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Mint
29-05-2025
- Science
- Mint
Swiss Glacier Collapse Engulfs Alpine Village in Rock and Ice
(Bloomberg) -- A Swiss glacier has collapsed, destroying most of the Alpine village of Blatten in a wave of rock and ice. Live footage on Wednesday shows 3 million cubic meters of rock and mud burying Blatten and the nearby Lonza river. That's potentially increasing threats should the flow of water be blocked, according to the cantonal government in Valais. 'The worst-case scenario has become a reality,' Raphaël Mayoraz, head of the natural dangers service for Valais, told reporters on Wednesday 'It's an extremely rare phenomenon.' About 300 people were evacuated from the village in the southern Loetschental valley 10 days ago as the risk of a rupture to the Birch glacier mounted. The army has been deployed to help with recovery efforts, with one person missing, according to Associated Press. Scientists have long warned that a warming planet is making such events more likely. The Alps have warmed about 2C since the pre-industrial period, with many glaciers losing half their mass since 1900. Three years ago, 11 people were killed after a glacial ice shelf collapsed in the Dolomites in Italy following record-high temperatures. Swiss researchers have explicitly sounded the alarm over the rate of thaw, which appears to be accelerating. The world is currently on track to overshoot the critical warming threshold of 1.5C, with some estimates pointing to an average temperature rise of twice that by the end of the century. Exceeding 1.5C of warming will have irreversible consequences for glacier mass, scientists warned in a recent study, underscoring the need to slash greenhouse has emissions. More stories like this are available on
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
NATO Chief Rutte Says Members Moving Toward 5% Spending Target
(Bloomberg) -- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the alliance will seek to adopt a new defense spending target of 5% of GDP at a June summit, meeting a demand by US President Donald Trump that had originally seemed unrealistic. 'I assume that in The Hague we will agree on a higher defense spending target of in total 5%,' Rutte said during a televised question and answer session at the NATO parliamentary assembly in the US. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had mentioned this number as having been proposed by the secretary general, and Bloomberg reported the positive momentum toward reaching it. This was the first public endorsement for the target by Rutte. The proposal includes a 3.5% target for hard defense spending and an extra 1.5% for defense-related outlays such as infrastructure for military mobility. Rutte didn't not confirm the specifics but said the target for hard defense spending would be 'considerably north of 3%' with an extra target for related spending. Trump first demanded allies spend 5% earlier this year after threatening to pull out of the alliance or to only protect the allies that spent enough on defense. The figure was widely regarded as unrealistic when he first mentioned it, but European allies and Canada have come around to the understanding that their spending had to drastically increase. Only 23 out of 32 allies reached the current spending target of 2%, according to NATO's annual report published in April. But all of them are expected to meet it by the summer, Bloomberg reported. --With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf. More stories like this are available on
Mint
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Hegseth Starts Fresh Probe Into ‘Disastrous' Afghanistan Pullout
(Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new probe into the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, vowing accountability for what he called the Biden administration's 'disastrous and embarrassing' handling of the events that led to the deaths of 13 US troops. 'We have an obligation to the American people and to the warfighters who fought in Afghanistan to get the truth - and we will,' Hegseth said in a statement. In a separate memorandum, he said the probe would 'ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people.' The probe will be led by Hegseth's senior adviser Sean Parnell, who served in Afghanistan, along with Stuart Scheller, a Marine lieutenant general who was court-martialed and left the service in 2021 after posting videos that criticized senior officials over the withdrawal. The new review will add to several completed investigations into the withdrawal and the events that led up to it. Last year, Republican lawmakers led by Representative Michael McCaul of Texas wrapped up a two—year review that accused former President Joe Biden's administration of lying to Americans and sacrificing the safety of US soldiers during the pullout. One of the investigators responsible for the McCaul probe's findings, journalist and author Jerry Dunleavy, will also join Parnell's new investigation. Hegseth said the group would re-examine previous investigations into the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate in Kabul that killed the Americans and 170 Afghan civilians. Democrats said the McCaul report omitted key findings and branded it a partisan smear. While accepting some blame for the pullout, Biden administration officials sought to lay most blame on actions Trump took during his first term, including a move to slash the number of US troops and sign a deal with the Taliban while cutting out the Afghan government. More stories like this are available on
Mint
08-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Khan Plans to Build on Green Belt to End London Housing Crisis
(Bloomberg) -- Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will 'actively explore' building on the city's green belt in what would amount to the biggest change to housing policy in the UK capital since the 1960s. The mayor will announce a consultation on releasing parts of London's green belt in a speech Friday, saying that some building in the protected zone around the city is necessary to meet the capital's targets and to end a housing crisis. Khan will say the current approach to only build on previously developed so called brownfield land 'will not be enough to meet our needs', a notable reversal of his previous opposition to green belt development. London needs to build 88,000 new homes a year over the next decade to meet demand, according to nationally-set targets by central government, a rate of housebuilding the UK capital has never previously achieved. Green belts in the UK were created to prevent urban sprawl around cities and towns but have more recently been blamed with strangling growth and pushing up home prices in the areas with the highest rates of job creation. Khan's proposal is likely to provoke a fierce backlash from environmentalists and campaigners, despite promises to boost biodiversity and increase public access to 'genuinely' green spaces alongside the new development which should be focused near transport links. 'The perception many people have is that the green belt is all beautiful countryside, green and pleasant land, rich with wildlife. The reality is very different,' Khan will say. 'The green belt can often be low-quality land, poorly maintained and rarely enjoyed by Londoners. Only around 13% is made up of parks and areas that the public can access.' The mayor's plans come amid a push nationally from the Labour government, Khan's own party, to move forward on housebuilding and infrastructure projects to spur economic growth, even in the face of local opposition. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, said Khan 'has our backing to deliver the housing this city needs, in line with our ambition nationally to unlock the dream of a secure home for a generation.' The consultation on the London Plan, which sets out the mayor's vision for how the capital will develop over the next 20 to 25 years, will be open until 22 June. Following this public consultation, the draft London Plan will be published in 2026 for another examination process, with formal adoption expected in 2028. More stories like this are available on
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore deputy premier Heng steps down ahead of May 3 election
By: Justina T. Lee (Bloomberg) — Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, a former heir apparent for the top job, is stepping down ahead of a general election on May 3. 'I've decided not to run in the upcoming election as I believe now is the right time to make way for a new team of capable individuals who are well-placed to serve Singapore,' Heng said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. Heng bowed out as the designated successor to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2021, saying that he would likely be too old to take over when the Covid pandemic is over. The surprise move upended the government's long-telegraphed succession strategy after Lee signaled he would delay plans to step down before his 70th birthday in February 2022 to ensure the country was in 'good working order.' Lee's administration chose Lawrence Wong as the new leader of the so-called fourth generation team in April 2022 and he was sworn in as premier in May 2024. The upcoming election will be Wong's maiden poll as premier in an era fraught with geopolitical tensions and cost-of-living concerns top of mind for the electorate. Heng headed the central bank for six years and joined politics in May 2011, where he rose through the ranks to become deputy prime minister and finance minister. He's known as a diligent, business-friendly technocrat and was back at his job as finance minister three months after suffering a stroke during a cabinet meeting in 2016. Heng's multi seat constituency eked out a win by 6.8 percentage points - a narrow margin by Singapore standards - in the 2020 election. —With assistance from Philip J. Heijmans. More stories like this are available on ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
