Only recently, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) traveled to Saudi Arabia; shortly thereafter, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) arrived and explained why: "When partnerships that one has relied on for decades begin to become a little fragile, we must look for new partners." Partners, for example, in energy and armaments projects. Reiche signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Arabian Energy Minister and posted the news on X.
Tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if the UK's clean energy supply chains were to suffer a shock as a result of an over-reliance on China, a left-leaning thinktank has warned. A year-long disruption to the supply of essential battery components used to manufacture electric vehicles could wipe out production of more than 580,000 electric cars and endanger 90,000 jobs, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Japan is a step closer to restarting the world's largest nuclear power plant for the first time since the Fukushima disaster. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was among 54 reactors shut down after a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011. On Monday, the Niigata prefectural assembly, where Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is located, approved a bill paving the way for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to restart one of seven reactors at the plant. TEPCO, which also operated the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, will now seek final permission from Japan's nuclear regulator to restart operations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Friday, once again shunning efforts by his European Union partners to isolate Moscow over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine nearly four years ago. The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orban, who is widely considered Putin's closest partner among all EU leaders.
"Before 2022, there had been the optimistic hope we had gotten past an era where it's all about enlarging territory and invading sovereign countries and we could live happily in peace having trade," says Sari Multala, Finland's Minister of Climate and the Environment. "But then, we understood that was not the case and that we had to take care of our own sovereignty, also when it comes to energy. We cannot depend on a hostile partner," she told DW.
The PKK's dissolution in May 2025 marks a defining moment, not only ending armed conflict but also opening a transformation with the potential to reshape the region's future. As unresolved conflicts, rising migration pressures and energy rivalries heighten global uncertainty, Turkiye's decisive steps offer the prospect of lasting peace, secure energy corridors and sustainable prosperity for Turkiye and the wider region.
The joint Dutch-German venture, which received the green light from regional authorities last month, seeks to extract 13bn cubic metres of gas from just outside a protected area at the marine border between the two countries. Campaigners have criticised the project because it will mean drill for gas more than four years after the International Energy Agency warned that new oil and gas development was incompatible with its roadmap to stop the planet heating by 1.5C (2.7F).
A Polish court has blocked the extradition of a Ukrainian diver wanted by Germany in connection with the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, a handover that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month was not in his country's best interests. The Warsaw District Court rejected the extradition of the man, only identified as Volodymyr Z, on Friday and ordered his immediate release.
"safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario." "Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy," "This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions. Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement,"
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Is the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) submarine power cable project dead in the water? The GSI project, which is worth 2 billion ($2.36 billion), seeks to build a subsea electric cable connecting Greece and Cyprus and later Israel. The aim is to integrate the Republic of Cyprus into the European electricity transmission system and bolster the energy security of EU member states Greece and Cyprus.
Think of battery manufacturing and it may evoke images of Elon Musk and Tesla's sprawling gigafactories around the globe, or China's vast, hi-tech clean rooms churning out cells to go in anything from electric toothbrushes to mobile phones and cars. But at Invinity Energy Systems's small factory in Bathgate, near Edinburgh, workers slotting parts together are hoping that Britain can also play a part in the battery revolution.