Connect with us

INTERNACIONAL

La Unión Europea propuso dejar de importar gas ruso para fines de 2027

Published

on


Vista general de la mayor planta de gas natural licuado de Europa Occidental, Hammerfest LNG, en Hammerfest, Noruega, 14 de marzo de 2024. (REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/Fotografía de archivo)

La UE desveló el martes un plan largamente prometido para eliminar progresivamente sus importaciones de gas de Rusia para finales de 2027, todo un reto dada la continua dependencia europea de los combustibles fósiles rusos.

“Hoy la Unión Europea envía un mensaje muy claro a Rusia: nunca más, nunca más, permitiremos que Rusia utilice la energía como arma contra nosotros”, dijo el responsable de Energía de la UE, Dan Jorgensen, al presentar las medidas.

Advertisement

El plan en dos fases de la Comisión Europea pondría fin a los nuevos contratos y a los actuales contratos al contado a corto plazo con proveedores rusos para finales de 2025. Todas las importaciones restantes quedarían prohibidas a finales de 2027.

“No permitiremos nunca más que se chantajee a nuestros Estados miembros. Ya no ayudaremos indirectamente a llenar las arcas del Kremlin”, declaró Jorgensen en rueda de prensa.

La UE prohibió el petróleo ruso a finales de 2022 en respuesta a la invasión de Ucrania por Moscú, y desde entonces ha intentado desligarse del suministro de gas ruso.

Advertisement

Aunque las importaciones por gasoducto han caído en picado, varios países europeos han aumentado sus compras de gas natural licuado (GNL) ruso, transportado por mar, y el bloque quiere ahora cerrar el grifo por completo.

Rusia sigue suministrando el 17,5% del gas del bloque, según datos de la UE, y hasta el 19% según el Instituto de Economía Energética y Análisis Financiero (IEEFA).

Para prescindir de la energía rusa, “el principio rector es la diversificación”, declaró la semana pasada la portavoz jefe de la Comisión Europea, Paula Pinho.

Advertisement

La eliminación gradual de los suministros rusos allanaría el camino para que Europa comprara más GNL a Estados Unidos, algo que tanto Bruselas como Donald Trump han planteado como una forma de resolver el enfrentamiento desatado después de que el presidente estadounidense apuntara a las exportaciones europeas con aranceles.

El jefe de comercio de la UE, Maros Sefcovic, dijo al Financial Times que la disputa con Washington podría resolverse “muy rápidamente” a través de compras de GNL y soja, como una forma de reducir el superávit comercial del bloque de 27 países con su socio estadounidense.

Estados Unidos es ya el mayor proveedor de GNL del bloque, con un 45,3% del mercado.

Advertisement

Los funcionarios de la UE reconocen que la eliminación gradual de la energía rusa es más fácil de decir que de hacer, ya que algunos Estados miembros dependen más del GNL de Moscú que otros, mientras que otros, como Hungría, mantienen lazos amistosos con el Kremlin y dependen de la energía rusa.

De hecho, el gobierno de Víktor Orban tachó de “gravísimo error” la propuesta de la UE. “Tras el rotundo fracaso de las sanciones contra Rusia, la Comisión Europea comete ahora otro gravísimo error al excluir de Europa, por la fuerza, artificial e ideológicamente, las fuentes de energía procedentes de Rusia”, declaró en Facebook el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores húngaro, Peter Szijjarto.

Francia, en cambio, se enfrentaría a un mayor impacto de cualquier abandono del GNL ruso, ya que cuenta con cinco terminales para su suministro en Europa.

Advertisement

Francia aumentó sus importaciones de GNL ruso en un 81% entre 2023 y 2024, lo que supuso unos ingresos para Rusia de 2.680 millones de euros (3.000 millones de dólares), según el Instituto de Economía Energética y Análisis Financiero.

Vista del buque cisterna de
Vista del buque cisterna de gas natural licuado (GNL) Rudolf Samoylovich en el muelle de la terminal de GNL de Montoir-de-Bretagne, cerca de Saint-Nazaire. (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/archvio)

El plan de la Comisión –que aún necesita la aprobación de los Estados miembros– se retrasó mientras Bruselas esperaba a ver si las conversaciones entre Rusia y Estados Unidos fructificaban en un acuerdo para poner fin a la guerra de Ucrania.

El Ejecutivo comunitario ha destacado sus esfuerzos por reducir la dependencia de los combustibles fósiles rusos desde la invasión de 2022.

En pocos años, “pasamos del 45% de nuestras importaciones de gas procedentes de Rusia, al 18%. Pasamos de uno de cada cinco barriles de petróleo a uno de cada cincuenta, una reducción de diez veces”, declaró el mes pasado la Jefa de la UE, Ursula von der Leyen.

Advertisement

Pero, admitió, “todos sabemos que queda mucho por hacer”.

(Con información de AFP)



Europe,HAMMERFEST

Advertisement

INTERNACIONAL

Apagones, inflación y transporte limitado: la vida incierta de los cubanos sin combustible por el cerco impuesto por Estados Unidos

Published

on


Apagones prolongados, transporte limitado, empleos amenazados y precios en alza: la crisis energética golpea la vida cotidiana de los cubanos y alimenta la incertidumbre sobre lo que depara el futuro.

El estado de las reservas de combustible del país sigue siendo la gran incógnita. Por el momento, las medidas de emergencia anunciadas por el gobierno estarán vigentes hasta los primeros días de marzo.

Advertisement

Transporte limitado

En la isla de 9,6 millones de habitantes, el gobierno suspendió la venta de diésel y restringió drásticamente la de gasolina como parte de las medidas de emergencia frente a la crisis actual.

Los propietarios de vehículos ahora tienen acceso a 20 litros de gasolina a través de una aplicación móvil que organiza la distribución que puede tardar meses.

Advertisement

Mientras el transporte público se ha reducido sustancialmente, se ha duplicado el precio del pasaje de los pocos taxis privados que aún circulan por las calles de La Habana y el de los triciclos eléctricos que sirven de transporte colectivo.

«Los tiempos están complicados», explica a la AFP Yixander Díaz, un albañil de 27 años que vive en un municipio periférico de La Habana y se desplaza cada día en bicicleta hasta el centro de la ciudad para trabajar, con herramientas y materiales en su bicicleta.

Hasta hace poco, este padre de dos niños trabajaba como taxista, pero ante la escasez de petróleo debió «parquear la moto, parquear el carro» y regresar a su antiguo oficio de albañil para «seguir sobreviviendo».

Advertisement

Empleos amenazados

Como parte de las medidas, que también incluyen una semana laboral de cuatro días, el gobierno informó que mantendrá durante un mes el 100% del salario para los empleados públicos.

Personas esperan transporte público en La Habana (Cuba). Foto EFE

Asimismo, la desaceleración de la actividad económica ya afecta a las empresas privadas, a los trabajadores autónomos y los informales.

Alexander Callejas, de 49 años, trabaja por su cuenta como parqueador en un restaurante privado de La Habana Vieja, donde la cifra de clientes que llegan en sus coches se ha reducido. «En cualquier momento me quedo sin trabajo y no sé cómo voy a alimentar a mi familia», asegura.

Advertisement

Según una investigación de la consultora privada Auge, el 96,4% de las pequeñas y medianas empresas privadas del país (unas 8.904) enfrentan un impacto que va de «severo a catastrófico» ante la escasez de combustible.

– Apagones –

La producción local de crudo, de unos 40.000 barriles diarios, apenas permite alimentar las ocho centrales termoeléctricas del país. La falta de diésel paraliza una batería de generadores eléctricos que completan la producción.

Advertisement

Entre el 1 de enero y el 15 de febrero, la disponibilidad de electricidad disminuyó un 20% respecto a 2025, año en el que Cuba solo satisfizo la mitad de sus necesidades de electricidad, según cifras oficiales recopiladas y analizadas por la AFP.

Sin embargo, esta baja se ve mitigada por un aumento significativo de la producción de energía solar desde principios de 2026, en comparación con 2025 (+42,3%), de acuerdo con la misma fuente.

«Aquí quitan la luz todos los días», declara a la AFP Eduardo, que prefiere no dar su apellido. Resignado, este hombre espera en el umbral de su casa en La Habana que llegue la electricidad para «ver si» puede «cocinar».

Advertisement

Precios disparados

El aumento del precio de los combustibles y la escasez de transporte han impulsado el encarecimiento de productos como el aceite comestible y diversos bienes agrícolas en el comercio privado. Cuba importa el 80% de los alimentos que consume.

Luis Amauri Morales, vendedor ambulante de frutas y verduras, reconoce que los productos agrícolas son cada día más caros. «Puede llegar la escasez», si persisten la crisis del combustible y el aumento de su precio, vaticina este hombre de 52 años. Un litro de petróleo se cotiza ya a cinco dólares en el mercado negro.

Advertisement

Yordan González, de 20 años, empleado de un pequeño comercio de Centro Habana que vende frutas y verduras importadas, ya siente el impacto de la escasez.

«Empezamos a trabajar a las nueve de la mañana y a las doce del día tenemos que cerrar ya porque no hay mercancía» y «no hay petróleo» para traer más, refiere.

En el puerto comercial de El Mariel, el mayor de la zona occidental de Cuba, los contenedores se acumulan por falta de diésel para distribuir las mercancías, según una fuente del sector.

Advertisement

Con Rigoberto Díaz. Agencia AFP

Continue Reading

INTERNACIONAL

From grief to gold medals, Trump’s SOTU guest list tells a bigger story

Published

on


NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Donald Trump will deliver his fourth State of the Union address of his presidential tenure Tuesday night, which will include guests stretching from conservative speaker Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, to the parents of the National Guard member fatally shot on the streets of Washington, D.C., in November 2025. 

Advertisement

Trump will take the dais at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, when he is expected to deliver a data-heavy speech focused on the economy and his administration’s wins lowering cost-of-living woes. 

He will be joined by special guests who will help illustrate how his policies have delivered real savings to everyday Americans, those who have been the victims of crimes and tragedy and those embodying American triumph. 

Among top names invited to the address are Erika Kirk, who is now leading conservative group Turning Point USA after her husband, the group’s co-founder and executive director, was assassinated in September 2025 while touring college campuses. Trump’s speech will include mentions of the U.S.’ «tremendous revival of faith, Christianity, and belief in God in our country» since Kirk’s death, The Daily Wire reported. 

Advertisement

Brady Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, Matthew Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes attend a celebration of the USA Men’s Hockey Team’s Olympic Gold Feb. 23, 2026, in Miami.  (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for E11EVEN Miami)

The U.S. men’s hockey team also is traveling to the speech after winning the gold in the Olympics after defeating Canada 2–1. The team traveled on a blue-and-white Air Force jet from Miami to the nation’s capital Tuesday.

Everyday Americans also will play a large role in Trump’s speech, with the president inviting women such as Catherine Rayner of Norfolk, Virginia. Rayner and her husband have been navigating fertility complications and in vitro fertilization for five years. 

Advertisement

LIBERAL PUNDITS CALL TEAM USA HOCKEY PLAYERS ‘MORONS,’ SCOLD GOLD MEDALISTS OVER TRUMP CALL

Rayner became the first patient of TrumpRx.gov — a government-run portal designed to steer consumers toward lower-cost prescription drugs offered by manufacturers — earlier in February when it rolled out, and saw pharmaceutical bills drop from about $4,000 to $500, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Trump points while delivering 2025 State of the Union speech

President Donald Trump will deliver his fourth State of the Union address of his presidential tenure Tuesday night.  (Win McNamee/Pool via Reuters)

The president also invited Pennsylvania mom Megan Hemhouser, who homeschools her two children and also works as a waitress in the evenings. Her husband is a heavy machinery operator, with the family showcasing how the president’s «no tax on tips» and «no tax on overtime» policies have benefited everyday families. The Hemhousers have benefited from a $5,000 increase in take-home pay under Trump’s tax plans included in the one «big beautiful bill.» 

Advertisement

GROWING NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS SKIPPING TRUMP’S 2026 STATE OF THE UNION

National Guard Continue Patrolling Washington, DC After Shooting

Members of the National Guard patrols along Constitution Ave. on December 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. Two West Virginia National Guard troops were shot blocks from the White House on November 26, resulting in the death of Sarah Beckstrom on Thursday, November 27, following what authorities called a targeted attack. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Trump also invited the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was killed in Washington, D.C., ahead of Thanksgiving 2025. 

Dalilah Coleman, 7, will also attend the speech, CBS News reported. Coleman was left seriously injured by a California car crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver in 2024. 

Advertisement

SPEECHWRITERS FROM REAGAN TO BIDEN AGREE: TRUMP’S SOTU IS A CRITICAL TEST FOR HIS SECOND TERM

Trump and Melania at New Year's event

President Donald Trump revealed that first lady Melania Trump is no fan of his public dancing on stage.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

First lady Melania Trump invited guests who the White House said reflect on her «Be Best, Fostering the Future» push, including Sierra Burns, a participant in her Foster Youth to Independence Program, and Everest Nevraumont, a 10-year-old student at an AI-focused private school, Alpha School, an AI advocate and a TedX speaker. 

The pair will join the first lady in her box for the 2026 State of the Union, spotlighting her focus on expanding opportunity through education and technology, according to the White House’s website. 

Advertisement

Trump additionally invited the U.S. women’s hockey team to the speech after their gold win over Canada, but they declined due to the timing of the speech. 

Trump’s speech is expected to focus on economic wins under his leadership, while celebrating the nation’s landmark 250th anniversary of independence. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital ahead of the speech, «President Trump’s State of the Union Address will celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation’s independence and excellence, highlighting incredible stories of American heroes throughout the speech.»

Related Article

Olympic gold medalist US men's hockey team visits White House to celebrate historic win over Canada

donald trump,state of the union,politics,economy,erika kirk

Advertisement
Continue Reading

INTERNACIONAL

Iran’s shadowy chemical weapons program draws scrutiny as reports allege use against protesters

Published

on


NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) raises concerns about Iran’s opaque chemical weapons program, which argues policymakers have paid little attention to compared with Iran’s more scrutinized nuclear weapons program. 

Advertisement

The FDD report outlines how the Iranian regime may have resorted to the unconventional use of chemical weapons while it faced an unprecedented uprising beginning in December 2025, a wave of unrest Tehran has not seen since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Any use of chemical weapons by Iran would be in defiance of their obligations under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.

«The United States, its allies and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) should investigate credible claims that Iran’s regime used chemical weapons against its own people,» Andrea Stricker, deputy director of FDD’s nonproliferation program and author of the report, told Fox News Digital.

An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a parade on April 18, 2018, in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

Advertisement

Iran’s illicit chemical weapons program is under renewed scrutiny as the Trump administration appears closer to taking military action against Iran and its nuclear weapons program.

While the U.S. has been engaged in indirect talks with Iranian officials mediated by Oman in Geneva, the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Persian Gulf, sending the USS Gerald R. Ford to join dozens of other warships to the region.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X that «Iran will resume talks with the U.S. in Geneva with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal—in the shortest possible time.»

Advertisement

The foreign minister claimed that Iran will not pursue nuclear weapons under any circumstances but emphasized that Iran will not forgo its right to harness peaceful nuclear technology.

ISRAELI OFFICIALS REPORTEDLY WARN IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES COULD TRIGGER SOLO MILITARY ACTION AGAINST TEHRAN

Exterior view of the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, May 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, Netherlands, May 5, 2017. (Peter Dejong/The Associated Press)

«A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,» he added.

Advertisement

Despite the optimism and push for continued talks, there remain fears that Iran will not make any meaningful concessions on their nuclear program, which could lead to U.S. military strikes on the nation.

A broader regime change campaign to topple the Islamic republic’s government, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is also not off the table, according to some reports.

«If Washington launches strikes against Iran, it should give serious consideration to targeting the regime’s chemical weapons research and production facilities. Such action would help halt further development and potential use of these weapons while sending a clear message that the regime cannot commit atrocities with impunity,» Stricker said.

Advertisement

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Iran is party to, upholds the norms against state-held chemical weapons, specifically, banning states’ development, stockpiling, production and use of chemical weapons, even for retaliatory reasons, as well as their receipt from or transfer to anyone.

US ASSETS IN MIDDLE EAST POSITIONED FOR ‘HIGHLY KINETIC’ WAR, EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL WARNS

Israel’s deputy ambassador to the Netherlands, Yaron Wax, said in July 2025 before a special meeting of the OPCW that «over the past two decades Iran has been developing a chemical weapons program based on weaponized pharmaceutical agents.»

Advertisement

These agents, Wax said, impact the central nervous system and can be fatal even in small doses. 

The ambassador said at the Shahid Meisami Research Complex, destroyed by Israel in June 2025, Iran’s Shahid Meisami Group (SMG) was working on fentanyl opioid-derived tactical munitions for military use. Israel believes the pharmaceutical-based agents were transferred to Syria’s longtime and now deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and Iraqi Shia militias as well.

Iran began developing its chemical weapons program in 1983 during its war with Iraq in response to chemical attacks from the regime of Saddam Hussein, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Advertisement

As recently as 2024, the U.S. has repeatedly found Iran in noncompliance with its obligations under the CWC.

In a post on X in November 2024, the Iranian mission to the United Nations pushed back on the charges against it. «A victim of Western-donated chemical weapons employed by the Saddam regime, Iran stands as a responsible member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Over the past several decades, not a single instance of Iranian violation has been recorded. The current unfounded reports are merely an outgrowth of psychological warfare propagated by the Zionist regime in the wake of its recent defeat on the Lebanese front.»

Burning cars line a street in Tehran as thick smoke rises during unrest.

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 8, 2026. (Stringer/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

TRUMP WARNS IRAN, DELAYS STRIKES AS RED LINE DEBATE ECHOES OBAMA’S SYRIA MOMENT

Advertisement

Stricker says the U.S. and international community have failed to hold Iran accountable for its illegal chemical weapons program, and meaningful action must be taken to prevent Iran from transporting banned substances to Iran’s nefarious proxy actors in the Middle East.

The report notes that the U.S. and OPCW should launch a pressure campaign against Iran, calling out the regime and publicizing any violations. The Trump administration, the report recommends, should demand a formal ultimatum to demonstrate compliance with the convention and accept monitoring and verification mechanisms.

FDD also suggests Israel should ratify the CWC and work within the OPCW, which would give Israel more credibility in combating Iranian violations.

Advertisement
Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.

Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025, during an attack by Israel. (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The report says that, as a last resort, the U.S. should consider launching strikes targeting regime chemical weapons facilities, or support Israeli efforts, if actionable intelligence indicates movement on Iran’s chemical weapons efforts or a renewed push by the regime to use such illegal weapons to crack down on anti-government protests.

«The only solution to Iran’s persistent WMD threat is for the United States and Israel to undermine the regime’s grip on power. Until then, the two nations will periodically be forced to play whack-a-mole with Tehran’s capabilities whenever they endanger regional peace,» Stricker said.

Advertisement

Related Article

Iran nears China anti-ship supersonic missile deal as US carriers mass in region: report



iran,israel,conflicts,ali khamenei,national security

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tendencias