Last week was a critical juncture for Europe's energy future.
Whether the German-Russian Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline will reopen as scheduled after 10 days of annual maintenance has become another focus of public opinion in Europe under the heat wave.
People are also paying attention to the European Commission's plan to regulate natural gas demand announced at the same time.
Last Monday (July 18), while EU leaders signed energy supply agreements with many countries on different occasions, German gas giant Uniper said it had received a notice from Russian gas company Gazprom, citing force majeure (force majeure). ) as the reason it may not be able to fulfill the gas supply contract, which kicked off a tense week.
Finally, on Thursday (July 21), on North Stream Reopening Day, everything seemed to be back to normal.
The Russian side restarted the natural gas supply of Beixi No. 1 according to normal procedures, but still maintained the supply at about 40% of its gas transmission capacity, that is, before the gas pipeline was repaired, Russia greatly reduced the transmission volume in June. The situation after 60%.
Since the gas transmission volume of Nord Stream 1 reached one-third of the EU's total gas imports last year (155 billion square meters), this is clearly only an action by Russia to continue to gradually press the EU with natural gas.
According to statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia's natural gas exports to Europe have fallen by nearly 70% compared with the same period last year.
Russia's natural gas supply is about to be cut off, and it has become a kind of "boiled frog" to some extent.
Even if the whole of Europe understands the crisis that Russia's "death" may bring, different countries have different understandings of the urgency of this crisis.
This has caused the EU to once again fall into a normal division.
Series reports:
Beixi No. 1 reopens as scheduled, the European energy crisis like "boiled frog"
If the heat wave scorches the EU, Germany will bear the brunt
Power of Siberia II: Can overweight supply to China replace the European market?
The Nord Stream No. 1 was shut down for regular maintenance, which made the natural gas supply of Germany and other European countries tense.
(Associated Press)
Statistically looking at income inequality, cramped housing and an aging population
The Census and Statistics Department launched the 2021 population census last year. In February this year, the authorities first released some brief results. Recently, more relevant information has been released successively, including the updated detailed statistics by district council districts, district council constituencies and new towns at the end of last month. Figures, as well as several major statistical tables of population, education, economy, households, housing, population grouping, internal migration and relocation data by District Council districts and district council constituencies uploaded on the thematic website in the middle of this month.
Although the data of the past year are inevitably affected by special factors such as the aftermath of social movements, the new crown pneumonia epidemic and changes in the international situation, by comparing the corresponding data of the last population census in 2011 and the population by-census in 2016, I believe that we can still glimpse the local past ten years. Demographic changes and reveal some of the underlying social problems.
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The local population is seriously aging.
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The proportion of working population across districts has peaked and declined, why traffic congestion has not improved
The imbalance in the distribution of jobs and housing in Hong Kong ushered in a turning point after entering the 2010s.
The data shows that in 2021, the working population across the region will reach 1.186 million, accounting for 32.6%, but compared with 2011, the number and proportion are declining, including the population crossing the sea.
However, why do the citizens still feel that the commuters are crowded and the traffic jams across the sea are still serious?
There could be several reasons...
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Why is the traffic jam still serious?
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Follow-up on "Nanjing Temple Enshrines Japanese War Criminals": The bottom line of historical right and wrong cannot be violated
If it weren't for the news reports, I wouldn't believe that Nanjing, a city that suffered the most from the war of Japanese aggression against China, actually had a temple dedicated to the absurdity of the memorial tablet for the Japanese war criminals and the executioner of the Nanjing Massacre.
This is not a question of freedom or not, but a question of whether there is a minimum moral and ethical bottom line, and whether it is anti-human...
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On December 13, 2017, the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre held a national memorial ceremony.
(Getty Images)
Tripartite co-operation between Russia, Turkey and Iran
World affairs are different from superhero movies. There is often no black-and-white opposition, but when people interpret the relationship between countries, they like to fall into a simplistic black-and-white thinking.
The summit of Russia, Turkey and Iran held in the capital of Iran last Tuesday (July 19), as well as the surrounding diplomatic drama, just rightly demonstrated how the relationship between foreign countries is not black and white in the complex international environment. Next, both compete and cooperate.
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The Russia-Turkey-Iran summit was a fitting demonstration of how realpolitik works.
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Please pay attention to the 327th issue of "Hong Kong 01" e-Weekly Newsletter published on July 25, 2022. You can also
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