Germany has improved its energy supply security owing to the government’s timely measures, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday.

“On the energy supply security, we’re in a much better situation than a few months ago,” he told reporters ahead of his Cabinet’s two-day closed meeting at the Meseberg Palace.

“Unlike last year, our gas storage facilities are now more than 80% full, and we’ll continue our efforts to fill up these sites,” he said, adding that several coal-fired power plants are also reactivated to save gas for the winter.

Scholz said the government is also considering extending the lifespan of the country’s last three nuclear power plants, but said a decision will be taken after the results of ongoing stress tests on these plants.

Germany is planning to implement a range of energy-saving measures beginning from Sep. 1 to prepare for potential disruptions to Russian gas imports, amid growing tensions with Kremlin over its war in Ukraine.

According to the government's plan, public buildings will not be heated more than 19 degrees Celsius, and hot water will be switched off in these buildings, with the exception of hospitals and social facilities. Corridors and little-used rooms in administrative buildings will not be heated.

Lights on government buildings and monuments will be shut off if they are used for purely aesthetic reasons.

The plan also introduces new restrictions for businesses, and they will be forced to turn off the lights in shop windows overnight. They are also required to close doors while heating their shops to improve energy efficiency.

AA

Japan’s prime minister announced a $30 billion investment in Africa, saying his country will contribute vigorously to African development.

“Japan aspires to be a partner, growing together with Africa,” Fumio Kishida told a joint news conference along with African leaders on Sunday after hosting the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

He virtually addressed the African nations’ summit co-hosted by Senegal and Tunisia in the capital Tunis, a statement by the Japanese premier's office said on Monday.

“Japan contributes strongly to the development of Africa by overcoming challenges in Africa together with Africa. By doing so, Japan learns and grows too. Japan, as a partner, takes an approach which focuses on ‘people’,” Kishida said.

Over the weekend, Kishida held a virtual meeting with several African leaders where he also discussed his idea “new form of capitalism.”

Kishida announced $30 billion as part of Japan’s public and private financial contributions to Africa.

The contributions will “focus on investment in people and quality of growth and aim for a resilient and sustainable Africa while solving various problems faced by the African people,” he said.

Expressing his expectation of “dynamic growth” in Africa, Kishida said: “It is important for Japan to grow together with Africa, as Africa grows with dynamic power.”

“At the same time, it is true that a series of contradictions of the global economy, such as inequality and environmental problems, are concentrated in Africa at this moment,” he said.

In view of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Japanese premier said: “We need to urgently deal with issues such as the food crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine and unfair and opaque development finance.”

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Seven bodies have been found near popular Mediterranean beaches in southern Spain, police said on Monday.

Police are investigating whether they were migrants whose raft sunk in the Mediterranean during their journey from Algeria.

The Spanish coast guard rescued a sole migrant some 30 nautical miles off the Alicante coast on Saturday.

The 21-year-old said he was traveling with a group of around 15 people when their motorless raft flipped over and the other migrants disappeared.

Investigations were launched after his statement, and police discovered three bodies – a man, woman and child – on Sunday near the beaches of Pilar de Horadada in Alicante.

The same day, people alerted police to two bodies floating in waters off San Javier in Murcia, while two more bodies were discovered off the coasts of Alicante and Murcia on Monday.

Autopsies are being conducted to determine the cause of death and other details, according to the police.

Officials are not ruling out finding more bodies in the coming hours and days.

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Türkiye has sent four planes loaded with of humanitarian aid to flood-hit Pakistan, the Turkish disaster management authority said on Monday.

A train carrying tents and food would also depart for the South Asian nation, hit by unprecedented monsoon rains that have killed over 1,100 people, from the capital Ankara on Tuesday morning, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency added.

Over 1,634 people have been injured in the rain and flood-related mishaps, the authority said, adding that more than 719,000 livestock animals were also lost.

More than 3,451 kilometers of roads, 162 bridges, 170 shops, and 949,858 dwellings were also damaged across the country.

Rescue workers backed by army troops scrambled across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to rescue hundreds of marooned people as Sindh expects another spell of floods from the Indus River within the next couple of days.

Army helicopters rescued 35 tourists trapped in the mountains of scenic Kumrat valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said in a statement.

In an encouraging development, the water level in the Kabul River has decreased, though still in the range of a medium flood.

Some 33.4 million Pakistanis in 72 districts across the country have been affected by the ongoing rainfall and floods, said the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan.

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The Dow Jones failed to recover from a 100-point loss on Monday, starting the new week in negative territory. 

The blue-chip index fell 184 points, or 0.57%, to end the day at 32,099 after it plummeted to as low as 31,972 during the session.

The S&P 500 decreased 27 points, or 0.67%, to close at 4,030, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 124 points, or 1.02%, to reach 12,017.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, rose 2.3% to 26.14. The 10-year US Treasury yield was up 2.4% to 3.108%.

While the dollar index was flat at 108.81, the euro rose 0.34% to $0.9994.

Precious metals were in negative territory, with gold losing 0.05% to $1,737 and silver falling 0.7% to $18.77.

Oil prices were up. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was at $102.69 per barrel for a 3.7% gain, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 4.1% to $96.91./AA

At least 18 people have died after police in Madagascar opened fire on what they called a "lynch mob" angered at the kidnapping of an albino child.

Dozens were wounded, some of them seriously.

"At the moment, 18 people have died in all, nine on the spot and nine in hospital," said doctor Tango Oscar Toky, chief physician at a hospital in southeastern Madagascar, on Monday.

"Of the 34 injured, nine are between life and death," said the doctor giving graphic details of the injuries. 

"We are waiting for a government helicopter to evacuate them to the capital".

Around 500 protesters armed with blades and machetes "tried to force their way" into the station, a police officer involved in the shooting said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"There were negotiations, (but) the villagers insisted," the officer told AFP over the phone from the town of Ikongo, 350 kilometres from the capital Antananarivo.

Police first fired teargas and then rounds in the air to try to disperse the crowd, he said.

"They continued to force their way through. We had no choice but to defend ourselves," the officer added.

Conflicting tolls

The national police in the capital confirmed the "very sad event", but only gave a toll of 11, with 18 injured.

Andry Rakotondrazaka, the national police chief, told a news conference that what happened was a "very sad event. It could have been avoided but it happened".

"But there were provocations"... (and) there were people with "long-bladed knives and sticks", he said.

"The gendarmes used tear gas. But that was not enough to stop the crowd from advancing. There was shooting in the air."

But in the end the gendarmes had "no choice but to resort to self-defence... and limit the damage by shooting".

The kidnapping took place last week, according to Jean-Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa, a member of parliament for Ikongo district.

Revenge attacks 

Revenge attacks are common in Madagascar.

In February 2017, a mob of 800 people barged into Ikongo prison in search of a murder suspect they intended to kill.

They overpowered guards and 120 prisoners broke out of jail.

In 2013, a Frenchman, a Franco-Italian and a local man accused of killing a child on the tourist island of Nosy Be were burned alive by a crowd.

Some sub-Saharan African countries have suffered a wave of assaults against people with albinism, whose body parts are sought for witchcraft practices in the mistaken belief that they bring luck and wealth.

Under The Same Sun, a Canada-based charity working to combat discrimination, has been logging cases of similar violence across Africa.

Source: AFP