South African state utility Eskom said on Tuesday that it would implement the country’s worst-ever power cuts lasting at least six hours a day, after 10 generation units went offline overnight and as a strike disrupted its operations.
The so-called “Stage 6” power cuts have only been implemented once before in Africa’s most industrialised nation, where economic growth has been constrained for more than a decade by Eskom’s outages.
The so-called “Stage 6” electricity cuts Eskom is currently facing have only been implemented once before in its history, it said.ageing coal-fired power station fleet is highly prone to faults, and its ability to return units to service has been constrained by labour protests.
Eskom has been implementing Stage 4 power cuts requiring up to 4,000 megawatts (MW) to be shed from the national grid since late last week. Stage 6 outages would require up to 6,000 MW to be shed, and were only implemented once before, in December 2019.
The rand, which had been trading stronger against the dollar in early trade, weakened on the warning from Eskom.
South African state power utility Eskom sees an opportunity to emerge from years of crisis by shifting from coal-fired power generation towards natural gas and renewables, its chief executive told Reuters.
Eskom has implemented power cuts for more than a decade in Africa’s most industrialised nation that have held back economic growth and deterred investment. It has roughly 400 billion rand ($25 billion) of debt that it services through regular government bailouts.
The South African economy has been experiencing frequent bouts of load shedding (the local term for rolling blackouts) which has negatively impacted local industry and economic growth.
In South Africa, approximately 85 percent or 42,000 MW, of the nation’s electricity is generated via coal-fired power stations. Despite environmental concerns, coal will continue to provide the majority of South Africa’s power for the next decade,
Eskom, the vertically integrated, state-owned power company, generates approximately 95 percent of electricity used in South Africa, as well as a substantial share of the electricity generated on the African continent. It sells to Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini Zimbabwe. South Africa has an electrification rate that is amongst the highest on the continent,
The world must do more to tackle the increasing global food insecurity worsened by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina told a G7 ministerial conference on Friday.
Governments, multilateral Development Banks, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil societies, and philanthropists demanded, among others, the release of millions of metric tons of food trapped in Ukraine due to the war.
The German government hosted the conference titled ‘Uniting for Global Food Security,’ to coordinate responses to the global food crisis caused by climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and heightened by the war in Ukraine.
In her opening speech, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said there was an urgent need as a result of the war and disruptions to food production in Ukraine, one of the world’s leading food baskets, to provide humanitarian assistance, especially to vulnerable groups. She said in 2022, Germany would provide €2.8 billion to its humanitarian partners to support relief effort.
“We are calling on everybody to join forces to help put food on the plate for those who are starving, to bring medicine to the sick and to provide shelter to those who have had homes taken from them,” she said: “In all of this, our response needs to be swift and bold – it’s not an easy task, but we are here today to say we are acting united around the world.”
African ministers speak out on impact of global food crisis.
African ministers on Friday outlined the impact that the global food crisis is having on their countries and added their voices to calls for action.
Addressing the conference by videoconference, Dr. Adesina urged Germany and other G7 countries to support a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production plan developed jointly by the Bank and the African Union to help African countries avert a looming food crisis.
“While the African Development Bank has mobilized $1.3 billion of the $1.5 billion needed for the African Emergency Food Production Plan, we have a financing gap of $200 million. I would therefore like to request that Germany and all G-7 countries help provide this balance of $200 million,” the Bank Chief said.
Africa relies heavily on cereal exports from Russia and Ukraine. Due to the war, the continent faces a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food, especially wheat, maize, and soybeans imported from both countries.
The African Emergency Food Production Facility will provide 20 million smallholder farmers with certified seeds. The plan will increase access to agricultural fertilizers and enable them to rapidly produce 38 million tons of food worth $12 billion.
Police in Argentina blocked a major entry point to the capital’s center on Tuesday to keep a group of truckers from joining a downtown protest, adding traffic snarls in Buenos Aires to a series of disruptions caused by anger over rising prices and shortages of fuel across South America, largely as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Cars were backed up for several kilometers (miles) until truckers agreed to open up a lane to regular traffic as they moved to take a protest over diesel shortages and prices that has been going on for weeks to Argentina’s capital.
Argentina is only one of several countries in South America to see reverberations from increasing fuel prices, largely as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In Peru, truckers launched an indefinite strike on Monday to protest higher fuel prices while in Ecuador, at least five people have been killed during more than two weeks of a protest led by Indigenous people that has as its main rallying cry a demand for lower gasoline prices.
The reverberations of higher prices are also hitting executive offices. In Brazil, the chief executive of state-run oil giant Petrobras resigned last week amid political pressure due to curb prices.
Drivers around the world are feeling the pain at the pump as gasoline and diesel prices are soaring in large part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as the global economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
That pain is turning into social unrest in several countries in Latin America where quickening inflation, itself fueled by higher energy prices, is making it difficult for many in one of the world’s most unequal regions to make ends meet.
The truckers protesting in Argentina are also demanding higher fees to transport grains.
Truckers have been protesting for weeks due to a shortage of diesel in gas stations around the country and their failed attempt to enter the capital was part of an effort to get the attention of the government of President Alberto Fernandez.
“They’re giving us 60 liters per day to work,” Rubén Darío Fernández, a 61-year-old trucker who was among those trying to enter the capital Tuesday, said. “The problem is you can’t do long trips nor work all week with that.”
In Ecuador, President Guillermo Lasso abruptly cut dialogue Tuesday with the largest Indigenous group leading the protest following an attack by demonstrators that killed one military officer and wounded 12 others who were escorting a fuel convoy in the Amazon.
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities has been leading a strike for more than two weeks to call for a decrease in the price of fuel along with other demands, including a bigger health and education budget.
Negotiations were called off a day after the protesters and government officials sat down to talk for the first time since the strike started.
European Union countries reached a deal backing stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035 following hard-fought talks that dragged into the early hours of Wednesday.
The 27 EU members found a common agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with 1990 rather than by a previously agreed 40%.
“A long but good day for climate action: The Council’s decisions on Fitfor55 are a big step towards delivering the EU Green Deal,” said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal, after the meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg.
The agreement on the five laws proposed by the EU’s executive arm last year paves the way for the final negotiations with the European Parliament. EU lawmakers are backing ambitious bloc-wide targets and final approval of the legislative package will now require the Parliament to resolve differences with the bloc’s national governments over various details.
“The Council is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament on concluding the package, thereby placing the European Union more than ever in the vanguard of fighting climate change,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French Minister for the energy transition.
The decision to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans will effectively prohibit the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel.
Europe’s leading clean transport campaign group, Transport and Environment, said the EU government’s agreement is “historic” as it “breaks the hold of the oil industry over transport.”
“It’s game over for the internal combustion engine in Europe,” the group said.
The deal poses a mighty challenge for German automakers, who have long relied on sales of increasingly big, gas-guzzling vehicles for their profits.
Following intense haggling within the three-party government, particularly between the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, German officials voted in favor of the compromise overnight.
The German government said the deal will also see the Commission make a proposal that will allow cars which run exclusively on climate neutral e-fuels to continue to be sold after 2035.
Turkey has finally agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, ending an impasse that had clouded a leaders’ summit opening in Madrid amid Europe’s worst security crisis in decades, triggered by the war in Ukraine.
After urgent top-level talks with leaders of the three countries, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that “we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.” He called it “a historic decision.”
Among its many shattering consequences, President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status and apply to join NATO as protection against an increasingly aggressive and unpredictable Russia — which shares a long border with Finland. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance.
NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.
After weeks of diplomacy and hours of talks on Tuesday, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said the three leaders had signed a joint agreement to break the logjam.
Turkey said it had “got what it wanted” including “full cooperation … in the fight against” the rebel groups.
Stoltenberg said leaders of the 30-nation alliance will issue a formal invitation to the two countries to join on Wednesday. The decision has to be ratified by all individual nations, but he said he was “absolutely confident” Finland and Sweden would become members, something that could happen within months.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said the agreement was “good for Finland and Sweden. And it’s good for NATO.”
She said completing the process of membership should be done “the sooner the better.”
“But there are 30 parliaments that need to approve this and you never know,” Andersson told the Associated Press.
Turkey hailed Tuesday’s agreement as a triumph, saying the Nordic nations had agreed to crack down on groups that Ankara deems national security threats, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and its Syrian extension. It said they also agreed “not to impose embargo restrictions in the field of defense industry” on Turkey and to take “concrete steps on the extradition of terrorist criminals.”
Turkey has demanded that Finland and Sweden extradite wanted individuals and lift arms restrictions imposed after Turkey’s 2019 military incursion into northeast Syria.
Turkey, in turn, agreed “to support at the 2022 Madrid Summit the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO.”
A gas tank driver delivers 8,500 gallons of gasoline at an ARCO gas station in Riverside, Calif., Saturday, May 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Soaring gasoline prices have left many consumers with no choice but to cut spending on non-essentials, but it might be coming full circle by stopping some drivers from filling up their tanks.
Data from the Energy Information Administration shows demand over the last several months is already lagging the same period a year ago by as much as 3%, depending on the week.
Persistently rising inflation is putting ever-increasing pressure on consumers. Their spending held up through most of 2021 and into 2022, seemingly impervious to higher prices for everything from food to clothing. But, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February worsened already high energy prices. Russia is a leading crude producer and sanctions against the nation have cut its production off from much of the global oil supply.
Persistently rising inflation is putting ever-increasing pressure on consumers. Their spending held up through most of 2021 and into 2022, seemingly impervious to higher prices for everything from food to clothing. But, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February worsened already high energy prices. Russia is a leading crude producer and sanctions against the nation have cut its production off from much of the global oil supply.
U.S. crude oil prices are up more than 60% this year. That’s lifted gasoline prices to all-time highs, averaging $6.46 in Los Angeles and $5.20 in New York.
“Many people could make minor changes to their lifestyle,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “What you end up doing instead is you end up spending less on other things that are discretionary.”
Gasoline, though, is considered essential for most people who rely on their cars to get anywhere. The slowdown in demand threatens a wide range of businesses that rely on a summer pickup in activity as Americans vacation, take road trips and just generally hit the road in bigger numbers for a wide range of activities. Falling gas consumption could signal worsening recovery prospects for restaurants, hotels and other businesses that are still struggling to regain financial ground lost during the pandemic.
The AAA says 75% of drivers surveyed said they would change their driving habits if gas hits $5 a gallon. The average price for a gallon is $5 or more in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
Prices at the pump aren’t likely to ease anytime soon, as oil production lags. The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, but its refining capacity is down 900,000 barrels of oil per day since the end of 2019, according to the Energy Department.
U.S. consumer confidence slipped to its lowest level in Sixteen months as persistent inflation and rising interest rates have Americans as pessimistic as they’ve been about the future in almost a decade.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to 98.7 in June from 103.2 in May, the second straight monthly decline and the lowest level since February 2021.
The business research group’s expectations index, based on consumers’ six-month outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, tumbled in June to 66.4 — its lowest level since 2013 — from 73.7 in May. It has been a consistently weak spot in the survey recently.
The present situation index, which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor conditions, ticked down less than a full point in June to 147.1.
Inflation has soared over the past year at its fastest pace in more than 40 years, with rising costs for nearly everything negating Americans’ pay raises.
Consumer prices surged 8.6% in May from a year earlier, faster than April’s year-over-year increase of 8.3%, the Labor Department reported earlier this month. The new inflation figure was the highest since 1981 and came after the Federal Reserve raised its main borrowing rate by a half point in early May in its effort to tamp down rising inflation.
The Labor Department’s producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — also surged 10.8% in May from a year earlier, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to become even more aggressive in its fight against historic inflation.
The Fed responded a couple of weeks ago by raising its main borrowing rate by three-quarters of a point, its biggest increase since 1994. More rate hikes are expected this year.
The Conference Board’s survey showed that consumers grew more pessimistic about short-term business conditions, the job market and their own short-term financial prospects.
Purchasing intentions for big-ticket items — cars, homes and major appliances — remained relatively stable, but rising costs for travel have forced Americans to dial back some vacation plans.
The Tour de France starts in Copenhagen on Friday and concludes on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday, 24 July.
Along with Denmark and France, the 109th edition of the race travels through Belgium and Switzerland as the peloton covers 3,353km.
The route contains a mix of flat sprinter-friendly days, time trials, hilly terrain and some punishing mountain climbs.
adej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
Pogacar remains eligible for the young riders’ classification for another two years
Pogacar, 23, enters the race as the overwhelming favourite to win the yellow jersey for a third consecutive year.
The Slovenian has collected six stage wins at La Grand Boucle and looked untouchable in the 2021 edition once the race reached the mountains.
Pogacar has already impressed in 2022, dominating the early part of the season as he retained the UAE Tour and won Tirreno-Adriatico and Strade Bianche.
He also went close at Milan-San Remo and was edged out in a sprint finish at the Tour of Flanders.
While he sauntered to victory at the recent Tour of Slovenia, the field was notably weaker than at the Criterium du Dauphine or Tour de Suisse and his rivals will hope he is slightly undercooked for cycling’s greatest race.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
Roglic (left) is a three-time Vuelta a Espana champion
Roglic appears the most likely challenger to Pogacar, two years on from being on the wrong end of one of the Tour’s most dramatic turn around dramatic turnarounds at the top of the general classification.
Stage eight’s finale on La Planche des Belles Filles may offer a painful reminder of what might have been for the Slovenian who saw last year’s Tour ruined by an early crash.
Roglic arrives at the Tour arguably in better shape than in 2020, and with victories at the Dauphine and Paris-Nice he can justifiably set his sights on the yellow jersey.
The 32-year-old possibly has the best supporting cast of any of the main GC riders with the likes of 2021 Tour runner-up Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Steven Kruijswijk and Sepp Kuss all lining up alongside him.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
Thomas recently became the first Briton to win the Tour de Suisse
Thomas may have just turned 36 but he comes into the Tour on the back of a fine victory at the Tour De Suisse- arguably his best performance since finishing second at the 2019 Tour.
On paper the Welshman appears suited to a tricky opening week likely to be underscored by crosswinds, undulating terrain and cobbles, while a time trial on the penultimate stage could work in his favour.
Finding his best form in the mountains will be key to his aspirations, but if he can avoid the sort of unfortunate crashes that saw him abandon the 2020 Giro d’Italia and labour to 41st in 2021, the 2018 Tour champion cannot be discounted.
Should Thomas falter, Ineos will likely turn their hopes on one of their two other protected riders [leaders]: Britain’s Adam Yates and Colombia’s Dani Martinez.
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Vingegaard is yet to win a stage at the Tour
If things once again go wrong for Roglic at the Tour, Jumbo-Visma will almost certainly divert their GC efforts towards Denmark’s Vingegaard.
A second-place finish on his Tour debut underlined his potential and the 25-year-old has shown he is an assured climber, as well as being more than capable on the time trials.
Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Vlasov joined Bora-Hansgrohe from Astana
Since Peter Sagan’s departure Bora-Hansgrohe’s shift in focus has already seen Jai Hindley record a famous win at the Giro.
And the German team will hope that Russian debutant Vlasov can deliver more GC success.
The 26-year-old has enjoyed the best start to a season of his career so far, winning the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana and the Tour de Romandie.
He was also leading the Tour de Suisse before testing positive for Covid-19 after five stages.
Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies)
Peter Sagan is looking for his first stage win at the Tour since 2019
When it comes to star quality there are few riders that can rival Slovakia’s Sagan. The three-time world champion has picked up 12 stage wins on the way to a record seven green jerseys at the Tour.
While he finished a distant second to Sam Bennett in the points classification in 2020, and saw his hopes curtailed by a heavy crash and knee injury 12 months later, he looks closer to his best this time around.
The 32-year-old won stage three on the Tour de Suisse and made a quick and successful recovery from Covid to win his eighth Slovakian National Road Race Championship.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
Van Aert is capable of winning on any terrain
While all-rounder Van Aert will dutifully carry out his domestique duties, he is still widely regarded as the favourite for the green jersey.
The Belgian’s vast array of talents were on full display in the 2021 Tour, where he won the sprint on the Champs-Elysees having already triumphed on an individual time trial and a brutal mountain stage that included a double ascent up Mont Ventoux.
Fabio Jakobsen (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl)
Jakobsen is one of 39 debutants in the 176-man field
Jakobsen’s selection for the Tour came at the expense of Britain’s Mark Cavendish.
And while it deprived Cavendish of the opportunity of surpassing the great Eddy Merckx on stage wins, few could argue that his Dutch team-mate does not deserve his bow at the Tour.
With 10 victories this year Jakobsen has proved to be of the fastest and most reliable finishers in the peloton and a victory at the Tour would complete a remarkable comeback from the horrific injuries he sustained at the 2020 Tour of Poland
Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech)
Froome will be competing in his 10th Tour de France
Froome may not be the force of old but he has looked closer to full fitness this season as he continues to recover from the serious injuries he sustained in the Dauphine in 2019
The four-time champion, 37, was routinely dropped by the peloton during races in 2021 following his transfer from Ineos Grenadiers.
However, an 11th-place finish at the Classic Alpes-Maritimes and a solid display at the Dauphine before withdrawing due to illness suggests he could be capable of hunting stage wins.
According to figures provided by the Department of Education (DE) in response to an assembly question from the UUP MLA Doug Beattie, there has been a significant rise in the number of children being educated at home in Northern Ireland over the past five years.
287 children were recorded by the Education Authority (EA) as home educated in 2017-18 but in the 2021-22 school year, that figure rose to 796 children reflecting an increase of about 175%.
However, the true figure could be much higher as parents are not legally required to register with the EA if they want to home educate their child.
They are, however, required by law to ensure their child receives full-time education at home.
Elective home education is the formal term used to describe the practice by which parents decide to educate their children outside of the school system.
According to guidelines published by the EA, parents choose to educate children at home for a variety of reasons including religious belief, dissatisfaction with the school system, special educational needs or for philosophical reasons.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic recorded a routine win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis as the top seed eased into the Wimbledon third round.
The 35-year-old Serb is aiming to win a fourth successive title at SW19, where he is a six-time winner.
The vastly superior Djokovic, a 20-time major winner, was in fine form in a 6-1 6-4 6-2 win against the world number 79 on Centre Court.
He will next play compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic or Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.
Kokkinakis made a promising start as he claimed the opening point of the match on title-favourite Djokovic’s serve with a delicate touch over the net.
But any hint of an upset was quickly dismissed by Djokovic, who initially struggled for rhythm in his first-round match against Kwon Soon-woo before coming through in four sets.
Following that match, Djokovic said the possibility of not being allowed to contest another Grand Slam in 11 months because of his vaccination status was serving as “motivation” at Wimbledon this year.
In a dominant display, the former world number one consolidated an early break of serve to take a 3-0 lead – and he put the first set beyond doubt as he struck again before serving out the first set to love.
Djokovic clinched another early break in the second to once again put Kokkinakis on the back foot, his versatility around the court – including some spectacular net-play – leaving the improved Australian with no answer despite his best attempts.
There was to be no let-up, as a break of serve at the start of the third set, reinforced with another for a 4-1 lead, helped polish off a commanding win – despite Kokkinakis reaching a first break point in the final game.
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