With Europe facing a winter of energy woes in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, The National looks at some of the problems facing the continent's under-pressure power grid.
1. Russian gas cuts
European countries are counting the cost of their years-long reliance on Russian oil and gas after the war in Ukraine poisoned relations between them and their large eastern neighbour.
Russia cut off gas exports to several European countries including Poland, Bulgaria and Finland for refusing to pay in roubles, a demand imposed by the Kremlin in March.
The main Russia-Germany pipeline, Nord Stream 1, is operating at only 20 per cent of capacity for what Russian exporter Gazprom claims are technical reasons but are regarded as spurious in Berlin.
The result is a scramble by countries such as Germany to stock up on gas for the winter and an initiative by the European Union to reduce gas consumption by 15 per cent in the cold months.
2. Summer drought
The winter cold will put Europe to the test, but the summer heat is not helping either.
The River Rhine dried up just as Germany needed it to transport coal to power plants that have been revived on a temporary basis to fill the gap left by Russian gas.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fuel shipments would be given priority on trains to get around the problems caused by low water levels.
The drought is also affecting hydroelectricity generation, after water levels in reservoirs in Portugal fell to half the average of the previous seven years.
3. German transition
Germany has admitted being caught cold by mistakes in its energy policy. Europe's biggest economy became too reliant on Russian gas, said Economy Minister Robert Habeck. Floating gas terminals to allow imports from beyond Europe should have been built sooner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
Mr Scholz has ordered a rethink on those issues but has so far stuck by the policy of switching off Germany's nuclear power plants this year, a long-cherished goal of the two biggest parties in his coalition.
The end date of December 31, 2022 has been set in stone for more than a decade but some MPs say it should be postponed because Germany cannot afford to waste gas on generating electricity.
Officials pushed the door open to a delay last month by saying they would recalculate a worst-case scenario for the winter, but there would be significant technical hurdles to keeping the last three nuclear reactors online.
4. French shutdowns
Unlike Germany, France is an unashamed champion of nuclear energy but a series of technical problems have lowered electricity output from its 56 reactors.
Nuclear generation was down by 15 per cent in the first half of 2022 after the discovery of corroded pipes during maintenance caused some of the plants to be taken offline.
Britain blamed the outages for a lower availability of electricity imports from France, while the cable that links the two countries may not be fully operational until 2023 after a fire last November.
5. British conundrums
Britain's quest to produce more energy at home is not going wholly smoothly, after the opening of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant was pushed back until 2027.
Then there are a number of running political sores over the merits, or not, of onshore wind, shale gas fracking, solar panels and small nuclear reactors.
Both candidates to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister have committed in principle to the 2050 net zero target, but both are sceptical of solar power and Rishi Sunak has made clear he will not expand onshore wind.
The extent of Britain's energy crisis was made clear on Friday when regulators announced bills were climbing by 80 per cent this autumn with a further increase expected for 2023.
6. Iberian 'island'
Spain believes it could plug some of Europe's energy holes because of its healthy renewables sector and its status as a major importer of LNG from North Africa.
The problem is that there are few energy pipelines between Spain and France, making the Iberian peninsula what the European Commission has called an "energy island".
Regulators blocked a proposed gas pipeline between Catalonia and the south of France in 2019, but Spain is now urging the European Union to help link up the peninsula.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore 167/8 (20 ov)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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MATCH INFO
Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1
Bayern: Zirkzee (26'), Goretzka (86')
Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)
Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
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There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Borussia Dortmund 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')
Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
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Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
MATCH INFO
World Cup 2022 qualifier
UAE v Indonesia, Thursday, 8pm
Venue: Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
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What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
