Energy ministers in the bloc will discuss a menu of options drawn up by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to avert a crisis, including a price cap on Russian gas, efforts to reduce demand and a windfall tax on power generation. The price cap proposal has sparked divisions in the bloc, with some members raising doubts about whether it can lower prices after Russia cuts supplies to the region. Five things to start your day

  1. Truss cuts oil and gas red tape to aim for energy independence Fracking and North Sea drilling back on agenda to make UK energy independent by 2040.
  2. The public could be urged to turn off thermostats to avoid energy shortages, Jacob Rees-Mogg, understood, is backing the campaign to tell households how to lower their boiler’s flow temperature.
  3. Kwasi Kwarteng sacks the most senior civil servant in the Treasury, Sir Tom Scholar, the permanent secretary to the Treasury, who the new chancellor told was no longer wanted in the job.
  4. “Our energy bill is up over 300%” Business owners say freezing energy bills for six months is not enough, calling for long-term support.
  5. Kate Andrews: Ed Miliband’s windfall tax would be a disaster to compete with the price cap What happened in the night Hong Kong shares edged higher in early trading on Friday, following gains on Wall Street as traders braced for further rate hikes by the central bank. The Hang Seng index rose 0.21 percent, or 39.03 points, to 18,893.65. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.17 percent, or 5.59 points, to 3,241.18, while the Shenzhen Composite on China’s second bourse rose 0.22 percent, or 4.61 points, to 2,109.00. U.S. stocks closed modestly higher, rebounding from early losses after the ECB announced a rate hike and U.S. Fed chief Jerome Powell’s comments that the U.S. central bank must continue to act “vigorously” to ease the demand and contain price pressures. The dollar hit 143.78 yen in early Asian trade, compared with 144.27 yen in New York late Thursday. Among major stocks, Toyota gained 0.41 percent to 2,089 yen, Olympus gained 0.84 percent to 3,122 yen and Uniqlo Fast Retailing rose 1.09 percent to 84,020 yen. It’s coming today Corporate: Computacenter (interim results) Economics: inflation (China), consumer inflation expectations (UK)