European Union countries have failed to agree on a unified response to the steep rise in energy prices, as entrenched divisions marked an emergency meeting between member states.
France and Spain want fundamental reform of the energy market but other countries say the price surge is temporary and does not require deep-rooted changes.
Gas prices in Europe have increased 170 per cent since the start of the year.
At the meeting in Luxembourg, ministers agreed "we should not rush into rash decisions", European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said.
"There was no agreed position on whether or not intervention measures should be adopted at the EU level and applied in all member states," said Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Spain has argued for joint gas purchases by EU countries and a maximum gas price. Its Energy Minister, Sara Aagesen Munoz, said the price surge was "an extraordinary and urgent situation that requires urgent action".
However, 11 countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden backed a statement that opposed fundamental changes to the market.
Ms Simson said there was "broad consensus" that the current price hike was temporary and "caused by the extraordinary global gas demand – not our market design".
The surge has been blamed on a rapid rise in demand for energy after the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions.
"There is no denying that the current market situation puts Europe under pressure," she said.
But the EU must focus on its ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2050, she said, requiring heavier investment in renewable sources.
"Changing the current model poses risks to market predictability, competitiveness and our clean energy transition," Ms Simson said.
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Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
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Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
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Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
