Germany abolishes Nazi-era 

abortion law

Bundestag session in Berlin\Fri, June 24, 2022

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany on Friday abolished a Nazi-era law forbidding doctors from providing information about abortions.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament voted to scrap the law, meaning doctors are now allowed to give out additional information about abortions without fear of prosecution.

Under the law, doctors in Germany had been allowed to say that they offered termination of pregnancies but they were not allowed to give any further details on the procedures involved.

Technically, abortion is illegal altogether in Germany. However, it is allowed under certain circumstances, and the procedure must be performed within 12 weeks of conception.

"For almost a century, doctors have been forbidden and punishable by penalty from providing factual information about methods and possible risks to women who are considering terminating a pregnancy," Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said in a statement.

"Today, this time of distrust in women and distrust in doctors is coming to an end."

Any criminal court sentences handed down based on the law since October 1990 will also be repealed, and any ongoing proceedings will be discontinued.

The new government had laid out its plans to eliminate the law in the coalition agreement signed in November.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Germany moves to reform abortion law

The government is following through on its pledge to decriminalize abortion. Officials plan to abolish a law that subjects doctors who publish information on abortion procedures to prosecution.

Women in Germany have been protesting for abortion to be decriminalized

"I really struggled to find information online," said Verena, who was 22 when she found herself dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. "There was no easy way to find out which doctors perform abortions, where they are or how the procedure is performed."

Abortion is illegal in Germany and punishable by up to three years in prison. But the women and their doctors do not face penalties if the pregnancy poses a health risk to the woman or in cases of rape. Otherwise, an abortion may be carried out within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (14 weeks since the last period) after mandatory counseling. However, many barriers remain.

One of the biggest hurdles to obtaining an abortion in Germany was paragraph 219a of the criminal code, which has its origins in Nazi-era social policy. It stated that anyone who publicly "offers, announces [or] advertises" abortion services can face penalties of up to two years' imprisonment or a fine.

Gynecologist Kristina Hänel was found guilty of 'advertising' abortions under §219a

Although a reform three years ago allowed doctors to state that they perform the procedure on their websites, they were still banned from giving medical detail. 

But on Friday, Germany's coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats and Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats pushed the motion to scrap 219a through parliament.

Under 219a, Kristina Hänel, a gynecologist in the western German city of Giessen who has performed abortions for 30 years, was sentenced in 2017 to pay a fine of €6,000 ($6,926) for offering abortion services on her website. The case triggered a heated debate in the country.

"If 219a is scrapped now, Germany takes a step in the right direction of providing information for patients," Hänel told DW ahead of the decision.

Abortions don't have to involve surgery — many can be done with medication

Five years ago, Verena found that the lack of readily available information meant hours of fruitless searching before calling a local clinic, where she was cryptically told to get in touch with one of three doctors in her area. But then she found there was no way to get information such as: are these doctors well-rated by fellow patients? What is the difference between a medical and surgical abortion? What is the after-care process like, and what are the possible side effects?

"When you Google abortion, you're taken to websites that warn you you'll definitely be depressed, traumatized and infertile. That isn't medical advice — it just makes you feel like the worst person in the world," she said, emphasizing the emotional toll of seeking even the most basic information.

Verena said she had no idea about the many hurdles to abortion until she sought one herself

Jana Maeffert, a gynecologist with the reproductive rights organization Doctors for Choice Germany, said the dearth of information could create dire circumstances for patients, who may find out too late that a clinic doesn't offer what they are looking for. For example, doctors cannot state on their website "whether they offer medical or surgical abortions or both. They can't say that you only operate until the 10th week of pregnancy, so a woman might drive all the way to your practice only to find out she cannot obtain an abortion there anymore," because she has already passed that point in her pregnancy.

Jana Maeffert is a gynecologist with a reproductive rights organization

Less access to abortion

To perform an abortion, the doctor needs to see a certificate proving that the pregnant woman has undergone counseling at least three days prior in a state-approved counseling center. There are numerous organizations offering counseling, during which the woman is informed of her options, where she might find additional psychological and financial help if she decides to have the baby or how to go about adoption.

Verena said getting an appointment for the mandatory counseling was nearly impossible. She recalled making call after call. This can turn out to be so time-consuming that it risks taking the pregnant woman over the line of her first trimester.

Finding a counseling appointment and a doctor is far from a given for many German women. Since 2003, the number of doctors willing to perform an abortion in Germany has tumbled by 40% — there are now only 1,200 practices in the country where a woman can legally obtain one, down from 2,000 some 20 years ago.

"In Germany, abortion is a taboo topic. For patients, and for doctors, too," said Maeffert. "If you practice medicine in a small town, you may well decide not to offer pregnancy termination because then you're labeled the 'abortion doctor' in your small community."

"Only one in 10 gynecologists in Germany performs abortions," Maeffert said, "not necessarily because they're against it, but because the barriers are so high."

Some patients, Maeffert said, "must travel 150 kilometers" (90 miles) to find a doctor, especially in rural and Catholic regions such as Bavaria. But, even in some major cities, the situation is critical. According to local media reports, in Stuttgart, not a single hospital offers abortions. In the city of Münster, the last doctor who offered pregnancy termination went into retirement in 2019.

Abortion rates at 25-year low

As the number of practices providing legal abortions has dwindled, fewer and fewer women have gotten one. The year 2021 saw the lowest rate of abortions in Germany since 1996, the first year statistics were collected on the subject. According to the Federal Statistical Office, some 94,000 abortions were carried out in 2021, a decrease in 5.4% on the previous year and part of a decadelong downward trend.

Meanwhile, doctors who perform abortions in Germany have begun to face the onslaught of active anti-choice activists who protest outside clinics, hold marches across major cities, send hate mail and take to social media with aggressive comments.

Maeffert, in Berlin, said she herself had not yet experienced such attacks. "But, for example, in parts of Bavaria ... protesters stand in front of the clinic all the time. ... It's horrible for the patients and the doctors," she said.

Political will for change

Some medical students have taken matters into their own hands, and have found creative ways to get the relevant training on how to perform the procedure. The so-called "Papaya Workshops," for example, use the fruit as a model for the female reproductive system.

While attending such a workshop is not sufficient for a doctor to be certified to perform surgical abortions, it closes a gap in German medical education, where students say that abortion is "discussed for 10 minutes, if at all," according to the advocacy group Medical Students for Choice.

According to Berlin's public broadcaster, rbb, the workshops are fully booked. One participant told rbb that she felt the workshop had given her "a better idea of how the procedure goes, what tools you use. I had imagined it as being a lot harder. I'm not so scared of it now."

Some doctors in Germany are also now prescribing the pills needed for medical abortion in a telemedicine project where the pregnant person takes medications at home under supervision by a doctor to induce a miscarriage and negate the need for surgery. This is not to be confused with the morning-after pill, which has been freely available in Germany since 2015.

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg

AMERIKA GET READY

Woman who had miscarriage in Malta taken to Spain to abort

FRANCISCO UBILLA
Fri, June 24, 2022, 

Andrea Prudente, 38, who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta lies in her bed at the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta, comforted by her partner Jay Weeldreyer, left, Thursday, June 23, 2022. Prudente will be airlifted to a Spanish island on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman's partner said. (Jay Weeldreyer via AP)

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) — A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta was receiving treatment Friday in a hospital on the Spanish island of Mallorca because Maltese law prohibits abortion, the woman’s partner said.

Jay Weeldreyer told The Associated Press that doctors at the Son Espases University Hospital in Palma de Mallorca were preparing his partner, Andrea Prudente, for a procedure to remove the remaining fetal tissue because she was at risk of a life-threatening infection.

A medical evacuation flight transported the couple from Malta to Mallorca late Thursday.

Prudente, 38, experienced heavy bleeding on June 12, followed by a premature rupture of the amniotic sac and the separation of the placenta, Weeldreyer, 45, told The AP on Thursday.

The Malta hospital where she was treated carefully monitored her for any sign of infection but it could not perform the surgery to complete the miscarriage, he said.

Malta is the only European Union member nation that outlaws abortions for any reason.

The couple from Issaquah, Washington, a town near Seattle, arrived in Malta on June 5 for what they had planned as a “babymoon” vacation. A week into the trip, Prudente started bleeding and they encountered the “worst of all possible worlds, where there is no good choice,” Weeldreyer said. He indicated she was 16 weeks pregnant at the time.

Under Spanish law, abortion is permitted upon request through the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd week when a woman’s life or health is in danger.

The Women’s Rights Foundation in Malta filed a legal protest in court last week that demanded the legalization of abortion in the tiny island nation.

Woman who had miscarriage on Malta trip can’t get abortion

By FRANCES D'EMILIO

Andrea Prudente, 38, who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta is seen with her partner Jay Weeldreyer, right, in this undated photo taken in Deception Pass, WA, provided by the couple on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Prudente will be airlifted to a Spanish island on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman's partner said. (Jay Weeldreyer via AP)

ROME (AP) — A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta will be airlifted to a Spanish island on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman’s partner said.

Jay Weeldreyer told The Associated Press by phone from a hospital in the island nation that his partner, Andrea Prudente, is at risk of a life-threatening infection if the fetal tissue isn’t promptly removed.

Prudente, 38, experienced heavy bleeding on June 12, followed by a premature rupture of the amniotic sac and the separation of the placenta, according to Weeldreyer, 45. While the hospital is carefully monitoring her for any sign of infection, the facility cannot perform the surgery to complete the miscarriage, he said.

Malta is the only European Union member nation that outlaws abortions for any reason.

Contacted by The AP, Mater Dei Hospital, where Prudente is being treated, said it wasn’t allowed to give out patient information due to privacy regulations.

“The miscarriage is 80% complete,″ Weeldreyer said. ”Her waters are broken, the placenta has separated, but because of a (fetal) heartbeat,” the fetus cannot be removed, he said

In separate comments to other news outlets, the couple described the placenta as being partially detached.

The couple from Issaquah, Washington, a town near Seattle, arrived in Malta on June 5 for a long-awaited vacation. Prudente started bleeding and was hospitalized a week later, her partner said. He indicated she was 16 weeks pregnant when the bleeding began.

Along with worrying about the infection risk, the two fear Prudente might resume hemorrhaging during the medical evacuation flight they have arranged for Thursday evening to take them to Mallorca.

Like Malta, Mallorca is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Originally, the couple aimed for a medical evacuation to Britain, but were told flying the longer distance was too risky.

“That entire time that you’re traveling, if anything goes wrong, it could end up being catastrophic,” Weeldreyer said in a subsequent, video interview with AP. “So our choices are, effectively: stay in Malta and be exposed to the risk of catastrophic and unstoppable infection that could set in at any point in time or take this risk in travel where you might bleed out.”

What had started out on what the couple thought would be a “babymoon” vacation was transformed into that dilemma, the “worst of all possible worlds where there is no good choice,” said Weeldreyer.

According to their plans, an ambulance will take Prudente to Malta’s airport. After the flight arrives in Mallorca, another ambulance will whisk her to a hospital that told the couple it could provide the care she needs.

Under Spanish law, abortion is permitted upon request through the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd week when a woman’s life or health is in danger.

Malta’s Mater Dei Hospital “has done a good job within the realm of what they are allowed to do” under that country’s law, Weeldreyer said. His partner is receiving antibiotics and being closely monitored for signs of infection, he said

The Women’s Rights Foundation in Malta filed a legal protest in court last week that demanded the legalization of abortion in the tiny island nation.

Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, an activist with the foundation, said abortion rights supporters in Malta have closely monitored the situation in the United States. Some states have enacted laws severely limiting or outlawing abortion that could be triggered if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized an individual’s right to choose abortion.

“We (in Malta) can’t be any worse, as we have a total ban, but we’re starting to see situations like in Poland and now America, where there is a reversal of laws, a stripping of women’s own bodily autonomy, that is heartrending,″ Dimitrijevic said in a phone interview.

Poland, like Malta a traditionally Catholic country, tightened its abortion law in 2020.

The lawyer described the Washington state couple as ”very brave to go public with this.” Since their case was publicized in Maltese media, “more women are coming forward to speak of their experience or that of family members.”

On Wednesday, an anti-abortion group in Malta, Doctors for Life, issued a statement on the Prudente case, saying it “firmly believes that the life of the mother always needs to be protected.”

It said that in similar cases, “careful assessment is made to assess the severity of the condition” and that if serious bleeding or infection occurs, “then the uterus is always evacuated” upon consultation with two experts.

If delivery is deemed necessary, “then this is done, even if the fetus is too young to survive outside the womb,″ the organization said, defending Malta’s abortion policy.

Earlier this year, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner said Malta’s blanket ban on abortion puts women’s rights at “significant risk” and urged the nation’s authorities to repeal provisions that make abortion a crime.

___

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, and Trisha Thomas in Rome contributed to this article.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220624-us-supreme-court-strikes-down-constitutional-right-to-abortion

 

US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, states can ban abortion

The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday's outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani reports from Washington.

A post-Roe v. Wade America: Supreme Court overturns abortion rights landmark

The US Supreme Court on Friday took the dramatic step of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide, handing a momentous victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who want to limit or ban the procedure.

U.S. congressional panel calls for new trading rules after 'meme-stock' saga

© Reuters/ANDREW KELLYFILE PHOTO: A monitor displays stock market information on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City

By Katanga Johnson and John McCrank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wall Street regulators need to do more to address market risks highlighted by the "meme-stock" trading frenzy of January 2021 that pitted individual investors in GameStop Corp against powerful hedge funds, a congressional report said Friday.

The report by the U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee singled out Robinhood's trading app for "troubling business practices" and said regulators need to step up scrutiny of the company.

The report also called for new brokerage liquidity rules and for regulators to hasten a crackdown on the "gameification" of trading, game-like features that prompt users to trade more.

"The meme stock saga has raised questions about how retail trading market infrastructure currently operates and whether it is appropriately designed and regulated," the report said.

Meme stock trading is still happening, with cosmetic company Revlon Inc the latest example.

The report, which was prepared following hearings in February 2021, analyzed how money was made and lost so quickly when GameStop shares surged more than 1,600% in January that year, then collapsed. It will increase pressure on regulators to prioritize the proposed fixes.

During the GameStop episode, retail investors banded together in online forums to push up the stock's price and force hedge funds that had bet against it, known as short selling, to unwind their trades.

The panel did not cast blame but instead proposed tightening regulatory gaps. The report called for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street's self-funded watchdog, to craft new rules to address what it called "a culture that prioritizes growth above stability."

Specifically, the panel recommends the SEC introduce a liquidity rule for clearing brokers, and for FINRA to establish a framework governing liquidity planning for clearing brokers, rather than current voluntary guidance.

Both FINRA and the SEC, which have stepped up scrutiny of "gameification," should also bolster regulations curbing the extension of margin trading to customers, the report said.

The panel also recommends that brokers that execute above a certain threshold of retail orders connect to a public market like NYSE or Nasdaq, rather than sending orders to wholesale market makers for a fee, a practice known as payment-for-order flow (PFOF), as Robinhood had been during the GameStop saga.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose agency also last year issued a report https://www.sec.gov/page/sec-staff-release-gamestop-report#:~:text=The%20Securities%20and%20Exchange%20Commission,several%20questions%20about%20market%20structure on the GameStop saga, has said the agency would address gameification, PFOF and short selling disclosures, among other issues.

He recently unveiled a planned overhaul of trading rules that aim to ensure mom-and-pop investors get the best deal.

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson and John McCrank; Editing by Megan Davies and Jonathan Oatis)

The SEC is trying to reshape the US stock market - but that could mean retail investors will have to start paying fees on trades again


Carla Mozée
June 11, 2022

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.Alex Wong/Getty Images

Proposed changes to market-structure rules could lead to retail investors paying commissions on trades again.

SEC Chairman Gensler Gensler is proposing the agency consider sending retail stock orders to auctions.

The payment for order flow system is back under scrutiny.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is aiming to shake up the mechanics of US stock trading in the wake of last year's meme-stock frenzy, and some experts in the markets say changes could lead to a shift back to retail investors paying commissions to make trades.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler in a speech this week outlined six areas of market structure where rules could be updated to foster greater efficiencies, particularly for retail investors. Gensler is proposing the agency consider sending retail stock orders to auctions under which trading firms would compete to execute the transactions to ensure investors receive the best prices.

Such a move could alter the payment for order flow system, or PFOF, under which brokerage firms including Robinhood, TDAmeritrade, and E-Trade are compensated for sending customers' orders to market makers rather than sending them directly to an exchange. Among the biggest market makers are Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial. PFOF supports zero-commission trading at online brokers that serve amateur investors.

A significant PFOF change "may reset the entire playing field and cost individual investors more money because we'll have to go back to some sort of commission model," Sean Bonner, CEO of Guild Financial, a self-direct investment app that focuses on active and retired members of the military, told Insider. Guild, an early-stage business, doesn't use the payment for order flow system.

"I can guarantee you that commission model will be much higher than the rebates paying the payment for order flow — much higher, by a factor of 10s to 100s," said Bonner, who has more than 20 years of experience on Wall Street from floor trading to working as a mutual fund manager. "Retail investors are saving billions of dollars a year on the current payment for order flow model."

Major wholesalers such as Citadel, Virtu, G1X and Two Sigma provided $6.1 billion in price improvements in 2020 and 2021 combined, said BrokerChooser, based on its analysis.

Zero-commission trading in recent years has fueled a boom in activity among individual investors who no longer had to pay their brokers as much as $6.95 for each trade.

Proposed changes to shake up rules in the US stock market was met with criticism from Robinhood's chief legal officer Dan Gallagher this week. "It is a really good climate for retail, so to go in and muck with it right now, to me, is a little worrisome," Gallagher said at a conference in New York, according to The Wall Street Journal. Retail traders are benefitting from zero-commission transactions and fast execution of trades, he said.

Following last year's meme-stock frenzy, Gensler last year asked the SEC to review rules related to equity-market structure, including payment for order flow.

PFOF is banned in some countries. Gensler isn't proposing a ban but such a move would make it "almost inevitable" that retail investors return to a commission-based system, Kerim Derhalli, founder and CEO of investment app Invstr, told Insider.

"I don't think anyone is going to be willing to provide brokerage services on their own without having some form of revenue associated with it," he said. The Invstr app has 3 million users worldwide and the company doesn't use the PFOF system.

"If we return to a commission structure then you could argue that might discourage people from trading as frequently as they have been trading. You could, on the other hand, argue that if people start trading less, and investing more, they'll be better off," over the long term, he said.

"What would seem to be a simple solution would be [for Gensler] to say, 'We're going to make PFOF illegal and … retail trading needs to go through the exchange where it's transparent and the prices are transparent and people can have confidence in the system," said Derhalli.

Bonner at Guild said overall he sees a ban on PFOF hurting retailer traders. "To be honest, a lot of brokers would hope that they get rid of this payment for order flow model and get back to charging for commissions because there's a lot more revenue for the brokers in that."

Chimerix gets up to $25.3 mln contract from Canada for smallpox drug


June 24 (Reuters) - Chimerix Inc said on Friday it had been awarded a contract worth up to $25.3 million by Canada for its smallpox drug, likely to used to treat monkeypox as the viral infection spreads across the world.

There have been more than 3,200 confirmed cases of monkeypox and one death reported in the last six weeks from 48 countries where it does not usually spread, according to the World Health Organization.

The contract, awarded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, comes a day after Chimerix announced an order worth $9.3 million for the smallpox drug, Tembexa.

"This second international procurement contract highlights Tembexa's important role as a medical countermeasure and the need to have these types of medicines in strategic stockpiles for all age groups," said Chief Executive Officer Mike Sherman.

Chimerix, which in May agreed to sell the rights of the drug to Emergent BioSolutions, said the contracts are expected to be completed before the sale goes through. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Texas repeatedly raises pollution limits for Cheniere LNG plant

Air quality problems dog Cheniere Texas LNG facility

Fri, June 24, 2022, 
By Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici

PORTLAND, Texas (Reuters) - Cheniere, the largest U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas, boasts that it’s helping to “improve local air quality in communities globally” because the cleaner burning fuel it ships displaces coal in power plants.

But in the Corpus Christi, Texas region, where the fuel is prepared for shipment, the company is making air quality worse -with the consent of state regulators.

Cheniere’s massive LNG plant, on the outskirts of the Gulf Coast city, has exceeded its permitted limits for emissions of pollutants such as soot, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) hundreds of times since it started up in 2018, according to a Reuters review of regulatory documents.

Instead of levying penalties for such violations, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has responded by granting Cheniere big increases in the plant’s pollution limits, the documents show. The facility is now allowed to chuff out some 353 tons per year of VOCs, double the limit set out in its original permit eight years ago. The state raised limits on four other pollutants by more than more than 40%.

The issue has infuriated nearby residents who cite the frequency of large flares, used to burn off excess gas to relieve pressure, and evidence that local air quality has deteriorated significantly since the facility’s start-up. They have petitioned the state to crack down on the plant’s pollution rather than allowing it to emit more.

Texas regulators have acknowledged the plant's impact on the local air quality: In its annual enforcement report for fiscal year 2019, the agency blamed the Corpus Christi region’s 83% increase in emissions from the prior year in part on the startup of the Cheniere facility.

Cheniere said in a statement to Reuters that it had initially underestimated emissions from the plant because it was required to apply for the original permit before its engineering work was completed. The company said its design and equipment adhere to federal standards requiring the "best available control technology" to limit pollution.

When actual emissions exceeded those estimates, Cheniere sought amendments from regulators to "reconcile" the higher pollution with its early assumptions, the company said.

The plant could not run consistently and efficiently under the lower pollution limits, which would require frequent shutdowns, plant general manager Ari Aziz said in an interview.

The emissions from Cheniere’s Corpus Christi LNG facility highlights a broader danger of surging air pollution as the United States and other nations seek to expand U.S. gas exports. LNG facilities are substantial polluters, and regulation will be key to ensuring their emissions don’t pose big health problems for residents near the plants.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden views expanding the LNG industry as a key tool for helping Europe reduce its energy dependence on Russia, which has been aggressively sanctioned by Western nations since invading Ukraine in February. The LNG expansion policy, however, could undermine the administration’s promises to combat climate change and provide cleaner air to communities living near industrial sites.

Biden's Energy Department said in a statement to Reuters that expanding LNG to address global energy shortages "must be balanced" with the fossil fuel's environmental impacts. The administration said it supports research into technologies that will mitigate such impacts "in a just and sustainable way," without specifying any particular technology.

U.S. LNG export capacity is on track to soar by 40% in the next two years, according to the Department of Energy, with companies including Cheniere, Freeport LNG, and Sempra LNG eyeing new projects and big expansions.

“They tell us we need to export more, we need to help our friends in Europe. But what about us?” said Elida Castillo, director of Chispa Texas, an organization representing the low-income, mostly Hispanic communities of Gregory and Taft, near the terminal. “We're the ones who are left to suffer with all the pollution.”

VIOLATIONS, BUT NO PENALTIES

In July of last year, the TCEQ opened an enforcement probe into the Corpus Christi facility following 293 instances in 2020 when plant emissions exceeded permitted limits. The excess pollution resulted in 19 violations that the agency investigated for potential enforcement. All were resolved without penalties on the company.

The probe found, for instance, that the facility's condensate tank, where compounds removed from natural gas are stored, emitted more than two and a half times its allowable level of VOCs for a period of 13 months. The chemicals, which can include compounds like benzene, ethylene, toluene and formaldehyde, are removed from natural gas during the liquefaction process and can cause a range of health effects from eye irritation to cancer.

According to state records, the violation began in October 2019 and ended in November of 2020 when TCEQ officials granted Cheniere's request to be able to emit more pollution. That permit amendment also resolved two other violations, for exceeding, on several occasions, the hourly limits of VOCs and carbon monoxide emitted from gas flares, an enforcement document showed.

A TCEQ spokesperson said changing the plant’s permitted pollution limits was "an acceptable resolution" because Cheniere could demonstrate that those increases in emissions have not put the Corpus Christi area’s air quality in violation of federal standards.

The U.S. Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards impose limits on the amount of pollution in a given area and restrict further industrial development only when pollution levels exceed those limits.

The amendment stands out as an extraordinary accommodation of an industrial polluter at the expense of air quality for local residents, said Wilma Subra, a Louisiana-based environmental scientist and president of the environmental consulting firm Subra Company, who reviewed the Reuters reporting. Subra said Texas regulators are essentially telling Cheniere: If you can’t meet clean0air standards, “we would be glad to help.”

The TCEQ has granted the Cheniere plant two additional amendments that raised pollution limits and is considering a third.

The Cheniere plant is regulated as a major pollution source under federal law because it emits more than 250 tons of pollution. The designation requires the plant to demonstrate that it uses state-of-the-art pollution controls, but specific limits are left up to state regulators.

Kelly Haragan, an environmental law professor at the University of Texas law school, said that the pattern of adjusting emissions limits higher to resolve pollution violations at Cheniere raised questions about whether the facility was indeed using the most reliable emissions control technology.

Cheniere said it was complying with the regulation.

Residents near the Cheniere plant worry about the health effects of the area’s expanding industrial sector.

“They shouldn't be granted permits that just allow the emissions to keep going up,” said Jennifer Hillard, an architect whose home in the waterfront town of Ingleside on the Bay faces the LNG tankers coming in and out of the Cheniere plant. “What is the impact of these types of deviations? … Does anyone know? Is anyone watching?”

Encarnacion Serna, a retired chemical engineer whose home in Portland’s East Cliff neighborhood is less than 3,000 feet from the Cheniere terminal, said a massive flaring event there last month created “unbearable heat and glare” that forced him to send his visiting grandkids to another relative’s house further away.

Serna, 70, has already filed three complaints with concerned neighbors against Cheniere this year in response to large flaring events. “We are defending our communities from being obliterated,” he said.

Serna and other residents of Portland, Gregory and Ingleside will challenge the latest Cheniere air permit application at a contested case hearing on June 30.

Cheniere is currently seeking even higher limits on its carbon monoxide and VOC emissions at the Corpus Christi facility, according to regulatory documents, citing the presence of more impurities in its natural gas stream than it initially expected.

Longer-term, Cheniere has launched a major expansion of the plant. The TCEQ has already approved the necessary air permits.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Brian Thevenot)

United Airlines pilot union votes to approve two-year deal with airline


 A United Airlines passenger jet lands at Newark Liberty International Airport

(Reuters) - United Airlines Holdings Inc's pilot union on Friday approved a tentative deal that would give pilots over 14% in pay raise in the next 18 months when calculated from beginning of the year.

The union represents about 14,000 pilots.

Fri, June 24, 2022

British Airways workers vote to strike in pay dispute

Alan Jones
Thu, June 23, 2022

BA staff have voted to strike (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)

British Airways workers based at Heathrow have voted to strike in a dispute over pay.

Members of the GMB and Unite backed industrial action.

The unions said holidaymakers face disruption, warning of a summer of strikes.

Workers, including check-in staff, will now decide on strike dates, which the union said were likely to be held during the peak summer holiday period.

Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said: “With grim predictability, holidaymakers face massive disruption thanks to the pig-headedness of British Airways.

“BA have tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10% one-off bonus payment, but this doesn’t cut the mustard.

“Our members need to be reinstated the 10% they had stolen from them last year with full back pay and the 10% bonus which other colleagues have been paid.

It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed

Nadine Houghton

“GMB members at Heathrow have suffered untold abuse as they deal with the travel chaos caused by staff shortages and IT failures.

“At the same time, they’ve had their pay slashed during BA’s callous fire and rehire policy.

“What did BA think was going to happen?

“It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed.

“Do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud.”

Strike action would only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports

No 10 spokesperson

Asked whether she would book a BA flight over the next few months, Ms Houghton told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “Not at this stage”.

Unite national officer for aviation Oliver Richardson said: “The problems British Airways is facing are entirely of its own making.

“It brutally cut jobs and pay during the pandemic even though the Government was paying them to save jobs.

“In the case of this dispute, they have insulted this workforce, slashing pay by 10% only to restore it to managers but not to our members.

“BA is treating its loyal workforce as second class citizens and they will not put up with it a moment longer.

“Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption to BA’s services at Heathrow.

“The company has a short window of opportunity to reinstate our members’ pay before strikes are called. I urge BA not to squander that opportunity.”

Downing Street said strike action would add to passengers’ “misery” at airports and called for BA to put contingency measures in place.

A No 10 spokesman said: “This is obviously a matter for British Airways and the unions and we would strongly encourage both to come together to find a settlement.

“We don’t want to see any further disruption for passengers and strike action would only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports.

“DfT (Department for Transport) will obviously work closely to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place and we expect BA to put in place contingency measures to ensure that as little disruption is caused, and that where there is disruption that passengers can be refunded”.

Members of the GMB voted by 91% in favour of industrial action while Unite said 94% of its members backed action.

A BA statement said: “We’re extremely disappointed with the result and that the unions have chosen to take this course of action.

“Despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn, we made an offer of a 10% payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.

“We are fully committed to work together to find a solution, because to deliver for our customers and rebuild our business we have to work as a team.

“We will of course keep our customers updated about what this means for them as the situation evolves.”

A IS FOR

San Diego Zoo welcomes 1st aardvark birth in years

June 16, 2022

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An aardvark cub born at the San Diego Zoo is doing well and developing quickly, according to wildlife specialists.

The female cub was born May 10 and will nurse from her mother, Zola, for about six months, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said this week in announcing the zoo’s first aardvark birth in nearly four decades.

“She is very active, and was using her sharp claws to dig like an adult aardvark, just hours after her birth,” lead wildlife care specialist Cari Inserra said in the statement.

The long-eared, hairless cub has tripled her birth weight in just five weeks.

She does not have a name yet, and will remain out of view of zoo visitors for about two months as she bonds with her mother.

“We can’t wait until we are able to introduce the cub to our Zoo guests, helping them learn more about this remarkable species,” Inserra said.

Aardvarks are native to sub-Saharan Africa. They have strong front legs and long claws adapted to digging burrows where they spend daylight hours until emerging in evenings to use their long, sticky tongues to slurp up ants and termites.

In this photo released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance an aardvark cub explores her habitat at the San Diego Zoo on June 10, 2022. For the first time in more than 35 years, an aardvark pup has been born at the zoo. The female, which has not yet been named, was born May 10. Zookeepers say she is doing well and that her mother, Zola, is caring and attentive. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

NASA: Give us back our moon dust and cockroaches

By MARK PRATT

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This April 2022 handout photograph provided by RR Auction shows moon dust from the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, which was pulled from an auction listing after NASA said the dust, and some cockroaches that were fed the dust, are property of the federal government. 

(Lawrence McGlynn/RR Auction photo via AP)

BOSTON (AP) — NASA wants its moon dust and cockroaches back.

The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar rock contained any sort of pathogen that posed a threat to terrestrial life.

The material, a NASA lawyer said in a letter to the auctioneer, still belongs to the federal government.

The material from the experiment, including a vial with about 40 milligrams of moon dust and three cockroach carcasses, was expected to sell for at least $400,000, but has been pulled from the auction block, RR said Thursday.

“All Apollo samples, as stipulated in this collection of items, belong to NASA and no person, university, or other entity has ever been given permission to keep them after analysis, destruction, or other use for any purpose, especially for sale or individual display,” said NASA’s letter dated June 15.

It went on: “We are requesting that you no longer facilitate the sale of any and all items containing the Apollo 11 Lunar Soil Experiment (the cockroaches, slides, and post-destructive testing specimen) by immediately stopping the bidding process,” NASA wrote.

In another letter dated June 22, NASA’s lawyer asked RR Auction to work with the current owner of the material to return it to the federal government.

The Apollo 11 mission brought more than 47 pounds (21.3 kilograms) of lunar rock back to Earth. Some was fed to insects, fish and other small creatures to see if it would kill them.

The cockroaches that were fed moon dust were brought to the University of Minnesota where entomologist Marion Brooks dissected and studied them.

“I found no evidence of infectious agents,” Brooks, who died in 2007, told the Minneapolis Tribune for an October 1969 story. She found no evidence that the moon material was toxic or caused any other ill effects in the insects, according to the article.

But the moon rock and the cockroaches were never returned to NASA, instead displayed at Brooks’ home. Her daughter sold them in 2010, and now they are up for sale again by a consignor who RR did not disclose.

It’s not unusual for a third party to lay claim to something that is being auctioned, said Mark Zaid, an attorney for RR Auction.

“NASA has a track record of pursuing items related to the early space programs,” although they have been inconsistent in doing so, Zaid said. By its own admission, NASA acknowledged in one of its letters that it did not know about the previous auction of the cockroach experiment items.

“We have worked with NASA before and have always cooperated with the U.S. government when they lay claims to items,” Zaid said. “At the end of the day, we want to act appropriately and lawfully.”

RR Auction is holding on to the lot for now, but ultimately, it’s up to the consignor to work something out with NASA, he said.

Biden picks first woman, person of color as science adviser

By SETH BORENSTEIN

June 21, 2022

Arati Prabhakar, left, the director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency speaks after introducing then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter to speak Sept. 9, 2015, at the opening of the DARPA conference at the America's Center in St. Louis. President Joe Biden has chosen Arati Prabhakar to be his science adviser.

 (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden nominated the former head of two federal science and engineering agencies to be his science adviser, who if confirmed by the Senate, will be the first woman, person of color and immigrant to hold that Cabinet-level position.

Biden nominated engineer and physicist Arati Prabhakar, who during the Obama administration directed the James Bond-like Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which came up with the Internet and stealth aircraft, to the science adviser job, which also includes running the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Prabhakar helped kick-start work in DARPA that eventually led to the type of RNA vaccine used to develop shots for COVID-19. In the 1990s, starting at the age of 34, she was the first woman and youngest person to run the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Prabhakar would take over after Biden’s initial science adviser, Eric Lander, resigned when a White House investigation found he bullied staff members amid complaints about how he treated co-workers. It was the first such resignation of the Biden administration. Lander had previously been criticized for downplaying the contributions of women in science. He would be replaced by Prabhakar, who was also the first woman to earn a doctorate in applied physics from Caltech, after getting a master’s and bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

“She clearly is very smart, articulate, a visionary who makes things happen,” said Trump science adviser Kelvin Droegenmeier, who said he didn’t know her personally but heard a talk of hers at the National Academy of Sciences “and was quite frankly blown away.”

Droegenmeier said Prabhakar’s “first and most important role is to restore trust and integrity at OSTP, which I have no doubt she can do.”

In nominating her, Biden called Prabhakar “a brilliant and highly respected engineer and applied physicist” who will help use science and technology to “solve our toughest challenges and make the impossible possible.” The job includes dealing with climate change, public health, defense, energy and technology issues.

Sudip Parikh, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest general science society, highlighted Prabhakar’s work at DARPA as something that “led to pioneering work on RNA technology underlying COVID-19 vaccines.”

Prabhakar immigrated to Chicago and then Texas with her family from New Delhi, India, when she was 3. After getting her PhD, Prabhakar worked for DARPA, later becoming the first person to run its microelectronics office. She then ran NIST, which deals in engineering standards. In between government gigs, she worked in Silicon Valley as an executive and venture capitalist and in 2019 she founded the research non-profit Actuate.

When Lander resigned earlier this year he was temporarily replaced by former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins and Office of Science and Technology Policy deputy director Alondra Nelson. Nelson and other women have been head of the science and technology office on an acting basis before, but until Prabhakar none had been nominated for the permanent Senate-confirmed post.

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears