Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced a freeze on energy bills, an end to the ban on fracking for shale gas, and new licences to drill oil in the North Sea.
The economic powerhouses of the European Union, France and Germany, both set records on Friday for electricity prices, as the West’s sanctions war with Russia continues to bite.
Six months into a war that has killed thousands of Ukrainians and displaced over 12 million more, most of the pledges to drop Russian investments — some made with great fanfare during news conferences — have gone unfulfilled.
(AFP) – European natural gas prices climbed Thursday towards a record peak on heightened fears over Russian supplies, while equities rose on the eve of a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
UK residents will see an 80 per cent increase in their annual household energy bills, the country’s energy regulator announced Friday, following a record 54 per cent spike in April. That will bring costs for the average customer from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds.
At least one kindergarten in the UK has told children to wear more clothes to keep warm, as the business itself cannot afford to keep the heating on constantly.
As officials in the country express their fears about future gas riots this winter, the German government has announced a host of new energy rationing rules that will come into effect from next Thursday.
The Associated Press found more than 3,600 shipments of wood, metals, rubber and other goods have arrived at U.S. ports from Russia since it began launching missiles and airstrikes into its neighbour in February.
Over half of households in Germany will be left living paycheck to paycheck or worse as a result of the country’s gas crisis, the head of a savings bank has warned.
Swedish electricity prices have increased 400 per cent since last year as costs for other goods such as food and alcoholic beverages continue to rise as well.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Estonia decided Thursday to bar people from neighbouring Russia with tourist visas from entering the northernmost Baltic country as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.
(AFP) – Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Latvia on Saturday following tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and U.S. sanctions against Russia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has introduced a new plan to help ease the ongoing energy crisis for the upcoming winter, including subsidies for home heating and a bailout of a major gas supplier.
A group of Polish lawmakers presented Germany with a proposal to lease the country’s nuclear power plants, which are set to be shut down.
BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany’s decision to reactivate coal and oil-fired power plants to relieve energy shortages because of the war in Ukraine is only temporary and his government remains committed to doing “everything” to combat the climate crisis.
The British public should turn down their heating and switch the time when they eat dinner this winter in order to avoid rolling blackouts, government advisors have warned.
The Kremlin is hailing the downfall of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said he wanted to “lead the West” against Russia in February.
A potential cutting-off of Russian gas would lead to recession and “chaotic conditions”, various German officials are now warning.
BERLIN (AP) – Fearing Russia might cut off natural gas supplies, the head of Germany’s regulatory agency for energy called on residents Saturday to save energy and to prepare for winter, when use increases.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada are reportedly blocking a British plan to fight food shortages and inflation by cutting back on biofuels in favour of edible crops, claiming it endangers their “net zero” ambitions.
LONDON (AP) – The average cost of filling up a typical family car has exceeded 100 pounds ($125) for the first time in Britain, as Russia’s war in Ukraine drives gasoline prices higher.
A shortage of gas triggered by Russia could leave six million without power, the govt asks coal stations it ordered close to remain open.
Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed the West last week to lift sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame from Russia to the West.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has warned that Italy may face a surge of new illegal migrant arrivals as a food crisis looms due to a lack of grain shipments from Ukraine.
Germany is reportedly preparing to institute gas rationing in Europe’s largest economy as Russia allegedly cut off shipments to Finland.
Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has quit his role on the supervisory board of the Russian oil company Rosneft after pressure from the European Union.
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy says there is no guarantee that the 27-nation bloc will be able to finalise a new set of sanctions against Russia, with a small group of countries led by Hungary opposing a full oil embargo.
German citizens should be willing to endure hardship and deprivation to help in the war effort against Russia, a Ukrainian minister has said.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that shortages of Ukrainian and Russian grain caused by the war and associated Russo-Western sanctions class will likely cause famine and new migration waves.
German inflation hit its highest level in over fourty years, as the economic fallout from lockdowns and the war in Ukraine continues to bite.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has drawn ridicule for saying that people can either choose peace in Ukraine or their air conditioners.
A Russian government official has threatened that Russia will limit its vital food exports to only nations it considers “friendly”.
Italian inflation rose to 6.7 per cent in March as the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a surge in energy prices, marking the highest inflation the country has seen since July of 1991.
Italy may be forced to ration gas supplies due to the country’s reliance on supplies from Russia, which could lead to businesses and households not being allowed to use air conditioning this summer. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has
PARIS (AP) – French automaker Renault plans to pause production at its Moscow plant in an apparent move to fend off mounting criticism, breaking ranks with other major French companies that have defied pressure to keep operating in Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
BRUSSELS (AP) – President Vladimir Putin’s threat to have “unfriendly” countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on got the not-so-friendly treatment from European Union nations Thursday.
Vladimir Putin demanded “unfriendly” countries buy gas in rubles rather than dollars or euros in an attack against US global hegemony.
