South Africa’s drought-stricken Cape Town pushes back ‘Day Zero’ to June 4

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s drought-stricken city of Cape Town has pushed back its estimate for “Day Zero,” when residents will have to start queuing for water, to June 4 from May 11 due to a decline in water usage, the city’s...

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Norway’s wealth fund to issue policy on ocean environment

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund could soon set out expectations for how companies it invests in should manage saltwater resources, it said on Tuesday. The fund already has a policy on how companies should handle freshwater resources. “We...

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Speed skating: Wust wins 1,500m for record 10th medal

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) – Ireen Wust of the Netherlands claimed a record 10th Olympic speed skating medal when she won gold in the women’s 1,500 metres at the Gangneung Oval on Monday. Wust, who is also the first Dutch athlete to...

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Less headwinds for renewables now says Indonesia pioneer

JAKARTA (Reuters) – The developer of Indonesia’s first commercial-scale wind farm says conditions for renewable energy investors are better now than ever before, but more work is still needed for the country to achieve its wind energy targets. Historically, the prospects of...

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Organizers get creative as winds threaten day three

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Alpine skiing organizers are trying to be creative to get the Olympic program up and running after the first two days of competition were postponed because of high winds. The men’s downhill and women’s giant slalom have...

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Philippine leader threatens to close ‘sewer pool’ holiday island of Boracay

MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered an urgent cleanup of the country’s most famous tourist hotspot, Boracay, calling it a “sewer pool” that he would not hesitate to shut down completely. The firebrand leader said he has given...

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Small earthquake rattles China’s capital, Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) – A rare small earthquake rattled the Chinese capital Beijing on Monday, centered in an area just south of the city in the neighboring province of Hebei. The government said the 4.3 magnitude quake’s epicenter was in a county that...

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Ill-wind blows no good for Pyeongchang games

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Icy winds tore through the mountains at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Monday, wreaking havoc at a snowboard final, forcing the postponement of the Alpine skiing for a second successive day, and raising questions about athlete safety. Competitors,...

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Major China regions see smog worsen, adding to fears polluters are moving south

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Yangtze River Delta region near Shanghai saw a key smog measure rise by a fifth in January, making it more polluted than Beijing and raising fears that the pollution crackdown in the north has forced heavy industries to...

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China approves no-development zones in 15 regions

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has approved plans by 15 provinces and regions to draw up “red lines” that will put large swathes of its territory off-limits to economic development, the environment ministry said on Monday. The “ecological protection red line” scheme was...

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Major China region sees smog worsen in January, adds to fears polluters moving south

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Yangtze River delta region near Shanghai saw a key measure of smog concentrations rise by a fifth in January, official data showed on Monday, raising fears that the pollution crackdown in northern China has forced heavy industry to...

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The barren desert preparing astronauts for life on Mars

Researchers have created a simulation of the red planet with the hope humans will one day live there.

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Earthquake hits near Mexico’s Pacific coast, no damage reported

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico’s Pacific coast near the major port of Manzanillo on Friday, but no major damage or injures were immediately reported. The U.S. Geological Survey put the epicenter of the quake 31 miles (50...

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Snowstorm hammers U.S. Midwest, hundreds of flights canceled

MILWAUKEE/CHICAGO (Reuters) – A major winter storm pounding the U.S. Midwest on Friday forced cancellation of hundreds of flights as heavy snow and plummeting temperatures threatened to bring travel to a standstill across the region. The storm system stretching from western Montana...

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World Food Programme warns of deeper hunger across southern Africa

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Poor rains and crop infestations in southern Africa are threatening deeper hunger across the region, with millions of people, particularly children, at risk, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. “Given that the region has barely...

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Quake-hit Taiwan city winds down rescue efforts, five still missing

HUALIEN, Taiwan (Reuters) – Rescue operations in Taiwan started to wind down on Friday after a devastating 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the tourist area of Hualien this week, taking a toll of 12 dead and five missing. More than 270 people were injured...

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Storm barrels through U.S. Midwest with snow and frigid temperatures

MILWAUKEE, Wis./CHICAGO (Reuters) – A major winter storm barreled into Chicago and Milwaukee early on Friday, dumping heavy snow and dropping temperatures well below freezing as it forced schools to close and threatened to leave travel at a stand still across the...

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La Niña likely to fade by spring: U.S. forecaster

(Reuters) – The current La Niña weather cycle is likely to transition into more neutral conditions by spring, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and is...

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Audi labor boss brushes off question over CEO’s post: WirtschaftsWoche

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Audi works council chief Peter Mosch has brushed off the suggestion that Chief Executive Rupert Stadler could leave amid ongoing investigations into the premium carmaker’s role in parent Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) diesel emissions scandal. “Stadler has a contract. Period,” WirtschaftsWoche...

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U.S. weather forecaster says La Niña likely to fade by spring

(Reuters) – A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday said a transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral is most likely during the northern hemisphere spring. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) in its monthly forecast pegged the chance of ENSO-neutral...

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