Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

Boeing 737 cargo plane makes emergency water landing off Hawaii

By David Shepardson and Ankit Ajmera

(Reuters) -A decades-old Boeing Co 737-200 cargo airplane with two people on board made an emergency nighttime landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, early on Friday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA said both crew members were rescued, citing preliminary information.

“The pilots had reported engine trouble and were attempting to return to Honolulu when they were forced to land the aircraft in the water,” the FAA said in a statement.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate.

Transair Flight 810 departed Honolulu at 1:33 a.m. local time bound for Maui’s Kahului airport but quickly turned back toward Honolulu, according to aviation data from FlightAware.com.

Shortly after, the Coast Guard responded to reports of the downed plane south of the island of Oahu with two people on board. Around 2:30 a.m., a Coast Guard helicopter located the debris field and found one of the crew members clinging to the plane’s tail. That person was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital.

The other survivor was spotted on top of some floating packages and was picked up by a Honolulu Fire Department rescue boat for transport to shore, according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Both were being evaluated by medical personnel and their current condition was unknown.

The crew knew they were in trouble.

“We’ve lost number one engine,” one of the pilots told Honolulu air traffic control in a recording posted on LiveATC, an audio streaming site that broadcasts air traffic control communications.

“We are going to need the fire department … We’re going to lose the other engine, too. It’s running very hot.”

Boeing said it was closely monitoring the situation and was in contact with the NTSB. The airplane was built by Boeing in 1975, according to FAA records. The plane was first delivered to Pacific Western Airlines and joined Transair’s fleet in 2014, according to Flightradar24.com.

The plane was equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines. Pratt & Whitney said it was supporting the NTSB’s investigation.

Rhoades Aviation Inc does business as Transair, which is one of Hawaii’s largest air cargo carriers and has been in business since 1982. It has a fleet of five Boeing 737s that fly daily to all major Hawaiian island destinations, according to its website.

Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc, the insurance broker for Boeing, declined to comment.

Shares of Boeing were trading slightly lower on Friday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

Boeing’s 737 MAX was cleared to fly by regulators late last year after a 20-month grounding following two accidents that killed hundreds of people.

The 737 in Friday’s incident was an older generation than the MAX.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Truro, Mass., and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis)

Hurricane Elsa cuts power, batters homes in Barbados

By Robert Edison Sandiford

CHRIST CHURCH, Barbados (Reuters) -Hurricane Elsa blew roofs off homes, toppled trees and sparked flooding in the island nation of Barbados on Friday as the storm was forecast to head toward Haiti.

Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs Wilfred A. Abrahams urged Barbadians to shelter in place and only leave their homes if the structures were damaged.

Elsa strengthened into a hurricane earlier in the day and was about 95 miles (153 km) west-northwest of St. Vincent, blowing maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (140 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The NHC forecast 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain with a maximum of 15 inches (38 cm) across the Windward and southern Leeward Islands including Barbados, which could lead to isolated flash flooding and mudslides.

Hurricane conditions were expected in Haiti and possible in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica by late Saturday, the agency said.

The Barbados minister said damage was reported in the south of the island including power outages, fallen trees, flash flooding and damaged roofs.

Emergency services were unable to reach people, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

A resident in south Barbados, 43-year-old structural engineer Greg Parris, said his home lost power around 7 a.m. and he saw blown-out roofs and some flooding in his neighborhood.

“It was scary. Most of us, we haven’t experienced anything like this for a while,” Parris said.

Elsa’s progress should be monitored by the Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Cayman Islands, the Miami-based NHC said.

Little change in Elsa’s strength was forecast over the next 48 hours and some decrease in winds is possible on Monday, the hurricane center said.

Elsa’s storm surge was expected to raise water levels by as much as 1 to 4 feet above normal tide levels in some areas. Puerto Rico could receive up to 5 inches of rain, the NHC.

(Reporting by Robert Edison Sandiford in Christ Church, Barbados; Additional reporting by Kate Chappell in Kingston, Jamaica; Anthony Esposito in Mexico City and Nakul Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Cynthia Osterman)

Romanian Black Sea refinery blast kills one, injures five

By Radu-Sorin Marinas

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – A blast and fire on Friday at Romania’s biggest crude oil refinery killed one person and injured five others, authorities and the company which runs the Petromidia plant on the Black Sea said.

Video footage from a nearby beach in the coastal resort of Mamaia showed black smoke rising from the area next to the refinery and some tourists reported hearing a loud bang.

Rompetrol Rafinare, part of KMG International Group, said the explosion was inside the diesel hydrotreating unit, and that processes had been halted safely.

At 1615 GMT it said the fire had been completely put out, the incident “was neutralized successfully” and Rompetrol would continue to provide fuels for its stations in Romania and the Black Sea region.

“Five of our colleagues are in medical care at Constanta County Hospital, and we are sorry to inform you that a person has been identified as deceased,” its statement added.

The company declined to comment on the likely financial damage but said an assessment of the impact on technological processes will be performed to provide a clear picture and predictability in terms of restarting the refinery facilities.

Petromidia is based on the shores of the Black Sea in Navodari, 20 km (12.5 miles) north of the country’s biggest port, Constanta.

It said it processed a total of 1.26 million tonnes of raw materials in the first quarter of this year, a similar level to a year before, and had been running at 84% capacity.

Rompetrol closed 1.96% down at 0.05 lei.

(Editing by Jane Merriman, Jan Harvey, Alexander Smith and Philippa Fletcher)

Beirut blast judge to question top politicians, security officials

By Maha El Dahan and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The judge in charge of the investigation into the Beirut port blast will seek to question top politicians and security officials, Lebanon’s national news agency said on Friday, almost a year after the explosion that devastated the capital.

The blast in August, blamed on a huge quantity of chemicals left for years in poor storage conditions, deepened a political and economic crisis in the heavily indebted country.

Ordinary Lebanese have grown increasingly angry that no senior officials have been held to account for the explosion that killed hundreds of people, injured thousands and ruined whole neighborhoods in the center of Beirut.

Judge Tarek Bitar, who became the lead investigator into the blast after his predecessor was removed in February, will call in caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and others, the agency said, although it said no dates had yet been set.

He has also written to parliament asking to lift immunity from former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, former Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter and former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk as a first step towards charging them.

Zeaiter, a parliamentary deputy from speaker Nabih Berri’s bloc, and Khalil issued a statement later on Friday saying they would cooperate with the investigator to help determine those responsible for the blast, even before permission was issued. Machnouk declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

The caretaker prime minister and others listed as targets for questioning by the judge could not immediately be reached for comment.

Diab and the same ex-officials were charged last year by judge Fadi Sawan, who previously led the probe, but they refused to be questioned as suspects, accusing him of overstepping his powers.

Judge Bitar also asked for permission from caretaker Interior Minister Mohamed Fahmy to question Lebanon’s security chief Abbas Ibrahim, the agency said.

Fahmy told Reuters he had not been notified yet about the process but would take all legal steps required once he was.

Bitar’s list included another former public works minister, Youssef Finianos, and Tony Saliba, the head of state security.

Sawan was removed from the investigation in February by the court of cassation after a request by Khalil and Zeaiter, a major setback for the families of victims seeking justice.

Sawan accused the three ex-ministers and caretaker prime minister of negligence. The court of cassation cited “legitimate suspicion” over Sawan’s neutrality, partly because his house was damaged in the blast.

(Reporting By Maha El Dahan and Laila Bassam; Editing by Edmund Blair and Cynthia Osterman)

U.S. companies hire more workers; signs labor crunch may be easing

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job growth accelerated in June, offering tentative signs that a worker shortage could be starting to ease as companies raise wages and offer incentives to entice millions of unemployed Americans sitting at home.

The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday also showed just over 150,000 people entered the labor force last month. The report suggested the economy ended the second quarter with strong growth momentum, following a reopening made possible by vaccinations against COVID-19.

Still, employment gains remained less than the million or more per month that economists and others had been forecasting at the beginning of the year.

“This may be a sign that some of the temporary labor shortages holding back the employment recovery are starting to ease,” said Andrew Hunter, a senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 850,000 jobs last month after rising 583,000 in May. That left employment 6.8 million jobs below its peak in February 2020. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 700,000 jobs. There are a record 9.3 million job openings.

The leisure and hospitality industry added 343,000 jobs, accounting for 40% of the employment gains in June. More than 150 million people are fully immunized, leading to pandemic-related restrictions on businesses and mask mandates being lifted. Government employment jumped by 188,000 jobs, driven by state and local government education. End of school year layoffs were fewer relative to the previous year.

Manufacturing added a modest 15,000 jobs. Factories are struggling with rampant worker shortages as well as scarce raw materials, which are forcing some to cut production.

Construction payrolls contracted again last month. Though the sector remains supported by robust demand for housing, expensive lumber is hampering homebuilding.

Politicians, businesses and some economists have blamed enhanced unemployment benefits, including a $300 weekly check from the government, for the labor crunch. Lack of affordable child care and fears of contracting the coronavirus have also been blamed for keeping workers, mostly women, at home.

There have also been pandemic-related retirements as well as career changes. Economists generally expect the labor supply squeeze to ease in the fall as schools reopen and the government-funded unemployment benefits lapse but caution many unemployed will probably never return to work.

Record-high stock prices and surging home values have also encouraged early retirements.

U.S. stocks opened higher on the data. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices rose.

WAGES RISING

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% last month after gaining 0.4% in May. That raised the year-on-year increase in wages to 3.6% from 1.9% in May. Annual wage growth was in part flattered by so-called base effects following a big drop last June.

According to job search engine Indeed, 4.1% of jobs postings advertised hiring incentives through the seven days ending June 18, more than double the 1.8% share in the week ending July 1, 2020. The incentives, which included signing bonuses, retention bonuses or one-time cash payments on being hired, ranged from as low as $100 to as high as $30,000 in the month ended June 18.

Some restaurant jobs are paying as much as $27 per hour plus tips, according to postings on Poachedjobs.com, a national job board for the restaurant/hospitality industry. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but is higher in some states.

With employment not expected to return to its pre-pandemic level until sometime in 2022, rising wages are unlikely to worry Federal Reserve officials even as inflation is heating up because of supply constraints. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly stated he expects high inflation will be transitory.

The U.S. central bank last month opened talks on how to end its crisis-era massive bond-buying.

Though the unemployment rate rose to 5.9% from 5.8% in May, that was because 151,000 people entered the labor force. The jobless rate continued to be understated by people misclassifying themselves as being “employed but absent from work.” Without this misclassification, the unemployment rate would have been 6.1% in June.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Dan Burns, Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)

Lukashenko orders closure of Belarus border with Ukraine – BelTA

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday ordered the closure of the border with Ukraine, seeking to block what he called an inflow of weapons to coup-plotters detected by his security services, BelTA state news agency reported.

The move appears to deepen a standoff between Belarus and outside powers angered by his government’s forcing down of a Ryanair flight in May and arrest of a government critic who was on the aircraft.

Western countries imposed sanctions on Belarus to punish it for the action, and the European Union and Ukraine have also banned Belarus-registered flights from entering their airspace.

Lukashenko, who has repeatedly accused Western ill-wishers of trying to oust him from power, said rebel groups that were planning to carry out a coup had been uncovered in Belarus.

Speaking at a gathering marking the country’s Independence Day, the veteran leader said Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and the United States were behind the alleged rebel activity, BelTA reported.

“A huge amount of weapons is coming from Ukraine to Belarus. That’s why I ordered border-security forces to fully close the border with Ukraine,” Lukashenko said.

Belarus shares a border with Ukraine in the south. It borders Poland and Lithuania in the west, Latvia in the north, and Russia in the east.

The move to shut borders with Ukraine comes days after Belarus recalled its permanent representative to the European Union for consultations after Brussels imposed economic sanctions.

But Lukashenko, who was also sanctioned by the West for a sweeping political crackdown, is seen largely unscathed by the penalties and able to continue financing the economy and his security forces, rating agencies and analysts have said.

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Toby Chopra, Editing by William Maclean)

Without ICUs, doctor in Jakarta hospital battles to help COVID-19 patients

By Yuddy Cahya Budiman

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian doctor Cheras Sjarfi says the small public hospital where she works in south Jakarta was not ready for the influx of COVID-19 patients who arrived after a surge of new infections in the world’s fourth-most-populous country.

Only equipped for basic health care, her facility has had to treat COVID-19 patients even though it lacks the life-saving ventilators and intensive care units they sometimes require.

“We weren’t prepared for this situation,” she said, adding that the situation at smaller hospitals like hers showed how severe things had become.

The 28-year-old general practitioner said she knew it was getting bad when all the patients classified as suspected coronavirus cases tested positive within a week.

Grappling with the worst outbreak in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has reported record daily cases in seven of the past 11 days, including on Thursday, with 24,836 new infections and 504 deaths, both new highs.

The spike has made it harder to transfer severely ill patients, and city hospitals were at 93% capacity this week. Hospitals across Java are also nearly full.

“We… receive the incoming patients as best as we can. Give them oxygen, check their blood pressure, and observe them,” she said, adding that if a patient’s condition worsens it is unlikely that other hospitals can take them.

“The worst case is they die here. I definitely feel sad even if I have seen… people dying many times,” said Cheras.

She is working 12-hour shifts, double the normal length, after she said some of her colleagues were infected despite being fully vaccinated.

Indonesian authorities have announced new curbs starting Saturday, including tighter restrictions on movement and air travel, a ban on restaurant dining and closing non-essential offices.

Still, despite the huge strain and concerns she could be re-infected with COVID-19, Cheras tries to remains positive.

“Although we are exhausted and wonder when will this end… I think it still manageable,” she said.

(Writing by Ed Davies. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Death toll rises as 7-year-old found in ruins of Florida condo collapse

By Katanga Johnson and Francisco Alvarado

SURFSIDE, Fla. (Reuters) -The death toll from last week’s condominium collapse in Florida rose on Friday to 20 after search-and-rescue crews found two more bodies, including the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter, officials said.

The grim, painstaking search for victims in the rubble, which was suspended for most of Thursday over safety concerns, proceeded on Friday with greater caution and a watchful eye on a hurricane that could strike Florida within days.

There are 128 people still missing and feared buried beneath tons of pulverized concrete, twisted metal and splintered lumber as the search stretched into its ninth day.

The number of people unaccounted for dropped by 17 from Thursday’s figure. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news briefing that the totals were fluid, in part because investigators sometimes learned of additional family members when determining whether missing residents were safe.

The young girl was the third child to be recovered from the collapse site in the oceanfront town of Surfside, next to Miami Beach.

Levine Cava said the discovery was especially difficult for rescuers, who have mounted an unprecedented around-the-clock effort to search for survivors even as the odds have grown longer with each passing day.

“Every victim we remove is very difficult,” said Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky. “Last night was even more, when we were removing a fellow firefighter’s daughter. As firefighters, we do what we do – it’s kind of a calling. But it still takes a toll.”

No one has been pulled alive from the debris since the initial hours after the 12-floor Champlain Towers South condo partially caved in on itself early on June 24 as residents slept.

Authorities had halted the rescue and recovery effort early Thursday after they detected movement that raised concerns a section of the high-rise tower still standing might topple onto search crews in the debris field.

But the operation was restarted about 15 hours later when it was deemed safe, though with a new set of precautions in place, Cominsky told reporters Thursday evening.

Under the new search plan, teams would confine their work for now to just three of nine grids demarcated in the ruins of the 12-floor Champlain Towers South condo, Cominsky said.

At some point, the remaining part of the building will be demolished, but Levine Cava said on Friday that it would “take some time” before that occurs.

Authorities were eager to make as much progress as possible before the expected arrival of Elsa, which strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 season on Friday as it threatened the Caribbean.

The storm could be near South Florida by Monday or Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Molleda told reporters, with tropical storm-force winds arriving as early as Sunday. But he warned that Elsa’s forecasted path remains uncertain.

The renewed search effort began shortly after a visit to the scene on Thursday by U.S. President Joe Biden, who spent about three hours consoling families of the dead and missing.

Investigators have not determined what caused the 40-year-old condo complex to crumble into a heap in one of the deadliest building collapses in U.S. history.

But a 2018 engineering report prepared by an engineering firm ahead of a building safety-recertification process found structural deficiencies in the condo complex that are now the focus of various inquiries, including a grand jury examination.

USA Today, citing a document the newspaper obtained from a family member of a missing victim, reported late on Thursday that a 2020 document from the same firm noted “curious results” after testing the depth of the concrete slab below the pool. But the document did not specify what that meant, the newspaper reported.

The firm also documented severe deterioration in the pool area and expressed concern that repairs could threaten the stability of nearby areas, according to USA Today.

As recently as last April, the condo association president warned residents in a letter that major concrete damage identified by the engineer around the base of the building had grown “significantly worse.”

Several lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of survivors and victims against the association’s board.

In a statement on Friday, the board – some of whose members remain missing – said it would appoint an “independent receiver … to oversee the legal and claims process.”

The board added that it would continue working with investigators to understand the cause of the tragedy.

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson and Francisco Alvarado in Surfside, Florida; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Barbara Goldberg; Writing by Joseph Ax and Steve Gorman; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis)

Everything you need to know about California’s recall election

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) – On Sept. 14, Californians will vote on whether popular Democrat Gavin Newsom should be removed as governor. While Newsom retains support among most voters, the recall process may give his opponents in the Republican-backed challenge an edge they would not have in a typical election.

Here’s what you need to know.

What are the rules?

Opponents of a sitting governor petitioning to hold a recall election need signatures from the equivalent of 12 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. In this case that was 1,495,709 signatures.

Voters decide whether they want to remove the sitting governor and then on the same ballot choose a replacement. If more than 50% choose to end Newsom’s term, the replacement candidate with the most votes to succeed him, even if less than a majority, becomes governor.

Who’s behind the effort to recall Newsom?

A former sheriff’s deputy named Orrin Heatlie and a group called the California Patriot Coalition began the recall campaign in February 2020, accusing Newsom of favoring illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens. They also complain that taxes are too high and that Newsom favored rationing water, an apparent reference to regulations during the state’s frequent droughts.

Pundits initially said the group was unlikely to gather enough signatures. But a judge in Sacramento ruled recall proponents could have extra time because of delays caused by coronavirus restrictions. That allowed the group to continue seeking signatures as frustration with some coronavirus-related shutdowns grew. And recalling Newsom was embraced by state and national Republicans and conservative media.

Could Newsom be recalled?

Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor and California lieutenant governor, was elected in 2018 with 62% of the vote, a greater share than any other Democratic governor in the state’s history. His opponent, Republican John Cox, garnered about 38% of the vote. A survey released in May by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) showed that six in 10 Californians would vote to keep him in office if a recall election were held, while four in 10 would not.

Republicans have a chance. By law, Newsom is not allowed to appear on the second part of the ballot as a replacement for himself. So far, only Republicans have expressed interest in replacing him. A Democrat could jump in, but Newsom’s team fears that could make the governor more vulnerable.

Who is seeking to replace Newsom?

While the state has not yet certified any official candidates, several Republicans are campaigning, including Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and transgender celebrity Caitlin Jenner.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein. Editing by Donna Bryson and Steve Orlofsky)

U.S. to propose new rules requiring refunds for delayed airline bags -source

By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will soon propose new rules to require passenger airlines to refund fees for bags that are significantly delayed and refunds for services like onboard Wi-Fi that does not work, a source told Reuters.

Under existing Transportation Department rules, passengers are entitled to a fee refund if bags are lost, but not when delayed. Under the proposed Transportation Department rule to be released in the coming days, a “significantly delayed checked bag” is one not delivered to the passenger within 12 hours for domestic itineraries and within 25 hours for international itineraries.

Airlines for America, a group representing major airlines, did not immediately comment on Friday.

The administration proposal would also require airlines to promptly refund fees – such as for advance seat selection, Wi-Fi and other flight services – if the passenger does not receive the service or it does not work.

Under a forthcoming executive order on competition, President Joe Biden is directing the Transportation Department “to engage in a series of rulemakings to protect airline passengers and to promote fair competition in the airline industry,” the source told Reuters.

U.S. airlines collected approximately $5.8 billion in baggage fees and $2.8 billion in change and cancellation fees in 2019, up from just $464 million in baggage fees and $915 million in change and cancellation fees in 2007.

The Transportation Department also intends to issue a separate proposed rule in the coming months to require upfront disclosure of baggage fees, change fees and cancellation fees at the time of purchase of a plane ticket.

The Biden administration is holding a call on Friday to discuss the issue with major airlines, two other sources said.

Biden’s executive order will also direct the department to consider the fee disclosure rule, the source said, saying it would help consumers avoid being surprised by ticket fees and allow more accurate comparison shopping for flights.

Reuters first reported the planned executive order earlier this week.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Truro, Mass.; writing by Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Dan Grebler)