Europe

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday said gas prices in Europe could reach 5,000 euros in the spot market before yearend.

"To the heads of state and government of the European Union countries. In connection with the increase of gas prices to 3,500 euros per one thousand cubic meters, I’m forced to increase the price forecast to 5,000 euros by the end of 2022. With warm regards," he said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Moscow hopes that the visit to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by IAEA inspectors will finally take place, despite Kiev;s destructive influence, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: The West is seeking to disregard objective historic processes, which may slow down the forming of a multipolar world but will never stop it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Zvezda television channel, which was posted on the foreign ministry’s website on Sunday.

"Regrettably, our Western partners, who have ceded the reins of power to the United States, <…> are seeking to disregard objective historic processes, which may slow down the formation of a multipolar world but will never be able to stop it," he said.

GENEVA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A group of Swiss politicians has formed 'Stop Blackouts', which will launch a petition seeking a revision to the country's energy policy to guarantee adequate power supplies and keep nuclear as part of the mix.

Switzerland plans to close its five nuclear reactors following a 2017 decision prompted by safety concerns after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and has already shut one reactor.

BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Germany's gas storage facilities are filling up faster than planned, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, giving hope that Europe's biggest economy could avoid acute gas shortages this winter.

"The reservoirs are filling up faster than specified," Habeck was quoted as saying by Der Spiegel Magazine, adding that the government goal of achieving 85% storage capacity by October could be reached by the beginning of September.

VIENNA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday.

Austria's conservative-led government was initially sceptical at the idea of capping power prices but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Germany's ruling Social Democrats (SPD) will propose further measures to help its citizens cope with rising energy prices, including another discounted national transport ticket, a document seen by Reuters showed on Sunday.

Households are facing higher energy costs after the German gas market operator set a levy from October to help utilities cover the cost of replacing Russian supplies.

WARSAW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - European judges' associations challenged in European Union's General Court a decision to approve Poland's recovery and resilience plan, they said in a statement on Sunday.

Poland's access to 23.9 billion euros ($23.8 billion) in grants and 11.5 billion euros in cheap loans had been blocked due to a dispute over judicial independence.

But in June the Commission said it was approving Poland's recovery plan, opening the way for Warsaw to get the cash. The move was approved by the Council of the EU, consisting of economy and finance ministers. 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The death toll from an accident when a truck drove off a dike and slammed into a community barbecue in a village south of Rotterdam rose to six Sunday and police said a further seven people are in hospital, including one in critical condition.

Three men and three women were killed, ranging in age from 28 to 75, police said.

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — For 22 days, Serhiy Chornobryvets barely slept and rarely took off his red paramedic uniform. Day and night, he raced around his hometown of Mariupol, rescuing those wounded by the Russian bombs and shells that pummeled the southern Ukrainian city.

When he finally escaped Mariupol — whose residents endured some of the worst suffering of the war during a nearly three-month siege — he still did not rest. Instead, he joined an organization that sends medics to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is currently concentrated.