Lecks in Nord-Stream-Pipelines: Haben die Russen ihre eigene Infrastruktur beschädigt?, 27.09.22

[...]
Die Medien schreiben im Moment über eine mögliche Sabotage, organisiert von Spezialkräften oder mit Hilfe eines U-Boots. Es gebe Hinweise auf ,,gezielte" Anschläge, berichtete der Tagesspiegel unter Verweis auf eine in die Bewertung durch die Bundesregierung ,,eingeweihte Person". Auch der Spiegel berichtete unter Verweis auf Regierungskreise, dass die Bundesregierung einen Anschlag nicht ausschließe - mit dem Ziel, europäische Gasmärkte zu verunsichern....

USA fordern EU auf, der Ukraine endlich Geld zu überweisen, 28.09.2022

Die prekäre Lage der ukrainischen Staatsfinanzen sorgt für Unruhe in der US-Regierung. Die Financial Times (FT) berichtet, dass mehrere offizielle Regierungsvertreter aus Washington den Druck auf EU-Verantwortliche erhöht haben, Geld nach Kiew zu überweisen.

Am Rande der UN-Vollversammlung sei es zu verschiedenen Treffen gekommen, bei denen die US-Vertreter ihren Unmut über die schleppenden Zahlungen aus Brüssel zum Ausdruck gebracht hätten. Ein EU-Beamter sagte der FT, auch der ukrainische Premierminister Denys Schmyhal habe sich zu diesem Zweck mit dem Präsidenten des Europäischen Rates, Charles Michel, getroffen.

Er habe der EU gesagt, dass Kiew jeden Monat etwa 3,5 Milliarden Euro brauche. ,,Die eine Botschaft war die dringende Notwendigkeit, das Geld auch wirklich zu erhalten", sagte der Beamte. Schmyhal plädierte dafür, dies solle ,,so schnell wie möglich" geschehen. Zuschüsse und Darlehen seien gleichermaßen willkommen. Die US-Beamten betonten demnach gegenüber den EU-Verantwortlichen, es sei notwendig, die Ukraine finanziell zu unterstützen, solange die ukrainische Offensive im Süden erfolgreich verlaufe.
[...]
Demnach werden Kriegsgerät, Ausrüstung und Kraftstoff von der US-Regierung an den Partner lediglich verliehen oder verpachtet und müssten nach dem Krieg zurückgeführt werden. Weil Kriegsgerät meist beschädigt oder zerstört wird, haben die Waffen oft zum Ende des Krieges lediglich Schrottwert. Daher hat die US-Regierung ein Interesse, dass die Ukraine ihre Leasing-Verträge auch pünktlich erfüllen kann. ...

They are testing the docility of the hivemind by asking people to believe that Russia blew up a pipeline which it had the power to turn on and off at will. [_link]

— Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 (@witte_sergei) September 28, 2022

US Willing to Investigate Nord Stream Explosions 😂

I spoke to my counterpart Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe of Denmark about the apparent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines. The U.S. is supporting efforts to investigate and we will continue our work to safeguard Europe's energy security.

— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) September 28, 2022

reference CZ, AT, SK, DE, PL, possibly FI
Forestry and Game Management Institute, "FORESTS' FUTURE 2022, Consequences of Bark Beetle Calamity in Central Europe", June 2022
suspect: incorrect "crisis-related goods"
The turn-around has not materialized as expected.

Has Granpa Draghi.gov establihed a "excess profits" tax?

Switzerland has recorded the worst snow melt rate of glaciers since monitoring began over a century ago, according to a new study.

Melting ice is one of the key threats of climate change.

More: [_link] pic.twitter.com/N79OHVlGQZ

— DW News (@dwnews) September 28, 2022

APsplainin Moscow tries to draft fleeing Russian men at the borders, 28 Sep UPDATE

Volunteers on the Georgian side of the border also have brought water, blankets and other assistance. ... North Ossetia restricted many passenger cars from entering its territory, and set up a draft office at the Verkhy Lars border crossing, Russian news agencies said. ... Another such draft checkpoint was set up in Russia along the Finnish border, according to the independent Russian news outlet Meduza.
[...]
Protesters carrying Georgian and Ukrainian flags and signs like "Russia Kills" greeted Russians at the border Wednesday. Giga Lemonjava of the political party Droa, which organized the protest, said the evacuees [?] threaten Georgia's security and economy.
[...]
There also are long lines at the border with Kazakhstan, which has taken in more than 98,000 [!] Russians in the past week.

ill-conceived headline w/e 1 Oct

1. 'Iranian women are furious' over headscarf death

2. Federal court finds 3rd Iowa ag-gag law unconstitutional

He said the gas is not poisonous. It's the methane.

< checks watch >

Great Merchants the Italians Under Meloni

Gas, crolla il prezzo in Italia: costa un terzo rispetto all'Europa. E ora lo esportiamo | il Repubblico |

It can be clearly seen from the prices: the Ttf index, listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and a reference point for trading in Europe, on Monday reached a peak of 220 euros per megawatt hour, while in Italy the values ​​at PSV (virtual trading point) which serves as a reference for the Italian market has reached a minimum peak of 80 euros. Basically, operators had much more interest in selling in the rest of Europe than in keeping the gas or selling it in Italy.

...
The stockpiles (the filling of which had caused the price to rise) are now 90% full and can be used in case of need, calming the market. Two-thirds of Russian gas was replaced by Algerian gas, gas arriving by ship and alternative suppliers such as Norway and Azerbaijan (TAP will rise to 9.5 billion cubic meters at the end of the year against 7.5 of 2021).

While all the eyes are on the Nord Stream saga, the TransMed pipeline, bringing 🇩🇿Algerian gas to 🇮🇹 Italy, goes into a planned maintenance and a total of 67 mcm/d will be unavailable from July 20 to July 27.
In 2022, 🇩🇿has become the 1st supplier of gas to Italy, overtaking 🇷🇺 Russia pic.twitter.com/yqcS1M4cEn

— Francesco Sassi (@Frank_Stones) July 22, 2022

Algeria agrees to boost annual piped gas sales to Italy by up to 9 billion cubic metres | Upstream Online - 12 April 2022 |

As Italy weans itself off Russian gas, Eni and Sonatrach plan to boost throughput in the TransMed pipeline

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi have witnessed the signing of a significant deal that is expected to see gas supplied from North Africa to Europe.

Europe is scouting the globe hunting for additional sources of gas to eventually replace the 180 billion cubic metres the continent imports from Russia.

Some 40% of Italy's gas demand is currently met by Russian supplies.

Eni and Snam Partner on Gas Pipelines Between Algeria and Italy | Energy Monitor - Dec. 6, 2021|

The pipelines contained a total of 778 million cubic metres of natural gas, which corresponds to 32% of Denmark's annual CO2 equivalent emissions, the Energy Agency said in a statement. [_link]

— Francesco Sassi (@Frank_Stones) September 28, 2022

⚡️ Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova:

❗ Russia intends to convene an official UN Security Council meeting regarding the incidents with the #NordStream & #NordStream2 gas pipelines. pic.twitter.com/bXJB9eeoZJ

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) September 28, 2022

The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov responded to Western allegations. Describing the accusations against Russia as "stupid", Peskov said, "The voicing of such scenarios is highly predictable and at the same time predictably stupid and absurd."

Kremlin says Nord Stream explosions `a big problem for Russia'

Damage to the natural gas pipelines will bring nothing but ruin for both Russia and EU

Moscow has denounced as "stupid and absurd" any allegations of its being behind the suspected explosions of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines earlier this week, stating that the incident actually creates many issues for Russia.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that the damage to the pipelines posed a "big problem" for Russia as it had essentially lost its gas supply routes to Europe.

Both lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline were pumped full of gas and were prepared to deliver it to Europe at the time of the alleged explosion, said Peskov, adding that "this gas is very expensive and now it is all going up in the air."

Peskov also noted that neither Russia nor Europe had anything to gain from the destruction of the pipelines, especially Germany, for which this incident poses a threat to the future development of its industry, as well as its profitability and competitiveness.

American LNG suppliers, on the other hand, have been making incredible profits after having multiplied their deliveries to the European continent, Peskov pointed out, adding that these companies are "very interested in maintaining these super-duper profits in the future."

While no suspects behind the incident have officially been named, the Kremlin spokesperson advised against making any official announcements before a proper investigation into the incident is carried out.

The Nordstream explosions happened the same day as this:

A historic day for Poland❗️
Natural gas has begun to flow through the #BalticPipe gas pipeline. Why is this important? Because this gas will be from Norway and not Russia. Greater energy independence for us from a Russian state which manipulates energy markets to fund their war. pic.twitter.com/ZvB8NEKj5j

— Marcin Czapliński (@czaplinskiii) September 27, 2022

Gas, crolla il prezzo in Italia: costa un terzo rispetto all'Europa. E ora lo esportiamo | il Repubblico |

It can be clearly seen from the prices: the Ttf index, listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and a reference point for trading in Europe, on Monday reached a peak of 220 euros per megawatt hour, while in Italy the values ​​at PSV (virtual trading point) which serves as a reference for the Italian market has reached a minimum peak of 80 euros. Basically, operators had much more interest in selling in the rest of Europe than in keeping the gas or selling it in Italy.

...
The stockpiles (the filling of which had caused the price to rise) are now 90% full and can be used in case of need, calming the market. Two-thirds of Russian gas was replaced by Algerian gas, gas arriving by ship and alternative suppliers such as Norway and Azerbaijan (TAP will rise to 9.5 billion cubic meters at the end of the year against 7.5 of 2021).

This is the lede.

This could become excellent news for our bill as long as the phenomenon is repeated throughout the month of October.

Let's start with the facts. In the last two days, the price of gas in the Italian market is almost two thirds lower than the prices on the ["]European["].

Odds are, if premium added to import from Algeria (or "North Africa") is not in the story, it's not public; it's is never going to be public. Especially if France is hoovering ahhh excess capacity.

Recall, DE plausible deniability of contract-busting "reverse flow" of Nord Stream 1 mcm via Yemel to RUB-hating PL.

Nord Stream pipelines were always under attack by US war hawks and favorite Neocons ...

U.S. Senators Vow No 'Faustian Bargain' With Russia, Pledge To Target Putin 'Harder' | RFERL - Dec. 30, 2016 |

Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) said Congress would pursue in 2017 more sanctions against Russia, targeting the energy and banking sectors, as well as "Putin and his inner circle."

"We're going to do two things: We're going after Putin harder with tougher sanctions and we're going to be more helpful to our friends, like here in Ukraine," Graham said.
McCain, Graham, and Amy Klobuchar (Democrat-Minnesota) said there is strong support in Congress to provide Ukraine with "lethal defensive weapons" to help Kyiv in its fight against Russia-backed separatists in the east.

"PROTECTING EUROPE'S ENERGY SECURITY" AND "COUNTERING AMERICA'S ADVERSARIES THROUGH SANCTIONS ACT": A BRIEF SURVEY OF U.S. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON NORD STREAM 2

The U.S. Congress set sanctions against Nord Stream 2 in two different acts: the 2017 Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and the 2019 Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act. This comment will now describe and assess legality under the principle of prescriptive jurisdiction of the sanctions they edict.

A. Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATS) Act

In 2017, Congress passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, 115 P.L. 44 (codified in scattered sec- tions of 22 U.S.C.). This sweeping act, which targets not only Russia but also Iran and North Korea, notably contains sanctions provisions against anyone who invests in "energy export pipelines" or "sells, leases, or provides to the Russian Federation, for the construction of Russian energy export pipelines, goods, services, technology, information or support." Those sanctions are limited to projects initiated on or after August 2, 2017 and the U.S. Bureau of Energy Resources has recently changed its guidelines to specifically target Nord Stream 2 and Turkstream (both were exempted under previous guidelines). Under 22 U.S.C. § 9526, the President may impose "five or more" sanctions out of a list of eleven sanctions enu- merated under 22 U.S.C. § 9529.

Biden, Sanctions and Republican Foreign Policy

Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline development | NS Energy |

The feasibility study for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project (pdf docu) was started in 2011 and completed in 2013. Construction approvals in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Russia were received respectively in March, April, June, and August 2018, while those for the Danish segment were obtained in October 2019.

Preparatory works for the pipeline started in 2016 and the first set of pipes that Europipe manufactured for the project arrived at the Mukran logistics hub in Germany in October 2016.

Offshore construction works started in the Gulf of Finland, with the use of a 300m-long pipe-laying vessel named Solitaire in September 2018.

Construction delay due to the US government's sanctions

Nord Stream - sign of Russia's maturity? | Russia Beyond - Nov. 10, 2011 |

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in Germany to take part in the official inauguration of Nord Stream, the new gas pipeline that runs along the bed of the Baltic Sea. As a result, Russia can now provide gas supplies directly to Europe and thus bypass third countries such as Ukraine and Poland.

In addition to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is a member of the Nord Stream consortium, the French and Dutch Prime Ministers, Francois Fillon and Mark Rutte, also took part in the ceremony since firms from France and the Netherlands were involved in the construction along with Russian and German companies. On completion, Nord Stream will have an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply some 26 million homes.

The pipeline cost 7.4 billion euros ($10.2 billion) and stretches for 1,224 kilometers (760 miles), so it was no surprise to hear Merkel say at the ceremony in the city of Lubmin on Germany's Baltic Coast that the pipeline was the biggest energy infrastructure "of our time" and an exemplar of cooperation between Russia and the European Union.

During the ceremony, Merkel called Russia the EU's leading energy partner.

Unfortunately in last election, no leader could fit the shoes she left. The new generation pushing PR narratives w/o economic fundamentals. Rutte is like Johnson and Truss weak w/o his army of legal advisers and dozens of PR consultants. The puppet show for big business will soon collapse and shut down.

Yonhap | S. Korea to introduce digital society framework act in 2023: ICT ministry, 28 Sep "social media" mania

stipulating basic rights on digital [sic] accessibility and the fostering of related social infrastructure, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday. The bill, tentatively named the Digital Society Framework Act, will be drafted to call for the promotion of digital industries and the establishment of related social [sic] infrastructure. It will also call for the nurturing of talent in digital fields, the ministry said.
[...]
Vice Science Minister Park Yoon-kyu said the government will create the charter next year after discussing it with experts in the direction of expanding the people's digital accessibility rights and freedom.

Global Monitor | South Korea Telecommunication Market Report (2020-2025) - purporting to illustrate, AFAICT, G2 telecom de-reg since my 2002 research, incl but not limited to OECD secure server consolidation

"Porter's Five Forces Analysis" LOL!

Percussive Maintenance has entered the room...

All Ukrainian and Baltic sea states have opposed Nordstream's construction for 20 years.
Now $20 billion of scrap metal lies at the bottom of the sea, another cost to Russia of its criminal decision to invade Ukraine.
Someone, @MFA_Russia, did a special maintenance operation.

— Radek Sikorski MEP (@radeksikorski) September 27, 2022

I posted a link without the paywall, but it doesn't work anymore. Search on Google for the title, and you may get past it.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on September 28, 2022

The Paper: Yesterday, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center released a new investigation report on the cyber attacks by the US National Security Agency (NSA). The report detailed how the NSA's Office of Tailored Access Operation (TAO) controls key infrastructure facilities in China and infiltrates into China's Northwestern Polytechnical University's internal network by using servers in countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark to host cyber weapons through stepping-stone attack via Japan, Germany, the ROK and other countries. This enabled the TAO [not that one, the other one] to steal sensitive data including user names and passwords, identification verification data, system logs, access information, files and documents, and network configuration, and information of people with sensitive identities. The US also secretly controls the telecom carriers < wipes tears > of at least 80 countries and conducts indiscriminate wiretapping on global telecom users. Do you have any comment?

Zero Days (2016) featured eNTIty

Wang Wenbin: This is the third investigation report issued by the relevant Chinese institution this month on the US National Security Agency's malicious cyber attack on China's Northwestern Polytechnical University. It has revealed more evidence of massive cyber attacks by the US security agency against China. 

China has in recent weeks demanded explanation from the US and asked it to immediately stop illegal action through various channels. So far, however, the US has been silent. The US could not have been more bombastic and motivated when propagating the lies about "Chinese hackers", yet it has deliberately chosen to be blind and mute in the face of the solid evidence collected by the Chinese institution. What exactly is the US hiding from the world? ...

Besides "dual use" biolabs?

wut: Russia readies annexation of territory as big as Portugal

BREAKING: Germany says attack on Nordstream pipeline has triggered NATO Article 5, but it's complicated since it was by the United States

— Reuters Pitchbot (Satire) (@ReutersPitchbot) September 27, 2022