Author: staff

The EU’s gas reserves are emptier than at this stage of any autumn since 2011, meaning the bloc might have to burn 14 billion cubic metres (bcm) less gas than last winter over the coming months, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a US-based non-profit that analyses energy markets and backs a shift to cleaner energy. In a report published on Friday, IEEFA noted that EU gas storage sites were about 72.4% full on 3 October and could supply 7.3bcm less gas this winter, from November to March, than they did last winter. Combined with…

From crocodiles channelling their inner Elvis Presley to a handstanding leopard and orangutans apparently flipping the bird, the finalists for the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards are finally here. This year’s shortlist is packed with 40 Individual Finalists, three U16 Category Finalists, four Portfolio Category Finalists and nine Video Category Finalists. More than 10,000 entries were submitted from 112 countries – the highest number in the Awards’ history. Tom Sullam, co-founder of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, says: “The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards started very gently, somewhere out on the vast plains of the Serengeti. What began as a small…

Politicians can, of course, make great writers, and several have won Nobel’s literature prize, including Britain’s Winston Churchill in 1953, and Peru’s Mario Vargas Llosa in 2010. The latter — who ran for president in 1990 — won the prize “for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.” But has he ever referred to British Conservative grandee Jacob Rees-Mogg as a “Haunted Pencil”? No, he has not. There are, however, a lot of very bad books written by politicians. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — very much the “Winston Churchill if…

French EU lawmaker Rima Hassan has denied throwing to the floor the EU flag at a 7 October commemoration, stressing she has asked for the CCTV footages to be made available to the press. Although she supports the commemoration of the victims of 7 October attack, she said she opposes inviting Israeli authorities to the European Parliament. The French MEP of Palestinian origin has denounced what she called “double standards”, with the EU adopting 21 packages of sanctions against Russia but none against the Israeli State. The EU has adopted sanctions against some Israeli settler organisations for supporting violence and…

Published on 09/10/2026 – 8:16 GMT+2 US President Donald Trump on Thursday awarded SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a handful of other tech titans the prestigious National Medal of Science during a ceremony at the Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. Musk received the award alongside Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD chief Lisa Su. “I want to thank everybody for being here as we celebrate the exciting advance of science and technology in the golden age of America,” Trump said in his opening remarks, before turning his attention to Musk, who he called an “industrial…

For most of this year, the story in Europe’s bond markets has been about inflation. Prices kept rising, the European Central Bank kept raising interest rates, and investors kept demanding more to lend money to governments. This autumn, a new word may have entered the conversation: recession. Eurostat’s Business Cycle Clock – a real-time tracker that maps the phases of an economy – showed the eurozone in a sharp slowdown at the end of the third quarter. Some countries, like Italy, may have already entered a recession, while Germany and France are still facing a downturn. So is the bond…

It is a symbolic early boost for Starmer’s replacement Andy Burnham, who has shifted the ruling Labour Party to the left since taking charge and toughened the U.K.’s stance on Israel amid criticism that Starmer’s response to the war in Gaza was flat-footed. The north London seat has been held by Labour since its creation in 1983 — but the left-wing Green Party poured significant resources into trying to get its high-profile leader elected. Abdi-Wali got 45% of the vote – down four points on Labour’s 2024 general election result. Polanski won 33% of the votes cast — a 22-point…

Published on 07/10/2026 – 16:05 GMT+2 Italy and the Czech Republic have warned Brussels that the European Union’s industrial base risks lasting damage unless the bloc eases the burden of its green rules, according to a letter seen by Euronews. The joint warning, issued amid an unprecedented energy shock, reflects mounting pressure from EU capitals to protect domestic manufacturing as high energy and carbon costs collide with the bloc’s decarbonisation targets. “While security of supply remains the immediate priority, the combination of some of the world’s highest energy prices, high carbon costs and exceptional fuel prices risks further weakening European…

Published on 09/10/2026 – 8:02 GMT+2 On today’s show: Emma Rafowicz, French Socialist MEP, discusses the student protests that culminated in a mass gathering at the Place de la Bastille, after Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared “the Bastille has been retaken”, and whether France is heading for a debt crisis. Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and outgoing chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, joins the show as more than 1,000 delegates from over 50 countries gather in Brussels amid pressure on energy security and the scramble for critical raw materials. Yulia Klymenko, member of the Ukrainian parliament, discusses Volodymyr…

Published on 09/10/2026 – 7:55 GMT+2 QatarEnergy’s first production unit at its North Field East liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is expected to be ready to start up in November, Reuters reported on Wednesday. LNG production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027, two people familiar with the plans told the agency. Last month, QatarEnergy chief executive and Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said the first unit was expected to come online in the first half of 2027. He warned that disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could delay equipment deliveries…