Cause of leak in Druzhba line, which supplies oil from Russia, not yet known, says operator
The Druzhba oil pipeline linking Russia and Germany has been partly shut after a leak was discovered in Poland, the Polish operator Pern said on Wednesday.
“The cause of the incident is not known for the moment. Pumping in the affected line was immediately stopped. Line 2 of the pipeline is functioning normally,” the operator said.
Continue reading...In what would have been artist’s 90th year, first retrospective at Biesdorf Palace has been a surprise success
Seven men wash the sweat off their toned bodies in a communal shower. Unless you squint and mistake a tightly gripped bar of soap for something else, their limbs are suspended in tantalising proximity but never quite touch.
The German artist Jürgen Wittdorf’s 1963 linocut print, from a series titled Youth and Sport, may look like something out of a top-shelf graphic novel or the virile drawings of the gay liberation icon Tom of Finland.
Continue reading...Loss-making venture led by Amit Gudka eyes continent as countries move towards using renewable power
The co-founder of collapsed energy supplier Bulb is planning to expand his loss-making battery storage venture into Europe as the energy crisis escalates.
Amit Gudka hopes to develop Field Energy, the business he set up after leaving Bulb in February 2021, on the continent as countries attempt to switch toward renewable power.
Continue reading...Finance minister announces €200bn fund to protect citizens from rising gas prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine
Germany’s finance minister has vowed that he will not follow the UK “down the path of an expansionary fiscal policy” as his government announced a €200bn (£177bn) fund designed to protect consumers and businesses from rising gas prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Europe’s largest economy will reactivate an economic stabilising fund previously used during the global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, said the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at a joint press conference with the finance minister, Christian Lindner, and the economic minister, Robert Habeck, on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions or 1.3m cars
Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.
Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide.
Continue reading...Two nuclear plants’ lives extended as country copes with loss of Russian gas and shortage of French electricity
Germany’s planned exit from nuclear power by the end of this year has been officially delayed in order to shore up energy supplies during an expected shortfall this winter, the economic minister, Robert Habeck, announced on Tuesday.
The decision follows a shortage in supplies of electricity coming from France due to the fact that more than half of its nuclear power stations are offline, Habeck told journalists in Berlin.
Continue reading...German authorities have ‘no clarity’ as they try to establish if Russian-owned undersea gas line has leak
Authorities in Germany are trying to establish what caused a sudden drop in pressure in the defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, with a spokesperson for its operator saying it could have been a leak.
The pipeline has been one of the flashpoints in an escalating energy war between Europe and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that has pummelled western economies and sent gas prices soaring.
Continue reading...Appeal for funds to rebuild bridge at Remagen destroyed after capture by US troops in final days of war
Officials in Germany have announced plans to rebuild a bridge over the Rhine that collapsed days after its capture by US soldiers in the final weeks of the second world war.
The bridge at Remagen, which featured in a 1969 film of the same name starring George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn, focusing on the heroism of the allies’ final advance into Germany, could be standing again within a decade, town planners have said.
Continue reading...Flotation on Frankfurt stock market would be one of the largest European public offerings to date
The luxury carmaker Porsche could be valued at as much as €75bn when it floats on the Frankfurt stock exchange later this month, which would make it one of the largest European public offerings to date, according to the pricing of shares by its parent company, Volkswagen.
Volkswagen, which is planning to float 12.5% on 29 September, has priced the shares in Porsche at between €76.50 (£67.14) and €82.50.
Continue reading...Three refineries put into trusteeship ahead of partial European embargo on Russian oil later this year
Germany has taken the German subsidiary of the Russian oil giant Rosneft under state control, putting three refineries into a trusteeship ahead of a partial European embargo on Russian oil at the end of the year.
The federal network regulator will become the temporary trust manager of Rosneft Germany and its share of refineries in Schwedt, near Berlin, in Karlsruhe and in Vohburg, Bavaria, Germany’s ministry for economic affairs announced on Friday.
Continue reading...Ukrainian foreign minister accuses German government of ignoring requests for military hardware
Ukraine has ramped up the pressure on Germany to deliver more military hardware as Kyiv pursues its counter-offensive in the east and south against Russian forces.
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, accused the German government of ignoring Kyiv’s requests for Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
Continue reading...In ‘project of the century’ country will bury spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay
Swiss authorities have selected a site in northern Switzerland, not far from the German border, to host a deep geological storage repository for radioactive waste.
After nearly 50 years of searching for the best way to store its radioactive waste, Switzerland is gearing up for its “project of the century”, entailing burying spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay.
Continue reading...New York Times says Elizabeth II ‘projected stability’; Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says she ‘cared about post-war reconciliation’
Newspapers in the Commonwealth and beyond have led with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many paying tribute to her accomplishments during seven decades on the throne. Some speculated on how the monarchy might change under King Charles III.
The Washington Post’s Twitter account followed the sober format preferred by newspapers in the UK, its front page showing a black-and-white portrait of a smiling Queen against a black background.
Continue reading...Economy minister says ‘demand shock’ must be addressed, as economists raise fears of recession
Germany plans to extend a scheme subsidising energy costs for big businesses that are heavily dependent on energy to all small and medium-sized businesses, as part of a package of measures designed to avoid a wave of insolvencies.
Robert Habeck, the economy minister, said he anticipated that the subsidies would be in place for a limited time, until efforts on the national and European level to bring down high electricity and gas prices take effect.
Continue reading...Man on day release hijacked car at gunpoint in Mannheim and then died in head-on collision near Nancy
A German man’s escape from a prison day-release scheme resulted in a cross-border manhunt that ended hours later in a fatal crash in neighbouring France, police said on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old fugitive hijacked a car at gunpoint in Mannheim, 190 miles (300km) south-west of Berlin, on Monday, forcing the driver to take off down a highway before he left her at a rest stop.
Continue reading...Olaf Scholz says country has enough energy to get through winter after Russia cut gas supplies
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has rejected calls for his government to commit to a longer-term extension of the life of the country’s nuclear power plants and insisted that Europe’s largest economy would have enough energy to get through the winter.
Scholz shut down criticism from the opposition conservative alliance and at least one leading economist, who have described his coalition’s decision to keep two remaining reactors in emergency reserve rather than letting them produce electricity, as “madness” while the government refuses to reverse its long-term plan to close down the last remaining plants.
Continue reading...Spain’s El País greets new PM saying ‘lack of charisma can be a political advantage in times of uncertainty’
Liz Truss’s purported lack of charisma and the “disastrous” economic situation facing Britain is the focus for much of the European media following the appointment of the country’s new prime minister.
The apparent differences in style between Boris Johnson and his successor was picked up by newspapers and websites across the political spectrum but the conclusions on Truss’s first speech in office were generally generous.
Continue reading...Last two working plants were due to be mothballed, but will be used as emergency reserve into 2023 after Russia cuts off gas
Germany is to temporarily halt the phasing-out of two nuclear power plants in an effort to shore up energy security after Russia cut supplies of gas to Europe’s largest economy.
The economy minister, Robert Habeck, announced on Monday that the power plants, Neckarwestheim in Baden Württemberg and Isar 2 in Bavaria, are to be kept running longer than planned in order to be used as an emergency reserve until the middle of next year.
Continue reading...Shutdown over ‘oil leak’ comes only hours after G7 nations agree to impose a price cap
Fears that Europe could be engulfed by a winter energy crisis reached new heights yesterday after the Russian energy supplier Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows it had imposed through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline into Germany.
The seriousness of the situation is underlined by the fact that Russia kept gas supplies to Europe flowing even at the height of the Cold War. By contrast, the pipeline has now been shut down twice since the Russian invasion of Ukraine: for 10 days in July in addition to the current indefinite closure.
Continue reading...Russian energy company had been due to resume gas delivery to Germany on Saturday morning
The Russian energy major Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Friday evening, providing no timeframe for a reopening.
The move came hours after G7 countries agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil in an attempt to stem the flow of funds to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
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