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(Adds White House response in paragraph 5) By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Pope Leo on Tuesday appeared to offer his strongest criticism yet of U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies, questioning whether they were in line with the Catholic Church's pro-life teachings. "Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life," the pontiff told journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Catholic Church's position that life is sacred from conception until natural death is one of the 1.4-billion-member denomination's strongest teachings. Leo, the first U.S. pope, was responding to a question from a U.S. journalist who asked about the country's politics. The White House said Trump was elected based on his many promises, including to deport criminal illegal aliens. "He is keeping his promise to the American people," spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded in a statement. Elected in May to replace the late Pope Francis, Leo has shown a much more reserved style than his predecessor, who frequently criticized the Trump administration. Leo was asked about a decision by the archdiocese of Chicago to give an award to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat who supports abortion rights. The move has attracted vocal criticism from conservative Catholics, including several U.S. bishops. "It is very important to look at the overall work that the Senator has done," said the pope. "I understand the difficulty and the tensions but I think, as I myself have spoken in the past, it's important to look at many issues that are related to what is the teaching of the Church," he said. "Someone who says I am against abortion but says I am in favour of the death penalty is not really pro-life," said the pope. (Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Richard Chang and Lincoln Feast.)

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Sept 30 (Reuters) – Diagnosticos da America SA : * SELLS MANTRIS AND MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS OPERATION IN ARGENTINA FOR 704.8 MILLION REAIS – FILING Further company coverage: (Reporting by Sao Paulo newsroom)

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U.S. SAYS THERE ARE LEGISLATIVE CONSTRAINTS TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE U.S. VISA SYSTEMS FOR SOUTH KOREA WORKERS – SOUTH KOREA MINISTRY

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SOUTH KOREA, U.S. AGREE TO SET UP DEDICATED SECTION FOR U.S. VISAS AT U.S. EMBASSY IN SEOUL – YONHAP

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Sept 30 (Reuters) – Following are selected highlights from a report issued on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service post in Beijing: "Post forecasts MY (marketing year) 2025/26 China corn production at 298 MMT (million metric tons), up 3 MMT from MY2024/25. MY2025/26 corn imports are projected at 7 MMT, down sharply from 23 MMT in MY2023/24 as Beijing restricts grain imports. Wheat production is forecast at 140 MMT for MY2025/26, unchanged from MY2024/25, with imports projected at 6 MMT, up from 4.2 MMT as feed demand increases. Rice production remains stable at 146 MMT for MY2025/26, unchanged from MY2024/25, while imports increase to 2.8 MMT from 2.3 MMT due to competitive international prices. Sorghum imports are forecast to decline to 5 MMT in MY2025/26, with no U.S. shipments since March 2025, while barley imports remain at 10 MMT." To read the full report, click: https://tinyurl.com/fzzwp6m9 (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese)

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* Curtailments jumped to 2.3% of green power generation in year to August, data shows * Japan has restarted 14 of 33 commercially available nuclear reactors since Fukushima disaster * Trend could threaten future investments in Japan's renewables energy sector By Sudarshan Varadhan SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Curtailment of wind and solar power generation in Japan is set to rise to record levels this year due to increased nuclear power use, a Reuters review of industry data showed, exacerbating pain for a sector seeing an exodus of players. In the years since the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted a nationwide nuclear shutdown, the world's fifth-largest power producer has gradually restarted some nuclear plants. Fourteen of 33 commercially available reactors have been restarted, including two that came back online last year. Another received preliminary approval this year for a restart that may not come until 2027. That has helped cut Japan's fuel costs, particularly expensive fossil fuel imports, and meet rising power demand from chipmakers and data centres. But since nuclear power cannot be easily ramped up and down, grid flexibility has suffered. Curtailments refer to the amount of wind or solar power that could have been produced but was pre-emptively rejected because a grid hit its limits. Across nine of Japan's ten grid regions, curtailments jumped 38.2% to 1.77 terawatt-hours (TWh) or 2.3% of total green power generation in the eight months through August, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the Renewable Energy Institute (REI). That compares with 1.28 TWh or 1.8% of renewable output in the same period last year, and the previous annual record of 1.9% in 2023. "Nuclear units are prioritised in Japan's electricity dispatch, meaning wind and solar are forced to curtail," said Michiyo Miyamoto, Japan energy finance specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). She cited increased output from the Shimane No.2 reactor in the western region of Chugoku, which was restarted in December, as one such example. DISTANT GOALS Japan wants renewables to account for as much as 50% of its annual power output by 2040 and for nuclear to make up 20%. That compares with levels of 23% and 8.5% in fiscal 2023 respectively. But the loss of revenue from curtailments has only added to tougher times for the renewable energy sector in Japan. A record 52 renewable energy developers exited Japan in the fiscal year ended March – including eight bankruptcies, IEEFA said in an August report. August also saw groups led by trading house giant Mitsubishi walk away from three offshore wind projects due to soaring costs, stirring concerns about the viability of other offshore wind projects. New wind and solar installations in Japan grew just 3.3% in 2024, the slowest pace since 2009, data from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows. "If curtailments rise beyond expectations, this will make it harder for renewable projects to recover their costs, which may discourage new investments," said Kenichi Onishi, researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. The Japan Community Power Association, the Japan Council for Renewable Energy and the Japan Wind Energy Association did not respond to requests for comment. Transmission shortages and maintenance outages have also led to increased curtailment. During the first five months of the current fiscal year ended August, the island of Kyushu had curtailments of 7.6% while the northern region of Tohoku saw the biggest climb, from 2.1% to 5.8%, REI data showed. "The main issue is insufficient grid transfer capacity from high-renewables regions. Kyushu's photovoltaics build-out outpaced local demand and export capability," said Uran-Ulizi Batyabar, Tokyo-based analyst at Rystad Energy. Japan is working to reduce curtailments by building inter-regional transmission lines, promoting battery storage, and encouraging demand during periods of high power generation, said Minoru Shioda, an official at the industry ministry's energy efficiency and renewable energy department. Shioda said higher hydropower generation due to heavier-than-expected snowfall led to curtailments in Tohoku this spring. Analysts also cited the restart of an Onagawa nuclear unit in Tohoku last October as a key reason for the curbs. "Unless regulatory reform prioritises renewables over incumbents, Japan risks falling further behind global trends (of surging renewables growth)," said Tetsunari Iida, chairperson of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies. ($1 = 148.56 yen) (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore, Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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SEOUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) – OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman on Wednesday plans to meet with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who seeks to boost Asia's fourth-biggest economy through a policy of boosting investment in artificial intelligence, the presidential office has said. The meeting will take place at the presidential office in center Seoul at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT), the office said. OpenAI this year set up its first office in Seoul and appointed former Google official KyoungHoon Kim to lead the operation, as demand in the country jumps for its ChatGPT service. South Korea has the largest number of paying ChatGPT subscribers after the United States, according to OpenAI. During his visit to Seoul, Altman is also expected to meet with leaders of South Korea's chipmakers – Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which make advanced memory chips used in AI data centers, media reports said. At the White House in January, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the "Stargate" AI infrastructure project that would cost half a trillion dollars and be developed by OpenAI and its partners. including SoftBank and Oracle. Nvidia said last week that it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply it with data center chips. Earlier this year, OpenAI said it would develop AI products for South Korea with South Korea's dominant chat app operator Kakao. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Sept 30 (Reuters) – Kiboko Gold Inc.: * KIBOKO ANNOUNCES PROPOSED SHARE CONSOLIDATION AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT * KIBOKO GOLD INC. – CONSOLIDATION ON BASIS OF 1 FOR 10 SHARES * KIBOKO GOLD INC. – PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF 10,000,000 UNITS AT $0.10 EACH Source text: Further company coverage:

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Sept 30 (Reuters) – Abrdn Healthcare Investors: * ABERDEEN INVESTMENTS U.S. CLOSED-END FUNDS ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT DETAILS Source text: Further company coverage:

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Sept 30 (Reuters) – TV data company Alphonso said on Tuesday it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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