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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Abortion providers are trying to lengthen the narrow window when they can legally terminate a pregnancy under a strict new ban in South Carolina. Spokespeople for both the South Carolina Senate majority leader and speaker of the House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A decision in their favor would mark a big shift in the number of people able to legally obtain abortions at Planned Parenthood facilities in Columbia and Charleston. “It means the difference between turning away 50% of people and turning away 90% of people,” Susanna Birdsong, the general counsel for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, told the AP. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Communications Director Molly Rivera said the group is now fighting “for every inch of ground" after failing to get the new law completely struck.

Persons: John Kittredge, “, Catherine Humphreville, Spokespeople, ” Susanna Birdsong, Molly Rivera, ___ Pollard Organizations: COLUMBIA, —, Republican, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Associated Press, South, South Carolina Senate, South Carolina General Assembly, AP, Atlantic Communications, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: South Carolina, Columbia, Charleston

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022. Amazon will purchase the credits from the 1PointFive direct air capture (DAC) plant in Texas, which is being developed by oil company Occidental’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures subsidiary and will use them to help meet its climate target of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The company did not reveal any financial details of the deal, but developers of DAC technology have said removal credits currently cost in the mid-to-high-triple digits in dollars per metric ton. Microsoft last week signed a multi-year deal for the purchase of 315,000 metric tons with U.S. project developer Heirloom. Jamey Mulligan, head of carbon neutralization science and strategy at Amazon said an “all hands on deck approach” was needed to scale up the technology.

Persons: Pascal, Jamey Mulligan, ”, Mulligan, Susanna Twidale, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Carbon Ventures, DAC, Microsoft, U.S, Amazon, U.S . Department of Energy, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Texas, Paris, Occidental

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Democratic Virginia legislative candidate whose race was rattled by the revelation that she and her husband livestreamed themselves having sex moved forward with her campaign Tuesday and drew some early support in the high-stakes contest. But state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a leading Democratic lawmaker in Virginia, quickly came to her defense, calling on voters to “make this the biggest fundraising day of (Gibson's) campaign.” Many women voters retweeted Lucas with a link to donate to Gibson's campaign. Linton said she plans to donate another $100 to Gibson's campaign even though she can't vote for her because she lives outside her district. Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, said the sex videos are a huge distraction from Gibson's campaign. But Monica Hutchinson, a legislative coordinator for a youth justice organization, said she supported Gibson before the videos surfaced and she will continue to support her.

Persons: livestreamed, Susanna Gibson, Gibson, Roe, Wade, — Gibson, Sen, Louise Lucas, retweeted Lucas, ”, Amanda Linton, Linton, “ It's, Lucas, “, Glenn Youngkin —, “ Susanna, she’s, Susanna, Lauren Chou, Stephen Farnsworth, University of Mary Washington, it’s, “ Donald Trump, Farnsworth, Mark Rozell, George Mason University’s, Monica Hutchinson, Hutchinson, ” Gibson, ” ___ Barakat Organizations: —, Democratic, Republican, General Assembly, U.S, Washington Post, The Associated Press, Republican Gov, GOP, University of Mary, George Mason University’s Schar, of Policy, Government Locations: RICHMOND, Va, Democratic Virginia, Richmond, U.S ., Virginia, “, Falls Church , Virginia

☆ The future of abortion rights in Virginia may depend on what voters think of Chaturbate
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Walt Hickey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Democratic candidate in a key swing district is in the midst of a scandal over previous work in pornography. At least one prominent Virginia politician, Senate President Pro Tem L. Louise Lucas, immediately came to Gibson's defense, blaming operatives working for Virginia's Republican Gov. As it stands, Youngkin has said that it's his mission to implement a 15-week abortion ban in the commonwealth. So far, the only thing standing in his way has been the Virginia State Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 22-18 majority. So it falls to the voters of Short Pump, Virginia, to decide whether performing on Chaturbate is disqualifying for them, even if that means giving the go-ahead to a statewide abortion ban.

Persons: Susanna Gibson, Gibson, Louise Lucas, Glenn Youngkin, Mitt Romney's, Candace Valenzuela, Youngkin, Ballotpedia, Biden Organizations: Democratic, Service, Washington Post, of, Delegates, Conservative, New York Times, Pro Tem, Virginia's Republican Gov, Bain Capital, Black Latina, Virginia State Senate, VCU's Wilder School of Government, Virginians, GOP, Ballotpedia, Democrats Locations: Virginia, Wall, Silicon, Texas, Gibson's, what's, It's

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A candidate in a high-stakes legislative contest in Virginia had sex with her husband in live videos posted on a pornographic website and asked viewers to pay them money in return for carrying out specific sex acts. Gibson called the exposure of the videos “the worst gutter politics.”“It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me,” she said in the statement. The revelation marked an explosive turn in a contest that will carry significant weight in determining the balance of power in the Virginia General Assembly. A top-ranking Virginia Democrat immediately came to Gibson’s defense after the videos were reported by the Post. Chaturbate videos are streamed live on that site and are often archived on other publicly available sites, the Post reported.

Persons: Susanna Gibson, Gibson, ”, “, Glenn Youngkin, Daniel P, Watkins, ” Watkins, David Owen, Garren Shipley, Todd Gilbert, ” Sen, Louis Lucas, Owen, Roe, Wade, GIbson, John David Gibson, — Organizations: The Associated Press, Democrat, Republican, Washington Post, Virginia General Assembly, AP, Democratic, Virginia Democrat, Post, Twitter, U.S Locations: RICHMOND, Va, Virginia, Richmond, District, Henrico, Goochland, U.S .

A view of the United Nations Climate Change Conference flags at the venue, in Bonn, Germany, June 6, 2023. "What we want to see, all of us, is a real sense of urgency about reducing CO2 emissions," Roche Vice-Chair Andre Hoffmann said. We need to show action, and I'm not sure that what I've read so far of the COP28 will be strong enough for that." Despite rapidly falling prices for renewable energy, Roche's (ROG.S) Hoffmann said much faster action was needed. "If the change is going to be that big then financial institutions, business people will reshape and they'll say my goodness there's going to be new technological institutions, there's going to be new factories, there's going to be a new economy.

Persons: Jana Rodenbusch, Hoffmann, November's, Roche, Andre Hoffmann, I'm, Eelco van der Enden, Elvis Presley, it's, Celine Herweijer, we've, Herweijer, It's, Andrew Steer, Steer, Richa Naidu, Gloria Dickie, Clara Denina, Iain Withers, Helen Reid, Alexander Smith Organizations: United Nations, REUTERS, Reuters IMPACT, Global, HSBC, Reuters, Fund, Thomson Locations: Bonn, Germany, Asia, Dubai, American, Paris

☆ Shell to sell home energy business in UK, Germany to Octopus Energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of British multinational oil and gas company Shell is displayed during the LNG 2023 energy trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) said on Friday it would sell its home energy business in the UK and Germany to British energy supplier Octopus Energy Group as part of a deal in which the two companies explore a partnership on EV charging. “This agreement follows the announcement during our Capital Markets Day to divest our home energy retail business in Europe,” said Shell Executive Vice-President Steve Hill. Shell Energy Retail Limited in the UK and Shell Energy Retail GmbH in Germany provide domestic gas, power and broadband services to about two million customers and operate under the Shell Energy brand. Shell and Octopus have also signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a potential international partnership over electric vehicles (EV) charging, including for Shell Recharge subscribers, Shell said.

Persons: Chris Helgren, ”, Steve Hill, Shell, Susanna Twidale, Radhika Anilkumar, Savio D'Souza, Chizu Organizations: Shell, REUTERS, Octopus Energy, EV, Shell Energy Retail Limited, Shell Energy Retail GmbH, Shell Energy, Gas, Shell Energy Retail, Thomson Locations: Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, Germany, British, Europe, Britain, London, Bengaluru

Demand for carbon credits is on track to fall in 2023, according to two of the top data providers. Nestle, which has also not disclosed its spending on offsets, said it would stop using carbon offsets and was seeking other routes to net zero. Until this year, the voluntary carbon market had grown as more companies came under shareholder pressure to adopt net zero policies. SECOND THOUGHTSFor the carbon markets, another issue is that regulators and carbon market advisory bodies are limiting the scope of their use by companies. "You need to reduce emissions and that's how you will be judged in the market when you're disclosing your carbon emissions."

Persons: Elizabeth Frantz, Gucci, Renat Heuberger, Stephen Donofrio, certifier Verra, EasyJet, Jane Ashton, Ashton, Naomi Swickard, Verra, Zimbabwe's, Steve Wentzel, Wentzel, Kristian Rönn, Rob Hayward, Susanna Twidale, Sarah McFarlane, Barbara Lewis Organizations: New England Forestry Foundation, REUTERS, Nestle, Reuters, Marketplace, Shell, Boston Consulting, Offset, GEO, Verra, Carbon, Investments, United Nations, Voluntary, Initiative, EU, KLM, Companies, Thomson Locations: Hersey, New Hampton , New Hampshire, U.S, Kenya, Pole, Stockholm, Ghana

☆ Sudan's military ruler Burhan begins tour as UN warns of war spreading
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands among troops,in an unknown location, in this picture released on May 30, 2023. Burhan, who is also armed forces chief, plans to chair a cabinet meeting. The army circulated videos on Friday of Burhan visiting the Atbara artillery base, north of Khartoum in River Nile state. The $2.6 billion Sudan appeal is just 26% funded, a U.N. spokesperson told a Geneva briefing, calling on donors to speed up promised aid. These acts of brutality contribute to an emerging pattern of targeted ethnic violence," the department said in a statement.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, Susanna Borges, Khalid Abdelaziz, Emma Farge, Nafisa, Moaz Abd, Kirsti Knolle, Angus MacSwan, Mike Harrison, William Mallard Organizations: Sudanese Armed Forces, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Rapid Support Forces, Sans Frontieres, Washington, State Department, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Khartoum, Sudan, Port Sudan, Omdurman, Nile, Kordofan, Darfur, Geneva, Chad, West Darfur, Dubai, Cairo

Competition for buy-side jobs, including at private equity firms and hedge funds, can be fierce. Insider identified the 13 recruiting firms aspiring dealmakers and traders should know for a buy-side job. The buy-side hiring spree is expected to continue despite a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions — a cornerstone of private equity investing. BellCast Partners works with mega funds, middle market funds, infrastructure funds, impact funds, real estate private equity funds, sector-focused funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and credit funds. Today it does searches in private equity, growth equity, distressed, credit, venture capital, hedge funds, family offices, and select investment banks.

Persons: headhunting, Brain O'Callaghan, John Arbolino, Arbolino, Amity, Pamela Esterson, Susanna Nichols, Nichols, Esterson, Danielle Caston Strazzini, Alison Bellino Johnson, BellCast, Caston Strazzini, Jill Pierce, Spencer Stuart, Pierce, —, Brian O'Callaghan, it's, Renee Hylton, Keith Mann, Josh Grauer, Grauer, Mann, Adam Zoia, Annette Krassner, Katie Cunningham, Sarah Armstrong, Cunningham, Armstrong, Anna Brady, Janelle Matthews, Beth Grossman, Brady, they've, Morgan Stanley Eleni Henkel, Henkel, Leah Trabich, HSP, Carlyle, Warburg Pincus, Adam Kahn, Kahn, Anthony Keizner, Keizner, Nina Swift, Marty Brady, Vedica Qalbani, Qalbani, Lindsey Mead, Jessica Wu, Michael Garmisa, SearchOne, Sheri Gellman, Gellman Organizations: Citadel, nab, Boothroyd, Co, Wall, Amity Search Partners, Palm Beach Staff, SG Partners, Bain Capital, Centerbridge Partners, Trian Partners, BellCast, Charlotte Staff, CPI, BellCast Partners, Investor Relations, Nashville, San Francisco, Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, New York Staff, Partners, San Francisco Staff, Los Angeles Staff, TPG, Thoma Bravo, Bessemer Venture Partners, EQT, Elliott, Equity, KKR, ICONIQ, Spectrum Equity, Henkel Search, Search Partners, New York, Oxbridge, Nashville Staff, Time Warner, Indiana University, SG Locations: New York, San Francisco, Austin, San Diego, Chicago, Los Angeles , New York, Phoenix, West Coast, Los Angeles, NYC, California, United States, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Columbia, Latin America, Asia, Europe, San Francisco , New York, Bay, Gold, Los Angeles , Greenwich, Nashville, Amity, South Florida

Poland's government, which faces October elections, is even suing Brussels over climate policies. Britain has already quickly gone from being a leader on the world stage to looking quite weak on green policies, he said. CITIZENS, BUSINESSESEurope's green policies are still more credible than U.S. ones, given see-sawing between electoral cycles in the United States, some analysts said. Rows over green policies have propelled right-wing populist parties to second place in both Dutch and German polls. "Otherwise citizens might start to feel that climate policy is always financially overwhelming and bad, and that sentiment is then exploited by populists."

Persons: Timm Reichert, Virginijus Sinkevicius, Sinkevicius, Anna Moskwa, Nathalie Tocci, Mats Engström, GREEN, Bob Ward, Ward, Rishi Sunak, Rob Jetten, Nina Scheer, Simone Tagliapietra, Tagliapietra, Kate Abnett, Sarah Marsh, Gloria Dickie, Anthony Deutsch, Angelo Amante, Pawel, Susanna Twidale, William James, Alexnder Smith Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Reuters, European People's Party, European Council, Foreign, United States, Grantham Research, London School of Economics, Political, Climate, Energy, Democrats, Thomson Locations: Gruenberg, Germany, EU, BERLIN, BRUSSELS, Netherlands, Brussels, Europe, United States, Grantham, India, China, Britain, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Warsaw

☆ Factbox: Resistance to green policies around Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File PhotoAug 10 (Reuters) - Europe faces growing pushback against policies to address climate change and protect the environment, causing its green agenda to start to fray as severe heatwaves and wildfires rage. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month warned of climate policies that "unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs", days after his ailing Conservatives unexpectedly clinched a local election after opposing charges for the most polluting vehicles. Riding a wave of protests against the government's environmental policies, it unexpectedly beat the conservative VVD party in regional elections in March. POLANDPoland's government, long conservative on environmental policies at home and facing elections in October, has gone a step further by suing Brussels. The row has helped propel the far-right Alternative for Germany to second place in the polls.

Persons: Kuba, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Mark Rutte, Kate Abnett, Sarah Marsh, Gloria Dickie, Anthony Deutsch, Angelo Amante, Pawel, Susanna Twidale, William James Organizations: REUTERS, Union, EU, BRITAIN, Conservatives, Farmer, Movement, Justice, Greens, Thomson Locations: Gryfino, Poland, Europe, ITALY, Italy, BRITAIN Britain, Britain, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, Brussels, GERMANY, Germany, Berlin, Bremen, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Warsaw

During Greece's peak power demand this year, also on July 24, solar photovoltaics covered 3.5GW of the total 10.35GW demand, grid operator IPTO said. Even in cooler and less sunny western countries such as Belgium, solar energy has covered more than 100% of the extra energy needed during midday spikes in power demand. Analysts say a second factor has helped to keep Europe's energy systems running this summer: overall, power demand has been relatively low. That has been the case since Europe's energy crisis last year, when Russia cut gas deliveries to Europe. "The only reason why this has been bearable is the low power demand environment that we're currently in," Refinitiv's Gerl said.

Persons: Nicolas Economou, Kristian Ruby, Electrica, Nathalie Gerl, IPTO, Spain's, Refinitiv's Gerl, Simone Tagliapietra, Kate Abnett, Susanna Twidale, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Analysts, Energy, European Commission, SolarPower, Thomson Locations: Rhodes, Greece, Europe, BRUSSELS, LONDON, Spain, Ukraine, Catania, Etna, Sicily, Athens, Belgium, Russia

Britain exported more than 2.5 million tonnes of steel to Europe last year, UK Steel said. That trade would face the CO2 levy, unless Britain matched the EU's carbon pricing policies or linked its carbon market to the bloc's. Without a market link, Energy Aspects expects UK carbon prices to trade below EU CO2 prices until the late 2020s - exposing UK firms to the EU's border levy. In 2026, when the EU carbon border levy will kick in, Energy Aspects expects the UK CO2 price to be around 55 pounds (63.71 euros), versus an expected EU CO2 price of 108 euros. The UK government ran a publish consultation earlier this year on policies to support British industries as they decarbonise, including a possible UK carbon border levy.

Persons: Frank Aaskov, Benjamin Lee, Susanna Twidale, Kate Abnett, Sharon Singleton Organizations: European Union, ETS, Steel, Energy, UK, Britain's Department for Energy Security, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, London, Britain, Europe

☆ Britain's Centrica hikes dividend as profits at British Gas soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 27 (Reuters) - Britain's Centrica (CNA.L) proposed a 33% increase in its interim dividend on Thursday after posting a jump in first-half profits, buoyed by higher returns from its British Gas supply business. The British Gas Energy supply division posted adjusted profits of 969 million pounds ($1.25 billion) compared with 98 million the same period last year. Centrica said some 500 million pounds of this related to changes to the regulator's price cap which allowed the company to recoup previously lost costs. The company also announced plans to invest 4 billion pounds by 2028 on security of supply, energy flexibility and renewable power. Overall Centrica's adjusted operating profit for the first six months of 2023 rose to 2.08 billion pounds up from 1.34 billion pounds a year earlier.

Persons: Centrica, Susanna Twidale, Prerna Bedi, Varun, Sharon Singleton Organizations: British Gas, British Gas Energy, Thomson Locations: Britain, London, Bengaluru

☆ Sweden says it's target of Russia-backed disinformation over NATO, Koran burnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Police stand guard near the Iraqi embassy ahead of a demonstration in Stockholm, Sweden July 20, 2023. "We can see how Russia-backed actors are amplifying incorrect statements such as that the Swedish state is behind the desecration of holy scriptures," he said. "That is, naturally, completely false," Bohlin said, adding that such state actors tried to "create division and weaken Sweden's international standing." "The Swedish state does not issue permissions to burn copies of the Koran. Denmark and Sweden have said they deplore the burning of the Koran but cannot prevent it under rules protecting free speech.

Persons: Supantha Mukherjee, Sweden's, Carl, Oskar Bohlin, Bohlin, Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson, Mikael Ostlund, Susanna Trehorning, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Anne Kauranen, William Maclean Organizations: Police, REUTERS, NATO, Civil Defence, Facebook, Psychological Defence Agency, SVT, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, STOCKHOLM, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Swedish, Denmark, Baghdad, Turkey, Helsinki

☆ Vattenfall says it is stopping British Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Swedish utility Vattenfall (VATN.UL) is stopping the development of the 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project off the coast of Britain, designed to power around 1.5 million homes, it said in an earnings statement on Thursday. The company said the decision would have an impact on earnings of 5.5 billion Swedish crowns ($537 million). Vattenfall also said it would examine the best way forward for the entire Norfolk zone which also includes the Vanguard East and West projects. Britain has a target of increasing offshore wind capacity to 50 GW, from around 14 GW now, as a part of efforts to meet its climate targets and boost energy security. ($1 = 10.2438 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Susanna Twidale, editing by Gwladys FoucheOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vattenfall, Susanna Twidale, Gwladys Organizations: Norfolk, Vanguard East, Thomson Locations: Norfolk Boreas, Britain, Norfolk

FRANKFURT/LONDON July 13 (Reuters) - Energy majors BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) have won a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany worth a record 12.6 billion euros ($14.1 billion), allowing them entry to the central European market without a partnership. The awards for capacity due to come online in 2030 also excluded leading offshore wind developers, such as RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO). AUCTION DESIGNThe 7 GW electronic auction officially opened in January and bidders had until June 1 to submit offers. In previous German lease auctions, companies have made low or negative bids with the expectation of subsidies from the state. Industry groups have said the high costs of the leases could drive up the cost of offshore wind projects.

Persons: Bundesnetzagentur, Bernstein, WindEurope, Orsted, Norway's, TotalEnergies, Vera Eckert, Susanna Twidale, Christoph Steitz, Ron Bousso, Nora Buli, Nina Chestney, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Energy, BP, Industry, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Macquarie, England, Danish

☆ Global initiative launched to rate corporate carbon offset claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - A standard to assess companies' claims about progress towards internal climate targets and their use of carbon offset credits was launched on Wednesday by a global initiative seeking to bring transparency and confidence to an unregulated market. Many companies have set net zero emission targets but acknowledge they will need to buy or generate carbon credits to offset emissions they are unable to eliminate from their operations. The Claims Code of Practice launched by the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), backed by the British government, seeks to help investors establish whether claims made by companies using carbon offsets are credible. “There was so much use and misuse, if not abuse of terms like carbon neutral, climate neutral, net zero, net zero aligned, net zero positive etc,” Kenber said in an interview. These standards are expected by the end of the year and in the meantime, companies would be expected to use offsets meeting standards set under the under the global airline industry carbon offsetting scheme called CORISA.

Persons: Mark Kenber, ” Kenber, Kenber, Susanna Twidale, Mark Potter Organizations: Voluntary, Initiative, Gold, Integrity Council, Thomson Locations: British

☆ Britain’s royal finances boosted by record wind profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Britain’s Crown Estate, which manages King Charles' public property, posted a record profit last year boosted by income from offshore wind leases. The Crown Estate, which comprises tracts of land and most of Britain’s sea bed, is an independently-run, commercial business, whose profits go to the Treasury. Crown Estate said option fees across all six projects were approximately 1 billion pounds per year, payable to the Crown Estate for a minimum of 3 years and up to ten years. Dan Labbad chief executive of the Crown Estate said he was unable to give more detail on how the profits would be spent. It is typically based on 15% of the profits of the Crown Estate but has been temporarily increased to 25% to pay for extensive refurbishment at Buckingham Palace.

Persons: King Charles, Germany's RWE, Dan Labbad, Grant, Sovereign Grant, Susanna Twidale, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Treasury, Crown, Sovereign, Thomson Locations: Buckingham

☆ Britain puts coal plant on standby as warm temperatures ramp up demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Steam and smoke billow from the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station near Nottingham, Britain, December 1, 2017. Britain has a target to close its coal-fired power plants by October 2024 as part of efforts to cut fossil fuel emissions and meet its 2050 net-zero target. A market notice, published by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) showed it has asked for the unit to be ready on Monday afternoon. National Grid ESO did not comment on why the notification had been issued. Gas-fired power plants were providing around 41% of the country’s electricity on Monday, with wind power lower than usual, providing just 7%.

Persons: Ratcliffe, Hannah McKay, Uniper, Ami McCarthy, Statnett, Susanna Twidale, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, National Grid Electricity, Grid ESO, country's Met, Grid, Greenpeace, Thomson Locations: Nottingham, Britain, Ratcliffe, Norway, Norwegian

☆ Finland is consistently ranked the happiest country on earth. For Finns, it's an eye-roller.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Finland's high levels of social trust could be one reason the country has been ranked as the world's happiest for six years in a row. Finns don't view themselves as exceptionally happy people. A busy street in Helsinki, Finland. In 2021, the Nordic country spent 24% of its GDP on social protection — the highest of any other OECD country that year. 'We have problems as well'As fun as such ratings can be to share and debate, they of course obscure the challenges experienced in any country, even Finland.

Persons: Frank Martela, they've, Jennifer De Paola, De Paola's, Jimenez, you'll, We're, Meri Larivaara, it's, De Paola, ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO, Martela, Larivaara, Eric, Susanna Nordvall, who's, De Organizations: Aalto University, De, Heli Jimenez, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions, Gallup, Getty, Nordic, OECD, Healthcare, Mental Health Locations: Espoo, Finland's, Helsinki, Finland, AFP, Japan, Italy, Finnish

The fund, focused on projects in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, could invest across wind and solar as well as other clean technologies such as batteries and grid infrastructure. "You have folks now that are really trying to focus their portfolio construction around the different sub-sectors in infrastructure," Giordano said, citing increasing demand from pension schemes attracted to assets that match long-term liabilities. As a result, the company said it is targeting between $5 billion and $7 billion for its fourth fund, after $4.8 billion was raised for its predecessor, which closed in April 2021. Among the investments made by the third fund was one in high-power charging network IONITY, which raised 700 million euros in November. Depending on the amount raised, the fund could make around 18-22 investments across a mixture of early stage and developed projects, Giordano said, and could also consider co-investments.

Persons: BlackRock's Giordano, Climate Infrastructure David Giordano, Giordano, Simon Jessop, Susanna Twidale, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: BlackRock's, LONDON, BlackRock, Renewable Power Fund, Economic Co, Climate Infrastructure, Reuters, European Union, International Energy Agency, Waratah Super Battery, Thomson Locations: United States, Australia, Europe, Americas, Asia

☆ Was mass hysteria behind the mysterious case of 227 middle school students fainting last fall?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lillian Perlmutter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

On September 23, 2022, 12-year-old Esmeralda walked out of the girls' bathroom at her middle school in Tapachula, Mexico, and fainted. Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador began including regular updates on the government's investigation into the fainting episodes in his daily press conferences. Dr. Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, one of Mexico's few field epidemiologists, had taken an interest in the fainting episodes. News of the initial fainting episodes had been shared there, the epidemiologist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Pantoja-Melendez. Both believe that the fainting episodes in Mexico were examples of something new and alarming: mass hysteria spreading online.

Persons: Esmeralda, Diala, Gladys, Esmeralda's, convulsing, Esmeralda Eva Alicia Lépiz, —, Esmerelda, Mami, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, Gladys didn't, Bochil, Luis Villagrán, bristled, Susanna, Tapachula, Diala's, José Eduardo Morales Montes, they'd, Eva Alicia Lépiz, Hidalgo —, I've, Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, Pantoja Meléndez, Meléndez, Robert Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Lopez Obrador, busily, Simon Wessley, schoolgirls, twitching, we'll, Pantoja, Melendez, Bartholomew said, we're, We've, who's Organizations: Federal, Central America, Journalists, Mexico City —, Mexico City, Universidad Autónoma Nacional, University of Auckland, Roswell, Kings College, New York, Health Department, Pantoja Locations: Tapachula, Mexico, Bochil, Mexican, Chiapas, Mexico City, El Pais, Chiapas —, Central, Esmeralda, Mexico City — Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, México, University of Auckland , New Zealand, Veracruz, London, Southern Mexico, Kanshasa, Tanzania, Blackburn , England, Sweden, Pyuthan, Nepal, Leroy , New York, Tapachula .

☆ Exclusive: Repsol to invest $550 million in first Italian renewable projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Spanish oil company Repsol (REP.MC) will develop more than 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects in Italy, costing around 500 million euros ($550 million), the company's renewables head told Reuters. The returns available from renewable projects have been under pressure over the past few years due to rising commodity and component costs and supply chain issues. However, Costeira said Repsol's target of double digit returns on renewable investments was still achievable. Repsol said it expected to spend around a quarter of its capital spending on renewable projects this year. The bulk of Repsol's existing renewable portfolio is in Spain with some capacity also in the United States, Chile and Portugal.

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