Siemens Energy has made a cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.

The 4.05 billion euro bid comes as Siemens Gamesa struggles with poor performance and financial headwinds, a situation that appears to be showing no signs of recovery.

The integration will see SGRE’s minority shareholders offered €18.05 per share in cash.

Siemens Energy will move to simplify processes and streamline governance with the aim to improve profitability. Furthermore, Siemens Energy will have the opportunity to stabilise Siemens Gamesa by adding expertise relating to operations, supply chain management and manufacturing and will allow a combined positioning to capture market opportunities.

After full integration, the combined group may benefit from expected cost synergies of up to approximately €300 million ($319 million) per annum within three years, according to Siemens Energy.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022, after which Siemens Energy intends to delist SGRE from the Spanish stock exchanges.

Joe Kaeser, chairman of the supervisory board of Siemens Energy AG, said in a statement: “The full integration of SGRE is an important milestone for Siemens Energy’s positioning as a driver of the energy transition from fossil to sustainable energy solutions…It is critical that the deteriorating situation at SGRE is being stopped as soon as possible, and the value-creating repositioning starts quickly.

The transaction will align with Siemens Energy’s objective to strengthen its position as a holistic energy solutions business and will allow them to maximise opportunities offered by the wind sector to decarbonise the energy system.

The National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has approved the first private projects to be regulated under new amendments to how projects apply for a generation license if under 100MW in size.

President Cyril Ramaphosa in August 2021 made a landmark regulatory change to amend Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act to extend the limit over which a private power project must apply for a Generation Licence from 1MW to 100MW.

The first two projects to receive NERSA approval are 100MW solar PV Projects in the North West Province of the country.

Both will be developed, financed, constructed and operated by the SOLA Group and its partners for Tronox Mineral Sands.

The registration process for these private projects is faster and less onerous than previous requirements.

Dom Wills, Sola Group CEO said this first move is significant in that it paves the way for more large-scale private projects to receive approval and contribute to the generation capacity of South Africa’s grid.

Fortress of Guaita is the oldest of the three-tower constructed on Monte Titano, which is also the most famous, and located in the tiny Republic of San Marino, a landlocked country on the Apennine Peninsula.

It is not very clear the exact time of construction of the fortress, as it is assumed that its construction has began in 10 century, however, some source are stating that it was in 11 century.

Briefly in the past the fortress served as a prison, and as an important national landmark of San Marino it is depicted as well on the country’s flag.

It is built on the rock with no foundation, with a pentagonal base, which has been reinforced many times in the past.

The baroque coat-of-arms in stone situated over the entrance is that of the Republic and dates back to the 1600’s, before that it belonged to the Palazzo Pubblico (Public Palace).

This remote fortress watches over the fifth smallest country in the world, and its internal wall stops at the Bell Tower on one side and the Pinnacle Tower on the other, where these elements were built centuries later.

In the courtyard can be seen some pieces of artillery from World War II, two mortars, a gift from Vittorio Emanuele II, two 75mm canons fired by the Guardians of the Fortress during national festivities, a gift of Vittorio Emanuele III.

It was registered as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in 2008, and the people of San Marino can be truly proud of their history, since this Fortress has been looking over them for centuries, and it shall continue to do so.

With global biodiversity loss at dangerous levels, Nigeria and 138 other countries have received a lifeline to fast-track efforts to conserve, protect and restore species and ecosystems as soon as a new global accord currently under negotiation is approved.

The new financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), totaling $43 million, will give developing countries the means to quickly put the anticipated Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework into practice and make headway towards the goal of halting and reversing species loss this decade.

Supported with technical expertise from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the participating countries will work to analyse and align their national policies, targets, finance, and monitoring systems to take effective action on global threats to biodiversity.

“As we celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity, this commitment shows that the world is united in recognizing the urgent need to end the destruction of nature and the loss of the services it provides,” Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity said. “This early action will prepare Parties to mobilize for the action that all sectors of society will take to make these aspirations a reality in the 10 years ahead.”

The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, a 10-year plan to halt the increase in the rate of extinctions and bring 30 per cent of land and sea areas under protection, is expected to be agreed by the 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity when they meet in Kunming later this year.

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF, said it was critically important for all countries to be ready to act quickly once the new framework is approved.

“Setting our aspirations is only a first step, and this coming decade requires us to sprint,” Rodriguez said.

“Recognising the intense pressures on developing countries as well as their unprecedented commitment to change the trajectory of biodiversity loss, the GEF is making these Early Action Grants available even before the new global accord is agreed.

Countries can use this ‘fast track’ financial approach to update their biodiversity strategies and build capacities to deliver in the Global Biodiversity Framework. We stand ready to continue to help stewards of globally important biodiversity elevate nature in their planning and quickly scale up efforts that together can turn international goals into reality,” he added.

The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is currently in its final negotiation stages, with the fourth and final meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Framework to be held from June 21 to 26, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya.

The GEF Early Action Grants will provide immediate financial and technical support to developing country governments, drawing from enabling activity resources in the biodiversity focal area in the GEF’s seventh funding cycle, known as GEF-7.

The support is designed to help accelerate implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework once it is formally agreed at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15). Biodiversity protection also represents the biggest share of the GEF-8 programming period, which will run from July 2022 to June 2026.

Apart from Nigeria, the grant recipient countries are Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo DR, Cook Islands, Costa Rica,  Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, and Iraq.

Others include Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Lagos State Government has urged residents to obey the guidelines and policies for improved air quality in the state.

Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, gave the advice during the Air Quality Awareness Walk and Interactive Session, organised by the Lagos State Government and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria.

Abayomi said that there was a need for improved air quality, as it affected human health and well-being since it had been indicated that seven million people died of air pollution across the world in 2019.

According to him, research has shown that the air quality in Nigeria and in Lagos is below standard.

He said that as the government put guidelines in place, regulate and create awareness, it behoved on the community to obey, for a healthier society.

The commissioner urged residents to attend to their cars, generators or motorbikes so that they do not emit pollution into the air.

Corps Commander Olusegun Ogungbemide, Sector Commander, Lagos State, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said that the Corps was in the business of cleaning up the society and the air, hence, had been impounding vehicles with dangerous emissions.

Mr Brandon Hudspeth, Political-Economic Counselor, U.S. Consulate, said that the U.S. Government was partnering with Lagos State Government to ensure better air quality.

Hudspeth said that the U.S. Government would bring in technical expertise from the United States, who would work with the expertise in Lagos, to raise awareness and monitor air quality.

He said that the data that would be collated from monitoring the air quality would be used to bolster the economy of Lagos State.

Dr Dolapo Fasawe, the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), said that the agency had been creating awareness on the issue of air pollution.

Fasawe said that legislatively and executively, in order to achieve policies of government, enforcement was mandatory and would act as deterrent.

”We will start to get traffic offenders off the streets, no more air pollution in Lagos State, zero tolerance to smoky vehicles and heavy-duty equipment, for cleaner air in Lagos State,” she said.

The Queen has used a golf buggy to tour the annual Chelsea Flower Show in London, which includes a Platinum Jubilee floral tribute to the monarch’s 70 year reign.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said, “adjustments have been made for the Queen’s comfort”.

After cancelling a series of events earlier this year, the Queen has been much more visible in recent weeks.

At least four million people have been affected by the worst floods in Bangladesh’s northeast for nearly two decades, the United Nations said Monday.

The Bangladeshi government said the floods, which began last week, had submerged 70 percent of Sylhet district in the northeast and 60 percent of Sunamganj district, leaving at least 10 people dead and about two million marooned.

Heavy rains and a rush of water from upstream in India s northeast swelled rivers in Bangladesh, with two main border rivers, the Surma and Kushiara, breaching a major embankment and inundating hundreds of villages.

Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the head of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, said the two rivers hit their highest levels since records began in the 1970s.

“It is one of the worst floods in the history of the country s northeast,” he said. “The water level in the two rivers hit some 1.75 metres (5.7 feet) above their danger level at the height of the floods last week.”

The United Nations Children Fund put the extent of the damage even higher with “over four million people” in five districts in the country s northeast affected by the floods.

“The damage to lives, homes and schools is heartbreaking. In this disaster, as in most others, children are the most vulnerable,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has shut all schools and colleges in the region.

At least 350 schools have been turned into shelters with more than 8,500 flood-hit people seeking refuge in them, along with their cattle and goats.

But Netai De Sarker, a senior disaster management official, said the flood situation had improved, with water receding from the northern areas, although 1.23 million people were still stranded as of Monday.

He said the government has sent 140 medical teams to treat flood-affected people and to help prevent any outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Floods are a regular menace to millions of people in low-lying Bangladesh and neighbouring northeast India, but many experts say that climate change is increasing their frequency, ferocity and unpredictability.