Pope Francis, whose tenure was marked by turbulence and division, dies at 88
VATICAN CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign in which he sought to overhaul an ancient and divided institution.
He was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St. Peter's Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis," Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican's TV channel.
"At 7:35 (0535 GMT) this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father."
The Vatican did not immediately give a cause of death. Italian media speculated that he might have suffered a stroke or brain haemorrhage.
Farrell will preside over a rite at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Monday when the pope's body will be placed into a casket. A spokesman said his coffin might be moved to St. Peter's Basilica as early as Wednesday morning to allow the faithful to pay their respects. No date has yet been set for the funeral.
Tributes for Francis poured in from around the world, with many leaders praising his humility. His native Argentina ordered seven days of mourning, as did neighbouring Brazil.
"The pope of the poor has left us, the pope of the marginalised," said Jorge Garcia Cuerva, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, a position Francis once held.
Francis had on Sunday made his first prolonged public appearance since being discharged from hospital on March 23 following a 38-day stay for pneumonia, occasionally waving to onlookers and greeting a child who was brought to his side.
In an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the pope looked on from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the pontiff had reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - a conflict he had long railed against.
At the Vatican, locals, tourists and pilgrims visiting for Easter expressed their shock and grief.
"This is something that really hits you hard," said Emanuela Tinari, from Rome. "He was a pope who brought so many people closer to the church. He was not appreciated by everyone. But he definitely was by ordinary people."
FINAL MEETINGS
Doctors had prescribed two months of rest when the pope left hospital last month but he appeared on a number of occasions and met Britain's King Charles in April and had a brief meeting on Sunday with visiting U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
World leaders paid tribute to the pope, praised his efforts to reform the worldwide church and offered condolences to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
"Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him," said U.S. President Donald Trump, who the pope had criticised, especially for his hardline on immigration.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of "a great man, a great shepherd".
The outspoken president of Argentina, Javier Milei, had clashed with the pope in the past, branding him at one point the devil's representative on earth. But he changed his tune after taking office in 2023 and mourned his death on Monday.
"Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me," Milei said on X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Francis as an outstanding man, the Kremlin said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he knew how to foster unity and give hope.
FUTURE CONCLAVE
A conclave to elect a new pope normally takes place between 15 and 20 days after the death of a pontiff. Some 135 cardinals are eligible to take part in the highly secretive ballot which can stretch out over days. At present there is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine cleric's election as pope on March 13, 2013, surprised many Church watchers who had seen him as an outsider.
He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his "psychological health".
He initiated changes within the Vatican, emphasising transparency, accountability and financial reform, and appointed more women to senior posts in its hierarchy. However, Francis was also viewed as a haphazard leader, often blindsiding Vatican officials with his off-the-cuff comments.
He struggled to get a grip on the Church's crisis over sexual abuse by clerics and he inherited a Church torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.
But as his papacy progressed, he faced criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.
While he battled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.
Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis' rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013. Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022.
Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.
The Vatican said a ceremony planned for Sunday, April 27, when Carlo Acutis was to become the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, had been postponed.
Tesla speeds up odometers to avoid warranty repairs, US lawsuit claims
April 17 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving Elon Musk's company from having to pay for repairs.
The plaintiff Nyree Hinton alleged that Tesla odometer readings reflect energy consumption, driver behavior and "predictive algorithms" rather than actual mileage driven.
He said the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock ran at least 15% fast, based on his other vehicles and driving history, and for a while said he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.
Hinton, a Los Angeles resident, said this caused his 50,000-mile basic warranty to expire well ahead of schedule, leaving him with a $10,000 suspension repair bill that he thought Tesla should cover.
"By tying warranty limits and lease mileage caps to inflated 'odometer' readings, Tesla increases repair revenue, reduces warranty obligations, and compels consumers to purchase extended warranties prematurely," the complaint said.
Tesla and its lawyer did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment, but have denied all material allegations in the lawsuit. The Austin, Texas-based company does not have a media relations office.
Hinton is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Tesla drivers in California, potentially encompassing more than 1 million vehicles, court papers show.
Tesla moved his lawsuit this month to Los Angeles federal court from a state court in that city.
The automaker has also faced litigation accusing it of inflating vehicle driving ranges.
In March 2024, a federal judge in Oakland, California said drivers in that case must pursue their claims in individual arbitrations, not a class action.
The case is Hinton v Tesla Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 25-02877
.
Jamaica deploying fresh troops to Haiti
Kingston, Jamaica (JAMAICA GLEANER) — A 21-member CARICOM Joint Task Force-Haiti (CJTF-H) relief team comprising members of Jamaica's security forces will be deployed to Haiti to support the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission there, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has announced.
The relief team includes 18 JDF members and three members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and will continue the work started by the CJTF-H advance team that was deployed to Haiti in September 2024.
The JDF said the initial advance team is returning home following the successful completion of its deployment to Haiti as part of the MSS.
The returning team, led by Colonel Kevron Henry, was deployed to assist in the establishment of the MSS Headquarters and lay the foundation for follow-on forces operating in one of the most volatile security environments in the region.
According to the JDF, throughout its deployment, the Jamaican contingent played a strategic and operational role in supporting the MSS mandate. It said among the team’s most significant contributions was the delivery of essential intelligence and operational planning support to the MSS Headquarters, thereby helping to shape mission strategy and to execute coordinated security operations across Haiti.
In addition, members of the contingent were tasked with providing security at the Logistic Support Area, the main base where MSS personnel are accommodated and critical facilities housed.
Colonel Henry stated, “Our team performed with professionalism, courage, and unwavering discipline in one of the most challenging operating environments in the region. The threat level in Haiti is high and constant, but our personnel were highly motivated and undaunted. They contributed meaningfully to the development and execution of the MSS mission and represented Jamaica with distinction.”
“I cannot stress how hostile the environment was”, he added. “The operational teams led by our Kenyan partners took heavy gunfire regularly and required significant logistical support. The JDF contingent, he pointed out, was vital to this function as we were involved in the training of other deployed personnel, and in the maintenance of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), a critical asset in the MSS’s operational capabilities.”
Henry also noted that the contingent included a legal officer who played an integral role in developing the legal framework to guide the MSS mission and providing compliance oversight and accountability policies for the personnel operating in Haiti.
The JDF said the rotation of personnel reflects Jamaica’s long-term commitment to the MSS mission.
Judge orders Trump officials to testify about efforts to return wrongly deported man
GREENBELT, Maryland, April 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday demanded U.S. officials provide documents and answer questions under oath about what it had done to secure the return of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador, ramping up an inquiry into whether the Trump administration defied a court order.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said at a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland that she would not immediately hold the government in contempt of court, but said the documents and closed-door testimony would help her weigh the Trump administration's compliance with her earlier order to "facilitate" Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return.
The judge last week ordered Republican President Donald Trump's administration to provide her with daily updates about the steps it was taking to get him back. On Tuesday, she said the administration had not given her any information of value about what it had done.
"There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding," said Xinis, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama. "To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing."
At the same time, the judge said she was not ordering the administration to ask El Salvador's government to return Abrego Garcia - even though she called its refusal to ask for his release "stunning."
"I'm not ordering you to do that," Xinis said. "I don't know if I'll ever be there."
Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15 despite an order protecting him from removal to El Salvador. His case is one of several that have sparked concerns among Democrats and some legal analysts that Trump's administration is willing to disregard the judiciary, an independent and equal branch of government.
Administration officials have accused the judiciary of overstepping and interfering with the executive branch's ability to conduct foreign policy.
The administration's confrontations with the judiciary come as it is also applying what critics say is unprecedented pressure on other U.S. institutions that have long cherished their independence from partisan politics.
On Tuesday, Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programs or lose federal grants, part of a broader push to punish universities over their handling of pro-Palestinian student protests.
Trump has also targeted law firms he says have ties to his legal and political adversaries with executive orders restricting their ability to conduct their work. On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked most of an order targeting law firm Susan Godfrey, but lamented that other firms had "capitulated" by reaching deals with the administration to avoid becoming targets themselves.
Abrego Garcia's case is one of several in which Trump, who ran for president on a platform of stepping up deportations, is testing the legal limits of immigration enforcement.
Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center alongside hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that had only previously been invoked when the U.S. was at war. Several judges have since blocked further deportations under the law.
Judges have also temporarily blocked the Trump administration's efforts to deport several university students in the country legally over their participation in pro-Palestinian protests. On Monday, Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested in Vermont upon arriving for an interview for his U.S. citizenship petition.
DEPOSITIONS BY NEXT WEEK
On Tuesday, Xinis said she would require the four officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who had submitted sworn declarations in the case to sit for depositions by
April 23.
Government lawyer Drew Ensign said officials may respond to certain questions by asserting the attorney-client privilege, which protects lawyers from being compelled to disclose information their clients have told them.
Ensign also said the administration interpreted Xinis' order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to mean they should remove any U.S. barriers to his return to the United States.
He said the administration had done that by officially asserting in a court filing earlier in the day that if Abrego Garcia were to show up at a port of entry or a U.S. embassy, he would be allowed into the United States and then immediately taken back into custody.
Xinis said that interpretation of the meaning of 'facilitate' is contrary to "the plain meaning of the word."
'POLITICAL GAMES'
The U.S. Supreme Court last week largely upheld Xinis' order to "facilitate and effectuate" Abrego Garcia's return following a challenge by the Trump administration, but said the term "effectuate" was unclear and might exceed the court's authority.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a meeting with Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele at the White House on Monday that the president, not courts, conduct U.S. foreign policy.
Bukele told reporters at the meeting he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
At Tuesday's hearing, Ensign cited Bukele's comments, saying "ascertaining the position" of the Salvadoran government was "an important part of compliance" with Xinis' order.
Before the hearing, Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, urged Trump and Bukele to return her husband.
"I find myself pleading with the Trump administration and the Bukele administration to stop playing political games with the life of Kilmar," Vasquez Sura told a crowd of protesters.
After the hearing, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a Democrat, said in a statement he would travel to El Salvador on Wednesday to check on Abrego Garcia's wellbeing and discuss his release with government officials there.
China Q1 GDP growth beats expectations, but US tariff shock dims outlook
BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - China's first-quarter economic growth beat expectations, underpinned by solid consumption and industrial output even as policymakers brace for the impact of U.S. tariffs that analysts say pose the biggest risk to the Asian powerhouse in decades.
President Donald Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to eye-watering levels, prompting Beijing to slap retaliatory duties on U.S. imports in an intensifying trade war between the world's two biggest economies that markets fear will lead to a global recession.
Data on Wednesday showed China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.4% in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, unchanged from the fourth quarter, but beat analysts expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 5.1%.
The outlook is expected to dim, however, as Washington's tariff shock hits the crucial export engine, heaping pressure on Chinese leaders as they try to keep the world's second-largest economy on an even keel and prevent mass job losses.
Government stimulus boosted consumption and supported investment, said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, calling the 5.4% pace "a very good start."
"In each of the past two years China had a high-flying first quarter and an underwhelming second quarter," Xu said, adding that "a forceful and timely policy response" is needed given the additional pressure stemming from U.S. tariffs.
A string of recent data has pointed to an uneven economic recovery, with bank lending beating expectations and factory activity picking up speed. But higher unemployment and persistent deflationary pressures are fuelling concerns over weak demand.
Moreover, analysts say a surge in China's March exports - driven by factories rushing shipments to beat the latest Trump tariffs - will reverse sharply in the months ahead as the hefty U.S. levies take effect.
"UNPRECEDENTED" CHALLENGE
For 2025, the economy is expected to grow at a subdued 4.5% pace year-on-year, the Reuters poll showed, slowing from last year's 5.0 pace and falling short of the official target of around 5.0%. Many analysts have sharply slashed their GDP forecasts for this year.
UBS, opens new tab has downgraded its forecast on China's 2025 growth to 3.4% from 4%, on the assumption that Sino-U.S. tariff hikes will remain in place and that Beijing will roll out additional stimulus.
"We think the tariff shock poses unprecedented challenges to China's exports and will set forth major adjustment in the domestic economy as well," analysts at UBS said in a note.
While several other countries have been swept up in U.S. tariffs, Trump has targeted China for the biggest levies.
Last week, Trump lifted duties on China to 145%, prompting Beijing to jack up levies on U.S. goods to 125% and dismissing U.S. trade actions as "a joke".
On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 1.2% in the first quarter, slowing from 1.6% in October-December.
Retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, rose 5.9% year-on-year in March after gaining 4.0% in January-February, while factory output growth quickened to 7.7% from 5.9% in the first two months. Both numbers topped analysts' forecasts.
The retail sales uptick was driven by sharp double-digit gains in home electronics and furniture sales, helped by the government's consumer goods trading scheme.
But China's property downturn remained a drag on overall growth.
Property investment fell 9.9% year-on-year in the first three months, extending the 9.8% drop in January-February. March new home prices were unchanged on month.
AMPLE ROOM FOR STIMULUS
Policymakers have repeatedly said the country has ample room and tools to bolster the economy and premier Li Qiang this month pledged to roll out more support measures.
Beijing has put boosting consumption as the top priority this year as they try to cushion the impact of the Trump administration's tariffs on its trade sector.
The Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, is expected to hold a meeting later this month to set its policy agenda for the coming months.
In March, China unveiled fiscal measures, including a rise in its annual budget deficit. Officials have flagged more fiscal and monetary stimulus to cope with rising headwinds. That followed a blitz of monetary easing steps late last year.
Earlier this month, Fitch downgraded China's sovereign credit rating, citing rapidly rising government debt and risks to public finances, suggesting a tricky balancing act for policymakers seeking to expand consumption to guard against a trade downturn.
NYC sightseeing helicopter plunges into river, killing 6, including family of Spanish tourists
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and the dead — including three children — had been recovered and removed from the water. The flight north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty lasted less than 18 minutes.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey. A witness there, Bruce Wall, said he saw it “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.
Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out her window and saw the chopper “splash in several pieces into the river.”
The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel. Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.
The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.
A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, declined to comment. Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”
Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.
Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.
It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said. “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”
The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads from which business executives and others are whisked to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.
New York Helicopters also owned a Bell 206 that lost power and made an emergency landing on the Hudson during a sightseeing tour in June 2013. The pilot managed to land safely, and he and the passengers — a family of four Swedes — were uninjured. The National Transportation Safety Board found that a maintenance flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the power cutoff.
Thursday’s crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.
The accidents — and the noise caused by helicopters — have repeatedly led some community activists and officials to propose banning or restricting traffic at Manhattan heliports.
Other recent crashes and close calls have already left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S.
Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.
La Nina exits after three weak months, leaving Earth in neutral climate state
WASHINGTON (AP) — See you later La Nina, we hardly knew you.
La Nina, the natural cooling flip side of the better known and warmer El Nino climate phenomenon, has dwindled away after just three months. The La Nina that appeared in January, months later than forecast, was a weak one, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
Earth is now in a neutral setting in the El Nino Southern Oscillation cycle, which is generally the most benign of the three states that help influence hurricane formation, droughts, floods and global temperatures. NOAA forecasts the neutral setting to last most if not all of 2025. That makes longer-term weather forecasts a bit trickier because one of the major factors is not pushing one way or the other.
La Nina is an irregular rising of unusually cold water in a key part of the central equatorial Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide. It typically brings more Atlantic hurricanes in the summer, but it won’t be a factor this year. In the United States, La Ninas tend to cause drier weather in the South and West and often make it wetter in parts of Indonesia, northern Australia and southern Africa.
Studies have found that La Ninas tend to be costlier than El Ninos and neutral conditions.
Before this three-month La Nina, the world had an unusually long three-year La Nina that ended in 2023.
25 dead as significant severe weather, flash flooding tear through parts of US
Relentless, life-threatening weather conditions continued into Sunday across multiple states, including the threat of severe flooding in Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas, and tornado watches in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Since Wednesday, at least 25 people have died amid the outbreak of severe weather, including a 9-year-old boy in Kentucky who was swept away by floodwaters as he walked to a bus stop, and several people killed in southwestern Tennessee after a strong EF-3 tornado ripped through the city of Selmer.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp shared his sympathies Sunday evening after two people were killed when a tree fell on them at a Georgia golf course.
"Marty, the girls, and I are saddened by the tragic deaths of two Georgians in Muscogee County today as a result of the severe weather. We ask that you join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, along with all those responding to storm damage," Kemp said.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management confirmed the state's first storm-related death -- a 5-year-old child found in a home in southwest Little Rock. The agency did not provide any other details of the child's death but said it was related "to the ongoing severe weather in Arkansas."
In Missouri, a 16-year-old firefighter responding to a reported water rescue, died in a vehicle crash on Friday in Beaufort, about 60 miles west of St. Louis, according to the Beaufort-Leslie Fire Protection District and a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.
The firefighter was identified as Chevy Gall.
"Tonight is a fire chief's worst nightmare," Beaufort-Leslie Fire Protection District Chief Terry Feth said in a statement on Friday. "We are heartbroken by the loss of one of our own."
Earlier this week, authorities in Missouri said another local fire chief, 68-year-old Garry Moore, died while helping a stranded driver on Wednesday. Moore was the chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District.
Overall, the death toll stands at 10 in Tennessee, six in Kentucky, three in Missouri, two in Georgia, two in Arkansas, and one each in Indiana and Mississippi.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced on social media Sunday the one storm-related death in his state and said damage has been reported in 14 Mississippi counties.
"Tragically, one fatality was reported in Jasper County. Additionally, one injury was reported in Pontotoc County. Please pray for these Mississippians and their families," Reeves said.
The system that’s been nearly stationary over parts of the South and Midwest over the past four days, bringing a relentless stretch of life-threatening weather conditions, was on the move Sunday afternoon, heading eastward across the Southeast and bringing with it heavy rain and thunderstorms from the northern Gulf Coast up into southern Appalachia.
While the severe weather and flash-flood threat on Sunday was much lower than in previous days, a few strong to severe thunderstorms remain possible into the afternoon as the unsettled weather sweeps east.
A tornado watch was issued for portions of Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle into Sunday afternoon, with damaging wind gusts forecast along with the possibility of isolated brief tornadoes.
Saturday was expected to the final day of a multi-day high-impact flood event that has wreaked havoc across portions of the Lower and Mid-Mississippi River Valley, which remains under a high risk for flooding. ·
As of Sunday, at least 18 river gauges were in major flooding stage from Arkansas to Indiana. Up to 50 river gauges are expected to reach major flood stage in the Mid-South and the Midwest this week.
Sunday morning flood alerts stretched from Louisiana to western Pennsylvania, including major cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, Louisville, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
The heavy rain was forecast to move east through Sunday, with the highest threat for flash flooding in Alabama and Georgia including Atlanta and Birmingham. Locally, more than 5 inches of rain is possible in the South through into Monday.
Since Friday, the highest rainfall total was reported in East Memphis where more than 14 inches of rain fell. At Memphis International Airport, more than 12 inches of rain was recorded, with the city recording its wettest-ever April day on Saturday with 5.47 inches of rain.
As of Saturday evening, Memphis, Tennessee, remained under a flash flood emergency as the latest round of torrential rain continued to sweep east across parts of the mid-South Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday morning, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said the state was still dealing with severe weather threats, especially in southwest Tennessee.
"Multiple waves of significant severe weather and catastrophic flooding will continue through Sunday morning. A moderate risk of severe weather has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for southwest Tennessee with the possibility of significant strong tornadoes and damaging winds exceeding 75 mph. The severe threat should diminish after sundown," TEMA said in a statement.
Among those in Tennessee who perished in the storm was a lineman with the Carroll County Electric Department, "who lost his life while working during the recent storms," TEMA said in a statement. The agency identified the lineman as Chance Carlton.
The National Weather Service said it was a particularly dangerous situation and life-threatening flash flooding was expected. A flash flood emergency is the highest-level alert that the NWS issues for a flash flood threat.
In Arkansas over the past few days, up to a foot of rain has fallen, equal to about three months' worth of rain.
By Saturday evening, a flash flood emergency issued earlier for the Little Rock area was canceled and the worst of the heavy rain was over there. However, major flash flooding continued in the region.
Another flash flood emergency in northeastern Arkansas, including the towns of Cherokee Village and Hardy, was also canceled. Earlier Saturday, emergency management officials have relayed to the National Weather Service that multiple water rescues were ongoing in the area, which includes portions of Lawrence and Sharp counties.
According to state emergency management officials, preliminary damage reports in Arkansas included flooding on roadways, downed trees and power lines, water rescues and damage from a possible tornado near the city of Wynne. The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed the tornado.
Even though the threat of severe storms will gradually lessen over the weekend as the stationary front slowly pushes east, more unsettled weather will continue to erupt over the areas already hit hard by tornados and life-threatening flooding.
As of Sunday, more than 90 tornadoes had been reported in at least 10 states, from Kansas to Ohio.
Sunday morning brought tornado warnings for areas including Birmingham and just outside of Atlanta. Severe thunderstorms could produce tornadoes and damaging straight-line winds today from southern Louisiana into Alabama and Georgia.
On Monday, the severe risk moves into northern Florida, Georgia and into South Carolina. Damaging winds will be the biggest threat but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.
The threat of severe weather and excessive rainfall will ease on Sunday as this system begins to slide eastward. However, parts of the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley could see another 3 to 6 inches of rain before this frontal boundary completely moves out of the region by Monday.
Parts of the Southeast were under a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for severe weather, where storms were expected to generate damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes.
With that, thunderstorms generating heavy rainfall (with rates potentially reaching 2 to 3 inches per hour) could cause flash flooding in prone areas. A good portion of Georgia and Alabama, as well as parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana were under a slight risk for flooding.
- ABC News' Shawnie Caslin Martucci contributed to this report.
South Korea announces emergency measures for auto industry hit by US tariffs
SEOUL, April 9 (Reuters) - South Korea on Wednesday announced emergency support measures for its auto sector, seeking to reduce the blow of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on a sector that has seen years of sharply rising exports to the United States.
The measures include financial support for the auto industry as well as tax cuts and subsidies to boost domestic demand, while the government also vowed efforts to negotiate with the U.S. and help expand markets.
Trump has announced a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks starting on Thursday. Manufacturers are expected to bear some of the tariff costs in the first year, but will eventually alter production and possibly cease importing certain low-volume models into the U.S. market.
"Given the (lower) proportion of South Korean automakers' local production in the United States, our industry is comparably at a disadvantage," the government said in a statement.
The tariff was expected to cause "significant" damage to South Korean automakers and auto parts manufacturers, though it was difficult to come up with numerical estimates at the moment, the government said.
To help prevent any liquidity issues, the government will raise policy financing support for the auto industry to 15 trillion won ($10.18 billion) in 2025 from the 13 trillion won previously planned, according to the statement.
The government will lower taxes on automobile purchases to 3.5% from the current 5% until June 2025 and raise electric-vehicle subsidies to 30%-80% of price discounts from the current 20-40% with the period extended by six months to the end of this year.
The government said it would also actively support automakers' efforts to expand export markets in the "Global South", which refers to less developed countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where demand is growing.
Regarding U.S. tariffs, the government said: "We will do our best to ensure that the U.S. does not treat South Korea in a disadvantageous way compared with other allies, through negotiations and by strengthening bilateral cooperation," without details.
The auto industry welcomed the support plan, but said further discussions were needed on more tax benefits to boost domestic demand. "There is a lot of concern in the auto industry about whether this alone will be enough," an industry official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media.
In 2024, South Korea's exports of automobiles to the United States stood at $34.7 billion, accounting for 49% of its total auto exports.
Hyundai Motor said last week that it plans to keep sticker prices on its current model lineup steady for the next two months in an effort to ease customer concerns that the fallout from tariffs will impact dealer lots.
The programme runs until June 2, and comes after the South Korean group's $21 billion investment in the U.S. announced last month.
Hyundai Motor's co-CEO Jose Munoz said there were no plans to raise prices in the United States, Hyundai's biggest revenue-generating market.
Analysts said that Trump may have a preference to propose aggressive tariffs in order to extract quick concessions in a negotiation, adding that auto tariffs will put upward pressure on input costs for vehicles in general. Relative to the combustion engine vehicle supply chain, the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain would likely suffer a bigger impact due to a dependence on China for EV parts.
($1 = 1,473.0700 won)
Stocks slide in Asia as recession fears pummel sentiment, oil hits 4-yr lows
SYDNEY, April 9 (Reuters) - Stocks in Asia extended a slide on Wall Street on Wednesday as President Donald Trump looked set to press ahead with whopping 104% tariffs on Chinese goods, pummelling oil prices to four-year lows as global recession fears gripped financial markets.
The U.S. dollar fell against safe-haven currencies but the offshore yuan hit a record low of 7.4287 per dollar overnight. Fed fund futures jumped in early Asian trade to imply around 115 basis points of interest rate cuts this year, compared to 92 basis points early on Tuesday.
Overnight, Washington confirmed 104% duties on imports from China would take effect after midnight on Wednesday.
The shifting headlines on tariffs and the spectre of a prolonged trade war between the world's two biggest economies sparked sharp volatility in financial markets.
The S&P 500 was swept up in one of the biggest reversals in at least the last 50 years, with the benchmark index losing 4.2 percentage points from a positive start to a negative finish. The index has lost $5.8 trillion in stock market value, the deepest four-day loss since it was created in the 1950s.
Early in Asia, S&P 500 futures fell 1.5% while Nasdaq futures dropped 1.7%. The pain likewise spread to Europe, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down 4.5%, while FTSE futures lost 2.5%.
China's blue chips (.CSI300), opens new tab slipped 1.2% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HSI), opens new tab tumbled 3.1%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab fell 1.7%.
Late on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said China was manipulating currency to protect against tariffs, but he thought China would make a deal at some point.
"U.S. and China are stuck in an unprecedented, and expensive, game of chicken, and it seems that both sides are unwilling to back down," said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura.
"Given the extraordinarily fluid situation, it is impossible to reasonably estimate the impact of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war on China’s economy."
The onshore Chinese yuan was already down at 2023 lows and much attention was on the mid-point fixing from the People's Bank of China on Wednesday, which was set at 7.2066 per dollar, the weakest level since September 2023.
Analysts at JPMorgan believed the rapid escalation with U.S. tariffs on China were disruptive enough to push the global economy into recession.
"Given the import bill from China, the China tariff alone amounts to a whopping $400bn tax hike on U.S. households and businesses," they said in a note to clients. "The currency is likely to be a release valve for China policymakers."
Other stock markets in Asia were also deep in the red. Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab tumbled 3.5%, after rallying 6% on Wednesday on hopes that Tokyo may get some trade deal with the U.S. Taiwanese stocks (.TWII), opens new tab also fell 1.7% even though the government activated a $15 billion stabilisation fund.
In the Treasuries market, longer-dated bond yields jumped in part due to investors selling the safe-haven asset to cover losses elsewhere. Short-end bonds, however, rallied as investors priced in more easing from the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark 10-year yield rose another 5 basis points to 4.335%, bringing the total rise over the past three days to a whopping 34 bps.
Two-year yields fell 6 bps to 3.665%.
In currency markets, safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc found some more love, with the dollar skidding 0.6% to 145.36 yen and down 0.5% to 0.8430 Swiss franc .
The kiwi rose 0.3% to $0.5550 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates by 25 bps to 3.5%, although it cautioned about downside risks to the local economy from global trade barriers.
Oil prices dived over 4% on Wednesday on concerns about demand from China. Brent futures plunged 3.9% to $60.36 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures also tumbled 4.4% to $56.96 per barrel.
Gold struggled to regain its upward momentum and was last down 0.2% at $2,03976 per ounce, about the lowest in a month.