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The new pipeline, in rough parallel to the existing Nord Stream 1, is being built to carry another 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, underscoring Europes continuing need for Russian energy.

We are following the draft bill on Russia sanctions with some concern, notably because of its possible impact on the E.U.s energy independence, a European Commission spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said on Monday.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the blocs bureaucratic arm, has called for an urgent review of how the European Union should respond.

Brussels should be prepared to act within days if the sanctions are adopted without E.U. concerns being taken into account, argued a position paper drafted by the European Commission dated July 19. The paper said the sanctions could affect the maintenance or upgrading of existing pipelines from Russia into Ukraine and elsewhere around the Caspian Sea.

It also raised concerns that unity could be broken between the United States and the European Union on how to deal with Russia over its annexation of Crimea and its sponsorship of warfare in eastern Ukraine.

The European Union which does much more business with neighboring Russia than the United States does imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, including on specific energy companies, beginning in 2014 over its actions in Ukraine.

The new sanctions would add punishments against Russian energy, financial, rail, shipping and metals and mining sectors.

The European Commission is seeking assurances from Washington that, if passed, the new measures would not be applied in a way that affects European Union interests or energy companies. It has suggested that European law could be used to prevent the application of extraterritorial measures by the United States, and it hinted at trade retaliation.

The tensions over the potential new sanctions on Russia come on top of other recent disputes on trade issues with the Trump administration.

Mr. Juncker earlier threatened rapid retaliation in response to Mr. Trumps contemplated new punitive tariffs on steel imports, which would affect more than a dozen countries, including some in Europe. We are prepared to take up arms if need be, he said this month at the G-20 summit meeting in Hamburg.

Retaliatory targets for the bloc could include American whiskey imports. I dont want to tell you in detail what were doing, Mr. Juncker said then. But what I would like to tell you is that within a few days we wont need two months for that we could react with countermeasures.

Russia has been greeting the prospect of a new round of American sanctions with a certain coolness, waiting to see what the White House will do and expecting reciprocal action by President Vladimir V. Putin. Russian analysts have focused more on the sparring between Congress and Mr. Trump over Russia policy than on any fallout at home.

Depending on the final version of the bill, the most immediate impact is expected in the oil and gas sector, including deals involving Russian-state-run companies outside its borders, and on investments from abroad.

The sanctions bill leaves no space for compromises and cements Americas hostile policy toward Moscow for decades ahead, Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Valdai discussion club, a Kremlin effort to court Russian experts abroad, wrote on the groups website.

Russia often accuses the United States of using sanctions to further its own interests, and this time is no exception. Alexey Pushkov, a legislator and frequent commentator on international relations, wrote on Twitter: The exceptional nation wants to block Russian gas supplies to Europe and to sell expensive shale gas from the U.S. to its European servants. Thats the entire morality of Congress.

Russians appeared to be giving little credence to the idea that American anger over Russian cyberattacks during the election might be playing a role.

Mr. Trump has opposed further sanctions on Russia. The push has come from a Congress that wants to tie the presidents hands on Russia and prevent him from lifting earlier sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama over Ukraine.

That earlier round of sanctions was carefully calibrated between the United States and its European allies to keep everyone on board and preserve a united response to Russias land grab in Ukraine. Energy, which divides even European partners, was a crucial part of that calculus.

Nord Stream 2 is important for Germany. But it has been fiercely criticized by central and eastern Europeans. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council and a former Polish prime minister, is a vocal critic of the pipeline, urging strict regulation of a project he has said would strengthen Moscow.

Steven Erlanger reported from London, and Neil MacFarquhar from Moscow.

A version of this article appears in print on July 26, 2017, on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: E.U. Is Uneasy, and Divided, About Tougher Measures Against Russia.

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EU Is Uneasy, and Divided, About US Sanctions on Russia - New York Times

The European Commission has pledged another $116 million to Italy to help its government manage the Mediterranean migration crisis.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said in a letter to Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Tuesday that he was setting up a special contact team in Brussels to coordinate with Italian authorities. The additional financial assistance the commission pledged to Italy raises by 12.5 percent the funds already allocated to Rome, to a total of over $1 billion.

Through the first half of 2017, nearly 84,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea, 20 percent more than during the same period last year. Detention centers and temporary shelters that Italy has for migrants have reached their maximum capacity of 200,000 people, but there are many other migrants in the country working illegally.

Migrants from Nigeria, Bangladesh and Guinea account for most of those fleeing to Italy on the way to Europe.

Junker also promised to pressure Bangladesh to take back its migrants, since the vast majority of them are ineligible for international protection. He threatened to limit visas to Europe for travelers from the south Asian nation if there was no action by Dhaka.

Meanwhile, rescuers in the Mediterranean who came to the aid of a dinghy packed with migrants Tuesday discovered 13 bodies among them, including pregnant women.

"Thirteen corpses in total. People who had names, surnames, mothers, fathers, friends, and lives," Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish NGO involved in rescues, posted on Twitter. Another 167 people were rescued alive.

A ship operated by the Save The Children group rescued some 70 migrants Tuesday who were also attempting to cross the sea in a small boat.

In other migrant news from around the world:

- The United Nations Children's Fund reported that most children fleeing Africa have no intention of going to Europe. A new study found that 75 percent of children on the move decide to leave unaccompanied. Initially they have no intention of coming to Europe, UNICEF said, but plan to find work in nearby countries.

Yet hundreds of refugee and migrant children told UNICEF in Italy that being kidnapped, arrested and held in prison in Libya, as well as witnessing violence toward other migrants, compelled them to make the risky sea crossing to Europe. At least 12,200 children arrived in Italy in the first half of the year, the U.N. agency reported, all but a few having traveled alone.

- The Dominican Republic granted a one-year extension Tuesday to 230,000 Haitian migrants trying to renew or obtain residency permits. The residency plan was created after a court ruled in 2013 that children born in the Dominican Republic to non-citizens did not qualify for automatic citizenship because their migrant parents were "in transit.''

The vast majority of those affected have been descendants of Haitian migrants. Without the extension announced on Tuesday, they could have faced deportation.

Continued here:
European Union Vows More Help for Italy in Migrant Crisis - Voice of America

By: ANI | Brussels | Published:July 26, 2017 8:08 am During the India EU Summit, key agreements will be signed to take the current cooperation further. (Representational image)

Gaitri Issar Kumar on Tuesday presented credentials as Head of Indias Mission to the European Union. The letter of credence was received by European Council President Donald Tusk. Last month Kumar was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Belgium. She will also take up the role of Indian ambassador to the European Union.

Meanwhile, Tusk along with European Commission President, Jean Claude Juncker, will lead the EU delegation at the India-EU Summit meetings to be held in New Delhi in October 2017. India and the EU are currently working together to broaden their cooperation and strengthen their strategic partnership. The EU is Indias largest trade partner (about USD 80 billion in 2016) and the biggest source of FDI inflows into India (USD 81.52 billion).

In the run up to the forthcoming India EU Summit, coordination meetings have been held including the meeting of the India-EU Joint Commission on July 14. In the coming weeks, high level consultations will take place on a range of subjects on the India-EU Summit Agenda including foreign policy and security issues, India EU cooperation to address the impact of climate change, sharing of technology and best practices for clean energy, urban development, innovation, research & training and cooperation in the field of aviation among others.

During the India EU Summit, key agreements will be signed to take the current cooperation further. Chief Negotiators of India and EU are presently discussing the options for the way forward for re-launching negotiations for concluding an India EU Trade and Investment Agreement.

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Gaitri Issar Kumar presents letter of credence to European Union - The Indian Express

By: AFP | Brussels | Published:July 25, 2017 8:26 pm It is not an issue of compromise, we cannot compromise with any form of terrorism, we cannot compromise or enter into any form of negotiations,Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told a press conference.

Egypt warned the EU today that four Arab states would accept no compromise in their dispute with Qatar over allegations that the gas-rich emirate supports terrorism. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, speaking after talks with European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels, said Qatar must accept in full the demands by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

It is not an issue of compromise, we cannot compromise with any form of terrorism, we cannot compromise or enter into any form of negotiations, Shoukry told a press conference.

It is only once the necessary measures are undertaken by Qatar, that goes towards truly accepting to be a partner in the fight against terrorism, that this crisis will be resolved, he said. Shoukry said Qatar was harbouring elements associated to terrorist ideologies, to radical ideologies, that they have utilised their media outlets to promote and to justify and to glorify terrorist activity.

The four Arab states have demanded that Qatar stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood movement, end ties with their Shiite rival Iran, and close broadcaster Al-Jazeera which they accuse of inciting unrest in their countries. But they face mounting international pressure to compromise in their weeks-old boycott against Qatar, particularly from the United States.

Mogherini who at the weekend met Kuwaits emir, a key figure involved in trying to mediate the crisis in turn reiterated calls for talks to resolve the crisis We in Europe see this as a need not just for one country but for all countries, she said, adding that the EU shared with Egypt a clear commitment to fight terrorism.

But she added that the EU believed the Kuwaiti-mediated talks can and should start as a matter of urgency, if only to head off fresh tensions which undermine the fight against terrorism, she said. The EU will continue to have good relations with all the countries involved, the former Italian foreign minister added.

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Egypt tells European Union no 'compromise' over Qatar - The Indian Express

European Union authorities have increased pressure on Facebook , Twitter, and Google to amend their user terms to bring them in line with EU law after proposals submitted by the tech giants were considered insufficient.

The European Commission and consumer protection authorities in the bloc wrote to the three companies in June, asking them to improve their proposed changes to user terms by the end of September, according to letters sent to the companies and seen by Reuters on Monday.

The authorities have the power to issue fines if the companies fail to comply.

Twitter ( twtr ) did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment and a Google ( googl ) spokesman declined to make immediate comment.

Facebook ( fb ) said it believes that the company is compliant with EU law but recognized that its terms could be made easier to understand and would work to meet the authorities' concerns.

The concerns center mainly on procedures the social media companies proposed to set up for the removal of illegal content on their websites , terms limiting their liability and terms allowing them unilaterally to remove content posted by users.

The U.S. trio were given until July 20 to submit new proposals, which need to be implemented by the end of September, the letters said.

A person familiar with the matter said that two of the companies had submitted amended proposals, while a third had asked for more time, declining to specify which one.

The companies had first proposed changes to their terms and conditions in March to assuage the regulators' concerns in March. The sticking points were terms such as those that forced European consumers to seek redress in California, where the companies are based, instead of the consumer's home country.

U.S. technology companies have faced tight scrutiny in Europe for the way they do business, from privacy issues to how quickly they remove illegal or threatening content .

The authorities and the Commission asked the companies to provide more detail on the timeframe and deadlines they would apply to dealing with notifications of content deemed illegal under consumer law, as well as dedicating a page or email address to notifications from consumer authorities.

In addition, the bodies are pressing for a procedure whereby consumers would be notified before their content is removed or given an opportunity to challenge it.

In the case of Alphabet's Google unit, the concerns were about its social network Google+.

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Europe Puts More Pressure on Facebook, Google, and Twitter - Fortune