FOMC Statement: No Change to Policy - Fed Chair Powell press conference video here or on YouTube here, starting at 2:30 PM ET. FOMC Statement: Recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter. Job gains have moderated since earlier in the year but remain strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated.The U.S. banking system is sound and resilient. Tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation. The extent of these effects remains uncertain. The Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks.The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent. The Committee will continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy. In determining the extent of any additional policy firming that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2 percent over time, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments. In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in its previously announced plans. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective. In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook. The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals. The Committee's assessments will take into account a wide range of information, including readings on labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments.
Fed Holds Rates at 5.50% Top of Range, Sees Three Rate Cuts in 2024, QT to Continue by Wolf Richter -- The FOMC voted unanimously today to keep its five policy rates unchanged, with the top of its policy rates at 5.50%. It was the third meeting in a row when the Fed held its policy rates, after the rate hike at its meeting in July. The decision had been widely telegraphed.The infamous “dot plot,” where individual members of the FOMC jot down how they see the trajectory of policy rates in the future, indicated three 25-basis-point rate cuts in 2024, ending the year at 4.75% top of range.Today, the Fed kept its policy rates at:
- Federal funds rate target range between 5.25% and 5.5%.
- Interest it pays the banks on reserves: 5.4%.
- Interest it pays on overnight Reverse Repos (RRPs): 5.3%.
- Interest it charges on overnight Repos: 5.5%.
- Primary credit rate: 5.5% (what banks pay to borrow at the “Discount Window”).
The statement changed a tad, by adding “any” to the key sentence, thereby toning down the chance of additional rate hikes, but leaving the door cracked open, just in case:“In determining the extent of any additional policy firming (changed from “extent of additional policy firming”) that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2 percent over time, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments.”QT continues, with the Treasury roll-off capped at $60 billion per month, and the MBS roll-off capped at $35 billion a month.Three rate cuts in 2024. In its updated “Summary of Economic Projections” (SEP) today, which includes the “dot plot,” the median projection for the federal funds rate at the end of 2024 was 4.675%, or 4.75% top of range, so three 25-basis-point cuts by year end.Of the 19 participants, 2 saw no rate cuts; 17 saw one or more rate cuts; 8 saw two or fewer cuts; 6 saw three cuts; and 5 saw four-plus cuts.These are the projected mid-points of the target range by the end of 2024, compared to today’s mid-point of 5.375%:
- 2 expect: 5.375% (no cuts)
- 1 expects: 5.125% (1 cut)
- 5 expect: 4.875% (2 cuts)
- 6 expect: 4.625% (3 cuts) = median
- 4 expect 4.375% (4 cuts)
- 1 expects 3.875 (6 cut)
The median projection for GDP growth for 2024 dipped to 1.4%. The median projection for “core PCE” inflation dipped to 2.4% by the end of 2024. The projections see core PCE inflation returning to the Fed’s 2% target in 2026.
FOMC Projections and Press Conference - Statement here. Fed Chair Powell press conference video here or on YouTube here, starting at 2:30 PM ET. Here are the projections. Since the September projections were released, the economy has performed better than the FOMC expected, and inflation was below expectations. In September, the FOMC participants’ midpoint of the target level for the federal funds rate was at 5.1% at the end of 2024. The FOMC participants’ midpoint of the target range is now at 4.6% at the end of 2024. Market participants expects the target range to be between 4.0% and 4.5% at the end of 2024. The BEA reported real GDP increased at a 5.2% annual rate in Q3. GDP tracking estimates show Q4 at around 1.2% SAAR. This would put Q4 over Q4 GDP at 2.6%. Even with slower growth in Q4, the FOMC projections for year-over-year growth in Q4 2023 was revised up. GDP projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Change in Real GDP1 (tables) 1 Projections of change in real GDP and inflation are from the fourth quarter of the previous year to the fourth quarter of the year indicated. The unemployment rate was at 3.7% in November. The FOMC's unemployment rate projection for Q4 was probably close. The FOMC's unemployment rate projection for Q4 was unchanged. Unemployment projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Unemployment Rate2 (tables) 2 Projections for the unemployment rate are for the average civilian unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of the year indicated. As of October 2023, PCE inflation increased 3.0 percent year-over-year (YoY), down from 3.4 percent YoY in September, and down from the recent peak of 7.1 percent in June 2022. Projections for PCE inflation were revised down. Inflation projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, PCE Inflation1 PCE core inflation increased 3.5 percent YoY, down from 3.7 percent in September, and down from the recent peak of 5.6 percent in February 2022. Core PCE inflation likely declined to around 3.2% in November, and the FOMC revised down their projections. Core Inflation projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Core Inflation1 (tables)
Powell says Fed will stay the course on quantitative tightening — The Federal Reserve has shed more than $1 trillion of assets since last year, but officials say their quantitative tightening exercise can continue on for the foreseeable future.Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank's balance-sheet reductions, which began during the summer of 2022 as part of its effort to combat excessive inflation, have gone "as expected." He added that there has been no discussion about slowing down its current pace — which is seeing $95 billion roll off its books monthly. "We're not talking about altering the pace of [quantitative tightening]," Powell said during a press conference following this Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Since the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, the Fed has used its balance sheet to influence monetary policy by providing — and now removing — a supply of liquidity to financial markets. It does this through quantitative easing, or buying Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, and quantitative tightening, allowing those assets to mature and not replacing them. The size of the central bank's balance sheet has a direct impact on the banking system because it dictates the supply of reserves that banks can hold at the Fed. Banks use reserves as a source of liquidity and a means for settling transactions. When reserves become scarce, banks tend to hoard them, disrupting monetary policy. Powell said the Fed is not in immediate danger of running into this issue. "We're not at those levels. With reserves close to $3.5 trillion … there isn't a lot of evidence of that," he said. "But we're watching it carefully and so far it's working pretty much as expected." Powell added that the Fed plans to wind down its balance sheet more slowly as it approaches scarcity. He noted that FOMC will cut its runoff rate when reserve balances reach a "level somewhat above that consistent with ample," adding that it will stop shrinking the balance reserves that are "just above" the ample standard. There is no set standard for what constitutes ample reserves, but Fed officials have said it is unlikely that the balance sheet will be able to return to its pre-COVID-19 size of $4.1 trillion. During the pandemic, the central bank's holdings ballooned to nearly $9 trillion. It now has roughly $7.7 trillion on the books.
Business Cycle Indicators, Mid-December by Menzie Chinn - Industrial production under consensus (0.2% m/m vs +0.3% Bloomberg consensus). Here’s the picture of some key indicators followed by the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, plus monthly GDP and GDPNow. Figure 1: Nonfarm Payroll employment incorporating preliminary benchmark (bold dark blue), implied level using Bloomberg consensus as of 12/4 (blue +), civilian employment (orange), industrial production (red), personal income excluding transfers in Ch.2017$ (bold green), manufacturing and trade sales in Ch.2017$ (black), consumption in Ch.2017$ (light blue), and monthly GDP in Ch.2017$ (pink), GDP, 2nd release (blue bars), and GDPNow for 2023Q4 as of 12/15 (lilac box), all log normalized to 2021M11=0. Source: BLS via FRED, BLS preliminary benchmark, Federal Reserve, BEA 2023Q3 2nd release incorporating comprehensive revisions, S&P Global/IHS Markit (nee Macroeconomic Advisers, IHS Markit) (12/1/2023 release), Atlanta Fed, and author’s calculations. Note that as of today, GDPNow is at 2.6% for Q4 (q/q SAAR), up from 1.2% on 12/7. NY Fed nowcast is at 2.21% for Q4 (and 1.98% for 2024Q1).
Fallout rises from McCarthy handshake deal with White House - Lawmakers in both parties are growing increasingly concerned about where a handshake deal between the White House and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on spending stands as they negotiate how the government should be funded next year. The Biden administration and House GOP leadership worked to pass legislation known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in late spring as part of a larger deal to suspend the debt ceiling and set budget caps for Congress to work from when it hashes out its full-year funding bills months later. But now that Congress is trying to ramp up its annual appropriations work, critical components of that months-old deal that were not reflected in the law are in question as ultraconservatives, in pursuit of steeper cuts amid climbing debt, say Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is not beholden to what Democrats say is the full commitment made by McCarthy. “A deal is a deal is a deal,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said last week. “I think there’s no way we’re going to get to an appropriations deal if people can’t hold to their commitments.” In a letter to Republicans this week, Johnson said the FRA remains “the law of the land” that “provides the framework” for spending talks as both chambers work to reach a top-line agreement for fiscal 2024 funding. On paper, lawmakers agreed to a base discretionary spending cap of $1.59 trillion, or about $886 billion for defense spending and almost $704 billion for nondefense spending, for fiscal 2024. However, the White House at the time detailed other changes to pad funding on the nondefense side, including rescinding billions of dollars in IRS funding with the purpose of reinvesting it in nondefense programs. The IRS got $80 billion in additional funding last year, to be spent over the subsequent decade, in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), much to the consternation of Republicans. As part of debt ceiling negotiations, the sides agreed that a quarter of the money could be repurposed in annual appropriations. Ten billion dollars would be taken away from the IRS for fiscal 2024 and another $10 billion for fiscal 2025, to be added to nondefense discretionary funds, White House officials said earlier this year. “We didn’t get into the individual line items in this bill,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young said in May. But she said lawmakers would “use IRS rescissions from the IRA on the mandatory side.” “Again, we don’t dictate how,” she said, “but they will rescind $10 billion both years, and they will then use that to be reinvested into non-defense discretionary.”
Senate leaders face conservative rebellion on annual defense bill -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are facing a rebellion from conservative senators over the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has passed on time for 62 years in a row. The battle over the popular bipartisan bill will come to a head Tuesday. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are raising objections to the popular bill, forcing Schumer to scramble to keep it on track. Hawley is protesting the decision to strip from the bill his amendment to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to cover families in the St. Louis area who have been exposed to improperly stored radioactive waste. He vowed last week to use every procedural tool at his disposal to delay the legislation but the Senate rules protect bills that come out of Senate-House conference negotiations, limiting his options. Hawley was mulling the option of offering a motion to recommit the legislation to conference to protest the lack of funding for radiation victims in his home state, but Schumer pulled a deft maneuver by offering a motion to recommit first, in effect blocking Republicans from using the tactic, according to Senate aides. Now Hawley is planning to offer a motion to simply table the entire bill, according to a source familiar with the jockeying over floor procedure. The vote to table the bill is expected to fail, but it will serve to send a message to the Senate leadership. “I’ll do everything I can to block it,” Hawley told The Hill. “We have a version that we have shared with leadership that reauthorizes [the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.] The total cost is minimal. It’s several billion [dollars] over the course of the lifetime of this program.” Hawley is blaming McConnell and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for pulling his amendment, which passed the Senate 61-37 in July, out of the bill. A Senate GOP leadership aide said Hawley’s amendment was excluded because the senator couldn’t find a “pay-for” to cover the added cost of his proposal. “It’s particularly, I will tell you, galling to hear that we need to spend $100 billion on Ukraine and $50 billion on Taiwan … but we don’t have any money to help the victims of our own government on a Defense program,” Hawley said. “My state, we’ve never gotten a dime in 60 years.” Workers in St. Louis 80 years ago helped develop the first atomic bomb by processing uranium that was later used to create the first sustained nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago’s Stagg Field. Paul and Lee are objecting to a four-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) embedded in the defense bill. The Section 702 language allows the National Security Agency to intercept broad swaths of foreign communications without individualized court orders, inevitably sweeping up the conversations of American citizens. “Approving FISA without reforming it is a huge mistake,” Paul said. “It goes against our own rules, our rules say that the conference report can only include things that were in the House version or the Senate version. This is being airdropped into something the rules say you can’t do. Paul said he plans to raise a point of order objection to the NDAA, which means Schumer and McConnell need to round up 60 votes to quash Paul’s blockade. “To me, there’s nothing more important than the Bill of Rights protecting our civil liberties in this country. The Fourth Amendment says they can’t search your phone, they can’t search your house without a judge. But FISA allows them to do that without a real warrant,” Paul said. He explained that under current FISA law, the federal government can search for American citizens’ names and email addresses in the database of the intercepted conversations of foreign targets. Lee urged Senate colleagues in a Blaze Media op-ed to vote against the defense bill with the four-month FISA extension. He argues the FBI has used Section 702 to conduct warrantless “backdoor” searches of Americans’ private electronic communications “quite deliberately and on hundreds of thousands of occasions.” He blasted leaders for “hiding” the FISA extension in a 3,000-page must-pass bill. “Shameful,” he charged. Paul and Lee presented arguments to the Senate parliamentarian Monday, and an aide to Paul confirmed he will go ahead and raise his objection to the FISA language. The defense bill may be subject to another procedural objection challenging the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members who travel to obtain abortions. Despite the rumblings of Hawley, Paul and Lee, Senate GOP leaders say the bill is on track to pass as soon as Wednesday. “The Senate will need to move before the House and hopefully get it to the House in a reasonable time frame for them to process it before they head out for the holidays,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) of the timing of the defense bill.
5 NDAA topics causing a stir as defense bill heads toward final vote - Republicans have agreed to strip several partisan culture war provisions from the annual defense spending bill, but there are still a handful of fights on the horizon as negotiations near the finish line. Congressional negotiators last week came to a compromise on the behemoth National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an $886 billion measure for fiscal 2024 that includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for troops, $11.5 billion to help deter China, $800 million to support Ukraine and tens of billions of dollars for new ships and aircraft. Though the House and Senate this week are expected to pass the legislation with bipartisan support, the bill was subject to intense scrutiny after White House officials raised alarms on the numerous social issues House Republicans inserted into their draft bill, which passed in July. Many of those provisions were eventually pulled out in the final compromise — including a change to the Pentagon’s abortion policy and a ban on the coverage of transition surgeries and other treatments for transgender troops. The White House released a statement Tuesday in support of the NDAA, urging “swift passage” of the bill. Still, other contentious language made its way in, setting the stage for potential clashes in Congress. Here are five NDAA provisions that could come up for debate as the House and Senate race to finish the bill by Friday.
- Lawmakers want to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) through April 19. The section allows the U.S. government to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreigners outside the country, but it’s controversial because Americans may be spied upon by extension. Congress first enacted FISA Section 702 in 2008; it must be reauthorized every five years. Activists and some lawmakers have decried the section as unlawful and government overreach, and the amendment to temporarily extend it will certainly draw some protests when the NDAA is debated in Congress. More conservative Republicans have joined some liberal Democrats in pushing against the FISA amendment, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who in July highlighted how in 2022 alone, the FBI used Section 702 databases to spy on some 204,000 U.S. citizens.
- While the most contentious amendments on abortion, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and other social battles failed to make it into the NDAA draft, some sticky issues survived. A major GOP win included a ban on endorsing critical race theory (CRT) in the military’s academies or in military service training. CRT asserts that race is a social construct and racism is widely embedded across institutions. Republicans also succeeded in creating a salary cap and a hiring freeze on the DEI committee until the Government Accountability Office completes an audit of the department. The GOP has criticized DEI initiatives as needlessly distracting from military readiness.
- In last year’s NDAA, lawmakers succeeded in removing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. troops. This year, they want to order the Pentagon to review the reinstatement of service members who were dismissed or discharged for refusing the vaccine. The amendment directs the Pentagon to consider reinstatement at the request of a service member who was discharged and, if reinstated, should define the period of the individual’s time away from service as a period of inactivation. Defense officials will also be required to communicate on the reinstatement process with discharged troops.
- One strong point of contention between some House Republicans and the Biden administration is a provision that centers around the final resting place for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, a fight that has been brewing since before former President Trump left office. Trump, in a last-minute move ahead of Biden’s inauguration, chose Huntsville, Ala., as the new location for the command, despite Colorado Springs, Colo., already housing the installation. After a thorny fight, with Colorado lawmakers imploring the administration to reconsider, Biden overturned Trump’s decision in July, arguing a move to Huntsville would take years and impact military readiness. But House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) vowed to fight that choice, introducing language in the House’s NDAA that temporarily blocks any spending to build out the command headquarters in Colorado Springs until the end of next July.
- Other amendments causing strife among lawmakers are several seeking to rein in the Pentagon’s ability to transition to greener energy. One provision prevents the Department of Defense from forcing small-business contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions as a condition for winning a contract. Another measure orders a Pentagon review of electric vehicles, including an assessment of how many critical materials are sourced from China and “potential vulnerabilities” of an electric fleet in the military. Additionally, the NDAA leaves out the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a move drawing fierce protest from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “BILLIONS for Ukraine – but NOTHING for the thousands of Missourians poisoned by the federal government’s nuclear waste,” Hawley wrote on X, referring to Biden’s $61 billion request for Kyiv in a separate bill.
Senate Passes Massive $886 Billion National Defense Authorization Act - On Wednesday, the Senate passed the mammoth $886 billion 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which funds the Pentagon and military spending in other government agencies.The bill passed in a vote of 87-13, with six Democrats, six Republicans, and one Independent voting against it. This NDAA now heads to the House, where it’s expected to pass in a vote on Thursday as the bill is the version that the two chambers negotiated.The NDAA includes an amendment to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which gives the FBI the power to conduct warrantless spying of foreign targets and Americans they interact with. Section 702 has enabled mass surveillance of Americans and is set to expire at the end of the year, but the extension pushes it back to April 19.A bipartisan group of senators tried to strip the Section 702 extension from the NDAA, but their efforts failed. For procedural reasons, only 41 senators were needed to remove the provision, but only 35 supported it.“The Senate just voted to waive the point of order against the NDAA. 35 of us opposed the motion to waive,”Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote on X. “We needed only 41 to prevent this outcome, and to remove FISA 702 from the NDAA. This is not good. The House should #StopTheNDAA.”The passage of the NDAA comes as the Biden administration is struggling to get Republicans to support a massive $111 billion supplemental spending package that includes military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. But Republicans are holding out until Democrats agree to significant changes in US border policies, and the bill might not be passed until 2024.
House Passes $886 Billion National Defense Authorization Act - On Thursday, the House passed the $886 billion 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which funds the Pentagon and some military spending for other government agencies. The NDAA has already been passed by the Senate and now heads to President Biden’s desk.The NDAA includes a provision to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence, which allows mass warrantless surveillance of Americans. US government agencies portray the law as designed to target foreigners outside of the US, but it allows the collection of any communications they have with Americans, including emails and text messages.Section 702 was due to expire at the end of this year, but the NDAA extends it to April 19, 2024. According to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the House only needed 143 votes to strip the extension out of the NDAA, but only 118 House members voted “nay,” including 73 Republicans and 45 Democrats.“Here are the 118 Representatives who voted to protect your right to privacy. (Nay to FISA warrantless surveillance as part of NDAA),” Massie wrote on X with a picture of the roll call. “We lost but it was close. We needed 143 votes (1/3) to stop FISA since they suspended the rules to bring it to the floor.”The mammoth $886 billion NDAA is $28 billion more than what was approved last year. President Biden is seeking another $111 billion to fund military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on top of regular military spending, but Republicans are holding out until Democrats agree to a deal on significant changes to border policies.
ACLU, Snowden Slam Bipartisan Extension of 'Unconstitutional' Spying Law - The ACLU and National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden were among those condemning House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday for approving an extension of a law that the federal government has used to spy on the communications of Americans without a warrant.The extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was crammed into the 3,000-page National Defense Authorization Act, an $886 billion piece of legislation that approves funding for the Pentagon for the coming fiscal year.Just hours after the Senate narrowly defeated a last-ditch motion to strip out the Section 702 extension and approved the NDAA in a bipartisan 87-13 vote, the House passed the legislation in a similarly resounding fashion on Thursday, with 163 Democrats and 147 Republicans supporting the bill.Just 45 Democrats voted no after the Congressional Progressive Caucus leadership urged the bloc's 100-plus members to oppose the measure, citing the proposed four-month extension of Section 702 and excessive military spending.The NDAA now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it. The White House has publicly urged Congress to reauthorize Section 702, which ostensibly allows federal authorities to surveil only the communications of non-U.S. citizens located outside the country.In practice, however, the program has been used to spy on the communications of American activists, journalists, members of Congress, and others without a warrant. Government records showthat the FBI abused Section 702 more than 278,000 times between 2020 and early 2021.Kia Hamadanchy, the ACLU's senior policy counsel, said in a Thursdaystatement following the House vote that "it's incredibly disheartening that Congress decided to extend an easily abused law with zero of the reforms needed to protect all of our privacy.""As long as Section 702 is being used by the government to spy on Americans without a warrant," Hamadanchy added, "we will continue to fight this unconstitutional law and work with Congress to strengthen our Fourth Amendment protections against government surveillance."
Ukraine money likely to be delayed until January, Senate Republican says - Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) leadership team, told reporters Monday that additional funding for Ukraine will likely be delayed until 2024 because there isn’t enough time before Christmas to strike a deal on border security. Asked if there is enough time left in the year to strike a deal on border security reform and military aid for Ukraine, Cornyn answered tersely: “No.” Hard-line Republicans in both chambers have insisted that any additional aid for Ukraine be paired with reforms at the southern border, but negotiations on border policy have made little progress. The Senate is scheduled to start its Christmas recess after this week, and Cornyn doesn’t see much point in senators returning to the Capitol the week of Dec. 18 given the gulf between the Democratic and Republican negotiators over proposed asylum reforms. The Texas senator blamed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for the time crunch. “I think Sen. Schumer got this started so late that we might just run out of time, so I think it’s going to be a January exercise,” he said. Cornyn voiced his skepticism about the prospect of negotiators reaching a deal on border security and aid to Ukraine — the two most controversial elements of a proposed $110 billion emergency foreign aid package — shortly after Senate leaders traded blame over the impasse. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has already told Republican senators that he will not be able to pass more money for Ukraine through the House without major reforms to asylum policy. Schumer took to the Senate floor Monday afternoon to accuse Republicans for making unreasonable demands in the negotiations over border security. “If Republicans keep insisting on Donald Trump’s border policies, then they will be at fault when a deal for Ukraine, Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza falls apart. Republicans would be giving Vladimir Putin the best gift he could ask for,” Schumer said. “Democrats are serious about reaching bipartisan compromise to pass this package. The question is if Republicans are now willing to do the same,” he said. McConnell, meanwhile, accused Democrats of not taking seriously the flow of migrants across the border, which set a single-day record last week. He noted that the average number of daily border crossings has reached 10,000 and that Customs and Border Protection is releasing 6,600 migrants who entered illegally into the country every day. “This is what a crisis looks like. This is what the Democratic leader last week insisted was ‘extraneous’ to America’s national security,” McConnell said. “When it comes to keeping America safe, border security is not a side show. It’s ground zero.”
Tillis calls Vance remarks on Ukraine ‘total and unmitigated bull‑‑‑‑’ - Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Monday dug into Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) recent remarks against sending further aid to Ukraine, calling the Ohio Republican’s comments “total and unmitigated bull‑‑‑‑.”Vance, in an interview with former White House aid Steve Bannon earlier Monday, claimed some lawmakers are looking to cut Social Security benefits for more aid to Ukraine that he argued will be used so one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ministers “can buy a bigger yacht.”When asked about Vance’s remarks later on Monday, Tillis told reporters, “I think it’s bull‑‑‑‑.”“If you’re talking about giving money to Ukrainian ministers — total and unmitigated bull‑‑‑‑,” Tillis continued. “Not productive conversation … not real happy about it.”On Sunday, Vance reaffirmed his opposition to sending additional aid to Ukraine and said he does not believe Ukraine will ever be able to prevail over Russia. He argued the U.S. needs to accept Ukraine will likely need to “cede some territory” to stop its fighting with Russia and questioned how billions in additional aid to Ukraine will help the war-torn country.Presented with Tillis’s criticism later Monday, Vance said he believes Ukraine is “one of the most corrupt countries in Europe.”“We know that a number of people have gotten rich in Ukraine, and … I think it’s naivety if you don’t think they’ve gotten rich with some of our money,” Vance told reporters.Maintaining that Tillis is “one of his favorite colleagues,” Vance said the North Carolina Republican is “not living in reality.”“Well, it’s never good to have Thom Tillis peeved at us,” Vance told reporters Monday, adding later, “But with all due respect to Thom, he’s not living in reality. There is no plausible pathway to the end of the war where Ukraine goes back to 1991 or 2014. It just isn’t … that’s not a desirable thing; it’s not a good thing.”“It’s the reality that we’re living in, and if you can’t accept it, you’re never going to actually force negotiation that’s going to bring this thing to a close.”
Zelensky Arrives in US, Pleads for More Military Aid - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the US on Monday and pleaded for more military aid in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, where he was introduced by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.“Ukrainians haven’t given up and won’t give up. We know what to do and you can count on Ukraine and we hope just as much to be able to count on you,” Zelensky said.Zelensky’s visit comes as the White House is pressuring Congress to pass a $111 billion spending package that includes over $60 billion for Ukraine to fund the war for another year. The White House has said if Congress doesn’t authorize the funds, the US will run out of money for the war.“Every one of you here understands for a soldier to wait for munitions, waiting for weeks, months, without knowing if support will come at all,” Zelensky said. “Every one of you with command experience knows what it means when instead of moving forward, you’re just watching, waiting for armor or equipment while your enemy is satisfied and preparing for assaults.”Despite Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive, Zelensky is determined to continue the war even as Ukraine’s top general has said Ukrainian forces have little chance of breaking through Russian defenses and Ukraine is facing a manpower shortage. Sources close to Zelensky recently told Time Magazine that the Ukrainian leader is deluding himself into thinking Ukraine can win the war.
Nearly Half of US Voters Think Biden Is Spending Too Much on Ukraine - As the Biden administration is seeking over $60 billion to fund the war in Ukraine for another year, a poll has found that nearly half of American voters think the US is spending too much on the conflict.The poll, conducted by Financial Times-Michigan Ross, found that 48% of respondents believe the US was spending “too much” on military and financial aid to Ukraine, while 27% said the US was spending the “right amount,” and just 11% believes Washington should be spending more.Republicans are more opposed to the US spending on the war, as 65% said the US was spending too much, compared with 52% of independents and 32% of Democrats.The results do not bode well for Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, who arrived in Washington on Monday to plead for more US military aid. His visit comes as it’s become clear that Ukraine has no chance of beating Russia on the battlefield, which has been acknowledged by Ukraine’s top general.The poll also posed the same question about US spending on military aid for Israel since October 7 and found similar results. The poll found 40% of respondents believed the US was spending too much, while 30% said the US was spending the right amount.Several polls now have shown that the majority of US voters want the US to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a position rejected by the Biden administration, as demonstrated by the US vetoing a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution. The latest poll from Data for Progress found that 61% of American voters support the idea of the US calling for a “permanent” ceasefire in Gaza and a general de-escalation of violence.
Republicans Tell Zelensky No Ukraine Aid Until Border Deal - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was told by Republicans in Washington on Tuesday that Congress won’t be authorizing new aid for Ukraine until a deal with Democrats on border issues can be reached.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) met with Zelensky and told him that Republicans support Ukraine but wouldn’t send more aid until “a transformative change” in US border policy and laws.Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said it would be impossible to pass a massive $111 billion spending package that includes military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan before Congress’s Christmas break.“(It) is practically impossible – even if we reach an agreement – to craft it, get it through the Senate, get to the House, before Christmas,” he said. “There won’t be a deal until Joe Biden and Republicans reach an agreement.”Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he explained to Zelensky that the issue had nothing to do with Ukraine. Graham said he told the Ukrainian leader: “Here’s the problem, it’s got nothing to do with you.”Even President Biden said he couldn’t make any promises to Zelensky. “We’re in negotiations to get funding we need. Not making promises, but hopeful we can get there — I think we can,” he said.Zelensky spent his time in Washington pleading for more US aid and told senators on Tuesday that he is considering conscripting men over 40 to help resolve Ukraine’s manpower problem. Due to the heavy casualties Ukraine has suffered, the average age of a Ukrainian soldier is now 43, up from an average between 30 and 35 from the beginning of the war.
Western Policymakers Are Panicking Because There Was No Plan B if The Counteroffensive Failed - It’s easier to continue throwing money into a problem than to accept that a new approach is required, but in this case, Ukrainian lives are continuing to be thrown away so long as the Zelensky refuses to recommence peace talks with Russia and the West remains hesitant to replace him so as to bring that about.The Daily Beast (DB) published a candid report about the conversations that took place last week at the French Military School between “100 military, political, finance, academic, and business leaders with intimate knowledge of the [Ukrainian] war”. According to them, the discussions concerned everything from requesting Taylor Swift’s support in the information war to sending Ukrainian Baptists to the US to pressure MAGA Republicans. Simply put, there was no Plan B if the counteroffensive failed, as it did.An unnamed Ukrainian government counsellor was even quoted as saying that “America is washing its hands of Ukraine. Their military expenditure priorities are aimed against China, while our country, all of Europe, is being stormed by Russian gangsters and social media propaganda. We are screwed, absolutely fucked.” Ukraine is also upset that the sanctions failed, Russia’s economy didn’t collapse, and the West still refuses to give them that country’s hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of seized assets.On top of that, the DB reminded everyone that antibiotic-resistant germs are running wild in Ukraine, 11 million of its citizens are food insecure, vast tracts of farmland are unusable, and “Ukraine in two years won’t have enough warm bodies to fill the trenches and freeze the lines against the Russian onslaught.” Few Westerners were aware of this since “a veteran reporter in Kyiv” confirmed that “our credentials are at risk if we write [about these stories]”.The panic among Western policymakers is palpable when reading the DB’s report about last week’s powwow in Paris, which was published right after Zelensky’s latest trip to the US failed to break the congressional gridlock over aid to his country. Biden pledged $200 million in emergency funding just to make him go away but importantly clarified that he’s “Not making promises” about more aid even though Zelensky scaremongered that “Putin and his sick clique” are “inspired” by this impasse.“NATO’s Proxy War On Russia Through Ukraine Appears To Be Winding Down” even faster than expected as evidenced by major Mainstream Media outlets like the BBC, The Economist, Politico, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times all becoming very critical of Ukraine and Zelensky since then. This coincided with the exacerbation of preexisting political tensions in Kiev, divisions within its security services, and a Rada member admitting that “There will be no NATO” for Ukraine.Readers should also be informed that “Ukraine Is Bracing For A Possible Russian Counteroffensive By Fortifying The Entire Front”, but at the same time, “Kiev’s Impending Conscription Propaganda Campaign Proves That Ukrainians Don’t Want To Fight.” If its troops aren’t replenished, which risks provoking a genuine “Maidan 3” due to how unpopular the forced conscription policy is, then Russia might achieve a military breakthrough in the coming months that could worsen Ukraine’s cascading crises.If the conflict doesn’t soon freeze, which would require Zelensky complying with the West’s reported pressure to recommence peace talks with Russia, then everything that’s been achieved by those two over the past 22 months at the cost of $200 billion and hundreds of thousands of lives could be lost. It’s for this reason why “Naryshkin’s Scenario Forecast About The West Replacing Zelensky Shouldn’t Be Scoffed At” since his ego is recklessly placing all that New Cold War bloc’s investments at risk right now.
Pressure grows on Biden to override Senate Democrats on border -Senate Republicans are warning the only way President Biden will get another $61 billion for Ukraine is if he overrides Senate Democrats and agrees to border security reforms that substantially reduce the influx of migrants into the country. They complain the White House has refused to engage in a meaningful way with the lead Senate Republican negotiator, Sen. James Lankford (Okla.). Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said negotiations on border security have stalled because “it’s been difficult to get the kind of support out of the administration itself” needed to get a deal. McConnell on Tuesday revealed he told Biden directly that “the only way we’ll get an agreement is for you to be involved, don’t just punt the ball up to Senate Democrats — they may never get there.” “We all know he’s the only one that can sign a bill into law,” McConnell said of Biden. “Without him, there is no deal.” The Senate GOP leader said he thinks Biden and White House chief of staff Jeff Zients are getting the message. “I’ve talked to [Biden] about it. I’ve talked to Zients about it,” McConnell said, adding there was “some indication” from the White House this week that “maybe they’re going to finally engage rather than just sending James Lankford and his team back to Senate Democrats.” But McConnell told GOP senators at a Tuesday lunch meeting he thinks it’s too late to get a border security deal in time to pass more funding for Ukraine before January. “He just said it’s not going to get done this year; we’re going to have to revisit it next calendar year,” said a Republican senator who attended the meeting.
Senate to Return Next Week to Work on Border Deal to Get Ukraine Aid - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has decided to keep senators in town next week to continue negotiations on a border deal that will unlock a massive $111 billion spending package that includes military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.The Senate’s holiday recess was set to start on Friday, but Schumer is delaying as he says negotiations are progressing. “The Senate will return Monday. That will give negotiators from the White House, Senate Democrats, and Senate Republicans a time to work through the weekend in an effort to reach a framework agreement,” Schumer said.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) decided to adjourn his chamber for the holidays, meaning if the Senate does reach a deal, the bill can’t be finalized until after the new year. Johnson said the House “will not wait around to receive and debate a rushed product.”Schumer vowed there would still be a vote on the military aid package next week. “No matter what, members should be aware that we will vote on a supplemental proposal next week,” he said.Republicans are looking for significant changes to immigration laws to make it harder for migrants to enter the country, and there are signs that President Biden is willing to give them what they want to secure the over $60 billion he wants to fund the proxy war in Ukraine for another year. CBS News reported that the White House indicated to Congress that it would support new immigration restrictions, including giving border officials the authority to expel migrants without processing their asylum claims and a dramatic expansion of deportations and detentions.
Congress and President Biden should not trade away human rights and asylum protections for temporary defense funding – EPI - The Senate, House, and White House are embroiled in down-to-the-wire negotiations to trade harmful changes to the asylum system and draconian immigration enforcement measures in exchange for approving a one-time defense supplemental funding package. We urge members of Congress and the White House to reject any such deal. If Congress passes the one-time defense supplemental, the money will likely run out in just a few months. But the major anti-immigrant policy changes that Congress and the White House are reportedly considering will be permanent. These policies include an updated version of Trump’s Title 42 policy, mandatory detention of migrants and asylum seekers while they adjudicate their claims (likely including children), increased power to deport people encountered beyond the border areas of the United States with little to no due process (known as “expedited removal”), and changing the legal standard for asylum to make it more difficult to prove an initial claim.If passed, the measures under consideration would go even further than some of the Trump administration’s harsh and brutal actions—and because they will carry statutory weight, it’s unlikely that immigrant rights advocates will have a path to challenge them in court. Further, it should be apparent to any reasonable legislator or administration official that these policy changes will not improve the situation at the southern border and will have harmful impacts on migrant and U.S. workers alike.For example, Senate negotiators are considering a similar version of the Trump administration’s Title 42 policy—which allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants without processing their asylum claims. While Title 42 was technically a public health measure invoked ostensibly because of the pandemic, it was widely decried as inhumane and unlawful by immigrant rights advocates and most Democrats, including Joe Biden when he campaigned for the presidency. But President Biden has now reportedly signaled a willingness to accept a new iteration of Title 42 as part of a deal.A new Title 42-like policy, however, will have numerous disastrous impacts. For one, it will incentivize family separation because parents will send their children to the border unaccompanied, in order to increase the chance that their asylum claims will be heard. This will further increase the risk of migrant children being subject to labor exploitation, debt bondage, and even human trafficking.In addition, when access to asylum is restricted, we know that more people fleeing persecution will try to enter the United States without authorization instead of turning themselves in to border officials in an orderly manner, as asylum-seekers have exercised their legal right to do before and after Title 42 was in place. This will increase the number of encounters by Border Patrol officers, not decrease them. The policy also hinges on acquiescence and cooperation by the Mexican government, which is by no means assured.If these concessions are made, some people who still manage to enter the country outside of the legal process will not have access to work authorization, making them part of the permanently exploitable underclass of undocumented workers who lack real access to any labor standards protections because they fear deportation. This risks pushing down wages and working conditions for both immigrant and U.S.-born workers across the country, particularly those in low-wage jobs. Others will be detained and subjected to harsher, more inhumane conditions—whether in detention or after being deported quickly and without due process to the dangerous conditions they were fleeing in their countries of origin.The main challenge at the southern border is a failed allocation of resources and the wrong priorities: Congress has appropriated eight times more funds for immigration enforcement than for adjudications in immigration courts and for asylum and refugee operations. The Department of Homeland Security’s request for additional funds for border security rightfully includes an increase in resources for immigration judges and processing asylum claims, but in our view, the concessions to worsen asylum, enforcement, and detention policies would cause the security situation to deteriorate and quickly render that increase moot.Humanitarian crises, political instability, wars, and other disasters led to the highest number of forcibly displaced persons on record as of the end of 2022. The United States, the richest country in the world, can and should do its part to address the displacement crisis through a welcoming and generous policy for receiving and integrating humanitarian migrants into society and the workforce. We should not double down on a return to policies that we know only cause more suffering.It is unacceptable to sacrifice the basic human rights of vulnerable migrants in exchange for a one-time, limited pot of defense aid that many in Congress already support on the merits. It’s particularly notable that the major changes being considered have never been on the table as part of a package that could realistically become law, not even as part of a negotiation to try to finally force movement on the most important immigration reform that’s needed; namely, a path to citizenship for 11 million unauthorized immigrants.
US-Made Munitions Used In Israel's White Phosphorous Attacks On Lebanon; WaPo -- The Israeli army used US-manufactured white phosphorous shells in a brutal attack on south Lebanon in October, the Washington Post reported Monday, citing an analysis of shell fragments found in the southern Lebanese village of Al-Dhahira. A Washington Post journalist came across the remnants of three 155-millimeter artillery shells near the border. Production codes found on the shells indicate that they were made by ammunition depots in Louisiana and Arkansas in 1989 and 1992.Residents told the journalist that the shells in question "incinerated at least four homes." Nine people were injured in the white phosphorous attack, which reportedly took place on October 16, including three who were hospitalized. Photos and videos verified by Amnesty International show the white phosphorus falling on Al-Dhahira on October 16. "Israeli forces continued to shell the town with white phosphorus munitions for hours," trapping residents in their homes until 7:00 AM the next day, locals told the Washington Post, adding that they now refer to that evening as the "black night."Israel has used white phosphorous on southern Lebanon over 60 times since the war began in October, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). "The Israeli army fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary weapon, in military operations along Lebanon’s southern border between 10 and 16 October 2023," Amnesty International said on October 31st, adding that the October 16 attack must be immediately investigated as a war crime.Israel claimed its use of the banned munitions was in line with international law, given that they used them to create "smokescreens" and not for targeting, according to an army statement.However, the October 16 white phosphorous attack took place at night, when "smoke would have little practical use … and [when] there were no Israeli troops on the Lebanese side of the border to mask with smokescreens," Washington Post said. "Residents speculated that the phosphorus was meant to displace them from the village and to clear the way for future Israeli military activity in the area," it added.
US Blocks Transfer Of Over 20,000 Rifles To Israel Over Settler Violence - There's been some serious mixed messaging and contradictory signals coming from the White House of late regarding Israel and the Gaza War. President Biden on Tuesday had for the first time offered criticism of Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza - even while keeping the massive defense aid flowing to Israel's military on an unconditional basis. He said Israel risks losing the world's support.But even as it hands over 2,000-pound bombs and other heavy munitions, the US administration has ironically enough temporarily blocked a shipment of more than 20,000 rifles on fears the small arms could fuel more Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Most or all of the rifle shipments appear to be M-16s.These military-grade assault rifles had been requested by the Netanyahu government from within the first week of the war, in the wake of Oct.7.Axios writes in a fresh report, "The Israeli request was treated with caution by the Biden administration because of concerns Itamar Ben Gvir, the ultra-nationalist minister of national security who oversees the police, would distribute the rifles to extremist settlers in the West Bank, according to U.S. officials."A US official told the publication, "This deal isn't moving anywhere at the moment. We need more assurances from Israel about the steps it is going to take to curb attacks by violent settlers and to make sure no new U.S. weapons will reach settlers in the West Bank."
Biden Could Halt the Israeli Genocide by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies -- On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.” Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that he invoked Article 99 to demand an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza because “we are at a breaking point,” with a “high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza.” The United Arab Emirates drafted a ceasefire resolution that quickly garnered 97 cosponsors. The World Food Program has reported that Gaza is on the brink of mass starvation, with 9 out of 10 people spending entire days with no food. In the two days before Guterres invoked Article 99, Rafah was the only one of Gaza’s five districts to which the UN could deliver any aid at all. The Secretary General stressed that “The brutality perpetrated by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people… International humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively. It is binding on all parties equally at all times, and the obligation to observe it does not depend on reciprocity.” Mr. Guterres concluded, “The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss… The eyes of the world – and the eyes of history – are watching. It’s time to act.” UN members delivered eloquent, persuasive pleas for the immediate humanitarian ceasefire that the resolution called for, and the Council voted thirteen to one, with the U.K. abstaining, to approve the resolution. But the one vote against by the United States, one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, killed the resolution, leaving the Council impotent to act as the Secretary General warned that it must. This was the sixteenth U.S. Security Council veto since 2000 – and fourteen of those vetoes have been to shield Israel and/or U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine from international action or accountability. While Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on a variety of issues around the world, from Myanmar to Venezuela, there is no parallel for the U.S.’s extraordinary use of its veto primarily to provide exceptional impunity under international law for one other country. The consequences of this veto could hardly be more serious. As Brazil’s UN Ambassador Sérgio França Danese told the Council, if the U.S. hadn’t vetoed a previous resolution that Brazil drafted on October 18, “thousands of lives would have been saved.” And as the Indonesian representative asked, “How many more must die before this relentless assault is halted? 20,000? 50,000? 100,000?”Following the previous U.S. veto of a ceasefire at the Security Council, the UN General Assembly took up the global call for a ceasefire, and the resolution, sponsored by Jordan, passed by 120 votes to 14, with 45 abstentions. The 12 small countries who voted with the United States and Israel represented less than 1% of the world’s population.The isolated diplomatic position in which the United States found itself should have been a wake-up call, especially coming a week after a Data For Progress poll found that 66% of Americans supported a ceasefire, while a Mariiv poll found that only 29% of Israelis supported an imminent ground invasion of Gaza.After the United States again slammed the Security Council door in Palestine’s face on December 8, the desperate need to end the massacre in Gaza returned to the UN General Assembly on December 12. An identical resolution to the one the U.S. vetoed in the Security Council was approved by a vote of 153 to 10, with 33 more yes votes than the one in October. While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they do carry political weight, and this one sends a clear message that the international community is disgusted by the carnage in Gaza.Another powerful instrument the world can use to try to compel an end to this massacre is the Genocide Convention, which both Israel and the United States have ratified. It only takes one country to bring a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Convention, and, while cases can drag on for years, the ICJ can take preliminary measures to protect the victims in the meantime. There has also been increasing pressure on the International Criminal Court to take up the case against Israel. The ICC has been quick to investigate Hamas for war crimes, but has been dragging its feet on investigating Israel. After a recent visit to the region, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was not allowed by Israel to enter Gaza, and he was criticized by Palestinians for visiting areas attacked by Hamas on October 7, but not visiting the hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements, checkpoints and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.However, as long as the world is faced with the United States’ tragic and debilitating abuse of institutions the rest of the world depends on to enforce international law, the economic and diplomatic actions of individual countries may have more impact than their speeches in New York. While Israel, with U.S. bombs and howitzer shells, is killing and maiming thousands of innocent people, the rest of the world is appalled by these crimes against humanity. The grassroots clamor to end the massacre keeps building, but global leaders must move beyond non-binding votes and investigations to boycotting Israeli products, putting an embargo on weapons sales, breaking diplomatic relations and other measures that will make Israel a pariah state on the world stage.
These 8 countries joined US and Israel in opposing UN resolution on Gaza -- Ten countries, including the United States and Israel, opposed the resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza that was overwhelmingly passed by the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. The United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution with 153 in favor, 10 opposed and 23 abstentions that calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has waged attacks against the militant group Hamas. It also calls for all parties to obey international humanitarian law and demands that Hamas release the hostages it kidnapped during the surprise attack on Oct. 7, which left more than 1,200 Israelis dead.Hamas released about 100 of the estimated 240 hostages during a temporary cease-fire that ended Dec. 1.Many humanitarian groups, policymakers and countries have raised concerns that Israel’s offensive in Gaza has created a humanitarian crisis and put millions of civilians at risk. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has said that more than 18,000 people have died in the territory since the war began.In addition, international organizations have sounded the alarm on the lack of necessary supplies, food and water available to Palestinians in Gaza.The newly passed resolution, which is nonbinding, comes days after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution also calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. That resolution would have required Israel to halt its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Here are the eight countries that joined with the U.S. and Israel in opposing the resolution.
- Austria
- Czechia
- Guatemala
- Liberia
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
US Has No Plans to Restrict Military Aid to Israel Despite Biden Calling Gaza Bombing 'Indiscriminate' - The US has no plans to restrict military aid to Israel or draw any red lines on Israel’s use of US-provided munitions despite President Biden labeling Israel’s bombing of Gaza “indiscriminate” and the massive civilian death toll, US officials told CNN.One official said the US does not consider the death of civilians a violation of the laws of war unless they are purposefully targeted. A report from +972 Magazine revealed that Israel is intentionally targeting civilians as part of a strategy to put pressure on Hamas, but the Biden administration is still claiming Israel is taking steps to mitigate civilian casualties.White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed on Wednesday that Israel “stated their intent to reduce civilian casualties. And they have acted on that.” When pressed on President Biden’s comments calling Israel’s bombing campaign “indiscriminate,” Kirby refused to say if that was the US government’s official position.“The President was expressing concerns — again, as I said — about the civilian casualties that we’ve seen. And, again, it’s reflective of our constant efforts to urge the Israelis to be as precise and careful as possible,” Kirby said.In the same speech where Biden called the Israeli bombing “indiscriminate,” he vowed to continue supporting the campaign.
Nearly Half of All Israeli Munitions Dropped on Gaza are Imprecise 'Dumb' Bombs - Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions Israel has dropped on the Gaza Strip are unguided or “dumb” bombs, CNN reported Thursday, citing a US intelligence assessment.The report said Israel had used 29,000 air-to-ground munitions in its bombardment of Gaza, a total that does not include artillery shells and tank munitions that are also being fired on the Strip. The assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found 40-45% of the 29,000 munitions have been dumb bombs, and the rest have been precise guided munitions.Unguided munitions are less precise and are generally considered more of a threat to civilians, but Israel is also slaughtering civilians with precision-guided munitions. A report from +972 Magazine revealed Israel is purposefully targeting civilian areas and launching strikes that might kill one Hamas commander, knowing hundreds of civilians will be killed. Amnesty International conducted an investigation that found Israel targeted two homes in Gaza full of civilians using Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), US-provided kits that turn dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions. The strikes killed 40 people, including 19 children, and Amnesty is calling for it to be investigated as a war crime.
Israeli Defense Minister Tells Jake Sullivan Gaza Onslaught Will Last 'More Than Several Months' - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in televised remarks that Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza will continue for “more than several months.”Sullivan traveled to Israel to discuss the “timetable” of the war, and there are signs that the Biden administration wants Israel to wrap things up more quickly, but the Israelis have shown no interest in taking the US advice.“Hamas is a terrorist organization that built itself over a decade to fight Israel, and they built infrastructure under the ground and above the ground, and it is not easy to destroy them,” Gallant told Sullivan before a closed-door meeting.“It will take and require a long period of time — it will last more than several months, but we will win and we will destroy them. So thank you once again for coming to Israel, for helping us, and for supporting us,” Gallant added. US officials have said the US wants Israel to conclude the current phase of the war, which involves relentless airstrikes and a ground campaign, within a few weeks, then shift to more targeted strikes against Hamas. According to Axios, Sullivan told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should “transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months.”But there’s no sign the US is using any of the leverage it has over Israel to achieve that end as US officials continue to promise unconditional military support. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sullivan “asked hard questions about what the next phase is going to look like” but did not dictate “terms to the Israelis about how long it has to take.” Kirby added that the war has “to take as long as they feel they need to take.”
Biden Administration Bypasses Congress to Get More Tank Shells to Israel -The Biden administration is bypassing Congress to get 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel to fuel its onslaught in Gaza by waiving a congressional review period for foreign weapons sales.On Friday night, the State Department notified Congress that it was going through with the $106 million sale of 120mm tank ammunition. The US provides Israel with $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing each year, but it’s unclear if those funds are being used for this deal.A State Department official told The New York Times that the administration invoked an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act to push through the sale without congressional oversight. Secretary of State Antony Blinken personally approved the sale and defended the move on Sunday.“Israel is in combat right now with Hamas,” Blinken said. “And we want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas.” According to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the tank shells will come from the US Army’s inventory.Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) criticized the administration’s decision to bypass Congress. “The administration’s decision to short-circuit what is already a quick time frame for congressional review undermines transparency and weakens accountability. The public deserves better,” he said.
'Moral Insanity': Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel Hours after United States Ambassador Robert Wood on Friday acted alone to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Biden administration again illustrated its growing isolation in continuing to back Israel's onslaught as it bypassed Congress to send more weapons to the country's extreme right-wing government.The U.S. Defense Department posted a notice online Saturday saying U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had informed Congress that a government sale of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition was moving forward, even though Congress had not completed an informal review of the transaction.The State Department invoked an emergency provision of the Arms Control Export Act to bypass the review process generally required for weapons sales to foreign nations. The sale, which Congress has no power to stop now that the provision has been invoked, was valued at more than $106 million."Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress, emboldens Netanyahu to kill more Palestinian civilians, and furthers stains our nation's standing in the world," saidEdward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR).Mitchell noted that the sale was finalized as media outlets confirmed Israeli tanks have "deliberately targeted and slaughtered journalists in Lebanon.""The Biden administration's decision is an affront to democracy and an act of moral insanity," he said.The State Department notified congressional committees of the sale around 11:00 pm EST Friday, hours after a new Pew Research pollshowed that only 35% of Americans support the Biden administration's backing of Israel's attacks on Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have now killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza in just over two months, while claiming they are targeting Hamas.
Tlaib Says Biden Admin 'At Serious Risk' of ICC Prosecution --U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Monday that the Biden administration has put itself "at serious risk of prosecution by the International Criminal Court" by continuing to provide the Israeli military with weapons as it carries out grave war crimes in the Gaza Strip.In a statement, Tlaib (D-Mich.) slammed the administration's decision late last week to bypass Congress and approve the sale of $100 million of tank ammunition to the Israeli military. The U.S. State Departmentnotified lawmakers of its decision an hour before midnight on Friday, circumventing congressional review of the deal."Just hours after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of hostages, the Biden administration notified us that they bypassed Congress to send [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu $100 million of tank ammunition to continue to carry out war crimes and massacre innocent Palestinians," said Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman ever elected to Congress."Our district didn't send President [Joe] Biden to the White House to have him facilitate the killing of innocent civilians," she added. "We didn't turn out in huge numbers to elect President Biden to have him supply the bombs for a genocide. This administration's refusal to acknowledge the human dignity of Palestinians is disturbing, and actions like this speak loud and clear.""President Biden has seen refugee camps, hospitals, schools, and entire neighborhoods bombed."The New York Timesreported Saturday that the State Department "invoked an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act" to justify the move. Since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, the Biden administration has kept its arms transfers to Israel shrouded in secrecyand has tried to accelerate the flow of weapons by working around Congress.Over the past two months, the U.S. has provided Israel with roughly 15,000 bombs—including 2,000-pound bunker busters—and nearly 60,000 artillery shells, without attaching any conditions.An Amnesty International investigation published last week found that Israel used U.S.-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions to carry out airstrikes that killed more than 40 people from two families. Amnesty said the attacks "must be investigated as war crimes."Legal experts and scholars have been warning since October that U.S. officials could be rendering themselves complicit in war crimes—andgenocide—by continuing to arm the Israeli military as it wages indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip.Tlaib echoed that warning Monday, noting that the Biden administration has opted to "give weapons to a military that is very publicly and actively committing serious war crimes and crimes against humanity.""President Biden has seen refugee camps, hospitals, schools, and entire neighborhoods bombed," said Tlaib. "He's seen dead children pulled from the rubble in their pajamas, and rather than work for a cease-fire he's sending more weapons to keep the massacres going."The International Criminal Court is currently conducting a war crimes investigation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Biden's Complicity in Gaza Genocide Violates International Law -In the densely populated Gaza Strip, the loss of life is staggering. Israel’s two-month bombardment has killed at least 18,000 Palestinian civilians there, including nearly 9,000 children. Another 25,000 children havelost one or both of their parents.President Biden has repeatedly assured the public that Israel is following international law. Yet Israeli forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure, in direct violation ofinternational humanitarian law. With 90 percent of those killed in Gaza being civilians, only now is Biden finally admitting that Israel is bombing “indiscriminately.”Homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, refugee camps, and government buildings have all been reduced to rubble. Israeli troops have forced Palestinian men to strip and parade through the streets. There are disturbing eyewitness allegations of torture and summary executions of civilians. Palestinian human rights groups and many international experts, including Israeli scholars of the Holocaust, have warned that Israel’s actions meet the legal standard of genocide.Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as specific acts taken “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” Some of these acts include “killing members of the group,” “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”The mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza’s schools, medical facilities, shelters, and residential areas are all evidence of likely genocidal acts. As are the forced relocation of over 1 million Palestinians out of northern Gaza and Israel’s frequent bombing of civilian evacuation routes.Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its complete siege of Gaza, depriving Palestinians of food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies. Starvation and infectious disease are rampant. Gaza’s health care system has “completely collapsed” from ongoing Israeli strikes, according to Doctors Without Borders.Proving genocidal intent can often be difficult. However, experts have pointed to dehumanizing statements by Israeli leaders that hint at it — including calling Palestinians “human animals” and “children of darkness.”Others are more explicit. An Israeli lawmaker called for a “Nakba” — an Arabic reference to the violent mass displacement of Palestinians — “that will overshadow the Nakba of 1948.” The defense minister declared“we will eliminate everything” in Gaza. And a recent investigation by the Israeli +972Magazine found that Israel’s bombing of non-military targets is “calculated.”Many experts believe these actions and statements of intent are evidence of an unfolding genocide. Due to the crime’s gravity, all parties to the Genocide Convention — including the U.S. — have a legal duty toprevent it from the moment they learn of a serious risk that a genocide will be committed. Instead, the U.S has vetoed UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions and expedited lethal arms to Israel on top of the annual aid we already provide. Far from preventing a genocide, a lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights argues, the U.S. is complicit in one.
Number Of Attacks On US Bases In Iraq & Syria Pushes Past 80 --US military bases in the Middle East reportedly came under Fresh attack again on Friday, pushing the total number of attacks since mid-October past 80 incidents."There were four additional attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since yesterday, according to a DOD official. Now 82 overall since Oct. 17," Politico's Pentagon correspondent Lara Seligman wrote. Some media sources have put the figure as high as 85.While the fresh attack hasn't been widely reported in Western media, Iran's Mehr News Agency is among those regional sources claiming that some four American bases in Syria were hit.And one regional monitor OSINTdefender said, "The Attacks on U.S. Forces in the Middle East today has been Never-ending, with at least 10 Rocket and Drones Attacks reported against 6 different Bases in both Iraq and Syria in the last 12 Hours."In a Thursday briefing Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Sing had said this trend of attacks had lessened since the end of the weeklong Israel-Hamas truce, and that the US is hoping things stay calm in the region."In terms of the attacks on our forces, I think it's important to remember that it's good that we have not seen attacks on our forces in the last 24 hours," Singh said. "We would like to see that continue."The Biden administration has long asserted that it "won't hesitate" to defend American forces in the region; however, recent reporting in Politico has suggested the US is intentionally refraining from a response to Iran-backed Houthi aggression in the Red Sea, on fears of sparking a broader war.This week for the first time since Oct.7, the US Embassy in Baghdad came under multiple missile salvos. Damage was reported but no injuries.Likely, attacks will continue to intensify especially in Syria - given that both Syrian national and Iranian forces want to squeeze American forces out of the illegal occupation of the country's oil and gas regions. There have been dozens of US troop injuries, with all of them reported as minor.
US Embassy in Baghdad Comes Under Mortar Fire - The US embassy in Baghdad came under mortar fire on Friday as US assets in Iraq and Syria continue to be targeted over US support for Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.According to Reuters, seven mortar rounds landed in the sprawling embassy. US officials said there was minor damage but no casualties. The incident was the first time the embassy, located in Baghdad’s Green Zone, came under attack since October 7.On the same day, there were at least five other attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria. Three targeted US forces in Syria, and two hit the Ain al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq. An umbrella group of Iraqi Shia militias, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, claimed a total of 11 attacks on US forces on Friday, but not all of them were confirmed. There have been more than 80 attacks on US forces in the two countries since they started on October 17, and the US has launched several rounds of airstrikes against Shia militias.Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani about the attack on the US embassy and the general tensions in the region. Austin singled out two Iran-aligned Shia militias that he said were responsible for most of the attacks, Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba.Al-Sudani had previously criticized the US for launching airstrikes in Iraq without government approval. According to a statement from his office, in the call with Austin, al-Sudani “emphasized the security services’ capability to pursue and expose those involved in attacks, cautioning against a direct response without government approval.”Kataib Hezbollah said on Saturday that US troops in Iraq would continue to be targeted until they leave the country. “Our jihadist operations against the American occupation will continue until the last of its soldiers are removed from the land of Iraq,” a spokesman for the group said, according to Rudaw.
Israel allows Palestinian Americans to enter from West Bank for first time since Oct. 7 - Israel is now allowing Palestinian Americans who live in the occupied West Bank to enter its territory for the first time since militant group Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.Two Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios on Monday that the White House warned the Israeli government that if they didn’t reverse their decision on barring entry for Palestinians who live in the territory this week, it could result in a suspension of the country’s membership in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. The U.S. Visa Waiver Program allows citizens from different countries to travel to the U.S. for 90 days without first obtaining a visa.Citing security reasons, Israeli officials imposed the border ban shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack against the country, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, according to Axios. An Israeli official also said the government recognized the violation of the agreement with the U.S., noting a decision was made last week to allow Palestinian Americans who reside in the West Bank to enter Israel. The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment and more information. This comes as the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem sent an announcement Sunday that notified U.S. citizens who live in the West Bank territory that they can apply for a permit to enter Israel as a tourist for a period of 90 days. “On October 7, the Israeli government prohibited the entry from the West Bank into Israel of any Palestinian Authority ID/passport holders, regardless of any other nationality they may hold, including U.S. citizenship,” according to the announcement. “As of December 8, 2023, Israel is reversing this policy for U.S. citizens only.”
Pentagon Seeks EMP Weapon To Eliminate Drone Swarms - Faced with the reality that drones are reshaping the modern battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza, the Pentagon has been tasked with finding a budget-friendly solution to eliminate these 'flying IEDs.' While missiles are too expensive, and laser beams are a distant dream, the next best cost-effective weapon US military officials are eyeing up could be electromagnetic pulse weapons to counter drone swarms.According to the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website, the US Air Force has published a contract opportunity for private industry titled "Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Defense Against Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)." The service outlined the drone-killing features of the new EMP weapon it is seeking:"The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RI) is conducting market research to seek information from industry on the landscape of research and development (R&D) for available Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) solutions towards countering multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). EMP solutions could be ground and/or aerial based that provide effective mitigation against Department of Defense (DoD) UAS groups 1, 2, and smaller group 3 aircraft." As for an aerial-based EMP weapon, the service explained: "Any EMP solutions hosted on air vehicles will have to be determined to be air-worthy by the Government. DoD must comply with the following general restrictions on UAS: 1. The air vehicle must be based on or derived from US components and electronics. 2. The air vehicle must have sufficient flight hours and reliability data." The proposed EMP weapon would be able to neutralize drones with a directed EMP blast to damage the electronic parts - this is a much cheaper solution than missiles that cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands, a piece.
US Threatens to Kill Yemen Peace Deal Over Houthi Attacks on Red Sea Shipping -The US is threatening to kill a peace plan for Yemen that was negotiated between the Houthis and the Saudis if the Houthis continue attacking shipping in the Red Sea, which the group has been doing in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.The Guardian reported that the Houthis and Saudis have reached a peace deal that could satisfy all the major parties involved, even the Southern Transition Council, a UAE-backed group that wants to see the restoration of North and South Yemen as two separate countries, as they were before Yemen was unified in 1990.The peace plan has been presented to the UN, but the details have not been disclosed to the public. According toThe Guardian, the agreement involves three phases, and a potential US plan to redesignate the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization” could prevent the first phase from being implemented.The first phase involves depositing money into accounts for the payment of civil salaries for workers in Houthi-controlled areas and fully opening airports and sea ports that have been under blockade since 2015. A US terrorist designation would mean any entity that does business with the Houthis would be subject to US sanctions, making both steps impossible to implement without the parties involved facing penalties.The White House said last month that it was considering redesignating the Houthis as terrorists in response to the attacks in the Red Sea and Houthi missile launches toward Israel. The Trump administration labeled the Houthis as terrorists in January 2021, but the move was quickly reversed by President Biden due to warnings from aid groups that it would doom food-deprived Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled areas.
Union Leaders Join Progressive Lawmakers in Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire Now -Leaders of major U.S labor unions joined progressive members of Congress at a Thursday rally and press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where they implored President Joe Biden to support a cease-fire in Gaza without delay.Leaders of unions including the United Auto Workers (UAW); the Postal Workers Union; and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America held a press conference outside the Capitol, where they were joined by Democratic U.S. lawmakers including Reps. Rashida Tlaib(D-Mich.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), andIlhan Omar (D-Minn.). "The only path forward to peace and social justice is a cease-fire," declared UAW president Shawn Fain."The world has seen enough slaughter and devastation. Peace is the only path forward," UAW president Shawn Fain—who recently led the fight for historic new contracts for Big Three autoworkers—told attendees. "While we call for a cease-fire, we also condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia, [and] anti-Arab racism, all of which are growing in our nation at this moment and must be stopped." "As union members, we know we must fight for all workers and suffering people around the world. We must fight for humanity," he added. "That means we must restore people's basic rights and allow water, food, fuel, humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. We must also call for the release of all hostages."Bush—the lead sponsor of a congressional cease-fire resolution drafted in October—said that "as an activist and organizer and a proud daughter of a former union member, I know that the foundational message of every guild is to stand with the people, to fight for their dignity and to advocate for those most marginalized.""Our humanity needs a cease-fire, and that is precisely why I'm so happy to have unions here today to join in this fight," she added, "because we know that unions know how to organize. Unions know how to mobilize and galvanize and energize."Thursday's rally came as Israeli forces continued attacking Gaza by land, air, and sea. Since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks that killed more than 1,100 people in southern Israel, over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, maimed, or left missing by Israel's retaliatory war, which many critics have called genocidal.Additionally, around 1.9 million Gazans—or over 85% of the besieged strip's population—have been forcibly displaced, and hundreds of thousands of cases of infectious diseases have been reported. While Biden this week privately decried what he acknowledged as Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza, the president remains a staunch Zionist who is seeking $14.3 billion in additional U.S. military aid to Israel atop the nearly $4 billion it already receives annually from Washington.
Citing Schiff's Gaza Silence, California Mayor Switches Senate Endorsement to Lee -- A refusal to join the growing international call for a cease-fire in Gaza proved a liability for at least one 2024 U.S. Senate candidate this week, as Rep. Adam Schiff lost the endorsement of Burbank, California's mayor over his "continued silence" regarding Israel's U.S.-backed slaughter ofat least 18,787 Palestinians and counting.Mayor Konstantine Anthony joined Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) at a rally on Tuesday, where he announced his support for the congresswoman in the race to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat."It was very difficult for me to change my position, to rescind my endorsement [of Schiff], but I have watched moral clarity shine through in another candidate," said Anthony. "I am proud to endorse Barbara Lee for the Senate to represent us in California."Lee's campaign released a campaign video on Wednesday featuring Anthony's speech at the rally and centering the congresswoman's call for a cease-fire, which she first made in mid-October."The American people have been very clear," Lee told campaigners at the rally. "They do not support endless wars. They do not support the slaughter of civilians."Schiff and Lee, along with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), are among the candidates running in the Democratic primary. California voters will go to the polls on March 5, 2024. An Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey found last month that 16% of voters supported Schiff, while 13% backed Porter and 9% planned to vote for Lee. Anthony originally endorsed Schiff in February, and called on the U.S. government to help broker a cease-fire in October. He publicly asked Schiff to join the call on October 31, but said he would give the congressman time to do so before rescinding his endorsement.
Congress Approves Bill to Prevent Any President From Leaving NATO - Packed into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that’s been approved by both the House and Senate is an amendment designed to prevent any future president from withdrawing the US from NATO.The legislation was a bipartisan effort led by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and would prohibit the president from leaving NATO without Senate approval or an Act of Congress.According to The Hill, Kaine said the legislation “reaffirms US support for this crucial alliance that is foundational for our national security. It also sends a strong message to authoritarians around the world that the free world remains united.” Kaine, Rubio, and other hawks in Congress would not have to worry about President Biden trying to leave NATO, as he is a staunch supporter of the alliance and has repeatedly stated the US obligation to NATO is “sacred.”The legislation was likely designed with former President Trump in mind, although he has not said he would exit NATO. Trump has been critical of the alliance and asked other members to spend more on their military to lower the burden on the US, but NATO expanded into Montenegro and North Macedonia during his presidency.
David Stockman On Washington's Entrenched War Machine - The world had descended into a “77-Years War”. It had incepted with the mobilization of the armies of old Europe in August 1914. If you want to count bodies, 150 million were killed by all the depredations that germinated in the Great War, its foolish aftermath at Versailles, and the march of history into World War II and the Cold War that followed inexorably thereupon.Upwards of 8% of the human race was wiped out during that span. The toll encompassed the madness of trench warfare during 1914-1918; the murderous regimes of Soviet and Nazi totalitarianism that rose from the ashes of the Great War and the follies of Versailles; and then the carnage of WWII and all the lesser (unnecessary) wars and invasions of the Cold War including Korea and Vietnam.At the end of the Cold War, therefore, the last embers of the fiery madness that had incepted with the guns of August 1914 had finally burned out. Peace was at hand. Yet 32 years later there is still no peace because Imperial Washington confounds it.The proof is plain as day. The unnecessary invasions and occupations of Iraq, the Washington-instigated shambles of Syria, the wanton destruction of Yemen, the regime change-cum barbarism that NATO inflicted upon Libya, the brutal sanctions and covert military war on Iran, the current unspeakable catastrophe financed by Washington’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and countless more lessor depredations, tell you all you need to know.All of these misadventures bespeak the fact that the War Party is entrenched in the nation’s capital, where it is dedicated to economic interests and ideological perversions that guarantee perpetual war. These forces ensure endless waste on armaments; they cause the inestimable death and human suffering that stems from 21st-century high-tech warfare; and they inherently generate terrorist blow-back from those upon whom the War Party inflicts its violent hegemony.Worse still, Washington’s great war machine and teeming national security industry is its own agent of self-perpetuation. When it is not invading, occupying and regime changing, its vast apparatus of internal policy bureaus and outside contractors, lobbies, think tanks and NGOs is busy generating reasons for new imperial ventures.So there was a virulent threat to peace still lurking on the Potomac after the 77-Years War ended. The great general and President, Dwight Eisenhower, had called it the “military-industrial-congressional complex” in the draft of his farewell address. But that memorable phrase had been abbreviated by his speechwriters, who deleted the word “congressional” in a gesture of comity to the legislative branch.So restore Ike’s deleted reference to the pork barrels and Sunday-afternoon warriors of Capitol Hill and toss in the legions of Beltway busybodies who constituted the civilian branches of the Cold War Armada (CIA, State, AID, NED and the rest) and the circle would have been complete. It constituted the most awesome machine of warfare and imperial hegemony since the Roman legions bestrode most of the civilized world.In a word, the real threat to peace circa 1991 was that the American Imperium would not go away quietly into the good night.In fact, during the past 31 years Imperial Washington has lost all memory that peace was ever possible at the end of the Cold War. Today it is as feckless, misguided and bloodthirsty as were Berlin, Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna and London in August 1914.
US House passes bill banning uranium imports from Russia (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a ban on imports of Russian uranium as lawmakers seek to add pressure on Moscow for its war on Ukraine, though the measure has waivers in case of supply concerns for domestic reactors. The bill must pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before becoming law. It is uncertain whether there will be enough time in the Senate schedule for it to be voted on this year. The bill, passed by voice vote in the House after the chamber suspended usual voting rules on the measure, would ban the imports 90 days after enactment, subject to the waivers. The House bill contains waivers allowing the import of low-enriched uranium from Russia if the U.S. energy secretary determines there is no alternative source available for operation of a nuclear reactor or a U.S. nuclear energy company, or if the shipments are in the national interest. "The risks of continuing this dependence on Russia for our nuclear fuels are simply too great," said Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers before the vote. "It's weakening America's nuclear fuel infrastructure, which has declined significantly because of reliance on these cheap fuels." The United States banned imports of Russia oil after the invasion of Ukraine last year and imposed a price cap with other Western countries on sea-borne exports of its crude and oil products, but it has not banned imports of its uranium. U.S. nuclear power plants imported about 12% of their uranium from Russia in 2022, compared to 27% from Canada and 25% from Kazakhstan, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The United States was the source of about 5% of uranium used domestically that year, the EIA said. Allowed imports of Russian uranium under the waiver would be gradually reduced to 459 metric tons in 2027 from about 476.5 tons in 2024.
House Democrats formally unveil vision for energy policy reforms -House Democrats formally outlined what they want the nation’s energy system to look like in a bill filed early Wednesday morning.“We as Democrats have been too silent on what is Democratic energy policy,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) told The Hill. Casten framed the bill as his party’s answer to H.R.1, the Republican-authored energy plan that sought to repeal tax credits for renewables and make it easier to drill for and export fossil fuels — fuels that America’s domestic grid is slowly moving away from.“We know what the Republican energy policy is — it’s a policy that puts the interests of energy producers and energy exporters first,” Casten said. “There needs to be an energy policy that puts the consumer’s interests first.”The bill authored by Reps. Casten and Mike Levin (D-Calif.) — and signed on to by 74 additional House Democrats — would create pre-approved routes for major transmission lines on federal lands, provide a 30 percent tax credit for new transmission lines, give federal energy regulators the exclusive authority to approve major interstate power lines and involve communities in permitting questions at the outset.It comes amid an ongoing debate about whether and how to reform the nation’s system for approving energy and other infrastructure projects. Democrats have broadly pushed for policies that support renewable energy, including a general build-out of power lines that they say are key to getting renewables on the grid and bolstering grid reliability. Republicans, on the other hand, have sought to make it more difficult for communities to challenge projects they don’t like – in addition to including less politically feasible proposals tobolster oil and gas.The Levin-Casten bill is similar to a discussion draft unveiled by the two lawmakers in April, with Levin saying the pair just made “tweaks here and there” in response to feedback.In its current form, the legislation has virtually no chance of passing. Still, its introduction further solidifies a starting point for House Democrats. Senate Democrats have their own legislation with many similar goals to the Levin-Casten bill.
GOP clash nixes Johnson plan for floor showdown on surveillance reforms -Grumbling over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) plans for a floor showdown on competing House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee bills has punted the debate over how to reform the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers. The House Rules Committee pulled consideration of the two bills after a GOP conference meeting that was staged as a debate over reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA), which allows the government to spy on foreigners overseas. But the differences between the two pieces of legislation took a backseat to Johnson’s plan for resolving a months-long standoff over how to reconcile differences between the two bills, thwarting his plan for a “Queen of the Hill” battle that would bring both to the floor for a vote. While the unusual process would allow consideration of both bills, it would not allow for amendments, alarming members who want to hash out differences between the two approaches. “I don’t think that’s the way to do business. What we’re going to do is we’re gonna take two bills that we have strong disagreements on and say, ‘Sorry, take it or leave it. A or B?’” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), another Rules member, also dismissed the process, saying “It’s not a beauty pageant.” “It’s not the best way, you don’t flip a coin,” he added. A FISA 702 extension has been included in the defense policy bill, which if approved would buy the House until mid-April to find a solution. But the failure to follow through with Johnson’s preferred approach is yet another example of the deep divisions in the GOP — ones that are not easily managed. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), a Judiciary member, said he believes Johnson needs to back one of the two proposals, adding that the Queen of the Hill idea “epitomizes Congress’s stupidity.” Johnson elected to go with the uncommon procedure after the two panels split over how to reform FISA 702, which sweeps up information of Americans who communicate with foreign targets. It’s a database of information the intelligence community argues they need real-time access to in order to thwart terrorism, but one that has also been abused by the FBI.
Top Pentagon policy official stepping down amid Tuberville holds - Top Pentagon policy official Mara Karlin is stepping down from her role at the end of the month, leaving an even bigger gap in confirmed Department of Defense (DOD) leaders thanks to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) continued hold on numerous senior military and civilian nominees. Karlin — who was key in helping develop the Biden administration’s National Defense Strategy and most recently served as acting under secretary of defense for policy — is leaving the Defense Department for academia at the end of the year, acting Undersecretary of Defense for policy Sasha Baker said in a statement. “I deeply appreciate Dr. Karlin’s dedication, strategic acumen, and her profound commitment to public service,” Baker said in the statement. “Her contributions significantly strengthened the department’s strategic approach and preparedness for future security challenges. As Dr. Karlin embarks on her next chapter, we wish her the very best and are confident that her impact on national security will continue to resonate for years to come.” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs Melissa Dalton will take over Karlin’s role when she leaves. Karlin’s exit means the top two positions in DOD’s policy office and the top official in charge of Pentagon strategy will be filled by acting officials until those nominated for the roles are voted through in the Senate. Tuberville since March had held up hundreds of military nominations, including civilians that work in the Pentagon, over his objection to the institution’s abortion policy. Last week he lifted his blockade, but he is still standing firm on 11 officers nominated for four-star positions as well as senior DOD civilian nominations. Karlin since April 2021 had worked as the assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities before moving to acting deputy undersecretary for policy in July. But when then-Under Secretary of Defense for policy Colin Kahl stepped down, Baker took up his position.
Air Force Punishes 15 Service Members in Wake of Teixeira Leak at Massachusetts Guard Base -The Air Force announced Monday that 15 Air National Guard enlisted troops and officers have been punished in connection to classified information allegedly leaked by a 21-year-old airman at a Massachusetts base earlier this year, citing a "lack of supervision" that enabled the incident. The announcement coincided with the release of an Air Force inspector general report that found members of Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira's unit failed to take proper action after becoming aware of him seeking the intelligence, but it found no evidence that any of his supervisors knew that he was allegedly leaking the information online. Teixeira, who worked at Otis Air National Guard Base, was arrested earlier this year following long-running leaks on an online platform used by gamers that disclosed classified information about the war in Ukraine and U.S. relations with allies. He was charged in April with unauthorized retention, removal and transmission of national defense information and classified documents. He faces six counts for the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and is still awaiting a trial date after having filed a plea of not guilty in June. Starting on Sept. 7, "Air National Guard leaders initiated disciplinary and other administrative actions against 15 individuals, ranging in rank from E-5 to O-6, for dereliction in the performance of duties," Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement on Monday. Punishment ranged from relieving personnel from their positions, including command positions, to nonjudicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Col. Sean Riley, commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, and Col. Enrique Dovalo, commander of the 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, a subordinate unit at the base, both received administrative action. Riley was relieved of command for cause, and Dovalo's punishment was not disclosed. Other prior commanders from the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron who were previously suspended in the wake of the Teixeira leak investigation were permanently removed, the Air Force said.
GOP smells blood in the water in elite school antisemitism controversy - Republicans hostile to the way elite universities shape the nation’s cultural and political debates are smelling blood in the water after a disastrous hearing in which the presidents of three schools refused to say students who called for the genocide of Jews would be disciplined. One of the presidents, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, has already resigned, and Republicans are seeking to stoke pressure on the other two who testified last week, Claudine Gay of Harvard University and Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “One down. Two to go,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), whose questioning of the three presidents went viral after they gave evasive answers to her queries, said of Magill’s resignation. The House Education Committee has now announced a full investigation of antisemitism at universities, signaling GOP lawmakers have no intention of letting the issue quiet down anytime soon. GOP lawmakers who have long decried the handling of America’s top schools see last week’s hearing as a crucial moment of truth, and they want a price to be paid for it. “Republicans have been trying this for a long time,” said Ryan Enos, professor of government and faculty associate in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard, one of the schools under fire, when asked if Republicans could use the momentum against higher education to advance certain policy proposals. One of the most popular GOP education targets in recent years has been schools’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which specifically came under fire at the Education panel hearing, with some conservatives blaming them in part for rising antisemitism. Other GOP lawmakers threatened to go after the schools’ prodigious federal grants for science and research if they failed to mend their ways. Enos said that “Republicans have been finding reasons to chip away” at higher education “over time.” Chairwoman for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) announced last week her panel would be investigating the three schools after their presidents said at the hearing that it would depend on the context if a call for the genocide of Jewish people would be considered harassment on campus. Although those three are private institutions, Foxx said in an interview that she would be willing to cut public funds from colleges that are not doing enough to combat antisemitism. “We cannot tolerate taxpayer dollars going to institutions that allow for antisemitism and for calling for genocide of the Jews,” she said. In announcing the formal probe, Foxx had warned that “other universities should expect investigations as well, as their litany of similar failures has not gone unnoticed.” “This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the Committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” she said in a statement. More than 70 lawmakers signed a bipartisan letter calling for the three presidents to be removed.
House to vote to condemn college presidents’ antisemitism testimony - The House is set to vote Wednesday on a bipartisan resolution condemning the congressional testimony of three university presidents at a hearing last week that centered on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — whose direct line of questioning during the hearing has gone viral — introduced the resolution on Tuesday with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). “This is not a partisan issue but a question of moral clarity,” Stefanik wrote in a press release introducing the resolution. “Which is why our colleagues from across the aisle have come together with us to introduce a resolution condemning antisemitism on university campuses as well as the morally bankrupt testimonies of the University Presidents from Harvard, [University of Pennsylvania], and MIT during last week’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing.” During the hearing, Stefanik had pressed the university presidents on whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their schools’ respective codes of conduct, and all three struggled to respond directly. The moment was captured on video and widely circulated, resulting in broad international backlash. The university presidents have subsequently apologized, and Penn President Liz Magill resigned on Saturday. The resolution calls on the other two university presidents to “follow suit” and resign. The resolution, announced in Scalise’s daily floor schedule, also broadly condemns the rise of antisemitism on university campuses around the country. “These are Ivy League university presidents that were asked a softball question: ‘Does calling for the genocide of Jews count as harassment under their school’s policies?’ That’s not a trick question, and it’s infuriating that these leaders of young people would try to equivocate with some nonsense about ‘it depends on the context,’” Moskowitz said. “Sub out Jews for any other persecuted minority group and they would never have given that answer. They failed the test, and just like their students there are no makeups,” he added.
Raskin asks how Stefanik can question anyone about antisemitism when she supports Trump -- Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Sunday blasted Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), whose questioning of three elite universities’ presidents during a hearing on antisemitism went viral last week, over the House GOP conference chair’s support for former President Trump.“Where does Elise Stefanik get off lecturing anybody about antisemitism, when she’s the hugest supporter of Donald Trump, who traffics in antisemitism all the time?” Raskin asked during an interview with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi.“She didn’t utter a peep of protest when he had Kanye West and Nick Fuentes over for dinner,” Raskin said. “Nick Fuentes, who doubts whether Oct. 7 even took place because he thinks it was some kind of suspicious propaganda move by the Israelis.“The Republican Party is filled with people who are entangled with antisemitism like that,” Raskin added, “and yet somehow she gets on our high horse and lectures a Jewish college president from MIT.”
Supreme Court wipes rulings on federal employee, military vaccine mandates - The Supreme Court wiped a series of rulings implicating the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates for federal employees and military service members, preventing the decisions from holding the weight of precedent in the future. With the mandates rescinded, the justices sided with the Biden administration Monday in agreeing to set aside the lower rulings after deeming the disputes moot, thus providing a clean legal slate for any future vaccine mandates. Courts had come to conflicting conclusions in the cases, but before the Supreme Court could weigh in on any of the appeals, the vaccine requirements were canceled. At issue before the justices was what legal remedy was appropriate given the developments. On the federal employee mandate, two appeals courts had arrived at opposite conclusions about whether federal employees had the ability to challenge the constitutionality of the mandate in court, or whether they were required to instead first go through the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). In one case brought by a Navy civilian employee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in March that federal law required the MSPB. A few days later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued a conflicting decision in favor of an organization called Feds for Medical Freedom and various other plaintiffs. Biden rescinded his executive order that established the federal employee vaccine mandate in early May, before the Supreme Court could weigh in on either case. In the military vaccine mandate case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued an injunction preventing the Air Force from enforcing the requirement against religious objectors. Weeks later, Congress passed legislation directing Biden’s defense secretary to rescind the mandate before the Supreme Court could consider any appeal. In all three disputes, the administration urged the justices to issue what is known as a Munsingwear vacatur, which sets aside a lower ruling in certain instances of mootness. The Navy employee who lost in the lower court agreed, while the victorious plaintiffs in the other federal employee case and the military vaccine case urged the Supreme Court to let their rulings stand. Those plaintiffs argued that Munsingwear wasn’t applicable because the Biden administration had voluntarily mooted its own case. One group noted that other pandemic-era measures were dismantled months earlier, while the vaccine mandate remained in effect.
Biden Scores Win As Supreme Court Throws Out Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Cases --The Supreme Court on Dec. 11 threw out three cases involving federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, handing a win to President Joe Biden and his administration.In unsigned rulings, the justices said that rulings against mandates imposed by President Biden and the U.S. military have been vacated.They also remanded the cases back to lower courts with instructions for the courts to vacate preliminary injunctions that had been in place against the administration as moot.The decisions mean that the rulings won't act as precedent in future vaccine mandate cases.“We believe the United States Constitution clearly does not permit the federal government to force federal workers—or any law abiding citizen—to inject their bodies with something against their will. In fact, the freedom to control your own body and your own medical information is so basic that, without those liberties, it is impossible to truly be ‘free’ at all," Marcus Thornton, president of Feds for Freedom, said in a statement. "We are disappointed that the Supreme Court dodged these important Constitutional arguments and instead chose to vacate our case on technicalities."One case was brought by Feds for Freedom and involved President Biden's mandate for federal employees. The mandate was imposed in 2021, with the president claiming that vaccination was the "best way to slow the spread of COVID-19" and that requiring vaccination would "promote the health and safety of the federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service.”An appeals court this year reinforced a preliminary injunction entered by a lower court, ruling that the court system—not a board composed of people appointed by the president—has jurisdiction over the case. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown had ruled previously that the president lacked the authority to impose the vaccine mandate.Another case was brought by a federal worker who recovered from COVID-19 and thus enjoyed some protection against the illness but was still being forced to receive a vaccination under President Biden's mandate because the government refused to formally recognize the post-infection protection. Jason Payne, the worker, said the mandate exceeded President Biden's authority.In the third case, federal judges ruled that the U.S. Air Force's handling of its mandate was illegal, and prevented the branch from taking disciplinary action against members who had requested religious exemptions.Government lawyers urged the Supreme Court to rule the decisions in these cases as moot, given that the vaccine mandates were ended.
House votes on health care transparency bill after stall -The House was set to vote Monday night on a bipartisan bill aimed at increasing transparency among insurers, hospitals and pharmacy benefit managers. The Lower Costs, More Transparency Leadership Act — the work of the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Education and the Workforce committees — was originally scheduled for a vote in September, but was abruptly pulled amid a broader fight over government spending and concerns that there weren’t enough Democrats on board. The legislation is being voted on under a suspension of the rules, meaning it needs the support of two-thirds of the chamber to pass. It passed the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously, but in September it faced opposition from key Democrats like Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, who opposed the bill because it did not contain any provisions regarding private equity ownership of health facilities. Among other provisions, the bill would ban spread pricing from pharmacy benefit managers and add site-neutral payment reforms to Medicare, meaning reimbursement is the same for the same medical care, regardless of where it’s delivered. The site-neutral payment provisions have drawn the ire of the hospital industry, which support other parts of the bill. The legislation “is a victory for everyone who has ever struggled to navigate and understand the cost of a health care procedure or a prescription drug at the pharmacy counter,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce panel, said ahead of the vote. “These measures will empower consumers and employers with data on the prices hospitals charge and the rates insurers pay so that they can compare prices and save money,” he added.
Supreme Court takes up abortion pill dispute -- The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will take up a case that could limit the availability of the common abortion pill mifepristone, bringing the issue of abortion back to the court more than a year after the justices ended the constitutional right to one. The court granted a request from the Justice Department and one from Danco, the manufacturer of Mifeprex, the branded version of mifepristone. The brief orders consolidate the two cases and set them up to be heard this term, with a decision expected by the end of June. While the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and has appeared hostile to abortion, an emergency ruling by the Court in April has kept access to mifepristone unchanged. Mifepristone is widely used across the U.S. to end a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks of gestation. It was first approved in 2000, and about half of all abortions nationwide are performed using mifepristone as the first of a two-pill regimen, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research and advocacy group. It is also used to help manage miscarriages. The lawsuit is not focused on abortion access, but rather the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approval process. The decision could have major implications for the biopharma industry and FDA’s approval authority. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled in August that mifepristone — both Mifeprex and its generic counterpart — can stay on the market in states where abortion is legal, but changes the FDA made since 2016 to ease access to the drug were not allowed because the agency did not follow proper procedure in enacting them. The Biden administration and the manufacturer both appealed that latter portion to the Supreme Court, urging the justices to preserve the recent changes as lawful. Medical associations, drug companies and the FDA have all said mifepristone is safe and has much lower risks of complications than other common drugs like Tylenol or Viagra. The group of anti-abortion providers that brought the suit, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal powerhouse, urged the high court to stay out the case. But the ADF told the justices that if they did hear the appeals from the Justice Department and Danco, they should review the entirety of the earlier ruling — including whether mifepristone should remain on the market at all. The Supreme Court’s orders reject that request, agreeing only to weigh in on the changes made after 2016 that eased access. Those changes included allowing the drugs to be sent by mail, and extending the window in which mifepristone can be used to terminate pregnancies from seven weeks’ gestation to 10 weeks.
Supreme Court will hear challenge to Jan. 6 obstruction charge -- The Supreme Court indicated Wednesday it will take up a challenge to an obstruction law used against scores of Jan. 6 rioters — and former President Trump — this term. Joseph Fischer, a former police officer accused of being a Jan. 6 rioter, petitioned the high court to eliminate one of the several counts he faces: obstruction of an official proceeding. The charge criminalizes “corruptly” obstructing, impeding or interfering with an official government proceeding and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Fischer’s case is joined with two other rioters’ cases: Edward Lang and Garrett Miller. Hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have faced the same charge — the “official proceeding” being Congress’ official count of Electoral College votes, the final step of the presidential election process that certified President Biden’s win over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump himself faces the same charge in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, meaning any Supreme Court decision on the matter could affect his federal criminal case, which is expected to head to trial in Washington, D.C., early next year. Fischer’s petition to the high court argues that hundreds of cases awaiting trial would benefit from the justices’ clarification of the statute, providing “critical guidance to district courts, prosecutors and defense counsel.” Fritz Ulrich, Fischer’s lawyer, told The Hill they are “very happy” the court decided to clarify the scope of the statute. The charge stems from a law enacted in 2002 in the wake of the Enron scandal. The energy company went bankrupt and several top executives were imprisoned for fraud and other offenses. Then a senator, Biden referred to the new subsection at the time as “making it a crime for document shredding” — a sentiment noted by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in his decision to throw out Miller’s obstruction charge upon finding it did not cover his conduct. Nichols also dismissed the charge in Fischer’s and Lang’s cases.The Justice Department, now under Biden, rejected that representation in its appeal of Nichols’s decision to toss the three rioters’ obstruction charges, arguing that actions such as burning a building to conceal the bodies of murder victims would also be encompassed by the statute. “Congress prohibited conduct that intentionally and wrongfully obstructs official proceedings,” Justice Department appellate counsel James Pearce wrote. “The ordinary meaning of ‘obstruct, influence, or impede’ encompasses a range of conduct designed to frustrate an official proceeding.” In a 2-1 ruling earlier this year, the federal appeals court sided with the Justice Department by finding that Nichols wrongly dismissed the obstruction charge in the three rioters’ cases. Judge Florence Pan noted in her ruling that Nichols was the only district court judge overseeing Jan. 6 cases to rule in that manner. More than a dozen other Washington district court judges agreed with the Justice Department’s portrayal of the law. “Although the opinions of those district judges are not binding on us, the near unanimity of the rulings is striking, as well as the thorough and persuasive reasoning in the decision,” Pan wrote.
Trump lawyers say court should not rush consideration of immunity in federal Jan. 6 case - Lawyers for former President Trump argued Wednesday that a federal appeals court should not accelerate its consideration of whether he is immune from prosecution over claims related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.The attorneys said federal prosecutors are attempting to speed up the case so it can be decided before the 2024 presidential election.“The prosecution has one goal in this case: To unlawfully attempt to try, convict, and sentence President Trump before an election in which he is likely to defeat President Biden,” they wrote. “This represents a blatant attempt to interfere with the 2024 presidential election and to disenfranchise the tens of millions of voters who support President Trump’s candidacy.”Special counsel Jack Smith requested an accelerated decision in an attempt to keep with the scheduled trial date of March 4. However, Trump’s attorneys said there is no need to keep to that schedule.Trump’s lawyers have consistently attempted to delay the case. If the trial occurs after the 2024 election, he could theoretically use his influence to dismiss or challenge the case if he is elected president.“Aside from the prosecution’s unlawful partisan motives, there is no compelling reason that date must be maintained, especially at the expense of President Trump and the public’s overriding interest in ensuring these matters of extraordinary constitutional significance are decided appropriately, with full and thoughtful consideration to all relevant authorities and arguments,” his attorneys wrote.Alongside requesting an accelerated ruling from the D.C. Court of Appeals, Smith alsorequested the Supreme Court review the question of Trump’s immunity given his role as president at the time of the alleged crimes. Trump’s attorneys criticized the move, saying it prevents judges from taking their time to answer “novel, complex, and sensitive questions of profound importance.”The attorneys also argued that keeping to a sped-up schedule would require staff to work through the holidays.The Supreme Court is expected to decide on whether to hear Smith’s request on Trump’s immunity by next week. The court has a history of hearing high-profile cases involving presidents quickly, including the case at the center of the Watergate scandal and the Florida case during the 2000 election.
Axelrod says WSJ poll ‘very, very dark’ for Biden campaign -Former President Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod said a recent Wall Street Journal pollshowing President Biden’s approval rating hitting a new low is “very, very dark” for Biden’s reelection campaign.“You know, job approval down, ratings generally down, most of the comparatives with [former President] Trump … not good,” Axelrod said on the podcast “Hacks on Tap,” which he co-hosts with former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and political media consultant Mike Murphy.About 37 percent of respondents in the Journal poll, released Saturday, said they approve of the job Biden is doing as president, while 61 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view.In a hypothetical match-up between Biden and Trump — who continues to lead in GOP primary polls — Biden trailed the former president by 4 points, with 47 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Trump and 43 percent choosing Biden.Axelrod said he was most alarmed by the numbers regarding voters’ perception of Biden’s and Trump’s policies when president. About 23 percent of voters said Biden’s policies have helped them, while 49 percent said the same of Trump’s policies. About 53 percent said Biden’s policies hurt them personally, and 37 percent said the same for Trump.“You know what I worry about … from a Biden standpoint is there are the kinds of things you get when people are starting to rationalize their votes — ‘Oh look, they’re ready to fire Biden, that’s a problem,'” Axelrod said. “And they just put out another photo op with the Bidenomics sign next to him … it’s just unbelievable to me.”
Inside the House GOP’s key Biden impeachment claims - As House Republicans forge ahead with a vote to formalize an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, they are using some new details and testimony to prop up hotly disputed allegations that he abused power to benefit his family. Months of investigation have given the House GOP thousands of pages of subpoenaed bank records, testimony from key business partners, and bombshell allegations from IRS whistleblowers who were investigating the president’s son, Hunter Biden. But they are also turning back to long-circulated claims about Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where Hunter Biden served on the board. Democrats say the GOP’s key claims have been largely debunked, with White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams saying in a recent statement that the House GOP impeachment probe is a “baseless stunt” that “is not rooted in facts or reality.” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told reporters he sees disputed claims surrounding Burisma as central to the impeachment investigation. “The impeachable offense is — I think, the key thing is in Burisma,” Jordan told reporters in a recent briefing. For Republicans, Burisma brings up accusations of both bribery and abuse of power — two clear paths to get to an impeachable offense. But so far, they have struggled to show a smoking gun while they have dismissed evidence poking holes in their allegations. The core allegation was previously pushed by former President Trump and led to his first impeachment: that Biden conditioned a $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine on firing state prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was seen as passive in going after corruption in Ukraine. The GOP argues the loan guarantee benefited Burisma and by extension Hunter Biden. Republicans earlier this year released an FD-1023 FBI form in which a trusted FBI informant relayed a conversation with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky, who alluded to paying $5 million to “one Biden” and “to another Biden.” But the FBI did not corroborate the information upon further investigation, and the informant noted that it’s common for businessmen in Russia and Ukraine to “brag or show-off” about seeking to influence politicians. Zlochevsky later appeared to refute this claim in information supplied to Congress during Trump’s impeachment through an exchange captured with Vitaly Pruss, an associate of Rudy Giuliani. Other details of Biden’s work in Ukraine also undercut key GOP claims that Biden’s effort to topple the Ukrainian prosecutor was done to benefit his son. State Department officials already interviewed by congressional investigators testified that withholding the aid was a matter of bipartisan U.S. policy and backed by the international community. State Department emails show the U.S. demanded progress on corruption reforms to secure funding, determining in 2016 that those conditions had “not yet been met.” Plus, Shokin’s deputy has said that an investigation into the company had gone dormant before then-Vice President Biden’s intervention, undercutting the idea that Shokin’s firing would help Burisma and Hunter Biden. And then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt criticized Shokin for failing to work withUnited Kingdom authorities who had just seized $23 million from Zlochevsky, who was also the country’s ecology minister. The appointment of a new prosecutor ran the risk of more scrutiny.
Let The Games Begin: Biden Impeachment Inquiry Authorized By House -- The House on Wednesday approved the launch of a formal impeachment probe into President Biden, just hours after Hunter Biden ditched Congressional testimony on Capitol Hill.The 221-212 vote was along party lines, with Republicans formalizing a processes which began weeks ago, and Democrats criticizing the vote as a political stunt for retribution over the impeachments of former President Donald Trump - who was impeached for asking Ukraine about obvious Biden corruption, and his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riot. Formalizing the impeachment process will grant Congress additional power by improving the likelihood that a court will authorize access to grand jury materials, as well as boosting the chances that Republicans will be able to overcome objections such as executive privilege, the Wall Street Journal reports. The White House several weeks ago challenged House subpoenas and demands for transcribed interviews with Biden family members on the grounds that the existing impeachment probe, launched by GOP leaders in September, wasn’t valid because the House didn’t vote to authorize it.“The impeachment inquiry is necessary now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told reporters this week, “because we’ve come to this impasse where following the facts where they lead is hitting a stone wall because the White House is impeding that investigation.” -WSJThe inquiry has so far been two-pronged, with the House Oversight Committee focusing on the Biden family's financial malarkey, and the House Judiciary Committee focusing on on the weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI."This vote will allow the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees to continue their investigations. The evidence mounting against the president cannot be ignored," said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer in Wednesday comments to reporters."We know Joe Biden has lied to or misled the American people about his knowledge of his son's business dealings over and over again, and it is very likely that he was involved in and benefited from his family's corrupt business dealings as well.""No amount of evidence could convince Republicans that Joe Biden did nothing wrong because they’re not looking for truth, they’re looking for revenge," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules committee, ahead of the vote.Earlier Wednesday, Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to appear before the House to testify about his family's dealings, instead saying in a Capitol Hill speech: "Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business."
Hunter Biden Files To Dismiss Gun Charges, Arguing "Vindictive Prosecution" In 1 Of 4 Motions --Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, filed four separate motions on Monday to dismiss a case charging him with three gun-related crimes.Attorneys for Mr. Biden are arguing that the now-defunct plea bargain presented this summer nulled his gun charges in exchange for a guilty plea on tax misdemeanors, that special counsel David Weiss was "unlawfully appointed" to his position, and that the gun charges are unconstitutional. Lastly, he argued to dismiss on the basis of a "selective and vindictive prosecution."The defense also filed a motion for a hearing for discovery, to argue some of these issues.In addition to the three gun crimes, Mr. Biden has been charged with nine tax crimes in California.Earlier on Monday, Abbe David Lowell, legal counsel for Mr. Biden, told MSNBC he believes the prosecution was politically motivated."Are you asking whether he should have accountability for the mistakes he made while he was addicted? Sure he should. And if the U.S. attorney had followed through, and continued on what was supposed to happen in June, there would have been accountability," Mr. Lowell said.He said Mr. Weiss should have accepted the plea deal."Hunter was in court that day to have accountability and to show remorse and to take responsibility for his conduct," Mr. Lowell said, accusing the prosecutors of backtracking "after seeing the criticism."The plea bargain had been widely panned as a sweetheart deal by House Republicans, including several overseeing investigations into the Biden family's financial dealings. During Mr. Biden's initial arraignment in Delaware, the federal judge had questioned both parties about the terms, and the deal fell apart within minutes.Mr. Weiss has since pulled the case and deal, which Mr. Lowell argues is a violation."In exchange for Mr. Biden giving up various rights—including his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent by agreeing to the Statement of Facts drafted by the prosecution and numerous restrictions on his liberty—the prosecution agreed to provide him immunity for any offense concerning his purchase of a firearm (among other offenses)," the first motion to dismiss reads.Mr. Weiss had argued that the deal was never formally entered into and no longer holds.On MSNBC, Mr. Lowell did not refute the tax evasion allegations, nor his client's drug addiction during the period when he bought and owned a gun.
Hunter Biden appears at Capitol, defies subpoena from House Republicans After weeks of back and forth and a threat to hold him in contempt of Congress, Hunter Biden briefly appeared in the Capitol complex on Wednesday, making a public statement outside the building instead of showing for his scheduled deposition following a subpoena from House Republicans. Hunter Biden railed against the investigation from House Republicans, blasting the probe ahead of a vote to ignite an impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden. He said he was at the Capitol to testify in a public setting — bucking investigators’ request for a closed-door deposition. “For six years, I’ve been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting. ‘Where’s Hunter?’” Hunter Biden said in a statement to reporters. “Well, here’s my answer. I am here.” “Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business — Not as a practicing lawyer. Not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not my investment at all nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist,” he said, running through a number of key aspects of the GOP probes. “There’s no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen,” Biden added. Defying the subpoena runs the risk Republicans will hold him in contempt of Congress — one that would add to the mounting legal trouble faced by the president’s son. “We’re going to move forward with contempt proceedings…there’s a process we have to follow but we plan to do that,” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Jordan had moved to compel Hunter Biden’s testimony as they push forward with an impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden. “Chairman Jordan and I have been very clear when we issued a lawful subpoena to the president son, that we expect him to come in and be deposed. This is a normal process and investigation,” Comer said on Wednesday. Jordan reiterated that as well, noting the need to go through information they’ve gleaned from thousands of pages of bank records. “Every single investigation I’ve been involved in, you bring people in for an interview behind closed doors where you can get those facts, and then as the chairman said, we’d love for him to come [in] public,” he said. House Democrats, however, defended Hunter Biden’s choice, noting that Comer had previously offered to “drop everything” if the president’s son wanted to testify publicly and accusing the GOP of reneging. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Oversigh Committee, said he was “disappointed” that the panel did not hear from Hunter Biden, something he said could have provided evidence to undercut many of the GOP claims. He also attacked the investigation itself, arguing that Republicans have failed to pinpoint wrongdoing by Biden in an aimless investigation. “You know, mysteries are called a ‘who done it?’ because it starts with a crime and then you try to determine who committed it. This is more like a what is it? Not a who done it? We don’t know what the crime is,” he said. “All of the evidence demonstrates, beyond any reasonable doubt, that President Joe Biden is not guilty of any impeachable offense that we can determine.”
NYT Doctors Hunter Biden Quote About Joe Biden's 'Financial' Involvement In Business Dealings - The New York Times has doctored Hunter Biden's quote about his father being involved in his business dealings, as one does (if you're an establishment mouthpiece). In the original quote, Hunter said: "Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not *financially* involved in my business." The Times chose misinformation instead, alleging Hunter said: "Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not involved in my business," omitting the enormously significant 'financially' qualifier. Vastly different, but then again what did you expect from fake news?
GOP senators soften skepticism of Trump - Senate Republicans allied with former President Trump are stepping up calls for the rest of the GOP to rally around him as the party’s inevitable nominee for president and warn that fellow Republicans who hold back are giving aid and comfort to Joe Biden. Trump’s commanding lead in the polls has strengthened his influence with Republicans in Congress, tilting political momentum on Capitol Hill in favor of demands for major border security reforms and away from funding the war in Ukraine. GOP senators have softened their public skepticism about the push in the House to impeach Biden — which Trump has encouraged House lawmakers to pursue — and have largely stopped entertaining the hope that someone other than Trump may emerge as the victor in next year’s primary. The failure of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to break through as the viable alternative to Trump in any of the four Republican presidential debates is prompting Trump’s Senate allies to now call for an early end to the race. “I think it’s time. There are four other people still in the race, none of them are above 10 percent. Trump’s numbers are steady. Look, you either love Donald Trump or you hate him; you’re not going to change anyone’s minds now,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said of DeSantis, Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. “They’re all competing for second place, looks like to me, and really hurting each other, hurting their own reputation and hurting the party,” Marshall said after the fourth debate. “At this point, they all had their opportunity. All they’re doing is hurting the Republican Party and paving the way for Joe Biden to get reelected,” he said. Marshall became the 13th Senate Republican to endorse Trump last month. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who endorsed Trump in September, said “I don’t see a pathway for anybody else.” “If you’re not rallying around him, you’re giving tacit support to Biden,” he said. The growing conviction on Capitol Hill that Trump will be the GOP nominee for president comes as conservative populists are gaining influence over legislative decisions. The balance of power in the congressional leadership appears to have shifted toward Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who endorsed Trump before Thanksgiving. Johnson has led the party in insisting that Ukraine funding be matched with major border security reform, an entanglement of issues that threatens the passage of any kind of foreign aid package with Ukraine money before Christmas. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has come under strong pressure from Senate conservatives to fully back Johnson’s demands, which he’s done. As a result, the bipartisan effort to fund the war in Ukraine has stalled, and border security, a signature Trump issue, is dominating the congressional debate.
Michael Cohen’s lawyer possibly included fake cases in filing, federal judge saysA lawyer for Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for President Trump, may have included fake cases in a November filing, a federal judge said. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman questioned cases highlighted in a motion by David M. Schwartz, a lawyer for Cohen, to have Cohen’s supervised release ended early in a Tuesday filing. Cohen pleaded guilty to charges including tax evasion and campaign finance violations back in 2018 and was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of supervised release, but only spent a little over a year in prison. Furman noted three cases that Schwartz mentioned in the November filing, saying “[a]s far as the Court can tell, none of these cases exist.”“In light of the foregoing, Mr. Schwartz shall, no later than December 19, 2023, provide copies of the three cited decisions to the Court,” Furman said in the filing. Cohen, once an ally of Trump, has turned on him in recent years. In the midst of his own legal woes, he has gone after his former boss for his own. He took a jab at the former president for not testifying in his New York civil fraud trial Monday.“He’s scared, and he’s rightfully scared,” Cohen said in an interview on CNN. “Everybody’s talking about how, you know, potentially, ‘The lawyers gave him the right advice, that he finally took the right advice.’ Knowing Donald for a decade-and-a-half, I can assure you it had absolutely nothing to do with advice of counsel.”The former president was expected to take the stand at the beginning of the week. However, he backed out of doing so Sunday.
Is a president immune from prosecution? The Supreme Court will decide. The most promising criminal case against Donald Trump is the election interference case in DC before Judge Tanya Chutkan. The judge is committed to a March 4 trial date, one day before the Super Tuesday primaries. Chutkan has already made the first moves towards jury selection, imposed a gag order (now essentially affirmed on appeal), and rejected on grounds of presidential immunity and double jeopardy Trump’s bid to dismiss the indictment. But Trump is trying everything he can to delay the trial until after the 2024 election. He vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court, where two justices lean way to the right and three more were appointed by Trump himself. In a stunning and risky gambit, Special Counsel Jack Smith today asked the Supreme Court to decide this issue of presidential immunity right away, choosing to leapfrog the DC Circuit in the interests of speed and go directly to the court of last resort, following the scenario that occurred in the famous 1974 Nixon tapes case. The DC Circuit has recognized Chutkan’s commitment to a speedy trial. In its opinion modifying, but essentially affirming, Chutkan’s “gag order” and restraining Trump from threatening witnesses and court personnel, the appellate judges dropped this luscious bombon page 48 of their ruling: “the general election is almost a year away, and will long postdate the trial in this case.” Things seemed to be roiling inexorably towards trial. But last week, Trump filed a motion saying he was entitled to an automatic stay of all proceedings in the D.C. case because the immunity and double jeopardy decisions by the judge, which he is appealing, must be resolved before anything else can happen in Chutkan’s court — no discovery, no gag order, no decisions on pre-trial motions, nada. And, for once, Trump may have the better part of the argument. All Trump did to throttle the proceeding was file a piece of paper called a “Notice of Appeal.” This means he wants the DC Circuit to review Chutkan’s decision on presidential immunity before anything else happens. Now here’s the wrinkle.Under a 1982 Supreme Court case called Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount, when a party takes an appeal, it suspends the lower court’s power as to “aspects of the case involved in the appeal.” In other words, the lower court is divested of its jurisdiction to act in the case. If Judge Chutkan’s immunity decision is reversed, there will no longer be a case, so the effect of the Griggsdecision could delay the start of the trial.Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion with Judge Chutkan that says, in effect, “wait a minute.” He argues that “any number of matters could arise in this case that are not involved in the appeal,” and Judge Chutkan should continue to act on them while the appeal worms its way through the appellate court in order to “ensure that trial proceeds promptly” if Judge Chutkan’s decision that the case should not be dismissed on immunity/double jeopardy grounds is affirmed — which it very likely will be.
Special Counsel’s Supreme Court move intensifies threat to Trump - A dramatic move by special counsel Jack Smith has put the issue of former President Trump’s trials — and their timing — front and center once again. In a surprise filing Monday, Smith sought to get the Supreme Court to rule promptly on Trump’s argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office. The bigger purpose is to try to make sure that Trump’s criminal culpability or innocence — at least on federal charges relating to attempts to overturn the 2020 election — is established before voters decide whether to put him back into the White House. “It is of imperative public importance that [Trump’s] claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that [Trump’s] trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” Smith wrote. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the trial, has already ruled that the former commander in chief can indeed be prosecuted. Chutkan wrote that “former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability” and that therefore Trump did not possess “a lifelong ‘get out of jail free’ pass.” But the Trump team appealed that decision. The fear for Smith and his team is that letting the appellate process play out would increase the chances that an eventual Trump trial would take place only after the 2024 election — if at all. If Trump becomes the GOP nominee, as seems likely, and wins the general election, he could then order the Justice Department to discontinue the case against him. Team Trump, predictably, reacted with fury to the Smith gambit. A statement from the Trump campaign, attributed to an unnamed spokesperson, alleged that Smith was “obsessed with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election with the goal of preventing President Trump from retaking the Oval Office.” Upping the rhetorical anger another notch, the spokesperson accused Smith of being a “henchman” of President Biden, of being “deranged” and of employing “authoritarian tactics.” Legal observers and Trump critics, however, praised Smith’s move. “I think it’s a masterstroke,” said Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general. “Once you see it, it seems obvious. But I don’t know anyone who anticipated it.”
Trump campaign criticizes special counsel for Supreme Court move - Former President Trump’s campaign railed against special counsel Jack Smith’s request for the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump has immunity from federal prosecution, accusing Smith of launching a “Hail Mary” to keep Trump from retaking the White House in 2024. Smith asked the Supreme Court on Monday to immediately weigh in on whether Trump has immunity from prosecution in the federal case accusing the former president of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The move is part of an effort by the special counsel to keep the March trial on track. “Crooked Joe Biden’s henchman, Deranged Jack Smith is so obsessed with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election with the goal of preventing President Trump from retaking the Oval Office, as the President is poised to do, that Smith is willing to try for a Hail Mary by racing to the Supreme Court and attempting to bypass the appellate process,” a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign said in a statement Monday afternoon. The spokesperson repeated Trump’s longtime assertion that the case against the former president is “completely politically motivated.” Trump has argued he is immune from the Department of Justice (DOJ) charges on the grounds that his actions leading up the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot were protected by presidential immunity. The former president is charged with four felony counts over allegations he was involved in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and stood at the center of a campaign to block the certification of votes on Jan. 6. Earlier this month, federal Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s immunity argument in a ruling, stating the U.S. has only one president at a time and whatever immunities a president used to hold does not equal a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.” Trump appealed Chutkan’s ruling to the D.C. Court of Appeals last week. Smith is asking that the issue be taken up by the Supreme Court before the D.C. Circuit issues its ruling, pointing to the upcoming March 4 trial date. Smith requested that the nation’s highest court expedite its decision on whether to hear the case, and if they do, he also asked the justices to accelerate their consideration of the case. Trump’s campaign pushed back on Smith’s argument Monday, claiming it only stands to “injure” Trump and his supporters. “There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters,” the campaign spokesperson said. “President Trump will continue to fight for Justice and oppose these authoritarian tactics.”
Senate Democrats press Thomas to recuse himself from Trump immunity case - Senate Democrats are calling on conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from ruling on former President Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other Democrats on the panel argue that Thomas faces a conflict of interest because his wife Ginni was outspoken in support of Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. “There are so many unanswered questions about the relationship of the justice and his family with the Trump administration that I think in the interests of justice, he should recuse himself,” Durbin said. Durbin added that “of course” he is concerned that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, to which Trump appointed three justices, could wind up ruling that the former president is immune from prosecution by special counsel Jack Smith or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) over actions he took while president to block the peaceful transfer of power in 2021. “If we say certain people are above the law, I believe it diminishes values in this country,” he said. Durbin and other Senate Democrats are stepping up pressure on Thomas to recuse himself from hearing Trump’s immunity claim because they don’t have much faith that Chief Justice John Roberts would enforce ethical or recusal guidelines among members of the court. “When they came back with their supposed code of conduct, it didn’t address recusal like we did in the bill that we passed,” he added, referring to the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act, which the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced in July. Durbin made his comments after Smith, the special counsel, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to consider and issue a speedy ruling on Trump’s immunity claim. Trump’s trial on four felony counts charging him with attempting to subvert democracy is scheduled to begin March 4.
Why Trump’s dictator remarks are working for him - Republicans are mostly shrugging off former President Trump’s comments about being a dictator for a day if he wins reelection to a second term. Trump, who doubled down on his dictator comments over the weekend, has faced sparse pushback from others in the GOP and in most cases has seen Republican lawmakers and allies rally to his defense and brush off the comments as yet another manufactured media storyline. The reaction underscores Trump’s enduring power in the party and serves as the latest example of how legal woes and incendiary rhetoric have done little to damage his standing with GOP voters. One former Trump White House official told The Hill the reaction to the former president’s remarks “plays into his hands,” arguing obsessive media coverage and outrage among Democrats and Trump critics only serves to reinforce the “us against them” narrative Trump has pushed for years. Trump initially set off a furor last week when he told Fox News host Sean Hannity at an Iowa town hall that he did not plan to be a dictator if reelected, “except for day one.” “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, no, no, no — other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator,” Trump added, drawing applause from the crowd. As if to underscore that he relished the media’s reaction to his comments, Trump at a weekend gathering of conservatives in New York singled out a New York Times piece that outlined how the former president and his allies had leaned into concerns that he would rule as an authoritarian rather than try to dispel them. “[Peter] Baker today in The New York Times said that I wanna be a dictator. I didn’t say that. I said I wanna be a dictator for one day,” Trump said at the Saturday event. “You know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall. Right? I want a wall, and I wanna drill, drill, drill.” The crowd again responded with applause and chants of “Build the wall.”
Google’s Android app store monopoly violates antitrust law, jury finds | Ars Technica -- While Epic's antitrust arguments against Google had many similarities to those in the company's earlier case against Apple, the verdicts could not have been more different. A federal jury took only a few hours of deliberation Monday afternoon to determine that Google had an illegal monopoly in the markets for Android app distribution and in-app billing services.The jury unanimously answered "yes" to all 11 questions on the verdict form, indicating that Epic had proven those monopolies existed in every worldwide market except for China. Google "engaged in anticompetitive conduct" to establish or maintain the monopoly and illegally tied the Google Play store to the use of Google Play billing, according to the verdict. The jury also agreed with Epic's arguments that programs like "Project Hug" and agreements signed with Android phone OEMs represented an "unreasonable restraint on trade," harming Epic in the process.With the verdict set, US District Judge James Donato will hold hearings next month to determine the best way to remedy Google's anticompetitive monopoly power. During the trial, Epic did not ask for monetary damages but asked that it and other developers be able to introduce their own Android app stores and use their own billing systems on Android devices "without restriction."The verdict came after closing arguments where Epic lawyer Gary Bornstein argued that Google's actions "led to higher prices for developers and consumers, as well as less innovation and quality." In his closing arguments, Google lawyer Jonathan Kravis said that the Android maker is effectively constrained in the mobile app market by Apple and that "Android phones cannot compete against the iPhone without a great app store on them.""Today’s verdict is a win for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation," Epic said in a statement on its website. "The evidence presented in this case demonstrates the urgent need for legislation and regulations that address Apple and Google strangleholds over smartphones, including with promising legislation in progress right now with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill in the UK and the Digital Markets Act in the EU."
Jury decides against Google’s app store in antitrust lawsuit -A federal jury in California sided with “Fortnite” maker Epic Games in the company’s antitrust lawsuit against Google’s Android App Store, finding the store violated antitrust laws and was illegally protected from competition.The jury in San Diego reached a unanimous verdict on Monday night after nearly three hours of deliberation following a weeks-long trial over the payment system of Google’s Play Store, which is used by hundreds of millions of people to download apps for smartphones that use Google’s Android software.The jury found for Epic Games on all 11 questions it was asked to evaluate, including over the existence of an antitrust market, Google’s anticompetitive conduct, and if Google’s violation of antitrust laws injured Epic Games.The verdict caps off a three-year legal battle between Epic Games and Google after the game developing company accused Google of shielding its Play Store from competition to continue making billions in profits, The Associated Press reported. Google collects a commission anywhere from 15 percent to 30 percent on digital purchases within apps, the news wire said.Google has argued the commissions help make up for the over $40 billion the company has spent to build the Android software which it began giving to manufacturers in 2007 to compete with Apple’s iPhone, the AP reported.Google lawyer Jonathan Kravis told the court Android phones cannot compete against the iPhone “without a great App Store on them,” and that “the competition between the app stores is tied to the competition between the phones,” per The AP.In a similar lawsuit brought against Apple by Epic Games in 2021, a judge ruled in Apple’s favor, ruling the tech giant is not an illegal monopoly, but rather has engaged in illegal anti-competitive conduct. Like Google, Apple collects a commission on payments made within apps.Epic CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the victory, writing on X, formerly Twitter, “Victory over Google!” and called the verdict a “win for all app developers and consumers around the world,” in a company memo.“It [the verdict] proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation,” Sweeney wrote.Monday’s verdict could have wide-reaching implications for app store rules in the future where developers could see greater control over the distribution of their apps and the profits collected from them, Reuters reported. This could also see Google lose billions in annual profit from Play Store commissions.
Court orders shutdown of websites said to target Microsoft, aid hackers - A federal judge has ordered three internet service providers to block multiple websites developed by the group Storm-1152, which is alleged to be the top creator and seller of fraudulent Microsoft accounts. The temporary restraining order, issued last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and made public Wednesday, is considered a major blow to a cybercrime network that has targeted companies in a variety of industries including banking. The order requires the ISPs to take down four websites run by Storm-1152. One site is said to have sold fraudulent Microsoft Outlook accounts. The rest allegedly provided artificial-intelligence-based CAPTCHA-solving services that help fraudsters evade bot-detection challenges — the identity-verification tests that ask users to pick out objects in a photo or read distorted text before creating accounts. In a blog post on the matter, Microsoft credited bot detection and the mitigation companyArkose Labs with providing "valuable threat intelligence insights" the companies used to go after Storm-1152. Among other services, Arkose Labs provides CAPTCHA defense solutions; one person in Storm-1152 had posted YouTube videos demonstrating automated solutions to Arkose Labs' CAPTCHA service, the blog post said. Three defendants are named in the restraining order: Duong Dinh Tu, Linh Van Nguyễn (also known as Nguyễn Van Linh), and Tai Van Nguyen, all based out of Vietnam. Microsoft said the three lead Storm-1152's operations and that they operated and wrote the code for the illicit websites, published detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use their products via video tutorials and provided chat services to assist those using their fraudulent services. The defendants did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment on Wednesday. Microsoft said it has asked law enforcement authorities to conduct a criminal investigation. In his findings related to the leaders of Storm-1152, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said there was "good cause" to believe that the defendants had engaged in eight criminal practices, including racketeering and trademark infringement. That justified the order to take down four websites: 1stcaptcha.com, anycaptcha.com, nonecaptcha.com, and hotmailbox.me, according to Engelmayer.
Elon Musk Says He Would Rather "Go To Prison" Than Restrict Free Speech On X - X owner Elon Musk declared during a Spaces discussion that he will never restrict free speech on the platform, no matter what entities pressure him to do so, and asserted that he would rather “go to prison” than allow it to happen.Musk’s comments came during a Spaces discussion, also featuring Alex Jones who Musk reinstated on the platform Sunday.Human Events editor Jack Posobiec asked Musk what would happen if the FBI or DHS “come to X and say ‘these posts need to be censored , this information needs to be censored.”Musk responded that the platform will remain “as transparent as possible,” adding “Basically we will see everything that is happening on the system and nothing will be hidden, that is the goal.”Musk added that “frankly if I think a government agency is breaking the law in their demands in the platform I would be prepared to go to prison personally if I think they are the ones breaking the law.”Elsewhere during the discussion, Musk explained that he reinstated Alex Jones because as a free speech absolutist he will not censor anyone on X if they have not broken the law. Here it is in its entirety:
Gilded Age for Billionaire Offspring as $5.2 Trillion Wealth Transfer Accelerates -The Swiss bank UBS released a report Thursday showing that a massive transfer of wealth from billionaire business founders to their heirs is underway and accelerating, with trillions of dollars in assets moving from those who accumulated fortunes through entrepreneurship to family members whose vast riches are owed to the simple accident of birth.In the 12-month period between April 2022 and April 2023, newly created billionaires acquired more wealth through inheritance than entrepreneurship for the first time since UBS began studying billionaire wealth trends in 2015. The bank, a friend of the super-rich, said that 53 heirs inherited nearly $151 billion in wealth during the study period, exceeding the $140.7 billion amassed by billionaire entrepreneurs."This year's report found that the majority of billionaires that accumulated wealth in the last year did so through inheritance as opposed to entrepreneurship," Benjamin Cavalli, head of strategic clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a statement. "This is a theme we expect to see more of over the next 20 years."The latest edition of the Billionaire Ambitions Report estimates that the number of global billionaires rose by 7% during the one-year period analyzed by UBS, up from 2,376 to 2,544. The U.S. alone had 751 billionaires as of April 2023, 20 more than it had in 2022.After falling in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic—during which billionaire wealth soared as millions died across the globe—billionaires' collective net worth "recovered by 9% in nominal terms from USD 11.0 trillion to USD 12.0 trillion," UBS found.UBS estimates that more than 1,000 billionaires are over the age of 70 and poised to hand a combined $5.2 trillion down to their heirs over the next several decades, perpetuating inequality that is eroding democracies and fueling social uprisings worldwide."While this great wealth handover has long been anticipated," UBS said, "data suggests that it is now gathering momentum.""A new, powerful, and unaccountable aristocracy is being created in front of our eyes."Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), told Common Dreams that "this is how wealth dynasties are formed.""The so-called 'self-made' billionaires invest in 'wealth defense' to pass as much wealth to future generations within their families," he said.Collins argued that this ongoing wealth transfer "should be an occasion for substantial inheritance taxes, but given the porous and weak state of such taxes, we're seeing dynastic oligarchies grow.""Without robust wealth and inheritance taxes, these intergenerational concentrations of wealth and power will grow," said Collins. "The children and grandchildren of today’s billionaires will dominate our future politics, economy, culture, and philanthropy—with huge billion-dollar legacy foundations. It is true that a small segment of the next generation will redeploy and redistribute some of this wealth to more socially positive ventures and organizations. But at this point, this is a tiny percent and not a substitute for a progressive tax system where the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes." The UBS report notes that billionaires with inherited wealth "seem more reticent" than first-generation billionaires to pledge their fortunes to philanthropy, which the ultra-rich often use to avoid taxes. According to UBS, just under a quarter of first- and later-generation billionaires said they are concerned about "developments in taxation," an indication that they don't believe world leaders will heed growing global calls for new taxes targeting the fortunes of the mega-rich and their offspring. Oxfam International observed earlier this year that two-thirds of countries don't have any inheritance taxes and half of the world's billionaires live in those countries, allowing them to pass huge wealth down to future generations tax-free. "A new, powerful, and unaccountable aristocracy is being created in front of our eyes," the group said.
"This Is The Big Fight!" Bitcoin Battered As Sen. Warren Unveils Bill To "Crack Down" On Crypto - Bitcoin was hit with a double-whammy today with a large liquidation of longs overnight (around $100 million)...Additionally, data from the statistics resource CoinGlass had cross-crypto long liquidations for the day stood at over $400 million.And then another leg lower as US Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation to address her concerns surrounding the alleged misuse of digital currencies in illicit activities, citing money laundering, drug trafficking, sanctions evasion, and more. Which smashed BTC down to test support just above $40,000... As Nik Hoffman reports at BitcoinMagazine, the bill, supported by a coalition within the Banking Committee, marks a significant push for increased oversight and regulation within the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency sphere. Citing risks associated with cryptocurrencies, Senator Warren stressed that digital currencies are used as an avenue for criminal activities, and that must be addressed through stringent regulatory frameworks.“The Treasury Department is making clear that we need new laws to crack down on crypto’s use in enabling terrorist groups, rogue nations, drug lords, ransomware gangs, and fraudsters to launder billions in stolen funds, evade sanctions, fund illegal weapons programs, and profit from devastating cyberattacks,” said Warren. “I’m glad that five new senators are joining the fight to take action, including three members of the Banking Committee – our bipartisan bill is the toughest proposal on the table cracking down on crypto’s illicit use and giving regulators more tools in their toolbox.” Senator Warren's bill aims to mandate stricter reporting requirements by extending the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) responsibilities, including Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements, file reports on "transactions involving unhosted wallets", and more. All in attempt to close "loopholes and bring the digital asset ecosystem into greater compliance."This bill is endorsed by Bank Policy Institute, Massachusetts Bankers Association, Transparency International U.S., Global Financial Integrity, National District Attorneys Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, AARP, National Consumer Law Center, and National Consumers League.The proposed legislation comes at a time when the popularity and adoption of Bitcoin has surged worldwide, particularly in the United States. As next month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will have to make a decision on whether to approve the US's first spot Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) or not, which if approved, could see massive institutional and retail demand for BTC.Last Thursday, Senator Warren went live on CNBC claiming that North Korea is using Bitcoin and crypto to fund nearly half of its nuclear weapons program.
‘Wallet drainer’ code added to Ledger library has crypto on edge - Users of crypto web apps are being warned to avoid the platforms until investigations into a potential cybersecurity incident affecting hardware wallet Ledger play out. Notices of malicious code were shared on social media Thursday morning, found in software libraries for Ledger’s ConnectKit, which connects blockchain apps with Ledger devices. Web3-focused cybersecurity firm BlockAid told Blockworks that so far at least $150,000 has been lost as a result of the malicious code slipping into websites in production. Ledger users are not at risk if they refrain from transacting, the firm said. “It is not exploitable on prior approvals,” CEO Ido Ben-Natan told Blockworks, noting that “many websites are still affected and users are getting hit,” so the damage may be more severe. Decentralized exchange SushiSwap took its front-end web app offline soon after the warnings. “We’ve identified a critical issue the ledger connector has been compromised, potentially allowing the injection of malicious code affecting various dApps,” SushiSwap posted. “If you have the Sushi page open and see an unexpected ‘Connect Wallet’ pop-up, DO NOT interact or connect your wallet. We’re actively working to remove the ledger wallet connector. For your safety, please refrain from engaging with any dApps until further notice. Stay tuned for updates.” Revoke.cash, a service which allows crypto users to take back transaction signing powers previously given to Web3 apps, also took its front-end offline to avoid users being duped. “Revoke.cash specifically is affected, so don’t interact with it,” Ben-Natan said.
2 SoCal men arrested in $80M ‘pig butchering’ cryptocurrency scam -Three Southern California men, along with a fourth defendant, have been charged with conspiring to open shell companies and bank accounts to launder funds from victims caught in cryptocurrency investment scams, a practice known as “pig butchering,” federal authorities announced Thursday. Two of the men, 36-year-old Alhambra resident Lu Zhang and 31-year-old Cypress resident Justin Walker were arrested by federal agents on Dec. 12, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California. Federal authorities are currently searching for the other two men, 32-year-old Rosemead resident Joseph Wong and 40-year-old Naperville, Illinois resident Hailong Zhu. Pig butchering, a phrase derived from a foreign-language term used to describe the same fraudulent scheme, occurs when thieves con victims on dating services and social media platforms or through unsolicited calls pretending to be a wrong number into making business investments using cryptocurrency. After initiating a relationship with their victims and establishing trust, the scammers direct them to other members of the scheme who are “operating fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms and applications, where victims are persuaded to make financial investments,” the release explains. Once victims put money in scammer-controlled accounts, the fraudulent investment platform will show fake financial gains meant to encourage victims to invest more money. Ultimately, the victims are unable to withdraw or recover any of their money. “The overall fraud scheme in the related pig-butchering syndicate involved at least 284 transactions and resulted in more than $80 million in victim losses,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
CaixaBank forms gen AI team, Ripple rebrands cross-border payments -- CaixaBank and its CaixaBank Tech unit have put together a team of more than 100 people to work on generative AI projects for internal and customer-facing services. The Spanish bank is also partnering with Microsoft and Accenture staff in Madrid and Barcelona, with Microsoft enabling access to chatGPT, which is developed by OpenAI, a Microsoft-backed tech firm. The team's early work includes updating digital customer service, risk analytics, preparing product tests and documentation for future technology products. Caixa anticipates deploying gen AI-enabled functions during 2024. Banks globally are working on use cases for gen AI, with most focusing on internal tasks such as aiding IT projects. Other functions include spotting messaging language that can portendpotential financial abuse.
— Blockchain and crypto technology firm Ripple is updating its international payments business, a change that includes a rebranding from RippleNet to Ripple Payments. Ripple also hopes to reach a broader customer base through the rebrand, including small and medium-sized enterprises, noting that it has money transmitter licenses in the U.S. andSingapore. It has additionally added integrations with the XRP Ledger's decentralized exchange, which is designed to lower the barrier to entry to new countries by adding more liquidity markets. Ripple for years has used the XRP Ledger, which powers the XRP cryptocurrency, to enable cross-border payments without requiring correspondent banking to manage foreign currency exchanges and other processing steps, a model that is designed to lower costs and time for international payment processing. The company more recently has worked on developing networksto enable central bank digital currencies and stablecoins to work with each other and in different countries. Rippleis also expanding partnerships with other payment companies and financial institutions to extend the reach of the XRP Ledger. —John Adams
FSOC raises alarm on financial stability risks from AI — The Financial Stability Oversight Council Thursday highlighted new and emerging risks posed by artificial intelligence in its 2023 annual report, giving additional urgency to an emerging technology that has already commanded the attention of the administration and lawmakers. The council voted to approve its 2023 annual report Thursday during an open meeting, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — who serves as chair of the FSOC — highlighted the need for federal financial regulators to better understand and monitor AI in order to stave off potential risks. "Supporting responsible innovation in this area can allow the financial system to reap benefits like increased efficiency, but there are also existing principles and rules for risk management that should be applied," she said. FSOC's approval of the report marks the first time the body — which was created by Dodd-Frank in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis — has identified AI as an emerging risk. The report noted that the swift adoption of such technologies in recent years — particularly the use of AI in financial services — may imperil safety and soundness by enhancing cyber threats and creating the potential for herd behavior. The report recommends FSOC member-agencies monitor the rapid developments in the artificial intelligence sphere. "The Council recommends financial institutions, market participants, and regulatory and supervisory authorities deepen expertise and capacity to monitor AI innovation and usage and identify emerging risks," noted a Treasury release. FSOC discussed data security, consumer protection, and privacy risks around generative AI models like ChatGPT, saying financial institutions using them will assume such risks. The council's report also raised concern with the opaque nature of some AI models, which can throw their reliability into question. FSOC also expressed concern with the potential for biased or inaccurate results which could have implications for fair lending and consumer protection compliance by firms. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler — who has previously raised concerns about AI — went even further at Thursday's meeting, saying while he believes the FSOC's report accurately discussed micro challenges of bias and the lack of explainability of AI, he believes regulators need to see the big picture risks like herd behavior."We live in a world where we really have one search engine in the U.S., we have three large cloud companies — I mean, why would we not anticipate that we will end up with a base or foundation model that everybody else is building on top of?" he said. "AI may then heighten financial fragility, as it could come to promote herding among individual actors making similar decisions as they get the same signal from the base model or data aggregator, and they may not even know it."
BankThink: AI in financial services will require robust, transparent regulation | American Banker - As the financial sector rapidly integrates artificial intelligence, the necessity for evolving regulatory frameworks becomes increasingly paramount. Just as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation transformed data privacy practices, the rise of AI in finance necessitates a similar revolution in regulatory approaches.These regulations must adapt to current AI capabilities and anticipate future advancements.This involves a shift from traditional regulatory frameworks to more dynamic, responsive models capable of keeping pace with AI's rapid development.Regulations focusing on algorithm transparency and accountability are particularly crucial. These areas are essential for ensuring AI systems are used ethically and fairly, avoiding biases that could lead to discriminatory practices. Robust regulatory oversight in these domains is critical to preventing misuse of AI, thereby protecting consumers and maintaining market integrity. Regulations should ensure that AI systems are transparent enough to be understood and examined by regulators and are accountable, so liabilities and responsibilities are clearly defined.Effective regulation in the AI era also means balancing innovation with consumer protection. It's about creating an environment where financial institutions can leverage AI for growth and efficiency while ensuring that these advancements do not compromise consumer rights or market stability. This balanced approach requires collaborative efforts between technologists, industry experts, and regulators to craft technologically informed regulations aligned with the broader goals of consumer protection and market fairness.Incorporating ethical AI in finance transcends mere efficiency; it demands a commitment to fairness. This honest pursuit involves meticulously designing AI systems trained on diverse and representative datasets. Such a practice is pivotal in mitigating biases, particularly in critical financial areas like credit scoring or investment advisory services. Financial institutions are responsible for ensuring their AI systems do not become conduits of socioeconomic inequality. This responsibility entails continuously reviewing and updating AI algorithms to safeguard against the subtle perpetuation of existing disparities.This commitment to ethical AI necessitates a multidimensional approach. It's about the data used for training these systems and the underlying principles guiding their development and deployment. Financial entities must establish robust ethical frameworks that govern AI operations, ensuring these systems serve all sections of society equitably.
Big banks fret over capital disparities between U.S., U.K. Basel proposals --Already concerned about the impact of proposed capital reforms at home, large U.S. banks now worry that less stringent policies taking shape abroad will make them less competitive on the global stage.This week, the Bank of England — the UK equivalent to the Federal Reserve — rolled out a "near final" version of its Basel III implementation. The reforms would increase capital obligations on U.K. banks by 3.2%, well below the cumulative increase of 16% called for by the proposal put forth by American regulators. The Financial Services Forum, an industry association representing the largest U.S. banks, said the disparity between the two proposals will exacerbate the competitive disadvantage American banks already face relative to their peers in England and elsewhere in Europe.Sean Campbell, the FSF's chief economist, said the disparities between the two approaches undermines the credibility of the standards put forth by U.S. bank regulators and the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision as a whole."There needs to be consistent regulation across jurisdictions to ensure that one government or another is not subsidizing one set of banks. That's the underlying premise of the Basel Committee, but in practice, it hasn't worked out that way," Campbell said. "Across the pond, things get implemented in a manner which is significantly less stringent than here in the U.S., so this disparity has built up over the last 20 years. And here we see, yet again, that disparity is just going to grow."Supporters of the proposed reforms, meanwhile, note that higher capital requirements in the U.S. have not stopped American banks from outperforming their global peers in the past.Jeremy Kress, a business law professor at the University of Michigan and a former Fed lawyer, said similar complaints about the "gold-plating" of U.S. regulations relative to international standards arose after the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and the initial iteration of Basel III in 2013. Yet, since then, U.S. banks have seen higher stock prices, wider net interest margins and better returns on assets than banks in the U.K. and continental Europe."U.S. banks' strong performance relative to European competitors makes sense, since capital makes our financial system strong. The real risk to international competitiveness is lax prudential regulation," Kress said. "In fact, the trend of U.S. banks outperforming European banks reversed in 2023, when the U.S. experienced a banking crisis due, in part, to lax regulation."
Eight Wall Street Mega Banks Have Teamed Up to Run Television Ads in a Bogus Scare Campaign - by Pam and Russ Martens - During the Sunday, December 10 news program on CNN, “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash,” a deceptive, scare-mongering TV commercial popped up, warning that federal banking regulators’ proposed plan to require the mega banks on Wall Street to hold more capital against their riskiest trading activities “will increase the cost of mortgages and car payments” and “hurt small businesses, making it harder for them to access credit, meet payroll and run their operations.” The ad featured images of a farmer on his tractor, an auto mechanic, a worried small business owner, and other emotion-packed images. Wall Street On Parade has been warning our readers for weeks about this deceptive campaign by the Wall Street mega banks, so we jumped to our feet to get closer to the TV screen and read the fine print to see who paid for this tricked-up television advertisement.The small print in the ad said it was “Paid for by the Financial Services Forum.” Who is the Financial Services Forum? Its total membership consists of the eight CEOs of the eight largest banks on Wall Street. Its Board of Directors is limited to these same eight CEOs and its Chair and Vice Chair also rotate exclusively among these eight CEOs.These CEOs rank among the most obscenely paid executives of publicly-traded companies in America. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, as well as crime boss, of JPMorgan Chase, made $34.9 million in total compensation last year and has become a billionaire on the backs of the banks’ shareholders, which include many public employees’ pension funds. The ratio of Dimon’s pay to the pay of the median worker at JPMorgan Chase was 393 to 1 last year. This is not a group of people who can genuinely say they are concerned about the welfare of the little guy or gal in America.With the exception of the CEOs of State Street and Bank of New York Mellon, this is also the pack of mega banks that blew up Wall Street and the U.S. economy in 2008, leaving millions of those same small businesses and struggling families they profess to care so much about today in bankruptcy and foreclosure. At the same time, these banks received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts and secret infusions of trillions of dollars in cumulative loans for two and a half years from the Federal Reserve. (See the Levy Economic Institute’s research paper: $29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed’s Bailout by Funding Facility and Recipient.) The Vice Chair of the Financial Services Forum is Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup. That bank was a financial basket case in 2008 from its risky trading activities and derivatives. It took the following bailouts to prop it back up as its publicly-traded stock lost 90 percent of its value and was trading at 99 cents in March of 2009: An infusion of $45 billion in capital from the U.S. Treasury; a government guarantee of over $300 billion on its dubious “assets”; a guarantee of $5.75 billion on its senior unsecured debt and $26 billion on its commercial paper and interbank deposits by the FDIC; and a secret revolving loan facility from the Federal Reserve that sluiced a cumulative $2.5 trillion in below-market-rate loans from 2007 to the middle of 2010.What condition is Citigroup in today? See our report from November 7: Citigroup May Slash 24,000 Jobs; Its Stock Has Lost 92 Percent Since January 2007.The Financial Services Forum describes itself like this:“The Financial Services Forum is an economic policy and advocacy organization whose members are the chief executive officers of the eight largest and most diversified financial institutions headquartered in the United States. The Forum promotes policies that support savings and investment, financial inclusion, deep and liquid capital markets, a competitive global marketplace, and a sound financial system.”The hard reality is that the majority of these banks are serial lawbreakers with shocking rap sheets and remain the recipients of endless bailouts from the Federal Reserve. (See watchdog Better Markets’ report: Wall Street’s Ongoing Crime Spree – 490 Major Legal Actions and Nearly $207 Billion in Fines and Settlements; and our report: Former New York Fed Pres Bill Dudley Calls This the First Banking Crisis Since 2008; Charts Show It’s the Third.)
Lawmakers introduce flurry of banking legislation ahead of winter recess — Lawmakers introduced a number of bipartisan bills this week targeting various parts of the banking industry, part of a last-minute crop of bills put forward ahead of the holiday recess. The bills include measures to subject industrial loan companies to similar rules and consumer protections as traditional banks, capping credit card interest rates at 36% and restricting credit reporting agencies' ability to sell mortgage applicants' contact information. The legislation represents months of work by lawmakers, who typically try to introduce and win support for their bills in the working period between August and holiday recess. Introducing the bills before lawmakers return to their home districts gives the legislators fodder for public events back home and gives the bills a better chance for inclusion on must-pass pieces of legislation that have been teed up for when Congress returns in January. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, along with Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., Bob Casey, D-Penn., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have reintroduced a bill that would make companies that acquire an ILC be subject to the same supervision by the Federal Reserve as any other bank holding company. "Letting Big Tech and commercial companies operate banks without proper oversight will only open doors for predatory lending, invasions of consumer privacy, and broader financial instability," Brown said in a statement. "To protect consumers' pocketbooks and ensure a strong banking system for Main Street, we need to ensure all banking institutions play by the same rules." That bill has bipartisan support from a range of lawmakers and trade associations, including banking groups and community advocates like Americans for Financial Reform and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. "Any entity seeking the benefits of bank ownership must be held to the same rules that apply to banks to prevent unacceptable risks to consumers, taxpayers and the existing financial framework," said Greg Baer, president and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute, in a statement. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., have likewise introduced legislation that would restrict the sale of "trigger leads," that occur when credit reporting agencies sell consumers' contact information when they apply for a residential mortgage. That bill also has support from banking industry groups. "A mortgage application should not be public information," ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. "ICBA and the nation's community banks thank Sens. Reed and Hagerty for introducing the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act to restrict the sale of trigger leads and give consumers more control over their private financial information and shield them from unwanted solicitations." Reed also has a bill out that would set a 36% rate cap, a longstanding effort on the Hill that has nonetheless run into political gridlock and has yet to advance past being introduced. Reed tied this year's bill to the Military Lending Act, which has already set a 36% rate cap for those in the military and their families.
Regulatory pressures to merge intensify at larger banks - Major regional bank buyers — and sellers — could help drive a merger-and-acquisition rebound in 2024 after the fallout from soaring interest rates bogged down consolidation activity this year.Lenders with $100 billion of assets could be interested in gaining scale amid proposed costly regulations and capital requirements. Consolidation among large banks could ignite a broader pursuit of scale across the industry, galvanizing a new round of dealmaking among community lenders and propelling stronger M&A volume after a weak run in 2023, analysts and bankers said. "Banks need to achieve significant scale to absorb more regulatory costs and to be competitive," Christopher McGratty, head of U.S. bank research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said in an interview. "All of our work suggests more M&A is going to happen."At issue: U.S. bank supervisors over the summer proposed rules that would further tighten regulations for large banks in an effort to incorporate elements of the international governance framework known as Basel III. Those rules were agreed upon after the 2008 financial crisis but have taken years to roll out. The failures of several regional banks in the U.S. earlier this year jump-started the process. The changes would broadly boost the level of capital that banks with at least $100 billion of assets must maintain to guard against possible losses.The regulatory changes would ramp up costs at a time when banks already are dealing with elevated funding expenses — deposit costs spiked along with interest rates — and are investing heavily in technology to deliver rapidly evolving online financial services.
Tlaib, AOC Revive Public Banking Act to Take on Wall Street -Citing the failure of Wall Street banks to adequately serve the needs of working people, Democratic U.S. Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib andAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday reintroduced their Public Banking Act, which if passed would facilitate the establishment of state and local public banks.The legislation, an updated version of a bill introduced by the two "Squad" members in 2020, would create a "robust federal regulatory framework, grant programs, and financial infrastructure to promote public banks and ensure their success."The bill also "mandates minimum standards for public banks relating to environmental justice, tenant protections, labor standards, democratic governance, and consumer data privacy.""It's long past time to open doors for people who have been systematically shut out."In a statement, Tlaib (Mich.) contended that "Wall Street-run banks are failing to serve many of my residents who are struggling to make ends meet. It's long past time to open doors for people who have been systematically shut out.""We must provide a better option for those grappling with the costs of simply trying to participate in an economy that has been rigged against them with discriminatory and predatory practices," she added. "We need a financial system that is democratically accountable and puts the livelihoods of our residents ahead of private profits."Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) asserted that "public banks are uniquely able to address the economic inequality and racial wealth gap exacerbated by the banking industry's predatory practices and discriminatory policies.""The creation of public banks will also facilitate the use of public resources to construct additional public goods, including affordable housing, and local renewable energy projects," she added. "Public banks empower states and municipalities to establish new channels of public investment to help solve systemic crises."If passed as written, the Public Banking Act would:
- Provide federal charters for public banks;
- Provide public banks a pathway to membership at the Federal Reserve, allowing public banks additional access to capital and loans;
- Establish a "Public Bank Primary Liquidity Facility" that provides liquidity to public member banks;
- Establish a public banking grant program, to facilitate bank formation, capitalization, and operations, among other purposes; and
- Establish a public banking incubator program for technical assistance and start-up support.
Senior Democrat calls for reinvigoration of post-Dodd Frank research office — Sen. Jack Reed. D-R.I., a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, said that he would push to get the nominated director of the Office of Financial Research, a Dodd-Frank institution with funding that the Trump administration gutted, through the Senate. Reed's comments, made at a Brookings Institute event, also outlined concerns over banks pushing risk outside of the banking system and into private credit markets via trades known as "synthetic loan transfers," and recommended that OFR should address a dearth of information about these trades by using one of its most powerful tools. The remarks came ahead of a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council on Thursday afternoon, which has recently reinstated its ability to designate nonbank firms as systemically important, as concern over risk in private markets grows in Washington. "The OFR cannot see into the dark corners of the financial markets unless there is a permanent and confirmed director," he said. The Biden administration nominated Ron Borzekowski, a Yale economist who previously worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to lead the OFR. The OFR is meant to collect and sift through data to spot previously unseen risks to the financial system and support FSOC, and although it has never used this ability, its director has a powerful tool in the form of subpoena power for any financial institution. Borzekowski's nomination advanced from the Senate Banking Committee in a 12-11 vote along partisan lines. Republicans, including Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, raised concerns about his work at the CFPB. "I'm concerned Mr. Borzekowski—an original Richard Cordray staffer—will bring the partisan, unaccountable nature of the CFPB to the important work of OFR and the Financial Stability Oversight Council," McHenry said on Borzekowski's nomination. "The Biden Administration's use of FSOC to push the radical left's social and climate policies are part of a troubling trend of rogue Democrat regulators going far beyond their congressionally granted statutory authority. Under Republican leadership, the Financial Services Committee will use aggressive and robust oversight to ensure Biden's regulators, including OFR and FSOC, focus on their core missions and stay within the bounds of Congressional intent."
Bankers dodge full impact of Europe's harshest ESG law to date --The finance industry will be shielded from the full scope of the European Union's most consequential piece of ESG legislation to date, as the bloc settles on a compromise to help it get the bill over the finish line. Under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, large companies face civil liability for environmental and human rights violations in their value chains. Whether to include banks, insurers and asset managers had been a major hurdle in arriving at a deal. According to the compromise announced on Thursday, the financial sector will be "temporarily excluded from the scope of the directive, but there will be a review clause for a possible future inclusion of this sector based on a sufficient impact assessment," the Council of the EU said in an emailed statement. The decision follows a proposal by Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, that the finance sector get a reprieve from CSDDD's initial rollout in order to reach consensus before the end of the year. Lawmakers, member states and the commission want the process finalized before next year's EU elections. A spokesperson for the European Banking Federation declined to comment. Victor Van Hoorn, head of the Brussels office for ICI Global, an industry association representing investment managers, said the compromise reflects "a more thoughtful approach" and acknowledges "the diversity of financial institutions and activities, some of which are not based on contractual arrangements." Eelco van der Enden, chief executive of the Global Reporting Initiative, said the deal "recognizes the challenges for financial institutions of implementing ambitious regulations." The hope, however, is that over time, banks, asset managers and insurers will be included on an equal footing with other industries, he said. Amandine Van Den Berghe, a lawyer at nonprofit ClientEarth, called the carve-out for the finance sector "completely ridiculous," in an emailed comment. It "ignores industry's own widespread pleas for equal treatment under the law."
NYC Finance Jobs Hit Twenty-Year High - A new report from the New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reveals that the number of securities-industry workers in New York City has hit a twenty-year high - even as layoffs in the banking industry rise and deal activity continues to slide. DiNapoli said the total headcount at securities firms in NYC increased to 195,100 (based on year-to-date data), the highest level in over 20 years. He added, "Whether firms will retain these additional positions as profits return to normal remains to be seen. Lower profits have also resulted in smaller bonuses, with the bonus pool estimated to be down 21% yearly, meaning a decline in related income tax revenue for the City and State." Revenues from commissions and underwriting activities plunged by 46.8% over the last two years, as the high cost of credit triggered a massive slowdown in equity issuances, debt issuances, and mergers and acquisitions. Global debt offerings fell from $10.3 trillion in 2021 to $8.3 trillion in 2022 to $4.7 trillion in the first half of 2023.
Check fraud on pace for another record year: Fincen data - Through the end of October, depository institutions had filed more than 440,000 suspicious activity reports pertaining to check fraud, according to recently released data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The figure foreshadows another record-setting year for check fraud.Over the same period of 2022 — from January to October — there had been 420,000 reports of check fraud from depository institutions. By the end of that year, the number of reports exceeded 500,000, which is double the number of check fraud reports from 2021.In a stark example of how check fraud is affecting banks, Regions Financial reported during an earnings call in October that it had lost $135 million to check fraud between April and September. Regions Chief Financial Officer David Turner pointed out at the time that check fraud has increased dramatically industrywide but said the bank was "reasonably confident" that the prior increases would not persist.Fincen said in a warning in February that check fraud has been on the rise in large part due to more reports of mail theft. Criminals steal checks out of the mail then copy or alter them to fraudulently redirect money. Regulation E protects bank customers from large check fraud losses stemming from mail theft, leaving payor and payee banks to fight over which institution is liable.In the warning, Fincen enumerated methods banks can employ to detect check fraud, including monitoring for deposits to accounts that have no prior deposit history, large withdrawals to a new payee, checks cleared out of sequence with past checks or check stock that is different from that which the issuing bank uses.While banks can and do still monitor checks for signs of alterations, these signals can be harder to detect due to the shift toward remote deposit capture, according to Jim Hitchcock, the vice president for fraud mitigation at the American Bankers Association. Hitchcock said the shift toward electronic check clearing was in part spurred by the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, also known as Check 21."The unintended consequence is that proving alterations and forgeries has become more difficult," Hitchcock said in a post in an ABA blog last month. "Alterations are less apparent, and many of the traditional security features evident on paper checks are lost when the originals are scanned for processing and then destroyed."
Sen. Sherrod Brown presses big banks on protections for service members -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown is pressuring the nation's four largest banks to make use of a federal database to determine whether their retail customers qualify for benefits under a law offering financial protections to active-duty service members. Brown, D-Ohio, sent letters Wednesday to the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, urging them to provide benefits proactively under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.That 20-year-old federal law caps the interest rates on loans made prior to military service at 6%, as long as the service member is on active duty.Brown noted that lenders have the ability to run free checks of a Department of Defense database to determine whether customers are currently on active duty."Active duty servicemembers have much on their mind, from deployment, to concerns about leaving their families, to returning home," Brown wrote. "Banks should not place the burden on servicemembers to request protections they are legally entitled to receive."Brown pointed to a December 2022 report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which found that fewer than 10% of auto loans taken out by Reserve and National Guard members who were on active duty got interest rate reductions.The CFPB calculated that Reserve and Guard members who are on active duty pay about $9 million per year in interest that they are not legally required to pay.Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, service members may qualify for interest rate reductions by providing creditors with written notice of their active-duty status.In an October 2023 report, the CFPB stated that the majority of credit card issuers that it surveyed required service members to request rate reductions. But the agency also found that at least two card issuers, which it did not name, have policies to proactively check the Pentagon database. Brown's letters followed a Senate Banking Committee hearing last week where he pressed the CEOs of the country's biggest banks on whether their companies proactively check the database.
Letter to the editor: Don't blame banks for CFPB's flawed data collection rule | American Banker - Regarding the recently published op-ed titled "The danger of kneecapping the CFPB's small-business data rule" by John Heltman: It may be tempting to oversimplify concerns by financial institutions about the Consumer Fnancial Protection Bureau's final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act by accusing the industry as being unwilling or too lazy to root out discrimination. But that's far too glib. Helping ensure Main Street job creators have the tools necessary to thrive amid ongoing economic uncertainty is at the core of our industry's mission. Further, every financial institution with over $10 billion in assets is already regularly examined by the CFPB for compliance with fair lending laws. The Consumer Bankers Association's member banks are committed to the spirit and intent of the Section 1071 final rule and have taken significant steps to expand access to credit for minority- and women-owned businesses. At the same time, CBA has consistently raised concerns that the CFPB's implementation of the statute goes far beyond the congressional intent and will cause complex logistical issues. This complexity, coupled with an unnecessarily short implementation period, raises concerning impediments to efficient compliance with Section 1071, potentially frustrating the very purpose of the statute. The CFPB's data collection under its final rule is uniquely complicated given the diverse and evolving nature of small-business lending. Demographic reporting under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act involves loans sharing the same type of collateral. In contrast, small-business loans may not be secured; and when they are secured, the collateral may vary tremendously. Residential lending generally has natural persons as applicants; whereas it may be difficult to determine who the owners of the small-business applicants are, given that small businesses may have multiple owners or intricate ownership structures. In many cases, small-business applicants may raise questions or concerns about why sensitive and personal data is being collected. And perhaps most importantly, the level of granularity of the data collected (80+ data fields) extends far beyond the intent and needs of the statute to combat discrimination.Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the House and Senate, which already had passed an identical bill, say the data-collection rule would be too onerous for lenders and small-business borrowers. President Biden is expected to veto the legislation.Implementation of these concepts takes time to get right, particularly because many banks work with retail partners to offer small-business credit at the point of sale. Outside commentators may not realize how much must change every time the CFPB introduces a new requirement. Technical systems and business processes will need to be modified or rebuilt. But also, procedures, customer disclosures, call scripts, employee trainings, compliance management processes and risk models will all need to be redesigned — and then tested — before implementation.This undertaking doesn't occur in a vacuum. Rather, the CFPB alone is finalizing a wide range of regulatory proposals, like mandating the creation of free application programming interfaces that will be accessed 50-100 billion times a year; dramatically lowering the primary incentive for consumers to pay their credit card bills on time; and potentially threatening years of industry progress on overdraft programs with a one-size-fits-most approach. Further, other regulators are pursuing, for example, significant rulemakings on debit interchange. Although agency rule writers don't seem to be thinking about the risks they create with these cumulative and competing deadlines, outside observers of the market should be mindful that there are limited resources for implementing new mandates, which can lead to unintended consequences and unchecked complexity that inevitably create risk.Through all of this, banks continue to focus on serving our customers, competing to keep and grow their trust and ensuring, on an equitable and fair basis, that small-business owners have access to the capital they need for their versions of the American dream. We just believe that these are the kinds of things that merit taking the time to get it right. -David Pommerehn, Senior Vice President, Consumer Bankers Association
BankThink: Don't block the CFPB's plan to provide some relief from medical debt | American Banker - When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a new policy this fall to bar allmedical debt from appearing on credit reports and impacting credit scores, I, along with other advocates who had long pushed for this rule, expected pushback from the debt collectors and loan providers whose profits are accrued by adding interest to people's misfortune. And those actors have not failed to live up to that expectation. Recently, American Banker ran an article and an opinion piece outlining some of the arguments against the proposal. In his opinion piece, John Heltman acknowledges the core problems with medical debt — that it is unplanned and of little predictive value of credit worthiness — but the idea he proposes of raising the threshold on the level of debt that will or will not appear and mandating that credit agencies follow suit is ineffective at worst and insufficient at best. U.S. health care spending grew 2.7% in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion or $12,914 per person. As a share of the nation's gross domestic product, health spending accounted for 18.3%. And while the rule is an important step toward protecting people in this country, it will likely eat into the sky-high profits that debt collectors, loan providers and other stakeholders make off of the growing medical debt crisis in this country.Medical debt is a uniquely American problem. And the underlying issue behind medical debt is simple: Health care is inadequate and far too expensive. The health care system has been designed and overseen by corporate interests that put profits over people. This is unfair, widespread and deepens inequity across our country. As a result, we are a nation that profits off of people's illness, rather than investing in solutions that will make us well. "If we really want to move towards a wellness care system, we have to talk about avoiding the sicknesses, the chronic illnesses, that drive our system to be very inefficient," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Yet, instead of offering solutions that will help us move toward a wellness care system, like investing in preventive care, housing and food security, the industry has instead doubled-down on misinformation to advance arguments that seek to only muddle and delay any positive action. An alarming four in ten adults have some kind of medical debt in this country, and the burden is disproportionately carried by adults without insurance, women, Black and Latino adults, parents, immigrants and those with lower incomes. Nearly 27% of Black households and just under 19% of Latino families carry medical debt.The effect of medical debt is far-reaching and has resulted in the denial of necessary care by providers or delayed and forgone care by individuals, damaged or ruined credit upending families' financial stability, drained savings and bankruptcy, stress, anxiety and altered life trajectories.Despite this, in order to keep the status quo and their sky-high profits, many corners of the financial industry are coming out in full force against this critical action by the CFPB.
NY Gov. Hochul signs medical-debt bill, -- New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill this week banning medical debt from being collected by credit-reporting agencies or included in a consumer's credit report. New York joins Colorado as the second state to enact such a ban. New York's actions come just three months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau barred all medical debt from being reported to the three credit bureaus. "I'm signing a bill that bans hospitals, health care providers and ambulances from reporting medical debt to your credit agencies," Hochul, a Democrat, said at thebill-signing ceremony in New York City on Dec. 14. Hochul's actions come amid efforts by the Biden administration to aid consumers by eliminating medical debt from credit reports, helping to boost credit scores.Consumers will still owe the debts, however, and debt collectors will still pursue them through letters and lawsuits. In September, the CFPB proposed making changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act to bar Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from reporting medical debts, which the CFPB claims are often inaccurate or not owed. —
Are mortgage servicers holding back assumption volume? -- Transfers of government-backed low-rate mortgages are up significantly this year in the face ofhigher interest rates, but some say even more of these transactions would take place if mortgage servicers picked up the slack.. Through the first three quarters of this year, the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs have both tracked record numbers of mortgage assumptions, in which homebuyers take on the mortgages held by the selling homeowner. But, with this uptick in assumption activity has come a surge of another kind: complaints that servicers are dragging their feet on processing these transactions. So far this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recorded more than 130 complaints related to mortgage assumptions, according to the agency's searchable online database, up from fewer than 100 last year and roughly double the number notched in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Jerry Devlin, a former mortgage banker for National City, PNC and Academy Mortgage, described the current moment — in which interest rates have soared from below 3% to more than 7% in less than two years — as a "once in a generation marketplace" for mortgage assumptions. He notes that the recent uptick in interest rates bucked a 40-year trend of declining borrowing costs. The number of government-backed home loans transferred from one borrower to another is up significantly this year as prospective buyers look for ways to avoid elevated interest rates. Some say this is the beginning of a larger movement, but others say regulatory hurdles will get in the way.. "What we've seen almost across the board is an immediate pushback from the lending community. They say it's going to take a lot and admit they're not devoting appropriate resources to assumptions," Devlin said. "It creates a ripple effect within the marketplace and the opportunity, because then sellers won't offer it, realtors won't accept an offer with an assumption and it puts a stall in the marketplace." Complaints registered with the CFPB vary, with some issues relating more directly to the assumption process than others. But numerous complaints cite issues related to the length of time it takes to process an assumption request. One complaint, filed against Boca Raton-based Freedom Mortgage Company in November, states that the lender said it could take between 90 and 120 business days to process the assumption of a Veterans Affairs loan with an interest rate of 2.25%. The loan was being moved from one veteran borrower to another. The complainant noted that the sale documents included a 45-day close guarantee, after which the transaction could be voided. After the complainant threatened legal action, the company finished the process in roughly 30 days, the complaint notes. But the same consumer ran into problems with Freedom Mortgage again when trying to assume a mortgage for their new home.
BankThink: Forget redlining. Branchless banks are now 'weblining' our communities | American Banker -- Redlining has been around forever, and was even condoned by the government when the Home Owners Loan Corporation published maps circling "hazardous" neighborhoods that banks should avoid. Weblining is modern-day redlining by credit card, fintech, internet and other branchless banks paying high rates on the World Wide Web to vacuum up deposits without any required reinvestment. Once again the government, this time the prudential regulators, is condoning digital redlining through the new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule, which is depriving our big cities of at least $40 billion annually.Sen. William Proxmire passed the 1977 CRA to prevent redlining. This was the practice of banks harvesting deposits in communities but failing to reinvest in them, especially their low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, often communities of color.Proxmire monitored his law through 1995 when the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) oversaw CRA's first major reform. CRA has worked well since then by pumping about $500 billion annually into community development, including $100 billionworth of agreements between merging banks and community groups. While as many as 10% of banks initially failed their CRA exams, most have learned to live with the law, bringing the failure rate down to below 2% in recent years.My research has determined that the explosion of branchless banks like credit card, fintech and other internet institutions that pay above-market rates on the web has generated more than $2 trillion of deposits — at least 10% of all bank deposits — coming mainly from our big cities.Everyone, including Treasury, agreed that CRA must be modernized to account for digital banking. The best solution was the 5% Deposit Reinvestment Rule. It required any bank taking 5% or more of its deposits from a market to proportionately reinvest the CRA benefits back into its low- and moderate-income communities.Most large branch-based banks with outstanding CRA programs annually reinvest about 2% of their deposits in the form of community development loans, investments and services in their sourced communities. Branchless banks, however, have no such requirement, and their CRA benefits mainly go to the three bank-friendly states of Delaware, South Dakota and Utah. Their combined population is less than 2% of the nation's total, yet they hold 13% of its deposits. This means branchless banks are failing
MBA: Mortgage Applications Increased in Weekly Survey -From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey - Mortgage applications increased 7.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 8, 2023.The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 19 percent from the previous week and was 27 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent lower than the same week one year ago.“Mortgage rates dropped last week, as incoming data point to a slowing economy and support a pivot by the Federal Reserve to begin cutting rates next year. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined to 7.07 percent, the lowest level since July,” “Borrowers who had seen rates near 8 percent earlier this fall are now seeing some lenders quote rates below 7 percent. Refinance volume picked up in response to this drop in rates, with a particularly notable increase for FHA and VA refinance applications. Purchase volume was running about 18 percent below last year’s pace, as prospective homebuyers are still challenged by a lack of inventory, even if rates have decreased.”...The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased to 7.07 percent from 7.17 percent, with points decreasing to 0.59 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loansThe first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.According to the MBA, purchase activity is down 18% year-over-year unadjusted. Purchase application activity is up from the lows in late October and early November, but still below the lowest levels during the housing bust. The second graph shows the refinance index since 1990.
Realtor.com Reports Active Inventory UP 3.1% YoY; New Listings up 5.6% YoY - Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending December 2, 2023
- • Active inventory increased slightly, with for-sale homes 3.1% above year ago levels. Active listings exceeded last year’s levels again this week, with the rate of increase picking up steam from the previous week (+3.1% year-over-year vs +1.8%). However, on an absolute basis, active inventory continued to fall below its peak earlier in the month, as is seasonally typical.
- • New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were up this week, by 5.6% from one year ago. New listings registered lower than prior year levels from mid-2022 through roughly 6 weeks ago, as the mortgage rate lock-in effect froze homeowners with low-rate existing mortgages in place. More recently the trend has reversed as new listings during the week outpaced the same week in the previous year by 5.6%.
Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in inventory according to realtor.com. Inventory was up year-over-year for the 4th consecutive week following 20 consecutive weeks with a YoY decrease in inventory. Inventory is still historically very low.New listings really collapsed a year ago, so the YoY comparison for new listings is easier now - and although new listings also remain well below "typical pre-pandemic levels", new listings are now up YoY.
Housing December 11th Weekly Update: Inventory Down 1.7% Week-over-week, Up 1.9% Year-over-year -Altos reports that active single-family inventory was down 1.7% week-over-week and is now up 1.9% year-over-year. Inventory will decrease seasonally for next few weeks (for the Holidays). This inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of December 8th, inventory was at 546 thousand (7-day average), compared to 556 thousand the prior week. Year-to-date, inventory is up 11.3%.The second graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.The red line is for 2023. The black line is for 2019. Note that inventory is up from the record low for the same week in 2021, but below last year and still well below normal levels.Inventory was up 1.9% compared to the same week in 2022 (last week it was up 1.0%), and down 34.1% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week down 34.9%). Inventory is now solidly above the same week in 2020 levels (dark blue line).Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube
Our Drunken Sailors Go Splurging Online, at Auto Dealers, and Massively at Bars & Restaurants (YOLO) - by Wolf Richter - Total retail sales rose by 0.3% in November from October, seasonally adjusted, even amid dropping prices of durable goods - and gasoline that retailers sell, as inflation has now totally moved into services that retailers don’t sell. So adjusted for inflation, retail sales would have increased even more. Compared to a year ago, retail sales rose 4.1%, despite the price declines in durable goods and gasoline. The three-month moving average, which tamps down on the artificial drama of the monthly squiggles that can obscure the trends, rose by 0.3% and was up by 3.4% from the same period a year ago. All charts here show the three-month moving average: But only some categories of retailers benefitted, particularly the big three that between them account for 50% of total retail sales: Ecommerce operations, bars and restaurants, and at auto dealers. Other types of brick-and-mortar retailers are in permanent decline, such as department stores and electronics and appliance stores, because their sales are wandering off to ecommerce including their own ecommerce operations, and their brick-and-mortar stores lost out again. Sales at gas stations plunged because the price of gasoline plunged. And we’ll get to all those in a moment, each with their own chart. Where does this money come from? It’s not a secret. Per-capita disposable income, adjusted for inflation (total income from all sources minus taxes, adjusted for inflation), jumped by 0.3% in October and by 3.9% year-over-year, in other words, outrunning inflation by 3.9% year-over-year, after having falling behind inflation in the prior two years. This is what consumers had left to spend on goods and services, and to save. And our drunken sailors, as we’ve come to call them lovingly and facetiously because they just refuse to stop drinking from the punchbowl, saved some of their disposable income and blew the rest. This is what fuels the spending binge we’re seeing: Retail sales by major segment of retailers.
New and Used Vehicle and Parts Dealers (22% of total retail sales):
- Sales: $135 billion
- From prior month: +0.5%
- From prior month, 3mma: +0.2%
- Year-over-year, 3mma: +5.2%
Ecommerce and other “nonstore retailers” (16% of total retail sales), ecommerce retailers, ecommerce operations of brick-and-mortar retailers, and stalls and markets:
- Sales: $119 billion
- From prior month: +1.0%
- From prior month, 3mma: +0.7%
- Year-over-year, 3mma: +8.6%
Bars & restaurants (“Food services and drinking places,” 13% of total retail). Our drunken sailors are going wild eating and drinking out, with double-digit year-over-year spending growth, spending a lot more at those places than at food & beverage stores, under the motto, YOLO?
- Sales: $95 billion
- From prior month: +1.6%
- From prior month, 3mma: +1.3%
- Year-over-year, 3mma: +10.0%
BLS: CPI Increased 0.1% in November; Core CPI increased 0.3% -- From the BLS: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, after being unchanged in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.The index for shelter continued to rise in November, offsetting a decline in the gasoline index. The energy index fell 2.3 percent over the month as a 6.0-percent decline in the gasoline index more than offset increases in other energy component indexes. The food index increased 0.2 percent in November, after rising 0.3 percent in October. The index for food at home increased 0.1 percent over the month and the index for food away from home rose 0.4 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in November, after rising 0.2 percent in October. Indexes which increased in November include rent, owners' equivalent rent, medical care, and motor vehicle insurance. The indexes for apparel, household furnishings and operations, communication, and recreation were among those that decreased over the month.The all items index rose 3.1 percent for the 12 months ending November, a smaller increase than the 3.2-percent increase for the 12 months ending October. The all items less food and energy index rose 4.0 percent over the last 12 months, as it did for the 12 months ending October. The energy index decreased 5.4 percent for the 12 months ending November, while the food index increased 2.9 percent over the last year. The YoY change in CPI and core CPI were at expectations, although the MoM change was slightly higher than expected. I'll post a graph later today after the Cleveland Fed releases the median and trimmed-mean CPI.
YoY Measures of Inflation: Services, Goods and Shelter-Here are a few measures of inflation: The first graph is the one Fed Chair Powell had mentioned earlier when services less rent of shelter was up 7.6% year-over-year. This declined sharply and is now up 3.5% YoY.This graph shows the YoY price change for Services and Services less rent of shelter through November 2023. Services were up 5.2% YoY as of November 2023, up from 5.1% YoY in October.Services less rent of shelter was up 3.5% YoY in November, up from 3.0% YoY in October.The second graph shows that goods prices started to increase year-over-year (YoY) in 2020 and accelerated in 2021 due to both strong demand and supply chain disruptions.Durables were at -1.6% YoY as of November 2023, up from -2.1% YoY in October.Commodities less food and energy commodities were unchanged YoY in November, unchanged from 0.0% YoY in October.Goods inflation was transitory. Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in shelter from the CPI report (through November) and housing from the PCE report (through October 2023) Shelter was up 6.5% year-over-year in November, down from 6.7% in October. Housing (PCE) was up 6.9% YoY in October, down from 7.2% in September.The BLS noted this morning: "The index for shelter continued to rise in November" Core CPI ex-shelter was up 2.1% YoY in November, up from 2.0% in October.
Cleveland Fed: Median CPI increased 0.4% and Trimmed-mean CPI increased 0.3% in November - The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in November. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% in November. "The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report".This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 5.2% (down from 5.3% in October), the trimmed-mean CPI rose 4.0% (down from 4.1%), and the CPI less food and energy rose 4.0% (unchanged from 4.0%). Core PCE is for October was up 3.5% YoY, down from 3.7% in September.Note: The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI details. "Motor fuel" decreased at a 52% annualized rate in November. Rent and Owner's equivalent rent are still high, but decreasing.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation, November: Core Services Inflation Accelerates on Rents, Insurance, Healthcare by Wolf Richter • (graphs throughout) Inflation in services accelerated in November for the second month in a row, to an annualized rate of 5.8%, driven by housing, healthcare, and insurance. Services is where about 65% of consumer spending goes, and it continues to be the driver of inflation.But gasoline continued to plunge. Durable goods prices (cars, electronics, furniture, etc.) continued to drop, though used car prices suddenly jumped again – surprise, surprise. Food prices rose to a new record from already high levels. So here we go. Core CPI, a measure of underlying inflation that excludes the volatile movements of food and energy products, rose by 0.28% in November from October (red line), according to the Consumer Price Index data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Core CPI was pushed down by the decline in durable goods, but pushed up by the jump in core services.The three-month moving average, which irons out the month-to-month ups and downs, also rose by 0.28%, the biggest increase since June (blue):The Overall CPI inched up by 0.1% in November from October, driven down by the 6.0% month-to-month plunge in gasoline prices and the drop in durable goods. As you can see, this index jumps up and down a lot, driven by the often-massive movements of energy prices (red). The three-month average, rose by 0.18% (blue):The year-over-year “Core” CPI rose by 4.0% year-over-year, same as in the prior month (red line).The year-over-year overall CPI decelerated a hair to 3.1% (blue line), pushed down by the 8.9% year-over-year plunge in gasoline prices and by the 1.6% drop in durable goods, while the 5.5% increase in core services pushed in the opposite direction.The CPI for core services (without energy services) on a month-to-month basis rose 0.47% in November from October, or by 5.8% annualized (blue line).The three-month moving average rose by 0.46%, or 5.7% annualized, the sharpest increase since April (red line).The acceleration of the three-month moving average in September, October, and November is very disconcerting:Year-over-year, the core services CPI rose by a red-hot 5.5%, same as in the prior month, despite the 30% collapse of the messed-up year-over-year health insurance CPI within it that we’ll get to in a moment:The “Rent of primary residence” CPI further accelerated to +0.48% in October (+5.9% annualized) and has been in this range since March, except for the outlier July, when it had dropped out of that range.The Rent CPI is based on actual rents that tenants actually paid. The survey follows the same large group of rental houses and apartments over time and tracks what tenants, who come and go, actually pay in these units.The “Owners’ equivalent of rent” CPI rose by 0.50% in November from October, or 6.2% annualized, a hair higher than in March.The three-month moving average rose by 0.49%, the highest since June, and there hasn’t been any real improvement since May.The OER index is based on what a large group of homeowners estimates their home would rent for, and is designed to estimate inflation of “shelter” as a service for homeowners. What both CPIs for housing costs tell us is that the big month-to-month rent spikes in 2022 through February 2023 are over, and that the rent CPIs have settled at month-to-month increases of around 0.5%, or about 6% annualized, which also roughly matches what the largest landlords have reported in their earnings calls that they’re getting in rent increases. So about since March, it seems rent increases have gotten stuck at a rate close to 6%, and that’s very disconcerting.Year-over-year, the Rent CPI increased by 6.9% (red in the chart below). And the CPI for OER increased by 6.7% (green):
Core Producer Price Inflation Tumbles To 2.0% - Near 3 Year Lows - After collapsing 0.5% MoM in October (the most since April 2020) on the back of plunge in gasoline prices, analysts expect Producer Prices to be unchanged MoM in November and they were spot on (although October was revised up to a 0.4% MoM decline). Excluding food and energy, the core PPI was cooler than expected, unchanged MoM in November versus expectations of a 0.2% MoM rise. That dragged the Core PPI YoY down to 2.0% - its lowest since January 2021.. Energy was once again a big driver of the decline... While Food and Services inched higher MoM... thanks to as 58.8% surge in the price of chicken eggs. Final demand goods:The index for final demand goods was unchanged in November after dropping 1.4 percent in October. In November, price increases of 0.6 percent for final demand foods and 0.2 percent for final demand goods less foods and energy offset a 1.2-percent decrease in the index for final demand energy. Product detail: Within final demand goods in November, prices for chicken eggs jumped 58.8 percent. The indexes for fresh fruits and melons, utility natural gas, electric power, and carbon steel scrap also moved higher. In contrast, prices for gasoline fell 4.1 percent. The indexes for processed poultry, industrial chemicals, jet fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas also moved lower. Final demand services:The index for final demand services remained unchanged in November, the same as in October. In November, prices for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing edged up 0.1 percent. Conversely, the indexes for final demand trade services and for final demand transportation and warehousing services declined, 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. (Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.)Product detail: Within the index for final demand services in November, prices for traveler accommodation services rose 4.0 percent. The indexes for deposit services (partial); health, beauty, and optical goods retailing; food and alcohol wholesaling; and apparel, footwear, and accessories retailing also advanced. In contrast, margins for automobile retailing (partial) declined 5.1 percent. The indexes for chemicals and allied products wholesaling, portfolio management, furniture retailing, and truck transportation of freight also fell. There was some more good news: intermediate PPI, widely seen as a leading indicator to final PPI, remains firmly in deflation...
LA Port Inbound Traffic Increased in November --Container traffic gives us an idea about the volume of goods being exported and imported - and usually some hints about the trade report since LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic. The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container). To remove the strong seasonal component for inbound traffic, the first graph shows the rolling 12-month average. On a rolling 12-month basis, inbound traffic increased 2.2% in November compared to the rolling 12 months ending in October. Outbound traffic increased 0.2% compared to the rolling 12 months ending the previous month. The 2nd graph is the monthly data (with a strong seasonal pattern for imports). Usually imports peak in the July to October period as retailers import goods for the Christmas holiday, and then decline sharply and bottom in February or March depending on the timing of the Chinese New Year. Imports were up 31% YoY in November, and exports were up 3% YoY. In general, it appears port traffic is returning to the pre-pandemic patterns.
Industrial Production Increased 0.2% in November --From the Fed: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization In November, industrial production increased 0.2 percent, and manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent. The increase in manufacturing output was more than accounted for by a 7.1 percent bounceback in motor vehicles and parts production following the resolution of strikes at several major automakers. The index for manufacturing excluding motor vehicles and parts decreased 0.2 percent. The output of utilities moved down 0.4 percent, and the output of mines moved up 0.3 percent. Total industrial production in November was 0.4 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up 0.1 percentage point to 78.8 percent in November, a rate that is 0.9 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series is up from the record low set in April 2020, and above the level in February 2020 (pre-pandemic). Capacity utilization at 78.8% is 0.9% below the average from 1972 to 2022. This was below consensus expectations. The second graph shows industrial production since 1967. Industrial production increased to 102.7. This is above the pre-pandemic level. Industrial production was slightly below consensus expectations.
Which Industries Gained Jobs, Which Lost Jobs: Longer-Term Employment Trends in Charts By Wolf Richter --Some industries pushed their payrolls to new all-time-high; others shed workers, such as retail which has been structural decline since 2017; at other industries, employment has been roughly level at record levels, for months, after the pandemic spike, such as in manufacturing and professional and business services. We’ll look at employment at the major industry categories and at government jobs, based on the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.On Friday, we discussed how average hourly wages surged for the third month in a row, growing at an annualized rate of 5.0% in November – that Wage Growth was Not Cooperating with the Rosy Scenario of a Normalizing Labor Market; and we walked through the details of the jobs data and saw that the labor market is giving the Fed no reason at all to cut rates. Construction, all types of construction, from single-family housing to highways. We already have been amazed by the eyepopping boom in construction spending on factories. Overall construction payrolls hit a new all-time high:
- Total employment: 8.03 million, new all-time high
- 1-month growth: +2,000
- 3-month growth: +36,000
(similar breakdown with graphs for a dozen sectors)
Hasbro is slashing about 1,100 jobs, blaming soft holiday sales --Toy and game maker Hasbro will slash about 1,100 jobs, or 20 percent of its workforce, amid soft holiday sales, according to a company memo.In a memo to employees on Monday, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said that while the company has made significant strides in the past year, the market conditions are forcing them to take further action.“But the market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned,” Cocks wrote in the memo, disclosed in regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “While we’re confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make.”While the company expected the first three quarters to be difficult as consumers come off of a surge in pandemic-driven spending habits, Cocks said such market conditions persisted into the holiday season and will likely continue into 2024.The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs.The move comes nearly a year after the Rhode Island-based company began to cut 15 percent of its global workforce, citing the need to cut costs. These layoffs, announced last January, were intended to save the company up to $300 million over the next few years.Hasbro, which is behind popular toys and games like Play-Doh, My Little Pony, and Monopoly, is among several toy companies forced to make changes as they continue to feel the effects of a slowdown in sales following the pandemic spending surge. Toy sales in the U.S. were down 8 percent from January through August, The Associated Pressreported, citing Circana’s most recent data. Shares in Hasbro Inc. also fell nearly 6 percent in after-market trading on Monday, the news wire added.
“The UAW knew these layoffs were coming”: Toledo Jeep workers denounce job cuts --Stellantis workers on the way into the Toledo Assembly Complex Saturday denounced the corporation and the United Auto Workers for the sudden announcement late last week that 1,225 workers will be laid off indefinitely as early as February 5. The company, which owns the Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep brands, also said it will carry out 2,465 “temporary” layoffs at its Detroit Assembly Complex Mack plant. The mass layoffs come just over two weeks after the UAW announced the ratification of its supposedly “record contracts” for 146,000 Stellantis, Ford and General Motors workers. UAW President Shawn Fain and the Biden administration claimed the new four-and-a-half-year deals would “create” thousands of jobs. In fact, the deals give the automakers a green light to slash tens of thousands of jobs as they transition to electric vehicle production. Prior to the contract vote in mid-November, UAW Local 12 officials told Toledo workers that a new shift would be added at the Jeep plant and most of the 1,200 “supplemental employees (SE),” Stellantis’ term for temporary workers, would be converted to full-time positions. Now, virtually all the temporary workers—some of whom have worked for four or five years—are being tossed onto the unemployment lines. “We’re losing our jobs with the holidays around the corner,” a 20-year-old supplemental worker, who used the name “Evan” to protect himself from retaliation, told reporters from the World Socialist Web Site. “We’re already in the hole from the six-week strike and since we’ve been back, we’ve only been getting three days a week. They promised to roll us over but instead they’re cutting us right before we get more money and benefits.“Everybody had high hopes for this contract. The UAW just surrendered. After it was passed, GM gave its shareholders billions. It’s inhumane and immoral for rich CEOs and investors to make so much when people are starving and struggling for their families to survive.”Stellantis officials have cynically claimed the layoffs were necessary to “manage sales of the vehicles we build to comply with California emission regulations.” Under the regulations, which are also being adopted by 12 other states, all new cars sold in 2035 and beyond will be zero emission vehicles. “Unfortunately, this change will result in job losses,” a robocall message sent to workers said. The emission regulations in themselves are completely inadequate to address the climate crisis. Moreover, Biden’s promotion of electric vehicles is chiefly driven by his administration’s efforts to counter China’s domination of the EV market, semiconductors and critical raw materials, not out of any genuine environmental considerations.For its part, Stellantis is pinning the blame for the layoffs on the emission regulations—which do not take effect for 12 years—to divert workers’ anger behind support for rolling back any interference with its profit-making. In this, the company is lining up behind sections of the Republican Party, including Donald Trump, who are more closely aligned with the oil industry and oppose the California rules and similar regulations. Just last week, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was boasting at an event sponsored by Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs that his company was one of the few traditional automakers, if not the only one, currently making money on EVs in the US and Europe. “Already, (there is) significant money with the EV business, but there is a lot of uncertainty out there,” including the outcome of the US and European Parliament elections next year.
These are the top 15 jobs people want to quit the most, report says– The results of a recent survey suggest that some of us can’t wait to leave our current jobs.The poll, conducted by the software firm Payscale, identified the top 15 jobs workers are planning to quit partially due to stressful work environments, return-to-office mandates, low compensation packages and the current state of the economy.Workers in industries ranging from tech to healthcare dominated the list, even with some of these positions boasting median salaries of over six figures.While some respondents indicated they hoped to find work in other professions or fields, many were simply seeking to leave their jobs for identical or similar roles at other companies, where there may be better compensation, benefits, or work-life balance. Payscale also noted that the “expansion of pay transparency legislation” may have given some of these employees a peek at the salaries they could earn for the same job elsewhere, inspiring them to jump ship.“Regardless, these jobs represent occupations where employees are stressed, underchallenged, burned out, or unhappy with their pay and benefits compared to what they think they can get elsewhere,” reads a portion of Payscale’s 2023 End-of-Year Job Market Report.
Shocking Video Reveals Democrats Stuffed Nearly 3,000 Illegals Into Chicago Warehouse A new video has surfaced on X showing the location of a warehouse in the Chicago metro area where nearly 3,000 illegal migrants have been packed into. This comes as the US southern border continues to spiral out of control as disastrous open border policies by the Biden administration have flooded major metro areas with hundreds of thousands of illegals, if not more. "I honestly couldn't believe it when I first heard it. 2700 illegals being housed in a warehouse in south Chicago (2241 S. Halsted St)," Ben Bergquam, a reporter for Real America's Voice News, said in a post on X. Bergquam continued, "People have no idea how bad this is going to get! The truth about the Democrat's illegal invasion: drugs, prostitution, child trafficking, and modern-day slavery."
South American Gangs Target Dozens Of Mansions In Detroit - Violent crime is quickly spreading to suburbia. A new report shows gangs from South America have targeted mansions in wealthy neighborhoods across the Detroit metro area. This comes as the Biden administration's disastrous open border policies have flooded the country with millions of illegal migrants, as well as progressive cities fail to enforce 'common sense' law and order. WXYZ Detroit reported at least 30 to 40 homes in upscale neighborhoods across Detroit have been targeted by "highly functional and well-trained" gangs from South America this fall.Thieves are using high-tech "jammers" to disable WiFi home security systems. They're primarily after cash, jewelry, and expensive handbags. Last week, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said thieves are part of "transnational gangs" operating across the country and are targeting multi-million dollar homes. In recent months, we have shared an emerging theme of thieves across the country targeting wealthy households:This disturbing trend comes as illegal migrant encounters by the Customs and Border Protection on the southern border hit a record high. President Biden's disastrous open southern border has flooded the country with 9 million illegals since he took office. Also, Democrat lawmakers, some of whom are Soros-backed, fail to enforce common sense law and order, transforming some metros into lawless, crime-ridden hellholes. Democrats are turning this nation into a third-world-like state - and now criminals, emboldened by failed progressive policies, have the rich in their crosshairs in suburbia. The only advice for law-abiding Americans who want to defend their families and homes in suburbia, where the average police could be upwards of ten minutes or more, is to get proper firearms training from a professional.
What In The World Has Happened To Our System Of Education? --Our kids can’t really read very well. And it turns out that they aren’t very good at math either. But those running our system of education continue to tell us that they are doing a wonderful job. If they just had more funding, they insist, our test scores would go way up. Of course that is complete and utter nonsense. Our system of public eduction was a failure back when I was in school many years ago, and it is much worse now. At this point, only about one-third of all U.S. students in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades are proficient in reading…In 2022, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that approximately one-third of students in fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades are proficient in reading. The situation even gets worse for certain groups such as people from a different race, older generations, and those who belong to low-income groups.So do you know what this means?It means that approximately two-thirds of all students in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades are not proficient in reading.Wow, that is really terrible.And it is also being reported that 40 percent of our students “are essentially nonreaders”…Biennial testing through NAEP consistently shows that two thirds of U.S. children are unable to read with proficiency. An astounding 40 percent are essentially nonreaders. Most are taught through phonics—a system of instruction based on sounding out letters that is mandated in at least 32 states and the District of Columbia. The phonics method of converting each letter to a particular sound is totally unsuited to the English language. As but one example, e, the most common letter in print, has 11 different pronunciations (end, eat, vein, eye, etc.), including its role as the much-taught “silent e” (tape, cute, fine, etc.). This failure has been endemic from the early days of the country when Benjamin Franklin fought against phonics. The steady expansion of this mode of instruction will not fix the situation.Isn’t that great?We are headed for a future where approximately 40 percent of the entire population cannot even function in society. In some areas of the country it is even worse.In Chicago, only about one-sixth of all third graders are able to read at grade level… About one-sixth of all third-grade students in Chicago Public Schools can read at grade level. For low-income and minority students, the share of proficient readers is even lower.
Judge Rules Kentucky’s Charter School Law Unconstitutional -- Kentucky Lantern. A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Monday struck down a law allowing charter schools in Kentucky, ahead of an expected effort in next year’s legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow public money to be spent on private schools.Judge Phillip Shepherd declared 2022’s House Bill 9 unconstitutional in a lawsuit filed by the Council for Better Education, which represents 168 Kentucky school districts.Shepherd wrote that charter schools are “private entities” that do not meet the Kentucky Constitution’s definition of “public schools” or “common schools.”The “policy goals of the legislation are not at issue in this case,” wrote Shepherd. “Here, the only issue is whether the legislation runs afoul of the very specific mandates of the Kentucky Constitution governing public education and the expenditure of tax dollars.”Shepherd concluded there “is no way to stretch the definition of ‘common schools’ so broadly that it would include such privately owned and operated schools that are exempt from the statutes and administrative regulations governing public school education.”Common schools are supported by public taxes and all children within the district who meet age requirements of the school are allowed to attend it, the judge wrote. “The common schools must be open to every child, and operated, managed and fully accountable to the taxpaying public.”“Under HB 9, charter schools — unlike common schools — are specifically permitted to impose enrollment caps limiting their enrollment to a number of children who will ensure ease of instruction through small class sizes,” Shepherd wrote. “Charter schools may turn away qualified children residing in the district. As set forth in the legislation, taxpayer supported charter schools are authorized to limit their enrollment, and to ‘conduct an admissions lottery if capacity is insufficient to enroll all students who wish to attend the school’.”The ruling comes as a private school in Madison County is seeking to become Kentucky’s first charter school. Gus LaFontaine, who owns LaFontaine Preparatory School, a pre-K to fifth-grade private school, was an intervenor in the lawsuit.
Why teens are ‘almost constantly’ online - Forty-six percent of U.S. teens said they are using the internet “almost constantly,” according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Monday. The latest numbers are on par with what Pew researchers found last year but nearly double the 24 percent who said they were online almost constantly in polls conducted between 2014 and 2015. The increase comes as experts and lawmakers have warned about the impact of social media on youth mental health. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory in May that argued social media use may be harmful to the mental health of young people, and Congress has been considering bipartisan proposals aimed at curbing social media harms for teens. Black and Hispanic teens were more likely than white teens to say they are online almost constantly, according to Pew. The poll found that 55 percent of Hispanic teens and 54 percent of Black teens said they were online almost constantly, compared to 38 percent of white teens who said the same. There were also differences between age groups of teens. While 50 percent of teens ages 15-17 said they were online almost constantly, 40 percent of teens 13-14 said the same. Nearly all teens — 95 percent — said they have access to a smartphone, and Pew found that smartphone ownership is “nearly universal” among teens of different genders, ages, races and ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. Among U.S. teens, YouTube remains the most widely used online platform, followed by TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. Some 93 percent of teens said they use YouTube, while 63 percent said they use TikTok, 60 percent said they use Snapchat and 59 percent said they use Instagram, the survey found. Facebook and Twitter, now known as X, have declined substantially in popularity among teens in recent years. Only 33 percent in the Pew poll said they use Facebook, while 20 percent said they use X.
1-In-5 Young Americans Say Holocaust Was A Myth, Twice As Many Democrats As Republicans -- A new poll sheds light on why so many college-aged Americans aren’t worried about expressing antisemitism: Twenty percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 believe the Holocaust is a myth. Specifically, as The College Fix reports, the YouGov/The Economist poll shows eight percent of that age group “strongly agrees” that the World War II Nazi Jewish genocide program is bogus, while 12 percent “tend to agree.” Thirty percent neither agreed nor disagreed the Holocaust happened, The Hill reports. In addition, twenty-three percent said the Holocaust “has been exaggerated,” and 28 percent believe Jews “wield too much power” in the U.S.More blacks and Hispanics than whites agreed with the three statements, and the Holocaust “myth” results held steady across all education levels.In comparison, no Americans over age 65 said the Holocaust is a myth, only two percent “tend to agree” it’s exaggerated, and six percent believe Jews have too much power.“Why do some young Americans embrace such views?” The Economist asks.“Social media might play a role.”According to a 2022 survey from the Pew Research Centre, Americans under 30 are about as likely to trust information on social media as they are to trust national news organisations.More recently Pew found that 32% of those aged 18-29 get their news from TikTok. Social-media sites are rife with conspiracy theories, and research has found strong associations between rates of social-media use and beliefs in such theories. In one recent survey by Generation Lab, a data-intelligence company, young adults who used TikTok were more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs. Yesterday, senators introduced a bill to reauthorize federal funding for the Never Again [Holocaust] Education Act. The House put forth its own bill last month. Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen (D) said: “Failing to educate students about the gravity and scope of the Holocaust is a disservice to the memory of its victims and to our duty to prevent such atrocities in the future.” Other results from the poll (18-29 year-olds vs. those age 65+):
- 36 vs. 13 percent believe “Israel exploits Holocaust victimhood for its own purposes.”
- 33 vs. six percent say “people should boycott Israeli goods and products.”
- 32 vs. 13 percent believe “Israel is an apartheid state.”
- 40 vs. 18 percent say “Israel is deliberately trying to wipe out the Palestinian population.”
- 51 vs. 88 percent believe “Israel has the right to exist.”
Democrats are leading the charge when it comes to believing the Holocaust is a myth, a new survey by YouGov showed. Of those who answered the YouGov survey, 10% of Democrats believe the Holocaust is a myth. Conversely, 6% of Republicans also believe the Holocaust is a myth. “Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say hate crimes against Black, Muslim, and Arab people in the U.S. are serious problems. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say hate crimes against Christians and white people are serious,” Kathy Frankovic of YouGov wrote.
13 books pulled from Brevard schools after Moms for Liberty members read at board meeting -- Multiple Moms for Liberty members read book passages containing sexual content at Brevard's school board meeting Tuesday in an effort to get the books removed from the district, resulting in 13 titles being pulled from district schools.The final board meeting of 2023 was marred by chaos, with the board opting at the last minute to split public comment into two sections by agenda and non-agenda items because of the 41 people signed up to speak.That large number was in part because members of Brevard and Indian River chapters of Moms for Liberty, as well as other organizations, had organized to sign up to read explicit passages from books they wanted removed from district libraries and shelves.It was a move planned ahead of time and a strategy that's been used in other districts to bypass the formal review process for challenged books, as House Bill 1069 says if a parent is stopped from reading a book by a school board member due to pornographic material, the book must be removed from the district. A similar act took place at an Aug. 28 meeting in Indian River County, when the local Moms for Liberty chapter succeeded in having 33 titles removed after reading passages with sexual content out loud during a board meeting.In addition to the two Moms for Liberty chapters, members of Citizens Defending Freedom and Brevard Moms for America — two conservative groups — also were present, with members reading excerpts containing sexual content in front of the school board. Board Chair Megan Wright stopped speakers 13 times either because of sexual content, profanity and once for a derivative of a racial slur.While HB 1069 says material must be removed from district shelves if a speaker was stopped on the grounds of a passage being pornographic, it does not say the same if a speaker was stopped because of profanity.Wednesday afternoon, district spokesperson Russell Bruhn said the district would be pulling all the books from schools."Our legal team is researching whether speakers that were stopped from reading content for inappropriate language require the title to be discontinued," he said in an email. "Again, all the titles will be pulled from our schools effective immediately, while we await guidance on those titles not on the objected list."
In Katy, Texas, Students Fight Back With Banned-Book Clubs, Pride Events and Political Activism -With culture wars playing out in school districts across the nation, even unlikely communities find themselves embroiled in arguments over race, gender identity, sexual orientation — and, yes, cartoon buttocks.“The worst policies coming out of the state of Texas are taking place simultaneously in Katy,” Nicole Hill, communications director for the American Federation of Teachers-Texas (Texas AFT), said in an interview. “I look at Katy as a petri dish. We’ve had a rough couple of legislative sessions with a lot of these culture war education issues driving the narrative.” (Disclosure: The AFT is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.)The Katy Independent School District is a highly rated public school district with about 86,000 students in parts of Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties. Katy proper is a suburb of Houston, a left-leaning city that has voted Democratic for more than a decade.Before Katy grabbed the spotlight, Hill said, most of the cultural battles had been unfolding in North Texas, which is more conservative.Since 2021, Katy has been among cities where conservative parent groups, notably Moms for Liberty, have successfully pushed state legislators and school districts to impose book bans, internet censorship and requirements that districts inform parents when students choose to identify as transgender or to use different names or pronouns at school.Students in Katy and elsewhere have resisted in ways small and large. They have spoken out at school board meetings, launched “banned book” clubs to read the books that adults have said they shouldn’t read and held LGBTQ+ pride events, with parents and non-LGBTQ students showing their support.In November, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a student-led movement, filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to challenge the district’s requirement that students be outed to their parents. The student group delivered the complaint to the department’s Office for Civil Rights.Jarred Burton, 16, a junior at Tompkins High School who identifies as bisexual and is an activist with SEAT, wrote this in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle: “As a Katy ISD student, I worry that the school district’s policy is putting lives in danger. Part of the policy requires staff to notify parents if their child requests to use a different name or pronouns at school. In the case of an abusive, disapproving family, outing a student like that could put them in significant danger — a clear violation of the Texas Educators’ Code of Ethics.”
Florida school board approves measure calling Moms for Liberty co-founder to resign -- The Sarasota County School Board in Florida voted 4-1 on Tuesday night calling for the resignation of board member and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler following a sex scandal.Board Chair Karen Rose proposed the resolution calling for the resignation, although there is no power of enforcement behind it. Ziegler was the only member to oppose the resolution.Members of the public addressed the board Tuesday night, largely in support of the resolution requesting Ziegler to step down. In comments to the members of the school board before the vote took place on Tuesday, Ziegler said she was “disappointed” in the proposed resolution.The resolution came after Ziegler’s husband, Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, was accused of rape. His accuser had reportedly previously had a sexual relationship with both the Zieglers.Christan Ziegler has faced calls by multiple Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott to resign.Bridget Ziegler has also faced calls to step down from her positions with the school board and Moms for Liberty, with some saying her positions on schools and conservative beliefs have been hypocritical. “The Zieglers have made a habit out of attacking anything they perceive as going against ‘family values,’ be it reproductive rights or the existence of LGBTQ+ Floridians,” state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement. “The level of hypocrisy in this situation is stunning.”
Florida High School Fined For Letting Boy Play On Female Sports Team - A Florida high school has been fined for letting a boy who claims he's a girl play on a female sports team.Allowing the transgender student to play volleyball with girls was violative of state law and Florida High School Athletic Association policy, the association informed Monarch High School in a Dec. 12 letter.The association's policy states that boys may not participate on female sports teams "if the school’s overall boys’ athletic program equals or exceeds the girls’ overall athletic program."A Florida law passed in 2021 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, bars males who identify as females from participating in women's sports. The law was upheld recently by a federal court.Broward County officials reported to the athletic association that a male had played on the girls' volleyball team, prompting an investigation.The investigation resulted in the determination that the school violated the law and association policy, and the association levied a $16,500 fine, Justin Harrison, an associate executive director with the association, informed the school and county in the new letter.The fine is based on the number of games the volleyball team played in recent years.The association is also formally reprimanding the school, which means the school will have an official censure on its record; placing it on administrative probation through November 2024; requiring school representatives to attend a compliance seminar; and requiring the school to host association staff for a compliance workshop.Dorian Norton, the boy who says he's a girl, is also not eligible to participate in sports at any schools that are a member of the association. The boy participated in two seasons of volleyball.“Thanks to the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida passed legislation to protect girls’ sports and we will not tolerate any school that violates this law,” Manny Diaz Jr., Florida's education commissioner, told The Epoch Times via email. "We applaud the swift action taken by the Florida High School Athletic Association to ensure there are serious consequences for this illegal behavior."The Florida Department of Education previously said in a statement: "Under Governor DeSantis, boys will never be allowed to play girls' sports. It's that simple."Mr. DeSantis said when signing the law, “We believe in the state of Florida protecting the fairness and integrity of women’s athletics."The letter was first reported by the Daily Signal.
Grand Rapids school board moves to approve plan to shut down 10 public schoolsOn November 13, the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) Board of Education in Grand Rapids, Michigan, announced a plan to consolidate schools in the district with the purported aim of increasing facility utilization to 75 percent. The plan, known by the title “Reimagine GRPS with Us” calls for shuttering ten elementary and middle schools and further displacing students at various schools by repurposing buildings. East Leonard Elementary [Photo: Grand Rapids Public Schools] On November 7, the public voted on a $305 million bond for GRPS. The board’s plan is to use these funds over the next several years as part of its plan to close the ten schools beginning in 2024 and ending in 2031. As of this writing, this is what the plan looks like, by school year: 2024-2025: The East Leonard and Stocking elementary schools will be permanently closed, and their 302 students split up between four nearby schools. 2025-2026: Alger Middle School students will be permanently transferred to Ottawa Hills High School, and the building will be repurposed. Riverside Middle School students will be permanently moved 3 miles away to Innovation Central High School, while the building is repurposed. Ken-O-Sha Park students will be moved to Sherwood Park until renovation is finished on their building the next year. Students at the alternative high school Southeast Career Pathways, currently at a school-owned facility on Jefferson Street, will be transferred 2.4 miles away to another facility on Sigsbee Street. 2026-2027: Brookside Elementary School will close permanently, and its students will be sent to the renovated Alger Middle. Grand Rapids Montessori Academy, Montessori Middle High, and North Park Montessori will close, with all PK-12 students crammed into the Riverside campus. The first two will be permanently closed, while North Park might become a new elementary school, or a new one will be built in northeast Grand Rapids. 2027-2028: Palmer and Aberdeen Elementary will close permanently, their 433 students transferred to other schools. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at Aberdeen will be moved 3.8 miles away to Innovation Central. 2028-2029: All 154 Westwood Middle School students will be permanently moved to Union High School. 2029-2031: Mulick Park Elementary, Campus Elementary, and Ridgemoor Park Montessori will be renovated. Although the district has not officially released figures for the schools to be closed, it is clear that thousands of students will be displaced, most of them permanently. To justify the plan, the district cites the low utilization of the buildings and “deferred maintenance costs,” i.e., maintenance that has not been done due to lack of funding. Altogether, the ten schools on the chopping block account for $63 million in deferred maintenance.
University of California Irvine targets students opposing genocide in Gaza - Millions across the globe continue to demonstrate in opposition to the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli government. Students and youth in particular have participated en masse in these demonstrations on every continent. Fearful of the mass protests that implicate US and Israeli imperialism and the legitimacy of the entire capitalist system, the response of the Biden administration and state institutions—including university and school administrations—has been to clamp down on these actions. This has taken the form of censorship, criminalizing students and clubs, and outright trampling on democratic rights, freedom of speech and political expression on campuses. At the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in Southern California, students associated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) are facing victimization and the club’s status is under direct assault. Students have released a statement explaining serious allegations made against SJP club members that threaten their status and graduation prospects. The university has also levelled charges against a Jewish student who peacefully spoke out against the genocide in a Q&A portion of a talk sponsored by the UCI Political Science department and the Israel Institute. According to the SJP statement, five board members of SJP are having their academic future threatened with bogus allegations of violating numerous Student Conduct Policies in regard to their participation in the National “Shut It Down for Palestine” student walkout. This was a protest organized by SJP and sixteen other organizations. The students and board members of the SJP are being accused of violating at least three codes: 102.16 Failure to Comply, “Failure to identify oneself to, or comply with the directions of, a University official or other public official acting in the performance of his or her duties while on University property or at official University functions; or resisting or obstructing such University or other public officials in the performance of or the attempt to perform their duties.”102.14 Disorderly or Lewd Conduct, and 102.13 Disruption which includes, “Obstruction or disruption of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary procedures, or other University activities.” These accusations make it clear that UCI is attempting to shut down and censor opposition to the genocide in Gaza and Zionism more broadly. The UC Irvine administration piled up charges against the students and the organization, laying the framework for revoking the club’s official status. The call to disaffiliate SJP and other anti-genocide groups, such as Jewish Voices for Peace, from club status has been a major demand by right-wing and Zionist forces and has already been carried out at Columbia and Brandeis universities in the Northeast.
Free Expression and Self-Censorship on Campus - Rajiv Sethi - This is a challenging and perilous time for leaders of American universities. But along with the challenges come opportunities, and wise decisions made at this juncture can build and solidify reputations. Here, for example, is David Lat writing in his newsletter in March 2023, months before the current crisis:In the world of campus free-speech issues, certain pronouncements have acquired canonical status. There’s the Kalven Report (1967). The Woodward Report (1974). The Chicago Principles (2014). And now we have a new addition to their august ranks: the Martinez Memo (2023). This is what leadership looks like. Jenny Martinez was Dean of Stanford Law when she issued the ten-page memo referenced by David. She has since been appointed provost of the University, and in collaboration with Stanford’s new president Richard Saller, has issued a statement that makes a clear and concise case for institutional neutrality.1Neutrality (in the context of higher education) refers to the principle that universities should “generally refrain from taking institutional positions on complex political or global matters that extend beyond… the operations of the university itself.” This was the central message of the Kalven Report, which the Saller-Martinez statement (implicitly) endorses, and on which it builds. The Kalven Report is admirably brief, and its core claims are contained in the following extract (emphasis added):2 The mission of the university is the discovery, improvement, and dissemination of knowledge. Its domain of inquiry and scrutiny includes all aspects and all values of society. A university faithful to its mission will provide enduring challenges to social values, policies, practices, and institutions. By design and by effect, it is the institution which creates discontent with the existing social arrangements and proposes new ones. In brief, a good university, like Socrates, will be upsetting. The instrument of dissent and criticism is the individual faculty member or the individual student. The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic… if it is to be true to its faith in intellectual inquiry, [it] must embrace, be hospitable to, and encourage the widest diversity of views within its own community… [it] cannot take collective action on the issues of the day without endangering the conditions for its existence and effectiveness…The neutrality of the university as an institution arises then not from a lack of courage nor out of indifference and insensitivity. It arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints. And this neutrality as an institution has its complement in the fullest freedom for its faculty and students as individuals to participate in political action and social protest. It finds its complement, too, in the obligation of the university to provide a forum for the most searching and candid discussion of public issues.The Saller-Martinez statement adds an interesting twist to the Kalven reasoning, and this relates to the interpretation of silence: In recent years, many universities have gotten into the habit of issuing frequent statements about news events. This creates a number of difficulties. The decision to take a position about one event or issue yields implications for silence with regard to other issues; given that different subsets of a campus community may be more or less affected by particular issues, this inconsistency is felt acutely. It can enmesh universities in politics and create a sense of institutional orthodoxy that chills academic freedom. In addition, crafting each message is challenging, from gathering facts and context on complex issues at the speed of online media and the news cycle while also walking a line between platitudes and overly political positions.Over the past couple of months this challenge of crafting messages has led to repeated updates and clarifications, with each new declaration igniting more fires than it extinguishes. While the Kalven report addresses institutional neutrality, the Chicago Principles are concerned with the freedom of to take public positions on controversial issues without fear of official sanction (emphasis added):3
40 percent of student loan borrowers missed first payment since COVID pause, officials say Forty percent of student loan borrowers missed their first student loan payments since they were paused for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education said Friday.In a blog post, U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said 60 percent of student loan borrowers whose payments were due in October made them by mid-November. He said 22 million people had payments due in October, and over 4 million owed payments for the “first time.”“While most borrowers have already made their first payment, others will need more time. Some are confused or overwhelmed about their options,” Kvall said. ”We want to make sure borrowers know that our top priority is to support student loan borrowers as they return to repayment.”Student loan payments resumed on Oct. 1. As they restart, the Biden administration has offered an “on-ramp” repayment program through October of next year, which does not intensely penalize borrowers if they miss payments.“To give borrowers breathing room while they work student loan payments back into their monthly budgets, we created the 12-month on-ramp period,” Kvall said in the blog post. “Until next September, borrowers will be protected from the harshest consequences of missed payments, such as delinquency, default, and mandatory collections.”
Long-Term ADHD Medication Use May Increase Heart Disease Risk: Study - A new study indicates that long-term use of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and that the risk increases the longer the drug is used. The results of the study conducted in Sweden were published in JAMA Psychiatry, bringing to light the potential risks of long-term ADHD medication.About 6 million, or 1 in 10, children ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 8.7 million adults in the United States also have ADHD. Individuals with ADHD may have difficulty paying attention, find it hard to sit still, or act without thinking; the symptoms and specifics vary from person to person.Medication has been the standard treatment of care for decades, researchers wrote, adding that "the use of ADHD medication has increased greatly in both children and adults during the past decades." Medication therapies include stimulant and non-stimulant therapies, with modalities being determined by the patient's needs.In the study, researchers looked at 13 years of records in the National Inpatient Register of over 278,000 individuals between the ages of 6 and 64 with ADHD. They found that the longer an individual used ADHD medication, the higher their risk was of developing cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not take ADHD medication. Additionally, each additional year an individual used ADHD medication increased their risk of heart disease by an average of 4 percent. Overall, the results suggest that heart disease risk was 23 percent higher for people who used ADHD medication for more than five years compared to those who never used it. The risk was stable among children and adults, both male and female. Cardiovascular diseases linked to ADHD medication include hypertension and artery disease. There was no increased risk for other associated conditions, such as heart failure, arrhythmias, thromboembolic disease, arterial disease, and other forms of heart disease.The study confirms previous research that indicated patients taking stimulant ADHD medication, such as Ritalin or Adderall, are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those taking non-stimulant ADHD medication. The reason for the development is likely because the stimulants in the drugs are known to elevate blood pressure, arouse the nervous system, and make the heart work harder.
Severe morning sickness linked to GDF15 hormone: Study -Severe morning sickness symptoms during pregnancy are likely linked to one specific hormone, according to a new study.The scientific journal Nature, which published its findings on Wednesday, found that nausea and vomiting, common symptoms during the first trimester of a pregnancy, are primarily caused by the GDF15 hormone — which is produced in fetal bone marrow.“GDF15, a hormone acting on the brainstem, has been implicated in the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) including in its most severe form, Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), but a full mechanistic understanding is lacking,” the study reads.
Report underscores financial pressure of long COVID on families -Survey results published today in JAMA Network Open show that US households headed by an adult with long COVID were two to four times more likely to report pandemic-related financial hardships, regardless of prepandemic socioeconomic status. Researchers from the University of South Carolina and Montana State University administered the Panel Study of Income Dynamics survey to 6,932 families about their financial status before (2019) and during the pandemic (2021). Of the 6,932 families, 13.1% were Black, 13.5% were Hispanic, 66.8% were White, and 27.0% reported incomes below 200% of the US Census Bureau poverty threshold. "Symptoms of PCCs [post-COVID conditions] can adversely affect daily functioning and have been associated with a lower likelihood of working full time and a higher likelihood of being unemployed," the study authors wrote. "COVID-19–associated hospitalizations have been similarly associated with job loss. In addition to the direct associations with patients' work and earnings, household finances may be further stressed by out-of-pocket medical expenses and lost caretaker productivity," they added. More than a fourth of households (28.4%) headed by an adult previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 (1,147 affected families) reported persistent symptoms. The remaining 5,785 families (84.6%) had no history of COVID-19. Of the 6,932 families, 17.0%, 23.0%, and 16.8% reported that a household member had been laid off or furloughed, lost earnings, or had financial difficulties, respectively, due to the pandemic. Overall, 14.2% had at least one member who lacked health insurance in the past 2 years. In total, 15.4% of families were headed by an adult (respondent or spouse or partner) who had tested positive for COVID-19, including 4.4%, 3.1%, and 7.9% who had long COVID, severe illness, or moderate, mild, or asymptomatic disease, respectively. There was no statistically significant association between previous moderate, mild, or asymptomatic COVID-19 and layoffs or furloughs (OR, 1.22; AOR, 1.05) or financial problems (OR, 1.05; AOR, 0.91). Families headed by an adult who was temporarily laid off or furloughed were at higher risk of persistent COVID-19 symptoms (adjusted relative risk ratio [ARRR], 2.82), while families with credit card or store card debt (an indicator of financial difficulties) were at higher risk of moderate, mild, or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection (ARRR, 1.58). The likelihood of reporting pandemic-related financial hardships was 2.0 to 3.7 times higher among families headed by an adult with long COVID (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for laid off or furloughed, 1.98; aOR for lost earnings, 2.86; aOR for financial difficulties, 3.72). The odds were 1.7 to 2.0 times higher among families headed by a survivor of severe COVID-19 (aOR for laid off or furloughed, 1.69; aOR for lost earnings, 1.99; aOR for financial difficulties, 1.87) compared with families without a history of COVID-19. Families headed by an adult with long COVID had higher odds of pandemic-related financial difficulties, regardless of prepandemic socioeconomic status (aOR for lower-income families, 3.71; aOR for higher-income families, 3.74). Previous severe COVID-19 was significantly tied to financial problems in lower-income families (AOR, 2.59) but not in those with higher incomes (OR, 1.56). "Families with lower income before the pandemic (ie, families who had fewer resources available to buffer against COVID-19–related financial shocks) were more vulnerable to employment disruptions and earnings losses associated with an adult family member's COVID-19 illness," the researchers wrote. "Individuals living in economically vulnerable households are more likely to hold essential jobs, which have been associated with increased employment-related exposure and risk of severe COVID-19 among workers and their household members." The authors noted that an estimated 3 million to 5 million American adults have activity-limiting long COVID. "Given the significant economic consequences of COVID-19 and the expectation that PCCs will continue to affect individuals and their families over the long term, policy actions to mitigate the household financial impact of PCCs (eg, expanded paid sick leave, improved workplace accommodations, and wider access to disability insurance) merit continued discussion," they wrote.
Public health officials detail threats, changed landscape post-pandemic - Public health leaders, including state commissioners and directors, and frontline health workers experienced threats to their well-being and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to up to 30% to step down, retire, or leave the field, according to a recent study in Public Health in Practice.The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Delaware, was based on surveys given to staff at state and local health departments in 23 states in fall 2020 and summer 2021. Researchers said more than half of local health directors reported harassment of themselves or their staff from March 2020 to January 2021, and one-third of public health leaders retired, resigned, or were fired because of the threats.Kris Ehresmann, MPH, former director of the Minnesota Department of Health, said her experience during the pandemic included daily hate mail and threats to her personal safety. The harassment began shortly after the pandemic started in spring 2020 and ramped up when vaccines were introduced statewide in early 2021. Eventually, the threats pushed her to retire early in 2022, a move she had been contemplating."I just decided I don't want to die early from stress," Ehresmann told CIDRAP News. "I had no idea people you didn’t know could be so hateful on something. It was just so surprising to me that something like wearing a mask could elicit this response."Ehresmann was the public face of Minnesota’s response to the pandemic, along with Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. Ehresmann said being women in those roles may have played in a role in the level of vitriol they experienced."The level of evil character ascribed to us, calling us Nazis, for example, was so surprising," she said. Ehresmann was not alone. Nineteen months after the pandemic began, the New York Times reported that more than 500 top health officials across the country had left their jobs, partly because of abuse and threats.In the present study, the authors suggest that the pandemic taught communities a hard lesson: Public health officials need police and sheriff departments to provide more protection. Ehresmann said she had protection offered to her by state patrols, but she never had a personal detail.Jeff Duchin, MD, health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington, said he had people come to his house to threaten him during the height of the pandemic. "I had good support from the King County Sheriff," Duchin said, adding that threats against him have decreased markedly but that he still has support from the sheriff’s office.Duchin said while the threats were gratuitous for him at times, he saw frontline health workers also threatened. "Frontline workers took a lot of abuse," he said. "And it's created a wave of early retirements and staffing shortages."
COVID study: 40% of children still infectious after symptom resolution -- A study today of viral shedding dynamics in 101 children who had COVID-19 during the Omicron surge in Toronto shows that 40% were still infectious on the day after their symptoms resolved. Moreover, rapid antigen tests (RATs) were often negative early in the course of illness, and thus cannot be relied on to exclude infection, they authors say. The study is published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The prospective study was conducted from February 1 to March 14, 2022, and included children ages 18 and younger with confirmed COVID-19. Researchers conducted daily SARS-CoV-2 testing based on saliva samples for 10 days, and 50 of the participants also completed daily RATs. All testing began within 72 hours of symptoms. In total, 66 participants (65%) were positive for BA.1 and 33 (33%) were positive for BA.2. The mean age of participants was 10.2 years. Sixty-three percent of participants had two doses of mRNA vaccine, and 18% were unvaccinated. The median time to symptom resolution was 6 days, and 12% of participants still had symptoms at day 10. Overall, the median time to non-infectious virus load was 5 days after symptom onset, with 75% of participants meeting the non-infectious threshold by 7 days, and 90% by 10 days. Ten participants were still infectious at 10 days, but only one was symptomatic, with a cough. "On the day of symptom resolution, 43 of 87 (49%) had met the threshold of non-infectiousness, with 52 (60%) having reached the threshold as of the first day post symptom resolution," the authors wrote. These findings support the consideration for infection prevention and control interventions for up to 10 days. Among the 50 participants using RATs, positivity at symptom onset and on the day after symptom onset was 67% and 75%, respectively. On the first day where the non-infectious threshold was met, 61% of participant RAT results were positive. "These findings support the consideration for infection prevention and control interventions for up to 10 days post symptom onset to reduce residual transmission risk around vulnerable or immunocompromised populations," the authors said.
Obesity tied to COVID-related inflammatory syndrome, poor outcomes in kids - Obesity is more common in patients diagnosed as having COVID-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) than those with Kawasaki disease (KD) and is tied to worse outcomes, suggests a studypublished late last week in JAMA Network Open. A University of Alberta researcher led the study of 1,767 KD and MIS-C patients at 42 sites in eight countries from January 2020 to July 2022. Of 1,767 children, 338 had KD (median age, 2.5 years; 60.4% boys), and 1,429 had MIS-C (median age, 8.7 years; 61.4% boys). KD inflames blood vessels and can lead to long-term complications and death. MIS-C is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by heart abnormalities that usually resolve within weeks, the authors noted. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly higher in MIS-C than KD (41% vs 23%). Rates of overweight (17.1% vs 11.5%) and obesity (23.7% vs 11.5%) were significantly higher in MIS-C than KD, even after adjustment for age, sex, and race. For KD, higher adiposity (overweight) categories weren't tied to lab results or disease outcomes, except for intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. For MIS-C, higher adiposity was associated with worse lab test results and outcomes, including a greater likelihood of shock, ICU admissions, and need for inotropic drugs to strengthen heart contractions, as well as higher concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers and levels of creatinine (measure of kidney health) and alanine aminotransferase (measure of liver health). "The findings of this study suggest that obesity is a comorbid factor that should be considered at the clinical presentation in children with MIS-C," the researchers wrote. In a related commentary, Kirsten Dummer, MD, and Jane Burns, MD, both of the University of California San Diego, said obesity is difficult to disentangle from social determinants of health and variant exposure. "Given the global decrease in MIS-C case numbers, the data presented by Khoury and colleaguesmay be the final word on the possible role of obesity in influencing clinical disease severity in MIS-C."
These Are the Top COVID Hot Spots in the U.S. - COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. again rose week over week, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The U.S. tallied approximately 22,500 new hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 over the seven days ending Dec. 2, according to provisional data – about 3,400 more than the total for the previous week and a rise of approximately 18%. The uptick marks the fourth weekly increase in a row, and the total surpassess a late summer peak in weekly hospitalizations of about 21,000.Relative to population, data points to 6.8 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people for the week ending Dec. 2. All but seven states across the U.S. had a “low” level of hospitalizations per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. The exceptions – West Virginia (17.3) and the Midwestern states ofSouth Dakota (13.0), Ohio (10.6), Indiana (10.3), Michigan (10.2), Missouri(10.1) and Wisconsin (10.0) – each were characterized by the CDC as having a “medium” level of hospitalizations. Compared with the week prior, Alaskahad the highest percentage increase among states in its rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations, at 53%. Vermont saw the largest decrease among states at 12%.Among patients visiting a subset of emergency departments, data indicates 1.9% of visits nationally involved a COVID-19 diagnosis – a rate up about 4% from the week before. West Virginia (3.7%) and Iowa (3.6%) saw the highest rates among states.Among U.S. counties – inclusive of areas like the District of Columbia, Guam and municipios in Puerto Rico – 114 were described by the CDC as having a “high” level of new COVID-19 hospital admissions in the week ending Dec. 2, with rates of 20 per 100,000 or higher. Letcher County, Kentucky, was reported to have the highest rate, at 74.2 per 100,000 people. Another 679 counties were said to have a “medium” level of COVID-19 hospital admissions, with rates between 10.0 and 19.9 per 100,000 people.Notably, the CDC’s county hospital admission figures are calculated at the Health Service Area level, which can span multiple counties. This means counties within the same HSA will share the same admission rates in the data. Areas also may be listed as having insufficient data.The counties with the highest rates of COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people:
- Letcher County, Kentucky (74.2)
- Jewell County, Kansas (40.7)
- Mitchell County, Kansas (40.7)
- Osborne County, Kansas (40.7)
- Smith County, Kansas (35.3)
- Norton County, Kansas (35.3)
- Phillips County, Kansas (35.3)
- Winneshiek County, Iowa (30.0)
- Pike County, Kentucky (29.1)
- Logan County, West Virginia (29.1)
- Mingo County, West Virginia (29.1)
Because hospitalization rates are calculated per 100,000 people, it’s worth noting that even a small number of hospitalizations can lead to a relatively high hospitalization rate for small communities.Other measures also can give a sense of the current state of COVID-19. For example, though the CDC has ceased publishing a "community level" metric that incorporated COVID-19 case rates and hospital admissions – as well as the average percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients – participating health departments submit data from sampling and testing ofwastewater for the virus to the CDC via the National Wastewater Surveillance System.
The COVID-19 winter surge and the failed policies of the ruling elites - Biobot Analytics updated its SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels yesterday for the week ending December 6, 2023. Although the acceleration seen around the Thanksgiving holiday has subsided, it continues to rise in accordance with the beginning of the winter peak that is underway. The same trend was seen a year ago, followed by a second surge just before the Christmas holidays, which commenced when people began to gather once more with family and friends. Based on the mass testing that was being done from the summer of 2020 until February 2022, when the BA.1/BA.2 (original Omicron variant) passed across the globe, researchers have observed a strong correlation between wastewater levels and clinical cases that provide them with strong confidence in these estimates. Modelers will soon update their estimates given the new information, but already, based on the November 29, 2023 wastewater levels, they have estimated a very high rate of transmission, with 850,000 to 1.2 million daily infections taking place in the US. Other limited objective tools that support these findings include Walgreens Respiratory Index, based on less than 20,000 weekly COVID-19 tests, that indicates the national positivity rate is close to 30 percent and has been climbing since mid-October. This data also has a direct corollary with the rise in weekly hospitalizations for COVID-19. Currently, for the week ending December 2, 2023, the figure stands at over 22,500, up 50 percent from just six weeks ago. The CDC is expected to update these figures on December 12. Weekly deaths have remained above 1,000 since the latter half of August, for at least 12 straight weeks. Contributing to the latest phase of the four-year-long pandemic that shows no sign of abating is the JN.1 subvariant, the progeny of XBB.2.86 (Pirola) which harbors more than 30-plus mutations on its spike protein and has the SLip mutation known as L455S that is contributing to its significant growth. It is expected to become the dominant strain globally over the next several weeks. It has already been detected across close to 50 countries, including Brazil, and among travelers to and from India and Singapore. Not surprising are the findings on this highly mutated progeny of the BA.2.86 lineage, according to a recent report from Japan by Dr. Kei Sato and colleagues at Sato Lab. . They wrote, “[With regards to its] transmission power (effective reproduction number): It was revealed that the relative effective reproduction (Re) number of JN.1 is higher than that of the parent strain BA.2.85 and the currently mainstream HG.5.1 and HK.3. This means that JN.1 has the potential to become the next mainstream strain, and this can be attributed to the L455S mutation.” Although it has a lower “RBD ACE2 binding test,” meaning a relative lower infectivity than its parent, Pirola, nonetheless, JN.1 is showing significant resistance to the sera of those who have received the monovalent XBB.1.5 COVID-19 boosters, raising once more the failure of the vaccine-only strategy. As the authors noted, “Taken together, these results suggest that JN.1 is one of the most immune-evading variants to date. Our results suggest that L455S contributes to increased immune evasion, which partly explains the increased Re of JN.1.”
Respiratory illness levels continue to climb ahead of holidays --Levels of three main respiratory viruses—SARS-CoV-2, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—remain elevated or are rising, but so far hospital occupancy remains stable, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates.Though levels this year are tracking behind last year at the same time, the CDC—expecting further impact from the viruses—yesterday sent an alert to health providers that underscored an urgent need to vaccinate more people against the three diseases to reduce severity and the potential impact on healthcare systems.In a respiratory virus snapshot today, the CDC said COVID-19 indicators remain elevated and are increasing in some regions, such as the Midwest. The CDC said it expects the proportion of JN.1 viruses, part of the BA.2.86 family, to continue to increase. Scientists and CDC officials are closely watching JN.1, because of mounting evidence of its immune-evasive potential.Meanwhile, flu activity is increasing in most parts of the country. And though RSV activity declined a bit in southeastern states, levels remain high nationally, with trends still rising in other parts of the country as hospitalizations continue to increase in older adults and young children.In its COVID data updates today, the CDC reported another rise in hospitalizations, which is one of its main severity markers. The level was up 3.1% compared to the previous week, with higher concentrations of counties in the moderate and high range in the northern half of the country.The other severity indicator—deaths—held stable over the past week. The highest level was reported in Kentucky, and the CDC estimates that COVID was responsible for 2.9% of deaths nationally last week.Early indicators reflected small declines last week. Test positivity, at 11% nationally, dropped 0.4% and is highest in the central part of the country. Emergency department (ED) visits were down 2.7% from the previous week, with levels somewhat higher in parts of the Midwest.Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 levels, another early indicator, are still listed as high nationally, with the highest levels reported from Midwestern states, according to CDC tracking.In its latest weekly FluView update today, the CDC reported more rises in flu activity, with the highest levels in the Southeast, south-central, and western regions. All 10 regions are now above their regional baselines. Over the past week, all regions saw rises in flu markers, with region 5—which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin—showing stable but increasing trends.Though 2009 H1N1 remains the dominant strain nationally, the South and Southeast reported higher proportions of influenza B than the rest of the country.Hospitalizations continue to rise, with the highest levels in seniors, followed by adults ages 50 to 64 and children as old as 4. The CDC's hospital surveillance shows that more than 7,000 people were admitted to the hospital for flu last week, up more than 5% from the previous week and spanning all regions of the country.Two more pediatric flu deaths were reported last week, raising the season's total to 14. One occurred in mid November and was due to influenza B. The other fatality occurred last week and involved the H3N2 strain.
Study shows long COVID worse for patients than 'long flu' - In the 18 months after a serious COVID-19 or seasonal influenza infection, patients are at a significant increased risk of death, hospital readmission, or health problems affecting a number of organs, though COVID patients are hit harder, according to a study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.The study was led by Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, the chief of research and development at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University. Al-Aly has been studying long COVID for the past 3 years, and has been interested in studying the differences between the acute and chronic phases of the disease."With COVID, we first thought if the disease as an acute respiratory illness, but long COVID has raised the public's understating that viral infections can lead to chronic conditions," he told CIDRAP News. "We know Epstein-Barr virus can cause multiple sclerosis; we see post-Ebola conditions develop in survivors; polio infections lead to conditions that appear decades later."Al-Aly said the natural comparisons made between COVID-19 and seasonal flu made him eager to understand if influenza infections—those significant enough to require hospitalization—also result in a long-term burden of disease, a "long flu.""Especially after Omicron, you heard people saying COVID is like the flu, or COVID is more of a threat, less of a threat, etcetera," Al-Aly said. When doing a review of the scientific literature, Al-Aly said he found studies comparing COVID and flu outcomes in the short term, only up to 6 months.In the new study, Al-Aly and his team looked at data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to assess risk of death, 94 individual health outcomes, the overall burden across all organ systems, hospital readmission, and admission to intensive care units among two groups: 81,280 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 from March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, and 10,985 patients hospitalized for seasonal flu from Oct 1, 2015, to Feb 28, 2019.Across all time periods, COVID-19 patients had a greater risk of death than seasonal flu patients, at 0 to 30 days (hazard ratio [HR], 2.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.28 to 2.78), 0 to 180 days (HR 1.86), 0 to 360 days (HR 1.61), and 0 to 540 days (HR 1.51). At 18 months, the cumulative death rate for COVID patients was 28.46 per 100 persons, compared with 19.84 per 100 persons for seasonal influenza.Among the 94 health outcomes assessed in the study, patients who had seasonal flu were more likely to suffer from six outcomes: angina, tachycardia, type 1 diabetes, and three of four pre-specified pulmonary outcomes.Al-Aly said influenza patients, more than COVID patients, suffered from poor respiratory outcomes. "It seems flu is a more of a respiratory disease, while COVID is a multi-systemic illness; more organs are at risk," Al-Aly said.But over and over, the study showed outcomes were worse for COVID patients, which Al-Aly said pushes back against the narrative that, in the post-Omicron era, COVID is no more threatening than the flu."A lot of people trivialize COVID, but even with the mellowing of Omicron, and vaccination, COVID is still much more of a health threat compared to flu," Al-Aly said. "The burden of health loss and burden of disease in post-acute or long phase of the disease is significant."
5% of COVID-infected US veterans still had symptoms up to 1 year later - A study of 389,000 US veterans published last week in JAMA Network Open finds that 5% reported symptoms up to 1 year after COVID-19 infection during the Omicron variant era and that vaccination was protective. The retrospective study, led by researchers from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound Health Care System, involved 388,980 veterans who tested positive for COVID-19 from October 2021 to January 2023 and 350 randomly selected peers who had a long-COVID diagnosis in their medical records. The researchers used the International Statistical Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code U09.9 for long COVID to identify patients and determine rates, risk factors, clinical settings, and symptoms associated with this condition. The average patient age was 61.4 years, 87.3% were men, 0.8% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.0% were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 1.4% were Asian, 9.3% were Hispanic, 20.7% were Black, and 67.8% were White. Six months postinfection, the cumulative incidence of long COVID was 4.79% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.73% to 4.87%), rising to 5.28% (95% CI, 5.21% to 5.36%) at 1 year. Independent risk factors were older age (linearly associated with long COVID), female sex (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.23), Hispanic ethnicity (AHR, 1.33), high burden of underlying illnesses (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder), need for hospitalization (AHR, 2.83) or mechanical ventilation (AHR, 2.83), and baseline prescription of opioids and antidepressants. Of the 350 patients whose medical records were systematically reviewed, 64.9% had new-onset symptoms considered COVID-related that lasted 30 or more days. Completion of a primary COVID-19 vaccine series (AHR, 0.80), receipt of a booster dose (AHR, 0.66), Black vs White race (AHR, 0.72), and urban vs rural residence (AHR, 0.90) were linked to reduced odds of long COVID. Of the 350 patients whose medical records were systematically reviewed, 64.9% had new-onset symptoms considered COVID-related that lasted 30 or more days. The most common symptoms were shortness of breath (37.1%), fatigue or exhaustion (22.3%), cough (18.0%), impaired cognitive function (6.3%), and change in smell and/or taste (5.7%). Rates of long-COVID diagnoses varied substantially by region and facility, which the authors said could be due to several factors, including patients who sought care at long-COVID clinics, where clinicians would have been more familiar with the ICD-10 code. Other factors could include the establishment of phone-based screening of all COVID-19 patients for lingering symptoms at two centers, regional awareness, education, cultural and political influences, and regional variation in long-COVID risk factors. "Accurate and consistent documentation of U09.9 is needed to maximize its utility in tracking patients for clinical care and research," the study authors wrote. "Future studies should examine the long-term trajectory of individuals with U09.9 documentation." Healthcare providers should recommend primary and booster vaccination to patients to lower their risk of long COVID, they added.
Study shows COVID-19 infection alters gene transcription of olfactory mucosal cells in Alzheimer's disease - A new study identifies alterations in the transcriptomic signatures in human olfactory mucosal cells of individuals with Alzheimer's disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection, potentially contributing to exacerbated COVID-19 outcomes. The study was conducted at the University of Eastern Finland in collaboration with the University of Helsinki and published in Journal of Neuroinflammation.The study was prompted by concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with pre-existing conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Olfactory dysfunction, characterized by an impaired sense of smell, is commonly associated with COVID-19 and is also observed in persons with AD.Exploring the olfactory mucosa as a direct interface between the external environment and the brain, the research aimed to investigate the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 infection and AD within the olfactory mucosa , assessing the potential for this tissue to serve as a plausible entry route for the virus into the brain.Employing an innovative 3D in vitro model of the olfactory mucosa, the study utilized primary cells obtained from voluntary donors, including both cognitively healthy individuals and those diagnosed with AD. Contrary to expectations, cells derived from healthy individuals and those with AD exhibited comparable susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus, indicating no significant difference in initial infection rates between the two groups. However, a significant contrast emerged in the gene activity of infected cells from individuals with AD. Their cells displayed heightened oxidative stress, altered immune responses, and substantial changes in genes related to olfaction when compared to olfactory mucosal cells from cognitively healthy individuals."The results suggest a plausible scenario where individuals affected by AD might face potentially more severe COVID-19 outcomes due to pre-existing inflammation in the olfactory mucosa,"
Higher mortality seen in patients with COVID-19, Pseudomonas coinfection - Higher mortality was observed in patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) bloodstream infection (PA-BSI) and COVID-19 co-infection, researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. Using data on patients in the Veterans Health Administration system, researchers from Case Western Reserve University assessed all-cause mortality in patients with PA-BSI and concomitant COVID-19 infection, comparing the pre-COVID-19 period (January 2009 to December 2019) with the COVID-19 period (January 2020 to June 2022). Patients in the COVID-19 period were further stratified by the presence or absence of COVID-19 coinfection. Previous studies have suggested a rise in PA-BSI incidence with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but outcomes of patients with PA-BSI and COVID-19 coinfection have not been evaluated. A total of 6,714 patients with PA-BSI were identified. Throughout the study period, PA resistance rates decreased. Thirty-day all-cause mortality decreased pre-COVID-19 and increased during COVID-19. Mortality was not significantly different between pre-COVID-19 (24.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 23.3 to 28.6) and the COVID-19 period/COVID-negative (26.0%; 95% CI, 23.5 to 28.6) patients, but it was significantly higher in COVID-19 period/COVID-positive patients (47.2%; 95% CI, 35.3 to 59.3). After adjusting for potential confounders, the modified Poisson analysis showed that COVID-19 coinfection was associated with a 44% higher death rate (relative risk, 1.44; 95% CI 1.01 to 2.06). Higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, higher modified Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation score, and no targeted PA-BSI treatment within 48 hours were also predictors of higher mortality. The study authors suggest several factors could account for increased mortality among patients coinfected with PA-BSI and COVID-19, including pandemic-related staffing shortages and limited availability of infectious diseases expertise. But they also say further research is needed on the interaction between the two infectious processes.
Covid Surge Prompts Return of Scanners, Masks in Asian Cities
- Singapore Deputy PM on Facebook refuted circuit breaker rumors
- Thermal scanners are back at some Indonesia check points
Governments across Southeast Asia are bringing back measures to limit a rapid resurgence of respiratory infections such as Covid-19, including installing temperature scanners at airports and encouraging people to wear masks again.The goal is to slow the spread of a variety of germs, as a confluence of Covid, flu and other respiratory pathogens may set off wider outbreaks that ultimately stretch healthcare systems. But it can be a fraught process, with the public highly attuned to the risk of draconian measures, which were put in place early in Asia at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and which ...
70% Of Deaths From Pfizer Vaccine In Japan Reported Within 10 Days Of Jab: Study - Around 70 percent of people who died in Japan after receiving a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine lost their lives in the first 10 days following the jab, according to a recent study.The peer-reviewed Japanese study, published in the Cureus journal on Dec. 7, looked at the association between Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination and deaths within 10 days of vaccination.The risk period was defined as within 10 days of vaccination, with vaccination day being Day 1, and the control period defined as 11 to 180 days after vaccination.The analysis was divided into two groups: Group 1 representing individuals aged 65 and above and Group 2, which included people aged 64 and below.The researcher identified 1,311 deaths in Group 1, which included 662 males and 649 females. In Group 2, the team identified 247 deaths—155 males and 92 females.“The percentage of reported cases that experienced death within 10 days after vaccination was 71 percent in Group 1 and 70 percent in Group 2,” said the study results.In Group 1, more women than men died overall from various medical conditions in the first 10 days of vaccination. Following the 10 days, there were more deaths reported of men.Most of the post-vaccine deaths happened on the second day, followed by the third and fourth days.Other than “unexplained deaths,” the biggest cause of death in this group was ischemic heart disease (119 deaths), followed by heart failure (92), and aspiration pneumonia/asphyxia (72). Autopsies were performed in eight of the 239 unexplained death cases.In Group 2, over two times more men died than women from various medical conditions during the first 10 days of vaccination. Overall deaths after the initial 10 days were only slightly higher among men.The highest number of post vaccination deaths were registered on the third day, followed by the fourth, second, and fifth days.After “unexplained deaths,” the biggest cause of death in this group was ischemic heart disease (27 deaths), cardiac arrhythmias (24), subarachnoid hemorrhage (20), and myocarditis/pericarditis (17). Autopsies were conducted in nine out of the 51 unexplained deaths.There was an outsized difference in male–female deaths owing to myocarditis/pericarditis during the “risk period,” with eight men dying compared to just one woman. Heart failure resulted in the deaths of nine men compared to two women.“Some myocarditis/pericarditis cases may be included within the unexplained deaths category. Myocarditis is a complication of vaccination, especially in young adults and adolescent males,” said the study.One contributing factor for higher deaths of men during the first 10 days is “thought to be the high number of myocarditis/pericarditis deaths including undiagnosed cases.”For both groups, the other death causes were: cardiac arrhythmias, aortic aneurysm/dissection, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, respiratory failure, interstitial lung diseases, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, sepsis, anaphylaxis, thrombocytopenia, and marasmus.In short, many more older Japanese women and men below 64 faced a higher risk of death immediately within the first 10 days of Pfizer vaccination.
This is bigger than COVID: Why are so many Americans dying early? - Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf recently took to X to mourn the “catastrophic” decline in U.S. life expectancy. But his post, which hit on smoking, diet, chronic illness and health care, ignored the obvious: People are dying in abnormally high numbers even now and long since COVID waned. Yet public health agencies and medical societies are silent. Life insurers have been consistently sounding the alarm over these unexpected or, “excess,” deaths, which claimed 158,000 more Americans in the first nine months of 2023 than in the same period in 2019. That exceeds America’s combined losses from every war since Vietnam. Congress should urgently work with insurance experts to investigate this troubling trend. With the worst of COVID behind us, annual deaths for all causes should be back to pre-pandemic levels — or even lower because of the loss of so many sick and infirm Americans. Instead, the death toll remains “alarming,” “disturbing,” and deserving of “urgent attention,” according to insurance industry articles. Actuarial reports — used by insurers to inform decisions — show deaths occurring disproportionately among young working-age people. Nonetheless, America’s chief health manager, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opted in September to archive its excess deaths webpage with a note stating, “these datasets will no longer be updated.” Money, of course, is a motivating issue for insurers. In 2020, death claims took their biggest one-year leap since the 1918 influenza scourge, jumping 15.4 percent to $90 billion in payouts. After hitting $100 billion in 2021, claims slowed in 2022, but are still above 2019. Indemnity experts are urging the adoption of an early-warning program to detect looming health problems among people with life insurance and keep them alive. Unlike in the pandemic’s early phase, these deaths are not primarily among the old. For people 65 and over, deaths in the second quarter of 2023 were 6 percent below the pre-pandemic norm, according to a new report from the Society of Actuaries. Mortality was 26 percent higher among insured 35-to-44-year-olds, and 19 percent higher for 25-to-34-year-olds, continuing a death spike that peaked in the third quarter of 2021 at a staggering 101 percent and 79 percent above normal, respectively. “COVID-19 claims do not fully explain the increase in incurred claim incidence,” the Society said. COVID-19 deaths dropped 84 percent from the first three quarters of 2021 to the same period in 2023.
Global flu activity rises, led by Northern Hemisphere hot spots -Global flu activity continues to rise, led by increases in several Northern Hemisphere countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this week in an update that roughly covers the latter half of November. Influenza A made up 87.8% of positive respiratory samples at national flu labs over the reporting period. And though 81.4% of subtyped influenza A viruses globally were the H3N2 strain, the 2009 H1N1 subtype is dominant in North America, where levels are generally above baseline and at expected levels for this time of year. Europe's activity is still generally low but on the rise, with four countries reporting widespread flu: Denmark, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, with H3N2 and H1N1 detected at similar levels. Eastern Asia's flu levels continue to rise, mainly due to activity in South Korea, as well as China, where flu is tracking above expected levels, with detections still rising in the northern provinces. In Western Asia, elevated flu levels continue in a handful of Arabian Peninsula countries, with detections increasing in Qatar. In Africa, flu positives—mainly H3N2—rose in East Africa, including Ethiopia and Madagascar. And in North Africa, levels rose, mainly due to activity in Egypt.
Rate of young kids hospitalized for RSV spiked after first year of COVID pandemic - A University College London–led study reveals that the percentage of children younger than 5 years hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection rose significantly after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as did disease severity in infants. The researchers analyzed hospitalization trends and illness severity in preschoolers admitted to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, during eight RSV seasons: November to April 2012 to 2018 (prepandemic), June to December 2021 (pandemic), and September 2022 to January 2023 (postpandemic). In 2020, there was no RSV season. The findings were published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. During the study period, 6,986 children younger than 5 were hospitalized for RSV (55.1% boys), including 5,143 in 2012 to 2018, 908 in 2021, and 935 in 2022 to 2023. The median age at admission jumped from 5.3 months before the pandemic to 6.3 months in 2021 and 8.2 months in 2022 to 2023. The increase in age was mainly seen among children aged 1 to 4 years, making up 30.0% of all RSV hospitalizations from 2012 to 2018, compared with 37.0% in 2021 and 42.0% in 2022 to 2023. Compared with before the pandemic, illness severity (need for supplemental oxygen, pediatric intensive care unit [PICU] admission, and length of stay [LOS]) climbed during and after the pandemic. Age-stratified analyses showed that disease severity gradually rose from before the pandemic to 2021 and 2022 to 2023; the increases were significant among children younger than 6 months and 6 months to 1 year, separately or combined (oxygen administration, 68.2% to 75.1% and 88.3%; PICU admission, 36.4% to 47.3% and 52.7%; invasive mechanical ventilation, 11.8% to 9.6% and 16.0%; LOS, 2.6 to 3.0 and 3.8 days). The increase in RSV hospitalizations may be linked to waning immunity rather than the emergence of new RSV strains or increases in chronic conditions. "As RSV preventive strategies with vaccines and monoclonal antibodies are implemented, continued surveillance of RSV burden is essential," the study authors concluded.
CDC urges people to get respiratory disease vaccines, notes MIS-C rise in kids - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today warned of an urgent need to increase vaccine coverage for flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) against a backdrop of lagging immunization rates and ongoing rises in respiratory disease activity from multiple viruses. In a Health Alert Network (HAN) notice, the CDC warned that ramped up respiratory virus activity could lead to more disease and strain healthcare capacity in the weeks ahead. High RSV activity is occurring across much of the United States, and respiratory disease is highest in the southern half of the country, with trends increasing in the north. "Healthcare providers should administer influenza, COVID-19, and RSV immunizations now to patients, if recommended," the CDC said. It also urged clinicians to recommend antivirals for flu and COVID-19 to eligible patients, especially those at high risk for complications. Healthcare providers should administer influenza, COVID-19, and RSV immunizations now to patients, if recommended. Over the past 4 weeks, hospitalizations have risen 200% for flu, 51% for COVID, and 60% for RSV. Pneumonia hospitalizations in children have increased since September but are in line with past fall and winter respiratory disease seasons. Also, the CDC reported a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare but serious condition that can follow COVID infection. Since September 1, the CDC has received 30 reports of MIS-C, which can occur 1 month after COVID illness. Illness onsets occurred from August 6 to November 9, an increase over previous months. MIS-C causes different body parts to become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal tract, the CDC said in background information. The condition can be serious or fatal, but most children who are diagnosed with this condition get better with medical care. Though scientists are still exploring why some children experience MIS-C, the CDC added that the best way to prevent the complication is to be immunized.
Pneumococcal disease in kids plunges 72% over 20 years after vaccine rollout - The rate of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children plummeted 72% from 2002 to 2021 and continued to fall after the 7-valent (7-strain) pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was replaced by the 13-valent version (PCV13), a Yale University–led team reports today in Pediatrics. The study analyzed data on IPD among children younger than 18 years from a Massachusetts surveillance system. The team serotyped Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from normally sterile sites and evaluated them for antimicrobial susceptibility. PCV7 was rolled out in the United States in 2000 and was replaced by PCV13 in 2010. Vaccine uptake in Massachusetts among children younger than 3 years with three or more doses is 92%, and receipt of at least four doses is 81% to 91%. The researchers defined protective vaccination as receipt of two or more doses for children younger than 1 year, three doses in the first year of life, or one dose after 1 year. In all, 1,347 IPD cases were identified. Rates in children fell 72% (incidence rate ratio, 0.28) and continued to decline after replacement of PCV7 with PCV13 (incidence rate ratio, 0.25 in the late PCV7 vs the late PCV13 era). In the COVID-19 pandemic years 2020 to 2021, IPD incidence dipped to a low of 1.6 per 100,000 children. In the PCV13 era, 30.3% of infected children older than 5 years had at least one underlying medical condition.
Sexually transmitted infections climbing in Europe - New data from Europe show a sharp increase in sexually transmitted infections, according to surveillance reports published late last week by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The surveillance reports on gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, congenital syphilis, and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) "collectively reveal a dynamic and challenging landscape," the ECDC said in a press release. Following a drop in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 46,728 confirmed cases of gonorrhea across 27 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries in 2021, with an overall crude notification rate of 13.7 cases per 100,000 population—higher than observed in 2019. In addition, the proportion of gonococcal isolates with resistance to azithromycin—one of the last remaining recommended antibiotics for gonorrhea—rose from 3.7% in 2017 to 14.1% in 2021. The reports on chlamydia and syphilis showed similar trends, with dips in 2020 followed by increases in 2021. There were 184,542 and 25,270 confirmed cases of chlamydia and syphilis in 2021, respectively. Congenital syphilis cases fell in 2020 and 2021 following a peak in notifications in 2019. While men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for more than half of reported gonorrhea cases and 77% of syphilis cases, rates of chlamydia were highest among young adult heterosexual women. The ECDC also reported a sharp rise in the incidence of LGV, an infection that's caused by the same bacterium that causes chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis) but has potentially long-lasting consequences. The ECDC notes the number of cases reported is likely an underestimation since many EU/EEA countries don't have surveillance systems for LGV. The ECDC said enhanced prevention activities that focus on increased testing, targeted messaging, and tailored interventions are crucial, and that ongoing monitoring of antimicrobial resistance is "imperative" for informing treatment strategies and addressing emerging challenges. "Altogether, these reports signal a critical juncture in the battle against STIs in Europe," the agency said. "Collaborative efforts among public health authorities, healthcare providers, and communities are essential to curb the spread of these infections."
Hepatitis epidemic hits Hawaii harder than other states— Viral hepatitis C is curable. Hepatitis B is treatable. Both are preventable — so, why does one U.S. state have such high rates of it? Hawaii has higher liver cancer mortality due to hepatitis B and C than the continental United States?“When we look at hepatitis B, and hepatitis C specifically, we also see higher death rates of both of those compared to the continental U.S.,” says Hawaii Department of Health’s Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinator Thaddeus Pham. “People who die from hepatitis in Hawaii — hepatitis C specifically — can die up to 20 years earlier than residents in the rest of the state.”That’s right. There’s a 20-year difference in life expectancy between those who contract the curable hepatitis C and those who don’t have it.Pham and the DOH are in the middle of developing a surveillance infrastructure as part of the HepFree by 2030 campaign, which will track the spread of viral hepatitis and hopefully begin pinpointing specifics on who is contracting hepatitis and how. Now, don’t let the word surveillance scare you. It’s not what you may think. This is a system that will allow the DOH to help those who have contracted viral hepatitis in order to get them link to care and help develop prevention strategies. Pham provided KHON2.com with some statistics on how hepatitis is impacting Hawaii. He pointed out that because the surveillance system is still being developed, there is still much to learn from collecting data and observation.
- Hepatitis B mortality rates – DOH report.
- Hawaii has higher rates than U.S. from 2000 to 2020.
- Hawaii rate was 3 times higher than U.S. in 2019.
- Within Hawaii, higher rates among Asian and Pacific Islander (1.2 to 1.4 times) residents, compared to state average.
- Hawaii has higher rates than U.S. from 2000 to 2020.
- Liver cancer mortality rates – DOH report.
- Hawaii has higher rates than U.S. from 2000 to 2020.
- Hawaii rates increased from 2000 to 2020 with 7.96 per 100,000 to 9.41 per 100,000.
- Rates partially driven by disparities among Asian and Pacific Islander residents.
- Note: HBV and HCV are leading causes of liver cancer in Hawaii, per journal article.
- HCV mortality rates – Journal article and CDC data.
- HCV is associated with up to 20 year lower life expectancy compared to the rest of the state.
- Hawaii is the state with highest proportion of NHAPI decedents among HCV-listed deaths (2016-17).
The spread of hepatitis C is why things like syringe exchanges are so important for prevention. You can visit HepFree2030 for information and resources. Pham said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults, regardless of your perceived risk, be tested at least one time for both hepatitis B and C.
Quaker’s Chewy granola bars recalled for salmonella risk -The Quaker Oats Company is recalling some granola bars and granola-based cereals due to the risk of salmonella.The company announced it was recalling the products Friday. It said it has “received no confirmed reports of illness related to the products covered by this recall.”Quaker reassured consumers in its announcement that it had informed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the actions it took related to the recall. The recall was also posted on the FDA’s website, an action the FDA takes “whenever a company announces a recall, market withdrawal, or safety alert,” as “a public service” to consumers.“Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain,” the Quaker announcement reads. “In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.”Recalled Quaker products include the Quaker Big Chewy Bars Variety Pack and the Quaker Chewy Bars and Dipps Variety Pack, according to the Quaker announcement.The announcement comes slightly more than a month after some pet foods were recalled following salmonella infections found in infants who ingested the products.
Applesauce pouch contamination may have been deliberate: FDA official - Recalled applesauce pouches that left many children sick with lead poisoning could have been tainted on purpose, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones said that while the investigation is still ongoing, signs point to an intentional act to poison the puree. “We’re still in the midst of our investigation,” Jones said in an interview with Politico. “But so far, all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out.”Weis, WanaBana and Schnucks are the three brands that sold the contaminated pouches and they all have ties to a manufacturing facility in Ecuador. The facility is under inspection by the FDA.Jones told Politico he thinks the facility didn’t believe the contaminated applesauce would have ended up in countries with a robust regulatory process. “My instinct is they didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process,” Jones said. “They thought it was going to end up in places that did not have the ability to detect something like this.” The FDA has continued to look into a number of theories as to why and by whom the applesauce was contaminated, but the agency currently believes it was economically motivated. Essentially, ingredients could have been altered to make products appear higher in value in order to sell them for a higher price. Jones told Politico that despite the United States’ existing food safety laws, intentional contamination is always going to be hard to “absolutely stop.” An FDA spokesman also said that the agency has “limited authority over foreign ingredient suppliers that do not directly ship product to the U.S. because their food undergoes further manufacturing/processing prior to export.” Elevated levels of lead in children was first noticed by state and local officials in standard blood screenings, which are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to help reduce lead exposure in children under the age of 6. “We’re going to chase that data and find whoever was responsible and hold them accountable,” Jones said.
FDA warns 9 firms about products with unapproved antimicrobials for animals -- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued warning letters to nine manufacturers and distributors of products for animals containing unapproved and misbranded antimicrobial drugs. The products, which are marketed and labeled for minor species such as aquarium fish and birds, contain medically important antibiotics such as amoxicillin, penicillin, tetracycline, and erythromycin. The FDA says the companies are violating federal law, because the products have not gone through the main legal pathways for animal drugs to reach the marketplace and are being sold over the counter illegally. FDA-approved animal drugs containing medically important antibiotics—those that are also used in human medicine—require a prescription from a licensed veterinarian. The FDA says the products pose a "two-fold" risk to public health. "First, these products haven't been through the FDA drug review process, and we don't know whether they're safe or effective, or even contain what the label states," Tracey Forfa, JD, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a press release. "Second, inappropriate use of medically important antimicrobials contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which affects both human and animal health." The warning letters were sent to American Aquarium Products, Aquanest Biotic, Aquarium Pharmacy LLC, California Veterinary Supply, Chewy Inc., Kraft Drug, Midland Veterinary Services LLC, Silver Lease LLC, and Valley Veterinary Clinic LTD. The FDA says anyone currently using the products included in the warning letters should safely dispose of them. The agency has given the companies 15 days to respond.
Zambia reports 684 suspected anthrax cases, 4 deaths - Zambia is reporting by far its most widespread anthrax outbreak ever, with 684 suspected cases and 4 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported late last week. Cases have been reported in 9 of Zambia's 10 provinces. Previous outbreaks were confined to Northwest and Western provinces, with sporadic cases over the years. "Of note," the WHO said, "Zambia reported anthrax outbreaks in both human and animals in Western Province in 2017 and in Eastern Province in 2016 and 2011." The 2011 outbreak involved 511 suspected cases. The outbreak began in June in Sinazongwe district in Southern province. Twenty-six people developed sores on their face, arms, and fingers after eating meat from three wild hippopotamus carcasses. Around the same time, cattle, goats, and hippos were reportedly dying from an unknown cause in surrounding areas. Sinazongwe district remains the outbreak epicenter, accounting for 287 cases (42% of the total) and 2 deaths. The risk of anthrax transmission to neighbouring countries is increased. Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis that typically affects ruminants like cows, sheep, and goats. The bacteria produce extremely potent toxins, and people can develop the disease by contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. The WHO said, "The epidemic is spreading along the provinces located along the basin of the Zambezi, Kafue, and Luangwa rivers, which is an additional problem because these rivers also flow into Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, Kahora Bassa in Mozambique and Lake Malawi, and the risk of anthrax transmission to neighbouring countries is increased."
More than 1,100 anthrax cases reported in 5 African nations -Five African countries—Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—are experiencing anthrax outbreaks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. So far the countries have reported more than 1,100 suspected cases and 20 deaths this year.Zambia is seeing the most cases, with 684 suspected and 25 confirmed cases and 4 deaths. It has surpassed its previously largest outbreak. In 2011, the country reported 511 suspected cases.Though anthrax is endemic in these countries, the Bacillus anthracis bacterium usually causes only small seasonal outbreaks. Humans are exposed to the bacteria most often through infected animal carcasses or contaminated animal products, especially those of cows, sheep, and goats.The WHO said the recent uptick in cases is caused by a number of factors, including climate change, food insecurity, and a low perception of risk when handling animal products."To end these outbreaks we must break the cycle of infection by first preventing the disease in animals. We are supporting the ongoing national outbreak control efforts by providing expertise as well as reinforcing collaboration with partner agencies for a common approach to safeguard human and animal health," said Matshidiso Moeti, MD, WHO regional director for Africa.
Small, deadly outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever tied to city in Mexico, CDC says - At least five people have contracted the tick-borne disease called Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) after travel to Mexico, and three died, the US Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) said in a Health Alert Network advisory late last week. All the patients—four of whom are children—were treated at hospitals in Southern California after travel to Tecate, a city in Baja California, which is a Mexican state south of California. The CDC noted that RMSF is a rapidly progressive disease and can be fatal within days without early administration of the antibiotic doxycycline. The CDC said, "Consider initiating doxycycline based on presumptive clinical and epidemiologic findings, and do not delay treatment pending the result of a confirmatory laboratory test. Early treatment with doxycycline saves lives." The patients were diagnosed as having lab-confirmed RMSF since late July. All had traveled to or had lived in Tecate within 2 weeks of illness onset. The disease is endemic in multiple border states in northern Mexico. Three patients were US residents, and two were Mexicans. All five were hospitalized, and three died. The bacterium that causes RMSF, Rickettsia rickettsii, can be transmitted by brown dog ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), which feed on dogs in and around cities in some regions. The CDC said many people who have the disease don't recall a tick bite. RMSF signs and symptoms can be relatively mild and not very specific during the first 1 to 4 days of illness and include a low to moderate fever, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms, abdominal pain, muscle aches, rash, and swelling around the eyes and on the back of hands. Patients with more advanced disease may experience altered mental state, coma, brain swelling, difficulty breathing, and multiorgan system damage. The case-fatality rate of RMSF in Mexico can exceed 40%, the CDC said.
Racial disparities noted in Lyme disease treatment -A cross-sectional study identified several racial differences in the clinical presentation and treatment of Lyme disease, researchers reported today in JAMA Network Open. The study by researchers with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that, among 1,395 Lyme disease patients (50.4% men, median age 48 years) treated at a specialty clinic in suburban Maryland, Black patients had 4.93 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.02 to 12.02) the odds of being diagnosed as having disseminated disease compared with patients who only had signs of the erythema migrans (EM) rash—the most common early sign of infection. The EM rash typically occurs within days or weeks of a deer tick bite. Among 1,325 patients, Black patients (odds ratio [OR], 2.07; 95% CI, 1.12 to 3.84), women (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.77), and younger patients (per 10 years: OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.20) all independently had higher odds of being in the symptoms-only group. Analysis of 1,295 patients also found that Black patients had a significantly longer median time to appropriate antibiotic treatment (35 days) compared with White patients (7 days). This was significant among patients with EM (Black, 26 days; White, 4 days) but not those with disseminated disease or symptoms only. Initial inappropriate antibiotics were found in 6 of 37 Black patients (16.2%) and 90 of 1,165 White patients (7.7%) When administered early, antibiotics cure Lyme disease in more than 99% of cases. Untreated infection can lead to complications involving the joints, heart, and nervous system. Gaps in access, implicit bias may play a role Although this is one of the few large, clinic-based studies to examine racial differences in Lyme disease treatment, the study authors note that the findings are consistent with prior surveillance and insurance-claims studies. They suggest EM under-recognition could be attributed to EM images on Black patients being underrepresented in medical literature, gaps in healthcare access, racial discrimination, and implicit bias.
Kids with cats have more than double the risk of developing schizophrenia, researchers find - Researchers at The Park Center for Mental Health, Australia, have added to the growing body of evidence that cat ownership is a major risk factor for schizophrenia and quantified the risk at more than double. In a paper, "Cat Ownership and Schizophrenia-Related Disorders and Psychotic-Like Experiences: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, the team details the connections between youth cat ownership and later-in-life schizophrenia-related diagnosis. The researchers conducted an extensive study search across various databases and gray literature from January 1, 1980, to May 30, 2023, without geographical or language limitations. They included studies reporting original data on cat ownership and schizophrenia-related outcomes. Out of 1,915 identified studies, 17 were used from 11 different countries. Cat ownership was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia-related disorders. The unadjusted pooled odds ratio (OR) was 2.35, and the adjusted estimate was 2.24, indicating an over twofold increase in the odds of developing schizophrenia-related disorders among all individuals exposed to cats. While some studies suggest childhood exposure to cats might be associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia-related disorders, the exact age or specific time frame of exposure is not clearly defined across all studies.One included study from Finland initially reported higher scores on perceptual aberration, schizoid, and social anhedonia scales for those exposed to cats under age seven, though they limited their conclusion to perceptual aberration. Another study from the UK found associations between cat exposure during childhood (at 4 and 10 years) and higher psychotic-like experiences at age 13.
Eggs from men, sperm from women: How stem cell science may change how we reproduce - It may soon be possible to coax human skin cells into becoming functional eggs and sperm using a technique known as "in vitro gametogenesis." This involves the creation (genesis) of eggs and sperm (gametes) outside the human body (in vitro). In theory, a skin cell from a man could be turned into an egg and a skin cell from a woman can become a sperm. Then there's the possibility of a child having multiple genetically related parents, or only one. Some scientists believe human applications of in vitro gametogenesis are a long way off. However, scientists who work on human stem cells are actively working on overcoming the barriers. New biotechnology start-ups are also seeking to commercialize this technology. Here's what we know about the prospect of human in vitro gametogenesis and why we need to start talking about this now.
H5N1 avian flu kills almost 1,000 seals and sea lions in Brazil --Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul today confirmed that highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu was involved in the deaths of 942 seals and sea lions, while the United States reported more outbreaks of the virus in domestic birds.Oceanographer Silvina Botta, PhD, at the Rio Grande Federal University, told Reuters that the mammals' carcasses have to be buried or incinerated as soon as possible to reduce the risk of spreading the disease to birds, other animals, or people.Scientists have also found some sea mammals convulsing on local beaches as the H5N1 strain attacks their nervous system. Under government regulations, animals need to be euthanized to spare them "a very painful death," Botta said. She added that the virus first started killing sea mammals in Brazil in September, and three towns in the state still have active outbreaks.High-path H5N1 was first detected in Brazil in mid-May.In the United States, the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed multiple H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in 10 states that affect chicken, turkey, and duck farms plus backyard flocks.The largest outbreak involved more than 2.6 million egg-laying chickens on a farm in Hardin County, Ohio. That state also reported H5N1 on a turkey farm in Darke County. Other states reporting turkey outbreaks are Arkansas (Carroll County), Minnesota (Becker and Todd counties), South Dakota (Bon Homme, Charles Mix, and Hamlin counties), and Wisconsin (Barron County).California confirmed an H5N1 outbreak at a farm housing 270,000 laying chickens in Sonoma County and a farm housing 258,600 broiler chickens in Stanislaus County, as well as an outbreak affecting 4,900 farm ducks in Sonoma County.Officials in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Vermont confirmed the virus in small flocks.
Wyoming confirms CWD in new hunt area -The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) yesterday announced that chronic wasting disease (CWD) was detected in a hunter-harvested cow elk in Elk Hunt Area 122 in early November. The hunt area, which is in the Casper area, is bordered by three hunt areas with previous CWD detections. The disease was found to the north in Hunt Area 129 in 2021 and to the south in Hunt Areas 19 and 7 in 2008 and 2001, respectively. In 2022, WGFD tested 6,701 cervid (eg, elk, deer, moose) lymph node samples, mainly hunter-submitted, for CWD. CWD is a fatal disease caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions. While CWD is not yet known to infect humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises hunters to not consume meat from any animal that is obviously ill or tests positive for CWD.
Chronic wasting disease detected in another Texas county - Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected for the first time in Coleman County, Texas. In a news release, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) late last week confirmed a CWD case in a 2-year-old whitetail buck harvested by a hunter on a low-fenced property and tested through surveillance sampling. The TPWD said it will establish CWD containment and surveillance zones in the area this year or next. In Texas, the disease was first discovered in 2012 in free-ranging mule deer along a remote area of the Hueco Mountains near the border with New Mexico, the release said. Since then, it has been detected in state captive and free-ranging cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, red deer, and elk. CWD is a fatal neurologic disease caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions. While the disease is not known to infect humans or other non-cervid animals, experts fear it could jump species.
Federal judge rejects attempt to block reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado --The reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado could move forward as soon as this weekend, after a federal judge on Friday rejected a motion from ranching groups to block their release. “The petitioners who have lived and worked on the land for many years are understandably concerned about possible impacts of this reintroduction,” Judge Regina Rodriguez stated. She ruled, however, that these impacts are not sufficient “to grant the extraordinary relief” sought by the petitioning parties. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials had indicated that if they did receive the greenlight, they could begin capturing up to 10 wolves in Oregon on Sunday and start releasing them in Colorado on Monday. Rodriguez’s Friday night ruling, which followed oral arguments on Thursday, arose after week of litigative clashes between Colorado ranching groups and wildlife officials regarding the voter-mandated reintroduction of a species that once roamed free in the Centennial State. Two ranching groups, the Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, filed a complaint Monday, requesting to halt an effort that they perceived as harmful to both livestock and the economy. Arguing that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to conduct a sufficient environmental review, the plaintiffs asked the court to stop Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) releasing the wolves until the federal agency complies with this rule. The ranching organizations have voiced objections to the plan since its appearance as the Proposition 114 ballot initiative in the 2020 elections. The proposition, now State Statute 33-2-105.8, earned 50.91 percent of voter support, with a margin of only 56,986 individual votes. “Petitioners now ask the Court to halt the release of wolves and enjoin CPW from carrying out the will of Colorado voters. Doing so would be contrary to the public interest,” Rodriguez stated in the ruling Under the statute, which became law in February 2022, the FWS vacated a Trump administration rule that had delisted gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act. The statute thereby returned authority over the wolves to the FWS, while directing CPW to develop a reintroduction and management plan no later than Dec. 31, 2023, per the state agency.
Millions of birds lose precious energy due to fireworks on New Year's Eve, research reveals --Birds are affected by the mass use of fireworks on New Year's Eve up to a distance of 10 km away. With data from weather radars and bird counts, an international team of researchers revealed how many birds take off immediately after the start of the fireworks, at what distance from fireworks this occurs, and which species groups mainly react. "We already knew that many water birds react strongly, but now we also see the effect on other birds throughout the Netherlands," says ecologist Bart Hoekstra of the University of Amsterdam. In the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the researchers therefore argue for large fireworks-free zones. On New Year's Eve, an average of 1,000 times as many birds are in the air close to where fireworks are set off as on other nights, with peaks of 10,000 to 100,000 times the normal number of birds. The effects are strongest within the first 5 km of fireworks, but up to 10 km, there are still an average of at least ten times as many birds flying as normal. "Birds take off as a result of an acute flight response due to sudden noise and light. In a country like the Netherlands, with many wintering birds, we are talking about millions of birds being affected by the lighting of fireworks," says Hoekstra. Last year, other researchers at IBED discovered that geese are so affected by fireworks that they spend an average of 10% longer looking for food than normal during at least the next 11 days. They apparently need that time to replenish the lost energy or to compensate for the unknown foraging area in which they have ended up after fleeing from the fireworks. Hoekstra's study looked at which species take off after fireworks and when this occurs. He used information from Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute weather radars during both a clear New Year's Eve and on other normal nights. He combined this with distribution data from Sovon—the Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology—based on bird counts by hundreds of volunteers. "Through the counts, we know exactly where which birds are, and using the radar images, we can see where they actually take off because of fireworks." Using the data, Hoekstra was able to calculate how many birds take off immediately after the start of the fireworks, at what distance from fireworks this happens, and which species groups mainly react. The analysis makes it clear that in the study areas around the radars in Den Helder and Herwijnen alone, almost 400,000 birds take off immediately at the start of the fireworks during New Year's Eve. Moreover, it appears that larger birds in open areas, in particular, fly around for hours after and at remarkable altitudes. Hoekstra says, "Larger birds such as geese, ducks, and gulls fly to a height of hundreds of meters due to the large-scale discharge of fireworks and remain in the air for up to an hour. There is a risk that they will end up in bad winter weather, or that they will not know where they are flying due to panic and accidents could occur." Because 62% of all birds in the Netherlands live within a radius of 2.5 km of inhabited areas, the consequences of fireworks are high for all birds throughout the country. "Flying requires a lot of energy, so ideally, birds should be disturbed as little as possible during the cold winter months. Measures to ensure this are especially important in open areas such as grasslands, where many larger birds spend the winter. The effects of fireworks on birds are less pronounced near forests and semi-open habitats. In addition, smaller birds such as tits and finches live there, which are less likely to fly away from disturbance."
Endangered species list grows by 2,000. Climate change is part of the problem -Climate change is worsening the planet's biodiversity crises, making environments more deadly for thousands of species and accelerating the precipitous decline in the number of plants and animals on Earth, according to an international organization that tracks species health. Species of salmon and turtles are among those facing a decline as the planet warms. Atlantic salmon isn't yet threatened with extinction, but its population dropped by nearly a quarter from 2006 to 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which tracks biodiversity around the globe, said on Monday. It's now considered near threatened. They live in fewer places and face human-created hazards like dams and water pollution. Climate change is making it harder for the fish to find food and easier for alien species to compete, according to the group. Although there are some signs of hope: their numbers ticked up in Maine this past year. The news was announced at the United Nations climate conference in the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Leaders of the IUCN updated their Red List of Threatened Species, a tracker of biodiversity around the globe. It was mainly bad news. The list includes information on 157,000 species, about 7,000 more than last year's update. The IUCN said just over 44,000 species are threatened with extinction. That's roughly 2,000 more than last year. "Species around the world are under huge pressure. So no matter where you look, the numbers of threatened species are rising," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the Red List unit at the IUCN. Climate change is worsening conditions for about 6,700 species threatened with extinction. The Central South Pacific and East Pacific green turtle is at greater risk because of climate change, for example. Fewer turtles hatch as higher seas inundate nests. Warming waters can harm its food supply of seagrasses. The update includes the first broad assessment of the health of freshwater fish species. One-quarter of species—just over 3,000—face an extinction risk. As climate change raises sea levels, salt water is traveling further up rivers, for example. And these species already face tremendous threats from pollution and overfishing, the IUCN said. Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) make their way into the ocean upon their release at Kuta beach, Bali, Indonesia, Jan. 8, 2022. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, the leading tracker of global biodiversity, released their new Red List of Threatened Species on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, at the United Nations climate conference in Dubai. Amphibians are particularly at risk, with 41% under threat of extinction and the Central South Pacific and East Pacific green turtle is at greater risk because of climate change. Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are suffering the most. About 41% of these species are under threat. "They are climate captives because of higher temperatures, drought—whatever happens amphibians cannot move out of harm's way and are directly impacted by climate change,"
Farmworkers, Environmental Groups File Legal Action Demanding Roundup Ban --- A groundbreaking legal action today calls on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to immediately suspend and cancel the dangerous herbicide glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup.Glyphosate's registration is illegal, says the petition filed by Center for Food Safety on behalf of itself, Beyond Pesticides, and four farmworker advocacy groups. Last year, in a lawsuit by the same nonprofits, a federal court of appeals struck down EPA's human health assessment because the agency wrongfully dismissed glyphosate's cancer risk. Today's petition, calling for the cancellation and suspension of glyphosate's registration, runs over 70 pages and includes more than 200 scientific citations."This petition is a blueprint for the Biden administration to do what the law and science require and finally cancel glyphosate's registration,"said Pegga Mosavi, an attorney at the Center for Food Safety and counsel for the petitioners. "There is a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that glyphosate endangers public health, and poses cancer risks to farmers and other Roundup users. Glyphosate formulations are also an environmental hazard and have driven an epidemic of resistant weeds that plague farmers. After last year's court decision, EPA has no legal legs to stand on. EPA must take action now." Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in the world, with approximately 300 million pounds applied annually in the U.S. Yet EPA has declined to act despite the damage inflicted by glyphosate's pervasive use. Numerous studies—including many sponsored by Monsanto—show that glyphosate has harmful effects on the liver, kidney, and reproductive system, and is a probable carcinogen linked specifically with the immune system cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bill Freese, science director at Center for Food Safety, noted, "EPA once acknowledged that glyphosate has adverse effects on the mammalian liver, kidney, and reproductive system, and might even cause cancer—effects that were first revealed in decades-old registrant studies. But as Monsanto sought ever wider uses for its blockbuster herbicide, EPA consigned those incriminating studies to regulatory oblivion, thus facilitating greater use, even as independent scientists confirmed the harms EPA now denies."Glyphosate formulations have also ravaged the environment, causing considerable drift damage to crops and wild plants. By decimating milkweed, glyphosate has been a major factor in the decline of the monarch butterfly, and many Roundup formulations are extremely toxic to amphibians. EPA itself has found that glyphosate is likely to adversely affect an incredible 93% of threatened and endangered species, and 96% of the critical habitat that supports them.Today's petition calls on the EPA to suspend glyphosate use until the agency can conclude the cancellation process or can demonstrate that glyphosate meets the required safety standards in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Cancellation would make the sale and use of any product containing the chemical illegal.
'Groundbreaking' Legal Action Demands EPA Finally Ban Glyphosate -- Citing research from the U.S. government's own National Institutes of Health, a coalition of environmental and farmworkers groups said Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is out of excuses for continuing to allow the use of the herbicide glyphosate, which has been linked to cancer in people who are exposed to it.The Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a petition with the EPA on behalf of Beyond Pesticides and four farmworkers groups, including Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, saying glyphosate's registration in the U.S. is illegal.The petition was filed a week after cancer scientists at the NIHpublished a study in Environmental Health Perspectives, which found that male farmers had "markers of genotoxicity" when they reported high levels of glyphosate use.The study is only the latest to link glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used weedkiller Roundup, with cancer and other health issues. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer warned in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans," and Roundup manufacturer Monsanto—now owned by Bayer—was ordered to pay more than $2.3 billion by juries in 2018 and 2019 for failing to warn the public about the product's risks."Farmworker women and their families have experienced the damaging health effects of pesticides for far too long," said Mily Treviño-Sauceda, executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. "EPA must protect the nation's farmworkers and our environment by immediately suspending and canceling all glyphosate registrations."Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit struck down the EPA's claim that glyphosate is safe.Despite the mounting evidence of the harmful effects of glyphosate, said CFS on Wednesday, "EPA has declined to act.""EPA lacks a legal human health assessment of glyphosate to support its current use," the group said.Pegga Mosavi, an attorney at CFS, said the petition provides the Biden administration with "a blueprint... to do what the law and science require and finally cancel glyphosate's registration.""There is a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that glyphosate endangers public health, and poses cancer risks to farmers and other Roundup users," said Mosavi. "Glyphosate formulations are also an environmental hazard and have driven an epidemic of resistant weeds that plague farmers. After last year's court decision, EPA has no legal legs to stand on. EPA must take action now."
'Welcome News': EPA Starts Process of Vinyl Chloride Risk Assessment -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it had begun the process of prioritizing vinyl chloride for evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.Vinyl chloride, which is primarily used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, was one of five chemicals the agency earmarked for a risk assessment. The move comes eight months after a disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which included five cars carrying115,000 gallons of the dangerous chemical."We have seen firsthand what vinyl chloride can do to a community," Hilary Flint, vice president of Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment and director of communications and community engagement for Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community, saidin a statement."This is a step in the right direction, and we will continue to fight for a total vinyl chloride ban," Flint continued. "We want to make sure what happened after the East Palestine train derailment is the last vinyl chloride disaster in the United States."Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen that has been linked to liver, brain, lung, and blood cancers. It can also harm the neurological system and suppress immunity. Despite this, it is one of the most produced chemicals by volume in both the U.S. and internationally. In 2019, billions of pounds were manufactured in the U.S. alone."Most vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, which poses significant health and environmental problems that have been known for over 50 years," Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former EPA regional administrator, said in the EPA announcement. "This is one of the most important chemical review processes ever undertaken by the EPA.""The examination of all routes of exposure prescribed by the law will lead EPA to the conclusion that vinyl chloride is far too dangerous to make or use, and should be banned."A TSCA review will require the EPA to assess all the ways people can be exposed to vinyl chloride, both in terms of what it can pollute and how the exposure can take place. That means looking at how it contaminates soil, air, and water and how it impacts workers, frontline communities, and communities exposed during disasters like the East Palestine derailment. A full 27% of the people who live within three miles of a facility where vinyl chloride is used or made are children, and the evaluation will require the EPA to consider how the chemical impacts young people specifically.Liz Hitchcock, director of Toxic Free Future's Safer Chemicals Healthy Families federal policy program, said the EPA's decision was "welcome news.""The examination of all routes of exposure prescribed by the law will lead EPA to the conclusion that vinyl chloride is far too dangerous to make or use, and should be banned," Hitchcock said.The other chemicals that the EPA will assess are acetaldehyde, acrylonitrile, benzenamine, and 4,4'-Methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA). Four out of the five chemicals are used in plastic production and all of them are used to make petrochemicals. The EPA now has 12 months to determine whether or not the five chemicals are "High Priority Substances," after which it will begin the risk evaluation. The public will be able to comment on all of the chemicals."We applaud EPA for echoing states' concerns about the threat of vinyl chloride and PVC to communities. This action, along with action by states to restrict the use of PVC in packaging and building materials in favor of safer materials, will help communities thrive," Sarah Doll, national director of Safer States, said in a statement. "The urgency of vinyl chloride's threat means we need action from all levels of government."
California to vote on allowing ‘toilet-to-tap’ projects: What to know --Some Californians could find themselves flushing a future drinking water source down their commodes in just a few years’ time — pending the approval of long-awaited, but misnamed, “toilet-to-tap” rules next week. The California State Water Resources Control Board will consider a landmark proposal Tuesday to streamline “direct potable reuse” (DPR) — a process by which purified wastewater is discharged right into a public water system or just upstream from a treatment plant. “It’s a real important step for just adding to the portfolio that we can use here in the West,” Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the board’s division of drinking water, told The Hill.Such capabilities, he explained, could strengthen California’s water resilience, while providing numerous environmental benefits and reducing the need for long-distance water transport.“We’re not using it one time and dumping it in the ocean,” Polhemus said. While these regulations would constitute a giant leap forward in statewide water recycling, California utilities are by no means new to repurposing sewage.They have for years engaged in “indirect potable reuse,” the injection of treated wastewater into environmental buffers — such as groundwater aquifers, lakes or rivers — before its ultimate release into a municipal system.Orange County, which has treated sewage in some capacity since the 1970s, now boasts the world’s biggest water purification system for indirect potable reuse. Today, the county claims to be reclaiming 100 percent of its wastewater.Unlike indirect potable reuse, however, DPR occurs without the use of an underground aquifer or any environmental storage barrier.Even if the board does approve the rules Tuesday, DPR systems won’t be popping up overnight — and when they do, the wastewater won’t really be flowing right from a toilet to a tap.The regulations first would have to be accepted by the state’s Office of Administrative Law — which Polhemus said would likely occur by summer or fall of next year. Only after that could utilities begin to build these large and complex projects, most of which would take about six or seven years to complete, he said.
California wildfires created toxic chromium, research finds -After some recent intense wildfires in Northern California, scientists tested samples of singed soil and were disturbed by their findings: It was laden with a cancer-causing metal called hexavalent chromium. Scientists think the heat of severe wildfires can transform a benign version of the metal, which is found commonly in California soil, into a notorious carcinogen, according to new research published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. As climate change intensifies wildfires, scientists are trying to figure out just how dangerous their smoke can be for human health. Researchers have found dangerous metals — from burned-out cars, houses and farms — in previous fires. The new finding adds a surprising twist to the growing body of research and suggests that wildfires burning in natural areas could be pumping smoke containing a toxic metal into the atmosphere, too. “I think it changes our risk analysis when you think about exposure to wildfire smoke,” said an author of the study, Scott Fendorf, a professor of earth system science at Stanford University. Climate change could enhance the risk: Wildfires that burn hotter and longer are more likely to turn harmless soil into carcinogenic dust and ash.“Wildfires are more frequent because of climate change, and the severity of the fires are greater,” Fendorf said. “You’re getting more exposure, and you’re getting exposure to materials that are going to be more toxic.” Hexavalent chromium is a group one carcinogen, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, meaning it is known to cause cancer in humans. Exposure to large amounts of hexavalent chromium is associated with lung cancer, according to a toxicological review of the substance by the Environmental Protection Agency, which evaluated decades of workplace exposures in people who worked in chrome plating and chromate pigment plants. In a study of mice exposed to hexavalent chromium in drinking water for two years, some developed tumors in their mouths, small intestines and livers. Hexavalent chromium is a well-known pollutant because it was the central chemical in the class-action lawsuit depicted in the film “Erin Brockovich” over chromium pollution in water in Hinkley, California, where the metal had been used to prevent corrosion in cooling tower water at a natural gas compressor station.
Scorching heat, dry lightning, and strong winds hit South Australia - Scorching heat, dry lightning, and strong winds hit South Australia on Friday, December 8, 2023, causing multiple fires and extensive power outages affecting over 24 000 homes. The temperature soared above 40 °C (104 °F) in some parts of the state, sparking a series of fires across the region. Emergency services were stretched, attending numerous fires, while more than 24 000 homes experienced power outages. Fires were particularly persistent on the outskirts of Melrose, posing ongoing challenges for firefighters and emergency personnel. The extreme weather has not been confined to South Australia alone. Australia’s southeast, including New South Wales, sweltered through a heatwave on Saturday, December 9. Authorities in New South Wales implemented fire bans across large parts of the state, including Sydney, due to the “very hot, dry and windy conditions” brought by warm northwesterly winds. In Sydney, the temperature at Observatory Hill reached 38.9 °C (102 °F) at 13:00 local time, almost 15 °C (27 °F) above the average high for December. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, addressing the situation in Sydney, emphasized the importance of community support and safety during such extreme weather conditions. New South Wales on Saturday faced 71 grass and bushfires, with 21 of them uncontained. This situation has raised concerns among authorities about a return to dangerous fire conditions similar to those experienced during the 2019-2020 “Black Summer.” This catastrophic event had a devastating impact, destroying an area the size of Turkey and claiming 33 lives. Forecasts had indicated that ‘severe heatwave conditions’ would persist in much of New South Wales, with peak temperatures expected over the past weekend.
Early spring heatwaves may be melting Pacific Northwest water supply - Increasingly frequent spring heatwaves are prompting premature snow melts across the Pacific Northwest, jeopardizing a key water source for area residents, a new study has found. Successive stretches of unseasonable heat have been occurring earlier in the year in a region that depends on snowpack for summer water, according to the study, published on Wednesday in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. “Short-term events like heatwaves have had an under-appreciated impact on accelerating snow melt, and cumulatively, they can amplify each other,” lead author Luke Reyes, a doctoral student in Washington State University’s School of the Environment, said in a statement. Heat domes, weather events in which the atmosphere traps hot ocean air, triggered record temperatures that rose to nearly 122 degrees Fahrenheit across the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021. So extreme was this event that British Columbia endured severe floods in several snow- and glacier-fed watersheds, as well as a large rock avalanche, the authors noted. While the researchers had intended to examine the snowmelt caused by that single event, they ended up finding that much of the region’s snowpack was already gone before the heat dome arrived. Their subsequent analysis — conducted using high-resolution snowpack and temperature data — indicated that high-elevation snow had begun melting during a series of heatwaves from April through early June. During these incidents, temperatures were just 7.2 to 12.6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to the study. Looking back at records from 1940 through 2021, the researchers saw that springtime heatwaves doubled in frequency, intensity or both since the mid-1990s. Such short-term events have been understudied, as these single-digit temperature surges typically last just a few days, according to the study. Meanwhile, mountain snowpack was for decades thought to withstand temporary heat spikes in the spring by staying sufficiently cold at higher elevations, the authors noted. But the new research demonstrates that this buffering capability may have declined as heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, they added.
Nearly 1 in 4 people now drought stricken, according to UN report - Almost 1 in every 4 people on Earth are now stricken by drought, and it's just the start of things to come, according to the latest UN report released as the COP28 climate summit gets underway in Dubai. The Global Drought Snapshot by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), published on Friday, December 1, warns of an "unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale" and says the human and economic costs of drought are likely higher than that of any other hazard. "Unlike other disasters that attract media attention, droughts happen silently, often going unnoticed and failing to provoke an immediate public and political response," said UNCCD executive secretary Ibrahim Thiaw in a statement. This perpetuates a cycle of neglect, Thiaw added, leaving affected populations to bear the burden in isolation. The report, released on the second day of COP28, calls for "transformational change" and points to wide-ranging solutions, from adopting water-efficient technologies to "off-setting" carbon emissions with land restoration—where land is put back into its natural state. At present, 1.8 billion people are "drought-stricken" globally—representing nearly one out of every four of the global population of 8 billion—according to the UNCCD analysis, which sampled international disaster datasets from 101 countries. Of those, almost five percent are exposed to severe or extreme drought. Global warming, with global temperatures currently 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, has led to more frequent hazardous weather events including droughts. UNCCD drought expert Daniel Tsegai, lead author of the report, told SciDev.Net: "Droughts are hitting harder and more often—up 29% since 2000. "It is a human tragedy that's only growing." Droughts hit the poorest the hardest, according to the report, which says that 85% of people affected by drought live in low- or middle-income countries. Compared to men, women and children are over 14 times more likely to die as a result of climate-fueled disasters such as drought, it adds. "Low- and middle-income countries are obviously less equipped with resources and have low levels of capacities, technology, and financial resources to cope with drought," Tsegai told SciDev.Net. "In Africa … over the past 50 years, drought-related losses exceeded US$70 billion, putting over 20 million people at risk of food insecurity across the continent. "As we see more food shortages, hardship and displacement, it's time to acknowledge that droughts have evolved from an environmental issue into an economic crisis."
Destructive tornadoes strike Tennessee, leaving six dead and widespread damage, U.S. - The Watchers (5 videos) A series of destructive tornadoes swept through Tennessee on December 9, 2023, hitting areas including Nashville and Clarksville. At least 6 people have been killed, including two adults and one child in Montgomery County, and more than 23 people were injured. The tornadoes caused extensive property damage, downed trees and power lines, and led to widespread power outages, affecting thousands of residents across the state. The city of Nashville, located in Davidson County, confirmed three deaths through its Office of Emergency Management, though specific details have not been disclosed. Montgomery County, home to the town of Clarksville, reported three additional fatalities, including two adults and a child. This information was released in an update shortly after 20:00 EST. Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden expressed his condolences, emphasizing the community’s resilience and commitment to support those affected. The tornadoes injured at least 23 individuals who were subsequently treated at local hospitals. Reports indicated over a dozen tornado occurrences in Tennessee and Kentucky from Saturday into the night. Dickson County, approximately 48 km (30 miles) west of Nashville, also experienced significant damage, with downed trees and power lines obstructing roads. A dispatcher from Dickson County highlighted the extent of the damage during a call with weather.com around 18:20 EST. Although minor injuries were reported in the county, fortunately, there were no fatalities. In Clarksville, police responded to extensive damage caused by a tornado that touched down around 13:30 EST. Residents were advised to stay indoors, and plans to use an elementary school as a shelter were canceled due to a power outage. PowerOutage.us reported approximately 21 000 homes and businesses without electricity as of 17:30 EST. Clarksville, near the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell and home to around 175 000 residents, did not report any damage to military facilities. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office urged the community to shelter in place and avoid roadways due to ongoing hazards. In neighboring Kentucky, Todd County reported damage to homes, trees, and power lines. Earlier on Saturday, a tornado struck Weakley County, about 177 km (110 miles) northwest of Nashville, resulting in several injuries. Emergency Management Director Ray Wiggington confirmed the impact on the towns of Sharon and Dresden. Social media updates revealed significant damage to two homes, hospitalization of two individuals, and impacts on a National Guard armory and a factory. The National Weather Service issued warnings for a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” near Sharon. The same system affected Gibson County, causing damage but no immediate injuries.
Tropical Cyclone “Jasper” makes landfall over the Far North Queensland coast, Australia - Category 2 Tropical Cyclone “Jasper” made landfall over the Far North Queensland coast, Australia at around 07:00 UTC on December 13, 2023, with sustained winds near the center of 100 km/h (62 mph) and gusts to 140 km/h (85 mph). “Tropical Cyclone Jasper, category 2 cyclone is making landfall over the Far North Queensland coast,” the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said at 18:06 AEST (07:06 UTC) today. “Damaging to destructive wind gusts are occurring on the Far North Queensland coast as Jasper slowly crosses the coast in the vicinity of Wajal Wajal, just north of Cape Tribulation. Jasper is expected to weaken as it moves inland tonight.” There is a moderate chance that the cyclone could redevelop in the Gulf of Carpentaria during the weekend or closer to the eastern Top End coast early next week. There is also a chance that it may even move closer to the northern or western Top End by mid-next week, where there is a moderate chance of it redeveloping into a tropical cyclone. Locally intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is forecast to develop from tonight along the coast and adjacent ranges between Cooktown and Port Douglas as well as areas near the center of Jasper. Isolated six-hourly rainfall totals between 250 to 300 mm (9.8 – 11.8 inches) are likely with 24-hourly totals between 400 to 500 mm (15.7 – 19.7 inches) possible. Heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is also forecast to develop between Cape Flattery and Ingham. Six-hourly rainfall totals between 100 to 150 mm (4 – 6 inches) are likely, with isolated falls up to 250 mm (10 inches) along the coast and adjacent ranges. 24-hour rainfall totals between 150 to 250 mm (6 – 10 inches) are likely, with isolated falls up to 350 mm (14 inches) possible. Destructive wind gusts of up to 140 km/h (87 mph) are expected near and to the south of the track between Wujal Wujal and Port Douglas. Gales with damaging wind gusts of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) are occurring along the coast south of Cooktown, including Cairns. Damaging wind gusts are expected to extend further along the coast and adjacent ranges between Cooktown and Innisfail in the evening. Damaging wind gusts to 90 km/h (55 mph) are possible further south to Cardwell and north to Cape Melville, and then extending inland to the Atherton Tablelands and as far as Palmerville and Chillagoe tonight, after the cyclone has crossed the coast.
Deadly floods and landslides hit Bukavu, DRC - Recent torrential rains in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, have triggered landslides, resulting in at least 15 fatalities and significant property damage. The city of Bukavu, located in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the capital of South Kivu Province, has been struck by a devastating natural disaster. In the past few days, the region has experienced torrential rainfall, leading to landslides with catastrophic consequences. According to local sources, at least 15 people have tragically lost their lives due to these landslides. The Bukavu commune of Ibanda, characterized by many makeshift houses, bore the brunt of this disaster. A local official, Jean Balek Mugabo, mayor of the commune, informed Reuters that the victims were all from this area. The houses, not built to withstand such extreme weather conditions, collapsed under the heavy rain. Mugabo also mentioned that the death toll might increase as several victims are currently hospitalized with serious injuries. In a particularly heartbreaking incident, a family in the Ndedere District of the city suffered a devastating loss. Albert Migabo Nyagaza, the neighborhood chief, reported that a father, his five children, and two grandchildren were buried by a landslide that destroyed their house. This tragic event occurred around midnight, catching the victims off guard. The situation in Bukavu is further complicated by the city’s history and demographics. Originally designed for approximately 100 000 residents by Belgian settlers, Bukavu now houses around two million inhabitants. However, the exact population is difficult to ascertain due to the lack of a census. This overcrowding, coupled with poor infrastructure, makes the city particularly vulnerable to natural disasters like floods. A catastrophic flood hit the same province in May 2023, claiming the lives of over 400 people.
Severe floods hit Bolivia, leaving at least 8 people dead - Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms since December 10, 2023, have led to floods and river overflows in Bolivia, particularly in the Potosi and La Paz Departments, causing fatalities, missing persons, and widespread damage. Since December 10, 2023, Bolivia has been enduring a severe weather crisis characterized by heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, especially in the Departments of Potosi and La Paz. This has resulted in severe floods and river overflows, bringing considerable hardship to the region. In Cotagaita Municipality, Potosi Department, the floods have caused the deaths of three individuals, while five others remain missing. At least 2 130 families have been severely affected, with 1 500 in Potosi Department and 630 in Guanay Municipality, La Paz Department. The situation is compounded by blocked roads between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz Departments, damaged bridges and houses, and reported landslides. States of emergency have been declared in various areas, and a red alert for river overflow has been issued for the Coroico, Mapiri, and Tipuani Rivers in the northern La Paz Department. Across Bolivia, seven of the country’s nine departments have experienced river overflows. Reports indicate structural damage in at least 18 municipalities across Chuquiasca, Cochabamba, La Paz, and Tarija departments. The floods have not only caused eight fatalities across the country but also displaced thousands of families and destroyed over 1 000 ha (2 471 acres) of crops. Many routes across Bolivia have become impassable due to the floods. The National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (SENAMHI) warns of further heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, which may exacerbate the situation. Urban flooding and landslides are potential risks, especially in areas where the soil has become saturated due to the persistent heavy rainfall. These conditions could lead to mandatory evacuation orders in flood-prone communities and disruptions to essential services such as electricity and telecommunications.
Somalia flood crisis update: 118 dead, 2.48 million affected, receding waters amid ongoing humanitarian efforts - Somalia’s severe flooding crisis sees a slight improvement as waters start to recede in some regions, but the humanitarian impact remains critical, with 118 deaths, 2.48 million affected, and 899 000 displaced as of December 12, 2023. Since early October, relentless rainfall led to significant flooding across Somalia, with rivers overflowing their banks, causing extensive damage and increasing casualties. This crisis marked a significant shift from earlier drought conditions to severe flooding, positioning it as one of the worst in Somalia’s history. Between December 5 and 10, 2023, dry conditions have led to receding waters in some parts of the country, but despite this slight improvement, the situation remains dire. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) reports significant casualties and displacements due to the floods: 118 people have lost their lives, while 2.48 million have been affected. The situation regarding displacement is also concerning, with 899 000 individuals forced to leave their homes. Helicopters and boats are crucial in the current scenario, as they are being used to access inundated areas and deliver essential supplies. The floods have not only displaced thousands but have also led to a spike in waterborne diseases. In recent weeks, there has been an increase in suspected cases of measles, malaria, and cholera – diseases that pose a significant threat to the already vulnerable population. Forecasters predict drier conditions over the next 24 hours across most of Somalia. This update follows our previous report on November 29, 2023, when the impact of the Deyr rainy season stood at 2 million people, with 746 000 displaced and 96 deaths. The floods have severely impacted both the population and infrastructure. An estimated 4 700 houses were destroyed across 34 districts, leaving many without shelter or basic amenities. The southwestern regions of Somalia, including Bay, Gedo, Middle Juba, and others, were among the most severely affected. In response to this crisis, around 145 organizations, primarily non-governmental, have been actively providing aid and relief. Their efforts cover essential services such as water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, food supply, and healthcare. The country, which had been grappling with a ‘once-in-a-century’ flood disaster as reported on November 15, is now experiencing a temporary stabilization in conditions, despite the extensive challenges posed by the recent severe flooding.
Climate change is further reducing fish stocks with worrisome implications for global food supplies 00 The health benefits of eating seafood are appreciated in many cultures which rely upon it to provide critical nutrients vital to our physical and mental development and health. Eating fish and shellfish provides significant benefits to neurological development and functioning and provides protection against the risks of coronary heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Over three billion people get at least 20% of their daily animal protein from fish. In countries from Bangladesh to Cambodia, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka, fish consumption accounts for 50% or more of daily intake.However, expansive growth of human populations globally puts immense pressure on the health of wild fish stocks. Fish catches peaked in 1996, and one-third are considered overexploited. With less fish available to still more people, the future of fish as an accessible source of nutritious food is at risk, particularly among low-income countries.Threats to seafood access aren't just due to overharvesting. There is a growing body of research showing that higher water temperatures due to climate change can impact the presence and abundance of the catch, through shifts in species distribution and changes in the species caught. This impacts the amount that can be harvested, as well as the nutritional value of that harvest. A new study quantified nutrient availability from seafood through time considering the twin impacts of overfishing and climate change.Focusing on four key nutrients important to human health—calcium, iron, omega-3 fatty acids and protein—the authors argue that nutrient availability in seafood has been declining since 1990 and will further decline by around 30% by 2100 in predominately tropical, low-income countries with 4°C of warming.These predicted losses are significant. While global famines are now relatively rare, some 50 million people suffer from "hidden hunger"—nutrient-deficient diets that are masked by being otherwise calorie-sufficient.For animal-derived nutrients such as B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, nearly 20 percent of the global population are at risk of becoming nutrient-deficient in coming decades due to reliance on wild-caught fish.Climate change is also affecting natural cycles of nutrients in the ocean. For example, it has been predicted that increasing water temperatures will cause adecline in natural omega-3 availability from seafood by more than 50% by 2100. At the bottom of the food chain, microalgae that naturally produce omega-3s are less productive at warmer temperatures and this cascades through marine and freshwater food chains resulting in fish having less omega-3s available to eat and store in their bodies.These kinds of climate-caused losses are expected to disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, especially in inland Africa.
Coral reefs in peril from record-breaking ocean heat - Record breaking marine heat waves will cause devastating mass coral bleaching worldwide in the next few years, according to a University of Queensland coral reef scientist. The alarming finding is the result of an international study led by UQ's Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of UQ's School of the Environment, who is currently attending the COP28 climate change meetings in Dubai. This research is published in Science. "We were shocked to find heat stress conditions started as much as 12 weeks ahead of previously recorded peaks and were sustained for much longer in the eastern tropical Pacific and wider Caribbean," Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said. "Historical data suggests the current marine heat waves will likely be the precursor to a global mass coral bleaching and mortality event over the next 12 to 24 months, as the El Niño phase of El Niño-Southern Oscillation or ENSO continues. "Across July 2023, Earth experienced its warmest days on record since 1910, as well as the warmest month ever recorded for sea surface temperatures. "This puts immense pressure on vital but fragile tropical ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. "For example, a coral reef in the Florida Keys called Newfound Harbor Key accumulated heat stress almost 3 times the previous record and it occurred 6 weeks ahead of previous peaks." Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said the findings come at a critical point in protecting global biodiversity, with commitment to climate change mitigation slipping in many nations. "The latest environmental information indicates that we're well off-track when it comes to keeping global surface temperatures from reaching a very dangerous condition by mid to late this century," he said. "Frankly, we're hurtling in the opposite direction. "Compounding this is the fact these devastating impacts appear to be rolling into a vast record-breaking global event."
Seaweed farming environments do not always function as CO₂ sinks, study finds - Under climate scenarios, seaweed farming is now used globally as a promising approach for achieving carbon neutrality. Seaweed farming contributes substantial amounts of organic carbon to the ocean, part of which can be locked for a long time in the ocean and function as ocean carbon sequestration, and the other part can be converted to inorganic carbon through microbial mineralization and aerobic respiration, affecting the seawater carbonate system and carbon dioxide (CO2) sink/source effects (note that CO2 sink ≠ carbon sequestration). It is generally believed that seaweed farming will cause the seawater to become a sink for CO2 due to carbon fixation by macroalgal photosynthesis. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that seaweed farming environment can sometimes become a source of CO2 rather than a sink. Researchers from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have revealed the dynamic CO2 sink/source and environmental effects of seaweed farming at different growth stages of kelp under microbial regulation. Their findings were published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. The researchers carried out in-situ mesocosm cultivation experiments and eight field studies of different kelp growth stages in an intensive farming area in China. They found that the seaweed farming environment acted as a CO2 sink during the fast-growth stage of kelp (from January to April), but became a source of CO2 during the aging stage of kelp (from late May to July). At the same time, seawater pH and dissolved oxygen that were increasing in the early months started decreasing in May to July. Late-stage kelps can rapidly cause seawater acidification and deoxygenation, turning the surrounding seawater environment into a CO2 source. The release of dissolved organic carbon by late-stage kelps increased significantly, supporting the increase in microbial abundance and respiration, which was manifested by the remarkable decrease in seawater dissolved oxygen, ultimately leading to CO2 release exceeding photosynthetic CO2 absorption.
Researchers: Frozen methane under the seabed is thawing as oceans warm, and things are worse than we thought - Buried beneath the oceans surrounding continents is a naturally occurring frozen form of methane and water. Sometimes dubbed "fire-ice" as you can literally set light to it, marine methane hydrate can melt as the climate warms, uncontrollably releasing methane—a potent greenhouse gas—into the ocean and possibly the atmosphere. Colleagues and I have just published research showing more of this methane hydrate is vulnerable to warming than previously thought. This is a worry as that hydrate contains about as much carbon as all of the remaining oil and gas on Earth. Releasing it from the seabed could cause the oceans to become more acidic and the climate to warm further. This is a dangerous set of circumstances. The massive venting of methane from similar ancient marine hydrate reservoirs has been linked to some of the severest and most rapid climate changes in the Earth's history. There is even evidence that the process has started again near the east coast of the U.S. Around continents, where the oceans are relatively shallow, hydrate is only just cold enough to remain frozen. So it is very vulnerable to any warming, and that is why these areas have been the focus of most scientific investigations. The good news is that only 3.5% of the world's hydrate resides in the vulnerable zone, in this precarious state. But frozen methane in the deep ocean may vulnerable after all. In oceans and seas where the water is deeper than around 450 meters to 700 meters are layer upon layer of sediment that contains the hydrate. And some of it is deeply buried and warmed geothermally by the Earth so, despite being hundreds of meters below the seafloor, it is right at the point of instability.Some layers of sediment are permeable and create a complex underground plumbing for the gas to move through if it's liberated during climatic warming. Just like holding a football underwater methane gas wants to push upwards because of its buoyancy and burst through the 100s of meters of sediment layers. During this first lockdown of 2020 I found spectacular evidence that during warm periods during the last million or so years methane migrated laterally, upwards and landwards toward Africa and leaked in much shallower water. Beneath a layer of up to 80 meters of sediment are 23 giant craters on the ancient seabed, each one kilometer wide and up to 50 meters deep, big enough to be filled with multiple Wembley stadiums. These craters are not located in the vulnerable zone where all the attention has been—they are landward of it at about 330 meters water depth. With the discovery in hand, I gathered an international team of scientists (modelers, physicists, geoscientists) to work out what caused the formation of these remarkable things and when they formed. Our results are now published inNature Geoscience. We believe they formed as a result of repeated warming periods. These periods impacted hydrate in the deep ocean and the released methane migrated up to 40km towards the continent, to be vented beyond the shallowest hydrate deposits. So during a warming world the volume of hydrate that will be vulnerable to leaking methane is more significant than previously thought.
The mysterious 'speeding up' glaciers of Svalbard – (video) Spectacular Svalbard sits halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole and is one of the fastest warming places in the Arctic. It is also home to glaciers which are, to use the words of Dr. Will Harcourt, a glaciologist from the University of Aberdeen, "speeding up." Dr. Harcourt and his colleagues spent two weeks on the archipelago in the summer of 2023 studying these unusual glaciers from land, air and sea. Dr. Harcourt explains, "One of the most significant things that are changing in Svalbard are the glaciers. We want to try to understand how fast they are melting, how fast they're pushing ice into the oceans and by doing so, raising the sea levels. We also want to understand this impact on the environment around them—marine ecosystems, people etc. "The Borebreen glacier in Svalbard is doing something very interesting—it's surging. Surging glaciers flow relatively slowly for long periods of time and then suddenly, out of nowhere, they speed up and we don't really understand why it's doing it. That was really the core question as to why we were going there—why is it suddenly advancing and speeding up? "The problem is, we expect this glacier to stop speeding up and slow down again. When that happens, all this ice has been pushed towards the ocean, and because it's below the snow line, it's going to melt again and retreat even further back than it was already. So we think these glaciers are actually going to increase the amount of ice that is lost from the archipelago of Svalbard."
Current carbon dioxide levels last seen 14 million years ago --The last time carbon dioxide in the atmosphere consistently matched today's human-driven levels was 14 million years ago, according to a large new study Thursday that paints a grim picture of where Earth's climate is headed. Published in the journal Science, the paper covers the period from 66 million years ago until the present, analyzing biological and geochemical signatures from the deep past to reconstruct the historic CO2 record with greater precision than ever before. "It really brings it home to us that what we are doing is very, very unusual in Earth's history," Among other things, the new analysis finds the last time the air contained 420 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide was between 14-16 million years ago, when there was no ice in Greenland and the ancestors of humans were just transitioning from forests to grasslands. That is far further back in time than the 3-5 million years that prior analyses have indicated. Until the late 1700s, atmospheric carbon dioxide was about 280 ppm, meaning humans have already caused an increase of about 50 percent of the greenhouse gas, which traps heat in the atmosphere and has warmed the planet by 1.2 degrees Celsius compared to before industrialization. "What's important is that Homo, our species, has only evolved 3 million years ago," said Hoenisch. "And so our civilization is tuned to sea level as it is today, to having warm tropics and cool poles and temperate regions that have a lot of rainfall." If global CO2 emissions continue to rise we could reach between 600—800 ppm by the year 2100. Those levels were last seen during the Eocene, 30-40 million years ago, before Antarctica was covered in ice and when the world's flora and fauna looked vastly different—for example huge insects still roamed the Earth.
COP28: Specter of second Trump term looms over climate talks - — U.S. officials at the U.N. Climate Change Conference here have tried to hammer home one message since Donald Trump left the White House: The United States is fully committed to the fight against climate change. But while Biden administration officials were sharing such assurances inside the U.S. pavilion on Friday, outside the pavilion, a former Trump White House climate adviser was forecasting a potentially seismic shift in international climate politics. George David Banks, who traveled to Dubai with a group of Republican lawmakers, predicted in an interview that Trump would use a second term to again withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord. “My guess is that pulling out of the Paris agreement will be considered in the first few weeks,” Banks said. “My guess is that they’ll have an executive order already written. I think that’s a real scenario that people need to consider.” Banks’s presence illustrates the long shadow that Trump casts over this year’s global climate talks. With an election just months away, andTrump gaining momentum on Biden in the polls, some diplomats here worry that future international efforts to slow the Earth’s warming won’t include the U.S. government. They fear U.S. officials won’t back up any promises they give today, and that Trump will derail progress toward reducing emissions at a crucial juncture for the planet.
COP28: Al Gore calls UAE hosting climate talks ‘ridiculous,’ slams oil CEO appointed to lead climate talks -- CNN -- Climate advocate and former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday called into question the decision to hold the COP28 climate talks in the United Arab Emirates, a leading producer of the world’s oil. Gore also criticized the appointment of Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), as the conference’s president, given that countries gathered in Dubai for the annual climate conference are discussing ways to reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels. “It’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil; it’s the appointment of the CEO of one the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,” Gore said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” characterizing Al Jaber’s role as a “direct conflict of interest” and arguing the fossil fuel industry has “gone too far.” But Gore remained optimistic, saying that the UN-backed summit’s controversial location and leader could be a “blessing in disguise” that “has awakened a lot of people to how absurd this situation is.”
US Joins Over 60 Other Nations To Pledge Emissions Reduction From Air Conditioners And Refrigerators --On Tuesday, 63 nations, including the United States, joined a pledge to cut down cooling-related emissions at the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Global Cooling Pledge requires countries to reduce such emissions by at least 68 percent by 2050 compared to 2022 levels. The focus of cooling-related emissions would be on appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators. The pledge also proposes setting up minimum energy performance standards for appliances by 2030.“We want to lay out a pathway to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors but increase access to sustainable cooling,” said Mr. Kerry, who joined representatives from other countries in the pledge, Reuters reported. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) criticized the pledge in a Dec. 6 X post: “John Kerry lost his run for president & has been trying to assert his revenge on everyday Americans ever since. If he gets his way, our cars, our appliances, and food will be gone. All from a man who flies around on his wife's private jet.”Mr. Kerry’s pledge comes as the Biden administration has proposed rules that could harm to the home appliance market. In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 40 percent by 2028, calling the chemical a “climate super-pollutant.”HFCs are used as refrigerants in appliances like air conditioners, heat pumps, and refrigerators. Since January last year, the import and production of HFCs require special allowances. During this time, the costs of replacing refrigerants have spiked.In an August 2022 analysis, Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, noted, “Service technicians say that replacing refrigerant lost from a leak now costs upwards of $800, about double what it did a year ago.”“Moreover, EPA’s HFC quotas tighten in the years ahead, so the ratchet will keep turning, surely causing homeowners’ bills to increase further still.” Earlier in March, the Department of Energy proposed rules under which refrigerators would be subject to a stricter set of energy efficiency standards. The rule comes into effect in 2027.At present, cooling equipment accounts for 20 percent of total electricity consumption. The UN estimates this to more than double by 2050. Emissions from such cooling is projected to account for over 10 percent of global emissions by mid-century.According to the UN, as temperatures rise, demand for cooling equipment is also expected to increase. By 2050, installed cooling capacity is estimated to triple due to rising temperatures, increasing incomes, and a growing population.“The cooling sector must grow to protect everyone from rising temperatures, maintain food quality and safety, keep vaccines stable and economies productive,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of United National Environment Programme.
COP28: Why China's clean energy boom matters for global climate action - With an energy-hungry economy, an historic reliance on coal and vast manufacturing enterprises, China is the world's single largest emitter, accounting for 27% of the world's carbon dioxide and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. But China is also the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines. Domestically, it is installing green power at a rate the world has never seen. This year alone, China built enough solar, wind, hydro and nuclear capacity to cover the entire electricity consumption of France. Next year, we may see something even more remarkable—the population giant's first ever drop in emissions from the power sector.The COP28 climate talks began well, buoyed by November's Sunnyland Statement between China and the United States, the second largest emitter. At previous climate talks, US-China cooperation has been lacking. But this time, they're largely on the same page.The statement outlined joint support for global tripling of renewable energy by 2030, tackling methane and plastic pollution, and a transition away from fossil fuels.China has been looking for better coordination with the US on climate since US President Joe Biden took office. Climate is an area where these competing major powers can cooperate.The COP28 talks in Dubai—meant to finish tomorrow—offer a window for joint action. Next year, the US could elect a different president with very different views on climate. China's well-regarded veteran special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, is about to retire.In these talks, China—the world's top oil importer—is looking for a compromise solution on the tense debate over fossil fuels. The world's cartel of oil producing countries, OPEC, has called for focusing on emissions reduction rather than fossil-fuel phase out in the declaration. Xie and his team are trying to find a middle ground to ensure a final deal.China has long been criticized for its continuing coal-fired power plant expansion. It has the world's largest coal power fleet, and approved another 106 gigawatts worth of new coal plants just last year—the equivalent of two a week. But the five major state-owned power companies are already burdened by heavy financial losses. Why build dirty and clean? It's a longstanding national policy: build sufficient baseload supply first while expanding renewable capacities. But at COP28, Xie said something new: "[China will] strive to replace fossil fuels with renewableenergy in a gradual manner." In developed countries, much clean energy work is driven by energy economists, who use incentives to change behavior.China is a country of engineers, who see these challenges as technical rather than economic.In 2007, China released a national action plan on climate, calling for technological solutions to the climate problem. Private and state-owned companies responded strongly. Fifteen years later, China is in the lead in every low-carbon category. Its total installed renewable capacity is staggering, accounting for a third of the world's total, and it is leading in electric vehicle production and sales.
OPEC Urges Members to Block COP28 Pronouncements vs Fossil Fuels - OPEC’s top official urged member countries in a letter to reject any agreements that target fossil fuels at the latest climate negotiations. Producers should “proactively reject any text or formula that targets energy” in the form of “fossil fuels rather than emissions,” Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais said in the letter to OPEC’s 13 members. The COP28 climate talks in Dubai, which are due to conclude early next week, are playing out with delegations positioning themselves on either side of a clearly drawn battle line: whether or not they can commit to phasing out fossil fuels. Al Ghais said he was concerned by the possibility that the meeting might endorse such an approach. “It seems that the undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences, as the draft decision still contains options on fossil fuels phase out,” Al Ghais said in the letter. “It would be unacceptable that politically motivated campaigns put our people’s prosperity and future at risk,” he continued. The group has a pavilion at the flagship United Nations event for the first time. Al Ghais said in a subsequent statement to Bloomberg that the Vienna-based organization “continues to advise our member countries.” “What we will continue to advocate for is reducing emissions, not choosing energy sources,” he added. “The world requires major investments in all energies, including hydrocarbons, all technologies, and an understanding of the energy needs of all peoples. Energy transitions must be just, fair and inclusive.” Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told Bloomberg Television on Monday that the kingdom won’t agree to a text that calls for the phase down of fossil fuels. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman insisted he would “absolutely not” accept such language. Other members include the United Arab Emirates — which is hosting the COP28 talks despite opposition from environmental activists — as well as Iraq and Nigeria.
OPEC members push against including fossil fuels phase-out in COP28 deal - OPEC members are pushing against attempts to include language on “phasing out” fossil fuels in a COP28 climate deal, underlining the struggle over whether the summit can for the first time in 30 years address the future of oil and gas. Negotiators and observers at the annual U.N. climate talks, pursuing a deal to tackle the worst impacts of climate change, said several OPEC members appeared to have heeded calls by the oil producer group to veto any deal to phase out fossil fuels. In a letter dated Wednesday, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais called on members to reject language targeting fossil fuels, saying “the undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences”. Al Ghais declined to comment on the letter but said OPEC wanted to keep the focus of the talks on reducing emissions, as opposed to picking energy sources. “The world requires major investments in all energies, including hydrocarbons,” he said. “Energy transitions must be just, fair and inclusive.” At least 80 countries are demanding a COP28 deal that calls for an eventual end to fossil fuel use, the top source of planet-warming emissions, to try to get on track to reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But they face a struggle to persuade countries that rely on oil and gas for revenue, many of which are instead promoting technologies like carbon capture, which is expensive and has yet to be proven at scale. Tina Stege, climate envoy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands – one of the places worst affected by climate change, said any pushback on including a phase-out of fossil fuels risked the world’s prosperity. “Nothing puts the prosperity and future of all people on earth, including all of the citizens of OPEC countries, at greater risk than fossil fuels,” said Stege, whose country chairs the High Ambition Coalition, a group of nations pushing for more ambitious emissions targets and policies. “This is why the High Ambition Coalition is pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, which are at the root of this crisis. 1.5 is not negotiable, and that means an end to fossil fuels,” she said in a statement. After a week of technical talks, the negotiations now have ministerial input before the scheduled end of the summit on Tuesday – the last phase when countries wrestle to find consensus over the wording regarding fossil fuels. The latest version of the negotiating text includes a range of options – from agreeing to a “phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science”, to phasing out “unabated fossil fuels”, to including no language on them at all.
COP28: US Opts Out of Dutch Plan to End Fuel Subsidies - The US opted out of a Dutch-led coalition that aims to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, starting by extricating countries from the international agreements in which they are embedded. Around 50% of government subsidies for oil, gas and coal are a result of global pacts, like those in aviation and shipping that exempt the fuels from tax, according to a statement by the coalition launched at COP28 in Dubai. Member countries will be required to report the amount of subsidies before next year’s summit.
New Poll Shows Strong Support for Making Oil and Gas Companies Pay for Climate Damages - As climate talks come to a close in Dubai, new polling reveals overwhelming American support for making the oil industry help cover the ballooning costs of climate change-fueled disasters. Conducted by Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media, the survey shows voters back laws requiring major oil and gas companies pay for a share of climate damages caused by fossil fuel pollution.The poll showed that likely voters widely support a bill that would require big oil and gas companies to pay a share of climate costs caused by pollution by a +40-point margin (66% in support compared to just 26% opposed). Support crosses party lines with 81% of Democrats, 61% of Independents, and a majority of Black and Latino voters in favor. The proposal also enjoys strong support from young voters aged 18-29 (68%). Additionally, 64% of voters said they would be more likely to support a candidate who prioritizes requiring oil and gas companies to pay climate costs linked to their pollution. Just 26% said they would be less likely to support officials backing such a measure.The findings coincide with “loss and damage” funding taking center stage at COP28, as vulnerable nations demand wealthy polluting countries pay compensation for their outsized role causing climate impacts now devastating low-income regions. Mirroring these calls for historic emitters to pay up, two-thirds of American voters support legislation compelling Big Oil to chip in on escalating climate costs linked to their products."In a resounding call for accountability, two-thirds of the American people support legislation demanding industry titans like Exxon and Shell shoulder their fair share of the climate damages inflicted by fossil fuels,” said Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director at Fossil Free Media. “With COP spotlighting the towering price tag of climate change, voters resoundingly endorse fossil fuel companies contributing their fair share to address a crisis they helped manufacture and still refuse to help fix." \Climate summit draft decision drops fossil fuel phaseout language, instead calling for reduction -The latest iteration of negotiating text at this year’s global climate summit has dropped a previous version’s suggestion of a phaseout of fossil fuels.Instead, the latest draft text, introduced Monday, calls for “reducing” consumption and production of fossil fuels “in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”A group of 80 countries, including the U.S., small island nations and the European Union, havereportedly called for a “phase out” of fossil fuels. But official decisions have to be adopted unanimously by the nearly 200 countries at the COP28 climate summit. News outlets reported last week that the head of a group of oil-producing countries known as OPEC wrote to its members urging them to oppose language that targets fossil fuels. In addition to its call to reduce such fuels, the latest text calls for the rapid phasedown of unabated coal — that is, coal whose emissions are not prevented through carbon capture technology. It also calls for limiting permitting on new and unabated coal power. The text additionally calls for tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.A previous draft text included several suggestions on fossil fuels that included “a phase out of fossil fuels,” “phasing out unabated fossil fuels” or “no text” on the issue.
US Climate Activists at COP28 Slam Their Home Country for Hypocrisy - Inside Climate News - Claims by some U.S. lawmakers at COP28 that President Biden’s policies provide global leadership on climate rang hollow with leading American climate activists at the annual conference who faulted the administration for supporting unbridled oil and gas development and for pushing carbon capture as an illusory solution for reducing emissions. Panganga Pungowiyi, an Indigenous mother from Sivungaq, on Dena ina lands near Anchorage, Alaska, said the American delegation’s negotiating positions will make things worse on climate, not better. “The United States is built on a legacy of colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy and extractive capitalism,” Pungowiyi said on Sunday during a presentation by a coalition of conservation and environmental justice groups. “Each year at the UNFCCC summits, we observe the United States fighting to continue that legacy.” Here in Dubai, she said, the U.S. government and American companies are pushing false solutions to the climate crisis, including carbon capture and storage, which is often used to pump even more oil and gas without contributing much to the goal of limiting global warming.A Dec. 4 report from the nonprofit think tank Climate Analytics showed that reliance on carbon capture and storagecould unleash an 86 billion ton “carbon bomb” between 2020 and 2050 if the technology continues to underperform, consistent with the industry’s record so far. The industry’s race to develop carbon capture and storage projects may also be outpacing the federal government’s ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology.“They want to ship captured carbon from their land to my homelands and sequester it there,” she said. “What we’re observing is the violation of Indigenous people’s rights and the violation of the sacredness of Mother Earth by continued commodification, whether by the extraction of fossil fuels or by the designation of her body and surface as a storage facility for carbon.” Biden’s landmark climate legislation, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, has earmarked $2.5 billion for carbon capture and storage, but many climate policy watchdogs say those investments are a dangerous diversion that could enable fossil fuel companies to keep producing oil and gas at a time when much of the world is talking about phasing fossil fuels out of energy and transportation systems, as well as other key carbon-intensive sectors.Rachel Rose Jackson, who tracks fossil fuel policies with Corporate Accountability, a nonprofit watchdog group in Boston, said U.S. claims of climate leadership at COP28 are hard to believe when the country is the world’s largest producer of fossil fuels with plans to ramp up exports of fossil gas to nearly every other continent. “The United States is the major governmental perpetrator of the world’s addiction to fossil fuels,” she said. ”The current administration has approved more than 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in the first two years of its presidency.That’s more than the Trump administration, which was supposedly the worst of the worst.”
Countries Most at Risk Call Proposed U.N. Climate Agreement a ‘Death Warrant’ - Environmental groups and negotiators from countries that are most vulnerable to climate disasters assailed a draft of a final agreement, made public at the United Nations climate talks on Monday, that fell short of calling for a phaseout of fossil fuels. The long-awaited draft said nations “could” take actions to slash greenhouse gas emissions, including “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels” by 2050, in line with what the science says must be done to avert the worst consequences of global warming. But it said nothing about deeply cutting fossil fuel use this decade, which scientists say is required to keep global warming at relatively safe levels. And the use of “could” makes action optional, analysts said. A spokesperson for Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati oil executive who is leading the talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said in a statement that the draft was “a huge step forward.” It would be the first time a United Nations climate agreement has even referenced fossil fuels, if those words remain in the final version.But diplomats who have campaigned for a United Nations commitment to stop burning the fossil fuels that are dangerously heating the planet said their countries would oppose the deal as written. The deadline for an agreement is Tuesday, and the talks are now expected to go into overtime as negotiators haggle over language. Under U.N. rules, all 198 nations must reach consensus on an agreement; any one nation can scuttle a deal.The burning of oil, gas and coal has raised average global temperatures by about 1.2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels. Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, scientists say, humans will struggle to adapt to rising sea levels, wildfires, extreme storms and drought. To keep warming under that threshold, nations must cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 43 percent by 2030, scientists have said.“The Republic of the Marshall Islands did not come here to sign our death warrant,” John Silk, the minister of natural resources for the nation of atolls in the Pacific Ocean, said. At its highest point, the Marshall Islands stands a little over six feet, or about two meters, above the sea. “What we have seen today is totally unacceptable,” Mr. Silk said. “We will not go silently to our watery graves.” Mona Ainuu, the minister of natural resources for the Pacific island of Niue, was brought to tears describing what she would tell her 12-year-old daughter about the results of this summit and pleaded for other nations to reconsider the draft. “It saddens me that I came all this way,” she said. “We spent thousands of miles coming to COP and nothing has happened.” The United States believes the language around fossil fuels should be “substantially strengthened,” Chad Houghton, a spokesman for John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for climate change, said in a statement.“COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure,” Former Vice President Al Gore said in a statement. “The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word.”
Climate summit makes ‘historic progress’ — but the world still can’t quit oil - Climate talks in Dubai ended with a deal to curb the use of fossil fuels that was both historic and 30 years too late.The two-week conference, held in the oil-rich desert kingdom of the United Arab Emirates and presided over by an oil CEO, brought two competing realities into a painful collision. The planet is overheating, yet humanity remains inextricably reliant on coal, oil and natural gas.The talks ended on Wednesday with a deal among almost 200 countries that committed to “transitioning away from fossil fuels,” notably by speeding up that shift before 2030. But the agreement also appeased oil-rich Gulf states by explicitly sanctioning those fuels’ use during the transition. And organizers gaveled it through so hastily that representatives for vulnerable island nations, who had a series of misgivings about the text, had yet to enter the room.Still, leaders of the U.N. summit and representatives of major governments were quick to endorse the nonbinding pact as a historic acknowledgment that the world needs to move quickly to cleaner energy sources.“This document sends very strong messages to the world,” said U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, who had placed his personal credibility on the line by backing the controversial choice of oil CEO Sultan al-Jaber to oversee the conference.“This is much stronger and clearer as a call” for halting global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius — the ambitious, increasingly out-of-reach goal of global climate negotiators — “than we have ever heard before,” he said.Kerry also announced that China and the U.S. had agreed to update their long-term plans for tackling climate change in light of the progress made at the talks.“This is historic progress,” said Danish Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen. “I can totally understand if our populations think that it’s a disgrace that it had to take 28 years. But now we’re here. We’re in an oil country surrounded by oil countries that are now signing a piece of paper saying we need to move away from oil. It is historic.”
COP28 Ends With Deal on Transition Away From Fossil Fuels - The COP28 climate talks in Dubai ended in a deal that saw a commitment to transition away from all fossil fuels for the first time. The president of this year’s UN-sponsored summit, the UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber, brokered an agreement that was strong enough for the US and European Union on the need to dramatically curb fossil fuel use while keeping Saudi Arabia and other oil producers on board. The agreement calls for countries to quickly shift energy systems away from fossil fuels in a just and orderly fashion, qualifications that helped convince the skeptics. Under the deal, countries also are called to contribute to a global transition effort — rather than being outright compelled to make that shift on their own. “Together we have confronted the realities and sent the world in the right direction,” said Al Jaber, who’s also chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. He brought the gavel down to confirm the deal on Wednesday, a day later than scheduled. It was met with applause and cheers by delegates. While the outcome falls short of the phase out most countries wanted, it does break new ground: No previous COP text has mentioned moving away from oil and gas, the fuels that have underpinned the global economy for decades. How quickly that becomes a reality won’t be decided by the diplomatic horsetrading that clinched today’s deal, but by investors, consumers and national governments. After a pledge to phase down coal in Glasgow two years ago, consumption has continued to rise and the world remains very unlikely to limit warming to the Paris Agreement’s target of 1.5C. Still, the Dubai decision is an important marker in the global direction of travel toward a low-carbon energy system. The text also includes agreements to triple the deployment of renewable power and double the rate of efficiency gains by the end of the decade. A separate COP28 agreement, reached earlier, makes operations a hard-fought fund for addressing the losses and damages of climate change. “An agreement is only as good as its implementation. We are what we do, not what we say,” Al Jaber said. “We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions.” The COP28 language pushing a decline in fossil fuel use will send “a signal” that “the world is now thinking about it” and change the way investors assess the risk of those ventures, said Jonathan Pershing, environment program director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a veteran US climate negotiator. The last-minute deal is a diplomatic win for the UAE and Al Jaber, whose role at Adnoc made him a controversial choice to preside over this year’s talks. There have been hiccups – allegations he used his role to lobby for oil deals and an argument over the science of climate change – but in the end he will argue he delivered. Al Jaber also used his presidency to bring the oil and gas industry firmly into the COP process and there were more representatives of fossil fuel companies than at any previous summit, drawing criticism from climate activists. He forged a pact between more than 50 companies to reduce emissions from their own operations. It said nothing about levels of oil and gas production, but a pledge to reduce pollution from methane – 80 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide – to near zero by the end of decade could have a material impact on emissions. That didn’t prevent Saudi Arabia leading a rearguard action against any attempt to include a fossil fuel phase out in the text. As COP28 got into full swing, the kingdom’s Energy Minister was asked by Bloomberg News if he’d be happy to see a phase down in the text. “Absolutely not,” he replied. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries later sent a letter to members, asking them to lobby against any text that targets fossil fuels rather than emissions. While the final language was watered down to reflect their concerns, ultimately the coalition of oil producers was left too isolated to resist.
Final COP28 Deal Riddled With 'Cavernous Loopholes' for Fossil Fuel Industry -The COP28 climate summit in Dubai ended Wednesday with an agreement that, for the first time, explicitly endorsed a move away from fossil fuels—a weak but historic signal that the oil and gas era may be coming to an end.But the deal, dubbed the UAE Consensus, is also chock full of escape hatches that will allow the fossil fuel industry to persist and thrive in ways that are incompatible with efforts to keep warming below critical targets set out by the Paris climate agreement.The final text "calls on" nations to "contribute" to a number of global efforts, including tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, accelerating the "phase-down" of "unabated coal power," and "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner... so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science."In the eyes of climate campaigners who pushed for an endorsement of an ambitious fossil fuel phaseout, the agreement falls well short of what's plainly necessary as global greenhouse gas concentrationscontinue to shatter records and climate-driven extreme weather wreaks devastating havoc across the globe."At long last the loud calls to end fossil fuels have landed on paper in black and white at this COP, but cavernous loopholes threaten to undermine this breakthrough moment," said Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "While this agreement offers faint guidelines toward a clean energy transition, it falls far short of the transformational action we need.""It is not enough for us to reference the science and then make agreements that ignore what the science is telling us we need to do."The Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition of nations particularly vulnerable to the climate emergency, vocally criticized the deal. The alliance said that its members—who have called for a fossil fuel phaseout and an end to fossil fuel subsidies—were "not in the room" when the final text was adopted."We were working hard to coordinate the 39 small island developing states that are disproportionally affected by climate change, and so were delayed in coming here," Anne Rasmussen, lead negotiator for the alliance, said, calling the agreement an "incremental advancement over business as usual when what we really needed is an exponential step-change in our actions and support.""It is not enough for us to reference the science and then make agreements that ignore what the science is telling us we need to do. This is not an approach that we should be asked to defend," Rasmussen added, criticizing the "litany of loopholes" in the deal's language on the transition away from fossil fuels and subsidies for the polluting industry."The paragraph on abatement can be perceived in a way that underwrites further [fossil fuel] expansion," she warned, citing the section of the text that urges countries to accelerate "zero- and low-emission technologies" such as carbon capture. Critics have called theunproven technology a "lifeline for the fossil fuel industry."The deal also "recognizes that transition fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security"—a thinly veiled endorsement of the liquefied natural gas expansion underway in the U.S. and elsewhere that is imperiling climate progress."This is not the historical deal that the world needed: It has many loopholes and shortcomings," said Kaisa Kosonen, senior political adviser at Greenpeace International. "But history will be made if all those nearly 130 countries, businesses, local leaders, and civil society voices, who came together to form an unprecedented force for change, now take this determination and make the fossil fuel phaseout happen. Most urgently that means stopping all those expansion plans that are pushing us over the 1.5°C limit right now."
‘Transitional Fuels’ – Like Natural Gas – Key to Achieving Net-Zero Emissions, Say Global Ministers - A landmark agreement clinched by nearly 200 government ministers is calling for the world to begin slowing down the use of fossil fuels, but they left the door open for “transitional fuels,” such as natural gas, to continue to play a big role in the decades ahead. The 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded nearly two weeks of talks on Wednesday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). “With an unprecedented reference to transitioning away from all fossil fuels, the UAE consensus is delivering a paradigm shift that has the potential to redefine our economies,” UAE’s Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, who was president-designate of COP28, said. He is UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and also head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil
Hancock Commission hears about carbon capture project – A project which would capture and store carbon dioxide in the ground could provide new opportunities for the region, according to representatives of energy company Tenaska. Company officials appeared before the Hancock County Commission Thursday to discuss their plans and what it could mean for the Tri-State Area. Scott Murray, a project manager for Tenaska, explained the privately owned company has been a part of the energy industry for 23 years, with local operations including explorations in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, as well as facilities in southern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania. “We have had experience in the area and a lot of good partnerships,” Murray said. Tenaska has located an office in Weirton as it works toward establishing its carbon capture and sequestration process in the region. According to information provided by the company, its processes would capture carbon dioxide at the point of emission from various industrial operations, process it and compress it into a liquid form, then transport it through a pipeline system to established storage sites where it would be injected into the ground at a depth of between 3,000 and 15,000 feet. “This will be long-term storage,” Murray said. “Instead of taking it out, we’re putting it back.” The company currently plans to be operational by 2027, with a hub established over areas of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. West Virginia would have injection sites in Hancock, Brooke and Marshall counties, with sites in Jefferson, Harrison and Carroll counties in Ohio, and Washington County in Pennsylvania. The company anticipates establishing seven injection well sites in West Virginia, with 12 in Ohio and three in Pennsylvania for a total of 49 permanent jobs. Tenaska recently received an award of up to $69 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to assist with its projects, and Murray noted the company has been active in seeking out partnerships, both with industrial operations and property owners. “We’ve already started reaching out and negotiating,” he said.
Carbon Causes Climate Change. Why Does a California County Want to Make More? -- Officials in California’s top oil-producing county have a plan for a massive industrial park to produce renewable energy. Kern County says the park will protect jobs and tax revenue threatened by the shrinking oil and gas industry. A county website says it is part of Kern’s plans for a “clean energy future.”The proposed Carbon Management Business Park would include 47 square miles of solar arrays, more than twice the size of Manhattan. The park could include several businesses, including plants that turn agricultural waste, like nut shells and orchard trimmings, into gas fuel. But its chief purpose would be to produce carbon dioxide — the most abundant greenhouse gas. County officials want to collect the carbon, which would then be buried in the ground, a process called carbon sequestration. They are hopeful producing carbon could ensure the region’s economic survival as oil production falls.The money would come from new federal spending for reducing greenhouse gases. Billions of dollars in tax credits for carbon sequestration were made available in the federal Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, after heavy lobbying from the oil and gas industry. Eager to get a share, groups across the U.S. are coming up with ambitious local plans to capture carbon from power plants, steel mills and other industrial producers — or directly from the air.Proponents of carbon sequestration tout it as a way to reduce global climate pollution by burying carbon that would otherwise go to the atmosphere and trap heat, worsening the climate crisis. But critics say Kern County’s plans show how the tax credits for carbon sequestration can create an unintended consequence. To get that money, the county wants to build new plants that would intentionally generate more carbon. Others, primarily oil companies, would then be paid to sequester it.Projects like the proposed Kern County park would produce clean electricity, but that electricity would be used to produce and sequester carbon. Critics of the project say it makes more sense to simply send that clean electricity directly to consumers.
East Bay Municipal Utilities District project to generate power via drinking water delivery system - CBS San Francisco -The East Bay Municipal Utilities District is installing a device designed to generate electricity by using the movement of water through its drinking water delivery system.The installation of the "in-conduit hydroelectricity" system will generate 130,000 kilowatt hours of emissions-fee power per year, according to EBMUD officials.A typical home uses about 11,000 kilowatt hours per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.The new system is designed by InPipe Energy, a California-based clean energy company."EBMUD is always looking for innovative opportunities to meet our goal to become a carbon-neutral enterprise and contribute to fighting climate change," said EBMUD Board Member Marguerite Young.The InPipe system is part of a pilot program that will be evaluated at some point to see if it should be continued or expanded.
AEP Ohio to build two electric transmission lines to address customer growth - Next year, AEP Ohio will seek approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board to build two 345-kV power lines for Delaware and Licking counties, with construction tentatively set to begin in summer 2024 and spring 2026, respectively.Meant to address growing customer demands in the area, the need for the new lines was recently highlighted to regional grid operator PJM Interconnection. AEP Ohio noted rapid growth in power demand throughout central Ohio due to large energy users in the region. Already, the company has refined study segments to identify proposed routes based on public engagement. The new lines would connect Vassell substation in Sunbury, Delaware County, to two new substations in New Albany in Licking County. Landowners affected by the final route and the various study segments will be contacted about the arrangement. In terms of finalities, if everything goes as planned, the projects should finish up in spring 2026 and spring 2027, respectively.
Only Permitted Great Lakes Offshore Wind Farm Put on Hold - On Dec. 8, after 14 years of small victories and larger setbacks, the remnants of the company behind Icebreaker Wind announced the indefinite suspension of what was once set to be the first offshore wind farm built in the Great Lakes.The decision by the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) to “temporarily halt” the project came as little surprise to those who had been following it. Icebreaker was the only project of its kind to come close to fruition. But it had barely survived a stream of legal disputes and permitting delays that put it many years behind schedule, and was still nowhere near having turbines in the water.“The writing’s been on the wall for a long time,” said Richard Stuebi, who headed the project from its inception in 2009 until the first official president took over in 2010. “And just more and more scribbles in darker and darker ink have been added over the past decade or so.” One of the biggest sources of concern over the years was the possibility that the U.S. Department of Energy, unsatisfied with LEEDCo’s halting progress, would revoke the $50 million in federal funding that kept the nonprofit’s sole project viable. In the end, that’s what happened.“DOE is in the process of terminating the grant,” Will Friedman, president and CEO of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority and LEEDCo’s acting president, said in an email. “Technically,” he added, “it is a mutual termination by LEEDCo and DOE because LEEDCo is unable to meet grant performance milestones.”LEEDCo had about $37 million left, most of which it planned to save for construction. Now that grant money is gone. The developer stopped short of canceling the project, saying in a press release that it is “still exploring various avenues that might allow the project to move forward in the future.” It didn’t specify what would have to change for work to resume.
Renewable Returns Still Lagging Oil and Natural Gas Projects, Slowing Industry Transition Efforts - Oil and natural gas investments in decarbonization so far have largely focused on curbing individual Scope 1 and 2 emissions, according to a new analysis by Deloitte. Operators “are increasingly exploring clean energy avenues,” said authors Amy Chronis, Kate Hardin and Anshu Mittal in Deloitte’s 2024 Oil & Gas Industry Outlook. “However, their direct spending on low-carbon fuels and technologies, excluding investments aimed at boosting productivity and reducing emissions from operated assets, constitutes only 4%” of upstream capital expenditures. Part of the issue is that renewable energy projects, by and large, do not generate as attractive returns as oil and gas projects.
Tiny Electric Vehicles Pack a Bigger Climate Punch Than Cars - Big Oil faces a tiny foe on the streets of Asia and Africa. The noisy, noxious vehicles that run on two and three wheels, carrying billions of people daily, are quietly going electric — in turn knocking down oil demand by one million barrels a day this year.In Kenya and Rwanda, dozens of start-ups are vying to replace oil-guzzling motorcycle taxis with battery-powered ones. In India, more than half of all new three-wheeled vehicles sold and registered this year were battery-operated. Indonesia and Thailand are also encouraging electrification of motorcycle taxis. Mazi Mobility has about 60 electric motorcycle taxis, known as boda-bodas, on the roads in Nairobi.Credit...Brian Otieno for The New York Times. China dominates the market. Its government began promoting electric vehicles decades ago in a bid to clean its smog-choked cities, which explains why a vast majority of the world’s electric two-wheelers are in China.The shift to electric mobility overall has reduced global oil demand by 1.8 million barrels every day, according to BloombergNEF, a research arm of Michael Bloomberg’s financial data and media company. Two- and three-wheelers account for 60 percent of that reduction, or 1.08 million barrels.Taken together, cars and smaller electric vehicles are projected to displace only 4 percent of total oil demand this year. Still, their growth is vital to the energy transition because transportation accounts for about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Of all the changes the world is making to slow further warming, electric vehicle sales are the only category on track to meet climate goals, according to an exhaustive independent study. Electric vehicles also solve the more immediate problem of air pollution, which the World Health Organization links to an estimated seven million premature deaths annually.
High-speed rail projects get $6 billion in federal funding : NPR - A pair of high-speed rail projects in Nevada and California is getting a big push from Washington. The Biden administration pledged more than $6 billion in federal funding for high-speed rail, aiming to close the gap between the U.S. and other developed nations when it comes to fast and reliable passenger service. "We're not there today for the simple reason that you get what you pay for, and America disinvested over the last many decades in our rail systems," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on a call with reporters. "We're reversing that trend." The high-speed rail projects are part of $8 billion in funding for passenger rail announced today — the latest installment in what the White House calls the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak more than 50 years ago. This round of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes a $3 billion grant for the project known as Brightline West, a new 218-mile intercity passenger system connecting Las Vegas and Southern California. Brightline, the only private intercity passenger railroad in the country, is already operating high-speed service between Miami and Orlando. "We're ready to get to work," Wes Edens, the founder and chairman of Brightline, said in a statement. "This is a historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry, and a remarkable project that will serve as the blueprint for how we can repeat this model throughout the country." The federal grant for Brightline West is expected to cover only part of the project's estimated $12 billion cost, but it's still one of the largest federal infrastructure grants ever to a private company. The company hopes to open the line in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.Rail advocates hailed the announcement as a major boost for the industry.
RWE Secures $2.8B Support to Phase Out Lignite-Fired Power Plants - The European Commission has decided that Germany’s financial support for RWE Power AG’s plans to phase out its lignite-fired power plants in the Rhenish mining area is in line with EU state aid rules. The decision clears $2.8 billion (EUR 2.6 billion) in compensation for RWE for the early phase-out. According to the German coal phase-out law, the use of coal for the production of electricity will have to be phased out by 2038. Germany decided to enter into agreements with the main producers of lignite-fired electricity, RWE and Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG (LEAG) to encourage the early closure of lignite-fired power plants. The Commission said in a media release that in 2021, it was notified by the German authorities of the plan to compensate these operators with $4.68 billion (EUR 4.35 billion): $2.8 billion (EUR 2.6 billion) was earmarked for the RWE lignite installations located in the Rheinland and $1.88 billion (EUR 1.75 billion) for the LEAG installations in the Lausitz. The Commission recalled that in March 2021 it opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Germany's plans amounted to state aid. In December 2022, Germany notified the Commission of an amendment to its agreement with RWE, including a revised method of calculation of RWE's forgone profits to demonstrate that the $2.8 billion compensation was justified and proportionate. In March 2023, the Commission extended the scope of its ongoing in-depth inquiry to cover the new elements. The Commission said its assessment found that RWE needed to be incentivized and compensated to exit the market and phase out its power plants, which are profitable currently, to help Germany hit its environmental protection objectives. The Commission also said it has found the $2.8 billion to be proportionate and not leading to overcompensation. The Commission stressed that this decision does not cover its formal investigation into the compensation measure in favor of LEAG. The Commission said it continues to pursue constructive talks with the German authorities on that case, also in light of ongoing exchanges between the German authorities and LEAG.
US House passes bill banning uranium imports from Russia (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a ban on imports of Russian uranium as lawmakers seek to add pressure on Moscow for its war on Ukraine, though the measure has waivers in case of supply concerns for domestic reactors. The bill must pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before becoming law. It is uncertain whether there will be enough time in the Senate schedule for it to be voted on this year. The bill, passed by voice vote in the House after the chamber suspended usual voting rules on the measure, would ban the imports 90 days after enactment, subject to the waivers. The House bill contains waivers allowing the import of low-enriched uranium from Russia if the U.S. energy secretary determines there is no alternative source available for operation of a nuclear reactor or a U.S. nuclear energy company, or if the shipments are in the national interest. "The risks of continuing this dependence on Russia for our nuclear fuels are simply too great," said Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers before the vote. "It's weakening America's nuclear fuel infrastructure, which has declined significantly because of reliance on these cheap fuels." The United States banned imports of Russia oil after the invasion of Ukraine last year and imposed a price cap with other Western countries on sea-borne exports of its crude and oil products, but it has not banned imports of its uranium. U.S. nuclear power plants imported about 12% of their uranium from Russia in 2022, compared to 27% from Canada and 25% from Kazakhstan, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The United States was the source of about 5% of uranium used domestically that year, the EIA said. Allowed imports of Russian uranium under the waiver would be gradually reduced to 459 metric tons in 2027 from about 476.5 tons in 2024.
Feds propose a 20-year ban on mining, drilling in Thompson Divide -The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management plan to remove 224,713 acres from possible mining or oil and gas drilling for the next 20 years would seem worthy of an end-zone celebration in Crested Butte, where the community has spent more than 45 years battling a plan to mine molybdenum on Mount Emmons above town. But they aren’t spiking the football just yet in the East River Valley, where they call the 12,392-foot peak the Red Lady and hardy skiers regularly carve their signatures in the glowing bowl above Elk Avenue. The draft decision released last week by federal land managers that suspends mining and oil and gas permits on public land inside the Thompson Divide is a first down in the red zone for Crested Butte. Twenty years is good. Crested Butte wants a forever ban. “It’s a big step toward permanent protections,” said Julie Nania, the Red Lady program director for High Country Conservation Advocates, which has led the fight to block moly mining in Crested Butte since the 1970s. It’s been a little more than a year since President Joe Biden visited Colorado to establish the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument and block mining in the Thompson Dividem a 225,000-acre mix of mountains and rangeland between Glenwood Springs and Crested Butte. The Forest Service and the BLM Friday afternoon released a draft plan that would prevent mining and drilling there for the next 20 years. Hunters, ranchers, conservation groups and local governments have been working to limit the impacts of mining and energy exploration in the Thompson Divide for many decades in Garfield, Gunnison and Pitkin counties. The fight has defined the community of Crested Butte, where a band of long-haired conservationists in the late 1970s began working to stop a plan to unearth a massive molybdenum deposit from an abandoned mine above the then-nascent ski town. In the past few years, Crested Butte has shepherded a land swap that would see the Mt. Emmons Mining Co. receive about 550 acres around the Keystone Mine on Red Lady so it can better maintain a treatment plant that filters Crested Butte’s water supply in exchange for the company giving about 630 acres of wildlife habitat on four parcels to the Forest Service. The town’s voters in 2016 directed a portion of its real estate transfer tax to a fund that will pay the mining company to permanently extinguish 1,365 mining claims on 9,000 acres above town. And that plan involves a conservation easement that will ask the federal government to not just suspend, but permanently remove mineral rights on the mine-owned land, which will prevent all future development while allowing recreational access and protecting watersheds and wildlife habitat.
Extremely rare astronomical event: Asteroid Leona to eclipse red supergiant Betelgeuse - In an extraordinary celestial event, the main belt asteroid Leona is set to occult Betelgeuse (or Alpha Orionis), one of the brightest stars in the night sky. This rare occurrence is scheduled for December 11th in the USA and December 12th in Europe, offering millions of observers a chance to witness a stellar eclipse. Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation Orion, will dim or even vanish as Leona passes directly in front of it, creating a spectacle visible from South Florida to Italy and Greece. J. L. Ortiz of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, leading a study on this event, notes the opportunity to analyze Betelgeuse’s diameter and brightness with unprecedented angular resolution. Unlike typical stars, Betelgeuse’s immense size – 760 times that of the sun – makes it appear as a 40 milliarcseconds wide disk in the sky. The asteroid’s transit could provide valuable insights into the star’s turbulent surface, marked by giant convection cells, which are crucial to understanding its potential supernova explosion. Leona itself presents an interesting element to this occultation. Previous observations in September 2023 revealed its oblong shape, measuring 80 x 55 km (50 x 34 miles), and its rotation, factors that might lead to unexpected outcomes during the eclipse. These characteristics could widen the occultation path and create unique partial eclipse effects, even at the center. In south Florida, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Betelgeuse is expected to wink out for approximately 10 seconds just before 20:25 EST on December 11. In Europe, the event will occur between 01:10 UTC and 01:16 UTC on December 12. Expanding on the visibility of this event, the eclipse’s path stretches from Tajikistan and Armenia, across Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, to Miami, the Florida Keys, and parts of Mexico. This astronomical phenomenon, involving Betelgeuse and the asteroid Leona, offers a unique opportunity for both professional astronomers and enthusiasts to gather valuable data on these celestial bodies. Betelgeuse, an estimated 700 light-years away and thousands of times brighter than our sun is a young star at just 10 million years old. Despite its youth, it is expected to have a short lifespan due to its massive size and rapid consumption of material. The star gained significant attention in 2019 when it dimmed dramatically, a change attributed to a large ejection of surface material forming a dust cloud. We still don’t know whether the occultation will result in a total eclipse or a ‘ring of fire’ effect. Gianluca Masa of the Virtual Telescope Project anticipates the eclipse to last no more than 15 seconds and will be providing a live webcast from Italy for global viewers.
Legislature votes to let gas companies charge customers millions for new pipelines - cleveland.com– The state General Assembly passed legislation Wednesday, introduced just one day prior, allowing gas companies to charge customers up to an estimated $67 million per year to build pipelines to speculative megaproject sites.The extra costs to customers each month would be limited to a modest $1.50. However, companies could continue to charge customers for up to five years if they can’t recover the full cost of the project sooner. The money would build up gas infrastructure for proposed megaproject sites, even with no specific buyer lined up.The legislation now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for signature or veto.The utilities say the money would give them the capital they need to develop sites that can entice buyers, like the recent Intel project, a massive semiconductor factory near Columbus that’s expected to employ thousands. Large-scale developers, the utilities say, don’t want to consider sites that can’t immediately deliver water, gas, sewer, and electricity. However, critics – including Democrats and the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association – say the bill saddles customers with the costs and risks of infrastructure investments for purported economic development. Kim Bojko of the OMA said the legislation gives utilities way too much leeway to do things like pass on to customers costs that predate a project; costs incurred if a project fails to secure a buyer; and others.“The language is overly broad and would allow the gas utilities to upgrade almost anything (distribution and transmission faculties) in the name of economic development without proper justification,” Bojko told lawmakers. The bill passed the Senate 23-8 mostly along party lines with Democrats in opposition. However, Democratic Sen. Catherine Ingraham, of Cincinnati, voted yes. Republican Sens. Niraj Antani and Mark Romanchuk voted no. It passed the House soon afterward on a 60-31 vote, mostly along party lines. Technically, monthly charges on gas bills known as “infrastructure development riders” already exist under state law for “prudently incurred” costs. With approval from regulators, Columbia Gas collects 63 cents per customer per month, and CenterPoint (Vectren) and Dominion both charge their customers three cents per month – all under the $1.50 cap, according to data from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. But under House Bill 201, utilities could spend the money to run pipelines to sites hoping to land a “megaproject” like Intel. Projects would be eligible if they win approval from JobsOhio, the state’s economic development arm, or the Ohio Department of Development.The rushed nature of the bill was apparent throughout the day on Wednesday. Republican Senators (plus Democratic Sen. Bill DeMora) agreed to add the idea Tuesday to unrelated House-passed legislation that originally limited the ability of local governments to mandate electric vehicles. Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat, declined comment Wednesday morning given her caucus hadn’t had a moment to review the idea. The bill text didn’t appear on the Senate’s website until just before the voting session Wednesday.Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, told reporters the Senate discussed the idea when it included the provision in its version of the state budget. Senators backed down at the time after House negotiators objected. He said the gas companies need a way to secure capital to pay for the pipelines.Intel picked Ohio without any extra subsidy for gas lines, said Democratic state Sen. Kent Smith of Euclid, underscoring the lack of a need for the bill. Rather, he said HB201 just continues a pattern of Republican lawmakers giving utilities what they want.“Utilities get paid based on the money they spend,” he said. “This would allow them to spend money on site development where there might not ever be a site developed. Ratepayers would still pay for that, and utilities would still make a profit on it.”One of the few Republicans to vote no, Antani made similar comments.
Ohio gas bills may go up with a pipeline provision added to this legislation -– A bill meant to prevent Ohio towns and counties from restricting the sale of gas cars has been sent to the governor’s desk with a provision allowing gas companies to charge customers to build pipelines for potential “megaprojects.” House Bill 201, passed by both chambers Wednesday evening, was intended to prevent the Ohio EPA from adopting California’s more stringent emissions standards for vehicle manufacturers. But a last-minute amendment to the bill allows gas companies to tack on up to $1.50 to customers’ monthly bills to fund the construction of natural gas pipelines to supply energy to massive economic development projects – like Intel’s 1,000-acre Licking County site for semiconductor chip facilities. The Legislative Service Commission has not produced an updated fiscal analysis to account for the bill’s amendments, but under a provision considered in June to allow a $3 rider, energy companies could recoup an additional $66.7 million from their customers. ADVERTISING Ohio Senate passes sweeping bill deregulating aspects of K-12 education The companies would be authorized to add that charge under an existing Infrastructure Development Rider program. Currently, utility companies can use the rider in limited circumstances; under HB201, eligibility is expanded to include the construction, extension, or upgrade of a natural gas company’s pipelines. For six years after the bill’s signing, the rider can also be used for investments to provide energy to the sites of economic development plans approved by JobsOhio, JobsOhio’s regional partners or the Department of Development. On the Senate floor, Sen. Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) said the infrastructure rider for gas companies is necessary to keep Ohio competitive with other states for the consideration of large economic development projects, similar to Intel’s scale. Gas company executives, including from Columbia Gas and Duke Energy, testified Tuesday that without the rider, gas companies would be unable to extend pipelines to accommodate large projects in regions of the state ripe for development. That means “job makers” with bold development plans will choose elsewhere to invest, testified Vince Parisi, president and chief operating officer of Columbia Gas. “The current [rider] is not flexible enough for the high costs associated with the large economic development projects Ohio has seen recently,” Parisi said. “These large projects, like Intel, are installed in areas that are significantly distant from the nearest natural gas pipeline capable of providing service. Because of this, the cost to serve these customers is pretty high.” Transgender athlete, healthcare ban heads to DeWine’s desk But Democrats and some Republicans view the rider less as an opportunity to boost the economy and more as an additional burden on ratepayers. Under the amendment, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is required to annually report on infrastructure development rider applications received and approved, the amount approved for recovery through each company rider and a list of the status of all approved economic development plans. While PUCO authorizes the infrastructure development riders, companies are allowed to apply the rider to projects before approval. If companies aren’t able to recover project costs under current law’s one-year limit, they’re allowed to continue the rider for five additional years. Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) called HB 201 an “anti-competitive, utility-driven” policy proposal that puts everyday Ohioans on the hook for gas companies’ potential projects – without any assurance that they’ll come to fruition. “When the legislature moves fast, Ohioans should hang onto their wallets, and this is one of those instances,” Smith said. Sen. Niraj Antani (Miamisburg), one of a handful of Republicans to vote against the bill, echoed Kent’s sentiments, calling it an effective tax increase on Ohioans. Abortion clinics ask judge to permanently strike down Ohio’s six-week abortion ban The Senate hoped to add a similar provision to the state’s two-year budget in June, instead approving up to a $3 monthly rider on ratepayers’ bills. As such, Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) defended HB 201’s late amendment, telling reporters that it’s crucial to supporting the “extraordinary growth in folks wanting to locate here in Ohio.” “These projects are happening right now, and in the case of Intel, for example, there was a promise that we’re going to put a gas pipeline in for Intel, a $20 billion investment,” Huffman said. “Well the gas company has to figure out how to pay for that, otherwise the Intel project doesn’t get built.” Columbia Gas has an existing 63-cent rider for what Parisi described as the “first portion of its costs” to supply energy to Intel. He said to recover the full costs of the project, the company will likely need to approach the $1.50 limit. In addition to the infrastructure rider, HB 201 would also prohibit local governments from restricting the sale of vehicles based on power source – a provision aimed at preventing the proliferation of bans similar to California’s ban on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The bill also prohibits the state’s EPA from enacting California’s carbon emissions standards. California has received multiple EPA waivers to adopt stricter standards than the federal Clean Air Act requires in an attempt to achieve the state’s carbon neutrality goals, including the most recent waiver in 2023. Gov. Mike DeWine has 10 days from HB 201’s passage to sign or veto it. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
27 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 4 – 10 | Marcellus Drilling News - New shale permits issued for Dec 4 – 10 in the Marcellus/Utica were up by 2 over the previous week. There were 27 new permits issued last week versus 25 issued two weeks ago. However, there was a major surprise! Last week’s permit tally included 8 new permits in Pennsylvania, 9 new permits in Ohio, and 10 new permits in West Virginia. The pattern is typically the opposite, with PA receiving the most permits and WV the least. The company receiving the most permits last week was EQT Corporation, with all 10 of WV’s permits all on the same well pad in Marion County. Apex Energy | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Encino Energy | EQT Corp | Guernsey County | Jefferson County (OH) | Marion County | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County | Westmoreland County
“I Turned Blue” Fracking Workers Share Horrifying Experiences --“I felt like I was vibrating and everything turned blue,” Eric Steppe (48) tells Public Herald, recalling a recent injury he incurred while working as a shift leader for a small crew treating oil and gas fracking wastewater at Eureka Resources, an environmental solutions company based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.Over the past six months, Public Herald has been contacted by four additional Eureka workers — Quinn Aughenbaugh, Brandon Barrett, Dalton Trahan and Alijah Kibler — who are for the first time sharing their stories about the dangers of treating fracking wastewater.Across Pennsylvania, there is a system of facilities that takes liquid waste from fracking sites and theoretically clean it, stripping out all harmful contaminants before discharged to waterways. However, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) 2016 TENORM study data indicates that these treatment facilities are often not removing even half or, in some cases, any radioactivity before the fracking waste is discharged into rivers.The industrial companies primarily guilty of this practice are centralized waste treatment facilities, or CWTs. These facilities are owned by private companies such as Eureka Resources and are permitted by the state and federal government to treat and “clean” fracking waste in-house. In reality, most CWTs are not doing a proper job. So they’re failing on two counts: they’re not eliminating radioactivity from the waste and, in some cases, they’re making the waste hotter.In January, Public Herald reported that DEP’s own data reveals Eureka’s treatment process only removed about 9% of radium from the oil and gas wastewater it processed at its facility in Williamsport.At Eureka’s Williamsport facility where Eric was hired, wastewater has entered the treatment system “hot” at an average 9,600 pCi/L of combined radium based on the DEP study. After being treated, wastewater tested was only marginally less radioactive at an average of 8,800 pCi/L of radium. These results are a far cry from Eureka’s “pure water” claims, let alone the federal drinking water limit of 5 pCi/L.What the public has yet to hear is what’s happening to workers in the CWT facilities. When it comes to oil and gas radioactivity, which regulators call Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM), the EPA itself presents a daunting message: “Although EPA and others working on the problem have already learned a great deal about TENORM, we still do not completely understand all the potential radiation exposure risks it presents to humans and the environment.” This report, as evidenced through Eric Steppe’s experience, is one of the first published accounts of those risks inside a treatment facility.
Burgeoning hydrogen industry draws $41 million in federal lobbying from fossil fuel companies - The number of companies and organizations lobbying the federal government on issues related to hydrogen increased nearly tenfold since President Joe Biden took office — from about two dozen at the end of 2020 to more than 200 this year, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of lobbying disclosures. Fossil fuel companies, which have promoted hydrogen as a catch-all solution to climate change, rank among the top spenders and outnumber clients from every industry, including the renewable energy sector, the analysis shows. Thirty-two oil and gas producers reported lobbying on hydrogen, among other issues, and spent a combined $41.3 million on federal lobbying efforts this year, as of Sept. 30. The lobbying blitz comes as the Biden administration prepares to direct billions of dollars in federal subsidies to scale up hydrogen production to decarbonize the U.S. economy. Unlike coal, oil and gas, hydrogen does not release planet-warming greenhouse gases when burned.The fossil fuel industry has aggressively lobbied the White House, Congress, and Energy and Treasury departments to ensure gas-based hydrogen qualifies for federal subsidies. The industry claims it can produce climate-friendly “blue hydrogen” from natural gas using carbon capture, a nascent technology still in early development.In 2022, the American Petroleum Institute, which represents nearly 600 oil and gas companies, submitted comments on the Energy Department’s draft National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap emphasizing the near-term cost advantages of blue hydrogen. The industry group’s climate action framework, published the previous year, also called for “full government funding” of low-carbon research and development programs and urged policy-makers to adopt a “technology-neutral” approach to the energy transition. Julie McNamara, the deputy policy director for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a think tank, told OpenSecrets that the government risks “aiding and abetting fossil fuel” interests.“There are so many ways that hydrogen can go that it just perpetuates the status quo,” she explained. “That is an extremely lucrative place for the fossil fuel industry to be,” she said. “If we have weak standards, it can mean more use of natural gas for longer with more profit along the way.”
Venture Global: roof lifted on fourth Plaquemines LNG tank - -- US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG has completed raising the roof on the fourth and final storage tank at its Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.Venture Global announced the completion of this milestone in a short social media post on Monday.The firm completed raising the roof on the first tank in February, the second tank in April, and the third tank in September.This means Venture Global completed raising the roofs on all four LNG tanks in less then 10 months.McDermott’s unit CB&I won a contract from a unit of Venture Global to build the first two LNG storage tanks as part of the first phase while the second phase includes two tanks as well.Venture Global previously said the roof of the first tank weighs 900 tons and is 294 feet (89.6 meters) in diameter. Air raising allows for better and safer access as well as a faster construction schedule, as the roof can be erected concurrently with the shell.Eventually, the tank will have an inner tank made from 9 percent nickel alloy and outer wall and outer roof made from concrete, it said.Venture Global took a final investment decision in May last year on the first phase of the Plaquemines project with a capacity of 13.3 mtpa and the related pipeline. It also secured $13.2 billion in project financing.In March this year, the company sanctioned the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana and also secured $7.8 billion in project financing.The full project, including the second stage, will have a capacity of 20 mtpa coming from 36 modular units, configured in 18 blocks.
US natgas prices drop to near 6-month low on mild weather, ample output (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures slid more than 10% to a near six-month low on Monday, hurt by ample output while mild weather limited heating demand. Front-month gas futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 28.1 cents, or 10.9%, to $2.30 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 0941 a.m. EST (1441 GMT), its lowest levels since June. The fundamental reasons why the prices are dropping drastically are "record production, higher Canadian exports, lukewarm and late arriving domestic demand, and high foreign gas storage levels," said Zhen Zhu, managing consultant at C.H. Guernsey and Co in Oklahoma City. "I believe the market is betting against a colder than normal winter in January and February, but the market may be reasonable as most of longer term weather forecasts are calling for a warmer than normal if not normal remaining winter." With record production levels and ample storage, gas futures have been sending bearish signals for weeks that prices for this winter (November-March) likely already peaked in November. The contract was down about 8% last week. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states was at 108.5 bcfd so far in December from a record 108.3 bcfd in November. Traders have noted that mild weather and near record output should cap the amount of gas utilities pull from storage in coming weeks. The continental United States entered the winter heating season with the most natural gas in storage since 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week. "Further price decline to the $2.20 area and ultimately toward the $2 mark would appear to be the most likely course given this unusually mild start to the heavy usage cycle," LSEG forecast U.S. gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, would stay steady at 123.8 bcfd next week from 123.7 bcfd forecast this week. U.S. energy firms last week added oil and natural gas rigs for a fourth week in a row for the first time since November 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The U.S. is on track to become the world's biggest LNG supplier in 2023, ahead of recent leaders Australia and Qatar. Much higher global prices have fed demand for U.S. exports due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. Gas was trading around $11 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark in Europe and $15.98 at the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) in Asia.
EIA Slashes Henry Hub Forecast as Production Seen Near 105 Bcf/d Throughout Winter - The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is slashing its winter Henry Hub spot price forecast on a combination of elevated production and weak space heating demand for natural gas so far this season. EIA said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) Tuesday it now expects the national benchmark to average $2.80/MMBtu this winter, down 60 cents from month-earlier projections. With mild weather-driven demand and rising domestic output padding inventories, the agency also revised its projected end-March storage carryout to more than 2 Tcf, or 22% above the five-year average. In last month’s STEO, EIA had called for inventories to exit March 2024 at a little under the 2 Tcf threshold.
US weekly LNG exports climb to 29 cargoes - US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports rose in the week ending December 6 compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration. The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that 29 LNG carriers departed the US plants between November 30 and December 6, five vessels more compared to the week before. Moreover, the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 105 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance. Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased by 1.6 percent (0.2 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 14.1 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights. Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana decreased by 1.3 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) to 8.6 Bcf/d, while natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased by 4.2 percent (0.2 Bcf/d). The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast increased by 6.8 percent (0.1 Bcf/d). Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped eight LNG cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent five shipments during the week under review. The Freeport LNG terminal and Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal each dispatched five LNG cargoes, while Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass, the Cove Point plant, and the Elba facility each shipped two cargoes. This report week, the Henry Hub spot price increased 3 cents from $2.70 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.73/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said. The price of the January 2024 NYMEX contract decreased 23.5 cents, from $2.804/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.569/MMBtu this Wednesday. Moreover, the price of the 12-month strip averaging January 2024 through December 2024 futures contracts declined 23.8 cents to $2.746/MMBtu, the EIA said.
Can't Get Enough - Gulf Coast LPG Export Dock Capacity Maxing Out; What Happens to U.S. Markets? | RBN Energy ---Gulf Coast LPG export capacity is tight again, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better — terminal capacity to load more barrels of propane and butane simply has not kept up with production gains. A number of new LPG dock expansions and greenfield projects are in the works, but they are 18 months or so away. In the meantime, production keeps rising, inventories are high, and it’s very unlikely we will see enough cold weather to balance the propane market. Bottom line: 2024 is shaping up to be a tough year for propane and butane prices. In today’s RBN blog, we examine what has been happening with exports, the looming dock capacity constraints, and the projects that will eventually relieve the imbalance. NGL export markets are a frequent topic in the RBN blogosphere, especially when LPG export capacity gets tight — such as the first round of export capacity constraints in 2012-16 when shale production was just kicking in, and then again in 2019-20. This year we’ve posted a number of blogs that considered the impact of increasing NGL production and the implications for exports. In Ready For It? we looked at what increases in Permian NGL production has meant for mixed NGL (aka Y-grade) takeaway capacity out of the basin — the market needs a lot more. Then, in in It's A Mystery, we questioned why, with all the new gas processing plants coming online, NGL production wasn’t growing even faster. (That mystery was solved as production statistics ramped up during the second half of the year.) We also examined the implications of surging ethane production and the implications for much higher ethane exports in You Ain't Seen Nothin’ Yet. It’s been a crazy market for NGLs this year. Total production from gas plants and refineries will hit an astronomical 7 MMb/d in 2023, up 1 MMb/d from the 6 MMb/d average in 2021. But while supply is increasing, domestic demand for NGLs has been essentially flat. The implication is obvious: more exports. Almost all incremental production volume is destined to move to exports, with the lion’s share — about 85% — moving off the Gulf Coast. Fortunately, global markets have been more than receptive to receive growing, attractively priced U.S. export volumes.LPG markets — propane and butane — have been at the epicenter of that surge in Gulf Coast NGL exports. If you are not familiar with LPG exports, here’s a quick tutorial. Propane and butane (together called LPGs or liquified petroleum gases) are exported across the same dock facilities and are frequently exported together on the same ship, although in separate tanks, not mixed in an LPG cocktail. Since they are exported at the same time, the dock capacity used is the sum of the propane and butane loaded on a ship. However, the capacity available is different for propane versus butane. That is because while both products must be chilled before being load onto the LPG workhorse ship, called a Very Large Gas Carrier or VLGC, propane must be chilled to a much lower temperature than butane. The colder the temperature needed, the more chilling capacity is required. Therefore, the capacity of the chiller is frequently a limiting factor for determining effective LPG export capacity for a terminal.As shown in Figure 1, LPG exports were strong in 2019, with volumes out of PADD 3 (Gulf Coast) export terminals averaging 1.16 MMb/d (dashed red line to far left), representing a year-on-year gain of 13% (130 Mb/d). Despite Covid-19, 2020 was a banner year for LPG exports, with volumes up 16% (188 Mb/d) to 1.35 MMb/d as new dock export capacity was added. Growth slowed from that point, however, with shipments up 10% (139 Mb/d) to 1.5 MMb/d in 2021 and only 5% (81 Mb/d) to 1.57 MMb/d in 2022 as the global LPG market waited on new petchem and other demand, mostly in China, to ramp up. But 2023 has been another big year, with RBN’s projected export volumes coming in at 1.74 MMb/d - up 172 Mb/d (or 11%) from last year.
Yet Another Oil Spill Hits the Gulf of Mexico - A new large oil spill hit the Gulf of Mexico on November 16. This disaster is a stark reminder of the constant risk that offshore drilling poses to wildlife, ecosystems, and coastal communities. The Coast Guard reported that the recent spill may have released over a million gallons of crude oil in the Gulf, which would make it the largest spill in the region since Deepwater Horizon. On November 16, an oil slick 3–4 miles wide was detected 19 miles offshore Plaquemines Parish in southeast Louisiana. Federal officials have not yet confirmed the source of the spill, but it may have originated from the 67-mile Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline system, which transports crude oil to shore from seven different offshore drilling operators. However, the Coast Guard has inspected the full length of the Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline system, along with sections of nearby pipelines, without finding evidence of damage or the cause of the leak. On December 5, more oil was detected on the water’s surface near the original spill, even though the main pipeline and several others have been shut down since the initial incident in November. The Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement (BSEE), the federal agency responsible for ensuring safety and environmental protection in offshore oil and gas operations, documented 992 oil spills in U.S. federal waters during 2021 and 2022. These spills released nearly 80,000 gallons of oil. For the offshore oil and gas industry, they are simply a cost of doing business.Spills can inflict long-lasting harm on local ecosystems and wildlife, as shown by the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon spill. Oil exposure can smother or weaken the plants that support important habitats like seagrass meadows and coastal wetlands, which play a critical role in carbon sequestration and flood protection, and provide habitat for numerous species. Deepwater Horizon contaminated over 92,000 square miles of surface water and 1,300 miles of coastline. Eight years after the disaster, coastal oil concentrations were still ten times higher than before the spill. Oil is toxic to animals and can cause mortality from exposure or ingestion. When marine mammals surface in or near an oil slick, they also risk inhaling oil, which can likewise be fatal. The Deepwater Horizon spill killed an estimated one million seabirds and up to 8.3 billion oysters and 5,000 marine mammals. Exposure to oil can kill fish larvae and impair the reproduction capacity of adult fish. After Deepwater Horizon, fishing communities were devastated as the Gulf of Mexico commercial fishing industry lost around $247 million and thousands of jobs. Alarmingly, oil from the November Gulf spill partially overlapped with the habitat for the critically endangered Rice’s whale — a species of baleen whale that lost nearly 20% of its population as a result of Deepwater Horizon. Rice’s whales live exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico, and there are only about 50 of them left. Although the population still has a chance to recover, oil spills are an ever-present threat to the species’ survival.The newest Gulf oil spill highlights, yet again, the risks that offshore drilling poses to the marine and coastal environment. Ultimately, the only way to protect Gulf wildlife, ecosystems, and coastal communities from oil pollution is to end offshore drilling once and for all.
Biden's new offshore ally: Oil majors - The Biden administration has gained an unlikely ally in its efforts to charge a hefty premium for offshore drilling: major oil companies. The current proposal — which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released earlier this year — aims to prevent the public from having to pay to clean up abandoned oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. As written, an estimated $9 billion in new cleanup insurance that would be required by the regulations would fall disproportionately to smaller oil companies, which are now scrambling to push BOEM to rewrite the provision before a final version is published next year. Advertisement The Biden administration plans to finalize the regulations by April, according to a regulatory agenda released last week. The rules, part of the clean energy-focused White House’s attempt to overhaul the nation’s oil and gas program, would also protect some of the biggest drillers in the country from cleaning up abandoned wells when smaller firms go bust. The proposal comes after a spate of bankruptcies in the offshore oil and gas sector in which midsize firms attempted to abandon billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure. But the plan has produced a wave of disapproval from critics who say it may not offer additional protections to everyday citizens. “It’s not really the taxpayers that are getting insulated,” said Rahul Vashi, co-chair of the oil and gas practice at the law firm Gibson Dunn. “It’s the prior owners that are getting insulated, because there’s already a regime here that says, ‘If I weren’t able to foot the bill, the government will go back to who owned it before me.’” In 2021, Fieldwood Energy tried to walk away from more than 1,000 wells, 280 pipelines and 270 offshore drilling platforms during its second bankruptcy in less than five years. A court ultimately transferred much of that cleanup liability to former owners of the assets — all major oil and gas companies. That ruling was consistent with longstanding federal policy for offshore oil and gas, in which legacy owners of assets are never fully off the hook for a share of cleanup liabilities even if they sell their assets. The financial instability of some offshore firms has put pressure on federal regulators to make it harder for those companies to drill without setting aside more upfront cleanup costs or insurance. The proposed regulations are also the latest example of the Biden administration’s efforts to stiffen regulation of the nation’s oil and gas program — often leading to fights with Republicans and the industry. While the White House has retreated from commitments made during President Joe Biden’s campaign for office in 2020 to shut down federal drilling due to climate change, it has continued to enact changes officials say will help align the oil program with modern, climate conscious policies. They include limiting new oil leasing, elevating the importance of climate impacts in oil decisions and shrinking the footprint of future drilling via environmental and financial rules. But the new draft rules have put the Biden administration in the unusual position of siding with major oil companies like Chevron, Shell and BP. The firms are on board with key aspects of the proposal because it could help shield them from covering cleanup of wells they formerly owned.
Occidental Petroleum to buy Permian producer CrownRock for $12 billion, raise dividend - Occidental Petroleum on Monday agreed to buy CrownRock, a major privately held energy producer that operates in the Permian Basin, for $12 billion. The deal is latest in a spate of consolidation in the U.S .energy sector, particularly in the Permian, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. CrownRock is developing a 100,000-acre position in the Midland Basin, a portion of the Permian that spans 20 counties in western Texas. The Midland Basin produced 15% of U.S. crude in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. The transaction will add 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Occidental's production as well as 1,700 undeveloped locations to the company's operations in the Permian. Occidental will issue $9.1 billion in debt and about $1.7 billion in common stock to finance the transaction. Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said the company is purchasing CrownRock to increase its scale in the Midland Basin. "It's the scale, it's the inventory, and all of that has helped now for us also to step up our dividend," Hollub told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. Occidental is raising its quarterly dividend to 22 cents a share from 18 cents a share beginning next year. CrownRock is one of the last major private producers in the Permian alongside Endeavor Resources. The company is led Texas billionaire Timothy Dunn and backed by the Houston-based private equity firm Lime Rock Partners. Occidental is the ninth-largest energy company in the U.S. with a market capitalization of $49.7 billion. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns about a 26% stake in the company. Occidental's stock has fallen 10% this year. Its shares were up 1% in morning trading Monday. Hollub said Berkshire Hathaway was not involved in the CrownRock deal, though Occidental did discuss with Buffett how the company fits into its corporate strategy. Occidental's last major acquisition was its purchase of Anadarko Petroleum for $55 billion in 2019. The buy of Anadarko loaded the company with debt and sparked a bitter dispute with activist investor Carl Icahn, who sold the remainder of his stake in the company in 2022.
Explainer: The US EIA's crude accounting issue hasn't gone away, despite changes (Reuters) - The primary data source on U.S. energy markets has struggled this year to depict weekly changes in the country's oil supply and demand, leaving some investors conflicted on how to parse information about the world's top oil producer and consumer.For decades the market had brushed over a so-called "adjustment" in the EIA's weekly inventory report due to its relatively negligible size. But that has changed in the past year as the agency consistently posted outsized adjustments, also known as unaccounted for barrels, sowing confusion among market participants despite changes to improve the quality of the data.The adjustment number is a figure the EIA reports each week that serves as a balancing item when the administration's supply and demand data do not align. Adjustments are normal within the data, which, given the report's quick weekly turnaround, have to account for some margin of error.However, market participants have consistently complained this year about larger adjustment figures. The EIA posted an adjustment number of minus 1.42 million barrels per day (bpd) in the week to Dec. 1, the largest negative adjustment on record. In the week to Dec. 8, the adjustment was minus 1.05 million bpd, the third largest negative adjustment on record.Earlier this year, the EIA studied larger adjustment numbers, as the average annual adjustment in 2022 was the biggest in records dating back to 1973. The assessment found two root factors: crude oil blending accounting that overestimated domestic consumption, and under-reported oil output, the EIA said in March.As a result, the EIA said it would change its surveys to get more accurate crude output data, and also change its accounting methods for crude oil blending.The EIA relies on surveys from market participants to capture weekly data. But no dataset is perfect, especially weekly datasets pulled from estimates and sample surveys. The EIA encourages data users to treat the weekly data as a snapshot of trends and compare it to more vetted monthly data."I know that our weekly data informs a lot of decisions in the market, and that the volatility is not useful. This is why we continue to work on improving our data collection and analysis," said Warren Wilczewski with the EIA.The frequency, transparency and expansiveness of EIA's data mean that market participants around the world depend on it to make investment decisions related to the crude market. Release of the data on Wednesdays typically moves the massive crude futures market.But as the adjustments have grown larger, some have grown warier about the data's depiction of the energy landscape."The market has been losing faith in the weekly data over the last year or two, leaving the report to be viewed as increasingly irrelevant, given the magnitude of the adjustment factor and its unpredictableness," said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler.EIA's accounting changes around crude oil blending have actually added confusion instead of clarity, Smith added.Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Aurora Ellis
The EPA’s innovative new way of policing methane super emitters - Scientists with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were flying a plane equipped with a visible-infrared imaging spectrometer over an oil field in California’s San Joaquin Valley when they made a worrisome discovery. Images produced by the device revealed a large plume of methane lingering in the air. The plane made flights over the field for several more weeks, and while the plume shifted and changed shape with the blowing wind, its presence persisted. Believing the source could be a leak at the oil well, the scientists notified the operator. Soon, the plume disappeared. The leak, coming from a small fuel line, had been repaired. “This is the essence of proactive measurement,” Riley Duren, one of the scientists involved in the flights and now CEO of Carbon Mapper, told Grist. “It’s a good example of how you would want it to work.” The leak, detected in July 2020, was what’s called a “super emitter.” The term refers to events in which a lot of methane is quickly expelled, or to infrastructure that releases a disproportionately high amount of the gas. In oil and gas production, events can occur on purpose, as part of routine processes like venting (when producers intentionally release unburned gas) or by accident, due to faulty equipment or human error. However they happen, super emitters release a particularly insidious greenhouse gas. Although it only stays in the atmosphere for about a decade, methane is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Because methane lacks color or odor, releases can go undetected for months. Nearly one-third of methane emissions in the U.S. come from the oil and natural gas sector, and super emitters account for almost half of them. But a new emissions rule from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, targets super emitters by leveraging technology like remote-sensing aircraft and even high-resolution satellites to not only find leaks, but to hold those who cause them accountable. The EPA’s methane rule, announced December 2 at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, includes a suite of regulations aimed at addressing the gas and other dangerous pollutants at oil and gas facilities. It establishes emissions standards for new equipment, phases out routine flaring of natural gas, guides states in regulating emissions from existing equipment, and requires the industry to conduct regular monitoring for leaks. “Its importance should not be understated,” Darin Schroeder, of the Clean Air Task Force’s methane pollution prevention program, said of the rule. “Reducing methane emissions is the best action we can take right now to bend the climate curve.” The EPA predicts the new regulations will avoid 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038, reducing projected emissions from the gas by 80 percent. The rule also includes the “super-emitter program,” in which outside organizations certified by the EPA can use approved remote-sensing technologies, including airborne spectrometers and satellites, to monitor oil and gas facilities and detect large releases. Under the program, watchdogs will report super-emitter events — defined as a release of more than 100 kilograms per hour — to the EPA, which vets the data and informs the operator. The owner must investigate and report back to the EPA within 15 days, explaining how and when it will fix the problem. The EPA will also post verified super-emitter events on the program’s website, allowing those in frontline communities to monitor their possible exposure to dangerous gasses.
Richmond Chevron refinery receives nuisance violation for odor from bioreactor - Inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a public nuisance notice of violation to the Chevron Refinery following a Friday inspection. They had responded to a number of air quality odor complaints from people detecting a heavy petroleum or burnt tires odor. Air district staff spoke with the Chevron Fire Department who directed them to the facility's bioreactor where they found the same burnt tire odor. Chevron staff told the inspectors that they had experienced an upset at their bioreactor, according to the air district incident report. That was about 3 p.m.By 3:30 p.m., the company reported a Level 1 notification through its Community Warning System saying, "We have investigated and have confirmed odors are from the Richmond refinery. The odor source is ongoing."The air district inspection staff are patrolling the Point Richmond area throughout the weekend. It is the second Level 1 warning in two weeks. The air district late last month issued violation notices to Chevron because of flaring from the refinery.That incident on Nov. 27 happened due to a loss of power at part of the facility and sent a large plume of black smoke over the region.A Facebook post by the Chevron Richmond account confirmed that the workers at the facility were attempting to "quickly to minimize and stop the flaring." The post said a "Community Warning System (CWS) Level 1" was issued due to smoke and the visible flaring. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District reports theyreceived more than 100 complaints about air quality in connection with the incident. ALSO READ: Black smoke clouds air over Chevron Richmond refinery as power loss triggers flaring incident
Indigenous peoples' dissenting views on Arctic drilling fuels debate -Members of Congress agree that the administration needs to consider the concerns of indigenous communities when taking actions on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic. There is just disagreement on whose concerns should be prioritized.The Biden administration’s slate of actions announced in September included canceling the remaining oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge issued under President Donald Trump and proposing new protections for over 13 million acres in the neighboring National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.These proposals drew condemnation from many Republicans — already critical of the Biden administration’s leasing policies — that the moves will increase U.S. dependence of foreign sources of oil. Alaska’s congressional delegation, which includes Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, said the administration ignored the wishes of those on the ground.These frustrations were on display last week when the House Natural Resources Committee approved a bill that would prohibit the Biden administration from enforcing these actions. The bill was introduced by Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., and co-sponsored by Peltola, who was the only Democrat to vote in favor.The bill also had support from Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation and Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope. At a Nov. 29 hearing, Doreen Leavitt, director of natural resources for the latter group, said their voices had been “continually dismissed” as the Biden administration considers the fate of drilling in the region.In their Dec. 7 comments on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska proposal, ICAS, the North Slope Borough and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation expressed many of the same concerns.“[The Bureau of Land Management] is failing to fulfill its broader duties to Congress and the indigenous people of the North Slope by capitulating to a political agenda that calls for ending domestic oil and gas development with no regard to the economic and national security consequences of those actions,” the comments said.Other Democratic members of the committee, though, spoke of their concerns that oil and gas development in the region would both be a major source of emissions and threaten the way of life of the Gwich’in people who depend on the region’s caribou herds for subsistence.Gwich’in representatives from Alaska and Canada were in Washington last week to urge expanded protections for the region. In a statement the Gwich’in Steering Committee said that during the trip it shared “as we have many times in the past that protecting the Arctic Refuge is not just about protecting land: it is about respecting our rights as Indigenous Peoples.”“Future generations deserve assurance from the US government that our culture, traditions, and connections to our sacred land and its animals will not be infringed on,” the committee said.Ranking member Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., expressed his own concerns that opponents of the drilling did not have their concerns adequately addressed under the Trump administration when it moved to finalize the leases.In their comments on the NPR-A proposal, environmental groups including the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and the Northern Alaska Environmental Center encourage stricter protections for the region.“The lands and waters of the Reserve are globally unique ecosystems and culturally irreplaceable for the Alaska Native communities who live within the region and rely on its resources,” the groups wrote. “As the Biden Administration looks to fulfill its ambitious, yet necessary domestic and international commitments toward environmental justice, climate action, and the protection of biodiversity, the Reserve offers a tremendous opportunity for addressing their goals.”But for the groups that would see the most immediate economic benefits from drilling in the region, the development represents a way to support some of the most remote communities in the nation.“I think that there is a lack of understanding just because they talk about subsistence and they talk about protecting the land and the animals for the people that are there,” said Nagruk Harcharek, president of the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat. “But if you’re threatening our economic base you’re in turn indirectly limiting our ability to subsist.”
No spill response can eliminate risk to marine life in the Strait of Juan de Fuca | Spare News -- Last week, Capital Daily reported that the new 74.5-metre (244-foot) Western Marine Response Corporation (WMRC) vessel named the K.J. Gardner will be docked in Beecher Bay early in the new year. The ship is purpose-built to patrol the BC coastline and respond in the event of an oil spill. This additional response resource is being deployed in anticipation of the 34+ tankers per month (450 per year) that will soon come out of Burnaby’s Westridge Marine Terminal laden with oil from the TMX pipeline before making their way through the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. That oil that originates in the Alberta oil sands and travels a 1,150-km pipeline to the Burnaby Terminal, is high in bitumen and is notoriously viscous and dirty. To facilitate its transport through the pipeline, oil sands bitumen is chemically diluted to make what is called ‘dilbit.’ Canada has limited capacity to refine heavy crude oil like this so it needs to transport it in tankers to refineries with larger capacity in the US like Ferndale in Washington State. The David Suzuki Foundation considers dilbit spills particularly toxic and hard to clean up. “Tar balls sink to the bottom of the water or hang in the water column, eluding conventional booms used to contain spills.” En route to Washington, tankers carrying this heavy oil will travel the migration routes of significant Sockeye salmon that head up the Fraser River and past the Gulf Islands. Clear Seas, an independent research centre that supports safe and sustainable marine shipping in Canada, says the TMX project could represent a 9% increase in commercial ship traffic traveling through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Those tankers will also pass by the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve (RRER) off the coast of East Sooke where, according to Warden Derrick Sterling, “Humpbacks are visible every day.” According to the RRER site, Southern Resident orcas also pass south of Race Rocks reserve heading west, and Bigg’s (Transient) orcas pass, heading East. Race Rocks is the most southerly part of Canada on the Pacific Coast, roughly one nautical mile from Rocky Point off the southern shore of Beecher Bay on Vancouver Island. The reserve’s name refers to the tidal race that swirls around its rocky outcrops at rates of up to eight knots. RRER is home to a diverse range of large and small animal and vegetable marine life. It’s the site of haul-out and a pupping colony for Elephant Seals. California and Northern sea lions “haul out” there in by the thousands in the fall of each year, meaning they leave the water for periods of time to forage, rest and reproduce. The RRER is also host to thousands of migratory birds each year like Auklets, Petrels and is a winter roosting area for thousands of seabirds like Buffleheads and Ancient Murrelets. Despite TMX assurances that all of its tankers will be carefully escorted by tug vessels through the Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits and will receive extended pilot guidance to the Race Rocks area, no precautions are 100% infallible.
Canada's Secure to Sell Oilfield Waste Facilities for $850MM - Waste management and energy infrastructure company Secure Energy Services Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement with Waste Connections Inc. to sell the facilities formerly owned by Tervita Corporation that were ordered to be divested by Canada’s Competition Tribunal. The transaction is for $790 million (CAD 1.075 billion) in cash plus approximately $55.3 million (CAD 75 million) for certain adjustments, for total estimated cash proceeds of $850 million (CAD 1.150 billion), Alberta-based Secure said in a news release Monday. Secure and Tervita Corporation, both oilfield waste service providers, announced their merger in March 2021. Canada’s Competition Bureau in June 2021 launched a challenge, where it alleged that the loss of rivalry between the two would result in oil and gas producers likely paying higher prices and experiencing a reduced quality of service due to the transaction. The Competition Tribunal ruled in favor of the Commissioner of Competition in his challenge of the acquisition. The Tribunal then ordered Secure to sell 29 facilities to resolve the substantial lessening of competition found in 136 relevant markets.
LNG Canada On Track to Start Testing Facility in 2024 – The first phase of the Shell plc-led 14 million metric tons/year (mmty) LNG Canada export project in Kitimat, British Columbia, is more than 85% complete, CEO Jason Klein said in a year-end update. The project is on track to start shipping LNG abroad in 2025. The project is now preparing for “safe start-up activities” to begin in 2024, Klein said. “That’s when our equipment is tested and fine-tuned, and we begin the process of producing LNG,” he added. “Our safe start-up program will take more than a year to complete.” Indonesia’s PT Pertamina has canceled a contract to buy 1 mmty from the Mozambique LNG project in Africa because of ongoing delays. Work on the TotalEnergies SE-led Mozambique project was...
Cedar LNG FID Slips to Early 2024 as Pembina Prepares for Western Canada’s ‘Transformational Period’ - Pembina Pipeline Corp. disclosed that a possible final investment decision (FID) for its Cedar LNG project on the British Columbia (BC) coast could slip to early next year as the project partners hammer out final details for its construction and tolling agreements. In its recently released 2024 guidance, the company said it expects to make a contribution of more than $154 million to the liquefied natural gas project next year on its way to making an FID. Last month, Pembina signed a tentative agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries and Black and Veatch to reserve manufacturing capacity for the floating LNG vessel that will serve as the center of its 3 million metric ton/year export facility. “Cedar LNG continues to progress the key project deliverables...
Pembina delays FID on Cedar LNG project - --Canada’s Pembina Pipeline and the Haisla Nation have postponed a final investment decision on their Cedar floating LNG export project. Pembina and the Haisla Nation each own 50 percent in the Cedar LNG project.Last month, Pembina said that the partners may move the final decision on the LNG export project from the fourth quarter of this year to early 2024.The duo also recently signed a heads of agreement with US-based engineer Black & Veatch and South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy to secure access to shipyard capacity for their project.Last year, Black & Veatch and SHI won the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the project’s proposed floating liquefaction, storage, and offloading unit (FLNG).The $2.4 billion FLNG project will have a capacity of about 3 mtpa and will source natural gas from the prolific Montney resource play in northeast British Columbia.Moreover, Cedar LNG plans to receive feed gas from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which will supply the giant Shell-led LNG Canada export plant near Kitimat.The floating LNG facility will also be located near the LNG Canada plant and will be powered by renewable electricity from BC Hydro.Pembina said in a statement on Monday that the parties expect to finalize a lump sum engineering, procurement, and construction agreement prior to the end of the year, which will provide Cedar LNG with the necessary services to construct the project.
Altamira LNG Nabs Final Environmental Assessment as Launch of Mexico Exports Nears - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has delivered a final environmental assessment for New Fortress Energy Inc.’s (NFE) offshore Altamira LNG project as the firm awaits delivery of a component that could allow it to begin exporting U.S. natural gas from Mexico’s eastern coast. NFE previously requested to re-export 145 Bcf/year, or 400 MMcf/d, from Texas through Altamira until 2050. It received partial authorization in March, but the firm has been awaiting an environmental review of the project before DOE makes a final export authorization decision. DOE staff wrote in the assessment that the proposed action is to grant authorization as long as the project is ultimately deemed to be in the public interest. If DOE did not authorize the Altamira LNG facility, staff noted that...
Oil Majors in Guyana Advance Plans despite Venezuela Threats: Prez Ali - Oil majors operating in Guyana’s waters are “moving ahead aggressively” with production plans despite Venezuela’s threats to take over the region in an escalating border conflict, according to President Irfaan Ali. Speaking from Georgetown, Ali said Guyana’s troops are prepared to defend the nation’s territory after Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro revived a long-dormant dispute over the Essequibo, a swath roughly the size of Florida where major oil discoveries have been made in recent years. Companies operating there were not intimidated by orders from the Venezuelan leader to leave the region, he added. “There’s absolutely no slowing down” in production plans, Ali said in a video interview on Monday. “We are on the right side of international law, on the right side of ethics, and on the right side of history.” Maduro last week told Exxon Mobil Corp. and others to withdraw from the area within three months, leaving Brazil and other Latin American nations on high alert about the possibility of an armed conflict in the region. Exxon leads a joint venture that includes Hess Corp. on Guyana’s Stabroek Block, home to the world’s largest crude discovery of the past decade. Ali and Maduro are set to meet on Thursday on the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in a bid to deescalate tension. The dispute intensified in recent years as the massive oil discoveries off the coast of Guyana led the small English-speaking nation to become the world’s fastest-growing economy. Estimates that Guyana’s economy will grow 25 percent-30 percent a year in the medium-term are “very conservative,” said Ali, who is targeting more than 1.2 million barrels of daily production in the coming years. “We are continuing to ensure that we are in a position with our international partners to defend what is ours,” Ali said. “But make no mistake, our troops are going to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Guyana is respected.” The escalating dispute over the Essequibo is largely seen as an attempt by Maduro to rally the population with a nationalistic rhetoric ahead of next year’s presidential elections. The Venezuelan leader is widely expected to run for a third term, despite his low poll ratings and the rise of opponent María Corina Machado’s popularity. Machado is currently banned from holding office, though Venezuela has outlined a legal path to restore her eligibility, under pressure from the US. In exchange for reaching an agreement with some opposition leaders, the US Treasury eased oil sanctions on Caracas last month, allowing foreign companies including Chevron Corp. to expand operations in the country and increase exports, providing Venezuela with much-needed revenue.
Spot LNG shipping rates, European prices continue to decline - Spot liquefied natural gas freight rates and European LNG prices continued to decline this week, according to Spark Commodities. Last week, LNG freight rates decreased as well. The Spark30S Atlantic decreased to $155,250 per day, while the Spark25S Pacific decreased to $141,000 per day. “LNG freight rates fell once again week, with a 8 percent week-on-week decrease for Atlantic rates and a 17 percent week-on-week decrease for Pacific rates,” Qasim Afghan, Spark’s commercial analyst told LNG Prime on Friday. Afghan said that the Atlantic rate decreased by $12,750 to $142,500 per day, whilst the Pacific rate decreased by $24,000 to $117,000 per day. “Spark25S is at its lowest price since August 22 and both basins are currently at their lowest December spot price in three years,” he said. As per European LNG pricing, the SparkNWE DES LNG front month also declined from the last week. The NWE DES LNG for January delivery was assessed last week at $12.689/MMBtu and at a $0.770/MMBtu discount to the Dutch TTF. “The SparkNWE DES LNG price for January delivery is assessed at $11.887/MMBtu and at a $0.745/MMBtu discount to the TTF,” Afghan said on Friday. “This is a $0.802/MMBtu decrease in DES LNG price, and the discount to the TTF narrowed by $0.025/MMBtu, when compared to last week’s January prices,” he said.
Spanish LNG imports down, reloads up in November - Spanish liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped in November while reloads rose compared to the same month last year, according to Enagas.LNG imports decreased by 14 percent to about 22.8 TWh in November and accounted for 69.4 percent of the total gas imports. In October, LNG imports reached some 21.8 TWh.Including pipeline imports from Algeria, France, and Portugal, gas imports to Spain reached about 34.5 TWh last month, a slight drop from some 34.7 TWh in November last year, Enagas said in its monthly report.Moreover, national gas demand in November dropped by 6.8 percent year-on-year to some 26.1 TWh.Demand for power generation declined by 35.5 percent year-on-year to about 6.1 TWh last month, while conventional demand rose by 7.9 percent to 19.9 TWh, the LNG terminal operator said.The firm previously said that August of this year marked the first time in its history that Spain has managed to fill 100 percent of its underground storage facilities.Storage facilities were also full in October and November, according to Enagas.
Fourth Round of EU Gas Buying Scheme Secures 260 Bcf for Negotiation - The fourth round of a European Union coordinated gas purchase program has matched 7.35 billion cubic meters (259.56 billion cubic feet) of demand with offers by suppliers. Thirteen international vendors responded to the latest call for the AggregateEU gas matchmaking scheme with a combined offer of 9.13 billion cubic meters (322.43 billion cubic feet). Participating companies in the EU region had registered a total demand of 10.06 billion cubic meters (355.27 billion cubic feet), according to the results announced recently by the bloc’s Directorate-General of Energy. The buyers and their vendors can now start contractual negotiations, which happen outside the AggregateEU service. The supply under this round is scheduled for delivery between January 2024 and March 2025. “A combined volume of 42.13 billion cubic meters [1.49 trillion cubic feet] of aggregated European gas demand was matched with offers by reliable suppliers”, the directorate said in a press release, referring to the four rounds. Under AggregateEU, companies in the 27-member bloc can pool demand, negotiate with international suppliers and coordinate collective purchases. The matchmaking service, created under Council Regulation 2022/2576 of December 19, 2022, is part of the broader EU Energy Platform for coordinated purchases of gas, liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. The Energy Platform was formed last year as part of the REPowerEU strategy for achieving energy independence from Russia. “Introduced in April 2023, the EU Energy Platform has demonstrated the EU’s ability to use its collective weight to secure reliable gas supplies from international partners and make our energy supply more diverse”, said the directorate about the latest round of AggregateEU. EU Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Maros Sefcovic had called on the group to consider establishing mechanisms for the joint purchase of other strategic commodities such as clean energy and raw materials. “We must build on the success of the Platform, recognizing the added-value of the joint purchase for the EU's open strategic autonomy, competitiveness of Europe's economy and its green and digital transition”, he said announcing the results of the third round, according to a transcript on the European Commission’s website October 6. “This is key to ensuring we can meet the growing demand for hydrogen, a key resource for facilitating the decarbonization of European industry and therefore crucial to our target of climate neutrality by 2050”. The third round of AggregateEU saw 6.49 billion cubic meters (582.33 billion cubic feet) in aggregated demand, from 39 companies. The volume offered by suppliers, 18.1 billion cubic meters (639.2 billion cubic feet), exceeded the pooled demand, according to results announced October 6. The first two rounds pooled 27.5 billion cubic meters (971.15 billion cubic feet) of demand, 22.9 billion cubic meters (808.71 billion cubic feet) of which saw offers, the Directorate-General of Energy said in a news release September 21 announcing the opening of the third round.
Ministry of Oil and Gas denounces Egypt's signing of agreement with South Korea to export Libyan oil - The Tripoli based Libyan Ministry of Oil and Gas said that it denounces the agreement concluded between Egypt and South Korea regarding the export of Libyan oil through the Egyptian port of Garjoub, according to the official statement contained on the website and official Facebook page of the Egyptian Ministry of Transport. On the Facebook page of the Egyptian on 28 November, the statement read: “The Egyptian government, represented by the Ministry of Transport, signs a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean government, represented by the South Korean company STX,” and in the part that concerns Libya, it stated: “Establishing an oil pipeline from Libyan territory to the port of Garjoub and re-exporting it to European countries.” In an exclusive interview with Libya Herald, the Director of the Media Office at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, Ahmed Al-Tarhouni, said that the Ministry denounced what was stated in the Egyptian statement regarding Libya and its rights to impose its sovereignty over its economic capabilities in all the country. Al-Tarhouni explained that the statement of condemnation confirmed that the Ministry of Oil and Gas was not aware, neither closely nor remotely, of the agreement concluded between the Egyptian side and South Korea regarding the export of Libyan oil through the port of Garjoub. He pointed out that the Ministry stressed that it would have been more appropriate, according to the prevailing regulations, systems and laws in force in the Libyan state, to notify the Ministry of Oil and Gas of such strategic matters in order to provide sound technical opinions issued by Libyan competencies and active and influential figures in the oil sector.
Nigeria's NNPC Inks Deals for Domestic, International LNG -- Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPC) has signed two major agreements to deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the domestic and international markets. At the sidelines of COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), NNPC signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Wison Heavy Industry Co. Ltd for the development of a floating LNG project in Nigeria that would target the international LNG market. The two companies will work together on a roadmap that they envision will lead to an investment decision, NNPC said in a news release Wednesday. Further, NNPC Prime LNG Ltd., an arm of NNPC Trading Ltd., signed a supply, installation and commissioning agreement with independent oil and gas company SDP Services, for a project serving the domestic LNG market with a capacity of 421 metric tons per day. The Small Scale LNG (SSLNG) Project will be located at Ajaokuta in Kogi State, Central Nigeria, and will ensure the efficient supply of LNG to autogas/compressed natural gas (CNG) customers, as well as industrial and commercial customers nationwide. The project is expected to be operational by December 2024, the company said. “We see both projects as having enormous impact all over the country because they are central to the commercialization of Nigeria’s abundant gas resources and ensuring that our country earns the much-needed foreign revenue from its abundant gas assets”, NNPC Executive Vice President for Gas, Power and New Energy Olalekan Ogunleye said. “It is also consistent with NNPC management’s drive to deliver on Mr. President’s gas and power aspirations across the country”. NNPC Trading Managing Director Lawal Sade said the SSLNG Project will boost the domestication of LNG utilization by supporting the growth of auto-gas initiatives across the country. “We are looking at a timeframe of 12 months from execution to the commissioning of the project. The project will deliver about 420 [metric tons] per day of LNG per day into the domestic market, which will enhance efficient delivery of gas to the auto-gas/CNG and industrial customers in line with Presidential mandate”, he added.
BP to develop Indonesian regas terminal - A unit of UK-based energy giant BP is joining forces with Indonesian firm AKR Corporindo to develop a regasification terminal in Indonesia’s East Java. According to statement by AKR, the distributor of petroleum and basic chemicals has entered into a joint development agreement with BP Gas & Power Investments. AKR’s president Haryanto Adikoesoemo signed the deal with Gareth Jones, director of BP Gas & Power Investments, on December 4 during an online ceremony, AKR said. Under the deal, the two firms aim to build the regasification terminal in Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate at Gresik, East Java, Indonesia (JIIPE). “This project is designed with the aim of providing reliable gas supply for tenants in JIIPE, and with a potential of excess capacity which can be used to supply the indigenous pipelined gas network in East Java,” the firm said.
TN top official inspects area affected by oil spill --Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meenaon Sunday inspected north Chennai, where an oil spill over the Kosasthalaiyar river was noticed. The top official interacted with residents of Sadayankuppam over the oil spill and ascertained information related to the matter. The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal, constituted a high-level committee on December 9 and directed it to take necessary measures to prevent further spread of oil spill and 'recover the oil floating on the water surface.' The TN Pollution Control Board, in its report, cited traces of oil that originated from north Chennai areas of Kodungaiyur and Tondiarpet where the facilities of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) are functioning. The Water Resources Department report said: "The top of water surface was filled with a thick oily substance and it is visible all along the Buckingham canal for more than 5 kms and also spread to Ennore creek and Kosasthalaiyar River mouth and Bay of Bengal." Further it said: "It is seen visibly that the oil spill or intentional letting of waste soil in the Buckingham canal and Ennore creek affected the flora and fauna." The matter has been posted to December 12 by the NGT bench.
NOCs Face Mounting Pressure to Clean Up Operations - National Oil Companies (NOC) are facing mounting governmental and societal pressure to clean up their operations and contribute to the global energy transition, analysts at BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, stated in a report sent to Rigzone this week. “Historically, NOCs have tended to avoid the scrutiny faced by publicly listed companies, but as decarbonization moves up the global policy agenda, climate-change related legislation gains increasing traction, and Western governments move to tax carbon-intensive imports, there is growing recognition of the need to address emissions and diversify revenue streams,” the analysts noted in the report. “Record returns have created a fertile environment for investment, with bumper profits stimulating higher spending amongst NOCs globally,” they added. While several IOCs and large independents slowed or partially reversed their decarbonization efforts in response to the energy crisis of 2021-2022, NOCs as a whole have been stepping up both their spending and their ambitions, the analysts said in the report. “This speaks to some of the potential advantages held by NOCs over their publicly listed peers, in that they are less beholden to quarterly financial metrics and so are better positioned to take a long-term view on the sector,” the analysts added. “That said, NOCs in countries that are lagging in their climate commitments or those that play the role of cash-cow for their governments remain hamstrung, with differences in domestic green policy agendas being the key differentiating factor in the varying progress of NOCs globally,” they went on to state. “While encouraging progress is being made, low-carbon capex continues to represent only a small share of total NOC spending. Moreover, where net zero targets exist, they are exclusively limited to Scope 1 and 2 emissions and tend to be lacking in robust interim targeting,” the analysts continued. They also tend to relate to emissions intensity, rather than absolute emissions, the analysts said in the report. “It is often unclear how net-zero targets will be achieved and the potential overreliance on carbon credits is a cause for concern. In short, while the outlook on low-carbon capex among NOCs is improving year on year, more needs to be done to approach Paris Agreement alignment,” they added.
The Crude Market Posted an Outside Trading Day on Tuesday as it Rallied Over Monday's High - The crude oil market posted an outside trading day on Tuesday as it rallied over Monday’s high and below its previous low in a volatile trading session. The market posted a high of $71.96 in overnight trading on news that a Norwegian tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen was struck by a missile fired by Houthi rebels on Monday, raising concerns over shipping disruptions in the Middle East. The market later erased its gains and traded back towards Monday’s low of $70.35 ahead of the release of the Consumer Price Index data. The market breached its previous low and extended its losses to over $3 or 4.3% to a low of 68.22 in afternoon trading as U.S. consumer prices increased in November, offering more evidence that the Federal Reserve was unlikely to cut interest rates early next year. The crude market later retraced some of its sharp losses ahead of the close, with the January WTI contract settling down $2.71 cents at $68.61 and the February Brent contract settling down $2.79 at $73.24. The product markets ended the session sharply lower, with the heating oil market settling down 10.13 cents at $2.5074 and the RB market settling down 6.34 cents at $1.9797. A fuel tanker was struck by a missile as it navigated the Red Sea. At least 10 merchant ships have now been attacked or approached around Yemen since Israel’s war with Hamas broke out in October. Iran-backed Houthi militants are supporting Hamas in conflict. The 470-foot Strinda was hired by Eni SpA and heading to Italy. The Houthis said they targeted the vessel because it was destined for Israel and port information shows it was due to go there early next year. The Houthis have said they would attack ships that have links to or are sailing toward Israel, describing them as “legitimate targets.” Last week, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. has been in talks with its Gulf allies about potential military action against the Yemeni group in response to their increasingly brazen attacks on ships. Deputy U.S. National Security Adviser, Jon Finer, said that the Biden administration has “not ruled out the possibility of taking military action” against Houthis but the focus for now is on assembling a maritime coalition to secure the Red Sea.In its Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA cut its 2023 world oil demand growth estimate by 30,000 bpd to 1.85 million bpd and its 2024 world oil demand growth forecast by 60,000 bpd to 1.34 million bpd. The EIA reported that world oil demand is forecast to total 101 million bpd in 2023 and 102.34 million bpd in 2024. Total world oil production in 2023 is forecast to increase by 1.63 million bpd to 101.62 million bpd and increase by 570,000 bpd to 102.19 million bpd in 2024. U.S. crude oil output is forecast to increase by 1.02 million bpd to 12.93 million bpd in 2023 and by 180,000 bpd to 13.11 million bpd in 2024. OPEC oil output is expected to fall by 780,000 bpd to 33.39 million bpd in 2023 and by 280,000 bpd to 33.11 million bpd in 2024. The EIA also estimated that total U.S. oil consumption in 2023 is forecast to increase by 130,000 bpd to 20.14 million bpd in 2023 and by 250,000 bpd to 20.39 million bpd in 2024. In regards to prices, the EIA forecast the Brent crude price will increase from an average of $78/barrel in December to an average of $84/barrel in the first half of 2024, partly driven by recently announced OPEC+ production cuts. It expects the Brent spot price will average $83/barrel next year, down $10/barrel from its previous forecast of $93/barrel.
WTI Holds Gains After Big Crude Draw; Biden Admin Unexpectedly Drains SPR - Oil prices are rebounding modestly today after yesterday's puke (though WTI is still on pace for its longest weekly losing streak since 2018), as OPEC forecast a significant shortfall in global oil supplies next quarter. It even raised forecasts for the crude needed from OPEC this quarter by 190,000 barrels a day, amid a weaker outlook for production from its rivals. "Speculators played a major role in this trend, cutting their bullish positions sharply while increasing short positions. The market dynamic was fueled by exaggerated concerns about oil demand growth, which negatively impacted market sentiment," the report stated. In theory, that puts world markets on track for a record shortfall of about 3.3 million barrels a day in the last three months of 2023. Such estimates are increasingly hard to reconcile with real-world data. “The oil market will likely struggle until the numbers confirm that OPEC+ have reduced production in the first quarter next year,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, head of research at A/S Global Risk Management. That doubt may explain why key market gauges over the past few weeks have signaled supply continues to outpace global demand. Nearby contracts are trading below those with a later date - a bearish structure known as contango - and some spreads are at the weakest since late 2020. The bearish view could be upset if API's crude draw is confirmed by the official DOE data. API
- Crude -2.35mm (-1.2mm exp)
- Cushing +1.4mm
- Gasoline +5.8mm (+1.9mm exp)
- Distillates +300k (+400k exp)
DOE:
- Crude -4.26mm (-1.2mm exp)
- Cushing +1.23mm
- Gasoline +409k (+1.9mm exp)
- Distillates +1.49mm (+400k exp)
Crude stocks fell for the second week in a row with a notably bigger-than-expected draw of 4.26mm barrels. Cushing stocks rose for the 8th straight week and products saw modest builds...
Reports of Russia's Weekly Average Seaborne Crude Exports Increasing to its Highest Level Since Early July -oil market moved lower in overnight trading as it remained pressured by concerns over global demand and oversupply. The market was weighed by reports of Russia’s weekly average seaborne crude exports increasing to its highest level since early July and the EIA raising its 2023 forecast for U.S. crude oil supply and lowering its oil price forecast in its Short Term Energy Outlook on Tuesday. The crude market posted a low of $67.71 in overnight trading before it bounced off that level and retraced its losses. The market bounced higher, with OPEC blaming the latest crude price decline on “exaggerated concerns” about oil demand growth in its latest monthly oil market report. OPEC kept its forecast for world oil demand growth unchanged for 2024. The crude market extended its gains to over $1 following the release of the EIA’s weekly petroleum stock reports, which showed larger than expected draws in crude stocks of over 4.2 million barrels on the week. It later settled in a sideways trading range ahead of the Fed rate decision announcement. The market posted a high of $69.74 ahead of the close, following the Fed decision to leave interest rates unchanged and were pivoting towards a cut next year. The January WTI contract settled up 86 cents at $69.47 and the Brent market settled up $1.02 at $74.26. The product markets ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 4.07 cents at $2.5481 and the RB market settling up 4.52 cents at $2.0249. OPEC said it remained cautiously optimistic about 2024 oil market fundamentals and blamed "exaggerated concerns" about demand for a recent decline in prices, as it stuck to its relatively high 2024 oil demand forecast. OPEC, in its monthly report said speculators had played a major role in pushing prices lower. It said "The market dynamic was fueled by exaggerated concerns about oil demand growth, which negatively impacted market sentiment." OPEC kept its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2023 steady at 2.46 million bpd. In 2024, OPEC sees demand growth of 2.25 million bpd, also unchanged from last month. The report also stated that OPEC produced 27.84 million bpd, down 57,000 bpd on the month, citing figures from secondary sources, as production in Iraq, Angola and Nigeria decreased. Saudi Arabia told OPEC that it cut production by 122,000 bpd to 8.818 million bpd in November. OPEC's Secretary General, Haitham Al Ghais, said that the oil industry is in jeopardy without adequate levels of investment. A U.S. defense official said the U.S. Navy destroyer Mason shot down a Houthi drone launched from Yemen that was headed in its direction as it responded to reports of an attack on a commercial vessel. The U.S. official said the Adrmore Encounter reported no damage or injuries and continued on its way. Maritime sources said a tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen's coast was fired on by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel. British maritime security firm Ambrey and other sources said a second vessel was also approached by the speedboat in the same area but was not attacked. The Iran-aligned Houthi group has sought to support their Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza war by firing missiles at Israel and threatening shipping in the busy Bab al-Mandab Strait, next to Yemen at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
NYMEX WTI Nears $70 After Fed Pivots Towards Cuts in 2024 (DTN) -- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) powered higher during Wednesday's afternoon session, with U.S. dollar rapidly losing ground against foreign currencies after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its final policy meeting of 2023 with a clear signal towards easing monetary policy next year, sharply diminishing the odds of a demand-sapping economic slowdown in 2024. The median estimate of FOMC members in the newly released Summary of Economic Projections implies the central bank will cut the federal funds rate at least three times next year. This would bring the key borrowing rate between banks closer to 4.6% towards the end of 2024 from the current target range of 5.25% to 5.5%. The pivot was more dovish than many on Wall Street expected, triggering a major rally in U.S. equity markets and sell-off in the U.S. dollar index. U.S. dollar, which has an inverse relationship with WTI futures, nosedived 0.95% against a basket of foreign currencies to a 102.848 two-week low. Money markets upped their bets for a more aggressive rate-cutting cycle next year from five 0.25% cuts in 2024 to six cuts. In his news conference following the FOMC's policy decision, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell did not push back against the narrative of cutting interest rates, adding that "the committee has begun discussing reducing policy rate next year." The message of cutting interest rates next year comes despite November's inflation report showing inflation in services is proving sticky as we near the end of 2023. So-called "super-core inflation," which includes shelter and services categories, rose to 0.5% from October's 0.3% reading, signaling the consumer-powered sectors of the economy continue to outperform. In November, Americans paid more for rent, food, airline tickets and medical care services. Wednesday's weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration lent support for the oil complex, revealing a larger-than-expected drawdown from U.S. commercial crude oil inventories along with a modest build in gasoline supplies as refiners unexpectedly pulled back on run rates. Gasoline stockpiles rose a modest 400,000 barrels (bbl) during the week ended Dec. 8 compared with expectations for a 1.2 million bbl increase as demand for motor fuel improved to a five-week high 8.859 million barrels per day (bpd). On a four-week average basis, gasoline demand averaged 8.5 million bpd, which is 2.5% above last year's consumption rate. Distillate fuel consumption, however, continues to disappoint, remaining below 4 million bpd for a third consecutive week through Dec. 8, which is just below year-ago levels. Distillate stockpiles were built by a larger-than-expected 1.5 million bbl in the reviewed week following a combined 6.5 million bbl build in the prior two weeks. Jet fuel stocks fell 1.1 million bbl. Commercial oil stockpiles, meanwhile, decreased by 4.3 million bbl during the week ended Dec. 8, marking the second consecutive weekly draw. At 440.8 million bbl, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 2% below the five-year seasonal average. At settlement, WTI January futures on NYMEX gained to $69.47 bbl, up $0.86, with the international crude benchmark Brent contract for February advancing $1.02 to $74.26 bbl. NYMEX RBOB January futures added $0.0452 to $2.0249 gallon and NYMEX ULSD futures for January delivery gained $0.0407 to $2.5481 gallon.
Oil Markets Rally as Dollar Weakens and IEA Ups Demand Forecast for 2024; WTI and Brent Settle Higher - The crude market on Thursday extended Wednesday’s gains and continued to retrace its previous losses. The market was well supported by a weaker dollar and as the IEA increased its oil demand forecast for next year. The dollar fell to a new four month low after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s projections indicated the interest rate hike cycle has ended and lower interest rates are coming in 2024. The January WTI contract posted a low of $69.54 in overnight trading before it bounced off that level and never looked back. The market retraced more than 38% of its move from a high of $79.60 to a low of $67.71 as it posted a high of $72.46 early in the afternoon. It was well supported after the IEA raised its world oil consumption forecast for 2024 by 130,000 bpd from its previous forecast to 1.1 million bpd. The market traded mostly sideways ahead of the close. The January WTI contract settled up $2.11 at $71.58 and the February Brent contract settled up $2.35 at $76.61. The product markets ended the session sharply higher, with the heating oil market settling up 4.32 cents at $2.5913 and the RB market settling up 9.39 cents at $2.1188. The IEA raised its global oil demand growth forecast for next year despite an expected economic slowdown, citing an improvement in the outlook for the United States and lower oil prices. Despite the upgrade, there is still a sizeable gap between the IEA, which represents industrialized countries, and producer group OPEC over 2024 demand prospects. The IEA estimates that world consumption will increase by 1.1 million bpd in 2024, up 130,000 bpd from its previous forecast. The IEA said the revision reflects "a somewhat improved GDP outlook compared with last month's report." It added "Falling oil prices act as an additional boost to oil consumption." The IEA cut its forecast for oil demand growth in 2023 by 90,000 bpd to 2.3 million bpd. China accounts for 80% of this year’s global increase. The IEA said the extension of the OPEC+ supply cuts had done little to support prices and that higher output in other nations would act as a headwind. In 2024, supply from producers outside OPEC+ is set to increase by 1.2 million bpd, a slowdown from this year’s 2.2 million bpd growth led by the U.S. It forecast global demand for OPEC crude plus withdrawals from stocks will average 28.2 million bpd in 2024 and fall to 27.7 million bpd in the first half of 2024. The IEA estimated OPEC pumped 28.1 million bpd in November or 400,000 bpd more than the demand it expects for OPEC crude in the first half of next year. The British maritime security company Ambrey said it is aware of reports that a group claiming to be the "Yemeni Navy" is demanding a vessel sailing in the Bab al-Mandab Strait change course to head for Yemen. Ambrey and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency are investigating the incident and another one in the Indian Ocean off Yemen.
Oil Gains on Week as Sentiment Turns Bullish on Fed Pivot -- West Texas Intermediate futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude traded on the Intercontinental Exchange edged lower in the afternoon session Friday. Futures were under pressure from a rebounding U.S. dollar index, although all petroleum contracts posted their first weekly gains since late October, driven by risk-on sentiment in financial markets after Federal Reserve signaled easing monetary conditions next year. The U.S. dollar rebounded off Thursday's 101.765 four-month low on Friday, strengthening 0.6% to 102.548 following hawkish comments from the President of the New York Federal Reserve John Williams indicating near-term rate cuts are still not up for discussion among central bank officials. "The rate cut issue is not the main question before the Fed. It's premature to be thinking about a March rate cut," said Wiliams in an interview with CNBC. Investors slightly pared back odds for a March rate cut but have still priced in a 140-basis-point cut in the federal funds rate for 2024. The median estimate of Federal Open Market Committee members in the newly released Summary of Economic Projections implies a 75-basis-point rate cut next year -- a sharp pivot from the recent narrative of "higher-for-longer." On the macroeconomic data front, U.S. industrial production expanded more than expected in November, helped by the end of the United Auto Workers' strike against "Detroit's Big Three." Auto output jumped 7.1%, the Federal Reserve said, while industrial production rose 0.2%. Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tool upgraded its economic growth projections on Thursday, showing fourth-quarter growth now at 2.6% from 1.2% midweek following the most recent economic data releases. Retail sales posted surprise growth in November, expanding by 0.3% compared to a negative 0.1% in the prior month, underscoring the strength of the American consumer. In the Eurozone, macroeconomic data paints a less rosy picture, with manufacturing across the 20-country bloc falling into deeper recession and services broadly contracting. The downturn was led by France, where businesses reported the sharpest reduction in activity since March 2013, due to accelerating rates of contraction in both manufacturing and services. However, output also fell at a sharp and accelerating rate in Germany amid steepening losses for both goods and services. The manufacturing sector in Germany -- the bloc's largest economy -- remained in recession territory for a sixth successive month in December at 43.1, with 50 separating growth from contraction. "Once again, the figures paint a disheartening picture as the Eurozone economy fails to display any distinct signs of recovery. On the contrary, it has contracted for six straight months. The likelihood of the Eurozone being in a recession since the third quarter remains notably high," said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. Despite a rather dismal economic backdrop, the European Central Bank concluded the final policy meeting of the year without any indication of potential rate cuts in 2024. In contrast, ECB President Christine Lagarde struck a hawkish tone when addressing the questions surrounding the easing of monetary conditions. "We should absolutely not lower our guards ... the reason is the domestic inflation driven by wage costs is not budging," said Lagarde on Thursday. At settlement, NYMEX WTI futures for January delivery slipped $0.15 per barrel (bbl) to $71.43 per bbl, and the international crude benchmark Brent February futures settled little changed at $76.55 per bbl. NYMEX RBOB January futures gained $0.0182 to $2.1370 per gallon, and NYMEX ULSD January contract advanced $0.00295 to $2.6208 per gallon.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict and the Pipelines That Run Through It -- Officials in Washington are doubling down on their efforts to create a new energy corridor that runs through the Caucasus, a major transit route for trade and energy that connects Europe and Asia.Focusing on Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries at odds over land and history, officials in Washington hope to link the two countries with energy pipelines, despite Azerbaijan’s recent incursion into Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing the territory in September.“A transit corridor built with the involvement and consent of Armenia can be a tremendous boon to states across the region and to global markets,” State Department official James O’Brien told Congress in November.For decades, U.S. officials have pursued geopolitical objectives in the Caucasus. Viewing the region as a strategically important area that connects Europe and Asia, they have sought to integrate the region with Europe while pulling it away from Iran and Russia, both of which maintain close ties to the region.“The Caucasus is tremendously important as a crossroads between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East,” Senator James Risch (R-ID) said in a statement last year. “Trade agreements, energy deals, infrastructure, and investment all have the potential to better integrate the region within the transatlantic community.”At the heart of U.S. planning is Azerbaijan. Given the country’s extensive energy resources, especially its oil and natural gas, U.S. officials have seen Azerbaijan as the key to creating a U.S.-led Caucasus that will help Europe transition away from its dependence on Russian energy.“We have been hard at work, along with our European colleagues, over the course of the last decade, trying to help Europe slowly wean itself off of dependence on Russian gas and oil,” Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) explained at a hearing in September. “Part of that strategy has been to deliver more Azerbaijani gas and oil to Europe.”Another reason for the U.S. focus on Azerbaijan is its location. With Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the east, and Iran to the south, U.S. officials have seen the country as “the epicenter of Eurasia energy policy,” as U.S. diplomats once described it. The United States has worked to position Azerbaijan as the starting point for an east-west energy corridor that benefits the West and deters a north-south corridor that would work to the advantage of Iran and Russia.For the United States and its European allies, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline demonstrates the possibilities. Since 2006, the BTC pipeline has carried oil from Azerbaijan to the Mediterranean Sea, where it has been shipped to global energy markets. The pipeline is controlled by a consortium of energy companies headed by BP, the British oil giant.“We need that to keep functioning,” State Department official Yuri Kimtold Congress in September.From the U.S. perspective, another major geopolitical achievement has been the Southern Gas Corridor. The corridor, which combines three separate pipelines, runs from Azerbaijan all the way to Europe. Since its initial deliveries of natural gas to Europe in 2020, the corridor has been critically important to keeping Europe supplied with energy during the war in Ukraine.“That Southern Gas Corridor is extremely important for ensuring that there is energy diversity for Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, potentially Albania, and definitely Italy, and possibly into the Western Balkans,” Kim said. “We cannot underestimate how important that is.”
Number Of Attacks On US Bases In Iraq & Syria Pushes Past 80 --US military bases in the Middle East reportedly came under Fresh attack again on Friday, pushing the total number of attacks since mid-October past 80 incidents."There were four additional attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since yesterday, according to a DOD official. Now 82 overall since Oct. 17," Politico's Pentagon correspondent Lara Seligman wrote. Some media sources have put the figure as high as 85.While the fresh attack hasn't been widely reported in Western media, Iran's Mehr News Agency is among those regional sources claiming that some four American bases in Syria were hit.And one regional monitor OSINTdefender said, "The Attacks on U.S. Forces in the Middle East today has been Never-ending, with at least 10 Rocket and Drones Attacks reported against 6 different Bases in both Iraq and Syria in the last 12 Hours."In a Thursday briefing Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Sing had said this trend of attacks had lessened since the end of the weeklong Israel-Hamas truce, and that the US is hoping things stay calm in the region."In terms of the attacks on our forces, I think it's important to remember that it's good that we have not seen attacks on our forces in the last 24 hours," Singh said. "We would like to see that continue."The Biden administration has long asserted that it "won't hesitate" to defend American forces in the region; however, recent reporting in Politico has suggested the US is intentionally refraining from a response to Iran-backed Houthi aggression in the Red Sea, on fears of sparking a broader war.This week for the first time since Oct.7, the US Embassy in Baghdad came under multiple missile salvos. Damage was reported but no injuries.Likely, attacks will continue to intensify especially in Syria - given that both Syrian national and Iranian forces want to squeeze American forces out of the illegal occupation of the country's oil and gas regions. There have been dozens of US troop injuries, with all of them reported as minor.
US Embassy in Baghdad Comes Under Mortar Fire - The US embassy in Baghdad came under mortar fire on Friday as US assets in Iraq and Syria continue to be targeted over US support for Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.According to Reuters, seven mortar rounds landed in the sprawling embassy. US officials said there was minor damage but no casualties. The incident was the first time the embassy, located in Baghdad’s Green Zone, came under attack since October 7.On the same day, there were at least five other attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria. Three targeted US forces in Syria, and two hit the Ain al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq. An umbrella group of Iraqi Shia militias, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, claimed a total of 11 attacks on US forces on Friday, but not all of them were confirmed. There have been more than 80 attacks on US forces in the two countries since they started on October 17, and the US has launched several rounds of airstrikes against Shia militias.Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani about the attack on the US embassy and the general tensions in the region. Austin singled out two Iran-aligned Shia militias that he said were responsible for most of the attacks, Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba.Al-Sudani had previously criticized the US for launching airstrikes in Iraq without government approval. According to a statement from his office, in the call with Austin, al-Sudani “emphasized the security services’ capability to pursue and expose those involved in attacks, cautioning against a direct response without government approval.”Kataib Hezbollah said on Saturday that US troops in Iraq would continue to be targeted until they leave the country. “Our jihadist operations against the American occupation will continue until the last of its soldiers are removed from the land of Iraq,” a spokesman for the group said, according to Rudaw.
Houthis Claim Missile Attack on Norwegian-Flagged Ship in Red Sea - Yemen’s Houthis have taken credit for a missile attack on a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea, the group’s latest operation aimed at disrupting shipping in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, claimed the ship, the Strinda, was headed to Israel, while the vessel’s operator and ship tracking data said it was bound for Italy. The attack came after the Houthis warned all ships in the area that were sailing to Israel were potential targets.The Strinda was struck as it passed through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which separates Yemen and East Africa. Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Houthi forces fired on the ship after it “rejected all warning calls.” (Map of the region that shows the Bab al-Mandeb Strait) According to US Central Command, the Strinda reported damage but no casualties. CENTCOM said there were no US ships in the area at the time of the attack but that the US Navy destroyer USS Mason responded to the Strinda’s SOS call and was “rendering assistance.”The latest Houthi attack on shipping comes as Israel is warning it will take action against the group if the US and its allies do not. Reports have said the Biden administration was not planning direct strikes on the Houthis, but that could change as the attacks continue.
US Threatens to Kill Yemen Peace Deal Over Houthi Attacks on Red Sea Shipping -The US is threatening to kill a peace plan for Yemen that was negotiated between the Houthis and the Saudis if the Houthis continue attacking shipping in the Red Sea, which the group has been doing in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.The Guardian reported that the Houthis and Saudis have reached a peace deal that could satisfy all the major parties involved, even the Southern Transition Council, a UAE-backed group that wants to see the restoration of North and South Yemen as two separate countries, as they were before Yemen was unified in 1990.The peace plan has been presented to the UN, but the details have not been disclosed to the public. According toThe Guardian, the agreement involves three phases, and a potential US plan to redesignate the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization” could prevent the first phase from being implemented.The first phase involves depositing money into accounts for the payment of civil salaries for workers in Houthi-controlled areas and fully opening airports and sea ports that have been under blockade since 2015. A US terrorist designation would mean any entity that does business with the Houthis would be subject to US sanctions, making both steps impossible to implement without the parties involved facing penalties.The White House said last month that it was considering redesignating the Houthis as terrorists in response to the attacks in the Red Sea and Houthi missile launches toward Israel. The Trump administration labeled the Houthis as terrorists in January 2021, but the move was quickly reversed by President Biden due to warnings from aid groups that it would doom food-deprived Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled areas.
Israel Orders Ports To Hide Online Shipping Schedules Due To Yemen Threat - Israel’s National Security Council issued an “urgent instruction” on Tuesday ordering Israeli ports to remove information on the arrival and departures of ships from their websites, Globes newspaper reported. The directive comes in light of the recent Yemeni attacks on Israeli shipping and vessels headed towards Israel. "As soon as it becomes clear in the future that there is no longer a problem that must be taken into account, it will be possible to return to the previous situation immediately," Israeli officials told Globes. The National Security Council’s instruction came the same day as a Yemeni naval attack, carried out by Yemen-based Houthis, on a Norweigan vessel north of the Bab al-Mandab strait. The ship was carrying oil and was en route to Italy. However, the Norwegian ship was scheduled to dock in Israel’s Ashdod port next month. "Before attacking the STRINDA, the Houthis would have been able to discover that the Norwegian ship was calling at Ashdod through a simple Internet search," Globes writes. Ansarallah and Yemen’s Armed Forces have launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Israeli targets since the Gaza-Israel war began in October, particularly on the southern-occupied port of Eilat. As part of its operations in solidarity with Palestine, Sanaa’s forces have declared war on Israeli shipping in the Red and Arabian seas and elsewhere. Since November 19, Yemen has seized one Israeli-linked ship and has launched drone attacks against at least two others. The missile attack on the Norweigan STRINDA ship comes days after Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Yahya Saree announced that Yemen will prevent the passage of any vessel headed for Israel in the Red and Arabian Seas if food and medicine do not enter the Gaza Strip. The announcement was a response to the US veto of a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. As a result of Yemen’s naval operations, shipping companies, including Israeli firm Zim and others, have resorted to price hikes and costly reroutes around Africa.
US Warship Responds As Houthi Speedboat Terrorizes Several Commercial Vessels In Red Sea - There's been a fresh attack on commercial shipping in the Red Sea on Wednesday, which reportedly resulted in a US warship intervening and firing on an inbound drone believed launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels.The American warship had responded to reports that the oil and chemical tanker Marshall Islands-flagged Ardmore Encounter had come under attack. The Ardmore Encounter had been traveling north toward the Suez Canal in the Red Sea from India at the time.The vessel, which had a security crew aboard, reported an "exchange of fire" with a speedboat some 55 nautical miles (or just over 100km off Yemen's main port of Hodeidah, according to emerging Associated Press reporting.The approaching speedboat claimed to be the Yemeni Navy and ordered the commercial vessel to halt, but a nearby warship identified as a "coalition" naval vessel told the Ardmore Encounter to maintain its course. When the hostile boat approached within 300 meters, it unleashed small arms fire.During the incident, a responding US warship shot down a suspected Houthi drone which was inbound. According to regional sources and breaking reports, the hostile speedboat is harassing additional commercial vessels in the area: Shortly after the tanker incident, Ambrey said, the speedboat approached a Malta-flagged bulk carrier 52 nautical miles off Hodeidah’s shores, adding that it would provide updates as relevant.Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it is closely monitoring the situation after another incident involving armed men on a speedboat making a hostile approach against two additional vessels transiting off Yemen.This marks at least half a dozen serious attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have threatened to close the whole area to shipping due to the ongoing Israeli onslaught in Gaza. The group weeks ago 'declared war' on Israel and has sent several ballistic missiles toward Israel.
UN General Assembly Overwhelmingly Votes to Demand Gaza Ceasefire - The UN General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza as global opposition to the US-backed Israeli massacre of Palestinians continues to rise. Out of the 193 members of the General Assembly, 153 countries supported the resolution, 10 voted against it, and 23 abstained. The US and Israel voted against the ceasefire and were joined by Austria, Czechia, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.The resolution expresses “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population, and emphasizing that the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.”It demands an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” calls on all parties to follow international law, and demands “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access.”Last week, the US vetoed a similar resolution at the UN Security Council that received support from 13 out of the 15 members, while the UK abstained from voting. But the US does not have veto power on the General Assembly, and while the resolution is non-binding, it demonstrates how the US is isolating itself on the world stage by backing Israel’s slaughter.In just over two months, Israel’s bombardment and siege on Gaza has killed over 18,000 Palestinians, including over 7,000 children, and about 90% of the enclave’s population has been displaced. Israeli officials have rejected international pressure for a ceasefire and vowed the war will go on, possibly for months or even years.
Israel Says Gaza Onslaught Will Continue 'With or Without' World Support - Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday vowed that the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza will continue“with or without” global support after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in support of a ceasefire.“Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support. A ceasefire at the current stage is a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel,” Cohen said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments, insisting the international pressure will not stop his campaign. “We are continuing until the end, there is no question,” he said. “I say this even given the great pain, and the international pressure. Nothing will stop us, we will continue until the end, until victory, nothing less.”Other Israeli officials have signaled the onslaught in Gaza could last months or even more than a year. In just over two months, over 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 7,000 children. The UN and aid groups working in Gaza are warning that Palestinians in the besieged enclave are starving, and disease is spreading. As the war drags on, people will likely start dying from the horrific conditions brought on by the Israeli siege.Despite the brutality of the siege, the US continues to provide Israel with unconditional military support and political cover. The US was one out of 10 nations to vote against the ceasefire resolution at the UN General Assembly, which received support from 153 of the 193 members of the body. The US also vetoed a similar resolution at the UN Security Council.
Nearly Half of All Israeli Munitions Dropped on Gaza are Imprecise 'Dumb' Bombs - Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions Israel has dropped on the Gaza Strip are unguided or “dumb” bombs, CNN reported Thursday, citing a US intelligence assessment.The report said Israel had used 29,000 air-to-ground munitions in its bombardment of Gaza, a total that does not include artillery shells and tank munitions that are also being fired on the Strip. The assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found 40-45% of the 29,000 munitions have been dumb bombs, and the rest have been precise guided munitions.Unguided munitions are less precise and are generally considered more of a threat to civilians, but Israel is also slaughtering civilians with precision-guided munitions. A report from +972 Magazine revealed Israel is purposefully targeting civilian areas and launching strikes that might kill one Hamas commander, knowing hundreds of civilians will be killed. Amnesty International conducted an investigation that found Israel targeted two homes in Gaza full of civilians using Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), US-provided kits that turn dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions. The strikes killed 40 people, including 19 children, and Amnesty is calling for it to be investigated as a war crime.
'Deeply Sick': IDF Murder Porn Channel Compared to Horrors of Abu Ghraib - Content posted to the Telegram platform, reportedly by the Israel Defense Forces, described as "full of hatred, dehumanization, and genocidal glee."Promising "exclusive content from the Gaza Strip," a Telegram channel reportedly operated by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces regularly posts grotesque videos and images that depict the killing and mutilation of Palestinians—often accompanied by celebratory captions and emojis. Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Israeli newspaperHaaretzreported Tuesday that the channel—titled "72 Virgins — Uncensored"—is run by the IDF Operations Directorate's Influencing Department, which is tasked with carrying out psychological warfare initiatives."The Israel Defense Forces denies that it operates the channel, but a senior military official confirmed to Haaretz that the army is responsible for operating it," reported the newspaper, which published screenshots of some of the content that has appeared on the channel since its launch on October 9—two days after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.(Warning: The images that follow are disturbing) One image shows what appears to be two Israeli soldiers dragging a dead body with the caption, "Who wants to buy a mop made by Hamas?" Other screengrabs published by Haaretz show bodies described in the caption as "dead Hamas terrorists." Haaretz also pointed to an October 11 post on the channel that read: "Burning their mother... You won't believe the video we got! You can hear the crunch of their bones. We'll upload it right away, get ready." Other images of Palestinians on the channel were captioned "exterminating the roaches" and "exterminating the Hamas rats."The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill called the images and accompanying messages "deeply, deeply sick" and noted that "there are similar channels run by Israelis that have much larger followings than the IDF one." "I scanned through the postings of this sadistic IDF-run Telegram channel and it is utterly sickening," Scahill wrote on social media.Jeet Heer, national affairs columnist for The Nation, likened the Telegram images to the appalling photos that emerged nearly two decades ago from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq—"but on a far larger scale.""This will be Biden's legacy," Heer wrote.The Haaretz report comes amid mounting outrage over the Israeli military's mass detention, torture, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.In recent days, photos have circulated on social media showing shirtless, blindfolded men kneeling outside under the watch of armed Israeli soldiers. The IDF claimed without evidence that the detainees in the photos were known or suspected Hamas fighters, but CNNspoke to relatives who said that "at least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups."Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said the photos show "a form of inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime.""Perpetrators should be held to account," he added. "Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions." The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based nonprofit, said over the weekend that it collected testimony from Gazans indicating that Israeli soldiers are "reenacting the same crimes committed by Zionist gangs during the 1948 Nakba, which resulted in the collective displacement of Palestinians.""These crimes include premeditated murder, setting fire to Palestinian homes and properties, torture, and insulting and humiliating detained civilians," the organization said. "According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor from several detainees who were newly released, the Israeli forces took the detainees from their homes, stripped them naked, and attacked them with machine guns, electric cables, and cold water."The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan, and Al-Haqsaid Monday that they obtained similar accounts from eyewitnesses of Israeli soldiers' actions in the Gaza Strip."Israeli authorities have been conducting mass arrest operations for several days, particularly in northern Gaza, arresting Palestinians from their homes or UNRWA schools," the groups said. "Subsequently, they force them to undress, stand in lines, and sit half-naked in the streets. Enduring cruel, inhuman treatment and torture. They are then transported, stacked in trucks, to unknown locations.""Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions," they added. "Israel's attempts to portray them as militants poses a threat to their lives, and rights."
‘Biden's Complicity in Gaza Genocide Violates International Law -In the densely populated Gaza Strip, the loss of life is staggering. Israel’s two-month bombardment has killed at least 18,000 Palestinian civilians there, including nearly 9,000 children. Another 25,000 children havelost one or both of their parents.President Biden has repeatedly assured the public that Israel is following international law. Yet Israeli forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure, in direct violation ofinternational humanitarian law. With 90 percent of those killed in Gaza being civilians, only now is Biden finally admitting that Israel is bombing “indiscriminately.”Homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, refugee camps, and government buildings have all been reduced to rubble. Israeli troops have forced Palestinian men to strip and parade through the streets. There are disturbing eyewitness allegations of torture and summary executions of civilians. Palestinian human rights groups and many international experts, including Israeli scholars of the Holocaust, have warned that Israel’s actions meet the legal standard of genocide.Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as specific acts taken “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” Some of these acts include “killing members of the group,” “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”The mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza’s schools, medical facilities, shelters, and residential areas are all evidence of likely genocidal acts. As are the forced relocation of over 1 million Palestinians out of northern Gaza and Israel’s frequent bombing of civilian evacuation routes.Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its complete siege of Gaza, depriving Palestinians of food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies. Starvation and infectious disease are rampant. Gaza’s health care system has “completely collapsed” from ongoing Israeli strikes, according to Doctors Without Borders.Proving genocidal intent can often be difficult. However, experts have pointed to dehumanizing statements by Israeli leaders that hint at it — including calling Palestinians “human animals” and “children of darkness.”Others are more explicit. An Israeli lawmaker called for a “Nakba” — an Arabic reference to the violent mass displacement of Palestinians — “that will overshadow the Nakba of 1948.” The defense minister declared“we will eliminate everything” in Gaza. And a recent investigation by the Israeli +972Magazine found that Israel’s bombing of non-military targets is “calculated.”Many experts believe these actions and statements of intent are evidence of an unfolding genocide. Due to the crime’s gravity, all parties to the Genocide Convention — including the U.S. — have a legal duty toprevent it from the moment they learn of a serious risk that a genocide will be committed. Instead, the U.S has vetoed UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions and expedited lethal arms to Israel on top of the annual aid we already provide. Far from preventing a genocide, a lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights argues, the U.S. is complicit in one.
Biden Could Halt the Israeli Genocide - by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies -- On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.” Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that he invoked Article 99 to demand an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza because “we are at a breaking point,” with a “high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza.” The United Arab Emirates drafted a ceasefire resolution that quickly garnered 97 cosponsors. The World Food Program has reported that Gaza is on the brink of mass starvation, with 9 out of 10 people spending entire days with no food. In the two days before Guterres invoked Article 99, Rafah was the only one of Gaza’s five districts to which the UN could deliver any aid at all. The Secretary General stressed that “The brutality perpetrated by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people… International humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively. It is binding on all parties equally at all times, and the obligation to observe it does not depend on reciprocity.” Mr. Guterres concluded, “The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss… The eyes of the world – and the eyes of history – are watching. It’s time to act.” UN members delivered eloquent, persuasive pleas for the immediate humanitarian ceasefire that the resolution called for, and the Council voted thirteen to one, with the U.K. abstaining, to approve the resolution. But the one vote against by the United States, one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, killed the resolution, leaving the Council impotent to act as the Secretary General warned that it must. This was the sixteenth U.S. Security Council veto since 2000 – and fourteen of those vetoes have been to shield Israel and/or U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine from international action or accountability. While Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on a variety of issues around the world, from Myanmar to Venezuela, there is no parallel for the U.S.’s extraordinary use of its veto primarily to provide exceptional impunity under international law for one other country. The consequences of this veto could hardly be more serious. As Brazil’s UN Ambassador Sérgio França Danese told the Council, if the U.S. hadn’t vetoed a previous resolution that Brazil drafted on October 18, “thousands of lives would have been saved.” And as the Indonesian representative asked, “How many more must die before this relentless assault is halted? 20,000? 50,000? 100,000?”Following the previous U.S. veto of a ceasefire at the Security Council, the UN General Assembly took up the global call for a ceasefire, and the resolution, sponsored by Jordan, passed by 120 votes to 14, with 45 abstentions. The 12 small countries who voted with the United States and Israel represented less than 1% of the world’s population.The isolated diplomatic position in which the United States found itself should have been a wake-up call, especially coming a week after a Data For Progress poll found that 66% of Americans supported a ceasefire, while a Mariiv poll found that only 29% of Israelis supported an imminent ground invasion of Gaza.After the United States again slammed the Security Council door in Palestine’s face on December 8, the desperate need to end the massacre in Gaza returned to the UN General Assembly on December 12. An identical resolution to the one the U.S. vetoed in the Security Council was approved by a vote of 153 to 10, with 33 more yes votes than the one in October. While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they do carry political weight, and this one sends a clear message that the international community is disgusted by the carnage in Gaza.Another powerful instrument the world can use to try to compel an end to this massacre is the Genocide Convention, which both Israel and the United States have ratified. It only takes one country to bring a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Convention, and, while cases can drag on for years, the ICJ can take preliminary measures to protect the victims in the meantime. There has also been increasing pressure on the International Criminal Court to take up the case against Israel. The ICC has been quick to investigate Hamas for war crimes, but has been dragging its feet on investigating Israel. After a recent visit to the region, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was not allowed by Israel to enter Gaza, and he was criticized by Palestinians for visiting areas attacked by Hamas on October 7, but not visiting the hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements, checkpoints and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.However, as long as the world is faced with the United States’ tragic and debilitating abuse of institutions the rest of the world depends on to enforce international law, the economic and diplomatic actions of individual countries may have more impact than their speeches in New York. While Israel, with U.S. bombs and howitzer shells, is killing and maiming thousands of innocent people, the rest of the world is appalled by these crimes against humanity. The grassroots clamor to end the massacre keeps building, but global leaders must move beyond non-binding votes and investigations to boycotting Israeli products, putting an embargo on weapons sales, breaking diplomatic relations and other measures that will make Israel a pariah state on the world stage.
China, Philippines Trade Accusation Over Collision in South China Sea - Chinese and Philippine vessels collided near a disputed reef in the South China Sea as tensions in the waters continue to rise. Beijing and Manila traded blame for the incident, which took place near Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese and Philippine vessels have frequent intense encounters. The incidents typically occur when the Philippines attempts to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship Manila grounded on the reef in 1999, to assert its claims.In the incident on Sunday, the Philippines accused the Chinese Coast Guard of firing water cannons and intentionally ramming resupply vessels. For their part, China claimed the Philippine vessels were responsible for the crash.“The Philippines’ vessel Unaizah Mae 1 ignored multiple serious warnings and infringed the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea by taking a sudden turn in an unprofessional and dangerous way,”the Chinese Coast Guard said.The collision near Second Thomas Shoal took place a day after a similar encounter between Chinese and Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal, another reef in the South China Sea claimed by both sides.The frequency of such encounters has skyrocketed since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office last year and began taking a harder line against China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea than his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos has taken steps to strengthen Manila’s alliance with the US, but the increased US involvement in the region has not deterred Beijing.
Rights Groups Demand Justice for Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Coast --Six months after a boat carrying 750 migrants and asylum-seekerscapsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece, two international human rights organizations said Thursday that Greek authorities have failed to deliver justice and get to the bottom of how the shipwreck happened.The boat sank on June 14, killing more than 600 people.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed 21 of the 104 survivors as well as five relatives of victims who have not yet been found, representatives of the Hellenic Coast Guard, and international aid groups—and determined that Greek authorities failed to mobilize "appropriate resources for a rescue" as they "ignored or redirected" offers of help from the European Union as the boat approached Greece.The fishing trawler was "severely overcrowded" with men, women, and children traveling from countries including Syria, Egypt, and Pakistan, when it set sail from Libya in June.The boat was reportedly bound for Italy, but entered the Hellenic Coast Guard's search-and-rescue region in the Mediterranean Sea several days after leaving Libya. The marine authority was alerted to theAdriana's presence about 15 hours before it sank, but Amnesty and HRW found in its interviews that despite learning that the boat was in possible danger of sinking, the Coast Guard did not take action to avert disaster.
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