How do rich people avoid taxes? 

Wealthy Americans skirt $160 billion a year in tax payment

Medora Lee, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

More than $160 billion in tax revenue is lost every year because the top 1% finds ways to avoid paying “their fair share,” according to academic research cited by the Treasury Department.

What tactics, though, do uber-wealthy people use to avoid the taxes?

It turns out that not only can they afford tax attorneys, accountants, and estate planners, but there are also some tax benefits that require lots of money to even access. We’ll shed light on some of those strategies available only to the extremely rich.

“As long as it’s done legitimately and there’s no fraud, I’m okay with it,” said Ed Smith, senior tax and estate planner at Janney Montgomery Scott.

Tips from rich people on how to save: These are the tax strategies used by uber rich Americans

Important info: Are you ready to file your taxes? Here's everything you need to know to file taxes in 2023.
How much do rich people avoid in taxes?

According to U.S. Treasury estimates, the top 1% of wealthy people underpay their taxes by $163 billion annually.
How the super-rich avoid paying taxes

Foundations


Gifting


Family offices


Investments


Moving residency

1. Foundations: Some begin with as little as $250,000, but a more feasible amount begins in the millions.

Immediate income tax deduction of up to 30% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for your contribution but only distribute about 5% each year for charitable purposes. Because that 5% is calculated off the previous year’s assets, the first year requires no distribution.


Avoid high capital gains tax and grow money tax efficiently. You can deduct the full fair-market value of the stock you contribute and not pay capital gains tax. If the foundation sells, it only pays 1.39% excise tax on the capital gains.

Example: Investing $250,000 in a private foundation each year for five years, earning 8% annually, yields about $1.43 million after excise taxes and minimum annual distributions of 5% to charitable activities. Contrast this with $1.38 million had the money been invested in a taxable account and paid capital gains taxes along the way.

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2. Gifting:

Annual gift tax exclusion. In 2022, the limit was $16,000 and in 2023, it’s $17,000 per person. “If you have three kids and 10 grandkids, times two (me and spouse), that’s $34,000 per year to all 13 people that’s out of your estate and a tax-free gift,” said David Handler, Trusts and Estates Practice Group partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.


Lifetime gift tax exclusion, which is separate from the annual gift. For 2023, it’s $12.92 million ($25.84 million for a married couple), and that amount generally rises each year based on inflation.

Note: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) doubled the lifetime gift tax amount until December 31, 2025. The amount reverts to the pre-TCJA amount of $5 million, adjusted for inflation, unless Congress extends it.

Do you need to pay taxes on a gift?

3. Family office: Typically, you need at least $100 million in assets to create a single-family office.

If properly structured, it can offer personalized services that include investment management, financial planning, estate and tax planning, philanthropic investing, concierge services, and more for family members with all the tax deductions of a business. The TCJA stopped individual taxpayers from deducting investment, accounting, tax and similar advisory fees until 2025, but a family office might be able to take them.

“Big wealthy families have the capability to do this if they all agree and get along by making it a business and deducting what would be non-deductible,” said Smith.

Bonus: if your kids have skills that can be used in the family office or other business, you can hire them and pay them a hefty salary that’s expensed for the business and passed on to the kids, Smith said.

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4. Investments:

The average U.S. chief executive salary as of Jan. 26 was $812,100, according to Salary.com. How can that be when we always hear that CEOs earn millions per year?

In contrast to the lower 99% who earn most of their income from wages and salaries, the top 1% earn most of their income from investments. From work, they may receive deferred compensation, stock or stock options, and other benefits that aren't taxable right away. Outside of work, they have more investments that might generate interest, dividends, capital gains or rent if they own real estate.

Note: Real estate investments offer another benefit because they can be depreciated and deducted from federal income tax -- another tactic used by wealthy people.

Calculating income: What is income tax? What to know about how it works, different types and more

Real estate investing: Looking for new investment options? Here's what to know about real estate beyond homeownership

5. Changing residency:

“Jake Paul promoted it with a whole new section of the population,” said tax attorney Adam Brewer.

Professional boxer and American social media personalities Paul and his brother Logan, who is also an actor and wrestler, moved to Puerto Rico partly to avoid high American taxes.

Puerto Rico is particularly attractive because U.S. citizens who become bona fide Puerto Rican residents – simply relocating doesn’t count -- can keep their U.S. citizenship, avoid U.S. federal income tax on capital gains, including U.S.-source capital gains, and avoid paying any income tax on interest and dividends from Puerto Rican sources.

Normally, U.S. taxpayers would have to give up their U.S. citizenship or green card to reap federal tax benefits.

Taxing states: State taxes can be complex if you choose to work in a different state. Here's what to know.

Tax escape: Want to relocate? What to know about moving to Canada and Mexico

Not everyone’s ready to take that leap, though. ”A lot of people move to avoid state income tax,” Brewer said.

If you're a big earner, you could benefit from no income tax especially since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act capped at $10,000 how much state and local taxes (SALT) you can deduct from your federal taxes through 2025. If Congress doesn’t act to keep this cap, SALT deductions will revert to unlimited.

States without income tax:

Alaska


Florida


Nevada


New Hampshire


South Dakota


Tennessee


Texas


Washington


Wyoming
Can we get rich people to pay more taxes?

These are just a handful of ways ultra-wealthy people can legally avoid taxes. Although President Joe Biden proposed a national wealth tax when he took office, that's gone nowhere and now some states are trying to impose their own.

California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Washington are introducing proposals to tax the rich. Each state has its own approach, but typical strategies include taxing assets and lowering the threshold for estate taxes.

Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How the rich avoid taxes using strategies available only to them

Freeport LNG Restart And $2 Natural Gas Put This LNG Giant's Earnings Beat In Focus

KIT NORTON
02/23/2023

Cheniere Energy (LNG), the largest U.S. exporter of LNG, topped fourth-quarter financial estimates early Thursday. The report lands as a volatile natural gas market has gas prices at their lowest levels since 2020, and as Freeport LNG, a key U.S. liquefied natural gas export facility, prepared to end an eight-month pause in exports. Cheniere Energy stock surged Thursday.

Cheniere Energy reported $9.08 billion in Q4 revenue, up 38% from last year, with EPS of $15.78. Ahead of earnings, analysts forecast EPS of $6.02, up from a loss of $5.22 a year ago.

Cheniere's Revenue Doubles

This was the second consecutive quarter Wall Street predicted booming profits for Cheniere Energy. In Q3, LNG reported a net loss of $9.54, sharply below analysts expectations for a profit of $5.58 per share. Analysts expected Cheniere Energy Q4 revenue to increase 22% to $8.03 billion.

The Houston-based company is the largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the U.S. and one of the largest LNG operators in the world. Its services range from gas procurement and transport to vessel chartering and delivery. Cheniere owns and operates liquefied natural gas terminals near Corpus Christi, Texas.

For the full year, Cheniere earned $5.64 per share, up from a loss of $9.25 in 2021.

 Meanwhile, Cheniere revenue more than doubled to $33.43 billion in 2022.

Cheniere Energy stock soared 9.1% t0 161.31 Thursday during market trade. On Wednesday, LNG shares edged up 2.7% to 147.77. The stock is now trading more than 19% above an early January low, in a consolidation begun in November.

LNG shares rank 36th in IBD's Oil & Gas-Transport/Pipeline industry group. The group ranks No. 38 among the 197 industry groups tracked by IBD. Cheniere Energy stock has a 39 Composite Rating out of 99. The stock also has a 51 Relative Strength Rating. The EPS Rating is 24 out of 99.

Natural Gas Below $2

Natural gas futures prices rose modestly Thursday, after sliding on Wednesday below the $2 per million British thermal units. That was the first undercut of the $2 mark since September 2020. Natural gas prices have declined more than 45% since the beginning of 2023 and are down around 80% from their August, 2022 peak of $10.

The latest Energy Information Administration data also shows U.S. natural gas stockpiles are at 2.266 billion cubic feet. This is up 17% compared to last year and nearly 9% above the five-year average. Meanwhile, the amount of natural gas flowing to U.S. LNG export plants rose to a 10-month high last week, according to the EIA.
Freeport LNG Is Back

U.S. gas supplies started to back up after an explosion and fire shut down Freeport LNG's Quintana, Texas export facility on June 8. The loss of export capacity led to a gas price peak in August, after which prices veered into a steep slide.

On Tuesday, the privately held Freeport said regulators approved the restart of commercial operations.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Freeport LNG permission to restart two of three liquefaction trains, which compress natural gas into condensed, super-chilled liquid. Freeport LNG expects to increase production to 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) — about 15% of total U.S. LNG export capacity — over the "next several weeks."

However, the facility's third liquefaction train still requires regulatory authorization before it can be brought back online. The first LNG production and ship loading from the facility began on Feb. 11, Freeport LNG reported Tuesday.

"Returning to liquefaction operations is a significant achievement for Freeport LNG," CEO Michael Smith said in a statement.

The unexpected shutdown of the facility reduced U.S. LNG exports, and caused a sudden loss of demand for natural gas. That, in turn, left surplus gas on the U.S. market, allowing U.S. utilities to inject higher-than-expected reserves into stockpiles for the winter.

Freeport repeatedly pushed back its timeline to resume operations. The impact of the facility's restart on natural gas markets, demand and prices is not clear.

U.S. Poised To Become Top Exporter

The U.S. is set to become the largest LNG exporter in 2023, according to a new report from U.K.-based Wood Mackenzie. In 2022, the U.S. was the third-largest exporter of LNG with 76.4 million metric tons per annum. The resumption of Freeport LNG's facility positions the U.S. to export 89 million metric tons this year, surpassing Qatar and Australia, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Based on the combination of projects already under construction and momentum of potential projects, U.S. LNG capacity could grow between 70 million metric tons per annum-190 million metric tons per annum before the end of the decade.

Simon Ekpa: Nigeria's Ipob faction leader arrested in Finland


Chiagozie Nwonwu - BBC News, Lagos
Thu, February 23, 2023 

A controversial leader of a Nigerian secessionist movement has been arrested at his home in Finland, the BBC has confirmed.

Simon Ekpa allegedly used social media to incite violence and called for a boycott of Saturday's Nigerian poll.

He leads a faction within the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), which is fighting for a breakaway state in south-eastern Nigeria.

Nigeria's government had asked Finland to act against him.

A leading newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, said that one of its reporters, who had gone to interview Mr Ekpa, saw him being led out of his home by police.

Mr Ekpa had called for a sit-at-home protest from 23 February until after the election.

In 2022, a BBC investigation identified Mr Ekpa as one of the "media warriors" of Ipob, who were allegedly using social media to call for violence.

He did not respond to BBC requests for comment at the time.

Mr Ekpa has declared that his group is "in a revolution and visible state of war".

He had also called for a five-day sit-at-home last December, warning that those who failed to comply should "blame" themselves "for whatsoever that happens" to them.

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Australians urged to support Indigenous recognition ahead of referendum

A depiction of the Australian Aboriginal Flag is seen on a window sill in Sydney

Thu, February 23, 2023 
By Jill Gralow and Praveen Menon

ADELAIDE/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A First Nations group leading the push for the constitutional recognition of Australia's Indigenous people called on all citizens on Thursday to vote in favour of the change to help bring the country together.

Australia is preparing for a landmark referendum to change its constitution to include an Indigenous "Voice", which is a representative body that can advise parliament on policies affecting the Aboriginal and Torres Islander people.

The more than 800,000 Indigenous people and their ancestors have inhabited the land for about 65,000 years. But there is no mention of them in Australia's constitution.


Dean Parkin, director of "From the Heart", a campaign group, said voting yes was the referendum was a chance for all Australians to connect.

"It means you get to connect your sense of what it means to be Australian to the oldest continuous culture on Earth," he told an audience in Adelaide where the campaign was launched.

"It is a very small thing, it's a modest thing, and yet very profound."

The government is expected to introduce a bill in parliament in March outlining the proposed changes to the constitution. Once approved in parliament, the referendum will be put to Australians. The only way to change the constitution is by holding a referendum.

"We are kicking off a process that is going to result in millions of conversations between now and the referendum," Parkin said.

"It's time, history is calling," another speaker said at the event.

The referendum is one of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's key initiatives and he has staked much of his political capital on it.

There have been 44 proposals for constitutional change in 19 referendums in Australia, but only eight have been approved.

In the last referendum in 1999, Australians voted against changing the constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the British monarch and Governor-General being replaced by a president appointed by parliament.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Factbox-Five things to know about Australia's planned Indigenous referendum


Indigenous Australians maintain presence at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra

Thu, February 23, 2023 
By Praveen Menon

(Reuters) - Australia's government plans to hold a referendum between August and December this year on recognising the nation's Indigenous people in its constitution.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who represent about 3.2% of Australia's population, are currently not mentioned in the constitution.

Here are five things to know about the referendum:

PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has proposed adding these three sentences to the constitution:

* There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.


* The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

* The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

WHAT IS THE PROPOSED REFERENDUM QUESTION?

Albanese has said the referendum question to be put to Australians should be as simple and clear as: "Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?"

The question has not been finalised and more clarity on this is expected in the coming months.

HOW DOES THE REFERENDUM WORK?

The government will introduce a bill in parliament in March outlining the proposed changes to the constitution.

This will be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee.

Once approved in parliament, it will be sent to the Governor General, the local representative of the British monarch, who issues a writ for a referendum.

HOW MANY VOTES ARE NEEDED?

To change the constitution, the government must secure what is known as a double majority in the referendum.

That means more than 50% voters must vote in favour nationally, plus a majority of voters in a majority of the states must back the change.

Votes of people living in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the Northern Territory regions, and any of Australia's external territories, count towards the national majority only.

Poll turnout will be high as voting is compulsory.

HOW HAVE PAST REFERENDUMS FARED?

There have been 44 proposals for constitutional change in 19 referendums, and only 8 of these proposals have been approved.

In the last referendum in 1999, Australians voted against changing the constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the British monarch and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of members of parliament.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Explainer-What is Australia's Indigenous 'Voice to Parliament' campaign?


Members of Koomurri Aboriginal Dance Troupe participate in a traditional Australian Aboriginal smoking ceremony as part of celebrations for Australia Day, which marks the arrival of Britain's First Fleet in 1788, in central Sydney

Thu, February 23, 2023 
By Praveen Menon

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia plans to hold a federal referendum later this year to constitutionally recognise its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the establishment of a representative Voice that will provide non-binding advice to the parliament.

Here's what you need to know about Australia's 'Voice to Parliament' campaign:

WHO ARE AUSTRALIA'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the Indigenous people of Australia.

They represent about 3.2% of its population. The more than 800,000 Indigenous people and their ancestors have inhabited the land for about 65,000 years. They comprise several hundred groups that have their own histories, traditions and languages.


WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Australia's Indigenous population shrank after the British colonisation in 1788 as they were dispossessed of their land, exposed to new diseases, forced to work in slave-like conditions, and killed by colonisers.

The marginalisation of Australia's First Nations people has continued until recent years.

Aboriginal people track below national averages on most socio-economic measures and suffer disproportionately high rates of suicide, domestic violence and imprisonment. Their life expectancy is about 8 years lower than non-Indigenous people.

One in three Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families over 1910 to the 1970s in a bid to assimilate them into white society. The government apologised for the so-called 'Stolen Generation' in 2008.

ARE OTHER FORMER BRITISH COLONIES BETTER?

First Nations people in other former British colonies continue to face marginalisation, but some countries have done better in ensuring their rights.

Canada recognises the rights of its Indigenous people under the Constitution Act 1982.

New Zealand created Maori seats in parliament, allowing the indigenous population to choose to vote for candidates for these seats or participate in the general election.

Te reo Maori has been recognised as an official language and is used in schools, universities and public offices.

HOW DID THE VOICE REFERENDUM COME ABOUT?

Indigenous people began to be included in Australia's census figures after a referendum to amend the constitution in 1967, more than 60 years after it was established as a nation in 1901.

In 2017, about 250 First Nations representatives gathered at the sacred monolith landmark of Uluru in central Australia and produced the Uluru statement from the Heart, which calls for a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

The conservative government at the time rejected the call.

In 2022, Labor's Anthony Albanese became prime minister and said Australians would have their say in a referendum to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

Australia has so far only passed eight out of 19 referendums.

WHO IS FOR AND AGAINST THE VOICE?

A poll by The Australian newspaper showed 56% of voters support the change in the constitution, while 37% oppose it.

The referendum is one of Albanese's key issues and he has staked much of his political capital on it.

Left-wing Greens party, Independent lawmakers, several welfare groups, national religious and ethno-religious groups support the referendum.

But there are those who oppose it on both sides of the political divide.

Outspoken Indigenous leader Lidia Thorpe quit the Green party over concerns about the Voice proposal. She wants a treaty between the government and indigenous people, similar to what exists in New Zealand and Canada.

The conservative Liberal Party has not said if it would support a "yes" vote and the rural-based National Party said it would oppose. The Liberals and the Nationals have a long-standing coalition agreement.

A "no" campaign, or "Recognise a Better Way" campaign, has proposed to set up an all-party parliamentary committee to focus on the rights of native title holders instead of the referendum.

(Additional reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Californians voted for two progressive policies. Now, corporations want to undo them | Opinion




Tefere Gebre, David Huerta
Thu, February 23, 2023 

When corporations spend countless dollars, deceive California voters and veto public policy, that’s an assault on our democracy.

Last year, Californians won two major legislative victories: a public health buffer zone from harmful oil drilling and a fast food minimum wage council. Both of these policies provide better working conditions and quality of life as well as cleaner air for millions. Both policies are incredibly popular, both won in the Legislature and both were signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Yet today neither are enshrined in law. Why?

Before these laws could be implemented, the oil industry and multinational corporations spent millions of dollars to gather signatures for “referendums” to suspend these laws unless voters affirm them at the next general election — where millions more can and will likely go toward deceptive advertising to sway voters.

Opinion

The secretary of state only determined that the referendum on Senate Bill 1137 had enough signatures to appear on the 2024 general election ballot after oil interests spent more than $20 million to challenge the 3,200-foot buffer zone the bill would implement between oil drilling and sensitive sites like homes, schools and hospitals.

Researchers have known for decades that oil drilling emits toxic pollution that negatively impacts human health (we’re talking about asthma, respiratory disease, cancer, preterm births and higher risk for infant mortality). Common sense public health policy is life-altering for millions of Californians who live and work within 3,200 feet of an oil well. The referendum paused the law, and with a ballot measure in 2024 it could end this lifeline for the future.

Fast food workers were dealt a similar blow when the secretary of state qualified the referendum on Assembly Bill 257, which would have created the infrastructure for California’s over 700,000 workers in the notoriously exploitative fast food industry to negotiate wages, hours and safer working conditions. By paying for signatures, fast food corporations accomplished what they couldn’t do in the legislative process: Stop workers from having a greater say in reforming the industry. This law hasn’t yet taken effect, squashing dreams of a more fair workplace.

These examples reveal a serious threat to our democracy. The increasing use of paid signature gatherers injects a profit incentive to deceive voters about what they’re signing, as recent reports confirm.

There is evidence that some voters who signed the referendum to overturn the buffer zone were told it would prevent oil drilling near schools, when the opposite was actually true. Likewise, some voters signing the fast food corporations’ referendum were enticed by the idea of raising workers’ wages, when it actually limits workers’ ability to negotiate for them.

For too long, corporations have been able to effectively veto legislation through the expensive referendum process, all to the benefit of various shareholders and the detriment of people’s health and prosperity. Hardworking, low-income California workers and families — the same people these two laws would protect — don’t have access to the cash flow that large corporations do.

It’s time to fight back as fellow workers and families because our well-being is more important than profits.

We’re determined to maintain our progress on critical environmental and worker empowerment policies and to support California voters by demanding transparency. Together, we’ll hold signature-gathering firms to a higher standard, and improve the referendum process for voters — not corporations.

Bullies don’t just exist on school playgrounds, they exist in our politics. They hide in plain sight and in back rooms, buying the laws they want. But grassroots power overcame corporations twice to win these legislative victories, and we’ll win again by defending them.

Tefere Gebre is the chief program officer at Greenpeace USA and the former executive vice president of the AFL-CIO. David Huerta is the president of SEIU California, which represents 700,000 California political and electoral workers to build a more just and equitable state.

Gaston County filmmaker exploring aliens in new film


Kara Fohner, The Gaston Gazette
Thu, February 23, 2023

Writer David Richardson and director Shelly Teare are producing a film called "Alien Abduction," which will be filmed in Gaston County.

After a host of calls about UFOs, a woman disappears. Her husband, a police officer, thinks she was abducted by aliens.

That's the premise of a new film that will be made by Gaston County indie filmmaker David Richardson, who owns Chapel Grove Films.

The film, titled "Alien Abduction," will be around 10 minutes long.

"When our story opens, the local police have been swamped over several days with a sudden rash of calls about UFO sightings and the supposed 'abductions' of local residents," Richardson said. "Generally the police consider them all crank calls, but Sgt. John Rockland takes them seriously – he's an avid UFO hunter. So when his wife suddenly disappears, he's convinced she's been abducted by aliens. And he means to find her."

Rockland goes looking, Richardson said, "and what he finds is worse than anything he could have imagined."

Chapel Grove Films was founded around 20 years ago, and since then, Richardson has made feature length films, short films, and music videos.

Richardson, who lives in the Crowders Mountain area, wrote the original script for "Alien Abduction" around a decade ago for an online screenwriting contest. There are only two onscreen characters, the police officer and an alien, but the police officer's wife can be heard speaking in the film.

Putting a film like that together is a "time intensive process," Richardson said. It involves finding the right people, the right location, props, a wardrobe, and more.

Richardson's friend Shelly Teare is directing "Alien Abduction," which will be filmed at the home of one of her friends.

Richardson and Teare met in 2021 when Richardson went to a sleep clinic, where Teare works, and the two began talking about his films. He later reached out to her because he had an idea for a film that takes place at a sleep center, and their relationship blossomed from there.

"Writing is really my passion," Teare said, adding that producing and directing are new to her.

The lead actors in "Alien Abduction" are Jeff Smith, who plays the police officer, and Gregory Rodes Jr., who plays the alien. Both are from South Carolina, and Richardson found them online: "the same way he finds anyone these days."

The film will be shot on March 3, and post production work will take at least a month – "only because I still have a full-time job that sucks up a lot of my time," Teare said.

While "Alien Abduction" is a short film, "we're going to try to expand it into a larger story," Richardson said. But first, "we're just going to get it out there and get it on the film festival circuit."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County filmmaker exploring aliens in new film

The Pentagon Is Investigating UFOs That Possibly Turned Off Warheads

Sascha Brodsky
Thu, February 23, 2023 

Pentagon Investigating Reported UFO/Nuke Activity OsakaWayne Studios - Getty Images

Former U.S. Air Force personnel reportedly told the Pentagon about their encounters with UFOs back in the 1960s.


The officers say the ‘60s-era UFOs supposedly turned off nuclear warheads.


The Pentagon has an official office for investigating UFO sightings.

It’s been a jam-packed month for unidentified flying objects in the U.S., so let’s add one more juicy piece of UFO news to the pile: Now, the government is supposedly investigating reports of UFOs somehow deactivating nuclear warheads.

The Daily Mail claims that former U.S. Air Force personnel have testified that UFOs interfered with nukes in the 1960s. The officers reportedly recently told the government’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) that they had bizarre encounters with the objects near U.S. military bases.


The Daily Mail says it’s seen an email showing that AARO staff contacted former Air Force ICBM launch officer Robert Salas to get information about the encounter with an orange flying disc that switched off 10 warheads at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, in 1967. Another former officer, Dr. Robert Jacobs, supposedly told AARO that he made a film for the Air Force in 1964 that captured images of a UFO shooting a test missile out of the sky.

Many observers say UFO sightings should be treated with a great deal of skepticism. Still, the government is trying to corral reports of strange activity in the skies into a format that can be investigated more rigorously. AARO, for example, is a recently created office under the Secretary of Defense that looks into unidentified flying objects and other phenomena.

Former U.S. Navy officer Sean Cahill, who claims to have witnessed the infamous “Tic Tac” incident sighted off the U.S.S. Nimitz aircraft carrier in 2004, said on Twitter recently that he wants more information on UFOs. He urged his followers not to let “those [with] agendas and cognitive blocks ... use the current balloon flap to muddy the water.“ He added: “Don’t take the bait; demand identification and evidence of each incident’s origin.”

Whatever the mysterious objects may be, the truth is out there. And if you believe the reporting in the Daily Mail, the UFOs may be coming ... for our nukes?

Could heat from the Earth's crust be used to remove carbon from the atmosphere?

Devika Rao, Staff writer
Thu, February 23, 2023

Geothermal plant. Arctic-Images/Getty Images

In the fight against climate change, carbon capture technology, where carbon dioxide is sucked out of the atmosphere, has become an increasingly hot topic. However, the most significant drawback of the technology is the energy required, reports The Washington Post.

Despite carbon dioxide's effect on climate change, the greenhouse gas only makes up 0.04 percent of ambient air, making its extraction very energy intensive and challenging. The entire capture process would be futile if it required energy from greenhouse gases to operate.

Fervo Energy, a company based in Houston, Texas is hoping to harvest geothermal energy from Earth's crust. Drilling just one to two miles below the earth's crust can provide access to temperatures over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit where water can be pumped and converted to steam-powered electricity, the Post continues. "You have to have your energy from a carbon-free source," said Timothy Latimer, the CEO of Fervo Energy. "Geothermal is a great match."


Geothermal plants can both produce electricity and be used to capture carbon because electricity production always leaves residual heat at approximately 212 degrees, ideal for capturing carbon. "It's a totally unexplored place," Latimer said. "What would you do differently in the design of a geothermal power plant if you knew you were pairing it with a direct air capture facility?"

Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have emphasized how carbon capture will be needed to meet climate coals, predicting that ten gigatons per year of carbon need to be removed per year through 2050, and even more after. "We are not waiting for the year 2100. We are not waiting for the year 2050," said Philip Jakpor, director of programs nonprofit Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa. "We believe the time for action should be now."

One year into Ukraine war, China says sending weapons will not bring peace

U.N. General Asembly holds high-level meeting on adoption of resolution on Ukraine in New York

Thu, February 23, 2023
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China's deputy U.N. Ambassador Dai Bing told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that one year into the Ukraine war "brutal facts offer an ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace."

"Adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions. Prolonging and expanding the conflict will only make ordinary people pay an even heftier price," he said. "We stand ready to continue playing a constructive role in resolving the Ukraine crisis, and bring about peace at an early date."

Western powers have provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons since Russia invaded. The United States and NATO have accused China of considering supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing against such a move.

China has dismissed the accusations saying that the United States was in no position to make demands of Beijing.

Dai was speaking at the United Nations a day after China's top diplomat visited Moscow and pledged a deeper partnership with Russia. China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.

The U.N. General Assembly will vote later on Thursday on a draft resolution calling a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" and demanding Russia withdraw its troops.

Since Moscow invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly hinted that Russia could use a nuclear weapon if threatened.

"Nuclear weapons cannot be used, nuclear war cannot be fought," Dai said. "All parties should join together against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, prevent nuclear proliferation and avoid a nuclear crisis."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Ismail Shakil and Diane Craft)

List: Some of the largest private donations to Ukraine





Men carry boxes with humanitarian aid provided by UN World Food Program and ADRA charity organisation for the residents of the region and internally displaced persons at the distribution center in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023.

 (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)


THALIA BEATY
Thu, February 23, 202 at 10:00 AM MST·5 min read

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of the largest private donations in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago have come from American technology companies and European foundations or companies with a social mission. But millions of individuals have also given directly to nonprofits or humanitarian agencies with some of their donations amplified by employer or donor matches.

Another measure of support of Ukraine and Ukrainians can be seen in the astronomical growth of U.S.-based nonprofits like Nova Ukraine and Razom for Ukraine, both of which were founded in 2014 after Russia first invaded Crimea. They went from receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions annually to each raising more than $70 million in cash and in-kind donations since February 2022.

The nonprofit Candid tracks donations to causes related to the war in Ukraine and compiled information on more than $1.2 billion in gifts from the private sector and individuals from around the world. With long delays in the public reporting of donations in the U.S., Candid says this "patchy, incomplete and messy" data is the best currently available.

The private sector aid is a small portion of the overall global response, with the U.S. Congress allocating $113 billion in aid to Ukraine so far. The U.N. has received $3.4 billion in commitments or donations mostly from governments to fund its humanitarian response to the war.


Here are some of the largest publicly-known private donations to support Ukraine and Ukrainians in the past year.

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MICROSOFT: $430 million donation in cash and services

When Russia invaded, Microsoft helped the Ukrainian government move its computing from servers located in the country to the cloud. Tom Burt, a vice president, said the company has donated 30,000 work hours over the past year and has agreed to continue to donate its cloud services at no cost to the Ukrainian government through 2023. That's in addition to cyber security defense and threat detection services that the company is donating to the government and some private sector actors. The company matched $10 million in employee donations and donated additional cash and services to humanitarian organizations.

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NATIONALE POSTCODE LOTERIJ: 155.2 million euros ($165.9 million) donation.

This company with a social mission runs lotteries in five European countries and donates the proceeds to charities. The Dutch branch donated 100.6 million Euros ($113.3 million) to major humanitarian and human rights organizations operating in Ukraine, though the majority of those funds are unearmarked. All together from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, the lottery raised at least 155.2 million euros ($165.9 million) to organizations that are active in Ukraine or that provide aid to refugees, a spokesperson said.

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EPIC GAMES: $144 million donation

Proceeds from all in-game purchases in the popular video game Fortnite for two weeks at the end of March last year were split between Direct Relief, UNICEF, the World Food Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and World Central Kitchen. Epic Games confirmed that the funds, some of which came from proceeds from Xbox, a Microsoft company, have been delivered.

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DMITRY MURATOV: $103.5 million donation

In June, the Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize for $103.5 million, which he donated to UNICEF to support children displaced by the war. UNICEF confirmed it had received the funds.

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EPAM SYSTEMS: $100 million commitment

The information technology services company said it had 14,000 employees in Ukraine when Russia invaded and pledged to support them and their families with this commitment. A spokesperson declined to disclose what portion of the funds the company had spent to date or how much it had raised through a separate fundraiser that benefited two nonprofits, Razom for Ukraine and Leleka Foundation.

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BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE FOUNDATION: $100 million commitment

In April, the foundation pledged $100 million to a new initiative called Tech for Refugees that partners with Airbnb, Flexport.org, Spotify, Welcome.US and the International Rescue Committee to support refugees from around the world, but with a focus on Ukraine. The foundation did not disclose the amount it has delivered to the initiative so far. It has pledged smaller amounts to help Ukrainian scientists and donated $8 million for refugee and humanitarian relief.

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AKELIUS FOUNDATION: 496 million Swedish krona ($47 million) donation

This Swedish foundation, founded by a real estate magnate, Roger Akelius, matched donations to a fundraiser run by the Swedish national partner of UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, for Ukraine.

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THE CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS AGAINST GERMANY: $47 million donation

The Claims Conference has a mandate to care for the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and distributed these funds in 2022 on welfare services for around 10,000 survivors in Ukraine. It's made another commitment of $47 million for welfare services in 2023 in addition to other direct payments it provides to the survivors.

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GOOGLE.ORG: $45 million committed in cash and services

The charitable arm of Google's parent company has donated 50,000 licenses for its business suite of tools to the Ukrainian government as well as cybersecurity services. It has also donated staff time to work on projects benefiting refugees and an initiative by the Ukrainian government to help train and match Ukrainians with digital jobs. It has matched $5 million in donations to humanitarian organizations and committed $10 million to organizations supporting refugees in Poland among other cash donations.

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NIPPON FOUNDATION: 5 billion yen ($37 million) commitment

This nonprofit founded in 1962 by politician and businessman Ryoichi Sasakawa directs the revenue from motorboat racing to charities. It has provided aid to 1,921 Ukrainians to both travel and live in Japan as evacuees, a designation that is different from refugee, of which the country accepts very few. Since it was first announced, the foundation increased the commitment to 8.58 billion yen ($64 million) over three years, though it will cap the number of recipients at 2,000.

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Associated Press business writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this story from Tokyo.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.