Fed Governor Waller sees need for 'more caution' when lowering interest rates --Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Monday signaled that future interest rate cuts will be less aggressive than the big move in September as he expressed concern that the economy could still be running at a hotter-than-desired pace. Citing recent reports on employment, inflation, gross domestic product and income, the policymaker indicated that "the data is signaling that the economy may not be slowing as much as desired.""While we do not want to overreact to this data or look through it, I view the totality of the data as saying monetary policy should proceed with more caution on the pace of rate cuts than was needed at the September meeting," Waller said in prepared remarks for a conference at Stanford University.The Federal Open Market Committee at its September meeting took the unusual step of lowering its baseline interest rate by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, to a target range of 4.75% to 5.00%. In the past, the Fed has only done that during times of crisis, as it prefers to move in increments of a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis points.Along with the cut, officials indicated the likelihood of another half point lopped off in the final two meetings of 2024, along with another full percentage point of cuts in 2025. However, Waller did not commit to a specific path ahead."Whatever happens in the near term, my baseline still calls for reducing the policy rate gradually over the next year," he said.Key data points for the Fed have been mixed in recent days. Thelabor market posted stronger numbers in September after weakening through the summer, the consumer price indexinflation gauge was slightly higher than expected and GDP also has held strong.In the final revision for second-quarter growth, the Commerce Department also punched up the level of gross domestic income gain to 3.4%, an adjustment of 2.1 percentage points from the previous estimate and closer in line with GDP. The savings rate also was adjusted much higher, to 5.2%."These revisions suggest that the economy is much stronger than previously thought, with little indication of a major slowdown in economic activity," Waller said.
With a stagnant PPI, the Fed’s near the finish line -- It seems like September's hotter-than-expected inflation reading was indeed a blip. With a snap of its fingers, the producer price index assuaged worries over inflation remaining stubborn. The index, which measures wholesale prices – and thus generally prefigures changes in the CPI – was unchanged in September from August, defying expectations from a Dow Jones survey of a 0.1% increase.In fact, last week's inflation figures looked so promising that Goldman Sachs think the Federal Reserve has just about brought inflation down to its 2% target without crashing the economy, as CNBC's Jeff Cox reports.While consumer sentiment dipped slightly in October, according to the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers, "long run business conditions lifted to its highest reading in six months," wrote Joanne Hsu, the survey's director.JPMorgan Chase's third-quarter earnings may be the first taste of that. The biggest bank in America beat estimates on both revenue and earnings. As banks generally reflect the health of the broader economy, it's a signal things aren't all bad despite dipping consumer confidence.Admittedly, earnings reflect what has already happened. Investors care more about what's going to happen. But consumers are "fine and on strong footing," as JPMorgan's CFO Jeremy Barnum told reporters. Markets cheered the string of positive news.That capped off a winning week for Wall Street – their fifth in a row. ."What we're seeing … is a broadening of the market," It's a reminder that subduing inflation is just a stop toward investors' real endgame of a healthy stock market.
Bankers open to change at the Fed, but not the one Trump wants - Many bankers support limiting the independence of the Federal Reserve, but not in the way former President Donald Trump has advocated. A survey of more than 400 bank executives found that while many support the former president, the vast majority disagree with his attitude toward independence at the Federal Reserve — a stance that would impact banks' business models most directly.
Trump's policies likely to increase inflation, deficits, survey finds -- Economists expect higher inflation, national deficits and interest rates under former President Trump’s proposed agenda than under policies proposed by Vice President Harris, a new survey by The Wall Street Journal finds. In the survey conducted Oct. 4-8, 68 percent of respondents said they think inflation would rise faster under a second Trump term than if Harris were to become president — up 12 percentage points from when the outlet asked in July. By contrast, the Journal said 12 percent of those surveyed thought inflation would be higher if Harris assumed the Oval Office, and the rest “saw no material difference between the candidates.” Additionally, 65 percent of economists said they saw Trump’s policies adding more to the nation’s deficits compared to Harris’s policy agenda. The figure marks a 14 point jump from the Journal’s July survey. The survey’s results come not long after the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated the plans proposed by both candidates could increase the national debt by trillions of dollars through 2035. However, the report found that Trump’s tax and spending plans could add twice as much to the national debt as those brought by Harris.The budget watchdog found Harris’s plans could add $3.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, compared to an estimated $7.5 trillion boost to the national debt from Trump’s plans.In the latest survey by the Journal, economists were also asked about the potential impact of some of Trump’s proposed tariffs on domestic manufacturing employment. Fifty-nine percent of economists said employment would be lower compared to 16 percent who said it would rise in the coming years. The rest of those who answered said employment would remain unchanged.A majority of economists in the poll also said they anticipated higher interest rates under a second Trump term, with 61 percent of those surveyed saying as much.Forty-five percent of economists expect economic output to expand faster under Harris overall, compared to 37 percent who said the same for Trump, and 18 percent who “saw no material difference,” the Journal said. Moody’s Analytics also projected Trump’s economic agenda to add to inflation and slow the pace of growth in a July analysis.
Trump says growth to outpace feared debt, inflation from agenda --Former U.S. President Donald Trump said his policies would inspire growth despite adding to the debt as he sought to assuage business leaders who worry his economic plans will fuel inflation. The former president has vowed to carry out an aggressive campaign of deregulation, renew expiring tax cuts, lower the corporate tax rate to 15% from 21%, and offer fresh tax reductions and benefits to bolster domestic manufacturing — policies cheered by prominent Wall Street and corporate leaders.
US deploys combat troops to Israel as preparations mount for an attack on Iran The US Defense Department announced Sunday that a THAAD missile defense battery manned by US soldiers is being deployed to Israel, marking the first time US “boots on the ground” are being deployed to Israel since October 7, 2023. The move comes amid statements by US officials to NBC that they have been in active discussions with Israel regarding planned Israeli strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, and that Israel has “narrowed down what they will target.” The announcement follows a declaration by Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview last week that Iran is the United States’ “greatest adversary.” The deployment of the THAAD battery and US combat troops marks a major expansion of direct US involvement in the war. Over the past year, the Biden administration has maintained the pretense that Israel, which it funds and arms, is acting independently of Washington, which is nominally seeking a “ceasefire” in the Middle East. But this pretext is increasingly falling apart, as the US becomes directly involved in a war to reorganize the Middle East under imperialist domination. In an article profiling a “new strategy” in the war against Lebanon, Reuters noted, “Now, US officials have dropped their calls for a ceasefire, arguing that circumstances have changed.” It quoted State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who declared, “We do support Israel launching these incursions to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure.” Announcing the deployment of the troops, the Pentagon said, “The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel... from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.” It added, “It is part of the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias.” Asked Sunday why the US is sending the missile system, Biden’s reply was “to defend Israel.” THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, is a missile defense system operated by the US Army. Each THAAD battery typically includes six truck-mounted launchers, a radar unit, and a fire control center, and is staffed by about 100 personnel. In September, the US announced the deployment of thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, adding to the 40,000 US troops already deployed to the region. The latest announcement comes as Israel is intensifying its rampage throughout the Middle East, attacking UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and intensifying its bombing and starvation campaign in Lebanon. On Sunday, the United Nations said in a statement that Israeli tanks broke down the gates of the base of its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, following a string of attacks on UN peacekeeping forces in the region. Sunday’s attack on UN forces happened after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that UN peacekeepers withdraw to the north. “The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones,” Netanyahu said in a statement to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a recorded address Sunday, Netanyahu declared that the UN peacekeeping force provides “a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.” (Israel generally refers to civilians it targets as “human shields.”)
US Deploys THAAD Missile System and 100 Troops to Israel - Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the deployment would include the “associated crew of US military personnel” to operate the THAAD. An unnamed Pentagon official told CNN that about 100 US troops are deploying to Israel.Ryder said the US previously deployed a THAAD to Israel back in 2019 for military drills. The new deployment comes as the US and Israel are coordinating on Israel’s plans to attack Iran, which they expect to provoke a new Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israeli territory.“The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” Ryder said.“It is part of the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” Ryder added.Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to a string of Israeli escalations in the region, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. The US helped intercept some Iranian missiles, but many made an impact.Israel is planning to launch airstrikes against targets inside Iran, and the US is expected to support the attack in some way. NBC News reported the US is considering launching airstrikes of its own, but US officials said intelligence support is more likely.
U.S. deploys THAAD system and troops to Israel amid conflict --The U.S. announced this week a major new air defense system for Israel, along with the deployment of 100 American troops to operate it in the country, in a development that will bolster Israeli security but potentially put American forces at risk. President Biden said the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery was meant “to defend Israel,” following Iran’s barrage of 180 ballistic missiles aimed at the country on Oct. 1. The U.S. ally is now weighing a retaliatory strike. The Pentagon has described the deployment as part of larger adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months “to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned” groups in the region, according to press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. But a U.S. military deployment to Israel is unusual, with American troops generally aiding its ally’s defenses from Navy ships and fighter jets based outside the country — as it did when Iran attacked earlier this month and in April. Defense experts believe the move could be an attempt to defuse tensions, as it might deter both Israel and Iran from larger retaliatory strikes. “It might bind Israel from taking extreme steps, knowing that by doing so, they might [put] U.S. troops in harm’s way,” said Eugene Finkel, a professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University. The deployment also signals to the Iranians that “now they will have to deal with this extra layer of protection,” he added. “This layer of protection is provided not by Israel, but the U.S. troops on the ground, and they might think twice about retaliation,” he continued. THAAD, one of the most prized U.S. defense systems, can take out short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles and is a critical part of the U.S. military’s layered air defenses. It includes six truck-mounted launchers carrying eight interceptors each, a radar to detect incoming threats and usually takes 100 troops to operate. It’s not clear when it will deploy in Israel, but its announcement comes as the country is considering a response to Tehran for its missile attack. The Washington Post reported Monday that Israel will not strike nuclear or oil sites and will instead aim for Iranian military targets, but that could still provoke a large response from Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in a “more moderated place” in that discussion than he had previously been, the U.S. official told the Post, describing the call between the two leaders. The apparent softening of the prime minister’s stance factored into Biden’s decision to send a powerful missile defense system to Israel, both officials told the outlet. Israel’s counterattack could trigger an even “wider response” from Iran, with the U.S. likely sending the THAAD to ensure the protection of not just Israel but also American assets in the region, according to Ian Lesser, a distinguished fellow at the German Marshall Fund who heads the think tank’s program on southern Europe and the wider Mediterranean. “It’s an acknowledgement that there’s tremendous uncertainty about what happens next,” he said. “If there was such confidence about this being contained, I don’t think we would see this.” The full extent of U.S. forces in Israel is unclear. But the 100 troops deploying with the THAAD system will expand the risk of Americans in the country being targeted by Iran or Iranian-backed groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned as much on Sunday, saying that Washington was putting the lives of American troops “at risk by deploying them to operate U.S. missile systems in Israel.” “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araghchi said on the social platform X.
UN Rejects Israeli Demands, Won’t Withdraw Peacekeepers From Southern Lebanon - Despite an incident Sunday in which Israeli tanks forced their way into a UNIFIL peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon and ended up firing near the base, wounding a number of personnel, the UN has rejected Israeli calls to withdraw from the area.The UN Security Council issued a statement expressing support for the UNIFIL monitoring mission, and affirmed that the troops will remain in the country, despite multiple calls from Israel’s Netanyahu government to leave.The statement also called on all parties to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises in Lebanon. They didn’t single Israel out in the statement, though all the reported attacks on UNIFIL targets in recent weeks have been from the Israeli side.This has led to high profile statements from some substantial nationssaying Israeli attacks on the UN peacekeepers has to cease at once. Despite reports of the incidents leaving little doubt that Israel is not complying with UNSC Resolution 1701, Israeli officials denied that they are deliberately attacking the UN troops.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, instead of commenting on the necessity to commit to not attacking the UNIFIL, issued another statement demanding that get out of “harm’s way” and arguing that the demand proves that they are not at war with UNIFIL.The UNIFIL mission is meant to reduce violence in southern Lebanon and observe tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border. The mission’s mandate was substantially enhanced after the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but seems to be little in the way of an obstacle to the most recent invasion.
Iran Says It Halted Indirect Talks With the US in Oman - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Iran had halted indirect talks with the US via Omani mediators amid anticipation of a US-supported Israeli attack on Iranian territory.“Currently, we do not see any ground for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis,” Araghchi said during a visit to Oman, according to Iran’s PressTV.When asked if he had sent any messages to the US while visiting Oman, Araghchi said, “During the trip, no message has been sent to other countries.”Earlier this year, Axios reported that the US and Iran held indirect talks in Oman to avoid regional escalations. “Oman has always contributed greatly to solving the regional problems, and regarding Iran and the US, it has always tried to play a positive role in conveying a message or preparing the ground for negotiations,” Araghchi said.On October 3, Al Jazeera reported that Iran did send one message to the US: that its phase of “self-restraint” is over and that any Israeli attack on its territory would provoke a major response.Earlier in the year, Iran was carefully working to avoid a direct clash with the US. In April, when Iran responded to the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, it gave a 72-hour notice before it fired missiles and drones at Israel.Iran did not provide any notice when it fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, which came in retaliation for a string of Israeli escalations in the region, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.Israel’s attack on Iran could provoke a major war that would involve the US, as the US is vowing to defend Israel and is deploying a THAAD missile system and about 100 troops to Israel for that purpose. The US may also support the expected Israeli attack, either through direct military action or by providing intelligence.
Report: Israel Plans To Strike Iran Before US Presidential Election - Israel is planning to launch its expected attack on Iran before the US presidential elections are held on November 5, The Washington Post reported on Monday.An unnamed official told the Post that waiting any longer could be perceived as weakness and that the planned strike “will be one in a series of responses” to the Iranian ballistic missile barrage that was fired at Israel on October 1, which came in response to a series of Israeli escalations.A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Postthat while Israel was coordinating with the US to some extent on its plans to attack Iran, it wouldn’t wait for a green light from the US. “The person who will decide on the Israeli response to Iran will be [Netanyahu],” the official said.The report said that when Netanyahu spoke with President Biden last week, he said that Israel planned to hit military infrastructure inside Iran, not oil or nuclear facilities. The conversation was a factor in Biden’s decision to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile battery to Israel.The Pentagon announced Sunday that it was deploying the THAAD and about 100 troops to operate it “to support the defense of Israel.” Iran has vowed that it would respond to any Israeli attack on its territory, and the US deployment makes US troops a potential target of Iranian missiles.The Post report noted how the Biden administration has been fully supportive of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and its dramatic escalation of airstrikes against the country. A former Israeli official said the US was “giving Israel and the Netanyahu government a bear hug, but for Hezbollah.”“It is sending THAAD and promising all kinds of weapons that we need to finish off Hezbollah, saying that we can deal with Iran later,” the former official added. US military and diplomatic support for Israel over the past year has fueled the genocidal slaughter in Gaza and emboldened Israeli escalations across the Middle East, and has now brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Brown University’s Costs of War project recently released a report that supporting Israel has cost the US $22.76 Billion in just one year.
Israel will listen to US but make own decisions, Netanyahu's office says (Reuters) - Israel will listen to the United States but will decide its actions according to its own national interest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's administration that Israel would strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets. The statement came amid expectations that Israel will strike in retaliation for Iran's missile attack on Israel on Oct 1. That attack followed rapidly spiralling conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon. Citing two officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post said Netanyahu had told the Biden administration that he was willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, suggesting a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war. The retaliatory action would be calibrated to avoid the perception of "political interference in the U.S. elections," the Washington Post quoted one official as saying. "We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," Netanyahu's office said, in a statement that was also quoted in the Washington Post article. Biden has said he would not support an attack on Iran's nuclear sites and oil markets have been on edge over the prospect of an Israeli strike against Iranian oil fields. Gulf states have lobbied Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran's oil sites because they are concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates.
What Doctors and Health Care Workers in Gaza Saw - The New York Times --What American physicians and nurses saw firsthand in Gaza should inform the United States’ Gaza policy. The lethal combination of what Human Rights Watch describes asindiscriminate military violence, what Oxfam calls the deliberate restriction of food and humanitarian aid, near-universal displacement of the population, and destruction of the health care system is having the calamitous effect that many Holocaust and genocide scholars warned of nearly a year ago.American law and policy have long forbidden the transfer of weapons to nations and military units engaged in gross violations of human rights, especially — as a 2023 update to the United States Conventional Arms Transfer Policy makes clear — when those violations are directed at children. It is difficult to conceive of more severe violations of this standard than young children regularly being shot in the head, newborns and their mothers starving because of blocked food aid and demolished water infrastructure, and a health care system that has been destroyed.For the past 12 months, it has been well within our government’s power to stop the flow of U.S. military aid to Israel. Instead, we fueled the fire at almost every opportunity, shipping over 50,000 tons of military equipment, ammunition and weaponry since the start of the war, according to a late-August update from the Israeli Defense Ministry. This amounts to an average of more than 10 transport planes and two cargo ships of arms per week.Now, after more than a year of devastation, estimates of Palestinian deaths range from the tens of thousands to thehundreds of thousands. The International Rescue Committeedescribes Gaza as “the most dangerous place in the world to be an aid worker, as well as the most dangerous place to be a civilian.” UNICEF rates Gaza as “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.” Oxfam reports that in Al-Mawasi, the area Israel has designated as the humanitarian safe zone in Gaza, there is one toilet for every 4,130 people. At least 1,470 Israelis have been killed in the Oct. 7 attack and the following war. Half of the hostages who remain in Gaza are reportedly dead. And, while American officialsblame Hamas for prolonging the war and hindering negotiations, Israeli news outlets consistently report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sabotaged cease-fire talks with bothHamas and Hezbollah while recklessly escalating the conflictinstead of reaching an agreement that could achieve many of Israel’s stated war aims, including the release of Israeli hostages.Was this ghastly outcome for the Palestinians and Israel worth corrupting the rule of law in our own society? Certainly, the Biden-Harris administration can’t say they didn't know what they were doing. Eight sitting U.S. senators, 88 members of the House of Representatives, 185 lawyers (including dozens working in the administration), and 12 civil servants (who resigned in protest of our Gaza policy) have told the administration that continuing to arm Israel is illegal under U.S. law. In September, ProPublica reported the lengths to which the Biden-Harris administration went to avoid complying with the laws that define clear consequences for countries, like Israel, that are blocking humanitarian aid. In these pages, the journalist and commentator Peter Beinart recently suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris can “signal a clear break” with the current administration’s disastrous Gaza policy during her run for president. How? “Ms. Harris should simply say that she’ll enforce the law.”Together, Israel and the United States are turning Gaza into a howling wilderness. But it’s never too late to change course: We could stop Israel’s use of our weapons, ammunition, jet fuel, intelligence and logistical support by withholding them, and we could stanch the flow of weapons to all sides by announcing an international arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups. Enforcing American laws that require halting military aid to Israel would be a move with widespread support: humanitarian organizations, dozens of members of Congress, a majority of Americans and an overwhelming majority of U.N. member states all agree.The horror must end. The United States must stop arming Israel.And afterward, we Americans need to take a long, hard look at ourselves.
Response to Recent Criticisms on New York Times Opinion Essay | The New York Times Company -- Kathleen Kingsbury, Editor, New York Times Opinion - A recent opinion essay gathered first-hand testimonies from 65 U.S.-based health professionals who worked in Gaza over the past year, who shared more than 160 photographs and videos with Times Opinion to corroborate their detailed accounts of treating preteen children who were shot in the head or chest. Following publication, some readers questioned the accuracy of the accounts and the authenticity of three CT images shown. Those criticisms are unfounded. Times Opinion rigorously edited this guest essay before publication, verifying the accounts and imagery through supporting photographic and video evidence and file metadata. We also vetted the doctors and nurses’ credentials, including that they had traveled to and worked in Gaza as claimed. When questions arose about the veracity of images included in the essay, we did additional work to review our previous findings. We presented the scans to a new round of multiple, independent experts in gunshot wounds, radiology and pediatric trauma, who attested to the images’ credibility. In addition, we again examined the images’ digital metadata and compared the images to video footage of their corresponding CT scans as well as photographs of the wounds of the three young children. While our editors have photographs to corroborate the CT scan images, because of their graphic nature, we decided these photos — of children with gunshot wounds to the head or neck — were too horrific for publication. We made a similar decision for the additional 40-plus photographs and videos supplied by the doctors and nurses surveyed that depicted young children with similar gunshot wounds. We stand behind this essay and the research underpinning it. Any implication that its images are fabricated is simply false.
Ocasio-Cortez criticizes Biden for 'enabling' Gaza 'genocide' -Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized the Biden administration on Monday over what she called an “unrestrained” Israeli government.“The horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a completely unrestrained Netanyahu gov, fully armed by the Biden admin while food aid is blocked and patients are bombed in hospitals,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on the social platform X.”This is a genocide of Palestinians,” she added. “The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now.”Ocasio-Cortez’s post comes a day after Vice President Harris pushed for Israel to ramp up aid to Gaza in a post of her own, citing a World Food Program (WFP) report.“The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need,” Harris said in her post on X. “Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.”In a Saturday press release, the WFP said “escalating violence in northern Gaza is having a disastrous impact on food security for thousands of Palestinian families” and “that the main crossings into the north have been closed and no food aid has entered since 1 October.”The WFP also said that food distribution points, kitchens and bakeries in northern Gaza have had to shut down due to airstrikes, military ground operations and evacuation orders.“The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there,” Antoine Renard, WFP country director for Palestine, said in the release. “WFP has been on the ground since the onset of the crisis. We are committed to delivering life-saving food every day despite the mounting challenges, but without safe and sustained access, it is virtually impossible to reach the people in need.”
Chris Matthews: ‘Big mistake’ for Harris to say policies would be the same as Biden’s --Political commentator Chris Matthews said early Monday it is a “big mistake” for Vice President Harris to align her policies with President Biden’s. “I think when she says her policies are going to be the same as Biden’s, that’s a big mistake,” Matthews said on MSNBC. His remarks followed a discussion in which Matthews said headlines would be focused on immigration if former President Trump wins.“She has to fix that,” Matthews said.Harris has backed the current president throughout her campaign. In an interview on “The View” this month, Harris said “not a thing that comes to mind” when asked what she would have done differently from Biden. Trump slammed her for the comment, calling it her “dumbest answer so far” in a social media post. When Stephen Colbert later asked Harris on CBS what major changes she’d make if elected, the vice president answered that she wasn’t Biden or Trump. A large part of the GOP strategy ahead of the November election has been comparing a p otential Harris administration to another four years of a Biden administration. “We told you. And now Kamala Harris has told you. She openly admits she would NOT have done anything differently than Joe Biden. High prices for gas and groceries, open borders, high crime, endless wars. A Harris Administration is just 4 more years of the same failed policies,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) posted on the social platform X earlier this month. Trump has repeatedly ripped into the Biden administration on immigration, with reports consistently showing that his base sees it as an important issue in the race.
You're Not Crazy. This Genocidal Dystopia Is Crazy. - Caitlin Johnstone- You’re not crazy. They are crazy. The ones who are going around acting like everything’s fine. The ones dismissing the Gaza genocide as a “single issue”. The ones who don’t like it when you talk about this stuff because it bums them out. They are the crazy ones. I say this because living in the west during a western-backed genocide can make you feel like you’re going insane. Like maybe there’s something wrong with you for not being able to go along as though your government isn’t helping Israel burn people alive, shoot kids in the head, deliberately destroy Gaza’s healthcare system, and target civilian populations with deadly siege warfare in order to annex Palestinian territory. Like maybe you’re defective if you can’t be as chill about all this as everyone else is being.But there’s nothing wrong with you, and you are not defective. There is something very wrong with a civilization that could go along with all this. It is our genocidal dystopia that is defective.History is rife with examples of horrific mass atrocities to which the majority of the population did not respond with the appropriate revulsion and urgency at the time. Slavery. The Holocaust. The systematic extermination of other indigenous populations in other settler-colonialist projects. Most of the people who now look back and judge those evils correctly in hindsight are sleepwalking right through their present-day reiteration in Palestine.Those who stood against the mass atrocities of history tended to be in the minority, because if opposing them was conventional wisdom they wouldn’t have happened in the first place. This shows us that there is no correlation between conventional wisdom and real moral clarity. We cannot look to others to evaluate whether our position on an issue is the correct one, because history tells us that the majority is very often wrong on the most important issues in the present moment when it matters.And the majority is wrong now. The ones flagrantly supporting Israel’s abuses are wrong. The ones who try not to think too much about what’s being done in Gaza and Lebanon are wrong. The ones who say it’s all so tragic and heartbreaking but it’s oh so very complicated and Israel has a right to defend itself are wrong. The ones who don’t oppose Israel’s atrocities but only oppose their own country sending boots on the ground or spending their tax dollars on it are wrong. The ones who know a genocide is happening but avoid making too much noise about it because they want to make sure the Democrats win the election are wrong. The ones who know it’s a genocide but don’t respond to this reality with the appropriate level of urgency, forcefulness and focus are wrong.All around us we are bombarded with messages trying to gaslight into believing that we are the ones who aren’t perceiving reality correctly. These messages can be overt, like the propaganda of the mass media and the talking points of the Israel apologists we run into online. They can also be subtle, like the unspoken messages we get when nobody around us is talking about Gaza and how people grow uncomfortable when we do.But those messages are lying to us. We absolutely are the ones who are seeing things correctly. We absolutely are the ones who are responding to this nightmare appropriately. They are the ones acting like a bunch of lunatics casually strolling around in the middle of a house fire. Don’t look to others to evaluate your own level of clarity. In a civilization that has gone insane, you have to sort out what sanity looks like for yourself. When our leaders are throwing their support behind an active genocide in a society that is awash with propaganda-induced delusions, we’ve all got to be brave enough to stand on our own two feet.
US Threatens Israel With Arms Shipment Suspensions Over Spiraling Gaza Situation - The Biden administration is said to be threatening to withdraw key aspects of US military aid to Israel if it doesn't reign in the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza.Like with prior such 'warnings' (this isn't the first), the message seems more timed for the November election. Kamala Harris has wedded herself to Biden's policies on Israel and Gaza, alienating Arab-Americans in some key swing states like Michigan, where the 'uncommitted' movement is growing.Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week issued a letter to the Israeli government telling it to take "urgent and sustained action" to reverse course on the spiraling humanitarian situation in Gaza or risking seeing select US military assistance cut off. The US has reportedly given Israel 30 days to demonstrate progress."The Departments of State and Defense must continually assess your government’s adherence to your March 2024 assurances that Israel would ‘facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance’ to and within Gaza," the letter states.It continues: "The Department of State will need to conduct a similar assessment under section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act in order to provide additional Foreign Military Financing assistance to Israel. We are now writing to underscore the U.S. government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory."The allegations come after several NGOs and rights groups have allege that Israel has blocked vital aid from getting into the Gaza Strip, including aid sent from the US."Blinken and Austin raise alarm in the letter that the amount of aid entering Gaza has dropped by 50 percent compared to assurances provided in March and April," The Hill notes.This also comes as Israel has begun to lose the NY Times. Its opinion editor wrote on Tuesday:A recent opinion essay gathered first-hand testimonies from 65 U.S.-based health professionals who worked in Gaza over the past year, who shared more than 160 photographs and videos with Times Opinion to corroborate their detailed accounts of treating preteen children who were shot in the head or chest. Following publication, some readers questioned the accuracy of the accounts and the authenticity of three CT images shown. Those criticisms are unfounded....While our editors have photographs to corroborate the CT scan images, because of their graphic nature, we decided these photos — of children with gunshot wounds to the head or neck — were too horrific for publication.
Report: US Gives Israel Until After the US Election To Ease Starving of Palestinians - The Biden administration has given Israel until after the US presidential election to ease the starving of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip,according to a letter obtained by Axios.The letter, written by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, was sent on Sunday and gave Israel 30 days to allow more aid deliveries into Gaza and take other steps to improve humanitarian conditions.The letter says that a failure to implement these measures may have “implications for US policy under NSM-20 and relevant US law (weapons supply),” referring to foreign assistance laws that prohibit US military aid to countries blocking aid deliveries.US government agencies had previously concluded Israel was deliberately blocking aid, but Blinken overrode those concerns to ensure US weapons continued to flow to Israel.While the letter hints that Israel’s failure to take the steps the US is asking for could impact military aid, it doesn’t threaten to cut off weapons shipments. State Department spokesman Matt Miller was asked on Tuesday what consequences there may be for Israel, but he wouldn’t say.The letter comes two weeks after Israel cut off all aid deliveries to northern Gaza and ordered the estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Palestinians in the area to evacuate to the south. Israeli media has reported that Israel is carrying out a “scaled-down” version of the “general’s plan,” which, if completed, would result in the complete ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza and the extermination of anyone who stayed behind.Even before Israel began implementing the plan, aid deliveries into Gaza reached an all-time low. “The amount of assistance entering Gaza in September was the lowest of any month during the past year,” Blinken and Austin said in the letter.The letter calls for Israel to allow 350 aid trucks to enter Gaza on a daily basis, enact “humanitarian pauses” to allow for the distribution of aid, and allow the over one million Palestinians taking refuge at the al-Mawasi camp on the coast to move inland before the winter.In an apparent response to the letter, Israel said on Monday that it allowed 30 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza. However, Gaza’s Government Media Office denied the trucks came in, calling the claim “lies.” The 30-day timeline gives Israel plenty of time to kill and starve more Palestinians in northern Gaza, and the Biden administration could choose not to follow through on the deadline after the election. Israel is also expected to attack Iran before the US presidential election on November 5, which could provoke a full-blown war that would involve the US, taking more attention off of Gaza.In the meantime, the US continues to provide weapons to Israel and is deploying a THAAD missile defense system to Israel. About 100 US troops are also being sent to Israel to operate the THAAD, making them potential targets of Iranian missiles.
Israel Hurriedly Sends 50 Aid Trucks Into Gaza After Scathing US Letter - Israel is trying to show its powerful backer Washington that it is taking urgent action over the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Tuesday the Biden administration submitted a letter to the Israel government warning that the US could withdraw key aspects of US military aid to Israel if it doesn't reign in the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza. As we noted, like with prior such 'warnings' (this isn't the first), the message seems more timed for the November electionIsrael on Wednesday has announced that fifty trucks loaded with supplies have entered northern Gaza—much of which was supplied by Jordan. A statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry agency overseeing the supplies said that "50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid — including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment provided by Jordan — were transferred today to northern Gaza through the Allenby Bridge Crossing and the Erez West Crossing as part of our commitment to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza." Israel said that "will continue to facilitate and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza." The Israeli military has stood accused of blocking aid, including trucks with American-supplied support. "Blinken and Austin raise alarm in the letter that the amount of aid entering Gaza has dropped by 50 percent compared to assurances provided in March and April," The Hill among others has noted. The letter, issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is being widely considered the 'strongest' written warning by the US thus far. "We are now writing to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," it said. "We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government - including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments - together with increased lawlessness and looting - are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," the letter laid out.
Biden Envoy Told Aid Groups in August That US Wouldn't Consider Ending Military Aid to Israel - The top US official working on the humanitarian situation in Gaza told aid organizations during a meeting in August that the US wouldn’t even consider suspending military aid to Israel over its blocking of food and medicine shipments, POLITICO reported on Wednesday.The official, Lise Grande, who was appointed to the position in April, told over a dozen aid groups that the US could find other ways to pressure Israel but stressed that the US would not block or delay weapons shipments, which is the only real leverage the US has.One aid official who attended the meeting said Grande described Israel as being in a “tight circle of very few allies” that the US would not oppose. Grande said the US would not “hold anything back that they want.”During the meeting, aid officials detailed how Israel was blocking aid shipments into Gaza and said by doing so, it was violating international law. Another person who attended the meeting said Grande “was saying that the rules don’t apply to Israel.”US government agencies had previously concluded Israel was deliberately blocking aid, which violates US foreign assistance laws, but Blinken overrode those concerns to ensure US weapons continued to flow to Israel. The report from POLITICO comes after the Biden administration sent a letter to Israel giving them 30 days to allow more aid into Gaza. The letter implies failure to agree to the US demands could impact military aid but doesn’t say so explicitly, and the State Department has refused to say if there would be any consequences.Israeli forces are currently attempting to carry out an ethnic cleansing plan in northern Gaza, known as the “general’s plan,” which calls for the evacuation of all Palestinian civilians north of the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli military. Anyone who stays behind will be exterminated, either by military action or a starvation blockade.US military aid to Israel has helped slaughter over 42,000 Palestinians, according to the numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry. Ninety-nine American healthcare workers who have volunteered in Gaza recently estimated in an open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris that over 118,00 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past year, a toll that includes indirect deaths caused by the Israeli siege, such as starvation and disease.
State Department Approves $2.2 Billion in Arms Sales for Saudi Arabia, UAE -The Biden administration has approved a series of arms sales for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, worth a combined total of $2.2 billion.The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said on October 11 that the State Department approved one potential sale to the UAE for GMLRS precision-guided rocket systems, ATACMS munitions, and related equipment worth an estimated $1.2 billion.The DSCA announced three separate deals for Saudi Arabia, which come after reports that said President Biden was preparing to resume selling “offensive” weapons to the Kingdom. One deal is for air-to-air Sidewinder missiles worth an estimated $251.8 million.Another deal is for thousands of air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, which will cost about $655 million. The final sale is for a series of different types of ammunition for artillery systems, tanks, and machine guns.The US sees the Gulf Arab states as potential allies in an Israel-Iran war, but Saudi Arabia has distanced itself from the US’s defense of Israel, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Riyadh.The Saudis have also wanted nothing to do with the US’s bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, which began in January. From 2015 to 2022, the US-backed Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a brutal war in Yemen, but a ceasefire has held relatively well since April 2022, although US sanctions are preventing the implementation of a lasting peace deal.Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not have a good track record with US weapons, as both countries used them to brutalize civilians in Yemen. US arms sold to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi during the war have also ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda.Today, the UAE is fueling the brutal civil war in Sudan by covertly shipping weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Saudi Arabia has also been accused this year of slaughtering African migrants at its border with Yemen.
Saudi, UAE, Qatar Lobbying DC to Keep Gulf Oil Safe from Israel --As Iran visits Gulf states to scrounge up support in the face of what many believe is an impending strike by Israel, Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar are lobbying Washington to thwart Israel. On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the media that the country was seeking support from Gulf nations to de-escalate tensions.Diplomatic sources cited by The National described the visit as an attempt to defend Iran’s position in the war and to prevent a wider regional conflict. Speaking to Reuters three unnamed Gulf sources said Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar are concerned that Israel will target Iranian oil facilities and that other Gulf assets could also come under fire by Iran or its proxies. All three Gulf countries are refusing to let Israel use their airspace, with Reuters reporting that Tehran warned Riyadh earlier this week that it could not guarantee the safety of the Kingdom's oil facilities in the event of an Israeli attack. "The Iranians have stated: 'If the Gulf states open up their airspace to Israel, that would be an act of war,” Reuters quoted a Saui analyst close to the royal court as saying. On Monday, media reports citing Israeli officials appeared to indicate that a significant counter attack is still coming, and it is expected to target Iranian military sites. The fresh report also lists as likely targets Iranian intelligence sites and officials' offices or headquarters. President Biden has warned against striking Iran's nuclear sites, and even days ago backed off the idea of hitting energy and oil facilities. A full-scale conflict between Israel and Iran could upend the international energy supply and send shock waves throughout the global economy, experts warn.
Leaked US Intelligence Documents Outline Israeli Preparations to Strike Iran - Leaked top secret documents from the Pentagon and the National Security Agency (NSA) outline Israeli preparations for an attack against Iran, CNN reported on Saturday. The documents were published Friday on a Telegram channel, said to be affiliated with Iran, named “Middle East Spectator” that claims it received the information from a source within a US intelligence agency.Besides the US, these documents, dated October 15 and 16, were only meant to be viewed by officials in Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, Washington’s “Five Eyes” allies. CNN cites “three people familiar with the matter,” including one that confirmed the documents’ authenticity. The documents, including a visual intelligence report from the Pentagon’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, details ongoing activities being carried out in anticipation of the attack in Iran at Israeli Air Force (IAF) bases.The US has observed, “IAF exercises using air-launched ballistic missiles (ALBMs), air-to-surface ballistic missiles, fighter jets, UAVs, and refueling tankers previously used during Israeli strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen,”reports Times of Israel. According to CNN, one of the documents reveals that Israel maintains a nuclear weapons arsenal which, for decades, has been an open secret. This is highly controversial, as amendments made to US foreign assistance laws by US Senators Stuart Symington and John Glenn in 1976 make Washington’s huge military aid to Israel illegal because Tel Aviv is not a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. But successive US presidents since Richard Nixon, including Joe Biden most recently, have agreed with their Israeli counterparts to never acknowledge Israel’s approximately90–300 nukes.US officials are telling the media that the leak is “extremely serious.” At the same time, officials emphasize that it will probably not affect Israel’s plans. Washington is expected to be involved with such an assault either by providing intelligence support, or less likely by pursuing direct military action.
US Bombs 'Multiple' ISIS Camps in Syria - - On Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces launched airstrikes against “multiple” ISIS camps in Syria a day earlier.“US Central Command forces conducted a series of airstrikes against multiple known ISIS camps in Syria in the early morning of October 11,”CENTCOM said in a press release.The command did not offer details about the strike, saying its “battle damage assessments are underway.” CENTCOM claimed its assessments “do not indicate civilian casualties.”ISIS controls no significant territory in Syria, and the group’s remnants are relegated to remote areas in both Syria and Iraq. In September, the US claimed that it killed 28 people at an ISIS camp in central Syria.The US has about 900 US troops in eastern Syria as part of an illegal occupation that’s opposed by the Syrian government. By backing the Kurdish-led SDF, the US is able to control a significant portion of Syria’s territory, which is where most of the country’s oil fields are located.In Iraq, the US has about 2,500 troops, which supports the US occupation of Syria. The Iraqi government says it can handle ISIS remnants without the US-led coalition, yet the US military has stepped up operations against ISIS in recent months and is doing everything it can to stay in Iraq.The US and Iraq recently announced a plan to end the mission of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, but it allows for a continued presence of US troops in a different role. Amid soaring regional tensions, US troops in Iraq and Syria could become targets if the situation turns into a full-blown war between Israel and Iran.
US-led coalition aircraft violate Syrian airspace 18 times in past day – TASS -- The US-led coalition’s aircraft violated Syria’s airspace 18 times during the past day, Oleg Ignasyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian defense ministry), said."Aircraft of the so-called international anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States continue to create dangerous situations that may cause air accidents or incidents and escalate the situation in Syria’s airspace," he said. "A pair of the coalition’s F-15 (four times) and a pair of F/A-18 fighter jets (two times), as well as a pair of A-10 Thunderbolt attack bombers (three times) violated Syria’s airspace in the al-Tanf area, across which international air routes run, eighteen times during the day."Apart from that, in his words, two violations of the deconfliction protocols of December 9, 2019 linked with the flights by the US-led coalition unmanned aerial vehicles were reported in Syria in the past day.
US Uses B-2 Bombers To Bomb Yemen - The Pentagon said on Wednesday that the US deployed B-2 bombers to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, marking a significant escalation of the US bombing campaign in the country. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the bombers and other US forces targeted “five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”According to The Associated Press, the strike marked the first time the US used B-2 bombers in combat since 2017, when they were used to target ISIS fighters in Libya.The extent of the damage is unclear, and it’s also unclear if there were any casualties. Yemeni media reported 15 air raids in the capital, Sanaa, and the northern Saada province but did not provide any other details. The attack was reported as a “US-British aggression,” but there’s no sign the UK was involved.In his statement, Austin made clear that the strike was a message to Iran. “This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” he said.“The employment of US Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate US global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere,” Austin added.Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities are a potential target of Israel, but some of them have been built deep underground and could only be penetrated by the US’s heaviest bunker-busting bombs, which can only be dropped by US heavy bombers. US bunker-busters range from 2,000 pounds to 30,000 pounds, and it’s unclear which type was dropped on Yemen.The US has been bombing Yemen since January, and Israel has launched two rounds of airstrikes on the country, but the attacks have done nothing to deter the Houthis. According to the Yemen Data Project, a total of 15 US and Israeli strikes hit Yemen in the month of September, resulting in 73 civilian casualties, including dead and wounded.
US expands sanctions against Iran's oil industry after attack on Israel— The United States hit Iran's oil and petrochemicals sectors with fresh sanctions Friday in response to Tehran's October 1 attack against Israel, designating dozens of new companies and firms. In a statement Friday, the Treasury Department said it was going after Iran's so-called "shadow fleet" of ships involved in selling Iranian oil in circumvention of existing sanctions, designating 10 companies and 17 vessels as "blocked property" over their involvement in "shipments of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products." The State Department announced it was sanctioning an additional six firms and six ships for "knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran." The sanctions form part of the U.S. response to Iran's attack, in which it launched some 200 ballistic missiles against Israel in retaliation for the killing of Tehran-backed militant leaders and a general from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Israel has said its response to Iran's second direct attack against its territory this year would be "deadly, precise, and surprising." U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters last week that Israel should consider "other alternatives than striking oil fields," amid reports it was planning to do so. "In response to Iran's attack on Israel, the United States is taking decisive action to further disrupt the Iranian regime's ability to fund and carry out its destabilizing activity," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "Today's sanctions target Iranian efforts to channel revenues from its energy industry to finance deadly and disruptive activity — including development of its nuclear program, the proliferation of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles," she added. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had made clear after the October 1 attack that Tehran would face consequences. "To that end, we are taking steps today to disrupt the flow of revenue the Iranian regime uses to fund its nuclear program and missile development, support terrorist proxies and partners, and perpetuate conflict throughout the Middle East," he said in a statement.
US expands sanctions to Iran's 'ghost fleet' of oil tankers (Reuters) - The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said. The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs. "The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world," Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement. "These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners." Israel is vowing to respond to Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.The U.S. Treasury can now "impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy," it said in a statement.Biden has said Israel should seek alternatives to attacking Iran's oil fields. Gulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking oil sites because they are concerned their own facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates, three Gulf sources told Reuters.. The Treasury Department also said it was designating 16 entities and identifying 17 vessels as blocked property, citing their involvement in shipments of petroleum and petrochemical products in support of the National Iranian Oil Company. Concurrently, the State Department took steps to disrupt the money flow into Iran's weapons programs and support for "terrorist proxies and partners." It imposed sanctions on six entities involved in Tehran's petroleum trade and identified six ships as blocked property. Iran's oil exports have risen under Biden's tenure as Iran succeeds in evading sanctions and as China has become Iran's major oil buyer. The Eurasia Group risk consultancy said on Friday the U.S. could cut Iran's oil exports through tighter enforcement of previously imposed sanctions, for instance through satellite imaging for stricter monitoring of tankers that have turned off transponders. The U.S. could also pressure countries to support enforcement efforts such as Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, it said. But that approach "would require strong diplomatic pressure on two partners, Malaysia and UAE, which are both reluctant to support efforts favoring Israel," it said. Tougher enforcement of sanctions would likely require targeting Chinese firms shipping Iranian crude, it said, as China buys nearly 90% of Iran's crude-oil exports.
US unveils sanctions targeting Hezbollah funding -- The Biden administration announced new sanctions Wednesday against three individuals and four companies with alleged ties to revenue streams for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.A press release from the Department of Treasury said the individuals and companies were involved in a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that “generated millions of dollars in revenue” for Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is also targeting three others for the illegal production and trafficking of Captagon, “a dangerous, highly addictive amphetamine” that benefits the Syrian regime, the release said.These penalties come as tension in the Middle East has been heightened amid targeted attacks between Iran-backed proxies — such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen — and Israel, which is related to the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.The three individuals and entities listed in the release were on Hezbollah’s finance team, according to the release.“These individuals are linked to Hizballah’s finance team and have registered companies in their own names in order to conceal Hizballah’s interest in the activities,” the statement reads, using an alternate spelling for Hezbollah. “The companies in turn provide Hizballah potentially lucrative business opportunities while also providing them access the formal financial system.”OFAC imposed sanctions on entities allegedly generating profits for Hezbollah separately inJanuary and September, the release noted.“Today’s action underscores Hizballah’s destabilizing influence within Lebanon and on the wider region, as the group, its affiliates, and its supporters continue to finance their operations through covert involvement in commercial trade and the illicit trafficking of captagon,” Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said in the release.“Treasury will continue to expose and disrupt the illicit schemes that underpin Hizballah’s ability to continue its violent attacks,” Smith added.
US Politicians Are Pressuring Ukraine to Lower Draft Age to 18 - - A Ukrainian official said Tuesday that American politicians are pressuring Ukraine to lower the minimum age of conscription from 25 to 18 to make more young men available for combat.“If this information has surfaced, I can confirm it: American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky to explain why there is no mobilization of those aged 18 to 25 in Ukraine. The argument of our partners is that when the US fought in Vietnam, people were drafted from the age of 19,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, wrote on Telegram.Back in April, Zelensky signed a bill that lowered the minimum conscription age in Ukraine from 27 to 25. Leshchenko said that Zelensky is resisting the pressure to start conscripting 18-year-olds.“That’s why the Americans are hinting that Western weapons alone are not enough and that mobilization from the age of 18 is necessary. President Zelensky did not give in and continues to persuade politicians from both parties to provide weapons without changing the draft age,” Leshchenko added.Right before Zelensky signed the bill lowering the draft age to 25, he received a visit from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who called for younger Ukrainians to be sent to the frontlines. “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27,” Graham said. “You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27. We need more people in the line.”In the early days of the war, Graham said Ukraine would be willing to “fight to the last person” as long as the US continued to provide the weapons.
Biden announces $425 million security aid package for Ukraine --President Biden on Wednesday discussed U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and announced a new $425 million military aid package. Included in the package are additional air defense capabilities, air-to-ground munitions, armored vehicles and munitions, the White House said in a readout of the president’s call. “President Zelenskyy updated President Biden on his plan to achieve victory over Russia, and the two leaders tasked their teams to engage in further consultations on next steps,” the statement read. The call follows Zelensky publicly detailing in Kyiv his plan for Ukraine’s victory against Russia in the more than two-year war, saying international support through military assistance, intelligence sharing and political commitments are key to ending the war “no later than next year.”Biden, in his call with the Ukrainian leader, discussed how the U.S. will provide a range of additional military capabilities over the coming months, according to the White House. In September, Biden announced he would distribute $8 billion in assistance to Ukraine before the end of his presidential term in January. The president was forced to announce the multibillion-dollar aid package all at once after Congress failed to take up his request to provide an extension to a Sept. 30 deadline on the use of the funds. “In the coming months, the United States will provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities, including hundreds of air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, additional artillery systems, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help to equip Ukraine’s armed forces,” the White House said. The call also comes as Biden is set to travel to Germany on Thursday, rescheduling a visit to Europe that was sidelined after Hurricane Milton struck the U.S. A leader-level meeting of the Ramstein group, the consortium of 50-plus nations providing military support for Ukraine, was postponed after the president canceled his travel.Biden, in his call with Zelensky, committed to holding in November a virtual, leader-level meeting of the Ramstein group, called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where the leaders will coordinate with international partners on additional assistance for Ukraine.
US Secretary of State directs fire on China at Asian summit The US and its military allies turned the East Asia Summit in Laos last Friday into a thinly-veiled, propaganda platform as the US accelerates its preparations for war against China throughout the Indo-Pacific. The annual summit is organised by the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is increasingly riven by Washington’s provocative actions. While also lashing out at “Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine” and North Korea’s “destabilizing behaviour,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken directed his main criticisms against China, which American imperialism regards as the chief threat to its global economic and strategic dominance. “We remain concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and unlawful actions in the South and East China Seas, which have injured people and harmed vessels from ASEAN nations, and contradict commitments to peaceful resolution of disputes. The United States will continue to support freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the Indo-Pacific,” Blinken declared. In reality, these tensions can be traced directly back to a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 at the East Asia Summit declaring that the US had a “national interest” in disputes in the South China Sea. Her comment transformed what had been low-level regional disputes, in which Washington had taken little interest, into a potential flashpoint for great power conflict. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi responded by calling Clinton’s remarks “virtually an attack on China.” Over the past decade, successive US administrations have escalated provocative “freedom of navigation” operations by warships and warplanes close to Chinese-controlled reefs and islets in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese maritime and territorial claims. At the same time, they have backed Japan’s aggressive stance on the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islets in the East China Sea that it provocatively “nationalised” in 2012. Washington has repeatedly declared that its military treaty with Japan covers the uninhabited rocks, meaning the US would back Japan in a war with China over the islets. Blinken also declared in Vientiane that there had to be a “shared commitment to protect stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Under Trump and now Biden, the US has transformed the Taiwan Strait into potentially the most dangerous trigger for a US-China war. It is deliberately goading China into taking military action by systematically undermining the One China policy that has underpinned diplomatic relations with China for decades. Under the policy, the US has de-facto recognised Beijing as the legitimate government of all China including Taiwan. Blinken’s comments are a mantra repeated ad nauseum by the US and its allies in international fora and regurgitated uncritically in the associated media. However, a new element was introduced in a proposed statement at the East Asia Summit designed to further inflame tensions. While the text has not been released, a draft seen by Reuters added a subclause to the 2023 statement, declaring the UNCLOS (the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) “sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.” While China has ratified UNCLOS, it has rejected the outcome of a US-orchestrated case taken by the Philippines to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2016, invalidating China’s historic claim to much of the South China Sea. The US was compelled to use the Philippines, firstly as it has no standing in any of the South China Sea disputes, and secondly, because it has never ratified UNCLOS. The proposed statement was reportedly the consensus outcome of ASEAN discussions last Thursday, but it was undoubtedly heavily influenced by the demands of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Acting in concert with Washington, his administration has deliberately provoked confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels over disputed features in the South China Sea. Marcos again lashed out at China, saying: “It is regrettable that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains tense and unchanged. We continue to be subjected to harassment and intimidation.” He declared China’s actions could not be ignored and called for greater urgency in the stalled negotiations for an ASEAN-China code of conduct. What appeared to be a small amendment in the joint statement was calculated to inflame divisions. As reported by the Guardian, an unnamed US official on Saturday accused Russia and China of blocking the adoption of the statement. Predictably, the US, Japan, Australia and India, which form the anti-China Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, and South Korea, which has a trilateral security agreement with Japan and the US, declared they would all support the statement. According to the anonymous US official, “The Russians and the Chinese said that they could not and would not proceed with a statement.” Another clause added to the 2023 statement spoke of “challenges” to the international environment, particularly citing Ukraine. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on Friday the statement was not adopted because of “persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement.”
On brink of war with Iran, US Labor Secretary heads to Seattle in effort to shut down Boeing strike - Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle Monday for discussions with union and company officials in an effort to shut down a four-week strike by 33,000 Boeing workers, Reuters reported yesterday afternoon. The dispatch of Su is the most overt act by the government against the strike so far, following a series of statements over the past week. While Su’s activity will inevitably be cloaked in phrases about “an equitable agreement,” her task is to impose, through close collaboration with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) bureaucracy, a contract favorable to management. Last year Su traveled to the West Coast as dockworkers began carrying out wildcat job actions in protest against being left on the job for a year with no contract. Within days, Su brokered a new deal, which the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) bureaucracy rapidly rammed through. That she is now being sent personally to Seattle indicates the White House aims to shut down the strike in the next few days. The situation is urgent. Boeing workers must adopt a new strategy, based on an understanding that they are in a fight not only against Boeing but also the government and the entire capitalist class. In response, they must build the Boeing Workers Rank-and-File Committee to link up with workers across the US and the world. The Boeing workers’ rebellion against the IAM apparatus, which did not want a strike and is trying to starve workers out, should be connected to a broader fight against exploitation and war. The White House is determined to shut down a strike against a major defense contractor as it prepares a major war with Iran. The United States announced it was moving US troops and air defense systems into Israel as a tripwire to draw itself into the conflict. This escalation, after Washington has backed and armed Israel’s genocide in Gaza for more than a year, is aimed at restoring US domination over the Middle East and its key energy resources and supply routes. The Biden administration’s intervention at Boeing follows its role in shutting down a three-day strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast docks two weeks ago. The White House is utilizing the nationalist, pro-corporate union bureaucracy, which Biden refers to as his “domestic NATO,” to suppress domestic opposition to US imperialism’s wars abroad and the war on the working class at home. Boeing, confident in its support from the government, has gone on the offensive, announcing last Friday it would lay off 10 percent of its global workforce, or 17,000 employees. On Friday, in court arguments on a settlement over two fatal accidents on Boeing airliners that killed 346 people, company lawyers made the arrogant claim that the aerospace giant “is a pillar of the national economy and the national defense” and therefore should not be subject to stiffer penalties for the massive safety issues on Boeing aircraft. In particular, an attorney warned that Boeing would miss out on future defense contracts and that the “global and national supply chain” would be “put into doubt” if the current settlement were not accepted. This theme is being taken up in the corporate press. On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial accusing Boeing workers of “taking Boeing hostage.” In reality, it is Boeing and its shareholders that are taking the economy hostage by threatening mass layoffs in retaliation for the strike.
Ex-Biden administration staffers who resigned over Gaza launch PAC - Two former officials who resigned from the Biden administration in protest over U.S. support for Israel have announced the creation of a political action committee focused on supporting candidates based on policy positions toward the Middle East. A New Policy PAC is a policy and lobbying organization and political action committee centered on U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine. The former officials say it will be focused on protecting open debate in the U.S. on this topic and enforcing American law as it relates to Israel. “We recognize that the problem we face is going to be one that endures through this election … and we didn’t want it to be thought that we were launching in response to a Trump victory or in response to a Harris victory,” Josh Paul, co-founder of the organization and PAC, said in a call with The Hill. Paul was one of the first Biden administration officials to publicly resign in opposition to U.S. weapons deliveries to Israel as it launched its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the armed group’s Oct. 7 attack against the country. He launched the initiative with Tariq Habash, a political appointee in the Biden administration who resigned in protest in January from his position as a policy adviser in the Department of Education’s Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. “American voters are clear: they do not want to be complicit in this humanitarian catastrophe and a majority want an end to the transfer of lethal weapons that are used to kill Palestinian civilians. Elected officials have not kept up with the sea change in public opinion and A New Policy will work to close this gap,” he said in a statement announcing the organization’s launch. The launch of the initiative ahead of the November election speaks to criticisms against both the Biden administration and lawmakers in both parties who support the continued delivery of U.S. weapons to Israel despite concerns about whether that country is violating international humanitarian law. Paul did not provide details on what races the PAC would be involved in but said its operations will focus on the federal level. He said the PAC wants to send the signal to voters and candidates who prioritize changing U.S. policy toward Israel that there is an organization solely focused on doing so. “I think there are a lot of voters right now across America who are really finding this a very difficult election and not being presented with easy choices, particularly about Israel-Palestine policy,” Paul said. “There is more to democracy than one day in the ballot box. Democracy requires constant engagement, civic engagement, and really pushing on all fronts, and that is what we are going to be doing for the long term.” Paul said the group will have four main policy positions: to preserve a debate about U.S. policy toward Israel; to support Palestinian self-determination; to end U.S. support for Israeli settlements in the West Bank; and to use U.S. leverage “for a just and lasting peace.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair warns of foreign actors spreading hurricane, election misinformation -Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday indicated that he is concerned foreign actors are spreading misinformation related to the recovery from a pair of recent hurricanes and will be ramping up efforts amid the final election sprint. Warner lamented the situation in southwest Virginia, which has been consumed by misinformation about efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to aid recovery after Hurricane Helene decimated parts of the region.“I tried to make the case that as we move FEMA in now, this isn’t charity. This is your right as an American,” Warner told reporters at the Capitol. “It’s almost cruel to think that people are spreading lies that will, in many cases, preclude Americans from getting what is their right, to get this assistance.”When asked how much of that information is coming from outside the U.S., the Intel chairman said that he suspects that is the case and hopes to know more when he receives his next classified briefing. “That is a great question and my guess is it’s being amplified,” he said. “I would be, frankly, surprised if it was not being amplified.”Misinformation surrounding the recovery efforts prompted FEMA to take the unprecedented action of launching a “rumor response” page on its website, which pushes individuals to only share information from verified sources and tries to shoot down falsehoods and rumors. Among the claims FEMA has tried to dispel is that the agency does not have requisite funds to help with disaster assistance and that it was asking for cash donations and spurning volunteer help. All three were false. Multiple lawmakers from affected regions have also tried to shoot down remarks calling into question the response by the Biden administration, especially those by pro-Trump forces. The Virginia Democrat also said much of his concern surrounding the election is how the misinformation campaign will take hold once the polls close on election night and the ensuing days if the race between Vice President Harris and former President Trump is not called. “I think post-2020, we know that the most dangerous time may be the days right after the polls close because of the ability then to use AI – have somebody that looks like an election official that could appear to be destroying ballots,” Warner said, calling that possibility a “problem.” “That could create violence in the street,” he added.
ISIS K behind failed Nov. 5 Election Day terror plot: DOJ -— The Afghan branch of the Islamic State, ISIS-K, orchestrated an Afghan man’s foiled Election Day terror plot, a U.S. official confirmed to NewsNation. Afghan native Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested in early October and accused of planning to target large groups of people on Nov. 5. He told investigators he and a co-conspirator — whose identity has not been released — planned to die as martyrs. “As charged, the Justice Department foiled the defendant’s plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of ISIS on U.S. soil on Election Day,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement last week. “We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people,” Garland added. Tawhedi, who is scheduled to be in court later this week, has not entered a plea and remains in FBI custody. He first arrived in the United States in September 2021. In the weeks leading up to his arrest, the Oklahoma City resident bought AK-47 rifles, liquidated his family’s assets and purchased one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan, charging documents revealed. Those same documents show that Tawhedi, who officials say consumed Islamic State propaganda, was in contact with an ISIS affiliate named “Malik.” This is the first indication that ISIS-K, which U.S. officials have warned has intended to carry out a terror attack in the U.S., was allegedly involved in the plot. The source did not provide more specific details on the alleged efforts by ISIS-K.
Navy aircraft and crew missing after crash in Washington --A search is ongoing for a Navy aircraft and two crew members who crashed east of Mount Rainier in Washington state Tuesday, according to the Navy. The EA-18G Growler, based out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., crashed just after 3:20 p.m. local time during a routine training flight, the Navy said in a statement. “Multiple search and rescue assets, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from NAS Whidbey Island to locate the crew and examine the crash site,” according to the release. “As of 7 p.m. on Oct. 15, the status of the two crew members remains unknown.” No additional details were given and the cause of the crash is under investigation. The Navy EA-18G Growler is an electronic attack aircraft that is a variant of F/A-18 aircraft. The missing plane was from Electronic Attack Squadron 130, known as the “Zappers,” and is the oldest electronic warfare squadron in the Navy. The squadron had recently returned to Whidbey Island after a nine-month deployment in the Southern Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden to “maintain the freedom of navigation in international waterways” and “degrade the Houthi capability to threaten innocent shipping,” the Navy said in an earlier statement.
Pentagon confirms unauthorized drone flights over Virginia Air Force base - The Pentagon has confirmed a number of “unauthorized” drone flights last year in restricted airspace over a Virginia base that houses the nation’s most advanced fighter jets. The Wall Street Journal first reported that for 17 days in December, a fleet of the unidentified aircraft flew over Langley Air Force Base as well as over the area that includes the Navy’s SEAL Team Six home base and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh on Tuesday confirmed Langley “did experience incursions of unauthorized unmanned aerial systems last year in December 2023.” She said the number of those unmanned aerial system (UAS) incursions fluctuated on any given day but didn’t appear to exhibit any hostile intent. “It’s something that we have kept our eye on, but I just don’t have more to provide on that,” Singh told reporters. Asked why the drones were not shot down, she said any commander of any base has the authority necessary to protect forces, facilities, infrastructure and capability there. “I do know that with all of these incursions, given that it’s on US soil there is another level of coordination within the interagency that needs to take place. But the commander absolutely had his or her authorities to engage any systems that are a threat to the base,” Singh said. Objects flying into restricted airspace has worried national-security officials, with the most notable case happening early last year when a Chinese spy balloon hovered over the U.S. for a week before the U.S. military shot it down off the Carolina coast. In last October, five drones flew over a government site used for nuclear-weapons experiments for three days. The Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site outside Las Vegas detected the drones but did not know who operated them, the Journal reported. And U.S. officials confirmed to the Journal this month that unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., north of Los Angeles. The incursions at Langley, home to F-22 Raptors, would take place about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset. Officials estimated that as many as a dozen or more drones that were about 20 feet long kept an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet while flying over the base, according to the outlet. Officials didn’t know who operated the aircraft but did not shoot them down because federal law prohibits U.S. forces from shooting down drones near military bases in the country unless they pose an imminent threat. The Pentagon relayed the reports of the drones to the White House, and for two weeks, officials from the Defense Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation consulted with each other and experts to figure out who was responsible and how to respond, the Journal reported. Gen. Glen VanHerck, then the head of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Journal the incidents over Langley were unlike anything he’d seen in the past. VanHerck ordered jet fighters and other aircraft to try to fly close to the drones to figure out more about them and also recommended that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorize electronic eavesdropping. Because the drones flew in a pattern and some didn’t use the usual frequency band available for off-the-shelf commercial UAS, U.S. officials didn’t believe hobbyists were flying them. The incursions caused Langley officials to cancel nighttime training missions and move the F-22s to another base. The drones last visited the base Dec. 23. Authorities had no leads until Jan. 6, when a Chinese national, Fengyun Shi, got his drone stuck in a tree about 11 miles from the Langley base and outside a shipyard run by Huntington Ingalls Industries. The company builds nuclear submarines and the Navy’s new aircraft carrier. A student at the University of Minnesota, Shi abandoned the drone, took an Amtrak train to Washington, D.C., and flew to Oakland, Calif., the next day. The FBI investigated the drone and found he photographed Navy vessels, with some shots taken around midnight. Federal agents arrested Shi on Jan. 18 as he was about to take a flight to China on a one-way ticket, though he told agents he was just a ship enthusiast. Investigators could not link him to the Chinese government, and he was charged with unlawfully taking photos of classified naval installations and sentenced to six months in federal prison. U.S. officials still have not figured out who flew the Langley drones.
Donald Trump suggests using National Guard, military against 'enemy from within' - Former President Trump in a Sunday interview suggested using the National Guard or the military on Election Day to combat what he described as potential chaos from “the enemy from within” — a group Trump said includes “radical left lunatics.”In the interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump dismissed President Biden’sconcerns that Election Day wouldn’t be peaceful and said, when asked, that he thinks “the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country.”“I think the bigger problem are the people from within,” Trump said. “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics.”“And I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he added.The interview comes just weeks before the election, as both Trump’s and Vice President Harris’s campaigns rev up to gain as much ground as they can in battleground states that could decide the outcome of the election.Harris’s campaign responded to Trump’s Sunday interview by saying the comments should “alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security.”“Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them,” Harris campaign senior adviser and senior spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.“Taken with his vow to be a dictator on ‘day one,’ calls for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, this should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security,” Sams continued. “What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford.”
Trump’s threat to deploy military against ‘radical left’ draws backlash --Former President Trump’s suggestion that U.S. troops could be used to go after “radical-left lunatics” following the presidential election has alarmed those in the military community and bolstered Democratic warnings about the dangers of a second Trump term. Trump, who warned Sunday that he could deploy active or National Guard troops to counter the “enemy from within,” quickly drew condemnation from Vice President Harris’s campaign, which said the comments “should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security.” Harris herself called Trump “increasingly unstable and unhinged” during her Monday campaign rally in Erie, Pa. Trump has suggested deploying the military within U.S. borders before, and his former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the public should take Trump’s comments “seriously.” “Yes I do, of course,” Esper said Monday evening on CNN when asked whether he fears Trump would try to utilize the military against U.S. citizens.“Because I lived through that, and I saw over the summer of 2020 where President Trump and those around him wanted to use the National Guard in various capacities in cities such as Chicago and Portland and Seattle,” Esper said.Trump, in an interview with Fox News that aired Sunday, dismissed President Biden’s concerns that Election Day wouldn’t be peaceful and said he thinks “the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country.”“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical-left lunatics,” Trump said. “And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by [the] National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he continued. The remarks quickly drew outrage from the left, with Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), calling Trump’s comments “dangerous” and “un-American.” “As someone who wore this nation’s uniform proudly … the idea of sending U.S. military personnel against American citizens makes me sick to my stomach,” “It’s a call for violence, plain and simple. And it’s pretty damn un-American if you ask me,” .
Trump continues fascist agitation against immigrants, while Harris touts endorsements from war criminals, torturers -With the US elections just over three weeks away, recent appearances by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have highlighted the thoroughly right-wing character of the election campaigns of both parties. On Friday, in service of his fascist extra-legal campaign to subvert the election results should he lose, Trump campaigned in Aurora, Colorado. The suburb of Denver is the third-largest city in the state, with some 400,000 people, and has been subjected to months of anti-immigrant attacks by Trump. Mirroring his attacks on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, whom he has falsely accused of “eating pets,” Trump has repeatedly claimed that Venezuelan gangs have taken over Aurora and are extorting local native born residents. This claim is based entirely on a viral video that was promoted by an out-of-state landlord company, CBZ Management, which local residents and city council officials have accused of neglecting property and refusing to pick up trash at apartment complexes it claims to manage. The truth has not stopped Trump and the Republicans from using attacks on immigrants to sow doubt in the election and lay the framework for a police-state dictatorship. Prior to Friday’s rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Trump’s official X/Twitter account posted a campaign video targeting immigrants and blaming Harris for overseeing the “invasion.” Trump captioned the video, in all capital letters, “America is being invaded-End the occupation, Liberate America!” In his 80-minute speech, Trump characterized immigrants as “animals” and “scum” who were “coming in sick with highly infectious diseases.” He reiterated his call to ban all sanctuary cities, carry out the largest deportation operation in history and also called for the death penalty for any immigrant that “kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.” Placing a target on children throughout the entire city, Trump claimed that in Aurora “3,000 migrant children” were taking up places “in your schools and at your expense,” denying opportunities “for your kids.” Appealing to antisemites and fascists, Trump added: “They are taking care of these people before they are taking care of our children.” If elected, Trump promised to put “American taxpayers, workers” and “communities first” while “communists, Marxists and fascists” will “always be last.” While Trump is provocatively campaigning in cities where he has promised to carry out mass deportations, the Harris campaign has yet to visit Aurora or Springfield to defend immigrants against Trump’s fascist agitation. Instead, in a friendly “town hall” conducted by Univision in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday, Harris repeated her support for the $20 billion border security bill that contains no “pathway to citizenship” for Dreamers- immigrants brought to the US as children. Instead, Harris touted the fact that the bill included funds to hire “1,500 more border agents” and was co-written by “one of the most conservative members of the Senate.” Later on in the town hall, Harris spoke of the out-sized support she has garnered from Republicans who view Trump as too unreliable on questions of foreign policy and too unstable to manage social and class tensions domestically. Harris said she was “honored” to have the endorsement and support of “200 Republicans who worked with and for both President Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, including Liz Cheney, the former Congresswoman, and her father, the former Vice President, Dick Cheney, who is supporting me.” Harris continued: “Former members, esteemed members including generals of the national security community. I have the endorsement and support of Alberto Gonzales, most recently, who of course was attorney general.” In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, then George W. Bush White House counsel Alberto Gonzales spearheaded the creation of the US governments’ pseudo-legal rationale to justify torture, preemptive war and indefinite detention of enemies of US imperialism, without charge or access to legal counsel. Gonzales ordered the creation of the infamous “torture memo,” written by current University of California, Berkeley professor John Yoo which allowed the president to permit torture and not face prosecution during “war time” trampling over US and international law.
Trump promotes fascist claims of genetic inferiority of migrants --A central component of the ideological foundation of the fascist movement in the United States that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is building is extreme nationalism. A main pillar of this is increasingly overt racism based on the concept of the purported genetic inferiority of non-European populations. In a recent interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump reiterated his claim that immigrants are “criminals” who have “bad genes” that predispose them to commit murder. According to him, “You know, now, a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we’ve got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” During a March rally in Ohio, Trump expressed his view regarding immigrants that, “In some cases, they’re not people, in my opinion.” Clearly echoing Adolf Hitler, Trump has repeatedly vilified immigrants seeking to enter the US as “animals,” “criminals” and “rapists” with “bad genes” that are “polluting” the nation’s “blood.” To the contrary, it is well documented that immigrants have a lower incidence of criminal activity than the US average. These openly racist characterizations are of a piece with the totally unsubstantiated claims by Trump and his vice-presidential running mate JD Vance that Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio have been killing and eating the pets of local residents.This blatant lie has been comprehensively disproven, but the Republican presidential ticket continues to repeat it in order to denigrate not only Haitians, but all immigrants, as filthy and subhuman. Vance has indicated that even if the story is fabricated, it is useful to make a point, demonstrating the Trump campaign’s tenuous relationship with the truth. Trump subscribes to a genetically based, racist world view, based on the ideology of “race science,” a bogus pseudo-science which espouses a relative ranking of various “races” according to criteria supposedly based in genetics. He has often boasted that he has superior genes that are the key to his self-proclaimed success, while denouncing his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as “a low IQ person—she’s a stupid person.” At a fundraising dinner with billionaires in Manhattan, Trump reportedly referred to Harris as a “retard.”There is ample evidence that Trump is consciously and deliberately plagiarizing the language of Hitler and the Nazis. This is supported by reports from a variety of sources, including his first wife, that he kept a book containing copies of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside. The fascist ideology of the supposed racial superiority of white, Western European populations was employed by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Trump’s repeated pledge to conduct violent mass deportations of immigrants is a clear step tow
Trump promotes fascist claims of genetic inferiority of migrants --A central component of the ideological foundation of the fascist movement in the United States that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is building is extreme nationalism. A main pillar of this is increasingly overt racism based on the concept of the purported genetic inferiority of non-European populations. In a recent interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump reiterated his claim that immigrants are “criminals” who have “bad genes” that predispose them to commit murder. According to him, “You know, now, a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we’ve got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” During a March rally in Ohio, Trump expressed his view regarding immigrants that, “In some cases, they’re not people, in my opinion.” Clearly echoing Adolf Hitler, Trump has repeatedly vilified immigrants seeking to enter the US as “animals,” “criminals” and “rapists” with “bad genes” that are “polluting” the nation’s “blood.” To the contrary, it is well documented that immigrants have a lower incidence of criminal activity than the US average. These openly racist characterizations are of a piece with the totally unsubstantiated claims by Trump and his vice-presidential running mate JD Vance that Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio have been killing and eating the pets of local residents.This blatant lie has been comprehensively disproven, but the Republican presidential ticket continues to repeat it in order to denigrate not only Haitians, but all immigrants, as filthy and subhuman. Vance has indicated that even if the story is fabricated, it is useful to make a point, demonstrating the Trump campaign’s tenuous relationship with the truth. Trump subscribes to a genetically based, racist world view, based on the ideology of “race science,” a bogus pseudo-science which espouses a relative ranking of various “races” according to criteria supposedly based in genetics. He has often boasted that he has superior genes that are the key to his self-proclaimed success, while denouncing his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as “a low IQ person—she’s a stupid person.” At a fundraising dinner with billionaires in Manhattan, Trump reportedly referred to Harris as a “retard.”There is ample evidence that Trump is consciously and deliberately plagiarizing the language of Hitler and the Nazis. This is supported by reports from a variety of sources, including his first wife, that he kept a book containing copies of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside. The fascist ideology of the supposed racial superiority of white, Western European populations was employed by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Trump’s repeated pledge to conduct violent mass deportations of immigrants is a clear step towards that level of genocide. The extreme xenophobia of his campaign is expressed in the embrace by many of his ultra-right supporters of the “Great Replacement Theory,” which claims that a cabal of wealthy Jews and/or the Biden administration is purposely promoting foreign immigration of inferior peoples, which Trump has referred to as coming from “shithole” countries, in a sinister plot to overwhelm and subordinate the native US population. The extreme xenophobia of his campaign is expressed in the embrace by many of his ultra-right supporters of the “Great Replacement Theory,” which claims that a cabal of wealthy Jews and/or the Biden administration is purposely promoting foreign immigration of inferior peoples, which Trump has referred to as coming from “shithole” countries, in a sinister plot to overwhelm and subordinate the native US population.
New Jersey rep goes silent for 8 seconds after question on mass deportations -Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) fell silent after being asked by a debate moderator and his Democratic opponent whether he supports enacting mass deportations of migrants, a policy that former President Trump has called for.The moment came during a debate between Kean and Democratic candidate Sue Altman on Sunday as part of the race to represent New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District in the House. Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics and one of the moderators, asked Kean if he would support the policy, and if so, how the costs of the policy will be handled and what will be deprioritized to ensure the policy can get done. Kean said that millions of undocumented migrants from various countries have entered the U.S. in the past few years and the situation would have been solved if the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy stayed in place. The policy, which the Biden administration ended, required migrants to stay in Mexico while awaiting their court date on whether they can be admitted to the U.S. Kean said deporting the individuals who are “criminals” is “where you need to start” and accused Altman of having an “extreme” position, saying she supports allowing people to illegally come across the border without any checks.
The return of family separation: Trump wants to deport the parents of American-born kids -During the vice presidential debate, Sen. JD Vance was asked a straightforward question: “Will you deport the parents of U.S.-born children?” He dodged the question twice.Vance’s silence speaks volumes. It’s assumed that American-born children are immune to immigration enforcement — but this assumption is dangerously false.Today, there are nearly 5.9 million American citizen children with a parent facing deportation. Those effects spill over to American-born children.Current laws require individuals, not the government, to prove citizenship. This could lead to racial profiling as officials target noncitizen parents and their American-born children based on how they look or what language they speak. This opens a back door to discrimination, as those who “appear” foreign-born, particularly people of color, would be targets for heightened scrutiny regardless of their legal status.The U.S. already has a similar authority to deport quickly. Expedited removal is a process whereby low-level officers quickly deport noncitizens. It bypasses rights afforded to noncitizens already inside the country, such as the opportunity to present their case and access to counsel. Expedited removal is limited to noncitizens found within 100 miles of an international border who have been in the country for under 14 days.Any mass deportation campaign of the kind Donald Trump and Vance envision would focus on expediency, trampling on the few rights noncitizens have. It would strip the ability to have a judge decide on their removal. But it would also ignore the fundamental rights of American-born children. American citizens are entitled to all rights and protections in the Constitution. Yet, when their parents face deportation, those rights are jeopardized.The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. Their children have the right to live in their country of birth. But when we deport their parents, we place American-born children in impossible situations: Either stay in the U.S. without parents or leave under their parent’s deportation order.In Vance’s silence, he chose to ignore the 16.7 million mixed-status families currently living in the U.S. A mixed-status family is one whose members include people with different citizenship or immigration statuses. American-born minors, like their noncitizen parents, remain invisible. They have no way to transfer their citizenship to their parents. American citizen spouses can petition for their noncitizen spouse at any age, so long as their marriage is legal in the state where they marry. But children must wait until they are 21 years old to do so, leaving millions of families exposed to immigration enforcement.Let’s be clear: Deporting the parents of U.S. citizens is a form of family separation. I witnessed this firsthand as a lawyer with the Department of Homeland Security. I experienced how the immigration system excludes American children like Maria. Immigration officials placed her mother, Elena, in immigration court. At 13, Maria sat in the back of the courtroom, her hair dyed purple. Maria wasn’t named in the deportation proceedings, yet she mirrored her mother’spsychological distress caused by the threat of deportation. Maria had written a letter to the judge about the anxiety she felt at the thought of losing her mother. She prayed the judge would consider it.The Republican Party has ignored American children born to noncitizens. There is only one way to read Vance’s silence, and it’s a total disregard for Maria and the millions of children like her in America.The Obama administration once suggested Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. It would have allowed undocumented parents of U.S. citizens to live free from deportation. It would have also allowed for work permits to help 25 percent of children in mixed-status families who live below the poverty line. The program was never implemented because politics took priority over protecting children’s rights. The value of an American citizen’s rights should not depend upon where their parents were born. These children deserve the safety that comes with their U.S. citizenship. Yet many grow up watching their parents live under the constant threat of deportation. Our laws must reflect that all American citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, are entitled to the full scope of rights promised by the Constitution.
"Do You Hear Yourself?" - Vance Shuts Down Reporter's Absurd Defense Of Illegals - Sen. JD Vance skillfully countered a reporter’s claims downplaying concerns about illegal immigration, suggesting that “only a handful” of apartment complexes were seized by Venezuelan gangs in Colorado. The viral exchange took place on the Sunday episode of ABC News’s This Week, with host Martha Raddatz dismissing former President Donald Trump’s assertions that illegal aliens wreaked havoc in Aurora, Colorado. Raddatz: "The incidents were limited to a handful of apartment complexes... A handful." Vance: "Do you hear yourself? Only a HANDFUL of apartment complexes were taken over by Venezuelan gangs and Donald Trump is the problem??" pic.twitter.com/6PlNAPur8y Citing Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman’s quotes, Raddatz told Vance, “I’m going to stop you because I know exactly what happened... The incidents were limited to a handful of apartment complexes and the mayor said, ‘Our dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns.’” “A handful of problems,” she reiterated, downplaying the scope of the issue, all captured in a viral video. Vance swiftly fired back, questioning Raddatz’s framing. “Martha, do you hear yourself? Only a handful of apartment complexes were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem... and not Kamala Harris’ open border?” Vance expanded on his point, highlighting that Americans are “fed up with what’s going on.” He then challenged Raddatz’s claims once more. Vance specifically said, “I really find this exchange, Martha, sort of interesting because you seem to be more focused with nitpicking everything that Donald Trump has said, rather than acknowledging that apartment complexes in the United States of America are being taken over by violent gangs.” The exchange followed viral footage showing armed Venezuelan nationals, allegedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang, patrolling apartment complexes in Colorado. Authorities reported that the gang had seized several apartments, forcing residents to flee amid shootings and intimidation tactics.This incident is one of many high-profile criminal cases involving Venezuelan nationals, who had once benefited from American temporary protection as they fled the brutal socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro. However, such compassion has sharply diminished as these cases continue to rise.
Trump campaign targets Harris over 'train wreck' Fox News interview --Karoline Leavitt, former President Trump’s national press secretary, sharply criticized Vice President Harris’s performance during her Fox News interview Wednesday, calling it a “train wreck” in a social media post.“Kamala Harris’ interview with Bret Baier was a TRAIN WRECK. Kamala was angry, defensive, and once again abdicated any responsibility for the problems Americans are facing. She couldn’t give a straight answer to a single question because she has no answers. Kamala’s entire campaign is based on lies about President Trump,” Leavitt said on X.“Kamala can’t handle the pressure of an interview with Fox News — she certainly can’t handle the pressure of being President of the United States,” she added.Harris sat for the toughest interview of her campaign yet on Wednesday, when she was peppered with questions from Fox News’s Bret Baier and pressed multiple times to answer a question more directly.The two sparred frequently, at times speaking over each other on matters including immigration, President Biden’s mental fitness, transgender prisoners and cases involving alleged murders by migrants.The Make America Great Again PAC similarly attacked Harris, calling her “angry” and “unfit.”“The American public may never know where Kamala Harris stands on issues because she gives more time to sex podcasts than news outlets that ask simple questions. Her angry, unhinged behavior demonstrates that she’s unfit to be president, and we expect her campaign to reboot again as a result,” the MAGA PAC said in a statement, appearing to reference Harris’s recent appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.“But’s no wonder her team has kept her in the media shadows- her track record is DISASTROUS and she can’t form a coherent sentence to save her life,” the group added in the statement.
House GOP presses Mayorkas for answers on FEMA funding for illegal immigrants --House Republicans are demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the Biden administration’s allocation of federal funds to illegal immigrants compared to disaster relief. In a letter sent to Mayorkas last week, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee pressed the top DHS official to explain the administration’s spending priorities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Lawmakers decried the agency’s programs focused specifically on illegal immigrants, especially as top Biden administration officials worry FEMA could run out of disaster relief funds while responding to recent hurricane damage in the Southeast. “You stated to media reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ‘does not have the funds, to make it through the [hurricane] season,’” states the letter, led by Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN). “If true, FEMA’s funding shortfall is extremely disconcerting as Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene and potentially by Hurricane Milton face dire circumstances while the Biden-Harris administration may have unwisely and irresponsibly focused funding requests for other FEMA activities.” The letter cites funding requests from President Joe Biden to replenish the Disaster Relief Fund in previous fiscal years, which lawmakers noted has been met or exceeded in every appropriations bill. For example, Congress appropriated about $61.2 billion for the DRF through both annual and supplemental appropriations bills, according to the letter. Lawmakers also pointed to the $20 billion that was approved for FEMA in the most recent stopgap spending bill Congress passed at the end of September. Still, Mayorkas has warned that although that money will cover immediate needs, it may not be enough to last the hurricane season. "We have the immediate needs right now. On a continuing resolution, we have funds, but that is not a stable source of supply, if you will," Mayorkas said earlier this month. "This is a multibillion-dollar, multiyear recovery.”However, lawmakers say they are “troubled” the DHS and FEMA “may not have properly apprised Congress of its need for additional disaster relief funds” despite making separate requests to fund FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, a grant program that funds nonfederal entities for shelter and services provided to migrants. The department has pushed back on assertions from Republicans that FEMA diverted funds meant for disaster relief to go toward immigration-related efforts, noting the two programs are kept separate. Lawmakers acknowledged this in their letter to Mayorkas but maintained they were concerned about spending prioritization. “According to analysts, Hurricane Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in damages to Americans across 16 states,” lawmakers wrote. “The recovery for these communities will take years and possibly even decades. While the Committee understands that there is no intermingling of funds between the DRF and SSP, the Department’s priorities for limited resources provided by taxpayers to the Department should first and foremost serve Americans.”
Alejandro Mayorkas: Hurricane misinformation 'is extremely pernicious' -Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday described the flurry of misinformation online about the hurricanes devastating parts of the U.S. as “extremely pernicious,” warning that it’s hindering efforts to assist those affected by the storms.During an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Mayorkas said the false information is “deliberately spread to impact people’s behavior and perceptions.”“It is extremely pernicious,” he added. “We have individuals in need of assistance, who are entitled to assistance, who aren’t seeking it because of the false information.”Mayorkas called for officials to debunk the false claims because “we’re not seeing enough of that.”“I find that to be incredibly irresponsible and irresponsible to the people who are survivors of these extreme weather events,” he said.The false claims began late last month, shortly after Helene hit Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. The storm left widespread destruction and an extensive recovery effort for hundreds of thousands of residents. Mayorkas and other officials have been vocal in debunking the misinformation on the storms, particularly after former President Trump baselessly claimed the government is purposely withholding aid from Republican hurricane victims while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is redirecting disaster relief funds to migrants. Mayorkas said last week FEMA has the necessary resources to respond to the storms.False information about government assistance and the weather’s origin were among some of the most shared claims on social media.In response to the flurry of false claims, FEMA created a page titled “Hurricane Rumor Response,” for users to see debunked rumors about the agency’s response.
FEMA temporarily halted aid in NC after alleged threats, reports say --The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) temporarily paused aid in parts of North Carolina this weekend after alleged threats targeted the agency’s personnel aiding in recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. Ashe County Sheriff Phil Howell said in a statement Sunday that FEMA personnel in North Carolina’s “mountain region” were targeted by threats, prompting FEMA to take precautionary steps and temporarily pause aid operations at other FEMA sites.Neither Ashe County nor its surrounding counties were targeted by the threats, Howell said.“Out of an abundance of caution, they have paused their process as they are assessing the threats,” Howell said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.Ashe County Emergency Management said Sunday that FEMA staff would not be taking applications in a couple of towns, adding, “It is our understanding that all FEMA reps in NC were stood down due to threats occurring in some counties,” noting “we have not received any official correspondence on this issue from FEMA.”Ashe FEMA locations would be open during normal hours Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.The Washington Post on Sunday reported on an email from a federal official notifying other federal agencies that “FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, N.C., to stand down and evacuate the county immediately. The message stated that National Guard troops ‘had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA.’”FEMA personnel were back in place by Sunday afternoon, the Post reported, citing an anonymous U.S. Forest Service official.The Hill has reached out to FEMA and Rutherford County for a response. The alleged threat follows a rise in misinformation related to FEMA’s recovery response to Hurricane Helene, which struck many Southern states hard and launched broad recovery efforts from FEMA.
FEMA Pauses Aid in North Carolina Amid Armed Militia Threat - The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it made "operational adjustments" in North Carolina over the weekend and temporarily paused aid in parts of the state amid concerns that an armed militia is threatening government workers. The Washington Post reported that FEMA had advised federal responders in Rutherford County to "stand down and evacuate the county immediately" on Saturday, citing an email from an official with the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The email said National Guard troops had encountered trucks of "armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA." In a Sunday post on Facebook, Ashe County Sheriff Phil Howell said FEMA had "paused their process as they are assessing the threats." A spokesperson for FEMA told Newsweek on Monday that the agency had made changes to its recovery efforts to ensure the safety of staff and survivors. "FEMA continues to support communities impacted by Helene and help survivors apply for assistance," the spokesperson said. "For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments. Disaster Recovery Centers will continue to be open as scheduled, survivors continue to register for assistance, and we continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery." Newsweek has learned that disaster survivor assistance teams are currently working at fixed locations and secure areas and are no longer going door to door out of an abundance of caution. The changes come as FEMA has been fighting misinformation since Helene hit Florida on September 26, before leaving a trail of destruction across several southeastern states as it traveled north.Some on social media called for FEMA to be targeted after a rumor that the devastated North Carolina town of Chimney Rock was going to be seized and bulldozed by the government circulated online despite local authorities and news outlets debunking the claim.Former President Donald Trump and others have also fueled false claims that FEMA has not been able to respond well enough because it diverted disaster relief funds to help migrants. That is not true—while FEMA administers the Shelter and Services Program, funding comes from a separate pot of money funded by Congress for U.S. Customs and Border ProtOther false claims have also been made, including that people taking federal relief money could see their land seized or that $750 is the most they will ever get to rebuild. FEMA has set up a page on its website to combat misinformation and rumors.FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters last week that the false claims were hurting worker morale as she urged people in hard-hit areas to accept the government's assistance."We have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers in the private sector," Criswell said at a news conference in Asheville on October 7."And frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralizing to our staff that have left their families to come here and help the people of North Carolina. And we will be here as long as they're needed."
FEMA workers threatened by armed group in Tennessee— There were some tense moments on Saturday when volunteers witnessed an armed group of people confronting and threatening FEMA workers in the Elk Mills community of Carter County in Tennessee. Tracy Elder is president and founder of the International Alliance of Community Chaplains. Her group has been working in disaster relief for more than 20 years. They are in Carter County at the request of the Elk Mills Volunteer Fire Department to help run the command center there, providing supplies and resources for those in need. But Elder told Nexstar’s WJHL that she found herself between FEMA workers and a group of armed citizens criticizing the work of the government agency on Saturday. Elder was ultimately able to diffuse the situation. How to help with recovery from Milton, Helene “They were armed — they were all open-carry — they had surrounded [the FEMA workers] and there was a lady that was yelling at them and threatening them,” Elder said. She explained that she listened to the group’s grievances about FEMA but explained to them that her organization was not associated with the federal agency. Elder said she felt the group was frustrated and she was able to hear them out, but was firm that their behavior wasn’t appropriate. “People just need to be heard, and then some of that does take a skill that doesn’t take a confrontation,” Elder said. “I said, ‘Hey I hear you. You can say there’s no volunteers but I’m standing right in front of you honey and I’m here and we’re helping.'” Elder said once the group realized that FEMA wasn’t taking those donations, and that the command center was run by volunteers, they left and surprisingly returned later with supplies to donate. FEMA temporarily pauses aid in parts of NC over reported threats During the confrontation, Elder did call 911 because she said the group wasn’t being rational. “I don’t care whatever their beef is with the government or FEMA, that’s not my job. My job on this ground is to take care of the folks here,” Elder told WJHL. Because of the bridges washed out in the community, the area is now a now a much longer drive from the sheriff’s department. That doesn’t sit well with Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley, and it’s why he’s working to get a sub-station up and running at the site of the now washed-away fire department. Two deputies will be stationed there 24 hours a day.
FEMA Still Paying $9,000 For COVID Funerals, Billions On Pandemic Payouts - As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) carries out widely-criticized responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, officials say the agency’s Disaster Recovery Fund is incapable of handling a third major storm. While some are circulating false accusations that disaster funds have been diverted to immigrants or poured into the proxy war in Ukraine, a review of the agency’s 2024 outlays reveals a different, ongoing drain on FEMA’s coffers: Long after the end of the declared Covid-19 emergency, FEMA is still pumping out billions of dollars to pay for pandemic expenses — including, believe it or not, up to $9,000 each for funerals. As previously detailed here at Stark Realities, governments’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic was disastrous on many fronts. While the Pandora’s box of collateral damage included widespread harm to the physical and mental health of individuals, it also dealt a blow to the nation’s fiscal well-being, as the federal government recklessly showered trillions of dollars it didn’t have on people, businesses and state and local governments — with much of that money intended to offset the effects of government’s own tyrannical and counterproductive policies.While all but the most diehard Branch Covidians have moved on from that dark chapter, the federal government has a distinct version of “long Covid.” Though it’s not clear where all the money is going, FEMA is paying up to $9,000 each to reimburse funeral expenses for those who die from Covid.That’s an especially odd example of government picking winners and losers. As Stanford University School of Medicine professor and prominent Covid-regime critic Jay Bhattacharya said in a social media post that drew my attention to this giveaway program and its hyper-longevity, “There are apparently more and less worthy ways to die in the US.”Indeed: Why is the family of someone who dies from Covid more deserving of a government-paid funeral than the family of someone who dies from cancer, cardiac arrest or a car accident? It bears emphasis that this question was every bit as relevant in 2020 as it is today.The favoring of one cause of death over another isn’t the only winners-and-losers dimension of the funeral program: There’s no reimbursement for those who’d planned ahead via pre-paid funerals. Echoing the grievances of people who saved up to pay for college only to see their neighbor’s student loans forgiven by vote-buying politicians, some families say they feel like they’re being punished for having planned for the future.
Republicans combat misinformation during hurricanes Helene and Milton -Republicans representing states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton are grappling with the spread of storm misinformation, much of which has stemmed from prominent figures in their own party — including sitting lawmakers and former President Trump. The false claims have run rampant on social media since the deadly pair of storms made their way through parts of the Southeast — most notably Florida and North Carolina — with Republicans floating inaccurate allegations about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), disaster relief and the weather. Some House GOP lawmakers who hail from hard-hit states have publicly pushed back on the misinformation, highlighting divisions in the Republican Party with less than a month to go until Election Day. But the lawmakers — who are reluctant to take on Trump and other party leaders, and share some of their frustrations with the emergency response — are walking a careful line. “It’s been harmful,” Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), who represents Asheville and surrounding regions that were devastated by Hurricane Helene, told The Hill in an interview of the spread of storm misinformation. “Not just unhelpful, it’s been harmful.” “Just by the delay in our response in dealing with folks that really needed help, while we were having to fill all the calls and quash the rumor that was out there,” he added. “In addition to the fact that there were people out there that believed that if they were to send goods to western North Carolina, that they might not make it to their intended point.” Edwards, though, has been wary of criticizing the Republicans pushing inaccurate information — a sign of the difficult political position GOP lawmakers are in as they work to assist their districts without putting a spotlight on division within the party, or taking on Trump. Asked three times if he was frustrated with the floating of false claims by Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and others, Edwards deflected, citing annoyance with the pace of FEMA’s response, blaming the theories on “storytellers,” saying he was unsure where those false claims began and contending that he has not paid attention to the spread of information. “There are always storytellers out there that we have to deal with, and misinformation on almost any topic that we deal with, and there are those folks on social media that get their kicks by trying to amplify a message to see how many likes that they can get or how many more followers that they can get by making outrageous statements,” he told The Hill.
Warnock on Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘I pray for her every day’ -Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said he prays for Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) daily after the Republican falsely claimed people controlled the weather after Hurricane Helene hit the region.“Now, Marjorie Taylor Greene, I know, is also from Georgia. She… did you apologize on behalf of Democrats for sending the hurricane to your own state?” late night host Jimmy Kimmel asked Warnock on his show Tuesday. “Because it seems like a very self-destructive thing for you and the Democratic Party to do.”“I pray for her every day,” Warnock responded.Warnock’s comments follow posts by Greene on social media in the wake of devastation from Hurricane Helene and ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall earlier this month. In one post on Oct. 3, she shared an image of Helene superimposed over a map of 2020 election results.“This is a map of hurricane affected areas with an overlay of electoral map by political party shows how hurricane devastation could affect the election,” she wrote.Some have suggested the Georgia Republican was insinuating that the storm was targeted at Republican-leaning counties.“Yes, they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” Greene said in another post on the social platform X the same day.
Hurricane fallout threatens southeast voting in presidential race -The fallout from a pair of deadly hurricanes threatens to roil voting in the Southeast with complications for election officials and residents alike in states key to this year’s presidential race. Hurricane Helene battered North Carolina, Georgia and Florida late last month, throwing up new hurdles for election officials amid power outages, road closures and mail disruptions. Days later, Hurricane Milton tore through the Sunshine State, compounding Helene’s devastation. The dual hurricanes already have prompted changes to voting procedures as officials try to address hard-hit areas and give voters more flexibility in casting their ballots, with early voting set to kick off this week in North Carolina and Georgia — two critical battleground states — followed by Florida later this month.“In some of these more rural locations, the roads are wiped out,” said Jason Roberts, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They have no way, no good way, to get in and out of these places. So sure, I’ve got a polling place I can go to, but can I get there? So I want to get an absentee ballot. Can it be delivered to me? Can I get it to the post office? Those are the questions that I think are so hard to answer for many people out there.”In North Carolina, the state board of elections approved a slate of emergency measures last week including tweaks to voting rules that give affected voters more time to request and deliver absentee ballots and allow voters to turn in absentee ballots at offices in counties other than their own. State lawmakers expanded those election alternations to 25 of the state’s 100 counties. County boards can also modify early voting sites and timelines, with certain conditions. In Watauga County, for example, early voting sites will now be open on the weekend to give voters more flexibility. In-person early voting starts in the Tar Heel State this Thursday.“To carry out this election through such devastation certainly is harder,” said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the state board of elections, at a meeting last week. “But our processes are working, and we are just exercising what we know to do.” In Florida, where Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm along the Gulf Coast last week, hard-hit areas have been given more flexibility for shifting polling sites and sending mail ballots. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued an executive order earlier this month allowing election supervisors to consolidate or relocate voting centers and to loosen restrictions for mail-in ballot requests, among other provisions. Early voting kicks off in the Sunshine State on Oct. 26.But as officials work to right the ship after the hurricanes, some advocates have pressed them to take further action. In South Carolina, a federal judge extended the voter registration window by roughly a week after Helene hit. But two federal judges last week rejected separate requests for deadline tweaks in Florida and Georgia, where the voter registration deadline passed last Monday. Floridians “should not have to juggle fleeing for their lives and protecting their property with fulfilling their civic duties,” said Cecile Scoon and Debbie Chandler, co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Florida, in a joint statement blasting the decision. Broadly, though, experts are optimistic that states in the Southeast are ready to handle the election, even as they navigate the disruptions. If voters want to cast their ballots, there will be avenues available to them. “The machines are there. The ballots are there. That’s all going to be fine,” Roberts said. The real problem, experts say, is whether Americans scrambling in the hurricanes’ aftermath will have the bandwidth to check voting off their to-do list. “The issue is, when your life has been turned upside-down, maybe you’ve lost your lost friends and loved ones, you’ve lost your home, you’ve lost access to electricity, water, cell service,” Roberts added. “My question is: How high of a priority is voting going to be for these individuals?”
America’s trade deficit isn’t about Trump or Biden — it’s about the WTO – Wilbur Ross - As the 2024 election season heats up, America’s $785 billion trade deficit will be a hot topic. But while it’s easy to blame the Trump or Biden administrations, the real culprit is the World Trade Organization. This institution, designed to create a level playing field for international trade, has instead become an obstacle to improving our trade balance.Since its inception, the WTO has tilted the scales against the U.S. Congress approved our entry into the WTO in 1994, and by 2000, our trade deficit had doubled as a percentage of GDP. Then, we made another fateful decision: granting China Permanent Normalized Trade Relations status upon its WTO admission. This exempted China from annual congressional review, with the expectation was that this would help reduce our trade deficits. Instead, our trade deficit surged another 40 percent before Donald Trump took office in 2017.The WTO isn’t the sole reason for our deficits, but it’s the biggest one. We do need a rules-based mechanism for global trade, but the current system is far from equitable. The WTO’s flaws are glaring and persistent.One of the most egregious issues is the self-declaration of “developing country” status, which allows nations to receive special trade benefits. There are no strict criteria for this designation, leading 80 percent of WTO members, including China — the world’s second-largest economy— to claim it. As a result, the U.S. is forced to grant trade concessions to China, even though they are our largest source of trade deficits. This makes no sense, especially when China’s per capita net-worth vastly outstrips that of genuinely developing nations like India.Our negotiators agreed to these terms decades ago, but what might have made sense then is now deeply problematic. The U.S. ends up making permanent concessions to most other WTO members, which hampers our ability to negotiate bilateral trade agreements. Why would other nations bother negotiating when they already have a deal that favors them? This is why the U.S. has so few bilateral trade agreements compared to countries like Mexico, which has almost 100.The WTO’s dispute resolution process is another area where the U.S. gets the short end of the stick. Panels are skewed toward countries with positive trade balances, not neutral adjudicators. The U.S. has been the defendant in a quarter of all WTO cases, and we’ve lost 90 percent of them. It’s ludicrous to suggest that the U.S., with the largest trade deficit, is somehow the biggest violator of international trade laws.The treatment of Value Added Tax (VAT) is particularly troubling. Many countries rebate the full amount of VAT on exported goods, making them cheaper in the U.S. than in their home countries. Meanwhile, U.S. goods face VATs and tariffs abroad, pricing them out of foreign markets. When the U.S. tried to offset this imbalance with new tax rules, the WTO ruled against us, essentially telling us to change our entire tax system. By what authority does the WTO dictate U.S. tax policy?Even when the WTO rules are clear, its enforcement is sluggish. The organization’s charter requires appellate decisions within 90 days, yet cases often drag on for years. The Boeing-Airbus subsidy case, for instance, took more than 17 years to resolve. Such delays render the dispute resolution process nearly useless, discouraging countries from even filing complaints.
Trump courts auto industry with tax break on car loans - Donald Trump vowed to boost the U.S. auto industry by making interest on car loans fully tax-deductible and renegotiating a trade deal with Mexico and Canada as he sought to court business leaders and workers in swing-state Michigan.
Supreme Court declines to block Biden’s climate rule for power plants — for now -The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block a Biden administration rule setting climate standards for power plants — but hinted it could take up the case at a later time.The high court rejected requests from red states and industry stakeholders to temporarily halt the rule while other litigation against it plays out.In a statement accompanying the decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that while the rule’s challengers “have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits,” they are “unlikely to suffer irreparable harm” before a lower court can rule on the matter.Specifically, he noted that they don’t need to start making changes to make their power plants more climate friendly until June 2025. But he said parties could appeal a future decision from the D.C. Circuit, where the case against the Biden administration’s regulation is currently playing out.“After the D.C. Circuit decides the case, the nonprevailing parties could, if circumstances warrant, seek appropriate relief in this Court,” he wrote.Kavanaugh was joined in his statement by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, and Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case. In April, the Biden administration required existing coal plants and new gas plants to install technology to capture 90 percent of their planet-warming emissions.The rule is expected to prevent 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon emissions through 2047.It comes as part of a broader effort by the administration to reduce the U.S.’s contributions to climate change.But the rule’s opponents argued that it is unrealistic, and could force higher energy costs on consumers. In court, Republican-led states who challenged the rule argued that it is “really a backdoor avenue to forcing coal plants out of existence” — in violation of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling. At that time, the court ruled along ideological lines that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not allowed to explicitly force a shift from one power source to another, and is instead only allowed to require changes at individual plants.The rule that was upheld Wednesday was also challenged by players in the coal and electric power industries. An EPA spokesperson said that the agency is pleased with the decision and looks forward to implementing the rule, noting its anticipated $370 billion in net benefits for climate and public health over the next two decades. But, the coal industry said it would continue with its challenge in the lower court.“While we’re disappointed that some of the justices failed to recognize the immediate harm to industry and consumers posed by this reckless rule, we look forward to continuing to making our case in the D.C. Circuit,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, in a written statement. The Supreme Court also recently declined to block other Biden administration rules related to toxic pollution from coal plants and the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions.
Johnson calls Kids Online Safety Act ‘very problematic’ --House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recently revealed he likes the concept of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), though the details of the Senate-passed version are “very problematic,” underscoring the uncertain future the bill faces in the lower chamber. “I love the principle, but the details of that are very problematic,” Johnson told Punchbowl News in an interview in Pennsylvania published Monday morning. The Speaker said the Senate bill, as written, would have “unintended consequences,” Punchbowl reported. Johnson’s office confirmed his comments to The Hill. His remarks come after the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced KOSA in markup despite pushback from several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. KOSA, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote in late July, is intended to boost online privacy and safety for children. The bill would create regulations for the kinds of features tech and social media companies offer kids online and aims to reduce the addictive nature and mental health impact of these platforms. Punchbowl reported Johnson did not appear open to persuasion on the Senate version, a potential blow to KOSA advocates who previously told the outlet the House leader might be flexible. While the bill advanced out of the House committee last month, committee members in both parties expressed concerns with its language, for different reasons. Some Republicans said they were worried the bill would give the Federal Trade Commission “sweeping authority,” and the potential censorship of conservative views, a House leadership source told The Hill last month. Some Democrats, meanwhile, said they could not support the House version, which includes amendments altering the language over KOSA’s “duty of care” provision.As written in the Senate version, the provision would require platforms to design and implement features for minors to prevent and reduce harm such as those caused by content promoting suicide and eating disorders. The uncertainty over the legislation follows months of pressure from Senate lawmakers, namely Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the co-author of the upper chamber’s version of the bill, to bring it to the House floor.
Florida health officials sued for censorship over abortion campaign ad -The citizen-led ballot initiative Floridians Protecting Freedom has filed a lawsuit against state health officials alleging political speech has been censored in the state. The Florida Department of Health previously sent a cease and desist letter to television stations across Florida that aired an ad in support of an abortion-rights ballot initiative, Amendment 4. The ballot initiative would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, overturning the current law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The advertisement is sponsored by Floridians Protecting Freedom and features a woman named Caroline who was diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant. She made the decision to have an abortion so she could receive life-extending cancer treatment. Florida’s Department of Health said the description of the law is false and warned TV stations across the state that it contained false information that violated the state’s “sanitary nuisance laws.” The ballot initiative’s campaign director, Lauren Brenzel, said in a statement that the department’s letters were “unconstitutional government interference.” “The State cannot coerce television stations into removing political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to keep their abortion ban in place,” Brenzel’s statement said. “We will continue our campaign in the face of this blatant government interference, but we must remain focused.” The lawsuit was filed against Joseph Ladapo, state surgeon general and head of the Florida Department of Health, and John Wilson, the former general counsel of the department. The campaign argues its ad is a “core political speech” that is protected under the First Amendment, and the state is violating the freedom of speech.
Trump calls himself ‘the father of IVF’ -Former President Trump in a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday called himself the “father of IVF,” seeking to claim credit as a defender of the fertility treatment that conservative Supreme Court justices threw into uncertainty by overturning Roe v. Wade.Trump sat for a town hall with Georgia women, who asked about his positions on abortion access and in vitro fertilization (IVF), two areas where Democrats have gone on offense in the wake of the Roe ruling in 2022.“I want to talk about IVF. I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question,” he said before one woman spoke.Asked by a participant about his stance on IVF, Trump explained that he got a call from Sen.Katie Britt (R-Ala.) — whom he called “a fantastically attractive person from Alabama” — after an Alabama court ruling earlier this year that decided frozen embryos are people, prompting IVF clinics in the state to pause services.“She said, ‘I was attacked. In a certain way I was attacked.’ I said, ‘Explain IVF very quickly.’ And within about two minutes I understood it,” Trump said. “I said, ‘No, no. We’re totally in favor of IVF.’ I came out with a statement within an hour. A really powerful statement … and we went totally in favor. The Republican Party, the whole party.”Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee in November’s election, called Trump’s comments “quite bizarre” when asked about them during campaign travel on Wednesday.“If what he meant is taking responsibility, well, then yeah, he should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state,” Harris said. “What he should take responsibility for is that couples who are praying and hoping and working toward growing a family have been so disappointed and harmed by the fact that IVF treatments have now been put at risk.“So let’s not be distracted by his choice of words,” she added. “The reality is, his actions have been very harmful to women and families in America on this issue.”“Donald Trump called himself ‘the father of IVF.’ What is he talking about?” Harris posted on social platform X. “His abortion bans have already jeopardized access to it in states across the country—and his own platform could end IVF altogether.”Polling has shown Trump struggling to win over women, in part because of the issue of reproductive rights. A Marist poll published Wednesday showed Harris leading him among female voters, 57 percent to 42 percent.Trump has sought to position himself as a defender of fertility treatments as Democrats have repeatedly blamed him and his appointed Supreme Court justices for jeopardizing the procedure in the first place. The former president has proposed having the government cover the cost of IVF, something even his GOP allies have voiced skepticism about.Republicans last month blocked a bill that would have created a right to access IVF treatments and mandated that insurance plans cover the practice, deriding the vote as a political ploy.
Billionaire Betsy DeVos funding the extreme right in the lead-up to the 2024 elections - Trump’s former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her husband, Richard, have poured nearly $12 million into the 2024 elections supporting the fascist-dominated Republican Party throughout Michigan and nationally.Among the recipients, according to an exposé this week in MLive, is the extreme right-wing Claremont Institute and specifically its Sheriffs Fellowship. The sheriffs’ group is directly associated with Trump’s violent January 6 coup and the fascist Oath Keepers. It promises to bring conservative sheriffs into the fight against “the revolutionary Left.”In the immediate aftermath of the failed coup of January 6, 2021, Betsy DeVos resigned her cabinet position. She distanced herself from Trump, citing his “mental place” and “behavior.” Her money trail, however, tells another story.IRS filings show the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation donated $800,000 to the Claremont Institute, a far-right ideological think tank, between 2019 and 2022. Specifically, they earmarked $200,000 for the Sheriffs Fellowship in 2021, with another $200,000 the following year (the most recent year for which the data is available).A new book by Jessica Pishko, The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy, chillingly describes the goals of the Claremont-run Sheriffs Fellowship as creating “shock troops for Donald Trump’s plan to win no matter what.”Pishko adds, “It’s very hard to read it as anything other than that, given the history of The Claremont Institute and the ‘stop the steal’ stuff.”The role of the Michigan billionaire family underscores the dark network of financing of the ultra-right. Critically, it reveals the fundamental class interests behind the promotion of Trump and the development of an American-style fascism. The Claremont Institute was founded in 1979 in Upland, California as an ultraconservative publishing house, putting out The American Mind and The Claremont Review of Books. It emerged as part of a constellation of fascist intellectual propaganda operations which include the extreme right-wing Michigan Hillsdale College and its national journal, Imprimis. Claremont’s president from 1985-2000 was Larry P. Arnn, a current vice-chairman of the organization. He is also currently the president of Hillsdale College.Historically, Claremont published a range of material, both ideological and policy-oriented, from the ultraconservative to the fascist. However, it tacked to the extreme right beginning in 2016, publishing a piece by Michael Anton (another Hillsdale leader and one-time deputy assistant for strategic communications in the Trump administration), which described 2016 as the “Flight 93 election: charge the cockpit or you die.” Anton wrote, “death is certain” with Hillary Clinton and endorsed Trump.The confluence between California-based Claremont and Michigan’s Hillsdale College (the DeVos family is a longtime donor to both) became strikingly evident in the aftermath of the 2020 elections.January 6 coup plotter and wife of the fascist sitting US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas, was the associate director of Hillsdale’s Washington D.C. operations between 2008 and 2009. In the aftermath of Trump’s electoral loss in 2020, Thomas demanded Trump’s political enemies be “arrested & detained” and face “military tribunals, for sedition.” Claremont opined in The American Mind along these same lines, charging those who voted against Trump with sedition, accusing Biden supporters of having voted for “mob violence, ruthless censorship … and bureaucratic despotism.” The essay’s author, Glenn Ellmers, went on to advocate for stripping Americans of their rights, saying, “Most people living in the United States today—certainly more than half—are not Americans in any meaningful sense of the term. They do not believe in, live by, or even like the principles, traditions, and ideals that, until recently, defined America as a nation and as a people. It is not obvious what we should call these citizen-aliens, these non-American Americans; but they are something else.” It concludes by calling for “a sort of counterrevolution.”
National labor board alleges Apple restricting workers' Slack, social media use -The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Apple on Thursday, accusing the iPhone maker of improperly restricting workers’ use of Slack and other social media. The agency alleges that Apple fired an employee for advocating for workplace changes on Slack and maintained unlawful rules about acceptable uses of the platform, according to a summary of the complaint provided by the labor board. The NLRB also accused the tech giant of surveilling employees or creating an appearance of surveillance by asking them about social media posts and an anonymous open letter and directing one employee to delete a post. The complaint comes as part of a case brought by former Apple employee Janneke Parrish nearly three years ago, according to Reuters. Parrish filed a complaint with the labor board in December 2021, alleging she had been fired for her role in employee activism. Apple said in a statement to the AP that it takes employee complaints seriously and is committed to maintaining “a positive and inclusive workplace.”The iPhone maker disputed the allegations in Thursday’s complaint and vowed to “share the facts at the hearing.” An NLRB administrative law judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on the case in late February 2025. This is the second time in the past month that Apple has faced a complaint from the labor board. In late September, the agency accused the firm of forcing its employees to sign agreements with overly broad misconduct and social media policies, Reuters reported.
The First Amendment is under attack — and the nation’s leaders are adding fuel to the fire -Freedom of expression is an abstract notion that only works when a citizenry understands it and commits to its functioning. The implementation of a free expression environment gets more complicated, however, when the nation’s so-called leaders mischaracterize, diminish and even become hostile to the free expression principle. That’s what is happening in the U.S. these days, as prominent politicians actively cast doubt about the essential nature of the First Amendment. They apparently don’t understand the importance of letting people speak and publish freely. Or perhaps they are just letting their despotic inclinations come to the surface. The hostility of powerful politicos to free expression is coming from both sides of the political aisle. This misleading bombast is sadly taking place during an election season, when a commitment to America’s constitutional principles would seemingly most be on display. Just in the last month, political figures who should well know better have outrageously talked down the importance of free expression. Now there’s a real threat to democracy. Donald Trump got this lunacy rolling after his inartful debate performance in early September. The former president criticized ABC’s handling of the debate as unfair and suggested the Federal Communications Commission take away the network’s license. Of course, the FCC doesn’t actually license networks, only individual broadcast stations. The main point, however, is that Trump wants a journalism outlet to be punished for content decisions. Either way, that’s a notion totally contrary to a free press. As FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel replied, “The Commission does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.” Trump might well have a point regarding ABC’s bias during the debate, but the First Amendment allows for no remedy to such journalistic decisions. Trump was at it again after CBS’s “60 Minutes” presented its edited version of an interview with Vice President Harris, calling for the FCC to revoke the CBS license. Rosenworcel again pushed back. First Amendment antagonism is clearly a bipartisan effort these days, as former senator, Secretary of State and presidential candidate John Kerry recently displayed. Kerry told the World Economic Forum that “the First Amendment stands as a major block” to curbing news outlets that might have “an agenda.” Kerry might be surprised to know that the constitutional framers created a free press precisely to keep wanna-be authoritarians from doing such curbing. News outlets are welcome to have agendas today, just as they did in the early days of the nation. Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton joined the chorus of voices ripping into the free expression principle. She, too, is a former senator, Secretary of State and presidential candidate. Clinton hit the daily double in the last month, first calling for Americans who spread “propaganda” during an election to be civilly or “even in some cases criminally charged.” She later told an interviewer that Congress should take steps to regulate social media, allowing the government to more actively manage content or else “we lose total control.” But having the government lose control of messaging is exactly what the First Amendment was designed to do. Then there is Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who could soon be in a position to disrupt free speech directly. Walz demonstrated his lack of understanding for the First Amendment in his recent televised debate with JD Vance. Walz incorrectly claimed that the First Amendment does not protect misinformation or “threatening or hate speech.” The CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Greg Lukianoff, scolded Walz with a lengthy explanation, calling Walz’s claims “patently false.”The level of awareness and support among regular Americans for the First Amendment is deteriorating. A newly released study by the Freedom Forum indicates only 57 percent of Americans recognize freedom of the press as a right protected by the First Amendment. Scarier still, only 58 percent of citizens agree with the statement, “If it were up to me, I would vote to approve/ratify the First Amendment today.” Such startling confusion and ignorance of America’s fundamental principles is hardly surprising, given the warped views of some of the nation’s high-profile politicians. A nation that can’t support free expression can’t generate free and independent thinking. That might well be what power-hungry political “leaders” seek. Free expression is the only way for common citizens to collectively challenge the power of the political, cultural or corporate elite.
DOJ to monitor voting in Ohio county, citing intimidation concerns -The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday it will monitor voting in a county in northeast Ohio, citing intimidation concerns stemming from a social media post from a local sheriff about migrants.The DOJ will deploy its staff to observe and ensure that Portage County is complying with federal voting rights laws during the early period and on Election Day, the department announced Tuesday. “Voters in Portage County have raised concerns about intimidation resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process,” the release states.The department added that it “regularly” has its staff monitor election law compliance all over the country, noting it deploys “federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, where authorized by federal court order.” The news comes as Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski (R) was scrutinized over a post on social media in September, where he asserted that if Vice President Harris wins in November, they should jot down her supporter’s addresses and have migrants sent there, The Associated Press reported.Zuchowski’s post, shared on his campaign account and personal Facebook profile, was seen as a threat to Democrats, while his backers argued he was utilizing his right to free speech and making a political statement. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio demanded in a letter that Zuchowski take down his post. The organization also threatened to sue the Republican sheriff.He took down the Facebook post in late September, according to the AP.Portage County Sheriff’s Office told the AP that “monitoring of voting locations/polls by the DOJ is conducted nationwide and is not unique to Portage County. This is a normal practice by the DOJ.”
Plagiarism expert: Harris book shows 'sloppy writing habits,' not 'wholesale fraud' --Plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey said Vice President Harris’s 2009 book showed signs of “sloppy writing habits” but pushed back on claims that the Democratic nominee engaged in “wholesale fraud.”In an article published Tuesday in Plagiarism Today, Bailey expanded on his initial remarks to The New York Times in response to conservative author Christopher Rufo’s article accusing Harris of plagiarism in her book, “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer.”Rufo’s article included five sections of the book, which, Bailey said, “bore strong similarities to earlier works.” Bailey said he now had the chance to examine the more complete dossier by an Austrian plagiarism expert, Stefan Weber.“With this new information, while I believe the case is more serious than I commented to The New York Times, the overarching points remain,” Bailey said in his Tuesday article. “While there are problems with this work, the pattern points to sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud.”“Is it problematic? Yes. But it’s also not the wholesale fraud that many have claimed it to be. It sits somewhere between what the two sides want it to be,” Bailey said.The updated analysis from Bailey comes as Rufo’s plagiarism accusations against the Democratic presidential nominee gain traction online and in conservative media circles.Rufo reported on five of the approximately 18 accusations of plagiarism that Weber’s dossier makes against Harris’s 2009 book. Rufo, late last year, made accusations of plagiarism against then-Harvard President Claudine Gay, who was under scrutiny at the time for her remarks at a congressional hearing about antisemitism. She resigned from her post soon thereafter.The Harris campaign dismissed the accusations as a concerted effort by “rightwing operatives,” in a statement reported by USA Today.“Rightwing operatives are getting desperate as they see the bipartisan coalition of support Vice President Harris is building to win this election,” Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement, according to the national news outlet.“This is a book that’s been out for 15 years, and the Vice President clearly cited sources and statistics in footnotes and endnotes throughout,” he added in the statement.
In outreach to Black men, Harris to vow to legalize weed, protect crypto : NPR -- Vice President Kamala Harris is pledging Monday to legalize recreational marijuana, protect cryptocurrency assets and give 1 million loans to Black entrepreneurs, as part of her efforts to court Black voters who may be pivotal in the presidential race.Polls show that some Black men may be gravitating toward former President Trump, Harris’ Republican rival, or not vote at all. Harris and other prominent Democrats are trying to counter that. Among the initiatives being announced by Harris Monday:
- Legalizing recreational marijuana and providing opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in the industry
- 1 million fully forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Black entrepreneurs and others to start businesses
- a plan come up with rules for cryptocurrency and other digital assets; more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets, according to the campaign
- invest more in Black male teachers, promote registered apprenticeships and credentialing opportunities in Black communities and investing in leadership training and mentorship programs like My Brother’s Keeper
- a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black Men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately affect them
Former Rep. Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Harris' campaign, said her new announcement is part of her "Opportunity Economy" pledge — “an economy where people don't just get by, but get ahead. Where Black men are equipped with the tools to thrive: to buy a home, provide for our families, start a business and build wealth,” he said in a statement. On Monday, Harris will meet with a group of Black men in Erie, Pa., before holding a rally in the city. And on Tuesday, she plans to meet with Black entrepreneurs in Detroit after a town hall conversation moderated by Charlamagne tha God, the influential Black radio host who has pulled very few punches with Democratic politicians.
Reparations Too? Kamala Harris Ramps Up Black Pandering Campaign - As soon as polling came out showing that Donald Trump is doing better with black voters than any Republican since 1960, Democrats went into panic mode - wheeling out Obama to scold black men into voting for Kamala Harris, while Harris launched a blackpandering campaign - offering weed, loans, and protection from crypto scams (what?). Consider that in 2012, President Obama dominated the black vote by an 85-point margin. Today, Harris is up by just 54 points. The numbers are even worse among black men age 18 to 45: Obama won by 81, and Harris is up 41. Among all black men and women, Harris is poised to have the lowest share of the black vote since John F. Kennedy faced Richard Nixon in 1960. Now, Harris says reparations are on the table! During a Tuesday interview with Charlamagne Tha God's "The Breakfast Club," grassroots group founder Zeek Williams asked Harris about her stance on reparations and how she plans to address issues within the black community."With all that black Americans have been through and contribute to the success of America, I feel that there should be an in depth investigation or evaluation of the lack of resources and current living conditions in black communities nationwide. My question to you is, what’s your stance on reparations?" Williams asked."We all know that America became great off the backs of free black labor. How progressive are you on making it a priority and righting America’s wrongs," he continued. "It’s understood that you are running for president for all people of America, asking for specifics for black communities doesn’t mean don’t do for others, but black Americans are heavily asked to vote Democrat in every election for over half a century, with very little in return. What are your plans to address these very important issues and change that narrative?"To which Harris replied:"So to your point, yes, I am running to be a president for all Americans. That being said, I do have clear eyes about the disparities that exist and the context in which they exist, meaning history to your point," adding "So my agenda, well, first of all, on the point of reparations, it has to be studied. There’s no question about that. And I’ve been very clear about that position."Watch:
Kamala Harris Speech Offers No Further Details on Crypto 'Regulatory Framework' -Vice President Kamala Harris touted her "opportunity agenda" during a campaign speech Monday evening without elaborating on what it would mean for digital assets.Earlier in the day, the campaign unveiled the broad agenda, which included the first thing resembling a substantive policy position from her on cryptocurrencies. But anyone hoping for more details from her speech in Erie, Pa., was left disappointed.Harris didn't even mention "blockchain" or "digital assets" in passing, as she's done in prior appearances, much less crypto."We will build a future where we have what I call an opportunity economy, where everyone can compete and have a real chance to not just to get by, but to get ahead," she said early in her remarks Monday evening.The Harris campaign said earlier in the day that the "opportunity agenda" was aimed at bolstering support for her among Black men."Vice President Harris knows that more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets, which is why her plans will make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected," a press release said.An attached document echoed that message."Vice President Harris appreciates the ways in which new technologies can broaden access to banking and financial services," the document read, before repeating the press release's statement about the framework.In contrast to Harris' near-silence on the topic, former President Donald Trump has made a number of overtures to the crypto industry, promising friendly regulators and saying he would appoint a "bitcoin and crypto advisory council" at Bitcoin Nashville, an industry conference. Last month, Trump visited PubKey, a Bitcoin bar in New York City, and bought burgers using bitcoin with assistance from the bar's staff. Crypto industry participants have commissioned a number of polls gauging voters' interest in the sector. A Harris Poll (no relation to the Vice President)funded by crypto asset manager Grayscale suggests 77% of likely voters want candidates to be informed about crypto, with 21% of the respondents holding at least some crypto.
FBI Creates Fake Cryptocurrency to Expose Widespread Crypto Market Manipulation -- The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced arrests and charges against several individuals and entities in connection with allegedly manipulating digital asset markets as part of a widespread fraud operation.The law enforcement action – codenamed Operation Token Mirrors – is the result of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) taking the "unprecedented step" of creating its own cryptocurrency token and company called NexFundAI.NexFundAI, as per information on the website, was marketed as redefining the "intersection between finance and artificial intelligence" and that its aim was to "create a cryptocurrency token that not only serves as a secure store of value but also acts as a catalyst for positive change in the world of AI.""Three market makers — ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade — along with their employees are charged with allegedly wash trading and/or conspiring to wash trade on behalf of NexFundAI, a cryptocurrency company and token created at the direction of law enforcement as part of the government's investigation," the DoJ said."A fourth market maker, Gotbit, its CEO, and two of its directors are also charged for perpetrating a similar scheme."A total of 18 people and entities have been ensnared in the investigation's net, out of which five defendants have either pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty. Three other defendants have been arrested in the U.S. state of Texas, the U.K., and Portugal.More than $25 million in cryptocurrency has also been confiscated and multiple trading bots behind wash trading (aka round trip trading), which refers to the illegal practice of buying and selling the same financial instruments to create artificial market activity, for about 60 different cryptocurrencies have been disabled.Court documents allege that the defendants behind the cryptocurrency companies executed bogus trades using their own tokens to give the impression that they are good investments in an attempt to attract new investors and purchasers, thereby synthetically inflating the tokens' trading prices.The individuals then sold their tokens at the new prices, a fraudulent scheme known as pump-and-dump, in order to illegally profit from the financial crime.The following individuals and cryptocurrency firms have been charged -
- Aleksei Andriunin, Fedor Kedrov, Qawi Jalili, Gotbit Consulting LLC (Gotbit)
- Riqui Liu, Baijun Ou, ZM Quant Investment LTD (ZM Quant)
- Andrey Zhorzhes, CLS Global FZC, LLC (CLS)
- Liu Zhou, MyTrade MM
- Manpreet Kohli, Haroon Mohsini, Nam Tran, Max Hernandez, Russell Armand, Vy Pham, Saitama LLC (Saitama)
- Robo Inu Finance (Robo Inu)
- Michael Thompson, VZZN, and
- Bradley Beatty, Lillian Finance LLC (Lillian Finance)
"Today's enforcement actions demonstrate, once more, that retail investors are being victimized by fraudulent activity by institutional actors in the markets for crypto assets," Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said. "With purported promoters and self-anointed market makers teaming up to target the investing public with false promises of profits in the crypto markets, investors should be mindful that the deck may be stacked against them."
1 Top Cryptocurrency to Buy Before It Soars 2,377%, According to Cathie Wood of Ark Invest 00 Cathie Wood isn't known for playing things safe. As the maverick head of Ark Invest and pioneer of thematic investing, she's used to making big bets -- and even bigger claims. She continues to be a huge advocate of Tesla, standing by the struggling electric vehicle maker with the belief that it will capture $5 trillion of a future $10 trillion robotaxi market. She is also a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies and a big believer in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the granddaddy of them all. Her prediction here? By 2030, Bitcoin will reach $1.5 million a coin, a nearly 2,400% return from today's price. She went even further more recently, saying that if institutional investors allocate 5% of their funds to Bitcoin, it would add $2.3 million to her prediction for a total of $3.8 million per coin. What leads her to believe this? Institutions will make all the difference for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is no longer the wild West of investing. It is still a volatile asset, that's for sure, but the market is very different from just a decade ago. In the last few years, there has been a massive influx of institutional money, and with that capital has come more stability. Wood herself helped spur the change. Although a few institutions have been in the market for some time, many more have gotten involved since Wood helped lobby the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The first batch of 11 such ETfs was approved in January of this year. This was a big moment for the industry, as these ETFs provide a much easier way for investors large and small to access Bitcoin. Many brokerages that don't provide cryptocurrency trades will gladly support the trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Wood believes that as people start thinking of Bitcoin not as a risky, volatile asset but as a stable and even safe one, institutional investors will shift even more of their portfolios into this cryptocurrency. Right now, most of the largest financial institutions have less than 1% of their portfolios in "digital assets" and 16% have less than 0.1% (0 wasn't an option in the survey). Still, adoption is continuing. A modest exposure by institutional investors, say 1% or 2%, would still boost Bitcoin's price significantly, especially if some of her other catalysts come to pass. This evolving image from speculative asset to something more stable has led some to refer to Bitcoin as "digital gold." It is scarce, it takes work to "mine," and its supply is finite. Taken together, all of that means that it has a tendency to appreciate in value over time. These qualities and more led Larry Fink, one of the most influential and powerful investors in the world, to call Bitcoin a "legitimate financial instrument." He believes it is an excellent asset if you "believe governments are debasing their currency." Unlike gold, however, Bitcoin is portable and easy to store. Do you know how difficult it is to send $10,000 in gold bars to someone across the country? With Bitcoin, it can be done in seconds. The value of all the gold in Fort Knox can be stored on a flash drive. As more and more people begin seeing Bitcoin as digital gold, it could spur a massive influx of money, especially in times of economic turbulence. Wood points to other catalysts, like its use as currency in countries with runaway inflation, by governments as a store of wealth, as a remittance asset for cross-border payments, and as a cash equivalent by corporations. It's clear there are many ways Bitcoin can appreciate in value; the question is how much it will appreciate. I think that Wood's target of $1.5 million and bull case of $3.8 million are pretty unlikely by 2030, but she definitely makes an interesting case. I believe Bitcoin will handily outperform the market over the next five years and is a great part of a diversified portfolio for those with high risk tolerance. Don’t miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity
Elizabeth Warren Proves Democrats Are Still Against Bitcoin - If you were tuned into the Massachusetts Senate debate last night, you would have noticed a key exchange between pro-Bitcoin candidate John Deaton and his rival Elizabeth Warren, leader of Washington D.C.’s “anti-crypto army.” When pressed by Deaton, Warren wouldn’t even defend herself. After lying and attacking our industry for years, she said “I’m fine if people want to buy and sell crypto.” Seriously... John Deaton just called out Sen. Warren in their election debate for her "anti-crypto army." Warren fired back, claiming Deaton is a puppet merely trying to line his own pocket. Both can make a compelling case against the…pic.twitter.com/VuujNKeGCp Crypto took up a large portion of the wide-ranging debate, with Warren claiming Deaton would be beholden to the crypto industry that has backed him in the race. “If John Deaton has a chance to go to Washington, his crypto buddies are going to want a return on their investment. He's going to be there to fight for crypto,” Warren said during the debate, suggesting he’d prioritize the industry’s interests over working-class Americans. “I've upset more crypto billionaires than anyone did,” Deaton replied, claiming to have done Warren’s job by exposing regulatory capture in the crypto space during her time on the banking committee. “But here's the thing, her bill bans bitcoin self-custody in America, yet she's allowing the banks to custody bitcoin — another example that Senator Warren's policies do not help poor people, they do not help the working class.” Warren again questioned his connections to the crypto industry, however.“He's saying he has really made crypto folks mad, so mad that they came here to Massachusetts and are funding 90% of his campaign to try to take back this Senate seat to take it away from me.”Deaton responded by questioning why the Senator was so focused on crypto.“I wish Senator Warren would attack inflation the way she attacks crypto. I wish she would attack securing the border the way she's focused on crypto,” he said.My big concern with this moment is that it says everything about the Democrats and the lip service they are paying to the Bitcoin industry.It’s undeniable that Bitcoin has turned into a partisan issue in this country for the most part. Most Democrats have followed Warren in taking a strong stance against supporting Bitcoin (even if they won’t admit it). I suspect Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has done the same.SUI price rally sparks $400M insider selling allegations -The recent triple-digit rally of the Sui token has sparked allegations of insider selling among cryptocurrency investors despite its impressive price gains. Sui (SUI) rose over 120% during the past month to trade at $2.25 as of 10:13 am UTC on Oct. 14. The token is up over 16% in the past week, according to Cointelegraph data.However, allegations of insider selling have arisen despite the Sui token’s bullish price action. Wallets associated with the SUI initial coin offering (ICO) have reportedly sold more than $400 million worth of tokens during the rally, according to pseudonymous crypto analyst Light, who posted the information on X on Oct. 14. Light stated: “Insiders (including what is likely a large foundation wallet) have sold $400 million in tokens throughout this run-up, had already begun selling material amounts at much lower prices, and are even accelerating their selling at these more elevated levels.” Insiders holding a significant amount of a cryptocurrency’s circulating supply can significantly impact the token’s price. Large-scale selling from these holders can lead to downside pressure.
Google Removes Bitcoin and Crypto Price Charts from Search - Google has removed live price charts for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from its search results. Users have noticed that queries like “Bitcoin price” or “Ethereum price” no longer display these charts, a feature that has been available since 2018. This change has been in effect for several days, but it’s unclear whether it’s a temporary glitch or a permanent decision. As of now, Google has not issued an official statement explaining the removal of these charts. It could also be an experiment being conducted by the Google algorithm before the upcoming US election. Although cryptocurrency price graphs are no longer shown, stock and index graphs remain visible in the search results. Earlier, Google offered charts that showed current rates of most popular cryptocurrencies so a user could check prices at any time. For those who still wish to follow the cryptocurrency prices, the information is still available on Google Finance. However, it should be noted that the latest updates of this platform were captured on October 7, which suggest that there could be some technical problem with how this data is captured.Cryptocurrency lovers will be waiting to see whether Google will bring back these price charts or whether this is going to be a new norm when it comes to the display of cryptocurrency information on the internet.For now, users will have to use other social media apps to get updates on the prices of cryptocurrencies.
OilRig Exploits Windows Kernel Flaw in Espionage Campaign Targeting UAE and Gulf - The Iranian threat actor known as OilRig has been observed exploiting a now-patched privilege escalation flaw impacting the Windows Kernel as part of a cyber espionage campaign targeting the U.A.E. and the broader Gulf region."The group utilizes sophisticated tactics that include deploying a backdoor that leverages Microsoft Exchange servers for credentials theft, and exploiting vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-30088 for privilege escalation," Trend Micro researchers Mohamed Fahmy, Bahaa Yamany, Ahmed Kamal, and Nick Daisaid in an analysis published on Friday.The cybersecurity company is tracking the threat actor under the monikerEarth Simnavaz, which is also referred to as APT34, Crambus, Cobalt Gypsy, GreenBug, Hazel Sandstorm (formerly EUROPIUM), and Helix Kitten.The attack chains entail the deployment of a previously undocumented implant that comes with capabilities to exfiltrate credentials through on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers, a tried-and-tested tactic adopted by the adversary in the past, while also incorporating recently disclosed vulnerabilities to its exploit arsenal.CVE-2024-30088, patched by Microsoft in June 2024, concerns a case of privilege escalation in the Windows kernel that could be exploited to gain SYSTEM privileges, assuming the attackers can win a race condition.Initial access to target networks is facilitated by means of infiltrating a vulnerable web server to drop a web shell, followed by dropping the ngrok remote management tool to maintain persistence and move to other endpoints in the network.The privilege escalation vulnerability subsequently serves as a conduit to deliver the backdoor, codenamed STEALHOOK, responsible for transmitting harvested data via the Exchange server to an email address controlled by the attacker in the form of attachments.A notable technique employed by OilRig in the latest set of attacks involves the abuse of the elevated privileges to drop the password filter policy DLL (psgfilter.dll) in order to extract sensitive credentials from domain users via domain controllers or local accounts on local machines."The malicious actor took great care in working with the plaintext passwords while implementing the password filter export functions," the researchers said. "The threat actor also utilized plaintext passwords to gain access and deploy tools remotely. The plaintext passwords were first encrypted before being exfiltrated when sent over networks." It's worth noting that the use of psgfilter.dll was observed back in December 2022 in a connection with a campaign targeting organizations in the Middle East using another backdoor dubbed MrPerfectionManager."Their recent activity suggests that Earth Simnavaz is focused on abusing vulnerabilities in key infrastructure of geopolitically sensitive regions," the researchers noted. "They also seek to establish a persistent foothold in compromised entities, so these can be weaponized to launch attacks on additional targets."
Russia, China collaborating with criminal networks in cyberattacks against adversaries: Microsoft report - - Russia, China and Iran are increasingly collaborating with cybercrime networks to launch avariety of attacks against their adversaries, including the U.S., Microsoft said in a Tuesday report.The attacks, ranging from ransomware to phishing, were carried out for “espionage, destruction or influence” and involved cybercrime gangs working with these nations to share hacking tools and tactics, Microsoft said in its new Digital Defense Report. Published Tuesday, the report looked at cyber threats from July 2023 through June. In one influence operation, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) group used cyber personas starting last year to sell stolen Israeli dating website data, Microsoft found. And in another case, Russian threat actors used new malware and appeared to outsource some cyberespionage operations to criminal groups, the report stated. Last June, one operation compromised at least 50 Ukrainian military devices in an apparent attempt to access information for the Russian government. Microsoft said these cyberattacks also included attempts to influence the U.S. election ahead of November. Russia has continued various operations intended to undermine trust in democratic institutions, while Iran and China have escalated their influence campaigns in the past year. Iran, in one case, likely operated a network of websites posing as news outlets for U.S. voter groups to engage with, according to Microsoft. These websites featured “polarizing messages” on the U.S. presidential candidates, the Israel-Hamas war and LGBTQ rights. These sites used artificial intelligence tools to copy work from real publications in the U.S., the report said. The tech company pointed to China’s use of “covert social media networks,” to create discord and influence the presidential race. In one instance, an actor linked to the Chinese Communist Party carried out an influence campaign on social media amid the uptick in college campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war. The actor allegedly had multiple accounts on Telegram pretending to be students or parents involved in the protests in a likely attempt to prompt conflict about the protests, Microsoft said. As for Russia, the country’s influence operations were at a “slower pace” than past elections, though attempts were still observed, Microsoft noted. “The convergence and parallel nature of nation-state operations throughout 2024 underscores just how persistent adversarial states are in their attempts to exert influence over US elections and outcomes,” the report stated. “Left unchecked, this poses a critical challenge to US national security and democratic resilience.” Lawmakers and tech leaders alike have repeatedly sounded the alarm over foreign election interference attempts, including Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, who testified last month that there are “real and serious” threats of foreign actors trying to wield influence on the 2024 election. “We know that there is a presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, but this has also become an election of Iran versus Trump and Russia versus Harris,” Smith said before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on foreign election interference last month. The Justice Department handed down an indictment last month accusing two RT employees of leading a covert influence campaign by partnering with conservative company Tenet Media to hire various right-wing influencers. The agency also seized more than 30 web domains used by Russia for covert campaigns. Days later, Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — announced it banned Russian state media from its social media platforms in the wake of the outlets’ “foreign interference activity.” Earlier this month, the DOJ seized dozens more web domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies to steal Americans’ information.
Cybercrime gangs collaborate with Russia, China, and Iran: Microsoft report -Russia, China and Iran are increasingly collaborating with cybercrime networks to launch avariety of attacks against their adversaries, including the U.S., Microsoft said in a Tuesday report.The attacks, ranging from ransomware to phishing, were carried out for “espionage, destruction or influence” and involved cybercrime gangs working with these nations to share hacking tools and tactics, Microsoft said in its new Digital Defense Report. Published Tuesday, the report looked at cyber threats from July 2023 through June. In one influence operation, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) group used cyber personas starting last year to sell stolen Israeli dating website data, Microsoft found. And in another case, Russian threat actors used new malware and appeared to outsource some cyberespionage operations to criminal groups, the report stated. Last June, one operation compromised at least 50 Ukrainian military devices in an apparent attempt to access information for the Russian government. Microsoft said these cyberattacks also included attempts to influence the U.S. election ahead of November. Russia has continued various operations intended to undermine trust in democratic institutions, while Iran and China have escalated their influence campaigns in the past year. Iran, in one case, likely operated a network of websites posing as news outlets for U.S. voter groups to engage with, according to Microsoft. These websites featured “polarizing messages” on the U.S. presidential candidates, the Israel-Hamas war and LGBTQ rights. These sites used artificial intelligence tools to copy work from real publications in the U.S., the report said. The tech company pointed to China’s use of “covert social media networks,” to create discord and influence the presidential race. In one instance, an actor linked to the Chinese Communist Party carried out an influence campaign on social media amid the uptick in college campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war. The actor allegedly had multiple accounts on Telegram pretending to be students or parents involved in the protests in a likely attempt to prompt conflict about the protests, Microsoft said. As for Russia, the country’s influence operations were at a “slower pace” than past elections, though attempts were still observed, Microsoft noted. “The convergence and parallel nature of nation-state operations throughout 2024 underscores just how persistent adversarial states are in their attempts to exert influence over US elections and outcomes,” the report stated. “Left unchecked, this poses a critical challenge to US national security and democratic resilience.” Lawmakers and tech leaders alike have repeatedly sounded the alarm over foreign election interference attempts, including Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, who testified last month that there are “real and serious” threats of foreign actors trying to wield influence on the 2024 election. “We know that there is a presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, but this has also become an election of Iran versus Trump and Russia versus Harris,” Smith said before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on foreign election interference last month. The Justice Department handed down an indictment last month accusing two RT employees of leading a covert influence campaign by partnering with conservative company Tenet Media to hire various right-wing influencers. The agency also seized more than 30 web domains used by Russia for covert campaigns. Days later, Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — announced it banned Russian state media from its social media platforms in the wake of the outlets’ “foreign interference activity.”
OpenAI Blocks 20 Global Malicious Campaigns Using AI for Cybercrime and Disinformation -OpenAI on Wednesday said it has disrupted more than 20 operations and deceptive networks across the world that attempted to use its platform for malicious purposes since the start of the year.This activity encompassed debugging malware, writing articles for websites, generating biographies for social media accounts, and creating AI-generated profile pictures for fake accounts on X."Threat actors continue to evolve and experiment with our models, but we have not seen evidence of this leading to meaningful breakthroughs in their ability to create substantially new malware or build viral audiences," the artificial intelligence (AI) company said.It also said it disrupted activity that generated social media content related to elections in the U.S., Rwanda, and to a lesser extent India and the European Union, and that none of these networks attracted viral engagement or sustained audiences.This included efforts undertaken by an Israeli commercial company named STOIC (also dubbed Zero Zeno) that generated social media comments about Indian elections, as previously disclosed by Meta and OpenAI earlier this May.Some of the cyber operations highlighted by OpenAI are as follows -
- SweetSpecter, a suspected China-based adversary that used its AI models for LLM-informed reconnaissance, vulnerability research, scripting support, anomaly detection evasion, and development. It has also been observed conducting unsuccessful spear-phishing attempts against OpenAI employees to deliver the SugarGh0st RAT.
- Cyber Av3ngers, a group affiliated with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that used its AI models to conduct research into programmable logic controllers.
- Storm-0817, an Iranian threat actor that used its AI models to debug Android malware capable of harvesting sensitive information, tooling to scrape Instagram profiles via Selenium, and translating LinkedIn profiles into Persian.
Elsewhere, the company said it took steps to block several clusters of accounts, including two related to influence operations codenamed A2Z and Stop News, that generated English- and French-language content for subsequent posting on a number of websites and social media accounts across various platforms.
California’s deepfake ban can’t fool the deep protections of the First Amendment -It’s a tale at least as old as American democracy. In the midst of a heated election season, a biting ad, satirical pamphlet, parody song or viral video alarms the powers that be so much that they attempt to censor it. The latest chapter in this long-running saga involves California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s crackdown on election deepfakes. X owner Elon Musk reposted an obvious parody campaign video on his platform, in which a deepfake of Vice President Kamala Harris mocks herself as a “deep state puppet” and “the ultimate diversity hire.” “Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal,” Newsom declared, promising to ban the video. And that’s exactly what he did by signing into law Assembly Bill 2839 on Sept. 17. The law bans any altered content — from four months before to two months after an election — if it is “materially deceptive” and falsely portrays a candidate saying or doing something that could harm his or her “reputation or electoral prospects.” The law also bans altered content that falsely depicts election officials, candidates, voting machines or ballots in a way likely to “undermine confidence” in the election. Government officials or members of the public can sue to get such content removed and win damages. This type of censorship has dubious historical parallels. In 1798, President John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts into law, prohibiting “false, scandalous, or malicious writing” that brought the president into “contempt or disrepute.” Using that law, his administration went after newspaper editor Matthew Lyon for publishing a letter criticizing Adams as having wild ambitions to crown himself king of a new American aristocracy, adding that he probably belonged in “a madhouse.” Lyon’s arrest sparked a severe backlash, and free speech won the day. The wildly unpopular acts were later repealed or allowed to expire. The illiberal legacy of the acts remain a stain on Adams’s legacy to this day. Newsom’s ban on parody is likely to suffer the same fate. After all, in both cases, a politician used the power of his office to go beyond targeting actually fraudulent or defamatory speech. “Mr. Reagan,” the username of the creator of the Harris deepfake video, sued to block the law, arguing that it violates his First Amendment rights. And he’s right. On Oct. 2 — just two weeks after its enactment — a federal judge ruled that the law was indeed likely to violate the First Amendment and halted enforcement. The court explained that the First Amendment protects political speech even when it is false or harmful. Indeed, “civil penalties for criticisms of the government…have no place in our system of governance.” Because the law attempted to punish speech based on whether it was true, the court blocked its enforcement pending further review. After all, in America, it is the marketplace of ideas rather than the government that is the arbiter of truth. We do not trust government officials, however well-meaning, to decide what is true or false in politics. And our First Amendment rights certainly don’t change depending on how close we are to Election Day. If anything, they get stronger in the “crucial phase” leading up to an election.
Rising crypto scams leave Americans reeling from billions in losses - Cryptocurrency was supposed to change the way we handle money. We kept hearing from influencers and "experts" about how it would give you full control of your cash and how secure it is. But scammers have shown that crypto isn't as foolproof as promised. It’s actually pretty easy to steal.The FBI reported Americans lost $5.6 billion to crypto scams in 2023, a 45% jump from the year before. Over 69,000 people filed complaints with the Feds' Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) last year, and most of them were aged 60 and up. The FBI’s IC3 report highlighted various crypto scams, most of which involve strong social engineering tactics. First off, we have investment fraud. Scammers contact you via call, text, or email, promising huge (unheard of) profits if you invest in cryptocurrency. They tell you that everyone is investing and making massive returns, and if you don’t, you will miss out. This usually works on people who are eager to invest but aren’t sure how to get started — in other words, those who have the cash to invest but aren’t very tech-savvy. Losses from investment fraud schemes reported to the IC3 rose from $2.57 billion in 2022 to $3.96 billion in 2023, an increase of 53%.Scammers sometimes build a relationship with you to make the scam seem legit. They use dating apps, social media, professional networking sites or encrypted messaging apps to get close to their targets. Once they've gained your trust, they bring up cryptocurrency investment. They might claim they have some expertise or know an expert who can help you make big money. Then, they push you to use fake websites or apps — ones they control — to invest in crypto. To make things even worse, scammers sometimes go after the same people again by pretending to be fake crypto-recovery specialists. They promise to help recover the money the original scammers stole but end up taking even more cash and disappearing with that, too. "There is one thing these scammers typically will not do — they will not meet with you in real life," the Feds said.Crypto scammers are primarily targeting people over 60, especially those who aren't very familiar with technology. According to the Feds, most of the complaints they received in 2023 — about 16,806 — came from this age group. In total, they lost over $1.6 billion to these scams. Looking at complaints across all age groups, it's clear the losses are staggering. Here's a breakdown of the 2023 complaints and losses by age group:
- Under 20: 858 complaints, $14.7 million in losses
- 20-29: 6,258 complaints, $168.6 million in losses
- 30-39: 10,849 complaints, $693.7 million in losses
- 40-49: 10,318 complaints, $843.9 million in losses
- 50-59: 8,918 complaints, $901.1 million in losses
- Over 60: 16,806 complaints, $1.65 billion in losses
"While individuals in the age ranges of 30–39 and 40–49 filed the most cryptocurrency-investment fraud complaints (approximately 5,200 reports in each age group), complainants over the age of 60 reported the highest losses (over $1.24 billion)," noted the FBI report.
Helping seniors avoid financial scams is just good business for banks - Seniors represent an important customer segment for most banks, constituting a primary source of core funding in an environment where sources of core deposits are scarce. Expanding relationships with this critical market requires developing a differentiated value proposition that does not rely exclusively on premium CD rates. One approach is to install highly effective programs that address an increasingly urgent issue for seniors: financial scams. Financial scams targeting seniors are exploding, with both the number of victims and dollar amount of losses doubling over the last four years, As financial fraud becomes more and more sophisticated, banks need to get proactive about protecting their customers from scammers. This is particularly true of seniors, whose deposits are a key source of banks' core deposits.
Pensioner loses $224k after being tricked by AI deepfake Christopher Luxon cryptocurrency investment scam - NZ Herald -- A Taranaki grandmother lost $224,000 to scammers after being duped by an AI-generated deepfake video of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon encouraging superannuitants to invest in cryptocurrency. Jill Creasy, 72, spotted the realistic-looking video advertisement on Facebook in July this year. In it, the Prime Minister purportedly urged pensioners to supplement their income by splurging on Bitcoin. However the video – along with others depicting TVNZ broadcaster Jenny May Clarkson and deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters – were AI-generated deepfakes that weeks later sparked a public scam warning from the Financial Markets Authority. With $20,000 savings plus a term deposit with $200,000 inherited from her late mother’s house, Creasy was keen to invest. After responding, she was contacted by a Greek national calling himself Adam Manolas who claimed to be a Terma Group investment adviser based in Manchester. Manolas explained how the investment worked then sent Creasy software called AnyDesk, which gave him remote access to her computer. Using her email, he set up accounts under her name at crypto exchange platforms Easy Crypto and Binance, before instructing her to log in to her TSB internet banking.She then watched as he transferred the first of a dozen or so payments over the next 26 days to purchase Bitcoin from Easy Crypto. Most of the payments were for $20,000 – her daily transfer limit with TSB.Creasy’s Bitcoin was supposed to be deposited in her Binance wallet, but she later learned it was sent to another account controlled by the scammers.A computer expert who helped Creasy unravel the fraud tracked her Bitcoin to a third Binance “holding account” that was receiving nearly $3 million each day and contained nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency. He believes the assets were likely linked to other victims.
The SEC Whistleblower Program Is Dominating Regulatory Enforcement -Tax farming is the practice of licensing tax collection to private contractors. Used heavily in ancient Rome, it’s largely fallen out of practice because of the obvious conflict of interest between the state and the contractor. Because tax farmers are primarily interested in short-term revenue, they have no problem abusing taxpayers and making things worse for them in the long term.Today, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is engaged in a modern-day version of tax farming. And the potential for abuse will grow when the farmers start using artificial intelligenceIn 2009, after Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme was exposed, Congress authorized the SEC to award bounties from civil penalties recovered from securities law violators. It worked in a big way. In 2012, when the program started, the agency received more than three thousand tips. By 2020, it had more than doubled, and it more than doubled again by 2023. The SEC now receives more than 50 tips per day, and the program has paid out a staggering $2 billion in bounty awards. According to the agency’s 2023 financial report, the SEC paid out nearly $600 million to whistleblowers last year.The appeal of the whistleblower program is that it alerts the SEC to violations it may not otherwise uncover, without any additional staff. And since payouts are a percentage of fines collected, it costs the government little to implement.Unfortunately, the program has resulted in a new industry of private de facto regulatory enforcers. Legal scholar Alexander Platt has shown how the SEC’s whistleblower program has effectively privatized a huge portion of financial regulatory enforcement. There is a role for publicly-sourced information in securities regulatory enforcement, just as there has been in litigation for antitrust and other areas of the law. But the SEC program, and a similar one at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has created a market distortion replete with perverse incentives. Like the tax farmers of history, the interests of the whistleblowers don’t match those of the government.First, while the blockbuster awards paid out to whistleblowers draw attention to the SEC’s successes, they obscure the fact that its staffing level has slightly declined during a period of tremendous market growth. In onecase, the SEC’s largest ever, it paid $279 million to an individual whistleblower. That single award was nearly one-third of the funding of the SEC’s entire enforcement division last year. Congress gets to pat itself on the back for spinning up a program that pays for itself (by law, the SEC awards 10 to 30 percent of their penalty collections over $1 million to qualifying whistleblowers), when it should be talking about whether or not it’s given the agency enough resources to fulfill its mission to “maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets.”Second, while the stated purpose of the whistleblower program is to incentivize individuals to come forward with information about potential violations of securities law, this hasn’t actually led to increases inenforcement actions. Instead of legitimate whistleblowers bringing the most credible information to the SEC, the agency now seems to be deluged by tips that are not highly actionable.But the biggest problem is that uncovering corporate malfeasance is now a legitimate business model, resulting in powerful firms and misaligned incentives. A single law practice led by former SEC assistant directorJordan Thomas captured about 20 percent of all the SEC’s whistleblower awards through 2022, at which point Thomas left to open up a new firm focused exclusively on whistleblowers. We can admire Thomas and his team’s impact on making those guilty of white-collar crimes pay, and also question whether hundreds of millions of dollars of penalties should be funneled through the hands of an SEC insider turned for-profit business mogul.
TD money-laundering scandal puts supervision back under the microscope After using one of its most powerful enforcement tools to crack down on rampant money laundering at TD Bank, a Washington regulator finds its own oversight functions under the microscope. For more than a decade, the bank allowed billions of dollars from illicit activities to flow through the U.S. financial system unchecked. Some are wondering why examiners didn't put a stop to it sooner.
TD money-laundering scandal revives allegations of Too Big To Jail -- One thing notably absent from Attorney General Merrick Garland's historic settlement announcement with TD Bank was any mention of criminal charges against executives who oversaw the bank during its involvement in a yearslong money-laundering conspiracy. TD Bank's guilty plea to extensive money-laundering charges last week did not include any criminal charges against individual bank executives. That absence has critics fuming, but experts say bringing charges against individuals isn't so easy.
OCC tells Florida community bank to step up AML oversight - A Maitland, Florida bank has agreed to revamp its money laundering oversight program after being cited by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulator cited Axiom Bank for unsafe and unsound practices as well as violating the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering requirements.
Can We Rein In The Excesses Of Financialization Without Crashing The Economy? Or we can let the bubble implode under its own weight and have a plan ready to clean house when the dust settles.Thanks to recency bias, we tend to think the world has always been more or less as it is today. Tectonic shifts beneath the veneer of everyday life escape us unless we make a concerted effort to peel back the veneer of normalcy.For example, consider the rise of finance as the dominant force in our socio-economic / political status quo. Statistics give us a rough picture of the dominance:In 2023, the finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing industry contributed 20.7% to the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). This is higher than the long-term average of 7.29%. In 1947, the finance industry made up only 10% of non-farm business profits. By 2010, the finance industry made up 50% of non-farm business profits.The chart below of non-bank financial institutions' assets as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) tells the story: prior to the era of financialization, non-bank financial institutions' assets trundled along for decades at around 40% of GDP. Recall that "non-bank financial institutions" is shorthand for the mechanisms of financialization, which is the globalized commoditization of everything into a tradable financial instrument.Labor, capital, risk, currencies, commodities, income streams, real-world assets--everything is converted into a financial doppelganger that can be arbitraged and traded for profit. The actual use-value is no longer the "value" being "created;" the "value" is "created" by generating an entirely abstract financial shadow cast by the collateral of the real world.This transmogrification of the global economy into a fully financialized shadow-world took off in the early 1980s when financiers were first given access to unlimited credit and the other tools of financialization. Non-bank financial institutions' assets soon soared from 40% of GDP to 140% of GDP, and in the final blow-off phase of hyper-financialization that we're experiencing now, these assets are 200% of GDP-- five times the pre-financialization era levels that were deemed "widespread prosperity" (the Trente Glorieuses, the 30 glorious years of shared prosperity from 1945 to 1975).The wealth generated by financialization and hyper-financialization isn't shared; it's concentrated in the hands of those with access to credit and and the other tools of financialization, currently epitomized by private equity.This excerpt from a post on promarket.org illuminates the reality that financialization isn't cost-free to the economy:"Epstein and Montecino argue that the total cost of the financial system is comprised of rents, misallocation costs, and the costs of the 2008 crisis. Such costs can be divided into two types: transfers and inefficiencies. When combined together, Epstein and Montecino estimate that they total to $688bn a year, or 4 percent of GDP. Cumulatively, from 1990 to 2023, this number would add up to $22.7 trillion."Adjusted for inflation, this sum totals $30.2 trillion in today's dollars--larger than America's entire GDP of $27 trillion.The larger point is that an economy that's dependent on the distortions of financialization for its "growth" and profits is not a stable system; the gross imbalances generated by the distortions undermine its stability, and the system collapses under its own weight once the imbalances destabilize society and the real-world economy.
Waller makes case for DeFi as complement to traditional finance - Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller said decentralized finance works best as a complement to existing financial processes, instead of a replacement. He argued that while decentralized finance technologies can reduce reliance on intermediaries and enhance efficiency, they ultimately pair well with centralized finance.
Oklahoma bank fails amid claims of 'false and deceptive bank records' -- The First National Bank of Lindsay in Lindsay, Okla., was shuttered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is referring the issue to the U.S. Department of Justice. The failure of the $107.8 million bank will also cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $43 million.
Gaping holes in banking regulatory system -- A report released last week has pointed to the fact that there are large gaps in the so-called Basel Framework, the international regulatory mechanism aimed at preventing the kind of global financial crisis which erupted in 2008. The update was issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision of the Bank for International Settlements. It expands on an analysis, published by the Committee in October 2023, on the crisis which engulfed three mid-sized American banks in March 2023 and the collapse and liquidation of the global bank Credit Suisse. The US crisis was only overcome through a significant intervention by the Federal Reserve Board. The Credit Suisse crisis required its takeover by rival Swiss bank UBS, in a controversial operation organised by the Swiss government which broke previous liquidation conventions. In its latest report the Committee again underscored the significance of the 2023 events. It said the turmoil was the “most significant system-wide banking stress since the Great Financial Crisis in terms of scale and scope. Over the span of 11 days—from 8 to 19 March 2023—four banks with total assets of about $900 billion were shut down, put into receivership or rescued.” None of this was supposed to happen. As the report explained: “The Committee issued supervisory principles for managing liquidity risks in 2008 and found that they remained fit for purpose in 2019. Nevertheless, the 2023 banking turmoil highlighted clear challenges in overseeing banks’ liquidity risks.” Nothing in the report indicates that these challenges have been overcome and in fact there is evidence to suggest they may have grown. The report said that “all of the distressed banks during the 2023 banking turmoil experienced a series of liquidity shocks” and that “the turmoil raised questions about the design and calibration of the Basel III liquidity standards.” But nothing was advanced as to how this issue might be addressed. The report merely said that these developments “prompt consideration by supervisors” as to whether “their monitoring of bank, sectoral and market information” provided “the relevant information, in a timely manner, for them to identify when material liquidity outflows start to take place.” Here the Committee raised a core problem which arises from the very structure of the global capitalist economy and its financial system. While financial markets are global in nature, regulation is determined on a national basis. “The Basel Framework applies on a consolidated basis to internationally active banks. It does not define the concept of internationally active banks. Jurisdictions [that is, national governments beholden to their “own” sections of finance capital] have full responsibility in deciding on the scope of banks beyond internationally active ones and have opted for different approaches in implementing Basel III.” The establishment of a system of regulation based on so-called “Basel Core Principles” might be thought to provide a mechanism for the prevention of a global crisis. But it does not, as the Committee itself made clear, not least because the global character of the financial system means that turmoil even in a relatively small area can rapidly have international consequences. As it noted, the 2023 events showed that “the failure of a bank can have systemic implications through multiple channels, including first- and second-round propagation effects. For example, the distress of relatively small banks (which are not subject to the full Basel III Framework) can trigger broader and cross-border systemic concerns and contagion effects.” In its examination of the failure of Credit Suisse, the report pointed out that, even where regulations were adhered to, this did not prevent a crisis. The Basel regime requires that global banks hold enough assets that can be easily sold to cover 30 days of cash outflows if they come under stress. Credit Suisse met this requirement almost up to the end but then went to the edge of a collapse when customers withdrew a quarter of its assets in just a few days. Credit Suisse faced another problem, in that assets which had been counted to meet liquidity standards could not be used because they were assigned to other entities within the organisation and so were “trapped liquidity.” Had they been sold, this would have had to be disclosed to investors leading to a crisis of confidence. In the case of the three US banks, their problem was that the market value of the Treasury bonds they had on their books, purchased as supposed security when money was flowing in, fell below their book value when interest rates began to rise with the tightening of the Fed’s monetary policy starting in 2022. Had they been sold to meet cash demands, then the banks would have had to realise the losses they had incurred, leading to a lowering of their capital. There have been efforts to claim that the failure of the three US banks, starting with the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, was simply due to bad management. No doubt this played a role. But the report noted that “irrespective” of liquidity rules “not being applied to the US banks that failed,” the speed of the outflows “far exceeded” the assumptions on which those rules were based. In other words, the entire system for determining the stability of banks, based on whether they are considered to have sufficient liquidity, turned out to be useless in a period of instability. The report itself went some way to acknowledging this. It noted that “recent events have demonstrated that the liquidity regulations alone cannot prevent all liquidity runs in an age characterised by easy access to information as banking services via various digital tools.” But this is the age in which the financial system operates. The Committee’s report did not advance any solution, saying only that it would continue “prioritising work to strengthen supervisory effectiveness and identify issues that could merit additional guidance at a global level.” And even if new rules are drawn up at a global level, whether they will be adopted is another question as recent experience in the US has demonstrated. In the wake of the March 2023 US bank failures, Michael Barr, the Fed official in charge of bank regulation, insisted he was going to press ahead with rules that required banks to maintain an increased level of capital to deal with losses. In September this year, following a massive campaign by the banks, because the new regulations would eat into their profits, Barr announced that the proposed regulations had been scrapped and underscored his total capitulation and subservience to finance capital, saying life had given him the opportunity “to learn and relearn the lesson of humility.”
Banking lobbies back Fed in debit swipe-fee suit - For the second time this year, banking trade groups have taken the Federal Reserve's side in pending litigation. The Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House filed a motion to join the central bank's defense of Regulation II.
FDIC ahead of schedule on minimum deposit insurance goal - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. staff Thursday said the agency's Deposit Insurance fund reserve ratio — which measures the Deposit Insurance Fund, or DIF, balance compared to all FDIC insured deposits — is likely to be restored to its statutory minimum level of 1.35% ahead of schedule. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. projected its Deposit Insurance Fund reserve ratio is expected to reach the statutory minimum of 1.35% by 2026 thanks to slower-than-expected insured deposit growth and a $7.5 billion increase in the DIF balance.
Bank of America tops estimates on better-than-expected trading revenue -- Bank of America topped analyst estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue on better-than-expected trading results. Here's what the company reported:
- Earnings: 81 cents vs. 77 cents LSEG estimate
- Revenue: $25.49 billion vs. $25.3 billion estimate
The bank said Tuesday that net income fell 12% from a year earlier to $6.9 billion, or 81 cents a share, on higher provisions for loan losses and rising expenses. Revenue rose less than 1% to $25.49 billion as gains in trading revenue and asset management and investment banking fees offset a decline in net interest income.How quickly will Bank of America benefit from falling interest rates?That's a key question after the lender signaled in July that a rebound in net interest income was coming in the second half of this year.Bank of America has seen its haul from net interest income get compressed as the Federal Reserve boosted rates over the past two years. Now that the Fed is easing rates, analysts will be keen to understand how that will impact the bank.NII, which is one of the key ways that banks make money, is the difference between what a bank earns on loans and investments and what it pays depositors for their savings.JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Friday posted earnings that topped estimates, helped by their investment banking operations. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are also scheduled to report results Tuesday, while Morgan Stanleywill disclose earnings Wednesday.
Citigroup earnings top estimates, boosted by investment banking - CNBC's Leslie Picker joins 'Squawk Box' to report on the bank's quarterly earnings results.
Goldman Sachs beats on profit and revenue as trading and investment banking boost results -- CNBC's Leslie Picker reports on the company's quarterly earnings results.
US Profit Growth Is Negative For All But The Largest Companies -Yesterday when looking at the rolling forecast of Q3 earnings season, we noticed something remarkable: according to Bank of America, while overall Q3 earnings growth was expected to be a modest 4%, this would be entirely due to a 19% increase in Mag 7 earnings (down from 37% in Q2 and down from 55% a year ago). The rest of the S&P500 - some 493 companies - are expected to post another quarter of flat earnings! This stunning lack of earnings growth for all but the largest US companies is visualized in the next chart:
CFPB's Chopra rushes to finish enforcement actions before election - Shortly after Rohit Chopra became director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency began hiring more enforcement attorneys with the intention of ramping up investigations of big banks and repeat offenders. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Director Rohit Chopra was stymied for months by a Supreme Court case that put many enforcement actions on hold, but the bureau is making up for lost time.
CFPB's Chopra pans so-called 'Chopra doctrine' of expanding authority - Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was asked at a consumer law conference last week whether his tenure at the agency could be characterized as finding creative ways to use existing laws to enforce regulations. He said his tenure at the agency could be characterized as simply reading statutes rather than finding novel ways to enforce regulations.
CFPB's nonbank registry of repeat offenders goes live - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's nonbank registry to address repeat corporate offenders goes live this week, but some experts have raised concerns about redundancy and costs for nonbanks. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's nonbank registry to address repeat corporate offenders is raising concerns that companies will be more inclined to fight enforcement actions to avoid being publicly shamed.
BankThink: CFPB has become the regulatory nightmare Republicans always feared - More than a decade ago, a senator from Alabama warned that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would grow into an unaccountable monstrosity. His successor, Sen. Katie Britt, says that prediction has proven true. In 2011, when we anticipated the next decade plus in America, there were many things we never would have predicted or planned for, like a global pandemic, a Jeff Bezos-led joyride to space or even the retirement of Coach Saban. However, even 13 years ago, we foresaw what my predecessor, Sen. Richard Shelby, called the "danger of an unaccountable consumer protection czar."
Mormon Church's Real Estate Arm Buys 46 Farms Across 8 States - The real estate arm of the Mormon Church is growing larger this month after another company announced a deal to sell it 46 farms totaling 41,554 acres for $289 million in an all-cash deal.Denver-based publicly traded real estate investment trust Farmland Partners Inc. is selling the 46 farms across eight states to Utah-based Farmland Reserve Inc., a real-estate investment company operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Collectively, the sale of the 46 farms averaged $6,955 an acre. The farms are located across Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Carolinas. The deal announced last week is set to close on Oct. 16.In a news release, Farmland Partners noted the sale did not include any of the company's Illinois farm ground "which is among the most valuable land that it owns."Farmland Partners, according to its investor presentation on its website, owns 145,000 acres in the U.S. and manages another 45,000 acres across 15 states. Its total real estate portfolio tops $1 billion in value. Farmland Partners has acquired more than 300 farms since its IPO in 2014. Farmland Partners cites roughly 90% of its acres grow row crops across Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The company also has orchards in California. Farmland Partners also has more than 100 tenant farmers.Farmand Partners noted its total gain on sale will be approximately $50 million, or approximately 21% over the aggregate net book value of the farms."Farmland is a 'total return' investment, with asset appreciation typically accounting for a majority of the overall return on invested capital," said Luca Fabbri, Farmland Partner's president and CEO. "We have consistently advised shareholders that our company is undervalued due to lack of recognition by the market of the appreciation in our asset base. As we did last year, we have once again proven our total return thesis and highlighted the unrealized intrinsic value in our stock by delivering a sizable gain on a representative segment of our overall portfolio. We intend to deploy the resulting capital to reduce debt by approximately $140 million, to buy back stock, to pursue acquisitions, and for other corporate purposes. Moreover, as we did last year, we expect to be in a position to make a significant special distribution to shareholders at year-end."
Fairway agrees to pay nearly $10 million for redlining in Birmingham - The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday hit Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. with a consent order alleging the company discriminated against applicants in Black neighborhoods in Birmingham, Alabama, by discouraging people from applying for mortgage loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice issued a consent order against Wisconsin-based nonbank mortgage originator Fairway Independent Mortgage over redlining allegations. Fairway is the country's fifth-largest mortgage originator by volume.
MBA: Mortgage Applications Decreased in Weekly Survey - From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 17.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 11, 2024. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 17.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 17 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 26 percent from the previous week and was 111 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent compared with the previous week and was 7 percent higher than the same week one year ago. “Mortgage rates moved higher for the third consecutive week, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to 6.52 percent, its highest level since August,” “The recent uptick in rates has put a damper on applications. Refinance applications fell 26 percent to their lowest level since August, with comparable drops in both conventional and government refinances. This pushed the refinance share of applications back below 50 percent for the first time in over a month. Furthermore, purchase applications also decreased but notably remain 7 percent higher than a year ago.” “Demand is holding up to an extent for prospective first-time buyers. FHA purchase applications were little changed despite the increase in rates, as some first-time homebuyers remain in the market because of improving housing inventory conditions.” ... The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) increased to 6.52 percent from 6.36 percent, with points increasing to 0.65 from 0.62 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 7% year-over-year unadjusted. Purchase application activity is up about 10% from the lows in late October 2023, but still about 8% below the lowest levels during the housing bust. The second graph shows the refinance index since 1990. With higher mortgage rates, the refinance index increased significantly as mortgage rates declined last month but decreased over the last three weeks as rates increased.
Housing Oct 14th Weekly Update: Inventory Down 0.3% Week-over-week, Up 34.0% Year-over-year -- Altos reports that active single-family inventory was down 0.3% week-over-week. Inventory is now up 48.3% from the February seasonal bottom. The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015. The red line is for 2024. The black line is for 2019. Inventory was up 34.0% compared to the same week in 2023 (last week it was up 36.7%), and down 22/6% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 23.1%). Back in June 2023, inventory was down almost 54% compared to 2019, so the gap to more normal inventory levels is closing. This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of October 11th, inventory was at 732 thousand (7-day average), compared to 734 thousand the prior week. Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube.
NAHB: Builder Confidence Increased in October -The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) was at 43, up from 41 last month. Any number below 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good. From the NAHB: Builder Confidence Edges Higher Despite Affordability Headwinds With inflation gradually easing and builders anticipating mortgage rates will moderate in coming months, builder sentiment moved higher for a second consecutive month despite challenging affordability conditions. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 43 in October, up two points from a reading of 41 in September, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. “While housing affordability remains low, builders are feeling more optimistic about 2025 market conditions,” “The wild card for the outlook remains the election, and with housing policy a top tier issue for candidates, policymakers should be focused on supply-side solutions to the housing crisis.” “Despite the beginning of the Fed’s easing cycle, many prospective home buyers remain on the sideline waiting for lower interest rates,” “We are forecasting uneven declines for mortgage interest rates in the coming quarters, which will improve housing demand but place stress on building lot supplies due to tight lending conditions for development and construction loans.” The latest HMI survey also revealed that the share of builders cutting prices held steady at 32% in October, the same rate as last month. Meanwhile, the average price reduction returned to the long-term trend of 6% after dropping to 5% in September. The use of sales incentives was 62% in October, slightly up from 61% in September. ... All three HMI indices were up in October. The index charting current sales conditions rose two points to 47, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased four points to 57 and the gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers posted a two-point gain to 29. Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast increased two points to 51, the Midwest moved two points higher to 41, the South held steady at 41 and the West increased three points to 41. This graph shows the NAHB index since Jan 1985. This was slightly above the consensus forecast.
Hotels: Occupancy Rate Decreased 3.4% Year-over-year -- From STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 5 October -- Due to Rosh Hashana, the U.S. hotel industry reported negative year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar’s latest data through 5 October. ...
29 September through 5 October 2024 (percentage change from comparable week in 2023):
• Occupancy: 65.6% (-3.4%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$156.25 (-4.4%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$102.44 (-7.7%)
The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average. The red line is for 2024, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2023. Dashed purple is for 2018, the record year for hotel occupancy. The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is tracking last year and the median rate for the period 2000 through 2023 (Blue).The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is near the peak for the fall business travel season, and then will decline during the holidays
Retail Sales Increased 0.4% in September -- On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.4% from August to September (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 1.7 percent from September 2023. From the Census Bureau report:Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2024, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $714.4 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous month, and up 1.7 percent from September 2023. ... The July 2024 to August 2024 percent change was unrevised from up 0.1 percent. This graph shows retail sales since 1992. This is monthly retail sales and food service, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline). Retail sales ex-gasoline was up 0.6% in August. The second graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales and food service (ex-gasoline) since 1993. Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased by 2.9% on a YoY basis. The change in sales in September was above expectations, and sales in July and August were revised up, combined.
Industrial Production Decreased 0.3% in September - Earlier from the Fed: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization --Industrial production (IP) decreased 0.3 percent in September after advancing 0.3 percent in August. A strike at a major producer of civilian aircraft held down total IP growth by an estimated 0.3 percent in September, and the effects of two hurricanes subtracted an estimated 0.3 percent. For the third quarter as a whole, industrial production declined at an annual rate of 0.6 percent. Manufacturing output moved down 0.4 percent in September, and the index for mining fell 0.6 percent. The index for utilities gained 0.7 percent. At 102.6 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in September was 0.6 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization edged down to 77.5 percent in September, a rate that is 2.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2023) 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 77.5% is 2.2% below the average from 1972 to 2022. This was below consensus expectations. The second graph shows industrial production since 1967. Industrial production decreased to 102.6. This is above the pre-pandemic level. Industrial production was below consensus expectations.
US Manufacturing Output Plunged In September US Manufacturing contracted 0.4% MoM in September (dramatically worse than the 0.1% decline expected). This dragged Manufacturing output down 0.5% YoY... Source: Bloomberg This helped drag US Industrial Production down 0.3% MoM and -0.6% YoY (the weakest since April) as August's print was revised down... A strike by aircraft machinists held down industrial production by an estimated 0.3%, while the effects of hurricanes Helene and Francine subtracted a similar amount, the Fed said. Production of aerospace equipment tumbled 8.3% during the month. And this is all happening as Capacity Utilization tumbles to 77.5% Source: Bloomberg Mining and energy extraction slid 0.6%, while output at utilities increased for the first time in three months. Does that looking a 'no landing' economy? Or is it all 'transitory' too?
Goldman Issues Grim Outlook For AutoZone Citing "Significant Exposure" To Struggling Working-Poor Consumers --Continuing the theme of low-income consumers being financially under pressure, Goldman analysts told clients this AM that their decision to downgrade auto parts retailer AutoZone from "Buy" to "Sell" was primarily based on the challenging macroeconomic environment for consumers. Goldman's Kate McShane led a team of analysts who said AZO will likely see muted growth over the next few quarters. She noted that the auto parts retailer's customer base is highly exposed to working-poor consumers, which elevated inflation and high interest rates could crimp spending from this group and impact sales through winter into early '25. "We are lowering our FY25 estimate to $150.76 (from $152.21), largely reflecting our outlook for muted growth in the next few quarters. We are also lowering our FY26 EPS estimate to $161.38 (from $165.39) and lowering our FY27 EPS estimate to $173.64 (from $179.93) due to a lower base from our lower estimates in FY25."
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decrease to 241,000 -- The DOL reported: In the week ending October 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 241,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 258,000 to 260,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 231,000 to 231,500. The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971. The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 236,250. The previous week was revised up. Weekly claims were below the consensus forecast. The increase over the last two weeks is partially hurricane related.
Texas prepares to execute Robert Roberson, an innocent man, for a crime that never took place --Texas death row inmate Robert Leslie Roberson III exhausted his last legal avenue to avoid execution Tuesday when a judge in Anderson Country District Court ruled against vacating his execution warrant. Roberson’s attorneys had argued before the district court that the previous judge, Deborah Oakes Evans, had not been properly assigned to his case and that Evans’ apparent bias, including her repeated denial of a hearing on Roberson’s previous motions, warranted her removal from the case. NBC affiliate KETK-TV in Tyler reported that Judge Alfonso Charles, the Tenth Administrative Judicial Region presiding judge, denied the defense’s motion to vacate Roberson’s execution warrant. Charles also denied the motion to vacate the previous judge, Deborah Oakes Evans, from the case. Evans is now retired. Unless Texas Governor Greg Abbott grants him a 30-day stay of execution, Roberson will die by lethal injection on Thursday, October 17. The Republican governor—who boasts that the death penalty is “Texas justice”—has overseen 77 executions since taking office and granted clemency to a condemned inmate only once. Roberson, 57, is an innocent man. However, not only is he innocent, but the crime he was convicted of committing never happened. He has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted for the violent murder of his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis. However, the child’s death was in fact the result of long-standing illness, misdiagnosis and the administration of medication inappropriate for a child of her age and in her condition. Roberson has argued since his conviction that he is the victim of a justice system that wrongly attributed his daughter’s tragic death to “shaken baby syndrome” (SBS) and falsely pointed to him as the vicious perpetrator. Roberson—who suffers from autism spectrum disorder, which was diagnosed only after his conviction—is not a murderer but a concerned father who urgently sought medical treatment for his daughter in the days before her death. If his execution goes forward, Roberson will be the first person convicted and executed based on the now discredited scientific criteria for determining “shaken baby syndrome.” His impending execution has been decried by a bipartisan group of Texas legislators, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, author John Grisham, myriad death penalty opponents and many others. Reverend Brian Wharton, a former police officer who investigated Roberson’s case and testified against him at trial, now believes Roberson is innocent and has become one of his strongest advocates. Wharton says that Roberson’s conviction and sentence would not have happened if there had been a more thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding Nikki’s death, and the medical professionals involved had not jumped to conclusions. Nikki Curtis’s life was short and tragic. She was born to a mother suffering from addiction and homelessness, and Roberson gained custody of the child in 2001. He was not fully aware of his daughter’s medical history, including “breathing apnea,” which would lead her to stop breathing and collapse. Despite living in poverty in Palestine, Texas, and suffering from an undiagnosed condition, Roberson did the best he could to support Nikki. When she became severely ill, he took her to the ER and to her pediatrician, who both wrote prescriptions for Phenergan/promethazine, which is no longer prescribed in such cases because it suppresses breathing. On the night Nikki collapsed, Roberson heard a “strange cry” and awoke to find her lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. They both went back to sleep, but when he awoke several hours later he found her unconscious and rushed her again to the ER. Doctors and nurses at the hospital treated Roberson with suspicion due to his lack of emotion over his child’s condition, which can now be assumed was due to his autism. A head CT scan performed on Nikki found a small subdural bleed and brain swelling but no skull fractures, broken bones or signs of battery. Nikki never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead. Before an autopsy was even performed, Dr. Janet Squires—the in-house “child abuse pediatrician”—submitted an affidavit with her diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome” to the Palestine police. Medical Examiner Jill Urban claimed that Nikki’s death was caused by “blunt force head injuries” consistent with SBS based on the presenting triad of subdural bleeding, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhages. She ruled the death a homicide.
Johnson calls Kids Online Safety Act ‘very problematic’ --House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recently revealed he likes the concept of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), though the details of the Senate-passed version are “very problematic,” underscoring the uncertain future the bill faces in the lower chamber. “I love the principle, but the details of that are very problematic,” Johnson told Punchbowl News in an interview in Pennsylvania published Monday morning. The Speaker said the Senate bill, as written, would have “unintended consequences,” Punchbowl reported. Johnson’s office confirmed his comments to The Hill. His remarks come after the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced KOSA in markup despite pushback from several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. KOSA, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote in late July, is intended to boost online privacy and safety for children. The bill would create regulations for the kinds of features tech and social media companies offer kids online and aims to reduce the addictive nature and mental health impact of these platforms. Punchbowl reported Johnson did not appear open to persuasion on the Senate version, a potential blow to KOSA advocates who previously told the outlet the House leader might be flexible. While the bill advanced out of the House committee last month, committee members in both parties expressed concerns with its language, for different reasons. Some Republicans said they were worried the bill would give the Federal Trade Commission “sweeping authority,” and the potential censorship of conservative views, a House leadership source told The Hill last month. Some Democrats, meanwhile, said they could not support the House version, which includes amendments altering the language over KOSA’s “duty of care” provision.As written in the Senate version, the provision would require platforms to design and implement features for minors to prevent and reduce harm such as those caused by content promoting suicide and eating disorders. The uncertainty over the legislation follows months of pressure from Senate lawmakers, namely Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the co-author of the upper chamber’s version of the bill, to bring it to the House floor.
Firestone, Litchfield students resumed classes Wednesday after Tuesday closures - Students returned to Litchfield and Firestone CLCs Wednesday after the two schools were closed Tuesday due to a suspected natural gas leak, according to Akron Public Schools Chief of Staff Angela Carter. "Akron Fire came out and ran some tests and there was nothing found, and we actually had our plumbers come out and do more testing so everything is all clear and our students were able to report back to school today," Carter said. The school district originally reported classes were canceled Tuesday after officials were investigating an odor that was detected at both schools.
Illinois Bill Would Give Colleges Taxpayer Dollars For Each Minority Student Enrolled --A bill currently being considered in the Illinois legislature would grant public colleges and universities thousands of taxpayer dollars for every student they admit who belongs to certain minority groups.Democratic Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford introduced the legislation, S.B. 3965, on July 30. State Representative Carol Ammons, also a Democrat, introduced the bill in the House.The bill would grant public institutions of higher education $6,000 per each black or American Indian student they accept, $4,000 per Hispanic student, and $0 for white and Asian students, according to a Washington Examiner op-ed by Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.Gonzalez pointed out that the quantity provided per Hispanic student is lower than that given for black students, even though Hispanic Illinoisans’ degree attainment rate is lower.Ammons told Campus Reform that “[t]he under-representation of Black students in our public colleges and universities are the result of an old system - our proposal changes that. The allocation formula we seek acknowledges a number of factors that may impact a student’s journey to and through higher education, and seeks to support them accordingly.”Asked why the bill would not pay colleges and universities anything for Asian students, Ammons told Campus Reform that “[t]he research did not show a gap in attainment for Asian students. Our proposal looks at gaps in enrollment, retention, and graduation to identify the necessary adjustments.”Ammons did not directly address why Hispanic students would generate less money for schools than black students despite their lower degree attainment rates, saying:“[W]e will not engage with any rhetoric that pits one minority population against another. The data is clear: Black and Hispanic students are under-represented in public higher education. Our funding formula, which finally allocates to the needs of students, will ensure that historically disenfranchised groups are supported. . . . the adjustments within the formula are data-driven.”“Despite education’s paramount importance, the disparity in funding among higher educational institutions remains dreadfully evident,” Lightford said about her initiative.“This imbalance not only undermines the principle of equal opportunity but also hampers our collective progress as a society.”
US Drinking Rates Hit Highest Level Since 1970s Inflation Storm As Tequila Demand Soars - A broad overview of America's beer, spirits, and wine consumption reveals a steady increase since the Dot Com bust, with per capita levels approaching the highs last seen during the inflation-driven misery storm of the 1970s. Economic misery and rising alcohol consumption often go hand in hand. "During periods of recession, US per capita alcohol consumption from beer, spirits and wine has been very resilient. Total beer volume declined in 2009 whilst spirits volume continued to grow," Goldman's Olivier Nicolaï told clients in a note on Tuesday. Nicolaï noted, "Within overall US alcohol consumption, beer has been steadily losing share to spirits over the last 20 years. Within the spirits category, tequila has been gaining market share at the expense of vodka over recent years." Six decades of US per capita alcohol consumption data shows how war and economic misery can impact drinking rates among consumers. From the 1960s to the 1970s, the rate of alcohol consumption soared on a per capita basis, likely due to foreign wars and high inflation. Around the time the Fed regained control of inflation with interest rate hikes in the late 1970s and early 80s, consumption rates eventually topped and fell as easier economic conditions led to boom cycles. However, drinking rates bottomed at the end of the 90s, rising just after the Dot Com bust, rising higher with endless Middle East wars, dipped slightly but jumped following the 2008 GFC, and surged in recent years after government-enforced lockdowns during the pandemic, Ukraine War, and ongoing inflation storm.
US COVID levels drop, with few flu detections – Oct 11 - COVID activity in the United States continues to decline, and seasonal flu markers show no upticks, according to the latest respiratory disease updates today from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For COVID, test positivity has declined to 7.7% nationally, but is a little higher in the Western region that includes the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Emergency department visits for COVID continue to decline. Hospitalizations remain on a downward trend. Deaths also declined, though CDC provisional data show 424 people died from their COVID infections last week. CDC wastewater detections have now declined to low, with levels in the West a bit higher than other regions. Tracking from WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, shows that SARS-CoV-2 detections are at the medium level nationally, with a 3-week downward trend. The South is now at the low level. For flu, activity is still at the low level, and of the few viruses reported by public health labs last week, 55.8% were the 2009 H1N1 strain and 42.2% were H3N2, the CDC in its latest weekly FluView report.
Risk of new type 2 diabetes in kids higher after COVID than other respiratory infections, data suggest - An observational study of 614,000 US patients suggests a higher risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) after COVID-19 than after other respiratory infections in patients aged 10 to 19 years. For the study, published today in JAMA Network Open, Case Western Reserve University researchers used electronic medical records to retrospectively analyze rates of incident T2D in 613,602 hospitalized or nonhospitalized pediatric patients 1, 3, and 6 months after infection with either SARS-CoV-2 or another respiratory pathogen from January 2020 to December 2022. The median patient age was 14.9 years, 53% were girls, and 57% were White. Half of the patients had COVID-19, and half had another respiratory infection.The risk of new-onset T2D was significantly higher from the day of infection to 1, 3, and 6 months after a COVID-19 diagnosis than other infections (risk ratio [RR],1.55, 1.48, and 1.58, respectively). Boys and girls were at similar risk. Similar results were seen in patients who were overweight or obese (RR at 1, 3, and 6 months, 2.07, 2.00, and 2.27, respectively) and those who were hospitalized (RR, 3.10, 2.74, and 2.62, respectively). A comparable elevation in risk was found 3 and 6 months postinfection after excluding patients diagnosed from diagnosis to 1 month postinfection.The researchers said several factors may be at play. "The additional metabolic stress imposed by COVID-19 may have pushed frank disease in an already susceptible child," the study authors wrote. "In addition, attention has focused recently on possible autoimmune components of T2D, and it has been reported that genetically susceptible children have increased development of anti–β cell antibodies following COVID-19."SARS-CoV-2 may also be able to selectively infect human pancreatic β cells, and if this triggers programmed cell death, it may impair insulin secretion. "Though T2D is usually considered to be a disease of insulin resistance rather than insulin lack, for newly diagnosed patients, the origin may not be entirely clear or confined to a single pathobiologic cause," the researchers wrote.While the excess risk for new-onset T2D after COVID-19 infection is modest overall (4.8 per 10,000 in the general population but 17.0 per 10,000 in overweight or obese children), the authors said it represents many patients at a high cost. "The estimated cost of diabetes in the US in 2022 was $412.9 billion, with $306.6 billion in direct medical costs and $106.3 billion in indirect costs due to disability, absenteeism, and lost productivity," the investigators wrote. "Individuals with diabetes face annual mean medical expenses of $19,736 per year, about 2.6 times higher than those who do not have diabetes."The costs are even higher when considering patients diagnosed as having T2D as children because they will face higher disease-related costs over a lifetime. "In addition, children may have a more severe T2D disease process than adults, and complications of T2D come even sooner in those who are diagnosed as children," the authors said. "Moreover, new drugs and interventions to control T2D such as weight control are more available."
COVID-19 Poses Long Term Cardiovascular Risks COVID-19 continues to pose a serious risk to cardiovascular health for upto three years after the infection, according to a study published in the American Heart Association's peer-reviewed journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. "We found a long-term cardiovascular health risk associated with COVID, especially among people with more severe COVID-19 cases that required hospitalization," said lead study author James Hilser. "This increased risk of heart attack and stroke continued three years after COVID-19 infection. Remarkably, in some cases, the increased risk was almost as high as having a known cardiovascular risk factor such as Type 2 diabetes or peripheral artery disease." The study analyzed medical data of 503,325 adults in the United Kingdom, aged 40 to 69 at the time of enrollment between 2006 and 2010. The data from the UK Biobank included over 11,000 people with a documented positive lab test for COVID-19 in 2020, nearly 3,000 of whom had been hospitalized for their infections. This data was compared with that of more than 222,000 others who were not infected with COVID-19 during the same time period. During the nearly three-year follow-up, the risk of heart attack, stroke and death was more than double in adults who had COVID-19, and nearly four times higher among adults hospitalized with the infection, compared to those with no history of COVID-19. Moreover, people hospitalized with COVID-19, even those without cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes, had a 21 percent higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death compared to people with cardiovascular disease but no COVID-19 infection. "The results of our study highlight the long-term cardiovascular effects of COVID-19 infection. Given the increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death, the question is whether or not severe COVID-19 should be considered as another risk factor for CVD, much like Type 2 diabetes or peripheral artery disease, where treatment focused on CVD prevention may be valuable," said co-senior study author Hooman Allayee. "The results suggest that people with prior COVID infection may benefit from preventive care for cardiovascular disease."
3 doses of mRNA COVID vaccine show advantage against severe outcomes - A team led by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers studying Medicare claims data during the early Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant months conclude that a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine provides significant protection against hospitalization and death compared with two doses but wanes substantially after 4 months.The research, published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, was based on data from 8.1 million community-dwelling Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries ages 65 years and older who received a second or third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine from December 2021 to March 2022. Of all eligible beneficiaries, 73.3% received a third dose of the original mRNA COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the study period. Fourteen to 60 days postvaccination, third-dose Moderna relative vaccine effectiveness (RVE, compared with two doses) against hospitalization was 77.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76.0% to 78.4%), and Pfizer/BioNTech RVE was 72.5% (95% CI, 70.8% to 74.0%). The added benefit was high for 61 days to 4 months (Moderna RVE, 42.1% [95% CI, 37.5% to 46.3%]; Pfizer RVE, 51.0% [95% CI, 48.0% to 53.7%) but waned substantially thereafter. Participants with a previous medically attended COVID-19 diagnosis derived substantial protection against hospitalization after a third vaccine dose for 14 to 60 days (Moderna RVE, 71.1%; 95% CI, 62.6% to 77.6% and Pfizer RVE, 65.5%; 95% CI, 55.1%, 73.5%). Both vaccines still provided a benefit—albeit waning—for up to 120 days in these patients.A third dose of Pfizer was only 5.4% effective against hospitalization after 120 days for those with a previous medically attended COVID-19 diagnosis, while Moderna provided a greater benefit for this group at that timepoint (RVE, 43.1%). The benefits were similar across all age-groups and both sexes and were observed more in participants with weakened immunity than in those with healthy immune systems. A three-dose Moderna vaccine regimen was more effective against COVID-19 hospitalization than the Pfizer regimen at 14 to 60 days (RVE, 35.2%; 95% CI, 30.2% to 39.9%), 61 to 90 days (RVE, 40.6%; 95% CI, 36.5% to 44.6%), and 91 to 120 days (RVE, 34.8%; 95% CI, 29.0% to 40.2%). There were no significant differences in effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization between brands after 120 days following a third dose (RVE, 7.5%; 95% CI, 0.9% to 15.2%). But more severe outcomes such as death and in-hospital death showed significant differences in effectiveness between brands 14 to 90 days after a third dose."With more recent formulations of COVID-19 vaccines and new dominating SARS-CoV-2 variants, additional studies that investigate waning effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines are needed to inform the design of future vaccination programs, especially for high-risk individuals," the researchers wrote.
Montelukast didn't cut time to COVID symptom relief in clinical trial -A 14-day course of the oral anti-inflammatory drug montelukast didn't shorten symptom duration in nonhospitalized US adults with mild or moderate COVID-19, finds a randomized controlled clinical trial published today inJAMA Network Open.The Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines-6 (ACTIV-6) Study Group and Investigators randomly assigned 1,250 infected participants aged 30 and older to receive a 14-day course of montelukast (10 milligrams daily) or placebo from January 27 to June 23, 2023, a period dominated by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. The ongoing ACTIV-6 platform trial assesses repurposed drugs for COVID-19 outpatients.On day 1 of the study, 3.7%, 33.2%, and 61.0% of participants reported no, mild, or moderate symptoms, respectively. They were enrolled within a median of 4 days of symptom onset and received montelukast or placebo within a median of 5 days.The matched participants were enrolled at 140 sites across the country. The median age was 53 years, 60.2% were women, and 56.3% reported receiving at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine."Montelukast, an orally active leukotriene receptor antagonist with anti-inflammatory effects, has been shown to suppress oxidative stress and cytokine production," the researchers wrote. "While montelukast is currently approved for the treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis, in silico screening (based on in vitro studies for other RNA viruses) supports the plausibility of antiviral activity through inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 protease and polymerase enzymes."Time to sustained recovery, defined as 3 or more days without symptoms, didn't differ between the 628 and 622 participants assigned to montelukast or placebo, respectively (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.02; 95% credible interval [CrI], 0.92 to 1.12). The unadjusted median time to symptom resolution was 10 days in both groups.
Research uncovers disparities in US all-cause deaths during COVID pandemic -Today in JAMA Network Open, a Mass General Brigham-led research team reports that US all-cause excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected several minoritized populations, with the largest relative increase in adults aged 25 to 64 years—which the authors said implies lasting downstream consequences. The researchers characterized overall and age-specific excess mortality by race by analyzing all US all-cause deaths related to the COVID-19 public health emergency (March 2020 to May 2023). They also evaluated whether measured differences reflected changes from racial disparities before the pandemic. More than 1.38 million all-cause excess deaths (observed-to-expected ratio, 1.15) occurred, corresponding to about 23 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) during the pandemic. Excess deaths included roughly 9,000 Black (542,000 YPLL), 6,000 Hispanic (395,000 YPLL), 400 American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN; 24,000 YPLL), and 100 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander people (7,500 YPLL).The highest observed-to-expected mortality ratios occurred among AIAN (1.31) and Hispanic populations (1.31). But the ratios were highest in people aged 25 to 64 years (1.20), particularly AIANs (1.45), Hispanics (1.40), and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders (1.39) in this age-group. The proportion of excess mortality exceeded the share of the population among AIAN, Black, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander populations. For example, among adults aged 25 years and older, Black people made up 51.1% of excess deaths, despite representing only 13.8% of the population.Greater YPLL per-capita and per-excess deaths among AIAN, Black, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander populations were seen, reflecting their younger average and median ages of decedents compared with Asian and White people. More than 454,000 (32.9%) excess deaths occurred in people 0 to 64 years old, accounting for about 14.2 million (61.2%) of the overall YPLL. If the rate of excess mortality seen among White people had been observed among the total population, more than 252,000 (18.3%) fewer excess deaths and more than 5.2 million (22.3%) fewer YPLL would have occurred.While adults aged 65 years and older made up 67% of excess mortality in the US population, in the AIAN and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander populations only, people younger than 65 accounted for most excess deaths (60.5% and 70.3%, respectively). The magnitude of excess mortality both overall and within age-groups was greater before than after the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Established and largely stable pre-COVID disparities in all-cause death by race changed at the pandemic onset, with the studied racial groups at higher relative risk of death after March 2020. By the third year of the pandemic, relative risks for death had returned to prepandemic levels except for AIANs and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders."Importantly, we demonstrate that the pandemic appears to have exacerbated historical mortality disparities that have long been understood to reflect strata in social determinants of health, structural inequality, and racism, and which have persisted," the study authors wrote.
COVID XEC variant “taking charge” and leading to surge of cases and deaths across Europe - A COVID wave fuelled by the XEC variant is leading to hospitalisations throughout Britain. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the admission rate for patients testing positive for XEC stood at 4.5 per 100,000 people in the week to October 6—up significantly from 3.7 a week earlier. UKHSA described the spread as “alarming”. Last week, Dr. Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, noted of the spread of the new variant in Britain: “Our surveillance shows that where Covid cases are sequenced, around one in 10 are the ‘XEC’ lineage.” The XEC variant, a combination of the KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants, was detected and recorded in Germany in June and has been found in at least 29 countries—including in at least 13 European nations and the 24 states within United States. According to a New Scientist article published last month, “The earliest cases of the variant occurred in Italy in May. However, these samples weren’t uploaded to an international database that tracks SARS-CoV-2 variants, called the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), until September.” The number of confirmed cases of XEC internationally exceeds 600 according to GISAID. This is likely an underestimation. Bhanu Bhatnagar at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe noted that “not all countries consistently report data to GISAID, so the XEC variant is likely to be present in more countries”. Another source, containing data up to September 28—the Outbreak.info genomic reports: scalable and dynamic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations—reports that there have been 1,115 XEC cases detected worldwide. Within Europe, XEC was initially most widespread in France, accounting for around 21 percent of confirmed COVID samples. In Germany, it accounted for 15 percent of samples and 8 percent of sequenced samples, according to an assessment from Professor Francois Balloux at the University College London, cited in the New Scientist. Within weeks of those comments the spread of XEC has been rapid. Just in Germany, it currently accounts for 43 percent of infections and is therefore predominant. Virologists estimate that XEC has around twice the growth advantage of KP.3.1.1 and will be the dominant variant in winter. A number of articles have cited the comments made to the LA Times by Eric Topol, the Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California. Topol warns that XEC is “just getting started”, “and that’s going to take many weeks, a couple months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave. XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant.” A report in the Independent published Tuesday noted of the make-up of XEC, and its two parent subvariants: “KS.1.1 is a type of what’s commonly called a FLiRT variant. It is characterised by mutations in the building block molecules phenylalanine (F) altered to leucine (L), and arginine (R) to threonine (T) on the spike protein that the virus uses to attach to human cells. “The second omicron subvariant KP.3.3 belongs to the category FLuQE where the amino acid glutamine (Q) is mutated to glutamic acid (E) on the spike protein, making its binding to human cells more effective.” COVID cases are on the rise across the UK, with recent data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicating a 21.6 percent increase in cases in England within a week. There is no doubt that the spread of XEC virus contributed to an increase in COVID cases and deaths in Britain. In the week to September 25, there were 2,797 reported cases—an increase of 530 from the previous week. In the week to September 20 there was a 50 percent increase in COVID-related deaths in England, with 134 fatalities reported. According to the latest data, the North East of England is witnessing the highest rate of people being hospitalised, with 8.12 people per 100,000 requiring treatment. Virologist Dr. Stephen Griffin of the University of Leeds has been an active communicator of the science and statistics of the virus on various public platforms and social media since the start of the pandemic. He was active in various UK government committees during the height of the pandemic. In March 2022, he gave an interview to the World Socialist Web Site. This week Griffin spoke to the i newspaper on the continuing danger of allowing the untrammelled spread of XEC and COVID in general. “The problem with COVID is that it evolves so quickly,” he said. He warned, “We can either increase our immunity by making better vaccines or increasing our vaccine coverage, or we can slow the virus down with interventions, such as improving indoor air quality. But we’re not doing those things.” “Its evolutionary rate is something like three or four times faster than that of the fastest seasonal flu. So you’ve got this constant change in the virus, which accelerates the number of susceptible people. “It’s creating its own new pool of susceptibles every time it changes to something that’s ‘immune evasive’. Every one of these subvariants is distinct enough that a whole swathe of people are no longer immune to it and it can infect them. That’s why you see this constant undulatory pattern which doesn’t look seasonal at all.”
Spike in detection of multidrug-resistance gene reported in New York hospitals --Analysis of blood and urine from hospitalized patients in a large New York health system found that detection of a multidrug-resistance gene was common and associated with high mortality, researchers reported yesterday at IDWeek 2024.The gene, blaNDM, is one of the five most prevalent carbapenemase genes found in US hospitals, which have seen a rise in carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) over the last several years. The genes carried by CPOs confer resistance to carbapenems and many other classes of antibiotics, making infections caused by these organisms difficult to treat. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest the blaKPC gene is the most prevalent carbapenemase gene found in CPOs in US patients.In the retrospective study, researchers from Northwell Health, New York’s healthcare provider, analyzed blood and urine cultures that were positive for a CPO from January 2021 to December 2023, using blood culture polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results and a lateral flow immunoassay (for urine cultures) to identify carbapenemase genes. They then evaluated clinical outcomes, including mortality, length of hospital stay, and time to appropriate therapy in patients with CPOs. “With such an urgent threat on the rise, our study really sought to provide better understanding of CPOs and how to tackle these types of infections,” study co-author Kirby An, PharmD, said in an ID Week press briefing. A total of 71 CPO-positive blood cultures and 50 CPO-positive urine cultures from 10 hospitals were included in the analysis. Most of the patients were ages 68 to 71 years, with similar baseline characteristics. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most predominant CPO detected. Of the carbapenemase genes detected, blaNDM was found in 39% of CPOs isolated from blood and 46% isolated from urine. Other carbapenemase genes detected included blaKPC, blaOXA-48-like, and blaVIM (found only in the urine cultures). An noted that when he and his colleagues looked at the trends over time, they found that in 2021, there was very little detection of blaNDM. But there was significant increase in blaNDM detection in blood cultures in 2022, and that trend continued in 2023. In the CPO-positive urines cultures, which were only analyzed for 2023, they found that the number of organisms carrying blaNDM and blaKPC were similar. “This is particularly concerning because the NDM gene confers resistance to most of our antibiotics, including a majority of the newer antibiotics that have been released for the treatment of these carbapenem-resistant organisms,” he said.
CDC reports rising levels of Mycoplasma pneumonia and RSV in young kids -Though the nation’s respiratory disease levels remain low overall, with COVID levels declining and little sign of a flu uptick, illnesses caused by Mycobacterium pneumoniae are increasing, especially in children, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) levels are also on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in it weekly respiratory virus update. Pneumonia and acute bronchitis related to M pneumoniae bacteria have increased since late spring and have remained high, peaking in late August, the CDC said. The CDC said it using various surveillance tools to better understand the rise, which is especially affecting young children, a change from previous years when school-age children and adolescents were most affected.“The increase in children ages 2–4 years is notable because M. pneumoniae historically hasn't been recognized as a leading cause of pneumonia in this age group,” the CDC said. Also called “walking pneumonia,” the disease reemerged globally following low levels during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic period.Regarding RSV, the CDC said RSV activity is still low overall, but there are signs of increased activity in the southeastern United States, especially in young children. Emergency department visits for COVID-19 and test positivity continued to decline last week, the CDC said in data updates today. Test positivity is currently at 6.3% but is lower in the southern part of the country. Deaths from the virus were also down last week, with 327 reported last week, based on provisional data. CDC wastewater tracking shows that viral levels remain low, with levels currently highest in the northeast. The latest data from WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, show that detections are in the medium category nationally, with a downward trend over the last 3 weeks. It said the South and West are currently at the low level. Regarding flu, the CDC said in its weekly FluView report that seasonal flu activity remains low nationally, with no new pediatric flu deaths reported, keeping the total at zero for the 2024-2025 flu season. However, it reported one more for the 2023-2024 flu season, putting that total at 202.
Study: Resistance to antibody rare in RSV breakthrough cases - A new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases describes the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) breakthrough infections after the widespread use of the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab (Beyfortus) in infants younger than 1 year.The study was based on outcomes seen among infants in France during the 2023-2024 RSV season, the first season the RSV antibody was approved for use in infants in the European Union and the United States. In France, roughly 210,000 single doses were administered last year.To understand the real-life potential for viral escape, the authors looked at 260 RSV full-length viral genome sequences from nirsevimab-treated infants with breakthrough infections and compared the RSV RNA to that from 285 untreated RSV-infected infants.In the breakthrough infections, 236 cases (91%) were RSV-A, and 24 (9%) were RSV-B. There were no known nirsevimab resistance–associated mutations in infections caused by RSV-A, and only 2 of the 24 RSV-B infections showed a mutation that conferred resistance to nirsevimab. Overall, breakthrough infections in France were rare, the authors said, and the antibody should be used again in the upcoming RSV seasons.
Study: Natural killer cells determine RSV severity - Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital published new research in Science Translational Medicine showing that natural killer (NK) cells in some children may make them more prone to severe cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).The findings come from the results of airway swabs and blood samples taken from 47 critically ill children hospitalized with RSV and bronchiolitis and compared them to samples from healthy controls.The authors found airway NK cells were increased in intubated children, those with severe hypoxemia, and those with prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation. Blood NK cells, however, were lower in sick kids compared to controls.An NK cell is one of the "first responders" to viral infection, the authors explained, but too many NK cells in the airway can trigger lung inflammation. Conversely, too few NK cells in . peripheral blood samples suggest ill children had altered activating receptor expression, and their NK cells did not perform their immunological function of killing diseased cells.The research group also found similar patterns in literature on NK cells and COVID-19 patients."Our findings fit with data from some studies in COVID-19, which reported that patients with the most severe symptoms also had increased NK cells in their airways, " said study author Melody G. Duvall, MD, PhD, in a press release from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. "Together with previous studies, our data link NK cells with serious viral illness, suggesting that these cellular pathways merit additional investigation. "
Whooping cough is at a decade-high level in US (AP) — Whooping cough is at its highest level in a decade for this time of year, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. There have been 18,506 cases of whooping cough reported so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That’s the most at this point in the year since 2014, when cases topped 21,800.The increase is not unexpected — whooping cough peaks every three to five years, health experts said. And the numbers indicate a return to levels before the coronavirus pandemic, when whooping cough and other contagious illnesses plummeted.Still, the tally has some state health officials concerned, including those in Wisconsin, where there have been about 1,000 cases so far this year, compared to a total of 51 last year.Nationwide, CDC has reported that kindergarten vaccination rates dipped last year and vaccine exemptions are at an all-time high. Thursday, it released state figures, showing that about 86% of kindergartners in Wisconsin got the whooping cough vaccine, compared to more than 92% nationally.Whooping cough, also called pertussis, usually starts out like a cold, with a runny nose and other common symptoms, before turning into a prolonged cough. “They used to call it the 100-day cough because it literally lasts for 100 days,” It is treated with antibiotics. Whooping cough used to be very common until a vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, which is now part of routine childhood vaccinations. It is in a shot along with tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. The combo shot is recommended for adults every 10 years. Whooping cough is usually seen mostly in infants and young children, who can develop serious complications. That’s why the vaccine is recommended during pregnancy, to pass along protection to the newborn, and for those who spend a lot of time with infants.But public health workers say outbreaks this year are hitting older kids and teens. In Pennsylvania, most outbreaks have been in middle school, high school and college settings, an official said. Nearly all the cases in Douglas County, Nebraska, are schoolkids and teens, said Justin Frederick, deputy director of the health department.That includes his own teenage daughter.“It’s a horrible disease. She still wakes up — after being treated with her antibiotics — in a panic because she’s coughing so much she can’t breathe,” he said.
Study highlights demographic, socioeconomic disparities in C difficile infection - A study conducted at a California hospital found that people considered highly socially vulnerable were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with severe Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and die from it than less vulnerable people, researchers reported yesterday at IDWeek 2024. The study by researchers at Loma Linda University Medical Center included 206 adults admitted for CDI, which causes diarrhea and colitis, from January 2020 to June 2021. To assess the impact of external factors on CDI severity, and mortality, the researchers used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a composite measure of communities based on four major themes: socioeconomic status, housing characteristics, race/ethnicity status, and housing and transportation. Patients in the study with an SVI score of less than 0.5 were considered low vulnerability, while people above 0.5 were considered highly vulnerable. The analysis found that high vulnerability scores across all four SVI themes were associated with increased CDI severity and mortality. Patients with high vulnerability scores in socioeconomic status and housing characteristics were three times more likely to have severe CDI than those with low vulnerability scores, while patients with high vulnerability scores for housing and transportation—including those living in multiunit structures, mobile homes, group quarters, and lacking a vehicle—were more than twice as likely to have severe CDI compared with people with low scores.When considering race/ethnicity status, patients with high vulnerability scores were 37 times more likely to be diagnosed with severe CDI and nine times more likely to die than those with low scores.
Annual report cites avian flu, mpox as pandemic threats --The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), which tracks and monitors global pandemic preparedness, launched its annual report today. "Outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 in cattle and its spillover to humans, and a new strain of mpox in Central Africa are the most recent signals of concern," the report begins. "The high likelihood that they will spread further should be a wake-up call for the global community." The report outlines 15 key drivers of pandemic risk, categorized as social, technological, environmental, economic, and political. Despite an interconnectedness among the scientific community, the report says distrust in governments at home and abroad threatens global health. Renewing trust in public health and science is of the utmost importance before a future pandemic, the report said. Also emphasized is that the next pandemic will likely not be similar to COVIV-19."There is a risk that focusing solely on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic could result in preparing for the last battle rather than the next one," the report says.Overall, the report said countries will need to adopt a One Health approach as the animal-to-human interface will be the likely source of the next pandemic. “Places that have a dense human-animal-environment interface and are undergoing rapid change are ripe to become new hotspots of emergence of novel diseases with epidemic potential," the authors wrote. "Soon temperate countries may see outbreaks of diseases that are usually seen in tropical areas, such as epidemics transmitted by mosquitoes, including dengue or yellow fever." The report also noted the ongoing outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the polio detection in Gaza to highlight how political instability can have major public health consequences.
Researchers identify second US drug-resistant mpox cluster - Genetic sequencing has identified a second cluster of tecovirimat-resistant mpox infections in the United States—the first of its kind involving interstate spread. Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and partners from five affected states reported their findings yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.The first Tpoxx-resistant cluster was identified in California in late 2022 and early 2023 in people who hadn't previously been treated with the drug. The new report describes a new unrelated cluster among 18 people with no previous treatment across multiple states.Sequencing identified a unique combination of resistance mutations in 20 specimens collected from 18 patients between October 2023 and February 2024. The patients were from five states: Illinois (8), California (5), Louisiana (2), Texas (2), and New York (1).Of 16 patients with an available treatment history, one had received the drug before the sample was collected. Of 17 patients with available clinical data, illnesses were mild and similar to standard clade 2 infections, though two were hospitalized for pain management. In vitro testing of seven samples showed resistance to Tpoxx. Whole-genome sequencing showed that the resistance mutations came from a common ancestor but were distinct from the earlier California cluster.Researchers said because not all viruses from mpox cases are sequenced, the findings likely underestimate the prevalence of the newly identified drug-resistant variant. They added that more surveillance is needed, as well as adherence to CDC Tpoxx use protocols. Also, they wrote that the findings underscore the need for more treatments for mpox, along with smallpox biothreat preparedness.
Zimbabwe reports first mpox cases -- Zimbabwe reported its first mpox cases yesterday, a child and an adult from two separate towns who had traveled recently, according to an African media report.At a briefing yesterday, the country’s health minister, Douglas Mombeshora, MD, said the cases were detected in Harare and Mberengwa, according to NewZimbabwe, an online newspaper. The patients include an 11-year-old child and a man who had traveled to South Africa and Tanzania, respectively.The cases push the number of African countries that have reported mpox cases to 17. The report didn’t say what mpox clade or clades were involved. Africa is battling a complex mpox outbreak involving different clades. The patients are isolating at home and are in stable condition. On August 14, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern due to a surge in mpox activity in Africa, with some of the circulation involving a novel clade of the virus. The region continues to report about 3,000 cases a week, along with a slow but steady stream of newly affected countries.
WHO approves Jynneos for use in teens as study shows high number of undiagnosed cases -Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the approval of Bavarian Nordic's mpox vaccine, Jynneos, for adolescents aged 12 to 17. The move comes as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still raging, and infecting children at high rates. In other mpox news, a new seroprevalence study from German researchers publishing in BMC Infectious Diseases shows a high proportion of clinically undiagnosed mpox among Berlin’s population of men who have sex with men (MSM.) The study was conducted between April 11 and July 1, 2023, and included blood samples from 728 participants, who were recruited from eight private practices and two community-based checkpoints in Berlin.Only 70 (7.4%) participants reported a previous diagnosis of mpox. However serological testing revealed an additional 91 individuals with suspected undiagnosed mpox infection.Men who reported condomless sex with multiple partners were most likely to have mpox, and a substantial proportion of mpox infections were clinically undiagnosed, the authors said.The authors said the findings were cautionary and suggest many more undiagnosed cases in MSM communities."Mpox control measures based on clinical diagnosis of mpox are likely to have limited effectiveness in preventing mpox transmission in outbreak situations because many infections remain unrecognised and undiagnosed,” they concluded.
Deaths top 1,000 in Africa’s mpox outbreak -- Over the past week, Africa’s surge of new mpox cases continued, and the region passed a grim marker, with fatal cases passing 1,000 for the year amid several worrying developments, including spread to new countries and in crowded settings that include prisons and refugee camps.At a weekly briefing today with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, reiterated that the outbreak isn’t under control. “We still believe cross-border transmission is a major issue,” he said, adding that rapid tests are needed to help identify travel-related spread more quickly.Countries in the region reported 3,051 new cases over the past week, along with 50 more deaths, pushing the totals since the first of the year to 42,438 cases, 1,100 of them fatal. Kenya this week reported the first death in its outbreak, a 46-year-old man who worked as a truck driver. Zambia’s first case, announced on October 8, also involved a truck driver, who is from Tanzania. With the report of the first two cases from Zimbabwe earlier this week, 18 countries in the region are now reporting mpox cases. In another new development, Ghana—a recently affected country—reported its second case, a household contact of its first case. Kaseya said new outbreaks have been detected in two prisons in Uganda and involve patients who didn’t have a history of travel outside Uganda. So far, three cases have been confirmed at two different prisons, where 1,874 contacts have been identified.Health officials initially though the patients had chickenpox, given that one of the facilities had reported a chickenpox outbreak in June. Meanwhile, cases continue to rise at internally displaced person camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) North Kivu province, which house 2.5 million people at 13 sites. So far, 697 mpox infections have been reported from the camps, 333 of them lab confirmed. Just more than half are male, and adults ages 20 to 40 are the most affected group.He said aside from the crowded conditions in both settings, prisons and camps have other challenges in stemming the spread of mpox, including a lack of hygiene facilities and lack of access to infection prevention and control tools.
Marburg infects 3 more in Rwanda; most outbreak cases tied to hospital clusters -After 2 days with no new Marburg virus cases, Rwanda’s health ministry today reported three new infections and one more death from the disease, raising the outbreak total to 61 cases, 14 of them fatal.The ministry said all new cases reported since its initial announcement have been within a hospital cluster in Kigali and their contacts. Thirty one people remain in isolation and treatment, and 16 people have recovered from their illnesses.Vaccination using an experimental Marburg vaccine from the Sabin Vaccine Institute launched last weekend, and 501 people at high risk have now been immunized.In a related development, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted an update on Rwanda’s update, its first, noting that the vast majority of cases are from three districts within Kigali. All new cases confirmed in the past week are associated with two hospital clusters in Kigali, the country’s capital.So far, more than 700 contacts have been identified and are under monitoring. The contact who is known to have traveled to Germany is still being monitored by local health officials, and a contact who traveled to Belgium has completed the 21-day monitoring period.Separately, the WHO issued a statement yesterday that said travel and trade restrictions are ineffective for controlling the ongoing Marburg outbreak in Rwanda, and can hurt affected countries and discourage countries from rapidly sharing data. It noted that several countries have introduced travel-related measures, including temporarily discouraging travel to Rwanda. The United States recently upgraded its travel advisory for Rwanda, recommending against nonessential travel, and announced that health screening for inbound travelers from Rwanda will begin on October 14.
New polio cases recorded in 4 countries -- Four countries have new polio cases this week, including Pakistan with four more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases and Angola, Nigeria, and South Sudan with vaccine-derived cases, according to the weekly report from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).Also noted in the report, Spain has its first positive environmental sample, from Barcelona, and French Guiana has multiple positive environmental samples. Pakistan now has 28 cases of WPV1 this year. The new cases all experienced paralysis onset in September, and were located in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces.In Angola, the new detection of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) case raises the year’s total to seven. Nigeria now has 61 cVDPV2 cases for 2024 after this week’s four cases, and South Sudan now has nine.Two countries reported environmental samples of vaccine-derived polio for the first time this week."One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample has been reported this week, from the Barcelona metropolitan area, Catalonia, with collection in September," the GPEI said. "This is the first time cVDPV2 has been reported in Spain.Similarly, French Guiana reported three circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3-positive environmental samples collected in Cayenne province in May, June, and August.
PAHO issues alert about wastewater polio positives from French Guiana - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) yesterday posted an epidemiologic alert about recent detections of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) in wastewater samples in French Guiana and urged countries in the region to keep polio vaccination levels above 95% to minimize the risk of outbreaks. The detection was first reported to PAHO in early August, based on a positive wastewater sample from Cayenne collected on June 26. The sample was one of five from five different sites collected as part of a research project by scientists at the French Research Agency for Emerging Infectious Diseases. Genetic sequencing found that it wasn’t related to any previously identified cVDPV3 strains. Additional wastewater testing at the Pasteur Institute in French Guiana found a positive in a sample collected on August 6 from a site in Remire-Montjoly, and a retrospective wastewater sample collected on May 15 from Saint Georges de l’Oyapock was also positive. More results are pending.The positive samples from the different sites are genetically related and confirm the presence of cVDPV3 in French Guiana, though no suspected cases have been reported, PAHO said.Health officials in French Guiana have stepped up surveillance and have asked healthcare workers to review patients’ polio vaccination status. For undervaccinated or hard-to-reach communities, PAHO said polio vaccination operations should include all antigens used in national immunization programs for children younger than 5 years old. The group also said the efforts should include active searches for suspected cases in health facilities and the community.
- A second round of polio vaccination began today in Gaza, with a plan to reach 591,700 children younger than 10 years old, according to a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO). At least two doses of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) are needed to interrupt transmission. As in the first round in early September, the second round involves three phases over a 3-day period, with one catch-up day. The first round reached 95% of eligible kids at the governorate level. Hanan Balkhy, MD, who leads the WHO Eastern Mediterranean regional office, on X today said a second area-specific humanitarian pause is needed to safely deliver the vaccines and ensure all children are protected. “We call on all parties to allow unimpeded access for health workers to complete this vital campaign. Every child must have the chance to receive their vaccine, no matter where they live.” The outbreak of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was detected on July 16.
- RedHill Biopharma today announced that it has received a cost-sharing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance the development of opaganib, a small-molecule treatment for Ebola virus. The drug has shown mutation-resistant antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity, likely to counteract the vascular impacts of Ebola infection. The company is pursuing an animal-rule pathway for potential approval for Ebola treatment. The host-directed, broad-acting drug is orally administered and is the first in its class. Other US agencies are evaluating opaganib as a countermeasure for mustard gas and acute radiation exposure. BARDA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
- Vietnamese officials have reported the H5N1 avian flu deaths of captive tigers, lions, and other cats at two zoos, one in Dong Nai province and the other in Long An province, both located in the southern part of the country. According to the notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), the outbreak at the My Quynh zoo in Long An province began in early August, killing 27 tigers and 3 lions. The outbreak in the Vuon Xoai Eco-tourism area began on September 8, killing 1 leopard and 20 tigers. The source of the virus isn’t noted, and officials included vaccination data for poultry in the two areas.
- Nigeria, the country with the world’s highest malaria burden, yesterday received its first malaria vaccine delivery, according to a statement from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The first phase of the country’s campaign will begin in November, targeting Kebbi and Beyelsa states, where malaria activity is especially high. Newly added to the country’s routine immunization schedule, the vaccine will be administered in children younger than 1 year old. The vaccine requires 4 doses. Nigeria is using the R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by Oxford University and made by the Serum Institute of India.
- Federal health officials yesterday said they have wrapped up their investigation into aSalmonella Enteritidis outbreak linked to eggs from Milo’s Poultry Farms, which were the subject of a recall. Since the initial announcement in early September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 28 more illnesses and 3 more affected states, bringing the outbreak total to 93 infections across 12 states. The latest illness onset was September 13. Thirty-four people were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.
- Two countries reported new polio cases this week, according to the latest weekly update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Pakistan reported four more cases involving wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), lifting its total for the year to 32, a sharp rise compared with 2023. The patients are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces and had paralysis onsets in August and September. Elsewhere, Ethiopia reported two circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases, putting its total for the year at 13. The patients are from Gambella and Somali provinces and had paralysis onsets in July.
Effects of chemical mixtures: Neurotoxic effects add up -- Chemicals are omnipresent today: they enter our bodies through food, air or the skin. But how do these complex mixtures of chemicals affect our health? In a study published in the journal Science, a research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has shown that chemicals that occur in complex mixtures and in concentration ratios as found in humans act together. Even if the concentrations of the individual substances were each below the effect threshold, the chemicals in the mixture showed a cumulative neurotoxic effect. For their investigations, they used blood samples from pregnant women from the LiNA mother-child study (lifestyle and environmental factors and their influence on the newborn allergy risk), which has been running at the UFZ since 2006. "In our everyday lives, we are exposed to a wide variety of chemicals that are distributed and accumulate in our bodies. These are highly complex mixtures that can affect bodily functions and our health," "It is known from environmental and water studies that the effects of chemicals add up when they occur in low concentrations in complex mixtures. Whether this is also the case in the human body has not yet been sufficiently investigated - this is precisely where our study comes in." The extensive research work was based on over 600 blood samples from pregnant women from the Leipzig mother-child cohort LiNA, which has been coordinated by the UFZ since 2006. The researchers first analysed the individual mixtures of chemicals present in these samples.. "Using mass spectrometry analyses, we searched for 1,000 different chemicals that we knew could occur in the environment, could potentially be ingested by humans and could be relevant for adverse human health effects. Of these, we were able to quantify around 300 chemicals in several plasma samples." This provided the researchers with information on the composition and concentration ratios of the chemical mixtures present in the 600 individual plasma samples. The researchers used a prediction model to calculate the neurotoxic effects of the chemical mixtures. To test the predictions of the mixture effects experimentally, they used an established cellular bioassay based on human cells that indicates neurotoxic effects. "We analysed individual chemicals as well as around 80 different, self-produced chemical mixtures in realistic concentration ratios. The extracts of the plasma samples were also tested," says Georg Braun. The results were clear. "The laboratory experiments confirmed the predictions from the model: the effects of the chemicals add up in complex mixtures," says environmental toxicologist Beate Escher. "Even if the individual concentrations of neurotoxic chemicals are so low that they are each below the effect threshold, there is still an effect on nerve-like cells in complex mixtures with many other chemicals." "With our study, we were able to prove for the first time that what is known about the effects of chemical mixtures in the environment also applies to humans," says Escher. "It is therefore imperative that we rethink risk assessment. Indicator substances alone are far from sufficient. In future, we must learn to think in terms of mixtures." UFZ environmental immunologist and head of the LiNA study Dr Gunda Herberth adds: "It is becoming increasingly clear that many diseases such as allergies, immune system disorders, obesity or the development of the nervous system are linked to exposure to chemicals in the womb or in early childhood." The test method presented in this study - the extraction of chemical mixtures from human samples and their characterisation using chemical analysis combined with cell-based biotest systems - opens up new possibilities for researching the effects of complex chemical mixtures on human health. In future research projects, the scientists want to refine their test method and investigate the effects of chemical mixtures on other health-relevant endpoints such as immunotoxicity. In addition, they would like to uncover possible links between chemical exposure and the development of developmental disorders in children. As members of the German Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, a Germany-wide research network of university hospitals, universities and non-university research institutions, the UFZ researchers will work with numerous experts from the fields of medicine and epidemiology in the future in order to apply these methods of effect-based human biomonitoring in practice.
Aqua Ohio notifying customers with lead service lines (WKBN) – Aqua Ohio is notifying customers who have service lines made of lead, galvanized steel or unknown material. Service lines connect a home or other building to water mains. Locations with service lines that have been confirmed to be made of other non-lead-bearing materials will not receive notification, according to a news release from Aqua Ohio. “It’s important in that we want them to know either what their service line is, if it’s lead or galvanized, or that we just don’t know and we need to investigate,” said Jeff LaRue, a spokesperson for Aqua Ohio. Aqua Ohio has 60,000 people it serves in the Mahoning Valley in places like Campbell, Struthers, Lowellville, Poland, Boardman, Canfield and other local areas. “Aqua’s mission is to deliver safe, reliable water service,” said Jenniffer Johnson, area manager of Aqua’s Struthers Division. “We’re working with the EPA to identify lead lines. Once they’ve been identified, we’ll work with property owners to replace those lines.” Eighty-eight lead lines have been found already, 388 made of galvanized steel. Over 9,600 are made of an unknown material and will be checked. The service line is normally the customer’s responsibility, but in this case, Aqua will replace lines made of lead or galvanized steel. “We’ve worked with the EPA to identify some funds to be able to replace that service line at no cost to the customers,” LaRue said. Lead was outlawed in 1988 as a material for water service lines, but homes built before then could still have them. Research has linked lead to health complications, especially in children. Aqua Ohio says the water it provides is compliant with all state and federal laws. “We regularly test our water for quality parameters, including the presence of lead, and there’s no reason to be concerned about the presence of lead in the water in the Mahoning Valley,” LaRue said. Customers are not being asked to take any action at this time. The letters are being sent for informational and regulatory purposes. According to Aqua, the company is already taking steps to prevent lead from leaching into the distributed water and it conducts routine tests to make sure the lead levels remain below actionable levels.
Listeria meat recall affects hundreds of products sold at Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's --A massive meat recall linked to possible listeria contamination has impacted hundreds of ready-to-eat meals sold at major grocery store chains across the U.S., including Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Target.On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released an updated list of affected products, some featuring popular brand names like Dole, Taylor Farms, Great Value and Michelina’s.The recall, initiated by BrucePac, involves more than 9.9 million pounds of pre-cooked meat and poultry items that were produced from June 19, 2024, to October 8, 2024.The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service discovered the issue during routine testing, when Listeria monocytogenes was found in poultry samples. Subsequent testing traced the source of the bacteria back to BrucePac’s ready-to-eat chicken.The affected products were shipped to distributors across the country and later reached restaurants and other food service providers. They appeared in a variety of items, from frozen dinners to pre-made salads. Aside from Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Target, some other retailers affected by the recall include: 7-Eleven, Albertson’s, Aldi, Amazon Fresh, H-E-B, Kroger, Meijer, Publix, and Save Mart.Some of the recalled meals are featured in the table below. Click here see the full list.No illnesses or adverse reactions have been reported in connection with the recall.However, the USDA warned about the risks of eating food contaminated with listeria bacteria. Infections can have serious or even fatal consequences for the most vulnerable groups, including seniors, pregnant people (and their newborns) and those with weakened immune systems.Those who are high-risk and experience flu-like symptoms within two months of eating contaminated food should seek medical attention and notify their healthcare provider.
Meat recall expands to almost 12 million pounds of products --BrucePac, a large producer of prepackaged meat and poultry, has expanded an existing recall to include the addition of almost 1.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat products distributed to schools, restaurants and other institutions. The recall brings the total weight of recalled meat to nearly 12 million pounds, according to anupdated press release about the recall issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The original weight involved more than 9.9 million pounds of product.The recall occurred when the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) found listeria monocytogenes during routine testing, the release said. It involves products produced from May 31 to Oct. 8.The USDA said in the release there have been no confirmed adverse reactions.The release notes that consuming foods contaminated with listeria monocytogenes could cause listeriosis, which “primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns.” While the school distribution list is not currently available, NewsNation, The Hill’s sister television network, reported after the last release that the USDA had said Dole, Taylor Farms, Great Value and Michelina’s were among some of the popular brand names with affected products. Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Target were some of the bigger retail stores that were also affected by the recall.
CDC details 2023 trichinellosis outbreak linked to undercooked bear meat -A 2023 outbreak of trichinellosis tied to undercooked bear meat in western North Carolina points to the need for local health departments and wildlife managers to educate people about safe wild-game meat preparation, say investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. In a report published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the authors described the outbreak, increasing proportions of which are linked to wild-game consumption. Trichinellosis, also called trichinosis, is caused by Trichinella worms from the consumption of raw or undercooked meat containing dormant larvae. The rare parasitic disease usually causes muscle pain and fever (54% of cases) and facial swelling (42%) and can lead to persistent muscle pain and, rarely, death (0.2%). The index patient, who had flu-like signs and symptoms and facial swelling, was reported to the North Carolina Division of Public Health on November 29, 2023. Among 34 surveyed attendees of the gathering, 22 said they ate undercooked bear meat, with 10 having signs and symptoms of trichinellosis. Nine of the 10 case-patients had facial swelling, six had muscle pain, and four had fever. Patients ranged in age from 10 to 40 years (median, 17 years). The median incubation period (time from ingestion to symptom onset) was 21 days (range, 7 to 26 days). Most patients were prescribed an antiparasitic drug, but in some cases, use of the drug was delayed. Five patients were tested for Trichinella immunoglobulin G antibodies. While all results were negative, confirmatory diagnosis requires additional convalescent-serum testing, for which none of the patients returned. No bear meat was available for testing. "Moreover, whether the patient was treated or not, confirming infection through testing of convalescent serum is challenging because acute symptoms have often resolved by the time samples can be collected," the researchers wrote. "Recovered patients might have little incentive to return for testing." Although trichinellosis remains rare, the researchers noted that hunters kill thousands of bears each year in North Carolina, and black bears are common hosts for Trichinella species. "Communication of safe wild game meat preparation is the most effective way to prevent trichinellosis," the authors wrote. "Diagnostic antibody tests might have poor accuracy, and treatment costs can be substantial. Cooking wild game meat to an internal temperature ≥165°F (≥74°C) is necessary to kill Trichinella spp. parasites."
Avian flu confirmations in California dairy workers reach 6 -The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported today that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed two of its latest probable H5 avian flu cases, as it reported another likely case based on state testing, which if confirmed would raise the state’s total to seven.California’s flurry of human cases is occurring amid an ongoing surge of outbreaks affecting the state’s dairy farms, which are concentrated in the Central Valley. Also today, the CDC shared the latest findings from genetic sequencing, which so far show no worrying changes.Most of the earlier patients infected at California farms were from different facilities, but CDPH said two of the workers are from the same Central Valley farm. Both of them were exposed to infected cows, suggesting that only animal-to-human transmission is occurring in California.The CDC said in an update today that the two people from the same farm worked on different parts of the farm, and aren’t close contacts of each other. All six patients have experienced mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis. All were treated based on CDC guidance, and none were hospitalized.CDPH added a seventh possible human case has been reported from the Central Valley and the specimen has been sent to the CDC for confirmation testing.The new confirmations push the national total of H5 cases this year to 20. All but one are related to contact with sick cows and poultry. Health officials are still investigating the source of a human H5 infection in Missouri and whether illness symptoms in seven contacts, one household member and six healthcare workers.The CDC said it has now sequenced viruses from three patients, and all are closely related to viruses in dairy cattle.Though the hemagglutinin of the three sequenced viruses has new amino acid changes compared to closely related candidate vaccine viruses, none are linked to increased infectivity or transmissibility among humans.Also, sequencing hasn’t found any changes that suggest reduced susceptibility to antiviral treatments or any changes in other gene segments that would suggest mammalian adaptation.
California reports 4 more probable H5 cases in dairy workers -The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) todayreported four more probable avian flu infections in dairy workers, as it awaits final confirmation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on an earlier probable case identified in state testing.The newly identified potential cases came from proactive testing over a 3-day period, the CDPH said. All of the sick people had contact with infected cattle on nine different farms.So far, all patients have had mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis. None of the people were hospitalized.Shipping delays late last week and today’s federal holiday mean that the specimens are expected to arrive at the CDC early this week.California reported its first outbreak in dairy cattle in the Central Valley in late August, but the state—the nation’s largest dairy producer—has quickly become the hardest hit. So far, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed 100 H5N1 cases in dairy herds. If the CDC confirms California's five probable cases, the state’s number of infections in dairy workers would rise to 11. And if confirmed, the new cases would lift the national total since the first of the year to 25.
California reports five possible human bird flu cases (Reuters) - California is investigating five possible human cases of bird flu among dairy farm workers, in addition to the six cases previously confirmed in the state, the state health department said on Monday. Bird flu has spread to 100 dairies in California and 300 nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There have been 19 confirmed human cases this year among farm workers exposed to sick poultry or dairy, including the six confirmed cases in California this month. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The risk to the general public from bird flu remains low and pasteurized dairy products are safe to consume, federal officials have said. Specimens from the five possible cases are being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation and are expected to arrive early this week, said the California Department of Public Health. The possible and confirmed cases originated on nine different dairy farms and the individuals had mild symptoms and were not hospitalized, the state said.
CDC confirms recent cases in California dairy workers as virus strikes 15 more farms -The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 5 suspected H5 avian flu cases in California dairy workers, according to updated tables from the CDC and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). California now has 11 H5 cases in dairy workers. So far this year, 25 human H5 cases have been reported in the United States, all but 1 involving exposure to infected cows or poultry. Dairy workers in California continue to face a daunting threat from ongoing spread of the virus in the state’s dairy cows. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS )confirmed 15 more outbreaks in California dairy herds, bringing the state’s total to 120 and the national total to 320 across 14 states. In other avian flu developments, APHIS today confirmed an outbreak at a commercial poultry farm reported by Utah earlier this week. The facility in Cache County is a layer farm that has 1.8 million birds. Also, the agency confirmed an outbreak at a layer farm in Washington, which involves a facility in Franklin County that has nearly 840,000 birds. The event marks Washington’s first outbreak in poultry since December 2023.
Avian flu strikes more California diary herds, Utah poultry flock --The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today confirmed five more H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in California’s dairy herds, bringing the state’s total to 105. Centered in the state’s Central Valley, the dairy herd outbreaks began at the end August. The surge in outbreaks at dairy farms has come with a steadily rising number of infections in dairy workers, who have reported mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed six infections, and follow-up testing is under way on five others identified during state testing. Elsewhere, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) reported the confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial poultry flock in Cache County. In a statement, UDAF said the state veterinarian’s office was notified about symptomatic birds and immediately dispatched a team to assess the situation. Utah reported its last avian flu outbreak in poultry nearly a year ago. Cache County is in northern Utah on the border with Idaho.
Cows dead from bird flu rot in California as heat bakes dairy farms (Reuters) - Cows in California are dying at much higher rates from bird flu than in other affected states, industry and veterinary experts said, and some carcasses have been left rotting in the sun as rendering plants struggle to process all the dead animals. Carcasses left in the open and picked over by scavengers could facilitate the spread of bird flu to other birds and wild animals or degrade the carcasses such that they cannot be processed for rendering, experts told Reuters. Bird flu has spread to more than 300 dairy herds in 14 states this year, and infected 120 herds in top milk producing state California since the end of August. The virus also has infected 25 people this year, including 11 in California. Infected herds in California are seeing mortality rates as high as 15% or 20%, compared to 2% in other states, said Keith Poulsen, a veterinarian and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who has researched bird flu. The California Department of Food and Agriculture did not respond to questions about the mortality rate from bird flu. In the state's Central Valley, extreme heat has exacerbated health issues in cows suffering from the virus, which causes fever, slowed milk production and other symptoms, said Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairies, which represents almost 90% of the state's dairy farms. Farms that might normally lose one or two cows per month have had hundreds die, Raudabaugh said. Farmers contract with rendering companies to pick up dead cows. But rendering companies, which process the carcasses to produce tallow and hide, are struggling to keep up, leading some farmers to leave cows outside for days, Raudabaugh added. Steve Lyle, spokesperson for California's agriculture department, said the state's rendering industry has capacity for the higher mortality rates, and that one rendering company experienced delays this month as a result of hotter temperatures. Temperatures in the southern Central Valley, home to many dairies, have exceeded 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) six times so far in October, according to the National Weather Service. Baker Commodities, a California rendering company, has seen an increase in dead dairy cows due to the heat and bird flu, said spokesperson Jimmy Andreoli II. The company's routes have been somewhat delayed by safety measures, which include drivers disinfecting truck tires to avoid carrying bird flu from farm to farm, but it has been able to keep up with demand, Andreoli said. The state needs to do more testing to contain the virus, said Crystal Heath, a veterinarian in Los Angeles who took photos of dead cows outside Mendonsa Dairy in Tulare County. As a safety measure, farmers leave dead infected cows far from their healthy herds to decrease the risk of further spread, said Raudabaugh, whose organization represents Mendonsa Dairy. Mendonsa could not be reached for comment. Joey Airoso, a Tulare County dairy farmer, said he is surrounded by dairies that have been hit with bird flu infections. "The way its been traveling around here, I feel like almost everybody will probably get it," he said.
FDA report shows small decline in sales of antibiotics for food-producing animals --New data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) show that sales of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals fell by 2% last year.The latest summary report from the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) shows that 6.1 million kilograms (kg) of medically important antibiotics were sold and distributed for use in livestock (chicken, turkey, cattle, swine) in 2023, down from 6.2 million kg in 2022. Medically important antibiotics, which are tracked because they're also used in human medicine, accounted for 56% of all antibiotics sold for use in food-producing animals.The FDA report notes that the volume of antibiotics sold and distributed for use in livestock and poultry in the United States has dropped by 37% from 2015, the peak year of animal antibiotic sales, and by 35% since 2014. As in previous years, swine accounted for the highest percentage of medically important antibiotic sales (44%), followed by cattle (41%), turkey (10%), chicken (2%), and other food-animal species (3%). Sales of medically important antibiotics in 2023 declined for all species except swine and those in the "other" category. Two-thirds (66%) of all medically important antibiotics sold for food-animal production were tetracyclines, which saw an increase in sales compared with 2022. Sales of fluoroquinolone antibiotics also rose. But sales figures for all other classes of antibiotics fell.The report also includes an interactive chart on biomass-adjusted sales data, which adjusts raw annual antibiotic sales data to account for the total mass (the estimated population multiplied by the average weight) of each animal species potentially receiving those drugs. Animal biomass adjustment helps contextualize antibiotic sales data by accounting for the size and composition of animal populations, which can change from year to year. That chart shows that biomass-adjusted sales, which provides an indication of the intensity of antibiotic use in food-producing animals, declined for several antibiotic classes in 2023. Fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins, and tetracyclines all saw increases in biomass-adjusted sales. Although the decline in sales of antibiotics for use in livestock and poultry since 2014-15 is significant, much of the decline occurred in 2016 and 2017, when new FDA rules ending the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and requiring veterinary oversight of antibiotic use on farms went into effect.But after rising by 9% in 2018, US sales of antibiotics for food-producing animals have essentially plateaued over the last few years. And advocates for more judicious use of antibiotics in food-animal production say they're concerned about the trajectory."There was a little bit of a drop [in 2023], but we're still up quite a bit from where we were in 2017," Steven Roach, the Safe & Healthy Food Program Director at Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), told CIDRAP News. "And with certain species we're significantly higher than we were in 2017."The biggest changes in antibiotic sales have been seen in the poultry industry. Since 2017, sales of antibiotics for use in chicken production have fallen by 45%. Chicken producers have led the way on more judicious use of antibiotics in recent years, as consumer demand for antibiotic-free chicken has driven the country's largest chicken producers to dramatically limit the use of antibiotics.By comparison, sales of antibiotics for use in the cattle and swine have risen by 7.8% and 32.6%, respectively, since 2017."The poultry industry has continued to reduce their [antibiotic] use and has shown that it is possible," Roach said. "At the same time, antibiotic use in the pork and beef industry is going back up. The concern about overuse of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals is that it contributes to a reservoir of resistant bacteria that threatens animal and human health. The issue has been acknowledged by both US and international health organizations as a critical component of efforts to address rising rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Mormon Church's Real Estate Arm Buys 46 Farms Across 8 States - The real estate arm of the Mormon Church is growing larger this month after another company announced a deal to sell it 46 farms totaling 41,554 acres for $289 million in an all-cash deal.Denver-based publicly traded real estate investment trust Farmland Partners Inc. is selling the 46 farms across eight states to Utah-based Farmland Reserve Inc., a real-estate investment company operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Collectively, the sale of the 46 farms averaged $6,955 an acre. The farms are located across Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Carolinas. The deal announced last week is set to close on Oct. 16.In a news release, Farmland Partners noted the sale did not include any of the company's Illinois farm ground "which is among the most valuable land that it owns."Farmland Partners, according to its investor presentation on its website, owns 145,000 acres in the U.S. and manages another 45,000 acres across 15 states. Its total real estate portfolio tops $1 billion in value. Farmland Partners has acquired more than 300 farms since its IPO in 2014. Farmland Partners cites roughly 90% of its acres grow row crops across Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The company also has orchards in California. Farmland Partners also has more than 100 tenant farmers.Farmand Partners noted its total gain on sale will be approximately $50 million, or approximately 21% over the aggregate net book value of the farms."Farmland is a 'total return' investment, with asset appreciation typically accounting for a majority of the overall return on invested capital," said Luca Fabbri, Farmland Partner's president and CEO. "We have consistently advised shareholders that our company is undervalued due to lack of recognition by the market of the appreciation in our asset base. As we did last year, we have once again proven our total return thesis and highlighted the unrealized intrinsic value in our stock by delivering a sizable gain on a representative segment of our overall portfolio. We intend to deploy the resulting capital to reduce debt by approximately $140 million, to buy back stock, to pursue acquisitions, and for other corporate purposes. Moreover, as we did last year, we expect to be in a position to make a significant special distribution to shareholders at year-end."
Kentucky reports state's first captive-deer CWD case in Breckenridge County -- The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources yesterday announced the detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a deer that died at a captive deer farm in Breckenridge County.The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) confirmed the case, the state's first in a captive cervid facility, and has issued a quarantine restricting the movement of live deer or deer products to or from the farm."Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials are in close communication with national, state and local partners and will reference the agency's CWD Response Plan in response to this new detection," the news release said. "Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has CWD-tested more than 40,000 deer and elk from across the state."The state's first CWD case was identified in December 2023 in Ballard County. Officials urge hunters to help with CWD monitoring by dropping off the heads of legally harvested and telechecked deer for free testing at self-service sample drop-off sites located throughout the state. CWD, a neurologic disease caused by misfolded infectious proteins called prions, affects cervids such as deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. Prions are extremely resilient and can persist in the environment for years. CWD poses an ongoing threat to cervids, because it can spread from animal to animal and through environmental contamination. The disease isn't known to infect humans, but officials recommend not eating meat from a sick animal and using precautions when field-dressing or butchering cervids.
How the invasive spiny water flea spread across Canada, and what we can do about it -- Across the tranquil waters of Canada's vast network of lakes and rivers, a quiet invader is on the move. The spiny water flea, Bythotrephes cederströmii, is a microscopic predator that is forever altering the ecological fabric of aquatic habitats in Canada. Originally from Eurasia, Bythotrephes casts a long shadow over the ecosystems it invades. Its presence in Canadian waters represents an ongoing ecological challenge, one that intertwines the fate of native species with the specter of climate change. Despite its name, Bythotrephes is neither a flea nor a parasite.A member of the crustacean zooplankton family, the Bythotrephes belongs to a group of microscopic arthropods that are near the base of the aquatic food web and related to other crustaceans like shrimp and lobsters.Its diet primarily consists of other crustacean zooplankton, with herbivores being the preferred food source. By preying on these critical organisms, Bythotrephes can destabilize a local food web. This destabilization leads to a decrease in native fish populations that rely on zooplankton for nourishment.The Bythotrephes is equipped with a long, barbed tail spine, which makes it difficult prey for most fish, further allowing its populations to grow mostly unchecked in many lakes.Alarmingly, the Bythotrephes is spreading rapidly.The Bythotrephes is well protected against predation and feeds on a number of key species.Human activities, particularly recreational boating and fishing, serve as the primary vectors for this invasive species. Boats and equipment used in infested waters can harbor Bythotrephes' and its eggs, which are remarkably resistant to freezing and drying and able to survive out of water for extended periods of time.Unknowingly, outdoor enthusiasts can transport these invaders to uninvaded habitats, sometimes seeding new infestations far from the original point of invasion. However, the insidious spread of Bythotrephes is not solely the direct result of human activities but is also exacerbated by climate change. The Canadian climate has been historically hostile to the Bythotrephes. But as global temperatures rise and weather patterns shift, more and more of Canada is experiencing conditions favorable for the proliferation of invasive species like Bythotrephes.Warmer water temperatures, in particular, extend its breeding season, allowing for more reproductive cycles within a single year. This amplifies their population growth and colonization potential, hastening their spread across Canadian waters.Milder winters and earlier ice melt may also enable Bythotrephes to survive and reproduce in regions where it was previously unable to establish populations. These changes in environmental conditions create novel opportunities for Bythotrephes to expand its range and out-compete native species for resources, exacerbating the ecological disruption caused by its invasion.Enhanced surveillance of known potential habitats can help identify new infestations early, enabling quicker actions to contain or eradicate outbreaks. Public awareness and education are equally important. The adage "clean, drain, dry" should become a mantra for anyone engaging in aquatic recreation. By thoroughly cleaning and drying boats, gear and equipment, individuals can dramatically reduce the risk of transporting Bythotrephes and other invasive species to new locations.
Chinook salmon face unprecedented habitat challenges due to human-driven changes, research suggests - Chinook salmon are facing unprecedented challenges as their once-thriving populations struggle to survive. A new study published in the journal Ecosphere suggests that decades of human activities, including ocean harvest, artificial propagation and reservoir construction, have not only reduced the size of these fish, but also disrupted their ability to spawn successfully. Joe Merz, lead author of the paper and a research affiliate with the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, said Chinook salmon play a crucial role in their ecosystems, and that fisheries management and habitat changes have weakened their natural reproductive potential. "We've got an organism that utilizes a variety of ecosystems during its life cycle," Merz said. "We tend to slice up those ecosystems and manage them separately. We, as a society, need to think more holistically about what will benefit our fish populations." Chinook salmon migrate from the ocean back to the freshwater streams where they were born to spawn. Females find suitable nesting sites, usually in gravel beds, for laying eggs and move the gravel with their tails to cover and protect them until they hatch. Merz and the team of researchers analyzed more than 100 years of data on Chinook salmon growth trends with a focus on the lower American River, which historically supported spring and fall Chinook salmon runs. They found that salmon lengths have generally decreased, fluctuating with ocean harvest and hatchery production rates. The reduction in size, combined with deteriorating habitat conditions caused by numerous human impacts, including past mining and dam construction, has made river gravel too large for the smaller salmon to move and use effectively. To further complicate spawning, dams also block salmon from historic habitat and alter water flow. "The average female Chinook salmon can move two cubic yards of gravel while she's making her nest in the river; they can essentially change the riverbed," he explained. "That's an important thing because it increases habitat complexity and influences the aquatic insect community, a major part of the river food web. And what concerns me, is that we're decoupling an organism from its natural spawning cycle in our rivers." The research team conducted tests by adding different sizes of gravel to spawning sites and determined there was increased spawning activity with smaller gravel. Merz said that effective management strategies could involve adjusting hatchery or harvest practices, restoring spawning sites with smaller river gravel and protecting ecosystems.
Full moon hazard: 50% rise in wildlife vehicle collisions during moonlit nights Recent research by Texas A&M University, publishedin the journal Transportation Research Part D, indicates a 45.8% increase in wildlife vehicle collisions during a full moon. Kentaro Iio, a former Texas A&M student, and Dr. Dominique Lord, a professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, collected 10 years of collision data in Texas to compare full-moon nights with new-moon nights and their corresponding wildlife-vehicle collisions. Non-wildlife collisions in the same time periods showed no significant differences. The study highlights the importance of increased driver caution, especially on brighter nights. According to the researchers, it could also help inform transportation policy and infrastructure improvements where better safety measures are necessary. "I compared really dark nights without moon illumination (new moon) to really dark nights with the full moon illumination," Iio said. "If you include other lunar phases in the analysis, they appear on the horizon at different times each day, making it more difficult for true apples-to-apples comparisons." Previous studies conducted worldwide, including regions in Spain, Canada and Lithuania, have found similar increased collision trends during the full moon. Each used varying methods and proposed many possible reasons for the results. Iio and Lord believe a combination of factors could contribute to the increase. Factors like driver fatigue at night and increased wildlife activity could warrant further study by transportation and animal behavior experts. "Although the illumination is better, it's still nighttime," Lord said. "When you drive at night, I'm not sure the illumination from the various perspectives is so much greater compared to daytime." This study also split the data into different regions of Texas to highlight rural and urban areas. The capital area of Texas was the only region with a lower relative risk of collisions during a full moon, but the difference was statistically insignificant. The capital area consists of 10 counties stretching from Llano to San Marcos and La Grange to Georgetown. The regions were divided based on the Texas comptroller-defined economic regions. Wildlife-vehicle collision rates in the High Plains, South Texas, Central Texas and Upper East regions saw high increases on full moon nights, ranging from 57.8% to 125%. The High Plains region primarily covers the Texas Panhandle. "Rural areas tended to have higher collision ratios concerning the full moon than urban areas," Iio said. Lord further explained that lower urban wildlife density and urban light pollution could also contribute to lower results in those areas. The effect of lunar illumination can be diluted in brighter city areas.
Man, daughter killed in hornet attack -- A man and his eight-year-old daughter were killed after coming under attack by a swarm of hornets in Mymensingh's Dhobaura upazila yesterday afternoon. The victims are Maulana Abul Kashem, 50, and Labiba, of Dudhnoi village. Kashem was the imam of Dudhnoi Bazar Jame Mosque, reports our Mymensingh correspondent quoting police. Quoting locals, Al Mamun Sarker, officer-in-charge of Dhobaura Police Station, said Kashem along with his daughter, a madrasa student, was collecting firewood in a nearby jungle around 1:30pm, when a swarm of hornets started stinging them, injuring them critically. Hearing their screams, locals rescued and took them to Dhobaura Upazila Health Complex from where they were referred to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. They died on way to the hospital, said the OC. On information, police recovered the bodies and handed them over to the family members without autopsy.
Plastic pollution harms bees and their pollinator functions, research team findsNano- and microplastic particles (NMP) are increasingly polluting urban and rural landscapes, where bees and other beneficial insects come into contact with them. If insects ingest plastic particles from food or the air, it can damage their organs and cause changes in their behavior, preventing them from properly performing ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control. Plastic pollution thus poses considerable risks to biodiversity, agricultural production, and global food security. These are the main findings of a new review in the journal Nature Communications, which was conducted by an international team including researchers from the University of Freiburg. Microplastic particles are between one micrometer and five millimeters in size; still smaller particles are referred to as nanoplastics. Whereas the harmful effects of NMP in water and for individual species are well documented, there have as yet been no systematic reviews on how the particles affect agricultural ecosystems. To fill this gap, the authors of the review summarized 21 already published individual studies for the first time. They were interested particularly in the question of how pollinator insects and other beneficial insects come into contact with NMP and what consequences the ingestion of the particles has for them, as well as for the ecosystems that are dependent on them and for agricultural production. In this way, the researchers first succeeded in identifying different sources from which NMP end up on agricultural land, including plastic films, fertilizers, polluted water, and atmospheric depositions. The plastic particles accumulate in the soil, and pollinators and beneficial insects that are important for pest control ingest them from the air and food or use them to build nests. Nano/micro-plastic (NMP) exposure pathways and direct and indirect effects on pollinators, pests and pest control agents at the farm and landscape scale. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52734-3 Damage to bees could lead to a decline in agricultural production The authors of the study establish that the bees' ingestion of NMP leads, for example, to damage to their digestive system, to a weakening of their immune system, and to changes in their behavior. This makes the bees more susceptible to diseases, possibly causing them to pollinate plants less effectively. "We find microplastic in the gut of bees and see how wild bees use plastic to build nests. We therefore urgently need to investigate what interaction this has with other stressors, such as climate change, for the bees and their pollination services," says Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein, co-author of the study and professor for nature conservation and landscape ecology at the University of Freiburg. A decline in pollination services has a negative effect on crop yield. Thus, plastic pollution could further aggravate existing uncertainties in the global food supply, the researchers warn.
Study suggests dolphins could be exposed to potentially harmful microplastics through inhalation -- U.S. researchers have detected microplastic particles in air exhaled by wild bottlenose dolphins, suggesting that inhalation may be a relevant route of exposure to these potentially harmful contaminants. Miranda Dziobak of the College of Charleston in South Carolina, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on October 16, 2024. Around the world, humans and numerous other animals are exposed to tiny particles of plastic contaminants known as microplastics. In humans and rodents, microplastic exposure has been linked to adverse health impacts, such as oxidative stress and inflammation. Ingestion of foods contaminated with microplastics is a major route of exposure for both humans and wildlife, and inhalation of airborne microplastics has been linked to adverse health effects in humans. However, few studies have examined inhalation as a potential route of microplastic exposure for wildlife. Now, this research team has collected samples of exhaled air from five bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida, and six bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana during catch-and-release health assessment studies. To capture the air, they held a collection surface over or just above each dolphin's blowhole as it exhaled. Analysis of the collected air showed that all 11 dolphins had at least one suspected microplastic particle in their breath. Further analysis of the exhaled microplastic particles showed that they included both fibers and fragments and included several types of plastic polymers, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyester, polyamide, polybutylene terephthalate, and poly(methyl methacrylate), also known as PMMA. For comparison, the research team had also sampled the surrounding air near the dolphins, allowing them to confirm that the detected microplastics were not just airborne near the blowholes but were actually exhaled. These results support the idea that inhalation could be another key route of microplastic exposure for dolphins, alongside ingestion. However, the authors note that their findings are preliminary, and that further research will be needed to better quantify the degree of inhalation exposure to various types of microplastics among bottlenose dolphins, as well as to determine the potential impacts on dolphins' health, such as the possibility of lung damage. The authors add, "We know that microplastics are floating around in the air, so we suspected that we would find microplastics in breath samples. We are concerned by what we are seeing because dolphins have a large lung capacity and take really deep breaths, so we are worried about what these plastics could be doing to their lungs."
San Diego County residents launch second suit over alleged sewage treatment plant failures -Residents of Imperial Beach in southern San Diego County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the operators of an international wastewater treatment plant — alleging that the site has failed to contain a cross-border crisis that has long contaminated their community. The plaintiffs said they are seeking to hold the plant’s managers accountable for severe environmental and public health effects that have resulted from an influx of untreated sewage, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. Imperial Beach, which sits just a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, has long been the recipient of untreated wastewater that comes from the Tijuana metropolitan region and ends up on the beaches of San Diego County. Residents represented by law firm Singleton Schreiber filed Tuesday’s lawsuit against Veolia Water Operating Services, Veolia Water North America-West and Mark Wippler, an employee of Veolia. The company operates the border-adjacent South Bay International Water Treatment Plant, which treats some of Tijuana’s sewage stateside and is owned by the U.S.-Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). While the South Bay plant has long been broken and in need of significant overhaul and expansion, the IBWC — a bilateral entity run jointly by the U.S. and Mexican federal governments — has lacked sufficient funds to make this happen. Congress in 2020 allocated $300 million toward renovating the site, but officials maintained that the plant needs $150 million more to function properly. President Biden then asked lawmakers last fall to authorize an additional $310 million, but that approval never occurred.Instead, Congress approved a $156 million sum as part of this year’s $1.2 trillion budget IBWC officials announced that they had broken ground on a critical infrastructure improvement project at the site in September. “We are committed to doing everything possible to enhance the health of communities along the U.S.-Mexico border and permit safe entry to the beaches,” Maria-Elena Giner, commissioner of the IBWC’s U.S. contingent, said in a statement at the time.Nonetheless, residents are pursuing legal action, stressing that the community has for years contended with water alerts, hazardous swimming conditions and persistent health effects from exposure to pollutants..
Supreme Court hears San Francisco's wastewater case against EPA - The Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday on a challenge from the city of San Francisco to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over federal wastewater rules. In its lawsuit against the federal agency, the city argued regulations around discharge of untreated sewage were unclear, including the potential price tag for violations, and that they could leave the city on the hook for factors beyond its control, such as the quality of water that enters the San Francisco Bay from elsewhere. The high court agreed to hear the case after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the city 2-1 last summer. In oral arguments Tuesday, Tara Steeley, an attorney for the city, told the court that under the status quo, “they might as well have said: Do not violate the Clean Water Act. It doesn’t tell us anything.” The court’s liberal minority appeared broadly skeptical of the city’s argument, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor pushing back on Steeley’s characterization that the city was expected to “shift on a dime.” “No one’s asking you to shift on a dime. What they’re asking you to do is to become responsible for doing what’s necessary, not on a dime, but to take the steps necessary to control situations that develop,” Sotomayor said. However, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared receptive to the city’s arguments. “What the permit system was designed to do was give some notice to the different dischargers about what was going to be required of them, [but] your water quality system gives you complete discretion in which who’s going to bear the burden and who’s not,” Roberts said to Assistant to the Solicitor General Frederick Liu. Kavanaugh, meanwhile, asked Liu if “you can go after an individual entity, like the City of San Francisco, based on the past when they didn’t know what the relevant limitation on them was and seek retroactively, without fairness, huge penalties, including criminal punishment, based on something that they didn’t know what they could discharge or not discharge.” “You’re suing San Francisco separately for a lot of money, based on a standard that they had no idea [of], at least that’s the theory,” Kavanaugh added
EPA to review resistance risks of antibacterial, antifungal pesticides -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week finalized its framework for expanding federal collaboration on the review of antibacterial and antifungal pesticides.The framework establishes a process through which the EPA will consider expert input from other federal agencies when evaluating whether use of antibacterial or antifungal pesticides may result in the development or spread of antibacterial or antifungal resistance. It was developed in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).Farmers use antibacterial and antifungal pesticides to treat crop diseases such as apple scab, citrus greening, fire blight, and gray mold. But there is concern that widespread use of these pesticides, which share characteristics or modes of action with antibiotics and antifungals used in human and animal medicine, could promote the development of resistance to those drugs, potentially reducing their effectiveness.The EPA says the framework is designed to recognize the benefits of these pesticides to agriculture while minimizing their impact on human and animal health and considering the issue through a One Health approach."This framework will strengthen the shared goals of EPA, HHS, USDA, and the White House in protecting relevant human and animal drugs while ensuring growers can continue to have access to important tools to protect their crops from fungal and bacterial diseases," Ed Messina, JD, director of EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, said in an agency press release.
Orange Juice Prices Near Record Highs Amid Fears Of Worst Florida Harvest In A Century - Frozen concentrated orange juice futures on the Intercontinental Exchange in New York are nearing new record highs. The squeeze in the physical markets may drastically worsen after a new citrus grove survey damage report across Florida following Hurricane Milton shows widespread damage. Industry consultant Judy Ganes told Bloomberg that more than three million boxes of oranges may have been lost after Milton knocked fruit from branches and devastated citrus groves in the Sunshine State. She warned the next Florida harvest could be the worst since the late 1920s. In recent years, Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, freezing conditions, and citrus greening disease have decimated citrus groves in the state. Milton has only exacerbated those problems. Some of the latest industry figures show that US orange production is set to reach its lowest level in more than a century. OJ futures have surged to $5/lb, a staggering 433% jump from the Covid lows of around $1/lb. Worsening supply woes could push prices even higher. Meanwhile, data from the US Department of Agriculture shows that OJ cold storage levels were at their lowest point since the early 1970s. Brazil, the world's top OJ producer, has ramped up OJ shipments to the US to offset sliding Florida production. But now, as we noted last month, Brazil has been hit by a devastating drought and widespread crop disease that has severely impacted yields across citrus groves. Rabobank analyst Andrés Padilla warned that Brazil has slipped into the "worst drought in 50 years" and "there's really been very, very little rain across the citrus belt in the last four months, which is an important period."Padilla said, "The smallest crop in 35 years, plus rising citrus greening disease, plus drought — it's the perfect storm," adding, "The market is really stressed."
81 people still missing in North Carolina, Helene now third deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since 1950 - (video) Nearly three weeks after Hurricane “Helene” made landfall, North Carolina is still searching for 81 missing people amid mounting fatalities, with over 131 deaths reported in the state as of October 16. Helene has resulted in over 261 fatalities, surpassing 259 fatalities caused by Hurricane “Camille” in 1969 and making it the third deadliest hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. mainland since 1950. In North Carolina alone, more than 131 deaths have been reported. Buncombe County has been particularly affected, with at least 72 fatalities. 51 fatalities were reported in South Carolina, 33 in Georgia, 26 in Florida, 17 in Tennessee (and 27 missing), 2 in Virginia, and 1 in Indiana. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in a news conference warned that the figure may vary as more reports of missing persons are resolved. “I want a caution that this is not a definitive count, because the task force is continuing its work,” said Cooper. The governor also said that the state has formed task forces to search for the missing people. “The task force, law enforcement, and other partners will continue working to locate those unaccounted for,” said Cooper in the conference. More than six months’ worth of rainfall fell during Helene’s onslaught, destroying several towns in the western part of North Carolina. Rescue attempts were hampered by the steep and rough terrain of western North Carolina, where homes and bridges were washed away and the major tourist destination of Asheville was cut off. The Governor also addressed the issue of the spread of misinformation concerning storm response, which ranged from erroneous statements about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acquiring local land to misconceptions about relief available to storm survivors. “The ongoing spread of misinformation about operations is not ok. It has got to stop,” said Deanne Criswell Administrator of FEMA. She also said how heartbreaking it is to see words or acts of hatred towards anyone, let alone federal responders who are there to help people in a critical time.
FEMA workers threatened by armed group in Tennessee— There were some tense moments on Saturday when volunteers witnessed an armed group of people confronting and threatening FEMA workers in the Elk Mills community of Carter County in Tennessee. Tracy Elder is president and founder of the International Alliance of Community Chaplains. Her group has been working in disaster relief for more than 20 years. They are in Carter County at the request of the Elk Mills Volunteer Fire Department to help run the command center there, providing supplies and resources for those in need. But Elder told Nexstar’s WJHL that she found herself between FEMA workers and a group of armed citizens criticizing the work of the government agency on Saturday. Elder was ultimately able to diffuse the situation. How to help with recovery from Milton, Helene “They were armed — they were all open-carry — they had surrounded [the FEMA workers] and there was a lady that was yelling at them and threatening them,” Elder said. She explained that she listened to the group’s grievances about FEMA but explained to them that her organization was not associated with the federal agency. Elder said she felt the group was frustrated and she was able to hear them out, but was firm that their behavior wasn’t appropriate. “People just need to be heard, and then some of that does take a skill that doesn’t take a confrontation,” Elder said. “I said, ‘Hey I hear you. You can say there’s no volunteers but I’m standing right in front of you honey and I’m here and we’re helping.'” Elder said once the group realized that FEMA wasn’t taking those donations, and that the command center was run by volunteers, they left and surprisingly returned later with supplies to donate. FEMA temporarily pauses aid in parts of NC over reported threats During the confrontation, Elder did call 911 because she said the group wasn’t being rational. “I don’t care whatever their beef is with the government or FEMA, that’s not my job. My job on this ground is to take care of the folks here,” Elder told WJHL. Because of the bridges washed out in the community, the area is now a now a much longer drive from the sheriff’s department. That doesn’t sit well with Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley, and it’s why he’s working to get a sub-station up and running at the site of the now washed-away fire department. Two deputies will be stationed there 24 hours a day.
Rare EF-3 tornado hits Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - (3 videos) A rare EF-3 tornado tore through the Avenir community in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on October 9, 2024, as Hurricane “Milton” unleashed a tornado outbreak across Florida. A powerful EF-3 tornado tore through Palm Beach Gardens on October 9, ripping off roofs and causing widespread damage. With winds of 225 km/h (140 mph), the tornado lifted a construction dumpster into the air and tossed it on top of a home in Regency Community at Avenir. “I’ve never surveyed a tornado with this much damage and severity. EF-3 tornadoes are very rare in South Florida,” said NWS Meteorologist Robert Molleda. “It’s probably been many years since we’ve had an EF-3-rated tornado here in South Florida,” he added. Several new homes in the Avenir community were damaged by the tornado which ripped off concrete block walls and large sections of the roofs from homes. People were seen putting tarpaulin over their damaged roofs once the storm had passed. The tornado had a long track with its starting and end locations still unknown. The EF-3 rating of the tornado is still preliminary as it is based on just one neighborhood of Palm Beach Gardens which was among the hardest hit. A multi-day survey is needed to assign a final rating. The tornado was part of a larger tornado outbreak triggered by Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane at around 20:30 local time on October 9. NWS offices in Miami, Tampa Bay, and Melbourne collectively issued 98 Tornado Warnings on October 9, the most ever recorded for a single day in Florida’s history. NWS Miami alone issued 55 warnings, breaking the previous record of 37 warnings in a single day, set in 2022 during Hurricane Ian. According to the NWS, 126 Tornado Warnings were issued on October 10 by NWS offices in Florida. This was the second-highest number of Tornado Warnings ever issued in the United States on a single day. So far, only 5 to 7 tornadoes have been confirmed by the NWS through photographic or video evidence but no EF ratings are final as more surveying is needed to determine the actual number of tornadoes. Although there are reports of over 150 tornadoes, they are yet to be confirmed by authorities.
Tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton brought deadly destruction to communities in eastern Florida - The number of confirmed deaths from Hurricane Milton remained at 23 as of Tuesday, including those killed by tornadoes that swept through Florida before the climate-change-fueled storm made landfall six days ago. At least 12 deaths from tornadoes, most of them many miles from where the hurricane came ashore, have been reported. At least six people were killed by an EF-3 tornado that struck the Spanish Lakes neighborhood in St. Lucie County, according to the county sheriff’s office. St. Lucie County is on the Atlantic coast of Florida due east of where Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota on the Gulf Coast. St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson reported that the most impacted area was about a half-square-mile community made of older modular homes that a tornado completely destroyed. The homes were mangled and there were people trapped underneath them, Pearson said. Two people killed by a tornado in Fort Pierce, county seat of St. Lucie County, have been identified by a relative as Alejandro Alonso, 66, and Mary Grace Viramontez, 70, who died when a twister went through the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village. Another tornado touched down in West Palm Beach and left a trail of damage. In nearby Wellington, FOX Weather Meteorologist Kendall Smith said the scenes of destruction were surreal. Smith said, “The devastation I have just come upon is the most significant devastation that I’ve seen so far since I’ve been on the ground covering the aftermath of the tornadoes produced by Hurricane Milton.” Four people were killed by a tornado in Volusia County, also on the Atlantic side of Florida, which includes Daytona Beach, and one was killed in Citrus County, which is on the Gulf Coast side, north of the hurricane impact area. At least two people were killed by falling trees, another was fatally electrocuted after stepping on a downed power line and others died after their medical emergencies could not be immediately tended to by first responders because of the weather. Clara, a Tampa resident who was unable to evacuate the area spoke to the World Socialist Web Site about what has been happening since Hurricane Milton passed through the area a week ago. All my food got trashed, probably, I don’t know. Four or five hundred dollars, if not more, in my deep freezer and my freezer in my refrigerator. Everything is garbage, right. We had to throw it all away. There’s no ice to keep anything cold. If they do have ice, the lines are either really, really long or you’re going to use up all your gas to get to the ice. Clara discussed the gasoline and hotel room shortage which made evacuating impossible for so many: Supposedly there was gas at the port, but then they said, “Oh, the port got flooded,” so we couldn’t get gas there. Now they’re telling people that there’s no water pressure because of the lack of electricity, and the sewage is going to start backing up. I was trying to find AirBnB’s and found one, but the area I found it in has been flooded. We were willing to drive as far as Ocala, but it’s showing there are 20 stalled cars. So, you don’t know whether the stalled cars are because they ran out of gas, or they got flooded on the way there. All the stores are closing early because there’s still no power. Where I live in Riverview, there’s all these massive subdivisions, right? Too many people on one power grid, or two power grids, or however many grids there are. So that whole story, you’ll read the stories. If they’ve got 6,000 linemen, you’d be hard pressed to see them. I saw some the first day after this happened on Thursday where they were. It was like a whole bunch of tree cutters and then one power person, right? On the flooding and ability to get out of the area, Clara said, They can’t restore the power if certain people’s houses have floods. We woke up this morning and there was a pile of water in the kitchen. So of course, now I’m not going to have a kitchen for I don’t know how long because I can’t get the people that I rent from to even call me back. There is standing water in a lot of neighborhoods, absolutely, because their drainage system is not up to par. Let me explain. I’m going to give you a scenario. The subdivision I live in maybe has 150-200 houses. So, the subdivision goes out onto one road called Sims. Sims is a two lane highway and there is another subdivision that probably has the same number of houses. And down the street a block, you’ve got another subdivision with about the same number of houses. So, you’ve got all these different subdivisions all spilling out onto one two lane road. This whole thing about, “evacuate when you can,” or “go when you can,” or “get where you got to go when you can,” that’s not accurate. It’s just not happening. I never thought to witness it. When we first moved into this neighborhood, it maybe took 15 minutes for the kids to get to the school. Now it takes 45 minutes, because there’s so many people. And now put the storm in the mix, and that’s another thing. Schools aren’t open because they have no power.
Extent of destruction from Hurricane Milton comes to light -- Five days after Hurricane Milton made landfall at the barrier island Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida, the deadly and devastating impact of the powerful climate change-fueled storm is coming to light in counties from the state’s Gulf Coast to the Atlantic. At least 23 people have been confirmed killed by the storm, which intensified at an unprecedented rate to a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico before striking Florida as a Category 3 in the evening of October 9. Bringing 120 mile per hour winds, torrential rains and dozens of tornadoes, Milton ravaged Florida while residents were still recovering from Hurricane Helene less than two weeks earlier. The storm flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes, tipped over trucks, tossed boats around and destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field, a baseball stadium that was planned to be used as a shelter for first responders who were in the area to help rescue those trapped in the flooding. Power was knocked out for millions of Floridians, and Poweroutage.us reports that over 275,000 customers remain without power around the Tampa Bay region as of this writing, including those in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties. In Hillsborough County, first responders rescued more than 700 people, including 135 elderly people who were trapped in waist-deep water at a Tampa assisted living facility, where many had been relocated from an evacuation zone. In one instance, Hillsborough County officers rescued a 14-year-old boy, who was floating on a piece of fence and pulled him into their boat. Flooding has not receded in many impacted areas in central and northern Florida, where the storm dropped 5 to 20 inches of rain in a few hours. Rivers are expected to remain above flood stage for weeks or months due to the relatively flat topographical features of the Florida peninsula. It will take weeks or months for the water to run off back into the ocean. Some areas have been completely transformed by the storm. Accuweather reported that drone footage shows, for example, that the small coastal town of Grove City, Florida, located 30 miles south of where Milton made landfall, has been rendered unrecognizable. Other areas severely damaged by the storm include Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Fox Forecast Center meteorologist Cody Braud told the New York Post, “As storms like Milton move ashore, they’re pumping sand and water much further inland than what we’re used to. But because there’s been so much storm surge, as things start to recede, everything starts to reverse and get pushed back out.” The US Geological Survey warned, “This is the most severe level of coastal change” and said that Hurricane Milton joined a long list of destructive storms that have changed the Florida coastline, including Hurricanes Ian, Irma, Matthew and Michael. In eastern Florida where the Hurricane Milton exited into the Atlantic Ocean, Canaveral National Seashore is closed until further notice to protect visitors. Most of the boardwalk at Playlinda Beach was damaged, and the beach suffered significant dune erosion and overwash, the National Park Service reported. President Joe Biden made a perfunctory visit to Florida on Sunday which included an aerial tour of areas impacted by the hurricane. He landed in Tampa after receiving an “operational briefing” from federal, state and local authorities. The president then flew to St. Pete Beach on a barrier island west of St. Petersburg, where he made comments to the press. While millions of people’s lives have been turned upside down by the storms, Biden made the comment, “Thankfully, the storm’s impact was not as cataclysmic as had—we had predicted.” The president presented a paltry $612 million for what he called “six cutting-edge projects to support communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” under conditions where the property damage and economic losses from Milton alone are estimated at between $160 and $180 billion. Meanwhile, the funding the White House is making available is not going to families who have lost everything in the storms. Instead, Biden said the money would go to the energy corporations in the region, including “$47 million for Gainesville Regional Utilities and another $47 million for Florida Power & Light.” Public health officials in Florida are warning residents of an increased risk of life-threatening bacterial infections from remaining flood waters. Meanwhile, stagnant water creates a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and the spread of diseases such as dengue, Zika, malaria and West Nile virus.
NWS confirms record 15 tornadoes in one day in South Florida - Florida saw a record-breaking 15 tornadoes on October 9, 2024, as Hurricane “Milton” swept through — the most ever recorded in the region in a single day. Among the 15 two were rated EF-3, causing significant damage across Palm Beach Gardens and Lakeport communities.
- NWS confirms 15 tornadoes in Florida spawned by Hurricane “Milton” on October 9, 2024. The highest since reliable records began in 1950.
- Two EF-3 tornadoes with peak wind speeds of 225 km/h (140 mph) were reported at Lakport and Palm Beach Gardens respectively causing significant damage to both areas.
- Three people were injured in Lakeport while taking shelter in their homes.
The first EF-3 tornado on October 9 struck the east side of Lakeport. It began around 14:24 local time (LT) near Moore Haven and ended at approximately 14:42 LT near Bridgeton Seminole in Glades County. The tornado reached peak wind speeds of 225 km/h (140 mph) near Sarasota Colony, causing widespread destruction. Three people were injured while sheltering in their homes. The tornado left a 24 km (15 miles) trail of damage, destroying the second story of three homes in Sarasota Colony, Lakeport. It then crossed Florida State Road 78, moving into the Fisherman Lane neighborhood, where it damaged multiple homes, ripped off roofs, tossed trailers, and deposited debris into a retention pond two blocks away. A manufactured home chassis was found wrapped around a tree at a height of 5 – 6 m (15 – 20 feet). The contents of the home were scattered at least 183 m (600 feet) from their original location. As the tornado moved north-northwest, it passed east of Harney Pond Canal into the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. Here, it caused significant damage to roofs, uprooted trees, and severely impacted homesteads before tearing through a sports complex, where it dug out baseball fields and demolished spectator seats. The second EF-3 tornado that day touched down near Palm Beach Gardens. Beginning at around 16:43 LT near Wellington, it traveled for 47 km (29 miles), ending near Philo Farms at approximately 17:21 LT. The tornado left a path of destruction across several communities. In the Rustic Ranches section of Wellington, a double-wide mobile home on Deer Path Lane was destroyed. The tornado then moved through the far western portion of Wellington, crossing the Lakefield West, Meadowwood, and Binks Forest communities, where EF-1 and EF-2 damage was observed to homes and trees. Continuing its path, the tornado crossed Southern Boulevard/US 98 and moved north-northeast across Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage, causing EF-1 to isolated EF-2 damage to homes, trees, and outbuildings. As the tornado approached Northlake Boulevard, it intensified and inflicted its most significant damage in the Avenir community of Palm Beach Gardens. At its peak, the tornado produced winds of up to 225 km/h (140 mph), severely damaging the roof of a Publix supermarket and causing EF-3 damage. Large portions of the supermarket’s roof collapsed, and structural damage rated EF-2 and EF-3 included shattered impact-resistant windows and vehicles that were lifted and moved at least 91 m (300 feet) from their original locations. The tornado then moved westward, passing close to North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport, where a wind gust of 148 km/h (92 mph) from the SSW was recorded by the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at approximately 17:10 LT. After crossing Bee Line Highway/SR 710, where tree damage was noted, the tornado entered Jupiter Farms, causing EF-1 to EF-2 damage to trees, outbuildings, and power poles.
Severe storms in southeastern Brazil claim 8 lives, leave 2.1 million without electricity - Central and southeastern Brazil were hit by strong winds and heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12, 2024, causing widespread damage and leaving 8 people dead. Strong winds and heavy rain battered central and southeastern Brazil from Friday, October 11, causing widespread damage and leaving 8 people dead. Wind gusts reached up to 108 km/h (67 mph), and daily rainfall totals reached 100 mm (4 inches), according to the National Institute of Meteorology. The severe weather led to blackouts, destruction, and multiple fatalities, particularly in São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. In São Paulo, seven people died due to falling trees, collapsing walls, and violent winds. In BrasÃlia, a soldier was killed and another injured after a tree fell on them. Power outages affected approximately 2.1 million homes and businesses across the region. In Greater São Paulo, 1.3 million residents were still without power by 21:00 on Saturday, with 870 000 of those outages reported in BrasÃlia. The storms followed an extended period of dry weather, including 167 days without rain in BrasÃlia. The prolonged drought fueled wildfires that devastated the Amazon rainforest, harmed wildlife in the Pantanal wetlands, and caused smoke to cover major urban areas.
Severe floods affect over 130 000 people, claim 3 lives in Sri Lanka - The Watchers (2 videos) Severe flooding in Sri Lanka following last week’s torrential rains has left three people dead, injured two, and affected over 134 000 residents, with Colombo and Gampaha among the hardest-hit areas.
- At least 240 homes have been damaged and around 7 000 people have been evacuated from the flood-hit regions.
- Colombo and Gamapaha are the worst-hit regions so far.
- The adverse weather conditions are expected to last until Thursday, October 17.
left two injured, and affected over 130 000 people, as of Monday, October 14, 2024. At least 12 districts have been affected by severe floods, with Colombo and Gampaha being the worst hit. At least 240 homes have been damaged, and approximately 7 000 people have been evacuated from the flooded regions. Schools have been closed in Colombo and its suburbs, and power has been cut off in some areas as a precaution. Approximately 6 963 people from 1 753 families have been evacuated from regions including Kalutara, Gampaha, Colombo, Kilinochchi, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Hambantota, Galle, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Puttalam. Gampaha has seen 80 529 people affected, while 40 231 have been affected in Colombo. Torrential rains have disrupted transportation and train services in Puttalam and Gampaha. In Gampaha, the central bus station was completely submerged, rendering public transport unusable. People could be seen wading through the flood waters in makeshift rafts on visuals shared by local media outlets. Flood waters have submerged entire streets, homes, and shops in some parts of the country. According to Athula Karunanayake, Director General of the Department of Meteorology, the late monsoon downpours were triggered by the formation of a low-pressure Intertropical Convergence Zone over Sri Lanka. The meteorological department had already warned of rainfall exceeding 100 mm (3.94 inches) on Sunday, October 13. Although the system is moving away from Sri Lanka, extreme weather is expected to continue until Thursday, October 17. “One of the special features of this rain is that it rains heavily in a short period. Many areas may receive more than 100 mm (3.94 inches) of rain,” Karunanayake said. The Irrigation Department has issued Yellow and Amber warnings for residents in several low-lying regions near the Kelani Ganga, Kalu Ganga, and Attanagalu Oya rivers due to rising water levels. “Minor flooding has been reported in the Nagalagam Street area of the low-lying Kelani River, the Kalawellawa area of the low-lying Kuda Ganga of the Kalu Ganga, and the Dunamale area of the Attanagalu Oya,” said Engineer S.P.C. Sugeeshwara, Director of the Hydrology and Disaster Management Division of the Irrigation Department. Teams from the Navy and Army are engaged in relief and rescue operations, while the government has allocated LKR 50 million (approximately USD 170 000) for relief efforts. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has mobilized aircraft and troops in anticipation of potential emergencies caused by the adverse weather. Monsoon rains and adverse weather have affected Sri Lanka since May. Floods and landslides had already claimed 16 lives in June.
Over 2 million displaced, 200 communities submerged as severe floods hit Kogi, Nigeria -- Flooding in Nigeria’s Kogi State has displaced nearly 2 million people as of October 14, 2024, with over 200 communities and approximately 60 000 ha (150 000 acres) of land submerged as the Niger and Benue rivers overflowed. Satellite image of floods in Lokoja, Kogi, Nigeria on October 8, 2024. A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Nigeria’s Kogi State, where flooding from the Niger and Benue rivers has submerged over 200 communities, displacing more than 2 million residents as of October 14. The flooding is affecting nine of the state’s 21 local government areas, including Lokoja, Kogi, Adavi, Ofu, Ajaokuta, Idah, Ibaji, Igalamela, and Omalla. Rescuers in Kogi State have been assisting residents with evacuations to displacement camps or villages away from the confluence of the two rivers. According to Umar Y. Mahmud, the disaster management officer for the Red Cross in Kogi State, around 60 000 ha (150 000 acres) of land has also been submerged by the floods. “The situation is very bad now as the Niger River is rising,” Mahmud said.
Extreme rainfall hits Ardèche Cévennes with up to 700 mm (27.6 inches) in 24 hours, France - (video) A slow-moving storm brought extremely heavy rains to parts of France on Thursday, October 17, 2024, with the Ardèche Cévennes region experiencing rainfall totals as high as 700 mm (27.6 inches). This led to widespread flooding and approximately 350 rescue operations. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, said the region is facing a situation that is unprecedented in its scale.
- The Ardèche Cévennes region was hit by extremely heavy rainfall on Thursday, with some locations receiving over 500 mm (19.7 inches) of rain within 24 hours. Croix-de-Bauzon recorded the highest rainfall at 700 mm (27.6 inches) by 12:00 (LT).
- Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, said the region is facing a situation that is unprecedented in its scale.
- Severe flooding in towns like Annonay led to evacuations and the activation of safeguard plans. Firefighters conducted around 350 interventions, rescuing 500 people, with no fatalities reported but three minor injuries.
- Six departments were placed under Red alert for rain and flooding, and schools in Ardèche were closed as a precaution. Twenty departments remained on Orange alert, with continued heavy rainfall forecast.
- The heavy rainfall was caused by the interaction of a quasi-stationary low-pressure area, an unstable air mass from the Mediterranean, and a “cold drop” created by cyclonic vorticity. This resulted in intense storm convection over the Cévennes mountains known as the Cevennes episode.
A slow-moving storm formed between Spain and western France late Wednesday, October 16, bringing extremely heavy rainfall to parts of France through October 17. As of 09:00 local time (LT) on Thursday, parts of the Ardèche Cévennes region have received between 300 and 500 mm (11.8 – 19.7 inches) of rain in 24 hours leading to severe floods across the region. Some locations recorded more than 500 mm (19.7 inches) of rain in 24 hours, such as Loubaresse, which registered 523 mm (20.6 inches), and Mayres, which saw 508 mm (20 inches) of rainfall. However, the highest accumulation was recorded at Croix-de-Bauzon, with 700 mm (27.6 inches) of rainfall as of 12:00 LT on Thursday. “We are facing a situation that is unprecedented in its scale,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition. “600 mm (23.6 inches) of water in the Ardèche is unheard of! That’s more than 600 mm in 48 hours. It’s absolutely massive,” she added.
Floods in Sahara could profoundly alter weather forecasts in the future - The Watchers - Heavy rainfall on September 6 and 7, 2024, brought more than a year’s worth of precipitation to parts of Morocco, resulting in 11 deaths and 9 missing persons. While the influx of water provided temporary relief by replenishing lakebeds and aquifers, Morocco’s meteorology chief noted that the presence of water in the Sahara could significantly impact future weather forecasts. The affected areas experienced significant disruptions, with reports of destroyed homes, damage to roads, and issues with electricity and drinking water supplies. The flooding also led to the refilling of dry lakebeds and aquifers, which might temporarily ease water shortages in the region. Tagounite, near the Algerian border, registered 170 mm (6.7 inches) of precipitation on Saturday, September 7. Marrakech recorded 90 mm (3.54 inches), Asni 83 mm (3.27 inches), and Essaouira 80 mm (3.15 inches). In the Ouarzazate region, 47 mm (1.85 inches) of rain fell within just three hours. The region of southern Morocco, including cities such as Marrakech, Essaouira, Ouarzazate, and smaller towns like Tagounite and Asni, experiences relatively low rainfall, particularly in September. For example, Marrakech typically receives around 15 – 20 mm (0.6 – 0.8 inches) of rainfall in September, while Essaouira, being closer to the coast, gets about 10 – 15 mm (0.4 – 0.6 inches). Ouarzazate, which is located in a desert region, averages just 5 – 10 mm (0.2 – 0.4 inches) during the same month. Annually, the rainfall varies across these areas, with Marrakech receiving approximately 240 – 280 mm (9.5 – 11 inches), Essaouira about 300 – 350 mm (12 – 14 inches), and Ouarzazate only 50 – 100 mm (2 – 4 inches). Towns like Tagounite and Asni, situated near the Sahara and Atlas Mountains, experience similarly low levels of annual precipitation due to their arid surroundings. Houssine Youabeb, from Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology, commented on the recent heavy rainfall, noting that it was the most intense they’ve seen in 30 to 50 years within such a short timeframe. This unusual precipitation is significant because the Sahara is typically one of the driest regions on Earth. Morocco’s head of meteorology said the presence of water in the Sahara could profoundly alter weather forecasts in the future. The sudden presence of water in the Sahara could have a notable impact on weather systems and prediction models, as the additional moisture can influence atmospheric conditions, potentially changing established weather patterns across the region and beyond.
Historic drought at Kariba Dam triggers severe power shortage in Zambia - Zambia is facing one of its worst electricity crises due to a severe drought affecting the region since January 2024. The drought has significantly reduced water levels at the Kariba Dam, leaving most of the hydroelectric turbines inoperable. Zambia sources up to 84% of its electricity from water reservoirs such as lakes and rivers, while only 13% comes from coal, making droughts extremely harmful to the country’s power supply. Contributions from solar, diesel, and heavy fuel oil are even lower, accounting for about 3%. Ad ends in 5 Approximately 80% of the country’s total power output comes from the Kariba Dam alone, making the declining water levels a serious concern. Currently, only one of the six turbines on Zambia’s side of the dam is operational, reducing electricity generation to less than 10% of normal capacity. As of October 7, the Kariba reservoir level was at 476.41 m (1 563.16 feet), with usable live storage for power generation of 6.31%. The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50 and 488.50 m (1 560 – 1 602 feet) for hydropower generation. The drought, caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, has drastically reduced the country’s power generation capabilities. Parts of the country often remain without electricity for three or more days, and when power does return, it only stays on for two to three hours at a time. The crisis was further exacerbated when the country’s only coal-fired power plant, Maamba Energy, was not operating at full capacity for several weeks due to routine maintenance. The plant returned to full operational capacity on October 9. The drought affecting Zambia since January was declared a natural disaster in February. “I think we stopped receiving the rains as early as February. It’s supposed to rain until April. If we compare the history of this basin, this is the lowest we have received,” said Cephas Museba, an engineer at Zesco, the state-owned power utility company. The prolonged blackouts have had widespread impacts across the country. Almost every business has been affected, with food items and other perishable goods taking a serious hit due to a lack of storage capabilities. Meats and other food items often spoil quickly, contributing to the cost-of-living crisis.
Widespread power cuts hit Ecuador as country battles severe energy crisis and worst drought in 61 years - Ecuador is experiencing a significant energy crisis, leading to widespread power outages and economic challenges. The crisis is primarily due to reduced water levels affecting hydroelectric power generation, which supplies a substantial portion of the country’s electricity. Satellite image of Coca Codo Sinclair Hydroelectric Project, Ecuador's largest hydropower plant on September 12, 2024. Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers Ecuador’s government, led by President Daniel Noboa, announced on September 23 that the country will implement eight-hour power cuts from Monday to Thursday, between 22:00 and 06:00 local time. Originally intended as a short-term measure, these blackouts have since been extended, reflecting the ongoing challenges in stabilizing the energy supply amid worsening drought conditions. The energy crisis in Ecuador, which began last year, has added strain to an already fragile economy and raised concerns over political stability. Ecuador relies heavily on hydropower, which accounts for over 70% of its energy production. With the worst drought in 61 years reducing water levels, the country faces mounting challenges in maintaining a stable electricity supply, leaving citizens uncertain about how their daily lives will be affected. Ad ends in 11 The government has pointed to inadequate maintenance of existing dams and delays in securing contracts for new energy generation as contributing factors. The impact on daily life has been significant, with citizens struggling to plan their routines amidst unreliable power, which also affects the country’s governance. Power outages have led to disruptions in traffic management, with non-functioning traffic lights complicating transportation, while unreliable internet services have hampered communication and business operations. Citizens have been urged to conserve energy, limiting electricity use for household activities like laundry. The agricultural sector has also been hit hard, particularly ranchers and dairy farmers. According to Rodrigo Gomez de la Torre, a dairy farmer from Pintag near Quito, milk production has dropped by 20% to 40% across different regions, largely depending on each producer’s capacity to prepare for the drought. Despite Ecuador’s considerable energy resources, including solar potential, fast-flowing rivers, and significant oil reserves, the country suffers from chronic underinvestment and poor policy decisions, according to Bloomberg’s Stephan Kueffner. President Noboa has recently appointed his fourth energy minister since taking office in November, assigning her the task of reducing Ecuador’s dependence on rainfall by diversifying renewable energy sources. Noboa also requested a tenfold increase in the cap on private investment in the electricity sector and removed duties on imported generators. Currently, only around 30% of households have generators to maintain power during blackouts.
Abbott declares disaster for 27 East Texas counties due to wildfire risk – Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for many counties across the state including several in East Texas due to the current risk for wildfires. The declaration was issued by Governor Abbott on Thursday for the following counties including the 27 East Texas counties bolded by KETK:“WHEREAS, I, GREG ABBOTT, Governor of the State of Texas, do hereby certify that elevated fire weather conditions that began on October 14, 2024, pose an imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property in Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Archer, Atascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Baylor, Bee, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Briscoe, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Childress, Clay, Collin, Colorado, Comal, Cooke, Coryell, Cottle, Crosby, Delta, Denton, DeWitt, Dickens, Falls, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Foard, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Grayson, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hall, Hardeman, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Henderson, Hill, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Jack, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kaufman, Kendall, King, Knox, Lamar, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Live Oak, Llano, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, McLennan, McMullen, Medina, Milam, Montague, Montgomery, Moore, Morris, Motley, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker, Polk, Potter, Rains, Randall, Red River, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Shelby, Smith, Stonewall, Taylor, Throckmorton, Titus, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wharton, Wichita, Wilbarger, Williamson, Wilson, Wise, Wood and Young Counties.” Abbott also directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate more emergency response resources to support firefighters working on wildfires across the state. “As the state continues to experience a hot and dry October, Texas is deploying firefighting resources to support local communities at an elevated risk for wildfires,” said Abbott. “Texans should take precautions, heed the guidance of state and local officials, and limit activities that can cause a spark. I thank the Texas Division of Emergency Management and local emergency management personnel for their work as we continue to prepare for potential wildfire activity across North and East Texas.”According to a press release from the governor’s office, more than 2,200 acres of Texas land has been burned by more than 80 wildfires this week.
Atmospheric rivers are shifting poleward, reshaping global weather - Atmospheric rivers—those long, narrow bands of water vapor in the sky that bring heavy rain and storms to the U.S. West Coast and many other regions—are shifting toward higher latitudes, and that's changing weather patterns around the world.The shift is worsening droughts in some regions, intensifying flooding in others, and putting water resources that many communities rely on at risk. When atmospheric rivers reach far northward into the Arctic, they can also melt sea ice, affecting the global climate.In a new study published in S cience Advances, University of California, Santa Barbara, climate scientist Qinghua Ding and I show that atmospheric rivers have shifted about 6 to 10 degrees toward the two poles over the past four decades. Atmospheric rivers aren't just a U.S West Coast thing. They form in many parts of the world and provide over half of the mean annual runoff in these regions, including the U.S. Southeast coasts and West Coast, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, northern Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom and south-central Chile. California relies on atmospheric rivers for up to 50% of its yearly rainfall. A series of winter atmospheric rivers there can bring enough rain and snow to end a drought, as parts of the region saw in 2023. While atmospheric rivers share a similar origin—moisture supply from the tropics—atmospheric instability of the jet stream allows them to curve poleward in different ways. No two atmospheric rivers are exactly alike.What particularly interests climate scientists, including us, is the collective behavior of atmospheric rivers. Atmospheric rivers are commonly seen in the extratropics, a region between the latitudes of 30 and 50 degrees in both hemispheres that includes most of the continental U.S., southern Australia and Chile.Our study shows that atmospheric rivers have been shifting poleward over the past four decades. In both hemispheres, activity has increased along 50 degrees north and 50 degrees south, while it has decreased along 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south since 1979. In North America, that means more atmospheric rivers drenching British Columbia and Alaska.
Early snow cover patterns point to polar vortex disruption, signaling harsh winter ahead across North America and Europe. - An unusual snow buildup from Siberia to North America in late October could destabilize the polar vortex, leading to colder and snowier conditions across the United States, Canada, and Europe this winter. A substantial increase in snow depth is forecast from Siberia to North America during the last two weeks of October, according to an analysis by Andrej Flis from Severe Weather Europe (SWE). This early buildup of snow cover could have significant implications for the upcoming winter across the northern hemisphere. Snow accumulation in October can disrupt the stability of the polar vortex, a large-scale cyclone centered around the North Pole that influences weather patterns across the mid-latitudes. A destabilized polar vortex increases the likelihood of winter weather disruptions in regions such as the United States, Canada, and Europe. In particular, a larger snow cover in the northern hemisphere during autumn may lead to more erratic winter pressure systems, potentially resulting in harsher cold and increased snowfall. Meteorologists are closely monitoring a broad low-pressure system forming over Siberia, which is expected to bring snow patches to the northwest, the Rockies, the Upper Midwest, and the far northern United States over the next two weeks, culminating in late October. This system plays a crucial role in laying the groundwork for winter conditions. The polar vortex, which extends from the Arctic to the mid-latitudes, varies in strength and shape throughout the season. When this system weakens, it can cause significant shifts in weather patterns. Increased October snow cover could lead to the development of a stronger high-pressure system, which in turn could weaken the polar vortex later in the winter. A weaker vortex tends to create a more disrupted jet stream, enabling cold polar air to surge southward, affecting regions like the United States and Europe with potentially severe winter conditions. Currently, snow cover over Eurasia exceeds 10 million km² (3.86 million square miles), marking the third-highest level in the past 20 years. This rapid rise in snow coverage, which is above normal for this time of year, is a critical indicator of potential shifts in winter weather dynamics. Additionally, an unusual pressure pattern in the stratosphere, alongside a warming anomaly over the western half of the polar circle, hints at a weakened polar vortex heading into the winter months. Forecasts show that stratospheric wind speeds may decrease between December and January, further suggesting the possibility of a weaker polar vortex. This weakening could trigger a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event, a phenomenon known to lead to drastic weather changes. If an SSW event occurs, it is often followed by the collapse of the polar vortex. Such a collapse could pave the way for above-average snowfall in Europe and the eastern United States, as the weakened vortex allows cold Arctic air to penetrate deeper into these regions.
Global warming is happening, but not statistically 'surging,' new study finds - Given the number of record-setting heat waves around the world in recent years, an international team of researchers, including a Lancaster University statistician, investigated if the rate of global warming has increased significantly, or "surged," over the last half century at statistically detectable rates. The new study, publishedon October 14 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, and led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz in the U.S., confirms the broad consensus that the planet is getting warmer, but at a statistically steady rate—not at a sufficiently accelerated rate that could be statistically defined as a surge. Recent years have seen record-breaking temperatures and heat waves globally: Data show 2023 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850—by a wide margin—and that the 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred in the past decade (2014–2023). These record temperatures have spurred discussion and debate about whether the rate of global warming has increased, with some arguing that it has accelerated over the past 15 years. However, the team's findings demonstrate a lack of statistical evidence for an increased warming rate that could be defined as a surge. "We've had these record-breaking temperatures recently. But that's not necessarily inconsistent with steadily increasing global warming," said lead author Claudie Beaulieu, Professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz. "Of course, it is still possible that an acceleration in global warming is occurring. But we found that the magnitude of the acceleration is either statistically too small, or there isn't enough data yet to robustly detect it."
Asteroid 2024 TH11 flew past Earth at 0.08 LD - A newly discovered asteroid designated 2024 TH11 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.08 LD / 0.00019 AU (29 838 km / 18 540 miles) from the center of our planet at 09:18 UTC on Thursday, October 10, 2024. This is the 88th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the 13th so far this month. Asteroid 2024 TH11 was first observed at Catalina Sky Survey, Arizona on October 11 — one day after it made its close approach to our planet. The object belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 9.4 and 21 m (30.8 – 68.9 feet).
EPA data: Large polluters' emissions drop by 4% in 2023 -Emissions from large polluters dropped 4 percent last year, according to self-reported data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These large polluters, which include power plants, belong to a subset known as “large stationary sources” and represent about half of the country’s total emissions, the EPA said Tuesday. Power plants cut their planet-warming emissions by 7.2 percent between 2022 and 2023. The agency said that this sector emitted 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023 and that last year’s decline follows a longer-term emissions drop linked to a shift in fuel source from coal to gas. Power plant emissions are down 33.8 percent since 2011. This sector represents a quarter of the country’s total emissions. The data comes from the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program, under which companies are required to report their own emissions to the agency. The EPA also said that in 2023, emissions from oil and gas production and processing increased by 1.4 percent, and are 16.4 percent above where they were in 2016. Emissions from other major pollution in industrial and waste sectors fell by 1.1 percent.
Global CO₂emissions from forest fires have increased by 60% since 2001, study finds -- A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests. The study, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and published in Science, grouped areas of the world into 'pyromes'—regions where forest fire patterns are affected by similar environmental, human, and climatic controls—revealing the key factors driving recent increases in forest fire activity. It is one of the first studies to look globally at the differences between forest and non-forest fires, and shows that in one of the largest pyromes, which spans boreal forests in Eurasia and North America, emissions from fires nearly tripled between 2001 and 2023. Significant increases were seen more broadly across the extratropical forests and amounted to an additional half a billion metric tons of CO2 per year, with the epicenter of emissions shifting away from tropical forests and towards the extratropics. Increased emissions were linked to a rise in fire-favorable weather, such as the hot-dry conditions seen during heat waves and droughts, as well as increased rates of forest growth creating more vegetation fuels. Both trends are aided by rapid warming in the high northern latitudes, which is happening twice as fast as the global average. The study reveals a worrying increase in not only the extent of forest wildfires over the last two decades, but also their severity. The carbon combustion rate, a measure of fire severity based on how much carbon is emitted per unit of area burned, increased by almost 50% across forests globally between 2001 and 2023. Forests are of worldwide importance for carbon storage, with their growth helping to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and reduce rates of global warming. They also play a crucial role in meeting international climate targets, with reforestation and afforestation schemes being implemented to remove carbon from the atmosphere and offset human CO2 emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and certain industries. The success of these schemes relies on carbon being stored in forests permanently, and wildfires threaten that. Extratropical fires are already emitting half a billion tons more CO2 than two decades ago, and the long-term effect depends on how forests recover. More widespread and severe forest fires are a sign that emissions are now out of balance with the carbon captured by post-fire recovery. Significantly, the increased emissions from forest fires contrasts with the reduced burning of the world's tropical savannas during the same period. Previous studies have shown that, since 2001, the area burned by all fires (forest and non-forest) fell by a quarter globally, mainly due to this. The latest findings are important because forest fires burn more severely and release larger amounts of harmful smoke to the atmosphere than savanna grassland fires, presenting major threats to those living near fires and to more distant communities exposed to poor air quality caused by smoke. The authors say the study debunks the narrative that falling overall annual area burned by fire globally means falling wildfire impact. "Until now, reduced burning in the already fire-prone savannas and grasslands has masked increases in forest fire extent and severity that are hugely consequential for society and the environment," said Dr. Jones. "Our work shows that fires are increasingly happening where we don't want them to—in forests, where they present the greatest threat to people and to vital carbon stores."
IEA: The World Is Not on Track to Triple Renewable Capacity by 2030 -- Despite the surge in renewable energy additions, the world is not yet on track to reach the goal of tripling renewables capacity by 2030, according to the Renewables 2024 report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday. Global renewable capacity is expected to grow by 2.7 times by 2030, surpassing countries’ current ambitions by nearly 25%. But it still falls short of tripling, said the agency advocating for a swift move away from fossil fuels.While climate and energy security policies have boosted the attractiveness of renewables by making them cost-competitive with fossil-fired generation, “this is not quite sufficient to reach the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity worldwide established by nearly 200 countries at the COP28 climate summit,” the IEA said.The agency’s main case, assuming existing policies and market conditions, forecasts 5,500 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity becoming operational by 2030. This implies that global renewable capacity additions will continue to grow every year, reaching nearly 940 GW annually by 2030 – 70% more than the record level achieved in 2023, the IEA said.Solar PV and wind together are expected to account for 95% of all renewable capacity growth through the end of this decade due their growing economic attractiveness in almost all countries.As a result of these trends, nearly 70 countries that collectively account for 80% of global renewable power capacity are expected to reach or surpass their current renewable ambitions for 2030. But this would still fall short of the COP28 pledge for tripling renewables capacity.Growth is there, but governments need to boost their efforts to integrate variable renewable sources into power systems, the IEA said, noting that the rates of curtailment of renewable electricity generation have been increasing substantially recently, and already reaching around 10% in several countries.In a separate report last month, the IEA said that the global goal to triple renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade is still within reach, but massive investments in power grids and energy storage would be needed.
Supreme Court refuses to halt Biden's climate rule for power plants -The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block a Biden administration rule setting climate standards for power plants — but hinted it could take up the case at a later time.The high court rejected requests from red states and industry stakeholders to temporarily halt the rule while other litigation against it plays out.In a statement accompanying the decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that while the rule’s challengers “have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits,” they are “unlikely to suffer irreparable harm” before a lower court can rule on the matter.Specifically, he noted that they don’t need to start making changes to make their power plants more climate friendly until June 2025. But he said parties could appeal a future decision from the D.C. Circuit, where the case against the Biden administration’s regulation is currently playing out.“After the D.C. Circuit decides the case, the nonprevailing parties could, if circumstances warrant, seek appropriate relief in this Court,” he wrote.Kavanaugh was joined in his statement by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, and Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case. In April, the Biden administration required existing coal plants and new gas plants to install technology to capture 90 percent of their planet-warming emissions.The rule is expected to prevent 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon emissions through 2047.It comes as part of a broader effort by the administration to reduce the U.S.’s contributions to climate change.But the rule’s opponents argued that it is unrealistic, and could force higher energy costs on consumers. In court, Republican-led states who challenged the rule argued that it is “really a backdoor avenue to forcing coal plants out of existence” — in violation of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling. At that time, the court ruled along ideological lines that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not allowed to explicitly force a shift from one power source to another, and is instead only allowed to require changes at individual plants.The rule that was upheld Wednesday was also challenged by players in the coal and electric power industries. An EPA spokesperson said that the agency is pleased with the decision and looks forward to implementing the rule, noting its anticipated $370 billion in net benefits for climate and public health over the next two decades. But, the coal industry said it would continue with its challenge in the lower court.“While we’re disappointed that some of the justices failed to recognize the immediate harm to industry and consumers posed by this reckless rule, we look forward to continuing to making our case in the D.C. Circuit,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, in a written statement. The Supreme Court also recently declined to block other Biden administration rules related to toxic pollution from coal plants and the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions.
One year in, U.S. clean hydrogen hubs face questions — and have few answers A year ago, the U.S. announced ambitious plans to build large-scale clean hydrogen hubs. Now, 12 months later, those plans have advanced little and are still shrouded in uncertainty. Last October, the U.S. Department of Energy picked seven consortiums across the country to receive up to $7 billion in federal grants. The goal of this startup money? To help the hubs attract tens of billions more in private-sector investment to pay for construction costs. These projects, located around the country, aim to bring together a wide array of organizations to scale up the production, storage, and transport of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen, which some experts view as a way to replace fossil fuels in industries such as steelmaking and aviation.There’s still little publicly available information to indicate whether these “clean hydrogen hubs” are likely to attract the needed private sector investment, however. Just as opaque are their potential community and climate impacts.Environmental groups, community advocates, and energy experts have grown concerned that the projects are off track — and increasingly dismayed that the DOE and the hub projects are not giving them the transparency needed to confirm or deny these worries.This puts the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the agency responsible for the H2Hubs program, in a tricky position. The $7 billion in H2Hub awards is being doled out in phases, over the course of many years. It’s OCED’s job to make sure the hubs are hitting the technical, financial, and community-benefit milestones needed to earn these disbursements.The hydrogen hubs are a cornerstone of not only the Biden administration’s clean hydrogen strategy, but its overall approach to clean energy. Without the hubs, the U.S. may not be able to supply the tens of millions of tons per year of clean hydrogen needed to decarbonize key industries in the decades to come.“We know that jump-starting a new clean energy economy in the U.S. is going to take time and public and private sector investment,” Kelly Cummins, OCED’s acting director, told Canary Media in an October interview. “To do that right and make sure it’s sustainable, we need to engage communities in a new way.” However, community and environmental groups hounding the hydrogen hubs and DOE for information over the past year say that engagement isn’t happening. The Natural Resources Defense Council reported in May that “environmental justice advocates and frontline communities have largely been kept in the dark on key details and basic information about many of these projects.” Since then, relatively little additional information has emerged. “We’re still struggling at this point to understand what’s really going on with the hubs,” said Morgan Rote, director of U.S. climate at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), another nonprofit group that’s been tracking the disconnect between hydrogen hubs and communities. “I don’t think DOE is sitting on a whole wealth of information they’re not sharing,” Rote said. “But that makes it even more challenging — and it’s no wonder communities feel like they don’t have information, if the DOE doesn’t have information.” To date, only three hubs have been awarded first-phase planning grants of about $30 million each: the ARCHES hub in California; the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association(PNWH2), which includes Oregon, Washington, and Montana; and the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which includes Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The remainder are still in the process of negotiating final approval for their first-phase funding. Less than 1 percent of global hydrogen production today is low-carbon. Of the roughly 90 million tons per year produced globally and 10 million tons per year in the U.S., almost all is derived from fossil gas. Right now, the two main methods for making low- or zero-carbon hydrogen are far more expensive than dirty hydrogen — and also untested at scale. Those include so-called “blue hydrogen,” which is made from fossil gas combined with carbon capture, and “green hydrogen,” which is made by splitting water in electrolyzers powered by zero-carbon electricity. The hydrogen hubs need about $40 billion in private-sector investment to match DOE’s $7 billion. That’s a tough sell for investors, given the uncertain economics involved both for would-be clean hydrogen producers and for the industries that must invest in retrofitting facilities, building new infrastructure, and reconfiguring how they do business in order to use it. What’s more, the rules for a subsidy that could make clean hydrogen cost-competitive with dirty hydrogen — the 45V production tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act — have yet to be finalized. Last December, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed rules that would require green-hydrogen producers to source newly built and consistently deliverable clean electricity — restrictions that energy analysts say are vital to ensure hydrogen production doesn’t end up increasing carbon emissions. But those proposed rules are being challenged by a number of industry groups and politicians who say they’ll stifle the nascent industry — including the seven hydrogen hubs themselves. The Treasury Department aims to finalize the rules by January. The regulations for blue hydrogen remain another point of contention. Only the California and Pacific Northwest hubs have pledged to not make hydrogen from fossil gas. Some hubs, such as the Appalachian hub, have made blue hydrogen a focus. But blue hydrogen has yet to be proven to be cost-effective at scale, and in some cases could lead to more carbon emissions than simply using fossil gas. The unresolved nature of these regulations — and the projects themselves — makes it impossible to tell at this point whether the hubs will actually help fight climate change.
BMW Says EU Ban On Gasoline Cars From 2035 Is "No Longer Realistic" - Germany’s car manufacturing giant BMW is warning that an EU ban on the sale of gasoline and diesel cars from 2035 is “no longer realistic” amid slow EV sales as the European auto industry will see a “massive shrinking” with such a ban. European carmakers are already struggling with their EV sales as subsidies in many countries are coming to an end and Chinese low-cost vehicle makers are gaining market share. Last year, the EU member states approved an emissions regulation under which the bloc will end sales of new carbon dioxide-emitting cars and vans in 2035. The rules target 55% CO2 emission reductions for new cars and 50% for new vans from 2030 to 2034 compared to 2021 levels, as well as 100% CO2 emission reductions for both new cars and vans from 2035. Under the regulation, the European Commission will assess in 2026 the progress the EU has made in achieving the target. The Commission will decide whether the targets need to be reviewed. But BMW’s chief executive Oliver Zipse said on Tuesday at the Paris Automotive Summit that the ban “could also threaten the European automotive industry in its heart.” The current regulations will “with today’s assumptions, lead to a massive shrinking of the industry as a whole,” Zipse added, as carried by Bloomberg. Electric vehicle sales in Europe have been suffering this year. Sales in Germany, for example, are plummeting as Berlin ended subsidies at the end of 2023. Amid slowing sales of EVs, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, ACEA, last month called for urgent action to reverse this year’s trend of declining EV sales. The European auto manufacturers united in ACEA, called on the EU institutions “to come forward with urgent relief measures before new CO2 targets for cars and vans come into effect in 2025.” Europe’s automakers “are playing our part in this transition, but unfortunately, the other necessary elements for this systemic shift are not in place,” ACEA said.
Big Tech and Big Utility Tangle in Ohio re Data Center Electricity -- Marcellus Drilling News - - We’ve been talking a lot lately about data centers and AI (artificial intelligence) because these facilities use enormous amounts of electricity, and electricity must be generated somehow. Most often, electricity is generated by burning natural gas. Gas-fired plants are important customers for Marcellus/Utica gas. A situation in Ohio in the Columbus area related to gas-fired power is likely to play out in other areas, too. It’s something you should be aware of. The issue, in a nutshell, is this:Who should pay to build new power sources to feed data centers? Should existing electric customers be on the hook for some of the cost? Should the data centers (companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.) pay upfront or be forced to commit to long-term contracts for the extra demand they will place on the grid?
Google signs deal with nuclear company as data center power demand surges --Google said Monday that it will purchase power from small modular reactor developer Kairos Power, as tech companies increasingly turn to nuclear power as a way to fulfill the growing energy demands from data centers.The tech giant said it will purchase power from a fleet of SMRs made by Kairos Power. Google said purchasing from multiple SMRs sends an "important demand signal to the market," while making a long-term investment to accelerate commercialization. "We believe that nuclear energy has a critical role to play in supporting our clean growth and helping to deliver on the progress of AI," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, said on a call with reporters. "The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies. ... We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand, and helping meet our demand cleanly, in a way that's more around the clock." The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.There are only three SMRs that are operating in the world, and none in the U.S. The hope is that SMRs are a more cost-effective way to scale up nuclear power. In the past, large, commercial-scale nuclear reactor projects have run over budget and behind schedule, and many hope SMRs won't suffer that same fate. But it is uncharted territory to some extent. Kairos Power, which is backed by the Department of Energy, was founded in 2016. In July, the company began construction on its Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Rather than use water as the reactor coolant – as is used in traditional nuclear reactors – Kairos Power uses molten fluoride salt. Google said the first reactor will be online by 2030, with more reactors going live through 2035. In total, 500 megawatts will be added to the grid. That's much smaller than commercial reactors — Unit 4 at Plant Vogtle, which came online this year, is 1.1 gigawatts, for example — but there's a lot of momentum behind SMRs. Advocates point to lower costs, faster completion times, and location flexibility.Monday's announcement is another example of the growing partnership between tech companies and nuclear power. Data centers need 24/7 reliable power, and right now nuclear is the only source of emissions-free baseload power. Many hyperscalers have ambitious emissions-reduction targets, which is why they're turning to nuclear power.Constellation Energy is restarting Three Mile Island to powerMicrosoft data centers, while Amazon bought a data center from Talen Energy that's powered by the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. Bill Gates, Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos have all backed nuclear companies. Earlier this year, Google said its emissions have grown nearly 50% relative to 2019 thanks in part to an increase in data center power consumption.
Amazon To Invest More Than $500 Million In Small Modular Nuclear Reactors To Power AWS -It's starting to feel like every single day the embrace of nuclear to power the future of data centers takes hold tighter. Just hours ago, it was Google inking a deal with Kairos Power for small modular reactors.Today, it's Amazon, putting on display why our "next AI trade" will generate obnoxious amounts of alpha in the coming years, as they commit to investing more than $500 million to develop small module reactors, according to CNBC. Amazon Web Services is launching three projects from Virginia to Washington State. AWS has partnered with Dominion Energy to explore building a small modular reactor (SMR) near the North Anna nuclear station in Virginia. SMRs, which produce no carbon emissions, have smaller footprints and faster construction times than traditional reactors.CNBC writes that Virginia hosts nearly half of the U.S. data centers, with Northern Virginia’s "Data Center Alley" in Loudoun County handling 70% of the world’s internet traffic daily. Dominion Energy, meanwhile, supplies 3,500 megawatts to 452 data centers across Virginia, with most in Data Center Alley. Typical data centers require 30 megawatts or more, and Dominion is now receiving requests for 60 to 90 megawatts. It expects demand to grow by 85% in the next 15 years. AWS’s new SMRs are projected to add at least 300 megawatts of power to the region. Matthew Garman, CEO of AWS said: “We see the need for gigawatts of power in the coming years, and there’s not going to be enough wind and solar projects to be able to meet the needs, and so nuclear is a great opportunity.”“Also, the technology is really advancing to a place with SMRs where there’s going to be a new technology that’s going to be safe and that’s going to be easy to manufacture in a much smaller form,” he continued. ″These SMRs will be powering directly into the grid, so they’ll go to power everything, part of that is the data centers, but everything that is plugged into the grid will benefit."
Tech giants turn to nuclear power for AI energy demands -Major technology companies are increasingly turning to nuclear energy as they attempt to keep up with the vast energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) without derailing their highly publicized environmental goals. Google announced Monday that it had inked a deal with Kairos Power to purchase nuclear energy from a fleet of small modular reactors, a kind of advanced nuclear reactor yet to be seen in the U.S. The tech giant was not shy about the driver behind the deal. “The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth,” Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director of energy and climate, wrote in a blog post. “Nuclear solutions offer a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands with carbon-free energy every hour of every day,” he added. Just two days later, Amazon announced it had signed a series of deals to invest in advanced nuclear reactors, including an agreement with Northwest Energy to build four small modular reactors in Washington. The e-commerce and cloud computing giant also reached an agreement with Dominion Energy in Virginia to explore the development of small modular reactors and dedicated a $500 million financing round for X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company. The deals from Amazon and Google are unique in that they tap into next-generation nuclear technology. However, they follow a flurry of other nuclear agreements struck by large tech firms over the past year. Nuclear energy operator Constellation Energy announced last month that it had reached a deal with Microsoft to reopen Three Mile Island to power the tech giant’s data centers for two decades starting in 2028. The facility was the site of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979, the worst accident in the history of U.S. commercial nuclear generation. It was retired five years ago due to declining revenues. Earlier this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) also purchased a data center campus for $650 million that will receive power directly from an adjacent nuclear plant.
Utica-Focused Tiburon Secures Investment from Post Oak | Rigzone - Houston-based Tiburon Oil & Gas Partners LLC has secured an equity commitment from private equity firm Post Oak Energy Capital, L.P., alongside commitments from management and additional investors. "Our well-defined lease and drill strategy, paired with a strong management and execution team, positions us to effectively access the region's resources while making a positive contribution to the local economy. We look forward to partnering with the Post Oak team to execute on our growth plans,” Tiburon President and CEO Scott Hudson said. “With a solid foundation already established in the region, our focus will be on efficiently drilling and developing our leasehold, while continuing to grow our position”. According to a news release from Post Oak, Tiburon also closed on an initial acquisition of leasehold in the liquids rich portion of the Utica Shale play in Ohio. Tiburon has received its initial unitization permit to develop a portion of its existing Utica position and is in the process of aggregating additional leasehold to move forward with its first phase of development. “The Tiburon team has organically generated an attractive position in the Utica, and we are pleased to formalize the investment and partner with this incredibly talented team,” Henry May, Post Oak Director, said. “The liquids rich window of the Utica is experiencing a developmental renaissance, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide capital and insights alongside Tiburon to responsibly develop an asset that will provide both decades of critical energy supply to consumers and attractive returns to our investors.” Tiburon describes itself as an exploration and production company dedicated to responsibly acquiring, developing, and operating upstream oil and gas assets in the Appalachian Basin. According to the release, the Tiburon leadership team “played an instrumental role” in executing growth at Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. and has a successful track record of working together in Appalachia and other key U.S. unconventional basins. Post Oak, which was established in 2006, is a Houston-based private equity firm primarily focused on making domestic investments in the upstream, midstream and oilfield services sectors of the energy industry. Post Oak said it “seeks to identify outstanding oil and gas entrepreneurs and management teams with well-defined business plans that also possess a demonstrated track record of creating accretive value for shareholders”. Last month, newly formed Quantent Energy Partners, LLC completed its initial acquisition of natural gas assets in the Haynesville Shale. Oklahoma City-based Quantent Energy Partners was formed this year with an equity commitment from Post Oak Energy Partners V, LP. The initial acquisition includes over 7,000 net acres located in North Louisiana, “underpinned by an attractive combination of producing wellbores and operated development inventory,” Quantent said in an earlier news release. The financial details were not disclosed. Quantent said it has cultivated a deep pipeline of opportunities and is actively engaged in pursuing assets and development projects across the region. The company is aiming to further grow its footprint in the Haynesville, targeting upstream development opportunities in the Haynesville and Bossier shale formations across North Louisiana and East Texas.
Fitch Assigns EMG Utica Midstream Holdings, LLC First-Time 'BB-' Long-Term IDR; Outlook Stable -- Fitch Ratings -- The ratings reflect EMG CV's strong credit metrics and benefits from the strategic location of its complementary assets in the core of the Utica Shale ..
Former Carrizo O&G Team Forms New Company to Drill in Ohio Utica - Marcellus Drilling News - We always get a small thrill when we notice a new company working in the Marcellus/Utica. This is one of those occasions. Tiburon Oil & Gas Partners, LLC, headquartered in Houston, TX, is headed by four former Carrizo Oil & Gas executives. Tiburon was formed in 2022 “to responsibly acquire, develop, and operate upstream oil and gas assets in the Appalachian Basin.” In a press release issued yesterday, Post Oak Energy Capital announced it is giving buckets of money to Tiburon to close a deal to lease land in the liquids-rich portion of the Utica Shale play in Ohio. Have money, will drill.
Junior high classes underway at Utica Shale Academy - — The Utica Shale Academy has welcomed more students into the fold for the 2024-25 school term with the addition of its junior high program.About 25 students in grades 7-9 are enrolled this year, making the community school’s overall total around 130. The program includes blended learning for grades 7-12 with the underclassmen focusing on career exploration before obtaining a more hands-on education as sophomores. The seventh- and eighth-grades are lodged at the Williams Collaboration Center in Salineville, which includes classrooms, administrative offices and more programming in partnership with Youngstown State University to expose the junior high students to career-tech opportunities. It also provides medical services with certified health workers and licensed therapeutic behavior support counselors from organizations such as COMPASS 247, Avis Drug-Free World and Alta. Grades 9-12 are housed nearby at the Hutson Building and all students undergo a blend of online education through the Virtual Learning Academy by the Jefferson County Educational Service Center with hands-on learning in various trades. Courses include megatronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, AC/DC electric, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s), diesel mechanics and horticulture to train both students and adults. Additionally, the campus features an outdoor welding site along East Main Street as well as the Utica Shale Academy Community Center on Church Street that includes a gym and community services.Assistant Superintendent Laura Krulik said the change has been relatively smooth and students appear to be acclimating well to their new environment.“The junior high kids are excited about some of the flexibility and freedom they have here and they are working with career-tech teacher Matt Gates and classroom teacher Mariah Hart. They hope to get through the exploration and safety procedures, so once they get to [high school level] they can get ready for the workforce.”The students follow a structured schedule similar to a traditional school, plus they learn time management and split classes with Gates on career exploration and National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) certification and Hart, who facilitates online lessons through the Jefferson County Educational Service Center’s Virtual Learning Academy and also teaches employability skills. Furthermore, Hart is a certified health worker and tutor and provides further assistance to meet the pupils’ needs. Students may work in groups or one-on-one with an adult to complete their academic lessons and also focus on living skills.Gates said there has been a lot of interest among junior high students in specific trades and they complete introductory assignments into all of the career paths to see if any others appeal to them.“We have received mostly good feedback, and they love the virtual welding machines and the special projects they partake in with me to see where they are at with their hands-on skills,”he continued. “With regards to all of the students, they ask why they have to learn about safety, so I try to make it as fun as possible show them some videos on workplace safety and what can happen if you’re not safe. The junior high classes consist of first completing the NC3 safety modules where they learn about head, eye, face, hearing and respiratory protection. The students are all assigned to a virtual welder and complete a course to learn how to setup a welding machine for the specific process they are using and how to read a tape measure, which seems to be a lost art today. While they are working in the classroom, we are also teaching soft skills to get them prepared for the workforce. I think we have a great group of junior high students coming out of the gate. I think it’s going to be a great year of opening their eyes to what all career-tech has to offer. Some will stick with the trade they were interested in, while others will end up switching to a new trade they just learned about.”“I think it’s going very well,” added Hart. “With the new opportunities come new challenges, and they are adjusting very well to the online curriculum and the new setting. I have had several kids successfully complete their career-based credentials. They have really enjoyed working on the virtual welders as well as the online learning.”Students also dine in a cafeteria in the lower level of the Williams Building with food prepared by Nutrition, Inc., and students in grades 10-12 work at the Hutson Building, the Energy Training Center or welding facility down the street. Finally, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) sessions occur at the end of the day. Krulik said they also learn relationship-building skills and socialization, creating relationships with each other in the classroom, while other ideas are to integrate Junior Achievement programs with free lessons on business and entrepreneurship.“Our goal is when kids go to [the high school] program, they have already had the prerequisites. When they get into 10th grade, they are ready to step into labs and do hands-on work and later we can get help them obtain jobs,” she noted. “If they can get a job before they graduate, the career-tech teachers can act as job coaches so they are prepared to go to work.”Seventy-five percent of the graduates leave with competitive employment or are enrolled in a career-tech program, college or are in the military. She said recent graduates have even visited and shared their experience, not only about what they’ve learned at USA but also the ability they’ve gotten to land employment.“These moments where the kids come back and show their appreciation is really awesome to see. It’s nice for kids in school to see the ones who graduated and are finding success,” Krulik said. “USA gives kids the opportunity to get a job and make a living wage and the staff should be recognized for the work they’ve done to help. They’re really doing a lot for the kids.”Meanwhile, Dean of Students Carter Hill said feedback from parents and students alike has been positive.“Enrollment is continuing to increase and the kids are eager to get into a new atmosphere,” Hill added. “We hear often from parents that this is the first time their students are excited to go to school. That’s a credit to Mariah Hart, Michelle Hart and Matt Gates for making it an exciting place to come to.”Students said the transition has been relatively smooth and they were learning a lot at USA.“It’s really cool,” said eighth-grader Sylis Howell, who was interested in welding.“I like it,” added seventh-grader Ford Lally. “I like welding but want to go for diesel mechanics.”“I like that I can do welding or machines. It’s something different,” said freshman Jeff Fluharty. “I can be around people and have social interaction with students.”“It’s different and I like it a lot,” added freshman Matthew Brannon, adding that he gets to work at his own pace.
Utica Shale Academy preparing to start SkillsUSA welding team - The Herald Star — The Utica Shale Academy is looking for welding students to show off their knowledge as part of the SkillsUSA program.Superintendent Bill Watson and instructors Matt Gates and John Wright will advise the team and hopes are to enter competitions over the next year. Watson learned of the program while attending a National Coalition of Certification Centers Leadership Summit in Kenosha, Wisc., in July and believed it was the right fit for USA.“I heard a discussion on how it can showcase their skillsets,”he said. “I thought our students were putting in a lot of hard work and we should get them out there and have them be seen as much as possible.”According to its website, SkillsUSA is the No. 1 workforce development organization for students and empowers them to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. The organization represents more than 413,000 career and technical education students and teachers and has chapters in middle schools, high schools and college or post-secondary institutions across the country. The SkillsUSA framework incorporates personal skills, workplace skills and technical skills grounded in academics, which is integrated through a classroom curriculum. Students hone their hands-on skills against industry standards in more than 130 occupational areas, including 3-D animation and welding. SkillsUSA has served more than 14.6 million members since 1965 and its vision is to produce the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportunity for career success. Watson said officials were distributing information and seeking interest among the community school’s estimated 100 welding students in grades 9-12 to sign up for the program, after which they could take part in local competitions with chances to advance to state and even national contests. “The students have to complete their welding certificates to be allowed to compete for a spot in a local competition,” he added. “SkillsUSA is a competition platform to demonstrate capabilities and get kids engaged to do creative things that can be outside the box.” The shale academy is a dropout recovery-and-retention school focusing on career-tech education for at-risk students who have obtained more than 1,100 certifications and graduated 150 pupils since 2021. Students in grades 7-12 undergo a blend of online education through the Virtual Learning Academy by the Jefferson County Educational Service Center with hands-on learning in various trades. Courses include welding, megatronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, AC/DC electric, programmable logic controllers, diesel mechanics and horticulture.
10 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 7 – 13 -- Marcellus Drilling News -- Ten permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica for the week of Oct. 7 – 13, half the number issued the prior week (see 20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 30 – Oct 6). The Keystone State (PA) had just six new permits, with three going to Range Resources in Washington County, two for EQT in Greene County, and one for Chesapeake Energy (now Expand Energy) in Sullivan County. Buckeye State (OH) had three new permits, and all three went to Encino Energy (EAP) for a single pad in Jefferson County. The Mountain State (WV) issued one new permit to EQT in Wetzel County. CHESAPEAKE ENERGY | ENCINO ENERGY | EQT CORP | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | JEFFERSON COUNTY (OH) | RANGE RESOURCES CORP | SULLIVAN COUNTY | WASHINGTON COUNTY | WEEKLY PERMITS | WETZEL COUNTY
Shell's Pennsylvania Petchem Complex Finally Firing On All Cylinders - RBN Energy - Shell’s petrochemical complex in Western Pennsylvania has had plenty of challenges on its way to startup and full operation. Announced a dozen years ago, the project was set back by COVID-related construction delays and a rougher-than-expected production ramp-up. But that’s all in the past now (fingers crossed) and the ethane-rich Northeast finally has its first big ethylene plant. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll examine Shell’s return to plastics and what it took to get there.
Pretend Evangelical Christians (Partisans in Disguise) Lobby PA Gov - Marcellus Drilling News - The environmental left continues to try and co-opt the term “Evangelical Christian,” defined as protestants who tend to be pro-life and conservative in their political views. We’re talking about the so-called Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) and its political lobbying arm, EEN Action. The group continues to pressure Pennsylvania’s political leaders to adopt unreliable renewable energy (by government fiat) and to force residents to dump their use of fossil energy. We previously exposed them for who they really are (see Pretend Evangelical Christians Want PA to Dump Fossil Energy). The group is back with another press release to say 36,000 people who pretend to be “pro-life” signed a petition sent to Gov. Josh Shapiro asking him to adopt a methane rule so restrictive it will ban new gas-fired power plants and get rid of all existing coal-fired plants as a bonus.
Maintenance Done: M-U Gas Flows Restart to Cove Point, Maryland --- Marcellus Drilling News - Feedgas flowing from the Marcellus/Utica to the Cove Point LNG export facility located on the shore of Maryland fell to zero on Friday, Sept. 20, as the facility began its planned annual maintenance outage (see Flows Drop to Zero @ Cove Point LNG, Closed for Annual Maintenance). Most years, maintenance at Cove Point takes around three weeks. True to form, Cove Point came back online and restarted liquefying gas last Saturday, Oct 12, so the plant was out exactly three weeks (from Friday, Sept. 20 to Friday, Oct. 11).
Cove Point LNG in Maryland (U.S.) returns to production Berkshire Hathaway Energy's 0.8-Bft3d Cove Point LNG export plant in Lusby, Maryland, returned to production on Saturday, three weeks after it shut down for annual maintenance, according to data from financial firm LSEG. The plant is one of the smallest U.S. LNG export facilities, but with low gas prices since March this year, any loss of demand can negatively impact the Henry Hub price. On Saturday, Cove Point was on track to pull 844 MMft3 of gas, up from a mere 15 MMft3d since the plant shut down on Sept. 20, according to LSEG data. Gas flows to the seven big U.S. LNG export plants averaged 13.7 Bft3d on Saturday, up from Friday when they averaged 12.9 Bft3d, showing the impact of the restart of the Cove Point plant, according to LSEG data.
U.S. appeals court blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee pipeline permits (Reuters)—A U.S. appeals court on Friday put on hold approvals and permits necessary to allow a Kinder Morgan subsidiary to construct a 32-mile gas pipeline in Tennessee, at the urging of environmental groups. The proposed Cumberland Project, set to be constructed by Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline, could transport about 245,000 dekatherms per day of additional natural gas to power supplier Tennessee Valley Authority. On a 2-1 vote, Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's order issuing a water quality certification and the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a permit. The request for a stay was filed by environmental organizations Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club, which claimed the pipeline's construction could have detrimental impact on the environment. The court said a stay was appropriate for it to have the time to consider the merits of the environmental groups' case. It said further arguments in the case would be heard in December. A Kinder Morgan spokesperson said the company does not agree with the court's decision, which it will continue to review while evaluating its options. Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Construction on Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Pipeline Delayed by Stay- Construction on a Kinder Morgan (KMI) pipeline for a power plant near Nashville, Tennessee is delayed after an appeals court put a hold on two permits necessary for construction. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, stayed the permits, which would have allowed construction on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Cumberland plant to begin as early as Oct. 22, the Associated Press reported. The judges ruled 2-1 that construction would be halted to consider the plaintiffs’ arguments based off the Clean Water Act. The stay may remain in place until oral arguments, scheduled for Dec. 10. Kinder Morgan had filed for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permit for the Cumberland project in July 2022. The proposed line would be 32 miles long and terminate at the proposed plant in Stewart County, Tennessee. The Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices brought the suit, charging that the TVA’s plans to replace many of its current coal-fired power plant stations with gas-fired generation would harm the environment. The TVA should instead focus on solar, wind and other forms of generation that eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, the suit charges. Federal appeals courts have taken an active role in energy project permitting in 2024. In July and August, the D.C. Court of Appeals struck the FERC permits for two LNG liquefication facilities and a pipeline expansion project in the mid-Atlantic. Thomas Sharp, director of permitting intelligence at ARBO, said the Cumberland stay was “pretty factually narrow” and was unlikely to have a broad effect on other projects. However, the ruling exemplifies a tendency among energy infrastructure opponents to exhaust every legal avenue possible. “It is demonstrative of the macro trend we continue to see regarding litigation of proposed natural gas projects generally,” he said in an email to Hart Energy. “The Cumberland project now faces litigation on three fronts: this 6th Circuit Clean Water Act stay, a challenge to the FERC Certificate at the D.C. Circuit and a challenge to the NEPA review of the coal-to-gas conversion power generation facility itself at the Tennessee Middle District Court.” Sharp said the appeals court’s ruling is narrow and won’t generally apply to midstream projects because of the unique circumstances of the project: The pipeline project is going to fuel the TVA, a federally operated power utility. The court also noted that the stay was temporary and could be lifted if further information came to light before oral arguments.
Edison Joins BP, Shell and Others in Claiming Venture Global Breaching Calcasieu Pass LNG Supply Contract -- Italy’s Edison SpA LLC, which secured an agreement in 2017 to receive LNG from the Calcasieu Pass export project in Louisiana once it began commercial operations, has joined other customers in seeking international arbitration, claiming breach of contract by Venture Global LNG Inc. Virginia-based Venture has indicated that because of equipment issues, it would not begin delivering liquefied natural gas cargoes to Edison from Calcasieu Pass until next April at the earliest. In 2017, Edison signed a 20-year contract to receive 1 million tons/year on a free-on-board basis. Deliveries were to begin with the start-up of commercial operations. Related Tags
Golden Pass LNG Secures Permian Natural Gas Capacity with 2.8 Bcf/d KMI Pipeline Agreement - Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC has signed on as an anchor customer for Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) proposed Trident intrastate pipeline project in Texas that would run from the Katy hub to an export site southeast of Houston. Golden Pass Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Hammad said the ability to draw supply from Katy, a massive gathering point for West Texas gas delivered from the Permian Basin, would help secure stable supply for the three-train liquefied natural gas facility underway on the upper Texas coast. “This agreement enhances Golden Pass LNG success and access to a reliable and diverse supply of natural gas for our LNG terminal, making us one of the largest buyers of natural gas in the United States once operational,” Hammad said at the Gulf Coast Energy Forum conference in New Orleans.
Cheniere Energy moves closer to starting new Texas LNG export operation - Cheniere Energy has moved one step closer to producing first liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a Corpus Christi, Texas, expansion project on Thursday after it received permission from federal regulators to put a supply line into operation. Cheniere is the largest U.S. LNG exporter and the world's second largest producer of the superchilled gas. The company has played a key role in helping the U.S. become the world's largest exporter of LNG. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order on Thursday allowing Cheniere to take liquefied gas from the plant to refrigerated liquid storage facilities and then onto an LNG tanker for export. Cheniere has said it wants to produce first LNG from its Corpus Christi Stage 3 facility by the end of the year, which will expand U.S. LNG export capacity. Stage 3 is comprised of seven gas-processing units with an expected capacity of approximately 10 metric MMtpy of LNG.
U.S. LNG Sector Facing Conundrum in High-Stakes Presidential Election -The U.S. LNG sector will face a series of challenges regardless of who wins the presidency in November, but the outcome is likely to factor heavily into how quickly a surging list of projects can advance, or whether some would even be approved altogether. Natural Gas Intelligence's (NGI) liquefied natural gas export flow tracker chart for the Lower 48. Chief among the industry’s concerns is how Vice President Harris or former President Trump’s administration would work through a backlog of nearly two dozen liquefied natural gas projects that are still waiting for a key license from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The projects need approval to export to non-free trade agreement (NFTA) countries so they can advance. The list has grown since President Biden paused those authorizations in January so the DOE could study how increasing LNG exports impact the environment, energy security and domestic prices. Among the list are at least seven commercially advanced projects being developed by major players such as Cheniere Energy Inc. and Venture Global LNG Inc.
U.S. drives global natural gas demand to new highs in 2024 --Power producers in the United States have lifted natural gas-fired generation to new highs over the first nine months of 2024, sustaining the country's position as the leading driver of global natural gas consumption.Natural gas's share in the U.S. generation system also climbed to new highs this year. Gas supplied a record 46% of total power since June, LSEG data shows, as power firms boosted output from all sources to meet rising power demand.The fast growth pace of gas use in the U.S. undermines the country's credibility as a potential leader in energy transition efforts, and is at odds with stated ambitions to lower fossil fuel use in power generation by 2030. Yet most key power systems within the U.S. - which is also the world's largest natural gas producer - show no signs of reducing gas use over the near term, and look more likely to continue lifting gas-fired output for years to come.This widening discrepancy between international climate pledges and national-level power generation trends leaves the U.S. open to fresh criticism from climate advocates, who may attempt to ratchet up pressure on the U.S. to curb gas use.Through the first nine months of the year, total power generation from gas-fired power plants in the United States was 55.6 million megawatt hours (MWh), according to LSEG. That total was up nearly 5% from the same months in 2023, and the highest since at least 2021. And that growth pace was well above several other major gas-consuming nations, including China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy and Russia, data from energy think tank Ember shows. Indeed, of the 10 largest gas-fired electricity producers, only Mexico, Qatar and Thailand grew gas consumption faster than the U.S. over the first half of 2024, Ember data shows.
USA 'Zombie Summer' Saps Energy Demand and Natural Gas Prices -The US is headed for weeks of abnormally warm weather through the rest of October, and it’s already shaken prices and demand for natural gas. Temperatures will start to rise this weekend and by next week will be pushing back into the 70sF or higher in many areas from the Great Plains to the Gulf of Mexico to the US East Coast. Chicago, which had an overnight low of 38F (3C) will be hitting 76F for a high on Sunday, the National Weather Service said. Weather-driven energy demand may drop to record low levels for the next two weeks, commercial-forecaster Commodity Weather Group said. October is usually when chillier temperatures begin to kick off the annual heating season. As people turn up thermostats in homes and businesses, demand for natural gas, heating oil, and electricity rises. US natural gas futures have been falling as forecasts for mild weather are expected to dent heating demand. Prices are more than 20% below where they were at this time last year. On Thursday, gas settled the lowest in a month. “Zombie Summer,” is how the environmental monitoring network Oklahoma Mesonet referred to the temperature outlook in a social media post Thursday. Highs are likely to reach into the 80sF and possibly 90sF. “It. Just. Won’t. Die.” The US Climate Prediction Center says above normal temperatures will dominate the entire country – except the Pacific Northwest – from Oct. 23 to 31. From Oct. 23 to 27 the southern Midwest, Central Plains and Ohio Valley – among other places – will have a 60% to 70% chance of above normal temperatures. Texas, New Mexico and the lower Mississippi River valley will have 70% to 80% chance, the agency said. This includes most of central and eastern Canada as well. By next week Toronto will be reaching 73F, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. Some of the warmest temperatures will lock in across the US Southwest and southern plains from Tucson, Arizona to Dallas, said Frank Pereira, a senior branch forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. In addition to the warmth, a large part of the eastern US will remain dry as well. Abnormally dry conditions have dug in across the US Northeast from Maine to Maryland, including New York, according to the US Drought Monitor.
US natgas prices slide to 3-week low as mild weather keeps demand low (Reuters) -U.S. natural gas futures slid about 3% to a three-week low on Wednesday on expectations mild weather over the next two weeks will keep demand low. Front-month gas futures NGc1 for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 6.7 cents, or 2.7%, to $2.431 per million British thermal units by 8:07 a.m. EDT (1207 GMT), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since Sept. 19. One factor weighing on prices in recent weeks has been a reduction in the amount of gas power generators have burned after Hurricanes Milton and Helene knocked out electric service to millions of homes and businesses. There were still about 82,000 customers without power in Florida from Milton, which hit the state on Oct. 9, and 10,000 out in North Carolina from Helene, which hit Florida on Sept. 26 before moving inland. In total, Milton caused around 3.4 million customers to lose power, while Helene caused roughly 6 million outages. The U.S. National Hurricane Center, meanwhile, projected there was a 40% chance that a disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean would strengthen into a tropical cyclone over the next week as it moves toward Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. In the spot market, pipeline constraints caused next-day gas prices at the Waha hub in the Permian Shale in West Texas to turn negative for a record 37th time this year. Until now, Waha prices have remained in positive territory since mid September - just after the Matterhorn pipe from the Permian to the Houston area started receiving gas. Waha prices first averaged below zero in 2019. It happened 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020 and once in 2023. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states slid to 101.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October from 101.8 bcfd in September. That compares with a record 105.5 bcfd in December 2023. On a daily basis, output was on track to drop by 2.4 bcfd over the past two days to a preliminary five-month low of 99.6 bcfd on Wednesday. Analysts have noted that preliminary data is often revised later in the day. Energy analysts blamed part of the daily output decline on planned maintenance on Kinder Morgan's El Paso Natural Gas pipe, which transports gas from the San Juan, Permian and Anadarko basins to California. Meteorologists projected the weather in the Lower 48 states will turn from colder than normal on Oct. 16-17 to mostly warmer than normal from Oct. 18-31. With warmer weather coming, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, will slide from 98.1 bcfd this week to 95.5 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Tuesday, while its forecast for next week was lower. The amount of gas flowing to the seven big U.S. LNG export plants rose to an average of 12.8 bcfd so far in October, up from 12.7 bcfd in September. That compares with a monthly record high of 14.7 bcfd in December 2023.
US natgas prices fall 4% to 5-week low on mild weather forecasts (Reuters) -U.S. natural gas futures fell about 4% to a five-week low on Friday with forecasts for mild weather expected to keep heating demand low through early November. Front-month gas futures NGc1 for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 8.9 cents, or 3.8%, to settle at $2.258 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their lowest close since Sept. 10. For the week, the contract was down about 14%, its biggest weekly drop since early February.That also put the front-month down for a third week in a row, losing about 22% during that time. Looking ahead, the market is showing signs of giving up on thoughts that extreme cold could cause prices to spike this winter with futures for March 2025 trading at a record low premium over April 2025 NGH25-J25 of just 6 cents per mmBtu. March is the last month of the winter storage withdrawal season and April is the first month of the summer storage injection season. Since gas is primarily a winter heating fuel, traders have said summer prices should not trade above winter. If the March-April 2025 contract trades in contango, with the April contract priced higher than March, it could be the earliest switch from backwardation, with the March contract priced higher than April, in recent years. The March-April 2024 spread did not trade in contango until Dec. 13. That compares with Jan. 25 for the March-April 2023 spread, never for the March-April 2022 spread and Dec. 8 for the March-April 2021 spread, according to seasonality data from LSEG. The industry calls the March-April spread the "widow maker" because rapid price moves on changing weather forecasts have forced some speculators out of business, including the Amaranth hedge fund, which lost more than $6 billion in 2006. Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states slipped to 101.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October, down from 101.8 bcfd in September. That compares with a record 105.5 bcfd in December 2023. Analysts projected that 2024 would be the first time output declines since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic cut demand for the fuel. That's because many producers reduced their drilling activities earlier this year after average spot monthly prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana fell to a 32-year low in March. Prices have remained relatively low since then. Meteorologists projected the weather in the Lower 48 states will remain mostly warmer than normal through Nov. 2. LSEG forecast that unseasonably warm weather would cause average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, to slide from 97.9 bcfd this week to 96.4 bcfd next week before rising to 99.9 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were similar to LSEG's outlook on Thursday. The amount of gas flowing to the seven big U.S. LNG export plants rose to an average of 13.0 bcfd so far in October from 12.7 bcfd in September. That compares with a monthly record high of 14.7 bcfd in December 2023. On a daily basis, LNG feedgas hit an eight-month high of 14.4 bcfd on Thursday.
Two deaths and numerous injuries from chemical leaks in Texas and Louisiana A hydrogen sulfide leak at a Houston, Texas area oil refinery killed two workers, and left dozens injured on October 10. The day before, an ammonia leak at a Baton Rouge, Louisiana plastics plant sent four workers to the emergency room with serious injuries. Both facilities had been cited repeatedly for safety and environmental violations. The Texas refinery was the site of a massive fire in 2023 that raged for three days and resulted in nine hospitalizations. The oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas, a Houston suburb, is owned by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the Mexican state-owned petroleum company. It was originally operated as a 50-50 joint venture with Shell until it was bought outright by Pemex in 2021. The cause of the chemical leak is under investigation, and hazmat teams were not able to enter the facility for hours, due to the persistence of high concentrations of dangerous toxins. Hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas recognized by its pungent “rotten egg” odor, is a highly toxic and flammable gas used in the petroleum refining process. Thirty five exposed workers were triaged on site by first responders and 13 transported to area hospitals for treatment. When emergency responders were allowed into the facility, they found the bodies of two dead contractors, whose identities have not been released. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) notes that hydrogen sulfide gas lingers due to its higher density than air and in high concentrations “can quickly lead to death.” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez speculated that a flange may have been opened, releasing the deadly gas. Refinery workers commented on social media that this “suggests multiple critical failures in the LOTO [lockout tagout] procedure for this line of work.” In August an autoworker at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas was killed due to similar lax enforcement of LOTO procedures. It took two-and-a-half hours for the city of Deer Park to issue a shelter-in-place order to its 34,000 residents, due to the risks of exposure to the toxic pollutants. Industrial disasters are common in the Houston area, the epicenter of oil refining in the western hemisphere, and cities like Deer Park have emergency warning systems, including sirens and text notifications. Residents of Deer Park reported to local news outlets, however, that they failed to receive notifications of the incident or shelter-in-place order. The previous day an ammonia leak at a petrochemical facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana caused serious injuries to four workers, all of whom were hospitalized, with two in critical condition. Ammonia is a highly flammable gas with a pungent odor that reacts with the moisture in the eyes, skin, and upper respiratory tract causing painful chemical burns. OSHA notes that in high concentrations it is “immediately dangerous to life and health.” The facility is owned by Formosa Plastics, a Taiwanese petrochemical company that has been operating the plant since the 1980s. The facility was cited dozens of times by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 2000 for releasing deadly vinyl chloride and other carcinogenic pollutants and has maintained an EPA “noncompliant” status since 2009. Baton Rouge Fire Department officials reported that a storage cylinder with a capacity of 150 lb (68 kg) broke, releasing the toxic gas. The ammonia quickly dissipated, injuring only the four nearby workers. In July, an ammonia leak at a commercial food plant in Sterling, Virginia affected up to 254 employees, 33 of whom were transported by a fleet of first responders to area hospitals, some with critical inhalation injuries. The employer, Cuisine Solutions, was cited by OSHA 22 times since 2015 for safety violations—14 of them serious—and fined over $160,000. These industrial disasters are the inevitable outcome of decades of bipartisan deregulation, the dismantling of basic safety measures by profit-mad shareholders, and the transformation of union bureaucrats into corporate shareholders tasked with policing their members. Speed-up, high turnover, lack of training, and lax safety enforcement lead time and again to disasters that are entirely preventable, impacting workers, their families, communities, and the environment. Pemex, the largest corporation in Mexico by net revenue and one of the world’s largest petrochemical companies, has the resources to support safe working environments. However, the so-called “left-wing” administrations of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current president Claudia Sheinbaum have been solely focused on shoring up the state-owned company’s debts and returning it to the profitability of the last two years. Pemex made US$6.5 billion last year in net profits. The Pemex CEO made only a perfunctory statement about the deaths in Deer Park. US regulators have likewise created an environment where sacrificing workers to profit is the only financially sound strategy. When Pemex’s adjacent chemical plant exploded in 2023, billowing plumes of carcinogenic smoke across the Houston area for three days and leading to the hospitalization of nine workers, the State of Texas sued Pemex and partner Shell for just $1 million.
Hot Permian Pie: Birch's Scorching New Dean Wells In Dawson County - Birch Resources brought two giant Dean wells on in the oily northern Midland Basin’s Dawson County, producing more than 216,863 bbl combined in their first two months online. Hot Pie A #2DN made 118,973 bbl in June and July, the latest month the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported production data. Its first-24-hour IP in April was 2,342 bbl from a 10,404-ft lateral landed in the Dean at about 8,700 ft, overlying Wolfcamp. Alongside it, Hot Pie C #6DN tested 2,768 bbl in its first 24 hours, also in April, from a 10,229-ft lateral. It made 97,890 bbl in its first two months online through July. The two-well pad is about 18 miles southeast of Lamesa, Texas, at southeastern Dawson’s intersection with Borden, Martin and Howard counties. Each lateral stretches from County Road 32 to County Road 34. The Dean is part of the Spraberry (Trend Area) Field. In the Hot Pie A, Birch Resources also took a look at the underlying Wolfcamp, Canyon, Pennsylvanian and Mississippian before turning horizontal uphole in Dean, according to the RRC’s well-completion file. Birch didn’t respond to a request for comment on its Dawson County development by press time. The two Hot Pie wells’ combined 103,093 bbl in July brought Birch’s Dawson-wide output to 414,620 bbl in that 31-day period, or 13,375 bbl/d, according to RRC data. Casinghead gas in July from the Hot Pie wells totaled 239 MMcf. Other Birch new-drills include Ghost 35-26 B #4DN, which IP’ed 1,890 bbl from a 10,400-ft lateral in Dean in late 2023, according to the RRC. A companion well, Ghost 35-26 A #2DN, tested 1,785 bbl in Dean from a 10,200-ft lateral. Both were brought online in January. The #4DN produced 227,902 bbl in its first seven months through July, while the #2DN surfaced 163,652 bbl.
North Dakota Oct. oil output estimated down by 500,000 barrels, state regulator (Reuters) -Oil output in North Dakota, the third-largest producing state in the U.S., is estimated to have fallen by around 500,000 barrels through October, after wildfires crossed into key producing counties earlier this month, a state regulator said on Thursday. Exxon Mobil was among operators that last week shut in some oil wells and production sites in the state in response to the fires. "My best estimate is around 500,000 total barrels removed from those October numbers," said Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority. There were around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) affected in the immediate response to the fires, down to around 50-80,000 bpd in the week after, Kringstad added. The state currently has 18 frac crews operating, down from 20 last month, according to Mark Bohrer, assistant director of the oil and gas division at the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. "We have 40 rigs running today even with the mergers and acquisitions, our rig count has remained fairly steady," Bohrer added. Oil production in the state rose by 9,630 barrels per day (bpd) in August, to an estimated 1.179 million bpd, according to state regulators on Thursday. And the number of producing wells in North Dakota in August reached a record high, at 19,117 wells. The state has also permitted three to four four-mile lateral wells, which will help operators develop some of the tier two and three locations that were previously economically more challenging to drill, according to Bohrer
Huntington Beach settles for $5.25 million in 2021 oil spill - Huntington Beach officials announced Monday that the city would be receiving a $5.25-million settlement from Amplify Energy Corp. for the 2021 spill of 25,000 gallons of crude.The spill off the Orange County beach city damaged beaches and wetlands and killed scores of birds and fish. Houston-based Amplify owns the pipeline.Last year, Amplify settled a class-action lawsuit with businesses and residentsaffected by the oil spill for $50 million. Additionally, the shipping companies linked to the cargo ships accused of causing the pipeline damage agreed to pay out $45 million.Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, Councilmembers Tony Strickland and Casey McKeon and City Atty. Michael Gates held a news conference at City Hall on Monday to herald their news of the latest settlement.“We want to thank Amplify for working with the city to properly resolve this dispute,” Van Der Mark said. “It is great news for the city that we can now move forward and put these conflicts to rest.”After they spoke, minority faction Councilmembers Dan Kalmick, Natalie Moser and Rhonda Bolton stepped to the lectern to make statements. The microphone was cut as they disputed some of the preceding comments.The conservative majority then came back to the lectern, and the microphone went back on as they wrapped up the 45-minute news conference.Huntington Beach’s council factions have a contentious relationship, and sparks have flown at a number of council meetings.City public affairs manager Jennifer Carey said that the news conference was over when the mayor stepped away from the lectern and that it is standard for the audio and video feeds to be shut down at that time.Asked why the microphone came back on later as Strickland and the conservative majority stepped back to the lectern, Carey had no comment.
Nearly 10 years after California oil spill, plan to reactivate pipeline sparks anger --Nine years ago, when an aging oil pipeline ruptured near the coast of Santa Barbara County, an inky darkness spread over the waters. The massive slick of oil engulfed and killed hundreds of marine animals, including, seals, dolphins and pelicans. And the acrid smell of petroleum polluted the coastline’s air.On May 19, 2015, a corroded section of an oil pipeline burst and released more than 140,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach. The incident — which revived memories of a massive 3-million-gallon spill almost 50 years earlier — sullied some of the state’s most pristine beaches and a rare stretch of undeveloped coastline. Oil migrated as far away as Orange County, closing fisheries and costing hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.Soon after the spill, Exxon Mobil halted operations at its three offshore oil platforms while Plains All American Pipeline idled the connected pipelines. This year, Sable Offshore Corp., a Houston-based energy company, purchased the mothballed equipment and announced plans to restart oil extraction by the end of the year — including the failed pipeline.Most recently, the California Coastal Commission has repeatedly admonished the company for performing unauthorized work on the pipeline in an attempt to ready the equipment for transporting oil. This week, environmentalists carrying homemade signs and a large banner reading “Fight Offshore Drilling” protested at a commission meeting in San Diego.The potential restart and accelerated pace of construction have heightened fears of another catastrophic oil spill.Environmental groups contend that federally mandated corrosion protection was not effective on the 30-year-old pipeline, and say it will never perform safely. Also, when Santa Barbara County considered a plan to build a new pipeline, an environmental report estimated that the existing line could suffer a spill every year, and a major rupture every four years. These releases, it concluded, could result in a disaster even larger than the 2015 spill.“It’s just old and corroded, so it feels like a ticking time bomb to continue letting this infrastructure operate and to restart it after such a severe spill without additional environmental review,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It seems too risky to even contemplate.”In the nine years since the spill, the damaged pipeline was “evacuated, cleaned and preserved with inert nitrogen to maintain a corrosion-free state,” according to Steve Rusch, Sable’s vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs. He said work crews have already started the process of repairing about 100 “anomalies” — areas of corrosion, cracks or other defects — to ensure that the pipeline will be in an “as-new” condition.Residents and environmental groups have complained the permitting process has moved ahead with little to no public involvement and insufficient environmental reviews.The project still needs to obtain clearance from several regulatory agencies before it can start. However, perhaps one of the most pivotal steps is a waiver and approvals from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, which oversees pipeline safety. Thirteen California lawmakers, including state Sen. Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara), wrote a letter to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to express concerns about the project and ask for more transparency about the decision-making process.
Gavin Newsom signs bill to prevent fuel shortages and price spikes: What to know about California’s controversial new law aimed at preventing gas price spikes California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday signed into law a controversial slate of plans to tighten fuel refinery storage rules in an effort to prevent future fuel shortages and price spikes at the pump. The ABx2-1 bill, approved during a special legislative session by the California Assembly on Monday morning and by the state Senate on Friday, will allow state regulators to oversee the amounts of fuel that oil refiners keep in their inventories. The maintenance of these stocks will serve to avert deficits that end up raising gasoline prices, according to the governor’s office. Although ABx2-1 ultimately earned the Legislature’s favor to become state law, its advancement was neither unanimous nor without pushback — from oil companies, labor unions, Republican lawmakers and even some state Democrats. When the bill takes effect in 90 days, a state regulatory agency, the California Energy Commission, will have the authority to set constraints on storage levels for each refiner, each fuel and each blending component, per the bill. The agency will also be able to adjust inventory minimums, as well as establish conditions under which refiners can draw down or rebuild reserves. The legislation will also allow the regulator to ensure that refiners have resupply plans in place ahead of maintenance outages and to set criteria that must be met before such events occur. The Senate tally on Friday was 23-9, following a 44-18 Assembly floor vote on the initial version earlier in the month. Certain Democrats sided with Republicans in opposition, while many legislators chose to abstain from voting entirely. Debate has mounted over both the terms of the bill itself and the need for the rushed gathering of a special legislative session, just as the regular session was ending, in order to pass it. Per California’s constitution, the governor can call for a special session — although doing so doesn’t guarantee that the chambers will convene, according to CalMatters. Measures approved and signed into law during such a session take effect after 90 days. As a basis of comparison, if lawmakers had postponed this bill until the next regular session, the earliest it could have gone into force would have been Jan. 1, 2026. Newsom called for this session on Aug. 31, with his office explaining that “price spikes on consumers are profit spikes for oil companies, and they’re overwhelmingly caused by refiners not backfilling supplies when they go down for maintenance.”The day before Newsom made the official proclamation, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D) signaled his chamber’s readiness to take on the legislation outside of the regular session.Unlike the Assembly, the state Senate was not immediately on board. Just after Newsom called for the session, state Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D) declared that his chamber would not hold a special session. He said that the Senate worked on a related package “for the better part of a year” and had been ready with sufficient votes to get it “across the finish line this legislative year.”Ultimately, however, McGuire agreed to convene a special session following the Assembly’s Oct. 1 passage of the initial text — clarifying that the state Senate planned “to work quickly and efficiently” to bring Californians relief at the pump. The legislation faced opposition from both oil companies and labor unions. After ABx2-1 received Assembly approval but before it went to the Senate floor, Chevron sent a letter to lawmakers describing the bill as “inaccurate and flawed,” as first reported by local television station KRCA.The letter warned that “economic fundamentals force prices up when demand outstrips supply” and that imposing further constraints on inventory would only result in price increases.Another letter, sent from multiple labor unions last week, took issue with the fact that the California Energy Commission, an unelected, ratepayer-funded entity, would gain “unprecedented regulatory authority to bureaucratically dictate safety maintenance at in-state refineries.”The writers warned that “leaving out the workforce with direct knowledge and insight into refinery operations and maintenance” could jeopardize the safety of their members.State Sen. Brian Dahle (R) raised concerns last week that the plans would “create artificial shortages by limiting supply,” describing the legislation as “a scheme to collect money from oil refineries and consumers at the pump.”Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria (D) voted against ABx2-1 during the initial Assembly floor hearing due to her unwillingness to “take a risk on new regulations that could result in higher gas prices.”Stressing that she is a daughter of farmworkers and is familiar with the everyday struggles Californians face firsthand, Soria described the bill’s measures as “unproven [and] risky,” adding that it “could ultimately hurt the communities that can least afford it.”
Mexico Pacific LNG, ‘Largest Foreign Investment Project,’ Touted in Presidential Meeting -There has been much talk about the kind of relationship new Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum would form with the private sector. In a first meeting with hundreds of business executives in Mexico City, she gave a signal in support of LNG. The U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue on Tuesday convened business leaders from both the United States and Mexico. It included representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Mexican counterpart Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE). Also in attendance were high-ranking Mexican officials, including President Sheinbaum. The chair of the CEO Dialogue was Sarah Bairstow, CEO of Mexico Pacific Ltd. LLC. Her company is developing a liquefied natural gas project in Puerto Libertad, Sonora. The 15 million ton/year (Mt/y) Saguaro EnergÃa LNG export plant would source U.S. natural gas from the Permian Basin and would include a pipeline on both sides of the border.
Latin America Positioned to Become Force in LNG Export Market -As more countries seek to enter and expand their presence in the global LNG export market, Mexico and Argentina are the best positioned to do so in Latin America, according to research firm Rystad Energy. Rystad Energy chart showing global LNG demand by region. Expand In a recent report authored by W. Schreiner Parker, managing director for Latin America, Rystad examined the potential for Latin America to become a force in the liquefied natural gas export market, which, recently, has been powered in part by the Ukraine war that accelerated Europe’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. Global natural gas demand is forecast to break records in 2024 and 2025, with modest growth in LNG supply driving tightness in the market, according to the International Energy Agency. Given Mexico’s proximity and pipeline connectivity to natural gas produced in the Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the buildout of LNG export facilities in the country provides an outlet for surplus U.S. production to be shipped to European and Asian markets.
Canadian natural gas firms eager for LNG boom swamp market with excess supply A huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal led by Shell, called LNG Canada, may struggle to dramatically raise Canadian natural gas prices when it starts operating next year because a flood of pent-up supply is waiting to hit the market, analysts said. Gas prices at Alberta's AECO hub hit a 2-yr low of 5 Canadian cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in late September as storage filled up. The slump has hurt producers who boosted drilling activity this year in anticipation of new demand from LNG Canada and prompted some firms to curtail production. Company executives and analysts estimate firms have shut in between 800 MMft3d and 1 Bft3d, around 5% of total gas production from Canada, the world's sixth-largest producer. In addition to curtailments, some producers like Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. have delayed completing newly drilled wells until prices pick up. Advantage Energy became the latest producer to announce temporary curtailments on Tuesday. The Calgary-based company began shutting in up to 130 MMft3d of dry gas last month. Advantage CEO Michael Belenkie said he was disappointed some producers were continuing to sell gas at a loss, instead of curtailing production and allowing prices to recover until demand from LNG Canada kicked in. "Producers basically started to front-run the growth in demand," Belenkie said. "In three, six, nine months we will see substantial off-take from the system, but people have delivered early." The 14-MMtpy LNG Canada facility, a joint venture between five partners including Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Malaysia's state energy firm Petronas, will be Canada's first major liquefied natural gas export terminal and require around 2.1 Bft3d of gas. Even with that huge demand boost, the AECO futures market indicates prices will reach only C$2.46 a gigajoule (Gj) (C$2.33/MMBtu) in September 2025, around C$1.20/Gj less than the forward strip was suggesting a year earlier. "Right now prices are not signaling there's going to be a big windfall in 2025, the forward strip has come down significantly," said Jean-Paul Lachance, CEO of Peyto Exploration, Canada's fifth-largest gas company. He said there was a growing consensus among producers that LNG Canada likely will not fully ramp up until the second half of 2025. Peyto hedges 70% of its production to protect against market volatility, and Lachance said he saw a risk companies could restart curtailed volumes too quickly once prices improve. "If everybody brings it all back on at once that will probably stress the market again," he said, adding that many Canadian producers sell into other North American markets to reduce their exposure to volatile AECO prices. LNG Canada said in a September update the facility is 95% complete and remains on track to deliver first cargos by mid-2025. LNG Canada should reduce volatility in the AECO market, which is prone to big price swings because of limited storage capacity, said BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeremy McCrea. A cold winter would also help draw gas out of storage and lift prices, and RBN Energy analyst Martin King said curtailed volumes could return to the market before the end of this year if prices strengthen much further. "If it's November 20 and prices are back up around C$2.25 all that gas that been temporarily shut in comes roaring back to the market," King said. "Is it going to end up being too much of a good thing and the market ends up short-circuiting itself?"
IEEFA: Canadian LNG will not boost Japan's energy security or Asia's decarbonization | With LNG Canada set to start up next year, liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters in Canada are racing to build new projects along the country’s western coast. Many are enamored by the prospect of selling the fuel to Asian countries, particularly Japan. As one of the world’s largest LNG buyers, Japan has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Canadian LNG for its energy security, decarbonization and reducing reliance on Russian energy. In a January 2023 visit to Ottawa, former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the “crucial role” of Canadian LNG in Japan’s energy transition. Kishida, however, failed to mention that Japan’s LNG imports have fallen every year since 2014. Over the last decade, the country’s LNG demand has dropped by 25%, and its official energy plans envision it falling by an additional 25% to 2030, due to rising nuclear power and renewables replacing the need for gas, among other factors. Why, then, is Japan pressuring countries like Canada—as well as the U.S., Australia and other exporters—to ramp up production? One potential reason is that Japanese buyers of LNG are re-selling the fuel into other markets at a markup, rather than sending it directly to Japan. In FY2022 (the most recent year for which data is available), Japan resold almost 32 MM tonnes of LNG to other countries, according to official data. For perspective, this resales volume far exceeds the annual export capacity of the three Canadian LNG projects that have made final investment decisions and are undergoing construction—namely, Canada LNG, Woodfibre LNG and Cedar LNG—with a combined output of 19 metric MMtpy. Japan’s resales still exceed potential Canadian LNG export capacity when including another major proposed project, the 12-metric MMtpy Ksi Lisims LNG facility. FIG. 1. Japan’s LNG resales vs. Canadian LNG projects. Consider two of the largest LNG buyers in the world, Japan’s JERA and Tokyo Gas, which have both agreed to buy volumes from the Canada LNG project. An Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report released this year found that both companies are likely to have a surplus of LNG supplies through 2030 to resell. And both have expressed intentions to pivot business growth toward LNG expansion in markets outside of Japan, due to declining domestic opportunities. The Japanese government, meanwhile, is playing a key role by lobbying foreign governments to increase LNG exports, while setting resale targets for domestic companies. In 2020, the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry set a target for Japanese buyers to transact 100 MMtpy of LNG by 2030, well above the country’s own projected demand. As a result, these companies are actively seeking opportunities to resell LNG to other Asian markets. Japanese players have proposed at least 30 gas and LNG-related projects in South and Southeast Asia, which may come with commitments to buy LNG from Japanese project sponsors.
PetroChina ends its role as committed shipper on Trans Mountain pipeline -- PetroChina Canada will no longer be a committed shipper on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline after assigning its contracts to another party, the company said in a letter filed with the Canada Energy Regulator, dated Oct. 10. The recently expanded Trans Mountain pipeline has capacity to ship 890,000 bpd of crude from Alberta's oil sands to the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia. The company is a subsidiary of China's top oil-producing firm PetroChina and holds six assets in western Canada, including the MacKay River and Dover oil sands projects and a stake in the LNG Canada liquefied natural gas project, due to start operating next year. A spokesperson for PetroChina Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the company had given up its committed shipping agreements. PetroChina Canada wrote to regulators to say it was withdrawing as an intervenor in a long-running dispute between Trans Mountain and its committed shippers over pipeline tolls. "PCC has now assigned these agreements to another party and will not be a committed shipper going forward," the letter said. PetroChina did not name the other party.
Europe’s First LNG Cargo from Mexico Unloaded at Gate Terminal — Europe received its first LNG cargo from Mexico this week. The Energos Princess delivered the cargo to the Gate import terminal in the Netherlands. It was loaded at New Fortress Energy Inc.’s Fast liquefied natural gas facility offshore Altamira on Sept. 29. The 200 MMcf/d Altamira facility entered service earlier this year and sent its first cargo to an import terminal on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Altamira, which utilizes U.S. feed gas, loaded the cargo after receiving a key permit from the U.S. government to export to non-free trade agreement countries.
Europe’s Natural Gas Demand Drops While Inventories Rise -- Natural gas demand in the EU and the UK fell by 0.7 bcm in August from July while inventories increased by 8.7 bcm, the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) said in its monthly oil and gas review on Thursday. Global natural gas demand also fell lightly, by 0.15 bcm month-on-month in August, according to the latest data in JODI, which compiles self-reported figures from individual countries.On a yearly basis, global natural gas demand rose by 2.3 bcm compared to August 2023, and gas production also increased globally, by 1.4 bcm in August 2024 from a year earlier.Global gas inventories were up by 22.3 bcm compared to the five-year average and rose by 11.9 bcm from July to August.In Europe, despite a slight uptick in industrial consumption of natural gas this year, the heavy industry is likely to return to curtailing gas use next year amid a tighter gas market and higher prices, analysts and industry officials have told Bloomberg.Since the 2022 energy crisis, European industry has been squeezed amid sky-high energy costs and weak industrial demand in weakening economies. European companies have been losing competitive advantage to firms outside the EU, especially in Asia, with its low labor costs, and the U.S., where gas prices are four times cheaper than in Europe.Europe’s industrial gas demand is recovering as prices normalized and is also contributing to demand growth, even though it remains well below its pre-crisis levels, the IEA said in its annual Global Gas Security Review.However, after this year’s uptick in European industrial gas demand, consumption is set to fall in the coming years, as companies will continue to struggle with higher energy costs compared to other regions, and weaker economies.Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, said in its September monthly report that “Energy is still more expensive than before the crisis and not competitive on a global scale.”
EU Has Storage Capacity to Survive End of Ukraine Gas Transit: Operators - Even if supply from Russia via Ukraine ends, the European Union can still meet its natural gas needs in next year’s winter by utilizing the bloc’s storage facilities and rolling back consumption before the peak season, according to a new industry analysis. The transit contract between the two warring countries ends December, leaving the Turkstream across the Black Sea to Türkiye the only pipeline route for Russian gas to reach the EU. The purportedly sabotaged Nord Stream, which links Russia and Germany, has been idle since 2022. However, current levels of underground storage (UGS) facilities across the EU and the addition of new gas infrastructure including liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals give the region a fallback in the case of pipeline supply from Russia being cut off, the European Network for Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) said in an outlook report. The 27-member bloc reached its storage target for 2024 about 10 weeks ahead of the deadline, according to the online gas storage monitoring database of industry association Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Last year the EU also achieved its minimum required storage level over two months ahead of schedule. In June 2022, the EU passed a regulation mandating the region's gas storage facilities be filled to at least 90 percent of capacity by November 1 each year. This was in response to surges in energy prices that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. “On 1 October 2024, the EU’s UGS reached 94 percent on average which translates to 1,083 TWh [terawatt hours]”, ENTSOG said in the report on its website. “The high storage filling level (59 percent) at the beginning of the injection period, lower gas consumption over the years and dedicated measures introduced by the Member States contributed to a high volume of gas in storage at the beginning of the winter period. “The gas infrastructure, including the projects that have been commissioned during this year and the expansions to be commissioned over the upcoming winter, are boosting energy security in the EU and allow for a more efficient cooperation among the EU Member States”. For the next winter, even in the case of limited LNG availability, the EU can prepare for the loss of pipeline gas from Russia by keeping at least a 30 percent storage level at the end of the current winter season. This would allow the EU to use the 2025 summer to adequately restock for the winter that follows, according to ENTSOG. “In the high demand cases (i.e.,2-week cold spell and peak day demand in the Reference Winter scenario) no EU Member State is exposed to the risk of demand curtailment”, it added. However, “[i]n case of full disruption of Russian pipeline supplies during winter [October 2025 to March 2025, or the reference winter demand], additional measures might be needed to save adequate volumes of gas for the end of the season, and to avoid risk of demand curtailment in case of Cold Winter and peak demand situations”, ENTSOG said. “Simulation results showed that the introduction of possible measures, such as additional supplies, and a 15 percent decrease in gas demand, would avoid demand curtailment risks and allow for reaching an adequate storage level without any pipeline supplies from Russia. “Even in case of a full Russian pipeline supply disruption, cooperation between the countries and demand measures could allow for a more efficient injection during the summer 2025 in preparation for the next winter. “To achieve the 90 percent UGS stock level target by the end of summer 2025, it is necessary to maintain gas at the beginning of the injection season (between 30 and 40 percent) depending on the availability of LNG. “In the Low LNG supply scenarios, some demand response may be necessary to reach the 90 percent target. “EU UGS stock levels are considerably high on 1 October 2024 (94 percent). Additional UGS flexibility could be secured by storing additional volumes in Ukrainian UGS under the condition that this gas can be injected and later on withdrawn during the winter season and market participants would be willing to use it”. The European Commission said that the assessment “confirmed the EU is well prepared for winter 2024-2025 and the following summer months”. “Looking ahead to next summer, the report confirms the need to continue to prepare for subsequent winters by, for example, storing gas throughout the summer months and reducing gas demand”, it said in a statement on its website. “The EU continues to exceed its target of 90 percent gas storage filled across the EU by 1 November and 15 percent reduction in gas demand, reaching 18 percent last winter. “The report demonstrates the independence of the EU gas system from Russian pipeline supply and underlines the significant progress of the EU to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports in line with REPowerEU”. An analysis published Friday by economic think tank Bruegel was in consensus with ENTSOG’s outlook, saying the EU’s gas infrastructure buildout can answer for about 140 TWh of gas that the EU would need to replace after the end of the Russia-Ukraine transit agreement. “First, LNG terminals in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Italy, Croatia and Greece, new floating storage regasification units in Germany and Italy and the potential expansion of the capacity of the Turkstream pipeline that runs across the Black Sea from Russia to Türkiye could replace the lost volume”, Bruegel said.
ExxonMobil Accuses Dutch Government of Breaking Groningen Natural Gas Field Agreement - ExxonMobil has filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government, alleging Netherlands leadership broke an agreement with production partners over the curtailment of natural gas from the Groningen field. ExxonMobil bar chart showing forecast natural gas supply by region. The supermajor disclosed that it filed a request for arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) against the Netherlands with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICBI), based in the District of Columbia. In a LinkedIn post on Thursday, representatives of ExxonMobil’s Dutch subsidiary wrote the company has been working to secure a new agreement about curtailing gas volumes from the prolific field for several years, to no avail.
IEA predicts lower gas and oil prices, rising electricity demand in next 5 years -Natural gas and oil prices are likely to decline in the second half of the decade, but unexpectedly high worldwide demand for electricity will complicate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday in its yearly World Energy Outlook. Between 2025 and 2030, the supply of oil and gas is expected to increase barring a significant escalation in conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East, IEA said in the report. Energy supply and demand have whipsawed in the first half of the decade, first plunging in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and then seeing supply shocks after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. In the years ahead, the trend indicates a “very different energy world” that includes downward pressure on the prices of those commodities, according to Fatih Birol, executive director at IEA. Although oil prices have seen spikes amid tensions in the Middle East, record U.S. oil and gas production has offset much of the shock. IEA projected liquefied natural gas to flood world markets over the next five years, largely in the form of exports from the U.S. and Qatar. However, the report also found that demand for electricity is accelerating faster than earlier predictions, with the demand level now expected for 2035 6 percent higher than the figure the IEA projected in 2023. Much of the projected demand increase is due to data centers, as well as the increased proliferation of air conditioning in countries like India that only recently began to adopt it as heat becomes more extreme. The projected growth in annual electricity demand is equivalent to a year’s worth of demand from the entire nation of Japan. “In energy history, we’ve witnessed the Age of Coal and the Age of Oil — and we’re now moving at speed into the Age of Electricity, which will define the global energy system going forward and increasingly be based on clean sources of electricity,” Birol said. In addition to raising concerns around carbon emissions and climate change, this projected growth will also require significant upgrades to energy storage and grid resilience, according to IEA. The report cites the current vulnerabilities of electrical grids to extreme weather events, such as the winter storms that knocked out Texas’s self-contained Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid in 2021. Overall, worldwide carbon dioxide emissions are expected to peak in the near future, according to IEA, but the decline after the peak is currently projected to be too gradual to avert the 1.5 degrees of warming above preindustrial levels agreed to as a limit in the Paris Climate Agreement.
Overhang in Global LNG Capacity to Create ‘Competitive Market’ to 2035, Says IEA - A new energy market is taking shape across the globe, marked by continued geopolitical conflicts but tempered by an abundance of natural gas, oil and technologies, International Energy Agency (IEA) experts said Wednesday. Electricity demand, meanwhile, is rising at a faster clip than expected. Bar graph showing global LNG supply additions through 2030. In the annual World Energy Report (WEO-2024) published Wednesday, the global watchdog said an “ample supply” of oil and LNG is “coming into view during the second half of the 2020s,” with extracted natural gas and crude oil eclipsing demand. The prospect of surplus natural gas and oil could “move us into a very different energy world from the one we have experienced in recent years during the global energy crisis,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said. “It implies downward pressure on prices, providing some relief for consumers that have been hit hard by price spikes.
Japan could boost LNG buys for emergency reserve to nearly 1 MMtpy Japan is considering stepping up purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for emergency needs to at least 12 cargoes a year from three now, an official of its industry ministry said, to guard against unexpected supply shocks. The reserve-boosting plan entails additional purchases by the world's second biggest buyer of LNG after China, increasing its buys to at least 0.84 metric MMtpy of LNG from 210,000 tonnes now. Japan is expanding its role as an LNG trader at a time of falling domestic demand overall for the fuel—in a plan to boost energy security, it trades some cargoes that are not wanted at home during periods of weak demand. From last December, Japan's top power generator, JERA, has bought one LNG cargo for each of the winter months, or a total of three for the year, to add to a 'Strategic Buffer LNG' (SBL) run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This winter, JERA will continue buying one cargo of 70,000 tonnes for each month from December to February, Yuya Hasegawa, Director of the ministry's energy resources development division, said. "From the mid- to late-2020s, we will try to secure at least one cargo per month throughout a year: that is, at least 12 cargoes per year," Hasegawa said, adding that JERA, also Japan's top LNG buyer, would continue handling cargoes for the reserve. Japan has no underground gas storage but has LNG storage capacity of around 12 Bm3, or just over a month of consumption, at its LNG receiving terminals, which number more than 30, the International Energy Agency says. To boost storage capacity, METI proposed financial support last month for companies to secure storage tanks at home and abroad, in a scheme separate from the SBL but which also aims to improve energy security. LNG makes up a third of the power generation mix in Japan, which sees it remaining as a transition energy source in the years to come. Japanese companies have recently also expanded LNG swap deals in efforts to boost flexibility.
Nigeria signs deal to supply gas to proposed $3.5-B petrochemical plant -Nigeria took a major step in its quest to earn revenue from its vast gas reserves, signing a deal with joint venture partners to supply gas to a proposed $3.5-B Brass fertilizer and petrochemical plant, an official said on Friday. Under the agreement, joint venture partners including Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni will deliver an estimated 270 MMft3d to the plant in Brass, in Nigeria's coastal Bayelsa state. Petroleum Ministry Permanent Secretary Nicholas Agbo Ella said the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement is a part of the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Project, which is expected to generate at least $1.5 B annually from exports of petrochemicals and other gas-based products. "This agreement represents a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to monetize Nigeria's vast gas reserves," Ella said. Nigeria, Africa's top energy producer, holds the continent's largest gas reserves of more than 200 Tft3 and seeks to develop the commodity to boost supplies to industries, power plants and for exports, and to end routine flaring by 2030. "In addition to boosting exports, the project will reduce fertilizer imports by 30%, saving Nigeria approximately $200 MM in foreign exchange annually," Ella said.
Major Asian LNG Exporters Turn to Natural Gas Imports as Domestic Supply Balances Thin - Indonesia and Malaysia, major sources of LNG supply in the Pacific, are counting on additional natural gas imports from the United States and other countries to help meet rising domestic natural gas demand. Bar graph showing Malaysia's LNG exports. Among the top ten global liquefied natural gas exporters, Indonesia and Malaysia are currently unable to meet both local gas demand and fill long-term LNG export contracts without LNG imports. However, Energy Aspects forecast both countries will eventually be able to regain a supply balance between export commitments and domestic LNG import demand in the near future.
China On Track to Import Record Natural Gas Volumes as Storage Nears Capacity - China’s natural gas storage is nearing full capacity for the winter season thanks to rising domestic gas output, along with pipeline and LNG imports. Natural Gas Intelligence's (NGI) Asia LNG parity price chart showing historical market volatility. Expand “The increase in gas storage facilities is likely to ensure that China has sufficient natural gas supplies on hand to meet demand during peak periods such as the winter heating season,” Columbia University’s Erica Downes, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), told NGI. Downes said China is expected to consume 420-425 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of gas this year, about a 7% increase over 2023. Domestic gas production is expected to reach 246 Bcm, while liquefied natural gas and pipeline imports should rise to 174-179 Bcm.
Kutubdia Anchorage LPG Tanker Fire | Fire breaks out on LPG tanker at Kutubdia anchorage - Fire broke out at LPG tanker at Kutubdia anchorage early today. Zonal Commander of Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone Captain Jahirul Hoque confirmed that fire broke out at the tanker B-LPG Sophia, owned by Bashundhara Group, which was engaged in ship-to-ship transfer of LPG from mother vessel, Captain Nikolas, at the Kutubdia anchorage after midnight. All 18 crewmen, two mooring men, three watchmen from the tanker, and eight port security guards from the mother vessel who jumped into the sea after the fire broke out, were rescued by a tugboat, Tufan Express, he said. The crew comprises of nine Bangladeshis, eight Indonesians, and one Indian. Immediately after hearing the news at 12:55am the Coast Guard, the vessel's firefighting tugboat Promotto, one patrol boat, and eight speed boats came to the rescue, said the Coast Guard official adding that navy also sent firefighting tugboats. He said the mother vessel remains safe as it teared off the ropes tied with the lighter vessel. However, the lighter vessel was not anchored and drifting freely with other tankers in its vicinity. B-LPG Sophia is a medium sized LPG tanker engaged in lightering LPG from mother tankers in the sea.
14 missing as another BSC oil tanker catches fire in Ctg port - Fire broke out on another oil tanker of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), "Banglar Shourabh", at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port today, five days after a deadly explosion and fire on "Banglar Jyoti". Coast Guard rescued 36 of the total 50 crewmen from the ship till the filing of this report as of 2:00am, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent. Coast Guard rescued 36 of the total 50 crewmen from the ship till the filing of this report as of 2:00am, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent. Captain Md Jahirul Hoque, zonal commander of Coast Guard East Zone, told The Daily Star that the fire broke out on the ship anchored at the C-Anchorage area around 12:50am. The lighter vessel was carrying crude oil from a bigger oil tanker at sea and was about to start for Chittagong port jetty to unload the fuel when the fire broke out, he said. Quoting crewmen, Zahirul said there were a total of 50 crewmen onboard the ship, of whom 14 jumped into sea after fire broke out. Several tugboats of the Coast Guard were conducting operations to rescue them, he said, adding that a firefighting tugboat was engaged in extinguishing the blaze. Several tugboats from the port authority were also sent to the spot. On September 30, three people were killed in an explosion on Banglar Jyoti anchored at the port's Dolphin Jetty 7.
Death Toll in Fiery Nigerian Tanker Explosion Mounts to 153 - Nigerian police said the death toll from an explosion involving a gasoline tanker in the country’s north has now increased to 153. Police spokesman Lawan Adam said 100 people had also been hospitalized after the tanker caught fire following a traffic accident, as people swarmed around it to collect escaping gasoline. The accident happened on Tuesday in Majiya, a town in Jigawa state 540 kilometers (338 miles) north of the capital, Abuja. President Bola Tinubu said the country will undertake a “comprehensive review of fuel transportation and safety protocols,” while offering his condolences to families of the victims. The tanker driver lost control of his vehicle causing a crash, and “on realizing what happened, the residents started trooping with their containers to tap from the spilling oil,” Adam said. Police tried to clear the scene and people who refused to leave were scooping up the fuel when the “tank exploded and caught them in the fire,” he added. The price of gasoline in the West African nation has soared since fuel subsidies were rolled back in a series of steps starting last year and now stands around 1,000 naira ($0.61) a liter, the highest price Nigerians have ever paid. Fatal incidents involving fuel theft aren’t uncommon in Nigeria. More than 1,000 people were burnt to death in Nigeria’s Delta State in 1998 when a punctured pipeline exploded.
Four tankers still at sea with unsold cargoes from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 - Four tankers loaded with Russian Arctic LNG 2 cargo are still out at sea, according to data from ship-tracking agency Kpler, highlighting the struggles of the U.S.-sanctioned project to sell the sea-borne gas. The agency said on Monday the tankers were seen traversing the sea without signaling a destination as the market continues to anticipate a potential delivery to a buyer. According to Kpler data, the tankers laden with liquefied natural gas (LNG) constitute 40% of a so-called "dark fleet" of 10 Russian LNG-ferrying vessels identified by the agency and which have been sanctioned by the West. The dark fleet, which Kpler and other ship-tracking agencies also refer to as a shadow fleet, consists of tankers that knowingly operate to circumvent Western sanctions to ship goods. They include the Pioneer with a capacity of 138,000 m3, the Asya Energy (137,200 m3), the Nova Energy (150,000 m3) and the Everest Energy (138,028 m3), according to Kpler. The Arctic LNG 2 project, 60% owned by Russia's Novatek, is subject to Western sanctions over Russia's conflict with Ukraine. Novatek has denied involvement in establishing and managing a "shadow fleet" for the Arctic LNG 2 project. It is not clear where the four loaded tankers are headed. "Pioneer is going full speed ahead while Asya Energy is in a holding pattern. It's a wait-and-see situation if these cargoes are discharged to end users," said Ana Subasic, Kpler Insight market analyst for LNG and natural gas. "We believe certain players, like China, will be looking to make use of the heavily discounted spot volumes on offer." The project had been set to become one of Russia's largest LNG plants with eventual output of 19.8 metric MMtpy, but its prospects have been clouded by the sanctions. It started to export in August, but there is still no information about the end user. Nevertheless, ship-tracking data has recently shown several cargoes being picked up from the project. Some of the vessels have discharged at two storage facilities, near the Arctic port of Murmansk and in Russia's Pacific peninsular of Kamchatka. Kpler also said four more tankers were seen congregating offshore the Kolguyev Island in the Barents Sea. These include the North Air, the La Perouse, the North Sky and North Way, which each has a capacity of 174,000 m3.
Fewer tankers transit the Red Sea in 2024 - The amount of crude oil and oil products flowing through the Bab el-Mandeb, the southern chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, decreased by more than 50% in the first eight months of 2024. Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes, and they are critical to global energy security. The inability of oil to transit a major chokepoint, even temporarily, can lead to substantial supply delays and higher shipping costs, resulting in higher world energy prices. After Yemen-based Houthi militia attacks on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea started in November 2023, some vessels began opting to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint—a narrow strait that borders the Yemeni coast and is the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Instead, they’re choosing to take longer, more costly routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Oil trade flows in the Red Sea have decreased significantly over the past year. Oil trade flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait averaged 4 MMbpd in 2024 through August compared with 8.7 MMbpd in full-year 2023, according to Vortexa data. The Suez Canal, the SUMED pipeline and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are strategic routes for Persian Gulf oil and natural gas shipments to Europe and North America. The Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline are located in Egypt and connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. The volume of crude oil and oil products flowing around the Cape of Good Hope increased to 9.2 MMbpd in the first eight months of 2024 from an average of 6 MMbpd in 2023, according to Vortexa data. The Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint because large volumes of oil flow through the strait. In 2023, oil flows through Hormuz averaged 20.9 MMbpd or the equivalent of about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. In addition, around one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade also transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2023. Iran ranked as the world's third-largest oil and second-largest natural gas reserve holder in 2023, although international sanctions have constrained its production. Total petroleum and other liquids production in Iran rose from a recent annual low of less than 3 MMbpd in 2020 to an average of 4 MMbpd in 2023. Of this 4 MMbpd, almost 2.9 MMbpd was crude oil, and the remainder was condensate and hydrocarbon gas liquids. Saudi Arabia was the world’s third-largest crude oil and condensate producer, the world’s top crude oil exporter, and OPEC’s top crude oil producer in 2023, when its output averaged 9.5 MMbpd. Israel is the second-largest natural gas producer in the Eastern Mediterranean region, after Egypt. Natural gas production in Israel began growing in 2013 when the Tamar field began production. Since then, several more offshore natural gas fields have begun production and provided enough fuel to meet Israel's rising domestic natural gas needs as well as exports to Egypt and Jordan. In 2022, natural gas production in Israel totaled 808 Bft3.
Giant explosion at gas station in Chechnya, several dead - A gas station has exploded in the Russian republic of Chechnya, killing at least four people. Images show people fleeing the explosion. The police have started an investigation into the cause.
Oil leaks from NR pipeline in DHA – Karachi: An oil leak from National Refinery's (NR) pipeline in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) caused oil to spill onto adjacent roads and streets. Upon receiving the information, police immediately reached the scene and cordoned off the area, blocking roads to prevent further damage and accidents because of slippery streets. Relevant authorities were also informed.According to SHO Darakhshan police station Irfan Asif, the leak originated from National Refinery's central point near Street 25, Khayaban-e-Sehar. Later, additional police force was deployed who sealed off the entire area to prevent any untoward incident because of the oil spill. The National Refinery authorities shut down the pipeline to prevent more spillage.
OPEC Slashes Oil Demand Growth Forecast Again - OPEC on Monday cut its oil demand growth estimate for a third consecutive month, due to actual consumption data so far this year and expectations of slightly lower demand in some regions. OPEC now expects global oil demand to grow by 1.93 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, down by 106,000 bpd compared to last month’s assessment, the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for October showed on Monday.The third consecutive downward revision of global oil demand growth largely reflected “actual data received combined with slightly lower expectations for the oil demand performance in some regions,” OPEC said.Chinese demand growth was cut again, and accounted for most of the downward revision of global oil demand growth in 2024. OPEC now expects China’s oil demand to grow by 580,000 bpd this year, down from the 650,000 bpd growth expected in the September report.China’s annual demand growth slowed in August from July, to just 83,000 bpd year-over-year, with the increase driven by strong petrochemical feedstock requirements, OPEC said.“Diesel consumption continued to be subdued by slowing economic activity, mostly a slowdown in building and housing construction, and the substitution of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for petroleum diesel fuel in heavy-duty trucks,” the organization’s economists wrote in the report.OPEC also slashed its forecast of global oil demand growth for 2025, lowering the expected growth by 102,000 bpd to 1.6 million bpd.Total global oil demand is thus expected to average 105.8 million bpd next year.Developing economies in Asia and the Middle East will lead the 1.6 million bpd growth in 2025, accounting for 1.5 million bpd of it, led by contributions from China, Other Asia, the Middle East, and India, OPEC said. Oil demand in developed economies is set to inch up only by about 100,000 bpd, led by the Americas.
OPEC Cuts 2024, 2025 Global Oil Demand Growth View Again - OPEC on Oct. 14 cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 reflecting data received so far this year and also lowered its projection for next year, marking the producer group's third consecutive downward revision. The weaker outlook highlights the dilemma faced by OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, which is planning to start raising output in December after earlier delaying the hike against a backdrop of falling prices. On Oct. 14, OPEC in a monthly report said world oil demand will rise by 1.93 MMbbl/d in 2024, down from growth of 2.03 MMbbl/d it expected last month. Until August, OPEC had kept the forecast unchanged since it was first made in July 2023. China accounted for the bulk of the 2024 downgrade. OPEC trimmed its Chinese growth forecast to 580,000 bbl/d from 650,000 bbl/d. While government stimulus measures will support fourth-quarter demand, oil use is facing headwinds from economic challenges and moves towards cleaner fuels, OPEC said. "Diesel consumption continued to be subdued by slowing economic activity, mostly a slowdown in building and housing construction, and the substitution of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for petroleum diesel fuel in heavy-duty trucks," OPEC said in reference to August. Oil held an earlier decline of about 2% after the report was issued, with Brent crude trading below $78/ bbl. There is a wide split between forecasters on the strength of demand growth in 2024, partly due to differences over China and over the pace of the world's switch to cleaner fuels. OPEC is still at the top of industry estimates and has a long way to go to match the International Energy Agency's far lower view. OPEC said this year's demand growth was still above the historical average of 1.4 MMbbl/d seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a plunge in oil use. For next year, OPEC cut its 2025 global demand growth estimate to 1.64 million bpd from 1.74 MMbbl/d. OPEC+ has implemented a series of output cuts since late 2022 to support the market, most of which are in place until the end of 2025. The group was due to start unwinding the most recent layer of cuts of 2.2 MMbbl/d from October, but decided to delay the plan for two months after oil prices slumped. OPEC's report showed production fell in September due to unrest in Libya and a cut by Iraq. OPEC+ pumped 40.1 MMbbl/d, down 557,000 bbl/d from August. Iraq pumped 4.11 MMbbl/d, down 155,000 bpd but still above its 4 MMbbl/d quota. As well as Iraq, OPEC has named Russia and Kazakhstan as among the OPEC+ countries which pumped above quotas. Russia cut output in September by 28,000 bbl/d to about 9 MMbbl/d, the report said, citing data from secondary sources such as consultancies. Kazakhstan, however, raised production by 75,000 bbl/d to 1.55 MMbbl/d. The OPEC report projects demand for OPEC+ crude, or crude from OPEC plus the allied countries working with it, at 43.7 MMbbl/d in the fourth quarter, in theory allowing it room for higher production. Other forecasts suggest less room. The IEA, which represents industrialized countries, sees much lower demand growth than OPEC of 900,000 bbl/d in 2024. The IEA is scheduled to update its figures on Oct 15.
IEA: Oil market to face sizeable surplus next year - The International Energy Agency (IEA) projected in its October Oil Market Monthly Report that, with weak demand growth and continued supply gains, the oil market will face a sizable surplus in the new year unless a major supply disruption occurs. Global oil demand is expected to increase by just under 900,000 b/d in 2024 and by around 1 million b/d in 2025, marking a sharp slowdown from the 2 million b/d growth seen during the 2022-2023 post-pandemic period. “Global oil demand rose by 680,000 b/d y-o-y in third-quarter 2024, lower than expected and at its slowest pace since fourth-quarter 2022 when China’s economy was in full lockdown. Accordingly, we see muted global demand growth of 860,000 b/d on average in 2024, down by 40,000 b/d from last month’s report,” IEA said. Chinese oil demand remains below expectations, significantly affecting overall growth. China's contribution is expected to account for about 20% of global growth in 2024 and 2025, compared with nearly 70% in 2023, according to IEA. “Following a surge of 1.4 million b/d in 2023, when the country emerged from stringent public health restrictions, growth is forecast to contract sharply this year on an annual basis, to a projected 150,000 b/d. Moreover, this slowdown shifted into an outright downturn in both second-quarter 2024 and third-quarter 2024. This culminated in a 500,000 b/d annual contraction in August,” IEA said. IEA expects a return to modest growth during the final quarter of the year and in 2025, when China’s annual demand will increase by 220,000 b/d. “Recently announced government stimulus packages for the economy are expected to support the resumption of an upward trajectory, but the overall impact is likely to be limited and we anticipate any increase in oil demand will be overwhelmingly dependent on growth in petrochemical feedstock products,” IEA added. Global oil supply plunged by 640,000 b/d in September to 102.8 million b/d, as Libya’s political quagmire disrupted the country’s oil production and exports, and as field maintenance work in Kazakhstan, Norway, and Canada lowered output. In early October, benchmark oil prices surged as escalating tensions between Israel and Iran raise fears of a broader Middle East conflict affecting Iranian exports. However, the resolution of Libya's political dispute, only modest production losses from hurricanes in the US Gulf Coast, and weak end-user demand have helped stabilize the markets. Barring any further unplanned disruptions, global oil supply growth is forecast to increase by 660,000 b/d to 102.9 million b/d in 2024, slightly lower than last month’s report. Assuming extra voluntary OPEC+ curbs are maintained, IEA forecasts global oil supply to rise by 2 million b/d in 2025 to 105 million b/d. Non-OPEC+ output, led by the Americas, is expected to expand by 1.5 million b/d in 2024, according to IEA. For 2024 as a whole, US output is forecast to rise by 630,000 b/d to 20.1 million b/d on average, with crude accounting for 270,000 b/d and NGLs for 360,000 b/d of the increase. Next year will see additional gains of 630,000 b/d, lifting total oil supplies to 20.8 million b/d. US crude production will increase by 390,000 b/d while NGL growth slows to 250,000 b/d. On Oct. 2, OPEC+’s top ministers decided to maintain the current oil output policy, which includes increasing output from December, while highlighting the need for some members to make additional cuts to offset overproduction. The OPEC+ alliance will see production contract by 820,000 b/d in 2024, according to IEA. Refining margins slumped further in September as gasoline, jet and diesel cracks deteriorated while crude prices improved on a relatively tighter market. Consequently, IEA's revised global crude run estimates have been reduced by 180,000 b/d to 82.8 million b/d for 2024 and by 210,000 b/d to 83.4 million b/d in 2025. These still reflect annual gains of 540,000 b/d and 610,000 b/d, respectively. Observed global oil inventories declined by 22.3 million bbl in August, led by a 16.5 million bbl draw in crude oil stocks. OECD industry stocks fell counter-seasonally by 13.4 million bbl to 2,811 million bbl, 102.7 million bbl below the 5-year average. Preliminary data suggest oil stocks fell further in September. Relatively robust refining activity and OPEC+ supply cuts have underpinned a 135 million bbl draw in crude stocks since May, while product stocks built by 35 million bbl over the same period.
WTI Sheds Over 2% On Weak Economic Data From China The oil price rally has reversed again thanks to a bearish economic report coming from China. China’s inflation data for September showed that consumer prices increased by a modest 0.4%, falling short of economist expectations of 0.6%. This marked the slowest price increase in three months, Reuters noted in its report. Whereas lower consumer prices are normally considered bullish for oil prices, the experts are interpreting China’s slowing inflation as a reflection of weaker demand that will continue to weaken as inflation slows.“China faces persistent deflationary pressure due to weak domestic demand. The change of fiscal policy stance as indicated by the press conference yesterday (Saturday) would help to deal with such problems,” the chief economist of Hong Kong-based Pinpoint Asset Management told Reuters. Brent crude futures for December delivery were trading at $77.24/barrel at 11.40 am ET, a 1.8% decline while WTI crude was changing hands at $74.02/barrel, down 2.1%. That marks a sharp fall from last Monday’s 2-month high of $81.12 for Brent and $77.91 for WTI crude. The rally was triggered by Washington’s indication that Israel could strike Iran’s oil facilities.Rampant short-selling is also to blame for falling oil prices. Short bets on Brent have exceeded long bets for the first time in history. According to commodity analysts at Standard Chartered, once the unwinding of the undershoot in prices is accounted for, the market response to events in the Middle East, and particularly the threats made against Iranian energy infrastructure, was very underwhelming. StanChart notes that Brent’s front-month settlement on 7 October was lower than the settlement for the equivalent days in 2021, 2022 and 2023 while prompt prices have merely returned to where they were as recently as late August. There’s been little change to the overwhelmingly bearish sentiment that has dominated the oil market over the past three months, with many traders still prepared to short oil aggressively if the daily news flow and market momentum allow for it.
China’s Oil Imports Fell for a Fifth Consecutive Month - The oil market on Monday continued to trade within Thursday’s trading range as it gave up some of last week’s gains. The market was pressured by news that China’s oil imports fell for a fifth consecutive month from a year ago, increasing concerns over fuel demand as OPEC cut its 2024 and 2025 global oil demand growth forecast. China’s crude oil imports in the first nine months of the year fell by nearly 3% on the year to 10.99 million bpd. OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand in 2024 and cut its projection for next year, with China accounting for most of the 2024 downgrade. The market was also pressured as China’s stimulus plan announced over the weekend failed to inspire investor confidence in the country’s economic recovery. Another factor impacting the oil market was a report by Capital Economics, which stated that the possibility that Saudi Arabia will increase its oil production has increased in recent weeks. The oil market posted the day’s trading range in overnight trading, posting a high of $75.08 on the opening and trading to a low of $73.41 amid the bearish news. In choppy trading, the market later bounced off its low and held resistance at its high as it traded back towards its low later in the session. The November WTI contract settled down $1.73 at $73.83 and the December Brent contract settled down $1.58 at $77.46. The product markets ended in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 6.97 cents at $2.2742 and the RB market settling down 4.3 cents at $2.1086. The Red Cross said Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 18 people in an airstrike in the north, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border. Israel ordered residents of 25 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows 35 miles north of the Israeli frontier. The Israeli military said it had killed Muhammad Kamel Naim, commander of the anti-tank missile unit of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, in a strike in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon. The operations come amid tensions between Israel and the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL in south Lebanon, as Israel keeps pushing forces through the area in an attempt to wipe out Hezbollah and its military infrastructure while it also fights Hamas in Gaza. The U.N. said Israeli tanks had burst into its base on Sunday, the latest allegations of Israeli violations against peacekeeping forces. Meanwhile, the entire Middle East remains on high alert for Israel to retaliate against Iran for an October 1st missile attack launched in response to Israel’s assaults on Lebanon. On Sunday, the Pentagon said it would send U.S. troops to Israel along with an advanced U.S. anti-missile system. OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 reflecting data received so far this year and also lowered its projection for next year, marking the producer group’s third consecutive downward revision. In its monthly report, OPEC said world oil demand will increase by 1.93 million bpd in 2024, down from growth of 2.03 million bpd it expected last month. OPEC said China accounted for the bulk of the 2024 downgrade as OPEC trimmed its Chinese growth forecast to 580,000 bpd from 650,000 bpd. While government stimulus measures will support fourth-quarter demand, oil use is facing headwinds from economic challenges and moves towards cleaner fuels. OPEC also cut its 2025 global demand growth estimate to 1.64 million bpd from 1.74 million bpd. production.
Oil falls 2% as OPEC cuts oil demand growth view, China concerns (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2% on Monday as OPEC again lowered its outlook for 2024 and 2025 global oil demand growth while China's oil imports fell for the fifth straight month.China's stimulus plans failed to inspire investor confidence while markets kept watching for potential Israeli attacks on Iranian oil infrastructure.Brent crude futures settled $1.58, or 2%, lower at $77.46 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.73, or 2.29%, to $73.83 per barrel. Brent had gained 99 cents last week, while WTI climbed $1.18.Brent fell 5%, or more than $4, in after-hours trading following a media report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.S. that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil ones.U.S. heating oil futures fell 5% in late trading. U.S. gasoline futures eased over 4%.OPEC on Monday cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and also lowered its projection for next year, marking the producer group's third consecutive downward revision.China, the world's largest crude oil importer, accounted for the bulk of the 2024 downgrade as OPEC trimmed its growth forecast for the country to 580,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 650,000 bpd.China's crude imports for the first nine months of the year fell nearly 3% from last year to 10.99 million bpd, data showed.Declining Chinese oil demand caused by the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EV), as well as slowing economic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a drag on global oil consumption and prices.China's deflationary pressures also worsened in September, according to official data released on Saturday. A press conference the same day left investors guessing about the overall size of a stimulus package to revive the fortunes of the world's second-largest economy. "The lack of a clear timeline and the absence of measures to address structural issues, such as weak consumption and reliance on infrastructure investments, have only increased ambiguity amongst market participants," noted Mukesh Sahdev, the global head of commodity markets-oil at Rystad Energy.The negative news from China outweighed market concerns over the lingering possibility that an Israeli response to Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack could disrupt oil production.The U.S. said on Sunday it would send troops to Israel along with an advanced anti-missile system in a highly unusual deployment meant to bolster the country's air defenses."While an attack by Israel into Iran is likely to happen, the latest reinforcing measures by the US military may have calmed the responses on both sides," "A nervous trade will remain with most fund managers remaining on the sidelines," Washington has been privately urging Israel to calibrate its response to avoid triggering a broader war in the Middle East, officials say, withPresident Joe Biden publicly voicing his opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites and his concerns about a strike on Iran's energy infrastructure.The dollar also hit a nine-week high on Monday in thin trading. A firmer U.S. currency can hurt demand for dollar-denominated oil from buyers using other currencies. U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
Oil prices slide on Israel vow to avoid Iran refineries with retaliation -- Oil prices tumbled by over four per cent on Tuesday after soft economic readings from China and reports that Israel has assured the US it would avoid oil and nuclear facilities in its expected retaliation on Iran. The price of Brent crude dropped 4.4 per cent – or $3.42 (£2.61) a barrel – and WTI Crude fell nearly five per cent to $70.25.According to the Washington Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured the Biden administration he is willing restrict his armed forces’ response to Iran’s attack on October 4 to military – rather than oil or nuclear – targets.The reports calmed jitters among oil traders that Israel’s response would hit the supply of oil, pushing up on oil price and triggering a mirrored rise in the oil futures market.Traders’ fears were were also soothed by markets’ softening response to the fiscal and monetary stimulus announced by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) last month.PBoC cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points and the proportion that banks must hold as cash reserves by 20 basis points in late September, prompting Chinese equities to skyrocket by over 25 per cent in just two weeks. This, combined fiscal package that the Chinese government had promised would follow, lifted oil prices on expectations that demand from the world’s largest purchaser of oil would rise.But a lack of clarity around the fiscal stimulus from Chinese officials, and sluggish export and credit data, has led the initial spike to peter out, putting downward pressure on the price.“The price of oil has been volatile in recent weeks, as it gets jostled around by news flow surrounding the Middle East crisis,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at FX broker XTB.“This could hit the FTSE 100’s oil companies, and the energy sector could extend its decline after it was one of the weakest performers [at the start of this week].”The fall in the oil price follows several weeks. which rose the likelihood of a regional conflict rose after Israel’s ground invasion in Lebanon and Iran’s decision to launch an air strike comprising 200 missiles into Israel.Brent crude peaked at $77.14 a barrel on 7 October, after Joe Biden said that the US was discussing with Israel whether it would support an Israeli retaliation that targeted oil refineries.Asked by reporters in early October whether the US would back Israel hitting Iran’s oil facilities in a strike, Biden said: “We’re in discussion of that.”Commenting on the fall off in oil prices, David Mirzai, energy analyst at corporate finance shop SP Angel, told City AM: “An Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities might provoke an Iranian attack against Israeli gas production, which has the potential to create a new energy crisis.“Chinese stimulus news also disappointed those market participants looking for a boost to global oil demand.”
Oil Market Dips Amid Eased Supply Fears and Lower Demand Forecasts - The crude market continued to sell off on Tuesday on a report suggesting that Israel would not strike Iranian oil facilities, easing fears of a supply disruption. The market was also pressured by weaker demand forecasts. The Washington Post reported that Israel’s Prime Minister said Israel was willing to strike Iranian military targets and not its oil or nuclear facilities in retaliation for Iran’s October 1st missile attack. Also, the IEA was the latest agency to cut its 2024 world oil demand growth forecast, cutting its forecast by 40,000 bpd to 860,000 bpd. The oil market continued to sell off overnight following Monday’s steep decline in the post settlement period. It posted a high of $72.12 and sold off to a low of $69.71 early in the morning as it retraced more than 62% of its move from a low of $64.61 to a high of $78.46. However, it later retraced some of its losses and traded in a sideways trading range during the remainder of the session. The November WTI contract settled down $3.25 at $70.58 and the December Brent contract settled down $3.21 at $74.25. Meanwhile, the product markets ended the session in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 8.65 cents at $2.1877 and the RB market settling down 7.09 cents at $2.0377. The Washington Post reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Biden administration that it was willing to strike military targets rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran. Later, Israel said it was weighing U.S. warnings against striking Iran’s energy sites but will act on its own assessments.The IEA further cut its global oil demand growth forecast for this year citing weakness in China and said the market was heading for a sizeable surplus in 2025 in the absence of a major supply disruption. The IEA cut its 2024 world oil demand growth forecast to 860,000 bpd from a previous forecast of 900,000 bpd. The agency now expects Chinese demand to grow by only 150,000 barrels per day in 2024, after consumption fell by 500,000 bpd in August compared with the same month last year, a fourth consecutive month of declines. The IEA however raised its 2025 world oil demand growth forecast to 1 million bpd compared with a previous forecast of 950,000 bpd. In regards to the Iran-Israel tension, it stands ready to act if needed. The IEA’s public oil stocks are over 1.2 billion barrels. It also added that OPEC+’s spare production capacity stands at historic highs.Axios reported that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving U.S. military aid.Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said the group would inflict “pain” on Israel but he also called for a ceasefire as a conflict continues between them in south Lebanon. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue to attack Hezbollah “without mercy, everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut”.
Oil plunges 4% as Iran supply disruption concerns ease, demand outlook weakens (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled more than 4% to a near two-week low on Tuesday due to a weaker demand outlook and after a media report said Israel would not strike Iranian nuclear and oil sites, easing fears of a supply disruption.Brent crude futures settled down $3.21, or 4.14%, at $74.25 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures finished down $3.25, or 4.4%, at $70.58 a barrel.Both benchmarks had earlier fallen by $4, reaching their lowest since the beginning of October, after settling about 2% lower on Monday."We're seeing an unwinding of the war premium we built up last week," . "What we're seeing, it's not really about supply, it's about the risk to supply and demand." Brent and WTI are down about $5 so far this week, nearly wiping out cumulative gains made after investors became concerned Israel could strike Iran's oil facilities in retaliation for Tehran's Oct. 1 missile attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United States that Israel was willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil ones, the Washington Post reported late on Monday. Both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency this week cut their forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2024, with China accounting for the bulk of the downgrades. OPEC has projected a much stronger expansion of global demand for the year than the IEA. But its "run of lower adjustments is something of an admission of wishful thinking," said John Evans at oil broker PVM. OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, may change production plans for late this year, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "I think OPEC+ is going to defer raising production later this year," Current crude prices are below levels needed for many of those countries to meet their national budgets, Lipow added.
Recent Forecasts of Less Oil Demand Growth - The oil market on Wednesday traded in negative territory for much of the session as it remained pressured by an easing of fears of a supply disruption and recent forecasts of less oil demand growth. Oil prices remained lower in response to a Washington Post report that Israel would not strike Iranian oil and nuclear sites, although Israel later stated that it would make its decision according to its own national interest. The crude market posted a high of $71.31 in overnight trading before it sold off to a low of $69.64 by mid-day. The market later settled in a sideways trading pattern as it positioned itself ahead of the release of the weekly petroleum stocks reports later on Wednesday and Thursday morning. The November WTI contract ended the session down 19 cents at $70.39 and the December Brent contract ended the day down 3 cents at $74.22. The product market ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling down 1.3 cents at $2.1747 and the RB market settling up 26 points at $2.0403. Iran’s state atomic energy agency spokesperson, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the probability of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites remains low but any potential damage would be “quickly compensated”. The Iranian spokesperson added that the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the international community should condemn any threat or attack on nuclear sites. In a statement on Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel would listen to the United States but would decide its actions according to its own national interest. The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Israel’s Prime Minister had told President Joe Biden’s administration that Israel would strike Iranian military targets, not nuclear or oil targets.Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that Iranian authorities are working on controlling an oil spill that was first reported on Sunday four miles off Iran’s Kharg Island, its top export terminal in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the Tasnim news agency reported that the leak happened on subsea pipelines.PDVSA reported lightning during a recent thunderstorm caused a fire that destroyed a crude oil storage tank at the Las Salinas terminal located on the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo. The tank reportedly had a 75,000 barrel capacity.Trading sources and analysts said a resumption of Libyan crude output after a political crisis over the central bank cut the OPEC member’s exports to a four-year low, has led to a surplus in crude supplies in Europe, forcing competing sellers to cut their prices.IIR Energy said U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1.01 million bpd of capacity in the week ending October 18th, increasing available refining capacity by 77,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to fall to 819,000 bpd in the week ending October 25th.
U.S. crude oil falls below $71 per barrel, continuing sell-off - U.S. crude futures edged lower Wednesday to close below $71 per barrel, after selling off steeply in the previous session on reports that Israel will not attack Iran's oil facilities.The U.S. benchmark tumbled more than 4% on Tuesday after Israel told the U.S. that it will limit its retaliatory strikes to military targets in Iran, senior Biden administration officials told NBC News.Crude oil prices have given up most of the gains made in the wake of Iran's Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel, as fears of an oil supply disruption in the Middle East have eased. Here are Wednesday's closing energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate November contract: $70.39 per barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.27%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has fallen nearly 2%.
- Brent December contract: $74.22 per barrel, down 3 cents, or 0.04%. Year to date, the global benchmark has declined more than 3%.
- RBOB Gasoline November contract: $2.0403 per gallon, up 0.13%. Year to date, gasoline has decreased nearly 3%.
- Natural Gas November contract: $2.367 per thousand cubic feet, down 5.24%. Year to date, gas has pulled back nearly 6%
API Reports Across-The-Board Inventory Draws -Oil prices dipped very marginally today (with WTI holding above $70), down for the fourth day in a row as traders focused on an uncertain demand outlook - particularly from China, the world's largest crude importer.Additionally, traders have "largely priced in the Middle East tensions," and the base-case scenario for many of them is that there will be a limited attack on Iranian energy facilities, if any, from Israel, Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, told MarketWatch.However, "the fact is that we are looking at a situation where two countries are attacking each other directly," he added."[It] is a very serious situation because currently the U.S. is very much mediating the matter and tensions are incredibly high on both sides.""On the demand side, market participants are looking for clearer signals regarding China's fiscal policy, as uncertainties about its economic recovery affect oil-demand expectations," said Christopher Tahir, senior market strategist at Exness, in emailed comments. "Both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency have lowered their forecasts for global oil-demand growth in 2024, mainly due to expected changes in China's consumption," he noted.For now, the recent hurricanes are playing havoc with any analysis of the real-time supply/demand regime based on API/DOE data.API
- Crude -1.58mm (+1.9mm exp)
- Cushing +410k
- Gasoline -5.93mm (-2.0mm exp)
- Distillates -2.67mm (-2.2mm exp)
After the large gasoline draw the prior week (and big crude build), the effect of Hurricanes Helene and Milton continue to ripple through physical energy markets. API reports major product draws and a surprise crude draw (build expected) last week...
WTI Holds Above $70 After Large Inventory Draws, Record US Production -- Oil prices continue to tread water, with WTI holding trading a very narrow band between $70 and $71 - unaffected by API's reported draws last night - as traders weigh uncertain demand outlook with potential supply disruptions.Additionally, traders have "largely priced in the Middle East tensions," and the base-case scenario for many of them is that there will be a limited attack on Iranian energy facilities, if any, from Israel, However, "the fact is that we are looking at a situation where two countries are attacking each other directly," he added."[It] is a very serious situation because currently the U.S. is very much mediating the matter and tensions are incredibly high on both sides.""On the demand side, market participants are looking for clearer signals regarding China's fiscal policy, as uncertainties about its economic recovery affect oil-demand expectations," ."Both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency have lowered their forecasts for global oil-demand growth in 2024, mainly due to expected changes in China's consumption," he noted.For now, the recent hurricanes are playing havoc with any analysis of the real-time supply/demand regime based on API/DOE data. DOE:
- Crude -2.19mm (+1.9mm exp)
- Cushing +108k
- Gasoline -2.20mm (-2.0mm exp)
- Distillates -3.53mm (-2.2mm exp) - biggest draw since March 2024
Crude stocks fell more than expected according to the official data and products saw significant drawdowns (while stockpiles at the Cushing hub inched off tank bottoms)... (Graphics Source: Bloomberg) US gasoline inventories dropped to the lowest in about two years! That comes as weekly gasoline demand plummeted by the most this year. Demand surged ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival and it’s natural we see that normalizing now.
IEA Predicts End to Oil & Gas Demand Growth Before 2030 -Oil prices are little changed in Thursday’s intraday sessions after they tumbled more than 4% on Tuesday to a near two-week low on easing Iranian supply disruption fears. Brent crude for December delivery was down 0.3% to trade at $74.12/barrel at 12.50 pm ET while WTI crude for November delivery remained unchanged at $70.36/barrel. According to commodity analysts at Standard Chartered, the prevailing tone of market sentiment, particularly among the more speculative traders, remains overwhelmingly bearish, on par with that in late 2008 at the start of the Global Financial Crisis. A big part of the bearishness has been triggered by ongoing oversupply and weak demand concerns, with the leading energy agencies issuing widely divergent oil market predictions. For instance, the International Energy Agency (IEA) sees OPEC crude oil output 700kb/d higher in 2025, OPEC+ (also known as Declaration of Cooperation, DoC) crude oil output 967kb/d higher and total DoC liquids output 1.323mb/d higher. In contrast, OPEC Secretariat figures--the average of seven secondary-source assessments are closer to those by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) rather than the IEA estimates. And now the International Energy Agency (IEA) has stoked the flames further by predicting that global demand for all fossil fuels will stop growing this decade at a time when supplies of oil and LNG are poised to continue growing. Obviously, this is highly bearish for oil and gas prices. On a brighter note, the world’s leading energy watchdog says this development will come as a major boon for consumers because electricity prices will start declining as renewables play a bigger role in our generation mix.“The world is set to enter a new energy market context in the second half of this decade because underlying market balances for oil and gas are easing. Bar major geopolitical conflicts, we will be entering a period where prices will see significant downward pressures,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview.According to IEA, electricity use will increase six times faster than total energy demand during the coming 10 years while electric vehicles will account for 50% of new car sales worldwide by 2030, up from 20% currently. IEA has predicted that in 2030, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of solar PV with storage in the U.S. will clock in at $45/MWh, considerably lower than $70/MWh by natural gas.“In energy history, we’ve witnessed the Age of Coal and the Age of Oil – and we’re now moving at speed into the Age of Electricity,” said Birol.Other renewable energy bulls support IEA’s views. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), renewable energy reduces exposure to volatile fossil-fuel import bills; lowers average electricity system costs, and avoids the damaging impacts of high electricity prices on consumers and industry. Similar to IEA, IRENA has predicted that electricity generated by solar PV, concentrated solar power (CSP), onshore wind and offshore wind will be considerably cheaper than electricity generated using fossil fuels by 2030.
The Crude Market Trended Lower as it Waits for Developments in the Middle East - The crude market on Thursday continued to trend lower, posting yet another low as it continued to wait for further developments in the Middle East. The market was also pressured in light of some less than supportive news regarding China’s housing sector plan that is not expected to induce enough investment demand to support its economy. The oil market posted a high of $71.11 in overnight trading and traded mostly sideways in light of the APIs showing draws across the board. The EIA’s oil inventory report also showed draws in crude stocks of 2.2 million barrels, compared with expectations of a build. The crude market posted a low of $69.44 in afternoon trading after Israel said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7th attack on Israel last year, has been killed in Gaza. The November WTI contract later bounced off that level and settled up 28 cents at $70.09, while the December Brent contract settled up 23 cents at $74.45. The product markets ended the session in positive territory amid the draws in stocks, with the heating oil market settling up 1.98 cents at $2.1945 and the RB market settling up 65 points at $2.0468. The EIA reported that U.S. weekly oil field production increased by 100,000 bpd to a record 13.5 million bpd during the week ending October 11th. It reported gasoline stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels on the week, with inventories in the Gulf Coast falling to the lowest level since March 2021JP Morgan forecast global oil consumption will increase by 7.1 million bpd or 7% between 2023 and 2035 to 108.5 million bpd.The U.S. Department of Defense said U.S. military forces, including U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers, conducted precision strikes against five underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It said the strike was designed to further degrade the Houthis’ capability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend U.S. forces and personnel.The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, warned Israel against attacking the Islamic Republic in retaliation for its missile attack on October 1st, as the Israeli military stepped up its offensive in Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Hezbollah member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah said the armed group would keep fighting, but he reiterated its leaders are carefully coordinating with Lebanon’s speaker of parliament in efforts to reach a ceasefire.Colonial Pipeline Co is allocating space for Cycle 61 shipments on Line 1, its main gasoline line from Houston, Texas to Greensboro, North Carolina. The current allocation is for the pipeline segment north of Collins, Mississippi. Colonial Pipeline Co is also allocating space for Cycle 61 shipments on Line 2, which carries distillates from Atlanta, Georgia to Nashville, Tennessee.The EPA reported that the U.S. generated fewer renewable blending credits in September versus the month prior. It reported that about 1.21 billion ethanol (D6) blending credits were generated last month, compared with about 1.32 billion in August. Credits generated from biodiesel (D4) blending fell to 671 million in September from 724 million in October.
Oil prices edge higher on US crude stockpiles draw (Reuters) - Oil prices inched up on Thursday, bouncing back from two-week lows, after data showed falling crude and fuel inventories in the United States. Brent crude futures settled at $74.45 a barrel, up 23 cents, or 0.31%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 28 cents, or 0.4%, at $70.67 a barrel.Both benchmarks had settled down on Wednesday, closing at their lowest levels since Oct. 2 for a second day in a row, after OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut demand forecasts for 2024 and 2025. U.S. crude inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels to 420.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel rise. Gasoline and distillate inventories also fell last week. " This tells me operational efficiencies are still improving," "Markets are normalizing." Oil output in North Dakota, the third-largest producing state in the U.S., fell by around 500,000 barrels through October, after wildfires crossed into key producing counties this month, a state regulator said.The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the third time this year on Thursday, indicating that inflation in the euro zone is now increasingly under control and the economic outlook has worsened.That decision is expected to boost oil prices as it makes borrowing cheaper, potentially boosting demand.But fears that a retaliatory attack by Israel on Iran for the latter's Oct. 1 missile strike could disrupt oil supplies kept prices steady, though uncertainty remains over how the conflict in the Middle East will develop."The country's forthcoming retaliatory measures against Iran are still not clear," Evans added that the Middle East "will certainly provide enough reason to move oil prices again soon enough and investors today will also be preoccupied with an abundance of financial data."The dollar jumped to an 11-week high on Thursday, also offsetting some gains. A firmer U.S. currency can hurt demand for dollar-denominated oil from buyers using other currencies.Investors are also waiting for further details from China on broad plans announced on Oct. 12 to revive its ailing economy, including efforts to shore upthe ailing property market.
Oil steadies, but on track for biggest weekly loss in over a month - Oil futures steadied on Friday after data showed a fall in crude and fuel inventories in the United States and the emergence of more fiscal stimulus to boost China's economy, though prices were headed for their biggest weekly loss in more than a month. Brent crude futures gained 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $74.68 a barrel by 0840 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.96 a barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.4%. Brent and WTI are set to fall about 6% this week, their biggest weekly decline since Sept. 2, after OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut their forecasts for global oil demand in 2024 and 2025. Fears also eased about a potential retaliatory attack by Israel on Iran that could disrupt Tehran's oil exports. "Positive U.S. economic data has helped alleviate some growth concerns, but market participants continue to monitor potential demand recovery in China following recent stimulus measures," said Hani Abuagla, senior market analyst at XTB MENA. U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in September, with investors still pricing in a 92% chance for a Federal Reserve rate cut in November. Elsewhere, Energy Information Administration (EIA) figures showed U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week. Meanwhile, China's central bank rolled out two funding schemes that will initially pump 800 billion yuan ($112.38 billion) into the stock market through newly-created monetary policy tools. The latest policy news came at the same time that data showed slow third-quarter economic growth for the world's top oil importer, though consumption and industrial output figures for September beat forecasts. China's refinery output also declined for the third straight month as weak fuel consumption and thin refining margins curbed processing. Markets, however, remained concerned about possible price spikes given simmering Middle East tensions, with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group saying on Friday it was moving to a new and escalating phase in its war against Israel after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. "Although the U.S. would like to believe that the killing of the leader is an opportunity to resume serious and meaningful peace talks, it seems more like a wishful thinking than a realistic alternative,"
U.S. oil prices log biggest weekly drop in a year as demand concerns persist - Crude futures finished with a loss on Friday, just a day after posting a gain for the first time in five days, with prices of the U.S.-traded benchmark ending below $70 a barrel and marking its worst weekly performance in about a year. Concerns about slowing demand out of China and some signs of easing geopolitical risks in the Middle East continued to weigh on the commodity, analysts said, leading U.S. and global benchmark crude futures to their lowest settlements of the month so far.
- -- West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery CL.1 CLX24 fell by $1.45, or nearly 2.1%, to settle at $69.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month prices ended 8.4% lower for the week - the largest weekly loss since the week ended Oct. 6, 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
- -- December Brent crude, the global benchmark, shed $1.39, or 1.9%, to $73.06 a barrel. It was down 7.6% for the week, marking its worst weekly performance since the week ended Sept. 6. Brent and WTI both settled at their lowest since Sept. 30.
- -- November gasoline fell 2.2% to $2 per gallon, ending down 7% for the week, while November heating oil fell by 1.9% to $2.15 a gallon, posting a weekly loss of 8.2%.
- -- Natural gas for November delivery declined by 3.8% to $2.26 per million British thermal units, for a weekly loss of 14.2%.
"The key driver for this week's decline in oil has been the geopolitical risk premium unwinding ... as the oil market waits to see if there is incremental escalation between Israel and Iran and tries to discount if oil production will be impacted," Going forward, the main focus for oil "will be Iranian-Israel dynamics, the U.S. election and [its] implications on Ukraine-Russia and [the] Middle Eastern risk premium, supply growth and demand outlook, especially as it pertains to China," Oil traders reacted to overnight news, including a report showing that China's economy grew by 4.6% during the third quarter, the slowest pace in 18 months. This helped revive fears that the slowdown in the world's second-largest economy might continue to weigh on oil demand, given that China is the world's largest importer of the commodity. " We will see what recent Chinese stimulus actions will do to drive demand improvement in the near term," . "I believe we won't see a recovery in demand in China" until the first quarter, he added, as global refining cracks are weak and will force refinery-run cuts in the near term in China, which could keep demand for crude lower. "That being said, with new stimulus measures, perhaps the worst of negative demand data points are behind us and we can see acceleration in the near term," he said. Meanwhile, confirmation by Israeli authorities that the IDF had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar boosted some expectations that the conflict in Gaza might soon come to an end - potentially easing tensions in the Middle East, which continued to sap some of the risk premium that had boosted prices earlier this month. Polyak said, however, that any speculation on the killing of Sinwar in terms of whether it makes a cease-fire more or less likely is "just hearsay," with observers still waiting to see how Israel will respond to Iran's missile attack on Israel more than two weeks ago. Against that backdrop, oil prices have declined, although one strategist noted that the pace of that decline has slowed from earlier this week. "The good news for the bulls is that the selling appears to have lost some momentum," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation. However, technical indicators suggest momentum will likely continue to push prices lower, Morrison added. Prices of U.S.-traded crude fell around 8% this week, including a drop of roughly 4% on Tuesday, which followed reports that Israel wouldn't target Iranian oil infrastructure in a planned retaliatory strike.
Iran Says It Halted Indirect Talks With the US in Oman - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Iran had halted indirect talks with the US via Omani mediators amid anticipation of a US-supported Israeli attack on Iranian territory.“Currently, we do not see any ground for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis,” Araghchi said during a visit to Oman, according to Iran’s PressTV.When asked if he had sent any messages to the US while visiting Oman, Araghchi said, “During the trip, no message has been sent to other countries.”Earlier this year, Axios reported that the US and Iran held indirect talks in Oman to avoid regional escalations. “Oman has always contributed greatly to solving the regional problems, and regarding Iran and the US, it has always tried to play a positive role in conveying a message or preparing the ground for negotiations,” Araghchi said.On October 3, Al Jazeera reported that Iran did send one message to the US: that its phase of “self-restraint” is over and that any Israeli attack on its territory would provoke a major response.Earlier in the year, Iran was carefully working to avoid a direct clash with the US. In April, when Iran responded to the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, it gave a 72-hour notice before it fired missiles and drones at Israel.Iran did not provide any notice when it fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, which came in retaliation for a string of Israeli escalations in the region, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.Israel’s attack on Iran could provoke a major war that would involve the US, as the US is vowing to defend Israel and is deploying a THAAD missile system and about 100 troops to Israel for that purpose. The US may also support the expected Israeli attack, either through direct military action or by providing intelligence.
Report: Netanyahu Approves Set of Targets To Hit Inside Iran - -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a set of targets for Israel to strike inside Iran, ABC News reported on Wednesday, citing an Israeli source.CNN also reported that Israel’s plans to attack Iran were “ready.” Neither report gave a timeline nor provided any details about what targets Israel plans to hit. Israel is expected to strike before the US presidential election on November 5.The US has been coordinating with Israel on its plans to strike Iran following the Iranian missile barrage that was fired at Israeli territory on October 1, which was retaliation for a string of Israeli escalations in the region.The Washington Post reported this week that Netanyahu told President Biden in a phone call last week that Israel would target military sites in Iran, not oil or nuclear facilities. However, in response to the report, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, “We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests.”US and Israeli officials believe an attack on Iran could lead to a full-blown war. Iran has warned that it will launch a “decisive” response if Israel attacks.“Iran, while making all-out efforts to protect the peace and security of the region, is fully prepared for a decisive and regretful response to any adventures,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told UN chief Antonio Guterres in a phone call on Wednesday.The US may support the Israeli attack on Iran, either through direct military action of its own or by providing intelligence. The US is vowing to defend Israel from any potential consequences of a strike on Iran anddeployed a THAAD missile defense system to Israel, making the battery, and the 100 US troops sent to operate it potential targets of Iranian missiles.
Report: Israel Plans To Strike Iran Before US Presidential Election - Israel is planning to launch its expected attack on Iran before the US presidential elections are held on November 5, The Washington Post reported on Monday.An unnamed official told the Post that waiting any longer could be perceived as weakness and that the planned strike “will be one in a series of responses” to the Iranian ballistic missile barrage that was fired at Israel on October 1, which came in response to a series of Israeli escalations.A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Postthat while Israel was coordinating with the US to some extent on its plans to attack Iran, it wouldn’t wait for a green light from the US. “The person who will decide on the Israeli response to Iran will be [Netanyahu],” the official said.The report said that when Netanyahu spoke with President Biden last week, he said that Israel planned to hit military infrastructure inside Iran, not oil or nuclear facilities. The conversation was a factor in Biden’s decision to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile battery to Israel.The Pentagon announced Sunday that it was deploying the THAAD and about 100 troops to operate it “to support the defense of Israel.” Iran has vowed that it would respond to any Israeli attack on its territory, and the US deployment makes US troops a potential target of Iranian missiles.The Post report noted how the Biden administration has been fully supportive of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and its dramatic escalation of airstrikes against the country. A former Israeli official said the US was “giving Israel and the Netanyahu government a bear hug, but for Hezbollah.”“It is sending THAAD and promising all kinds of weapons that we need to finish off Hezbollah, saying that we can deal with Iran later,” the former official added. US military and diplomatic support for Israel over the past year has fueled the genocidal slaughter in Gaza and emboldened Israeli escalations across the Middle East, and has now brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Brown University’s Costs of War project recently released a report that supporting Israel has cost the US $22.76 Billion in just one year.
Iran’s Oil Tankers Flee Biggest Export Terminal Fearing Israeli Attack - Iranian oil tankers have moved away from Kharg Island, Iran’s biggest oil export terminal, amid fears of an imminent Israeli attack on the most important crude export infrastructure in Iran. Satellite images and tanker tracking companies have detected the major exodus of Iranian tankers away from Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of Iran’s all oil exports, CNBC reports.“The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) appears to be fearing an imminent attack by Israel,” TankerTrackers.com posted on social media platform X late on Thursday.“Their empty VLCC supertankers vacated the country's largest oil terminal, Kharg Island, yesterday,” TankerTrackers.com said.The vessel-tracking service noted that “crude oil loadings continue, but all of the extra vacant shipping capacity has been removed from the anchorage of Kharg Island.” “This is the first time we see anything like this since the 2018 sanctions round,” TankerTrackers.com said.Satellite imagery captured two weeks ago by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed a number of very large crude carriers in the waters around Kharg Island, CNBC says.But satellite images of the same area from October 3 showed that no tankers can be seen around Iran’s most important oil export terminal, according to CNBC.The removal of vacant shipping capacity from Kharg Island suggests that Iran could be bracing for an Israeli attack on its oil infrastructure.The oil market is also awaiting the Israeli response to the Iranian missile attack on Israel earlier this week. Oil prices were up by 1.5% early on Friday and on track for a strong weekly gain amid reignited tensions in the Middle East.Most analysts say that the OPEC spare capacity, concentrated in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, would be enough to compensate for an Iranian loss of supply.An even more significant disruption to supply from the Middle East could lead to triple-digit oil prices. But analysts currently believe attacks on oil infrastructure in other producers in the region or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are low-probability events.
Iran Reports New Oil Spill Near Kharg Island - A pipeline at Iran's key Kharg Island complex has suffered a leak at a position about four miles offshore, according to state news agency IRNA. IRNA reported that the pipeline leak was spotted over the weekend and that response assets have been deployed. A drone overflight survey identified two more slicks, the agency said, and these additional plumes are also being addressed. One response vessel, the Naji 23, was dispatched to the scene to use "side boom" cleanup technology. An image provided by IRNA appeared to show the vessel operating with dispersant sprayer booms on both sides. "All measures are being taken to prevent the spread of pollution and complete cleaning of the area, and the situation in the area is being continuously monitored," said regional director general of ports Mohamed Shakibi Nasab. The area sees frequent spills from the terminal's infrastructure and its transfer operations, which handle the overwhelming majority of Iranian oil exports. In a social media post, energy shipping consultancy TankerTrackers.com noted that these spills are routinely visible from space, even in outdated satellite imagery. The latest oil release is so routine that "it's called Wednesday," the company jested. The leak has drawn speculation about the possibility of covert action against Iranian energy interests. Israel is widely expected to strike Iran in retaliation for last month's Iranian missile attack, which Tehran launched in retaliation for Israeli operations against the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah. According to U.S. officials, the Israeli government has pledged not to attack Iran's oil infrastructure, which produces about three percent of global crude output.
Iran Rushes To Contain Oil Spill Near Key Oil Export Terminal In Persian Gulf - Iranian authorities have been working tirelessly to contain an oil spill caused by a subsea pipeline leak about four miles off the coast of Kharg Island, a crucial oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. The spill was first detected over the weekend and was attended by local authorities who have initiated cleanup operations to prevent further environmental damage. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reports that the drones involved in the cleanup operation have detected two more oil slicks in the area, initiating an expanded cleanup effort. The Naji 23, a specialized vessel, has been dispatched to the location to contain and remove the oil using a side boom technology and dispersant sprayers. Mohamed Shakibi-Nasab, the regional director general of ports, confirmed that all necessary measures are being taken to prevent the spread of pollution and that the situation is being closely monitored. Kharg Island is a crucial hub for Iran’s oil exports, with the terminal handling over 90% of the country’s crude oil shipments. The country produces over 3.2 million barrels of oil daily, accounting for roughly 3% of global supply. While the exact cause of the oil leak is unknown, there has been no sign of any disruption to oil exports from the terminal. The incident has raised concerns about any possible sabotage or covert action against Iran’s oil infrastructure. Tensions in the region have escalated after an Iranian missile attack earlier this month. Israeli authorities are reportedly planning a retaliation strike, but U.S. sources say Israel has agreed not to target Iran’s oil facilities directly.
US expands sanctions against Iran's oil industry after attack on Israel— The United States hit Iran's oil and petrochemicals sectors with fresh sanctions Friday in response to Tehran's October 1 attack against Israel, designating dozens of new companies and firms. In a statement Friday, the Treasury Department said it was going after Iran's so-called "shadow fleet" of ships involved in selling Iranian oil in circumvention of existing sanctions, designating 10 companies and 17 vessels as "blocked property" over their involvement in "shipments of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products." The State Department announced it was sanctioning an additional six firms and six ships for "knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran." The sanctions form part of the U.S. response to Iran's attack, in which it launched some 200 ballistic missiles against Israel in retaliation for the killing of Tehran-backed militant leaders and a general from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Israel has said its response to Iran's second direct attack against its territory this year would be "deadly, precise, and surprising." U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters last week that Israel should consider "other alternatives than striking oil fields," amid reports it was planning to do so. "In response to Iran's attack on Israel, the United States is taking decisive action to further disrupt the Iranian regime's ability to fund and carry out its destabilizing activity," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "Today's sanctions target Iranian efforts to channel revenues from its energy industry to finance deadly and disruptive activity — including development of its nuclear program, the proliferation of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles," she added. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had made clear after the October 1 attack that Tehran would face consequences. "To that end, we are taking steps today to disrupt the flow of revenue the Iranian regime uses to fund its nuclear program and missile development, support terrorist proxies and partners, and perpetuate conflict throughout the Middle East," he said in a statement.
US expands sanctions to Iran's 'ghost fleet' of oil tankers (Reuters) - The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said. The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs. "The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world," Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement. "These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners." Israel is vowing to respond to Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.The U.S. Treasury can now "impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy," it said in a statement.Biden has said Israel should seek alternatives to attacking Iran's oil fields. Gulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking oil sites because they are concerned their own facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates, three Gulf sources told Reuters.. The Treasury Department also said it was designating 16 entities and identifying 17 vessels as blocked property, citing their involvement in shipments of petroleum and petrochemical products in support of the National Iranian Oil Company. Concurrently, the State Department took steps to disrupt the money flow into Iran's weapons programs and support for "terrorist proxies and partners." It imposed sanctions on six entities involved in Tehran's petroleum trade and identified six ships as blocked property. Iran's oil exports have risen under Biden's tenure as Iran succeeds in evading sanctions and as China has become Iran's major oil buyer. The Eurasia Group risk consultancy said on Friday the U.S. could cut Iran's oil exports through tighter enforcement of previously imposed sanctions, for instance through satellite imaging for stricter monitoring of tankers that have turned off transponders. The U.S. could also pressure countries to support enforcement efforts such as Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, it said. But that approach "would require strong diplomatic pressure on two partners, Malaysia and UAE, which are both reluctant to support efforts favoring Israel," it said. Tougher enforcement of sanctions would likely require targeting Chinese firms shipping Iranian crude, it said, as China buys nearly 90% of Iran's crude-oil exports.
Iran asks OPEC not to fill the gap from sanctions - Iran has urged OPEC member countries not to take unilateral measures, warning they would undermine the organization's unity. This follows reports that Saudi Arabia has increased oil production to a record level this month. Meanwhile, Tehran is scrambling to find ways to fight US sanctions that limit oil exports and reduce market share for the country. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh called on his UAE counterpart Suhail al-Mazrouei, who holds the OPEC presidency for 2018, for member countries to respect the agreement reached last month. "Any increase in production by member countries that exceeds the level agreed in the OPEC decision, would break the agreement," said Zanganeh, Scan reports. OPEC agreed with Russia and other countries outside the cartel on June 23 to increase production starting in July, and Saudi Arabia promised a slight increase, without giving specific details. The countries agreed to increase production by 1 million barrels per day, after months of output cuts. But since then, sources have indicated that Saudi Arabia has increased production to record levels. According to Reuters sources, the Kingdom is expected to increase production to 11 million barrels per day during July. Iran has repeatedly called on other producers not to increase production, while US sanctions are expected to hit exports. However, Saudi Arabia, which is the Organization's largest producer, appears to have agreed to demands from the United States and major consumers such as India and China to increase production. Washington announced last week that it had asked consumers in Asia and Europe to cut purchases of Iranian oil to zero by November and warned it would not relent on sanctions.
OilRig Exploits Windows Kernel Flaw in Espionage Campaign Targeting UAE and Gulf - The Iranian threat actor known as OilRig has been observed exploiting a now-patched privilege escalation flaw impacting the Windows Kernel as part of a cyber espionage campaign targeting the U.A.E. and the broader Gulf region."The group utilizes sophisticated tactics that include deploying a backdoor that leverages Microsoft Exchange servers for credentials theft, and exploiting vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-30088 for privilege escalation," Trend Micro researchers Mohamed Fahmy, Bahaa Yamany, Ahmed Kamal, and Nick Daisaid in an analysis published on Friday.The cybersecurity company is tracking the threat actor under the monikerEarth Simnavaz, which is also referred to as APT34, Crambus, Cobalt Gypsy, GreenBug, Hazel Sandstorm (formerly EUROPIUM), and Helix Kitten.The attack chains entail the deployment of a previously undocumented implant that comes with capabilities to exfiltrate credentials through on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers, a tried-and-tested tactic adopted by the adversary in the past, while also incorporating recently disclosed vulnerabilities to its exploit arsenal.CVE-2024-30088, patched by Microsoft in June 2024, concerns a case of privilege escalation in the Windows kernel that could be exploited to gain SYSTEM privileges, assuming the attackers can win a race condition.Initial access to target networks is facilitated by means of infiltrating a vulnerable web server to drop a web shell, followed by dropping the ngrok remote management tool to maintain persistence and move to other endpoints in the network.The privilege escalation vulnerability subsequently serves as a conduit to deliver the backdoor, codenamed STEALHOOK, responsible for transmitting harvested data via the Exchange server to an email address controlled by the attacker in the form of attachments.A notable technique employed by OilRig in the latest set of attacks involves the abuse of the elevated privileges to drop the password filter policy DLL (psgfilter.dll) in order to extract sensitive credentials from domain users via domain controllers or local accounts on local machines."The malicious actor took great care in working with the plaintext passwords while implementing the password filter export functions," the researchers said. "The threat actor also utilized plaintext passwords to gain access and deploy tools remotely. The plaintext passwords were first encrypted before being exfiltrated when sent over networks." It's worth noting that the use of psgfilter.dll was observed back in December 2022 in a connection with a campaign targeting organizations in the Middle East using another backdoor dubbed MrPerfectionManager."Their recent activity suggests that Earth Simnavaz is focused on abusing vulnerabilities in key infrastructure of geopolitically sensitive regions," the researchers noted. "They also seek to establish a persistent foothold in compromised entities, so these can be weaponized to launch attacks on additional targets."
Saudi, UAE, Qatar Lobbying DC to Keep Gulf Oil Safe from Israel --As Iran visits Gulf states to scrounge up support in the face of what many believe is an impending strike by Israel, Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar are lobbying Washington to thwart Israel. On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the media that the country was seeking support from Gulf nations to de-escalate tensions.Diplomatic sources cited by The National described the visit as an attempt to defend Iran’s position in the war and to prevent a wider regional conflict. Speaking to Reuters three unnamed Gulf sources said Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar are concerned that Israel will target Iranian oil facilities and that other Gulf assets could also come under fire by Iran or its proxies. All three Gulf countries are refusing to let Israel use their airspace, with Reuters reporting that Tehran warned Riyadh earlier this week that it could not guarantee the safety of the Kingdom's oil facilities in the event of an Israeli attack. "The Iranians have stated: 'If the Gulf states open up their airspace to Israel, that would be an act of war,” Reuters quoted a Saui analyst close to the royal court as saying. On Monday, media reports citing Israeli officials appeared to indicate that a significant counter attack is still coming, and it is expected to target Iranian military sites. The fresh report also lists as likely targets Iranian intelligence sites and officials' offices or headquarters. President Biden has warned against striking Iran's nuclear sites, and even days ago backed off the idea of hitting energy and oil facilities. A full-scale conflict between Israel and Iran could upend the international energy supply and send shock waves throughout the global economy, experts warn.
Full Blown War Could Choke Strait of Hormuz - Tensions are persisting in the Middle East, Aditya Saraswat, Rystad Energy’s Middle East research director, said in a market update sent to Rigzone by the Rystad team on Thursday. “Energy market fundamentals have been largely unaffected to date, but this could change at a moment’s notice,” Saraswat warned in the update. “In a widespread regional war scenario, Iran and Israel’s conflict could severely impact gas exports and lead to delays in oil development projects,” the research director added. “Attacks on key facilities may threaten nearly 1.4 million barrels per day of Iranian production, causing significant supply disruptions,” Saraswat continued. “A full blown war could choke the Strait of Hormuz, risking up to 12 million barrels per day of oil, driving prices up sharply. Asian oil importing nations would face increased costs and disrupted supply chains, heightening market concerns,” the Rystad representative went on to state. Rystad warned in the update that predicting the outcome of rising tensions between Iran and Israel remains challenging. The company added that, if the status quo is maintained, with no direct attacks between the two nations, it expects the conflict to remain largely a proxy war, with no major assaults on critical oil and gas infrastructure such as pipelines, storage facilities, or refineries. Should a “war time scenario” occur, however, Rystad warned in the update that it expects Iran and Israel to engage in an active war, with attacks on upstream facilities, pipelines, and storage units. “Markets are increasingly concerned about such escalations, leading to a 10 percent surge in oil prices from the beginning of October to the $80 per barrel mark this week, although prices have since fallen below $75 per barrel as concerns look to gradually ease and demand outlook weakens,” Rystad said in the update. “Brent crude prices may further be impacted amid recent reports of Saudi Arabia rolling back its voluntary OPEC cuts and a reduction in Libya’s oil production due to internal disturbances,” it added. In a report sent to Rigzone last week, Ole R. Hvalbye, a commodities analyst at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), highlighted that the market was “holding its breath, awaiting Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack”. “Israeli retaliation could range from a limited strike, which might not provoke severe Iranian retaliation, allowing Iran to continue its crude exports to China at approximately two million barrels per day, to more severe attacks potentially provoking Iran to target oil infrastructures in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and to attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz which transports 18 million barrels per day of crude to the global market (20 percent of global oil consumption),” he added. “This blockade could severely constrain supply, spiking oil prices given the already low U.S. crude inventories,” he warned. “Despite the low probability of a worst-case scenario, the global markets remain on edge following the unexpected events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Hvalbye continued. In a report sent to Rigzone by the Macquarie team last week, Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates Strategist at Macquarie Group, warned that “there’s the premise that Iran’s oil infrastructure may be attacked, of course, but there’s also the threat that Iran may deliberately blockade the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s response”. “The prospect that oil prices rise to $100 per barrel is, no doubt, intended to put pressure on Israel to refrain from attacking Iran at all,” he added. In a separate report sent to Rigzone earlier this month, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said oil prices could move sustainably north of $100 a barrel if Iran’s October 1 missile attack on Israel triggers a retaliatory cycle that targets energy infrastructure or closes the Strait of Hormuz. In a market analysis sent to Rigzone on October 4, Rania Gule, a Senior Market Analyst at XS.com, said “the recent events in the Middle East heighten fears of disruptions to global supply, and such a scenario could lead to a sharp rise in prices, especially if the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil flows, is targeted”. “Should the situation escalate into open conflict, oil prices could exceed $100 per barrel in the medium term,” Gule warned.
Iran Readies New Oil Outlet To Bypass the Strait of Hormuz -- Iran is closer to finding a way to circumvent the crucial Strait of Hormuz when it comes to oil exports. The Jask oil terminal, officially opened a few years ago, has seen but limited activity so far. However, recent satellite imagery reveals it has partially filled the facility with crude oil in what is being construed as a significant development in Tehran's oil export strategy. The importance of Jask has increased as of late as tensions with Israel grow. During periods of unrest, Iran has routinely threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil shipments for several Middle Eastern producers. Unfortunately for Iran, it also relies on the Strait for its oil exports—but perhaps its leanings on the Strait is about to lighten up. Jask could enable Iran to reduce its reliance on this narrow waterway, freeing up options for the country. Jask has filled to about half capacity, imagery shows, but the facility's challenges remain. The terminal was designed to load up to 1 million barrels per day and store 20 million barrels. However, only one of the three planned loading buoys has been installed, limiting its operational capacity. Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export hub, has in the past handled three times that volume, maintaining its status as the dominant outlet since the 1960s. The most recent loading activity at Jask occurred from September 9 to 19, 2024, when the Iranian supertanker Dune loaded approximately 2 million barrels of crude. This marks the first significant loading at Jask since its initial trial runs in 2021, according to TankerTrackers.com, a firm specializing in monitoring Iran's oil shipments. The Jask terminal's partial activity may signal a shift in Iran's export strategies, aiming to bolster oil flows while mitigating the risks associated with the Strait of Hormuz.
Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Killed At Least 51 on Saturday - The Lebanese Health Ministry has said that Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 51 people and wounded 174.The ministry said that since last October, Israel has killed 2,306 people and wounded 10,698 in Lebanon. The breakdown isn’t clear, but the Israeli bombing campaign has killed many civilians, especially since itdramatically escalated attacks on September 23. Late Saturday, Israel targeted an Ottoman-era market in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh that was established in 1910. The attack obliterated the area, with Lebanese Civil Defense officials saying they battled fires in 12 residential buildings and 40 shops in the market.The Lebanese Health Ministry said a total of 10 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Nabatieh on Saturday. Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, 14 people were killed. In Mount Lebanon, an area to the north and east of Beirut, at least 22 people were killed.The Biden administration has expressed strong public support for Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, which includes a ground campaign. The administration is calling for Lebanon to hold a presidential election and wants to see Hezbollah’s political wing lose its seats in parliament.
Israeli Tanks Smash Into UN Peacekeeper Base in Southern Lebanon - As the Israeli invasion of Lebanon escalates, it has been reported that on Sunday morning Israeli tanks smashed their way into a UN peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon near Ramia. Exactly why they decided to force their way into a UNIFIL base, which is of course a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, is not at all clear. Reports from the ground are that the two Merkava tanks forced their way in while the UNIFIL personnel were in shelters. They demanded that the base shut off all lights. They remained inside the compound for around 45 minutes, and left after the UN filed a protest through liaisons. That wasn’t the end of it, either, as two hours after the Israeli tanks left, they fired an unidentified smoke munition just north of the UN position. The UNIFIL personnel were wearing gas masks, but 15 of them were still reported to have sustained skin irritation or gastrointestinal symptoms when the smoke reach their base. They are receiving medical treatment. This is in addition to around five UN peacekeepers who have been reported injured over the last week since the Israeli invasion of the area. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that they are “doing everything in our power” to prevent UN injuries, but added this to demands that the UN immediately withdraw all their peacekeepers from the “danger zone.” The UNIFIL was established in 1978, and was meant to tamp down violence in southern Lebanon. They peacekeepers’ mandate was changed several times to adjust to Israeli invasions of the area, and its mandate was substantially increased to try to restore Lebanese sovereignty to southern Lebanon after the 2006 Israeli invasion. Lebanese PM Najib Mikati has issued a statement today condemning Israeli attacks on the UNIFIL forces, saying it represents a new chapter in Israel not complying with international norms.
Israeli Tank Attacks UN Peacekeepers Watchtower in Southern Lebanon - Adding to the ongoing tensions with the international community during the ongoing invasion of southern Lebanon, an Israeli Merkava tank was reported today to have attacked an observation tower belonging to UNIFIL peacekeepers near the town of Kfar Kela.There were no casualties reported in this particular Israeli attack on the peacekeepers, but the UNIFIL did report that two cameras on the site were destroyed by the tank fire and that the watchtower itself sustained damage.The official UNIFIL statement condemned the attack, warning that personnel and property of the peacekeeping forces need to be treated asinviolable at all times.On Sunday, Israeli tanks smashed into the peacekeeper base near Ramia. It was not clear why they did so, but it came amid Prime Minister Netanyahu’s demand that the UN withdraw all troops from Lebanon. Israel also fired smoke munitions near that base, and over a dozen peacekeepers were sickened by exposure to it.Today’s attack similarly comes with no obvious explanation, but did come shortly after comments from UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti reiterating that the peacekeepers would not evacuate because of Israeli demands, adding that the troops are there at the request of the UN Security Council, not the Israelis.Israel is facing growing international criticism from the attacks on UN personnel, though Netanyahu has been defiant on calls to respect the will of the international community, insisting it is a disgrace to criticize Israel’s wars, and vowing Israel will win those wars “with or without” the rest of the world’s support.
French President Macron Warns Netanyahu Against Disregarding UN Decisions - Israel’s international stance has become increasingly tenuous over the past year, with huge amounts of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip and wars expanding throughout the region. Their ties with specific nations are only worsening as well, exemplified by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’stesty conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron today.Macron has been deeply critical of Israel’s flouting on UN Security Council resolutions, as well as their recent attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.Noting that Israel was itself founded in 1947 by a UN resolution, Macron cautioned that it “is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN.”As is so often the case, Netanyahu offered a dramatically different versionof history, insisting that it was not the 1947 UN General Assembly resolution on partition that created Israel, but rather the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war, and that Israel was founded because that ended in a military victory.French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu echoed Macron’s concerns, saying it is increasingly a “problem” that Israel does not respect UN resolutions. The exact number of resolutions that Israel is violating on a daily basis isn’t clear, but between occupations, annexations, and ongoing wars it is certainly in the scores of violations.Netanyahu appeared not to be prepared to even countenance a situation in which Israel does what the UN says, insisting he and Israel are entirely opposed to a ceasefire in their ongoing war in Lebanon and calling international opposition to their various wars a “disgrace.”He further dismissed French calls for an arms embargo to stop Israeli aggression, saying that Israel will wins the wars “with or without their support” and that international shame would remain after Israel is victorious.France is far from the only nation calling for an embargo, however, and that number is only growing as Israel expands its attacks into more regional nations and spurns UN calls to stop attacking UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon. Haaretz: Israeli Government Done With Ceasefire Talks, Seeks Annexation of Gaza - Israeli defense officials told Haaretz on Sunday that the Israeli government is not seeking to revive ceasefire talks with Hamas and is now pushing for the gradual annexation of large portions of the Gaza Strip. The report came about a week after Israel ordered Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate to areas south of the Netzarim corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli military. With the evacuation order came a major escalation in Israeli military operations in the north focused on the Jabalia refugee camp, which has been under complete siege The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has reported that Israeli forces in Jabalia are carrying out a “scaled-down” version of the “general’s plan,” an outline for the complete ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza and the killing of any Palestinians who choose to stay, whether by military action or starvation. The UN’s World Food Program said Saturday that no food aid has entered northern Gaza since October 1.Israeli Army commanders told Haaretz that the assault on northern Gaza was ordered without much preparation and that it appeared the primary purpose of the military operations was to pressure Palestinian residents to flee to the south. Many Palestinians have refused to leave northern Gaza since there’s nowhere they can go where their safety can be guaranteed. Israel has bombed so-called “safe zones” repeatedly over the past year.The Haaretz report said Israeli troops were ordered to launch the assault on Jabalia “even though there was no intelligence to justify the move” and that some members of the Israeli security establishment didn’t support the operation, saying it would endanger the lives of Israeli hostages.If Israel is successful in cleansing northern Gaza of its Palestinian population, it would pave the way for the establishment of Jewish-only settlements in the area, an idea openly supported by many Israeli ministers and Knesset members. The general’s plan calls for the tactics to be used in other parts of the Strip once the north is cleansed.
Israeli Forces Kill 62 Palestinians in Gaza Over 24 Hours - Gaza’s Health Ministry said Monday that Israeli forces killed 62 Palestinians in Gaza and injured 220 over the previous 24-hour period, bringing its recorded death toll since last October to 42,289 and the number of wounded to 98,684.The ministry’s numbers don’t account for Palestinians who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble, and bodies have been difficult for rescuers to reach in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces recently escalated attacks as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. “There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry said.Early Monday morning, an Israeli strike targeted Palestinians sheltering in tents inside the grounds of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. The Israeli attack ignited fires in the camp, burning Palestinians alive. Hospital records show that at least four people were killed and 40 were injured, but many of the wounded are not expected to survive the burns.Mohammad Tahir, a volunteer surgeon, told Al Jazeera that many of the victims had burns on 60% to 80% of their body. “Patients with significant high percentage burns – unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to the ICU. They will die,” Tahir said.“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is not real life, that this can go on, and this degree of suffering is allowed to happen in this world,” Tahir added. Israel confirmed that it targeted the hospital and claimed, as usual, that it hit a Hamas “command and control center” but offered no evidence.
Israeli Soldiers Say Ethnic Cleansing Plan in North Gaza Is Underway - Three Israeli reserve soldiers have told Haaretz that they believe an ethnic cleansing plan is already underway in northern Gaza, where the Israeli military is trying to forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of civilians.Known as the “general’s plan” because it’s being pushed by a retired Israeli general, Giora Eiland, the plan calls for the evacuation of all Palestinian civilians north of the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli military. Anyone who stays behind will be exterminated, either by military action or starvation.“The commanders say openly that the Eiland plan is being promoted by the IDF,” an Israeli soldier in the IDF’s 162nd Division told Haaretz.Another soldier who is stationed at the Netzarim Corridor said, “The goal is to give the residents who live north of the Netzarim area a deadline to move to the south of the Strip. After this date, whoever will remain in the north will be considered an enemy and will be killed.”The soldier added, “It doesn’t conform to any standard of international law. People sat and wrote a systematic order with charts and an operational concept, at the end of which you shoot whoever isn’t willing to leave. The very existence of this idea is unfathomable.”The Israeli assault on north Gaza is currently focused on the Jabalia refugee camp, which has been under complete siege for about 12 days. Israel has ordered an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Palestinians to head south, but few have left since nowhere is safe in Gaza, and the tent camps in the south are extremely overcrowded.Israel did not let any aid into northern Gaza for about two weeks. The Israeli military claimed it allowed 50 aid trucks to enter the north on Wednesday, but according to Dropsite News, the aid did not reach the besieged areas of Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, and Beit Lahiya. Dropsite also reported that after 12 days of an ongoing siege, hospitals in northern Gaza have received 350 bodies.Haaretz previously reported that the Israeli government had no intention to restart ceasefire talks and is now focused on annexing parts of Gaza. If the general’s plan is completed in the north, it could pave the way for Jewish settlements, and then the ethnic cleansing campaign could be carried out in other parts of the Strip.
Israel's Gallant Tells Hostage Families There's No Deal With Hamas in Sight - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told family members of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza that there’s no chance of a deal to free their relatives.“There’s stagnation, and I don’t see progress right now in this period, I’m very sorry to say,” Gallant said in a meeting with the hostage families on Monday, according to The Times of Israel.On Wednesday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has mediated the negotiations, said there have been no talks for the past three or four weeks.“On the prospects of the negotiation … basically in the last three to four weeks, there is no conversation or engagement at all, and we are just moving in the same circle with the silence from all parties,” al-Thani said.Gallant blamed the lack of a deal on Hamas, but Israeli officials and media outlets widely acknowledged during the last round of negotiations that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was purposely sabotaging the chances of an agreement.Haaretz reported on Wednesday that top members of Israel’s General Staff have no doubts that Netanyahu has decided to abandon the hostages. There are said to be 97 Israeli hostages in the tunnels of Gaza, but only about half are believed to be alive.Gallant claimed that if there were an opportunity for a deal that would link Lebanon and Gaza, Israel would take it. But throughout the past year, Hezbollah has made clear it would end attacks on northern Israel if there were a ceasefire in Gaza, and Israeli officials never pursued the possibility.Gallant told the hostage families that he thought Sinwar was watching the escalations in Lebanon and the tensions between Israel and Iran, hoping for a regional war. But Israeli escalations have led to the current situation in the region, and Netanyahu appears to be seeking a major war that would involve the US.
Israel intensifies genocide in Gaza and deepens killings in Lebanon - Armed to the teeth by the Biden-Harris administration in the US, the Israeli regime is re-intensifying its slaughter in refugee camps, schools and hospitals in northern and central Gaza, even as it expands its invasion and bombardments in Lebanon, including the centre of Beirut. In the most recent attacks in Gaza, at least 22 people were killed yesterday in an air strike in Jabalia—the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps—in northern Gaza. Dozens were injured, with some ambulances unable to help rescue efforts due to fuel shortages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued virtually impossible orders for residents, hospitals and healthcare centres across the area to evacuate, placing thousands of people, including healthcare workers and their maimed patients, directly in danger. A strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah also killed at least 28 people, including a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where bodies were taken. It said several other people were wounded. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 61 Palestinians were killed and 231 were wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period. Thousands of people are trapped in Jabalia as Israeli forces continue to attack the area, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said. “Nobody is allowed to get in or out, anyone who tries is getting shot,” Sarah Vuylsteke, MSF project coordinator, said in a post on X. The Israeli army issued evacuation orders for residents in the camp on October 7, “while carrying out attacks at the same time, preventing people from leaving the area safely,” MSF said. Forced evacuations and bombing of neighbourhoods are turning Gaza’s north into “unhabitable ruins,” MSF added. Haydar, an MSF driver inside the camp, said: “We were staying at the Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital, but they bombed it. About 20 people were killed. I don’t know what to do, at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave.” United Nations officials voiced concerns yesterday that the Israeli offensive, as well as evacuation orders in northern Gaza, might affect the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign set to start next week. Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the Type 2 polio virus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years. “I am, of course, concerned about the developments in the north, and specifically with these evacuation orders,” the World Health Organization’s representative in occupied Palestinian territory, Rik Peeperkorn, told reporters in Geneva. Peeperkorn said three attempts by the UN health agency and its partners to assist and evacuate patients from northern Gaza hospitals under evacuation orders have been thwarted this week. This renewed Israeli offensive, combined with systematic starvation and denial of medical access, underscores the genocidal intent of the Netanyahu government. By the official Gaza health statistics, the IDF has killed more than 42,000 people, mostly women and children over the past 12 months, but the true toll may be closer to 200,000, counting the unrecovered bodies beneath the rubble.
What's Happening In Northern Gaza Proves Israel Lied About Everything -- Caitlin Johnstone- -Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed. He died not hiding behind civilians or disguised as a woman as Israel apologists have been claiming for a year, but alone and in uniform, fighting Israeli forces with one arm blown off by tank fire.Sinwar’s death will have no meaningful bearing on how Hamas or Israel conduct themselves, so it’s funny to see Israel supporters puffing their chests like this was some kind of achievement. Israel is going to keep bombing hospitals, shooting kids in the head, intentionally starving civilians, and working to steal Palestinian land just like it was doing yesterday, and Palestinians are going to keep resisting this just like they were doing yesterday.Nothing about anything has changed. If Israel were actually killing all these people with the goal of destroying Hamas then Sinwar’s death might be significant, but Israel’s goal is not destroying Hamas. Israel’s goal is the ethnic cleansing and annexation of Gaza. This is public knowledge at this point, and is not seriously debatable. The only victory Israel’s supporters can claim to have secured here is one of revenge, which is just empty ego fluff that only feels real to highly egocentric people.You’re even seeing Israel apologists trying to call Sinwar a “coward” for the way he died, which is absurd. He died fighting off soldiers, drones and a fucking tank with one goddamn arm. Western men jerk off fantasizing about dying like that and then go on to die in nursing homes from Parkinson’s complications with bellies full of vanilla custard. You don’t get to call him a coward. No Hamas propaganda will ever make Hamas look more badass than Israel’s footage of Sinwar throwing a stick at an IDF drone with his one remaining arm right before he died. I honestly can’t believe they released that video. They may as well have put a red triangle pointing at the drone camera.
This Mass Atrocity Is Made Possible By The Systematic Dehumanization Of Palestinians -- Caitlin Johnstone- Oxfam reports that Israeli forces killed four water engineers and workers on their way to repair water infrastructure in Gaza. “Despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities their clearly-marked vehicle was bombed,” Oxfam says. It’s gotten to the point where the only advantage to sharing your coordinates with the IDF as an aid worker in Gaza is that it will allow the historical records to show that they knew exactly what they were doing when they used those coordinates to kill you.Israeli forces found and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by accident while they were just randomly destroying parts of Gaza, and then they methodically targeted and killed four water engineers on purpose. These two facts alone tell you everything you need to know about what Israel is really doing in Gaza.The answer to the question “How can Israeli soldiers carry out such monstrous acts?” is the same as the answer to the question “Why do IDF troops keep filming themselves dressing in the underwear of dead or displaced Palestinian women?” The answer is because of the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians in Israel.Because Israel is a fundamentally unjust state established on fundamentally unjust principles, it is necessary for its citizenry to be indoctrinated from birthinto a fundamentally unjust worldview. In order for it to make sense for there to be a society where one group is treated one way and another group is treated another way just because of their religion and ethnicity, Israelis must be raised to see Palestinians as less than human. As less than animals. As less than vermin. They need to be hated with ferocious intensity.It’s evil, but it’s also the only way to make Israel work. Otherwise the idea of a “Jewish state” that was dropped on top of a pre-existing civilization of non-Jews makes no sense, and would not have the consent of the public. This fantasy that western liberals have of a fair and gentle Israel without apartheid abuses and endless violence is just that: a fantasy. It has never existed, it will never exist, and it cannot exist, because the idea is inherently self-contradictory.Fantasizing about the idea of a fair and just Israel is like living in the American south during slavery and fantasizing about the possibility of slaves one day being treated kindly and fairly in a liberal utopia where cotton plantation owners are still able to reap immense profits because they don’t have to pay their workforce. It cannot happen, because it’s a contradiction in terms. The thing the plantation owners would be getting necessarily comes at the expense of someone else’s human rights.
The Media When IDF Soldiers Get Killed Vs When A Hospital Patient Is Burned Alive In Gaza - Caitlin Johnstone -Nothing illustrates the malfeasance of the mass media like the vast disparity between how they’re covering the killing of four 19 year-old IDF soldiers by Hezbollah versus their complete lack of interest in a 19 year-old hospital patient who was burned alive by the IDF in Gaza. A shockingly horrible headline appeared in Sky News on Monday reading, “Israel names teenage soldiers killed in Hezbollah drone attack — as ‘23 die’ in Gaza school strike.” It opens with the even more horrid paragraph “Israel has named the four teenage victims of a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base — as at least 23 people were reportedly killed in an attack on a central Gaza school.” Notice the scare quotes and passive language in Sky’s use of “23 die”, and the way these active duty combatants are being framed as innocent little children who were the “victims” of an unprovoked attack which “killed” them. The killings in Gaza are always framed by the mainstream press as “deaths” which passively happen, always couched in doubtful language like “reportedly” and “according to the Hamas-run health ministry,” whereas Israelis are always “victims” who are “killed”. The western media’s propagandistic use of language to frame Israel in a sympathetic light and Palestinians in an unsympathetic light is widespread, andhas been extensively documented. All the way back in January The Interceptpublished a study showing that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times used wildly different language to describe the killings of Israelis on October 7 than the killings of Palestinians in the months since, with inflammatory words like “slaughter”, “horrific” and “massacre” used consistently with the former and never with the latter. Another report by The Intercept this past April revealed that this is not an accident; a leaked internal memo from The New York Times reveals the outlet’s staff receiving explicit instructions to avoid specific language that harms Israeli information interests.Look at the way Sky News names the armed Israeli soldiers killed in battle while framing them as innocent little babies who were slaughtered by monsters, and contrast this with the fact that you’re not seeing the name Sha’ban al-Dalou anywhere in the mainstream press.Sha’ban al-Dalou was also 19 years old when he died, but unlike those Israeli soldiers, he was a civilian lying in a hospital bed, and he died a much more painful and horrific death than them. If you’ve been on social media at all recently, you may have seen the gut-wrenching footage of al-Dalou burning to death in a hospital bed while still connected to his IV after an Israeli airstrike on the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, desperately crying out for help in a blazing inferno. As of this writing, al-Dalou’s name appears exactly one time in any article I can find on Google News, and it’s from Middle East Eye.
On the Murder of My Sister and Israel's War on Hope - “Your lives will continue. With new events and new faces. They are the faces of your children who will fill your homes with noise and laughter.” These were the last words written by my sister in a text message to one of her daughters. Dr. Soma Baroud was murdered on Oct. 9, when Israeli warplanes bombed a taxi that carried her and other tired Gazans near the Bani Suhaila roundabout close to Khan Yunis. Whether she was on her way to or from the hospital where she worked does not matter now. The news of her assassination arrived through a screenshot copied from a Facebook page: “Update: these are the names of the martyrs of the latest Israeli bombing of two taxis in the Khan Yunis area.” Soma’s name was the fifth on the list. I refused to believe it, even as more posts appeared. I kept calling her over and over, hoping that the line would crackle and I would hear her kind, motherly voice say: “Marhaba Abu Sammy. How are you, brother?” But she never picked up. I had told her repeatedly that she does not need to bother with elaborate text or audio messages because of the unreliable internet connection and electricity. “Every morning,” I said, “just type: ‘We are fine.’” But she would often skip days without writing. When she finally did, the messages were never brief. Her words linked her daily struggle for survival with her fears for her children, poetry, Qur’anic verses and references to novels, particularly Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” She often spun our conversations into complex philosophical discussions, while I would just listen and say, “Yes … totally … I agree … 100 percent.” For us, Soma was a larger-than-life figure. Her sudden absence has shocked us to the point of disbelief. Her children, though grown up, feel orphaned. And her brothers, me included, feel the same way. The firstborn, and only daughter, she had to carry a much greater share of the work and expectations than the rest of us. As a child, she endured the death of our eldest brother, Anwar, due to a lack of medicine in the camp. It introduced her to a pain that would never leave her, a pain that persisted until her murder by a US-supplied Israeli bomb in Khan Yunis. Two years after the death of the first Anwar, another boy was born and named Anwar to carry on the legacy. Soma cherished him, maintaining a special friendship with him for decades. My father, a self-taught intellectual and a principled man, did everything he could to provide for the family. Soma, often barefoot, stood by him every step of the way. When he became a merchant, buying and repackaging goods to sell in the camp, Soma was his main helper, despite the physical toll. “Soma’s little finger is worth more than a thousand men,” my father often reminded us, underscoring her importance to our family. Now, as a martyr, that legacy is eternal. Years later, my parents sent her to Aleppo to obtain a medical degree. She returned to Gaza, where she spent more than three decades healing others, though never herself. She worked at Al-Shifa Hospital, Nasser Hospital and other medical centers and later opened her own clinic. Soma was a member of a generation of female doctors in Gaza that truly changed the face of medicine, putting great emphasis on women’s medical care and mental health, recognizing the central but vulnerable role of women in Gaza’s war-torn society. When my daughter Zarefah visited her before the war, she told me that Soma was adored by the women doctors, nurses and medical staff who surrounded her whenever she entered the hospital. At one point, it felt like all of Soma’s suffering was finally paying off: a loving husband, a home in Khan Yunis with an olive orchard and five children pursuing successful careers. Even under siege, life felt manageable. But her husband, Hamdi, was killed in February by an Israeli quadcopter. His body was never found and she clung to the hope that he might still be alive. Her children dug through the wreckage of the site, trying to find Hamdi’s remains so they could give him a proper burial. They were attacked by drones as they searched, yet they returned, digging with shovels. To survive, Soma’s family split up, taking refuge in camps and other homes. Soma, exhausted, traveled on foot between towns and camps to check on her children. “I am exhausted,” she kept telling me. “All I want from life is for this war to end, for new cozy pajamas, my favorite book and a comfortable bed.” “My heart aches. Everything is gone. Three decades of life, of memories, of achievement, all turned into rubble,” she wrote. Despite this devastation, she refused to leave. She stayed close to the ruins of her home, sending me photos of what she salvaged from the rubble: an old family photo, a small olive tree, a birth certificate. My last message to her, just hours before she was killed, was a promise that, after the war, the family would meet in Egypt or Turkiye and we would shower her with gifts and love. I finished with, “let’s start planning now. Whatever you want. You just say it. Awaiting your instructions.” She never saw the message.
Israel Hurriedly Sends 50 Aid Trucks Into Gaza After Scathing US Letter - Israel is trying to show its powerful backer Washington that it is taking urgent action over the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Tuesday the Biden administration submitted a letter to the Israel government warning that the US could withdraw key aspects of US military aid to Israel if it doesn't reign in the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza. As we noted, like with prior such 'warnings' (this isn't the first), the message seems more timed for the November electionIsrael on Wednesday has announced that fifty trucks loaded with supplies have entered northern Gaza—much of which was supplied by Jordan. A statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry agency overseeing the supplies said that "50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid — including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment provided by Jordan — were transferred today to northern Gaza through the Allenby Bridge Crossing and the Erez West Crossing as part of our commitment to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza." Israel said that "will continue to facilitate and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza." The Israeli military has stood accused of blocking aid, including trucks with American-supplied support. "Blinken and Austin raise alarm in the letter that the amount of aid entering Gaza has dropped by 50 percent compared to assurances provided in March and April," The Hill among others has noted. The letter, issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is being widely considered the 'strongest' written warning by the US thus far. "We are now writing to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," it said. "We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government - including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments - together with increased lawlessness and looting - are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," the letter laid out.
Israeli Strike on Christian Village in Northern Lebanon Killed Displaced Family From the South - Israel’s airstrike on a Christian-majority village in northern Lebanon wiped out an entire family that was displaced from southern Lebanon, AFPreported on Tuesday.The attack, which hit the village of Aitou on Monday, killed 23 people, including at least 12 women and two children. Local residents were shocked by the attack on the Christian area that’s far from the Israeli border. The owner of the building, Elie Alwan, said it was a “massacre that happened in my home.”Alwan said he had known the family, who were Shi’ite Muslims, for 15 years. “They were a decent family,” he said. “I welcomed them as friends.” Alwan was not home when the strike hit the building, but his mother was wounded in the attack.The UN’s human rights office is calling for an investigation into the strike, with its spokesman saying there are “real concerns with respect to … the laws of war.” Israel claimed it targeted a building owned by Hezbollah, but Alwan is not a member of Hezbollah.
Israel's Motto Is "We Can Have Peace Tomorrow If We Just Kill A Few More People Today" -- Caitlin Johnstone - Israel’s permanent national security doctrine is basically “We can have peace tomorrow if we just kill a few more people today.”But it’s always today. Tomorrow never comes.Israel never succeeds in killing its way to peace, because that’s not actually a thing.You can’t murder, oppress and tyrannize people into obedience. You can kill off the people who oppose you, but in doing so you just create more people who oppose you. You can scorch the earth killing off every member of Hamas and Hezbollah, but in so doing you just ensure the birth of more Hamases and Hezbollahs.The only way to murder a population into submission is to kill everyone. To turn the entire middle east into a barren wasteland of death and destruction, so there’s nobody left living to oppose you. That’s the only way “kill today to have peace tomorrow” can work.And in fairness it did work for other western settler-colonialist projects. In North America and Australia the white man just killed and killed and killed and killed until the opposition was exterminated and the few who remained were broken.But the indigenous population of historic Palestine is different, in that it doesn’t stand alone. They are surrounded by ancient civilizations who have a longstanding relationship with them, and a kinship of religion and culture. Any move to exterminate the indigenous population like other western settler-colonialist projects have done draws hostilities from surrounding nations, as we are seeing today.So in order for Israel to kill its way into peace, it needs to not just kill off the Palestinians but kill everyone in the surrounding region who would oppose its doing so. And the Israelis know this, which is why you hear some far right Zionists talking about the need for a “Greater Israel” whose territory extends far beyond Israel’s current borders.So Israel will always exist in a continuous state of war until it either (A) ceases to exist in its present tyrannical iteration or (B) kills or breaks all its enemies throughout west Asia. That’s the only way the dust can ever settle on the killing.And that’s why Israel cannot continue to exist in its present iteration. It was a very, very bad idea, just like all the many other very, very bad ideas throughout history, like slavery.In order for the killing to end, the murderous settler-colonialist project known as Israel must end. This is a big task, but so was freeing the slaves. The only alternative is to plunge further and further down along this trajectory toward more and more killing, drawing in more and more powerful military forces and exponentially expanding the death toll in the process.A massive war between Israel’s powerful western allies against Iran and its partners in the region would kill millions upon millions of people and devastate the world economy. But that’s precisely the trajectory that western support for Israel’s killing campaigns has us on.I find this an untenable prospect. It would be much less devastating to dismantle the apartheid state of Israel and make arrangements for the west to absorb anyone who wishes to flee from a state where everyone would have equal rights. It would be difficult, it would be inconvenient, but it would be much, much easier and more ethical than helping Israel continue enacting its “kill today to have peace tomorrow” doctrine.Nobody has ever presented an argument for why Israel should continue to exist in its present iteration that is both logically and morally defensible. It’s just a crazy, stupid thing we are doing, the same as all the other crazy, stupid things we’ve done throughout history. One day this will be seen clearly by everyone.
UK journalist Asa Winstanley raided by police over Israel-Palestine reporting -- British journalist Asa Winstanley’s home in north London was raided by police Thursday morning, acting on the authority of the Terrorism Act (2006). Roughly 10 officers took part, entering the house before 6 a.m. Electronic devices were seized. A letter was then sent to Winstanley by the Counter Terrorism Command of London’s Metropolitan Police explaining that officers were “investigating possible offenses” under Sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act, which relate to the “encouragement of terrorism”. All of this took place without Winstanley even being charged. The raid is another act of blatant political harassment by the British state, aimed at intimidating a prominent reporter and opponent of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. Winstanley is associate editor at The Electronic Intifada, and has also written for Declassified UK, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, The National, and Jacobin, and is the author of Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn. He has more than 100,000 followers on X. According to one of the officers who raided his home, it was his activity on social media that served as the pretext for the warrant. Among Winstanley’s recent posts—indicating what the police and the Labour government would like to outlaw—was a picture of the horrific scenes at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza, where patients were burnt alive in their tents by Israeli bombing, with the caption, “The only definition of Zionism that matters”. Another post promoted a livestream discussion of his article on Israel’s employment of the Hannibal Directive, “How Israel killed hundreds of its own people on 7 October”.
More Authoritarian Crackdowns On Speech That's Critical Of Israel- Caitlin Johnstone- British “counterterrorism” police raided the home of Electronic Intifada editor Asa Winstanley on Thursday morning, seizing multiple electronic devices on suspicion that the journalist violated the UK’s 2006 Terrorism Act with his social media activity.The Electronic Intifada is an independent outlet which focuses on Palestinian rights and the abuses of apartheid Israel. It has spent the last year publishing critical journalism that has later been vindicated by more mainstream outlets questioning empire propaganda on issues like the “mass rape” hoax and Israel’s implementation of the Hannibal Directive on October 7. Winstanley has been a major contributor to this journalism.The Electronic Intifada reports:“British counterterrorism police on Thursday raided the home and seized several electronic devices belonging to The Electronic Intifada’s associate editor Asa Winstanley.“Approximately 10 officers arrived at Winstanley’s North London home before 6 am and served the journalist with warrants and other papers authorizing them to search his house and vehicle for devices and documents.“A letter addressed to Winstanley from the ‘Counter Terrorism Command’ of the Metropolitan Police Service indicates that the authorities are ‘aware of your profession’ as a journalist but that ‘notwithstanding, police are investigating possible offenses’ under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act (2006). These provisions set out the purported offense of ‘encouragement of terrorism.’“An officer conducting Thursday’s raid informed Winstanley that the investigation was connected with the journalist’s social media posts. Attempts to reach the Metropolitan Police Service for comment for this story have been unsuccessful.“Although his devices were seized, Winstanley was not arrested and has not been charged with any offense.” “The amount of authoritarianism and erosion of rights in the West to protect Israel — by censoring criticism of that foreign country and punishing its critics — is almost impossible to overstate,” journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted on the news of the police raid, adding, “Mass firings in the US and speech-restricting laws. The UK, as always, is worse.”As soon as the British government gave itself the right to designate targets of British warmongering as “terrorists” and then made it a speech crime to support those “terrorists”, it became inevitable we’d start seeing British journalists persecuted for criticizing their government’s foreign policy.Basically what we’re seeing with the police raid on Asa Winstanley is the west finally reconciling (A) its need to suppress speech that’s critical of western warmongering with (B) its stated support for free speech. All it has to do is outlaw speech that can be deemed supportive of “terrorism” while designating the targets of western warmongering like Hamas and Hezbollah as “terrorists”.This maneuver allows the western empire to stomp out critical speech about western foreign policy in a way that can be framed as reasonable, because obviously we can’t have people encouraging terrorism! That would be tantamount to shouting “fire” in a crowded theater — which we seem to have arbitrarily decided is the line where free speech must end.
Report: Ukraine Considers Ceding Territory to End War With Russia - The Ukrainian government is considering options to end the war with Russia that would involve ceding territory, Der Spiegel reported on Sunday, citing a Ukrainian official.The report said it was the first time since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 that the Ukrainian leadership has considered a deal that wouldn’t involve it getting back all of the territory Russian forces have captured since February 2022.Under a peace deal that was on the table in March and April 2022, Russia would have withdrawn its forces back to pre-invasion lines. But that deal was discouraged by the US and other NATO countries, who urged the Ukrainians to fight.Over the past two years, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing a “peace formula” that calls for a full Russian withdrawal from Ukraine before peace talks can even happen, which is a non-starter for negotiations with Moscow.“We believed that victory had to mean the unconditional surrender of Putin’s Russia,” the Ukrainian source told Der Spiegel. The official acknowledged that was not a realistic view, saying, “A deal must also be beneficial for Russia.”The report comes as Russian forces continue to make gains in eastern Ukraine, which have become more rapid in recent months. Ukrainian forces still hold a small chunk of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, but Russian troops areslowly pushing them back.The Ukrainian official said that Kyiv believes the US will slowly wind down its support for Ukraine whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November. “Whether it’s Trump or Harris, the Americans will slowly but surely withdraw,” the official said. “The prognosis is poor.”
Ukrainian president outlines “victory plan” that promises total war -- President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his much-publicized five-point “victory plan” in an address to Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday. Coming in the midst of a deepening military and social crisis in the country, the strategy for “success” announced by the head of state in Kiev consists of a massive escalation of the war against Russia. Zelensky insisted this week that with authorization from his Western backers to launch missiles deep into Moscow’s territory, tens of billions of dollars in additional aid and an invitation to join NATO, he will deliver “peace through strength.” In reality his “victory plan” risks transforming Ukraine, Europe and eventually the entire planet into a wasteland. In a lengthy interview on September 22 with New Yorker magazine, timed to coincide with a White House visit, Zelensky rejected any sort of diplomatic solution to the war. Zelensky declared, “Any negotiation process would be unsuccessful if it’s with Putin or with his entourage, who are all just his puppets.” He insisted that attaining victory means “you have to prepare a plan without the Russians” and that his “plan spells out what our partners can do without Russia’s participation.” In short, neither the existence of the current occupant of the Kremlin nor the country of Russia itself are included in his blueprint. This fate will extend to the masses of Russia. Speaking of Kursk, the region of Russia bordering Ukraine that Kiev’s army has invaded, Zelensky noted that the Kremlin has yet to liberate the region and promised the same outcome to the population of Russia’s two largest cities. They will, he states, get what they deserve. “And people in Moscow and St. Petersburg—far from Kursk—saw that, if one day the Ukrainian Army showed up there, too, it’s far from certain they would be saved. That’s important. That’s also a part of this operation: long before the war gets to these places, or there’s some other crisis, Russian people should know who they have placed in power for a quarter century, with whom they have thrown in their lot,” stated the Ukrainian president. Aware that there is no support in the United States for total war, Zelensky was at pains during the interview to argue that Ukraine’s “victory” on the basis of his plan would prevent the US from being dragged into a global conflagration. But in attempting to make this argument, he admitted the very opposite. Speaking of the prospect that Russia might have, if Ukraine had failed (or does fail), pursued Poland, a NATO power, the Ukraine president stated, “this would have been a disaster, a gut punch for the United States, because then you’re definitely involved full scale—with troops on the ground, funding, investment, and with the American economy going to a wartime footing.” What Zelensky did not note in his remarks, and which the interviewer also failed to point out, is that key to Zelensky’s “victory plan” is Ukraine’s entrance into NATO, with the very “total war” from which he insists his country has “shielded America” materializing. As Zelensky’s senior aide Mykhailo Podolyak said of the “victory plan” in an interview on Tuesday, “What this plan says is, ‘Stop looking at what is going on with this infantilism.’ If we do ten times more than now, use enough resources, we will have a massive upscale of the war in the Russian territory, and social changes in Russia will follow.’” The war would also expand into more regions of Russia including Moscow and “make Russia look as it should look: helpless, running somewhere screaming in terror,” Podolyak warned. Concurrent with a September 25 trip by Zelensky to Washington to drum up support for his war aims, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed changes to his country’s nuclear doctrine whereby Zelensky’s roadmap to “success” would be considered a “joint attack” by NATO and raise the prospect of a nuclear strike in response. And even though the grave implications of what the Ukrainian leader is demanding are already evident, still much of what he intends is being concealed from the public. Despite claiming in a video address earlier this week that the full scope of the “victory plan” would be released, “sensitive details” of it remain classified to the public, according to the head of Zelensky’s office Andriy Yermak. Several other of the president’s advisors confirmed this fact.
Russia Says It Would Give Military Assistance to North Korea If It Came Under Attack - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Tuesday that Russia would provide military assistance to North Korea if it comes under attack based on a treaty the two nations signed earlier this year.“If an act of aggression is committed against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, all necessary measures will be taken in accordance with our legislation, in accordance with the DPRK’s legislation,” Rudenko told Russia’s TASS news agency.Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a strategic partnership pact back in June to boost military ties, which included a clause requiring the countries to come to each other’s aid if one is attacked.According to Article 4 of the treaty, Russia and North Korea “shall immediately provide military and other assistance” if one “falls into a state of war due to armed invasion from an individual or multiple states.” The treaty stipulates the assistance will be provided in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, which gives member states the right of “individual or collective self-defense” in the event of an attack.“The treaty is signed, so it is public,” Rudenko said. “It has Article 4, which deals precisely with the issue of mutual assistance in case of aggression, that the sides, in case of aggression against one of the sides, will provide each other with any necessary assistance, including military assistance.”The comments from Rudenko come amid soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula as the North is threatening war with the South over drone flights near Pyongyang. South Korea has responded to the warnings, saying it’s “fully ready” to face an attack from the North.Rudenko’s comments also come amid rumors that North Korean troops are fighting in Ukraine. So far, the claims have only been made by Ukrainian intelligence and President Volodomyr Zelensky, and Russia has denied the allegations.
China Conducts Blockade Drills Around Taiwan in Warning Against 'Taiwan Independence' - China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a blockade drill around the island of Taiwan on Monday and said the military exercises were a warning against “Taiwan Independence.”Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the drills were a direct response to a speech Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te delivered this past Thursday. Lai said that Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, was not “subordinate” to mainland China, known as the People’s Republic of China.Wu said that Lai and others were “forgetting their roots and deliberately severing historical ties across the Taiwan Strait” and inciting conflict. “Taiwan has never been a country and will never become one,” Wu said.The Chinese blockade drills, officially dubbed the Joint Sword-2024B exercises, were carried out to the north, south, and east of Taiwan and in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said that throughout Monday, it detected 17 Chinese naval vessels and 17 Chinese Coast Guard vessels around Taiwan.According to The South China Morning Post, the PLA said Monday evening that it concluded the drills around Taiwan. A PLA spokesman said the military had “fully tested the integrated joint operation capabilities” around Taiwan.China conducted its first blockade drill around Taiwan in August 2022 in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) making a provocative visit to the island despite major protests from Beijing. In April 2023, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met with Taiwan’s former president, Tsai Ing-wen, in California, provoking another Chinese blockade drill.In his statement on the drills, Wu issued a warning against outside interference, referring to the US’s increasing support for Taiwan. “Relevant parties should cease supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ and stop undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.
China's exports and imports grew far less than expected in September — China's exports and imports both missed expectations in September, raising concerns about one of the few bright spots in the world's second largest economy. Customs data out Monday showed exports rose by 2.4% in September from a year ago in U.S. dollar terms, while imports added 0.3%. Analysts had expected faster growth. China's exports were forecast to have risen by 6% year-on-year in September in U.S. dollar terms, with imports anticipated to have posted a 0.9% year-on-year climb last month, according to Reuters polls. Exports have been a major driver of growth in China's economy, which in recent years has been weighed down by lackluster consumer spending and a real estate slump. But heightened trade tensions will make it difficult for China's exports to keep growing at a strong pace heading into next year, Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in a note. "The change of fiscal policy stance as indicated by the press conference over the weekend is critical as a pillar for growth next year." The U.S. and European Union have increased tariffs on China-made electric cars, among other products. China's exports to the U.S., its largest trading partner, rose by 2.2% in September from a year ago, while imports from the U.S. climbed by 6.7%, according to CNBC's analysis of official data. "Import volumes fell last month, but they are likely to rebound in the short run as faster fiscal spending drives up demand for industrial commodities," Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, said in a note on Monday. "We think [the finance ministry's increase in fiscal expenditure will boost construction activity and drive higher demand for industrial commodities, at least for a quarter or two," Huang said. China's Ministry of Finance had hinted at plans to increase the fiscal deficit on Saturday, without elaborating on the scale of such support at the time. China focusing on boosting consumer demand would be a 'good sign': strategist Exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China's largest trading partner on a regional basis, rose by 5.5%, while imports climbed by 4.2%. China's exports to the European Union edged 1.3% higher, while imports dropped by 4%. China's exports to BRICS partner Russia surged by 16.6%, but imports fell by 8.4%, the analysis showed. Growth in China's overall exports of autos slowed to a 25.7% year-on-year increase in September, while those of shoes, toys and smartphones all fell over the same period. Home appliances, integrated circuits and ships were among the categories that posted export growth. In another sign of soft domestic demand, China's crude oil imports dropped by 10.7% in U.S. dollar terms in September, compared with the same period of last year, while imports of natural gas and coal both climbed. The latest data reflected Beijing's efforts to bolster food supplies and access to rare earths, in order to ensure national security. China's rare earths trade shrunk further, with exports plunging by more than 40% in September from a year ago, and imports down by around 9%. Intake of soybeans, a major ingredient in livestock feed, surged by nearly 39%. The data adds to a depressed picture of the Chinese economy, with the inflation print out Sunday pointing to further weaknessin domestic demand.The core consumer price index, which strips out more volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.1% in September from a year ago. That's the slowest since February 2021, according to the Wind Information database. Tourism-related prices fell by 2.1% year-on-year, despite the Mid-Autumn Festival in September and Golden Week holiday that kicked off Oct. 1.
India-Canada diplomatic tension escalates over murder investigation -India and Canada’s diplomatic war has intensified after Ottawa named top Indian diplomats in the country as “persons of interest” in an investigation.The Indian government expelled six top Canadian diplomats. This comes after The Washington Post reported that Canada ordered six Indian diplomats to leave the country in notices that were sent early Monday.However, India said in a statement it was recalling its diplomats over “threats,” and the Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement blasting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations,” New Delhi said, alleging the claims are part of Trudeau’s “political agenda” and that his country had failed to provide evidence to support its claims.India defended its high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, calling him its “senior-most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years.”“The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt,” the Foreign Ministry added.New Delhi added that it had received the news via diplomatic communication from Canada andhas summoned the Canadian Charge d’Affaires in India.The Hill has reached out to Canada’s Foreign Ministry for comment.This comes more than a year after Trudeau’s allegations that Indian agents were behind the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in the country.In a speech to Canada’s House of Commons last year, Trudeau said any foreign government involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”The prime minister doubled down on his claims after initial criticism from India, saying Canada had “credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil.”Diplomatic relations between the two countries then came to a standstill, with India asking Canada to withdraw a dozen diplomatic staff and suspending visa services.In June last year, masked gunmen killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver. The 45-year-old separatist leader had previously been designated as a terrorist by India. India has long held the opinion that Canada has turned a blind eye toward extremist elements, especially Khalistani secessionists who demand a separate homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region.In November of last year, U.S. prosecutors detailed a foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York.An indictment detailed electronic communications and audio and video calls secretly recorded or obtained by U.S. law enforcement where organizers of the plot talked about plans to kill someone in California and at least three other people in Canada, in addition to the victim in New York.The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York announced Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, was facing murder-for-hire charges for allegedly conspiring to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York City earlier this year. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta in June 2023.In a statement Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said their investigations revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities that ultimately targeted “members of the South Asian community.”“Evidence also shows that a wide variety of entities in Canada and abroad have been used by agents of the Government of India to collect information. Some of these individuals and businesses were coerced and threatened into working for the Government of India. The information collected for the Government of India is then used to target members of the South Asian community,” the statement added.
Canada Expels 6 Indian Diplomats For Alleged Involvement In Murder Of Sikh Separatist - Canada expelled six top Indian diplomats and consular officials on Monday, including India's high commissioner, citing them as "persons of interest" in the murder of Sikh separatist figure, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In June 2023 Nijjar was assassinated by masked gunmen in Vancouver, British Columbia, after which three Indian nationals were arrested and charged for the crime. The investigation triggered a diplomatic spat in September when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government was involved in the killing. New Delhi denies the allegations. On Monday, Canadian law enforcement authorities accused the Indian government of running a wide-ranging criminal network to intimidate and target Canadian Sikh separatists. The Indian High Commission building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. via Reuters India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma was declared persona non grata by the Canadian government along with a number of other officials for their alleged roles in criminal activity, extortion and homicide. "The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The development marks a new low between India and Canada, with the potential to rupture ties between the two Commonwealth nations. The Indian government accused Trudeau of making the decision based on a "political agenda" and said it was pulling its diplomats out of Canada. "We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials," India's foreign ministry said in a statement. On Monday New Delhi also announced that it, too, would be expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the Canadian embassy’s second-highest ranking diplomat, Stewart Wheeler, the charge d’affaires. Canada's law enforcement authorities have a "significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India in consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada," the RCMP said in a statement. The law enforcement agency said the government of India is linked to homicides and extortion and used organized crime to target the South Asian community in Canada and interfere in democratic processes. The Indian government says that Canada has yet to provide any evidence of its investigation into Nijjar's killing or India's involvement in the assassination. "This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains," India's foreign ministry said on Monday. Later on Monday Prime Minister Trudeau released a statement defending Canada's actions, saying that India's response to the allegations has been denial, obfuscation, and personal attacks. "[It] is obvious that the government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil. "We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil."
European farmers threaten to paralyze the continent in November over unresolved grievances - The farmers’ movement roared back to life in Toulouse, France on October 16, 2024, with protests calling for government support on fuel subsidies, livestock diseases, and market stability. Jérôme Bayle, a prominent leader of the protest movement in southwestern France, warned that if their demands remain unmet, farmers across Europe could ‘paralyze’ the continent in November, potentially disrupting trade routes and causing widespread economic impact.
- French farmers are protesting in Toulouse again, accusing the government of failing to address rising costs, market instability, and unmet promises on fuel subsidies and livestock disease compensation.
- The protests are part of a wider European movement, with potential to expand to other countries like Spain, Germany, and Italy, possibly causing disruptions to key trade routes and border crossings.
- Tensions are high as farmers await the EU Commission’s response, but if demands are not met, there is a risk of continent-wide disruptions in November, involving both farmers and truckers from multiple countries.
French farmers once again took to the streets of Toulouse on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, protesting against what they see as the government’s failure to address their concerns. This latest round of demonstrations follows a series of protests that began earlier in 2024, with the most notable one occurring in January. The latest protest on October 16 mirrors earlier grievances, with farmers accusing the government of breaking commitments related to fuel subsidies, climate adaptation support, and compensation for livestock disease outbreaks. The protests, which began nearly a year ago in the same city, are fueled by rising costs, market instability, and environmental regulations. Farmers are calling for compensation for livestock diseases and relief from diesel tax increases. This new wave of protests is part of a broader, ongoing movement affecting not only France but also other EU countries, where farmers face similar challenges. For this reason, Jérôme Bayle, a leading figure in the farmer’s protest movement in southwestern France, said there is a possibility that farmers across Europe will “paralyze” the continent this coming November. Protests are expected to spread beyond France to other EU countries, including Spain, Germany, and Italy, with the potential to disrupt border traffic if their conditions are not met. Farmers could block key trade routes, including the Pyrénées border between France and Spain, as they did in June during a 24-hour demonstration. Spanish truckers have also expressed interest in joining the demonstrations, potentially causing further disruptions to European freight traffic. The situation remains tense as farmers await the EU Commission’s response to their demands, following a five-month negotiation period. The next meeting is scheduled for the first week of November. However, farmers remain prepared to extend their protests if they are unsatisfied with the outcome. In January 2024, French farmers’ protests escalated to violent confrontations with police, particularly during demonstrations in Paris. Clashes erupted when farmers attempted to block key areas, such as highways and the Rungis food market, with their tractors. Riot police were deployed in large numbers to prevent further disruptions, leading to scuffles between officers and protesters. The situation intensified at the International Agricultural Show in Paris, where farmers forced their way through security and confronted President Macron, demanding his resignation and protesting against EU green policies.
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