- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
EU ministers mull climate policy, carbon border tax
European Union environment ministers gathered in France Thursday to mull climate policy and the merits of a carbon border tax, while airing differences on whether nuclear energy can be classified as "green".
The two-day informal talks in Amiens, hosted by France as it takes the rotating reins of the EU presidency, will look for a unified path toward achieving the 27-nation bloc's ambitious target of slashing carbon emissions 55 percent from 1990 levels.
Discussion on overhauling the EU's electricity market and carbon-trading system, already fraught, unfolds against a backdrop of sharp increases in energy prices, especially natural gas.
EU energy ministers will join the fray on Friday, and then continue on with separate talks.
Since last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has led the charge for the rapid implementation of a "carbon border adjustment mechanism", essentially a tax on imported products made in countries with less stringent rules on reducing carbon pollution.
The objective is to avoid shifting Europe's carbon emissions overseas as they are reduced at home -- known as "carbon leakage".
The sectors affected include steel, alumium, cement, fertiliser and electricity.
China and the United States are both opposed to such a tax, with Beijing saying last year when the plan was unveiled that it would "violate World Trade Organization (WTO) principles."
- Is nuclear 'green'? -
Even within Europe, Germany insists the mechanism can only be implemented gradually, and several countries are outright opposed, mainly because the tax would replace the allocation of free emissions permits.
"Spain, Portugal, Poland and Austria want to maintain free quotas," a European diplomat said.
Such a carbon tax "raises complicated questions," he added. "Who collects the money? Where does it go?"
But France's ecological transition minister Barbara Pompili said that there is already an "agreement in principle", and talks have shifted to questions of timing.
After EU ministers hammer out a consensus on "CBAM", as it is known, they will undertake negotiations with the EU Parliament to finalise an agreement.
Another divisive issue that has pitted Paris against Berlin is whether nuclear power's virtue as a source of carbon-free energy outweighs safety issues and the as-yet unsolved problem of nuclear waste.
A greater share of electricity in France -- about 70 percent -- is generated by nuclear power than any other country in the world.
The question on the table is whether nuclear power and natural gas should be officially classified in the "EU taxonomy" as environmentally sustainable, an important signal to companies, investors and policymakers.
Nuclear power is neither "sustainable" nor "economic", Germany environment minister Stefan Tidow said in Amiens. "It is not a green energy."
Pompili did not disagree, acknowledging that storage of spent nuclear fuel remains a major problem.
- 'Imported deforestation' -
But "nuclear is a decarbonised energy," she said. "We cannot deprive ourselves of it at the same time that we need to very rapidly reduce our carbon emissions."
A third initiative favoured by France is developing tools to fight so-called "imported deforestation," stemming from products indirectly responsible for the destruction of tropical forests.
Palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia and Africa, and commercial soy production in South America -- mostly to feed cattle -- are major drivers of deforestation.
A draft law submitted by the European Commission in November is currently under discussion in the bloc's Parliament.
Environmental NGOs said the text has too many loopholes, excluding commodities such as corn and rubber.
Yet another initiative running into stiff headwinds is a measure to expand the cap-and-trade system of carbon pollution quotas -- which currently covers heavy industry and the electricity sector -- to transport fuel for trucks and domestic heating fuel.
The controversial proposal, championed by the European Commission, has found scant support among ministers, concerned the measure would result in unpopular price hikes for consumers.
France has expressed "strong reservations," according to a French official.
"We saw the rise of the 'yellow vests'," he said, referring to popular protests in 2018 sparked by a modest increase in petrol prices.
Ch.Havering--AMWN