Orano Says Rebounding Uranium Price May Revive Mining Projects
Orano SA is considering reviving a project to mine uranium in Namibia as rebounding prices for the radioactive metal as well as nuclear-fuel services have boosted 2024 earnings, Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Maes said.
The French state-owned company, which sells fuel and treats waste for nuclear plant operators in Europe, North America and Asia, is benefiting from production issues that have affected the uranium mining industry, rising atomic output in countries such as China, and a US plan to end reliance on Russian uranium-enrichment services.
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37 minutes ago
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Texas Lottery Commission Told To Hold $83.5M Jackpot Won By Woman In February
(Texas Scorecard) – A state judge in Travis County has ordered that Texas Lottery commissioners must hold on to an $83.5 million jackpot won by a woman in February that has not yet been paid out. Earlier this week, District Judge Aurora Martinez Jones ruled that the jackpot could not be 'diminished, wasted, or paid to another' by Sergio Rey, in his official capacity as acting executive director for the TLC. Jones' temporary restraining order only lasted for three days, but a June 5 hearing resulted in Judge Jan Soifer ordering an extension of the enjoinments until June 10. On June 10, the court will reconvene to discuss a longer temporary injunction to protect the jackpot throughout the litigation period. The jackpot, won by a woman who purchased a $20 ticket through the ticket reseller service Jackpocket, has not been dispersed due to an investigation into the controversial win ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott. Jones found that the jackpot could be at risk of being lost when Senate Bill 3070 becomes law, posing 'irreparable' and 'imminent' harm to the winner. The measure, expected to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, would abolish the TLC and transfer oversight of the Texas Lottery to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It would also ban ticket resellers like Jackpocket. Resellers, also known as couriers, allow customers to play the lottery online through an intermediary who buys the ticket at a brick-and-mortar store on their behalf. The practice has been at the center of the controversy surrounding the $83.5 million winning ticket in February, which was purchased at a retailer owned by Jackpocket. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick published a video at the retailer following news of the win, noting that it could be an example of 'bulk purchasing'—or buying up a significant portion of combinations to have a higher chance of winning the lottery. Shortly after Patrick's exposé and the federal indictment of a Russian businessman with ties to the lottery, Abbott called for a limited investigation by the Texas Rangers. That investigation, later expanded to include all lottery operations, halted the winnings from being dispersed. In late May, an anonymous woman claiming to be the rightful winner of the February jackpot filed a petition seeking to retrieve the money. She claimed that even with concerns over how the ticket was procured, commissioners had 'determined that Plaintiff was the lawful bearer of the winning ticket.' Her attorney, Randy Howry, told KXAN-TV he believes the TRO protecting the winnings until June 10 would also apply to the new agency overseeing the lottery if Abbott signs SB 3070 into law. Notably, according to KXAN-TV, the Texas Rangers have not contacted either the anonymous winner of the $83.5 million jackpot or her attorney. On June 17 at 9:00 a.m., the court will meet at the request of Rey's legal team to discuss whether the court has the authority to hear the case in the first place. The February jackpot is just one of two controversial, high-profile wins connected to ticket resellers that have spawned statewide investigations and legal battles. Plaintiffs in another lawsuit allege that four lottery retailers, including a ticket reseller, conspired to work with a sports gambling company to bulk purchase a $95 million jackpot in April 2023. Abbott's investigation also covers that win.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
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Defence at 5pc or learn to speak Russian? Spasibo, Mr Rutte
The secretary general of Nato, Mark Rutte, has come to London as the head of the most powerful military alliance on the planet to remind us Brits that unless we re-invest in our military capabilities we had better start learning Russian. Had we not achieved a similar feat after the 'awakening' of 1940, we would now be talking German. The development of Hitler's Nazi Germany in the 1930s is so frighteningly similar to Putin's actions in the 2010s and 2020s as to make you think the same playbook is being followed. Appearing to almost directly address Ms Reeves – ahead of her spending review on Wednesday – Rutte said: 'If you do not go to the 5 per cent, including the 3.5 per cent for defence spending, you could still have the NHS … the pension system, but you better learn to speak Russian. That's the consequence.' Rutte means 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence – as opposed to Keir Starmer's only concrete target of 2.5 per cent – plus another 1.5 per cent on security and infrastructure. In some respects Rutte is wrong. There will be no welfare state and no NHS if Putin takes over. Just look at the fate of ordinary people in Russia who can barely afford to eat, and both inflation and interest rates north of 20 per cent and rising. That shows what life might be like under a modern Warsaw Pact. Mr Rutte realises that we cannot appease tyrants like Putin and the only way to scare them off is to show strength. 'We are deadly serious that if anyone tries to attack us, the consequences of that attack would be devastating – be it Russia or anyone else,' he said. We must not repeat the mistakes of our forebears in the 1930s, who failed to rearm to the level of deterrence. If we had realised that only total domination of Europe would satisfy Hitler, we would have confronted pressing demands at home for more welfare spending and avoided war – not by letting the aggressor have his way, as was famously attempted by Neville Chamberlain, but by being strong enough that Hitler would have avoided a confrontation. As history recalls, when Chamberlain returned from Munich saying he had chosen 'peace in our time', Winston Churchill rebuked him: 'You were given a choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.' If we look realistically at what Putin has been telling us for the last 20 years we will understand that only the re-establishment of the old Soviet Union will satisfy him. The fact that none of those countries want to be part of Putin's Russia, means only one thing, as we are sworn to defend them under Nato Article 5: war. If we abandon them, we will be dishonoured – and we will be next, facing an enlarged empire with even greater resources. The Germans, realising belatedly the threat of another tyrant who wants to subjugate them, have issued a stark warning this week. Herr Bruno Kahl, head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the Nato treaty no longer had practical force. 'We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward,' says Kahl. Secretary General Rutte is spot on. This message from a former European liberal politician may get many backs up here, but we cannot ignore it. History tells us he's right. Sadly we do not appear to have a Churchill among our modern day politicians to lead us through the coming confrontation with Putin. I know from comments added to my previous pieces on this subject in this paper that there appear to be some who want us to capitulate and give up without a fight. Most of them are clearly Russian bots, part of the massive Russian propaganda machine who would want us to do exactly that. But if people think life in Britain is bad now, look east and see the misery most Russians live under. Let us heed Rutte's warning, and in the immortal words of Donald Trump 'build baby build' military capability. Quite frankly if we fail to defend ourselves now, everything else vexing people at the moment will become horrifically irrelevant. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
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Europe heaps harsh sanctions on Russia, saying ‘strength is the only language' Moscow understands
The European Union announced a new package of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, saying that Moscow's daily deadly attacks against Ukraine show that it is not interested in peace – despite recent diplomatic efforts. The new package – the 18th since Russia launched its full-scale unprovoked invasion against its neighbor in 2022 – is designed to further target the Kremlin's ability to make money from its oil and gas production. The proposal includes lowering the price cap on Russian oil exports from $60 to $45 per barrel and introducing a full transaction ban on Russian banks and financial institutions in third countries that help Russia circumvent existing sanctions. The EU said it is also proposing a ban on the use of Russian energy infrastructure, forbidding any EU operator from engaging directly or indirectly in any transactions that involve the Nord Stream pipelines. The new package will need to be approved by the EU's 27 member states. That could be complicated given previous concerns raised by some more pro-Kremlin governments, such as Hungary and Slovakia, about further sanctions targeting Russia. While both those countries have previously threatened to block new rounds of sanctions, so far they have ultimately voted in favor of them. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the sanctions were necessary 'because strength is the only language that Russia will understand.' 'We want peace for Ukraine. Despite weeks of diplomatic attempts, despite (Ukraine's) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky's offer of an unconditional ceasefire, Russia continues to bring death and destruction to Ukraine. Russia's goal is not peace, it is to impose the rule of might. Therefore, we are ramping up pressure on Russia,' von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels. The leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland last month told Russian leader Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire or face possible 'massive' sanctions. Putin ignored the ultimatum, proposing instead 'direct talks' between Moscow and Kyiv. But two rounds of talks in Istanbul, Turkey, have made it clear Russia is sticking to its maximalist demands that would essentially equate to Ukraine's capitulation. 'Russia's ability to continue the war is equal to its ability to sell their oil and bypass financial barriers,' Zelensky said Tuesday night, calling the European sanctions package 'an important step' and also condemning the lack of similar measures from the United States. 'Russia has been constantly increasing the number of munitions in its strikes. This is a steady trend, and it means that Moscow is not afraid of anyone in the world,' the Ukrainian leader added. 'Putin wants to continue killing and is taking advantage of the fact that he is not getting a strong response. He does not hear Washington. And this speaks volumes to the world, to everyone.' Explaining why the EU has targeted Russia's energy sector, the Commission chief said oil exports still represent one third of Russian government revenues. 'We need to cut this source of revenue,' she said. The oil price cap was introduced by the EU and G7 countries in December 2022. The cap, which applies to Russia's seaborne oil exports, prohibits Western companies from providing shipping, insurance and other services needed to export the fuel unless it is priced below the threshold. By enforcing a price cap, the EU and its allies have tried to diminish a key source of revenue for the Kremlin while still allowing its oil to flow to the global energy market – because cutting Russia's supplies completely could destabilize the market and cause prices to shoot up. Von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the price cap needs lowering because global oil prices had fallen since the cap was first introduced and now trade 'very close' to the $60 level. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has dropped 18% since the price cap on Russian crude took effect on December 5, 2022. It was trading at almost $68 a barrel late morning Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday. The bloc also wants to harden sanctions on Russia's banking sector. Shortly after the invasion, the United States, EU, Britain and Canada jointly banned some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging service – a high-security network connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world. That has made it far more difficult for those banks to send and receive money from abroad. Now, the Commission wants to go a step further and prevent any EU operator, such a a business, from conducting a transaction with a list of sanctioned Russian banks. It also plans to add another 22 of Moscow's banks to that list. Additionally, the bloc wants to extend the transaction ban to financial institutions in third countries that help Russia circumvent existing sanctions. Von der Leyen said the latest package of sanctions will also broaden the current ban on materials and technologies that can be exported to Russia, adding: 'We want to make sure that Russia does not find ways to modernize its weapons with European technologies.' The sanctions will also include new measures against 22 Russian and foreign companies providing direct or indirect support to Russia's military and industrial complex. CNN's Victoria Butenko contributed to this report.
