LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – German-owned luxury car brand Bentley said Wednesday that its first all-electric vehicle will be ready by 2025, as it unveiled major investment on becoming a fully carbon zero company. Its first battery-powered electric vehicle will be developed and built at its factory in Crewe, northwest England, Bentley said in a statement. The carmaker, owned by Volkswagen, added it was investing £2.5 billion ($3.4 billion, 3.0 billion euros) “in sustainability over […]
Life
Workers in Peru race to reopen Machu Picchu after floods
PERU (AFP) – Teams of workers raced Wednesday to clear mud and debris from the only transport access to the jewel of Peru’s tourism sector, Machu Picchu, following torrential rain in the Andes. Heavy downfalls on Friday caused the Alcamayo river that runs through the small tourist town of Machu Picchu Pueblo — at the foot of the mountain that boasts the world famous Inca citadel — to burst its banks. Almost 900 tourists were […]
Nord Stream 2 parent founds German subsidiary
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) – The operating company behind the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany said Wednesday it has founded a German subsidiary as it seeks to get the pipeline up and running amid rising diplomatic tensions. “The new company is to become the owner and operator of the 54-kilometre section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline located in the German territorial waters,” the Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG said in a statement. […]
New oil leak off Peru coast amid crude spill cleanup: Lima
EL CALLAO, Peru (AFP) – A fresh oil leak has occurred off the coast of Peru — already cleaning up after a major crude spill 10 days earlier — during work on an underwater refinery pipeline, the government said Wednesday. The leak occurred Tuesday during work at the La Pampilla refinery, owned by Spanish company Repsol, the environment ministry said. It occurred during “work being done prior to the removal of the PLEM (pipeline end […]
Winter Olympics threatened by climate change, says report
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Climate change is threatening the future of the Winter Olympics, reducing the number of suitable venues for the event around the globe, a report warned ahead of the Beijing Games. The Olympics in China, which start on February 4, will be the first Winter Games to rely almost 100 percent on artificial snow, according to the study. “Slippery Slopes: How Climate Change is Threatening the Winter Olympics”, was produced by […]
Moderna begins trial of Omicron-specific vaccine booster
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech company Moderna announced on Wednesday that it has begun clinical trials of a booster dose of vaccine designed specifically to combat the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The trials will involve a total of 600 adults — half of whom have already received two doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine at least six months ago, and half of whom have received two doses plus the previously authorized booster dose. […]
The exiled sculptor of ‘all that is no longer there’ in Syria
by Lucie PEYTERMANN Agence France-Presse VANVESS, France (AFP) – A Syrian neighbourhood targeted by regime bombing lies in ruins, with bodies and broken toys poking out of the rubble; tall, grey buildings are reduced to crumbling, empty shells, their walls blown away or pockmarked by the blast. The scene, captured in devastating detail, has been created by artist Khaled Dawwa, a Syrian exile and prison survivor who now works in France. In his colossal work […]
Rio Tinto begins underground work at vast Mongolia copper mine: state media
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AFP) – Underground operations have finally begun at a copper mine in Mongolia, official media has reported, ending years of delays for Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto. The massive Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper mine has been mired in controversy for years and disrupted by protests from locals worried about environmental damage and foreign influence. While it started production from an open-pit mine several years after Mongolian authorities inked a deal in 2009, Rio Tinto secured […]
Hydrogen planes not enough to green aviation: study
PARIS, France (AFP) – The aviation industry looks at hydrogen-fuelled planes as a solution to decarbonise the sector, but a report by an environmental group released Wednesday found that they will only help limit CO2 emissions. Using hydrogen as fuel produces no climate-warming CO2 when it burns, just water. Automakers and planemakers alike have been looking at it as a means to reduce the climate impact of the transportation sector, although currently most production of […]
GM to spend $7 bn in Michigan to build electric auto capacity
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – General Motors announced Tuesday plans to invest $7 billion in the US state of Michigan as it converts assembly plants and builds batteries for the transition to electric vehicles (EV). Calling the announcement “the largest single investment in GM history,” the auto giant said the push in its Midwestern home state would create 4,000 new jobs and retain 1,000 more positions. GM has previously projected that it will double […]
Slovak flying car receives official certification
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AFP) – Slovakia’s Transport Authority on Tuesday said it had issued a certificate of airworthiness for flying car model AirCar, a first step towards commercial production of the invention. “AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars,” said Stefan Klein, founder and chief executive of KleinVision, a company that designed and manufactured the prototype of the dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle. “It is an official and final confirmation of our […]
Omicron risk remains very high: WHO
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The risk level related to the Omicron variant remains very high, the WHO said late Tuesday, with the numbers of new Covid-19 cases hitting another record high last week. “Over 21 million new cases were reported, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic,” the World Health Organization said in its weekly epidemiological coronavirus update. The UN health agency said the number of new infections […]





