EU Reaches Deal on Lowering Gas Use as Nord Stream 1 Flow Set to Fall
Russia’s Gazprom will slash gas flows (WaPo) to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by half starting tomorrow. While Gazprom said (Reuters) the reduction is due to problems with a turbine, the energy chief of the European Union (EU) called it “politically motivated.”
Meanwhile, EU energy ministers reached a compromise on a plan to reduce natural gas consumption in the face of a potential energy crisis this winter. European countries agreed to voluntarily limit their gas use by 15 percent from August to March. The cuts would become binding in the case of a supply emergency, though some industries and countries would be exempt.
Analysis
“As European spot prices for gas break new records, it is becoming clear that natural gas will be one of the major battlefields of the geoeconomic war between Russia and the West,” energy analyst Sergei Vakulenko writes for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Some EU diplomats raised concerns that the number of opt-outs in the final regulation may mean it fails to ensure countries save enough gas for winter,” Reuters’s Kate Abnett writes.
During an in-person meeting, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged (Reuters) to increase bilateral trade and boost cooperation in areas such as food security.
Hong Kong: Tech giant Alibaba will apply for a primary listing (Nikkei) on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Analysts said the move aims to address the risk of U.S. regulators forcing the company to delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
South and Central Asia
Rights Groups Denounce Nepal’s Plans for Transitional Justice Law
The current draft of a law to deal with crimes committed during the country’s 1996–2006 civil war would make it difficult to try war crimes (Kathmandu Post) and thus violate Nepal’s obligations under international law, international rights groups said.
Pakistan: The United States will donate (State Dept.) sixteen million pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan and discuss setting up a center for disease control in the country.
Middle East and North Africa
Exit Poll Suggests Tunisians Back Constitutional Reforms
Tunisia’s election authority said only a quarter of registered voters turned out (Al Jazeera) for yesterday’s referendum, and an exit poll showed that more than 90 percent of voters backed reforms that would increase President Kais Saied’s power.
Algeria/Syria: Visiting Damascus, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra denounced (AP) Syria’s decadelong suspension from the Arab League. Algeria will host the group’s annual summit in November.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe Introduces Gold Coins to Fight Inflation
By selling gold coins, the government hopes to reduce (WaPo) the amount of local currency in circulation and tamp down on inflation, which reached 192 percent in June.
DRC: At least five people were killed (AFP) and around fifty were wounded during protests at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Demonstrators said the mission has failed to prevent attacks by armed groups in the country’s east.
One Thousand Flights Canceled Over German Airline Workers’ Strike
German airline Lufthansa canceled almost all flights from Frankfurt and Munich after its ground crew announced a strike (Bloomberg) over pay demands.
Americas
Pope Apologizes for Forced Assimilation of Indigenous Canadian Children
At the site of one of Canada’s largest residential schools, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness (CBC) for the “evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples.”
Guatemala/Ukraine: Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei visited Ukraine (Euronews, AP), making him the first Latin American head of state to do so since Russia invaded the country.
United States
Agriculture Department to Scale Up Reforestation After Wildfires
Over the next couple of years, the U.S. Forest Service will increase (AP) the number of hectares reforested annually from some 24,000 last year to about 162,000.
CFR President Richard Haass writes that the battle against climate change is being lost.
