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by Catherine HOURS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — As the costs of importing energy soars worldwide and climate crises wreak havoc, interest in nuclear power is on the rise with nations scrambling to find alternative sources. Investment in nuclear power declined after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster, the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, as fears over its safety increased and governments ran scared. But following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February, […]
by Roland JACKSON Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — European natural gas prices climbed Thursday towards a record peak on heightened fears over Russian supplies, while equities rose on the eve of a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Europe’s benchmark Dutch TTF gas contract advanced to 322 euros per megawatt hour, not far from the record high 345 euros struck in March shortly after key gas producer […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German consumer confidence is at rock-bottom as Europe’s biggest economy faces the prospect of huge energy bills heading into the winter, a key survey showed on Friday. Pollster GfK’s forward-looking barometer fell to minus 36.5 points for September, the lowest level since its records began in 1991, following a revised August reading of minus 30.9 points. “The sharp rise in the propensity to save this month is causing the consumer […]
NIAMEY, Niger (AFP) – Niger has deployed rainmaking planes in a bid to alleviate a drought that has sparked fears of a food crisis in the desert nation, weather authorities said Thursday. “We had to do something about this drought,” said Katiellou Gaptia Lawan, head of the national meteorology institute. Niger has been parched by “many extended dry spells that are upsetting the development of crops and pastures”. The Sahel country — the world’s poorest […]
by Roland JACKSON / Véronique DUPONT Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain announced Friday a vast 80-percent hike in electricity and gas bills, in a dramatic worsening of the cost-of-living crisis before winter as the UK awaits a new leader. Regulator Ofgem said its energy price cap, which sets prices for consumers who are not on a fixed deal with their supplier, will in October increase to an average £3,549 ($4,197) per year […]
by Oleksandr KHOROCHOUN Agence France-Presse CHAPLYNE, Ukraine (AFP) — “It’s such a shame for this boy, such a shame,” said Viktor, a resident of the Ukrainian city of Chaplyne, whose young neighbor was killed by a Russian strike. Russian missiles slammed into the town of 4,000 people, a railway hub in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, killing 25 people including two children and injuring 31, the presidency said Thursday. “An 11-year-old boy was killed under the […]
by Agnès PEDRERO Agence France-Presse FINHAUT-EMOSSON, Switzerland (AFP) — Switzerland is among the world’s wealthiest countries, but its reliance on Russian gas and French nuclear power — both in short supply — has it bracing for power shortages and even blackouts this winter. With hundreds of hydropower plants spread across the Alps, Switzerland produces more than enough power in the summer months. However, the landlocked nation is forced to turn to imports when the cold […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Monkeypox cases fell by a fifth last week as infections in Europe dropped but the outbreak is going through “intense transmission” in the Americas, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The WHO sounded the alarm for Latin America in particular, pointing to a lack of awareness and public health measures to control the spread of the virus. A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the African […]
JABALIA, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Living in one of the poorest parts of the Middle East and facing some of the region’s highest fuel costs, Palestinians in Gaza are burning plastic to make affordable diesel. It’s an economic and practical solution in a territory blockaded by Israel for 15 years, but one which poses serious environmental and health risks, experts say. Standing before rusty metal machinery and fuel containers, Mahmoud al-Kafarneh described how he and […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Signs are growing that Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social is in financial trouble, with just a modest following six months after launching. Fox Business Network reported Thursday that the platform has halted payments to the company that hosts it, RightForge, and owes $1.6 million. The platform’s parent company, Trump Media and Technology Group, did not respond to a request for comment. A RightForge spokesman would not comment […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Friday that the fever cases it detected earlier this week were found to be influenza, and not a Covid-19 resurgence as initially suspected. The state media announcement came a day after authorities said they had locked down parts of Ryanggang province — which borders China — after finding four new “fever” cases there. North Korea refers to “fever patients” rather than “Covid patients” in case reports, apparently […]
by Joe STENSON Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Washington on Thursday warned Russia against diverting energy from a nuclear plant Kyiv says was cut off from its grid, as calls for an independent inspection of the facility mount. Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is under occupation by Moscow’s troops and was disconnected from the national power supply on Thursday, the state energy operator said. The United States cautioned Russia against redirecting energy from the site. […]
