Eight in 10 thermal power stations within days of running out as state blackouts spark protests
India is facing a looming power crisis, as stocks of coal in power plants have fallen to unprecedentedly low levels and states are warning of power blackouts.
States across India have issued panicked warnings that coal supplies to thermal power plants, which convert heat from coal to electricity, are running perilously low.
Continue reading...Hundreds of protesters led by Indigenous activists have demonstrated in front of the White House to demand that Joe Biden stop approving fossil fuel projects and declare the climate crisis a national emergency. The rally was held for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Police moved in to break up the protest near the White House and made several arrests
Continue reading...The offensive marks the end of a ceasefire declared in June in a political conflict that has claimed thousands of lives
Tigray forces say Ethiopia’s government has launched its threatened major military offensive against them in an attempt to end a nearly year-old war.
A statement from the Tigray external affairs office alleged hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian “regular and irregular fighters” launched a coordinated assault on several fronts. It blamed Ethiopian forces and those from the country’s Amhara region, where much of the recent fighting has occurred after Tigray forces retook much of their own region in June.
Continue reading...Residents of an old people’s home in the town of Rudolstadt enjoy a visit from some furry friends
Continue reading...Slower vaccination rates in east lead to dramatic surge in cases, while UK remains outlier in west as cases rise despite vaccinations
Higher vaccination rates are translating to lower Covid infection and death rates in western Europe than in parts of central and eastern Europe, the latest data suggests – except in the UK, where case numbers are surging.
Figures from Our World In Data indicate a clear correlation between the percentage of people fully vaccinated and new daily cases and fatalities, with health systems in some under-inoculated central and eastern EU states under acute strain.
Continue reading...Families say there are lessons to be learned as first Covid cases in 16 European countries came from Italy
Relatives of coronavirus victims in Italy are pushing for a full public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic as documents from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show the first Covid-19 cases registered in 16 European countries originated from Italy.
Italy was the first western country to report an outbreak and has the second highest Covid-related death toll (131,335) in Europe after the UK (137,763).
Continue reading...Shehroze Chaudhry, who featured in New York Times podcast, had been charged under terrorism hoax laws
Canadian prosecutors have dropped charges against a man who claimed to be an Islamic State executioner after he admitted fabricating his tales of violence.
In September 2020, Shehroze Chaudhry was charged under Canada’s rarely used terrorism hoax laws, which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors withdrew those charges on Friday, after Chaudhry admitted that his account of travelling to Syria was fictitious. His trial was due to begin in February.
Continue reading...It can now be found everywhere – in cans at Asda and in cakes on The Great British Bake Off. But the caffeinated classic certainly isn’t popular with everyone
Name: The espresso martini.
Age: 38.
Continue reading...From period poverty to blockchain, initiatives raising awareness of girls’ rights abound on 11 October, but long-term help is needed after Covid setbacks
International Day of the Girl is critical in highlighting girls’ rights globally, but action is urgently needed to reverse the damage of the pandemic, campaigners have said.
“Girls who were once hopeful about their futures say to us: ‘We’re not sure if we’re going to achieve our dreams now, if we’re ever going to go back to school’,” said Emily Wilson, chief executive of UK and Uganda-based organisation Irise International, which works to combat period poverty.
Continue reading...FSO Safer has been abandoned since 2017 and loss of its 1.1m barrels would destroy Yemen’s fishing stocks
The impact of an oil spill in the Red Sea from a tanker that is rotting in the water could be far wider than anticipated, with 8 million people losing access to running water and Yemen’s Red Sea fishing stock destroyed within three weeks.
Negotiations are under way to offload the estimated 1.1m barrels of crude oil that remains onboard the FSO Safer, which has been deteriorating by the month since it was abandoned in 2017. The vessel contains four times the amount of oil released by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska in 1989, and a spill is considered increasingly probable.
Continue reading...‘Tragic reversal’ has set back progress, president says, as he calls for a comprehensive plan
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a “tragic reversal” in development and pushed debt in poor countries to record levels, the head of the World Bank has said.
David Malpass, the bank’s president, warned the virus had widened the gap between rich and poor nations, setting back progress by years and, in the case of some countries, by a decade.
Continue reading...Doubts persist over whether Miloš Zeman, Andrej Babiš’s political ally, will be able to carry out duties
The populist Czech president remained in hospital on Monday as news sank in that Andrej Babiš, the billionaire prime minister, had suffered a shattering general election defeat days after the release of the Pandora papers and that Miloš Zeman, his main political champion, may be too ill to save him.
Zeman, 77 – whose constitutional powers invest him with a kingmaker’s role potentially allowing him to keep Babiš in office – remained in Prague’s central military hospital a day after being rushed there for emergency treatment for an unspecified chronic illness. Doctors said on Monday that they had stabilised his condition, although doubts persist about his future ability to carry out his duties.
Continue reading...More than 150 turbines may be torn down after licences to operate and build them are declared void
Two windfarms in western Norway are harming reindeer herders from the Sami people by encroaching on their pastures, the country’s supreme court has ruled.
It was not immediately clear what the judgment’s consequences of would be, but lawyers for the herders said the 151 turbines on the Fosen peninsula could be torn down. The turbines, whose construction was completed in 2020, form part of the largest onshore windfarm in Europe.
Continue reading...Kais Saied will technically head administration after paring back powers of PM’s office
Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, has appointed a new government by decree, 11 weeks after firing the last one in a power grab, as the country faces acute economic and political crises.
State television broadcast a swearing-in ceremony of the cabinet headed by Najla Bouden, the north African country’s first female prime minister.
Continue reading...Officials in a south Florida city will meet this week to discuss a lawsuit filed by the city’s first Black female firefighter, after her image was replaced with a white face in a mural meant to honor local history.
Latosha Clemons, a former deputy fire chief of Boynton Beach, filed the lawsuit in April, accusing the city of defamation and negligence.
Continue reading...Canadian-born academic wins prize with Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens
A labour market expert whose work influenced the introduction of the UK’s minimum wage has been named as a joint winner of the Nobel economics prize.
David Card, a Canadian-born economist, was one of three US-based academics given the prestigious award for their work on whether economic theory is supported by real-life situations.
Continue reading...Exclusive: upbeat US climate envoy anticipates big announcements from key players at Glasgow talks
The world is poised to make a big leap forward at the UN Cop26 climate summit, with world leaders “sharpening their pencils” to make fresh commitments that could put the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement within reach, John Kerry has said.
Kerry, special envoy for climate to Joe Biden, gave an upbeat assessment of the prospects for Cop26, which begins in Glasgow at the end of this month, saying he anticipated “surprising announcements” from key countries.
Continue reading...Point will come when EU says ‘enough, we cannot compromise any more’, warns Irish foreign minister
The EU is close to the end of the road with the UK over the Northern Ireland protocol, accusing David Frost, the Brexit minister, of trying to undermine serious attempts to solve the problem, the Irish foreign minister has said.
Simon Coveney said he had spoken to Lord Frost’s counterpart, the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, on Sunday. They have agreed there would come a point when “the EU will say: enough, we cannot compromise any more”, Coveney said.
Continue reading...Campaigners say president’s veto is ‘absurd and inhumane’ in country where period poverty keeps one in four girls out of school
President Jair Bolsonaro’s decision to block a plan to distribute free sanitary pads and tampons to disadvantaged girls and women has been met with outrage in Brazil, where period poverty is estimated to keep one in four girls out of school.
Bolsonaro vetoed part of a bill that would have given sanitary products at no charge to groups including homeless people, prisoners and teenage girls at state schools. It was expected to benefit 5.6 million women and was part of a bigger package of laws to promote menstrual health, which has been approved by legislators.
Continue reading...Autumn Assembly is the highest and most important Yazidi holiday. It takes place in the holy city of Lalish, which is believed to be the place where creation began and where the seat of God descended to rule the earth. It also houses the tombs of Sheikh Adi and other holy figures. The town is considered so sacred that you are not allowed to enter while wearing shoes, especially during the assembly
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