NO ONE OFF LIMITS IN PUTIN'S WAR
FOX News Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski Killed in Ukraine: 'His Talents Were Vast'

TUCKER CARLSON CAN'T PROTECT YOU

Greta Bjornson
Tue., March 15, 2022,

Pierre Zakrzewski
Fox News

A cameraman for FOX news was killed in Ukraine Monday, the network confirmed.

Suzanne Scott, CEO of FOX News Media, confirmed the death of Pierre Zakrzewski in an email sent out to all FOX employees Tuesday, which was later shared with PEOPLE.

"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski. Pierre was killed in Honrenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine," Scott wrote. "Pierre was with Benjamin Hall yesterday newsgathering when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire."

RELATED: Fox News Correspondent Benjamin Hall Hospitalized with Injuries While Reporting in Ukraine

She continued, "Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for FOX News from Iran to Afghanistan to Syria during his tenure with us. His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched.

"Based in London, Pierre had been working in Ukraine since February," she continued. "His talents were vast and there wasn't a role that he didn't jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill.

Pierre Zakrzewski
Fox News

Scott wrote, "He was profoundly committed to telling the story and his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet. He was wildly popular — everyone in the media industry who has covered a foreign story knew and respected Pierre."

Scott said that Zakrzewski also played "a key role in getting our Afghan freelance associates and their families out of the country after the U.S. withdrawal," adding, "In December at our annual employee Spotlight Awards, Pierre was given the 'Unsung Hero' award in recognition of his invaluable work."

RELATED: Former New York Times Contributor Brent Renaud Reportedly Shot and Killed by Russian Forces in Ukraine

She then quoted FOX News journalist Jay Wallace, who said of his late colleague, "Pierre was a constant in all of our international coverage. I, like countless others, always felt an extra sense of reassurance when arriving on the scene and seeing him with a camera in hand. The legacy of his positive spirit, boundless energy and eye for the story will carry on."

Zakrzewski is survived by his wife, Michelle, and his family.

Scott also shared in her letter that Hall, the FOX war correspondent who had been with Zakrzewski Monday when he died, had survived, but "remains hospitalized in Ukraine." She promised "further updates" on his condition "as needed."

Scott closed out her note by writing, "Today is a heartbreaking day for FOX News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news."

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Zakrzewski's death comes as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.

Details of the fighting change by the day, but hundreds of civilians have already been reported dead or wounded, including children. Millions of Ukrainians have also fled, the United Nations says.

"You don't know where to go, where to run, who you have to call. This is just panic," Liliya Marynchak, a 45-year-old teacher in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, told PEOPLE of the moment her city was bombed — one of the numerous accounts of bombardment by the Russians.

Kharkiv
SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images

The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn condemnation around the world and increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia.

With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.

Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.

"Nobody is going to break us, we're strong, we're Ukrainians," he told the European Union in a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, "Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness."

The Russian attack on Ukraine is an evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.

Free media targeted: At least 19 killed in strike on Ukrainian TV tower

GUILTY PLEASURE THANKS DUDE

RIP
WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall, trailblazing wrestler known as Razor Ramon, dead at 63

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY 

WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall, who played iconic heel Razor Ramon in the 1990s and helped professional wrestling gain worldwide attention, died on Monday, WWE announced.

© Larry Busacca, Getty Images Wrestler Scott Hall from "The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts" poses for a portrait during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

"WWE is saddened to learn that two-time WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall has passed away. WWE extends its condolences to Hall’s family, friends and fans," WWE said in a statement released on Twitter.

Hall's death comes after his longtime friend and former tag team partner Kevin Nash announced Sunday night Hall going to be taken off life support.

From NFL plays to college sports scores, all the top sports news you need to know every day.

Hall's condition was first reported by the wrestling blog PW Torch on Sunday, saying Hall was put on life support after suffering three heart attacks on Saturday. PW Torch said he recently had hip replacement surgery after a fall in early March.

Nash, who was Hall's tag team partner and founder of the wrestling faction New World Order alongside Hulk Hogan in World Championship Wrestling, confirmed Hall's status in an Instagram post late Sunday night.

"Scott's on life support. Once his family is in place they will discontinue life support. I'm going to lose the one person on this planet I've spent more of my life with than anyone else. My heart is broken. I love Scott with all my heart but now I have to prepare my life without him in the present. I've been blessed to have a friend that took me at face value and I him.

"As we prepare for life without him just remember there goes a great guy you ain't going to see another one like him again. See Ya down the road Scott. I couldn't love a human being any more than I do you," Nash wrote.

The 63-year-old rose to stardom in WWE in 1992 as Cuban-American character, Razor Ramon, nicknamed "The Bad Guy" who was known as cool, gold chain-wearing heel that would carry a toothpick in his mouth. He won the Intercontinental Championship four times.

Four years later, Hall joined WCW alongside Nash and Hogan and played a role in the television feud between the two companies. During that time, he won the WCW World Television Championship, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship twice and WCW World Tag Team Championship seven times.

Hall is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, as he was inducted as himself in 2014 and as New World Order in 2020, appearing in the company on occasion since his first induction.

Many current and former wrestlers honored Hall on social media. On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted, "Scott Hall, pulling for you my friend. Stay strong! We need the 'bad guy' back in the game."

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall, trailblazing wrestler known as Razor Ramon, dead at 63

ARYAN SUPREMACISTS MODI & PUTIN

War in Ukraine: India firmly on Putin's side despite international pressure

Biden moving to narrow gender pay gap for federal workers


WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is marking Equal Pay Day by taking new steps aimed at ending the gender pay gap for federal workers and contractors.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

President Joe Biden on Tuesday is signing an executive order that encourages the government to consider banning federal contractors from seeking information about job applicants’ prior salary history. And a new Labor Department directive is aimed at strengthening federal contractors’ obligations to audit payrolls to help guard against pay disparities based on gender, race or ethnicity.

The Office of Personnel Management also is considering a regulation to address the use of prior salary history in hiring and setting compensation for federal workers.

Equal Pay Day is designed to call attention to how much longer women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.

Data shows that while the pay gap is at its smallest ever, the coronavirus pandemic has altered women’s labor force participation so that “what we’re seeing is an artificial narrowing,” said Jasmine Tucker, director of research at the National Women’s Law Center.

For instance, women who remained in the labor force during the pandemic and worked full time often had higher earnings than their counterparts who lost low-paying jobs, indicating that 2020 figures cannot be compared with wage gap data from prior years, Tucker said.

Among other issues, the Biden administration wants to combat occupational segregation to get women better access to well-paying jobs, which tend to be male-dominated, according to a senior administration official who previewed the administration's efforts on Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Last October, the administration issued a national gender strategy to advance women's and girls' full participation in society.

This year, the administration is looking for new ways to combat pay disparities and drawing attention to high-profile efforts to combat the wage gap, such as the U.S. women’s national soccer team's $24 million February settlement with U.S. Soccer in a discrimination dispute.

The settlement includes a commitment to equalize pay and bonuses to match the men’s team.

“I think we’re going to look back on this moment and just think, ‘Wow, what an incredible turning point in the history of U.S. Soccer that changed the game and changed the world, really, forever,’” star midfielder Megan Rapinoe said at the time.

Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials planned to mark Equal Pay Day with a Tuesday afternoon event attended by members of the women's soccer team.

Tucker said there is a long way to go to achieve equal pay — especially after the pandemic.

There were in excess of 1.1 million fewer women in the labor force in February 2022 than in February 2020, which means they are neither working nor searching for employment.

“There was a particular shedding among low-paid workers, and what was left was middle- and higher-paid workers who were insulated from the pandemic,” Tucker said.

In 2020, the average woman who worked full-time all year earned 83 cents on the dollar compared with her male colleague doing the same work, according to the White House. The gap is even bigger for Black and Native American women and Latinas.

The issue impacts women even later in life. A 2020 Brookings Institution study on women's retirement found Social Security benefits for women are, on average, 80% of those for men.

Fatima Hussein, The Associated Press

Reel change: AMC's latest bet is in... mining


AMC Entertainment announced a $28 million investment in a mining company as it diversifies from the movie theater business (AFP/SCOTT OLSON) (SCOTT OLSON)


Tue, March 15, 2022, 

AMC Entertainment unveiled Tuesday a new bet likely to prompt a double-take from investors: the movie theater chain is investing $28 million in a precious metal miner.

The theater giant, which was a darling of the so-called "meme" stock frenzy of 2021, announced the purchase of a 22 percent stake in Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, which owns a mine in Nevada containing gold and silver deposits.

"To state the obvious, one would not normally think that a movie theatre company's core competency includes gold or silver mining," AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a news release.

Aron pointed to a $1.8 billion "war chest to play on offense and grow our company" courtesy of individual investors who bought shares of AMC, GameStop and some other equities last year following an investment campaign partly organized on social media.


The mining investment comes as AMC's core business has shown improvement compared with the worst days of Covid-19, but remains below its pre-pandemic level.

AMC reported a loss of $134.4 million in the most recent three-month stretch, in what the company called its "strongest quarterly result in two full years." The company lost $1.3 billion for all of 2021.

Aron said strong ticket sales of the latest Batman and Spiderman releases heighten confidence the company is "on a glide path to recovery."

"Our strategic investment being announced today is the result of our having identified a company in an unrelated industry that appears to be just like AMC of a year ago," he said.

"It, too, has rock-solid assets, but for a variety of reasons, it has been facing a severe and immediate liquidity issue. Its share price has been knocked low as a result. We are confident that our involvement can greatly help it to surmount its challenges -- to its benefit, and to ours."

Aron categorized the Hycroft investment with other new ventures including the increase of IMAX and Dolby premium screens, NFT programs and the entry into the movie popcorn business.

Shares of AMC fell 0.5 percent to $13.49 in early afternoon trading, while Hycroft surged 23.7 percent to $1.73.

jum-jmb/cs

Small mining firm with troubled history saw big spikes in stock price, trading volume ahead of AMC deal

Hycroft Mining Holding saw big spikes in its stock price and trading volume in the days leading up to the announcement that movie theater chain AMC Entertainment had agreed to purchase a major stake in the company.

Two weeks prior to Tuesday's announcement, on March 1, the 90-day average trading volume of Hycroft shares was around 355,000 according to CNBC analysis of FactSet data.

The day before AMC's announcement, 58.6 million shares exchanged hands and the 90-day average was 10.5 million.

© Provided by CNBC

 View of the huge Gold and Silver Allied Nevada-Hycroft Mine near Sulphur in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, near the small towns of Sulphur and Gerlach.

Hycroft Mining Holding, a small mining firm with a troubled financial history, saw big spikes in its stock price and trading volume in the days leading up to the announcement that movie theater chain AMC Entertainment had agreed to purchase a major stake in the company.

Shares of Hycroft jumped about 12% Tuesday afternoon to $1.55, after previously surging even higher. None of the parties involved have been accused of illegal or unethical activity.

Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC, cited legal advice and Hycroft's volume when he explained why he canceled a live interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer and David Faber on Tuesday morning. "I am excited about our investment in HYMC, but there has been so much volume in that stock today, lawyers insisted I stay off air," Aron tweeted.

Two weeks prior to Tuesday's announcement, on March 1, the 90-day average trading volume of Hycroft shares was around 355,000, according to CNBC analysis of FactSet data. That average would grow dramatically over the next two weeks.
On March 4, the trading volume began to spike. More than 3.7 million shares exchanged hands on that day, pushing the 90-day average to more than 400,000 shares.
On March 7, the trading volume jumped to 6.2 million shares. Then it hit 202.7 million the next day. With that, the 90-day average became 2.8 million shares.
Forty-six million shares of Hycroft changed hands on March 9. The next two days saw extreme increases in volume: 220 million shares were bought and sold on March 10, and 341.4 million were traded on March 11.
By the close on March 11, the 90-average was 9.9 million. Then, on Monday, the day before AMC's announcement, 58.6 million shares exchanged hands, and the 90-day average was 10.5 million.

Between March 4 and March 15, the daily volume average was 144.9 million shares. Comparatively, from Feb 22 to March 3, a period that also includes eight trading days, the daily volume average was under 800,000 shares. Hycroft has over 60.4 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet.

© Provided by CNBC

Representatives from Mudrick Capital, a large shareholder in Hycroft, and AMC did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which is the leading regulator of U.S. stock markets, declined to comment.

Also during the days leading up to AMC's announcement, Hycroft's share price went from around 33 cents on March 7 to $1.88 on March 11. On Monday, the day before the announcement, shares closed at $1.39.

© Provided by CNBC

AMC is spending $27.9 million in cash for the deal and will receive roughly 23.4 million shares in the company and an equal amount of stock warrants. The deal would make AMC the owner of roughly 22% of Hycroft.

The movie theater is purchasing these shares at around $1.19 a piece. Shares of Hycroft closed Monday at $1.39 each, up nearly 400% from the 52-week low of 28 cents seen on March 17, 2021. The stock neared this low on March 3, when shares traded at 29 cents a piece.

Early in the day Tuesday, shares jumped to $2.72 a piece, but settled around $1.60 during midday trading, up 15%.

Aron, the AMC CEO, was slated to appear on CNBC on Tuesday morning, but he canceled his interview, saying he wasn't comfortable making public comments on the move due to volatility in Hycroft's stock.

AMC declined to comment beyond what Aron said in the press release announcing the move, but Aron later tweeted to apologize to Cramer and Faber for canceling his appearance.

Hycroft, meanwhile, said in November that it would likely need to raise additional cash to meet its financial obligations over the next year.

That same month, the company laid off more than half of its workers at its mine in western Nevada, ceasing mining operations there. At the time, the company said it would focus more on processing gold and silver sulfide ore, according to a report from the Elko Daily Free Press. Hycroft's corporate offices are in Denver.

— CNBC's Chris Hayes contributed to this story.

San Andreas Fault's creeping section could unleash large earthquakes

The middle section of the San Andreas Fault may have the capacity to host larger earthquakes than previously believed.

© Provided by Live Science The San Andreas Fault

Stephanie Pappas 
Originally published on Live Science.

Between the towns of Parkfield and Hollister, the famous California fault undergoes something called aseismic creep. Instead of building up strain and then slipping in one earth-rattling moment, the two sections of fault move imperceptibly, releasing stress without causing large quakes. But looking back millions of years in time, researchers have found that this section of fault may have experienced earthquakes of magnitude 7 and higher. That is larger than the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta temblor that killed 63 people in the Bay Area in 1989.

It's not fully clear how long ago the large quakes on the fault occurred, but they were within the last 3 million years, said Genevieve Coffey, an earthquake geologist at GNS Science in New Zealand.

"The central section should be considered as a potential source of earthquake hazard," Coffey told Live Science.

The San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault has three sections. The southern section runs from the Salton Sea to Parkfield, California, and has the capacity for large quakes. In 1857, for example, the magnitude-7.9 Fort Tejon quake shifted the ground at the fault a whopping 29.5 feet (9 meters). The northern section of the fault runs from the town of Hollister, through the Bay Area up to Cape Mendocino, California. This section of the fault is most famous for the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which had an estimated magnitude of 7.9.

Related: See stunning photos of the San Andreas Fault

In between Parkfield and Hollister, though, the fault hasn't given rise to any recorded quakes larger than a magnitude 6. Geoscientists have dug into the fault, looking for signs in the shape of the sediment layers of long-ago earthquakes, and they haven't found any large quakes in the last 2,000 years.

But even if the central San Andreas doesn't build up enough stress to start a large earthquake, it could act as a conduit for quakes originating on the northern or southern section of the fault, Coffey said. She and her colleagues wanted to go back more than 2,000 years.

To do so, the researchers took advantage of the fact that when a fault slips, it generates friction, which generates heat.

"It's like rubbing your hands together," Coffey said.

This heat can spike the temperature of the rocks in the fault by more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius). And those temperature changes can change the structure of organic molecules that accumulate within sediments.
Historical quakes

The researchers analyzed a sediment core from the central San Andreas that was drilled as part of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) project. Deep in the core, about 1.9 miles down (3,192 to 3,196 meters), the researchers found a spot where the biomarkers showed signs of heating.

"That patch of the fault also consisted of these really highly deformed siltstones, mudstones," Coffey said. "It had lots of these small slip layers, so lots of scaley surfaces and shiny surfaces, which is what we would think of as rocks that had hosted lots of earthquakes."

This zone of the fault may have hosted more than 100 quakes, Coffey and her colleagues reported Feb. 25 in the journal Geology.

Next, the researchers analyzed the quake-deformed section of rock with a method called potassium-argon dating. This method takes advantage of the fact that a naturally radioactive variation of potassium, potassium-40, slowly decays into argon gas. When something happens to heat the rock, this gas is released, resetting the "potassium-argon clock" to zero. By looking at the accumulation of argon, the researchers could determine how long it had been since the rocks were heated.

Their results suggested that the heating happened, at the earliest, 3 million years ago. But the quakes could have been far more recent, Coffey said. Part of the ongoing work done by Coffey's collaborators involves improving the potassium-argon method for earthquake dating to narrow down that time span. However, the magnitude of the heating indicates that the central San Andreas can indeed undergo a lot of shaking — it's likely that the earthquakes recorded in this section of the fault ranged from magnitudes in the mid-6s to low-7s, Coffey said.

"The work that we did was the first direct geologic evidence of earthquakes" in this region of the San Andreas, she said.

The quakes probably started on the southern portion of the fault and sped along the faultline like an unzipping zipper. Knowing that the fault has this capacity is important for understanding the earthquake hazard in central California, Coffey said.

The researchers plan to apply the potassium-argon method to other faults, including in the New Zealand bedrock, where there isn't any organic material for traditional carbon-14 dating (which only works back to about 55,000 years) and where there are no sedimentary layers to show the marks of very old quakes.

"The potassium-argon tool is pretty interesting, because it really gives us access to a range of faults that we haven't been able to date in the past," Coffey said.

Shell directors may face lawsuit over climate transition plans


By Simon Jessop, Kirstin Ridley and Shadia Nasralla

A view shows a fuel station of Shell in Moscow

LONDON (Reuters) - Environmental lawyers ClientEarth said on Tuesday they were preparing legal action against the directors of Shell over the company's climate transition plan, in what they said would be the first such case of its kind.

The ClientEarth lawyers said they are seeking to hold the directors personally liable for what they consider to be a failure to adequately prepare for the global shift to a low-carbon economy, claiming an alleged breach of the directors' duties under the UK Companies Act

.

The Royal Dutch Shell logo is seen at a Shell petrol station in London

ClientEarth said it had written to Shell notifying it of its claim and was waiting for it to respond before filing papers at the High Court of England and Wales. For the case to proceed, ClientEarth would then need permission from the court to do so.

In a written response to Reuters, Shell said it was delivering on its global strategy that supported the Paris Agreement on climate, including by "transforming our business to provide more low-carbon energy for customers."

"Addressing a challenge as big as climate change requires action from all quarters. The energy supply challenges we are seeing underscore the need for effective, government-led policies to address critical needs such as energy security while decarbonising our energy system. These challenges cannot be solved by litigation," Shell said.

A Shell logo is seen on a pump at a petrol station in London

Energy companies are facing a challenge to their business model as countries look to cut use of fossil fuels, a major cause of man-made global warming, and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.

Shell has pledged to halve the emissions from its operations by 2030, but its net-zero target to https://www.climateaction100.org/company/royal-dutch-shell reduce those from the use of its products - the bulk of emissions from an oil and gas company, was not far-reaching enough, ClientEarth said.

Shell's net-zero target was also not reflected in the company's operating plans or budgets, ClientEarth added.

The quality of the company's climate transition plan has already been challenged by a court in the Netherlands which last year ordered it to go further. Shell is appealing the ruling.

U.N. climate scientists have reiterated the need for faster global action and said failure to hit the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial norms would cause irreparable damage.

ClientEarth said it was pursuing Shell's directors for an alleged breach of the UK Companies Act, which requires them to act in a way that promotes the company’s success, and to do so whilst exercising reasonable care, skill and diligence.

ClientEarth said it was bringing the action as a shareholder in Shell on behalf of all stakeholders to help protect the long-term viability of the company.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop. Editing by Jane Merriman)

MISLEADING HEADLINE 

Senate unexpectedly approves legislation to abolish daylight-saving time 

(ACTUALLY IT ABOLISHES STANDARD TIME)

gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta) 

© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik The U.S Capitol is visible at sunset as a man plays fetch with a dog in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

The Senate passed a bill to move the United States to permanent daylight-saving time.
Since 1966, most Americans have been used to "springing forward" to begin DST in March.

The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 would end the bi-annual ritual of changing clocks.





18 SLIDES © Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images
THE IDEA FOR DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME IS ATTRIBUTED TO THINKERS INCLUDING BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, SCIENTIST GEORGE HUDSON, AND A BRITISH MAN NAMED WILLIAM WILLETT, WHO PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET IN 1907 TITLED "THE WASTE OF DAYLIGHT," WHICH ARGUED FOR AN EXTRA 80 MINUTES OF SUNLIGHT IN THE SUMMER.


The walls might be closing on the United States' twice-a-year ritual of changing clocks.

The US Senate unexpectedly passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to move the United States to permanent daylight-saving time, on Tuesday afternoon, two days after most of the country "sprung forward" to begin daylight-saving time.

The chamber quickly approved the bill through unanimous consent, which allows legislation to pass the Senate with a simple voice vote if no senator objects.

The legislation heads next to the House of Representatives and if passed by that chamber, to President Joe Biden's desk.

While thinkers as early as the 19th century proposed versions of daylight-saving time, the United States and several European countries first introduced daylight-saving time as a wartime energy conservation measure during World War I.

In the United States, some states kept observing daylight-saving time while others did not for decades, creating a confusing patchwork of time. The Uniform Time Act, passed by Congress in 1966, set daylight-saving time to begin and end at the same time each year throughout the entire country.

Since Congress last amended the Uniform Time Act in 2005, Americans "spring forward" to begin daylight-saving time at 3 am ET on the second Sunday in March and "fall back" to go to standard time at 2 am ET on the first Sunday in November.

But, in addition to the hassle of changing clocks twice a year, the energy-saving benefits of daylight-saving time are negligible. Some studies have additionally linked the loss of an hour of sleep that comes with the beginning of daylight-saving time to negative health effects, such as increases in heart attacks, car accidents, and workplace injuries.

Other states that receive lots of sunlight, like Hawaii and most of Arizona, don't recognize daylight-saving time at all because they prefer to have cooler temperatures and more shade at the end of the day, not more light.

The bill would still allow those states to be exempt from permanent daylight-saving time and stay on permanent standard time.

U$A

A student-loan company that just took over 5 million borrowers' accounts has 'a growing list of scandals and abuses,' report says

asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey) 

© Provided by Business Insider College graduates. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

The Student Borrower Protection Center said student-loan company Maximus has a history of abuse.
Low-income borrowers allege Maximus engaged in "unfair" debt collection practices.
A Maximus spokesperson says it is not a lender and simply does backend IT support for federal loans.

The largest student-loan company in the world may not be acting in borrowers' best interests, according to a new report.

The Student Borrower Protection Center and the Communications Workers of America released a report on Monday that found student-loan company Maximus, which services federal loans under the name Aidvantage, has been accused of "a growing list of scandals and abuses." Maximus recently took over 5.6 million federal borrowers' accounts from Navient, which was also accused of misleading behavior.

Specifically, the report highlighted litigation filed by low-income borrowers that alleged Maximus engaged in "unfair" debt collection practices. Some also said Maximus caused illegal garnishment of their wages when they stopped paying their bills after being defrauded by the for-profit school they attended.

"When student loan companies cut corners and skirt the law to pad their profits, the most vulnerable people with student debt are always forced to pay the price," Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement. "Our investigation offers an early warning to regulators and people with student debt: Maximus and Aidvantage are now running the same failed servicing playbook that left millions of Navient borrowers financially bruised and broken. This newly minted student loan giant must change course before it is too late."

A spokesperson for Maximus told Insider the report is inaccurate and mischaracterizes the work Maximus does for Federal Student Aid, adding that the company's contract with the government is to simply service loans and follow the direction of the Education Department on handling loan defaults.

The spokesperson emphasized that Maximus is only in charge of back-end IT support, and questions or complaints about a borrower's account is referred to the lender, which, in this case is the federal government. Additionally, in response to the nearly 200 complaints borrowers have filed against the company, the spokesperson said 178 of them have been successfully addressed.

A 'newly minted student loan giant'

Last year, student-loan company Navient announced it would be shutting down its federal services, and the Education Department later announced that Aidvantage would be taking over Navient's accounts. While student-loan payments have been on pause for two years as part of pandemic relief, three student-loan companies announced they would be ending their federal services during the pause, causing 16 million borrowers to be transferred to new companies.

Those transfers had some lawmakers and advocates concerned, given the administrative burden successfully and accurately transferring millions of borrowers would be. While Navient had a controversial history with accusations of misleading borrowers, Monday's report suggested those borrowers might not be better off under Maximus.

The report also highlighted several other lawsuits against Maximus. In 2019, a defrauded student accused the company of continuing debt collection efforts despite being directed to halt those efforts while the student's loan forgiveness application was pending, which resulted in the seizure of her tax refunds. More recently, in January, nine borrowers accused Maximus in a lawsuit of misleading them about their ability to get out of loan defaults.

Maximus said 'it is imperative' it gets the repayment transition right

In November, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to Maximus expressing concerns with how the 5.6 million borrowers it would be servicing would be treated. Following Warren's letter, the company's spokesperson told Insider: "This is a defining moment for student borrowers, and we couldn't agree more with Sen. Warren — it is imperative we get it right."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with Federal Student Aid head Richard Cordray, have spoken out on potential abuses of student-loan companies, and the need to hold them accountable. Cordray told The Washington Post he is reviewing the Student Borrower Protection Center's report and will work to address them.

"All borrowers should be able to count on timely and accurate information about their student loans," Cordray said. "That is why FSA has renewed its partnerships with federal and state regulators, cleared roadblocks to state oversight by clarifying federal preemption rules, and negotiated new accountability terms in our recent contract extensions."

Cordray said last year that student-loan servicers will be held to higher standards, and if they don't meet those standards, they will "face consequences." The CFPB has also launched a series of investigations into accusations of servicers misleading borrowers and pledged it would be increasing oversight.

OILSANDS BY ANY OTHER NAME

Chevron is ready to trade Venezuelan oil in place of Russian oil if US eases sanctions on South American nation, a report says

ujamal@businessinsider.com (Urooba Jamal)

The Chevron logo is displayed at a Chevron gas station. 

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Chevron is preparing to expand its ventures with Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA, Reuters reported.

The company's presence in Venezuela is dependent on political moves between the country and the US.

Chevron's expansion in the country could boost global crude oil supplies.

Chevron is prepared to trade Venezuelan oil in place of banned Russian oil imports if the US eases its sanctions on Caracas, Reuters reported.
The release of more Venezuelan oil would help offset oil losses in wake of the Russia ban, put in place on March 8 over its invasion of Ukraine. However, the move is dependent on fraught political talks with the South American nation.

Still, sources told Reuters that Chevron has been preparing to expand its four ventures with Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA.

It has assembled a trading team to market oil from the South American nation, asked the US government for a license to have greater control over the ventures, and is starting to arrange Venezuelan visas for its employees from Aruba, Reuters reported.

Chevron did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside its normal working hours.

Venezuelan oil is an important alternative to Russian supply

Sanctions were imposed on Venezuela by the Trump administration in 2019 to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave power. Since then, the country has allied itself closely with Russia.

Seeking to break the ice and develop alternatives to Russian oil, the US and Venezuela held their first high-level bilateral talks in years on March 5 in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

Crude oil prices have surged as a result of the supply crunch from sanctions against Russia, jumping nearly 20% on March 7 to almost $140 a barrel for the first time in nearly 14 years. The price appears to now be heading towards a weekly decline of 4%.

Chevron's moves in Venezuela could boost crude supplies to offset the loss. Before US sanctions, its joint ventures with PDVSA produced around 200,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Reuters. They now produce 140,000 barrels per day, Bloomberg reported.

"Since Venezuelan barrels were banned in the United States in 2019, and Colombia and Mexico reduced key exports to the United States, Russian barrels have been feeding the Gulf refiners," one person involved in the bilateral talks told Reuters.
Chevron's expanded presence in Venezuela is still dependent on a number of political moves

Thawing relations between Washington and Caracas in recent weeks appear to have had some impact.

US officials are seeking the release of more jailed Americans in Venezuela, after Maduro released two last week, Reuters reported. Washington also wants more guarantees of free elections and the resumption of talks with Venezuela's opposition, the agency also reported.

During the talks in early March, Maduro had, in turn, pushed for a total lift on sanctions on its oil exports, sanctions on him and other government officials, as well as a return to government control of Citgo Petroleum, a US subsidiary of PDVSA.

Even if sanctions are relaxed, challenges still abound for the Venezuelan oil industry. Years of government mismanagement mean the industry is nowhere near its oil-producing boom days in the 1990s when it produced 3.2 million barrels of oil a day. It now averages around 800,000 barrels a day.