Latest News
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The death toll from the Texas floods continues to rise as rescue efforts continue
According to county officials, the death toll has risen to 87 in Kerr County as the search and rescue effort continues in central Texas. The disaster that has claimed more than 100 lives is still ravaging the area. The Guadalupe River burst into flames as torrential rains fell before dawn Friday, killing dozens and leaving behind piles of trees, debris and cars. At a recent press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha announced that at least 56 adults and children had been killed. More than two dozen other victims have yet to be identified. The authorities have not yet determined whether the 87th person was an adult victim or a child. Five children and a camp counselor were still missing on Tuesday. Some of the victims spent their summers at Camp Mystic, near the river. Local officials were questioned about whether they should have warned of the dangers of flash floods that occurred in Texas Hill Country earlier. Thunderstorms have hampered local efforts in searching for survivors. Rescue teams from Mexico and neighboring states have joined the local effort. At the press conference, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker from the Texas Game Wardens stated that the work was extremely dangerous and time-consuming. It's dirty. "The water is still there." A spokesperson for Donald Trump said that he plans to visit the region in question this week. Reporting by Jonathan Allen from New York, Rich McKay from Atlanta and Rod Nickel in Atlanta.
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EDF, the French nuclear company, will invest $1.5 billion in Britain's Sizewell-C nuclear project
The French government and British government announced on Tuesday that EDF, a French nuclear energy company, will invest approximately 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5billion) in the Sizewell project in Britain. EDF is already a shareholder in this project. The announcement came as French President Emmanuel Macron was on a visit of state to Britain. This is the first European leader to be in Britain since Brexit. Britain wants to replace its aging nuclear facilities with new ones to improve energy security, and to meet its climate goal of zero net emissions by 2050. Sizewell C is expected to produce enough electricity for around 6,000,000 homes once it's operational. Keir starmer, British Prime Minister, said that "this investment brings us closer to realizing the benefits for the British people." The British government The project has already received 17.8 billion pounds but is still looking for investors. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero stated that the UK Government would remain a major shareholder in the project, ensuring we had oversight of the development and limiting any delays. EDF, a state-owned company, said that its investment will give it a 12.5% stake in the project. State-owned EDF said its investment means it will have a 12.5%? EDF's reports for 2024 showed that they had a 16.2% stake, which is equivalent to 652 millions of euros invested. As the UK government invested more and other investors joined, it was expected that the stake of the company in the project would change. The UK government purchased the Chinese firm's shares in the Sizewell C Project by 2022, due to security concerns. Sizewell C will be the second nuclear plant in Britain built in over two decades after EDF’s Hinkley Point C. Hinkley Point C has faced delays and cost increases and is expected to begin operations in 2029 at a cost estimated between 31 and 34 billion pounds, based on 2015 prices. EDF previously stated that Sizewell C will be about 20% cheaper than Hinkley C.
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Marshall Islands drop fossil fuels as focus of UN climate change motion
The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a motion Tuesday on climate change, human rights and the Marshall Islands retracted a divisive amendement that asked states to commit to a phased-out fossil fuels. The motion calling for countries to "contribute to global efforts" to combat climate change was passed by consensus. This follows the 2021 council recognition of access to a healthy and clean environment as a right. The original language had revealed divisions amongst the 47 members, after the Marshall Islands, which is one of the most vulnerable countries to rising sea levels and has made an amendment to it to mention the exiting of fossil fuels, as agreed by the states at the COP28 Climate summit in December 2023. Doreen Debrum, Marshall Islands ambassador to the U.N. at Geneva, said to the council: "My country, like many of its Pacific neighbours, places a premium on collaboration and dialogue. We were willing to acknowledge this by withdrawing the amendment." The motion instead referred to the "imperative of defossilizing economies" in a note, allowing it to pass without a vote whose outcome was not certain. The decisions of the council are not legally enforceable, but they help to shape global standards. Three diplomats claim that oil producing countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (a voting member), had previously voiced their opposition to this phrasing during negotiations. Riyadh instead called for "multiple paths" to reduce emission. Kuwait's foreign ministry or Saudi Arabia's international press offices did not respond to requests for comment. The diplomatic missions of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in Geneva failed to respond immediately. Sebastien duyck, the human rights and climate campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law said: "We regret the council's continued failure to call for an equitable phase out of fossil fuels - the root cause for the crisis." Campaigners have accused leaders in climate action such as the European Union of scaling back their policies while dealing with the effects of an early summer heatwave. After disengaging from the Council this year, the U.S. did not take part in the formal vote. (Reporting and editing by Alison Williams; Emma Farge)
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Ghana launches taskforce to stop gold smuggling
John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, launched on Tuesday a taskforce backed by the security forces in order to combat illegal gold trading. Africa's largest producer is trying to recover billions lost due to smuggling. Ghana's task force is the first national initiative to combat gold smuggling. The government had previously tried to clean up artisanal gold mining, but this was unsuccessful in preventing illegal extraction or preventing the revenue losses that most African gold producers suffer. Ghana created a new board called GoldBod this year to centralise the gold trading. Mahama, at the inauguration for the new taskforce, said that this has led to official exports in 2025 of 55.7 tonnes of gold worth $5 billion. Mahama stated that the money would not have returned to Ghana if traders had taken it out and left the foreign currency outside. Mahama announced that to encourage public participation with the new antismuggling taskforce, which will include both police and soldiers, informants would receive 10% of the gold value seized through their tips. Mahama said Ghana will implement a national gold traceability system by 2026 and move to refined gold exports. A certified assay lab by the International Organization for Standardization will be used to ensure quality and capture more value. The country also plans to create a manufacturing hub to maximize gold's value. West African governments strive to increase revenue by taking advantage of the rising commodity prices. Military-led countries are adopting aggressive policy, including rewriting the mining codes, securing assets, and renegotiating contract, while democracies such as Ghana and Ivory Coast pursue measured reforms, through higher royalty rates and enhanced revenue sharing deals. According to data, gold prices have increased by 25% in the past year, peaking at $3,500 an ounce in April. (Reporting and editing by Emmanuel Bruce, Robwell Corey-Boulet, Franklin Paul and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila)
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EU climate negotiations to be led by far-right politicians
Patriots for Europe, an extreme right-wing group, will be in charge of the European Parliament’s work on the new climate target for the bloc, European Union legislators said on Tuesday. This could complicate any agreement on the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 90% by 2040. The Patriots group is the third largest in the Parliament and includes both the far-right parties of France and Hungary, including Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right, and Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary. Jordan Bardella, chair of the Patriots Group, said that the group was "resolutely against" the 90% emission target and had bid for the work to assert their vision on the goal. Bardella said at a press conference that "we are against it" because there are already too many restrictions on the industry in Europe. This would only lead to a de-growth. Climate change has caused Europe to be the fastest-warming continental in the world. A severe heatwave that swept across Europe last week also caused chaos. However, governments in Italy and Poland have been reluctant to adopt ambitious goals for reducing emissions this year because of concerns about the costs. Patriots' new role will give them a powerful voice when EU countries, the European Parliament and other legislators negotiate on the EU 2040 climate goal in the next few months. Patriots are tasked to draft an initial proposal that will represent the position of parliament in these negotiations. Liberal, socialist, and green groups have said that they are preparing a plan, which will be voted on by the Parliament on Wednesday, to speed up the negotiations. This would eliminate the first stage where Patriots could exert influence. Pascal Canfin, a liberal French EU legislator, told reporters that "we can take back control of the files". The Patriots Group holds eurosceptic views, including accusations that the EU seeks to replace national governments by a European superstate. EU officials said that the Patriots won the negotiating role at a meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, by outbidding parliament's largest group, the centre right European People's Party. The European Commission, after months of delays, proposed the 2040 Climate Target last week. However, Brussels has been unable to garner political support. (Reporting and editing by Mark Heinrich, Deepa Babington and Kate Abnett)
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EU creates Critical Chemical Alliance for supply chain security
The European Commission said that it will work with EU members states and the chemical sector to support the production of chemicals identified by the EU executive as being critical for Europe's supply chains. The EU executive said that it would establish a Critical Chemical Alliance later this year, which will bring together the Commission and member states as well as various stakeholders, in order to revitalize Europe's chemical industry. In a press release, the Commission stated that "the chemical alliance" will "identify key production sites in need of policy support and address trade issues such as supply chain dependence and distortions." This move is similar to another alliance that was set up in order to identify the metals and minerals crucial for energy transition. The EU set mining, processing and recycle targets for 17 strategic materials. Chemicals are an essential input in nearly every industry, from textiles to defence and tech. They also account for over 1.2 million jobs directly in the EU. Chemical production plummeted during the COVID-19 epidemic and hasn't fully recovered due to the competition from U.S. and Chinese competitors who benefit from lower energy and production costs. The Commission said that more than 20 chemical plants have closed in the past two years. Ammonia and petrochemicals are "under severe pressure". Stephane Sejourne, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Industry Commissioner, told reporters: "First and foremost is the question of sovereignty. We must keep our steam crackers." Steam crackers are a unit of petrochemical factories that produce the building blocks chemicals ethylene, and propylene. These chemicals can be found in plastic food packaging, rubber, car headlights, and fleece hoodies. Around 40 steam crackers are located in the EU. The Dow Chemical Company announced on Monday that it would be closing two plants in Germany, and one in Britain in the next two-year period. Sejourne said reporters that the alliance will evaluate the bloc's dependency on imports within the context of its importance. We are dependent on foreign imports of methanol for example. If we examine the critical production sites we must safeguard and maintain European sovereignty... Work is being done to identify the molecules and the plan proposes moving forward with a sort of Critical Molecules Act." The Commission will also include chemicals in future agreements with other countries and increase the surveillance of chemical imports. Since 2024, the Commission has opened 18 trade defense investigations on different molecules. In order to compensate for the high cost of energy, the Commission will increase state aids, accelerate permits and provide energy guarantee from EU funds. Sejourne stated that the Commission would also incorporate EU-content criteria into public procurements for chemicals. This is an effort being promoted by EU industries. The Commission will also present its sixth package of simplifications, called an omnibus for the chemical industry. The omnibus package, which is due to be presented before year-end, will simplify the rules for labelling dangerous chemicals and revise rules surrounding cosmetics, fertilizers, and other products. This will result in savings of up to 363 million euro ($425,47 million) per year.
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Insurgents and bandits in Nigeria kill more people in the first half of 2025 compared to all of 2018.
According to figures released by Nigeria's Human Rights Agency on Tuesday, more people were killed in Nigeria by bandits and insurgents during the first half of 2018 than they will be in 2024. According to these figures, there were at least 2,266 deaths in the first six months of 2025. This compares to 1,083 deaths in the same period of 2024, and 2,194 in the entire year of last year. Nigeria's military is stretched thin as it fights a multi-fronted war against Boko Haram, other insurgents and banditry in the north, herder attacks and kidnappings throughout the central states, and secessionists and separatists in southeast. In the last few months, the situation has gotten worse. 606 people have been killed, including around 200 in an attack by gunmen against the Yelewata community and the Dauda community in central Benue. Tony Ojukwu - the Executive Secretary of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission - revealed the statistics during a presentation held in Abuja and called on the government to take urgent, decisive actions. Ojukwu stated, "These were not just figures in a report. They were fathers and mothers, children and breadwinners. Families were torn apart; livelihoods were destroyed; and futures were extinguished by moments of senseless violence." The agency reported that 857 people were abducted during the first half 2025. This was down from 1,461 for the same period in 2018. The report noted that attacks on law enforcement and security forces were increasing. More than 17 soldiers died in Kaduna State and Niger State, and more than 40 members of Civilian Joint Task Force in Zamfara in the northwest.
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Gold, the safe-haven asset, falls on optimism about trade
Gold prices for safe-havens fell on Tuesday due to some optimism about a trade agreement between the U.S. As of 1325 GMT, spot gold declined 0.4% to $3322.93 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 0.3% to $3332.30. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond hit a record high of more than two weeks, which made gold that does not pay a return less attractive. Meanwhile, the dollar rose by 0.2%. Japan and South Korea, two of the most powerful Asian economies, said they would negotiate with the U.S. on Tuesday to reduce the impact of the sharply increased tariffs President Donald Trump plans to implement from the beginning of August. Trump re-ignited his trade conflict on Monday by warning 14 nations they will face higher tariffs. The start date was pushed to August 1 and countries focused on the three-week window for a smoother ride. The Trump administration is increasing pressure as the deadline of July 9 approaches. "But some optimism related trade deals are fueling risk-on sentiment and keeping gold subdued," says Peter Grant, Zaner Metals' senior metals analyst. The markets await the minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting, due on Wednesday. Several Fed officials are scheduled to speak in the coming week and provide more insight into the economy. Hamad Hussain is a climate and commodities economist with Capital Economics. He said that the Fed will likely delay cutting rates until next year due to the lingering inflation threat from tariffs. This will keep gold prices in check. Investors expect a 50 basis point Fed rate cut by the end this year. Silver spot fell 0.5% per ounce to $36.57, while platinum dropped 0.8% to 1,359.97, and palladium fell 0.2% to $1,000.77. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
Wildfires in Catalonia have put more than 18,000 people on lockdown.
The Spanish authorities ordered that more than 18,000 residents in the Tarragona Province, located in northeastern Spain, remain inside on Tuesday. Several dozen people were evacuated when a wildfire, which was out of control and consumed almost 3,000 hectares (7.413 acres) worth of vegetation, spread.
After Spain experienced the hottest June ever recorded, large parts of Spain have been placed on high alert. On July 1, two people were killed in a fire in the region where Tarragona, Catalonia is located.
Authorities said that the latest fire started early on Monday morning in a remote location near the village Pauls. Strong winds and rugged terrain had hampered efforts to fight fires. A military emergency unit and more than 300 firefighters were deployed in the area early on Tuesday.
The regional firefighting service in Catalonia said that firefighters had been fighting the fire since midnight with gusts reaching 90 kilometres an hour (56 miles) per hour. They added that the strong Mistral winds were expected to subside by the afternoon.
Fire engines raced through the Pauls Mountains overnight, with flames surrounding them, while crews assessed the situation and attempted to contain the fire.
Residents of the nearby villages of Xerta, and Aldover spent a night without sleep as flames threatened to destroy their homes.
"There was a lot (of) fear and crying because we were already at the edge of a fire. We couldn't leave the house last night because the wind was blowing smoke and fire. Rosa Veleda told reporters that the situation was "terrible, it's never happened before".
Authorities claimed that they prevented the fire spreading to the Ebro River. This would have made the situation worse. Officials are investigating how the fire started. Approximately 30% is within Ports Natural Park. (Writing, additional reporting and editing by Emma Pinedo)
(source: Reuters)