Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
Germany has halted the opening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia’s escalation of the crisis in Ukraine.
Separately, EU ministers unanimously agreed a package of sanctions on Russia, shortly after separate British sanctions were imposed on five banks and three oligarchs.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had ordered a rethink on the pipeline in light of what he called a changed security environment in Europe.
Speaking in Berlin on Tuesday, Mr Scholz said this was a “necessary administrative step so that the pipeline cannot be certified at this time”.
Germany had previously resisted calls from the US and Britain, as well as Ukraine, to scrap the trans-Baltic pipeline over fears that Russia will use it as a geopolitical weapon.
But Ukraine lauded Mr Scholz for changing course on Tuesday, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcoming what he called a “morally, politically and practically correct step in the current circumstances".
Russia responded with a warning that consumers in Europe would face even higher prices after a winter surge in gas and electricity costs.
“Welcome to the brave new world where Europeans are very soon going to pay 2,000 euros ($2,270) for 1,000 cubic metres of natural gas,” said Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and now a member of Vladimir Putin's security council.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said: “We are in a particular dangerous moment for Europe.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier demanded an immediate halt to Nord Stream 2 after Russia granted recognition to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and ordered troops there in a so-called peacekeeping mission.
“These are very difficult hours and days for Europe,” said Mr Scholz, who was meeting Irish leader Micheal Martin hours before the EU was set to unveil separate sanctions on Russia.
He described Russia's actions as a “grave breach of international law” but said diplomatic efforts would continue to prevent a further escalation.
Russia brushed off the pipeline's suspension and other looming sanctions. “Moscow is not afraid of anything,” the Tass news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying.
Construction on Nord Stream 2 was completed last September but it needs approval from German regulators before it can go into operation.
Mr Scholz inherited the dilemma from his predecessor, Angela Merkel, who supported Nord Stream 2 and described it as purely an economic project.
He did not rule out a future opening date for the pipeline but said officials in Germany's Economy Ministry would rewrite their analysis of Germany's energy security in light of the latest developments.
Europe is under pressure to reduce its reliance on Russian gas for both political and environmental reasons, but Germany expects to rely on the fossil fuel for an interim period as it switches off coal and nuclear plants.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Europe had not done enough on this front after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. He later welcomed Germany's decision as a “brave step” and “the right thing to do".
“We didn't do enough as Europeans to wean ourselves off Russian hydrocarbons, off Russian oil and gas,” he said. “We've got to make sure that we cut the umbilicus, we snip the drip feed into our bloodstream from Nord Stream.”
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
The 100 Best Novels in Translation
Boyd Tonkin, Galileo Press
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
