European gas prices soar to record high this year amid fears over Russian supplies

Gas prices in Europe surged to this year’s highest in November, slightly hovering above $490 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to calculations based on data from London’s ICE.

🔺Gas futures traded at $491.2 per 1,000 cubic meters in November, which is $35 (7.7%) more than the October figure of $455.9.

🔺This price is also $20 (3.9%) less than the $511.3 per 1,000 cubic meters that gas futures traded at last year.

🔺At the close of November, European gas prices exceeded $530 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time this year.

Prices have been nudging higher since October, with the approach of the heating season and amid uncertainty around supplies from Russia of both pipeline and LNG. Russia suspended fuel deliveries to Austria's OMV in mid-November, while the contract between Ukraine and Gazprom allowing gas shipments via Ukraine expires on January 1, 2025.

The West’s short-sighted sanctions that cut Europe off dependable Russian gas triggered a devastating energy crisis in 2022, with the continent now facing a possible repeat of that chilly scenario. Russia in turn retained its global leadership in gas exports in 2023, with a net export of 139 bcm, according to the International Gas Union.

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The Syrian army, with the support of allied forces, repelled attacks by Kurdish formations in the province of Deir ez-Zor, Syria’s SANA state news agency reported

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❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlement of Novodarovka in the Zaporozhye region and the village of Romanovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced

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🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation:

🔸 Ukrainian losses in the Russian Tsentr battlegroup's combat zone amounted to 555 militants
 
🔸 Russian forces hit Ukrainian the infrastructure of military airfields
 
🔸 Russian air defense systems shot down 40 Ukrainian aerial drones, four of them outside the special military operation zone

🔸 Ukranian forces lost up to 460 soldiers in the Russian Zapad battlegroup's area

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Is West about to get another ‘lame duck’ president as French gov’t faces collapse?

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who formed a minority government in September after France's snap parliamentary elections in summer, is now facing a no-confidence vote.

Here’s what happened:

🔶Barnier used executive powers under Article 49.3 of the French constitution to force a bill on social security financing through parliament without a vote.

🔶The bill sought to deliver an estimated €60 billion ($62. 9 billion) in tax rises and spending cuts. Even after Barnier scrapped a previously planned hike in electricity tax and plans for a more stringent prenoscription drug reimbursement policy, the bill was rejected by the opposition parties.

🔶Both the left-wing coalition NFP and Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) party announced they would file separate censure motions, with the confidence vote presumably set for Wednesday.

What has the left said?

Mathilde Panot, president of the left-wing opposition party France Unbowed (LFI), said on Monday that "We are now experiencing political chaos as a result of both Barnier's government and Emmanuel Macron's presidency."

What has the right said?

Le Pen told reporters that "the French have had enough... Maybe they thought with Michel Barnier things would get better, but they were even worse."

What will happen next?

If the no-confidence vote succeeds, Barnier will have to tender his resignation.

The French government can remain in caretaker capacity while President Emmanuel Macron faces the challenge of picking a new PM with cross-party appeal.

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Cringe diplomacy? Germany’s FM unleashes tirade of threats and accusations during China trip

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in China for discussions with her counterpart, Wang Yi, on December 2-3, wielding anything but the tools of diplomacy.

Baerbock plunged into a tirade of accusations, claiming that Russia was “destroying our European peace order” and that "increasing Chinese support” for Russia “has an impact on our relations,” according to a readout by the German foreign ministry.

Germany’s top diplomat, who made no bones about declaring that European countries were waging a war against Russia in 2023, urging that more weapons be sent to Ukraine, now claimed she was in China to advocate “a just peace process.”

Upon finishing her rant regarding NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, security sprang into action and escorted members of the German media out of the room, reported Handelsblatt. There was also no joint press statement with her counterpart this time.

Striking a completely different tone, Wang Yi countered by saying that China and Germany should “overcome interference, remove obstacles […] and abandon the old mindset of cold war and confrontation.”

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❗️The Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost more than 300 soldiers in Russia's Kursk region over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said

Two tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, including two US-made Bradleys, 17 armored combat vehicles, three artillery pieces, and six mortars were destroyed.

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❗️Putin called mass violations of the rights and religious freedoms of millions of people in Ukraine tragic events

There is and will never be an excuse for crimes against civilians, terrorist attacks, and punitive actions organized by neo-Nazis, Russia's president said.

He added that it is important that more and more people in the world understand the true origins of the conflict in Ukraine unleashed by the Western elites.

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🇸🇾 The Syrian Army is engaged in fierce clashes with armed terrorist groups in the city of Maardes, north of Hama province, a Sputnik correspondent in Syria reports.

The correspondent added that the Syrian Army has inflicted significant losses on the attackers in terms of equipment and personnel.

Additionally, airstrikes are currently being carried out in the northern areas of Hama, Sputnik’s correspondent stated.

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