2024-05-18 10:12

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - Cases of bird flu have been confirmed among wild fowl in western China, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday, as concerns grow over a U.S. outbreak infecting cattle herds. Two counties in Qinghai province confirmed 275 cases of H5 influenza among dead Pallas's gull and other wild birds, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice on its website. The ministry received a report on the cases from the China Animal Disease Control Center, and the national Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the finding, the notice said. The H5N1 outbreak among dairy cattle in at least nine U.S. states since late March has raised questions over whether it could spread to humans. No such cases have been reported. The U.S. announced on May 11 that it would spend close to $200 million to fight the outbreak. News of the China cases came as the nation's anti-graft watchdog announced a corruption probe of the agriculture minister on Saturday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/bird-flu-found-western-china-us-combats-cattle-outbreak-2024-05-18/

2024-05-18 10:09

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China's agriculture minister is being investigated for suspected violations of law and discipline, the country's anti-graft watchdog said on Saturday. Tang Renjian, 61, is under investigation for "serious violations of discipline and law" by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Supervisory Commission, CCDI said on its website. The term is CCDI's typical euphemism for corruption. The notice gave no further details. It is uncommon for an official of Tang's rank to be placed under investigation without first being removed from the post. He most recently appeared in public on Wednesday at a conference on rural talent, where he gave a speech, according to a post on the agriculture ministry's website. Tang was governor of the western province of Gansu from 2017 to 2020 before being named minister of agriculture and rural affairs, according to official biographies. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-probes-agriculture-minister-suspected-disciplinary-violations-2024-05-18/

2024-05-18 10:04

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks expected to touch on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, one piece of a wider arrangement Washington hopes will lead to normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations. Below is a description of the key issues involved in a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear deal, what risks and benefits it may offer the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how it fits within U.S. efforts to broker Israeli-Saudi reconciliation. WHAT IS A CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT? Under Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the United States may negotiate agreements to engage in significant civil nuclear cooperation with other nations. It specifies nine nonproliferation criteria those states must meet to keep them from using the technology to develop nuclear arms or transfer sensitive materials to others. The law stipulates congressional review of such pacts. WHY DOES SAUDI ARABIA WANT A US NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT? As the world's largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia at first glance is not an obvious candidate for a nuclear pact typically aimed at building power plants to generate electricity. There are two reasons Riyadh may wish to do so. The first is that under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious Vision 2030 reform plan, the kingdom aims to generate substantial renewable energy and reduce emissions. At least some of this is expected to come from nuclear energy. Critics cite a second potential reason: that Riyadh might wish to develop nuclear expertise in case it someday wished to acquire nuclear weapons despite the safeguards enshrined in any deal with Washington to prevent this. The Saudi crown prince has long said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would follow suit, a stance that has fueled deep concern among arms control advocates and some U.S. lawmakers over a possible U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear deal. The Sunni Muslim kingdom and Shi'ite revolutionary Iran have been at odds for decades. HOW WOULD THE UNITED STATES BENEFIT FROM A CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA? There could be strategic and commercial gains. The Biden administration has made no secret of its hope to broker a long-shot, multi-part arrangement leading Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations. It believes Saudi support for normalization may hinge partly on striking a civil nuclear deal. The strategic benefits would be to shore up Israel's security, build a wider coalition against Iran and reinforce U.S. ties to one of the wealthiest Arab nations at a time when China is seeking to extend its influence in the Gulf. The commercial benefit would be to put U.S. industry in a prime spot to win contracts to build Saudi nuclear power plants, as U.S. atomic companies compete with Russia, China and other countries for global business. WHAT ARE THE HURDLES TO A US-SAUDI CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL? A civil nuclear deal is envisaged as part of a wider arrangement on Israeli-Saudi normalization, something that is all but inconceivable while the Gaza war rages. Israel invaded the Gaza Strip after Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 attacked southern Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli figures. The Gaza death toll, health officials in the Hamas-run coastal enclave say, has risen to more than 35,000 and malnutrition is widespread. It is hard to imagine the Saudis being willing to normalize relations while Palestinians are dying in such numbers. WHAT IS THE WIDER PACT IN WHICH A NUCLEAR DEAL MIGHT FIGURE? The United States hopes to find a way to give Saudi Arabia several things it wants - a civil nuclear pact, security guarantees and a pathway toward a Palestinian state - in return for Riyadh agreeing to normalize relations with Israel. Earlier this month, seven people familiar with the matter told Reuters the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia were finalizing an agreement for U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance to Riyadh. However, the wider Israel-Saudi normalization envisaged as part of a Middle East "grand bargain" remains elusive. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES TO BE WORKED OUT IN A SAUDI-US NUCLEAR DEAL A key issue is whether Washington might agree to build a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi territory, when it might do so, and whether Saudi personnel might have access to it or it would be run solely by U.S. staff in a "black box" arrangement. Without rigorous safeguards built into an agreement, Saudi Arabia, which has uranium ore, could theoretically use an enrichment facility to produce highly enriched uranium, which, if purified enough, can yield fissile material for bombs. Another issue is whether Riyadh would agree to make a Saudi investment in a U.S.-based and U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant and to hire U.S. companies to build Saudi nuclear reactors. (Sources: Atomic Energy Act of 1954; Brookings Institution; Congressional Research Service; Reuters reporting) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/how-might-us-saudi-civil-nuclear-deal-work-2024-05-18/

2024-05-18 07:02

KABUL, May 18 (Reuters) - At least 50 people are dead following a fresh bout of heavy rain and flooding in central Afghanistan, an official said on Saturday. Mawlawi Abdul Hai Zaeem, the head of the information department for the central Ghor province, told Reuters that there was no information about how many people were injured in the rain spell that began on Friday, which had also cut off many key roads to the area. Zaeem added that 2,000 houses were completely destroyed, 4,000 partially damaged, and more than 2,000 shops were under water in the province's capital, Feroz-Koh. Last week, flash floods caused by heavy rains devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 people and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday. On Wednesday, a helicopter used by the Afghan air force crashed due to "technical issues" during attempts to recover the bodies of people who had fallen into a river in Ghor province, killing one and injuring 12 people, the country's defence ministry said. Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters and the United Nations considers it one of countries most vulnerable to climate change. It has battled a shortfall in aid after the Taliban took over as foreign forces withdrew from the country in 2021, since development aid that formed the backbone of government finances was slashed. The shortfall has worsened in subsequent years as foreign governments grapple with competing global crises and growing condemnation of the Taliban's curbs on Afghan women. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/fifty-dead-heavy-rain-floods-central-afghanistan-official-says-2024-05-18/

2024-05-18 04:49

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China's gasoline exports in April fell to the lowest level since July 2015, customs data and Reuters records showed on Saturday, as domestic travel and fuel use increased in the recovering economy. April exports of gasoline stood at 400,000 million metric tons (3.38 million barrels per day), down 50.8% from a year earlier, General Administration of Customs data showed on Saturday, and 65% below March's 1.15 million tons. A growing tourist preference for short-distance travel is favouring car trips over flights and boosting domestic gasoline demand, according to Shiqing Xia, oils and chemicals consultant at Wood Mackenzie. China's gasoline exports will likely remain at a low level in May. Analysts forecast domestic demand will increase 3% to 6% year-on-year in May based on the increase in travel during China's Labour Day holiday. Domestic travel during the five-day holiday increased by 28% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, even as heavy rainfall in south China limited growth in travel in that part of the country, said Jianan Sun, China energy market analyst at Energy Aspects. Diesel exports were at 760,000 tons in April, down 46% from 1.42 million tons in March on weak export arbitrage and limited quotas. However, that was up 21.8% from the previous year, customs data showed. Traders expect diesel exports to ease further in May as state refiners have already used up most of their quotas. On May 7, China issued its second batch of refined fuel export quotas for 2024 totalling 18 million metric tons, more than 70% of which went to state oil companies Sinopec and PetroChina. Sinopec and PetroChina are considering cutting back on refined fuel output in June, traders say, as excess diesel has squeezed refining profits in Asia. Refining margins in Singapore, the Asia bellwether, slipped under $4 a barrel in April from nearly $6 in March, LSEG data showed, despite several plants shutting for maintenance during low demand season in the second quarter. Jet fuel exports in April were 1.59 million metric tons, up 90.4% from year-earlier levels but down from 1.98 million tons in March, the data showed. International flights more than doubled year-on-year to 55,672 in April, according to civil aviation data provider Variflight, although they were still 30% lower than in April 2019. Fuel provided to international flights is counted as an export in customs statistics. In addition to aviation bunkering demand, jet fuel exports have been buoyed by healthy sales margins outside mainland China, several China-based trade sources said, adding that this trend could continue in May and June. April imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) were up 31.5% on the year at 6.22 million tons, data showed, aided in part by attractive spot prices . That was down however from March's 6.65 million tons. Exports in metric tons: Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-april-gasoline-exports-fall-lowest-level-since-july-2015-recovering-2024-05-18/

2024-05-18 00:53

NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - Crypto lender Genesis Global received court approval on Friday to return about $3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency to its customers in a bankruptcy liquidation, leaving its owner, Digital Currency Group, with no recovery from the bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved Genesis’ Chapter 11 liquidation plan and overruled an objection raised by DCG, which had argued that Genesis should pay its customers and creditors no more than what the crypto assets were valued at in January 2023, when Genesis filed for bankruptcy. Crypto prices have risen sharply since Genesis filed for bankruptcy, and DCG and Genesis disagreed over who should benefit from the rise in prices. Bitcoin, for example, was worth $21,084 in January 2023, compared with its current price of $67,000. Lane rejected DCG's objection, ruling that even if customer claims were capped at the lower prices, Genesis would have to pay many other creditors, including federal and state financial regulators that had asserted $32 billion in claims, before it was able to give money to its equity owner DCG. "There are nowhere near enough assets to provide any recovery to DCG in these cases," Lane wrote. Genesis is paying customers back in crypto where possible, but it does not have enough cryptocurrency to give back everything it owes. Genesis attorney Sean O'Neal said Friday that the company disagreed with DCG's assertion that customers could be paid "in full" based on the lower cryptocurrency prices in January 2023. "We don't buy into the idea that claims are capped at the petition date value," O'Neal said. Genesis estimated in February that it would be able to pay its customers up to 77% of the value of their claims, depending on future price fluctuations. DCG could not immediately be reached for comment late Friday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/crypto-lender-genesis-return-3-billion-customers-bankruptcy-wind-down-2024-05-18/