UK and US announce new energy partnership

 The UK and US will work together to increase energy security and drive down prices, as part of a new energy partnership.

The UK and US will work together to increase energy security and drive down prices, as part of an initiative announced by the Prime Minister and US President Biden today (7th December).

Under the new ‘UK-US Energy Security and Affordability Partnership’, the UK and US will drive work to reduce global dependence on Russian energy exports, stabilise energy markets and step up collaboration on energy efficiency, nuclear and renewables. The initiative will be steered by a new UK-US Joint Action Group, led by senior officials from the UK Government and the White House.

This new partnership follows the Prime Minister and President Biden’s meeting at the G20 Summit in Indonesia, where they agreed to take forward work to address our short-term energy needs and spearhead efforts to speed up our energy transition.

Putin’s war in Ukraine has caused an international spike in energy prices. To help deal with the resulting rise in the cost of living, the group will work to ensure the market delivers sustained increases in the supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to UK terminals from the US and will collaborate on energy efficiency measures.

As part of this, the US will strive to export at least 9-10 billion cubic metres of LNG over the next year via UK terminals, more than doubling the level exported in 2021 and capitalising on the UK’s leading import infrastructure. This will be good for both UK and European partners as we look to replenish gas storage next year. To fulfil this shared objective, both governments will work to proactively identify and resolve any issues faced by exporters and importers.

The group will also work to reduce global reliance on Russian energy by driving efforts to increase energy efficiency and supporting the transition to clean energy, expediting the development of clean hydrogen globally and promoting civil nuclear as a secure use of energy.

The Prime Minister said:

Together the UK and US will ensure the global price of energy and the security of our national supply can never again be manipulated by the whims of a failing regime.

We have the natural resources, industry and innovative thinking we need to create a better, freer system and accelerate the clean energy transition. This partnership will bring down prices for British consumers and help end Europe’s dependence on Russian energy once and for all.

The partnership will build on the work of the UK-US Strategic Energy Dialogue led by energy ministers, with a focus on gas supply, energy efficiency, civil nuclear and clean energy.

On civil nuclear, the partnership will promote nuclear energy as a safe and reliable part of the clean energy transition. This includes deepening global collaboration on nuclear fuels and advanced nuclear technologies.

The partnership will also drive international investment in clean energy technologies, from offshore wind to carbon capture. This will complement the work the UK and US are doing together with G7 partners to support the use of clean and sustainable energy in developing countries through the Just Energy Transition Partnerships.

In tandem with shoring up security of energy supply, the group will exchange best practice and work on measures to increase energy efficiency and reduce demand for gas. It is already estimated that there could be an 8% reduction in demand for gas in the UK this winter. The Joint Action Group will explore policy solutions to enhance this efficiency, building on UK Government initiatives such as the Help to Heat Programme.

The initiative will pursue innovative energy solutions, such as the decarbonisation of the aerospace industry and development of sustainable aviation fuel technologies, collaborative efforts on electric vehicles, and Energy Smart Appliances.

We will also continue our close collaboration on Carbon Capture Usage and Storage, and progress the Clean Hydrogen Mission. The UK and US are already co-leads of the Hydrogen Breakthrough Agenda, a flagship initiative to push forward clean hydrogen internationally.

From:Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP

………………………………………………………

US to send more troops to Australia, invite Japan to joint drills

 Lloyd Austin says US will increase rotational presence of air, land and sea forces in Australia amid shared concerns over China.~

The United States and Australia have agreed to deepen defence ties, including by increasing the rotational presence of US air, land and sea forces in the Oceanic country, citing shared concerns over China’s actions around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.

The announcement on Tuesday followed talks between the top US and Australian defence and diplomatic officials in Washington, DC.

“Today, we agreed to deepen our defence cooperation in several important ways,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a joint news conference with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, that also included the two nations’ foreign ministers.

“Based upon today’s talks, we will increase rotational presence of US forces in Australia. That includes rotations of bomber task forces, fighters and future rotations of US Navy and US Army capabilities,” he said.

The two countries have also agreed to “invite Japan to integrate into our force posture initiatives in Australia”, he said.

Austin cited China’s rise and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the reasons for increased US-Australian defence ties.

“The United States and Australia share a vision of a region where countries can determine their own futures,” he said.

“Unfortunately, that vision is being challenged today. China’s dangerous and coercive actions throughout the Indo-Pacific, including around Taiwan, and toward the Pacific Island countries and in the East and South China Seas, threaten regional peace and stability,” he added.

In a joint statement following Tuesday’s talks, known as AUSMIN, the two sides said that “to strengthen US land presence,” they would expand locations for US Army and US Marine Corps forces in Australia. It said they would also identify priority locations to support the enhanced US presence with runway improvements, aircraft parking aprons and storage for fuel and munitions, as well as prepositioning stores, munitions and fuel.

Washington sees Canberra as a vital partner in its efforts to push back against China, and analysts say Australia could have a crucial logistical role to play in the defence of Taiwan against any move by Beijing to reclaim the strategic, self-administered island.

Australia’s Northern Territory is already host to frequent military collaborations with the US.

Thousands of US Marines rotate through the territory annually for training and joint exercises, and Washington is planning to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to an air base in the region, according to Australian media.

With an eye on China, the two countries also entered last year a three-way security pact — known as AUKUS —  that will provide Canberra with the technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. The two sides said they had further discussions on the issue and that British Defence Minister Ben Wallace will attend a first in-person meeting of AUKUS ministers on Wednesday in Washington, DC.

Marles, the Australian defence minister, said Tuesday’s agreements would “see an increased level of activity between our two countries across all domains” and they were also looking at increased cooperation to enhance the capacity of facilities in Australia.

“It’s really important that we are doing this from the point of view of providing balance within our region and involving other countries within our region,” he said, adding that he and Foreign Minister Penny Wong would hold similar 2+2 talks with Japan in Tokyo later in the week “with an invitation for Japan to be participating in more exercises with Australia and the United States”.

Washington, Canberra and Tokyo have also worked together in recent years through the so-called Quad grouping that includes India.

Marles added that the US and Australia had taken steps on Tuesday “to create a more seamless defence industrial base” and that they needed to work together more closely “to enhance our military capability and to develop new technologies”.

The deepening of US-Australian defence ties comes as both nations look to ease tensions with China.

Their leaders held separate talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of a G20 summit in Bali in November.

Following his meeting with Xi, US President Joe Biden said the two countries agreed on the need to cooperate on global challenges, including climate change and global food security, and had tasked their teams to maintain regular contact. As part of that effort, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set early next year to pay the first visit by a top US diplomat to Beijing in more than four years.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after his talks with Xi, also signalled the two countries would seek to move past years of disagreements over trade, human rights, the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as part of its territory.

As the AUSMIN talks took place, a bipartisan group of Australian legislators visited Taiwan on Tuesday despite warnings from Beijing.

Wong, the Australian foreign minister, said in Washington, DC, that there should be “no unilateral change to the status quo” over Taiwan and that Canberra valued “our longstanding unofficial relationship with Taiwan”.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

……………………………………………………………

Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner found guilty of corruption

 Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a prominent and polarizing figure in Latin America who served two terms as president of Argentina, was convicted Tuesday on corruption charges, sentenced to six years in prison and given a lifetime ban from holding public office.

A panel of three judges found the 69-year-old Peronista, perhaps the nation’s most influential politician of the past two decades, guilty of fraud during her tenure as president for directing millions of dollars in taxpayer money to a family friend. She was acquitted of charges that she headed an illicit organization that engineered bribes and overpricing tied to roadwork projects in Patagonia.

Kirchner has denied wrongdoing and is expected to appeal. She has called the court a “firing squad” engaged in political persecution that’s aimed at keeping her from running for a third term as president next year. As vice president and a senator, she enjoys immunity from incarceration and the ban from running for public office until her appeals are exhausted, which will probably take years.

“A president is not accountable for the execution and administration of the budget,” Kirchner said in a live video on social media after the ruling was made public. “I do not legislate. I did not sanction budget laws. Those were the deputies and senators. I absolutely proved … that I do not have control over [that].”

She said she would refrain from running for public office next year. An attorney for Kirchner did not respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said Kirchner funneled money to construction magnate Lázaro Báez when she was president from 2007 to 2015. Several officials from her administration have been convicted in separate corruption cases.

During her tenure and that of her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, companies owned by Báez were awarded dozens of government contracts to build road infrastructure in the Santa Cruz province. The vast, sparsely populated province in southern Argentina was the Kirchners’ home province and the base from which they launched their political dynasty in the 1980s.

Prosecutor Diego Luciani called the case “one of the most extraordinary corruption schemes” in Argentine history. Authorities say some 46 billion pesos were awarded to Baez for 51 road projects from 2003 to 2015; prosecutors say nearly half of them were not completed.

Báez registered his company, Austral Construction, days before Néstor Kirchner was sworn in as president in 2003.

“Lázaro Báez, a friend of the then-president and a business partner, became a construction businessman overnight,” Luciani said during the trial’s accusation phase.

Báez, too, was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to six years, as was former public works secretary José López.

The ruling Peronista coalition is straining to draw support beyond its base. Forced to cut spending under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the government has been caught between its economic struggles and thin U.S. foreign reserves. It lost the midterm elections last year, and polls show next year will also be challenging.

“It is difficult to think of a time of greater political weakness for [Cristina Fernández de Kirchner], with record rejection levels of around 70 percent as her support base dwindles,” said political analyst Lucas Romero, director of the consultancy Synopsis.

“Her leadership in the party is totally undisputed, even after this sentence,” he said. “But this conviction consolidates her low-ceiling vote intention and is another reason for her to avoid running for president next year.”

In a recent interview with Brazilian media, Kirchner denied Báez was her business partner but acknowledged that he was “friends” with her husband, who died in 2010. Authorities have identified some informal commercial ties.

“In corruption crimes, there is never a receipt or invoice,” said Hugo Alconada Mon, a prominent investigative journalist here. “No formal record says that Cristina and Lázaro were shareholders in a company. But if it has four legs, a tail and barks, one can infer it is a dog.”

Worried about inflation? In Argentina, it’s a way of life.

The conviction is a first for Kirchner, who has been investigated on several charges. She was acquitted of some; others were dismissed. They have included corruption charges, but also an accusation that she helped cover up Iran’s alleged role in bombing a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

The verdict comes at a difficult time for this South American nation. Annual inflation is approaching 100 percent. Kirchner was targeted in a botched assassination attempt outside her apartment in Buenos Aires. When Luciani requested a 12-year sentence in August, thousands of Kirchner’s supporters took to the streets to express their dismay.

Supporters of Kirchner began gathering outside the courthouse Tuesday morning to protest the widely anticipated decision. They were greeted by increased security.

“The whole investigation is a setup,” said retired schoolteacher Carmen Millan, 73. “It is all lies, and we don’t believe in them. They only want her out of the political race. We are not going to let them do that.”

Former congresswoman Fernanda Vallejos, a Kirchner ally, rejected the verdict.

“It is a sentence written a long time ago, without facts, without evidence to support it,” she said.

But retiree Elena Brumana lauded the result.

“There are judges and prosecutors who dared to sentence her,” said Brumana, 71. “Many feared her for a long time, and now there is a lesser feeling of impunity. Unfortunately, a large part of the Argentine society will continue to believe in her.”

Source: By David Feliba

…………………………………………………………