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☆ Colombia's oil theft soars, leaving trail of environmental harm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Oliver Griffin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Reuters accompanied a police unit tasked with tackling oil theft in September to two sites near Tumaco, a Pacific port in southwest Colombia that is the terminal for the country's Transandino oil pipeline. The animals, the trees - everything is totally burned," said Colonel Johan Pena, commander of the police unit charged with tackling oil theft in Narino, a province bordering Ecuador that is known for cocaine production. Reuters approached more than a dozen environmental groups, rights advocates, government agencies and international organizations who either said they had no detailed information on the extent of the environmental damage in Colombia from oil theft or did not respond to questions. Oil spills on land smother soil pore spaces, restricting microorganisms' access to oxygen, said Martha Daza, a professor at Cali-based university Universidad del Valle's school of engineering of natural resources and the environment. Regional health authorities in Narino did not immediately respond to questions about the health impact of oil spills.

☆ Net new store openings far outweigh store closures, says Kimco Realty CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNet new store openings far outweigh store closures, says Kimco Realty CEOConor Flynn, Kimco Realty CEO, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss what Kimco's tenants are telling Flynn about sales, Flynn's concerns about 2023 and more.

Tesla did not respond to written requests for comment from Reuters sent to its Shanghai and global media relations accounts. Under Zhu, Tesla Shanghai rebounded strongly from lockdowns this year to bring Tesla close to its growth target for 2022 of 50% production growth. Among the projects the Shanghai team have worked on is Tesla's long-delayed Cybertruck, its next new model, a third person said. However, Zhu's colleagues in Shanghai believe he is in line for a more senior and wider-ranging role at Tesla, the two people said. The plant has excelled in applying cost-saving, factory-floor innovations for Tesla, including the use of massive casting machines to simplify production.

☆ Oil prices rise over $2 on drawdown in U.S. crude stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brent crude futures for February delivery were up by $2.23, or 2.8%, at $82.22 a barrel by 12:20 p.m. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $2.03, or 2.7%, to $78.26. U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.89 million barrels, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), compared with estimates for a drop of 1.66 million barrels. Distillate inventories fell by 242,000 barrels, according to EIA data, compared with analyst estimates for a build of 336,000 barrels. Overall, Russian oil exports fell by 11% month on month for Dec. 1-20 after the European Union's embargo on Russian oil came into force, the Kommersant daily reported.

☆ Ex-academic forges a new career denying Trump's 2020 election loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

“The war is just getting started,” Clements told his 100,000 Telegram followers on Nov. 16. His rise in the movement began in January 2021, when a dispute with his employer, New Mexico State University, over the U.S. Capitol riot went public. ‘I will not take the jab’Clements’ swift rise in election-denier circles caused a stir at New Mexico State, where he continued to teach. Flynn co-founded the America Project, a well-capitalized right-wing group that has financed lawsuits and campaigns challenging the 2020 election results and the integrity of U.S. voting systems. One of their roles is to certify election results, which until the Trump era was typically a rubber-stamp formality.

☆ Jan. 6 committee highlights: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +48 min

“By the time President Trump was preparing to give his speech, he and his advisors knew enough to cancel the rally. “Some have suggested that President Trump gave an order to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present.

☆ Jan. 6 committee summary: Ivanka Trump not 'forthcoming'; Giuliani changed tone on stolen election during deposition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

In some cases, the committee said the purported memory lapses were not credible and appeared to be an attempt to conceal information. Yet the panel suggests that she knew more than she was letting on, contrary to others, like then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone. That appeared to be the case with Ornato,” according to the executive summary. The committee says it has “significant concerns about the credibility of this testimony,” according to the executive summary, and says it will release the transcript of his November interview. The panel alleges Trump also reached out to witnesses, without naming names: “The Select Committee is aware of multiple efforts by President Trump to contact Select Committee witnesses.

There's still not an exact picture of how much Bankman-Fried spent on politics this cycle. But based on what's already public, Bankman-Fried was one of the more prolific campaign donors this cycle, and his spending had a significant effect on midterm races. And his donations to the Protect Our Future super PAC helped shape some key Democratic primaries. The group spent $1.4 million to boost her in her Democratic primary, and then she cruised to victory in the less competitive November general election. Other top racesThe group spent at least $500,000 in support of Democratic candidates in nine other races (parenthesis indicate whether they won the general election, even if the spending happened in the primary):

☆ NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic's 27 boards help Nuggets dispatch Hornets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The only other player in NBA history to have at least 37 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game was Wilt Chamberlain. Charlotte got within two on Washington's dunk with 13.5 seconds left but Jokic sealed it with two free throws. A steal by Killian Hayes and a 3-pointer by Bogdanovic with 40 seconds left cut Brooklyn's lead to one. JaMychal Green contributed 15 points and Kevon Looney had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon's corner trey with 56.2 seconds left brought the Celtics within 93-92.

☆ Here’s who Elon Musk could pick to be Twitter’s next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk may soon be on the lookout for a new chief executive to run Twitter. There is no successor.”If Musk were to look for a new Twitter CEO, he’d likely have many willing takers. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder, CEO of Block and friend to Musk, has previously said he would not return to run the social network. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?

☆ Prosecutors in Georgia are fast approaching a decision on whether to charge Trump. Here's how it would go down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past year, she empaneled a grand jury and fought court battles to ensure testimony from Gov. Two other high-profile witnesses who fought grand jury subpoenas, Mark Meadows and Newt Gingrich, have their cases before appeals courts. A regular grand jury, which sits for two months, would probably move swiftly, Carlson said, since it would have all the evidence painstakingly compiled by the special grand jury. "The reason it'll go very fast is the regular grand jury will have a transcript from the testimony of a laundry list of witnesses that have already testified to the special grand jury," Carlson said. The case in Georgia, Carlson pointed out, is especially potent because of how uniquely strong the evidence is and how reliable the witnesses would be.

News of the FTX's fall first prompted questions to lawmakers about Bankman-Fried's political donations. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Boozman of Arkansas said they would donate Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions, though they did not specify the charities they intended to donate the money to. Bankman-Fried also poured millions into super PACs that support candidates outside of their campaigns, including the Senate Majority PAC, or SMP, a super PAC supporting Democratic Senate candidates. The disclosed sums likely don't capture the full breadth of Bankman-Fried's political spending. "The candidates who received money from dark money organizations don't really have to answer for it," Sherman said.

☆ Donald Trump's superhero trading cards timed the market all wrong
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Jon Sarlin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Los Angeles CNN —Donald Trump’s entrance into the NFT world came at the worst possible moment. It bears noting, however, that despite the bad timing Trump’s NFT collection has shot to the top of NFT marketplace OpenSea’s ranking and has raked in more than $1.4 million since its launch. On the Trump Digital Trading Cards website, the Trump collection claims to be “sold out” and the floor price for a single card has risen to $177.99, according to analytics site CoinGecko. SPACs boomed in 2020 with celebrities and investors piling in, but rising interest rates and a troubled stock market has led to a dramatic fall in SPAC value. Trump’s entrance into the SPAC world came after the boom.

☆ Trump sells out of his NFT 'trading cards' depicting him as a hero, raking in over $1 million: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump's recent "major" announcement was that he was selling NFT 'trading cards' of himself. The cards sold out early Friday and some buyers were entered to win a "priceless" meeting at Mar-a-Lago. Trump's "major" announcement came on Thursday when he released limited edition virtual trading cards, which he likened to baseball cards. The trading cards, which were licensed and owned by NFT INT LLC, not Trump or the Trump Organization, featured images Trump says pertain to his own life, showing him as a racecar driver, astronaut, boxer, sheriff, and elephant rider. One card featuring Trump holding the Statue of Liberty's torch, was selling for nearly $24,000, according to Open Sea.

☆ What to do about the highest interest rate in 15 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

In its last policymaking meeting of the year, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for the seventh time in a row, to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. Otherwise, any remaining balance will be subject to a new interest rate that could be higher than you had before if rates continue to rise. That said, “don’t jump into a large purchase that isn’t right for you just because interest rates might go up. If that’s not possible, consider paying off that balance by taking out a HELOC with another lender at a lower promotional rate, McBride suggested. The floating rate is tied to a short-term benchmark rate, such as the fed funds rate, so it will go up whenever the Fed hikes rates.

☆ Oil up $2 a barrel on supply risks amid ongoing Keystone outage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $73.17 a barrel, rising $2.15, or 3%. The potential of a prolonged outage of TC Energy Corp's Canada-to-U.S. Keystone crude oil pipeline helped turn prices around. Traders worried about how long it would take to clean up and restart the Keystone oil pipeline after more than 14,000 barrels of oil leaked last week, the largest U.S. crude oil spill in nearly a decade. The outage is expected to shrink supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub, and delivery point for benchmark U.S. crude oil futures. "The emergent EU embargo on Russian crude... may add moderate upside energy price risks in the next few months.

These psychiatric drugs are regulated by the federal government as controlled substances that have high potential for abuse and addiction but are not opioids. The impact on independent pharmacies' prescriptions of psychiatric drugs from the widening crackdown on opioids has not been previously reported. It is dedicated to mitigating the abuse of controlled substances without interfering in good-faith clinical decisions made by doctors, she said. "Pharmaceutical distributors must walk a legal and ethical tightrope between providing access to necessary medications and acting to prevent diversion of controlled substances," Esposito said in a written statement. The FDA, the HHS agency that administers the list of controlled substances, did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ Trump's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad campaign kickoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Trump pledged when he launched his 2024 campaign that "America's comeback starts right now." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said Trump's actions make him less likely to be the party's nominee. Trump endorsed Florida Sen. Rick Scott in the contest, but McConnell handily defeated Scott, another sign of Trump's slipping hold on the Republican Party. The DA's office notched a huge victory this week when a jury convicted the Trump Organization of nine tax-fraud counts. US District Judge Beryl Howell has not made a final decision on the request to hold Trump's team in contempt of court, according to The Post.

Brent crude futures were down $2.18, or 2.6%, at $83.39 a barrel by 1:23 p.m. EST (1823 GMT). read moreThe news caused oil and stock markets to pare gains. The data challenges hopes that the Fed might slow the pace and intensity of its rate hikes amid recent signs of ebbing inflation. The Group of Seven (G7) countries and Australia last week agreed on a $60 a barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil. At the same time, in a positive sign for fuel demand in the world's top oil importer, more Chinese cities eased COVID curbs over the weekend.

☆ Netflix 'Christmas Carol' reboot 'Spirited' misses Elon Musk irony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Americanized “Spirited” is available on Apple TV+, while the British-based “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” debuted on Netflix on Friday. Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was that era’s equivalent of a bestseller, with 13 editions published in the first year of print alone. (“The Muppet’s Christmas Carol,” for example, cast perpetual hero Kermit T. Frog as Cratchit rather than Scrooge.) The animation is vibrant, capturing the feel of the old Claymation-style Christmas TV specials. It is a bizarre and somewhat grotesque rewriting of the story’s moral; it's “A Christmas Carol” seen through the lens of bothsiderism.

☆ Oil dips 1.5% ahead of OPEC+ meeting, EU Russian oil ban
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brent crude futures settled down $1.31, a 1.5% drop, at $85.57 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.24, or 1.5%, to $79.98 per barrel. Russian oil output could fall by 500,000 to 1 million bpd early in 2023 due to the European Union ban on seaborne imports from Monday, two sources at major Russian producers said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Russian oil price cap will be adjustable over time so that the union can react to market developments. The cap was designed to limit revenues to Russia while not resulting in an oil price spike.

☆ Salesforce's new marketplace wants to make it easier for companies to integrate carbon credits into their climate-action strategies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Erica Sweeney | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce has a new marketplace for carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets. Companies can use their carbon credits on projects designed to help alleviate the climate crisis. Carbon credits as product stock-keeping units require a set of unique attributes that weren't available in the out-of-the-box product. Buyers on Net Zero Marketplace must commit to buy carbon credits as part of a comprehensive climate-action strategy — not as a substitute for absolute reductions. Providers of carbon credits don't always have the traditional sales and marketing tool kits needed to successfully bring credits to the market.

But satellite images and photos show the Chinese-owned ship had loaded the oil four months earlier in Venezuela, an OPEC nation in South America under U.S. oil sanctions. Two of those tankers, including the Young Yong, were designated this month by U.S. authorities for violating sanctions on Iran, one of Venezuela's closest allies. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the involvement of the Young Yong or the other vessels identified by Reuters in shipping Venezuela crude. Indonesian authorities said in early November that the Young Yong had run aground off the Riau Islands on Oct. 26. The United States imposed oil trading sanctions on Venezuela in 2019 after calling Maduro's re-election the previous year a sham.

☆ Welders wanted: France steps up recruitment drive as nuclear crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

EDF estimates that France's nuclear industry needs to recruit between 10,000 and 15,000 workers a year over the next seven years. Despite relatively high unemployment, France's manufacturing, construction, engineering and IT industries complain they can't get the workers they need. These people work with molten metal at 1,500 degrees Celsius, and sometimes have to stand upside down," said one welder in the nuclear industry, who asked not to be identified. Before the war in Ukraine, successive administrations sought to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy, not build new reactors, they say. For a long time, France was Europe's nuclear energy champion - and its biggest electricity exporter.

☆ U.S. crude turns positive, Brent pares losses on output on OPEC+ rumors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Nia Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, will meet on Dec. 4. In October, OPEC+ agreed to reduce its output target by 2 million barrels per day through 2023. "Inventories are still near record lows and this probably increases the odds of an OPEC production cut." However, EU governments were split on the level at which to cap Russian oil prices, with the impact being potentially muted. The price cap is due to come into effect on Dec. 5 when an EU ban on Russian crude also takes effect.

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