Live Tv
Rtv Plus
Is the EU doing enough to prepare for wildfires?
Deutsche Welle
25 Jun 2024, 15:38
Image: AP/picture alliance
Climate change is fueling ever more frequent and intense fires across Europe. What is being done to help the continent navigate a fire-risk future?
Last summer, flames devoured homes and olive groves as they raged uncontrollably for days in Greece, engulfing an area bigger than New York City and leaving white ash and mourning in their wake.
It was the biggest fire ever recorded in Europe.
While wildfires are a natural annual occurrence, rising temperatures and intensified drought periods are creating drier, fire-prone weather that makes them burn faster, longer and more ferociously.
In Europe, as around the globe, they are becoming more frequent, intense and widespread. In 2023 alone, they scorched an area around twice the size of Luxembourg, causing more than €4 billion ($4.3 billion) in damages and releasing 20 megatons of climate-heating CO2 emissions into the air — equivalent to nearly a third of all annual emissions from international aviation in the EU.
But with rising temperatures expected to increase the risk of wildfires across Europe, is the continent prepared?
Europe is expanding fire response
"Forest fires are getting more and more significant," said Balazs Ujvari, a spokesperson for the European Commission. "More and more we find situations where member states are not able to cope."
The focus of the EU's fire response so far has been the expansion of firefighting capabilities through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and RescEU program, which lend support to countries dealing with extreme wildfires.
Last year, its fleet of planes, helicopters and firefighters doubled in size, with the fire in Greece mobilizing the biggest EU aerial response operation to date.
Ahead of this year's fire season Ujvari said they have 28 planes, four helicopters and 556 firefighters stationed across four fire-prone countries. A further €600 million has been allocated to further expanding the fleet by the end of the decade.
Ujvari added that the EU can also provide images of affected areas from its Copernicus satellite system to help local authorities monitor and tackle blazes.
Comments
World Uyghur Congress condemns Hong Kong Court's pro-democracy activist sentencing
The World Uyghur Congress has strongly condemned the sentencing of 14 pro-democracy activists by a Hong Kong high court in the largest case under the National Security Law (NSL) imposed by China in 2020.
The 14 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures, including opposition lawmakers, are among 47 individuals convicted of the crime of 'subversion of state power' in 2021 and found guilty of participating in the primary elections. They could face life imprisonment.
'It is no surprise that China uses the NSL to silence dissidents,' remarked WUC President Dolkun Isa in a statement. "But the sentencing is furthermore evident of the systematic erosion of democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the shrinking space of civil society under the CCP," a press statement issued by the World Uyghur Congress stated.
The NSL, enacted in response to the pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019, criminalizes acts of 'collusion, terrorism, secession, and subversion,' punishable by life imprisonment.
Critics argue it serves as a tool for Beijing to quell dissent and tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous region.
Standing in solidarity with the pro-democracy figures, the WUC demands their immediate release and urges the international community, including the European Commission, to take decisive action.
Calling for sanctions on those responsible, the WUC stresses the urgent need to address the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms.
'With the upcoming global elections, including EU elections,' emphasized Isa, 'democratic governments need to hold China accountable for its continuous attack on democracy and disregard for human rights.'
As the world grapples with these challenges, the call for justice reverberates louder, signalling a pivotal moment in the fight to safeguard democratic principles against authoritarian overreach.
Source: ANI
Southern Germany hit by catastrophic flooding
The southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have been inundated, causing dam bursts and prompting dramatic rescues. States of emergency have been declared in several areas with more heavy rain expected.
Residents in the southern German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have been urged to exercise extreme caution Saturday as dramatic evacuations take place across the region.
So far, states of emergency have been declared in several districts and the German Weather Service (DWD) has issued severe weather warnings in more than 10 districts, with forecasts for more heavy rain over the next 24-48 hours.
Widespread disruption
Train service between the Bavarian capital Munich and Bregenz, Austria, as well as Zurich, Switzerland, were canceled Saturday. Train travel between Munich and Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, was detoured, and services between Ulm and Augsburg were also affected.
A 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) stretch of the A3 Autobahn near Bavarian Regensburg was also shut down in both directions Saturday afternoon when water from nearby fields began flooding the road.
In Augsburg, Bavaria, a dyke and a dam both burst, prompting emergency evacuations.
In Fischach, west of Munich, emergency services workers had to rescue residents stranded in their homes with helicopters when the local Schmutter River flooded. Other districts saw rescuers arriving in boats as floodwaters made roads impassable.
The ADAC automobile association — best known for it's roadside assistance and flight for life services — on Saturday said that all of its helicopters in southern Germany were currently in use assisting evacuation and rescue efforts. Air-rescue Services Director Jochen Oesterle said helicopters from northern Germany were en route to the south as well, where he said, "we will be deploying our experienced crews."
Residents of Bavaria, Baden Württemberg ordered to evacuate
Evacuations in the region began Friday evening, with an apartment building in Lindau, Bavaria, emptied as a precautionary measure. Water had made its way into the building, a spokeswoman for the city said, increasing the risk of an electrical short-circuit.
Residents from the building were then bussed to a nearby gymnasium where they spent the night.
In the Lake Constance district of Baden-Württemberg some 1,300 people were also asked to leave their homes due to the risk of flooding.
In the city of Memmingen authorities were forced to evacuate a state prison after plumbing began to back up as floodwaters seeped into the complex. Prison services said roughly 100 prisoners from the facility — 80 men and 20 women — had been temporarily taken to nearby penitentiaries in Landsberg, Kempten and Aichach, noting that it could be weeks before they return to Memmingen.
Authorities in Diedorf, near Augsburg, told residents that it was no longer enough for them to simply move to the upper floors of their homes, ordering them to leave as floodwaters continued to rise.
In Wiesensteig, Baden-Württemberg, residents were ordered to boil water before consumption after floodwaters overwhelmed local water treatment facilities.
Fire departments across southern Germany urged residents in affected areas to avoid basements, underground parking facilities and tunnels as well as advising against attempting to drive or walk through flooded areas.
Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder on Saturday said the "extremely strenuous" situation was "far from over. It's just starting." Söder thanked emergency services workers from the police, Red Cross, fire departments and beyond, saying, "without these helpers we would be lost." He also implored citizens to "follow the rules."
Though Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg were most directly affected, with heavy rains and thunderstorms continuing on Saturday, the eastern states or Saxony and Thuringia also began experiencing inclement weather with heavy rain in the forecast. Several major events in the area were canceled as a precaution.
Gautam Adani: Asia's top richest man
Billionaire Gautam Adani has overtaken Reliance Industries chairman, Mukesh Ambani to reclaim the tag of richest Indian. Ranked 12 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he is also Asia's richest man. Ambani stands a spot lower at 12.
The Adani Group chairman had a net worth of $111 billion as of 6 pm on Saturday, according to the Index while Ambani was at 109 billion dollars. The surge in group stocks has again taken Adani ahead of Ambani.
Shares of all Adani Group companies surged on Friday after Jefferies said the group is on an expansion spree, on the back of $90 billion in capital expenditures over the next decade.
Adani Group stocks added as much as Rs 1.23 lakh crore in investor wealth, taking their total market capitalisation to Rs 17.94 lakh crore intraday. By the end of trading hours, the shares had added Rs 84,064 crore in market value, taking the market capitalisation to Rs 17.51 lakh crore.
Source: NDTV
China state firms targeted by U.S. lawmakers for allegedly helping Iran
Treasury should probe 6 companies that assist Tehran in evading sanctions, letter says.
Republican legislators on the House of Representatives' influential China-focused committee on Friday urged the U.S. to investigate six Chinese state-owned companies for allegedly helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions.
The Department of Treasury should provide an analysis on whether the activities of state-owned military, oil and shipping companies and their subsidiaries should be subject to secondary sanctions for assisting Iran's energy sector and military, the lawmakers said in a letter sent that day.
The six companies targeted by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are China North Industries Group, Aviation Industry Corp. of China, China Ocean Shipping , China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), CRRC, and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec).
The group alleges that subsidiaries of CNOOC have participated in projects with the U.S.-sanctioned entity National Iranian Oil, while Sinopec helped develop an oilfield and may continue to be involved in other parts of the development.
The U.S. lawmakers say that American financial institutions have made billions of dollars of investments in these companies, and dozens others that bolster China's military capabilities and also support egregious human rights abuses in the country.
'Many of these companies even appear to engage in activities that violate existing U.S. sanctions against Iran. As a result, U.S. retirees are likely indirectly funding activities that run counter to U.S. national security and international stability,' read the letter, signed by Chairman John Moolenaar and 11 Republican members.
The bipartisan House committee was formed in January 2023 to tackle security threats from China. It has produced a raft of proposals to combat Beijing's influence and capabilities.
Iran's main revenue comes from oil, but Western sanctions have barred it from shipping or receiving payments for oil. Over the years, Iran has developed means to export its oil, with the latest report from the International Energy Agency putting the country's oil exports at a five-year high of about 1.29 million barrels per day, with the vast majority going to China.
Source: Nikke Asia
China’s top executives suffer first average pay cut in 2 decades as sluggish economy weighs on listed firms
The average annual salary of top executives at Chinese listed companies fell for the first time in two decades last year, according to a study of over 5,000 annual reports, as companies’ profitability was dented by the sluggish economy.
The average last year stood at 1.66 million yuan (US$229,000), representing a 3.27 per cent decrease from 2022, according to the study by Shanghai Rongzheng Enterprise Consulting Service Group released on Tuesday.
The study also showed the average annual pay for chairmen fell by 3.32 per cent from 2022 to 1.32 million yuan last year, while salaries for general managers, board secretaries and chief financial officers declined by 3.46 per cent, 1.12 per cent and 3.82 per cent, respectively.
The consulting firm has been tracking executive pay at Chinese listed companies since 1999. Its findings were drawn from the annual reports of 5,326 listed companies published as of April 30.
The highest-paid executive last year was Li Ge, chairman of biotech firm WuXi AppTec, who earned around 42 million yuan before tax, which was about the same amount he received in 2022.
His salary easily eclipsed the 26.63 million yuan earned by Li Xiting, the chairman of medical equipment manufacturer Mindray Bio-Medical, and the 26.28 million yuan for Li Bin, the vice-president of agricultural and technology firm Tongwei.
Li Bin was the best-paid executive in 2022 with a salary of 86.5 million yuan, but suffered a nearly 70 per cent pay cut last year.
Remuneration for executives at several other firms, including dairy giant Yili Group, pharmaceutical firm BeiGene and electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group also topped the 10 million yuan threshold.
The overall dip in pay, though, mirrored broader patterns of stagnating or falling wages in China in the last year, as companies navigated the third year of an economic downturn and turbulent market conditions.
Overall, net profits for listed companies last year fell by 1.45 per cent from 2022, Rongzheng’s report said.
A survey released in March by professional services firm KPMG China of around 1,110 business executives and professionals based in mainland China and Hong Kong found that only about 53 per cent received a pay increase last year.
The survey also showed 40 per cent saw no change, while 7 per cent suffered pay cuts.
At the C-suite level, only 19 per cent received a salary increase of 10 per cent or more, compared with 23 per cent in 2022.
The decline has been particularly felt in the financial sector, which has been a primary target of Beijing’s crackdown on corruption and excess, with salaries at China’s 10 biggest brokerages all falling last year.
Pay was also slashed at struggling Chinese property giant Vanke, where eight senior executives voluntarily gave up their annual bonuses for 2023 in light of the company’s net profits having plunged by 46.4 per cent from the year before.
Three of its top executives, including chairman Yu Liang and president Zhu Jiusheng, also said they would voluntarily reduce their salaries this year to 10,000 yuan (US$1,379) per month before tax, according to Vanke’s annual report released in March.
Between 2017, when Yu became the chairman of the state-backed developer, and 2020, he received an annual salary of over 11 million yuan, peaking at 12.53 million yuan in 2018, according to financial data provider Wind.
In 2021, following the coronavirus pandemic and property market downturn, Yu gave up his annual bonus, taking home a salary of around 1.45 million yuan that year, according to Vanke’s annual report.
Overall, the use of equity incentive schemes at A-share firms – companies listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen – fell by around 14 per cent from 2022, encompassing the use of incentives as well as stock options and restricted stocks, according to Rongzheng’s report.
“The data also reflects that domestic market confidence has not been fully restored in 2023,” Rongzheng wrote on its official WeChat account, adding that it nonetheless believed the use of equity incentives would pick up again.
Source: South China Morning Post
Beijing uses Chinese Buddhist group to transform Tibetan Buddhism: report
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the world's largest Tibet support group based in Washington, released its report on Wednesday that exposed the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) strategy of using a Chinese Buddhist group to transform Tibetan Buddhism in China's image.
The report titled 'Buddhist Association of China Takes A Leading Role In China's Attempts To Control and Forcibly Reshape Tibetan Buddhism' mentioned that, since the takeover of Xi Jinping President of China, the Buddhist Association of China (BAC) has become a key tool in assimilating and transforming Tibetan Buddhism. Especially concerning the search for and recognition of reincarnating lamas. The BAC has a special Tibetan Buddhism Working Committee, which oversees the implementation of CCP directives in Tibetan monasteries.
The report documents a change in the charter of BAC to fit the CCP's political agenda. According to the report, " In 2020, it was amended to include "Sinification of Buddhism in China" as one of its objectives and to "support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system, study and implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and adhere to the direction of the Sinification of Buddhism in China."According to the report, the BAC has adopted an extreme political tone, leaving no stone unturned in pushing forward the CCP's agenda. The BAC is forced to form a party-oriented committee within the BAC, even when the decisions of the BAC are made by local religious leaders. It has been strengthening its institutional foundation in recent years, which includes five-year plans and shaping monastic training to meet political goals, the report says.
The report further elaborates that the CCP has introduced measures, regulations and initiatives to exercise control over the recognition of centuries-old traditions related to the future reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Source: Beijing Bulletin
Floods in southern Germany: 40 hours of disaster
The flooding in southern Germany has caused dams to burst, thousands of evacuations and left communities inundated. Oliver Pieper reports from Augsburg.
Tobias Kunz has been under constant pressure since 6 a.m. on Saturday. The mayor of Nordendorf, a small community of 2,600 inhabitants north of Augsburg, is desperately fighting the floodwaters of the River Schmutter. Together with 300 volunteers, he is trying to save the local primary school itself.
"Yesterday we filled 40,000 sandbags and built a 240-meter-long dike with them," he told DW. "Some of the helpers have been on their feet for 40 hours without sleep. But with the extreme amounts of water today, even that wasn't enough."
The volunteers are hurrying to pack the black sandbags from one corner to the other, while Kunz, coordinating the relief efforts, gets bombarded with questions by the second. The school will definitely be closed this Monday, he explains with a sad laugh. But what particularly depresses him is that the battle against the water around the new sports field has been lost — the dam has broken.
"Our school sports field, which cost around a million to build, was under water in a quarter of an hour. The entire infrastructure is flooded. Our sewage system is also not working, so the students can't even go to the toilet," he said.
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria particularly hard hit
The same thing is happening in Nordendorf as in many communities in southern Germany: The dams cannot withstand the water, and dozens of villages have had to be evacuated. The initial assessment: In some places, more rain fell in 24 hours than the average for an entire month, and the water reached levels that are usually only reached once in a century. Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria were particularly affected this weekend, with some communities having to issue a state of emergency. One firefighter died and at least one person is missing.
For many, the extent of the flooding came as a complete surprise, which was also the case for the four young men standing a little indecisively a few kilometers further south in Kühlenthal. Their problem: They can no longer reach the house that they had been busy protecting with sandbags yesterday because of the flooding today. The village has now been evacuated.
"It's the house of one of our parents, who are on vacation in Austria," they told DW. "We tried to save what we could yesterday. But the water came from all directions. At least we were able to drive the two cars up the mountain and bring them to safety."
Better prepared after Ahrtal
In Diedorf, a few kilometers west of Augsburg, six car owners were not so lucky. An underground car park was completely flooded, as were the cellars of the surrounding houses. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief is now on site, using a special device to pump out the brown sludge, at a rate of 10,000 liters per minute.
A dyke and a dam also broke in Diedorf. Although the floodwaters are now slowly receding and the water levels are falling again, no one in the small fire station wants to sound the all-clear. Not even Philipp Niegl, the local fire brigade commander. Like everyone else, Niegl does this job on a voluntary basis — he is also a vocational school teacher. His conclusion: "After the flood of the centuryin the Ahr valley [in 2021], we added to our equipment to be better prepared: we now have a supply truck that can drive through deep water. This time it was able to transport a lot of people."
Evacuation camp set up in record time
Those who had been evacuated and had not been able to find a place to sleep with relatives or friends were able to spend the night in the nearby sports hall in Diedorf. In the city of Augsburg, the central reception center for all those stranded is the huge exhibition hall. A camp with beds for 300 people was set up here in record time.
Augsburg has experience in disaster management, explains press officer Raphael Doderer. At Christmas 2016, the city had to evacuate 54,000 people because of a World War II bomb. "We had 170 people here last night, at noon it was still 130 and now 80," Doderer told DW. "Most of them are elderly people who live in nursing homes, including dementia patients. We had to carry some of the senior citizens out of the house to a boat with a Unimog truck, then back into a Unimog truck and finally into the ambulance."
Some elderly people were still left in the huge reception hall, including Sabine Fischer's parents and two female neighbors. The night ended for the Fischer family at 2 a.m. The Schmutter, which normally meanders quietly through the town of Kühlenthal behind the house, was suddenly four meters wide and water was seeping into the basement.
"We are waiting and waiting here and don't know how much water has penetrated our property," Fischer told DW. "It was simply inconceivable to us that it would be so bad. Our only wish: To go home as soon as possible."
