The headquarters of the public energy company Sonatrach in Algiers, November 2019. RAMZI BOUDINA/ Portal

Algerian public hydrocarbons group Sonatrach announced on Thursday (October 6) that it has signed a deal with its main customer in Spain, Naturgy, to “revision” the prices of the gas it supplies. The nature of this “revision” has not been specified, but Sonatrach has mentioned an increase in the price of its gas sold to Spain in recent months in the context of a diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Madrid.

This decision was announced at a time when prices continue to rise due to disruptions in Russian gas supplies to Europe due to the war in Ukraine, a Russian-occupied country.

Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers France-Algeria: ongoing discussions to speed up gas deliveries

“Sonatrach and its partner Naturgy have agreed to revise the prices of existing long-term gas supply contracts in light of market developments, thus ensuring the balance of their contracts on a win-win basis,” the Algerian company said in a press release.

The agreement was signed in Algiers by Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar and his Naturgy colleague Francisco Reynes Massanet. Naturgy is the main Spanish buyer of Algerian gas. The Spanish group has an almost equal stake (49%/51%) with Sonatrach in the Medgaz pipeline, which directly connects Spain to the Algerian gas fields.

The question of Western Sahara

According to Enagas, manager of Spain’s gas network, in August Algeria was Spain’s second largest gas supplier (24%), behind the United States (26.5%) and ahead of Nigeria (15.3%). Algerian gas’s share of Spanish imports has fallen sharply in recent months, while until recently it accounted for 50% of its imports. This decline came against a background of serious tensions between Algiers and Madrid.

The Algerian government has been furious with Spain since the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez decided in March to back Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara in a bid to end a nearly year-long diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.

Also read: Article reserved for our Gas subscribers: Algeria is trying to reposition itself on the European market thanks to the war in Ukraine

In response to this reversal in Madrid’s traditionally neutral position, the Algerian authorities suspended a cooperation agreement with Spain in early June. The issue of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the United Nations, has pitted Morocco – which controls 80% of it – against the Algiers-backed Polisario Front separatists for decades.

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The world with AFP

The cracks in the Putin regime are finding the first official reactions, albeit with the aim of minimizing friction. It all starts with an article in the Washington Post, a reputable US newspaper — Watergate’s, to be clear — that said Russian President Vladimir Putin had a direct confrontation with a member of his inner circle who criticized him for mismanaging the war in Ukraine.

The Wp cites US intelligence sources who included this information in US President Joe Biden’s daily briefing. The US-007 report does not reveal the identities of Putin’s supporters, but it is believed that Putin’s close circle includes mostly former colleagues in the KGB and the St. Petersburg administration, of which the Russian president was deputy mayor in the 1990s. “Our assessments suggest that Putin’s closest associates and advisers are particularly concerned about Russia’s recent losses, poor decisions and massive military bottlenecks,” a US National Security official told The Washington Post. “There are a lot of people who think things aren’t going well or that they’re not going in the right direction,” another source said.

Moscow, for its part, spoke to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who acknowledged that there had been “differences” and discussions surrounding Putin as the Russian president faced crucial decisions such as “partial mobilization” “more than seven months” since the Russian invasion passed to Ukraine. “In those moments there are disagreements. Some think we should act differently – Peskov told the Washington Post – but that’s part of the normal working process.”

“There are discussions about the job, about the economy, about the management of the military operation. There are discussions about the education system. It’s part of the normal work process and not a sign of division,” Putin’s spokesman continued, explaining the friction in the tsar’s magic circle.

According to a statement by the coordinator, the IACHR granted the government of the isthmus country four months to respond to violations of the human rights of this original people regarding their ancestral lands in Bocas del Toro province bordering with Costa Rica.

King Bulú of the Bri Brí, Joaquín González, stated that the arduous struggle for recognition of his people’s ancestral rights of occupation was beginning to bear fruit and he hoped that justice would finally be served.

For his part, the President of Coonapip, Marcelo Guerra, said it was time for the Panamanian government to bring order to the situation of the Bri Brí people, for justice to be done and their human rights to be respected, otherwise they would be doomed to disappear.

In recent statements to La Estrella de Panamá newspaper, Guerra argued that it was not possible to deny the Bri Brí the right to collectively allocate their lands to foreigners with political, economic and other powerful interests, and would happily grant them titles.

He stated that the struggle for the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in Panama does not stop and that Coonapip remains firm in this struggle.

The lawsuit came after the Executive Branch ordered the filing of the application file for the collective title through the National Land Authority on April 12, 2019, as it was deemed incomplete.

While the Bri Brí women’s leader denounced that since then, dozens of individual titles have been processed overnight and new owners appeared in their territories who had never lived in that area and began following tracks and cutting down trees without control.

mgt/ga

The Iranian military says it is ready to fight the ongoing protests in the country. The announcement was made today by army, Revolutionary Guard and police commanders in a joint letter to Iran’s Supreme Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as reported by ISNA news agency. “We will destroy the diabolical plans of the Islamic Republic’s enemies,” the commanders’ letter read, according to ISNA.

Khamenei described the anti-government protests that have been going on for three weeks as a foreign conspiracy. According to the constitution, not only does he have the last word in all strategic matters, but he is also the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces.

So far, police and volunteers from Islamic groups have been mobilized in response to the protests.

Death of Amini: Official report rules out police violence

Meanwhile, the state institute of forensic medicine has ruled out police violence in connection with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. According to the Misan news portal, the report on Amini’s death explains that the Iranian Kurd had suffered from a thyroid disease since childhood.

AP/Maya Alleruzzo

Investigations would have shown that previous illness after his arrest led to heart failure – which led to his death. Police violence is ruled out because no traces of a blow to the head on the body were found.

Parents: No previous illness

Amini’s parents have repeatedly denied their daughter’s previous illness in recent weeks. She was perfectly healthy until she was arrested by the religious police and all claims to the contrary were lies, the family said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Friday (7) in response to the thousands of Latino immigrants who have poured into the city from the United States’ southern border in recent months. They overload the homeless shelter system in the metropolis.

New York expects to spend $1 billion to handle the flow of these asylum seekers, Adams said in a speech at City Hall. More than 17,000 people have arrived in New York since April. Since the beginning of September, an average of five to six buses have been arriving every day. It was nine on Thursday, Adams said.

The surge in migrant arrivals has resulted in unprecedented numbers of people in shelters across the city.

“While our compassion is boundless, our resources are not,” Adams said, calling for support from federal and state governments. “We’re standing on the edge of a cliff.”

The state of emergency will make it easier for city authorities to more quickly coordinate their response to the situation, Adams said.

2 of 3 Venezuelan migrants are welcomed at a church on Martha’s Vineyard — Photo: Ray Ewing/Portal

Venezuelan migrants are welcomed at a church on Martha’s Vineyard (Picture: Ray Ewing/Portal)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who is seeking a third term in November’s midterm elections, sent more than 3,000 immigrants to New York to draw attention to the record number of US border crossings.

Adams criticized Abbott for not alerting city officials when he was sending migrants north.

“Thousands of asylumseekers were bussed into New York City and just left without warning, coordination or care,” the Democrat accused Adams on Friday, calling the crisis “made up.”

3 of 3 immigrants in Washington on July 30 after arriving by bus from Texas — Photo: Portal

Immigrants in Washington July 30 after arriving by bus from Texas — Photo: Portal

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, recently brought a group of about 50 immigrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Democrats accuse Abbott and DeSantis of using vulnerable migrants politically, while Republicans blame President Joe Biden’s administration for failing to stem the tide at the border.

The Democratcontrolled city of El Paso has bused about 7,000 migrants into New York since late August, although city leaders say they are coordinating with New York officials, unlike Abbott.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency last month. She created a new office to look after immigrants and asked the federal government for financial support.