Six Pacific Island countries are at high risk of debt distress, the bank says

International News via Reuters:

The World Bank has maintained its focus on climate change and gender equality issues in the Pacific, managing director of operations Anna Bjerde said on a visit to Australia, even as its largest shareholder the United States reduces aid in those areas.

After meeting Pacific Islands economic ministers in Fiji, Bjerde said countries in the region continued to worry about being exposed to the accelerating effects of climate change, and had grave concerns about food security and rising debt levels.

Six Pacific Island countries are at high risk of debt distress, the bank says.

The World Bank is moving a regional vice president from Washington to Singapore, and will move directors from Australia to Fiji and Papua New Guinea, to be closer to a $3.4 billion Pacific aid programme that has grown seven-fold in 10-15 years, she said in an interview on Monday.

“We are committed to designing projects that really take into account the vulnerabilities of countries we work in. In this part of the world, countries are vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” she said.

“We haven’t really changed our language around that,” she added.

Pacific road projects designed to be flood-resilient provide better infrastructure that can withstand the changing climate and also be counted in climate finance programmes, Bjerde said.

The World Bank was focussed on boosting women’s workforce participation to help lift the region’s economic growth, she said, after meeting women leaders in Fiji who highlighted the need for childcare so women can work.

On Monday, Bjerde also met officials from the Australian government, the largest bilateral donor to the region.

Under reforms introduced last year by its president Ajay Banga, the World Bank has started to roll out region-wide programmes to have a bigger impact among Pacific countries with small populations.

Eight countries have joined an arrangement that stops small island states being cut off from the international financial system, while a health programme targeting non-communicable disease will potentially reach 2 million people across the Pacific Ocean and train 16,000 health workers.

A trade programme is also being designed to give access to goods faster and more cheaply, she said.

Banga will attend the region’s annual leaders’ meeting, the Pacific Islands Forum, for the first time in September.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry and David Holmes

Its net income dropped to 324 million euros ($378 million)

International News via Reuters:

Spain’s second-largest oil refiner Moeve, formerly known as Cepsa, said on Monday its net profit fell 19% in the first half of the year mainly due to the impact of a massive power blackout in April in Spain and Portugal on its refineries.

Its net income dropped to 324 million euros ($378 million), while earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation fell 33% from a year ago to 733 million euros ($855.92 million).

The company attributed the core profit’s decline mainly to the cost of halting and restarting its two oil refineries during and after the April 28 blackout. It can take one or two weeks for such plants to be fully operational after shutdowns.

The Moeve refineries also halted for scheduled maintenance during the first six months of this year, which further reduced utilisation ratios.

The company did not release an estimate of the cost of the outage, though rival Repsol, which operates five refineries in Spain, said the blackout and other smaller power-supply issues cost it 175 million euros in the second quarter.

Owned by Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala and U.S.-based private equity firm the Carlyle Group, Moeve rebranded last year to reflect its shift towards low-carbon businesses under an 8-billion-euro plan. It has sold 70% of its oil production assets since 2022, including operations in Abu Dhabi and South America.

($1 = 0.8564 euros)

($1 = 0.8570 euros)

Reporting by Inti Landauro

No reason for the crew’s actions was given and the probe is expected to last months

International News via Reuters:

A Jeju Air plane that crashed in December during an emergency landing after a bird strike could have kept flying on the damaged engine that was still working after pilots shut down the other one, according to an update from South Korean investigators.

The Boeing 737-800 instead belly-landed at Muan airport without its landing gear down, overshot the runway and erupted into a fireball after slamming into an embankment, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.

Investigators have not yet produced a final report into the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil, but information about the plane’s two engines has begun to emerge. 

According to a July 19 update prepared by investigators and seen by Reuters but not publicly released following complaints from victims’ family members, the left engine sustained less damage than the right following a bird strike, but the left engine was shut down 19 seconds after the bird strike.

The right engine experienced a “surge” and emitted flames and black smoke, but investigators said it “was confirmed to be generating output sufficient for flight,” in the five-page update, which included post-crash photos of both engines.

No reason for the crew’s actions was given and the probe is expected to last months as investigators reconstruct the plane’s technical state and the picture understood by its pilots.

Experts say most air accidents are caused by multiple factors and caution against putting too much weight on incomplete evidence.

MORE QUESTIONS

So far, public attention has focused on the possibility that the crew may have shut down the less-damaged engine, rekindling memories of a 1989 Boeing 737-400 crash in Kegworth, England, where pilots shut down a non-damaged engine by mistake.

The disaster led to multiple changes in regulations including improvements in crew communication and emergency procedures.

A source told Reuters on Monday that the South Korea-led probe had “clear evidence” that pilots had shut off the less-damaged left engine after the bird strike, citing the cockpit voice recorder, computer data and a switch found in the wreckage.

But the latest update on the crash also raises the possibility that even the more heavily damaged engine that was still running could have kept the plane aloft for longer.

It did not say what level of performance the operating engine still had, nor what extra options that might have given to the plane’s emergency-focused crew before the jet doubled back and landed in the opposite direction of the runway from its initial plan with its landing gear up.

Both engines contained bird strike damage and both experienced engine vibrations after the strike. The right engine showed significant internal damage, the Korean-language update from South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) said, but it did not describe the damage found in the left engine. 

The update did not say how the left engine was operating nor the state of systems connected to either engine, said former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith when shown the document translated by Reuters.

It contains some new facts but omits far more, resulting in a “cryptic” document, he said.

ARAIB, which plans to issue a final report next June, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Safety experts say it is common for early reports to contain sparse facts and limited analysis while investigations continue.

A preliminary report released in January said feathers and blood stains from ducks were found in both engines.

The engines – made by CFM International, jointly owned by GE and France’s Safran – were examined in May and no defects or fault data were found beyond the bird and crash damage, the report said.

Families of those who died in the disaster were briefed on the engine findings but asked investigators not to release the July 19 report, saying that it appeared to apportion blame to the pilots without exploring other factors.

The report was withheld but Reuters and South Korean media obtained copies. Boeing and GE referred questions about the crash to ARAIB. Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jeju Air has previously said it is cooperating with ARAIB and is awaiting publication of the investigation.

Under global aviation rules, civil air investigations aim to discover crash causes without assigning blame or liability.

The Jeju Air pilots’ union said ARAIB was “misleading the public” by suggesting there was no problem with the left engine given that bird remains were found in both.

A source who attended the briefing told Reuters that investigators told family members the left engine also experienced a disruptive “surge,” citing black box data. 

The pilot union and representatives of bereaved families have asked that evidence be released to support any findings. 

Relatives say the investigation also needs to focus on the embankment containing navigation equipment, which safety experts have said likely contributed to the high death toll. 

Global aviation standards call for any navigation equipment in line with runways to be installed on structures that easily give way in case of impact with an aircraft.

South Korea’s transport ministry has identified seven domestic airports, including Muan, with structures made of concrete or steel, rather than materials that break apart on impact and has said it will improve them. 

Designs for the new structures are in progress, a ministry official told Reuters last week. 

Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Heekyong Yang in Seoul and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul; Editing by Jamie Freed

Temperatures in Greece were forecast to reach up to 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday

International News via Reuters:

Firefighters were battling wildfires across Greece and the Western Balkans on Saturday as the south of Europe sweltered under the third heatwave of the summer, with some villages and settlements being evacuated in Greece and Albania.

Explosions could be heard as huge clouds of smoke covered Drosopigi village 25 km north of Athens, where factories with flammable material are located. Helicopters dropped water and 145 firefighters battled the flames, assisted by 44 vehicles, seven helicopters and 10 aircraft.

Two houses caught fire while residents of the nearby village Krioneri were instructed by authorities to leave towards Athens. Five people were taken to hospitals over burns and smoke inhalation.

Temperatures in Greece were forecast to reach up to 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the Greek weather service said.

“In the last 24 hours alone, 52 agroforestry fires broke out, 44 of which were dealt with immediately, in their initial stage,” said Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, a spokesperson for the Fire Brigade.

In neighbouring Albania, 26 fires broke out throughout the country on Saturday, following a large fire near the southern Albanian town of Delvina on Friday which injured three people and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 residents.

PEOPLE RESCUED FROM BEACHES

On the Greek island of Evia, 128 firefighters and 29 vehicles were deployed to put out fires, assisted by six aircraft and seven helicopters, but strong winds were hampering their efforts.

Residents of the island’s Triada area were evacuated while two fire trucks were damaged and five firefighters injured during the operation.

The fire on Evia is the latest in a series of bushfires stoked by strong winds and dry conditions this month.

On the island of Kythera, residents from several settlements were evacuated to safe areas and Coast Guard forces said they rescued 138 people, including an infant, from the beach of Limnionas near the area of the fire.

In the area of Messinia, south of Athens, residents of the Kryoneri and Sellas villages were also told to leave.

These sites were on a list of Greek regions on high alert for wildfires due to record-breaking temperatures and strong winds due on Saturday.

In Kosovo, authorities managed to extinguish 17 blazes fueled by strong winds while 12 others remained active, officials said. In the southern town of Prizren, a fire engulfed a farm, killing eight cows, according to local emergency services.

Local media reported that a separate fire in eastern Kosovo killed around 40 sheep.

Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed “a wildfire hotspot” by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate, prompting calls for a new approach.

Reporting by Stamos Prousalis, Louisa Gouliamaki and Renee Maltezou in Greece, Florion Goga in Albania, Fatos Bytyci in Kosovo; Writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Jan Harvey and David Gregorio

China’s Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions

International News via Reuters:

Heavy rain around Beijing and across north and northeast China has killed two and forced thousands to relocate as authorities warned of further widespread rain and risks of disasters including landslides and flooding.

Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 mm (5.7 inches) per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding.

China’s Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei, for floods from small and midsize rivers and mountain torrents.

Floods and landslides affected many villages in the Miyun district of the capital, with the rural town of Fengjiayu the most severely impacted and electricity and communications cut in some villages, CCTV said. More than 3,000 people have been transferred out of the area, Beijing News Radio reported on Sunday.

The flow into the Miyun Reservoir has increased, hitting a record peak of 6,550 cubic meters (231,000 cubic feet) per second, Beijing authorities said.

Rain will intensify in most areas of the capital, with the expected cumulative rainfall in some areas nearby including Miyun reaching more than 100 mm over six hours, Beijing’s Meteorological Observatory said. Low-lying areas are prone to waterlogging, it said.

Beijing issued a warning on Saturday for geological disasters, including landslides and mudslides, after intense rainfall unleashed, for a second time, a year’s worth of rain on nearby Baoding.

Northern China has experienced record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China’s usually arid north to global warming.

The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world’s second-largest economy.

Baoding’s Xizhuang station recorded 540 mm (21 inches) over an eight-hour period, exceeding Baoding’s average annual rainfall of about 500 mm. The deluge affected more than 46,000 people, forcing 4,655 to evacuate, CCTV reported.

Chinese authorities closely monitor extreme rainfall and severe flooding are, as they challenge the country’s ageing flood defences, threaten to displace millions and wreak havoc on China’s $2.8 trillion agricultural sector.

(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by William Mallard)Heavy rain around Beijing and across north and northeast China has killed two and forced thousands to relocate as authorities warned of further widespread rain and risks of disasters including landslides and flooding.

Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 mm (5.7 inches) per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding.

China’s Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei, for floods from small and midsize rivers and mountain torrents.

Floods and landslides affected many villages in the Miyun district of the capital, with the rural town of Fengjiayu the most severely impacted and electricity and communications cut in some villages, CCTV said. More than 3,000 people have been transferred out of the area, Beijing News Radio reported on Sunday.

The flow into the Miyun Reservoir has increased, hitting a record peak of 6,550 cubic meters (231,000 cubic feet) per second, Beijing authorities said.

Rain will intensify in most areas of the capital, with the expected cumulative rainfall in some areas nearby including Miyun reaching more than 100 mm over six hours, Beijing’s Meteorological Observatory said. Low-lying areas are prone to waterlogging, it said.

Beijing issued a warning on Saturday for geological disasters, including landslides and mudslides, after intense rainfall unleashed, for a second time, a year’s worth of rain on nearby Baoding.

Northern China has experienced record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China’s usually arid north to global warming.

The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world’s second-largest economy.

Baoding’s Xizhuang station recorded 540 mm (21 inches) over an eight-hour period, exceeding Baoding’s average annual rainfall of about 500 mm. The deluge affected more than 46,000 people, forcing 4,655 to evacuate, CCTV reported.

Chinese authorities closely monitor extreme rainfall and severe flooding are, as they challenge the country’s ageing flood defences, threaten to displace millions and wreak havoc on China’s $2.8 trillion agricultural sector.

Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by William Mallard