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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is under fire for management changes he has made to the Postal Service that some say could slow the delivery of absentee ballots this fall.

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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is under fire for management changes he has made to the Postal Service that some say could slow the delivery of absentee ballots this fall.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Election officials are seeking clarification from the Postal Service about how recent cutbacks will affect what’s expected to be an avalanche of mail-in voting in the upcoming election. Changes in postal operations have already led to mail delays across the country, raising alarms about what will happen in November.

NPR has learned that a bipartisan group of secretaries of state, who are responsible for running elections, requested to meet this week with postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who was appointed to the job in May. But that meeting has yet to be scheduled.

“Unfortunately, [we] still haven’t had a direct conversation with the U.S. postmaster,” New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told NPR Thursday. “Hopefully, we will soon.”

Toulouse Oliver is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and one of those who requested the meeting.

It was not clear why the invitation has yet to be accepted, but those familiar with the exchange said the delay is unusual, considering that election officials will begin sending out absentee ballots as soon as September.

The secretaries — which included Frank LaRose of Ohio, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan and Kyle Ardoin of Louisiana — said in the letter that they “view the USPS as a vital partner in administering a safe, successful election and would like to learn more about any planned changes around USPS service due to COVID-19, preparations for increased election-related mail, USPS staffing levels and processing times, and other pertinent issues.”

In an email to NPR about the request, the Postal Service responded that it “appreciates its longstanding relationship with the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). We have been in touch with NASS and are working to set up a meeting between our Election Mail stakeholders as well as theirs. We continue to work with NASS, all Secretaries of State and Boards of Election and look forward to a successful general election in November.”

DeJoy, a major donor to President Trump and other Republicans, has raised concerns among election officials and lawmakers of both parties by making major changes in the way the U.S Postal Service does business, including banning employees from working overtime and imposing a hiring freeze. He says the service is facing an $11 billion shortfall this year and such changes are needed.

But in his first public statement last week, DeJoy also reaffirmed the Postal Service’s commitment to delivering election mail and said the organization has “ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on time.”

President Trump has contradicted that claim, saying repeatedly that the Postal Service will not be able to handle the expected flood of absentee ballots without a large infusion of funds, which he opposes.

“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in a Fox Business Network interview Thursday.

The Postal Service has also raised concerns by sending letters recently to a number of states, including Pennsylvania, warning that current deadlines for requesting and returning absentee ballots make it impossible to guarantee that the ballots will be delivered on time.

Pennsylvania allows voters to request a mail-in ballot as late as Oct. 27, but under current law, it must be returned and received by Nov. 3 to count. The Postal Service has recommended that voters allow at least a week for ballots to be delivered.

These issues make it all the more urgent that the postmaster general meet with the secretaries of state, says David Becker, who runs the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research.

“It’s entirely reasonable that a bipartisan group of election officials would want more information about whether USPS can meet its obligations to serve American voters, particularly only 81 days out from Election Day,” he said. “The fact that the postmaster general is unresponsive to their concerns is unusual, and troubling.”

In the past, election officials have generally worked closely with their local post offices to make sure that ballots get delivered on time. Toulouse Oliver expressed confidence that that relationship would continue.

“I have a lot of faith and trust in our regional and local postmasters and Postal Service employees who, again, reiterate time and time again that election mail is tremendously important to them and to the Postal Service and that they will be, again, treating it as the absolute highest priority over the next few months,” she said.

Right now, state and local election officials are trying to set mail-in voting procedures for November. Officials are advising voters to request their ballots and return them as soon as possible to avoid having their ballots rejected because they arrive too late. Tens of thousands of primary ballots this year were rejected for that reason.

Many states are also setting up secure drop boxes where voters can deposit their ballots to be collected later by election officials and thus don’t need to depend on the post office to deliver them.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/902545891/amid-fears-about-mail-in-ballots-election-officials-havent-met-with-new-postmast

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Thursday she will not seek a second term, an election-year surprise that marks a sharp turnabout for the city’s second Black woman executive who months ago was among those President Joe Biden considered for his running mate.

Bottoms, 51, disclosed her decision publicly in a lengthy open letter and accompanying video Thursday night after having told family and a close circle of associates and supporters.

“It is with deep emotions that I hold my head high and choose not to seek another term as mayor,” Bottoms wrote, saying she’d prayed about the decision with her husband, Derek, an executive at The Home Depot Inc.

The mayor is expected to speak publicly Friday morning.

Bottoms, who narrowly won a runoff election four years ago, pushed backed against any questions about whether she could have secured a second victory later this year. She noted a reelection fundraiser she held with Biden’s support and said polls showed her in a strong position.

“‘Is she afraid of the competition?’ NEVER,” Bottoms wrote.

City Council President Felicia Moore has already announced her mayoral bid.

Bottoms’ tenure has been a mix of rough-and-tumble City Hall politics and an ever-brightening national spotlight for her beyond the city.

She was among Biden’s earliest endorsers, taking a risk early in a crowded Democratic primary campaign. She was later rewarded as one of the women Biden considered to be his running mate, though he eventually chose another Black woman, Kamala Harris, the former California senator who is now the first woman to hold the national office.

Bottoms nonetheless watched her profile rise during the coronavirus pandemic and with the renewed attention on policing in the United States after George Floyd’s killing by a white Minneapolis officer last spring.

She drew plaudits for a nationally televised news conference in which she chided protesters to “go home” while noting her own experiences as a mother of Black sons to empathize with citizens distraught over police violence. She pledged to review Atlanta’s police procedures in the wake of Floyd’s killing.

Yet Bottoms met criticism herself just weeks later when an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks. The officer, Garrett Rolfe, was fired last June, a day after he shot the Black man in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Rolfe was later charged with murder.

The Atlanta Civil Service Board on Wednesday reversed the firing, finding that the city did not follow its own procedures and failed to grant Rolfe due process. Bottoms said then that Rolfe would remain on administrative leave while criminal charges against him are resolved.

The mayor did not mention Floyd or Brooks in her announcement letter, focusing instead on having giving the city’s police and firefighters raises and alluding to a “social justice movement (that) took over our streets….and we persisted.”

Bottoms came to the mayor’s office as an ally of her predecessor, Kasim Reed, whose endorsement proved critical in her campaign. But she sought to establish her own identity, in no small part because of a long-running FBI investigation in City Hall contracts and finances during Reed’s tenure.

The “far-reaching and ever-growing” investigation, she said Thursday, “consumed City Hall, often leaving employees paralyzed, and fearful of making the smallest of mistakes, lest they too be investigated, or castrated on the evening news.”

Bottoms has never been implicated.

Early in her term, Bottoms eliminated cash bail in Atlanta and ended the city jail’s relationship with federal immigration enforcement agencies, joining big-city mayors around the country in criticizing then-President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies. Her administration navigated a cyberattack on the city’s computer systems early in her tenure.

She helped renegotiate the long-term redevelopment of “The Gulch,” part of the city’s old railroad footprint downtown. But the city did not score the biggest potential prize for the location: the second Amazon headquarters that instead is being built in northern Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.

An Atlanta native and graduate of Florida A&M University, a prominent historically Black college, Bottoms is just the second Black woman to lead the city. She joined Shirley Franklin, who served two terms from 2002-2010. Bottoms noted her family’s deep ties to the city and surrounding region whose history traces Black America’s arc from slavery and Jim Crow segregation to the ongoing legacy of institutional racism.

“My ancestors, direct descendants of the once enslaved, traveled by horse and buggy from the cotton fields of east Georgia in search of a better life for themselves and their children in Atlanta,” she wrote. “I have carried their belief for a better tomorrow in my heart, their earnest work ethic in my being, and their hopes for generations not yet born on my mind, each day that I have been privileged to serve as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta.”

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/keisha-lance-bottoms-racial-injustice-atlanta-elections-health-1b82a76c4b947e02f47cc0fa0991d55f

La Casa Blanca anunció el martes la renuncia del director de comunicaciones, Michael Dubke, en lo que se espera será el primero de una serie de cambios en el equipo de prensa de Donald Trump.

Dubke, de 47 años, ocupó este puesto, tan importante como de bajo perfil, durante tres turbulentos meses. “Puedo confirmar la renuncia de Dubke”, dijo un funcionario a la AFP.

No se ha anunciado una fecha para su salida, que ha estado en el tapete durante dos semanas.

Desde hace meses los rumores alrededor del ala oeste de la Casa Blanca apuntan a que Trump estaría inclinado a despedir en masa a su equipo de relaciones públicas.

Muchos vienen de la tradicional clase dirigente republicana y han sido aliados incómodos para el presidente.

Trump ha expresado, tanto de manera pública como privada, su profunda molestia por una serie de titulares adversos, y ha fustigado a los periodistas por publicar “noticias falsas”.

El fracaso del presidente a la hora de aprobar importantes leyes, objeciones legales a sus órdenes ejecutivas y un escándalo en la investigación de las relaciones de su equipo más cercano con Rusia, han minado su corta presidencia.

Todo esto ha hecho que el futuro de su secretario de prensa Sean Spicer y todo su equipo estén en duda.

Aunque el director de comunicaciones de la Casa Blanca es una figura mucho menos conocida que Spicer, ambos juegan un papel clave a la hora de definir estrategias de comunicación y darle forma a la agenda de los medios.

Durante la administración de Barack Obama, su asistente y confidente Dan Pfeiffer ocupó el puesto.

Source Article from http://www.elpais.com.uy/mundo/renuncio-michael-dubke-director-comunicaciones.html

Thousands of Cuban protesters have taken to the streets demanding an end to the country’s communist dictatorship. 

U.S. officials on both sides of the political aisle issued statements on social media expressing their support of the demonstrations and expressed solidarity with the people of Cuba. They also shared footage, where protestors can be heard chanting “we are not afraid.”

According to Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, Cuba’s regime is shutting off internet on the island.

“The Castro dictatorship doesn’t want the world to see what’s happening,” Salazar wrote. “Please SHARE & stand with these freedom fighters!”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called out the mainstream media for refusing to provide extensive coverage on the unrest in Cuba. 

“Attention US media … in #Cuba they are rising up because socialism is (always a) disaster,” Rubio tweeted. “Are you going to report on this so the world can hear their voices?” 

Rubio then urged President Joe Biden and Secretary Anthony Blinken to call on members of the Cuban military to not fire on their own people. 

“The incompetent communist party of #Cuba cannot feed or protest the people from the virus,” Rubio wrote. “Now those in the military must defend the people not the communist party.” 

Rubio also slammed Twitter for suggesting that the mass protests were about raising COVID “awareness” in the country.” 

“(Twitter) Ignores (that) this is really about how socialism is a disaster & always leads to tyranny, despair & suffering,” Rubio wrote, sharing a screenshot of “#SOSCuba” trending on Twitter. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted that the “Communist Cuban regime will be consigned to the dustbin of history. It has brutalized & denied freedom to generations of Cubans, and forced my family & so many others to flee. The American people stand squarely with the men & women of Cuba and their noble fight for liberty.” 

Florida U.S. Reps. Carlos A. Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Maria Elvira Salazar, issued a joint statement in support of the protests in Cuba. 

“Now more than ever, the United States and the international community must support the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom. The humanitarian crisis Cuba faces right now is yet another symptom of the incompetence and absolute cruelty of the Cuban tyranny,” the statement said. “We know what freedom means for the Cuban people, and now, while the regime uses savage violence against the people peacefully demonstrating in the streets, the world has the obligation to stand with the brave Cuban people.”

Meanwhile, demonstrations of solidarity with the Cuban protesters broke out a Cuban embassy in Argentina, and in Miami, where there is a sizable population of Cuban immigrants and descendants. 

Gelet Fragela, who runs the Miami-based Cuban news outlet ADN Cuba, told Fox News that the country has been clamping down on its media – including for ADN – for months leading up to the protests. 

“Cuba, just like the Soviet Union, is an organized totalitarian regime that creates a false reality and sends that to the world,” Fragela said.  

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She said that Cuba has sent around 30,000 of its own doctors around the world, while neglecting the medical care needs of its own people at home. 

“I wouldn’t say this is a protest because of the lack of COVID vaccines, I think this is a protest for the people of Cuba asking for the regime to end once and for all after more than 60 years of repression,” Fragela said. 

Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.

Fox News’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/world/thousands-of-protesters-take-to-the-streets-in-cuba

May 22 (Reuters) – Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or concessions to Moscow while Russia intensified an offensive in the eastern Donbas region and stopped providing gas to Finland, as Polish President Andrzej Duda prepared to address the Ukrainian parliament on Sunday.

After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas.

Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk province before the Feb. 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas.

“The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. The Russian army was trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces were holding off their advance, he said.

Zelenskiy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire and said Kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow that involved ceding territory. Making concessions would backfire on Ukraine because Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting, he said. read more

“The war will not stop (after concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time,” Podolyak, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, told Reuters in an interview in the heavily guarded presidential office. “They’ll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale.”

Recent calls for an immediate ceasefire have come from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. read more

The end of fighting in Mariupol, the biggest city Russia has captured, gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a rare victory after a series of setbacks in nearly three months of combat.

The last Ukrainian forces holed up Mariupol’s vast Azovstal steelworks surrendered on Friday, Russia said. read more

Full control of Mariupol gives Russia command of a land route linking the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow seized in 2014, with mainland Russia and areas of eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russia separatists.

Ukrainian forces in the separatist-controlled regions of Luhansk and Donetsk said on Saturday they had repelled nine attacks and destroyed five tanks and 10 other armoured vehicles in the previous 24 hours.

Russian forces were using aircraft, artillery, tanks, rockets, mortars and missiles along the entire front line to attack civilian structures and residential areas, the Ukrainians said in a Facebook post. At least seven people had been killed in the Donetsk region, they said.

The British Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that Russia was deploying its BMP-T “Terminator” tank-support vehicles in that offensive. With only 10 available for a unit that already suffered heavy losses in the failed attempt on Kyiv, however, the ministry said they were “unlikely to have a significant impact.”

Russian troops destroyed a bridge on the Siverskiy Donets River between Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said. There was fighting on the outskirts of Sievierodonetsk from morning through the night, he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Sievierodonetsk and its twin Lysychansk across the Siverskiy Donets River form the eastern part of a Ukrainian-held pocket that Russia has been trying to overrun since mid-April after failing to capture Kyiv.

GAS DISPUTE

Russia’s state gas company, Gazprom (GAZP.MM), said it had halted gas exports to Finland, which has refused Moscow’s demands to pay in roubles for Russian gas after Western countries imposed sanctions over the invasion. read more

Finland and Sweden applied on Wednesday to join the NATO military alliance. read more

Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum, the Finnish government and individual gas-consuming companies in Finland have said they were prepared for a shutdown of Russian flows.

Most European supply contracts are denominated in euros or dollars. Last month, Moscow cut off gas to Bulgaria and Poland after they refused to comply with the new terms.

Western nations also have stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine. On Saturday, Kyiv got another huge boost when U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill to provide nearly $40 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid. read more

Moscow says Western sanctions, along with arms deliveries for Kyiv, amount to a “proxy war” by the United States and its allies. Thousands of people in Ukraine have been killed in the war that has displaced millions and shattered cities.

Zelenskiy said he stressed the importance of more sanctions on Russia and unblocking Ukrainian ports in a call with Draghi on Saturday.

Duda, who met with Zelenskiy in Kyiv last month, is the first foreign leader to address parliament in person since the invasion, his office said.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-rules-out-ceasefire-fighting-intensifies-donbas-2022-05-22/

One of the most controversial changes removes longstanding language that prohibits the consideration of economic factors when deciding whether a species should be protected.

Under the current law, such determinations must be made solely based on science, “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of determination.”

Gary Frazer, the assistant director for endangered species with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that phrase had been removed for reasons of “transparency.” He said the change leaves open the possibility of conducting economic analyses for informational purposes, but that decisions about listing species would still be based exclusively on science.

Environmental groups saw a danger in that. “There can be economic costs to protecting endangered species,” said Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife and oceans at Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. But, he said, “If we make decisions based on short-term economic costs, we’re going to have a whole lot more extinct species.”

The new rules also give the government significant discretion in deciding what is meant by the term “foreseeable future.” That’s a semantic change with far-reaching implications, because it enables regulators to disregard the effects of extreme heat, drought, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change that may occur several decades from now.

When questioned about that change and its implications in the era of climate change, Mr. Frazer said the agency wanted to avoid making “speculative” decisions far into the future.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/climate/endangered-species-act-changes.html

The owner of the under-construction house in Georgia that Ahmaud Arbery checked out before he was shot dead has been getting death threats — and may never move into his dream home, his lawyer has said.

Arbery, 25, had been shown on surveillance footage looking around the construction site in February — moments before he was shot dead in a caught-on-camera confrontation as he jogged away.

Now homeowner Larry English, 50, has been getting death threats because of the “mistaken impression” he shared fears of break-ins with the father and son charged with Arbery’s murder, his attorney told NBC News.

A still from the video appears to show Ahmaud Arbery calmly wandering around the construction site of a new house in GeorgiaREUTERS

It has so tainted the dream home he was building on the waterfront that he may never move in, lawyer Elizabeth Graddy told the broadcaster.

“Now, it’s honestly not safe,” Graddy said. “It’s supposed to be a place for comfort and peace. And now, it will be forever associated with this tragedy.”

English had once called a non-emergency police number about previous trespassing at the site, but he never used the word “burglary” — and never called the accused killers, Graddy insisted.

Larry EnglishCNN

“Even if there had been a robbery, however, the English family would not have wanted a vigilante response,” Graddy said. “They would have entrusted the matter to law enforcement authorities.”

English has made it clear he will not help the accused — Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34 — if they plan to use supposed break-ins as their defense, she said.

“My clients were not part of what the McMichaels told themselves to do,” Graddy said, insisting that her client had only once briefly met one of them, Travis, but never called them.

“If the McMichaels are going to justify what they did, they are going to have to look elsewhere for help,” she said.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2020/05/14/owner-of-house-ahmaud-arbery-entered-before-death-gets-death-threats/

via press release:

NOTICIAS  TELEMUNDO  PRESENTS:

“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C

Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production

Miami – July 31, 2014 – Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C.  The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol.  “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.

 

“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming.  “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”

“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel.  Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.

Source Article from http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/07/31/noticias-telemundo-presents-muriendo-por-cruzar-this-sunday-august-3-at-6pm/289119/

Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were attacked while sailing toward the Persian Gulf, adding to regional tensions as the U.S. increases pressure on Iran.

The Saudi tankers were damaged in “a sabotage attack” off the United Arab Emirates coast on Sunday, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The vessels were approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for oil shipments. The U.A.E. foreign ministry on Sunday reported an attack on four commercial ships near its territorial waters. No one has claimed responsibility.

The precise nature of the incident remained unclear — neither Saudi Arabia nor the U.A.E. said exactly what happened — but the report comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf. The U.S. has deployed an aircraft carrier, bomber planes and defense missiles to the region amid worsening friction with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the incident aims “to undermine the freedom of maritime navigation, and the security of oil supplies to consumers all over the world,” according to SPA. He urged the international community to ensure the security of oil tankers “to mitigate against the adverse consequences of such incidents on energy markets, and the danger they pose to the global economy.”

Antagonism between the U.S. and Iran intensified this month after President Trump ended exceptions to U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales. The Islamic Republic has threatened to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. halts Iranian energy exports and threatened to scale back its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi described the maritime incident as “concerning and regrettable” and called for efforts to shed light on what exactly happened, the semi-official Tasnim News reported. He warned against “foreign seditious plots to upset the region’s security and stability.”

Crude Rises

Global crude benchmark Brent for July settlement rose as much as 71 cents, or 1%, to $71.33 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Monday. Oil had been losing ground since late last month on signs that Saudi Arabia would pump more to make up for lost Iranian barrels and a looming trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. and China.

Rising geopolitical tension has also weighed on stock markets in the Gulf this week. Dubai’s benchmark dropped 1.5 percent at 11:06 am local time, outpacing losses on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index retreated 0.9 percent, heading for the lowest close since March 17.

The U.A.E.’s foreign ministry said it’s investigating the tanker incident with local and international parties. No one was hurt, and no fuel or chemicals were spilled, the state-run WAM news agency quoted the ministry as saying. One of the two Saudi tankers was on its way to the port of Ras Tanura to load oil for shipment to the U.S., according to SPA.

Tanker War

Attacks on oil tankers in the turbulent Gulf have been rare since 1991. Saudi Arabia continued shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the so-called tanker war, a phase of the 1981-88 conflict between Iraq and Iran when both foes attacked vessels in the Gulf. Oil exports flowed also during the first Gulf War in 1990-91.

A Japanese tanker, the M. Star, was damaged in a bomb attack in 2010 when it was docked about 14 miles (22 kilometers) off the U.A.E. coast near the port of Fujairah. The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, a militant jihadist group, claimed responsibility.

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Iran lies is to the north and the U.A.E. and Oman to the south. Hormuz is the single most important waterway for global oil shipments, with tankers hauling about 40% of all the crude traded internationally every day. All oil exports from Kuwait, Iran, Qatar and Bahrain, more than 90% of those from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and 75% of shipments from the U.A.E. pass through the strait.

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—Questioning the role of French telecom execs in 35 employee suicides

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—The Eastern European countries home to today’s most dynamic winemakers

—Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune‘s daily digest on the business of tech

 

Source Article from http://fortune.com/2019/05/13/saudi-arabia-oil-tensions-attack/

“We get something like this, I think, about every seven, eight years,” said Hawkins, who emphasized the magnitude of the event. “We had one in 2018 here, but the last really big one that was really devastating was 2014 here about 40, 50 miles just [inland] off the coast. It knocked out power for several weeks back then.”

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/01/21/winter-storm-carolina-virginia-ice/

So far, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Rob Portman (Ohio), whose son is gay, have publicly said they would support the legislation. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) initially indicated he would not oppose it, but recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he now has concerns about the bill’s language.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/08/biden-kentucky-flooding-bills-semiconductors-veterans/

The Equifax data breach that compromised the personal data of almost 150 million Americans in 2017 unfolded like a classic robbery. 

The criminals identified a flaw in the credit agency’s security system, executed a plan of attack to penetrate it and devised a scheme to cover their tracks on their way out, according to a criminal indictment unsealed Monday.

Those alleged criminals, four members of the Chinese military, exploited a flaw in software that allowed U.S. consumers to dispute problems with their Equifax credit reports. That gave the hackers access to Americans’ personal information, according to the indictment.

The breach occurred after Equifax security officials failed to install a software upgrade that had been recommended to seal off digital intruders from obtaining access to the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of the victims, the indictment says.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Atlanta delivered a nine-count indictment accusing four hackers and members of China’s People’s Liberation Army – Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei – of serving as masterminds of the hack.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/10/2017-equifax-data-breach-chinese-military-hack/4712788002/

That Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has made another statement peddling an anti-Semitic trope on Twitter wasn’t particularly surprising. Her anti-Semitism has been obvious to any honest observer ever since she became a public figure. The only remaining question is: Do Democrats care?

To recap, on Sunday night, the freshman Democrat, who was given a slot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reacted to a story about Republican House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s plan to “take action” against the anti-Semitism being exhibited on a regular basis by Omar and her ” sister” freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she wrote, using a song reference and slang term for $100 bills to attack Jewish influence in politics.

She then followed it up with another tweet saying she meant, ” AIPAC,” a reference to the pro-Israel lobbying group.

The idea of Jews using money and power to advance foreign interests and exert a nefarious influence on policy is an age old anti-Semitic smear. It also isn’t true, by the way, that Omar was referring merely to AIPAC. She later retweeted former Harry Reid deputy chief of staff attacking the influence of Sheldon Adelson — the linked article doesn’t mention AIPAC at all. So it’s clear that her attack is on Jewish money and influence.

It’s also one that Omar has advanced in some form or another for years. For instance, she previously infamously tweeted, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” She later feigned ignorance of how anybody could have been offended, but obviously didn’t learn anything from the gullible Jewish liberals who earnestly tried to explain to her the implications of what she said.

It’s not worth litigating why her latest statement is anti-Semitic in excruciating detail. It is, however, worth stating a few things for the record. To start, the “PAC” in AIPAC does not stand for “Political Action Committee” but for “Public Affairs Committee.” That is, AIPAC does not donate money to candidates, it tries to lobby members of Congress in both parties to make sure support for Israel is bipartisan. Furthermore, Republicans don’t need AIPAC to convince them to be pro-Israel. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I’ve had plenty of Republican lawmakers and staffers confide in me over the years that they’re increasingly frustrated with AIPAC for working to water-down various letters in support of Israel to get Democrats on board and thus preserve the idea that support for Israel is bipartisan, even though a Republican-only letter in a given instance could have been much more supportive of Israel. The truth is that Republicans are pro-Israel because their voters overwhelmingly are — all you need to do is look at polling data (shown below), or go to conservative conferences at which statements of support for Israel often get the most resounding applause.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with any group engaging in the democratic process to influence policy. And it isn’t even as if AIPAC is particularly influential or all powerful. Former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal went against everything AIPAC had been advocating for years, Israel was loudly opposed to it, and he pushed it through anyway and earned the support of critical mass of Democrats in Congress.

This really isn’t about Omar, however. She’s one member of Congress from a district that sent anti-Semite Keith Ellison to the House for 12 years. None of her anti-Semitic statements will cause her problems back home. Instead, with the help of the media, her statements will get spun as mere criticism of Israel, and her status as a brave truth-teller on the Left will only grow.

What’s more interesting is what this says about the Democratic Party. For years, I’ve been warning about how liberals were normalizing anti-Semitism by broadening the type of discourse that gets excused away as mere criticism of Israel. Obama’s Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had decried the influence of the “Jewish Lobby” in Congress. In selling the Iran deal, Obama suggested that those opposing the deal were being influenced by donors, and that they weren’t thinking about what was in the best interests of the U.S. Liberal websites accused Sen. Chuck Schumer of dual loyalty for his criticism of the Iran deal. All that’s happening with Omar and Tlaib is they’re just being a bit more explicit.

So the question is, when do Democrats draw a line in the sand, if ever? The reluctance to say anything up until this point reflects an understanding of an ugly truth: that these views are representative of where a lot of their party is, and at a time when they’re trying to present a unified front, they want to avoid an all out war on a tense issue.

The data from Pew Research Center points to a widening gap between Republicans and Democrats, and particularly conservatives and liberals, when it comes to Israel. Though the parties were once relatively just as likely as Republicans to say they sympathized with Israel over the Palestinians, the gap has dramatically widened over time, with 79 percent of Republicans now saying they sympathize more with Israel, compared with just 27 percent of Democrats (who are now nearly as likely to say they sympathize more with Palestinians). But the ideological breakdown is even more stark. Conservatives back Israel by an 81 percent to 5 percent margin, while liberals actually favor Palestinians by nearly two-to-one. Political parties like to talk about issues that united their party, but Israel is an issue that objectively divides the Democrats, as conservative/moderate Democrats are the polar opposite — favoring Israel two-to-one.

So Omar and Tlaib really present a test to Democrats about which type of party they want to be. The British Labour party has already been taken over by anti-Semitic leader Jeremy Corbyn, and there’s no reason why the same thing couldn’t happen in the U.S. Rising star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, just this month touted what an “honor” it was to have ” such a lovely and far-reaching” conversation with him.

Just last week, pushing back against those calling out her anti-Semitism, Omar said, “Our domestic policy values need to be aligned with our foreign policy values. No exceptions!” The clear suggestion is that if you want to be on board with the resurgent liberal agenda, it isn’t enough to back sweeping economic and social policies at home, you have to adopt her hostility toward Israel.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer may not share Omar’s foreign policy vision, but if they don’t call out anti-Semitism within their own ranks, they will only signal to others that it’s perfectly acceptable as long as it’s spun as mere criticism of Israel.

(Disclosure: In 2008, the author took a trip to Israel funded by the AIPAC-linked American Israel Education Foundation.)

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders are now demanding that Omar apologize, a positive development. Let’s see if this is a one off statement in response to the latest tweet, or a part of a new commitment to snuffing out anti-Semitism within their ranks. The underlying forces within the Democratic Party that produced this moment, as described above, aren’t going to be washed away with one statement.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/we-already-know-ilhan-omar-is-an-anti-semite-the-question-is-do-democrats-care

The high-profile primary promises to be an expensive affair. Hageman, who entered the race in September, raised around $300,000 during the first three weeks of her campaign, according to a person familiar with the totals. Cheney has capitalized on her deep connections in the Republican donor world to rake in money for her toughest race yet, already bringing in more than $5 million this year, her campaign announced Tuesday.

While Cheney’s totals and hefty lead — she raised $1.7 million in the third quarter alone — show that she still has powerful connections in a fast-changing Republican Party, the list of prominent Trump donors throwing in with Hageman highlights his dominant influence in the GOP. And it demonstrates Trump and his allies are mobilizing together to punish the handful of Republicans who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Thiel, one of the most sought-after GOP donors, has emerged as a financial force behind the effort to unseat Trump critics.

He has also contributed to army veteran Joe Kent, a challenger to Rep.

Jaime Herrera Beutler
(R-Wash.), who, like Cheney, voted for Trump’s impeachment in January. Thiel, a PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor, met with Trump for over an hour at his Bedminster golf club last month, according to two people familiar with the sit-down. The meeting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has her own high-profile financial help: Former President George W. Bush is headlining a fundraiser for her in Texas later this month. The event will also feature other big political names from the Bush administration, including political strategist Karl Rove.

Trump spent months searching for a challenger to take on Cheney, ultimately leading him to Hageman after a lengthy interview process with other congressional hopefuls. She has inherited the former president’s political apparatus: Two top officials on Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, Nick Trainer and Tim Murtaugh, are playing leading roles steering her campaign. Two other Republican strategists involved in Trump’s orbit, Andy Surabian and James Blair, are running a pro-Hageman super PAC.

That outfit, Wyoming Values PAC, doesn’t have to disclose its fundraising activity until January. But it is expected to become an outlet for major Hageman to funnel sizeable checks. Unlike Hageman’s campaign, the super PAC does not have any contribution limits. And many of her early campaign backers have shown a willingness to back the Trump cause with six- or seven-figure donations in the past.

While Cheney has won major financial support for her reelection run, her opposition to Trump has alienated some of her past supporters. Maggie Scarlett, a former Cheney campaign leader whom the congresswoman praised in a 2018 House floor speech, has donated to Hageman. Scarlett and her husband, financial executive Dick Scarlett, were donors to Trump’s 2020 reelection effort.

North Carolina investor Helen Laughery, another past Cheney donor, also contributed to Hageman. Laughery gave more than $70,000 to support Trump’s 2020 campaign.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/13/liz-cheney-trump-fundraisers-515857