Category: World News

Russia has completely halted gas supplies to Europe via a major pipeline, saying repairs are needed.

The Russian state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, said the restrictions on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would last for the next three days.

Russia has already significantly reduced gas exports via the pipeline.

It denies accusations it has used energy supplies as a weapon of war against Western countries.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline stretches 1,200km (745 miles) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany.

It opened in 2011, and can send a maximum of 170 million cubic metres of gas per day from Russia to Germany.

The pipeline was shut down for 10 days in July – again for repairs, according to Russia – and has recently been operating at just 20% capacity because of what Russia describes as faulty equipment.

The president of Germany’s network regulator has said the country will be able to cope – if Russia resumes delivery in the coming days.

European leaders fear Russia could extend the outage in an attempt to drive up gas prices, which have already risen sharply in the past year.

However, today’s announcement was not expected to impact prices immediately. The UK’s main natural gas price was in fact down by more than 15% on markets, as of 14:00 BST on Wednesday.

The steep rise threatens to create a cost of living crisis over the winter months, potentially forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden.

On Tuesday, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher accused Russia of “using gas as a weapon of war”.

She was speaking after Gazprom said it would suspend gas deliveries to the French energy company Engie.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has rejected the accusations – and insisted that Western sanctions have caused the interruptions by damaging Russian infrastructure.

He insisted that that “technological problems” caused by sanctions are the only thing preventing Russia from supplying gas via the pipeline, without specifying what the problems were.

The most recent controversy has been over a turbine which arrived in Germany after being repaired in Canada and which Russia refused to take back, arguing it was subject to the Western sanctions.

Germany, however, denies this.

98-year-old Giuseppe Paterno became the oldest student graduate in Italy for a second time, two years after he got a degree from the University of Palermo

Paterno has added a master’s in history and philosophy from the University of Palermo to an initial degree in the same subjects he earned there two years ago.

He passed the latest degree with top marks, again, his proud family said on Facebook.

He has no plans to rest and wants to write a novel using his trusty typewriter.

Born in 1923, Paterno grew up in a poor family in Sicily and despite his love of books and studying, he wasn’t able to go to university as a young man.

Instead, he served in the navy during World War Two from the age of 20 and went on to be a railway worker.

A drunk driver travelled for 10 miles down the M4 with two tyres missing after a night out with friends.

Despite being twice the limit and admitting to drink driving, Laurie Rosser, 42, blamed Covid for making his mind “cloudy”.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard Rosser, from Gorseinon, had two wheel “blowouts” on his Vauxhall van on 26 June, yet continued driving. He was banned from driving for 17 months and fined £300.

The court heard how motorists had seen the builder’s van travelling down the motorway, with a front and rear tyre missing, and the steel hubs worn away.

One of these reported the father-of-four to the police, who pulled him over at 02:00 BST on Sunday, 26 June, near Junction 46 of the M4 at Llangyfelach.

Police estimated the van had been driven more than 10 miles (16km) with two missing tyres.
He was breathalysed at the roadside and found to be almost twice the legal limit for driving.
Rosser had 66 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35.

Rhys Davies, defending, said Rosser had tested positive for Covid after the trip and it had influenced his decision to drive the vehicle with two missing tyres.

“He tested positive for Covid the following day and said his mind was cloudy,” he said.
“That influenced his decision to drive with two defective tyres on the vehicle.

“He continued driving because he wanted to get to a place of safety off the motorway.”

The court heard the incident was a “one-off” and Rosser, who previously worked in the prison service, had no previous convictions.
Mr Davies added the defendant had drunk two pints and was “genuinely unaware he was over the prescribed limit”.

“He says having Covid influenced his decision to drive,” Mr Davies said.

“Due to the hour of the day, after suffering two blowouts he took the decision to drive to a place of safety.

“The highway code says if you can get off the motorway you should always do so.”

However, prosecutor Lucy Mansfield said the drink driving offence was aggravated by Rosser continuing to drive on missing tyres.