German climate activists dig in to stop new coal mine


Tim Stickings
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Thousands of climate protesters faced off with police on Monday in a tiny German hamlet due for demolition to make way for a coal mine.

The struggle for Luetzerath has become a rallying cry for activists who say the mine’s enlargement betrays Germany’s climate goals.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, including the Green party which once opposed the mine, says the coal is needed to plug gaps amid an energy crisis in Europe.

Police are bracing for a long stand-off as activists camp out in Luetzerath, in Germany’s western coal country, to stop it being cleared.

Campaigners have set up barricades, vigils and makeshift camps and occupied empty farm buildings in the village, after shuttling people to Luetzerath by bus.

Luisa Neubauer, the face of the Fridays for Future movement in Germany, said protesters would “use every means to protect the village, and thereby our climate goals”.

“The world is watching what we’re doing here, because we’re fighting for them too,” she told a crowd of supporters.

“If governments won’t do it, we will. They don’t have the courage, we do.”

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer among the demonstrators in Luetzerath. Reuters
Climate activist Luisa Neubauer among the demonstrators in Luetzerath. Reuters

Police said protests that had been mostly peaceful had turned violent after a march on Sunday.

Dirk Weinspach, the local police chief, said stones were thrown at officers and cars damaged amid the unrest.

Authorities fear that activists will glue themselves to the ground or set up booby traps in farm buildings.

“Police are facing a difficult, challenging operation with considerable risks,” Mr Weinspach told a press conference on Monday.

The demolition, expected to start on Wednesday or Thursday, is the final stage in a years-long struggle for the village, about 30km from the Dutch border.

Activists have campaigned under the slogan “every village stays” to block a new coal mine at a time when Germany is trying to phase out fossil fuels.

Energy company RWE counters that nobody really lives in Luetzerath, except people occupying the site.

It says Germany will only have enough coal to replace Russian gas if the open-cast mine is expanded.

Activists try to knock down a fence near the open-cast mine in western Germany. AP
Activists try to knock down a fence near the open-cast mine in western Germany. AP

Russia cut off imports to Germany and much of Europe in the fallout from the war in Ukraine, causing a surge in energy prices.

Mr Scholz's government ordered coal plants brought back on the grid, extended the lifetime of three nuclear reactors and had a new gas terminal built in the North Sea.

German ministers struck a deal with RWE last autumn to allow mining in Luetzerath to go ahead, in exchange for five other villages being spared.

The government insists that the target of ending coal power generation by 2030 is still on track.

But campaigners say the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is in jeopardy.

Stefan Rahmstorf, a climatologist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said politicians should consider whose side they are on.

“Politicians should think carefully about how a massive police operation in favour of coal and against climate activists will be judged in four or five years, when damage to the climate has become greater and more obvious,” he said.

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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Based: Abu Dhabi

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash

Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.

Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.

Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.

Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.

Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

Living in...

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Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

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The flights

Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.

The hotels

Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes. 

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Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra

 

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Directed by: Craig Gillespie

Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry

4/5

Veil (Object Lessons)
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​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright

Stormy seas

Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.

We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice. 

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

Updated: January 09, 2023, 1:32 PM