Qatar secures second major LNG supply deal with China

Under the deal, China will purchase four million metric tonnes of LNG annually from Qatar.

Qatar has signed a 27-year gas supply deal with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the Gulf nation’s second major gas supply deal with a Chinese state-controlled company in less than a year.

QatarEnergy and CNPC signed the agreement on Tuesday under which China will purchase four million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually from the Gulf Arab state.

CNPC will also take an equity stake in the eastern expansion of Qatar’s North Field LNG project.

The stake is the equivalent of five percent of one LNG train with a capacity of eight million tonnes per year.

“Today we are signing two agreements that will further enhance our strong relations with one of the most important gas markets in the world and key market for Qatari energy products,” Saad al-Kaabi, the Gulf state’s energy minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, said.

In an identical deal, QatarEnergy sealed a 27-year supply agreement with China’s Sinopec in November for four million tonnes of LNG a year.

Asia, with an appetite for long-term sales and purchase agreements, has been ahead so far in securing gas from Qatar’s massive production expansion project.

Tuesday’s deal is QatarEnergy’s third deal to supply LNG from the expansion to an Asian buyer.

Qatar is the world’s top LNG exporter, and competition for LNG has ramped up since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Europe, in particular, requiring a large quantity to help replace Russian pipeline gas that used to make up almost 40 percent of the continent’s imports.

QatarEnergy had previously said it could give up to five percent stakes in the gas trains linked to its North Field expansion to what al-Kaabi described as “value-added partners”.

In April, China’s Sinopec became the first Asian energy company to become a “value-added” partner in the project.

QatarEnergy has also signed equity partnerships on the project with international oil companies, but has said it plans to retain a 75 percent stake in the North Field expansion, which will cost at least $30bn, including the construction of liquefaction export facilities.

As Beijing’s ties with the United States and Australia, Qatar’s two biggest LNG export rivals, are strained, Chinese national energy firms increasingly see Qatar as a safer target for resource investment.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Idris Elba Calls For Peaceful Sierra Leone Election

 British actor Idris Elba, who also has Sierra Leonean citizenship and heritage, has called for a peaceful general election in Sierra Leone, which will take place on Saturday.

“This election please let it be peaceful,” he said in a message in Pidgin English.

He reminded young people that they have the “power” in this vote, and that if the country is destroyed due to violence, it will be down to Sierra Leoneans to have to patch it back up again.
“Not only is the world watching,” he said, but the whole of Africa.
Saturday’s vote will be the country’s sixth presidential vote since a military takeover in 1992.

It will see the incumbent, President Julius Madaa Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) go up against Dr Samura Kamara of the All People’s Congress (APC).
There have been arrests of critical opposition voices in the run-up to the vote.
Elba’s comments come on the same day that the Commonwealth Observer Group in Sierra Leone, led by former Nigerian Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, called for peaceful elections that will reflect the will of the people.

“The eyes of more than 2.5 billion people of the Commonwealth – more than 60% of whom are young people under the age of 30 – will be upon Sierra Leone. Watching, in solidarity and in hope,” Prof. Osinbajo said.

Source: BBC

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SA warning over wild cats roaming in Northern Cape

 Residents of part of South Africa’s Northern Cape province have been warned to be careful and be on the lookout for a cheetah and leopard roaming the streets.

State broadcaster SABC quoted a representative of an organisation cautioning that wildcats are dangerous and had been seen crossing roads close to a nearby town.

“It’s a bit of a concern they are hungry. They can walk 35km [22 miles] in one night. We have warned the community. The police have warned the community. I have been out telling the people,” Michelle Oppernan of Olifantshoek Animals is quoted as saying.

It is not clear if the cats have escaped from a game serve.

This was the case earlier in the year with incidents of wild cats, including tigers, on the loose which triggered safety warnings in areas of Gauteng province and the capital, Pretoria.

Source: BBC

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China slams Biden for equating President Xi Jinping to a dictator

China calls Biden’s remarks ‘extremely absurd and irresponsible’ a day after a fence-building visit to Beijing by top US diplomat Antony Blinken.

US President Joe Biden has likened his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to a dictator, just a day after his top diplomat left Beijing following a visit designed to ease the two countries’ strained ties.

Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in northern California, Biden said Xi had been angered over an incident in February when a Chinese balloon – which Washington says was used for spying– flew over the United States before it was eventually shot down.

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said.

“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course.”

The balloon incident exacerbated an already difficult US-China relationship, which was strained over issues from self-ruled Taiwan to semiconductors and human rights, and prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing.

Blinken eventually travelled there last weekend, holding discussions with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, top foreign affairs official Wang Yi, and on Monday afternoon, Xi himself.

Although there were no major breakthroughs, Blinken and Xi did agree on the need to stabilise the rivalry between Washington and Beijing so it did not veer into conflict.

Although Biden indicated afterwards that he thought relations between the two countries were on the right path, his fundraiser comments risk renewed damage to the highly sensitive relationship.

China has called reported comments by Biden “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday said Biden’s comments “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing.

“This is strong language. Beijing is clearly very angry about this,” Katrina Yu said, reporting for Al Jazeera from Beijing.

The remarks made by Biden, she added, would be “a blow to efforts to stabilise the US-China relationship, a relationship that Beijing says is at a record low”. It could also “endanger any plans for a future meeting” between Biden and Xi, Yu said.

Xi is serving an unprecedented third term as Chinese president and is China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

Biden, who is 80, is running for a second term as US president in the 2024 election.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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India students facing Canada removal over fake documents get reprieve

Canada has offered a temporary reprieve for a group of Indian students facing removal from the country over alleged fake college admission letters.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says “genuine students who are the victims of fraud” will be allowed to stay in Canada after investigations.

The students say they were unaware of the forgeries and were duped by an immigration agency in India.

They have been holding protests to bring attention to their situation.

A number of international students have come forward in recent months in Canada to say they received removal orders after one of the documents – their college admission letter – was found to be fraudulent.

Any pending removals will now be halted while the federal government sets up a task force to conduct case-by-case analysis of all students facing a removal order, Mr Fraser said at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“Our goal here is to offer a fast, fair and final resolution for people who have been impacted,” he said. “We understand the toll that this process has taken on your mental health and the challenges that you’re dealing with and we want to provide a solution.”

The minister said he expects the process will take a few months.

Mr Fraser said some students have already been removed from Canada and “they will have access to the same remedies as those who are here”.

There are no clear figures on how many students in Canada may have been affected, but the immigration minister said there are “a few dozen people who have been subject to removal orders”. He added there may be more cases that will come to light and the numbers could “potentially be in a few hundred”.

The students say they were the victims of fraud themselves, duped by an immigration consultation agency run in Jalandhar, a city in the Punjab region of India.

In March, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that Indian authorities had arrested one of the men behind the agency.

Some students had been in the country for years and were working towards earning their degree.

Based all over Canada, including British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, they found each other on social media and have been organising protests in the Toronto-area.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has previously confirmed to the BBC that there are “a number of cases of misrepresentation, including those related to study permits” but offered no further comment due to an ongoing investigation.

Mr Fraser said the federal government will also be working over the longer term to establish a stronger system to better detect fraud in cases like these.

India sends the highest number of applicants on the foreign students visa programme and, like all foreign students, they pay nearly four to five times compared to Canadians.

Source: BBC

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Mohamed Salah helps Egypt qualify for Africa Cup of Nations

Egypt came from a goal down to beat a spirited Guinea side and book themselves a place at next year’s event.

Egypt have come from behind to beat Guinea and secure a record-extending 26th appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Egypt beat Guinea 2-1 on Wednesday to secure top spot in their qualifying group with a game in hand. It is the eighth country to qualify for the 24-team event that will be hosted in the Ivory Coast next year.

Guinea, who needed only a draw to qualify, took the lead in the 26th minute after a slick passing move in the box was finished from close range by Serhou Guirassy.

Almost immediately after the restart, Egypt’s Mahmoud Trezeguet fired a shot that Guinea’s goalkeeper parried. The ball fell to captain Mohamed Salah but the Liverpool forward skied the ball over the crossbar from close range.

However, Salah redeemed himself not long after, playing in Trezeguet from the right, who scored with a neat outside-of-the-foot finish for the equaliser.

Guinea had a few chances in the second half and looked the livelier team until the 78th minute when Mostafa Mohamed received the ball unmarked in the box and fired a fierce shot into the top right of the goal for the winner.

The win ensures Egypt will finish top of Group D and return for another opportunity at the African crown, which they have won a record seven times.

The match took place in Marrakesh, Morocco, where Guinea were forced to move from their home stadium, which was ruled unfit for the competition by the Confederation of African Football inspectors.

Defeat for Guinea, on nine points, opens the door for one of the other two teams in the group, Ethiopia and Malawi, who each have three and play on Tuesday.

The winner of that match then has a chance to catch up, but a draw would see Guinea qualify.

The Gambia, who were the surprise package of the last tournament where they reached the quarter-finals in their debut appearance, strengthened their chances of returning after a dramatic last-gasp goal earned them a 3-2 win over South Sudan.

The Gambia moved to nine points in Group G, sharing top spot with Mali, who are away against Congo in Brazzaville on Sunday.

Guinea Bissau’s 1-0 win over Sao Tome e Principe earlier on Wednesday in the Lusophone derby strengthened their chances of qualifying from Group A, where they have advanced to 10 points after five games with a one-point lead over Nigeria.

Saturday will see a further seven qualifiers played in the penultimate round of matches.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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US to address killing of American citizen ‘directly’ with Israel

Palestinian rights advocates call for US sanctions on Israeli unit involved in the killing of 80-year-old Omar Assad.

The United States will address the death of elderly American citizen Omar Assad, who was killed by Israeli forces last year, “directly” with Israel after the country’s military announced that it will not pursue criminal charges in the case.

Early in 2021, Assad, who was 80 years old, suffered a stress-induced heart attack after he was arbitrarily detained, bound, blindfolded and gagged by Israeli forces, and then left out unresponsive on the ground at a cold construction site in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army said on Tuesday that it found no “causal link” between the way its soldiers treated Assad and the American citizen’s death.

The US Department of State, which often reiterates that the safety of Americans abroad is its top priority, said on Wednesday that it was looking into the Israeli findings.

“We’re aware of the conclusion of the investigation, and we’re at this time seeking more information from the Israeli government about it,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. “We’re going to talk to them directly about it.”

Miller said Washington expected “full accountability” in the case early on.

“We have been clear about our deep concern on the circumstances surrounding Omar Assad’s death and the need for such accountability,” he added.

Assad was one of two US citizens killed by Israel last year – the other, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, was fatally shot by Israeli forces while covering a raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli authorities rarely ever prosecute abuses by their forces against Palestinians, but the US vehemently opposes Palestinians’ efforts to seek accountability at the International Criminal Court, including in the case of Abu Akleh.

Israel, accused of imposing a system of apartheid by leading human rights organisations like Amnesty International, receives at least $3.8bn of US aid annually.

President Joe Biden and his top aides often stress Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel.

Adam Shapiro, director of advocacy for Israel-Palestine at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a US-based rights group, called for meaningful accountability for the killing of Assad.

He said the Biden administration should apply the Leahy Law, which bans American aid to foreign forces engaged in gross violations of human rights, to Israel’s Netzah Yehuda unit that was involved in the killing of Assad.

Shapiro added that the State Department has been looking at the case from the perspective of the Leahy Law after DAWN submitted a referral to the US government last October, which underscored that the blindfolding of Assad violated Israeli regulations.

“We believe that that process should not only continue, but that this closure of the Israeli investigation requires the State Department to now apply Leahy Law sanctions to the unit,” Shapiro told Al Jazeera.

He added that by blindfolding Assad, Israeli soldiers “took an action that was deliberate and intentional that was a violation of their own rules”. He said the Palestinian autopsy report on the death of Assad noted that the gagging and blindfolding of the elderly US citizen contributed to his heart attack.

“We have a direct line of causation from the deliberate illegal actions by the Israeli soldiers to the death of Assad,” Shapiro said.

For his part, Osama Abuirshaid, executive director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), raised concern about the State Department statement on Wednesday.

“It’s the same message – ‘We’re following up; we’re in touch with our Israeli counterparts; we are demanding an investigation by the Israelis.’ But when the outcome of an investigation is released, and it does not meet the expectations, we don’t see an American response,” Abuirshaid told Al Jazeera.

In February 2022, Washington welcomed an Israeli report that said the death of Assad “showed a clear lapse of moral judgment” and announced disciplinary action against the commander of the Netzah Yehuda unit.

“The United States expects a thorough criminal investigation and full accountability in this case,” the State Department said at that time.

Abuirshaid said that if the Biden administration does not impose consequences on Israel for killing Assad, it would be abdicating its responsibility to protect US citizens.

“Our problem is not only with Israel and its mistreatment of American citizens, but our problem is mainly with our own administration – with our own government here – that allows Israel to continue its mistreatment of American citizens,” Abuirshaid said, also citing the killing of Abu Akleh.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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