PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government cleared the way on Wednesday to impose caps on electricity and gas prices for households, public institutions and small companies for 2023 as the country faces soaring prices pushed higher by the war in Ukraine. …
Offshore drilling workers plan strike in UK – union
(Reuters) – Labour union Unite Scotland said on Wednesday that more than 300 offshore drilling and contract maintenance workers employed by companies including Maersk and Odfjell have backed a strike action in the UK. The Unite union said the industria…
Some French fuel stations run dry as refinery strike grinds on
PARIS (Reuters) -Some fuel stations along France’s borders have run dry on the ninth day of strikes that have disrupted TotalEnergies’ refining and delivery of oil products, the country’s petroleum industry body said on Wednesday. A walkout by hard-lef…
Burkina Faso military leader commits to predecessor’s transition timeline
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) -Burkina Faso’s new military leader Ibrahim Traore will respect a democratic transition timeline agreed between his predecessor and West Africa regional bloc ECOWAS, he said in a statement late on Tuesday. The comments followed a …
UK finance minister to meet high street banks – Sky News
LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to meet the country’s major high street banks later this week, Sky News reported on Wednesday, saying Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest were among those expected to attend….
Oil rises to 3-week highs as OPEC+ agrees to deep cuts, U.S. stockpiles fall
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Wednesday to three-week highs, as OPEC+ agreed to its deepest cuts to production since the 2020 COVID pandemic, despite a tight market and opposition to cuts from the United States and others. P…
Gazprom lowers pressure in undamaged part of Nord Stream 2 pipe, Denmark says
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Nord Stream 2 AG has informed the Danish Energy Agency that Gazprom Transgaz is currently lowering the pressure in the undamaged string of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the agency said on Wednesday. Russia’s Gazprom was, according t…
Nobel prize goes to pioneers of molecule-building “click chemistry”
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Scientists Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for discovering reactions that let molecular building blocks snap together to efficiently create new desired compound…
Putin formally annexes more than 15% of Ukraine
LONDON (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin completed the formal annexation of more than 15% of Ukraine on Wednesday just as Russian forces battled to halt a Ukrainian counter-offensive across swathes of the territories. In the biggest expansion of Russ…
Russians fleeing mobilisation will not automatically get French visas – minister
PARIS (Reuters) – French Junior Minister for European Affairs Laurence Boone said on Wednesday that Russians fleeing their country to avoid being mobilised in the Russian army would not automatically get visas to remain in France, but that their situat…