Oct 25,2022:Tightening markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide and major oil producers cutting supply have put the world in the middle of “the first truly global energy crisis”, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.
Rising imports of LNG to Europe amid the Ukraine crisis and a potential rebound in Chinese appetite for the fuel will tighten the market as only 20 billion cubic meters of new LNG capacity will come to market next year, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said during the Singapore International Energy Week.
At the same time the recent decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, to cut 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of output is a “risky” decision as the IEA sees global oil demand growth of close to 2 million bpd this year, Birol said.
Soaring global prices across a number of energy sources, including oil, natural gas and coal, are hammering consumers at the same time they are already dealing with rising food and services inflation. The high prices and possibility of rationing are potentially hazardous to European consumers as they prepare to enter the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Europe may make it through this winter, though somewhat battered, if the weather remains mild, Birol said.
Tehran,Oct 22,2022:Iran has opened a consulate general in Kapan, located in the southernmost Armenian province of Syunik, in what appears to be a direct message to Azerbaijan and its backer Turkey.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian officially inaugurated the consulate on Friday, making Iran the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in the province that is sought by Baku and Ankara.
The move appeared to come in support of Tehran’s assertion that any changes in its borders and transit links with Armenia would be a “red line” that it would not tolerate being crossed.
Azerbaijan – which also has a border with Iran – and its ally Turkey wish to establish a new transport link connecting Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan with the Azerbaijani mainland, a route they call the “Zangezur corridor”.
If the route is established, in effect bypassing Armenian checkpoints, it will have consequences for Iran-Armenia commerce and could sever a major Iranian transit link with the South Caucasus.
The corridor signals a breach of the ceasefire signed after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which Azerbaijan won, taking back territories that had been in Armenian control since the previous conflict in the early 1990s.
“I will advise the people of Kapan not to worry, we are here for the Armenian people,” said Morteza Abedin Varamin, Iran’s new consul-general in Kapan, at the inauguration ceremony.
KYIV:The United States has said Iranian military trainers were in Crimea helping Russian forces operate Iranian-made drones to attack targets in Ukraine, adding an alarming strand to a war that has heightened geopolitical tensions.
There was no immediate public reaction from Tehran to the U.S. accusations but Iran has denied the drones are Iranian-made. Russia has also denied using Iranian drones in Ukraine.
Russia’s defence and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Washington was going to pursue all means to “expose, deter and confront” Iran’s supply of munitions to Russia, including more sanctions, while also considering air defences for Ukraine.
Russia and Iran have also been involved in the 11-year-long civil war in Syria, together supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Oct 20,2022:Police in Chad’s capital N’Djamena have clashed with demonstrators who defied a protest ban to demand a quicker transition to democratic rule.
Hundreds of people took to the streets on Thursday to mark the date when the military had initially promised to hand over power – a period that has been extended for another two years.
The country has been rocked by a political crisis since longtime President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield in April 2021 while visiting front-line troops.
Mahamat Idriss Deby, his 38-year-old son, was then installed by the military as interim president. He had initially promised not to take part in elections that would follow an 18-month transition to civilian rule but as the deadline neared, a nationwide forum staged by Deby reset the clock.
On October 1, it approved a new “maximum” 24-month timeframe for holding elections. It also named Deby “transitional president” and declared he could be a candidate in the poll. Deby was sworn in on October 10, and later appointed a so-called government of national union headed by Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo.
SYDNEY, Oct 18,2022: Australia on Tuesday reversed a decision of the previous government to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying the status of the city should be resolved through peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Australia “will always be a steadfast friend of Israel” and was committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist in peace within internationally recognised borders.
The government “recommits Australia to international efforts in the responsible pursuit of progress towards a just and enduring two-state solution,” she said in a statement.
Previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison had reversed decades of Middle East policy in December 2018 by saying Australia recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but would not move its embassy there immediately.
Former United States President Donald Trump had recognised Jerusalem as the capital a year earlier.
Wong told reporters Morrison’s 2018 decision “put Australia out of step with the majority of the international community”, and was met with concern by Muslim-majority neighbour Indonesia.
“I regret that Mr Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position, and the distress these shifts have caused to many people in the Australian community who care deeply about this issue,” she said.
Morrison had flagged moving the embassy from Tel Aviv in 2018 just days before a by-election in a Sydney electorate with a strong Jewish representation, which his Liberal party nonetheless lost.
The Guardian first reported a change to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website to remove language describing west Jerusalem as the capital on Monday.
Wong said the decision was made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet on Tuesday.
Morrison’s Liberal-led coalition lost a national election in May, returning a Labor government for the first time in nine years.
Israel’s embassy in Canberra was closed on Tuesday, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.