Europe

Europe is world’s fastest warming continent: climate report

PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, said a sweeping report on Monday, noting the world’s fastest-warming continent was some 2.3 degrees Celsius hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, which has […]

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‘Tough balancing act’: Chinese, German leaders hold talks

BERLIN, June 20, 2023 (AFP) – Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosted Premier Li Qiang for talks on Tuesday, seeking to recalibrate cooperation between Germany and China after Berlin branded Beijing a “systemic rival”. Li is on his first trip abroad since he was named premier in March and tasked with shoring up China’s sputtering post-Covid economy. But unlike previous visits by Chinese dignitaries, when pragmatic German leaders eager to expand business ties with the Asian giant […]

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In fire-hit Greece, Greens struggle to be heard

By John HADOULIS Agence France-Presse ATHENS, June 20, 2023 (AFP) — Wildfires, floods and climate change have failed to budge Greeks towards voting Green for over a decade, but a new coalition hopes to break through deep-rooted skepticism in Sunday’s national elections. While environmental parties surge elsewhere in Europe, Greeks “view the environment as a little bit of a luxury,” says Vasiliki Grammatikogianni, a co-chair of the Green and Purple alliance. A ‘Green wave’ that […]

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Paris Air Show back with climate, defense in focus

By Mathieu RABECHAULT, Tangi QUEMENER Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) — The Paris Air Show opens Monday after a four-year break with the aerospace industry bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic but under pressure to slash its carbon footprint. Organizers have billed the biennial event as the “recovery airshow” after the coronavirus ravaged the sector and saw the event cancelled in 2021. The aerospace industry is flocking back to Le Bourget airport outside […]

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Chinese premier in Germany as Western mistrust mounts

By Hui Min NEO Agence France-Presse BERLIN, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – China’s Premier Li Qiang will meet German leaders during a trip to Berlin on Monday, at a time when Beijing’s policies on Russia, trade and human rights are receiving an increasingly hostile reception in the West. Li — who is making his first trip abroad since being appointed premier in March — will begin his two-nation tour with so-called “government consultations” involving talks […]

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Russia’s Navalny faces decades in prison in new trial

MOSCOW, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is set to go on trial on Monday on charges of “extremism” that could keep him behind bars for decades. The new case against the opposition leader comes as Moscow ramps up its crackdown, more than a year into its offensive in Ukraine, with most key opposition figures behind bars or in exile. Navalny, who used to mobilise massive anti-Kremlin protests, is currently serving […]

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Indonesia orders 13 long-range military radars from Thales

PARIS, June 18, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesia has ordered 13 long-range military radars from Thales to boost airspace surveillance efforts across its immense archipelago, the French manufacturer and state-owned Indonesian defence firm PT Len Industri said Sunday. The Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) radars will allow the Indonesian military to “benefit from a single air picture integrating the detection of all types of threats, from jets and missiles to hovering helicopters and unmanned air vehicles”, […]

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Forest fire risks mount in drought-hit Nordic nations

LYNGE, Denmark, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – “I need water”, pleads farmer Lars Jonsson, casting a desperate eye over a parched field in eastern Denmark where the only shade is that cast by wind turbines. Across the northern hemisphere, the start of summer has been marked by extreme weather conditions, from megafires in Canada to drought in Spain. Even Northern Europe, typically known for its mild climate, has experienced an unseasonally dry spring and early […]

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Boeing expects number of planes in air to double by 2042

PARIS, June 18, 2023 (AFP) – Boeing expects the number of commercial planes in service around the world to double in the next 20 years, according to estimates published on Sunday, anticipating a slightly larger increase than competitor Airbus. The American aircraft manufacturer estimates 48,575 planes will be in service in 2042, compared with 24,500 last year. This will require producing, across all manufacturers combined, 42,595 planes — half to replace existing aircraft, and the […]

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Pres. Putin says sent nuclear warheads to Belarus

MOSCOW, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin on Friday confirmed Russia had sent nuclear arms to its ally Belarus which borders Ukraine. “The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus… This is the first part,” Putin told an annual economic forum, where AFP and media of other countries Russia deems “unfriendly” were not accredited. The Russian leader had announced the plans to send tactical nuclear weapons — less powerful than […]

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Rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake rocks Western France, inflicting building damage

BORDEAUX, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – A rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit large parts of western France on Friday evening, with the seismology bureau BCSF calling it “very strong” amid reports of damage to buildings. Ecology transition minister Christophe Bechu said it was “one of the strongest quakes registered on the mainland”. AFP records show the last earthquakes of similar strength in France struck in the early 2000s. The national network for seismic surveillance RENASS […]

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Massive rockslide just misses Swiss village

GENEVA, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – A Swiss village came within a hair’s breadth of being wiped off the map when a mountain towering above it collapsed overnight, officials said Friday. The massive rockslide missed Brienz in the east of the country, which had been evacuated on Monday, “by a hair”, they said. The 84 inhabitants were ordered from their homes on Monday after the authorities said the Insel peak had become instable. They said […]

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