september. ♪ medics in sudan say at least 15 people were shot dead during a protest. dozens have been injured by light a fire and -- live fire and teargas. >> we are at the capital and people are gathered around 1:00 p.m. local time. the protest is taking place on a

working day. it is usually just on weekends. they say the reason they decided to protest on working days [indiscernible] there are other districts that are also posting protests. security forces are firing teargas to disperse them. >> the u.s. secretary of state is calling for a cease-fire in ethiopia. deborah lyons told the security council that the taliban's responses worrying following the deaths of 10 people.

isil k claimed responsibility. olivers has set up shelters for refugees on the border with -- belarus has set up shelters for refugees on the border with poland. the world health organization says death from covid has risen 5% in europe in the past week. highest numbers are in russia, britain, and germany. two men convicted of assassinating malcolm x are expected to have their names cleared after half a century. they spe decades in prison. it comes after the -- they found that the fbi held back evidence that would have led to an acquittal. that will do it for us. inside story is next. goodbye for now.

♪ >> complete but not operational. germany has called for the halts of a pipeline that would bring russian gas to europe. what does it mean for gas prices? this is inside story. ♪ hello. welcome to the program. a pipeline created to supply gas from russia to europe has

suffered a setback. the germany energy regulator has called for a halt. they want the russian company behind it to form a local subsidiary to operate the part of the pipeline. prices were already high in europe. many countries says the project would increase europe's reliance on russian energy and last month vladimir putin announced moscow could start supplies as soon as they get the green light from germany. >> as i have already told you,

european gas markets could face a shortage of a lot of gas. this pipeline is full of gas and supplies could start the day after tomorrow. this could be finished in december. >> ukraine opposes the pipeline and welcomes the regulators -- regulator costs decision -- regulator paths -- regulator's

decision. the pipeline is expected to double the amount of gas coming from russia into europe. it is owned by a russian energy giant and would carry billions of cubic meters of natural gas each year. it was built to go under the baltic sea. the pipelines could account for up to 60% of russian gas export to europe.

let's bring in our guests. berlin, moscow, bern. welcome to the program. to what extent was this decision based on administrative grounds? >> hard to say. on one's -- on one hand, it is not an independent court. the agency reports to the government. that was the reason why the european court of justice criticized the approval for the network. they should become more independent to avoid political influence.

the question is, who is calling them. there are three parties involved and no one is really in the driver seat. >> i understand that general sentiment in russia is that this is a politically motivated decision. >> they believe it is actually a technical hiccup. [indiscernible] creating a german subsidiary would take up to six weeks to

create and then the german agency would begin the process of certification and that would be four months. after that, the issue might go for four more months in the european commission so it is unclear when it would actually be operational and that is not seen good in russia. >> it seems like this will take at least eight months for the paperwork to be processed in germany to ensure it is under eu jurisdiction. but there is an energy crunch likely to further strain the economy in europe. how do you see this moving forward? >> it's not easy. i do not think it has to take

eight months. while unfortunate, i understand what the german regulator has done. switzerland is not in the eu and anything under swiss law is not subject to the european court of justice. so if they want to get the pipeline approved by the eu, this might not be the dumbest move they have done. so what really is important is to fast-track the move of assets and the approval. given the energy crunch, i think it is in most people's interest to get this done quickly. however, as the colleague in berlin pointed out, we are between two governments and the new one, you have to social

democrats who are pro pipeline and then the green who is against so this will not be the easiest of times for them. >> until a few months ago, the general feeling in europe that russia was not pumping enough gas into european continents, choosing to refill their own stocks and that is why many people say russia is weaponizing there gas. do you think -- their gas. >> we have seen several winters in which russia weaponized gas

supply and we can read these developments in a similar way. we are in a cold conflicts that includes belarus and ukraine and it is in russia's best interest to see very high gas prices. in the eu, a number of countries are being dependent on russian gas. so is this just another weapon in vladimir putin's hands that can be turned against you -- against the eu? >> they said they need to

prioritize to refill their own domestic storage facility. it led many to think that russia is squeezing gas supplies. >> of course moscow rejects this. high gas prices in europe are a result of very high gas prices in the region. they are honoring contract obligations. but the problem is there. moscow says it is not interested in high gas prices, they are interested in a stable

situation. they want an option. not to use the ukrainian gas system at all and put pressure may be on ukraine or if there is any kind of serious flareup on the border, they could stop completely, then russia would have options with four pipelines going underneath the baltic sea and another going through turkey . so russia could bypass a possible confrontation zone and continue supply in europe and not have to intervene in any flareups. >> winter and energy crises. who do we blame?

russia, weather related events? >> it's the perfect storm. last winter there was such a cold winter and storage was unpunished. i have sympathy for them filling their own storage first, because they also had a cold winter. so you first look after your own people and then go further. then we have competition between asia and europe for energy because china imports more energy. this year, china will pick up the largest import and supersede japan in that position. and then there is geopolitical tension. so it's a perfect storm of

supply and demand. the high energy prices are partly to blame, but we also have to see part of the european take of the index of oil. when oil prices go up, the indexation goes up. so for europe, the question is how to get enough gas and ensure they do not put the poorest segments of the population through having to make the choice to either have heat or food. >> the decision made now in germany which will likely result in low storage levels and energy crises, is there a contingency plan for germany and europe? >> it is interesting that every member of the upcoming

government announces we need radical changes when it comes to climate change. they are all pushing for renewables, that more needs to be done than what the previous government has done. and see rising -- and seeing rising gas prices could lead us to understand that it is now time and not discuss the reasons it did not meet the targets before like how close is a windmill to a building. so there is a push that we will see more efforts and investment in renewables that decrease the dependency on russia. >> ukrainians seem to be excited

about what might happen next, because now they will be part of the consultation process. will they have to put more pressure on all parties for what happens in the future? >> including the ukrainian representative in germany, but he does not have any veto power. they could take him into consideration, it is a nicety, but he does not really have any say. they are worried that if russia manages to get the north stream fully operational in the next year, it might give russia the

opportunity to do something more drastic in military terms in ukraine and cut the supply through ukraine dramatically, which would mean they have to use a reverse system to get gas from somewhere. so they also could have problems this winter. so there are a number of issues concerning russia and they are worried. >> how do you respond to the argument that one of the main reasons why in the past the russians were trying to deliberately hold the gas from europe is because they were trying to push the europeans to shift to the newly online

platform based in st. petersburg so russians would have a bigger say on trading gas? >> russians prefer long-term agreements. when you know how much investment is needed in getting the gas is understandable. i would not put stock into that. ukraine is tricky but i want to remind you russia has supplied europe with gas for the past 50 years without missing a beat, even when the former soviet union was breaking up. so yes, there are politics and obviously they are playing politics, but overall, russia has been a reliable supplier.

they also needed the foreign-currency from europe. i want to respond to our colleague in germany. yes the german government wants to move to renewables but to get from here to there, they need gas. they are getting out of nuclear and want to get out of coal. you need a baseline to produce the energy everyone needs -- the electricity everyone needs. >> european supplies of natural gas remain tight so prices will continue going up. that will most likely push european countries, germany in particular, to revisit coal and fuel oil. is this a good option given the

coalition with the greens will dismiss it? >> it is too early to predict what the new coalition will decide. they keep everything secret on the whole coalition agreement. in the next week we will know what the compromises will look like. we can read the decision today as a way to buy time for the new government to decide how to balance conflicting interests and fulfill requirements from the eu to divide the operation and network. this is technically an important reason for the agency for why they decided that way. but i think it is also a geopolitical bargaining chip in ongoing discussions with russia and belarus. if one makes a move, another

country makes another move and that doesn't have to do with energy. >> this is a crisis with geopolitical proportions. russia supplies 35% so there is leverage but ultimately the biggest concern is if they have future problems with russia, a huge chunk of revenue will be affected. would this push the russians towards a balancing act? >> europe needs russian gas. russia needs europe. russia is supplying gas to japan, china, but europe is an essential client so they are

tied together. the future has problems with the co2 signature taxation coming into effect in europe and eu saying they will oppose any kind of extraction of gas or oil in the arctic, which russia rejects. so there are serious problems now and in the future of how russia will be seen and interact with europe in supplying gas, oil, fertilizer, and other commodities. so russia and europe have to work together but right now there are a lot of problems and misunderstandings. it is complex and dangerous. >> [indiscernible]

do you think bringing non-russian oil to the european market will be easy, looking for alternatives? is this feasible short-term? >> we already see energy from other parts of the world to come to europe. we have pipelines coming from the mediterranean, from north africa through the mediterranean. but if you look at libya and algeria, there are also geopolitical tensions. so europe will need to get the gas and oil where they can and russia will remain a major supplier of oil. we will see geopolitical

tensions but it will remain important for the time being because given energy transition and because everyone wants to get out of coal, i do not see how you get out of gas. >> is the green deal likely to be a moment where europe says, it's time for us to look at a deke organized -- decarbonized developed country? >> this became a mainstream perspective in germany as a forerunner for climate change policies, because we can't afford it. but it is also what the european commission as the driver as the top priority.

this would undermine the russian business model that depends on having partners that are still willing to burn oil as fuel. so this will change the relationship between russia and the you -- the eu if the energy needs change towards renewable. >> the u.s. could step in and add another alternative for the europeans if they decide to part ways with russia. it remains to be seen if the americans could fill in the gap left by russia if they split. thank you for watching. you can see the program again

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