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07/09/2022 ---- 09/09/2022

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09.09.2022
THEME: ECONOMY

A united and determined EU at the extraordinary meeting of energy ministers in Bruxelles

Yesterday the European Central Bank raised three key interest rates by 75 basis points each: such drastic measure was implemented to fight the high inflation across the continent, mostly due to the ongoing energy crisis. With this premise, today September 9 the energy ministers of EU countries met in Bruxelles to discuss a series of exceptional measures to curb soaring electricity bills. The focus was on five points: (1) introduction of mandatory savings during peak hours, (2) a revenue cap for new producers, (3) capturing excess profits from fossil fuel companies, (4) liquidity aids to utility businesses, (5) a price cap on Russian gas imports. The outcome of this meeting gives to the European Commission a clearer political mandate on how to proceed: there is agreement on necessity to introduce energy saving measures, guarantee liquidity to utility businesses, capping revenues for new producers, and to take a solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies. The ministers also “expect the Commission to propose emergency and temporary intervention including the gas price cap” said Jozef Síkela - EU minster of Industry and Trade - at the press conference after the meeting. In conclusion, in his words: “When Putin started his energy war he expected to divide us and damage our democratic societies and economies. Hi will not succeed, Europe is united against his aggression”. Concrete legislative proposals on these aspects are expected by the Commission within days.

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08.09.2022
THEME: TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear fusion is moving steps towards commercial use, experts say

In a world where energy crisis and scarcity of natural fossil fuels is more and more problematic, nuclear physics may be once again what separates present and future times. Nuclear fusion promises near-limitless clean energy by mimicking the natural reactions occurring in the Sun. In the past few years several advancements moved fusion towards commercialisation, which may now be only decades away. So far, state-of-the-art magnetic fusion devices could not yet achieve a sustainable fusion performance, which requires a high temperature above 100 million kelvin and sufficient control of instabilities to ensure steady-state operation on the order of tens of seconds. A study published don September 2 in Nature by a team from Seoul National University and the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy - experimented with the reactor at the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) - reported generation of plasmas at a temperature of 100 million kelvin lasting up to 20 seconds without edge instabilities or impurity accumulation. For the first time, a fusion regime rarely subject to disruption and sustained without a sophisticated control is shown. It thus represents a promising path towards commercial fusion reactors. KSTAR is a pilot project that feeds information and technologies into the ITER project. In addition to South Korea, ITER’s 35 member states include China, India, Japan, the EU (including the UK), Russia and the United States. ITER was propelled into force when US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva in 1985, granting the project with the mandate of benefitting mankind. Multiple countries subsequently joined. In 2005, the international body agreed – after strong bids from Paris and Tokyo – to build ITER in southern France. Construction is underway in Saint Paul-lez-Durance and the ITER facility is expected to come online in December 2025. Experts say that by 2035 most feasibility questions will be answered and by 2050 the commercial sector is likely to use fusion plants.

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08.09.2022
THEME: WORLD

Queen Elisabeth II died: her son Charles III is the new King.

Elisabeth was queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death on 8 September 2022 at the age of 96. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union. Elizabeth was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch in history. The Crown passes now to her son and heir Charles in an extremely difficult moment for England and the world. Rest in peace Queen Elisabeth.

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07.09.2022
THEME: POLITICS

Turkey escalating tensions with Greece while moving steps closer to East

Greece and Turkey have come close to war three times in the last half-century mainly due to Aegean Sea islands disputes and immigration. Ankara and Athens are also now entangled in a dispute over the right to explore for hydrocarbons near Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, where Cyprus and several Greek islands are also located. In the past few few weeks president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who must contest elections by June next year, made several aggressive statements against the neighbouring country. He said on Monday that “Greece is not at our level, just as it is not our equal politically, economically, or militarily” in televised comments. He previously stated that Turkey may “come suddenly one night” amid a revival in accusations by his government that Greece has been illegally militarising islands near Turkey’s coastline. Greece denies the charges. “Your occupying the islands does not bind us. When the time, the hour, comes, we will do what is necessary”. This week the relationship reached a new low point as Greece’s government has written to NATO, EU, and the head of the United Nations asking them to condemn the aggressive talk by Turkey. Greece is warning the allies that current bilateral tensions could escalate into a second open conflict on European soil. In addition to this bilateral diatribe, statements have been directed also against the EU arguing it has an anti-Turkish attitude: “We know very well why the EU, which we are waiting to join, excludes us and includes countries that cannot be compared to us”. At only a few hours of the heavy statements by “Asian block” nations at the EEF, Erdogan said that “there is a West that is leading a policy based on provocation against Russia, which is not correct and will not be able to achieve any result”, adding that other countries should not underestimate Russia. His statements accompany a series of steps towards East: Turkey has not joined the Western sanctions regime against Russia and recently signed a new economic cooperation agreement with Moscow, including provisions of natural gas. Erdogan is expected to meet Putin at a regional summit in Uzbekistan next week. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend.

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07.09.2022
THEME: ECONOMY

A vision of a flourishing economy, based on mutual cooperation, is shared among Asian leaders at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok

It was a hot plenary session on September 7 at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. In this session president of Russia Vladimir Putin and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Li Zhanshu took the floor. Putin’s plenary session lasted approximately 37 minutes becoming the longest one compared to his previous speeches at this forum. He predicts that the competitiveness of European companies will decrease since the EU administration is forbidding access to raw materials and energy at affordable prices. In his words: “The level of quality of life Europe has attained is being burned to fuel this sanctions machine in the name of the so-called Atlantic Unity” and said that it will be no coincidence if the global dominance of some EU companies is going to be replaced by American counterparts. He stated that the Russian federation is launching a number of projects to develop Russia far-East with new cities and universities, with the aim to attract corporations and highly trained people from the world. In conclusion, he stressed that as most Asian nations have rejected sanctions imposed by Western countries the logic of cooperation, of pooling of potentials and of mutual benefit with reliable partners - in particular Asian countries - will allow for a sustainable long-term development and a flourishing economy in the future. By replying questions, Putin also stated that Russia has benefited from the military operation in Ukraine through strengthening Russia’s sovereignty. He also accused the EU of “cheating” to import of grain through Turkey, grain which would be destined to developing countries. However, he also admits there is no breach of any signed contract. As a remedy, he announces negotiations to limit grain export to Western destinations in order to favour poorer countries. On gas provisions to EU, which is currently stopped, he accused Ukraine and Poland of sanctioning and shutting down pipelines and UK to sabotage all efforts to repair Nord Stream 1 by leveraging maintenance contracts signed with the British division of Siemens - the company providing the turbine that needs repair. On the price cap decided by G7 on September 2 he stated that “this decision has no future” and that the EU attempt to restrict prices will instead lead to a price increase. He rejects allegations of Russia using energy as a weapon and confirms that gas pipelines will be built to increase delivery to China. Li Zhanshu, in his intervention, said that China is interested in the vision of a strong Asian economy and reassured his country’s cooperation with Russia “across the whole spectrum”. In his words: “China believes that Russia is an important partner in international cooperation and will continue to develop cooperation in trade, finance, technology, science, education, and culture”. He also stated that China is ready to actively contribute to the development of Russia far-East. Alongside Putin and Li Zhanshu, in the plenary session short talks were given by Myanmar’s Chairman of the State Administration Council Min Aung Hlaing, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrein Oyun-Erdene.

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