Hard Numbers: UK to foot energy bills, US gas prices stop falling, fiery protest in Japan, Oz gas project halted

UK to foot energy bills, US gas prices stop falling, fiery protest in Japan, Oz gas project halted
A Southern Electric gas bill and a gas stove burner as the UK government unveiled a package of reforms in the energy market.
Reuters

6: Ahead of winter, the British government says it will pick up half the tab for businesses’ energy bills for six months starting Oct. 1. Increased government spending and debt, however, makes it trickier for the Bank of England to navigate its way out of soaring inflation.

99: US gasoline prices stopped falling for the first time in 99 days on Wednesday. The latest average price of $3.68 per gallon — up seven-tenths of a cent – is a far cry from its $5 high in June, but if gas prices start rising again it could further push up inflation.

12 million: An elderly man set himself on fire Wednesday in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki government district to protest next week’s pricy state funeral for assassinated former PM Shinzo Abe. The estimated $12 million cost of the ceremony has divided Japan and hurt PM Fumio Kishida’s approval rating in recent weeks.

3.6: Indigenous landowners from Australia’s Tiwi Islands secured a major legal victory on Wednesday when a federal court halted a $3.6 billion natural gas development project led by the Aussie energy company Santos. The company said it plans to appeal.

More from GZERO Media

A 3D-printed miniature model depicting US President Donald Trump, the Chinese flag, and the word "tariffs" in this illustration taken on April 17, 2025.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

The US economy contracted 0.3% at an annualized rate in the first quarter of 2025, while China’s manufacturing plants saw their sharpest monthly slowdown in over a year. Behind the scenes, the world’s two largest economies are backing away from their extraordinary trade war.

A photovoltaic power station with a capacity of 0.8 MW covers an area of more than 3,000 square metres at the industrial site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on April 12, 2025.
Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/ABACAPRESS.COM

Two months after their infamous White House fight, the US and Ukraine announced on Wednesday that they had finally struck a long-awaited minerals deal.

Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol along a road in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 29, 2025.
Firdous Nazir via Reuters Connect

Nerves are fraught throughout Pakistan after authorities said Wednesday they have “credible intelligence” that India plans to launch military strikes on its soil by Friday.

Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters form a human chain in front of the crowd gathered near the family home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, where the Hamas militant group prepares to hand over Israeli and Thai hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis, on January 30, 2025, as part of their third hostage-prisoner exchange..
Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhot

Israel hunted Yahya Sinwar — the Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack — for over a year. He was hidden deep within Gaza’s shadowy tunnel networks.

A gunman stands as Syrian security forces check vehicles entering Druze town of Jaramana, following deadly clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad which angered Sunni gunmen, as rescuers and security sources say, in southeast of Damascus, Syria April 29, 2025.
REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar

Israel said the deadly drone strike was carried out on behalf of Syria's Druze community.

Britain's King Charles holds an audience with the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, on March 17, 2025.

Aaron Chown/Pool via REUTERS

King Charles is rumored to have been invited to Canada to deliver the speech from the throne, likely in late May, although whether he attends may depend on sensitivities in the office of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Getting access to energy, whether it's renewables, oil and gas, or other sources, is increasingly challenging because of long lead times to get things built in the US and elsewhere, says Greg Ebel, Enbridge's CEO, on the latest "Energized: The Future of Energy" podcast episode. And it's not just problems with access. “There is an energy emergency, if we're not careful, when it comes to price,” says Ebel. “There's definitely an energy emergency when it comes to having a resilient grid, whether it's a pipeline grid, an electric grid. That's something I think people have to take seriously.” Ebel believes that finding "the intersection of rhetoric, policy, and capital" can lead to affordability and profitability for the energy transition. His discussion with host JJ Ramberg and Arjun Murti, founder of the energy transition newsletter Super-Spiked, addresses where North America stands in the global energy transition, the implication of the revised energy policies by President Trump, and the potential consequences of tariffs and trade tension on the energy sector. “Energized: The Future of Energy” is a podcast series produced by GZERO Media's Blue Circle Studios in partnership with Enbridge. Listen to this episode at gzeromedia.com/energized, or on Apple, Spotify,Goodpods, or wherever you get your podcasts.