In the World

TURKEY

Extensive power failure

disrupts services nationwide

The most extensive power failure in 15 years disrupted services across Turkey, with the prime minister saying all possible causes including terrorism were being investigated.

Power was restored to most of Istanbul by 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said. The outages started at 10:36 a.m., the ministry said. "For the past week, electricity here has been out for hours almost every day," Suleyman Onatca, chairman of a business confederation. The failures have been weighing on industrial activity for the last year, he said.

Yildiz ruled out insufficient energy supply, and said he couldn't yet exclude the possibility of a cyber attack. The ministry was also investigating whether a disruption at a power plant in Izmit could have created a "domino effect." The ministry has established a crisis desk, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The nationwide failures expose vulnerability in Turkey's electricity infrastructure, said Aaron Stein, of the Royal United Services Institute, who published a report on the crisis.

- Bloomberg
CHINA

Water-conservation push

China will boost investment in water- conservation projects this year as the country's leaders seek to ensure safe supplies and to reduce pollution, an official said. Investment in 2015 will surpass last year's total of about $79 billion, Vice Minister of Water Resources Jiao Yong said Tuesday in Beijing. Almost half of the money will be spent on major water-conservation projects, and some will be used to supply drinking water for 60 million rural residents. China's water resources have been strained by a growing population, aridity in the north, and rapid urbanization. - Bloomberg

MALAWI

Burning of poached ivory

Malawi will burn four tons of ivory seized from poachers and smugglers, to demonstrate the government's tough stance on the illegal ivory trade in the southern African nation. President Peter Mutharika will burn the tusks Thursday at an event in the capital, Lilongwe, said Information Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa. Most of the seized ivory was being smuggled to China and other Asian markets, the minister said. Malawi is home to more than 1,000 elephants. - Bloomberg