Moldova requests EU help after Gazprom reduces gas flows - Financial Times

Moldova is requesting emergency gas supplies from EU countries after Russian state-controlled exporter Gazprom slashed its shipments to the country amid a wider European gas crunch.

The former Soviet state of 2.6m people is seeking a deal to supply more gas via Romania to alleviate shortages and surging prices after a supply contract ran out last month, according to two people involved in the talks. Officials are unwilling to agree to new terms with Gazprom at a significantly higher price.

Supply to Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, has fallen by around one-third while prices have shot up from $550 per thousand cubic meters last month to $790 this month — nearly five times the average that the country paid last year.

The prices are “not justified and not realistic for Moldova,” deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu said on Monday.

Spinu said Moldova was negotiating with Gazprom over a new contract but was also exploring “alternative ways to supply gas” from Russia, Romania, Ukraine and other EU countries.

Moldova, caught in a tussle for influence between Moscow and the west, elected Maia Sandu, a staunchly pro-EU president, last year. Her party won a landslide victory in July’s parliamentary elections.

“The amounts of gas involved are very small for a company of Gazprom’s size, but they are significant for Moldova,” said Aura Sabadus at market information service, ICIS.

“The most plausible explanation for their action is that Moldova has a pro-EU president and government and Russia is happy to use this situation to pressure the country.”

The shortage comes as Europe wrestles with skyrocketing gas prices blamed on strong demand globally and an unwillingness by Gazprom to provide additional supplies to the European market beyond those secured through long-term contracts.

Moldovan government officials are in talks with EU counterparts seeking to arrange emergency gas shipments from neighbouring Romania, but Bucharest is also struggling to cover its own needs amid broader fears over low storage levels across Europe.

Moldova has long been susceptible to over-reliance on Moscow, its former imperial and Soviet capital. It relies entirely on a pipeline from Russia through Ukraine for its gas needs, although a gas connector with Romania will start to operate this year after construction finished last week.

Moscow has also regularly imposed trade embargoes on Moldovan exports, such as wine, while Russian troops are the de facto security guarantors for Transnistria, an unrecognised breakaway state on the country’s eastern border with Ukraine.

The International Energy Agency has said it believes Russia could send 15 per cent more gas to Europe to help cool prices.

But Russia’s ambassador to the EU told the FT that Europe’s best way to avoid gas supply shocks was to mend relations with Moscow, while denying that Gazprom had played any role in the current crisis.

The Kremlin has blamed the European Commission for forcing Gazprom into shifting sales from long-term contracts on to freely traded market sales, where prices can fluctuate.

ICIS’s Sabadus said Ukraine had offered Gazprom capacity to ship the gas into Moldova, using capacity that had previously been earmarked for shipments to Hungary. Those flows were recently diverted to another pipeline.

“The Moldovans quite rightly say there’s daily capacity, there’s plenty of flexibility if Gazprom wants to supply them the full amount,” Sabadus said.

Gazprom did not respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by Marton Dunai in Budapest

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2021-10-11 17:10:17Z
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Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Army launches offensive on all fronts - rebels - BBC News

AFP

The Ethiopian army has launched co-ordinated attacks on all fronts against forces from the northern Tigray region, the rebels say.

They said the government was using artillery, tanks, jets and drones in an attempt to "reinvade" the region.

A senior rebel source said Tigray forces were holding their ground.

The Ethiopian government has not confirmed any fighting, and a communications blackout makes independent verification impossible.

A senior member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, said the government offensive launched last week was now in "full swing".

Asked if a ground offensive had been launched, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said the government had a responsibility to protect its citizens across the country from acts of terrorism but gave no further details.

• EXPLAINER: Ethiopia's Tigray war - and how it erupted
• ANALYSIS: Can Ethiopia be pulled back from the brink?
• PROFILE: The Nobel Peace Prize winner who went to war

The 11-month conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning that about 400,000 people were living in famine-like conditions in Tigray in July.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and another two million have been forced to flee their homes.

Difficult to justify an offensive

Analysis by Kalkidan Yibeltal, BBC News, Addis Ababa

The Ethiopian government has not confirmed reports of a major offensive against the Tigray rebels, but a mobilisation of the country's forces and allied militia over the past few months left no doubt that a huge operation was in the offing.

With elections out of the way and the rainy season at its end, Prime Minister Abiy seems focussed on a military solution to the long-drawn out conflict.

The war has already taken its toll on the country: thousands have been killed, millions displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine.

But both sides have sent mixed signals about their willingness to accept a peaceful resolution.

It will, however, be a difficult task for Mr Abiy to justify another major offensive at a time when his government is facing a lot of international pressure to open talks with the rebels.

The Ethiopian army took control of most of Tigray in November 2020, after TPLF forces seized a military base.

In June 2021, the rebels recaptured Tigray in a surprise attack, and then moved into parts of neighbouring regions like Amhara.

Ethiopia has declared the TPLF a terrorist organisation, but the TPLF insists that it is the legitimate government in Tigray.

Tigray - the basics

• Since 1994, Ethiopia has been divided into states, now numbering 10; they are defined on ethnic grounds by the constitution and described as largely autonomous, but with central institutions
• In 2018, following anti-government protests, Abiy Ahmed took over as prime minister and introduced reforms
• Powerful politicians from Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost state, accused Mr Abiy of trying to increase federal power
• Relations worsened and, after the government accused Tigrayan rebels of attacking military bases, the Ethiopian army moved in in November, backed by Eritrean troops
• Mr Abiy declared the conflict over in late November, but fighting has continued

Mr Getachew said the current offensive was taking place in towns in Amhara region, and also involved Amharan regional forces fighting alongside the army.

The Tigray forces' statement says "hundreds of thousands of regular and irregular fighters" have been fielded in the current assault.

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2021-10-11 20:29:24Z
CBMiMGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWFmcmljYS01ODg2OTk3MNIBNGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWFmcmljYS01ODg2OTk3MC5hbXA

Kim Jong-un's absences explained . . . he was designing bus logos - The Times

Every few months the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suddenly and mysteriously vanishes from public view, provoking anxious speculation from foreign observers.

Is he ill, dead or merely dieting? Is he plotting world domination or just taking a holiday? Now the truth about his recent absences is out: he has spent the time helping to design wine bottles, cargo ships, school uniforms and review plans for two new tourism developments.

The clues are found in photographs released by state media of a new exhibition of industrial design by North Korean artists from buses to company logos. One panel lists the days when Kim himself scrutinised such designs and all coincide with periods when he was absent from public view.

Kim working on designs for a tourist resort in the north of the country

KCNA

Meticulous micromanagement has always been one

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2021-10-11 11:00:00Z
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Fire breaks out at Lebanon’s Zahrani oil facility - Al Jazeera English

DEVELOPING STORY

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said cause of the fire remains unknown.

Beirut, Lebanon – A ‘huge fire’ that broke out in a fuel storage tank at Lebanon’s Zahrani oil facility has been contained, the country’s energy minister said from the site.

“The fire has been contained,” Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said, according to a tweet by the prime minister’s office.

Earlier, Fayyad told Al Jazeera that an army fuel tank was on fire. After reaching the Zahrani oil facilities, he told reporters he was not sure what caused the fire and whether it was intentional or not.

“We need to wait for the results of the investigation, and we have to be ready to take all the necessary based on the results,” Fayyad said. “The priority now is the people’s safety.”

The National News Agency had earlier said “a huge fire broke out in one of the tanks at the Zahrani facilities containing petrol”.

“The cause is not yet known,” it added.

At least 25 firetrucks are at the oil facility as firefighters put out the fire while cooling down surrounding tanks to prevent the blaze from spreading.

بالفيديو ـ إندلاع حريق كبير داخل منشأة النفط في #الزهراني جنوب #لبنان https://t.co/yLoDVe4cXk pic.twitter.com/SGWsGPnikG

— قنـــاة الجـــديـــد (@ALJADEEDNEWS) October 11, 2021

Translation: A large fire has broken out in the oil facility in Zahrani, south of Lebanon

A spokesperson for the Lebanese Army told Al Jazeera on Monday that the fuel tank contained benzene.

“We’re now focusing on clearing residents from the area as we try to put out the fire,” the official said. “The priority now is to prevent the fire from reaching other tanks.”

The tanks at the Zahrani oil facilities store petrol and diesel that the Lebanese government has purchased.

“In addition to that, there is also some fuel for the army and reserve stock,” Energy Researcher Marc Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

One of Lebanon’s key power stations is also located in the vicinity.

The Zahrani power plant went out of commission on Saturday after running out of fuel. The Lebanese army donated some of its reserve stock on Sunday.

In late September, a vessel unloaded 16,000 tonnes of Iraqi fuel at the Zahrani facility, the first shipment in a swap deal between Beirut and Baghdad.

In March, then-outgoing Prime Minister Hasan Diab said experts discovered “dangerous chemicals” at a warehouse in the Zahrani oil installations.

He said German company Combi Lift had reported the matter to Lebanon’s atomic energy authority, which concluded that the material was “nuclear”.

Combi Lift, however, said there were no concrete results yet, and the issue has not been discussed since.

Monday’s blaze comes just over a year after the massive port blast in Beirut that killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and destroyed nearby neighbourhoods in the capital.

Combi Lift had been hired after the blast to examine the destroyed Beirut Port and discovered 58 containers of hazardous material that had reportedly been stored there for decades.

The fire is another setback for cash-strapped Lebanon as it continues to struggle with a crippling gasoline and fuel crisis that has paralysed public life.

State electricity is virtually non-existent, as most households and businesses rely primarily on private generators.

Fuel prices have been hiked almost weekly, as the government slowly rolls back on expensive subsidies.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that resolving the fuel and electricity crisis is one of his government’s key priorities, as he tries to steer Lebanon into recovery from an economic crisis that plunged three-quarters of the population into poverty and devalued the local currency by around 90 percent.

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2021-10-11 08:48:45Z
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US concludes first direct talks with Taliban since withdrawal - BBC News

Getty Images

The first talks between the US and Taliban leaders since the withdrawal of American troops in August have concluded in Doha.

The talks in Qatar focused on containing extremist groups, the evacuation of US citizens and humanitarian aid.

US officials said that while the group would be judged by its actions, talks had been "candid and professional".

The US insists the meeting does not amount to recognition of the Taliban.

In a statement issued on Sunday night, the Taliban claimed that the US had agreed to begin to provide humanitarian aid to the country.

"US representatives stated that they will give humanitarian assistance to Afghans and will provide facilities for other humanitarian organisations to deliver aid," the group said.

It added that it will "cooperate with charitable groups in delivering the humanitarian assistance to those deserving transparently, and will facilitate the principled movement of foreign nationals".

However, the US has yet to formally confirm this claim.

Spokesperson Ned Price said that the two sides had discussed the provision "of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people," without providing further details.

"The US delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society", he said.

The Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington on tackling the activities of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).

Nonetheless, the Taliban's spokesperson in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, told the Associated Press that the regime is "able to tackle Daesh independently".

Mr Shaheen's comments come after an ISIS-K suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people on Friday in the deadliest attack since US troops left the country.

More than 100 others were injured in the blast at the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community.

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2021-10-11 04:24:29Z
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Taiwan: President Tsai Ing-wen vows to do 'utmost' to defend country from China - Sky News

The president of Taiwan has vowed to do her "utmost" to defend her country from Chinese claims on its territory.

Following increasing tensions with Beijing, Tsai Ing-wen said defences would be bolstered to "demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves".

Although the island has ruled itself since it split from the Communist-ruled mainland in 1949, following a long civil war, China claims it as part of its national territory and wants reunification.

Image: Military vehicles were paraded. Pic: AP

Speaking during National Day celebrations on Sunday, Ms Tsai said: "We will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered.

"The path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people."

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There has been global concern after China sent a record-breaking number of fighter jets towards international airspace close to Taiwan.

In the face of apparent threats, Taiwan has strengthened its unofficial ties with Japan, Australia, and the US, amid warnings China could be capable of a "full-scale" invasion by 2025.

More on China

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Following Ms Tsai's National Day address in Taipei, a range of was weaponry was displayed, including missile launchers, armoured vehicles, fighter jets and helicopters.

Ms Tsai said her country would not "act rashly", but added: "There should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure."

She also repeated an offer to talk to China on the basis of parity.

Image: The military honour guard during National Day celebrations

Beijing, however, said Ms Tsai's speech had "incited confrontation" and insisted the two countries must be "reunified".

Waiting nine hours to respond to her comments, China said: "This speech advocated Taiwan independence, incited confrontation, cut apart history and distorted facts.

"The independence provocation by the Democratic Progressive Party (Tsai's ruling party) authorities is the source of tension and turbulence in cross-strait relations and the greatest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

On Saturday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said reunification with Taiwan "must be realised", adding that it could be done peacefully.

But surveys show the Taiwanese people are overwhelmingly in favour of the status quo.

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2021-10-10 21:39:03Z
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Germany’s Merkel, Israel’s PM Bennett differ on Iran, Palestine - Al Jazeera English

Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, paid a final official visit to Israel amid differences between the allies on the key issues of Iran’s nuclear programme and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Merkel said on Sunday that Germany remains committed to reviving the international nuclear agreement with Iran – a step Israel vehemently opposes.

She also said Germany believes a two-state solution remains the best way to end Israel’s decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.

“I think that on this point, even if at this stage it seems almost hopeless, the idea of a two-state solution should not be taken off the table, it should not be buried … and that the Palestinians should be able to live securely in a state,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

She also said Israeli settlement construction on occupied territories sought by the Palestinians was unhelpful.

Bennett, a former settler leader who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, quickly pushed back.

“Based on our experience, the meaning of a Palestinian state means that very likely there will be established a terror state, roughly seven minutes from my house and from almost any point in Israel,” he said.

Calling himself a “pragmatic man”, he instead said he was prepared to take steps on the ground to improve living conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

‘Terrorism is the occupation’

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, who oversees relations with Israel, responded angrily. “The worst form of ‘terrorism’ is the occupation, not the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he wrote on Twitter.

It was one of the few disagreements between the close allies during Merkel’s two-day visit, which caps a 16-year term marked by near unwavering support for Israel.

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, criticised Merkel for regarding Israel’s 54-year occupation as “temporary”.

“Maintaining this fiction has allowed the Merkel government to avoid dealing with the reality of apartheid and persecution of millions of Palestinians,” he said in a statement.

During her leadership, Merkel repeatedly professed Germany’s commitment to Israel’s security and said she was confident that Germany’s next government – to be determined in lengthy coalition talks following an inconclusive election last month – would take a similar stance.

“I am optimistic that every German government, including the one that follows mine, will feel committed to Israel’s security, and I think any successor who becomes German chancellor will see it that way,” she said.

Merkel increases the eternal flame at the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem [AFP]

Merkel backs nuclear deal

Much of the agenda was expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear programme. While the two leaders both promised to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, they voiced different approaches on how to do that.

Germany was a leading player in the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. The accord fell apart after then-President Donald Trump, with Israel’s support, withdrew from the agreement in 2018. The Biden administration has been trying to revive that deal – known as the JCPOA – over Israeli objections.

“I never considered the JCPOA to be ideal, but it’s better than having no agreement,” Merkel said. She said the situation is “very difficult” as Iran continues to enrich uranium. “We are facing critical weeks around this question,” she said.

Israel considers Iran its greatest enemy, citing the country’s military presence in neighbouring Syria and its support for hostile fighter groups across the region. It accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons – a charge Iran denies – and says a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to Israel.

“There is no point in trying to appease the Iranians. They interpret conciliation as a weakness,” Bennett said, accusing Iran of trying to delay while it moves forward with its weapons efforts. ”This is a critical point in time, and Germany’s position is particularly important.”

Merkel also made a stop at Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, where she laid a wreath in memory of the six million European Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II.

“After the crimes against humanity of the Shoah [Holocaust], it has been possible to reset and to re-establish relations,” Merkel said.

It was “moving” that Israel had come to trust post-war Germany, but this “trust always has to prove itself”, she added.

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2021-10-10 15:51:03Z
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