
-
Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial
-
PSG eye becoming France's first 'Invincibles'
-
Late birdie burst lifts Ryder to Texas Open lead
-
Five potential Grand National fairytale endings
-
Trump purges national security team after meeting conspiracist
-
More work for McIlroy even with two wins before Masters
-
Trump hopeful of 'great' PGA-LIV golf merger
-
No.1 Scheffler goes for third Masters crown in four years
-
Where Trump's tariffs could hurt Americans' wallets
-
Trump says 'very close to a deal' on TikTok
-
Trump tariffs on Mexico: the good, the bad, the unknown
-
Postecoglou denies taunting Spurs fans in Chelsea defeat
-
Oscar-winning Palestinian director speaks at UN on Israeli settlements
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Fernandez fires Chelsea into fourth as pressure mounts on Postecoglou
-
South Korea court to decide impeached president's fate
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
E.T., no home: Original model of movie alien doesn't sell at auction
-
Italy's Brignone has surgery on broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic
-
City officials vote to repair roof on home of MLB Rays
-
Rockets forward Brooks gets one-game NBA ban for technicals
-
Pentagon watchdog to probe defense chief over Signal chat row
-
US tariffs could push up inflation, slow growth: Fed official
-
New Bruce Springsteen music set for June 27 release
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's tariffs list
-
Zuckerberg repeats Trump visits in bid to settle antitrust case
-
US fencer disqualified for not facing transgender rival
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
Italy's Brignone suffers broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Iyer blitz powers Kolkata to big IPL win over Hyderabad
-
Russian soprano Netrebko to return to London's Royal Opera House
-
French creche worker gets 25 years for killing baby with drain cleaner
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Ruud wants 'fair share' of Grand Slam revenue for players
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris
-
'Unprecedented crisis' in Africa healthcare: report
-
Pogacar gunning for blood and thunder in Tour of Flanders
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Wall St leads rout as world reels from Trump tariffs
-
Mullins gets perfect National boost with remarkable four-timer
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
-
Tate Modern gifted 'extraordinary' work by US artist Joan Mitchell
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list
-
Tonali eager to lead Newcastle back into Champions League

Oil permits and wind crisis threaten UK net zero pledge
With the provision of a swathe of new oil and gas exploration licences and a crisis in offshore wind energy, clouds are gathering over the UK's net zero promises.
The Conservative government of Rishi Sunak in July promised "hundreds" of new licences for oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea, arousing the anger of environmentalists.
The NGO Greenpeace later covered the prime minister's private residence with a huge "oil black" tarpaulin to denounce the "drilling frenzy".
"Any government support for continuation of fossil fuels has a negative impact on the transition because it drives investors away", Erik Dalhuijsen, co-founder of Aberdeen Climate Action, told AFP on the sidelines of the Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, this week.
"Opening new oil fields, I don't see how that's consistent with net zero," added Jean Boucher, a member of activist group Extinction Rebellion and an environmental sociologist.
More bad news for the wind energy sector, which is at the heart of the UK's plan to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2050, arrived this week when the government's auction of permits to build offshore wind farms failed due to a lack of takers.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused inflation and production costs to soar around the world, raising the cost of steel and other materials used to build wind turbines.
Electricity tariffs that energy companies can charge have also been capped, leading companies in the sector to claim that offshore wind projects are no longer profitable.
Greenpeace called the failed auction the "biggest disaster for clean energy in almost a decade", putting the net zero target "in jeopardy".
Swedish energy company Vattenfall has already thrown in the towel on one major project, Norfolk Boreas, and others may follow.
"I know for a fact other companies are looking really hard at their licences and their ability to invest" in wind power in the UK, Michael Tholen, sustainability director of energy lobby Offshore Energy UK (OEUK), told AFP at the Offshore Europe conference.
Mads Nipper, boss of Danish electricity giant Orsted, also warned that "offshore wind ambitions will only happen with sane auction frameworks and realistic prices".
- Shifting priorities -
A few days before Friday's embarrassing admission of failure, Downing Street announced that it was lifting a de facto ban on the construction of new onshore wind farms, which was hailed as a step in the right direction, but too timid by some.
The war in Ukraine and political upheaval at home has seen London's priorities shift.
"There's been a lot of political change in the UK over the last few years," Clare Bond, professor of geophysics at Aberdeen University, told AFP.
"There is this interplay between energy security and net zero...but we really need to question how quickly we're getting toward net zero and what we can do to accelerate that," she added.
NGOs, experts and companies in the sector are calling for urgent reform of the tendering process, for example by introducing a minimum profit for energy companies, as suggested by Dalhuijsen.
Others stress the need for long-term stability in taxation and regulation.
"It's getting the right framework and the confidence of the industry to take forward those investments," said Bond.
At least £100 billion of private sector investment in hydrocarbons or offshore wind is needed if the UK is to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality target and secure its energy supply, OEUK argued in a report last week.
For Dalhuijsen, the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 is still achievable, "but it's getting more and more difficult.
"We need to bring the emissions down and any year there is a delay it becomes almost twice as difficult," he warned.
F.Bennett--AMWN