Denmark's left defied the consensus on migration. Has it worked?
Venturing beyond the ring road of just about any western European capital, far from its museums and ministries, often means encountering a landscape that mainstream politicians prefer to gloss over. Many suburbs are havens of familial peace. But others are the opposite: run-down dumping grounds into which societies shunt the immigrants whom they have failed to integrate. In the unloveliest banlieues surrounding Paris, Berlin or Brussels, criminality—whether petty, organised or drug-related—is often rife. Social indicators on education or employment are among the nation's worst. Ambitious youngsters looking to 'get out' know better than to put their real home address on their CVs.
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Arabian Post
14 minutes ago
- Arabian Post
DEWA Unleashes AI to Revolutionise Dubai's Energy Distribution
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has accelerated its implementation of artificial intelligence across its energy distribution network, marking a pivotal moment in its broader digital transformation agenda. This strategic push harnesses AI to elevate operational efficiency, boost service reliability, and enhance customer experience in alignment with Dubai's ambitious smart city vision. At the heart of this effort is DEWA's Distribution Network Smart Centre, which processes over 15 million data points daily. Leveraging big data, machine learning, and AI analytics, the centre produces real-time dashboards and diagnostic tools. These insights support predictive maintenance, prompt fault detection, and quicker restoration of service, ensuring reduced disruption for consumers. DEWA's investment in a robust smart infrastructure is backed by AED 7 billion committed to its smart grid strategy through 2035. This network upgrade enables 100% of consumers to access smart metering—over 1.2 million electricity meters and 1.1 million water meters—cementing Dubai's status as a digitally advanced metropolis. ADVERTISEMENT HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, emphasised the impact, stating that the swift, proactive maintenance enabled by AI has helped achieve one of the lowest rates of customer minutes lost globally—just 0.94 minutes per customer in 2024, far outperforming the 15-minute average observed among leading European utilities. The smart grid structure comprises 69 high-voltage substations and approximately 45,317 medium-voltage substations. These nodes, integrated within an AI-supported network, serve as crucial distribution points and are central to DEWA's capacity to meet surging energy demand from Dubai's fast-paced urbanisation. This year, DEWA launched two AI-driven tools to aid its engineering workforce. The Material Insights Agent offers real-time analysis for solar energy project planning, while the BRD Generator automates the creation of business requirements documents, reducing administrative overhead and expediting decision-making. This practical AI toolkit aligns with DEWA's strategic roadmap to become the world's first 'AI-native' utility. Since March 2025, the organisation has embedded AI across its core operations, reflecting a systemic shift towards data-driven governance and service delivery. Internationally, DEWA's smart grid strategy is recognised for delivering superior performance in key benchmarks. As of December 2024, its infrastructure recorded electricity transmission and distribution losses of just 2%, compared with 6–7% in Europe and North America. Water distribution losses were cut to 4.6%, considerably lower than the near 15% typically observed in North America. Automated technologies, such as the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System, operate continuously to isolate faults and restore supply without human intervention—an innovation unique to the Middle East and North Africa region. DEWA's transformation aligns closely with the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 and the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, aiming to cement Dubai's global leadership in AI adoption. Beyond infrastructure and internal efficiency, DEWA's AI initiatives deliver tangible customer benefits. Smart meters enable instant high-usage alerts for water leaks, environmental alerts, and optimised billing. From 2019 to 2023, the smart water meter platform detected over 1.8 million water leaks—saving resources and reducing costs. DEWA's comprehensive deployment of AI and smart grid technologies echoes the governing principles of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Its online dashboards, analytics portals and automated diagnostics signify a shift from reactive to proactive utility service management, reducing downtime and improving performance metrics. The utility's commitment to sustainability is evident in its efficiency gains: grid losses and customer minutes lost metrics not only ensure a reliable experience but also contribute to energy conservation and lower carbon emissions. In practical terms, the AI-enabled grid means faster response times, fewer outages, better asset management and improved demand forecasting. The smart meters, coupled with analytics tools, supply actionable data for both DEWA and consumers, enabling smarter energy consumption and billing accuracy. Dubai's rapid urban expansion—evident in its residential, commercial and tourism development—necessitates a resilient, intelligent utility infrastructure. DEWA's leveraging of AI, predictive analytics and smart metering positions the emirate to manage this growth sustainably while maintaining service excellence.
Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
Chevron says offshore well start-up caused Mars crude quality issues
The start-up of an offshore well caused zinc contamination in Mars crude, Chevron said on Friday, leading to the tightening crude oil supply in the key Gulf Coast refining hub and the government releasing barrels from its emergency stockpile. Inventories of crude oil along the US Gulf Coast had fallen to their lowest seasonally in seven years at the end of last week, thanks to recent wildfires in Canada that cut supplies and cancellations of licenses that allowed for US import of Venezuelan crude. The US Department of Energy on Friday said it would provide up to 1 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Exxon Mobil's Baton Rouge refinery in Louisiana, citing an offshore supply disruption. Exxon told its trading counterparts that it will not buy the Mars crude oil grade until the zinc contamination issue is fixed, Reuters reported on Thursday. The oil major requested the barrels from the SPR after the zinc contamination was identifiecrud in Mars crude, two sources familiar with the matter said. Mars, a medium sour crude produced off the coast of Louisiana, is preferred by refineries along the Gulf Coast because of its properties and proximity. Refiners are typically configured to run certain grades of oil for ideal yields of different types of fuels. Switching to other crude grades can be operationally challenging and limit production, shrinking margins. The exchange of oil was authorized to help maintain stable regional supply of transportation fuels across Louisiana and the broader Gulf Coast, the DOE said, adding that the exchange will not impact or delay the department's ongoing efforts to refill the reserve. Exxon will resupply the crude, along with additional barrels to the SPR, the department added. Exxon declined to provide additional details. Zinc does not typically occur naturally in crude oil and industry sources said they worried that running crude with zinc could cause damage to refining units and to catalysts used in processing oil. Tight supply, strong demand The Mars crude stream is a mix of oil from various platforms off the Gulf Coast. About 575,000 barrels per day of oil move on the Mars system to the coast, according to research firm Energy Aspects. Prices for Mars traded on Friday at a 15-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub. It had eased to as little as a 10-cent discount earlier in the week, compared with a $1 premium at the end of June. Chevron said it was working to resolve issues and it does not expect an impact to current production guidance. Supplies of medium and heavy crude oil along the US Gulf have tightened in recent months as Washington in late May terminated a group of licenses that had authorized partners of oil company PDVSA to take Venezuelan crude bound for US and European refineries. Declining oil production in Mexico has also reduced exports to the US, while the recent wildfires in Canada also cut supplies that are usually imported. The opening of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline last year has also redirected some Canadian oil flows to China and the US West Coast, rather than the US Gulf Coast. Meanwhile, demand for refined products, including gasoline and distillates, rose to 20.9 million bpd last week, the highest seasonally in five years thanks to strong driving demand.
Daily Mirror
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Cole Palmer given 'scary good' verdict ahead of Chelsea's Club World Cup final
Chelsea are preparing for their Club World Cup final against PSG on Sunday and Cole Palmer has been tipped to help the Blues lift another trophy after inspiring their UEFA Conference League triumph Cole Palmer has found himself plastered all over billboards in New York. And now Chelsea 's "amazing" talisman is determined to live up to the hype - even if he taking it all in his stride. Chelsea star Palmer is one of the faces of the Club World Cup and part of Nike's advertising campaign along with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. The slogan reads "Scary Good" and Palmer has gained a reputation for being a big game player after his man-of-the-match display to virtually win the Europa Conference League final by himself. Now Sunday will provide an even bigger setting in the 80,000 capacity MetLife Stadium which will host the first new-look Club World Cup final. They must overcome reigning European champions Paris Saint Germain with a £97m jackpot at stake but Palmer will be determined to live up to the tag on those billboards plastered all over Times Square, Manhattan and beyond. Chelsea defender Levi Colwill said: "He's scary good - to say the least. He's an amazing player. That billboard suits him perfectly well. It's amazing, seeing him everywhere around New York. It's surreal and I'm happy for him. I think he's seen them but you know Cole. He's not really blown away by much and I think that's what keeps him going. "We're all excited to be in the final. It's a huge competition and to be the first finalists is amazing. But we haven't just come here to be in the final, we want to win the competition.' Chelsea are big underdogs against the flair and style of Luis Enrique's PSG who have been in sensational form throughout this tournament. The likes of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes have blown everyone away and they are certainly the team that FIFA would have wanted in their first new-look Club World Cup final. It has been an interesting journey for Chelsea and they do not have the superstars of PSG but Palmer is the standout player for Enzo Maresca's team. But Colwill believes Chelsea have come of age in the competition, have grown through the rounds and success will put them back on the map and back among Europe's heavyweights. And Colwill also says, for the players, the prestige and the trophy is bigger than the prize money of a tournament which has often been more entertaining and popular than some expected. And there is definitely a template there for the future. Colwill added: "Winning the Europa Conference League helps a lot. This will be our second final of the season. It shows how far we've come. We really do believe in ourselves. Hopefully we win this and many more finals in the future. This is huge. It's the first tournament and to put yourself in the history books would be really good for the team and build confidence going into the future. "You have to respect how they press, how they play but we're not going to change our whole way to play them. We've got our plan, our identity which we're going to stick to through the gaffer and that's when we play our best football so let's stick to it. "We've got this far with playing our football so why are we going to change that now? We believe in ourselves and we want to try to prove that's the way to do so. If you turn the game into a basketball match in this heat, it's not going to help anyone. You have to control the ball way more, pick the right times to attack and try to score. And above that, keep the ball. "If everyone thinks we're going to lose then we've got nothing to lose. We're going to go out there, play our football, be confident and hopefully surprise everyone." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
