Private prison stocks soar after Trump names Tom Homan 'border czar'


Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Tom Homan speaks at a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 2017. On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump named Homan as the nation's next "border czar," prompting private prison stocks to soar. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Private prison stocks soared Monday after President-elect Donald Trump announced immigration hardliner Tom Homan as the nation's next "border czar."

GeoGroup jumped 4.5%, while CoreCivic increased 6.3% following Homan's promise that he "will run the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen."
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Homan is well known, having served during Trump's first administration as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our borders," Trump said in a statement on Truth Social, as Vice President-elect JD Vance suggested starting with 1 million undocumented migrants "and then we can go from there."

Trump's new pick for 'border czar' says workplace immigration raids planned

After Trump's election win last week, analysts predicted a strong rally for the two stocks.

"With Trump returning to the White House, there will be a far firmer embrace of GeoGroup and CXW," Isaac Boltansky, an analyst at BTIG, told clients on Nov. 6. "More importantly they would take a far more aggressive stance on border enforcement, which would impact the ICE business lines at these firms."

Both GeoGroup and CoreCivic surged last week, scoring one of their best weekly gains since Trump's last election win in November 2016. The president-elect had vowed throughout his campaign to crack down on crime and illegal immigration.

CoreCivic -- which owns, leases and manages correctional facilities -- soared nearly 88% last week before settling for a weekly gain of 69%. GeoGroup increased by almost 76% after the election.

GeoGroup founder and chairperson George Zoley hailed the "unprecedented opportunity" during last Thursday's earnings call.

"We have 18,000 available beds across contracted and idle secure services facilities, which if fully activated, would provide significant potential upside to our financial performance," Zoley said last week. "The GeoGroup was built for this unique moment in our company's and country's history, and the opportunity it will bring."

Trump says EPA pick Lee Zeldin will promote clean air, water through deregulation

COUGH, COUGH, THIS WATER IS CLOUDY


Former New York Republican congressman Lee Zeldin speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 17, 2024. On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump chose Zeldin to run the Environmental Protection Agency, as he called for "U.S. energy dominance" while "protecting access to clean air and water." File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to run the Environmental Protection Agency.

"I am pleased to announce that the highly respected former congressman from New York, Lee Zeldin, will be appointed to serve as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," Trump announced Monday.

"He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water, on the planet," Trump added in a statement.

Zeldin confirmed in a post on X, that he had accepted the appointment.

"It is an honor to join President Trump's Cabinet as EPA administrator," Zeldin wrote.

"We will restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs and make the United States the global leader of artificial intelligence. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water," Zeldin added.

Zeldin, 44, served in active duty in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq in 2006. He served in Congress between 2015 and 2023, and did not seek re-election in 2022 to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in a race he lost by 6 percentage points in the blue state.

While in Congress, Zeldin served on the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees. He also served on Trump's legal team during the former president's first failed impeachment in 2019.

Following the 2020 election, Zeldin was criticized for voting against certification of the presidential election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania, over what he claimed was evidence of fraud and interference.

"Today's debate is necessary especially because of the insistence that everything that President Trump and his supporters say about the 2020 election is 'evidence-free.' That's simply not true," Zeldin said on the House floor on Jan. 6, 2021, the same day election rioters entered the U.S. Capitol.

In 2022, Zeldin voted against Biden's climate law, along with every other House Republican. He also voted against the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Based on his environmental voting record, the League of Conservation Voters has given Zeldin a lifetime score of 14%.

Since leaving office, Zeldin chaired the China policy initiative and has written about national security threats posed by China at the America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit that promotes Trump's agenda.

By the end of this year, the EPA will be obligated to spend nearly $38.3 billion from Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. While Zeldin -- who is subject to Senate confirmation -- is expected to roll back a number of Biden environmental regulations during the Trump administration's first 100 days, he has not specified which regulations could be targeted.

23andMe to cut 40% of workforce, end therapeutics program


Genetic-testing company 23andMe announced plans to cut its workforce by 40% and end its therapeutics program in an effort to cut costs and restructure for "the long-term success of our core consumer business." Photo courtesy of 23andMe

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Genetic-testing lab 23andMe plans to cut its workforce by 40% and end its therapeutics program in an effort to cut costs, the company announced Monday.

The layoffs will impact about 200 employees at the California-based firm and are expected to save the company about $35 million in annual costs.

"We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships," co-founder and Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki said in a statement.

"I want to thank our team for their hard work and dedication to our mission. We are fully committed to supporting the employees impacted by this transition," Wojcicki added.

Related

23andMe admits 6.9 million customers' ancestry, personal data hacked

While 23andMe shares are down about 75% since the start of the year, the company's stock jumped more than 5% in after-hours trading following Monday's announcement.

23andMe went public in 2021 and grew to a market valuation of $6 billion. Since April, Wojcicki had been trying to take the company private until independent directors of 23andMe resigned in September. As of Monday, the company had a market cap of approximately $116 million.

23andMe also lost between $1 million and $2 million in "onetime expenses" last year related to a breach after hackers stole ancestry and personal data from 6.9 million customers.

The October 2023 leak -- which compromised DNA data, birthdates, locations and profile photos -- impacted nearly half of 23andMe's 14 million customers.

While the consumer genetics company also offers research programs for cancer drugs, it plans to refocus on the personalized DNA and ancestry tests that first made it successful.

"We continue to believe in the promise shown by our clinical and preclinical stage pipeline and will continue to pursue strategic opportunities to continue their development," Wojcicki said.

"We remain deeply grateful to the patients, investigators and study staff for their participation in our clinical trials."

Five additional monkeys from S.C. research lab recovered; 13 remain at large

A COVEN


A Rhesus Macaque monkey watches the traffic on the road to Tai Wai, Hong Kong, on January 15, 2004. Forty-three such primates have escaped from a South Carolina research facility. As of Monday night, 30 have been recaptured. Photo by Paul Hilton/EPA



Nov. 11 (UPI) -- An additional five rhesus macaque monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina research facility last week have been recovered, local authorities said Monday evening, meaning about a dozen of the rhesus macaque primates remain at large.

A total of 43 monkeys escaped on Wednesday after a caretaker did not properly secure the door to their enclosure at the Alpha Genesis research facility in Yemassee, S.C., which is located about 95 miles west of Charleston.

Since then, Alpha Genesis has been using baited traps and other methods to try and recapture the monkeys from the wooded region surrounding the facility.

In an update issued at 5:40 p.m. local time Monday, the Yemassee Police Department said five monkeys had been recovered over the course of the day, increasing the total number of monkeys recaptured to 30.

Thirteen still remain unaccounted for.

The statement came hours after officials said three had been recovered on Monday, all of which appeared to be in good health.

"Efforts to safely capture the remaining primates will continue throughout the evening and as long as necessary," the Yemassee Police Department said in the statement.

The monkeys have been described as "very young females" between 6 and 7 pounds and have never been used for testing because of their age and size.

Alpha Genesis has also said that they are "too young to carry disease," according to the Yemassee Police Department.

The local police have advised the public to contact them immediately if they spot a monkey and to not approach or interact with them.

"We cannot stress enough the importance of the public avoiding the area, and under no circumstances should drones be operated near the facility, as they can startle the animals and cause further stress," the Yemassee Police Department said Monday.

SEE

The monkeys that science has experimented on for over a century

18 escaped rhesus macaques remain on the loose in South Carolina

1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC

More than 40 monkeys escape U.S. research facility as residents urged to keep doors closed

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Colorado.eduspot.colorado.edu/~norcross/Wh1.pdf

Famine, Affluence, and Morality Peter Singer Philosophy and Public ...

Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Peter Singer. Philosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 1, no. 1 (Spring 1972), pp. 229-243 [revised edition]. As I write this, in ...

Colorado.eduspot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/singer.pdf

All Animals Are Equal

* In TOM REGAN & PETER SINGER (eds.), Animal Rights and Human Obligations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1989, pp. 148-. 162. Page 2. men are; dogs, on the other ...

Wordpress.comgrupojovenfl.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/peter-singer-animal-liberation-1.pdf

Peter Singer, Animal Liberation - WordPress.com

That's an important step forward, and a sign that over the next forty years we may see even bigger changes in the ways we treat animals. Peter Singer. February ...

Animallaw.infowww.animallaw.info/sites/default/files/Animal Rights Theory and Utilitarianism.pdf

Animal Rights Theory and Utilitarianism.pdf

In Practical Ethics, Peter Singer argues that ethics is not "an ideal system which is all very noble in theory but no good in practice." 1 Singer identifies ..

Libcom.orgfiles.libcom.org/files/2023-08/beasts of burden antagonism.pdf

Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals - Communism - Libcom.org

Beasts of. Burden. Capitalism · Animals. Communism as on ent ons. s a een ree. Page 2. Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals -. Communism. Published October ...

Libcom.orglibcom.org/article/letter-animal-liberation-gilles-dauve

Letter on animal liberation - Gilles Dauvé | libcom.org

Nov 18, 2005 ... Beasts of Burden forces to rethink the whole "primitivist" debate. ... Gilles Dauvé- Letter on animal liberation.pdf (316.85 KB). primitivism ..

SS United States to be towed from Phila., launching transition into artificial reef

The 1,000-foot vessel, hailed in the 1950s as America's Greatest Ocean Liner, is scheduled to be towed from a pier in Philadelphia to Mobile, Ala., and undergo preparations to be scuttled off the Florida Panhandle.

The radar mast and iconic funnels of the SS United States are shown at Philadelphia's Pier 82 in a 2012 photo. The mast and funnels will be preserved for a new land-based museum honoring the ship in Florida after it is scuttled and turned into the world's largest artificial reef. 

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The historic ocean liner SS United States, whose fate had been in limbo for years, will begin its transition into the world's largest sunken artificial reef beginning this week in Philadelphia, its owner says.

On Thursday, the 1,000-foot vessel, hailed in the 1950s as America's Greatest Ocean Liner, is scheduled to be towed from a pier in Philadelphia to Mobile, Ala., where it will undergo preparations to be scuttled off the Florida Panhandle by its new owner, Okaloosa County, Fla.
The county plans to make it the crown jewel in its ongoing efforts to boost fishing and sport diving tourism by creating new artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.

After gaining title to the vessel last month, county officials announced last week a tentative schedule that called for the ship to be moved from its home of 28 years just before noon Thursday.

After first being repositioned along the waterfront, it will await the next low tide, which is set to come early Friday morning. At that point, tugboats will begin to maneuver the liner into the Delaware River to begin its two-week journey to Mobile.

Along the way, the Walt Whitman Bridge (carrying Interstate 76), the Commodore Barry Bridge (U.S. Hwy. 322) and the Delaware Memorial Bridge (I-295) will be closed to traffic as the massive ship is towed down the river into Delaware Bay.

That's not only for safety precautions, but also to prevent traffic jams caused by motorists stopping on the highway to take pictures of the spectacle.

The county has provided a link to track the movement of the ship as it heads toward Alabama.

New queen of artificial reefs

After it reaches Mobile, contractors will take a year to prepare it for its new life as an undersea tourist attraction and game fishing hotspot by removing hazardous materials, non-metal parts and fuel to ensure it is environmentally safe, as would befit an attraction designed to tap the ecotourism market.

Meanwhile, modifications also will be made to ensure that the 3,300-ton vessel will land upright at the bottom of the Gulf when it is deployed sometime next year at an as-yet undetermined site expected to be about 20 miles south of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area.

Those modifications include poking holes in the ship's hull to facilitate its sinking, Okaloosa County Public Information Officer Nick Tomecek told UPI.

"It's actually pretty hard to sink a ship," he said. "They'll cut some holes on the outside, on the inside and all around the vessel. Once they tow it to the spot, they'll use a pump on the tow boat to begin filling it with water. As that water fills the ship, it sinks lower and lower to where those holes are cut. As more and more water goes in, the ship eventually goes down.

"A ship of this size, it could take hours before it's filled. On smaller ships, sometimes people have to get off them quickly because within a half-hour or 45, they're going underwater."

Okaloosa County began its program of deploying artificial reefs in 1976 and has created 564 reef sites since, including such other ships as the 110-foot former research vessel R/V Manta and the RMS Cyclops, a 105-foot supply ship, both of which were submerged last year.

But none is quite like the SS United States, which with its deployment will surpass the record for the world's biggest underwater reef now held by the USS Oriskany, a 911-foot former aircraft carrier scuttled off Pensacola, Fla., in May 2006.

Glamorous mid-century heritage

The SS United States' 17 years of service began with a bang in 1952, when it set a new Atlantic crossing speed record on its maiden voyage. For the rest of the decade, it was praised on two continents as the most impressive passenger ship in the world.

The superliner was designed by renowned naval architect William Francis Gibbs, in conjunction with the Pentagon under strict secrecy because the government wanted it to be capable of doubling as a Cold War-era troop transport if needed.

That legacy and its sheer size make the SS United States not only the biggest ship ever converted into an artificial reef, but undoubtedly the most famous and significant.

In its heyday day stretching into the early 1960s, it attracted a Who's Who of celebrities, world leaders and passengers who paid premium prices to travel in its ultra-modern staterooms while zooming across the ocean from New York to European ports in just under 3 1/2 days.

Stars of stage and screen and world leaders including four U.S. presidents dotted its passenger list. Among those plied the Atlantic Ocean in its 23 public rooms, 395 staterooms and 14 first-class suites were Marlon Brando, Coco Chanel, Sean Connery, Duke Ellington, Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne.

But with the dawn of the jet age, ocean liner travel quickly fell out of favor, and by 1969 the SS United Sates was taken out of service.

Its original owner, United States Lines, sold the vessel in the 1970s, and it subsequently passed through several owners, each of whom unsuccessfully attempted to return the iconic ship to service and profitability.

Until the Florida county bought it last month, its most recent owner had been the SS United States Conservancy, a non-profit headed by Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of designer William Francis Gibbs.

The conservancy saved it from the scrapyard in 2009 and spent the next 15 years trying to find a way to preserve its legacy through various plans with commercial partners. The proposals included converting it into a tourism destination, a hotel, an events center and other types of facilities at various locations around the country, such as New York City and Miami.

None of those efforts bore fruit, however, and earlier this year, the owner of the Philadelphia pier at which it had been moored since 1996 sued to evict the ship. Okaloosa County's bid to purchase it as part of a $10 million tourism project was subsequently accepted.

'State-of-art' land-based museum planned

A key element of the deal was an agreement to construct a land-based museum in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area to honor the ship's legacy and tying it into the pitch for visitors who may want to experience the ship both as an undersea reef and as a historic piece of Americana through "immersive, state-of-the-art" exhibits.

Susan Gibbs told UPI that while the museum is still in the planning stages, it will likely be designed to provide a tribute not only to the rich history of the ship, but also to the heady era of post-World War II American culture it came to represent.

"It's our goal to keep the story of the SS United States going into the future," she said. "We want to transport visitors to various moments in time and feel like there's an interaction with some of the celebrity passengers and fascinating figures that traveled aboard the ship.

"The idea is not solely to tell the story of a particular iconic ship, but to put the SS United States into a historical context with the post-war moment when it traveled to these European ports of call. There was just an incredible admiration and reverence for the symbolism of the nation at that time."

One such moment came at the end of its record-breaking maiden voyage on July 3, 1952, when its arrival in Southampton, England, drew a cheering throng of almost 70,000 to the docks.

The museum's interpretive elements also will honor the Mid-Century Modern "design moment" that the ship's interior decor and furnishings embody, demonstrated via the conservancy's extensive archival holdings of photographs, home movies and first-hand stories of passengers and crew members, Gibbs said.

Immersive visual technology will allow visitors to "experience" being aboard the superliner's bridge during a North Atlantic storm, while a variety of artifacts will also be on display, such as original artwork, murals and sculptures from the ship's public spaces and first-class suites.

Perhaps the most impressive artefacts are to be its radar mast and one or both of its iconic, 55-foot-tall funnels, which were the largest ever put to sea.

The red-white-and-blue funnels were designed by William Francis Gibbs to the give the ship an unmistakable look, and like much of its superstructure, were made of lightweight aluminum.

ONE WEEK LATER

Rep. Ruben Gallego claims victory over Kari Lake in Arizona Senate race


Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., arrives to speak at the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Aug. 22. On Monday, Gallego claimed victory in Arizona's Senate race over election denier Kari Lake. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego was poised Monday night to defeat election denier and President-elect Donald Trump ally Kari Lake in a closely watched Senate race in Arizona.

According to unofficial election results from the office of Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Gallego secured 1.6 million votes, for 50% of the vote share, to Kari's 1.52 million votes, or 47.7%.

Gallego's win has been projected by ABC News, NBC News and CNN.

As the race was called in his favor, Gallego, a five-term congressman and Marine veteran, took to the stage in Phoenix late Monday to claim victory as the state's first Latino senator.

"Thank you, Arizona," he said during the press conference.

"Thank you to all the Arizonans who supported me -- the Democrats, the Republicans and independents. And to those who did not support me or did not vote for me, please know that I will always still fight for you. I will treat you with respect."

Gallego's win represents a small victory for the Democrats, who lost both the Senate and the White House in last week's general election.

He won the Arizona Senate seat left vacant by Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema, who had announced in May that she would not seek re-election.

Lake has yet to comment on the election results.

A former TV anchor, Lake is a staunch Trump ally who supported his Big Lie conspiracy theory, claiming the 2020 election had been stolen from him. She also lost the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race to Gov. Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes and repeatedly spread false claims challenging the results.

Gallego, the son of Colombian and Mexican immigrants, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 3rd District of Arizona in 2014. In this election, he ran for the Senate on key Democratic positions, such as reproductive rights and reforming the U.S. immigration system.

No cease-fire in Lebanon until war objectives met, 

says Israel's new defense minister


Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz (C) holds an Israel Defense Forces General Staff meeting on Monday. Photo courtesy Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz/X

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- There will be no cease-fire in Lebanon, Israel's new defense minister declared Tuesday, countering claims from Israel's foreign minister, who a day prior said that progress had been made to end the fighting with Hezbollah.

The confusing back-and-forth comes days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named Israel Katz minister of defense, replacing Yoav Gallant due to differences over how Israel has conducted its war against Hamas.

Katz, a staunch far-right supporter of Netanyahu's war, was the foreign minister, and the prime minister named Gideon Saar his replacement.

On Monday, Saar told foreign reporters in a press conference that "there is some progress in the attempts to reach a settlement in Lebanon."

On Tuesday, Katz in a statement on X said that he told an Israel Defense Forces General Staff meeting on Monday: "In Lebanon, there will be no cease-fire and there will be no respite" until Israel's war objectives have been met.

Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza since October of last year, during which it has also been trading attacks across the Lebanese border with Hezbollah, another Iran-proxy militia.

In mid-September, Netanyahu's Security Cabinet updated its war objectives to include the return of the tens of thousands of northern Israelis evacuated from their homes due to the cross-border fighting with Hezbollah.

The updated war objectives marked a transition in the fight, and since Sept. 23, Israel has greatly increased its airstrikes and launched ground incursions into Lebanon to achieve this new goal, killing thousands of people, including Hezbollah leaders and operatives as well as civilians.

Katz said in his Tuesday statement that the Israeli military "must continue the offensive actions to further diminish Hezbollah's capabilities and realize the fruits of this victory."

"We will continue to strike Hezbollah with full force until the war's objectives are achieved," he said.

"Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee its right to independently enforce and prevent terrorism, meeting the war's objectives in Lebanon, disarming Hezbollah, pushing them beyond the Litani River and ensuring the safe return of northern residents to their homes."

From Hezbollah, its spokesman, Mohammad Afif, denied on Monday having received proposals from Israel for a cease-fire, Lebanon's Iran-aligned Al Mayadeen news organization reported.

Hezbollah "has received no updates and we are still gauging the situation," he said during the press conference, noting that "we are ready for a prolonged war with the occupation on all levels."

According to Lebanon's ministry of health, more than 3,240 people have died, and more than 14,130 have been injured, during the year of fighting, though the majority of the casualties have occurred since mid-September.

House voting on bill to allow US government to remove tax-exempt status from nonprofits

By Joe Fisher
Nov. 12, 2024 / 

Congress is voting on a bill Tuesday that will empower the executive branch to remove the tax-exempt status from any nonprofit it deems to be supporting terrorists. More than 120 nonprofit organizations have signed a letter urging Congress to reject the bill out of concern that it will be politicized and enforced in a discriminatory manner

. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo


Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Congress is voting on a bill Tuesday that will empower the executive branch to remove the tax-exempt status from any nonprofit it deems to be supporting terrorists.

The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act gives this authority to the secretary of the Treasury. More than 120 nonprofit organizations have signed a letter urging Congress to reject the bill out of concern that it will be politicized and enforced in a discriminatory manner.

The House will go into session at noon.

"An investigation by our committee has also revealed that some of the same groups holding Americans hostage like Hamas may be receiving support from American tax-exempt organizations to help finance their terror," Rep. Jason Smith said in a statement.

"The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act -- would prevent the IRS from charging penalties on back-due taxes owed by Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad and require the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization that provides financial support or resources to designated terrorist groups like Hamas."

The coalition of organizations speaking out against the bill includes civil liberties, religious, reproductive health, immigrant, human rights, racial justice, LGBTQIA+, environmental and educational advocacy organizations.

These organizations say the bill aims to skirt due process, allowing the executive branch to unilaterally squash nonprofit organizations and chill free speech.

"These efforts are part of a concerted attack on civil society that is targeted at more than just groups involved in the campus protests regarding Gaza. The executive branch could use this authority to target its political opponents and use the fear of crippling legal fees, the stigma of the designation, and donors fleeing controversy to stifle dissent and chill speech and advocacy," the letter reads.

"And while the broadest applications of this authority may not ultimately hold up in court, the potential reputational and financial cost of fending off an investigation and litigating a wrongful designation could functionally mean the end of a targeted nonprofit before it ever has its day in court."

It is already a federal crime to provide material support to terrorist organizations.

The bill has several components to it, including some that the coalition of nonprofit organizations are not opposed to. One such aspect is it will forgive taxes accrued by individuals who are wrongfully detained or kept hostage abroad. This will also apply to spouses. Individuals that this applies to may also receive refunds and abatement for the fines and penalties they had received.

Italy: Police bust crime network forging renowned paintings

Police seized hundreds of millions of euros worth of forged paintings attributed to Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Banksy and others. The suspects allegedly attempted to sell the artworks at auction houses.

Paintings by American pop art pioneer Andy Warhol were among those forged

Image: Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS

Police in Italy have seized more than 2,100 forged artworks that were attributed to dozens of greats like Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Banksy.

Investigators said on Monday that the artworks had a potential market value of €200 million ($215 million).

The chief prosecutor of Pisa, Teresa Angela Camelio, said experts from the Banksy archive assisted with the investigation and considered it to be "the biggest act of protection of Banksy's work."

Other artists whose works were allegedly forged include Salvador Dali, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Claude Monet, Marc Chagall, Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky, Francis Bacon and many more.

Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali were among those allegedly forged by the criminal network

Image: Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS

Police allege network of forgery workshops

Some 38 people were probed in an investigation that spanned Italy, Spain, France and Belgium.

They were suspected of conspiracy to handle stolen goods, forgery, and illegal sale of artworks, the Pisa prosecutor's office and Carabinieri art squad said in a joint statement.

Italian police uncovered two art forgery workshops in Tuscany and one in Venice. European investigations then identified three more workshops abroad.

Authorities said the investigation helped protect the work of anonymous street artist Banksy

Image: Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS

The suspects were accused of producing the forged artworks in their own workshops before contacting Italian auction houses to sell the pieces.

The network of alleged forgers even organized entire exhibitions at prestigious locations in order to boost their credibility, completing with published art catalogs.

zc/rmt (Reuters, EFE)

Shell wins appeal against order to cut emissions

A Dutch court has upheld Shell's appeal against a 2021 verdict forcing it to almost halve oil and gas emissions by 2030.

Shell was taken to court for fueling 'dangerous' climate change

Image: Carl de Souza/AFP

Stuart Braun

DW

November 12, 2024

In a verdict issued this morning, a Dutch appeals court struck down a 2021 ruling ordering oil and gas giant Shell to cut emissions by 45% over 2019 levels by 2030.

The court agreed with the original verdict that "protection from dangerous climate change is a human right." However, it ruled that while the oil and gas giant has a responsibility to reduce its emissions, Shell has the right to decide how it will make these cuts.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie), which initially led the complaint against Shell in 2019, saw some positives, despite its 2021 court win being overturned.

"This hurts," said Donald Pols, Director of Friends of the Earth Netherlands. "At the same time, we see that this case has ensured that big polluters are not inviolable and has further fueled the debate about their responsibility in countering dangerous climate change. That is why we continue to crack down on big polluters like Shell.”

Shell Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan called the decision "the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company."

Original verdict 'a turning point in history'

The initial landmark May 2021 court judgmentsubsequently appealed by Shell — one of the world's largest corporate emitters of fossil fuels — extended to both the company's own emissions and those produced by people when burning its products, like its gas in their cars.

The court then stated the oil and gas major should follow the "worldwide agreement" that a 45% net reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 is necessary to meet the Paris target of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to avoid dangerous climate change.

"This applies to the entire world, so also to Shell," the judge said at the time, adding that Shell's commitments to cut emissions by 20% were insufficient.

The Dutch appeals court today agreed with the initial ruling that new oil and gas fields are at odds with the Paris climate agreement.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands and six other organizations filed the case against Shell in 2019 on the grounds the company's emissions harmed the fundamental rights of 17,000 Dutch citizens by fueling climate change.

The 2021 initial ruling was deemed "a turning point in history" because it was the first time a judge "ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement," said Roger Cox, lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands at the time

Shell accused of failing to cut emissions

The 2021 ruling was effective immediately, meaning that Shell should not continue to expand oil and gas extraction while it waited for its appeal, said Friends of the Earth.

The Dutch appeals court agreed that Shell was on course to reduce its own emissions in line with the 2021 ruling.

But a report released by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and climate think tank Oil Change International in March 2024 claimed that the company had approved at least 20 "new oil and gas extraction assets" since the original verict.

"Shell continues to plan for levels of oil and gas production and investment that undermine the world's chances of curtailing climate disaster and are incompatible with holding global temperature rise to 1.5 C," said the organizations.

Inside the legal battles against greener policies  12:02

Reporting by environmental campaigners Global Witness claimed that a "significant portion" of spending earmarked for "renewable and energy solutions" in 2021 instead went to "investments in climate-wrecking gas."

About 1.5% of Shell's total expenditure in 2021 was invested in renewable wind and solar electricity projects, according to the UK-based climate group.

"It is obvious that Shell is currently increasing its emissions," Nine de Pater, campaigner at Friends of the Earth Netherlands told DW, referring also to "growth in gas." Emissions reduction commitments made by Shell have been "watered down" in recent years, she added.

But Shell boss Wael Sawan previously refuted claims that the fossil fuel firm's renewable energy solutions' accounting is misleading due to the high gas component. That statement came following a Global Witness request that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate Shell's renewables segment.

Sawan said in a call with reporters in 2023 that there "had been a real pivot toward energy transition investments."

In its appeal to the verdict in the Hague, Shell also said it was being unfairly targeted given that climate change is a global problem. It argued it was taking action to cut emissions and denied it had ignored the ruling.

Shell has said in statements that it "invested $5.6 billion [€5.27 billion] on low-carbon solutions, more than 23% of our total capital spending" in 2023.

Worsening climate impacts increase urgency of CO2 reduction

Donald Pols said in a statement just before the verdict was announced that climate impacts were too great to ignore.

"[T]he climate crisis has increased in intensity. Floods, wildfires, heat records, and other climate disasters dominate the news. One thing is certain: this decade is crucial for tackling dangerous climate change," said Pols.

At the same time, some 96% of oil and gas companies are exploring and developing new reserves across 129 countries, according to data published by German environmental and human rights NGO, Urgewald.

But campaigners remain hopeful. Even if "court cases take a long time, so you don't see an impact right away," Nine de Pater says climate litigation is an "important part of the fight against climate change."

That's because they "help to fuel debate about the responsibility of polluting companies," said de Pater, adding that since the 2021 Shell decision, there has been a wave of other climate litigation cases, including in Belgium against Total Energies.

"We clearly saw that some of the arguments that we used in the court case against Shell were very useful in these cases," she said.

This article is being updated as reactions to the court verdict on Tuesday 12.11.24 come in.

Edited by: Jennifer Collins and Tamsin Walker

Stuart Braun Berlin-based journalist with a focus on climate and culture.

Dutch court to rule in Shell climate appeal


By AFP
November 12, 2024

Shell is appealing the landmark 2021 ruling

 - Copyright AFP/File Daniel Beloumou Olomo

Dutch judges will on Tuesday rule on an appeal by oil giant Shell against a landmark judgement binding it to reduce carbon emissions, which climate activists say it has not implemented.

The ruling at the Hague Appeals Court comes as governments of some 200 countries gather at the COP29 talks in Azerbaijan to discuss the future of the planet including a transition to clean energy.

The Hague District Court ruled three years ago that Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030, as it was contributing to the “dire” effects of climate change.

That ruling was seen as a historic victory for climate change campaigners as it was the first time a company had been made to align its policy with the 2015 Paris climate change accords.

But Shell, which called litigation “ineffective” to address climate change, is appealing the 2021 ruling, while environmental groups accuse the oil giant of failing to take action.

“We do not believe that a court decision against a company is the right solution for the energy transition,” the group said on its website.

“We are convinced of the strength of our case,” a Shell official told AFP a few days ahead of the hearing.

Tuesday’s ruling follows four days of hearings in April, during which Shell and environmental groups put forth their arguments before the judges.

“This judgement could be a pivotal point for the climate,” Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, said on its website.

“For years we’ve put pressure on Shell and other large-scale polluters who are doing too little for the climate.”

“If they don’t take action, we won’t be able to stop climate change,” Milieudefensie said.

Shell has said before it was investing some “10 to 15 billion dollars between 2023-25 in low-carbon energy solutions,” representing 23 percent of its total capital expenditure.

“If this judgement is upheld, it will have far-reaching consequences for Dutch business, employment and the Dutch investment climate,” the company has warned.

The 2015 Paris accords committed all nations to cut carbon emissions to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and encouraged them to go down to 1.5 degrees.

jhe/ach/js

Latin America: When climate change ruins renewables

Tobias Käufer

DW

November 8, 2024

Climate change has been disrupting Latin American efforts to make its energy more renewable. Countries are now searching for new solutions and everything from nuclear power to green hydrogen is being debated.

Climate change is making some renewable energy sources increasingly unfeasible, as evidenced by recent blackouts in Ecuador

Image: Rodrigo BUENDIA/AFP

In Ecuador and Cuba, power cuts for hours at a time, sometimes even days. In Brazil, energy bottlenecks. Although Latin America is seen as a global forerunner in renewable energies, the impact of climate change is starting to cause problems. Droughts lasting weeks mean less water flowing through rivers and water reservoirs that power hydroelectric plants. And the less water, the less electricity.

Now countries in the region are beginning to squabble over distribution too.

Colombia has halted electricity exports to Ecuador, citing concerns for its own power supply. Colombia has also been suffering a severe drought.

Cuba begins restoring electricity   01:51

Even though the causes for the power problems are unique to each country, the consequences are the same: energy rationing and power blackouts. This is why many countries are now debating how best to stablize their energy supplies.

Nuclear energy up

El Salvador, for example, plans a return to nuclear energy. "We want to have the first research reactor by 2030," Daniel Alvarez, head of the country's General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines, announced at a forum organized by the Latin American Energy Organization in October.

Other countries are also showing renewed interest in nuclear energy, with a new generation of small modular reactors seen as particularly promising. The general opinion is that nuclear energy is free of emissions and can therefore be classified as green.
Lithium hype

Lithium also belongs to the energy debate in Latin America. Lithium is an indispensable part of electric vehicle (EV) batteries and it is hoped that carbon-neutral EVs will one day replace fossil-fuel powered engines on the street. At least, that's the plan. But resistance is growing in many Latin American countries.

Has the EU already lost the lithium battery war?  12:58

As droughts become more frequent, they are increasingly wary of an extraction process that requires large volumes of water. In Peru, a mining project high in the Andes is drawing criticism. There, the Macusani Yellowcake mining company, a subsidiary of the Canada-based American Lithium Corp., is looking to mine 9.5 million tons of lithium on the Quelccaya glacier in the Carabaya region.

Environmental activist Vito Calderon has criticized the way the project affects the water supply for local communities. "The freshwater from the region flows into the Inambari, Urubamba and Azangaro basins, which feed Lake Titicaca," he told Radio France Internationale. Calderon fears the freshwater could be contaminated or removed from the natural cycle.

What about green hydrogen?

The initial excitement over what is known as green hydrogen has also become more muted. "Worldwide doubts about the strategic industry for Chile's future" Chilean online news outlet Emol wrote a few days ago, summing the general mood up. The high cost of investing in green hydrogen is also causing hesitation.

The long road to green hydrogen   04:23

Instead, Alex Godoy-Faundez, director of the sustainability research center at Chile's University of Desarrollo has called for more realism and for taking small, manageable steps.

"Timelines should outline short-term goals that ensure that investment projects are profitable and eco-friendly,” Godoy-Faundez said.

Investment in Brazil

However in Latin America's largest country, Brazil, enthusiasm over green hydrogen has continued unabated. There's almost nowhere in the world like Brazil's undeveloped northeast, where electricity and therefore green hydrogen can be produced from renewable sources so cheaply, the country's media enthuse. Brazil could become a new global energy hub, they suggest. Foreign investors have already done deals with Brazilian states like Ceara and Pernambuco.

"Unfortunately, German investors are not among them," Ansgar Pinkowski, founder of the Brazil-based agency Neue Wege ("new paths" in English), told DW. His business specializes in providing information on the green energy transition and contacts between Europe and Brazil.

"With the recently passed laws for sustainable hydrogen, the risks for investors have also become much lower and more calculable," he said. As a result he predicts that, "we will see very strong economic growth in the region in the next few years, from which all sections of the population will hopefully benefit."

This article was originally published in German.

Argentina's lithium boom threatens Indigenous towns

Indigenous towns in Argentina, like Susques, are facing severe water shortages due to the expanding lithium mining industry. Lithium's increasing demand puts the environment and local livelihoods at serious risk.Image: 

Latin America's 'lithium triangle'

Together with neighbors Chile and Bolivia, Argentina forms the so-called "lithium triangle" in Latin America. According to the US Geological Survey, around 56% of the 89 million tons of lithium resources identified worldwide are located in this region. Argentina is the world's fourth-largest producer of the metal.Image: LUIS ROBAYO/AFP

'White gold' of the energy transition

In recent years, lithium has become a geopolitically important raw material. It is indispensable for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, particularly used in electric vehicles. For this reason, lithium is considered a key element of the so-called green energy transition and is often referred to as "white gold."

Local communities struggle with impact

Natividad Bautista Sarapura explains that there is hardly any water left on his land. "Before, you could find water at 2 or 3 meters [6 to 9 feet], now [you have to dig] deeper and deeper," he said. According to one environmental group, projects like Olaroz use up to 2 million liters of salt water for every ton of lithium, and an additional 140,000 liters of freshwater are needed for purification.

Tobias Käufer Latin-America based journalisthttps://x.com/KaeuferTobias