In France, thick rulebooks restrict where solar farms can be built, resulting in years of delay before construction can begin. Local officials in Spain are trying to slow the spread of solar farms that they fear could scar the countryside. In Italy, developers must clear layers of bureaucracy and avoid ancient ruins to build solar farms in rural areas.
Paris Cuts the Lights to Save Energy. Will It Help?
PARIS-The City of Light is going dark.
Luxury shops across the city are turning off their nighttime lights, plunging the Avenue de Montaigne and other areas renowned for evening window shopping into relative darkness. Tourists are showing up to monuments for late-night photos, only to find somber silhouettes. Even the Eiffel Tower, symbol of France's rise as an industrialized nation, is hitting the off switch early.
National Grid Sees FY 2023 Underlying EPS More Weighted Toward 2H
National Grid PLC said Monday that it expects underlying earnings per share for fiscal 2023 to have a more marginal weighting toward the second half than in previous years.
The U.K. electricity-transmission network operator said it expects underlying operating profit--a metric which strips out exceptional and other one-off items--in its U.K. electricity distribution division to be more equally weighted half-on-half in the current year.
Iran Protests Are Proving a Durable Challenge to the Islamic Republic
Three weeks after antigovernment protests erupted across Iran-sparked by the death of a woman detained for allegedly violating the country's strict Islamic dress code-the movement has proved more durable than previous challenges to Tehran's leaders and could pose a continuing threat.
Students across the country rallied outside universities on Sunday, chanting slogans including "death to the dictator," and schoolgirls marched in the streets of Tehran waving their veils in the air, a gesture that has become a central expression of dissent. The governor of Kurdistan province on Sunday ordered universities closed, likely to avoid more protests. Stores across the country stayed closed as part of a widening strike of shopkeepers.
Israel's Defense Industry Is Big Winner Two Years After Abraham Accords
TEL AVIV-When the United Arab Emirates was looking last year for ways to protect its high-profile World Expo from possible drone attacks launched by Iran-backed militants, it secretly turned to a new friend: Israel.
Faced with the possibility that Iran and its allies could launch destabilizing attacks on the lucrative event, the Persian Gulf nation bought a small Israeli air-defense system designed to bring down hostile drones, according to former Israeli leaders and defense-industry officials. Those people said the Rafael Drone Dome air-defense system protected the Dubai Expo.
Russia's Attacks on Ukrainian Dam, Power Stations Signal a Tactical Shift After Losses
KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine-Russian missiles had blown a hole in the dam that sits above this city, sending water rushing through and threatening to inundate tens of thousands of homes.
"It looked like Niagara Falls," said Oleksandr Vilkul, the city's top official.
Germany Blames Sabotage for Train Outage
FRANKFURT-Berlin blamed sabotage for an outage that temporarily shut down train traffic across northern Germany on Saturday, raising tension in the country two weeks after explosions damaged key gas pipelines between Germany and Russia.
It was "clearly a deliberate act" in which crucial communication cables were "consciously and deliberately cut" in two separate locations, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing told reporters Saturday afternoon local time.
Strong Dollar Pressures U.S. Manufacturing Rebound
The strengthening U.S. dollar threatens to undermine a rebound in American manufacturing, handing foreign producers an advantage in selling into the U.S., executives and economists said.
The U.S. dollar's surging value relative to the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound and other currencies is making foreign-made goods cheaper to import, while exports of U.S.-made goods grow more expensive for foreign buyers. For U.S. manufacturers operating overseas factories, their sales in foreign currencies are worth less in dollars now because of the unfavorable exchange rates caused by the strengthening dollar.
A Jittery Stock Market Heads Into Earnings Season
A stock market fixated on the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation is about to see how rapidly rising interest rates have affected companies' bottom lines.
The S&P 500 has fallen 24% in 2022 as the central bank ratchets up rates and investors attempt to reassess stock valuations and the durability of corporate profits. The third-quarter earnings season that kicks off in earnest this week will give analysts the broadest look yet at how business has held up as costs continue to rise, higher rates threaten demand and a strong dollar squeezes overseas income.
Fed's Inflation Fight Has Some Economists Fearing an Unnecessarily Deep Downturn
Some economists fear the Federal Reserve-humbled after waiting too long to withdraw its support of a booming economy last year-is risking another blunder by potentially raising interest rates too much to combat high inflation.
The Fed has lifted rates by 0.75 percentage point at each of its past three meetings, bringing its benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 3% and 3.25% last month-the fastest pace of increases since the 1980s. Officials have indicated they could make a fourth increase of 0.75 point at their Nov. 1-2 meeting and raise the rate above 4.5% early next year.
Markets Are Topsy-Turvy, and There's Worse: It's Hard to Cushion Your Portfolio
Good news is bad news, and on Friday it was very good, and very bad. The monthly payrolls report showed a superstrong labor market, with more jobs created than expected and unemployment matching a 53-year low. Stocks dropped, as did bond prices, with bond yields up. Such is the world of high inflation-and it is creating serious problems for those trying to cushion their portfolios against severe loss.
The basic pattern of markets for the past two decades has been reversed. Investors grew used to it, but it no longer works: Strong economic data meant better profits, so were good for stocks, but also meant a little more inflation, so were bad for bonds, pushing up yields. For 20 years there was a strong tendency for stocks to rise on days when bond yields rose, and vice versa.
China's Covid Lockdowns Deal Another Blow to Consumer Spending
HONG KONG-A renewed wave of pandemic-related lockdowns in major Chinese cities is hampering hopes for a recovery in consumer spending, showing how difficult it is for Beijing to rekindle growth without loosening Covid restrictions.
Official data released in recent days showed consumer spending falling sharply during the seven-day National Day holiday when compared with a year earlier, while a private survey of services activity fell into contraction in September.
Kim Jong Un Oversaw Recent North Korean Training of Tactical Nuclear Weapon Units
SEOUL-Kim Jong Un oversaw two weeks of North Korean military drills that simulated tactical nuclear strikes against the U.S. and South Korea, vowing to take all military countermeasures if necessary and expressing no interest in dialogue, North Korean state media said.
Pyongyang conducted seven weapons tests since Sept. 25, including an early Sunday morning launch of two ballistic missiles.
Midterm Report Card on Biden Economy Clouded by OPEC, Fed Moves
WASHINGTON-Recent economic developments threaten President Biden's efforts to shore up the economy and reduce inflation, introducing fresh vulnerabilities to Democrats' midterm campaign.
Democrats aiming to keep their narrow control of the House and Senate have benefited in recent months from voter enthusiasm over abortion access, an issue seen as favoring their candidates after the Supreme Court struck down the right to the procedure. But oil production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, rising prices at the pump and the Federal Reserve's efforts to tame inflation with successive rate increases stand to roil the economy and potentially bolster Republicans' prospects.
GOP Gains in Congress Would Challenge Biden's IRS Expansion
WASHINGTON-Republican control of either the House or Senate could jeopardize the Biden administration's plans to expand the Internal Revenue Service, with GOP lawmakers positioned to withhold funding should they gain power.
Republicans unanimously opposed the IRS spending that Congress just passed, and their stance effectively puts the future of tax enforcement on the midterm election ballot. Winning would give them ample opportunities to use government-funding bills to reverse or weaken the Democrats' tax-enforcement agenda.
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