UN conference raises less than $1 billion for climate-wracked Horn of Africa in major disappointment

Edith M. Lederer

yesterday

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 Nunay Mohamed, 25, who fled the drought-stricken Lower Shabelle area, holds her one-year old malnourished child at a makeshift camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia on June 30, 2022. The United States has announced $524 million in additional humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa that aims to put a spotlight on the extreme effects of climate change and the worst drought in the region in 40 years. The aid announcement also seeks to highlight the need for more than $5 billion. 

(AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A high-level U.N. conference on Wednesday raised less than $1 billion of the more than $5 billion organizers were hoping for to help over 30 million people in the Horn of Africa cope with a major climate crisis and mass displacement after years of conflict, a major disappointment to aid agencies.

The U.N. appealed for $7 billion this year to provide food and other humanitarian assistance for the three Horn of Africa countries – Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and had only received $1.6 billion. After pledges were tallied, the U.N. humanitarian office said the total funding for 2023 now stands at $2.4 billion.

That means only $800 million in new funding was announced Wednesday – over 60% from the United States which made an additional donation of $524 million . That brought its total to more than $1.4 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged would-be donors at the start of the pledging conference to make an immediate and major injection of funding to prevent the crisis caused by the longest drought on record, massive displacement and skyrocketing food prices “from turning into catastrophe.”

“People in the Horn of Africa are paying an unconscionable price for a climate crisis they did nothing to cause,” he said. “Without an immediate and major injection of funding, emergency operations will grind to a halt, and people will die.”

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who visited the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in September, said humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa are now greater than ever, “with over 23.5 million persons facing acute food insecurity” which is why the U.S. has pledged additional funds.

“Right now, the global community is simply not meeting the moment,” she told the conference, warning that “the threat of famine looms.”

“In a world abundant with food, entire communities should never, never starve to death,” Thomas-Greenfield stressed.

But the results of the pledging conference co-hosted by the U.S., UK, Italy and Qatar were anything but bold.

According to the U.N. humanitarian office, there were 25 countries that made announcements along with the European Commission, Islamic Relief and the U.N.’s emergency humanitarian fund. But it said some pledges included funds for 2024 and beyond.

Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Antje Leendertse told the conference the 210 million euros ($226 million) in humanitarian aid for the three countries in 2023 and 2024 doesn’t include substantial funding “for development and stabilization” in the Horn of Africa.

UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said the country pledged $119 million for the three Horn of Africa countries. In addition, he said, the UK pledged $27 million for Sudan, $23 million for South Sudan and $9 million for Uganda, taking its total new funding up to $178 million.

Alison Huggins, deputy director for Africa for the relief organization Mercy Corps which has worked in the Horn of Africa since 2004, said it takes the results of the conference “with a grain of salt because many of these pledges were just confirmations of existing financing commitments and remain insufficient in light of the region’s urgent and expanding needs and the many lives still hanging in the balance.”

She said people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya contribute less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, but they are “suffering the consequences of human-induced climate change.”

The humanitarian agency CARE said the region is facing the worst food crisis in 40 years, pointing to drought, two locust invasions, conflict and rising commodity prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over 31 million people need emergency aid, more than 2.5 million have left their homes, and on, due to the extreme weather more than 13.2 million livestock — a key money earner — have perished.

According to the U.N. humanitarian office known as OCHA, the Horn of Africa is the epicenter of one of the world’s worst climate emergencies.

Last year, an estimated 43,000 people died in Somalia, most likely due to drought – and half of the victims may have been children under the age of five, OCHA said.

While improved rains are starting to ease the impact of drought, they are also causing flooding and damage which has affected at least 900,000 people — and more flooding is expected later this year, OCHA said. And regardless of the rains, it will take years to recover from the historic drought.

In Somalia, where more than 6 million people are going hungry, a famine has yet to be declared, but some humanitarian and climate officials have warned that current trends are worse than in the 2011 famine, in which 250,000 people died.

Somalia is also grappling with insecurity due to the al-Shabab extremist group, which has ties to al-Qaida and has fought the Somali federal government in Mogadishu for years. The group intensified attacks on military bases in recent months after losing territory in rural areas to government forces.

In Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, nearly all the 6 million people rely on food aid after two years of civil war. Government-imposed restrictions on humanitarian relief had pushed parts of the region to the brink of famine until aid deliveries resumed after the war stopped with a cease-fire in November.

But the U.N. and USAID, the U.S. aid agency, announced earlier this month that they were suspending all food assistance to investigate the theft of humanitarian supplies.

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Associated Press writer Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

Caustic feedback, serious injuries and the quiet mental health suffering of horse racing jockeys

AT LEAST THEY DON'T GET EUTHANIZED 

Stephen Whyno

May 23, 2023

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 Jockey Mike Smith tips his helmet to the crowd as he rides Justify to the winner's circle after winning the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race and Triple Crown on June 9, 2018, in Elmont, N.Y. Earlier in 2023, horse racing was rocked by the deaths less than six weeks apart of two young jockeys, 23-year-old Avery Whisman and 29-year-old Alex Canchari, each of whom killed himself. A friend of Whisman's, Triple Crown-winning rider Mike Smith has over three decades seen similar tragedies unfold. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)


BALTIMORE (AP) — Eurico Rosa da Silva was in a dark place.

On the track, the jockey in his early 30s was winning races and making money. At home, he was fighting suicidal thoughts every day.

“I got to the point where I have no more choice but to go for help,” he recalled recently. “I went because if I have no choice, I would kill myself.”

Da Silva got help in 2006 and rode for more than a decade before retiring. He’s one of the lucky ones.

Earlier this year, horse racing was stunned by the suicides less than six weeks apart of two young jockeys, 23-year-old Avery Whisman and 29-year-old Alex Canchari. A friend of Whisman’s, Triple Crown-winning rider Mike Smith, said he has seen similar tragedies over three decades.

“I know several riders that I knew very well committed suicide when it was all said and done,” Smith said. “This is not all of a sudden just happening. It’s been going on. You just never heard of it.”

The dangers of riding thoroughbreds at high speed add up to an average of two jockeys dying from racing each year and 60 being paralyzed, according to one industry veteran, citing data dating to 1940. Combine that with criticism from owners, trainers and bettors and the need to maintain the low weight necessary to establish a career, and jockeys have been quietly suffering for as long as they have been riding horses.

While jockeys interviewed for this story worry that racing has lagged behind other sports in accepting the importance of their mental health on the job, there is hope that renewed conversation about it prompts real change.

“This needs to be addressed,” jockey Trevor McCarthy said. “We take a lot of beatings mentally and physically. With the mental and physical state, when you mix both of them together, it can be a recipe for disaster. Look, there’s proof of it, right? We lost two guys.”

McCarthy last year, like da Silva before him, sought help before it was too late. His father was a jockey, as is his father-in-law and his wife, Katie Davis McCarthy. They are all used to the ups and downs of the job, from the broken pelvis and collarbone from his spill during a race in November to the uncertain hold on a ride.

A particularly rough summer, including flying up and down the East Coast to ride, took a toll on McCarthy, who at 118 pounds could feel his diet and lack of calories affect his work. He wanted to quit.

“I was going absolutely nuts, and my body couldn’t handle it,” McCarthy said. “You’re constantly going through mind games. And I think a lot of guys get caught up in that with the weight and the mind game of not doing good or thinking they’re not good enough.”

His wife made him promise to talk to a sports therapist. McCarthy did so for months, learning how to find a better work-life balance that has helped him win 28 races already this year.

Now 47, da Silva was named Canada’s best jockey seven times and is the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“In 30 years of riding horses, I can say to you that I never heard anybody talk about the emotional pain, never talked about going for help,” said da Silva, who’s now a mental health coach and spoke Tuesday at the first jockey mental health symposium in Lexington, Kentucky. “I approached many jockeys that I feel like they need help, and many times I said, ‘Go for help.’ I motivate them to go for help. They just listen, but they don’t really want to talk about.”

Dr. Ciara Losty of South East Technological University in Waterford, Ireland, pointed out that jockeys have an “underdeveloped sense of self inside of their sport,” compared to team sport or Olympic athletes who are less likely to burn out because they seek out other activities. She said jockeys can also be less familiar with mental health topics because of low literacy levels and lack the support system of a coach or coaching staff.

“Maintaining a low weight and obviously disordered eating is a big part of it,” said Losty, who co-authored a 2018 study on jockey mental health. “Being a jockey, you have a risk of serious injuries, and if you’ve had a serious injury the fear of re-injury when you engage or get back up on the horse again may impact your performance or lead you to some kind of distress.”

Dr. Lewis King, now at Ireland’s Technological University of the Shannon, did his doctoral degree in 2021 on the subject because he wanted to explore what makes jockeys susceptible to mental health problems and what stopped them from seeking help. In talking to 84 jockeys in Ireland, he said, he found 61% met the threshold for adverse alcohol use, 35% for depression and 27% for anxiety.

King’s research showed that despite nearly 80% of jockeys having at least one common mental health disorder, only a third saw a professional. He said most feared losing their jobs.

“The main barrier was stigma and the negative perceptions of others,” King said. “But primarily it was related to the negative perceptions of trainers. There was a perception within the jockeys I interviewed that if they spoke about their mental health issues or it somehow got back to their trainer that it may impact whether they get rides. The trainer may perceive them as not in the right headspace, for instance, to ride their horses.”

Trainers told King and his colleagues they felt similar worries about sharing their own mental health concerns with owners.

McCarthy, who has been a jockey since 2011, said in recent months he has actually confronted trainers in the U.S., telling them to ease up on berating fellow jockeys after races.

The entire cycle speaks to horse racing being “an old-school sport,” McCarthy said. Losty pinned the lack of progress in mental health on the masculinized nature of the industry, and da Silva said the topic is still “taboo” in racing.

“Asking for help in our sport is almost a sign of weakness, sad to say,” said Smith, who rode Justify to the Triple Crown in 2018 and is still riding at 57. “You certainly don’t want to show any signs of that. We’re supposed to be tough and be able to handle it all.”

The Jockeys’ Guild and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority recently sent out an anonymous survey — the first of its kind — to gauge the best ways to support riders’ mental health and wellbeing, a hotline is among the ideas being considered.

The results of that survey, returned by 230 jockeys, included 10% describing their mental health as “poor,” a third saying sadness, depression or anxiety were causing challenges in their daily life over the past month and 93% expressing concern about financial stability and providing for their families.

Surveyed jockeys also said money, weight concerns and the pressure to win were among the biggest stressors; they cited the fear of losing work and a stigma around seeking support as barriers to seeking help.

“It’s important for the industry to come together on this issue and other issues to grow our industry and make sure equine and human athletes are taken care of,” said Jockeys’ Guild president and CEO Terry Meyocks, a third-generation horseman whose daughter, Abby, is married to Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Javier Castellano.

“It’s important that people talk about it,” said Meyocks, who noted an average of two jockeys have died and 60 have been paralyzed annually dating to 1940.

McCarthy only started talking seriously about it after getting married and daughter Riley was born, knowing he’s at the leading edge of thinking about mental health and how far behind other jockeys are.

“We’re just behind the 8-ball a little bit with that,” he said. “It’s going to be baby steps, but we have a long way to go.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

STOOPID HOOMAN

Yellowstone baby bison put to death after visitor picks it up, leading herd to reject it
yesterday

 A herd of bison grazes in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park on Aug. 3, 2016. Yellowstone National Park officials say they had to kill a newborn bison because its herd wouldn’t take the animal back after a man picked it up. Park officials say in a statement the calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday, May 20, 2023.

 (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A man who picked up a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park caused it to be shunned by its herd, prompting park officials to kill the animal rather than allow it to be a hazard to visitors.

Park officials quickly defended the decision to kill the newborn bison.

“We made the choice we did not because we are lazy, uncaring or inexpert in our understanding of bison biology. We made the choice we did because national parks preserve natural processes,” the park said in a statement posted Tuesday on Twitter.

Park officials’ options for dealing with the animal were limited, according to the statement, which said bison must be quarantined before being sent to conservation herds outside the park. A bison calf abandoned and unable to care for itself is not a good candidate for quarantine, the statement said.

The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday. The unidentified man pushed the struggling calf up from the river and onto a roadway, park officials said in a news release.

Human interference with young wildlife can cause animals to shun their offspring. Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the calf with the herd but were unsuccessful.

At one point, visitors saw the calf walking up to and following cars and people. This created a hazard, so park staff killed the animal, according to the news release.

It’s the latest example of Yellowstone visitors getting in trouble or hurt after approaching bison. Park officials euthanized a newborn bison after a similar incident in 2016, when a Canadian man and his son put the calf in their SUV, thinking they could rescue it.

FINE IS PEANUTS

The man pleaded guilty. He was fined $235 and ordered to pay $500 to the Yellowstone Park Foundation Wildlife Protection Fund.

Bison have gored several people in Yellowstone in recent years, often after they got too close to the animals.

Many of Yellowstone’s larger animals — including bison, which can run up to 35 mph (55 kilometers per hour) and weigh up to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) — are deceptively dangerous, even when they are just grazing or resting.

Park rules require visitors to keep at least 25 yards (23 meters) away from wildlife including bison, elk and deer, and at least 100 yards (91 meters) away from bears and wolves.

Park officials are investigating the bison calf incident. The suspect was a white male in his 40s or 50s who was wearing a blue shirt and black pants, the statement said.

The calf’s body was left on the landscape, similar to the 25% or so of Yellowstone’s newborn bison that don’t survive, park officials said in the Twitter statement.

“Those deaths will benefit other animals by feeding by feeding everything from bears and wolves to birds and insects. Allowing this cycle of life to play out aligns most closely with the stewardship responsibility entrusted to us by the American people,” the statement said.

Shell agrees to pay $10 million for air pollution at massive new Pennsylvania petrochemical plant

Michael Rubinkam

yesterday

 Construction is under way on Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex and ethylene cracker plant on May 12, 2020, in Potter Township, Pa. Shell has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that it polluted the air around its massive new petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania. The administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the penalty Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Shell has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that it polluted the air around its massive new petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania, the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday.

Shell acknowledged that the plant, located along the Ohio River about 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside of Pittsburgh, violated air emissions limits, officials said. The multibillion-dollar facility opened in November, only to be shut down months later after the company said it identified a problem with a system that’s designed to burn off unwanted gases.

Shell said it has made repairs and planned to restart the plant on Wednesday.

Under an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Shell Chemicals Appalachia LLC — a subsidiary of British oil and gas giant Shell plc — will pay a civil penalty of about $5 million, a portion of which will go toward environmental projects in Beaver County. The company will funnel a total of $6.2 million to the community, according to state officials.

Pennsylvania is “taking steps to hold Shell accountable and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water while encouraging innovation and economic development in the commonwealth,” Rich Negrín, the state’s acting environmental secretary, said in a written statement.

The plant uses ethane from a vast shale gas reservoir underneath Pennsylvania and surrounding states to make polyethylene, a plastic used in everything from consumer and food packaging to tires. At full capacity, the plant is expected to produce 3.5 billion pounds (1.6 billion kilograms) of polyethylene annually. Shell had projected to spend $6 billion on the refinery, which took years to build.

Environmental advocacy groups had fought the plant and predicted that it would generate more plastic pollution, as well as compounds that form smog and planet-warming greenhouse gases. The Clean Air Council filed suit against Shell earlier this month.

Environmentalists likened the penalty announced Wednesday to a parking ticket that would have little impact on Shell’s bottom line.

“The overwhelming and toxic pollution residents have been exposed to has already harmed this community — there is no price tag that will allow for this to be acceptable,” said Andie Grey, who lives 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from the Shell plant and is part of the Eyes on Shell watchdog group.

Grey said “there is ample evidence Shell has no desire to protect this community.”

Shell has said it is using the best available technologies to try to minimize air pollution.

“We’ve learned from previous issues and remain committed to protecting people and the environment, as well as being a responsible neighbor,” Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith said Wednesday.

The plant exceeded rolling 12-month emission limits for volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and other hazardous pollutants, according to state regulators. The state said Shell also violated limits on visible emissions from its flares, allowed foul odors to be released by its wastewater treatment plant and committed other violations.

Shell warned it would continue to exceed air emissions limits through the fall as the plant ramps up production. It will be required to pay additional civil penalties for any future violations.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan had cast the problems as expected “technical niggles.”

The plant’s startup phase has “been slower than we would have hoped for,” Sawan said on a conference call with analysts earlier this month. “But the team is dong a great job battling with some of the obvious technical niggles that startups typically have.”

Danish masters prepped canvases with leftovers from brewing beer

Maddie Burakoff

yesterday

This image provided by the Statens Museum For Kunst shows the 1834 painting "The 84-Gun Danish Warship 'Dronning Marie' in the Sound" by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. Danish painters in the 19th century had some special ingredients up their sleeves: They used materials from brewing beer to create their artwork, according to research published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg/Statens Museum for Kunst via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Danish painters in the 19th century may have turned to an unusual source for some of their supplies: breweries.

Researchers examined paintings from the Danish Golden Age and found traces of yeast and grains. That suggests painters were turning to byproducts from local breweries to prepare canvases, they reported Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Study author Cecil Krarup Andersen said they went into the project looking for glue made from animals.

“Then, by surprise, we found something completely different,” said Andersen, a paintings conservator at the Royal Danish Academy.

The brewing leftovers would have been spread over the canvases as a paste, creating a smooth surface and preventing the paint from seeping through, Andersen explained. Today, this priming process is usually done with a white mixture known as gesso.

The authors said that knowing what’s on the canvases will help in conserving them.

In the study, scientists took a look at works by two of the first master painters to come out of Denmark — Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, considered the father of Danish painting, and Christen Schiellerup Kobke.

To get a peek underneath their scenes of bobbing ships and family portraits, researchers used pieces of canvas that had been trimmed off the paintings in an earlier conservation project.

The team analyzed the little strips to pick out what kinds of proteins were in them, explained lead author Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo, a heritage scientist now at Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana.

Their results showed that seven of the 10 paintings contained mixes of yeast, wheat, rye and barley proteins — some of the key ingredients for a good Danish ale.

Beer itself was a precious commodity at the time — it was even used to pay salaries — so artists probably weren’t pouring actual drinks onto their work, Di Gianvincenzo said. Instead, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, which prepared canvases for its artists, likely bought leftover mash from local breweries.

This kind of recycling wasn’t uncommon, Andersen added: Artists also used bits of sails for their canvases and boiled leather scraps for their glue. Records from the time also suggested that beer products may have been used in the arts.

The research links two elements of Danish culture, Andersen said.

“What represents Denmark? Well, beer is one of the first things that some people think about,” Andersen said. “But then also, this particular time and these particular paintings are deeply rooted in our story as a nation.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all conten





This photo provided by Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo in May 2023 shows her taking a small sample from the strip of the tacking edge of a painting canvas for analysis. Danish painters in the 19th century had some special ingredients up their sleeves: They used materials from brewing beer to create their artwork, according to research published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

(Courtesy Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo via AP)

This image provided by the Statens Museum For Kunst shows the 1831 painting "View from the Loft of the Grain Store at the Bakery in the Citadel of Copenhagen" by Christen Købke. Danish painters in the 19th century had some special ingredients up their sleeves: They used materials from brewing beer to create their artwork, according to research published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. 

(Christen Købke/Statens Museum For Kunst via AP)

DeSantis 2024 campaign launch on Twitter plagued by technical problems



May 24 (UPI) -- Twitter owner Elon Musk's live interview with Ron DeSantis on Wednesday got off to a rocky start marred with technical issues as the Florida governor announced that he will run for president.

During the social-media event, Musk was to ask DeSantis "unscripted" questions live-streamed on Twitter Spaces, a feature that supports live audio interviews on iOS, Android and web browsers. A Twitter account is required to listen to event.

However, many would-be listeners were left watching the "Space" stuck preparing to launch. For those who were able to listen in, they heard very little. The audio in the interview dropped out at least five times in the first six minutes.

While the audio was working, Musk was talking about technical issues caused by the number of Twitter users online at the time. The listener count volleyed about 550,000 to 592,000.

The audio recording ended after 21 minutes of dropouts. Musk, DeSantis and moderator David Sacks then made Sacks' Twitter page the host, which worked, mostly. Musk remarked that hosting from his page appeared to have "broken Twitter."

"I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback," DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he chose to make his announcement on Twitter as opposed to cable television to separate himself from the pack.

DeSantis touted keeping Florida "open" during the COVID-19, and alleged that President Joe Biden has submitted to "pharmaceutical authoritarianism." He lauded Musk for being a "free speech advocate" and allowing "the truth" to be discussed about the coronavirus. To that, Musk said Twitter was expensive, but "free speech is priceless."

The governor expressed confidence in his ability to win the presidency if nominated, telling voters that they can set their clocks to his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. Then, the audio again dropped out momentarily.

DeSantis, using a phrase often used by Musk, said America must be freed from the "woke mind virus," urging that the country must move away from identity politics and "restore sanity."

Moments before the original 6 p.m. EST start time, DeSantis posted a video online announcing his candidacy.

"It will be the first time that something like this is happening on social media, with real-time questions and answers," Musk had told the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day.

According to Twitter, Spaces are open to anyone, even if they do not follow the host.

Earlier in the day, DeSantis filed his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, listing Team DeSantis 2024 as an affiliated organization.

Musk and DeSantis have echoed similar "anti-woke" rhetoric that has become more common from both in recent months. In one of the latest campaign ads from "Never Back Down," an organization supporting the governor's candidacy, DeSantis said, "Florida is where woke goes to die."

DeSantis faces the challenge of differentiating himself from other Republican candidates who have pushed similar campaign rhetoric, namely former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis' announcement sets up a long-awaited showdown with the former president as both seek their party's endorsement.

DeSantis initially stayed clear from trading barbs with Trump. Trump, on the other hand, already has taken aim at DeSantis in recent weeks, saying DeSantis would not have been elected governor were it not for his endorsement.

DeSantis' decision to announce his candidacy on social media follows Trump's playbook. Trump famously used social media to his advantage while campaigning, seemingly testing public engagement with various policy ideas.

Musk has spoken in favor of DeSantis' policies, saying last year that he would support the governor if he made a bid for the presidency. During an event earlier in the week, Musk reportedly said he would not be endorsing DeSantis immediately.

Since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, Musk has more frequently echoed Republican talking points and chided liberal viewpoints. In December, Musk suspended multiple journalists who had been critical of him in the past, accusing them of violating the platform's policy on doxxing.

Sen. Bernie Sanders urges Joe Biden to use 14th Amendment on debt limit

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Wednesday called on President Joe Biden to enact a clause in the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling and avoid the United States defaulting in the coming days. 

File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

May 24 (UPI) -- As the United States inches closer to its first-ever default on the national debt, Sen. Bernie Sanders called on President Joe Biden to enact the 14th Amendment, while House Democrats announced unanimous support for a discharge petition to end the debt limit standoff.

Sanders, I-Vt., made the 14th Amendment plea Wednesday in an op-ed published by Fox News, in which he urged Biden to take the unconventional path and avoid proposed cuts being pushed by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"While defaulting on our nation's debt would be a disaster, so would enacting the budget Republicans passed in the House in April," Sanders wrote in the piece.

The former presidential candidate called on Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment's public debt clause, so the United States can "continue to pay its bills on time and without delay, prevent an economic catastrophe, and prevent huge cuts to healthcare, education, childcare, affordable housing, nutrition assistance and the needs of our veterans."

Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark told reporters Wednesday that all 213 Democratic lawmakers have now pledged their support for a discharge petition, which would allow lawmakers to bypass leadership and raise the debt ceiling.

However, the parliamentary procedure still needs five House Republican votes to pass the 435-seat chamber.

"We're five signatures away," said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "So for our Republican colleagues who give interviews and go back home and talk about how they want to work together, and talk about how they're not extreme like Marjorie Taylor Greene, and how she doesn't speak for them -- this is their opportunity."

While House Democrats want a clean debt ceiling increase, Republicans have proposed a $1.5 trillion debt limit hike with federal spending cuts of approximately $4.8 trillion over the next decade.

Biden has been negotiating with the Republican-led House and McCarthy for months to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avert a crisis.

On Tuesday, McCarthy told his Republican colleagues, "We are nowhere near a deal. I need you all to hang with me."

The California Republican did not sound any more optimistic speaking to reporters Wednesday.

"We have to spend less than we spent last year. It is not my fault the Democrats can't give up on their spending," McCarthy said outside the U.S. Capitol, adding he hoped to wrap up discussions by the end of the day ahead of a week-long break over the Memorial Day long weekend.

Sanders said Republicans' proposed spending cuts "could impact the lives of virtually every American in our country for decades to come."

"If Congress does not agree to impose massive cuts on the needs of working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor -- they will allow, for the first time in our history, the U.S. to default on the national debt," Sanders wrote in the article.

"This action will have a devastating impact on our economy, destroy millions of jobs and cause interest rates on mortgages and auto loans to skyrocket," he said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned of an impending default, calling on Congress to raise the debt ceiling or deal with dire consequences. Millions of Social Security payments would immediately stop in that scenario, as would some other federal services.

Yellen has said the United States is on course to reach its $31 trillion debt ceiling and no longer be able to borrow funds by June 1, which would trigger a default. Earlier this month, she said "the U.S. economy hangs in the balance."

Congressional panel places blame on regulators, execs for recent bank failures

By Lynn Liu, Medill News Service

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., said at a House hearing Wednesday that "when it comes to regulating our banks, Congress has a short-term memory on what works and what doesn't." Pool File photo by Andrew Harnik/UPI | License Photo


WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) -- Members of Congress on Wednesday maintained that federal regulators, as well as bank executives, should be held accountable for the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and other two banks.

"The executives and the board of Silicon Valley Bank clearly dropped the ball," Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said at a House Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing.

"The fact that there have not been any resignations or any firings at the top of the Fed and the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.} is unfortunate, but not surprising, for the [Biden] administration."

The Federal Reserve is responsible for identifying and correcting unsafe and unsound practices before they lead to a bank's failure through the dynamic markets, Jeremy Newell, a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute, told the subcommittee.

However, under its watch, three banks have failed this year, resulting more than $35 billion to be taken from the Deposit Insurance Fund to resolve crisis, according to an FDIC's estimation.

Before the failures, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and FDIC had recognized financial risks at both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, but neither regulating agency acted to prevent the bank failures, Michael Clements, director of Government Accountability Office's financial markets and community investment team, noted in his testimony.

In April, the Federal Reserve published a report reflecting on its supervision and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank. In 2019, the Federal Reserve revised its framework to enhance standards of the eight global systemically important banks, but reduced requirements for other large banks.

"For Silicon Valley Bank, this resulted in lower supervisory and regulatory requirements, including lower capital and liquidity requirements. While higher supervisory and regulatory requirements may not have prevented the firm's failure, they would likely have bolstered the resilience of Silicon Valley Bank," the report said.

However, Newell said that Federal Reserve was being "too assertive" and provided a wrong diagnosis without fully acknowledging the whole picture.

In his view, federal regulators have placed excessive emphasis on non-financial risks and regulatory procedures rather than addressing financial vulnerabilities.

This hearing is one more step of the House Committee of Oversight and Accountability's investigation into regulation shortcomings in bank failures.

On April 27, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and McClain, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, sent an official letter to Mary Colleen Daly, president and CEO of the San Francisco Federal Reserve.

In the letter, the lawmakers requested documents such as audit reports, communications and lists of individuals involved in overseeing Silicon Valley Bank within the Federal Reserve.

"I wish I could say this is Congress' first hearing to dig into the causes of bank failure. It's not. " said Rep. Katie Porter, D.-Calif. "That's because when it comes to regulating our banks, Congress has a short-term memory on what works and what doesn't. "

Porter said that bank failure increases when the Congress removes regulations. However, the Congress is easily influenced by bank lobbyists who want less regulation.

"I'm glad and grateful that there has been bipartisan agreement that [federal] supervisors need to do a better job," Porter said in his closing statement.

Porter told a reporter from Medill News Service after the hearing that she and McClain are continuing to work in a bipartisan way to get more answers from the Federal Reserve.

Meta begins new round of layoffs affecting 6,000 jobs

WILL NOT IMPACT INFLATION

Meta Wednesday began a third round of restructuring layoffs expected to cut 6,000 more jobs.

 Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo


May 24 (UPI) -- Meta started a third round of layoffs Wednesday as the company was expected to cut more than 6,000 jobs.

News of the latest cuts came as some workers announced on LinkedIn Wednesday that they had been laid off, according to CNBC.

This round of layoffs primarily affected Meta's business groups.

Employees had been made aware the layoffs were coming as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a "Year of Efficiency" restructuring plan earlier this year.

As part of the plan Meta has stopped recruiting for roughly 5,000 job openings and will lay off 21,000 people this year jobs cut in November and April are factored in.

In a March post, Zuckerberg said the layoffs are part of a restructuring designed to "make us a better technology company and to improve our financial performance in a difficult environment so we can execute our long-term vision."

Zuckerberg said after the restructuring the company plans to lift hiring and transfer freezes. He said the layoffs will make the company "flatter by removing multiple layers of management."

In April Meta reported first-quarter sales of $27.91 billion, an increase of 3% from the same quarter a year ago.

"We had a good quarter and our community continues to grow," said Zuckerberg. "Our AI work is driving good results across our apps and business. We're also becoming more efficient so we can build better products faster and put ourselves in a stronger position to deliver our long-term vision."

He said then that the company is not abandoning its metaverse vision. He said Meta's focus will continue to be AI and the metaverse.

Private astronauts arrive at International Space Station, greeted warmly

MAY 22, 2023 

The Axion mission's capsule Freedom (R) docked at the International Space Station on Monday. 

Photo courtesy of NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. May 22 (UPI) -- Warmly greeted by the seven astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, a four-member crew joined the celebration in a live TV broadcast shortly after their Freedom capsule arrived at the orbiting laboratory Monday morning.

Two of the Axiom crewmembers from Saudi Arabia shared their enthusiasm and gratitude with people back home, speaking in Arabic and English.

Along with former NASA astronaut and lead participant Peggy Whitson are pilot John Shoffner and Saudis Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, which brings the number of space station residents to 11 for the next eight days.

Over the course of three space missions, Whitson logged a record total of 665 days, mostly aboard the space station. Now she will have 10 more days to add to the tally.

RELATED Crew of four lifts off on Axiom mission to International Space Station

Whitson and pilot Shoffner are Axiom employees. Alqarni and Barnawi are called mission specialists, who will be conducting research and communicating with young people on the ground in their native country.

Shortly after docking, Axiom and station crews verified that air pressure on both sides of the tunnel that connects the capsule to the space station was normal, which meant both were hermetically sealed.

Welcomed by their colleagues, the Axiom crewmembers floated into the station at 11:16 a.m. EDT, greeted with hugs and pats on the back.

The first to go inside was Whitson, followed by Shoffner and then Alqarni and Barnawi.

"We are really excited to get a lot of work done up here," Whitson said. "It's great for me to come back and to see this place again. It does feel like home."

A jubilant Shoffner thanked his spouse for her support over the decades. "Thank you for that, Janine," he said.

He said he became enthralled with space exploration when he was only 8 years old, and worked through all his adult life to pursue his dream of flying into space.

"We look forward to some great work for STEM education outreach and some amazing science," he said.

Speaking in Arabic, Saudi Air Force pilot Alqarni thanked the king of Saudi Arabia and the crown prince for supporting and trusting him for participating in the mission.

Then it was the turn of Barnawi, an expert medical biologist and breast cancer researcher. Also speaking in Arabic, she thanked space institutions and research organizations.

"Some of us are doctors, some of us are engineers, and so on. ... I am happy to be here representing the dreams and hopes of everyone back home."

The Axiom 2 crew will conduct a variety of scientific and technological experiments until May 30. They are scheduled to return to Earth the following day aboard their Crew Dragon capsule, splashing down off Florida.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket for Axiom Mission 2

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Axiom Mission 2 crew to the International Space Station at 5:37 p.m. EDT from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 21, 2023. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo