ESTONIA
Scientists plan peat batteries
Peat, plentiful in bogs in northern Europe, could be used to make sodium-ion batteries cheaply for use in electric vehicles, scientists at an Estonian university said. Sodium-ion batteries, which do not contain relatively costly lithium, cobalt or nickel, are one of the new technologies that battery makers are looking at as they seek alternatives to the dominant lithium-ion model.
ALGERIA
Said Bouteflika sentenced
Said Bouteflika, the younger brother of deposed late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for “obstructing the course of justice,” the Algeria Press Service reported. The prosecution had called for seven years’ jail for Said Bouteflika, who was charged with other former officials for “abuse of office,” “inciting the falsification of official documents,” “obstruction of justice” and “contempt of court.”
UNITED STATES
Land borders to reopen
Land borders are to reopen to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the disease. Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the nation, and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel since the earliest days of the pandemic. The new rules are to allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals to enter regardless of the reason for travel starting early next month, when a similar easing of restrictions is set to start for air travel.
UNITED STATES
Fire evacuations rise
Evacuation orders on Tuesday were expanded for a growing wildfire driven by intense winds that has shut down a southern California highway for more than a day. At least 200 firefighters battled the Alisal fire, which had scorched 31km2 along coastal Santa Barbara County. “The fire is burning in dense chaparral and is being pushed by strong winds and growing at a rapid rate,” a fire update said on Tuesday.
UNITED STATES
‘Peppa Pig’ park to open
A standalone Peppa Pig theme park at the Legoland Florida Resort is to open on Feb. 24 next year, park officials announced on Tuesday. A one-day ticket for the central Florida park is to be US$34.99 at the gate and US$30.99 online. An annual pass is to cost US$79.99. Based on the preschool animated television series, the new park is near the main Legoland theme park, but will be separately ticketed, a news release said. The Peppa Pig theme park is to feature rides, interactive attractions, themed playscapes, water play areas and live shows, mostly designed for small children and their parents, officials said.
FRANCE
Resistance fighter dies
Hubert Germain, the last of an elite group of decorated French Resistance fighters who helped liberate France from Nazi control in World War II, has died. He was 101. The office of President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said that Germain “embodied a century of freedom.” It did not divulge details of his death. Born in Paris on Aug. 6, 1920, Germain was taking his entry exam for France’s Naval Academy in June 1940, just after the French state capitulated to the Nazis. “Rising from his examination table, he preferred to hand in a blank paper rather than give a blank check to the France that had gone to bed, that had given in to resignation and renunciation,” the office said.
In months, Lo Yuet-ping would bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades. The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub. Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he would miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
RSS