World champions Spain, new-look USA top Olympic women's football billing

Paris (AFP) – A rejuvenated United States team under new coach Emma Hayes are targeting a record-extending fifth women's football gold medal at the Paris Olympics but face stiff competition, not least in the shape of World Cup holders Spain and their all-star line-up.

Issued on: 24/07/2024 -

Former Chelsea coach Emma Hayes leads the USA women's team into the Paris Olympics © Darren Staples / AFP/File

The USA just about remain the biggest draw in women's soccer despite disappointing recent results and the departures of several veteran stars.

They won gold when women's football was introduced to the Olympics in 1996, and won three in a row in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

But they exited in the quarter-finals in 2016 and settled for bronze three years ago in Tokyo after losing to eventual champions Canada in the semis.

HUBRIS

That was followed by a shock last-16 exit at the World Cup a year ago in Australia and New Zealand, a disappointing end to the iconic Megan Rapinoe's international career and an outcome that precipitated the exit of coach Vlatko Andonovski.

They come to Paris under the leadership of English former Chelsea boss Hayes, probably the outstanding female coach in the sport.

She made a striking decision when naming her squad for the Games by choosing to leave out Alex Morgan, one of the leading players in the sides that won the 2015 and 2019 World Cups but now in her twilight years at the age of 35.

"It was a tough decision of course...especially considering Alex's history and record with this team, but I felt I wanted to go in another direction and selected other players," said Hayes.

It is a younger USA squad now, although players like Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith will benefit from the experience garnered at the World Cup.

Experience is still there, too, notably in the shape of Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle, members of the side that won the World Cup in France in 2019.

The USA are in a difficult Group B with Germany, Australia and a Zambia team who are outsiders but boast exciting forwards in Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji.

The format –- with 12 teams in three groups of four –- means the two best third-placed sides advance to the quarter-finals, providing a safety net in the event of slip-ups.
Bonmati aims big

Germany, gold medallists in 2016, will aim to bounce back from their group-stage exit at the World Cup but have lost key midfielder Lena Oberdorf to injury.

Australia are hoping to build on their run to the semi-finals in that World Cup on home soil, yet they are missing Sam Kerr, their captain, as she recovers from an ACL injury.

Reigning Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati is set to star for World Cup holders Spain 

© STR / AFP/File

Spain, in Group C with Japan, Nigeria and Brazil, will take some beating as they arrive in Paris with the stars who led them to World Cup glory 11 months ago.

Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo are the standouts in a superb side that also won the UEFA Women's Nations League this year and are now making their Olympic debut.

"I'm sure lots of people and lots of teams see us as favourites, but this competition is a bit different," Bonmati told Marca.

"We play lots of matches in a short space of time, and against good sides, so it will be very difficult. But obviously we have the maximum ambition and are going for gold."

Spain kick off against 2012 silver medallists Japan, whose side includes Hinata Miyazawa, top scorer at the World Cup.

Nigeria are the top-ranked African nation, while Brazil are two-time silver medallists and hope to contend again in legendary forward Marta's sixth Olympics at the age of 38.

France, meanwhile, are aiming big on home soil as they face reigning Olympic champions Canada, New Zealand and the Colombia of teenage sensation Linda Caicedo in Group A.

"The objective, like that of every French athlete, is to win a medal. It won't be easy, but it has to be the aim," said coach Herve Renard, who will leave after the tournament which begins on Thursday and runs until August 10.

Games will be played around France, with the semi-finals in Lyon and Marseille. However, the gold-medal match will be in Paris.

© 2024 AFP

A PLAGUE UPON BOTH YOUR HOUSES

Sudan's paramilitary chief to participate in US-mediated ceasefire talks

BOTH SIDES PRACTICE WAR AS RAPE

The leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said Wednesday that he was willing to explore avenues towards a “peaceful, negotiated political solution” to the war with the Sudanese army through US-mediated talks in Switzerland.


Issued on: 24/07/2024 - 05:39
1 min

People set up their tents at a camp for internally displaced Sudanese from Sennar state, in the al-Huri district of Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 14, 2024. 

© AFP

By:NEWS WIRES

The United States has invited the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for US-mediated ceasefire talks starting on Aug. 14 in Switzerland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said early on Wednesday they will constructively participate in the talks to achieve "a comprehensive ceasefire across the country and facilitate humanitarian access to all those in need."

"We reaffirm our firm stance ... which is the insistence on saving lives, stopping the fighting, and paving the way for a peaceful, negotiated political solution that restores the country to civilian rule and the path of democratic transition," Dagalo said in a statement.

The talks will include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations as observers, Blinken said in a statement. Saudi Arabia will be a co-host for the discussions, he added.

"The scale of death, suffering, and destruction in Sudan is devastating. This senseless conflict must end," Blinken said, calling on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to attend the talks and approach them constructively.


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The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically-driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.

Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the goal of the talks in Switzerland was to build on work from Jeddah and try to move the talks to the next phase.

"We just want to get the parties back to the table, and what we determined is that bringing the parties, the three host nations and the observers together is the best shot that we have right now at getting the nationwide cessation of violence," Miller said.

(Reuters)

Scramble to send aid after Ethiopia landslide kills over 200

Addis Ababa (AFP) – Humanitarian agencies were scrambling Tuesday to send desperately needed aid to a remote area of southern Ethiopia where a landslide has killed more than 200 people in the deadliest such disaster recorded in the Horn of Africa nation.


Issued on: 23/07/2024 - 

Map showing the approximate area of the deadly landslide in Southern Ethiopia 

© Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Valentina BRESCHI / AFP

Crowds gathered at the site of the tragedy in an isolated and mountainous area of South Ethiopia regional state as residents used shovels or their bare hands to dig through mounds of red dirt in the hunt for victims and survivors, according to images posted by the local authority.

So far, 148 men and 81 women are confirmed to have died after the disaster struck on Monday in the Kencho-Shacha locality in the Gofa Zone, the local Communications Affairs Department said.

Images published on social media by the Gofa authority showed residents carrying bodies on makeshift stretchers, some wrapped in plastic sheeting.

Five people had been pulled alive from the mud and were receiving treatment at medical facilities, the government-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported earlier.

It quoted local administrator Dagemawi Ayele as saying that most of the victims were buried after they went to help local residents hit by a first landslide following heavy rains.

Dagemawi said that among the victims were the locality's administrator as well as teachers, health professionals and agricultural professionals.

The UN's humanitarian response agency OCHA said more than 14,000 people had been affected in the hard-to-access area, which is roughly 450 kilometres (270 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa, about a 10-hour drive.

It said support for those affected was mostly being shouldered by the local community but some initial relief items had been sent by federal and regional authorities and local partners, including four trucks of supplies dispatched by the Ethiopian Red Cross for 500 households.

"Agencies are ready to deliver critical supplies, including food, medical items, and water, sanitation and hygiene support," OCHA said, adding that agencies would be assessing the scale of the impact of the tragedy, including displacement and damage to livelihoods.

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with around 120 million people, is highly vulnerable to climate disasters including flooding and drought.
'Landslide engulfed them'

"I am deeply saddened by this terrible loss," Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on X.

"Following the accident, the Federal Disaster Prevention Task Force has been deployed to the area and is working to reduce the impact of the disaster."

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, sent a message of condolence on X and said a WHO team was being deployed to support immediate health needs.

African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat also posted a statement on X, saying "our hearts and prayers" were with the families of the victims.

Firaol Bekele, early warning director at the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC), told AFP that residents had mobilised to try to save lives after four households were initially affected by a mudslide.

"But they too perished when the landslide engulfed them," he said, adding that the commission had sent an emergency team to the area, along with food and other aid for the stricken community.

He said there needed to be a "solid assessment and scientific investigation" into the cause of the landslide.

"An integrated, study-based solution is needed to address the risk permanently. This may include relocating the population."
Seasonal rains cause havoc

OCHA said Tuesday that a similar, but lower-scale landslide had occurred in May in the same area, where more than 50 people had died.

Seasonal rains in South Ethiopia state between April and early May had caused flooding, mass displacement and damage to livelihoods and infrastructure, it had said in May.

"This isn't the first time this type of disaster has happened," said an Ethiopian refugee living in Kenya who is from a district located near the site.

"Last year in a similar disaster more than 20 people were killed and before that almost every rainy season people die because of landslides and heavy rains in that area."

In another incident in 2017, at least 113 people died when a mountain of garbage collapsed in a dump in the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

The deadliest landslide in Africa was in Sierra Leone's capital in Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.

Mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people in February 2010.

© 2024 AFP

Streets turned into rivers as Typhoon Gaemi hits Philippines

Manila (AFP) – Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.


Issued on: 24/07/2024 -

People making their way through a flooded street in Manila as Typhoon Gaemi hit © Ted ALJIBE / AFP

In the densely populated capital, rescuers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers.

People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping trolleys to move around.

Government offices were shut and classes suspended, while more than 70 domestic and international flights were cancelled because of the weather.

"Many areas are flooded so we have rescuers deployed all over the city. There is an overwhelming number of people asking for help," Peachy de Leon, a disaster official in suburban Manila, told AFP.

"We were told last night the rain will not hit us, then the rain suddenly poured so we were quite shocked. There is an ongoing search and rescue now."

Typhoon Gaemi, which has swept past the Philippines as it heads towards Taiwan, intensified the southwest monsoon rains typical for this time of year, the state weather forecaster said.

"Usually the peak of rainy season is July and August and it so happens that there is a typhoon in the eastern waters of the Philippines that enhances the southwest monsoon," senior weather specialist Glaiza Escullar told AFP.
A bus ploughs through a flooded street in Manila © Ted ALJIBE / AFP

More than 200 millimetres (nearly eight inches) of rain fell in the capital in the past 24 hours, Escullar said, which was "not unusual".

Landslides killed a pregnant woman and three children in Batangas province, south of Manila, and blocked three major roads in the mountainous Benguet province, police and disaster officials said Wednesday.

That takes the death toll from heavy rains over swaths of the country in the past two weeks to at least 12, as tens of thousands sheltered in evacuation centres.

Taiwan braces for Typhoon Gaemi to make landfall

Yilan (AFP) – Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast.

Issued on: 24/07/2024 - 

Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and issued a typhoon holiday on Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island © Sam Yeh / AFP

Typhoon Gaemi, packing sustained wind speeds of 162 kilometres (100 miles) per hour, also affected Japan and the Philippines -- which also announced that government offices would close for the day.

It is expected to make landfall in northeast Taiwan by 10 pm (1400 GMT), and President Lai Ching-te urged everyone to "put safety first" during a morning emergency briefing.

"Gaemi is this year's first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan," Lai said.

"I hope that through our joint efforts, impact from the typhoon can be minimised... I also encourage fellow citizens across the country not to go out unless necessary during the typhoon, especially not to dangerous places."

The weather forced the self-ruled island to cancel some of its annual Han Kuang war games -- which test preparedness for a Chinese invasion -- but an anti-landing drill went ahead as scheduled on Wednesday morning on Penghu island, west of Taiwan.

Authorities evacuated more than 2,100 people living in precarious conditions in three northern regions, particularly Hualien -- a mountainous area with high risk of landslides.

Trains and ferry services were suspended and more than 250 international flights were cancelled on Wednesday.

"We expect that the impact of the typhoon will be extended to four days (until Friday)," said Taiwan's Central Weather Administration chief Cheng Jia-ping, adding that the public would need to "take precautions against heavy rain and strong wind".

Massive waves crashed against the coast of northeastern Yilan county and, in the capital Taipei, shops and government offices were closed.

Massive waves crashed against the coast of northeastern Yilan county © I-Hwa CHENG / AFP

Student Ray Su said he was "very happy" that he didn't have to go to cram school -- a specialised centre that tutors students.

"When the teacher announced the typhoon holiday last night, the whole class cheered," Su told AFP, adding that he was "not too worried" about the typhoon's impact.

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it will maintain normal production and the firm "has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures" at all fabrication plants.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but experts say climate change has increased their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.

In neighbouring Japan, authorities of a southern island region of Okinawa urged residents to "exercise strong vigilance" against storms, high waves and floods.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, heavy downpours in Manila triggered widespread flooding and a landslide in a nearby mountainous province killed four people.

burs-dhc/fox

© 2024 AFP

RIP

UK blues legend John Mayall dead at 90

Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

MY FIRST 3 BLUES ALBUMS 

WERE JOHN MAYALL

Issued on: 24/07/2024 

Blues legend John Mayall, who died on July 22, 2024 at age 90, is seen performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2009 © Rick Diamond / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.


At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.

© 2024 AFP

 

 

Strike threat lingers over Olympics opening ceremony

Paris (AFP) – Negotiations to end a strike threat from several hundred dancers involved in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony failed to reach an agreement Tuesday, meaning the event still faces the risk of disruption.


Issued on: 23/07/2024 

T

he Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony will take place along the river Seine © SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

The SFA-CGT union, which says it represents roughly 10 percent of the 3,000 performers involved in the opening ceremony, filed a strike notice last week over what it said were "outrageous disparities" in pay between dancers.

A meeting Tuesday between the union and the organising committee for the Games resulted in an offer of 120 euros ($130) extra for the lowest paid performers, which was rejected.

"This Tuesday, a timid proposal was finally made to us, related to an increase in pay for broadcasting rights," the union said in a statement sent to AFP.

The strike threat is an unwelcome development for French organisers and risks deepening France's reputation for labour disputes just as the eyes of the world fall on Paris for the start of the Games this Friday.

A whole host of French public sector workers have threatened strikes or have stopped work ahead of the Olympics to demand bonuses for working over the July 26-August 11 event, which coincides with the summer holidays.

One-off payments of up to 1,900 euros have been agreed for police and municipal workers in Paris.

The head of the formerly Communist-aligned CGT, Sophie Binet, urged the company producing the opening ceremony, Paname 2024, to quickly reach an agreement to end the strike threat.

Some of the dancers protested on Monday during rehearsals by the river Seine by stopping and holding their fists aloft for eight minutes.

The opening ceremony is set to take place over a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river Seine, with around 6,000-7,000 athletes expected to sail down the river on 85 boats.

It will be the first time a summer Olympics has opened outside of the main athletics stadium.

A small union at Paris airport operator ADP has also filed a strike notice for Friday.

Management of the company reached an agreement last week with most labour groups to end a dispute over Olympic bonuses.

© 2024 AFP

The cost of email: Major carbon generating countries revealed


By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 23, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Computer laptop. — Image © Tim Sandle

A new study finds that sending and receiving emails emits about 1344.3 tons of carbon globally on a daily basis. Looking at one specific country, the UK sends 8.32 billion emails daily causing a carbon footprint of 2,751 tons. In contrast, the US emits 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide by sending out 9.7 billion emails daily.

Data has been compiled by the firm Zero Bounce around the countries sending out the most emails daily, resulting in the most amount of carbon dioxide emissions. The study used the most recent reports of population numbers from the World Population Review.

The information about the percentage of email users was retrieved from the reports by Statista and the reports about the number of emails sent out per country were taken from the Talos Intelligence website.

It is globally recognized that on average one email transaction emits 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide. The carbon footprint was calculated according to the number of emails sent out per user. For clearer results, the grams were translated into tons. Per capita carbon footprint is indicated in grams.

Country	Population	% of email users	Number of email users	Emails sent in billions daily	Daily Carbon footprint in tons (0.3 grams per email)	Daily Carbon footprint in grams per user
United States	341,814,420	89.45%	305,752,998.69	9.7	3,207.67	9.52
Germany	83,252,474	83.00%	69,099,553.42	8.5	2,810.85	36.90
Ireland	5,089,478	93%	4,733,214.54	8.4	2,777.78	532.41
Netherlands	17,671,125	90.00%	15,904,012.50	8.35	2,761.24	157.51
United Kingdom	67,961,439	85.00%	57,767,223.15	8.32	2,751.32	43.21
France	64,881,830	94%	60,988,920.20	8.31	2,748.02	40.88
Austria	8,977,139	80%	7,181,711.20	8.27	2,734.79	345.46
Japan	122,631,432	75%	91,973,574.00	8.25	2,728.17	26.91
India	1,441,719,852	82.40%	1,187,977,158.05	8.2	2,711.64	2.07
Belgium	11,715,774	86.21%	10,100,168.77	8.1	2,678.57	240.59

The U.S. tops the ranking, with the most amount of daily carbon emissions because of email use. 89.45 percent of the US population uses emails, emitting on average 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide daily.Each user, on average, sends or receives 31.72 emails per day, contributing 9.52 grams to the daily carbon footprint per capita. The United States’ email activity accounts for 6.82 percent of the overall world email traffic, the second largest in the list.

Germany ranks second with the total amount of carbon emissions due to email transactions. Germans use email, equating to 69 million out of 83.2 million users. Germans send 8.5 billion emails daily, generating a daily carbon footprint of 2,550,000 kilograms or 2,810 tons. Each user, on average, sends or receives 123.01 emails per day, resulting in a per capita carbon footprint of 36.90 grams.

Ireland ranks third, with the highest amount of carbon emitted daily at roughly 532 grams per user. 4.7 million individuals out of 5 million uses email. The country sends 8.4 billion emails daily, leading to a significant daily carbon footprint of 2777 tons. Ireland’s email activity represents.

A statement from Zero Bounce explains: “There is a substantial carbon emission from email usage, that emphasizes the need for greater awareness and strategies to reduce the digital carbon footprint. Understanding the environmental impact of our digital communication practices is crucial for developing sustainable solutions and mitigating climate change.”

WAR IS ECOCIDE

Russia ‘killing’ climate, say activists awaiting top rights court ruling

By AFP
July 23, 2024

Mechanics of the Ukrainian army's 14th Mechanised Brigade pass by their main battle tank and a captured Russian tank in 2023 - Copyright South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP/File Handout
Nina LARSON

Activists are asking Europe’s top rights court to fault Russia for creating a “climate catastrophe”, saying Moscow’s war on Ukraine is contributing to a spike in its greenhouse gas emissions.

Russian environmental group Ecodefense and 18 individuals filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last year, saying Moscow’s actions were worsening the global climate crisis, in violation of human rights.

“Russia is killing the climate,” Ecodefense co-chair Vladimir Slivyak told AFP in a recent interview in Geneva.

He highlighted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed the 2015 Paris Climate accord, which set the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

But he charged that Russia was failing to limit greenhouse gas emissions or reduce the extraction of fossil fuels.

Instead, he said internal policy documents show that Russia is planning “only growing extraction of coal, oil and gas” for the next decade at least.

“In some scenarios it is up 50 percent.”



– War fuelling emissions –



Slivyak, who left Russia in 2021 amid a crackdown on civil society ahead of legislative elections, said Russia’s growing emissions were closely linked to its war in Ukraine.

While official statistics are unavailable, he said “there must be a big increase in greenhouse gas emissions during the war”, with additional production lines for tanks and weapons as well as emissions when the arms are used.

At the same time, “Russia can continue the war only if it sells enough” of its fossil fuels, he said, urging more sanctions.

“If the world right now stopped buying fossil fuel from Russia, that would likely lead to the end of this war this year.”

The plaintiffs filed their case last August, after first attempting to take it to Russia’s Supreme Court, which refused to hear the claim.

“We want the court to decide that the Russian policy… is dangerous for climate and the world,” Slivyak said.



– ‘Undermining international efforts’ –



The idea is not so far-fetched.

In a historic ruling in April, the Strasbourg-based ECHR deemed that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change.

And the situation with Russia is far worse, said Slivyak, a 2021 winner of the Swedish Right Livelihood Award, which is often characterised as an alternative Nobel Prize.

“It’s not about not doing enough, but about actually killing the climate,” he said, slamming Russia for “undermining the international efforts”.

While other countries were investing in innovations and technologies, “there is the largest-by-territory country on Earth that thinks it can ignore everybody else”.

Ecodefense had asked the court to fast-track the case, as it did with the Swiss case and two other climate-linked cases heard in parallel.

But the court rejected that request last week, meaning the process could take a long time.

Last time Ecodefense helped bring a case to the court was in 2013, when it was among organisations asking for a ruling against Russia’s foreign agent law, which requires anyone receiving backing from abroad to be listed as a foreign agent.

The court took nearly a decade to issue its ruling, and while the 2022 decision was in the organisations’ favour, Slivyak said “it was too late”, pointing out that the groups had already fled the country.

An earlier verdict, back when Russia still appeared amenable to being swayed by international opinion, might have altered the course of history, he suggested.

He acknowledged it was trickier this time.



– ‘Precedent’ –



Russia was expelled from the pan-European rights body the Council of Europe, of which the ECHR is part, after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But complaints concerning violations allegedly committed by Russia before its September 16, 2022 exclusion from the body remain admissible at the court.

While Russia is likely to dismiss any ECHR decision, Slivyak insisted that getting a ruling in the case could be useful for shaping policy when Russia’s “fascist dictatorship” one day falls.

Internationally too, he said, it could set a “precedent”, pushing governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies.

“It could change the whole field.”

Renewables overproduction turns electricity prices negative


AFP
July 23, 2024


Negative wholesale electricity prices are becoming more common as more wind and solar polar comes on line and doesn't always reduce output when demand falls - Copyright AFP/File Ina FASSBENDER

Nathalie Alonso and Catherine Hours

With the proliferation of solar panels and wind turbines an unusual phenomenon is becoming more and more frequent: wholesale electricity prices turn negative.

While that may brighten the mood of consumers whose power bills have surged in recent years, it could undermine the further development of renewables, a key element in the fight against global warming.

The increasingly frequent phenomenon is “extremely problematic” for the wind and solar sector, said Mattias Vandenbulcke, strategy director of the renewables industry group France Renouvelables.

“It allows some to have harmful, even dangerous rhetoric which says ‘renewables are useless’,” Vandenbulcke said.

In southern Australia, wholesale electricity prices have been negative some 20 percent of the time since last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

The share of negatively priced hours in southern California was above 20 percent in the first half of the year, more than triple from the same period in 2023, the IEA said.

In the first six months of the year in France, there were negative prices around five percent of the time, beating the record set last year, according to the electricity grid operator RTE.

In Switzerland the price tumbled as far as -400 euros (-$436) per megawatt hour on July 14. The lowest prices are usually recorded around midday during the summer when solar production is at its peak.



– ‘A warning signal’ –



The trend has been accelerating for the past three years as demand in Europe has unexpectedly dropped since the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Prices turn negative on the spot wholesale electricity market when production is strong while demand is weak.

Around a fifth of the total is traded on this market, where electricity is bought for the following day.

Negative prices help reduce the bills of consumers, said Rebecca Aron, head of electricity markets at French renewables firm Valorem, but the impact is delayed and difficult to discern among the other factors that send prices higher and lower.

Large, industrial consumers that can shift production to times when prices are negative and buy on wholesale markets can reap the biggest rewards.

Negative prices are “a warning signal that there is way too much production on the electrical grid”, said energy analyst Nicolas Goldberg at Colombus Consulting.

Electricity grids need to be kept constantly in balance. Too much can lead to the electricity to increase in frequency beyond norms for some equipment. Too little can lead to some or all customers losing power.

There are currently few options to stock surplus electricity production so producers have to reduce output.

Many renewable producers stop their output when prices are set to turn negative. It takes one minute to stop output at a solar park, two to three minutes for a wind turbine.

But not all stop their production.



– Tripling renewables –



“Renewable energy can be controlled, but depending on production contracts, there might not necessarily be an incentive to stop,” said Mathieu Pierzo at French grid operator RTE, which has the responsibility for balancing the electricity load.

Some producers are paid a fixed price under their contract or are compensated by the state if prices fall below a certain level.

Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants can adjust their production to some extent, but halting and restarting output is costly.

In the future, solar and wind will also have to “participate more in balancing the electricity system”, Pierzo said.

Solar and wind production is set to rise further as nations agreed at the COP28 climate conference last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.

“Rising frequency of negative prices sends an urgent signal that greater flexibility of supply and demand is needed,” the Paris-based IEA warned last week.

“The appropriate regulatory frameworks and market designs will be important to allow for an uptake in flexibility solutions such as demand response and storage,” it said.

‘Truly frightening’: Pesticides increasingly laced with forever chemicals


By AFP

July 24, 2024

New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives says that pesticides used for both agricultural and residential applications are an important source of PFAS contamination in the environment

 - Copyright AFP/File Kerry SHERIDAN

Issam AHMED

Toxic “forever chemicals” are increasingly being used in US pesticides, threatening human health as they contaminate waterways and are sprayed on staple foods, a study said Wednesday.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, but environmental regulations against them have mainly paid attention to sources such as industrial facilities, landfills and consumer products like certain cookware and paints.

New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives says that pesticides used on crops including corn, wheat, spinach, apples and strawberries — and other sources such as insect sprays and pet flea treatment — can now be added to the list.

“The more we look, the more we find it,” co-author Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told AFP.

“And it just emphasizes the importance of cutting down on sources and really regulating these chemicals.”

Research suggests that high levels of exposure to forever chemicals weakens human immune systems, making them less responsive to vaccines and more susceptible to infections.

There is also emerging evidence they may reduce fertility, lead to growth delays in children, and interfere in the body’s natural hormones.

For the new paper, the authors trawled public databases and carried out freedom of information requests to obtain information on both “active” and “inert” ingredients in pesticides.

Active ingredients are those that target pests, while those that are called inert are everything else. The latter are not required to be disclosed on the label even though they can increase the efficacy and persistence of the toxic active ingredient, and can be toxic themselves.

The researchers uncovered a concerning trend: 14 percent of all US pesticide active ingredients are PFAS, including nearly one-third of active ingredients approved in the past decade.

Eight approved inert ingredients in pesticides were PFAS, including the non-stick chemical known by the brand name Teflon.

The Teflon company that made nonstick pans with this chemical ended its use in 2013, and its elimination was tied in research to fewer low birth weight babies. In February, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to ban its use in pesticides.

Study co-author David Andrews, a scientist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told AFP that part of the problem stemmed from a narrower definition of PFAS molecules by the EPA compared to that adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Adding PFAS to pesticides makes them more powerful and longer lasting, Andrews told AFP, which could be another driving factor.

Forever chemicals were first developed in the 1940s and have now accumulated in the environment globally, entering the air, soil, groundwater, lakes and rivers.

More than 15,000 synthetic chemicals qualify as PFAS, and their indestructibility arises from their carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest types of bonds in organic chemistry.



– ‘Ineffective regulation’ –



Another critical issue identified by the study was the plastic containers used to store pesticides and fertilizers, 20-30 percent of which are “fluorinated” to improve their strength, but can leach PFAS back into the container’s contents.

Such unintentional addition of extra PFAS back into the pesticide has been found during testing, and although the EPA moved to ban fluoridation of these containers, its decision was overturned by a US court.

“This is truly frightening news, because pesticides are some of the most widely dispersed pollutants in the world,” co-author Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said about the findings.

“Lacing pesticides with forever chemicals is likely burdening the next generation with more chronic diseases and impossible cleanup responsibilities.”

The authors recommended measures including a ban on fluorinated plastic containers, mandating disclosure of all “inert” ingredients on product labels, comprehensive study of what happens to pesticide compounds in the environment, and more research on their effects on humans.

“The regulations surrounding pesticides are currently outdated and ineffective,” scientists at Emory University wrote in a related commentary, calling on the EPA to get a better grasp on the rising threat.