Today News: cuts

‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات cuts. إظهار كافة الرسائل

Peru cuts ties with Western Sahara area after talks with Morocco

Lima snaps relations with the Polisario-run area of Western Sahara, saying it "respects" territorial integrity of Morocco, which claims the entire disputed territory and controls nearly 80 percent of it.

Western Sahara conflict, which had been largely frozen since a 1991 ceasefire, flared again in late 2020 after Polisario declared the truce null and void. (Arturo Rodriguez / AP)

Peru has cut diplomatic ties with the Polisario Front-administered portion of disputed Western Sahara in favour of improved ties with Morocco.

"In the absence of an effective bilateral relationship to date, the Government of the Republic of Peru decides to withdraw the recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and to break all relations with this entity," the Foreign Ministry statement announced on Thursday.

Instead, Lima and Rabat will sign "a multisectoral roadmap covering regular political consultations, effective cooperation in economic, commercial, educational, energy, agriculture and fertiliser matters," the statement said.

The break came just 11 months after diplomatic relations were reestablished under leftist President Pedro Castillo.

The decision followed a "recent telephone conversation" between Peru's Foreign Minister, Miguel Rodriguez Mackay, and Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, the ministry said in a statement.

The two nations decided to "strengthen their bilateral relations," it added and underscored that Peru "values and respects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco and its national sovereignty."

Morocco claimed Western Sahara in 1975 in a move that was not recognised by the UN, calling it a "non-self governing territory". (TRTWorld)

The disputed status of Western Sahara –– a former Spanish colony considered a "non-self-governing territory" by the United Nations –– has pitted Morocco against the Polisario Front since the 1970s.

Rabat, which controls nearly 80 percent of the territory, is pushing for autonomy under its sovereignty.

The Polisario Front, however, wants a referendum on self-determination.

Morocco and neighbouring Algeria too are at odds over Western Sahara. Algiers backs Polisario Front and broke off diplomatic ties with Morocco in August 2021 while accusing Rabat of "hostile acts".

US involvement

Peru and the Western Saharan territory reestablished official ties in September last year in one of Castillo's first diplomatic acts.

They had previously been suspended since 1996 under Moroccan pressure.

The Western Sahara conflict, which had been largely frozen since a 1991 ceasefire, flared again in late 2020 when the Polisario declared the truce null and void over Morocco's military operation inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone.

The same year, the administration of then-US president Donald Trump recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the territory in a deal that saw the kingdom mend ties with Israel.

The African Union recognises the SADR as a member.

Source: AFP

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/peru-cuts-ties-with-western-sahara-area-after-talks-with-morocco/?feed_id=12792&_unique_id=62fee3a27bc4a

Western US, Mexico hit with water cuts as drought bites

Arizona and Nevada states and neighbouring Mexico will have water supplies reduced for a second straight year, with allocation falling 21% for Arizona, 8% for Nevada and 7% for Mexico, officials say.

More than two decades of well below-average rainfall have left the river, the lifeblood of the western United States, at critically low levels. (John Locher / AP)

Some western US states and Mexico must cut water usage to avoid a "catastrophic collapse" of the Colorado River, Washington officials have said as a historic drought bites.

Despite years of warnings, states that depend on the river have not managed to reduce their demands enough, and on Tuesday, the federal government said it was imposing cuts.

"Water use in the Basin must be reduced," said Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Interior Department.

Arizona's allocation from the river will fall by 21 percent in 2023, while Nevada will get eight percent less. Mexico's allotment will drop by seven percent.

Negotiations over further reductions are creating tension among the states, especially as California, the largest user, has so far avoided cuts triggered by low reservoir levels.

California, the biggest user of the river's water and the most populous of the western states, will not be affected next year.

More than two decades of well below-average rainfall have left the river, the lifeblood of the western United States, at critically low levels, as the human-caused climate crisis worsens the natural drought cycle.

Reduced rain and higher temperatures

The Colorado River rises in the Rocky Mountains and snakes its way through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and northern Mexico, where it empties into the Gulf of California.

It is fed mainly by snow caps on mountains at high altitudes, which melts slowly throughout the warmer months.

Scorching temperatures and reduced melting snow in the spring have lowered the water volume flowing from the Rocky Mountains, where the river originates before it snakes 2,334 kilometres southwest and into the Gulf of California.

As a consequence, there is not as much water in the river which supplies tens of millions of people and countless acres of farmland.

Federal officials asked for reduced usage of 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water per year, a reduction of 15 percent to 30 percent in the coming year.

Because the states failed to respond to a federal ultimatum to figure out how to cut their water use, they could face even deeper cuts that the government has said are needed to prevent reservoirs from falling so low they cannot be pumped.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton said the additional 15 percent reduction is necessary to ensure that water deliveries and hydroelectric power are not disrupted.

She emphasised the partnership between federal officials and their counterparts in the seven states and Mexico but repeatedly declined to say how much time the states will have to reach the deal she requested in June.

Hydrodams at risk

For years, cities and farms have consumed more water from the river than what flows through it, depleting its reservoirs and raising questions about how it will be divided as water becomes more scarce.

The water level at Lake Mead, the nation's largest man-made reservoir, has plummeted so low that it's currently less than a quarter full and getting dangerously close to a point where not enough water would flow to produce hydropower at the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border.

Already, extraordinary steps have been taken this year to keep water in Lake Powell, the other large Colorado River reservoir, which sits upstream of Lake Mead and straddles the Arizona-Utah border. Water from the lake runs through Glen Canyon Dam, which produces enough electricity to power between 1 million and 1.5 million homes each year.

After water levels at Lake Powell reached levels low enough to threaten hydropower production, federal officials said they would hold back some water to ensure the dam could still produce energy. That water would normally flow to Lake Mead.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/western-us-mexico-hit-with-water-cuts-as-drought-bites/?feed_id=11861&_unique_id=62fc2a6e3c039

Russia cuts gas flow to make winter harsh for Europe — Zelenskyy

Fast News

Russia continues to target Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv with air strikes, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles, says Kiev as the conflict continues on 154th day.

A 3D printed natural gas pipeline is placed in front of displayed Gazprom logo and Russian flag in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. (Reuters)

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Russia cuts gas supplies to make winter harsh for Europe — Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow.

“Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered — impose sanctions,” he said in a video address.

For live updates from Tuesday (July 26), click here