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Car importers stuck with excess EVs, weak demand
14Sep By No Comments
Business

Car importers stuck with excess EVs, weak demand

Photo: 123RF Car importers are grappling with excess stock and high storage costs as demand evaporates for electric vehicles. Sales of electric vehicles have plummeted since the end of the Clean Car Discount and the introduction of road user charges for the vehicles. "Under the previous government, the message was simple: transport emissions were a major concern, EVs were the solution, and because EVs were expensive, rebates would make them more affordable to encourage uptake," said Motor Industry Association chief executive Aimee Wiley. "This combination of incentives and a clear, focused message to consumers produced tangible results. In 2023 January through August, one in four new light passenger vehicles sold were EVs. Fast forward to 2024 and EVs make up just one in 11 new light pas...
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Slain Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei buried with full military honours
14Sep By No Comments
World News

Slain Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei buried with full military honours

By Elias Biryabarema and Ammu Kannampilly for Reuters Charity Chebeti eight, the youngest daughter of Rebecca Cheptegei, reacts during the burial of her mother. Photo: BADRU KATUMBA / AFP Warning: This story discusses graphic details of violence against women. Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after allegedly being doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner, has been buried with full military honours at her ancestral place in Uganda's northeast. Cheptegei, 33, returned to her home in the highlands of western Kenya, an area popular with international runners for its high altitude training facilities, after coming 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics on 11 August. It would be her final race. Three weeks later, her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Mara...
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World Sepsis Day: Timely treatment key to navigate life-threatening infection
14Sep By No Comments
Health

World Sepsis Day: Timely treatment key to navigate life-threatening infection

Immediate treatment is crucial to warding off sepsis -- a life-threatening emergency caused by a dysregulated host immune response to an infection, said experts on World Sepsis Day on Friday. World Sepsis Day takes place annually on September 13 and is aimed at raising awareness of the devastating condition that claims millions of lives globally each year. In 2020 alone, there were 48.9 million sepsis cases globally, leading to 11 million deaths -- representing 20 per cent of all global deaths. The burden is particularly heavy in low- and middle-income countries, where 85 per cent of sepsis-related deaths occur. In India, there were an alarming 11.3 million cases and 2.9 million deaths in 2020, underscoring the urgent need for improved prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatme...
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Egypt train collision: At least three killed, 49 injured
14Sep By No Comments
World News

Egypt train collision: At least three killed, 49 injured

Photo: AFP / AMIR MAKAR At least three people have been killed and others wounded in a collision between two passenger trains in Zagazig city northeast of Cairo, Egypt's health ministry said. Five of the injured are in unstable condition, the ministry added. The injured were taken to hospitals and "rescue operations are ongoing," the ministry said. The railway authority said in a statement that one of the trains was heading from Zagazig to Ismailia, while the other was on its way from the city of Mansoura to Zagazig. Egypt has been working for years to develop its ageing transportation network, modernise trains, and develop railway lines. - Reuters Source link
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Russia, Ukraine exchange 206 prisoners in second swap in two days
14Sep By No Comments
World News

Russia, Ukraine exchange 206 prisoners in second swap in two days

A relative hugs a Ukrainian prisoner of war after a swap with Russia in Chernihiv Region on 13 September. Photo: Maxym Marusenko / NurPhoto via AFP Russia and Ukraine have conducted a major exchange of prisoners - 206 in all - in their second such swap in two days, following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that all 103 Ukrainians returned were from the military - 82 soldiers and privates and 21 officers. Russian Defence Ministry said that the 103 Russian soldiers exchanged had been taken prisoner in the border Kursk region where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion in August. "Our people are home," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. "We have successfully brought back another 103 warriors from Russ...
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Haiti gas truck explosion kills 15, PM says
14Sep By No Comments
World News

Haiti gas truck explosion kills 15, PM says

Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille says the government stands in solidarity with the victims and their families. (File photo) Photo: Clarens SIFFROY / AFP More than 15 people in western Haiti have been killed after a gas tank truck exploded on Saturday, Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille said in a post on social media. Another 40 people were left with serious burns from the incident near Miragoane in the department of Nippes, he said. He noted the figures were still preliminary, and said the government was planning evacuations by helicopter. "The government stands in solidarity with all the victims and their families," Conille said. A similar fuel truck explosion in 2021 in the city of Cap-Haitien killed at least 60 people. In recent months, violent gangs have taken over much of the cap...
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At least 10 Palestinians killed in Gaza strike, Israel says targeted Hamas commander
14Sep By No Comments
World News

At least 10 Palestinians killed in Gaza strike, Israel says targeted Hamas commander

A man walks past rubble and damaged buildings along a street in the Tuffah district east of Gaza City on 8 July, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Photo: OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP At least 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian media reported, and the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander. The strike hit a residential housing unit in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Israeli military said it "struck the commander of a Hamas terrorist cell... who was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist activities." It said it was aware of reports that several civilians were killed in the strike. Two others were ...
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How I fixed neighbour wars and made a community at my London block of flats
14Sep By No Comments
Life Style

How I fixed neighbour wars and made a community at my London block of flats

Then Boozy Mike finished work and poked his head around the door — he’d got the party invite (invitations made it seem like a thing, I thought) but still looked very surprised to find us out there in the drizzle. He sat down on the bench and it immediately sunk into the wet earth. Eva came and had a cider, but was going to her mum’s that night, so couldn’t stay long, she said, looking forlornly at the table of free drinks. Compared to the last girl that lived in my flat, she couldn’t hear a thing from mine, she said, as I basically fainted with relief, wondering if my tiptoe tendons would ever recover. The idea your neighbours must hate you is perhaps more common amongst renters. Then Craig arrived, with gift-bagged Prosecco, and I thought maybe it didn’t have to be so. Source link...
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Skincare and haircare products linked to hormonal disruptions in children: Study
14Sep By No Comments
Health

Skincare and haircare products linked to hormonal disruptions in children: Study

Love to lather your children with lotion to keep their skin hydrated? Beware, a new study has linked personal care products like lotions and conditioners with increased levels of chemicals known to cause hormonal disruptions in their bodies. The study, published in the peer-reviewed Environmental Health Perspectives Journal, showed that lotions, hair-care products like shampoos and conditioners, and sunscreens contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates, posing severe health risks in children. A team of researchers led by George Mason University, in the US, examined urine samples of children aged between 4 and 8 years from 2017 to 2019, and found increased levels of mono-benzyl phthalate, Monoethyl phthalate, monobutyl phthalate. These chemicals cause hormonal changes in me...
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Pair of taxidermied huia could fetch $128k at London auction
14Sep By No Comments
World News

Pair of taxidermied huia could fetch $128k at London auction

A pair of huia being auctioned by Roseberys in London. Photo: Supplied / Roseberys A pair of taxidermied huia are expected to fetch up to NZ$128,000 when they are auctioned in London in October. The birds - a male and a female - date to the late 1800s, auctioneer Roseberys said. "Specimens of these striking songbirds are rarely seen on the market and displays showcasing both a male and female bird are even harder to come by." Huia were once widespread throughout the North Island, but populations declined swiftly following human settlement and the last confirmed sighting was in 1907. The birds had a special place in Māori culture, with their highly prized tail feathers often being worn to denote status. Male huia, pictured, had shorter, straighter beaks than the females. Photo: Suppl...
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