Ukraine nuclear power plant alert
Its six reactors are all shut down but the plant requires power to its cooling systems for safety. It is reported that the damaged power line helped to ensure radiation safety. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the ZNPP has already experienced a complete blackout 8 times and has repeatedly been on the verge of a blackout.
=Fears of a nuclear disaster have previously been sparked on several occasions when the plant was shelled and was temporarily disconnected from Ukraine's power grid. Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko today accused Russia of destroying the power line that connects the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the power grid.
The city of Zaporizhzhia itself is less than 35 miles away and housed 750,000 people before the war. The plant was also targeted last year. This attack included a strike on the dome of the plant's sixth power unit that caused no damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said at the time that the possibility of a drone strike at the Zaporizhzhia power plant is 'consistent' with what it's seen.
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Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The world is dangerously close to a new crisis
Last week we saw yet again the power of the financial markets. Pretty much as soon as Rachel Reeves's tears were seen in the House of Commons, or Reevesgate as I shall call it, both the price of gilts and the pound fell, echoing on a much smaller scale what happened in reaction to the Truss/Kwarteng mini-Budget in 2022. Behind the human drama and the obsessions of the political class, there lurks a much more important problem. The elephant in the room is the appallingly high level of government debt, which is running at about 100pc of GDP. Last week's mini-crisis may simply be the harbinger of much worse to come. According to many on the Left, supported by some economists, nothing like this should happen. Do you remember the Magic Money Tree (MMT) that briefly flourished when Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party? Conveniently, the initials MMT also apply to the economic doctrine known as Modern Monetary Theory, which avers that governments can borrow from the markets willy nilly without consequence. You don't hear much about that idea these days. And with good reason. It is perfectly plain that there are limits to the markets' appetite for government debt. We have reached them. The UK's awkward position on public debt is by no means unique in the world. In the US, the so-called ' One Big Beautiful Bill' has just passed Congress. The consequence is going to be an increase in the US budget deficit. Indeed, it is difficult to see how this is going to come down anytime soon from its current rate of about 6pc of GDP. At present, the US debt ratio is running at about 100pc, but if the deficit continues at current levels, it is reasonable to suppose that the debt ratio will reach 120pc by the mid-2030s. The most acute worries around government debt in Europe are now focused not on Italy, where the debt ratio has stabilised, but on France. There, the debt ratio was 113pc last year and it is still rising. What is most concerning about France is the apparent unwillingness or inability of the government to reduce the deficit. Indeed, measures taken a few years ago by President Macron to reduce government spending by increasing the retirement age are again under threat. And if Marine Le Pen's party were to win power, it would probably increase government spending considerably. In many ways, though, the really interesting bond market is Japan's. (Interesting in the sense of the old Chinese curse.) For many years Japan was the poster child for all those people who argued that gargantuan government debt didn't matter. After all, for years its gross debt ratio was above 200pc. Yet for a long time the yield on these bonds was next to zero. Not any more. Against a backdrop of inflation having risen to over 3pc, the yield on Japan's 10-year government bonds has increased to 1.5pc. When the ratio of government debt to GDP reaches these levels in emerging markets then usually the prospect of default looms on the horizon. When a country borrows in its own currency, however, default can be avoided simply by printing more of the stuff. Mind you, this usually ends in inflation, which is a form of default by the back door. The US, Japan and the UK borrow in the currency that they issue. So default is not a worry. The same isn't true for countries within the eurozone because, although they borrow in their own currency, they have no control over its issuance. That rests with the European Central Bank. If it happens, a US recession could help to keep inflation subdued over the next year or two and that may forestall a bond market crisis. Yet, of course, that is a double-edged sword because any weakness in the economy will worsen the deficit. The same is true for the UK but the risk of a recession is probably lower here because we haven't suffered the tariff shock that President Trump has imposed on the US economy. As it is, over here recent signs on inflation have been fairly encouraging. If inflation does fall back convincingly, not only would that tend to encourage markets to take longer bond yields lower, but it would also encourage the Bank of England to cut short-term interest rates and that would tend to bring down short-term borrowing costs for the Government. But we face an acute vulnerability, namely the exchange rate. Of course, even the United States must confront this problem, although it is much less serious for them. For a start, as the world's largest economy and the issuer of the world's reserve currency, the US can get away with things that the rest of us cannot. Moreover, the US is a much less open economy than the UK and so any given percentage drop in the exchange rate has a smaller effect on inflation than it does here. Every financial crisis in Britain somehow or other involves the pound. Given our huge public indebtedness and very substantial international net liabilities, coupled with a still enormous current account deficit, we are seriously vulnerable to a loss of confidence. If the pound were to drop considerably, you could kiss goodbye to the prospect of lower interest rates and lower bond yields. Indeed, the opposite might happen. This is the significance of Reevesgate. Normally, the obsessions of politicians with this or that policy tweak and the manoeuvrings of particular individuals have very little significance. But in today's financial context, if the markets sniff the idea that Britain is about to enter a period of political chaos when the Government is unable or unwilling to stabilise the public finances, then they will move in for the kill. Whether the Chancellor is Reeves or someone else is not the important issue. The fundamental question is whether the Prime Minister has the will to assert his authority and control the public finances.
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Starmer is turning into ‘continuity Rishi Sunak', says Liberal Democrats leader
Keir Starmer risks becoming little more than 'continuity Rishi Sunak' because of his lack of vision and ambition, Ed Davey has said in a damning assessment of the prime minister's first year in power. The Liberal Democrats leader, whose party recorded its best result in a century at the last general election, said believed Starmer was a decent and principled man, but that it was unclear what he stood for. 'You can see Starmer almost sleep-walking to becoming continuity Rishi Sunak,' Davey told the Guardian in an interview marking 12 months since the 2024 election, in which the Lib Dems took 72 seats. 'It's as if there's no ambition anywhere. There's no ambition on Europe to get growth. The 10-year NHS plan failed to mention social care and failed to mention family carers. It could turn out to be the most expensive sticking plaster in history. 'We've seen the chaos on welfare. Even on defence, they're not taking the steps we need and with the foreign agenda where we're supposed to be doing so well, I don't think their position on Donald Trump has yielded the sorts of deep results that we need. 'It's almost as if, like Sunak, a tweak here, a tweak there is all he thinks needs to be done.' Davey, who has talked about caring for his son, who is disabled, and for his mother when she was ill, praised Starmer for discussing in a recent interview how he had personally sorted through the possessions of his brother, Nick, after he died late last year. 'I think it's important that people do hear that, because with the distrust in politics and politicians, it's important people do see that politicians value things like family,' Davey said. 'But as prime minister, there needs to be something that people can get behind. He needs people to understand where we're going. And I don't think anyone, even his own party, have a real feel for where he's going.' In comparison not just with Labour, but also the Conservatives and Reform UK, Davey's party has enjoyed a relatively undramatic year since the election, winning more seats in May's local elections and pushing ahead with a stance of 'constructive opposition' to the government. The Lib Dems are generally scoring only a few points below the 12.2% support they received in the general election in national polling, but while they have on a couple of occasions scored above the Tories, Reform are far ahead in first place. Davey, however, argued that local byelection results, such as one on Thursday in which the party took a seat on Durham county council from Reform, showed the extent of the Lib Dems' appeal, and the limitations of national polling. 'In parts of the country where we haven't been doing so well we're really coming back, and I can see a pathway for us doing something very special in the next election. I think we will surprise people again,' he said. 'During the last parliament, if I'd I said 'look, we're going to win 72 seats,' I think they would have questioned my objectivity and rationality. But we knew what we were doing.' On the rise of Reform, Davey argued that one factor was the disproportionate coverage given by the BBC to Nigel Farage and his party, something he said was 'just completely disproportionate'. 'I come to this debate as essentially someone who supports the BBC,' he said. 'But I fear that they're allowing themselves to be seen, by some at least, as an organ of Reform. They seem to bend over backwards to please Nigel Farage. They're almost like a mouthpiece for Nigel Farage, he's on so much, and this is a guy who wants to destroy them.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
EU leaders split over tactics as deadline looms for Trump trade talks
The EU is entering a crunch week with only two days of talks left to secure a trade deal with Washinton to avert Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariff on its imports into the US. According to the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, on Friday, the negotiations – which continued over the weekend – are focussed on 15 to 18 agreements with important partners, while Trump warned of import tax rates of up to 70% on others. The uncertainty created by Washington has sent shock waves through the global economy. Businesses have paused investment and the dollar posted its worst performance in 50 years in the first half of the year. With the clock ticking down to Trump's 9 July deadline, the European Commission remains uncertain how he will treat the bloc, threatening €1.6tn of transatlantic trade. 'Among member states, the big question will be whether we should reach a deal at all costs to avoid a trade war, or show muscle if the deal is not good enough,' one EU diplomat said. The German chancellor, Friederich Merz, has said he wants a quick UK-style deal to avert a full-scale trade war, while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, favours holding out for a better deal if a rushed deal is 'imbalanced'. Giving a flavour of the aggression shown towards the EU, which Trump once called 'nastier than China', Brussels' trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was threatened last week with 17% tariffs on food imports during talks with senior members of the Trump administration including Bessent. After announcing punitive 'liberation day' tariffs on nearly all countries on 2 April, Trump paused them for 90 days a week later. The US is now on the brink of launching a trade assault on dozens of countries as the 90-day period expires on Wednesday with only two deals in the bag – the UK and Vietnam. This has raised questions about the EU's ability to strike anything other than a political framework agreement to extend talks while a baseline 10% tariff and other levies on cars, steel and aluminium remain in place. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion As talks move into the final and most sensitive stage, industries across Europe are bracing themselves for fresh challenges, deal or no deal. They expect the cost of Trump's presidency is the minimum 10% on exports to the US, five times higher than the 2% average before he was elected last year. That is because after months of threats of retaliatory tariffs on everything from Bourbon to Boeing aircraft, the EU conceded last week that a comprehensive trade deal was unattainable. Instead they are aiming for an agreement in principle, or 'framework deal' which will look more like the UK deal struck in May, which came into force at the end of last month. Many EU diplomats initially dismissed the UK deal as thin and legally dubious under World Trade Organization rules, and held out hope that the bloc's greater economic clout with €1.6tn of transatlantic trade compared with the UK's £314bn (€363bn) would help it secure a better deal. But now they realise a bare-bones deal may be the best they can get.
