Israel's Netanyahu says Washington knew about Iran attack plans
"I leave the American position to the Americans. We updated them ahead of time. They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President (Donald) Trump. He makes his decisions independently," Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
"I am not going to speak for him (Trump). He does that very convincingly and assertively. He said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, they cannot have enrichment capabilities."
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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Renewables and coal are working to push out crude oil in China
LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 24 (Reuters) - The headline news in China's energy transition is often about how the world's second-largest economy is adding solar and wind generation at a breakneck pace. What is less discussed is how this is affecting the rest of the energy landscape, and how China is treading a different path to decarbonisation than most Western nations. In the West, renewables such as wind and solar have largely pushed out coal-fired power generation, and the intermittency that they bring to grids has been addressed by using natural gas, and to a lesser extent battery storage. In China, renewables have lowered coal's share of electricity generation, but only slightly, and the world's biggest miner, importer and consumer of coal is currently building even more coal-fired plants. Instead of pushing out coal, it appears that the fuel being most targeted by renewables in China is crude oil. This isn't because renewables directly replace crude or refined products. It's because China is trying to rapidly electrify its economy and transport systems. While it may not please anti-coal environmentalists or oil exporters such as the OPEC+ group, China's accelerated electrification does make economic sense, and over the long term it may even make environmental sense too. China installed 46 gigawatts (GW) of wind power and 198 GW of solar in the first five months of the year, as well as 3 GW of hydropower, according to data from the National Energy Administration. In contrast, just 18 GW of thermal power generation, mainly coal, was added in the January to May period, meaning that renewable energy accounted for 93% of the capacity additions. China is installing solar at such a fast pace that Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, calculated that in May it was adding 100 solar panels every second. However, China also has 227 GW of coal-fired power under construction and a further 257 GW in the pipeline, according to the Global Energy Monitor. China accounts for 83% of the global coal-fired generation capacity currently being built and its 1,789 GW of operating coal-fired generation accounts for 55% of the world total. The overall picture that emerges from China's current and planned electricity generation is renewables are accounting for the bulk of the growth, but coal is still increasing even if its share of total generation is starting to decline. What is also clear is that China is adding electricity generation faster than any other major economy. Part of the reason Beijing is doing so is because of the rapid rollout of electric and hybrid vehicles, which China collectively refers to as New Energy Vehicles (NEVs). Total vehicle sales rose 11.4% to 15.65 million units in the first half of 2025 from the same period last year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, with NEV sales surging 43% to 6.94 million units. The increasing share of NEV sales in China has led the International Energy Agency (IEA) to forecast hardly any growth in China's oil product demand this year, with it estimating an increase of just 81,000 barrels per day (bpd). The main drag on China's product demand growth is gasoline, which the IEA expects to drop by 141,000 bpd in 2025 from 2024. The increasing sales of electric heavy vehicles, as well as those powered by liquefied natural gas, are expected to see diesel demand drop by 40,000 bpd. The drivers of growth in China's oil product demand are naphtha, ethane and liquid petroleum gas, which the IEA forecasts will rise by a combined 199,000 bpd. The main uses for these products include plastics and chemicals. Rising demand is a reflection of strength in vehicle and other manufacturing, despite concerns over the potential fallout from import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. China's crude oil imports rose a modest 1.4% in the first half of 2025, as refiners bought more crude than they processed as prices trended lower in the second quarter. The country's crude oil imports dropped 1.9% in 2024 from the prior year, and the modest gain so far this year suggests the country may be at, or nearing, peak oil consumption. This makes economic and strategic sense for Beijing. China will want to move away from imported crude as fast as it can, given the commodity's inherent vulnerability to geopolitical events and its history of price fluctuations. Using electricity to replace oil boosts energy security and lowers China's import bill. While China is adding renewables at an impressive rate, it still makes sense to use the vast domestic reserves of coal as a fuel, especially if it replaces expensive and uncertain crude oil. Using coal also makes more sense in China than natural gas, with the bulk of the country's gas supplies either imported via pipelines or in the form of LNG. This makes natural gas more expensive than coal, meaning it will only be used for applications that are difficult to electrify, such as some industrial heating. In some weird way, coal is turning out to be China's transition fuel from crude oil to renewables. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Donald Trump visit to Scotland expected to be met with wave of protest
Protest organisers anticipate a wave of resistance to Donald Trump from Ayrshire to Aberdeenshire this weekend as Scots take to the streets to express 'widespread anger' at what they termed the US president's increasingly extreme policies. The US president is expected to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a five-day private visit to his luxury golf resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire. While it is not a formal trip, Keir Starmer will hold talks in Scotland with Trump on Monday. No press conference is scheduled, but the media are expected to attend the start of the discussions – opening the possibility for another freewheeling question and answer session by the president. There is no expectation the protests will bring disorder or disruption, the assistant chief constable Emma Bond, Police Scotland's gold command for the operation, insisted at a pre-visit briefing on Tuesday. But the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the scale of the policing operation would stretch resources and could double the time taken for a police officer to attend an incident elsewhere. The Stop Trump Coalition is organising events in Aberdeen in the city centre and outside the US embassy in Edinburgh on Saturday at midday – similar gatherings during Trump's visit to Scotland in 2018 attracted thousands of protesters. Along with the two main city gatherings, protests are expected around Turnberry and Menie, where Trump is expected to open a new 18-hole golf course named in honour of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. Starmer is likely to travel to Scotland on Monday morning or late on Sunday, after attending the women's Euro final in Switzerland, in which England are playing, although if the White House dinner on Sunday night goes ahead, he might have to change his plans. Downing Street has given little information about the trip and Starmer's role in it, saying that normal protocols do not apply because it is officially a private visit. The White House has already said that a pool of 12 US journalists will be present at the talks with Starmer, and the expectation is that the UK media will aim to be represented as well. While most initial greetings between world leaders are brief and uneventful, Trump has a habit of answering a number of questions shouted out to him, often creating news. Before the last time Trump and Starmer met, at the G7 summit in Alberta, the US president answered questions on subjects including the possibility of tariffs on UK steel, Ukraine, and his stated affection for the prime minister. Connor Dylan, the organiser of the anti-Trump protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, said: 'The vast majority of people in Scotland were already opposed to everything Trump stood for when he first visited as president. As we've learned more and more about him and the way he governs, that attitude has only hardened. 'His politics – and those of the people around him – have only become more extreme since then, with once fringe ideas like mass deportations now part of mainstream American politics and being effectively exported to the UK and other European countries by far-right allies.' A fellow organiser, Alena Ivanova, said she had heard from people across the country who planned to protest: 'There's a widespread anger and determination to come out from people across Scotland and calling on our elected leaders not to give Trump the acknowledgement and welcome he wants.' While Police Scotland has pledged a 'positive and engaged approach' to lawful protests, Ch Supt Rob Hay, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents said the visit would require a 'significant operation across the country over many days' which would 'undoubtedly stretch all our resources from local policing divisions to specialist and support functions such as contact, command and control'.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Thailand-Cambodia border clash live: Thailand urges nationals to leave Cambodia after troops trade fire
Update: Date: 2025-07-24T04:13:01.000Z Title: Sutthirot Charoenthanasak Content: Neighbours accuse each other of opening fire first along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province Full report: Armed clashes break out between Thailand and Cambodia Adam Fulton Thu 24 Jul 2025 06.13 CEST First published on Thu 24 Jul 2025 05.58 CEST 6.13am CEST 06:13 A Thai army official has been quoted by Reuters as saying the military is readying to deploy six F-16 fighter jets along the Cambodian border. More on this when it comes to hand. 6.07am CEST 06:07 At least two Thai civilians have been killed and two others injured by the shelling from the Cambodian side on Thursday, a Thai district official told Reuters. About 40,000 civilians from 86 villages in Thailand have been evacuated to safer locations, the district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, , told the news agency. Updated at 6.08am CEST 6.00am CEST 06:00 Agence France-Presse is reporting that Thailand's embassy has urged nationals to leave Cambodia over the border clashes. It comes after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in the space of a week lost a limb to a landmine in the disputed area. 5.58am CEST 05:58 Hello and welcome to our live coverage of clashes on the Thai-Cambodia border. Thai and Cambodian soldiers have fired at each other in a contested border area on Thursday, after the nations downgraded their diplomatic relations in a rapidly escalating dispute. It was not immediately clear if the clash was ongoing. A livestream video from Thailand's side showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker Thursday morning as explosions sounded periodically. The clash happened in an area where the ancient Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple stands along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia Oddar Meanchey province. You can read our full report here:
