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WORLD NEWS Friday 25 November 2022
EU nations fail to close rift on gas prices as cold sets in

By RAF CASERT al from the European Com-
Associated Press mission, the EU’s executive
BRUSSELS (AP) — On win- arm, to set a threshold for
ter’s doorstep, European a price cap, and when it
Union nations again failed came Tuesday, there was
to bridge bitter disagree- dismay and accusations it
ments over a natural gas could never work.
price cap Thursday as The commission set a
they struggle to effectively threshold for a “safety
shield 450 million citizens price ceiling” to kick in if
from massive increases in prices exceed 275 euros
their utility bills. per megawatt hour for two
An emergency meeting weeks and if they are 58
of energy ministers only euros higher than the price
showed how the energy for liquefied natural gas on
crisis tied to Russia’s war world markets.
in Ukraine has divided the In political language, it
27-nation bloc into almost means that such a sys-
irreconcilable blocs. tem might not even have
“The discussion was quite averted hikes as high as in
heated, and you all know August.
that there are very diver- “Setting a ceiling at 275 eu-
gent views,” said Czech In- Estonia’s Energy Minister Riina Sikkut speaks with the press prior to participating in a meeting of EU ros is not actually a ceiling,”
dustry Minister Jozef Síkela, energy ministers at an extraordinary energy council in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. said Greek Energy Minister
who chaired the meeting Associated Press Konstantinos Skrekas, who
where ministers could not the Netherlands insisting states because the mea- cials have accused Russia called for a cap that could
agree on when and how a supplies are at risk if a cap sures would be agreed on of energy warfare to punish go as low as 150 euros.
price cap on gas purchas- stops EU countries from as a package. EU countries for supporting “We are losing valuable
es should kick in. buying gas above a cer- Another emergency en- Ukraine. time without results,” he
A massive August spike in tain price. ergy meeting was set for So finding a deal is not only added.
natural gas prices stunned A solution was nowhere Dec. 13. about providing warmth In comparison, the price
all but the wealthiest in Eu- near the horizon to the frus- “The differences are really to citizens but also about stood at 123 euros per
rope, forcing the bloc to tration of many. still major,” said Dutch En- showing a united front to megawatt-hour on Eu-
look for a cap to contain “It’s already minus 10 (Cel- ergy Minister Rob Jetten. Russian President Vladimir rope’s TTF benchmark
volatile prices that are fuel- sius) in Poland,” said the na- “It means there is an aw- Putin. Thursday. Because prices
ing inflation. tion’s energy minister, Anna ful amount of work ahead Talks have dragged on have fallen since the sum-
But the EU is deadlocked Moskwa. “It’s winter now.” over the next two weeks.” for months, and even if mertime peaks, diplomats
between nations demand- The inability to find a com- Natural gas and electricity a summit of EU leaders have said the urgency has
ing cheaper gas to ease promise on the price cap prices have soared as Mos- proclaimed some sort of abated somewhat, even
household bills including also held up plans for joint cow slashed gas supplies breakthrough last month, though it could pick up
Greece, Spain, Belgium, gas purchases and a soli- to Europe used for heating, nothing has been visible on quickly again if the weath-
France and Poland and darity mechanism to help electricity and industrial the ground. Nations had er is colder than normal
those like Germany and the neediest member processes. European offi- been waiting for a propos- and supplies get tight. q

Russian Duma gives LGBTQ ‘propaganda’ bill final approval

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian a bill that significantly ex- rights in the country, an- parliament. It will go next to The fines range from
lawmakers on Thursday pands restrictions on activi- other step in a years-long the upper house, the Fed- 100,000 to 2 million rubles
gave their final approval to ties seen as promoting gay crackdown on the coun- eration Council, and then ($1,660-$33,000).
try’s embattled LGBTQ to President Vladimir Putin, For some violations, foreign-
community. whose signature will give it ers could face 15 days’ de-
The new bill expands a ban legal force. tention prior to expulsion.
on what authorities call The new bill outlaws all ad- The bill does not make vio-
“propaganda of non-tra- vertising, media and on- lations a criminal offense.
ditional sexual relations” to line resources books, films Russian law stipulates that
minors, established by leg- and theater productions the criminal code can be
islation dubbed the “gay deemed to contain such amended only through
propaganda” law. It was “propaganda,” a concept an independent bill. Some
adopted by the Kremlin in loosely defined in the bill. lawmakers have suggested
2013 in an effort to promote The 2013 ban was often they favor such a measure.
“traditional values” in Rus- enacted against any de- Russia explicitly outlawed
sia. pictions of same-sex unions same-sex marriages in 2020
This year, the lawmakers and used as a tool to crack by adopting amendments
moved to ban spreading down on LGBTQ rights to the country’s Constitu-
such information to people groups and activists. tion that, among other
In this handout photo provided by The State Duma, The Federal aged 18 and older. Violations are punishable things, stipulated that the
Assembly of The Russian Federation, Russian lawmakers attend The bill was approved in by fines. If committed by “institution of marriage is a
a session of the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian the third and final reading non-residents, they can union between a man and
Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. on Thursday by the State lead to their expulsion from a woman.”q
Associated Press Duma, the lower house of Russia.