Cincunri Sakia

Kamis, 14 Oktober 2021

Only in Australia: Kangaroos take over Canberra during lockdown - Daily Mail

Peak Australia in lockdown: Kangaroos take over city centre after the streets were left empty with residents forced to stay home

TikTok shows a mob of Kangaroos take over Canberra's CBD during lockdown
Vision was captured in September, five weeks into the ACT stay-at-home orders
Canberrans are due to come out of lockdown at 11.59pm on Thursday

By Miriah Davis For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:29 BST, 14 October 2021 | Updated: 01:34 BST, 14 October 2021

A mob of Kangaroos have been spotted taking over Canberra's eerily quiet CBD while residents were tucked away at home amid lockdown.

Footage has emerged on TikTok from September, showing three Kangaroos hopping through the once bustling Civic Centre in the nation's capital.

'Canberra lockdown be like, city is for kangaroos now,' the caption read.

The unusual sight was filmed five weeks into lockdown as the trio of kangaroos took advantage of the deserted city centre free from residents.

Amused TikTok users took to the video to point out how incredible it was to see nature reclaim the city.

'It's amazing how nature is reclaiming itself,' wrote one person.

A mob of Kangaroos have taken over Canberra's Civic Centre (pictured) while residents remain in lockdown until midnight Thursday

'Kangaroo takeover. The Kangaroos are outside more than the local humans at the moment,' commented another.

'This is so cool, let them have fun while its quiet,' added a third.

Others took the opportunity to make their best traffic jokes, with one user writing:

'At least they stop at the stop sign.'

Canberrans are set to come out from lockdown at 11.59pm on Thursday, but it's not the first time kangaroos have been spotted so close to urban areas in the territory.

On Saturday a roo was filmed hopping down a footpath on Mort Street near the Civic bus interchange, much to the surprise of witnesses.

The roo bounced onto the road, passing a construction site before making its way towards Braddon.

Last month a distressed kangaroo that was pulled to safety from Lake Burley Griffin after it became stuck in freezing shallow waters.

While viral footage of the brave rescue warmed hearts around the world it was later revealed the sick kangaroo had to be euthanised due to its poor physical condition.

The ACT Parks and Conservation Service reminded the community to always call for professional help if a native animal is in danger.

'Please give the animal space and keep an eye on them from a distance - maintain enough room for the animal to leave the area,' the spokesperson said.

Footage of the trio emerged on TikTok in September, five weeks into the ACT's lockdown

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2021-10-14 00:29:33Z
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Rabu, 13 Oktober 2021

Europe gas prices: How far is Russia responsible? - BBC News

Gas metering station at Berehove in Ukraine

Gas prices have been soaring in countries across Europe, and there have been accusations that Russia may be seeking to exploit the situation for its own advantage.

Jake Sullivan, the US National Security adviser, recently expressed concern that Russia might be using energy as a political weapon.

"I believe they [Russia] should respond to the market demands for increased energy supplies to Europe," he said.

But how far is Russia responsible for current shortages and rising prices?

How much gas does Europe get from Russia?

Map showing main pipeline routes from Russia to Europe

Russia supplies about 50% of Europe's natural gas. Most of the rest comes from Norway and Algeria.

Russia sends gas to Europe through several main pipelines - such as the Nord Stream, the Yamal-Europe and the Brotherhood.

The gas is collected in regional storage hubs, and then distributed to different countries across the continent.

Chart showing Russia gas exports to Europe October 2019 to October 2021

During the pandemic, overall gas exports from Russia to Europe fell because there was less demand.

Although it has picked up again in Europe, this downward trend has been continuing - with lower supply this year, especially via the Ukraine and Belarus pipelines.

This has led to stocks across Europe being depleted, which in turn is driving up prices.

Has Russia been meeting its commitments?

Gazprom, Russia's majority state-owned energy company, supplies gas to Europe under two different arrangements:

Long-term contracts often lasting from 10 to 25 years
"Spot" deals or one-off purchases for a fixed amount of gas

Gazprom itself describes long-term contracts as "fundamental to stable and sustainable gas supplies".

And it is understood that it has met its obligations to European buyers this year under these contracts.

However, the International Energy Agency's executive director, Fatih Birol, recently said it estimated Russia could supply 15% more gas if it wanted to.

Construction workers at Nord Stream 2 site in Lubmin, Germany

Some analysts have suggested Russia could be holding back supplies to speed up approval of the newly-built Nord Stream 2 pipeline running directly from Russia to Germany.

This bypasses Ukraine, and has been met with objections on geo-political as well as environmental grounds, although Russia is keen for it to come on stream.

"A significant section of the mainstream European media has attributed this to Gazprom intentionally withholding supplies in order to force the German regulator and European Commission to approve Nord Stream 2," says Jack Sharples, of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

But he adds that this analysis "is questionable".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she was not aware of any instances where Russia had not met its contractual obligations.

"Russia can only deliver gas on the basis of contractual obligations and not just like that," she was quoted as saying.

But it is worth noting that "spot" sales do not appear to be happening in any significant quantity, going by data from Gazprom's own electronic sales platform.

Dr Sharples says: "This leads to the conclusion that Gazprom is supplying the volumes... under its long-term contracts - but it is not providing additional volumes beyond those contracts."

That view was also expressed by the EU's Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson.

"Our initial assessment suggests that Russia is fulfilling its long-term contracts while not providing any additional supply." she told MEPs on 6 October.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, told the BBC: "Gazprom has in fact started pumping out from its reserves into pipelines to stabilise the market."

And he added: "We have never been in a position to exert pressure through our energy supplies."

What's happened to stocks in Europe?

Gas storage across Europe is well below the 10-year average, with levels currently at about 75% of storage capacity, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.

The UK's gas storage is currently at full capacity - but Russia only provides about 5% of the country's usage, so it's less reliant on Russian imports than other European countries.

Russia's own gas storage is also down.

Adeline Van Houtte, a Europe analyst at the Economist's Intelligence Unit, says: "Currently, the Russian domestic gas market remains tight, with output already near its peak and winter is looming... limiting gas export capacity."

There are several other factors affecting the situation in Europe, such as:

cold weather at the start of 2021 depleting stocks
rising prices in spring and summer put traders off buying to sell later in the year
limited supply from Norway because of maintenance issues
reduction in other energy sources such as wind power
growing demand for gas elsewhere in the world

Why is there a surge in demand for gas?

The economic rebound in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has caused factories to ramp up production, pushing up demand for energy.

Europe is also facing increased competition for gas from other parts of the world.

Charts showing rising gas demand in various regions

In recent decades, demand for gas in some regions like Asia and the Middle East has risen sharply.

This has knock-on effects on the market for liquified natural gas (LNG), which makes up about a quarter of Europe's imports.

When demand for LNG is high, supplies tend to be diverted to Asia to take advantage of rising prices.

In addition, Russia has been expanding its gas exports to China, and in June inaugurated a gas processing plant in the far east of the country, which is predicted to become one of the biggest in the world.

Additional reporting by Kumar Malhotra and Daniele Palumbo

La Palma volcano eruption update: eruption continues with high effusion rates - VolcanoDiscovery

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2021-10-13 17:38:56Z
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Kongsberg: Five dead in Norway bow and arrow attack - BBC News

Armed police on the streets of Kongsberg after an attacker opened fire on people with a bow and arrow

Five people have been killed and two more injured in Norway after a man used a bow and arrow to attack them.

Police first received word of an attack in the town of Kongsberg, south-west of the capital Oslo, at around 18:13 local time (16:13 GMT).

Chief Oeyvind Aas said a suspect had been caught and seemed to have acted alone.

Police will investigate whether it was an act of terror, a spokesman said.

"It is a tragedy for all those affected," Mayor Kari Anne Sand told VG newspaper. "I have no words."

The attacker is said to have launched the assault inside a Coop Extra supermarket on Kongsberg's west side. One of those injured was an off-duty police officer who was in the shop at the time.

A spokesperson for the chain later confirmed there was a "serious incident" at their store, adding that none of their staff were physically injured.

There was reportedly a confrontation between the attacker and the police before he was eventually detained at 18:47 local time.

Officers are also investigating whether the attacker used other weapons during the incident, Chief Aas told reporters.

The suspect moved over a large area, and authorities have cordoned off several parts of the town. Residents were ordered to stay indoors so authorities could examine the scene and gather evidence.

The suspect has now been taken to a police station in the town of Drammen. He has yet to be questioned.

Dozens of emergency vehicles are at the scene, including ambulances, police cars and helicopters.

Norway's Justice Minister Monica Maeland has been informed and is closely monitoring the situation, the ministry tweeted.

The country's police directorate has ordered all officers nationwide to carry firearms as an extra precaution. Usually police in the country are not armed.

"The police have no indication so far that there is a change in the national threat level," the directorate said in a statement (in Norwegian).

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2021-10-13 21:11:16Z
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Russia denies weaponising energy amid Europe gas crisis - BBC News - BBC News

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2021-10-13 20:32:10Z
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La Palma volcano eruption update: strongest-so-far quake hits at magnitude 4.4 - VolcanoDiscovery

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2021-10-13 14:59:06Z
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Putin denies Russia is restricting gas supplies to Europe - Financial Times

Vladimir Putin has vehemently denied Russia is limiting gas supplies to Europe to drive up prices but offered no indication that there would be swift action to relieve tension in volatile energy markets.

The Russian president told a conference in Moscow on Wednesday that accusations of state-owned Gazprom using energy as a “weapon” to speed up approval of the recently built Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany were “politically motivated blather”.

Putin said Russia was meeting all requests for gas supplies from Europe, adding that Gazprom had already exceeded its contractual obligations to customers in the bloc. But he stressed that further supplies depended on requests from the EU — who, he implied, would have to buy gas on Russia’s terms.

“We’re increasing [supply] as much as our partners ask. There hasn’t been a single refusal. Not one,” Putin said.

Analysts and traders say, however, that there have been no signs of additional gas supplies since Putin’s hints last week that Russia could increase exports to help calm prices, which have soared to more than five times the level of a year ago.

Putin reiterated comments made frequently by Kremlin officials that European customers would need to sign long-term contracts — which are often for two decades or more — to secure additional gas supplies from Russia, rather than via the spot market as favoured by the EU.

He said he would be happy to discuss “additional actions” with the EU without providing specifics.

“If anyone was expecting there to be some dramatic announcement about them auctioning additional volumes of gas for Europe in the short term, they’ll have been disappointed,” said Laurent Ruseckas at IHS Markit, a consultancy.

“That’s what the market was listening for and it wasn’t forthcoming, beyond the comments we’ve heard before . . . but what Putin did reiterate is that once NS2 is operating that would be positive for supply.”

Putin helped temper surging gas price rises last week by saying Russia was prepared to intervene to stabilise a “speculative craze” on volatile energy markets.

Putin argued that Gazprom had already reached capacity for sending exports under current routes, saying the approval of Nord Stream 2, which bypasses Ukraine to supply gas to Germany, would help “significantly relieve tensions on the energy market” if it were approved by German regulators.

Kadri Simson, EU energy commissioner, said the commission was “looking at all issues around manipulation and anti-competitive activity including concerns around Gazprom”.

“Our initial assessment is Gazprom is fulfilling its contracts while providing no additional supply,” said Simson.

The International Energy Agency, which is primarily funded by OECD members, has said it believes Russia could increase exports to Europe by 15 per cent and has called on Moscow to demonstrate that it is a “reliable supplier”.

Russia’s deputy energy minister Evgeny Grabchak told reporters on Wednesday that Gazprom would continue filling domestic storage facilities until November 1, a sign that Russia was in no rush to divert supplies to Europe.

European gas prices have eased slightly since Putin’s comments last week, but are still well above previous years. The benchmark contract for November delivery was trading above €90 per megawatt hour on Tuesday, more than 5.5 times the level of a year ago.

Putin also said Russia was targeting achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, underlining the Kremlin’s growing appreciation of the threat from climate change. Russia’s Arctic region is warming three times faster than the global average.

But Putin also said that natural gas, as well as hydrogen and ammonia, would play a greater role in the energy mix, implying that Russia would continue to exploit its huge natural resource base.

Video: Gas flaring: can we rein in the waste and pollution?

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2021-10-13 17:38:50Z
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