside of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. Three other people, including a teenage boy, were wounded in the attack just east of the capital, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said involved a North Korean-made missile. He did not offer further detail but Ukrainian emergency services earlier said the victims' home in the Brovary district was struck by debris from a downed Russian missile. Footage posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed workers digging through a pile of debris in the darkness and lifting the body of a child from underneath it. "According to preliminary information, the Russians used a North Korean missile in this attack — yet another deliberate terrorist strike against Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that experts were still examining the weapon. Moscow's overnight strike also included 57 Iranian-made attack drones that were launched across Ukraine, 53 of which were destroyed by air defences, Kyiv's air force said. It said that Russia had fired a total of four North Korean-made KN-23 missiles, but did not specify the fate of the other three. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Zelenskiy's top adviser had earlier said the Brovary fatalities were the result of a downed drone. Zelenskiy, in his statement, called for "a full-fledged air shield" from Ukraine's partners and permission to strike deep inside Russia with Western-provided weapons. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Moscow denies targeting civilians with its attacks but has targeted critical infrastructure beyond the front line of its 29-month-old invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions of Ukrainians. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-launches-air-attack-ukraines-kyiv-mayor-says-2024-08-10/

2024-08-10 20:21

BELGRADE, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Belgrade on Saturday demanding a halt to Rio Tinto's (RIO.AX) , opens new tab, (RIO.L) , opens new tab lithium project in Western Serbia over fears it could pollute nearby land and water. Protesters packed the streets leading to Terazije square, waving Serbian flags and chanting "You will not dig," and "Rio Tinto leave Serbia!" Government officials said the protests were politically motivated and designed to bring down President Aleksandar Vucic and his government. Zlatko Kokanovic, a protest leader and farmer from the Jadar region where the mine is planned, urged protesters to block two major train stations in Belgrade. Last month, Serbia reinstated Rio's licence to develop what would be Europe's biggest lithium mine, two years after the previous government halted the process due to concerns by environmental groups. The decision triggered nationwide protests in towns across Serbia. Protesters gave the government a deadline to ban the exploration and exploitation of lithium which expired on Saturday. "We are not going to give up. The mine cannot be built on agricultural land," said Mica Miliovanovic, a 63-year old worker. "This does not have anything to do with politics." On Friday, Vucic said authorities had received information from Russia that a coup was being planned in Serbia. "We have reason to be cautious," vice premier Aleksandar Vulin told Tanjug news agency on Saturday. If implemented, the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project could cover 90% of Europe's current lithium needs and make Rio Tinto one of the world's leading lithium producers. Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile devices. Government officials say the lithium mine would boost Serbia's economy, but environmentalists say the price for it would be too high. On July 19, Vucic, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic signed a deal that would grant producers from EU member states access to raw materials mined in Serbia, which would include lithium. The deal is meant to reduce the EU's dependency on imports from America and Asia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/thousands-demand-halt-rio-tintos-lithium-project-serbia-2024-08-10/