The world’s two first hydrogen-powered trains have begun service in Germany. The trains, which operate in between northern German towns, are a step away from traditional diesel power. According to a press release from Alstom, the trains’ French parent company, they are are “equipped with fuel cells which convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. Source Popular Mechanics
Renewable
The North Sea may be a prime spot for wind parks, but Estonia is betting it can build and maintain turbines for less. The small nation is pushing ahead with ambitious plans for an offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea. Source: DW
A senior Indian negotiator says his country will cut back its use of coal, if sufficient cash for renewables emerges from a Paris deal. Dr Ajay Mathur said coal would be restricted if there was help to pay for “more expensive” green energy. Source: BBC
Bill Gates has pulled together a multinational band of investors to put billions into clean energy. The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist is set to announce his latest endeavor, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, at the climate change summit in Paris alongside President Obama and French President Francois Hollande. Source: CNN Money
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, wants a legally binding agreement to be reached at a world climate summit in Paris that begins on Nov. 30. China hopes the summit will prove to be “monumental” for climate change, said Xie Zhenhua, the nation’s special representative on climate change. Source: Bloomberg
The U.K. government will make keeping the lights on the top priority with natural gas and nuclear power playing a central role in that goal, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd is expected to say in a major speech later Wednesday setting out a new energy policy for the country. Source: WSJ
EDP Renewables, Mitsubishi, Chiyoda, Engie and Repsol entered into an agreement to implement a floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Northern Portugal, known as the WindFloat Atlantic project. The project, located 20km off the Portuguese coast, is planned to be operational in 2018. Source: Offshore Engineer
A bus that arrived in the French city of Lyon from Milan in Italy was sealed off for several hours Monday after the driver showed symptoms of possible coronavirus infection, security sources said. Source France
The U.S. government failed to effectively account for nearly $715.8 million in weapons and equipment allocated to Syrian partners as part of the multinational counter-ISIS fight, according to a new report from the Defense Department inspector general. Source Task & Purpose
US President Donald Trump issued an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday, an official said. The move was slammed by immigrant advocates and critics who say the policy discriminates against Muslims and others. Source AL Jazeera
- Jet fuel prices have dropped sharply due to the coronavirus.
- Airlines have canceled more than 200,000 flights, mostly within China as the government steps up measures to curb the spread of the virus.
- The coronavirus has sicked more than 76,000 people and killed more than 2,200. Source CNBC
Officials in northern Italy ordered schools, public buildings, restaurants and coffee shops to close. The emergency measures come as a cluster of new infections emerged, including some who had not been to China. Source Deutsche Welle
On February 18, the Hague Court of Appeal reinstated an order of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which obliged Russia to pay $50 bln to the companies associated with former Yukos shareholders Source Tass
Every year fewer Poles emigrate to Sweden while the number of Polish citizens leaving that country is ever greater, according to the latest data released by Statistics Sweden (SCB), the national statistical office. Source The First News
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced measures to end a programme that allowed foreign countries to send imams and teachers to France in a bid to crack down on what he called the risk of “separatism”. Source France24
The Albanian Minister-in-office for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Çakaj and the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca met today to discuss the establishment of common economic space for free movement of people, goods & capital between Albania and Kosovo and the possibility of founding shared embassies of Kosovo and Albania around the world. Source Europeanwesternbalkans
The Russian Defense Ministry says its Air Force launched strikes to repel a militant offensive against the Syrian Army in Idlib, which had sought to breach the government forces’ defensive lines with Turkey’s backing. The militants launched a “massive offensive” southeast of the city of Idlib, using many armored vehicles, the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria said on Thursday, adding that it was Turkish artillery that helped them breach the Syrian Army’s defenses in some areas. Source RT
In one day, sea rescue vessel Ocean Viking received distress calls to come to the aid of two boats carrying displaced people across the Mediterranean. DW reporter Miodrag Soric witnessed the rescue operations firsthand. Source Deutsche Welle
China’s warehouses have racked up record levels of steel as the coronavirus outbreak has brought construction and manufacturing, which account for more than half of global demand for the material, to a standstill.
Steel makers and traders held a total of 34.3m tons of finished steel products – the highest level ever recorded – as of February 20, according to Shanghai-based industry data provider Mysteel. Source Capital
Long-term bond rates are falling sharply as worries about a recession increase. The 30-year US Treasury yield is at an all-time low and the 10-year is not far from its 2016 record low of 1.32%. The price of US oil fell 5%. And the US dollar is near a 52-week high. Source CNN
Car sales in China fell 92% in the first half of February as the coronavirus shutdown took its toll, according to an industry trade body. Car dealerships have remained closed while buyers have stayed away to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Source BBC
Germany’s 30-year bond yield turned negative for the first time since October on Monday, meaning the entire yield curve in the euro zone’s biggest economy was below zero again as coronavirus fears gripped world markets. The yield on the 30-year German bond fell 6 basis point to -0.022%, its lowest level since October. Source Reuters
- The drop off in tourist numbers is an “important impact” on France’s economy, Bruno Le Maire, the country’s finance minister, said.
- France is one of the most visited countries in the world, and tourism accounts for nearly 8% of its GDP.
- Le Maire said France welcomes around 2.7 million Chinese tourists to the country each year, but it “won’t be the same” in 2020. Source CNBC
European leaders failed to reach an agreement on the bloc’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, after more than 24 hours of negotiations and dozens of bilateral meetings held during EU’s emergency summit. Source New Europe
U.S. satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems may have to shut its Indian operations due to unpaid levies owed to the government, which could put thousands of banking services at risk, a company letter seen by Reuters showed.
India’s Supreme Court late last year ordered a number of telecom companies, including Hughes and larger firms like Vodafone (L:VOD), to pay billions of dollars owed to the government. Source Reuters
Kuwait Airways said it has decided to suspend all flights to Iran on Thursday until another notice amid fears from a coronavirus outbreak, according to statements published on the company’s Twitter account. Source Al Alarabiya
Japan is finalizing a plan that will tighten scrutiny of foreign investment in 12 key sectors, four government sources with knowledge of the matter have said. The sectors would include industries like defense, nuclear power, aerospace, utilities, gas, cyber security and telecommunications, two of the sources said. Source Japan Times
Airbus announced on Wednesday it planned to cut 2,362 jobs in its Defence and Space division, which is headquartered near Munich, over the next two years. The European multinational aerospace company will cut 829 jobs in Germany, 630 in Spain, 404 in France and 357 in Britain. A further 142 jobs will be cut in other countries. Source Deutsche Welle
The Swedish Central Bank, the Riksbank, is launching a pilot scheme for a new digital currency that will aim to show how it could be used by the public as a complement to cash.
The announcement comes years after the Riksbank first said it was looking into creating its own digital currency, an e-krona, based on block-chain technology. Source The Local
