SEFE’s trading of Russian LNG is controversial in Berlin, where lawmakers have urged the company to sever its links with Moscow. Germany opposes LNG imports from Russia, though it hasn’t banned them.

The government on Wednesday slashed its growth forecast for this year to 0.2% from 1.3%, after a contraction in 2023.

While the outlook is weak, the bank said it expects no major deterioration in the labour market, which has insulated the economy so far, and Germany was not facing a broad-based, prolonged recession.

But geologists now believe hydrogen is generated in large quantities when certain iron-rich minerals react with water, Alexis Templeton of the University of Colorado, Boulder, told the AAAS conference.

The European Commission on Thursday said Germany will be the biggest drag on euro zone growth this year and next, with growth of only 0.3% in 2024 rather than 0.8% expected in November and 1.2% in 2025, after a 0.3% recession last year.

The aid provided by seven countries is expected to unlock an additional 5.4 billion euros in private investments, with 32 companies participating in 33 projects, the commission said.

In a statement, Rosneft’s law firm Malmendier Legal said such an expropriation would be “unprecedented in Germany’s post-war history” and that the Kremlin-controlled company would take “all necessary measures” to protect the rights of its shareholders.

Industrial production fell in December by 1.6% compared with the previous month. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.4% fall.

Next generation AI solutions are quickly making their way from the test labs into utilities. These new tools will make it simpler for mobile service teams and remote employees to complete their work, boosting productivity and improving energy company efficiency.

If officials conclude that the court judgment broadly applies to most of Germany’s off-budget funds, as expected, Finance Minister Christian Lindner will have to retroactively account for at least €30 billion of new debt in a revised program for 2023,