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"Ye" it ain't so! Another major sponsor is following in Pepsi's footsteps, bailing on London's Wireless Festival after Ye -- formerly known as Kanye West -- was named as the headliner. Alcoholic beverage giant Diageo
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High in the mountains of southern Norway, where winter is usually measured in metres of snow, engineers are confronting an unfamiliar sight. Standing atop the Vatndals dam on a recent day, the hydrologist Sverre Eikeland looked out over craggy slopes that should still be blanketed in white powder. The reservoir, large enough to fill nearly half a million Olympic swimming pools, depends on spring melt to replenish and generate electricity. But after Norway’s driest winter in decades, the water level is far below where it should be, prompting companies to limit outflows. “Less snow means less energy stored in that snow,” said Eikeland, who advises power utility A Energi. “There should be more.” Norway, with its thousands of dams, is often called Europe’s biggest battery. Under normal conditions, the country’s hydropower system produces enough electricity to meet domestic demand and export large volumes. Last year, net sales abroad amounted to about 15% of its production. But months of dry weather have upended that pattern. This winter was Norway’s coldest since 2010, the result of persistent high pressure near Greenland that blocked flows of moist Atlantic air into the Nordic region. With little precipitation, snow reserves have fallen to their lowest levels in two decades, creating a deficit of about 25 terawatt-hours of energy, according to Tuomo Saloranta, a hydrologist at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate. That’s nearly a fifth of Norway’s total hydropower output last year. The shortfall is already rippling through electricity markets, slashing exports to the UK and Germany and pushing Nordic prices sharply higher. More than half of the region’s supply comes from hydropower, and in Norway it accounts for nearly all generation. While hydro is generally more predictable than wind and solar, it still depends on sufficient precipitation and snow accumulation. “We’re a weather-based system,” said Kari Ekelund Thorud, executive vice president for energy at Norsk Hydro ASA, one of Norway’s biggest power users. “We are much more vulnerable if the weather goes the wrong way.” Waterways like the one Eikeland oversees are ubiquitous in Norway. Stretching more than 200 kilometres, the Otra river, fed by the Vatndals reservoir and surrounding lakes, runs through long, sparsely populated valleys dotted with small farms and holiday cabins. Forests on either side are home to moose, deer and beavers. Yet for all its seemingly untouched beauty, the river is highly managed through a network of hydropower stations, pumped-storage plants and dams. Strict rules govern how much the water can rise or fall. Nearly every drop is accounted for: Close to 80% of annual rainfall is captured, and only one waterfall remains undeveloped. Annual snowmelt is key to keeping the system balanced. This year, when A Energi measured the snowpack — using rods to extract cores and measure density — staff realised they had a problem. “There was no snow in February, and now none in March,” said Lars Erik Omland, who leads the company’s market analysis team. “We gradually realised that this would be a winter with little snow.” Consumers are already feeling the pinch. Electricity sales to the UK and Germany — major export markets — have plunged by about 50% and 40% this year, respectively, while winter energy prices in northern Sweden have surged to more than four times their 2025 levels. The Nordic region’s ski resorts have also come under pressure, facing the double burden of producing more artificial snow while struggling with steep electricity costs. In Sweden, Ulf Svensson, who heats his home with electric radiators, got a shock when he received his latest bill. “I never thought it would be this high,” he said, citing a monthly charge of more than 10,000 kronor ($1,000). “We’ve always had really low rates here up north.” Fading Price AdvantageThe surge in electricity prices comes at a difficult moment for Europe, as the region contends with higher gas prices tied to the war in the Middle East. In the UK, windier-than-average weather has helped keep the country supplied despite a drop in imports from Norway. Even so, the most expensive hours are still often covered by fossil fuels — a challenging dynamic as exports through the Persian Gulf have effectively come to a standstill. For traders, the scale of Norway’s shortfall is distilled into a single number. The so-called hydrological balance measures the amount of energy stored in snowpack, reservoirs and groundwater relative to seasonal norms, and is monitored several times a day alongside indicators like French nuclear output and European gas storage. The deficit widened in late February to its lowest level since 2011 and remained close to that mark through most of March before improving slightly this week. In southern Norway, which is linked to the continent and the UK by subsea power cables, snow levels are the weakest for this time of year since 1996. Nordic day-ahead power prices have this year traded just shy of Germany’s — a market that’s been 60% more expensive over the past decade. The convergence underscores how quickly the region’s traditional price advantage can disappear if water reserves shrink. “When the Nordic region has a hydrological deficit, the export of relatively cheap power to markets like the UK and Germany drops significantly,” said Staffan Bergh, head of analysis at industry consultant Bodecker Partners AB. “They then often have to rely on more expensive production, which typically drives up spot prices and volatility.” This year’s frigid winter has also boosted electricity demand. Oslo recorded more than 30 consecutive days with temperatures below 0C (32F), the longest such stretch in about 16 years, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Prolonged freezing conditions have raised heating demand and stored precipitation as snow and ice, delaying inflows to reservoirs. At the same time, wind generation has dropped sharply. Wind speeds across Scandinavia in January and February 2026 were well below long-term climate norms, sinking to the lowest levels recorded since 2013, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute. By contrast, the UK and Germany saw stronger output during the same period, which has helped stabilize the European market. For now, the depleted hydro balance is supporting forward power contracts through the end of the year, boosting returns for generators across the region. With winter ending, the window to rebuild reserves is closing fast. Rain storms alone likely won’t be enough. “It’s clear that more than a single event is needed to refill the reservoirs,” said Tarjei Breiteig, head of hydrology and meteorology at A Energi. “Even if it’s extreme, it has to be part of a longer trend over time to correct the situation. That said, it can swing really fast.”
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Leading Russian state oil and gas companies Rosneft and Gazprom supported wartime camps where more than 2,000 Ukrainian children were taken, facilitating transportation and providing funds, Yale University research has alleged, prompting calls from some US lawmakers to reinstate sanctions on the two firms. The findings, released by Yale last week, provide the first “definitive public proof of these companies’ critical involvement in Russia’s systematic campaign of child deportation and indoctrination,” the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) publication said. With the support of the two energy giants, approximately 2,158 children were taken to the camps in Russian-occupied Ukraine and Russia between 2022-2025, it said, including for pro-Russian education. Yale’s conclusions were based on analysis of public statements by individuals, verified social media posts, corporate websites and records, it said. Reuters could not independently confirm the report’s findings. Russia’s foreign ministry and Ukrainian authorities did not respond to requests for comment. In response to a Reuters request for comment on details of the report, Gazprom said: “Gazprom owns several health resorts in Russia and Russian children spend summer vacations there.” Russia has consistently denied it forcibly took Ukrainian children, saying it removed them from danger on humanitarian grounds. It has dismissed earlier Yale reports as anti-Russian propaganda. Lawyers representing Rosneft said in a letter to Reuters that Yale’s report failed to find any evidence of participation in illegal activity by the company. At least 1,072 children from Russia-occupied Ukraine received vouchers from Gazprom subsidiaries and trade union organisations to attend pro-Russia camps in 2022 and 2023, Yale’s report said. Rosneft’s Interregional Trade Union sponsored 100 children from Ukraine to attend three camps in 2022, it said. Rosneft’s trade union did not respond to a request for comment. Rosneft’s lawyers said that the union was a separate legal entity, independently registered under Russian law. They also said Yale did not provide any evidence that Rosneft “directed, controlled, authorised or even knew” of the union’s alleged conduct. Michael McFaul, a professor of international affairs at Stanford who served as US ambassador to Russia from 2012-2014, dismissed the idea that Rosneft’s union was independent. “Rosneft is an arm of the Russian government... Tragically, Putin’s dictatorship no longer allows independent trade unions,” said McFaul, who served as Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council from 2009 to 2012. Earlier in March, the US announced a temporary lifting of sanctions on the sale of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products to counter surging prices that followed the war in Iran. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A bipartisan group of 12 members of US Congress cited Yale’s findings in an appeal to reimpose sanctions on Gazprom and Rosneft, which were also lifted under the waiver. A letter drafted by Ohio Representative Greg Landsman and shared with Reuters said that “the recent revelation of their direct involvement in Russia’s abduction of over 35,000 children from Ukraine is cause for significant alarm.” The letter, which was to be sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, called for 35 additional entities identified by Yale to be sanctioned, adding that the 30-day sanctions waiver for Russian oil sales will result in approximately $12bn of revenue for the two Russian companies. Under international law, the forced deportation and transfer of children from occupied territory to the territory of an occupying power or to that of any other country is a war crime, regardless of the motive, and Ukraine has classified it as a crime against humanity. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, have been accused of the war crime of deportation for the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova for their alleged roles in atrocities during the war that began with Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC did not respond directly to the assertions raised in the Yale report. Russia has rejected the court’s allegations.
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Jennifer Aniston Packs on PDA With Boyfriend Jim Curtis Published April 5, 2026 1:03 PM PDT On this Easter Sunday, we're getting a rare "peep" at Jennifer Aniston's love life! The actress looks unbelievably adorable
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24 horses have qualified for the final of different categories on the second day of the 23rd edition of the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship 2026 held at the Dubai World Trade Center, with the
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Stars With The Easter Bunny... Hoppy Easter!!! Published April 5, 2026 12:00 PM PDT Celebs love when that eggs-tra special guest stops by their Easter shindigs. You know who we're talking about ... the Easter
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DUBAI: Dubai welcomed an exciting boxing event by Batl Boxing Promotions, featuring four WBA titles and three UBO titles.The bouts were supervised by Jose Mohan from the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission, ensuring a high
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Kardashians Egg-Streme Easter Party!!! Published April 5, 2026 10:37 AM PDT Play video content Egg-stra, egg-stra! The Kardashians went all out for Easter Sunday, turning the holiday into a luxury drop for some lucky kids.
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Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the government was taking, and would continue to take, all possible measures to provide relief to the public during the current challenging situation.He said the government is
