An agreement has been reached to lay a gas pipeline connecting Israel and European countries, Hadashot TV reported on Saturday night.
The agreement has been signed by Israel, Greece, Italy and Cyprus, with the backing of the European Union, according to the report.
The pipeline would be the world's longest and deepest underground gas pipeline, 2,000 kilometers long and 3.5 kilometers deep, and will connect these four countries and allow Israel to export gas to the Balkans and Central Europe.
Hadashot TV reported that the EU agreed to invest $100 million in a feasibility study before the agreement was reached. Now, after two years of intensive contacts, the parties have reached an agreement that will be submitted this week for consideration by the member states. It is estimated that work on the gas pipeline will begin within a few months.
Within five years, the gas is supposed to flow through the pipeline and bring huge sums of money into Israel. Among the significant clauses in the agreement is priority for Israel and Cyprus in exporting gas to the European market, which is considered the largest and most significant market in which gas prices are double than what they are in Israel.
PARIS -- French police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in Paris on Saturday as thousands gathered in the capital and staged road blockades across the nation to vent anger against rising fuel taxes and Emmanuel Macron's presidency.
Thousands of police were deployed nationwide to contain the deadly demonstrations that started as protests against tax but morphed into a rebuke of Macron and the perceived elitism of France's ruling class. Two people have been killed since November 17 in protest-related tragedies.
Tense clashes on the Champs-Elysees on Saturday saw police face off with demonstrators who burned plywood, wielded placards reading "Death to Taxes" and upturned a large vehicle. Authorities said that 5,000 protesters flooded the Champs-Elysees at the demonstration's peak. There were nearly 81,000 protesters in total nationwide.
The famed avenue was speckled from the early morning in neon, owing to the color of the vests the myriad self-styled "yellow jacket" protesters don. French drivers are required to keep neon security vests in their vehicles, and now, the vests have become a sort of uniform for the movement against higher fuel costs, BBC News reported.
Over the past 12 months, the cost of diesel, which is the most common type of fuel used in vehicles in France, has spiked by around 23 percent to an average of €1.51 -- the equivalent of $1.71 a liter, according to the BBC.
This year, Macron's government raised its hydrocarbon tax on diesel by 7.6 cents per liter, while the tax on petrol climbed 3.9 cents. An additional increase set to go into effect on January 1 would see an increase of 6.5 cents for diesel and 2.9 cents for petrol.
Macron has insisted that the fuel tax rises are a necessary pain to reduce France's dependence on fossil fuels and fund renewable energy investments, which is a cornerstone of his reforms of the nation.
The unrest, however, is proving a major challenge for embattled Macron, who's suffering in the polls and is the focus of rage for the demonstrators, who accuse the pro-business centrist of indifference to the struggles of ordinary French.
Authorities are struggling because the movement has no clear leader and has attracted a motley group of people with broadly varying demands.
At least eight people, including two police officers, were injured in the day of unrest Saturday across France, according to authorities. Police said that dozens of protesters were arrested or detained in Paris for "throwing projectiles," among other acts.
"It's going to trigger a civil war and me, like most other citizens, we're all ready," said Benjamin Vrignaud, a 21-year-old protester from Chartres.
Demonstrators in Paris faced metal barriers and a perimeter enforced by police that sought to stop them from getting to buildings such as the prime minister's official residence, according to the BBC.
Last weekend, about 280,000 people took part in demonstrations at over 2,000 locations across France. Two people died, more than 600 were injured and at least 50 were arrested, the BBC reported.
MOSCOW - The Libyan parliament is interested in utilising Russian expertise in training military personnel to ensure the country’s security and stability, President of the House of Representatives of Libya Aguila Saleh said Thursday. “We are interested in Russia to offer its expertise in military training, in other words, everything that would provide security to our country. I will be honest, we need Russia. We need Russia to be involved in rebuilding our country, including in such sectors as oil, railroads and all the essential projects,” Saleh said during his meeting with speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber Vyacheslav Volodin.
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Saleh also noted the Libyan interest in developing bilateral relations with Moscow, as well as increasing Russia’s role in the region.
Libya has been gripped by conflict since 2011, when the country’s longtime leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and killed. The eastern part of the crisis-torn state is governed by its parliament, with headquarters in the city of Tobruk. The parliament is backed by the Libyan National Army. At the same time, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country’s west and is headquartered in Tripoli.
Dubai: In October this year, British intelligence services reportedly warned Prime Minister Theresa May that Russia was moving troops and missiles into Libya, saying President Vladimir Putin wanted to make Libya “his new Syria”.
It was also claimed that by having a military foothold in the North African country, Putin wants to impose a stranglehold on the Western powers.
The UK’s mass selling tabloid, The Sun, claimed “dozens” of officers from Russia’s GRU military intelligence service as well as its Spetznaz special forces were operating on the ground in eastern Libya, initially carrying out training and liaison roles.
There are reported to be two Russian military bases in Tobruk and Benghazi, both key coastal cities in the east, where military strongman Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army holds sway.
The Western media and politicians are seeing the alleged Russian military presence in Libya mainly from the perspective of the apparent threat it poses to shipping in the western Mediterranean. But observers have cautioned against jumping to such conclusions.
“The notion that Russia wants to exploit Libya solely as a bulwark against the ‘West’ remains unsubstantiated,” said Iliasse Sdiqui, an analyst at Whispering Bell, a risk management consultancy. “Naturally, the deeper Western involvement — especially from Washington — is in Libya, the more entrenched Russian interests will be. Moscow, however, has other priorities for now, including economic and security interests. Moscow would be more interested in reviving its arms sales and combating terrorism, a shared goal with Cairo, than simply taking control of smuggling routes to exert pressure on Europe, as it has been claimed by some media outlets.”
It is no secret that Russia has shown a willingness to play a greater role in post-Gaddafi Libya. Moscow’s political and economic links with Tripoli are historical; until the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, Russia sold arms worth billions to Libya and its state oil companies were deeply involved with their Libyan counterparts.
Also, Russia has not been coy about its support for Haftar; Moscow has hosted him as almost a head of state. Haftar has held meetings with key Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
However, unlike its single-minded military backing for the regime of Bashar Al Assad in Syria, Moscow has adopted a more nuanced approach in Libya. It has been conciliatory towards the UN-backed government in Tripoli, and has expressed support to UN-supported talks in Libya.
“Moscow is indeed on a balancing act when it comes to Libya. On the defence side, it appears to be closer to the LNA in the East. However, Moscow is also careful to avoid an excessive shift towards the East and therefore some influential Russian stakeholders are reported to maintain close ties to factions in the West, and Tripoli in particular,” said Sdiqui.
Arguably, if Moscow wants to ensure its long-term interests in Libya (as seems to be the case), it will gain more by backing a coalition government that includes both the GNA and the LNA, rather than exclusively supporting an LNA (Haftar) takeover. The US is uneasy about growing Russian involvement in Libya. But, just like in Syria, Washington has shown it is not willing to invest enough in ensuring Libya’s long-term stability.
I believe that just shows how impatient the Jews are concerning their Messiah coming, since the Malachi prophecy made over 2000yrs ago....Matt.24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.