A Swiss court has granted a six-month “stay of bankruptcy” to the operating company for the never-opened Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to bring Russian gas to Germany but put on ice shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The company’s stay was extended from Jan. 10 through July 10 by a regional court in the Swiss canton (state) of Zug, according to a notice published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom, is based in Zug. Nord Stream 2′s court-appointed administrator, Transliq AG, sought the extension. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government halted the certification process for the pipeline on Feb. 22, after Russia recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered sent troops into Ukraine two days later, and U.S. President Joe Biden President then directed his administration to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 operating company. The pipeline project had long drawn resistance from Ukraine and eastern European countries, as well as bipartisan opposition in the United States. Red more: All you need to know about Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline At the beginning of March, the operating company said it had dismissed all its employees in Zug, who numbered up to 110, according to local officials. Russia once accounted for more than half of Germany’s natural gas supplies but started reducing deliveries in mid-June, citing alleged technical problems with the parallel Nord Stream 1 pipeline. It hasn’t delivered any gas to the country since the end of August.   Putin has periodically taunted the West by raising the prospect of sending gas through Nord Stream 2, a political nonstarter for the German government and others. Read more: Nord Stream 1 resumes gas deliveries to Germany after maintenance In September, undersea explosions damaged both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. The prosecutor leading Sweden’s preliminary investigation said last month that investigators found traces of explosives at the site where the pipelines were damaged in an act of “gross sabotage.” Investigators have not given indications of whom they think might be responsible.  

Taking a swipe at the government for frequent power outages across the country, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Tuesday feared that the country was heading towards bankruptcy. “The people of the country are facing unbearable load-shedding for 4 to 10 hours. There’re preparations to produce 20,000 MW of electricity, but the government is not capable of buying fuel for lack of money,” he said. Although the price of gas has fallen in the world market, the Jatiya Party chief said the government is also unable to procure gas as the exchequer does not have money. He said Sri Lanka was facing load-shedding, a sharp rise in dollar price, a shortage of money to buy fuel and unusual price hikes of daily essentials before going into bankruptcy. “Exactly the same picture is now here in Bangladesh.” He came up with the remarks at a programme at the Jatiya Party Chairman’s Banani office. At the programme, Executive Secretary of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) Mirza Shahadat Hossain and BHRC General Secretary (International Special Representative) Golam Kibria Mollah joined Jatiya Party by presenting a bouquet to GM Quader. GM Quader voiced concern that production of all goods is decreasing since it is not possible to keep industrial factories functioning for the lack of electricity. As a result, he said many people have lost their jobs and become unemployed while the prices of essential commodities have increased several times. Amid such a situation, the Jatiya Party chief said crores of takas are being allocated for mega projects like Sri Lanka and thousands of crores of taka are being laundered abroad,” he observed.  “The government had earlier said the power situation will be normal from September. They’re now saying it will be normal in November. No one knows when the electricity system will be back to normal. So, the country’s people can’t trust the words of the government,” he observed. Read: JaPa won't be slave to any party: GM Quader GM Quader also said people are going through limitless suffering in the current economic reality of the country. “Though the government pledged to prove jobs in all houses, it has now created unemployment in every house. The government also announced to give per kg rice at Tk10, but now the rice is 70 taka per kg. People want to get free from such a miserable situation.” He said the by-polls to the Gaibandha-5 set will be held on Wednesday, but the leaders and activists of his party there are not able to stay at home due to attacks and false cases. “Supporters of the government are committing various types of criminal activities, but they’re filing cases on false charges against Jatiya Party people implicating them with those offences… in fact, the country's electoral system has collapsed and people are no longer showing interest in elections” the Jatiya Party chief observed.

Shops closing, companies going bankrupt and pharmacies with shelves emptying — in Lebanon these days, fistfights erupt in supermarkets as shoppers scramble to get to subsidized powdered milk, rice and cooking oil.

Barraged by hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in hopes of working out a potentially mammoth victim compensation plan that will allow the hallowed, 110-year-old organization to carry on.