2024-09-21 18:28

NAGYMAROS, Hungary, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Hungarian farmer Laszlo Batki was close to harvesting his crops of organic tomatoes, peppers, radishes and lettuce when the swollen River Danube flooded most of his small plot just north of Budapest this week. Batki's vegetables needed carefully nurturing during a summer plagued by drought, and then the floods struck. With little left to salvage, he said he would make a big loss this year. "This means a loss of income ... also, we can't sow new crops as previously planned, and we can't start preparing the soil for next year," the 36-year-old said, standing in water up to his knees as he surveyed the partially submerged crops. The worst floods to hit central Europe in at least two decades have caused widespread damage from Romania to Poland, killing at least 24 people, destroying bridges, submerging cars and leaving towns caked in mud and debris. Days of torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks in several parts of the region. In Budapest, the Danube peaked in the early hours of Saturday, authorities told state news agency MTI, adding that the flooding peaked at a lower level than a record seen in 2013. Batki, who bought the one-hectare (2.47-acre) smallholding two years ago, said he had been using sustainable farming techniques with the aim of becoming a model for local farmers who could learn and adapt their methods. Despite the damage, he said he thinks he can take steps - such as switching to more traditional crops - to adapt to more frequent floods in the years to come, and was philosophical about his losses. "This is a bad thing. But on the other hand, it is also good. The Danube arrives, and it fills up the dried-up land with water and brings nutrients as well," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/floods-wreck-hungarian-farmers-organic-harvest-2024-09-21/

2024-09-21 14:58

STRONIE SLASKIE, Poland, Sept 21 (Reuters) - As water receded in Stronie Slaskie, one of the areas worst-hit by massive floods in south-west Poland, residents and volunteers began clearing up in hope their homes would be liveable before the onset of winter. Parts of the mountain town of 5,000 people were swamped when a dam burst last weekend during Central Europe's worst floods in more than two decades that have caused billions of dollars of damage and killed at least 24 people. Miroslaw Wegrzyn, 67, who has been running the "Ice Cool" ice cream shop for 30 years, said the water came above the top of his door. When it receded, he found the building full of mud among dislodged machinery and hundreds of ice sticks. "A wave almost three meters in front came here and when the dam broke, it swept everything away," he said, adding he was not insured and did know if he would rebuild the shop. The floods swept away homes and cars, leaving streets covered with mud, rubble and debris. "We have to rebuild. Slowly rebuild and wait for the weather to be good and for winter to come as late as possible", said Grzegorz Ukrainski, 42, a businessman from a city to the northeast, Opole, who volunteered to help clean up in Stronie Slaskie. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/residents-polish-town-hit-by-flood-hope-make-homes-liveable-by-winter-2024-09-21/

2024-09-21 14:18

KYIV, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister said on Saturday that Russia is planning strikes on Ukrainian nuclear facilities before the winter, and urged the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog and Ukraine's allies to establish permanent monitoring missions at the country's nuclear plants. "According to Ukrainian intelligence, (the) Kremlin is preparing strikes on Ukrainian nuclear energy critical objects ahead of winter," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X. "In particular, it concerns open distribution devices at (nuclear power plants and) transmission substations, critical for the safe operation of nuclear energy." Sybiha did not elaborate on why Kyiv believed such strikes were being prepared. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, called for a swift global response to the purported threat of a strike on a nuclear facility. "This is preparation for a possible nuclear disaster scenario. Russia is a terrorist," he wrote on Telegram. "They must be stopped here and now. The countries of the West and the Global South must react harshly to preparations for terror." Russia has been waging an aerial bombardment campaign on Ukraine's power grid since autumn 2022 after invading the country earlier that year. It has damaged or destroyed most of Ukraine's thermal power generating capacity and has sometimes hit dams, but has not yet struck any Ukrainian-controlled nuclear facilities. Ukraine has previously accused Russia of nuclear blackmail after Russian forces occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, in March 2022, early on in the invasion. Moscow denies that allegation. Both sides have regularly accused each other of shelling areas next to the plant, which has on several occasions cut power lines to the plant, increasing the chance of a blackout that could cause a nuclear accident. IAEA head Rafael Grossi has visited Ukraine and Russia several times throughout the war and has urged the sides not to engage each other near nuclear facilities. "I think it is always a risk when there is a possibility of an attack on a nuclear power plant," he said on a visit to Kyiv at the beginning of September. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-russia-is-planning-strikes-nuclear-facilities-2024-09-21/

2024-09-21 14:15

NICOSIA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Greece and Cyprus have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to press ahead with a subsea electric cable linking continental Europe to the East Mediterranean, the energy ministries of the two countries said on Saturday. The Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) cable will link transmission networks of Europe to Cyprus in a project costing 1.9 billion euros ($2.12 billion), and later stretch to Israel. On completion, project promoters say it would be "the world's longest" such high-voltage cable at 1,240 km (770.5 miles) and also the deepest at 3,000 metres. Based on the MoU signed on Friday night, work on the project will resume in coming days, the two ministries said on Saturday. Cyprus has proven gas reserves but they have not been tapped. The island still relies on heavy fuel oil to generate electricity, with costs to consumers considerably more than their counterparts in continental Europe. Although not disputing the need for alternative sources of energy or the GSI itself, there had been hold-ups on the Cyprus end as Nicosia sought clarifications on the total cost of the project, its viability and any liabilities for unforeseen delays. "This is a project of strategic importance for Cyprus, Greece and the EU since it will link Cyprus to the electricity network of Europe, facilitating its energy transition and the aim of Greece to be a conduit of clean energy," the ministries said. ($1 = 0.8959 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/cyprus-signs-mou-with-greece-worlds-longest-subsea-electric-cable-2024-09-21/

2024-09-21 11:09

TAIPEI, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan's sparsely populated east coast county of Hualien on Saturday, the island's weather administration said, with no immediate reports of damage. The quake shook buildings in the capital, Taipei. It had a depth of 17 km (10.6 miles), the weather administration said. Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. In April, Hualien was hit by the biggest earthquake to affect Taiwan in at least 25 years. Nine people were killed and more than 900 injured, and there have been thousands of aftershocks since. More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-rattled-by-53-magnitude-quake-no-immediate-reports-damage-2024-09-21/

2024-09-21 06:35

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Record rains in central Japan's Noto region, still recovering from a major New Year's Day earthquake, killed at least one person on Saturday, prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands and caused blackouts for more than 6,000 households. Seven people, including four working on quake reconstruction, were missing, and calls for rescue were swamping the fire department, public broadcaster NHK reported. Hourly rainfall hit record 121 mm (4.8 inches) on Saturday morning in Wajima, while neighbouring Suzu received 84.5 mm in an hour, also an all-time high. TV footage showed brown floodwater turning streets into rivers in Wajima, with cars half submerged. Eiichi Higashi, a Wajima resident taking shelter at an evacuation centre within the city, told NHK that people were rushing to the facility as evening neared. "It's tough to see people who live in temporary housing after losing their houses to the quake now coming to yet another shelter because of the rain," Higashi said. Military personnel have been dispatched to the region to work on a rescue mission along with police officers and fire fighters, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. "This is heavy rain in the region that suffered massive damage by the Noto peninsula earthquake. There must be many people who are very worried," Hayashi said. The 7.6 magnitude quake killed more than 300 people in Suzu, Wajima and surrounding areas. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/torrential-rain-japan-floods-quake-stricken-noto-region-2024-09-21/