Oil markets are global so the response to major disruptions needs to be global, too. Energy security is the founding mandate of the IEA, and I am pleased that IEA members are showing strong solidarity in taking decisive action together.
Germany, Austria, Japan, and France all signal movement. German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche called a lunchtime press conference in Berlin, a day after Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil had said the government was open to releasing some of its reserves. At around the same time, Austria's government said it would limit increases in diesel and gasoline prices at fuel stations to once per day and that it would take part in international plans to release some of the oil reserves.
About 170 Starshield satellites built by SpaceX for the US government's National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) have been sending signals in the wrong direction, a satellite researcher found. The SpaceX-built spy satellites are helping the NRO greatly expand its satellite surveillance capabilities, but the purpose of these signals is unknown. The signals are sent from space to Earth in a frequency band that's allocated internationally for Earth-to-space and space-to-space transmissions. There have been no public complaints of interference caused by the surprising Starshield emissions.
The defence secretary, John Healey, announced the deployment of a small number of planning officers, including a senior commander, at an event on Monday night. He said the UK would play an anchor role. Ten days ago the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the UK had no plans to send soldiers to Gaza. The commander will work as a deputy in the American-led civil military coordination centre in Israel.
The conference was announced by Downing Street ahead of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's arrival in Egypt on Monday for a peace plan signing co-chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. While Starmer has not attended the conference, convened at the UK Foreign Office's Wilton Park conference center, it has been led by the UK's Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer,