Switzerland votes Sunday on a slew of issues, including a proposed ban on factory farming and divisive pension reform that would raise the retirement age for women.. - Another hotly debated topic on the ballot is a popular proposal to ban intensive livestock farming, essentially eradicating factory farms in largely rural Switzerland.
Faced with exploding energy and ingredient costs, German baker Tobias Exner has installed new energy-efficient ovens, shortened his opening hours and even considered baking at lower temperatures.. Seventy percent of artisanal bakeries have gas ovens and gas prices are going through the roof," said Friedemann Berg, managing director of the German Bakers' Federation.
Christos Charalambous might be 79 but he is several metres up a carob tree, harvesting a fruit known as "black gold" on the island of Cyprus as his grandson works below.. "Carob has been known as the black gold of Cyprus because many farmers used to have carob... it was the main occupation of the villagers," said Stavros Glafkou Charalambous, from the Cooperative Carob Marketing Federation.
Sheltering from rain near Bangkok's Grand Palace, scores of unemployed Thais queue alongside homeless people waiting for free meals as 14-year-high inflation sends living costs soaring -- causing a headache for the government ahead of a looming general election.. "What we now need to look at is more targeted policy measures that would help alleviate the difficulty from rising living costs among Thai lower-income households," she said.
Construction crews are back at Dearborn, remaking Ford's century-old industrial complex once again, this time for a post-petroleum era that is finally beginning to feel possible.. - Storied history - The Lightning marks the latest reinvention of the Dearborn Rouge industrial complex south of Detroit near the Rouge River.
The emerging fleet of electric vehicles (EV) provoked fascination at the Detroit Auto Show, but many consumers were not yet ready to take the plunge to own one themselves.. While the vehicle launches have brought unprecedented attention to EVs, auto experts say that a meaningful transformation of the ICE-dominated US fleet is still years away.
France's TotalEnergies on Saturday signed a new $1.5 billion deal to help expand Qatar's natural gas production as Europe scrambles to find new energy sources to replace Russian supplies.. The boost comes as Europe struggles to replace supplies of Russian oil and natural gas that have fallen victim to the Ukraine war.
World Bank President David Malpass said Friday he had no plans to stand down, as he battles charges of climate denial for dodging questions on the role of man-made emissions in global warming.. Pressed on stage to respond to a claim by former US vice president Al Gore that he was a climate denier, Malpass declined multiple times to say whether he believed man-made emissions were warming the planet -- responding, "I'm not a scientist."
Apple Music is to replace Pepsi as the title sponsor of the Super Bowl's prestigious half-time show, the NFL announced on Friday.. Apple Music's sponsorship of the Super Bowl half-time show will start in 2023, when the NFL's championship game is staged in Glendale, Arizona on February 12.
Stock markets tumbled, the pound crashed against the dollar and oil prices slumped Friday on growing recession fears after central banks this week ramped up interest rates to fight decades-high inflation.. Recession fears also caused oil prices to fall, with the main US contract, WTI, falling below $80 for the first time since January.
