German Chancellor Tells Greek Paper Solidarity Only Way Out Of...
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OSLO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - European buyers of Norwegian natural gas should commit to paying a minimum price if they want to obtain long-term supply deals that prevent price spikes like those seen this year, the chair of Norwegian producer Aker BP told Reuters.
BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Judging by Friday's quiet streets in China's capital Beijing and the reluctance of some businesses to drop COVID curbs, enduring anxieties about the coronavirus are likely to hamper a speedy return to health for the world's second-largest economy.
Norway is now the biggest exporter of natural gas to the European Union, accounting for around a quarter of imports, and remains the largest supplier to Britain, boosting the earnings of Norwegian energy companies as well as state coffers.
He told the paper that good neighbourly relations were "significant not only for the two countries but for Europe as a whole" and that Germany believed that open issues must be resolved through dialogue based on international law.
Relations between Greece and Germany have improved since the Greek debt crisis that broke out in late 2009 and forced Athens to sign up to three international bailouts on tough and unpopular austerity terms, many of them suggested by Germany.
Belgium, Greece, Italy and Poland on Friday threatened to block a new set of European Union steps to alleviate the energy crisis because they are angry that a gas price cap is not among detailed proposals, diplomats said.
Amid the caution, VOLOS KOMOTINI TRANSFER state-broadcaster CCTV announced further easing, with tourism and entertainment venues - including theatres, libraries, VOLOS IGOUMENITSA TAXI internet cafes and table game centres no longer requiring COVID tests and health codes.
Although the government on Wednesday loosened key parts of its strict "zero-COVID" policy that has kept the pandemic largely at bay for the past three years, many people appear wary of being too quick to shake off the shackles.
LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Paul Simon announced on Monday he is quitting touring, saying it felt "a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief" to bring his 50-year performing career to an end.
Yet China has been anything but placid during the past few weeks, with protests against COVID curbs in many cities that marked the biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago.
Simon is the latest pop artist from the 1960s and 1970s to step back from touring.
Elton John announced last month that he would be making a final three-year farewell tour, and Neil Diamond announced he was suffering from Parkinson's disease and would retire from touring. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Aker BP would like to see a "price floor" as a condition of entering into long-term deals that also limit the upside, but has failed so far to find takers for such deals, the board chair of Norway's second-largest oil and FREE NOW VOLOS gas producer said.
"I've often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I'd consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief," he wrote.
On the Beijing subway, many seats were empty on Friday night during what should have been rush hour, even though the city this week scrapped the need to show negative tests to ride trains or VOLOS NAFPLION TAXI enter offices.
Little more than a month after the National Health Commission stressed commitment to its strict virus containment policy, saying it was "putting people and lives first", authorities have changed tack and are now telling people they have less to fear.
Zhong Nanshan, VOLOS PATRAS TRANSFER a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, said that 99% of people now infected with the virus would recover in 7 to 10 days, in comments reported by the People's Daily, VOLOS LARISA KTEL controlled by the ruling Communist Party.
