EU to help Ukraine export grain — amid food shortages fears

Activists warn Europe's Russian-gas exit strategy may be derailed if fossil hydrogen is expanded and labelled a green energy source in the revised Renewable Energy Directive currently underway.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said EU countries should phase out Russian crude oil imports within six months, and refined oil by the end of the year to minimise the impact on European economy and global supply.

Some MEPs have called on the EU to set up a pandemic-type emergency recovery fund to battle the "energy emergency", but the Commission is reluctant so far.

"Pure pacifism can only appeal to people in very sheltered positions." While reading George Orwell's essay The Lion and The Unicorn, one must pinch oneself at times: this could have been written today. Instead, Orwell wrote these lines in 1941.

The internal EU gulf on press freedom has widened, as France prepares new measures to protect journalists.

EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said Russia's "unjustified" decision to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland means "any member state could be next"

In a long-awaited report, the European energy regulator sets out proposals to deal with surging electricity bills — but advises against capping prices on the wholesale gas market, which some member states such as Spain and France have supported.

Far-right loners radicalised online pose an ever-bigger terrorist threat in Europe in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, EU intelligence and police services have warned.

The Chernobyl power plant has seen a slight increase in radiation — but the main concern for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), remains the Russian-occupied plant at Zaporizhzhya in southern Ukraine.

International attention on Ukraine is leading to funding shortfalls for aid agencies elsewhere — such as inSyria and Lebanon, where food prices have also spiked.

Brussels said EU member states must guarantee that gas buyers pay for Russian gas in euros in order to respect sanctions against Moscow.

The economic shock of the Ukraine war appears to be a greater threat to Moldova than the eruption of violence in its breakaway region — for now.

The European Union has said that gas payments in roubles would breach the EU sanctions regime on Russia — urging companies not to accede to Russian demands.

Russian threats will not stop Finland joining Nato, a senior Finnish official has indicated, amid memories of its 'Winter War' with the Soviet Union.