2024-07-26 12:52

July 26 (Reuters) - Charter Communications (CHTR.O) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and reported fewer-than-expected broadband subscriber losses on Friday, sending its shares up 7% in premarket trading. With a highly competitive broadband market providing little opportunity for subscriber additions in major markets, Charter's bet on rural expansion is boosting its business. The company's offerings such as Spectrum Internet, which provides lower cost data plans combined with high-speed internet, is well received by customers. The broadband and cable TV provider's internet customers decreased by 149,000 in the second quarter, compared with Visible Alpha estimates of a loss of 264,520 users. The losses were higher sequentially, which the company attributed to the end of a federal internet subsidy. Charter has been a particularly big beneficiary of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a government broadband support program that offered connectivity to 23 million households in the United States. It posted profit of $8.49 per share, well above analysts' average estimate of $7.98, according to LSEG data. Charter now expects its full-year 2024 capital expenditure to total about $12 billion, a decrease from its previously expected range of between $12.2 billion and $12.4 billion. This change reflects lower internet and video customer net additions, including the impact from the end of ACP, which drives lower spending and capitalized installation costs, it said. Charter's free cash flow rose 94% in the second quarter to $1.30 billion, significantly higher than the Visible Alpha estimates of $414.4 million. Revenue for the second quarter came in at $13.69 billion, above LSEG estimates of $13.59 billion. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/charter-communications-posts-fewer-broadband-subscriber-loss-profit-beat-2024-07-26/

2024-07-26 12:41

PARIS, July 26 (Reuters) - Weather forecasters are predicting heavy rain showers during the Olympics opening ceremony later on Friday, with one meteorologist even calling it a "disaster" for the unprecedented open-air ceremony in the heart of Paris. More than 300,000 spectators are expected to line the banks of the River Seine when the athletes parade through the heart of Paris on a flotilla of barges and riverboats, part of an extravagant opening ceremony that will be watched by a global audience of billions. About 25 mm (0.98 inch) to 30 mm (1.18 inches) of rain is expected between 6 pm and midnight on Friday during the 3-hour ceremony attended by world leaders and global celebrities, the equivalent of 15 days of rainfall, weather forecaster Patrick Marliere said. "It's going to be a disaster for these few hours," Marliere, the head of independent weather forecaster Agate Meteo, said on RMC radio. "I've been running models for two hours, going full circle, comparing all weather models, but unfortunately everything is confirming this trend for the start and the end of this evening. We won't be able to avoid it," he said. State weather forecaster Meteo France also expects rain on Friday evening. "The scenarios of the last few days that had mentioned risks of rainfalls are being confirmed for the end of the day," it says on its website. The Olympics had an inauspicious start on Friday, after saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos hours ahead of opening ceremony. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/weather-forecaster-sees-rain-disaster-opening-ceremony-2024-07-26/

2024-07-26 12:40

July 26 (Reuters) - A massive wildfire that destroyed about a third of the western Canadian tourist town of Jasper is still out of control but rain and cooler conditions are helping firefighters, authorities said on Friday. Jasper, located in the middle of Alberta's picturesque Jasper National Park, is a major tourist destination. The town and park, which draw more than 2 million tourists a year to this area of the Rocky Mountains, were evacuated on Monday. "Rain and cooler temperatures and the incredibly hard work of firefighters have resulted in fire activity that is significantly subdued," said Alberta premier Danielle Smith. "It is important to note that the fire is still out of control, and it remains unsafe for people to return," she told a press conference. Parks Canada said between 10 mm and 15 mm (0.39 and 0.59 inch) of rain had fallen on Thursday and would most likely keep fire behavior low until into the weekend. Jasper town council said that out of a total of 1,113 structures in the town, 358 - or over 32% - had been destroyed. "It's going to be difficult. The pain that will be felt almost defies description. It is beyond comprehension," said Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland. Residents and business owners have been combing through images that have begun to emerge from the town to assess the extent of the devastation. Brett Ireland, who co-owns the Jasper Brew Pub is anxious to get back and assess the damage to his business. He thinks it is still standing, but does not know the extent of the water and smoke damage. Ireland knows the building next door burned and that his parents' house is gone. "It's actually mind-blowing how bad it is," Ireland said. Some estimate that the cleanup and rebuild could take years, and fear that severe wildfire seasons are increasingly hurting western Canada's lucrative tourism industry that is responsible for bringing in billions of dollars in revenue each year. RAIL TRAFFIC RESUMES CN Rail, one of the country's two largest rail companies, resumed the movement of goods through Jasper National Park on Friday after the fire forced it to suspend operations. CN remains in regular contact with officials and is monitoring weather and fire movements, it said in a statement. Officials estimated that when the evacuation order was given, there were up to 10,000 people in the town and a further 15,000 visitors in the park. Late on Thursday, authorities said crews had managed to protect all of Jasper's critical infrastructure, including the hospital, schools and a wastewater treatment plant. The blaze however, has damaged a number of bridges around the town and in the park, they added. The Jasper Park Lodge, one of the largest hotels in town, said it had suffered some damage but most structures remained standing and intact. The 400-room residence is run by Fairmont, a group owned by France's Accor (ACCP.PA) , opens new tab. The Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver, runs through the park. The operator said on Thursday there were no signs of damage. The federal government said in April that high temperatures and tinder-dry forests meant this could be a catastrophic year for wildfires in Canada. The current fire could be one of the most damaging in Alberta since a 2016 blaze that hit the oil town of Fort McMurray, forcing the evacuation of all 90,000 residents and destroying 10% of all structures there. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rain-may-help-firefighters-battling-blaze-canadian-tourist-town-2024-07-26/

2024-07-26 12:36

TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) - A panel of Japan's nuclear watchdog decided on Friday against restarting a reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant citing seismic risks, paving the way for the regulator to keep the Japan Atomic Power plant shut. The panel said it was difficult to determine the safety of the reactor, noting the proximity of a seismic faultline. Consequently, it said, the reactor was not deemed compliant with criteria for installation licensing. "We will conduct an additional investigation. We are not considering decommissioning the plant," Mamoru Muramatsu, president of Japan Atomic Power, said after the panel meeting, according to Kyodo News Agency. The government in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active countries, does not allow nuclear plants to be situated over active faultlines. The panel is set to report its decision to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) soon. If approved, this would be the first case of non-compliance under the stricter safety standards imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The move could hinder the government's efforts to restart more nuclear power plants to ensure a stable energy supply. Japan, which had 54 operational reactors before the 2011 disaster, has restarted only 12 of the 33 nuclear reactors it has been considering restarting. Along with most reactors in Japan, operations at the Tsuruga's No.2 reactor have been halted since 2011 following triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power's (9501.T) , opens new tab Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. On March 11, 2011, Japan's northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, triggering the worst nuclear crisis since Chornobyl a quarter of a century earlier. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japans-nuclear-authority-make-key-ruling-fukui-plant-restart-nhk-says-2024-07-26/

2024-07-26 11:59

BENGALURU, July 26 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab rose for a third straight week, hitting a lifetime high of $670.86 billion as of July 19, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday. The reserves climbed by $4 billion in the reporting week, after rising by a total of $14.9 billion in the prior two weeks. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in its reserves. Foreign exchange reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. In the week to which the foreign exchange data pertains, the rupee had logged a record closing low, and was down week-on-week. The RBI has been defending the rupee during periods of volatility. The currency settled at 83.7275 on Friday at an all-time low, extending its losing streak to the fourth straight week. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars) --------------------------------------------------------- July 19 July 12 2024 2024 --------------------------------------------------------- Foreign currency assets 588,048 585,470 Gold 59,992 58,663 SDRs 18,207 18,111 Reserve Tranche Position 4,610 4,609 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total 670,857 666,854 ---------------------------------------------------------- Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx , opens new tab) ((India Headline News Team; +91 80 6749 1310)) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-foreign-exchange-reserves-rise-third-week-hit-record-high-2024-07-26/

2024-07-26 11:49

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Russia has begun including new, cheaply-made drones in its long-range attacks on Ukraine, to try to identify air defences, film any damage and act as decoys, a Ukrainian military spy official said. The two new types of drone, which Russia has used in five drone attacks in the last two to three weeks including an overnight strike on Thursday, are produced from materials like foam plastic and plywood, the official told Reuters. One type carries a camera and a Ukrainian mobile phone SIM card to send images back to the Russian military. "They identify where our mobile groups are positioned, where the machine guns are that can destroy them. They're trying ... to get a picture of where all our air defences are located," said Andriy Cherniak, a military spy agency spokesperson. The previously unreported details from Cherniak are further evidence of Russia seeking to adapt its tactics and try new technology to gain an edge during its daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, which fly to their target and detonate on impact, have become a staple of Russian aerial attacks since they began being used in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022. Ukraine, which has been appealing to the West to provide more air defences to repel increased Russian airstrikes on its power facilities since March, tries hard to conceal the locations of its air defence systems. The new Russian drones with cameras do not carry explosives but closely resemble regular Shahed drones and fly with groups of them, Cherniak said. The second new type of drone contains no explosive charge or only a small one and is being used as a decoy, Cherniak added. Because it is virtually indistinguishable from a regular attack drone from the ground, it still needs to be shot down, revealing where Ukraine's air defence systems are located. He said the new drones probably cost as little as $10,000 each despite their long range, making them far cheaper to produce than air defence missiles. The drones can also fly at an altitude of 1,000 m (3,000 ft), putting them out of range of machine guns and automatic rifles, he said. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has served as a testing ground for drone warfare technology, with both sides using attack and reconnaissance drones on the battlefield extensively. Kyiv has poured energy into domestic drone production to narrow the gap between its strike capabilities and Moscow's, staging long-range drone attacks on Russian targets including oil refineries. Russia says its long-range aerial attacks are used to degrade Ukraine militarily. Ukraine says Russia's attacks have hit civilian buildings and caused serious damage to civilian energy facilities and loss of civilian life. Russian troops occupy around 18% of Ukrainian territory and have been making incremental gains in the east in recent months, putting Kyiv on the back foot along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-deploys-cheap-drones-locate-ukraines-air-defences-2024-07-26/