CUTTING NOSE TO SPITE FACE

Help needed: Immigration crackdown worsens worker shortage for Florida businesses

Antonio Fins and Alexandra Clough, Palm Beach Post
Mon, January 16, 2023 

On the way to a business meeting in Fort Lauderdale, hotelier Jan Gautam dropped in on a Holiday Inn Express location in Boynton Beach. But Gautam wasn't there to check-in.

"I am going to make the beds," said Gautam, president and CEO of Orlando-based Interessant Hotels & Resort Management. "Our manager there needs help and if I don't go, what happens?"

Making beds, bussing tables and offering hands-on support to the hotel managers and employees at the 24 properties his company owns, plus the 75 others it manages — like the Holiday Inn Express off Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County — are Gautam's most important executive duties these days.

"The people staying at our hotels demand 100% service. They are paying for it," said Gautam, who was well into another 19-hour day before a drive back to Central Florida. "The rooms have to be clean. They have to be ready."

Gautam's plight speaks to a serious strain on the Sunshine State's largest industry — tourists are coming back, but the industry's workers are not.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Boynton Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, December 29, 2021.

VisitFlorida announced Dec. 27 that Florida drew 32.5 million tourists in the third quarter of this year. The state's travel promotion agency said that that total marked the "first time overall visitation has exceeded pre-pandemic levels" over a three-month period.

But while Florida is again the world's premiere travel destination, the labor it depends on has gone elsewhere.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association has reported that, nationally, 20% of leisure and hospitality jobs — or 3.5 million in total — were lost to the pandemic and had yet to return as of earlier this year. The organization projected U.S. hotels would likely end 2021 down 500,000 "direct jobs."

Thanks to its beaches, theme parks and other coveted attractions, Florida has a disproportionately higher number of leisure and hospitality businesses, including hotels and restaurants, and employers here say the worker shortage is inflicting a higher level of pain.

While the monthly jobless rate continues to drop, the gap between the growing number of available jobs and the shrinking pool of unemployed people available to fill them is widening.

Gautam said his company is down 50% from the pre-pandemic staffing of 4,500 — a number that would still be inadequate to handle the growth in business he is experiencing.
Advocates: Immigration crackdown has aggravated American worker shortage

Now, business groups like AHLA and the American Business Immigration Coalition, of which Gautam is a member, say the answer is more immigration, not less.

In a statement on its website, the hotel group said: "We have always been a major employer of immigrants, and we also rely on legal guest worker programs to augment our workforce. We believe that the United States can have both an effective and welcoming legal immigration process that enables hotels and other businesses to meet our workforce needs, while also protecting our national security."

Officials at ABIC blame, at least in part, the shallow labor pool for industries like tourism and agriculture on restrictive immigration policies, especially those of the Trump administration.

"We see a huge connection," said Rebecca Shi, the coalition's executive director. "Since the pandemic, and the crackdown of the last four years, the worker shortage has gotten worse."

The restraints on immigration were not simply relegated to border security and control. They also reflected a profound change in just who the United States wanted to welcome as new Americans. Specifically,people with professions, degrees and talents would be favored rather than Horatio Alger types.

"It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system — one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country," former President Trump said in his 2018 State of the Union speech.

The change in policy direction was an error, Shi and others now say, and the monthly unemployment reports speak to the consequences for industries that depend on low-skilled immigrants willing to work their way to a better life in America.
Unemployment drops but there's a gap creating a headache for businesses

In fact, while the monthly jobless rate continues to drop, the gap between the growing number of available jobs and the shrinking pool of unemployed people available to fill them is widening, not narrowing.

Florida's jobless rate is back under 4%, the threshold economists have long said constitutes full employment.

In Southwest Florida, the monthly unemployment survey reported a 3.3% unemployment rate for the Sarasota-Manatee County area in November. The labor force increased by 8.1% to 388,327 people, and there were just 12,658 unemployed residents.

Palm Beach County, where CEO Gautam was making beds and cleaning rooms on Monday, reported a new low in November for unemployment in the post-coronavirus business shutdown era — 3.5%, down from 4% in October.

The telltale numbers, however, were 39,258 job openings versus 26,537 unemployed people. A gap of 12,721 that was almost twice the hole from the prior month. Meaning the worker shortage grew worse even as more people rejoined the workforce.

While unemployment is dropping lower in Florida, tourism-related businesses such as hotels and restaurants are having a difficult time filling openings.

"It's no surprise why that gap keeps growing," Shi said.

Not only are there millions of undocumented workers "in the shadows," Shi said, but a pivotal foreign visa program also has been restrained. As a result, the "demand is super high" for workers. And if a business has a capable worker it wants to promote, that's a no-go if that person is undocumented.

Shi said she has spoken with Orlando hoteliers who tell her they have 1,000 unfilled positions. A lot of those openings, Shi said, are ones usually filled by immigrants because they are the positions that established U.S. citizens and residents historically have not wanted to accept.

Increasing work permits for legal immigrant workers, and resolving the limbo of undocumented workers, Shi insists could help fill many of the 11 million U.S. jobs ABIC said are unfilled right now in construction, healthcare, hospitality, and other service industries.

Besides improving customer service at these locations, Shi said, immigration reform would also alleviate the spike in inflation that is at least partly driven by rising labor costs as desperate employers offer higher wages, pricey benefits and costly perks to lure employees.

And that crisis at the border, Shi said, is more fallout. If the United States had a functional immigration system to allow low-skilled labor to come to America, people would not be crashing the border to "try to game" the asylum system.

"We have people at the border literally wanting to come and work but we don't have a legal system to connect them with employers," she said.
Is immigration reform a long-term answer for employers who need help?

Gautam, who is an ABIC member, said he supports immigration reform but is skeptical it would provide the immediate relief he needs.

Yes, he said that he has hired immigrants from Venezuela and Costa Rica and they have been "some of the hardest workers" that he has ever employed. He also said that his company, in the past, has had internship-like programs that have successfully trained employees.

The downside is that those are long-term solutions and he needs workers now — right now. He would rather the Biden administration and states end unemployment subsidies to force even more people back into the workforce.

Even with Florida's relatively low 3.6% unemployment rate there are still close to 500,000 jobless residents, as of November, who could fill some of the demand for workers.

"It's not just us. It's everybody," said Gautam. "We are in bad shape. We need help and we need it now."

Economists have debunked the belief that unemployment benefits have dissuaded workers from returning to the job market, citing other factors such as lack of childcare stemming from school attendance disruptions and COVID health risks.

In Palm Beach County, CareerSource officials also say national trends, like accelerated Baby Boomer retirements and a shrunken working-age population owing to low birth rates in recent decades, are impacting the region's employment base.

Regardless, the result is the same: Employers are hurting for workers to meet demand for products and services, and healthy immigration flows could help.

Restaurateur Burt Rapoport said immigrant labor is vital to filling key jobs at his eateries, such as dishwashers. He is having some success hiring immigrant Haitians at Rapoport's Restaurant Group, which owns Deck 84, Pagoda Kitchen, Max's Grille and Prezzo eateries.

Rapoport said his company for years has used the E-Verify system to confirm the legal eligibility of job applicants. Now, at a time when restaurants already are struggling to find workers, "there are not many dishwashers out there that are legal and have the paperwork," Rapaport said.

The demand for dishwashers has gone up considerably during the past couple of years as new eateries throughout the county have opened. That's driving up the wage for dishwashers, who used to be paid about $10 an hour and now can fetch $15, Rapoport said.

Still, some people aren't interested in working as a restaurant dishwasher because they can get jobs at Amazon warehouses or in construction, "making a lot more money, and the hours are more convenient," Rapoport said.

But for other immigrants, working as a dishwasher still has its perks.

"The jobs are available, and they get fed," Rapoport said.

Restaurateur counsels kindness, and patience

Rocco Mangel, an owner of the popular Rocco's Tacos eateries, said his biggest hiring issue these days is finding staff willing or able to work amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

In some cases, staffing is thin because some employees have caught the virus.

The situation is so volatile, Mangel said he's placed signs in his restaurants explaining the staffing shortage. The signs ask customers to be patient and kind to the staffers who are working.

"It's very hard to successfully run a busy restaurant company these days," Mangel said. "Instead of having 10 waiters, we might have five. So be kind, be courteous. We're doing the best we can."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Help needed: Immigration crackdown worsens worker shortage for Florida businesses

Foreign temp workers at Mar-a-Lago raise another security concern


Alexandra Clough and Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post
Mon, January 16, 2023 

President Donald Trump stops in to Big Dog Ranch Rescue's 6th annual Wine, Women and Shoes Lunch and Fashion Show at Mar-a-Lago Club on March 9, 2019.

Like 38 other hospitality businesses in Palm Beach County, Mar-a-Lago is waiting to be told by the federal government just how many foreign temporary workers it can hire to serve members and guests during the winter tourist season.

Former President Trump's private Palm Beach club, and other locations such as the nearby Breakers Palm Beach Resort, for years routinely applied for these visas to fill low-wage, low-skilled jobs.

This year, the foreign visa program for temporary help — county-based private clubs, hotels and resorts have asked for a collective 2,266 workers — is especially important. The county's labor market, with unemployment hovering at just 3%, is especially tight with an almost 2-for-1 ratio in the number of open jobs to available unemployed workers.

Since Trump won the presidency, Mar-a-Lago was always a national security red flag

Mar-a-Lago's labor request comes as the private club is at the center of a political scandal

But Mar-a-Lago's labor request comes as the private club is at the center of a political scandal and legal firestorm over Trump's possession of top-secret documents. The discovery and seizure of those files, numbering hundreds of pages, has heaped scrutiny on the already fraught security risks presented by a private business that alternately serves as the official residence of a former commander-in-chief.

The presence of foreign workers, in the past and again starting this fall, adds to the glare on Trump's estate, which one national security analyst said already had an uncomfortable flow of people, access and volume.

Former president Donald Trump drops into the Daughters of the American Revolution Henry Morrison Flagler chapter luncheon at Mar-a-Lago Club on April 6, 2022.

Lindsay Rodman, a former White House fellow who was director for defense policy and strategy at the National Security Council, quips that Mar-a-Lago has the aura of "a classic James Bond" scene just waiting for "a heist" of secret files.

"Having tons of international guests coming back and forth from a poorly secured area puts any documents that might be found there at high risk," said Rodman, who now teaches national security, cybersecurity and foreign relations at George Washington University Law School. "It does not sound like the type of security precautions they were taking had anything to do with what we would have been seeing in the White House, the Pentagon or any of the other places I've worked with."
Mar-a-Lago asks for scores of foreign workers ahead of winter season

Mar-a-Lago this year requested to filla record 91 positions with foreign workersfor this coming year, up from 80 in 2019, according to CareerSource, the county's nonprofit job placement agency.

In addition to Mar-a-Lago, Trump also has two other Palm Beach County properties, Trump International Golf Club in unincorporated West Palm Beach and Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.

This year, as in years past, Trump is requesting permission to hire seasonal foreign workers for these properties, too: 14 for Trump International and 10 for Trump National.

The Mar-a-Lago jobs include cooks, servers and housekeepers. The workers are needed through the balance of the winter social season — Mar-a-Lago generally operates between late October and mid-May.

The hired hands will cater to the club's members, including the many 1 percenters that descend on Palm Beach for the social season. And they will help handle what is a varied calendar of events.

Mar-a-Lago is a highly desired location for weddings, philanthropic galas, and political fund-raising luncheons and dinners.

The request for foreign workers is a two-step process involving two federal agencies.

Trump resort hired undocumented workers

Secret service agents stand at the gate of Mar-a-Lago after the FBI issued warrants on Aug. 8, 2022.

First, the U.S. Department of Labor reviews the ask by private businesses. A Labor Department spokesman said the agency is limited to evaluating whether the need for foreign labor is warranted, meaning Mar-a-Lago's request likely will be certified.

But approval by the Department of Homeland Security also is required before a business can secure foreign workers, the Labor Department spokesman said. DHS must approve the H2B visas for temporary foreign workers.

It's not clear whether DHS is giving added scrutiny to Mar-a-Lago's request, given the ongoing investigation into Trump and the location of all classified documents or presidential records.The department did not respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump stops in to Big Dog Ranch Rescue's 6th annual Wine, Women and Shoes Lunch and Fashion Show at Mar-a-Lago Club Saturday March 9, 2019 in Palm Beach. President Trump had just returned from golfing.

How might foreign workers seeking temp jobs in America be vetted?

But a specialist in private security, who has worked with former federal agents in various law-enforcement branches, said government agencies conduct fairly extensive vetting of foreign temporary workers. And in Palm Beach County, the employers hiring them will do some background checking, too.

"There are two stages to this," said Ross Thompson, a longtime professional in private security who is now CEO of COVAC Global in West Palm Beach.

Since 9/11, Thompson said, the foreign worker visa system has become exponentially more stringent. For example, a current passport contains all sorts of data, includingnames, aliases andaddresses, that will then be checked against databases run by the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol.

That search is largely handled by the National Vetting Center, a unit of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Thompson said. The U.S. embassy and the State Department's consular offices in the applicant's home country also will conduct thorough interviews.

"Based off that, the government is going to make a decision on whether you are a threat or not," Thompson said. "The second piece of that is whether or not you are going to actually do what you say you are going to do. Come here, work, get paid and leave. That's another big consideration they are looking at."

Thompson also notes that the choosing of employees by local hospitality businesses and companies is not a random act. He said most often the person who is being considered is a family member or a friend of an existing or former worker — or someone known to a U.S. citizen or green card holder.

"There's some degree of connection," Thompson said. "You can draw a line from one person to another."
Are hotel workers some of America's best spies?

Rodman's joke about a 007-like effort at Mar-a-Lago may not be out of the realm of possibility.

Thompson said U.S. intelligence officials and foreign governments often seek out hotel workers, whether a housekeeper or food-service worker, as gatherers of information because they have access to items with DNA on them.

"If you wanted to go spy on foreign nationals, if you wanted to get information on foreign nationals, if you wanted to collect DNA on foreign nationals, the first group of people you are going to recruit for you is hotel staff," he said.

A used cigarette butt, a table-setting utensil, and even a urine or stool sample can provide critical information on a foreign leader or official, such as whether they have a disease such as cancer or Parkinson's.

President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China shake hands during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on April, 6, 2017. At left are Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Peng Liyuan, Xi's wife.

An example of a local data-gathering event, he said, was the visit of China's president, Xi Jinping to Palm Beach County in April 2017. Xi and his entourage stayed at the beachfront Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, above seven miles south of Mar-a-Lago. Trump hosted Xi at Mar-a-Lago during the trip.

"If you don't think there wasn't any intelligence collection with the Chinese president and the delegation at Eau Palm Beach (hotel) by U.S. intelligence, you are sorely mistaken," he said.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania sit down for Christmas dinner in the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Dec. 24, 2019.

Analyst: Straight line from divulging data to endangering an American

In that context,last month's search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago raises fresh questions and concernsabout security at Mar-a-Lago.

An Aug. 29 federal court filing by the U.S. Department of Justice said classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were moved and hidden, and that some even ended up in Trump's desk in an office at Mar-a-Lago.

A warrant indicates the search was conducted in connection with, among other things, the Espionage Act. One statute states that people legally granted access to national defense documents or classified information are subject to punishment should they improperly retain that information.

That's what worries the U.S. national security community, said Rodman.

By their nature, security officials and analysts will not air their grievances, she said. But Rodman believes the national security workforce is worried "not just about the divulging of government secrets at a high level" but also those that involve intelligence gathering by people.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (seated, facing camera) is surrounded by aides after he and President Donald Trump, right, (blocked from view) learned of a missile launch by North Korea during a visit at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 11.

 (Shannon Donnelly / The Palm Beach Post)

"Those have the potential to really harm individual lives," said Rodman, a U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan. "Those are the ones in which you can draw a straight line from divulging that information to endangering an American who's currently putting their life on the line for the American people."

Contrast the potential accessibility of Mar-a-Lago to the National Security Council, or the White House's West Wing and Oval Office, where access is restricted according to various levels of security clearance.

She said security clearance there, and in Washington in general, is a painstakingly thought-out process to make sure "those at the very, very high levels of government, senior leadership" have the information they need to make "fully informed decisions that affect our national security for the American people."

"Trump" and "MAGA" purses sit on a poolside table as guests gather before the start of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Friday, March 16, 2018. (Bruce R. Bennett / The Palm Beach Post)

Concerns about security at Mar-a-Lago have been ongoing since Trump first became president.

During his presidency, Trump's Palm Beach visits resulted in the public display of photos showing administration officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, photos of Trump and Japan's prime minister during a North Korean missile launch, and even photos of the briefcase containing U.S. nuclear launch codes.

At Mar-a-Lago, Social Security numbers of all visitors were not generally required in advance as they are at the White House. The names of Mar-a-Lago visitors are not entered into a public log.

Sometimes, guests overheard Trump family gossip or engage in chit-chat with the Secret Service, attendees said. It was easy to blend in with all the other scions in the room if one is wearing a tuxedo or gown, attendees said.

During the course of Trump's presidency, club members eventually were required to make reservations to step foot onto the club property, even for drinks.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, left, has dinner with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, 2020.

But once there, it was business as usual. Members could linger in the main living room or at patio dinner tables, watching Trump and his entourage move about the place. Club members could bring guests, too.

In 2019, congressional Democrats demanded to know the security set up at the president's self-described "Southern White House." In particular, they asked the FBI what additional steps would be "needed to detect and deter adversary governments or their agents" from conducting electronic surveillance or gaining access to Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties.

The Secret Service issued a statement explaining that management at Mar-a-Lago, not Secret Service agents, decides who is welcome at the club.

"The Mar-a-Lago club management determines which members and guests are granted access to the property," according to the statement. "While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property."
Trump blasts search with 'drain the swamp' refrain

Trump has railed against the FBI seizure, floating theories about papers related to former President Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran and assailing the FBI for a photograph Trump said is intended to make it look like he littered the secret documents on his carpet.

"This is the time, after many years of lawbreaking & unfairness, to clean things up," he posted on his social media platform. "All things for a reason. DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!"

President Donald Trump speaks to the media after making a Christmas Eve video conference call to members of the armed forces from Mar-a-Lago on December 24, 2019.

Last week, however, Trump attorney Alina Habba seemed tounderscore the laxity of Mar-a-Lago security, including in Trump's office, where several classified documents were found. During an interview with Fox News, she said she had been in Trump's office, and he “frequently” had guests in the room.

Rodman fears it could "damage morale" for the national security workforce to see court documents alleging in detail how the very documents they so zealously defend were treated with recklessness at the former president's club.

"There is a culture among national security professionals … where there is a very strong professional ethic about taking care of this information," she said. "They understand this not only has the potential to endanger the national security of the United States, which is what we have devoted our lives to protecting. Revealing sources and methods endanger individuals. Lives can be lost, livelihoods can also be lost, because of the disclosure of this information."

Alexandra Clough is a business writer at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mar-a-Lago: Foreign workers at Palm Beach club upped security concerns

China Petrochemical Plant Shut After Huge Explosion

Editor OilPrice.com
Mon, January 16, 2023

China's Panjin Haoye Chemical Co Ltd’s entire oil refinery and petrochemical complex was shut down after a huge explosion killed five people and left eight missing on Sunday, Reuters has reported.

According to Chinese state television, the explosion occurred at 3:13 p.m. (0713 GMT) on Sunday while the plant was undergoing maintenance work at an alkylation facility. Xu Peng, has estimated that the Haoye facility was processing at 62.5% of its crude refining capacity of 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) through 2022. The plant processed ~110,000 bpd in December, according to another China-based trade source.

The explosion has come at a time when crude prices thanks to increasing demand in China following its latest re-opening. RBC energy strategist Michael Tran says the "Chinese consumption machine" appears to be ramping up after December crude imports totaled 10.9M bbl/day, up 830K bbl/day from the previous 11 months of 2022.

Meanwhile, China’s crude inventories are steadying but have fallen~30M barrels from the summer 2022 peak. Front-month Nymex crude for February delivery settled +8.2% to $79.86/bbl at the end of last week while March Brent crude closed +8.5% to $85.28/bbl, both posting their forth weekly gain in five weeks.

China's economic reopening has been the primary driver for higher oil prices, with signs of easing inflation in the latest CPI data also adding to the optimism about the U.S. economy either heading for a mild recession or a soft landing. Hedge fund trader Pierre Andurand has told Bloomberg that global oil demand could soar as much as 4% in the coming year if the world manages to fully emerge from Covid restrictions. Andurand has said that oil demand may increase by 3 million to 4 million barrels a day in 2023 helped by a switch to oil from gas.

RIP

Gina Lollobrigida, post WWII Italian film diva, dies at 95


Italian actor Lollobrigida attends the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

Mon, January 16, 2023 at 4:47 AM MST·2 min read
By Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) - Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, a sultry Mediterranean diva who came to represent Italy's vibrant rebirth after World War Two, has died aged 95, her former lawyer said on Monday.

After a humble upbringing, Lollobrigida played opposite Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, becoming one of the most recognizable cinema icons of the 1950s and 60s.

But she never clicked with the Hollywood studio system and her best known films remain those she made with Italian directors before and after her American parenthesis.

"La Lollo", as she was affectionately known in Italy, died in a Rome clinic, her former lawyer, Giulia Citani said.

Lollobrigida became a photographer and sculptor after stepping away from the movie world. Last September, she failed in a bid to win a seat in the Italian parliament for a leftist political party at national elections.

A spokesperson for Sophia Loren, a superstar diva in her own right in Italy's heady post-war years, said Loren, 88, was "very shocked and saddened" by Lollobrigida's death.

"La Loren" and "La Lollo" had an ongoing rivalry in the 1950s and 1960, much of it encouraged, and some say even at least partly invented, by publicity agents.

"Farewell to a diva of the big screen, protagonist of more than half a century of the Italian film history. Her charm will remain immortal. Ciao Lollo," Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano wrote on Twitter.

When she stopped making films full-time, Lollobrigida developed new careers as a photographer and sculptor and was also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and its Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Between 1972 and 1994 she published six books of her photographs, including Italia Mia (My Italy), The Philippines, and the Wonder of Innocence, photographs of and for children.

In 1975 she made a documentary film "Portrait of Fidel Castro," and for years there were rumours that she had had an affair with the Cuban leader.

One of her last appearances was a cameo in an Italian film in 2011.

In her later years she spent much of her time divided between a secluded villa behind walls on Rome's ancient Appian Way in the southern part of the Italian capital and the Tuscan artists' colony of Pietrasanta, where she kept a sculptor's studio.

In an interview with Reuters in the Rome villa in 2006, she complained about intrusive photographers, saying they were still trying to invade her privacy.

She had a one-woman show in Pietrasanta in 2008 and dedicated it to her friend, the late opera singer Maria Callas.

When asked how she felt turning 90 in 2017, she said it was feeling like "30 plus 30 plus 30".

(Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Crispian Balmer and Hugh Lawson)

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida dies aged 95

Mon, 16 January 2023


Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida has died age 95.

She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, playing opposite Hollywood stars including Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra.

Starting out from humble beginnings, she became one of the most recognisable faces of Italian post-war cinema.

An international sex symbol thanks to her sultry Mediterranean looks - and rivalled only by fellow Italian actress Sophia Loren - Lollobrigida was one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Her agent said she died in Rome on Monday.

Known in Italy simply as "La Lollo", she starred in films such as The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Solomon and Sheba, Beautiful But Dangerous and The World's Most Beautiful Woman during a five-decade acting career.

Lollobrigida found success as a photographer and sculptor in later life and also ventured into politics.

However, she failed to win a seat in parliament for Sovereign and Popular Italy (ISP), a left-wing party, during September's elections after they failed to reach the 3% threshold.

In 1975, rumours swirled about an affair with Cuban leader Fidel Castro after she secured exclusive access to him for a documentary she produced.

Lollobrigida also made headlines in 2006, at age 79, when she announced she was marrying a man 34 years her junior.

When she was 80, she said in an interview: "All my life I wanted a real love, an authentic love, but I have never had one. No one has ever truly loved me. I am a cumbersome woman".

Lollobrigida got her break in film after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia contest. One of her earliest roles was playing an adulteress in 1953's The Wayward Wife.

Leading roles followed in two Italian comedies, Bread, Love and Dreams, and Bread, Love and Jealousy.

A role opposite Humphrey Bogart in John Huston's Beat the Devil added to her exposure.

But it was 1955 movie The World's Most Beautiful Woman that sealed her worldwide fame and became one of her signature roles.

Despite making it in Hollywood, she preferred to work closer to home, making films throughout the 1960s with Italian directors such as Mario Bolognini.

Her last well-known film, the 1968 farce Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell - which also starred American actor Telly Savalas - earned her several award nominations.

Born Luigia Lollobrigida in July 1927, to a working-class family in Subiaco, a mountainous area east of Rome, she studied at the city's Academy of Fine Arts before working as a model under the stage name Diana Loris.

Tempestuous and impulsive, her on-screen success was accompanied by intense interest from Italian paparazzi and gossip writers.

At one point, in a bid to guard her private life, she retreated to an isolated villa on Rome's ancient Appian Way.

In 1950 she married a Yugoslavian doctor, Milko Skofic, who later became her manager. The couple had one son.

They separated after nearly 17 years, with Lollobrigida saying at the time that she had no intention of remarrying.

However, in 2006 she announced she would be marring close friend Javier Rigau, a Spanish man 34 years younger than her. She eventually called off the wedding, blaming the media for spoiling it.

She said in an interview that she felt responsible for Rigau's suffering after Spanish media labelled him an opportunist. In contrast, she said she was "more used to having falsehoods written about me".

During a later trip to the US, she asked Congress to pass stricter laws protecting the privacy of people from media intrusion.

Following her stellar acting career, Lollobrigida forged a successful second career as both a photojournalist and sculptor.

She was also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Additionally, she published six books of her own photographs, with subjects including Italy, the Philippines and children.

In 1975 she made the documentary Portrait of Fidel Castro and for years was surrounded by rumours that she'd had an affair with the Cuban leader.

She also spoke in interviews of being a "great friend" of India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

In her later years she threw herself into her sculpting, spending the summers living in an artists' colony in the Tuscan city of Pietrasanta.

She had a one-woman show there in 2008 and dedicated it to her friend, the late opera singer Maria Callas.

Exhibitions of her marble and bronze statues have been held in Paris, Moscow and America.

In 2013, when she was 85, an auction of her jewellery by Sotheby's in Geneva fetched $4.9m (£4.1m) and set a record for a pair of diamond and pearl earrings, which sold for $2.37m (£1.9m). The proceeds went to stem cell research.

She said of the sale: "Jewels are meant to give pleasure and for many years I had enormous pleasure wearing mine.

"Selling my jewels to help raise awareness of stem cell therapy, which can cure so many illnesses, seems to me a wonderful use to which to put them."

Ukrainian civilians vanish and languish in Russian-run jails





In this handout undated photo provided by Tetiana Shkriabina, her son student Mykyta Shkriabin is seen during his tour across Europe in 2018. The student from northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region was detained by Russia's military in March and has been held ever since without charges or any legal proceedings. Since the war in Ukraine began, many civilians have been detained by Russian forces and are languishing in jails for months without charges as their relatives seek to find out what's happened to them. (Tetiana Shkriabina via AP)

HANNA ARHIROVA and DASHA LITVINOVA
Tue, January 17, 2023 at 12:34 AM MST·7 min read

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Alina Kapatsyna often dreams about getting a phone call from her mother. In those visions, her mother tells her that she’s coming home.

Men in military uniforms took 45-year-old Vita Hannych away from her house in eastern Ukraine in April. She never returned.

Her family later learned that Hannych, who has long suffered from seizures because of a brain cyst, is in custody in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk region.

Kapatsyna told The Associated Press that it remains unclear why her mother — ”a peaceful, civilian and sick person” who has never held a weapon — was detained.

Hannych is one of many Ukrainian noncombatants being held by Russian forces for months following their invasion. Some are deemed to be prisoners of war, even though they never took part in the fighting. Others are in a sort of legal limbo — not facing any criminal charges or considered to be POWs.

Hannych was wearing only a sweatsuit and slippers when she was seized by Russian forces occupying her village of Volodymyrivka several weeks into the Feb. 24 invasion. It is still under Moscow’s control.

Her family initially thought she would come home shortly. Russian forces were known to detain people for two or three days for “filtration” and then release them, Kapatsyna said, and Hannych had no military or law enforcement connections.

When she wasn't released, Kapatsyna and her 64-year-old grandmother started a search. At first, letters and visits to various Russian-installed officials and government bodies in the Donetsk region yielded no results.

“The answers from everywhere were the same: ‘We did not take her away.’ Who took her then, if no one took her?” said Kapatsyna, who left the village in March for the Ukrainian-controlled city of Dnipro.

Then, they finally got some clarity: Hannych was jailed in Olenivka, another Russian-controlled city, according to a letter from the Moscow-installed prosecutor’s office in the Donetsk region.

The jail staff told Kapatsyna’s grandmother that Hannych was a sniper, allegations her family deems absurd, given her condition. Medical records seen by the AP confirmed that she had a brain cyst, as well as “residual encephalopathy” and “general convulsive attacks.”

Anna Vorosheva, who spent 100 days in the same facility as Hannych, recounted squalid, inhumane conditions: putrid drinking water, no heat or showers, having to sleep in shifts and hearing new prisoners screaming from being beaten.

Vorosheva, 46, said she wasn't told why she was detained, aside from “smirks and jokes about Nazis” — a reference to Russia’s false claims that what it calls its “special military operation” was a campaign to “denazify” Ukraine. She also said the staff told her: “Be happy we're not beating you.”

Donetsk authorities labeled Hannych a POW and recently told the family she is imprisoned in the occupied city of Mariupol. It remains unclear when, if at all, she could be released.

Ukraine’s top human rights organization, Center for Civil Liberties, has requests concerning around 900 civilians captured by Russia since the war began, with more than half still in custody.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights envoy, put the number even higher and said Friday that his office received inquiries concerning more than 20,000 “civilian hostages” detained by Russia.

Russian lawyer Leonid Solovyov told the AP he has amassed more than 100 requests concerning Ukrainian civilians. He said he was able to help 30-40 confirm the person they looked for was in Russian custody without any legal status — just like his client, Mykyta Shkriabin.

The student from northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region was detained by Russia's military in March and has been held ever since without charges or any legal proceedings.

Shkryabin, then 19, was sheltering from the fighting in a basement with his family, according to his mother, Tetiana. During a break, he went out for supplies — and never returned.

Tetiana Shkriabina told the AP that she learned from witnesses that Russian soldiers seized him.

Months later, Solovyov got confirmation from Russia’s Defense Ministry that Shkriabin was detained for “resisting the special military operation.” There is no such offense on the books in Russia, Solovyov said, and even if there was, Shkriabin would have been formally charged and investigated, but that hasn’t happened. The ministry refused to disclose his whereabouts.

Moreover, when Solovyov filed a complaint to Russia's Investigative Committee contesting the detention, it confirmed that there are no criminal probes opened against Shkriabin, that he is neither a suspect, nor an accused.

Skhriabin, who turned 20 in captivity, hasn’t been labeled a POW, Solovyov said, adding: “His legal status is simply a hostage.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry didn't respond to requests for comment.

Other cases are eerily similar to those of Shkriabin and Hannych.

In May, Russian forces detained information technology specialist Iryna Horobtsova in the southern city of Kherson when it was occupied by Moscow. They raided her apartment, seizing a laptop, two cellphones and several flash drives, and then took her away, according to her sister, Elena Kornii. They promised her parents that she would be home that evening — but it didn’t happen.

Horobtsova remained in the city and spoke out against the war on social media before she was detained, Kornii said. She had attended anti-Russia protests and also helped residents by driving them to work or finding scarce medications.

“She hasn’t violated any Ukrainian laws,” Kornii said, noting that her sister had nothing to do with the military.

Horobtsova’s lawyer, Emil Kurbedinov, said he believed that Russian security forces were carrying out “purges of the disloyal” in Kherson.

He learned from Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, that she was still in custody. The Interior Ministry in Moscow-annexed Crimea told him that Horobtsova was in a detention center there. When Kurbedinov tried to visit her, officials refused to acknowledge having any such prisoner.

As for why she was held, Kurbedinov said authorities told him that “she resisted the special military operation, and a decision regarding her will be made when the special military operation is over.”

Kurbedinov described her as "unlawfully imprisoned.”

Dmytro Orlov, mayor of the occupied city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, describes the fate of his deputy the same way — “an absolutely arbitrary detention.”

Ivan Samoydyuk was picked up by Russian soldiers shortly after seizing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in March, and no charges have been filed against him, Orlov said.

“We’re not even sure if he’s alive!” the mayor said. “If we can’t get clarity from the Russians about the fate of a deputy mayor, imagine the fate of ordinary Ukrainian civilians.”

Mykhailo Savva of the Expert Council of the Center for Civil Liberties said the Geneva Conventions allow a state to detain civilians temporarily in occupied areas, but “as soon as the reason that caused the detention of this civilian disappears, then this person must be released.”

“No special conditions, no trades, just release,” Savva said, noting that civilians can’t be declared POWs under international law.

International law prohibits a warring party from forcibly moving a civilian to its own territory or territory it occupies, and doing so could be deemed a war crime, said Yulia Gorbunova, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch.

POWs can be exchanged, but there is no legal mechanism for swapping noncombatants, Gorbunova said, complicating efforts to free civilians from captivity.

Since the war began, however, Kyiv has been able to bring some home. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Jan. 8 that 132 civilians were brought back from Russian captivity in 2022.

Lubinets, the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman, met this month with his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova.

He said he gave Moskalkova lists of some of the 20,000 Ukrainian civilians he said were held by Russia, and “the Russian side agreed to find out where they are, in what condition and why they are being held.”

After getting such information, the question “of the procedure for their return” will be raised, Lubinets said.

___

Dasha Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Tallinn.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

SOLEDAR, UKRAINE

The Traitorous Spooks Helping Putin Crush Their Own People

Tom Mutch
Mon, January 16, 2023

Oskar Hallgrimsson

SOLEDAR, Ukraine—Explosions filled the skies over the apartment complex we’d just been standing in. They were thermite cluster munitions fired by Russia’s multiple long-range rocket systems, spreading white-hot fire over their target. That day, their target was us.

Thick globs of flame, hot enough to melt steel and concrete, slowly descended on the civilian apartment buildings of the town of Soledar, one of the crucial battlegrounds of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s forces have been battling to capture the territory for more than six months.

The city was a hellscape of destroyed buildings, with the constant booms of incoming and outgoing artillery fire. Ukrainian army units were moving from basement to basement desperately searching for cover, while quadcopter drones scouting for enemy positions buzzed up above us. If we’d still been in that block, we could have been incinerated.

A destroyed civilian house in Soledar. Tom Mutch

About 15 minutes before the blast, Darren Roberts, a British army veteran and volunteer aid worker, had been giving medical attention to Alexander, a 24-year-old Ukrainian civilian who had been hit by Russian shelling and wounded in his shoulder and his arm. We found him topless and swathed with homemade bandages, lounging on a bench in his courtyard talking to his mother.

In the five hours we had been in the town, we had seen perhaps ten civilians sitting around in the open, watching the destruction. Dozens more were staying in underground basement shelters; some had not seen daylight in months.

Despite the carnage, hundreds of civilians in Soledar—originally a small city of just over 10,000 inhabitants—are reluctant to leave. Many want to remain in their homes, unwilling to be intimidated by the Russians. Others, like the elderly and infirm, have no choice. The loosely organized group of volunteers—who agreed to be followed by The Daily Beast—were helping evacuate those who were in no physical shape to attempt to leave on their own.

Two evacuees rest in a church in Kramatorsk after evacuation from Soledar.
Oskar Hallgrimsson

Russian War Chiefs Squabble Over Credit for Allegedly Capturing Town

British aid workers Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Parry, 28, disappeared from this very town last week on a similar evacuation run. The Russian paramilitary organization Wagner, which has been leading the recent assault in Donbas, posted pictures of their passports and claimed to have found the bodies of one of them on Wednesday.

Others, it appeared, had more nefarious motives for remaining. As the volunteers were desperately trying to convince Alexander and his mother to leave, three men drove up to the courtyard on mopeds and started taking photos of our group with their phones. Immediately, Darren turned to us, looking genuinely fearful for the first time

Bryce, Craig and Darren, volunteers working in Soledar.
Oskar Hallgrimsson

Examining the aftermath of shelling in Soledar.
Oskar Hallgrimsson

“We need to get out of here now,” Darren told the group, and bustled all of us into our cars. “They are likely spotters for the Russians,” 31-year-old Bryce Wilson, an Australian video-journalist turned volunteer who was organizing this evacuation run, told The Daily Beast. The group high-tailed it to an arranged meeting point called “Oasis,” named after a small corner shop bearing the name on the western outskirts of the town.

Shortly after we arrived, the Russian artillery started raining down on the place we’d just left—and we quickly realized that the men on mopeds had likely sent out our positions.

Whether they realized that our group was made up of journalists and volunteers is unclear. The journalists were all clearly decked out in press vests, but the volunteers were all military-aged men clad in body armor. Russian authorities have frequently claimed that groups of “foreign mercenaries’” were fighting on the Ukrainian side, and it’s possible they thought we were one. Perhaps they didn’t care either way.

“I’ve spoken to the Ukrainian military about this, and they have specifically told us they have problems with guys on mopeds who will take photos and send them to pro-Russian forces,” Wilson later explained.

Bryce Wilson.
Oskar Hallgrimsson

Russia’s claims that the people of Donbas are being “liberated” by the invasion after being subjecting to a “genocide” by Ukrainian nationalists is a baseless piece of propaganda. But that’s not to say that there aren’t some in the easternmost regions of Ukraine who have fallen for the Russian narrative. And in the meantime, they were doing their bit to help the invaders.

The Ukrainian government has attempted to crack down on such “traitors” from the early days of the war, with President Volodymyr Zelensky signing anti-collaboration legislation into law quickly after the invasion began on Feb. 24. Scores of citizens have since been arrested under the law, including 400 in the Kharkiv region alone, according to the Associated Press. Ukrainian authorities have even arrested SBU officials on charges of treason, and reportedly have plans to compile a public “registry of collaborators” in the country.

Authorities in the Donetsk region often stop cars near the front lines to check residents’ phones and make sure they have not been communicating with the other side. The Russians are said to offer hefty cash rewards for details on Ukrainian military positions and troop movements.

According to Wilson, a source in the Ukrainian military had described a case in which an adolescent boy would travel around the region, hitching rides to various regions and claiming he was lost. When he was later detained, authorities allegedly found evidence that he had been scouting military positions and sending them to the Russians.

Though many who have collaborated with the Russians in formerly occupied territories like Kherson or eastern Kharkiv likely did so under duress, others apparently have no compunctions about betraying their country.

Locals warned journalists of pro-Russian saboteurs when I visited the Luhansk region in May, claiming to have seen them slash the tires of Ukrainian army vehicles in order to stop them from ferrying troops and supplies back and forth through the region. One pro-Russian civilian from Lysychansk told a France24 crew that they “want to be reunited with the Russians, they are our friends, not the Germans in Europe!”

When Ukrainian troops withdrew from the city of Lysychansk, their last stronghold in Luhansk, they instituted a four-day curfew to ensure that none of the civilians remaining could reveal that they were retreating to the approaching Russians.

This week, the Russian Wagner group announced the complete capture of Soledar and said that they had encircled and destroyed the Ukrainian defenders. The U.K.’s defense ministry have confirmed that they believe Wagner has almost full control over the city, marking Russia’s only major battlefield success in the last six months. Meanwhile, Ukraine has notched up significant wins in Kharkiv and Kherson—prompting Ukrainian officials to redouble their calls for better artillery support and tanks.

The Daily Beast.

CIA director secretly met with Zelenskyy before invasion to reveal Russian plot to kill him as he pushed back on US intelligence, book says

Nicole Gaudiano,John Haltiwanger
Mon, January 16, 2023 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) speaks to the press in the town of Bucha on April 4, 2022.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

CIA Director Bill Burns met with Zelenskyy on a secret trip ahead of the Russian invasion last year.

Burns warned Zelenskyy about Russian assassination plots at a time when Zelenskyy cast doubt on US intel.

The details of the Kyiv meeting are laid out in Chris Whipple's forthcoming book on Joe Biden's White House.

CIA Director Bill Burns met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a secret trip to Kyiv ahead of the Russian invasion last year to share news that appeared to surprise the Ukrainian leader: the Russians were plotting to assassinate him.

At that time, in January 2022, Zelenskyy had been dismissing the idea that Russians would carry out an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and was suggesting America's public warnings were creating a "panic," noted Chris Whipple in his forthcoming book, "The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House."

It was unusual for the US to publicly disclose intelligence like this, suggesting Washington was confident in its assessment of Russia's intentions. But just weeks before Russia invaded, Zelenskyy expressed concerns that such warnings would have a negative impact on the Ukrainian economy — and emphasized that Kyiv was used to facing threats from Russia.

"Burns had come to give him a reality check" and the CIA director shared that Russian Special Forces were coming for Zelenskyy, writes Whipple, adding that President Joe Biden told Burns "to share precise details of the Russian plots."

"This immediately got Zelensky's attention; he was taken aback, sobered by this news," Whipple wrote in the book, set for release on January 17.

Russia invaded Ukraine the next month, launching the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Since that time, Ukrainian officials have spoken about Zelenskyy surviving more than a dozen Russian assassination attempts. But Whipple, who interviewed Burns, gives readers a glimpse of how the stakes were laid out to Zelenskyy as he tried to push back on US warnings about an impending invasion.

"The intelligence was so detailed that it would help Zelensky's security forces thwart two separate Russian attempts on his life," he wrote.

As previously reported, Burns also shared a "blueprint of Putin's invasion plan" during that visit in Zelenskyy's office to help him prepare. Whipple wrote. He previewed Russian plans to attack Antonov Airport north of Kyiv and to use it as a staging area for an assault on Kyiv.

Whipple wrote that most interviews for his book were on "deep background" which meant that he could use the information but he agreed not to quote sources directly without permission.

The US has been a key partner for Ukraine throughout Russia's unprovoked invasion, which began in February 2022. Kyiv has received billions of dollars in security assistance from Washington since the war began, and the US has continued to provide Ukraine with vital intelligence to aid its forces on the battlefield.

Zelenskyy survives over 12 assassination attempts since start of full-scale invasion



Ukrainska Pravda
Mon, January 16, 2023

William Burns, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), warned President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about an assassination threat at a secret meeting during his visit to Ukraine before Russia’s invasion.
Source: The Independent

Details: Chris Whipple, author of books about administrations of different US presidents, describes this information in his book The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House.

William Burns went to Kyiv before the start of the full-scale war in order to inform Zelenskyy of a Russian plan to murder him and "give him [Zelenskyy – ed.] a reality check", as Zelenskyy was publicly dismissive of warnings from US officials.

Chris Whipple said that Biden tasked the CIA director – a former US Ambassador to Russia – with providing Zelenskyy with "precise details of the Russian plots": "This immediately got Zelenskyy's attention; he was taken aback, sobered by this news".

It is noted with a reference to 'Ukrainian officials' that Zelenskyy has survived more than 12 separate attempts on his life by Russian forces since the full-scale war began in February 2022.

Whipple said that at least two of those success stories were thanks to US intelligence shared by Burns during that visit to Kyiv: "The intelligence was so detailed that it would help Zelenskyy's security forces thwart two separate Russian attempts on his life."

Background: In March 2022, The Times reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had survived at least three assassination attempts since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the same time, Mykhailo Podoliak, Advisor to the Head of the President's Office, said on 9 March that there were more than a dozen of such assassination attempts.

Wind Turbines Are Big Enough for Now, Vestas CEO Says



Rachel Morison
Mon, January 16, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- Wind turbines are big enough for now and the challenge over the next decade will be expanding output to meet green goals around the world, the world’s top producer said.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S — which in 2021 announced a 15-megawatt offshore turbine that at the time was the world’s largest — currently doesn’t plan to make them bigger, Chief Executive Officer Henrik Andersen said in an interview in Davos.

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to wind power. That’s because onshore wind has different requirements depending on the site, and for offshore wind the newest and most efficient turbine is best, the CEO of the Danish giant said. It’s also difficult to transport components once they get too big.

The company will focus on global manufacturing and plans to expand some of its existing sites, including in Poland.

Yet Vestas was slow to roll out the latest generation of its offshore turbine. The delay left it trailing competitors General Electric Co. and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA and was something Andersen said he regretted.

Even if Vestas sticks with its current generation as long as possible, its competitors could move ahead with larger turbines in the coming years and possibly leave the Danish company once again playing catchup.

NIMBY

Eastern WA GOP lawmaker proposes law to limit ‘eyesore’ of blinking red wind turbine lights

Annette Cary
Mon, January 16, 2023 

Wind turbines would no longer be allowed have continuously blinking red lights at night under a bill proposed by new Washington state Rep. April Connors, R-Kennewick.

Several states already require Aircraft Detection Lighting Systems for wind turbines that only turn lights on to alert low-flying airplanes as they draw near and then shut off when they have passed.

The legislation, if approved, would apply to the Horse Heaven wind farm proposed for just south of the Tri-Cities along the Horse Heaven ridge line, which is the immediate concern of some of those who support the bill.

But existing wind farms in the state also would be required to install aircraft detection systems meeting Federal Aviation Administration standards by 2026.

Pilots flying at low altitudes at night rely on the blinking lights on wind turbines for safety, “but for many, many others they are a disturbing eyesore and an invasive nuisance,” said Paul Krupin, a Kennewick scientist and attorney, at a hearing on House Bill 1173 on Monday before the Washington state House Environment and Energy Committee.

The lights do not need to be on all the time, he said.

FAA approves light detection

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved systems that detect aircraft radar to turn on only when planes are flying low in the vicinity.

James Conca, a Richland scientist, said at the hearing that the lights are needed only 2% to 3% of the time.

This view from above South Clodfelter Road looks northeast from a proposed Horse Heaven wind turbine site to houses in the Tripple Vista, Summit View, Badger Mountain South and Rancho Reata developments.

The blinking red lights of the Horse Heaven Clean Energy project would be visible at night up to 20 to 30 miles away, Krupin said.

Plans call for 244 turbines about 500 feet tall or 150 turbines with blades extending about 670 feet high, which is taller than the Seattle Space Needle.

More than 100,000 people would live within six miles of the turbines, the majority of them in city limits, by one analysis done by Krupin and Tri-Cities Community Action for Responsible Environmental Stewardship.

Most wind farms are not built in areas close to so may homes, Conca said.

Elsewhere in the state only 20,000 people live within six miles of a wind turbine, according to Krupin.

Connors said the first time she saw the blinking lights of existing wind turbines in the dark sky along Highway 12 between the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla, she was startled enough to reach over to her husband.

Scout Clean Energy plans a wind farm on Benton County farm land south of the Tri-Cities along the Horse Heaven Hills ridgeline south of Badger Road.

One Tri-Cities residents told her that the blinking lights are hypnotic and distracting to drivers, she said.

“In Eastern Washington, while we do not have a lot of say ... where things are basically sited in our region, it is important to us to protect and maintain the beauty of our landscape,” Connors said.

The Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is evaluating the proposal for the Horse Heaven project, with Gov. Jay Inslee making the final decision on it.
Wind turbines too costly?

The Association of Washington Business is concerned that costs for adding aircraft detection lighting systems, particularly on existing wind turbines, would be passed on as higher rates to electricity users, said Peter Godlewski, the group’s director of government affairs for energy, environment and water.

Krupin said the cost of the intermittent lighting systems is not prohibitive and would reduce public opposition to nearby wind turbines. It also could diminish the perceived risks of harm to property values and tourism, he said.

Under one proposed configuration of the Horse Heaven Hills Wind Farm south of the Tri-Cities, more than 200 turbines could be seen from areas shown in the darkest purple.

Tri-Cities business leaders have been concerned that the colorful sunsets enjoyed by tourists at wineries from the Tri-Cities to Benton City would be marred by wind turbines along the Horse Heaven ridge line.

Conca estimated that the lighting systems would cost 0.1% of the total cost of the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center.

“These folks are making tons of money on these projects, most of which goes out of state,” Conca said. “So they can certainly do something for the people of this state who are bearing the burden and getting almost none of the benefit.”

The fiscal analysis for the bill estimated a Washington state government cost of $846,000 as rules are developed for aircraft detection lighting systems by the Department of Ecology, in cooperation with the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council and the state Department of Transportation.

Germany began requiring aircraft detection lighting systems for every turbine in the country this year, Connors said.

States that already require the systems include North and South Dakota, Vermont and New Hampshire, with Colorado, Minnesota and Kansas considering the requirement, according to supporters of the bill.

Live in Tri-Cities? Here’s how many wind turbines you might soon see from your house

Annette Cary
Mon, January 16, 2023 at 12:36 PM MST·6 min read

“Too many turbines, too close to people” say three Kennewick area residents who crunched the numbers for the proposed Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center.

Scout Clean Energy proposes two scenarios along the Horse Heaven Hills just south of Kennewick from Finley to Benton City:

Up to 244 turbines up to 500 feet tall

Up to 150 turbines up to 670 feet high

“Benton County people are impacted disproportionately to every other county in the state, in the Northwest and even several states beyond,” by wind turbine projects, said Paul Krupin of Kennewick a scientist and attorney who worked on environmental issues for the federal government for three decades.


He and Tri-Cities CARES members Dave Sharp of Kennewick, a retired manager of Wyoming wind farms, and Pam Minelli, a Tri-Cities area homeowner, have been poring over the Horse Heaven project’s draft environmental impact statement to better understand the proposed project and submit public comments on it by the end of the month.

The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council will decide whether to recommend the project to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will make the final decision.

The nonprofit Tri-Cities CARES, or Community Action for Responsible Environmental Stewardship, was formed to help protect the Horse Heaven Hills habitat and the natural landscape of the Tri-Cities area.

This view from above South Clodfelter Road looks northeast from a proposed Horse Heaven wind turbine site to houses in the Tripple Vista, Summit View, Badger Mountain South and Rancho Reata developments.

The three found the draft study lacking, including a failure to analyze the proposed wind project’s impact on the people who would live near it, they said.

They say an analysis shows that the turbines will be visible, including their blinking red lights at night, from many areas of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco.

For instance, more than 100 turbines will be visible from downtown Richland, they say.

The view for residents of the Tripple Vista neighborhood between Badger and Clodfelter roads would include 137 to 199 wind turbines during the day and the blinking lights of 148 to 107 turbines at night, according to data the group pulled from the environmental impact statements’ visual impact assessment.

The blinking lights are set at the top of the turbine hub, with the blades stretching higher into the sky to be seen during the day.

In Franklin County, along the Columbia riverfront the turbines will be visible from the Interstate 82 bridge downriver almost as far as the blue bridge, according to the group’s analysis. Even more would be seen at higher elevations in Pasco, although they would be distant.

The boundary of the proposed Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center south of the Tri-Cities is shown. Solar arrays could be in the yellow areas of the map.

At the top of Webber Canyon, the turbines “will stretch from one horizon to the other,” Krupin said.

The main I-82 entrance to Kennewick would be flanked by towering turbines, he said.
Tri-Cities turbines vs. Washington

“You cannot imagine how big this project is until you get down on the ground and see it,” Krupin said. “It is huge.”

The project will cover 110 square miles, with 105 miles of roads crossing arroyos and other non-agriculture land, Sharp said.

Between the Horse Heaven wind farm and the nearby and smaller Nine Canyon wind farm, just over 100,000 residents of Benton County will live within six miles of a turbine, according to the group’s computer analysis that relies on U.S. Census tract data.

That’s five times more than the estimated 20,000 people who live within six miles of a wind farm across the rest of Washington state, the said.

Other Washington state counties with wind farms average about 2,000 people living within six miles, according to the group.

“You just don’t develop them in a metropolitan area. They are out in a rural area,” Sharp said.

And the number of people living near the turbines, should the project go forward as proposed, would increase in time, they said.

This panoramic view looks northeast off Badger Canyon Road shows Badger Mountain, Benton City and towards West Richland through the saddle of Badger and Candy Mountains, at right..

The Nine Canyon project started with about 17,500 residents within six miles in 2000, but due to project expansions and population growth now has about 59,000 people within six miles, they said.

The group picked six miles to analyze as the distance before wind turbines are far enough away to blend into the landscape.

Minelli says her home between I-82 and East Badger Road now has a 180-degree view of countryside, with hawks soaring outside her deck.

“We live there because we like the tranquility of the rural views, the rural sounds,” she said.

But now she and thousands of others face the industrialization of their rural views, she said.

“These projects need to be put in a rural area that doesn’t change the lifestyle and the ability of us to enjoy our homes,” she said.
Fewer wind turbines possible?

Krupin, Sharp and Minelli are calling for Scout Clean Energy to reduce the number of turbines it expects to be most visible to people living in Benton County, which include those in the Horse Heaven Hills wildlife corridor.

Washington state Fish and Wildlife Department has recommended that wind infrastructure be no closer than a half mile from a wildlife corridor, according to the group.

Although the group found the draft environmental impact statement short on specifics, they think that the number of proposed turbines could be reduced and Scout could still meet its generation goals.

They have been sharing their analysis with local government and other community leaders, but Scout Clean Energy has not seen it.

Dave Kobus, senior project manager for the Horse Heaven project, said the process of determining project viability is complicated and requires access to proprietary data, complicated financial modeling and confidential manufacturer data not publicly available.

This view shows the Dennis Road possible wind turbine tower location east of Weber Canyon looking northwest towards Benton City.

He said that the Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, has “run a rigorous, independent analysis spanning nearly two years and is suggesting mitigation measure that go well beyond established precedent in several areas.”

Among mitigation measures suggested in the draft environmental impact statement are requiring turbines to be more than a half mile from residents whose land is not part of the project and steps to prevent or minimize the flickering shadows that could be cast on homes by rotating blades.

Measures also are suggested to help protect wildlife.

“We are fully committed to working through the adjudication process and closely reviewing the draft EFSEC document as well as any public comments provided to EFSEC to assure mitigation is appropriate,” Kobus said.

“The commercial aspects of the technology selection and placement will continue to be reviewed as we progress through the EFSEC process deliberation,” he said.

The proposed project includes solar panels and battery storage in addition to wind turbines.

Italy agrees to transfer suspect in EU graft scandal to Belgium



Mon, January 16, 2023 
By Emilio Parodi

BRESCIA, Italy (Reuters) -An Italian court on Monday agreed to hand over to the Belgian authorities a second woman suspected of involvement in a Qatar graft scandal that has rocked the European Parliament.

An appeals court in the northern city of Brescia said Silvia Panzeri, 38, could be extradited, after having twice postponed a ruling pending a report on conditions in Belgian jails.

Her lawyers had said last month the request should have been rejected because of overcrowding in Belgian jails, and the judges asked for information from Brussels on its prison system that has taken several weeks to arrive.


Panzeri is the daughter of former EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, who is believed by Brussels prosecutors to be one of the main players in the alleged corruption. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The same court, with a different set of judges, had already cleared the transfer to Brussels of Maria Dolores Colleoni, the wife of Pier Antonio Panzeri and mother of Silvia.

Colleoni is still in Italy, however, because her lawyers filed an appeal against her transfer with Italy's highest appeals court which is expected to decide on Jan. 31.

Angelo De Riso, a lawyer for Silvia Panzeri, said his team would decide in the next five days whether to pursue an appeal to the highest court.

He described the response from the Belgian authorities on jail conditions as not sufficient.

Colleoni and Silvia Panzeri have been under house arrest in northern Italy since Dec. 10, in compliance with a European arrest order issued by Belgian magistrates over their alleged "participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption". They have denied any involvement.

Last week, an Italian court upheld the seizure of two bank accounts containing 247,000 euros ($267,000) that belong to Colleoni, Pier Antonio and Silvia Panzeri, rejecting an appeal by their lawyers to unfreeze the accounts.

The accounts had been seized in December by Italian prosecutors at the request of Belgian magistrates.

Belgian prosecutors suspect Greek MEP Eva Kaili and others accepted bribes from World Cup host Qatar in a bid to influence European Union policymaking in one of the biggest scandals to hit the 27-nation bloc.

Qatar has said it had no involvement in the EU scandal. Kaili has denied wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Emilio ParodiEditing by Keith Weir and Bernadette Baum)

Brazil's Lula to end industrial tax IPI, VP says

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a breakfast with journalists at Planalto Palace in Brasilia

Mon, January 16, 2023 at 9:51 AM MST·2 min read


SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will seek to end the industrial tax IPI, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Monday, which would continue an exemption policy initiated by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

At an event hosted by Sao Paulo's industry group FIESP, Alckmin acknowledged that the current administration considered reversing Bolsonaro's 35% IPI tax reduction, amid discussions on how to slash this year's primary budget deficit.

But Alckmin, who is also Lula's minister of industry and trade, pointed out that the idea, which industrialists rejected for increasing the sector's production costs, was abandoned.

"We managed to get that removed, not incorporated into the (fiscal) proposal. It wasn't incorporated and the next goal is to end the IPI, and ending the IPI is (through) tax reform," he said.

Alckmin reiterated that the government would now push for tax reform in Latin America's largest economy, adding it is "essential to industry."

The tax is levied on companies manufacturing and importing products, such as refrigerators, cars, air conditioners and televisions. It is raised or lowered by presidential decree, without the need for congressional approval.

Bolsonaro cut the IPI by 35% last year, in an effort to boost economic activity that the COVID-19 pandemic has dented. During the presidential campaign, he promised to zero the tax rate.

Lula, who won the election by a narrow margin, never mentioned reducing the IPI tax as a priority. His Finance Minister Fernando Haddad even discussed with his team ending Bolsonaro's tax reduction, which would increase government revenues by 9 billion reais ($1.8 billion).

When Haddad announced last week a package to boost revenue and cut expenses - with no changes to the IPI rate - he criticized the Bolsonaro administration for promoting a series of tax exemptions without pointing out compensations.

Alckmin also said Lula does not intend to revoke Brazil's labor and pension reforms, market-friendly moves passed by Congress in 2017 and 2019.

(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Gabriel Araujo and Marcela Ayres; Editing by Steven Grattan, Grant McCool and Andrea Ricci)