EU Signs Deal with Egypt and Israel to Boost Gas Exports to Europe

by Soeren Kern • June 30, 2022 at 5:00 am

Over time the agreement could spur new investment in gas exploration and infrastructure in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and Israel and potentially transform the Eastern Mediterranean into an energy powerhouse.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement as "a big step forward in the energy supply to Europe" and "the first step leading to a Mediterranean-wide agreement."
"The war in Ukraine has really changed the equation in a way, including for the EU where they're willing to overlook, at least in the short term, the desire to go green as soon as possible." — Dov Lieber, The Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2022.

The European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt that paves the way for potentially significant quantities of Israeli natural gas to be shipped to Europe. Pictured: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (back) looks on as EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson (L), Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla (C), and Israeli Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar (R) sign a trilateral natural gas deal in Cairo on June 15, 2022. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)

The European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt that paves the way for potentially significant quantities of Israeli natural gas to be shipped to Europe.

The trilateral agreement, signed on June 15 in Cairo at a meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), an intergovernmental organization, calls for Israeli gas to be sent to liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Egypt. From there, the gas in liquid form will be transported across the Mediterranean Sea on LNG vessels to markets in Europe.

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Leaked Documents Reveal Wide Scope of China's Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang

by Lawrence A. Franklin • June 30, 2022 at 4:00 am

One of the leaked documents, which contains "a shoot to kill order" for guards in the camp's watchtowers, confirms that these camps are indeed prisons. Another leaked report stipulates how detainees are to be transported from one site to an alternate location: ankle shackles, handcuffs and hoods.
Previous leaks of official documents, unauthorized films, commercial satellite images and testimony from escaped former inmates have scripted a profile of the hell that the Chinese Communist state has crafted for the Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. This massive province-size gulag regime includes forced abortions, sterilization and rape of female detainees, separation of husbands and wives, removal of children from the custody of parents, obligatory retraining of workers in skills supportive of CCP economic goals, and daily ideological indoctrination of inmates.
Democratic countries should distribute these leaks globally as cautionary warning to all societies that the CCP's projected panda bear image of China obscures the reality of a quite different animal with an insatiable appetite.

The massive gulag regime for ethnic Uighurs in Communist China's Xinjiang Province includes forced abortions, sterilization and rape of female detainees, separation of husbands and wives, removal of children from the custody of parents, obligatory retraining of workers in skills supportive of Party economic goals, and daily ideological indoctrination of inmates. Pictured: "The Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center," a facility where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, north of Kashgar in Xinjiang. (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Documents and photos of thousands of ethnic Uighurs arrested by Chinese authorities, made public in late May, lend additional indisputable evidence to the Communist regime's massive human rights violations in Xinjiang. Many of the leaked documents are official Chinese Ministry of Interior dossiers of incarcerated individuals just from Shufu, one among 61 counties in Xinjiang Province. The Shufu County in the Kashgar Prefecture is the site of several large internment camps.

One of the leaked documents, which contains "a shoot to kill order" for guards in the camp's watchtowers, confirms that these camps are indeed prisons. Another leaked report stipulates how detainees are to be transported from one site to an alternate location: ankle shackles, handcuffs and hoods.

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