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Niger coup sparks concerns about French, EU uranium dependency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

The military coup in Niger is raising fears, especially in France, over its potential impact on the import of uranium to power nuclear plants.Niger supplies 15 percent of France’s uranium needs and accounts for a fifth of the EU’s total uranium imports. Orano, France’s state-controlled nuclear fuel producer, is continuing its activities in Niger and monitoring the situation, a company spokesperson said in a statement emailed to POLITICO, stressing that “our priority is to maintain the safety of our employees in the country.”Energy experts were quick to stress that tensions will not have any immediate impact on France’s needs for uranium as extraction is continuing and, should it stop, existing stocks can cover approximately two years.But the coup in Niger could be a challenge for Europe’s uranium needs in the longer term, just as the continent is trying to phase out dependency on Russia, another top supplier of uranium used in Europe...

6 migrant workers were hit and injured by an SUV outside a North Carolina Walmart, and authorities are searching for the driver, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

(CNN) — Six migrant workers were hit and injured by an SUV outside a North Carolina Walmart in what appears to be an “intentional assault” Sunday afternoon, and authorities are looking for the driver involved, police said.The incident happened after 1 p.m. outside the store in the city of Lincolnton, about 38 miles northwest of Charlotte, according to the Lincolnton Police Department.All six injured were taken to a local hospital with various injuries, police said, adding that none of the injuries appeared life-threatening.Police described the driver involved in the incident as “an older white male” who was driving an older model mid-size black SUV with a luggage rack.The department didn’t provide details on the circumstances of the collision, or what led police to believe it may have been intentional.“The motives of the suspect are still under investigation,” Lincolnton Police said on Facebook.Police released surveillance images of a black SUV and asked for the ...

Driver freed after tractor-trailer overturns into cranberry bog in Plympton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

Emergency crews in Plympton responded to an overturned tractor-trailer on Monday morning that ended up in a cranberry bog.The driver was freed from the vehicle and is being evaluated by paramedics.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Comfy Air

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

The payoff was apparent yesterday as low humidity and comfy temps won out through the afternoon. Of course, that was after the severe weather Saturday that produced a brief tornado (EF1, max winds 105mph) on the Foxboro/Easton line, and many other storms that produced downpours and flooding rains. Pretty fitting for the month of July though as it’ll likely go down as the 2nd wettest on record in Boston and Worcester. Fortunately, the nicer weather overall has some staying power over the next few days as low humidity and cooler temps prevail as we end the month of July and start the month of August. The only chance for a passing shower the next few days is today as a few isolated showers/storms bubble up late this afternoon and early this evening. About 10-20% of us will get wet, and even in the locations that do pick up some wet weather, the showers and storms will be brief. Tuesday – Thursday look great. Open the windows and let the fresh air in type evenings the next f...

Clashes continue between factions in Palestinian camp in Lebanon as death toll climbs to 9

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Clashes continued Monday for the third day in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon between members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group and Islamist factions. The death toll from the fighting rose to nine, officials said. A Lebanese army spokesperson confirmed the latest casualty figures at Ein el-Hilweh camp. Two soldiers stationed outside the camp were lightly wounded, Col. Fadi Abou Eid said. Despite attempts by Lebanese parties and some of the Palestinian factions to broker a cease-fire, “the shooting and shelling have not stopped in the camp until this moment,” said Adnan Rifai, a member of the popular committee that serves as a governing body in the camp.The Lebanese army mans a checkpoint outside and typically does not enter the camp, which is under the control of the Palestinian factions.The clashes erupted on Sunday after Islamic militants shot and killed a Palestinian military general from the Fatah group, Abu Ashraf al Armoushi, and three esc...

1st US nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades enters commercial operation in Georgia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A new reactor at a nuclear power plant in Georgia has entered commercial operation, becoming the first new American reactor built from scratch in decades.Georgia Power Co. announced Monday that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has completed testing and is now sending power to the grid reliably.At its full output of 1,100 megawatts of electricity, Unit 3 can power 500,000 homes and businesses. Utilities in Georgia, Florida and Alabama are receiving the electricity.A fourth reactor is also nearing completion at the site, where two earlier reactors have been generating electricity for decades. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday said radioactive fuel could be loaded into Unit 4, a step expected to take place before the end of September. Unit 4 is scheduled to enter commercial operation by March.The third and fourth reactors were originally supposed to cost $14 billion, but are now on track to cost their owners $31 billion. That doesn’t include $3.7 b...

China imposes curbs on drone exports, citing Ukraine and concern about military use

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China imposed restrictions Monday on exports of long-range civilian drones, citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and concern that drones might be converted to military use.Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow but says it is neutral in the 18-month-old war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.Export controls will take effect Tuesday to prevent use of drones for “non-peaceful purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. It said exports still will be allowed but didn’t say what restrictions would apply.China is a leading developer and exporter of drones. DJI Technology Co., one of the global industry’s top competitors, announced in April 2022 it was pulling out of Russia and Ukraine to prevent its drones from being used in combat.“The risk of some high specification and high-performance civilian unmanned aerial vehicles being converted to military use...

Curfew declared in Nigerian state after warehouses and shops are looted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Residents of northeastern Nigeria’s Adamawa state were prohibited from leaving home Monday as authorities enforced a 24-hour lockdown period in response to what they said was widespread looting of shops and warehouses.Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri declared the around-the-clock curfew Sunday in response to “escalating violence by hoodlums attacking people and businesses” in the state capital, his spokesperson said in a statement.The statement alleged the law-breakers assaulted residents in Yola while breaking into businesses and homes and “carting away property.” Several government policies introduced by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who took office in late May, have further squeezed millions of people battling with hunger and poverty in Africa’s biggest economy. The government ended decades-long gasoline subsidies, more than doubling the price of gas and causing a spike in prices of food and other essential commodities.Images posted on social media appeared to sh...

Russian missiles strike an apartment building, killing at least 4 in Ukrainian leader’s hometown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih Monday, killing four people and wounding scores of others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukraine’s interior minister said.One of the two missiles destroyed a section of the apartment building between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Video showed black smoke billowing from corner units and burned out or damaged cars on a tree-lined street.A 10-year-old girl was among those killed, officials said. Dnipro Gov. Serhii Lysak said 53 people were wounded in the morning attack, which also destroyed part of the four-story university building. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the illegally annexed province. A bus was also hit as Ukrain...

Pakistan buries dead from massive suicide attack at political rally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:06 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of mourners attended funerals Monday after a massive suicide bombing killed at least 54 people at an election rally for a pro-Taliban cleric, carrying caskets draped in colorful clothes to burial sites in the hills.No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing, which killed at least five children and wounded nearly 200 people. The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in areas like Bajur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. It targeted a political party with ties to the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban.At 1,000 people, according to police, were crowded into a tent near a market for a rally organized by the Jamiat Ulema Islam party as it prepared for fall elections. “People were chanting God is Great as the leaders arrived,” said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent, “and that was when I heard the deafening so...