2024-08-10 17:42

KAMPALA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A landslide at a landfill in Uganda's capital Kampala has killed eight people, the city's authorities said on Saturday. The incident happened late Friday after heavy rainfall when sections of the landfill collapsed, covering some nearby houses, Ugandan media reported. Kampala Capital City Authority said government and Red Cross personnel were searching the site and had rescued 14 people. "On a very sad note, eight people have so far been found dead, six adults and two children. The rescue operation is still ongoing ...," the authority said on its X account. The landfill, 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 from the site polluting the environment and posing a danger to people. Footage from NTV Uganda television showed people walking on a section of the landfill that had crushed parts of a house, while pictures from UBC Uganda showed an excavator attempting to dig up garbage. Parts of Uganda have been experiencing heavy rains in recent weeks causing flooding and landslides, though no fatalities had previously been reported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/landslide-kills-eight-ugandan-capital-2024-08-10/

2024-08-10 16:19

FRANKFURT, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) , opens new tab said on Saturday its steel division must be restructured to fund investment needs with its own earnings, but that the parent company had provided financial security for the next two years. The comments from Thyssenkrupp CEO, Miguel Lopez, came after the chairman of the steel division said the business needs to bridge a 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) funding gap. Sigmar Gabriel of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE) made the funding comment late on Friday after a supervisory board meeting. The parent company is cutting is its stake in the unit, which is suffering from a drop in demand and steel product prices. Lopez said that the purpose of the ongoing turnaround efforts was to enable TKSE to earn enough money on its own to fund its investment needs and to cope with any temporary down cycle in the future. He also warned against any speculation about an insolvency. "The financial needs of Steel Europe for the next 24 months will be secured by Thyssenkrupp AG. That should put an end once and for all to any speculation. There was never the danger of insolvency and there won't be now," Lopez said in a statement. The dispute comes after new investor Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky last week closed the purchase of a 20% stake in TKSE and is in talks to buy a further 30%. Kretinsky was at Friday's board meeting. Gabriel, a former federal minister, also said on Friday an external audit would now be carried out before the end of the year to determine the unit's restructuring and funding needs. Lopez added on Saturday that this audit would serve to see TKSE in a "sober and realistic" light. The sale of TKSE, which is closely tied to Germany's history as an industrial heavyweight, has been fraught with difficulties for years, mostly because the business needs billions of euros to keep investing and regain competitiveness. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/thyssenkrupp-shuts-down-steel-units-funding-request-2024-08-10/

2024-08-10 14:12

PARIS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Los Angeles, a city famous for its passionate car culture and notorious for its traffic, will strongly emphasise the use of public transportation when it hosts the Olympic Games in 2028, LA Mayor Karen Bass said on Saturday. LA is the birthplace of the modern freeway system but its decades-long romance with the automobile has come with a cost, including soul-crushing congestion and frequently poor air quality. "The no car Games means that you will have to take public transportation to get to all of the venues," Bass said at a press conference in Paris. "In order to do that, we have been building out our transports and system," she added. Bass said the city will utilize 3,000 buses loaned to it from around the country to ease traffic congestion. The U.S. government last month pledged $900 million to help improve the city's rail and bus systems in anticipation of the Games. While the phrase "no car Games" is sure to raise eyebrows among Angelenos, there will be no prohibition on driving to venues like Dodger Stadium and the Rose Bowl, which have parking lots. Instead the idea is to encourage the use of public transit as much as possible. "We're already working to create jobs by expanding our public transportation system in order for us to have a no car Games," Bass said. "And that's a feat in Los Angeles, because we've always been in love with our cars. But we're already working to ensure that we can build a greener Los Angeles." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/los-angeles-will-urge-public-transit-no-car-2028-olympic-games-2024-08-10/

2024-08-10 07:29

LAGOS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The Dangote Oil Refinery has called on Nigeria's upstream oil regulator to force producers to abide by a law that stipulates they supply local refineries, saying that lax enforcement was raising its operational costs. The 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity refinery, built by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote on the outskirts of Lagos for $20 billion, has struggled to get sufficient supplies from Nigeria, where vandalism and low investment impede oil production. In a statement issued on Friday, Dangote Refinery accused the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) of failing to enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO), a provision that requires crude oil producers to supply domestic refiners with a portion of their production. "Our concern has always been that the NUPRC is pushing, but the international oil companies are not following the instructions," said Anthony Chiejina, a Dangote Refinery spokesperson in the statement. "Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo," he said. The refinery said it was expecting to receive 15 cargoes for September out of which NNPC had allocated them six. In a statement, the NUPRC said some producers were experiencing operational challenges while others had pledged most of their output to oil traders who financed drilling. It also said forcing them to raise their supply would violate their contracts. Dangote Refinery requires 325,000 bpd of supply, but since it started operating in January, it has received nearly half of that amount, data from the regulator shows. The DCSO was created by Nigeria's 2021 Petroleum Industry Act, but it has proven difficult to enforce due to dwindling oil production and the cash-strapped state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation using much of its production for crude-backed loans. The Dangote Oil Refinery has also had a row with the downstream regulator over fuel imports, as it scrambles to compete in a challenging , opens new tab environment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dangote-refinery-says-nigeria-must-enforce-crude-supply-local-refiners-2024-08-10/

2024-08-10 07:15

Russia imposes security regime on border regions Ukrainian forces battling inside Russia Belarus destroys suspected drones from Ukraine IAEA calls for restraint around Kursk nuclear station MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Russia was fighting intense battles on Saturday against thousands of Ukrainian troops as deep as 20 km (12 miles) inside the Kursk region after Ukraine's biggest attack on Russian sovereign territory since the start of the war in 2022. Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border early on Tuesday and swept across some Western parts of Russia's Kursk region, a surprise attack that may be aimed at gaining leverage in possible ceasefire talks after the U.S. election. Supported by swarms of drones and heavy artillery fire, Ukrainian units moved quickly to carve out a sliver of the Western Russian territory beside the border while sabotage units pierced deeper inside Russia, according to Russian war bloggers. "The armed forces continue to repel the attempted invasion by the Ukrainian armed forces," Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday, adding that intense battles were focused around Malaya Loknya, Olgovka and Ivashkovskoye, settlements around 10-20 km inside Russia. In a sign of the gravity of the situation, Russia imposed a sweeping security regime in three border regions on Saturday while Belarus said it had repelled what it thinks was a major drone attack from Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin cast the Ukrainian attack as a major provocation and though Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday that Ukraine's incursion had been halted, Russia has thus far failed to push the Ukrainian forces back over the border. Russian military bloggers said on Saturday the situation had stabilised after Russia rushed in forces to halt the surprise advance, though they said Ukraine was swiftly building up forces. The Ukrainian attack has prompted some in Moscow to question why Ukraine was able to pierce the Kursk region so easily after more than two years of the most intense land war in Europe since World War Two. "A full scale military operation is underway against a very serious enemy who are certainly not idiots," said Yuri Podolyaka, a popular Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. He said that Russian aviation had saved the day by pummeling scores of invading Ukrainian units, but also said the truth should be told about the gravity of the situation. U.S. SUPPORT The battles around Sudzha come at a crucial juncture in the war: Kyiv is concerned that U.S. support could weaken if Republican Donald Trump wins the November presidential election. Trump has said he would end the war, and both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield. Ukraine wants to pin down Russian forces, which control 18% of its territory, while showing the West that it can still muster major military operations that hurt Russia even if the Kursk front is unlikely to change the outcome of the war. Ukraine has not commented directly on the attack but video posted on Ukrainian media purported to show Ukrainian soldiers in control of a gas measuring facility in the border town of Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine for transit to Europe. Reuters could not verify the video. Reports from Russian sources said Ukraine was in control of some areas of Sudzha. Gas was still flowing through the pipeline on Saturday. Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), ordered an anti-terrorist regime be imposed on Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions - which have a combined area of nearly 92,000 square km. The measures essentially give the security services sweeping powers to lockdown an area, including controls on communications and limits on a host of usual freedoms. Thousands of civilians have been evacuated from Kursk region. Some reports said Ukrainian forces were pushing towards the Kursk nuclear power station, which supplies a major chunk of southern Russia's electricity. It has a total six reactors, two shutdown, two under construction and two operational. The acting governor of Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, said drone debris had fallen on a power substation near Kurchatov, the town which serves the Kursk nuclear station, which said it was operating as normal on Saturday. The head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency noted the "significant military activity" in the area and called for restraint. Russian diplomats in Vienna told the IAEA that fragments, possibly from downed missiles, had been found, though there was no evidence of an attack on the station. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-imposes-security-regime-three-border-regions-after-major-ukrainian-attack-2024-08-10/

2024-08-09 23:24

SEOUL, Aug 10 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un revisited a flooded area near the country's border with China this week to address plans to support those affected by recent heavy rainfall and floods, including bringing about 15,400 people to the country's capital until new homes are built, state media KCNA said on Saturday. Kim made a two-day trip on Thursday and Friday to Uiju County, one of the affected areas, to offer additional support for those affected, KCNA reported. Thousands of homes in North Korea's city of Sinuiju and Uiju County were flooded due to heavy rainfall, North Korea said last week. In late July Kim visited flooded areas and inspected rescue works where the military organised around 10 planes to make roughly 20 trips each to rescue 4,200 people within about a half-day after the region had been hit by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi. KCNA said Kim addressed plans to provide state support for elderly people, soldiers, children and mothers in the country's capital Pyongyang until their new homes are built, adding about 15,400 people could be brought to Pyongyang. Kim said it would take at least two to three months for flood victims to stabilize their lives after construction of houses and repair work is done due to the large scale of the damage. Kim also thanked those countries and international organizations that have reached out to North Korea and showed intention to provide humanitarian support, but said the country will "forge its own path with its own strength and effort," KCNA quoted Kim as saying. On Sunday, North Korea said Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered humanitarian aid to North Korea. Kim gave thanks for the offer but said since his government has already taken measures to conduct recovery work, he would ask for help "if aid is necessary," KCNA reported. Last week, South Korea's Red Cross said the South was ready to provide the North with relief supplies for damage caused by recent heavy rainfalls. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-leader-revisits-flooded-area-offers-plan-bring-people-capital-kcna-2024-08-09/