A Korean YouTuber and former navy seal says he has arrived in Ukraine to fight, despite his government's travel ban to the country

Waiyee Yip
Mon, March 7, 2022

Rhee said on Instagram that he is in Ukraine to fight.Screenshot from Instagram


The South Korean YouTuber Ken Rhee says he is in Ukraine to fight, despite Korea's travel ban there.


Koreans who enter Ukraine without authorization may be subject to a jail sentence or a fine.


"If I return alive, then I will take responsibility for everything," Rhee said on Instagram.

Ken Rhee, a popular South Korean YouTuber and former Korean navy seal said he has landed in Ukraine to fight as a volunteer soldier — despite his government's travel ban to the country.

On Instagram, the 37-year-old said in a post early Monday morning that he and his travel mates had initially considered departing for the country "through official procedures."


"But we felt strong opposition from the Korean government, and there was some friction," noting that he was "threatened" with "being treated as a criminal" if he ignored Korea's travel ban to Ukraine.

"But punishment cannot stand still in this situation without helping Ukraine with the skills, knowledge, and expertise we have," he continued in the post, which was shared alongside a picture of the backs of three men.

"If I return alive, then I will take responsibility for everything and receive the punishment I'm given."

It is unclear who Rhee has left the country with. He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that it was aware that "Koreans including Ken Rhee" have departed the country to join the Ukrainian volunteer army.

"To protect the lives and safety of citizens, as of Feb. 13, the government has issued a Level 4 travel warning throughout Ukraine and has banned Korean citizens from traveling to Ukraine," it said.

It added that anyone who enters Ukraine without authorization may be subject to a year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won (about $8,150). They would also be required to return their Korean passports and could face challenges applying for a replacement, it said.

But Rhee did not seem too concerned by the prospect.

In another Instagram post addressed to the Foreign Ministry, he wrote: "My team has arrived safely in Ukraine. Rather than waste time seeking to invalidate our passports, think about how you can support."

Later, Rhee shared several more posts on the platform, including a picture of a military tent and one of himself in protective gear sitting next to a dog.

"During the Korean War, the world helped Korea," he said. "Now, we will help Ukraine. We cannot just stand by and watch innocent people get hurt and die."

To date, Rhee's YouTube channel has amassed more than 774,000 subscribers, and his videos have gained more than 100 million views.

Rhee shot to fame in 2020 after appearing in the YouTube series "Fake Men," where he trained celebrity contestants to complete a brutal regimen designed for the navy's elite forces, according to The Korea Herald. As a former Korean navy seal himself, he has also shared his expertise as a guest on variety shows in South Korea, the outlet said.

In 2020, he was embroiled in controversy when it came to light that he was convicted of sexual assault in 2019. Rhee said he was wrongfully convicted, according to The Korea Herald.

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/03/korean-ukrainian-actor-pasha-lee-33.html

U.S. citizens travel to Ukraine to help in war efforts

CBS News

Tue, March 8, 2022

The number of international fighters helping Ukraine is growing every day. The Ukrainian government reports more than 16,000 foreigners have already arrived, including some Americans.

Andriy Penchak is an American licensed truck driver who was born in Ukraine. He landed with three other Americans ready to go into the war zone. He told "CBS Mornings" co-anchor Tony Dokoupil that he wanted to save the lives of the Ukrainians still inside the country.

He launched this mission from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He's never been to battle and used personal savings to pay for his plane tickets.

Penchak  said the hardest part was leaving his three young children. "I didn't say goodbye. I said, see you later," he said.

While the White House says the American military is not going into Ukraine to fight Russia, everyday Americans like Penchak are not restricted from going in — although it's not recommended.

"We encourage all Americans not to travel to Ukraine right now, and those Americans who are in Ukraine to leave Ukraine, because it is not safe," said Kristina Kvien, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

Bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Congressman Gregory Meeks and Congressman Michael McCaul traveled to Ukraine's border to view the war's human toll up close.

Meeks said that the Americans traveling to Ukraine is an example of the importance of democracy.

"I think that what they see and what people around the world are seeing is democracy is at stake and as President Zelensky said to us, this is not just a fight for the Ukrainian people, this is a fight for all of us. It's just starting here," said Meeks.

"Ukrainians have inspired the world, and these freedom fighters, I call them," McCaul said.

Before the war, Kristofer Kalas was a pastry chef who split his time between Ukraine and New York.

Now, he's dressed in full body armor walking toward the checkpoint into Ukraine. He made sure his wife and baby made it safely to Poland but decided to go back - not to fight, he says, but to help others and help ensure Ukraine remains for years to come.

"I want my child to have a Ukraine to go back to when she's grown up," Kalas said.

Russia's military warned foreign fighters they'd be treated as "mercenaries," not as protected combatants under "international humanitarian law." Kalas said .

"As far as I can tell, they don't protect civilians under humanitarian law, so I don't put much credence in anything they say," Kalas said.

How AWOL British soldier could draw

U.K. into conflict with Russia

Vivienne Walt

Wed, March 9, 2022,

Barely two weeks into the brutal war in Ukraine, one question has arisen: Which countries are involved in the fighting?

On paper, there are only two armies lobbing artillery shells and ammunition at each other: Russia and Ukraine.

But the confusion about what constitutes a country joining the fight deepened this week, after the U.K. military reported that a 19-year-old serviceman had gone AWOL from his post in the Coldstream Guards—an elite unit that services Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle—and was apparently headed to fight in Ukraine.

British tabloid newspaper The Sun reported that the soldier, whose name is being withheld, was one of four active military servicemen who had absconded to go fight in Ukraine. According to the paper, he wrote to his parents before he left, telling them that he was buying a one-way ticket to Poland, the main entry point into Ukraine, whose airports have been shut since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.

Ukraine’s besieged government formed an international legion on Feb. 27, appealing for volunteers to bolster their military strength against the far bigger Russian forces. “Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin too,” tweeted Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in announcing the foreign-fighters unit.

The foreign minister said on the weekend that about 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries have signed up, and Ukraine’s embassies report they have seen a steady stream of people seeking documentation allowing them to travel to the war front to join the fight.

From parliament to the war front

Facebook groups have sprung up to guide prospective fighters through the process of signing up; one Facebook group, the French Volunteers in Ukraine group, now has 10,700 members. And on Wednesday, Latvia announced that its Member of Parliament Juris Jurašs had left to fight in Ukraine; the Baltic nation shares a 133-mile border with Russia.

Until now, Western countries have stopped short of joining Ukraine’s military fight, focusing their efforts on imposing economic sanctions, and believing that engaging military would transform the conflict into a far broader war in Europe—something that has not occurred in 80 years—from which it could take years to extricate.

The fact that active U.K. servicemen might be among them has sparked deep anxiety in the government. It has banned active-duty military from joining Ukraine’s volunteers.

A friend of the missing Queen’s guardsman told The Sun that the serviceman had grown tired of ceremonial duties at Windsor Castle, where the guards march in formation outside the castle, dressed in ornate uniforms topped with their famous bearskin hats. “You don’t join the army to stand in bearskin hats and march about,” the guardsman told the paper. “You join it to fight and see action.”

The U.K. Ministry of Defense repeated its warning against servicemen joining the fight in Ukraine, saying they would face “disciplinary and administrative consequences.”

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M
U.S. charges two siblings in $124 million cryptocurrency fraud



Tue, March 8, 2022
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Tuesday filed criminal charges against a cryptocurrency executive and civil charges against him and his sister, accusing them of defrauding retail investors out of millions of dollars with a digital token known as Ormeus Coin.

In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the Justice Department said John Barksdale lied about the value and profitability of Ormeus Coin's mining assets, including that the coin was backed by a $250 million mining operation generating more than $5 million of monthly revenue.

Barksdale and his sister JonAtina Barksdale were separately charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with conducting fraudulent unregistered offerings of Ormeus Coin.

The SEC said the Barksdales since 2017 raised $124 million from more than 20,000 investors through their multi-level marketing company Ormeus Global SA, and spent millions of dollars on travel, real estate and other personal expenses.

Authorities said the siblings promoted Ormeus Coin through roadshows and social media, as well as a Times Square jumbotron in Manhattan proclaiming: "$250 Million Cryptocurrency Mining Farm Revealed in Legal Audit by Ormeus Coin."

The Barksdales "acted as modern-day snake-oil salesmen" in misleading investors, Melissa Hodgman, associate director of the SEC enforcement division, said in a statement.

Lawyers for the Barksdales could not immediately be identified.

John Barksdale has been arrested, and faces up to 65 years in prison on securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges, according to the Justice Department.

Both defendants are U.S. citizens, with John Barksdale, 41, having lived in Thailand and JonAtina Barksdale, 45, in Hong Kong, the SEC said.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has called the cryptocurrency industry the "Wild West" of finance and wants cryptocurrency exchanges to register with the SEC.

The White House has been considering broad oversight over the cryptocurrency market, in part to address ransomware and other cyber crime.

President Joe Biden is expected this week to direct the Justice Department and other federal agencies to study possible ramifications from creating a U.S. central bank digital currency, a person familiar with the matter said.

The cases are U.S. v. Barksdale, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-cr-00684; and SEC v. Barksdale et al in the same court, No. 22-01933.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)

US Oil and Gas Producers Explain How ESG is Driving the Energy Business Forward


Faiza Rizvi
Wed, March 9, 2022


When it comes to climate action, the oil and gas industry is often blamed for not telling its side of the story and finds itself battling varying public opinions.

Over the past few years, however, the growing popularity of ESG has prompted U.S. oil and gas producers to talk publicly not just about their environmental stewardship, but also societal and governance progress.

“ESG starts with an E, but definitely shouldn’t end there,” said Brian Cain, chief sustainability officer with Civitas Resources, adding that the oil and gas companies have a “rich history” of heavily investing in supporting its communities.

Growing up in Houston, Cain looked up to some of the greatest philanthropists from the U.S. shale industry who have helped build the community.

As Colorado’s first carbon-neutral producer, Cain said Civitas Resources is constantly working toward a “step change” in reducing its carbon footprint.

Last year Bonanza Creek Energy officially rebranded as Civitas Resources following Bonanza Creek’s merger with Extraction Oil & Gas and subsequent acquisition of Crestone Peak Resources. Civitas is now the largest pure-play energy producer in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin, operating across more than half a million net acres with an enterprise value of $4.5 billion.

“Of course, I think of George Mitchell and Rich Kinder, and I think of all those industry giants who have given back to their communities in such a meaningful and significant way. As an industry, we need to continue doing that.”—Brian Cain, Civitas Resources

Compared to its peers in the small and midcap segment, Cain noted that Civitas’s ESG and carbon neutrality strategy is “much more progressive,” ensuring credibility of its carbon offsets and transparency in climate disclosures, which he noted is reported in three different indices including SASB, TCFD and AXPC formats.

So what is the company’s low-carbon strategy?

“For Scope 1, first and foremost, we want to work on reducing operational emissions, and then secondarily offsetting or displacing those residual, remaining emissions that can’t quite yet be operationally reduced through technology or other means,” Cain explained. “We offset Scope 2 by using only green e-certified RECs [Renewable Energy Certificates], which historically we’ve only purchased from the Rockies sub-grid region as a best practice.”

Additionally, Civitas is working on electrifying its operations, moving them from Scope 1 to Scope 2, which Cain said offers numerous benefits for both the environmental and social aspects of the business.

“As we move things from Scope 1 to Scope 2—like our drilling rigs, which we want to power on highline electricity wherever we can—we’re reducing emissions by 20-30%, but also taking away all the backyard of generators that are creating emissions in a community and moving that emission source to the power plant,” he said. “So you’re taking those emissions completely out of that community or that area where you operate, which is the best thing for your landowner and for your neighbors and for the folks around it.”

This also eliminates truck trips to fuel the drilling rig generators, reducing traffic and the related combustion emissions associated with the traffic, Cain added.

Earlier this year, Civitas announced its commitment to voluntarily plug 42 wells that were orphaned by previous operators in Colorado.

It’s worth noting that the orphaned wells are unrelated to Civitas and were abandoned by their former operators and whose cleanup would otherwise be the responsibility of the state of Colorado.

Commenting on the commitment, Cain said, “We know that the state is going to get federal dollars to address the orphaned well situation, but those federal dollars won’t cover all of the orphaned wells in Colorado. By plugging these wells in our operating area, we’re also effectively plugging the orphaned wells that are around the populated areas of our state, around the greater Denver area and the northern Front Range of Colorado.”

He continued, “From an environmental standpoint, it eliminates any emissions that could be coming from those older wells that are often in various stages of disrepair or were, frankly, irresponsibly abandoned in some cases.”

This commitment not only provides environmental benefits but also checks the social aspects of ESG, Cain said.

Taking charge

When Ted Wurfel was appointed as the vice president of ESG and sustainability with Rockcliff Energy in October 2021, he was tasked with building a department that would continue to expand the company’s ESG program. Within three months, Wurfel appointed two individuals to the team and set some concrete ESG goals for the company.

“One of the key ways that companies can demonstrate their commitment to ESG is to dedicate the necessary resources,” Wurfel told Hart Energy.

“Rockcliff clearly understands the importance of ESG,” he said, adding that the company has developed key performance indicators for 2022 focused on a variety of ESG categories including greenhouse-gas and air emissions reductions, water conservation, employee health and safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, ESG data monitoring and reporting, and cybersecurity.

While stakeholders, investors and local landowners are concerned about ESG and climate change issues and want to understand how the industry is addressing them, Wurfel believes that U.S. shale producers are “very aware” of these concerns and are taking active steps toward achieving ESG goals.

He also noted that the only way for the U.S. oil and gas industry to maintain trust and improve understanding among stakeholders is to be open and transparent about their ESG journey, which involves reporting of metrics, benchmarking with peers and continuous improvement.

“One of the key ways that companies can demonstrate their commitment to ESG is to dedicate the necessary resources.”—Ted Wurfel, Rockcliff Energy

The Houston-based company keeps four rigs and two frac crews busy exploiting 156,000 net acres in the Haynesville where the company has identified more than 1,000 future well sites.

To ensure responsible production across its Haynesville development, the natural gas producer has partnered with Project Canary to deploy an active emissions monitoring system at well pads. Denver-based Project Canary has developed a stringent well-by-well system of monitors that monitors methane emissions and standards of natural gas drillers.

Wurfel explained that by the end of March 2022, active emissions monitoring will be in place for all of Rockcliff’s Haynesville wells, which represents 95% of Rockcliff’s natural gas production, allowing them to monitor facility emissions, set alarms for operations that are outside the normal operating range and provide data to track and trend emissions over time.

Last year Rockcliff hit several ESG milestones, Wurfel said.

“On our completions side, we reduced diesel fuel use by 40% by converting to biofuel engines, and on our drilling side, all four rigs are running biofuel engines,” he added.

Additionally, since the company transports 97% of its produced and flowback water by pipeline, it has reduced the annual truck traffic by roughly 180,000 truckloads or about 3.5 million miles per year.

‘Transformed the industry’

Diversified Energy focuses on acquiring non-core, producing oil and gas assets and investing in them to improve operational and environmental performance, like this eight-well unconventional pad in southwestern Pennsylvania. (Source: Diversified Energy)

With more than $15 million of investments in tackling methane emissions and another $2 million set aside per year for community outreach programs, Diversified Energy CEO and founder Rusty Hutson, Jr. is certain his company is ahead of the curve in its ESG efforts.

He strongly believes that ESG has transformed the U.S. oil and gas industry and is going to impact every aspect of the business moving forward.

“If you want access to capital availability, you need to have a plan in place and show [ESG] progress,” Hutson said.

Established in 2001, Alabama-based Diversified has acquired tens of thousands of mature wells from the region’s biggest shale companies, beating Exxon Mobil to become the largest well owner in the country. The company operates about 69,000 oil and gas wells mainly in the Appalachian region with a heavy focus on natural gas production.

“If not Diversified, then who?” Hutson asked. “If we are not the ones acquiring these wells and making sure we spend capital on maintenance and keeping them in production for as long as we possibly can, then who will?”

He explained that extending the productive life of existing wells lessens the need for drilling and fracking of new wells to meet the country’s energy needs.

Diversified Energy utilizes solar panels to power certain devices on this unconventional natural gas-producing well pad in Pennsylvania. (Source: Diversified Energy)

“We go and acquire wells that are typically three to five years of age,” he said. “We operate the wells more efficiently and enhance production on these wells.”

Doing so is a key part of Diversified’s ESG strategy to keep the wells in production and provide a safe and systematic way to retire them at the end of their economic life.

Being listed on the London stock exchange, Hutson said his company has “zero tolerance” for emissions and calls it the “stepchild in the room.”

He added, “We have no tolerance for methane emissions. Period. If we find emissions, we fix them.”

Last year Diversified announced plans to deploy 500 methane emissions detection devices to its Appalachian upstream field operations team as a part of the company’s broader ESG initiatives. Prior to the announcement, the company had deployed 100 devices across Appalachia and proved to be effective in identifying small emissions for trained well tenders to eliminate at little-to-no incremental cost.

“We have no tolerance for methane emissions. Period. If we find emissions, we fix them.”—Rusty Hutson, Jr., Diversified Energy

The company has also partnered with Bridger Photonics, a provider of methane leak detection technology, to perform multiyear aerial scans of Diversified’s natural gas production and distribution assets starting with the Appalachian region.
Skills, resources amplify ESG

Sentinel Peak Resources CEO Michael Duginski believes that his company is uniquely positioned to address climate change risks because of its vast acreage position and targeted expertise.

The private equity-backed company, focused on acquisition and development of oil and gas assets in California, operates about 94,000 acres of land, out of which the company has dedicated about 1,800 acres to conservation easements and habitat conservation plans. The company also conducts biodiversity impact assessments before operating in new areas to minimize environmental impacts of development.

Additionally, Sentinel Peak has aligned its strategic goals with localized needs, creating an affordable housing development in Los Angeles at the location of a former urban drill site with potential for a second future affordable student housing project in the works at a second urban drill site location that is in the final phases of abandonment, Duginski explained.

In the 500-acre Montebello oil field, located 15 miles west of Los Angeles, Sentinel has worked to redevelop the majority of the former oil field. Construction is underway on 1,200 new housing units serving a wide array of socioeconomic needs, while also offering approximately 270 acres of permanent conservation land and more than 20 acres of new public open space including 11 acres of parks and 9.5 miles of trails.

Sentinel Peak is implementing a three-part plan to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve carbon neutrality for greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030. (Source: Sentinel Peak Resources)

Although California is one of the world’s great oil provinces, it is known for its stringent environmental regulations and policies for fossil fuel production, making oil producers in the region more focused than ever toward ESG goals, Duginski said.

“I don’t think people understand how regulated the business is here compared to the barrels that are produced in the Middle East, South America or Russia.”—Michael Duginski, Sentinel Peak Resources.

“From a regulatory and governance perspective—and this is very important—California crude is the most environmentally sensitive and regulated oil production in the world,” he said. “We report to dozens of regulatory agencies, comply with Assembly and Senate bills in the state of California and submit over 600 regulatory reports per year.”

Explaining the company’s commitment to ESG, Duginski pointed out how Sentinel Peak is actively addressing the risks that climate change poses to the planet and to its business and has been focused on that mission since its inception in 2017.

“I don’t think people understand how regulated the business is here compared to the barrels that are produced in the Middle East, South America or Russia,” he said.

An honoree of Hart Energy’s 2021 ESG Awards in the private E&P category, Sentinel Peak is implementing a three-part plan to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve carbon neutrality for greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 through improved efficiencies, adopting alternative energy sources and deploying new innovative technologies.

“We’re very focused on the intelligent oil field,” Duginski said. “We are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve our efficiencies, which has reduced our emissions dramatically. We have permanently reduced almost 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually through these initiatives.”

He went on to explain how Sentinel Peak is minimizing its water use and impact, and it has made drastic improvements to the community by becoming a net supplier of water to the state of California.

The majority of water that the company uses for its operations comes from non-potable sources, including produced water from its wells. Additionally, since the beginning of last year, Sentinel Peak is providing more freshwater than it consumes through produced water reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration treatment, a process that recycles water to benefit aquatic life and support local habitat.

Additionally, the company is working on new technology for its underground carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project.

“We have partnered with some of the leading agencies specializing in cutting-edge technology and academics to move forward with carbon capture projects and are making significant progress,” Duginski said.

Despite the progress, he noted that there remains significant opportunity for the energy industry to reduce carbon emissions.

“The oil and gas industry is uniquely positioned to help states and countries meet their CO2 reduction goals,” he said. “Think about it. We not only have the engineering, the technology and systems to capture carbon, but we also have the mineral and land resources to physically store carbon permanently underground. And we have geologists and engineers to design those systems and ensure the safety of these storage methods to make a material positive environmental impact of our own operations and consumption of energy but also for a multitude of other industries that emit carbon.”

As demand for oil and gas continues to increase, Duginski stressed that policymakers should embrace the oil and gas industry as both providers of transportation fuel and other products that the world is demanding while also serving as the gateway to global carbon reduction goals through CCS.

THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-myth-of-carbon-capture-and-storage.html

ALSO SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CCS

DISINFORMATION

U.S. dismisses Russian claims of biowarfare labs in Ukraine

Wed, March 9, 2022, 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Wednesday denied renewed Russian accusations that Washington was operating biowarfare labs in Ukraine, calling the claims "laughable" and suggesting Moscow may be laying the groundwork to use a chemical or biological weapon.

Late on Tuesday, Russia repeated its accusation of several years that the United States is working with Ukrainian laboratories to develop biological weapons. Such assertions in Russian media increased in the run-up to Moscow's military move into Ukraine and were made as recently as Wednesday by foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

"The Russian accusations are absurd, they are laughable and you know, in the words of my Irish Catholic grandfather, a bunch of malarkey. There's nothing to it. It's classic Russian propaganda," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.

In a statement, also released on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Russia "is inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, citing what she called Russia's "false claims," wrote on Twitter: "It’s Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons, including in attempted assassinations and poisoning of Putin’s political enemies like Alexey Navalny."

There was no immediate response from the Russian embassy in Washington to the U.S. assertions on Wednesday. Russia has denied carrying out an attack on Navalny.

On Wednesday, Zakharova said Russia had documents showing the Ukrainian health ministry had ordered the destruction of samples of plague, cholera, anthrax and other pathogens before Feb. 24, when Russian forces moved into Ukraine.

Zakharova said the documents unearthed by Russian forces in Ukraine showed "an emergency attempt to erase evidence of military biological programmes" financed by the Pentagon. She provided no further details on the documents.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm her information.

A Ukrainian presidential spokesperson said: "Ukraine strictly denies any such allegation."

Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans. Its laboratories have received support from the United States, European Union and World Health Organization.

The Pentagon's Biological Threat Reduction Program has been working with the Ukrainian government to ensure the security of pathogens and toxins stored in the laboratories. In the midst of similar biowarfare accusations in 2020, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv issued a statement saying its involvement was to ensure "dangerous pathogens do not fall into the wrong hands."

A former U.S. official, who is familiar with the cooperation between Kyiv and Washington, said the United States had helped to convert several Ukrainian laboratories that had been involved in the former Soviet Union's biological weapons program into public health facilities.

(Editing by Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan and Howard Goller)

White House warns Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine

Wed, March 9, 2022

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday warned of the potential for Russia to use chemical weapons in Ukraine after Moscow alleged the United States was housing biological weapons in Ukrainian territory.

Psaki called the claim from Russia "false" and "preposterous," and she warned it could serve as a pretext for the Russians to deploy chemical weapons in their assault on Ukraine.

"It's the kind of disinformation operation we've seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent," Psaki said in a statement.

"Also, Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating. In December, Russia falsely accused the U.S. of deploying contractors with chemical weapons in Ukraine," she continued.

"This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine. Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It's a clear pattern," she said.

Maria Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, claimed Russia discovered evidence of a program to develop anthrax and other biological weapons run by the United States in Ukraine, Reuters reported. She alleged the program was backed by the Pentagon.

"This Russian disinformation is total nonsense and not the first time Russia has invented such false claims against another country," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. "Also, these claims have been debunked conclusively and repeatedly over many years."

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby at a Wednesday briefing called the claims "absurd" and "laughable."

Warnings from the White House that Russia could use chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine come as the Russian military is increasingly targeting civilians and nongovernment buildings.

Ukrainian officials said a Russian strike earlier Wednesday hit a hospital building in the city of Mariupol, including a maternity ward. Videos have circulated of women and children attempting to flee the violence, and hundreds of civilians have died since the invasion began last month.

MISINFORMATION

Russian Agent Maria Butina Claims Ukrainians Are Bombing Themselves

Ryan Bort   Wed, March 9, 2022

Russia Parliament - Credit: Ilya Pitalev/Sputnik/AP Images

Maria Butina, the Russia agent who infiltrated the National Rifle Association and charmed several Republican figures before landing an 18-month prison sentence, has emerged as one of Vladimir Putin’s most vocal advocates as Russian forces continue to wreak havoc on Ukraine and its people. In fact, Butina is so deep in Putin’s propaganda hole that she’s suggesting it’s Ukraine itself, not Russia, laying waste to Ukraine.

“We have tons of evidence that the Russia army does not touch, does not bomb civilian populations,” she told BBC Radio’s Nick Robinson on Wednesday.

The remark came at the end of a tense exchange in which Robinson pressed Butina on whether she believed Ukraine has been bombing itself. “I want to seriously see the evidence that these are Russians,” Butina said before touting Russia’s plan to create “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate people from Ukrainian cities under attack. The corridors, however, lead into Russia and Belarus. “They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” a spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky told Retuers.

“Are you suggesting that the shells that are flattening Ukrainian cities are being fired by Ukrainians?” Robinson asked again.

“I hope not,” Butina said. “I hope no one in the world can bomb their own population. I don’t want to believe in that and I don’t want to believe can torture an orthodox priest, but I talk these people, many of them. It’s un-normal.”

It continued like this, with Butina refusing to offer any evidence or deny that Ukraine is bombing itself.

Butina followed up her claim that Ukraine is bombing itself with a Telegram post arguing that Zelensky is not in Ukraine. “Zelensky in Kyiv? The facts say otherwise,” she wrote, linking to a post citing things like Zelensky’s hairstyle changing as “evidence” that he has fled the nation.

Zelensky has been in Ukraine since the invasion, and even shot a video from his office in Kyiv on Monday night.

Butina was deported from the United States to Russia in 2019 after serving time for working as a Russian agent. She’s now a member of the Russian parliament, and has been using her notoriety to spread disinformation about what’s happening in Ukraine, and to show support for Russia’s aggression.

One of the ways she’s done so is by wearing a “Z,” which began appearing on Russian tanks last month and has since become a symbol of support for the invasion. Butina shot a video of herself drawing a “Z” on her lapel, and her Instagram is filled with “Z” imagery.

“Do your work, brothers,” Butina said in the video, according to The New York Times. “We will always support you.”

Butina is a big fan of the “Z.”

Fracis Scarr, who monitors Russian state TV for the BBC, noted that Butina last month appeared on a Russian talk show to argue that Kyiv shouldn’t be handing out arms to Ukrainians because “people don’t know how to handle them and a child might be killed at home.”

Butina’s comments are ironic considering she founded a Russian nonprofit called Right to Bear Arms before heading to America to cavort with the NRA, which she pleaded guilty to using to create a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia.

Butina’s ability to ingratiate herself with the NRA led to contact with several GOP-affiliated figures. She even claimed to have used her Trumpworld connections in 2016 to help influence Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

She was also friendly with lawmakers like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was one of three Republicans who last week voted against a resolution supporting Ukraine.

Butina isn’t the only red-haired Russian agent standing up in support of the invasion. Anna Chapman, who in 2010 pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges before being deported, is using the “wave of patriotism” the attack has inspired to hawk her clothing brand.

“What a wave of patriotism and faith in our country I have not seen Russian people in my entire life … Thank you for this,” Chapman wrote on Instagram. “On this wave of patriotism, I would like to fill you in on my clothing brand, which I created out of love for my country.”

Biden Administration Might Be Signaling Another Student Loan Freeze

Murjani Rawls
Wed, March 9, 2022,

White House press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

The midterms are fast approaching, and one of the easiest wins the Biden Administration can have in their favor is some form of permanent student loan relief. President Biden has pushed back on canceling up to $50,000 of debt, despite representatives in Congress calling for it to be done.

In December 2021, Biden announced an additional grace period–stating federal student loan payments would resume in May. Now, the administration is dropping hints to another extension impacting millions of borrowers , according to Politico.

Education Department officials have instructed the companies that manage federal student loans to hold off on sending required notices to borrowers about their payments. While the White House has not given an official date, nor did the guidance a concrete one, all signs are pointing to another delay in payments.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain stated in his interview with “Pod Save America” last week that the White House was pondering another delay and deciding whether to use executive action to cancel a certain amount of debt before they resume.

From Politico:

“The Department will continue communicating directly with borrowers about federal student loan repayment by providing clear and timely updates,” an Education Department spokesperson told POLITICO on Tuesday. “The Department’s Federal Student Aid office will also continue communicating regularly with servicers about the type and cadence of servicer outreach to borrowers.”

President Biden noted in his campaign that a minimum of $10,000 per person should be forgiven. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has stated Biden has the power to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt “with a flick of a pen.” Sixteen thousand borrowers have had $415 million in loans erased in terms of defense against for-profit schools like DeVry. According to Forbes, the Biden administration also announced 100,000 student loan borrowers have been identified as qualifying for $6.2 billion in student loan forgiveness in an expanded program for public service workers.

From as far back as October 2021, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stated the administration was looking at how broad an action they could take regarding federal student loans.

Climate change: CO2 emissions at

record high after pandemic dip, IEA finds

Akiko Fujita

·Anchor/Reporter

Tue, March 8, 2022, 

Global carbon dioxide emissions spiked to historic levels in 2021, offsetting the pandemic-induced decline from its previous year, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The 6% growth in CO2 emissions output was largely driven by a dramatic increase in coal usage brought on in part by record high natural gas prices, the IEA analysis found.

The report, which does not include the impact from a rise in energy prices triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights the delicate balance global economies must now face, in addressing a global supply shortage, while pushing for investments in renewable energy to stay in line with broader climate ambitions.

Oil prices climbed to near 14 years-highs this week, as the U.S. and UK announced a ban on Russian oil and gas imports. The European Union, which relies on Russia for roughly 45% of its natural gas needs, said it would reduce imports by two-thirds by the end of the year.

“There are many areas [where] we can take steps which can help to reduce the Russian oil and gas, but at the same time bring us closer to our climate course,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, in an interview with the Financial Times.

The spike in 2021 comes after coronavirus-related restrictions led to the largest annual drop in CO2 emissions in 2020, with a 6% decline. That led to calls for governments to put sustainability at the center of their economic recovery.

But the surge in energy prices brought on by soaring demand, coming out of the pandemic have complicated those ambitions.

Coal accounted for more than 40% of the growth in CO2 emissions, largely because the cost of operating coal power plants were "considerably lower" that those of gas power plants for much of 2021.

“Gas-to-coal switching pushed up global CO2 emissions from electricity generation by well over 100 million tonnes, notably in the United States and Europe where competition between gas and coal power plants is tightest,” the report said.

China led all nations in CO2 emissions growth, led by a sharp increase in electricity demand that relied heavily on coal power. Electricity demand in China grew by 10% in 2021, the largest ever experienced in China.

The sobering report comes just months after world leaders gathered in Glasgow to reaffirm their commitment to curb harmful emissions to maintain the Paris climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius by the middle of the century. While the pact stopped short of calls to eliminate the use of coal altogether, it called for a “phase down,” under pressure from India and China.

Even with a rebound in fossil fuel usage, the IEA said clean energy continued to gain market share. Renewable energy sources and nuclear power contributed to a higher share of global electricity generation than coal, the report said. Renewables-based generation reached a record high, while output from wind and solar energy also increased.

Russian steel billionaire calls the invasion of Ukraine 'a huge tragedy that is impossible to justify'

Grace Kay

Wed, March 9, 2022, 

Russian billionaire and businessman Vladimir Lisin attends the congress of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, Russia on March, 19, 2015Sasha Mordovets/Getty

• Vladimir Lisin said in a letter to steelworkers he hoped Putin could find a diplomatic resolution.

• The steel tycoon wrote that the death of people in Ukraine is a tragedy that it is "impossible to justify."

• Lisin is the 81st richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.

Russian oligarch Vladimir Lisin has called for a peaceful resolution to the attack on Ukraine.

Lisin, the chairman and main shareholder of one of the largest steelmakers in Russia, sent a letter along with the board of directors to his staff at Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) saying that he was hopeful that the war could end soon and calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a diplomatic outcome. Reuters first reported the letter.

An NLMK spokesperson confirmed the letter with Insider.

"I would like to begin by expressing my deepest compassion to all the victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine, the families and relatives of those who died," Lisin wrote. "Lost lives are always a huge tragedy that is impossible to justify. I am convinced that peaceful diplomatic conflict resolution is always preferable to the use of force."

Lisin is one of Russia's richest men and is the 81st richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. The steel tycoon is currently worth about $19.1 billion in US dollars. His wealth is down over $5 billion since Russia began invading Ukraine, according to the index.

Thus far, the Russian billionaire has been able to avoid sanctions, but the UK is eyeing sanctions on his 3,000-acre 17th-century Aberuchill Castle in Scotland, according to a report from BBC.

The oligarch is one of a handful of Russian billionaires to speak out against the invasion into Ukraine. Last week, Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska spoke out in protest of the attack, calling for peaceful negotiations between the two countries.

Russia's wealthiest have not been immune to the impact of sanctions from Western countries. Sanctions targeting Russia's economy and financial systems have cut into their net worth. Meanwhile, the US, Canada, and European nations have also moved to take direct aim at the Russian oligarchs by seizing their Western assets.

One day after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's 22 richest individuals lost a combined $39 billion. Since then, Russia's currency has plummeted to historic lows and brought the nation to the brink of default.

Biden Enlists Consumers to Put Squeeze on Russia’s Economy



Saleha Mohsin
Wed, March 9, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is leaning on American consumers to help pay the price of its rapidly intensifying economic pressure campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House’s announcement Tuesday to ban U.S. imports of Russian fossil fuels marked the latest move against Russia. It also made for another way for the war in Ukraine to affect Americans at filling stations and grocery-store checkout lines.

U.S. gasoline prices hit a record high on Tuesday, according to AAA, with the average price of regular unleaded at $4.17, up 55 cents in just a week and driven by global oil prices surging to their highest levels since 2008.

The U.S. campaign carries some political peril for President Joe Biden as Democrats head into November midterm elections with control of Congress at stake and Republicans already seeking to saddle his party with blame for inflation, especially rising energy prices.

Biden acknowledged the ban on Russian oil is a decision that “is not without cost here at home.” He said it was “Putin’s war” that was hitting American consumers, and vowed to mitigate the consequences.

U.S. officials are in talks with counterparts in Venezuela as they consider waiving some sanctions, which would allow the South American nation to sell more oil on global markets. Such a step would mark a softening in the U.S.’s stance toward a regime it has previously called corrupt and undemocratic.

Back at home, the Biden administration has stopped short of directly asking U.S. energy producers to boost production to ease the pain Americans are facing at gas stations.

“It takes time to meet demand,” Wally Adeyemo, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury, said on Tuesday -- indicating consumers should be braced for higher prices for now. “These high costs aren’t something that only impacts Americans,” he said, adding that much of the global economy is gripped by inflation.

Adeyemo highlighted that American consumers have so far been resilient amid the spike in inflation.

“What’s impressed me about the American people is that they have shown they are willing to pay a price to protect democracy,” he said in an interview.

But it’s not certain how long that will last.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a feverish run-up in the prices of just about every commodity -- from oil to grains and metals -- and that will inflict even more financial pain on consumers already struggling with rampant inflation.

The U.S. relies on Russia and Ukraine for key energy and agricultural products. The two nations’ combined wheat, barley and maize exports make up 21% of the global total, and their supply of sunflower oils account for 60%. Wheat prices hit an all-time high on Tuesday. An unprecedented surge in nickel saw the London Metal Exchange suspend trading.

Oil prices hovered around $128 a barrel as investors price in risks of total economic isolation for Russia. Bloomberg Economics estimates that, at $120 a barrel for crude, inflation could accelerate to an annual 9% by April, and end the year near 7%.

“There’s no question that the U.S., at some point, will need to decide how much economic cost we’re willing to shoulder in exchange for imposing those costs on the Russians,” said Dan Katz, a former adviser at the Treasury during the Trump administration who is now at Amberwave Partners.

A March 7 Quinnipiac University poll found that 71% of Americans would support a ban on Russian crude oil, even if it means higher U.S. prices at the pump. But the survey didn’t ask respondents about specific prices they’d be willing to tolerate.

The spike in prices will be a backdrop for midterm elections in November, likely hurting the Democratic Party’s chances of keeping control of Congress. Inflation has colored Americans’ view on where the nation is heading, with consumer sentiment at its lowest level since 2011.

Soaring costs, though, have hidden the powerful jobs recovery from the depths of the pandemic shutdowns. Unemployment has fallen to 3.8%, well below the 6.4% average of the last economic expansion. Households also benefited from a historic expansion in federal support for families, with stimulus checks and enlarged child-tax credit payouts.

Much of that comes from the American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed into law one year ago.

Federal Help

On a Tuesday trip to Memphis, Tennessee, Adeyemo celebrated the one-year anniversary of that rescue package, which he credited with ensuring that the U.S. economy and its consumers are in a “position of strength.”

“When we look at our peers, our recovery is stronger than theirs because we made strong investments,” Adeyemo said.

Adeyemo spent the day in Memphis meeting with city and county officials who he said created the “strongest” program to distribute federal funds, providing $43.1 million in 16,000 cash payments to residents and landlords, helping tenants pay rent and avoid eviction.

More than $25 billion from Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program has been spent or earmarked. The remaining portion of the $46 billion pandemic-relief initiative will be distributed by mid-2022, according to Adeyemo. In meetings with Tennessee officials, Adeyemo highlighted that the Biden administration has approved leftover funds from the $350 billion State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund can be used to invest in more affordable housing.

The support for households in that legislation may help insulate the economy from the geopolitical crisis and reduce the risk of a recession.

“The hit to consumers’ wallets from the run-up in gasoline prices will be noticeable -- but not come close to killing the expansion,” according to Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont.