2024-06-16 08:08

CAIRO, June 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) said on Sunday that it had rescued the crew from the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier M/V Tutor that was attacked by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on 12 June in the Red Sea. Sailors assigned to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group airlifted the crew out on Saturday, NAVCENT said, adding that one civilian sailor remained missing. The attack, which occurred near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room and left the Tutor unable to manoeuvre. On Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the ship's crew was evacuated and that the abandoned vessel was drifting in the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the small sea craft and missile attacks it used to target the ship as part of their ongoing campaign which they say is in support of the Palestinians and is focused on ships bound for Israel. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-naval-forces-rescue-crew-greek-owned-ship-struck-by-houthis-red-sea-2024-06-16/

2024-06-16 06:12

June 16 (Reuters) - China Premier Li Qiang made a low-key start on Sunday to a four-day trip to Australia with visits to a South Australian winery and Adelaide Zoo, where he announced Beijing would provide two new pandas after the current pair go home later this year. Li, China's second-highest ranked official and the first Chinese premier to visit Australia in seven years, is due to meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday. He arrived in the South Australia state capital late on Saturday, saying bilateral relations were "back on track". China, Australia's largest trade partner, imposed restrictions on a raft of Australian agricultural and mineral exports in 2020 during a diplomatic dispute that has now largely eased. On Sunday, Li's first official stop was to visit a pair of pandas on loan from China to Adelaide's zoo, where Australian Broadcasting Corp television showed crowds gathered, some waving Chinese flags, while others held signs that read "No more panda propaganda". At the zoo, Li announced the pandas would return to China in November and the zoo would get to select two new giant pandas, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. The pandas had "become envoys of friendship between China and Australia, and a symbol of the profound friendship between the two peoples", Li said, according to a statement from the Chinese embassy. "China is ready to continue with the cooperative research with Australia on the conservation of giant pandas, and hopes that Australia will continue to be an amicable home for giant pandas," Li added. The pandas, Fu Ni and Wang Wang, have been at the zoo since 2009 but have not successfully bred, the ABC reported. Li later attended an event with South Australia wine exporters, who until recently have been shut out of the Chinese market in a dispute that suspended A$20 billion ($13 billion) in Australian agriculture and mineral exports last year. Speaking at the winery in the Adelaide suburb of Magill, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the venue was chosen "because of course one of the impediments that has been removed is the export of Australian wine and we welcome that". Earlier on Sunday, Wong said Li's visit was "really important" in showing stabilised ties between the two major trading partners. "It comes after two years of very deliberate, very patient work by this government to bring about a stabilisation of the relationship," Wong told the ABC. On the pandas, Wong, who lives in Adelaide, said the animals "have been a great part of the lives of many Adelaide families". On Monday, Li will visit the capital Canberra for a meeting with Albanese. During the talks, the prime minister is expected to bring up the case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun who was given a suspended death sentence on espionage charges in February, as well as an incident last month where a Chinese military jet dropped flares near an Australian defence helicopter. Li's final stop on Tuesday will be in resource-rich mining state Western Australia. Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China, which has been an investor in Australian mining projects, though some recent Chinese investment in critical minerals has been blocked by Australia on national interest grounds. Li arrived from New Zealand, where he highlighted Chinese demand for its agricultural products. Canberra and Wellington are seeking to balance trade with regional security concerns over China's ambitions in the Pacific Islands and on issues including human rights the contested South China Sea. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china-premier-lis-trip-australia-is-an-important-show-stabilised-ties-minister-2024-06-16/

2024-06-16 05:53

HONG KONG, June 16 (Reuters) - China's National Meteorological Centre on Sunday issued an alert for high temperatures as multiple regions across the country experience sweltering heat, while many southern provinces issued severe flood warnings due to heavy rains. The intensity of high temperatures is expected to decrease in north China and regions between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, the centre said. The centre forecast maximum temperatures of 37-39 degrees Celsius (99-102 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Henan on Sunday. Beijing issued its second highest heat warning, with authorities saying they expect temperatures to hit above 37 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, state backed Beijing Daily reported. China's northeastern province of Liaoning also said temperatures in some areas will reach 40-42 degrees in the next two days, China's state television CCTV reported. Heavy rains have lashed southeastern Fujian province for seven days and are expected to continue, with water levels in some rivers exceeding warning levels. Authorities have released water from several reservoirs, the broadcaster said. Authorities in Guangxi region said water levels of some local rivers had exceeded warning levels and that a student was killed in the floods in the southern city of Guilin, CCTV reported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/flooding-hits-chinas-south-temperatures-sizzle-elsewhere-2024-06-16/

2024-06-16 05:02

June 16 (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is preparing to give Rio Tinto (RIO.L) New Tab, opens new tab the green light to develop Europe's largest lithium mine two years after Belgrade called off the project, the Financial Times said on Sunday. Vucic told the newspaper that "new guarantees" from the global mining giant and the European Union looked set to address Serbia’s concerns over whether necessary environmental standards would be met at the Jadar site in the west of the country. Rio Tinto said in a statement emailed to Reuters: "We believe the Jadar Project has the potential to be a world-class asset that could act as a catalyst for developing an EV (electric vehicle) value chain in Serbia". Regarded as a critical material by the EU and the United States, lithium is used in batteries for EVs and mobile devices. "If we deliver on everything, (the mine) might be open in 2028" Vucic told the FT, adding that the mine was projected to produce 58,000 tons of lithium per year which would be "enough for 17% of EV production in Europe — approximately 1.1 million cars." In 2022, Belgrade revoked licences for Rio's $2.4 billion Jadar project after massive environmental protests. If completed, the project could supply 90% of Europe's current lithium needs and help to make the company a leading lithium producer. In 2021 and 2022 Serbian environmentalists collected 30,000 signatures in a petition demanding that parliament enact legislation to halt lithium exploration in the country. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/serbia-set-give-green-light-rio-tinto-lithium-mine-ft-reports-2024-06-16/

2024-06-16 04:38

CAIRO, June 16 (Reuters) - The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday a vessel 40 nautical miles south of al Mukha in Yemen had reported two explosions nearby, adding that the vessel and its crew were safe and proceeding to their next port of call. Authorities are investigating, UKMTO said. Houthi militants, who are backed by Iran, have been targeting vessels off the Yemen's coast in what they said is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians being killed in Israel's war on Gaza. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-explosions-near-vessel-off-yemens-coast-uk-maritime-office-says-2024-06-16/

2024-06-16 04:27

SINGAPORE, June 16 (Reuters) - An oil spill off southern Singapore has spread to other areas of the island's coast and is threatening a marine reserve, government agencies said, adding that authorities were intensifying efforts to mop up the fuel. The oil spilled into Singaporean waters after a Netherlands-flagged dredger struck a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel on Friday afternoon in the southern port of Pasir Panjang. Authorities had said the vessel was no longer leaking oil, but added in a statement late on Saturday that "due to the tidal current, the treated oil has landed along shorelines including Sentosa, Labrador Nature Reserve, Southern Islands, Marina South Pier, and East Coast Park". An oil sheen was also seen in the waters surrounding Sister's Islands Marine Park, a 400,000 square meter marine protected area, the statement added. Singapore is a global shipping and fuel bunkering hub. The environmental impact of the oil spill remains unclear, but local newspaper The Straits Times reported that fishermen were on alert for a spike in the number of fish deaths over the next few days. Andrew Dixon, who runs an sustainable resort less than an hour away from Singapore, said oil spills of this scale are rare, and the authorities need to enact tough penalties "around this sort of stuff so it doesn't happen". "It’s just criminal," he added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-intensifies-oil-spill-clean-up-after-it-spreads-along-coast-2024-06-16/