Cheating scandal rocks fishing world after lead weights found in winning catch

Natalie Stechyson - Oct 4,2022 - CBC

With tens of thousands in prize money and the integrity of anglers hanging on the line, a walleye fishing tournament in Ohio turned ugly after an apparent cheating scandal was uncovered last week.

An expletive-laced video posted to social media shows Jason Fischer, tournament director for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT), cutting open the winning catch of five walleye on Friday and finding lead weights and prepared fish fillets inside them.

"We've got weights in fish!" Fischer shouts in the video, before winding up his arm and gesturing at the anglers to leave. "Get out of here!" he shouts at the would-be winners. In the background, people in the crowd shout "call the cops" and accuse the men of theft.

The winning anglers, Jacob Runyan, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, of Hermitage, Penn., were immediately disqualified. They were in line to win about $39,000 Cdn, according to CNN.

The video shows Fischer urging Runyan to leave for his own safety as people hurled insults at him. According to news site Cleveland.com, Cominsky had already locked himself inside his truck in the parking lot.

Previously failed polygraphs: reports

The duo had previously won several other LEWT competitions, according to Toledo newspaper The Blade, and have earned a "considerable" amount of prize money in the past. A Facebook post from February, for instance, announces Runyan and Cominsky as the winners of The 2021 Walleye Slam. The Slam's website lists Runyan as the 2021 winner for catching a fish weighing 12.79 pounds

The pair had been previously disqualified from a 2021 competition for failing a polygraph test, according to an article from Cleveland.com. The news site reports that all the big winners are required to take the test.

The Global Polygraph Network notes that polygraphs can be administered in fishing tournaments to "determine whether the winning anglers have followed the tournament rules, caught the winning fish personally (ie. hook and hand violations) and during tournament hours, used unapproved lures, or weighted or altered the fish."

Related video: Something fishy about Lake Erie fishing tournament

Duration 1:04

View on Watch

Runyan and Cominsky later passed the lie-detector test that allowed them to win the Walleye Slam.

"I knew we would pass the Walleye Slam test," Runyan told Cleveland.com in 2021. "Our reputation means the world to us and we would never cheat."


From left, Rossford, Ohio Mayor Neil MacKinnon III, Rossford Walleye Roundup Tournament champions Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky, and Bass Pro Shops general manager Tony Williamson celebrate on April 16, 2022 at Bass Pro Shops in Rossford. Prosecutors in Cleveland are investigating an apparent cheating scandal involving the winning pair during a more recent lucrative walleye fishing tournament on Lake Erie.© The Blade/Isaac Ritchey/The Associated Press

'Forever tainting our sport'

In a video statement posted to Facebook Monday, an emotional Fischer called the apparent cheating "one of the most disgusting, dishonest acts that the fishing world has ever seen."

"There's always been stories about dishonesty in competition, but I personally have never seen anything quite like this — in competitive fishing, that is," Fischer said.

"The individuals involved here appear to have put greed and ego in front of anything else, forever tainting our sport."

Fischer also apologized for his use of profanity in the original video, noting that he "acted out of emotion."

He noted the information from Friday's tournament has been turned over to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, which will handle the case and "any potential criminal action from this point forward." The division enforces fishing regulations in the state.

A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources told The Associated Press on Monday that the agency's officers gathered evidence from the tournament and were preparing a report for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.

In an email statement to CBC News Tuesday night, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Michael O'Malley said his staff had met with officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that day.

"I take all crime seriously, including attempted felony theft at a fishing tournament. These individuals will be held accountable," he said.

LEBANON

Banks close indefinitely after «attacks» by people demanding to withdraw their funds in the face of the crisis

Banks in Lebanon will close their doors indefinitely following "attacks" in recent days, the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) has announced, after the latest incidents in which a number of people broke into branches to demand the withdrawal of their funds in the face of restrictions on the delivery of cash due to the crisis.


A Lebanese policeman in front of a bank window in the capital Beirut. - Marwan Naamani/dpa© Provided by News 360

"In the face of the attacks on banks, all banking agencies in the country will close their doors and focus for now on guaranteeing their services through ATMs for individuals and customer service for companies," the organization said.

NOT ROBBERY; EXPROPRIATION

Related video: Lebanon’s Banks Remain Shut Down Following Robberies by Angry Depositors
Duration 8:10
View on Watch

ABL sources quoted by the Lebanese daily 'L'Orient le Jour' have pointed out that several banks had already closed their doors during the day on Thursday in the face of the latest incidents, following the three-day closure in September to protest recent violent incidents in several branches in the country, where several people have burst in armed or by force to manage to withdraw part of their savings.

The entities have imposed since 2019 tough restrictions on the withdrawal of foreign currency in the face of the severe economic crisis in the country, which has effectively led to an impediment for many people to withdraw their savings, at a time when about three quarters of the population have fallen below the poverty line.

The country has been plunged into a serious crisis for years, a situation deepened by the August 2020 explosions in the port of the capital, Beirut, the coronavirus pandemic and the political situation, with tensions that have paralyzed the government for months. In addition, the Lebanese pound has plummeted over the past few months, leading the World Bank to state in June 2021 that the crisis is one of the worst recorded globally since the mid-19th century.

Rare toad fight similar to landmark endangered species case

 This photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows a juba skipper, a subspecies of skippers, in the meadows at Baltazor Hot Spring in Humboldt County, Nev., on Sept. 13, 2021. The Center for Biological Diversity is suing to block a geothermal power plant near Denio, Nev., in an effort to protect the the bleached sandhill skipper, a close relative of the juba, which lives only in this area.

 (Patrick Donnelly/Center for Biological Diversity via AP, File)

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The unusual circumstances that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on the Endangered Species Act in 1978 have not surfaced much since then.

But the stage is being set in Nevada for another potentially significant test of the nation’s premier wildlife protection law in a legal battle over a geothermal power plant with similarities to the precedent-setting fight over the snail darter and a dam in Tennessee nearly a half century ago.

Even smaller than that tiny species of perch, the endangered critter in Nevada is a quarter-sized toad found only in high-desert wetlands fed by underground springs on federal land.

Citing the potential threat posed by the water-pumping power plant, the Fish and Wildlife Service declared the Dixie Valley toad endangered on a temporary, emergency basis in April — only the second time in 20 years it’s taken such action.

And while the geothermal plant would generate electricity by spinning turbines with steam tapped from hot water beneath the earth instead of hydropower harnessed from rivers, both projects were born with the promise of producing some of the cleanest, renewable energy of their time.

Decades ago, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger seemed to anticipate the significance of the 1978 ruling and controversy that would follow when he authored the 6-3 majority opinion on the snail darter just five years after President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law.

“It may seem curious to some,” Burger said, “that the survival of a relatively small number of three-inch fish among all the countless millions of species extant would require the permanent halting of a virtually completed dam for which Congress has expended more than $100 million.”

“We conclude, however, that the explicit provisions of the Endangered Species Act require precisely that result,” he wrote in the case pitting the fish against the Tennessee Valley Authority.

More than four decades later, a similar scenario is unfolding 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Reno where environmentalists and tribal leaders are trying to block the geothermal plant Ormat Technologies agreed to temporarily stop building in August — four months before it was scheduled to start producing power.

The Bureau of Land Management rushed to approve the Nevada project during the final days of former President Donald Trump's administration. But President Joe Biden's administration continues to defend it as part of its own agenda to replace fossil fuels with renewables.

Environmental groups insist they share the president’s goals to combat climate change. But they say the bureau ignored repeated warnings from state and federal wildlife biologists, the U.S. Navy and even its own experts about potential harm to the Dixie Valley toad.

“The expert agency, FWS, has determined that Ormat’s project is likely to cause extinction of the species — the very catastrophe the Endangered Species is intended to prevent,” the Center for Biological Diversity's lawyers wrote in recent filings in federal court in Reno.

The case already has made one trip to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and seems likely to return in the months ahead.

On Aug. 1, the appellate court refused to reinstate a previous injunction temporarily blocking construction, concluding further delay would make it “all but certain” Ormat would be unable to meet a Dec. 31 contract deadline.

Ormat, which already had invested $68 million, argued failure to meet the deadline would cost it another $30 million over 20 years and could jeopardize the project altogether. But later that day, Ormat agreed to suspend all work pending consultation between the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

41 Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle hatch in United States
Duration 1:20
View on Watch

Like the snail darter, the conflict differs from most battles over endangered species. They typically target broad government management plans for things like hunting grizzly bears, energy exploration near sage grouse habitat, logging around northern spotted owls and dam operations on Pacific salmon rivers. Less common are disputes over specific projects like TVA’s dam or Ormat’s geothermal plant.

Now, with the full force of the Endangered Species Act at play, Ormat's opponents are zeroing in on the section of the law the Supreme Court cited in prohibiting construction of the Tellico Dam in 1978.

“The case is analogous to (that case), where it was discovered late into the construction of a $100 million federal dam project that completing and operating the dam would eradicate a rare species of minnow,” environmental lawyers wrote Sept. 16.

They said Congress specifically mandated that federal agencies secure Fish and Wildlife Service approval before taking any action that could jeopardize a species to “prevent a situation like the one presented in TVA” and “avoid an outcome in which the only choices left to an agency are to violate the Endangered Species Act or scrap a virtually completed project.”

Last week, a judge granted a request from the Bureau of Land Management and Ormat to extend the deadline for their responses until Oct. 28.

Central to the Nevada dispute is uncertainty about effects groundwater pumping will have on surface water levels and temperatures.

Ormat insists water it would pump and return to the ground will come from a different aquifer than feeds the wetlands. But environmentalists say the bureau ignored every caution flag raised en route to the project's approval.

"BLM disregarded repeated warnings and objections from scientific experts and nearly every other federal and state agency involved in the project’s development, all of whom warned the project would likely dry up, or at the very least degrade, the hot springs that the Dixie Valley toad depends on for its survival, and cautioned that the project’s monitoring and mitigation plan would be ineffective.”

They cite internal documents that show:

— The Navy, whose Fallon Naval Air Station borders the site, characterized the plan as “inadequate and incomplete.”

— UFWS said it was “a plan describing the development of a plan.”

— BLM staff acknowledged the estimates were “rough guesses.”

In May, the BLM said informal consultation had started and produced a draft biological assessment concluding the project “is likely to adversely affect" the toad. But the FWS said the BLM's assessment was ”inadequate to initiate formal consultation ... missing major elements and lacking necessary analysis.”

The toad is in the spotlight, but similar disputes are brewing at other Nevada green energy projects.

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the FWS in August to list a rare butterfly where Ormat plans another geothermal project near the Oregon line.

Last October, the agency formally proposed listing a desert wildflower as endangered where Ioneer USA wants to dig a lithium mine halfway between Reno and Las Vegas for the mineral essential for electric car batteries.

And a U.S. judge has scheduled a hearing Jan. 5 in Reno for another lawsuit brought by conservationists, tribes and a rancher challenging a bigger mine Lithium Nevada plans near the Oregon line.

That case has focused primarily on threats to groundwater and cultural resources near a site where tribes say their ancestors were massacred by U.S. troops in 1865. But last month, Western Watersheds Project petitioned for endangered species listing of a tiny snail that lives nearby.

In the original 1978 snail darter case, the Supreme Court found “an irreconcilable conflict" between operation of the dam and compliance with the act.

After it ruled, Congress exempted the dam from the Endangered Species Act altogether. But the court's precedent remains, and it's now front and center in Nevada.

“It is clear from the Act’s legislative history," the 1978 ruling said, “that Congress intended to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction — whatever the cost.”

Scott Sonner, The Associated Press

Loo rolled: Japan’s oldest toilet damaged as driver backed up

Worker mistakenly accelerated while the car was in reverse, crashing into the building’s roughly 500-year old wooden door

The Toyota was reversed into the ancient communal toilet by a man who works for the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association. Photograph: Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education

Justin McCurry in TokyoTue 18 Oct 2022

Japan’s oldest existing toilet, dating back hundreds of years, has been damaged after it was accidentally rammed by a car driven by an employee of an organisation that preserves cultural relics.

The 30-year-old man, who works for the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association, damaged the communal toilet, located inside Tofukuji temple in Kyoto, after he mistakenly accelerated while the vehicle was in reverse, crashing into the building’s wooden door, according to media reports.

The man, who has not been named, immediately called police after the incident on Monday morning. No one else was inside the Zen Buddhist temple at the time of the accident, and the driver was unhurt.


The sento owners making group bathing in Japan cool again

The “tosu” restroom, an important cultural property, was built during the Muromachi period about 500 years ago for use by trainee monks, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

Its 2-metre-tall double door and interior pillars were damaged in the incident, the Sora News 24 website reported.

A photo in the Sankei Shimbun newspaper showed the car – a 20-year-old Toyota WiLL Vi – inside the building surrounded by what was left of the wooden doors.

The temple, which could accommodate up to 100 monks at a time, contains a row of about 20 toilets, according to the Asahi Shimbun. The newspaper said the conveniences were still in use as recently as the start of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

Fortunately for the hapless driver, who had been visiting the ancient capital on business, experts say the damage can be repaired.

Toshio Ishikawa, director of the temple’s research institute, said he was “stunned” by the extent of the damage, but relieved that no one had been injured. “We’d like to restore it before the autumn foliage season, but it will probably take until the new year [to repair it],” he told the Kyoto Shimbun.

While the building is usually closed to visitors, the rows of toilets can be viewed through gaps in the building’s exterior.

The toilets – little more than circular holes cut into blocks of stone – are a far cry from the modern-day Japanese toilets that continue to fascinate foreign visitors.

While they did not feature bidet or drying functions, the temple’s toilets were at least located in a convenient place for monks who spent many hours trying to achieve Zen enlightenment – right next to the meditation hall.

'Swift-footed lizard' named Massachusetts state dinosaur


BOSTON (AP) — A “swift-footed lizard” that lived millions of years ago in what is now Massachusetts has been named the state's official dinosaur under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Podokesaurus holyokensis received more than 60% of the roughly 35,000 votes cast in a social media campaign initiated early last year by state Rep. Jack Lewis, beating out another dinosaur that was also discovered in the state.

“If I think about my own childhood ... the thing that got me interested in science in the first place was dinosaurs," the Republican governor said at the signing ceremony at the Museum of Science in Boston, with some of the state's leading paleontologists standing behind him. “And the main reason they got me interested is because of their majesty, and their ferocity and their almost alien-being status. As a kid, they just created wonder."

Lewis came up with the idea of a state dinosaur while trying to find engaging projects for the Cub Scout den he led during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project did not just get people involved in science, but also taught them about the legislative process, the Framingham Democrat said.

Podokesaurus holyokensis, which means “swift-footed lizard of Holyoke,” was discovered in western Massachusetts in 1910 by Mount Holyoke College professor Mignon Talbot, “the first woman to find, discover, name and describe a dinosaur," Lewis said.

“Hopefully if this project inspires just a couple young girls to grow up and explore paleontology, it would have been all worth it,” he said.

The species was 3 to 6 feet (around 1 to 2 meters) in length, weighed approximately 90 pounds (40 kilograms), and was estimated to run 9 to 12 mph (14 to 19 kph), Lewis has said.

Baker called the creature “a tough, spunky underdog from Holyoke."

About a dozen other states also have official state dinosaurs, Lewis said.

The Associated Press

NORTH VANCOUVER

Archaeologist Bob Muckle digs deeper into shelf-worthy new book at MONOVA

Anyone who has closely followed the adventures of Capilano University professor and archaeologist Bob Muckle will be familiar with his groundbreaking discovery in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Now, those few who have long awaited the finer details on his unexpected unearthing of an unknown 20th century Japanese settlement can dig deeper into the story, thanks to the release of Forgotten Things: The Story of the Seymour Valley Archaeology Project.

Muckle's much anticipated book takes the reader through the entirety of the two-decade archaeology project, from the very beginning when the idea was first formed, through his work in the field with school students, the discovery and excavation of archaeological sites and to the final disposition of the artifacts in museums.

Approachable and interesting, with layman's terms, illustrations and student anecdotes, the book belongs on the shelves of historians, students, archaeologists and the general public alike.

"It is an interesting and fairly unique book of its kind in the sense that its target is both university students, as a case study in archaeology, but I also wrote it with the public in mind," said Muckle.

"Anybody who is really interested in archaeology as a whole, and how we do our work, and how we think and how we figure things out, it will be interesting to them. Alongside anybody who is really interested in local history, particularly in North Vancouver."

Muckle said the book answers his most often fielded questions, including what his biggest challenges had been, what his other excavations have produced, and what artifact had been his most interesting to find. They are questions he expects to delve into once more on Wednesday (Oct. 19) evening, when he hosts a talk and a Q&A session on the book at the Museum of North Vancouver.

Afterwards guests can obtain signed copies of the book and wander the galleries of the museum, where much of the Muckle's noteworthy findings call home.

Forgotten Things: Seymour Valley Archaeology with Bob Muckle takes place at MONOVA, 115 West Esplanade in North Vancouver, on Oct. 19, between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., tickets are $12-$20 and can be purchased on the museum's website.

Mina Kerr-Lazenby, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News

Agrotechnicians' hard work helps increase cotton yield, quality in Egypt

A man collects harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

With agrotechnicians' great efforts, Egypt sees another harvest of cotton that has further improved in both quantity and quality.

by Mahmoud Fouly

KAFR EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Bathed in the warm sun and pleasant breezes of the Mediterranean, cotton bolls bloomed on the research farm of Sakha Agricultural Research Station in Kafr El-Sheikh in the Nile Delta region of northern Egypt, turning the land into a white blanket.

A dozen of cotton pickers were hard at work, removing the bolls from cotton plants and putting them into small bags. On the side of the field, huge burlap sacks of cotton piled up like a small hill.

Two varieties of cotton were grown on the research farm, Giza 97, one of the most cultivated cotton varieties in Egypt, and Giza 93, one of the best cotton varieties in the world in terms of quality.



A woman harvests cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

This year's harvest on the farm will provide Egyptian agrotechnicians with the information to further improve the breeding and cultivation of the two cotton varieties.

Salah Saber, leader of the cotton seed breeding team at the research farm, said that agrotechnicians' hard efforts have made a significant contribution to the production of top-quality cotton, on which Egypt takes great pride.

"We have succeeded in breaking the negative correlation between the cotton yield and quality, and managed to get both at the same time," he said.

He explained that a feddan (0.42 hectare) of cotton, which used to produce about 7 to 8 kantars (a kantar equals 45.02 kg) of seed cotton, now produces about 12 to 13 kantars, thanks to the cotton breeding research.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that the export of Egyptian cotton in the previous cotton season, which started in September 2020 and ended in August 2021, reached 1.7 million kantars.



A woman carries harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

The CAPMAS data also showed that cotton production in the Arab world's most populous country reached 2.3 million kantars in the 2020/2021 season, a 31-percent increase over the 2019/2020 season.

Saber said that the boom in cotton production is driven by both Egypt's plans to expand the cultivation of the cash crop and improve cotton breeding and cultivating technologies.

Egypt's agrotechnicians have been seeking to create cotton varieties that satisfy the demands of farmers in terms of yield, those of merchants in terms of the quantity of lint produced, and those of the global market in terms of quality, staple length, fiber strength and softness, Saber added.


A woman shows harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Samar Salem, a cotton picker, said she was happy to work in the farm, whose research will bring benefits to the country's cotton industry and improve the living condition of millions of Egyptian farmers. ■

Slovakia LGTBI pub attacker aimed to kill prime minister, say police

The perpetrator of an attack on a pub in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, which left two people dead, had originally intended to kill the country's prime minister, Eduard Heger, police said.


Demonstration in Bratislava, Slovakia, denouncing the attack on an LGTBI pub that resulted in the death of two people.

- Dano Veselsk/TASR/dpa© Provided by News 360

The chief of the Police, Stefan Hamran, has advanced this information to the television channel JOJ, emphasizing that the attacker, a young man of 19 years, had been in the vicinity of Heger's home the same night of the event.

The perpetrator of the attack, who was carrying a firearm, approached the Prime Minister's private residence on several occasions, but when he realized that Heger was not there, he decided to change his target and went to the Bratislava pub, frequented by members of the LGTBI community.

According to Harman, the attacker had intended to kill Prime Minister Heger for some time.

The attack took place on the night of October 12 in a bar defined by its owners as "close to the gay community in the center of Bratislava".

After shooting two people and wounding a third, the perpetrator, identified as Juraj K., was found dead the next day near the headquarters of the Ministry of Education after committing suicide.

Previously, the young man had posted several messages on social networks that included homophobic and neo-Nazi hate speech.

The event sparked unrest among the Slovak population, which called for demonstrations the following day. Criticism even extended to Heger's own party, the conservative Common People, for having in its ranks members of parliament critical of the homosexual community.

OCCUPIED PALESTINE

4 arrested for murder of Arab journalist Nidal Aghbariya

Four suspects were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Nidal Aghbariya, an Arab journalist who ran the Bldtna news site, according to Israel Police.


Police at the scene of where Arab-Israeli journalist Nadal Ijbaria was shot dead in his car in the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, September 4, 2022.

© (photo credit: FLASH90)

The police's central unit, Border Police, canine units and additional forces arrested the suspects after conducting an undercover investigation. They are all residents of Umm el-Fahm between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. A pistol was found in the home of one of the suspects.

Police will request an extension of their arrest on Wednesday.

Murder sparked outrage among Israeli Arabs

Aghbariya was shot to death in his car in Umm el-Fahm in early September. The murder sparked outrage among Israeli Arabs.

The Union of Journalists in Israel said at the time it was “shaken” by the murder and expressed condolences to Aghbariya’s family.

“Israel Police must act immediately to locate the murderers and bring them to justice, and act more vigorously in order to eradicate the epidemic of violence in Arab society,” the union said.

The Hadash Party also responded to the murder, stating, “The police had known for a year that the criminal organizations had marked Nidal Aghbariya’s house. A year ago, his house was shot up when he and his family were at home, but the police did not act to arrest the criminals.

“Nidal was murdered today due to the incompetence of Israel Police,” the party said. “The murder of a journalist is an attempt to silence the voice of the Arab protest against violence and crime. The Israel Police must put an end to the neglect of Arab society, take the weapons off the streets and bring the vile murderers to justice.”

The Mossawa Center expressed outrage at the murder, stressing that Aghbariya had been shot at before “and the police were silent.”

“Tonight, they killed him so that every Arab journalist would know that he had better not deal with crime and corruption,” said the center. “It is unfortunate that the Arab journalists were left alone. On the one hand, they suffer from the violence of the police, and on the other hand, from the violence of the criminal organizations.”

The Umm el-Fahm Municipality eulogized Aghbariya, saying, “The late, the slain and the deceased media figure... was known for nothing but goodness, honesty, good morals, [he was] a generous and religious person, loved by all who knew him; a great loss for Umm el-Fahm.”

The municipality condemned the murder and called on the police to take action.

Germany finalizes its law to legalize the possession and sale of cannabis

The Government is finalizing the details of the reform that aims to legalize the possession and sale of cannabis, which will authorize the possession of up to 20 grams for those over 18 years of age and will generally prohibit the advertising of the product.

The draft also includes a specific regulation for young people, according to the media conglomerate RND, although the government prefers not to make an official statement for now, waiting for the project to be fully agreed.

The text would authorize the domestic cultivation of up to two plants and would limit to 15 percent the proportion of THC in legal cannabis. For people between 18 and 21 years of age, this percentage will be reduced to 10 percent, with the aim of avoiding brain damage.

The "controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for consumption in authorized stores" is among the commitments of the "traffic light" coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals. The Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, has predicted a definitive text by the end of the year and foresees for 2023 the start of the parliamentary procedures.

The government estimates that some four million adults consume cannabis in Germany and, according to Lauterbach, its moderate and safe use "is part of a modern society".

THE GRIFT

Eric Trump's Remarks About Secret Service Resurface Amid New Revelations

Gerrard Kaonga - 

A video where Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, said Secret Service officers were charged discounted rates while staying at Trump-owned hotels while they were protecting Trump has resurfaced following new revelations.


Eric Trump attends the Veterans Day Parade opening ceremony on November 11, 2019 in New York City. A member of the Secret Service is seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on August 9, 2022. A video where Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, said Secret Service officers were given discount while staying at hotels to protect Trump have resurfaced following new revelations.© Getty

An investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform said that despite claims by the Trump Organization that Secret Service agents traveling with Trump to Trump-owned properties stayed for free or at cost, the service was allegedly charged rates as high as $1,185 per room, per night, on dozens of trips.

In total, agents were reportedly charged as much as five times over the average governmental rate for hotel stays while on protection details for President Trump and his family.

The total bill came to approximately $1.4 million, according to records newly obtained by Congress.

Following this, a video of Eric Trump speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on 10 October 2019 has gone viral on Twitter.

The video has so far amassed more than 150,000 views since being posted on Monday night.

"On the day we learned that Trump charged the Secret Service 5x the standard government rate to stay at his properties, here's video proof from Eric Trump that the Trumps are lying grifters." Twitter user Eric Chapnella wrote as he shared a clip of the video Eric Trump and a news broadcast on the newly obtained records.

"This is another thing that people don't ever give us credit for," Eric Trump said in the clip.

"Anytime the government comes...they stay at our properties for free, meaning cost for housekeeping effectively, because you have to legally charge the government something.

"So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of our places, [the government saves] a fortune, because if they were to go across a hotel across the street they would be charging $500 a night whereas we charge them like $50," he said.

During his presidency, Trump reportedly visited his properties 547 times, including 145 visits to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, while retaining ownership in his properties.

Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, wrote a letter earlier this week to Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secret Service requesting compliance with the committee's investigation request.

Maloney said members have "been seeking a full accounting of the Secret Service's expenditures at Trump Organization properties for more than two years" but still lack information.

"The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents' frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President's self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump's struggling businesses," Maloney wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's office for comment.

Ancient DNA gives rare snapshot of Neanderthal family ties

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, tightknit communities where females may have traveled to move in with their mates.



The research used genetic sleuthing to offer a rare snapshot of Neanderthal family dynamics — including a father and his teenage daughter who lived together in Siberia more than 50,000 years ago.

Researchers were able to pull DNA out of tiny bone fragments found in two Russian caves. In their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, they used the genetic data to map out relationships between 13 different Neanderthals and get clues to how they lived.

“When I work on a bone or two, it’s very easy to forget that these are actually people with their own lives and stories,” said study author Bence Viola, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto. “Figuring out how they’re related to each other really makes them much more human.”

Our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, lived across Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years. They died out around 40,000 years ago, shortly after our species, the Homo sapiens, arrived in Europe from Africa.

Scientists have only recently been able to dig around in these early humans' DNA. New Nobel laureate Svante Paabo — who is an author on this latest study — published the first draft of a Neanderthal genome a little over a decade ago.

Since then, scientists have sequenced 18 Neanderthal genomes, said lead author Laurits Skov, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. But it's rare to find bones from multiple Neanderthals from the same time and place, he said — which is why these cave discoveries were so special.

“If there was ever a chance to find a Neanderthal community, this would be it,” Skov said.

Related video: Pioneer Who First Sequenced the Neanderthal Genome Awarded Nobel Prize
Duration 1:31
View on Watch

The caves, located in remote foothills above a river valley, have been a rich source of materials from stone tools to fossil fragments, Viola said. With their prime view of migrating herds in the valley below, researchers think the caves might have served as a short-term hunting stop for Neanderthals.

Archaeologists excavating the caves have found remains from at least a dozen different Neanderthals, Viola said. These remains usually come in small bits and pieces — “a finger bone here, a tooth there” — but they’re enough for scientists to extract valuable DNA details.

The researchers were able to identify a couple of relatives among the group. Along with the father and daughter, there was a pair of other relatives — maybe a boy and his aunt, or a couple of cousins.

Overall, the analysis found that everyone in the group had a lot of DNA in common. That suggests that at least in this area, Neanderthals lived in very small communities of 10 to 20 individuals, the authors concluded.

But not everyone in these groups stayed put, according to the study.

Researchers looked at other genetic clues from mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down on the mother’s side, and the Y chromosome, which is passed down on the father’s side.

The female side showed more genetic differences than the male side — which means females may have moved around more, Skov said. It’s possible that when a female Neanderthal found a mate, she would leave home to live with his family.

University of Wisconsin anthropologist John Hawks, who was not involved in the study, said the research was an exciting application of ancient DNA evidence, even as many questions remain about Neanderthal social structures and lifestyles.

Figuring out how early humans lived is like “putting together a puzzle where we have many, many missing pieces,” Hawks said. But this study means “somebody’s dumped a bunch more pieces on the table.”

———

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Maddie Burakoff, The Associated Press

Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity

Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today.


Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity© Provided by The Canadian Press

It's a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

“Our genome today is a reflection of our whole evolutionary history" as we adapt to different germs, said Luis Barreiro, a senior author of the research. Some, like those behind the bubonic plague, have had a big impact on our immune systems.

The Black Death in the 14th century was the single deadliest event in recorded history, spreading throughout Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa and wiping out up to 30% to 50% of the population.

Barreiro and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, McMaster University in Ontario and the Pasteur Institute in Paris examined ancient DNA samples from the bones of more than 200 people from London and Denmark who died over about 100 years that stretched before, during, and after the Black Death swept through that region.

They identified four genes that, depending on the variant, either protected against or increased susceptibility to the bacteria that causes bubonic plague, which is most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea.

They found that what helped people in Medieval times led to problems generations later — raising the frequency of mutations detrimental in modern times. Some of the same genetic variants identified as protective against the plague are associated with certain autoimmune disorders, such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In these sorts of diseases, the immune system that defends the body against disease and infection attacks the body's own healthy tissues.

“A hyperactive immune system may have been great in the past but in the environment today it might not be as helpful,” said Hendrik Poinar, an anthropology professor at McMaster and another senior author.

Past research has also sought to examine how the Black Death affected the human genome. But Barreiro said he believes theirs is the first demonstration that the Black Death was important to the evolution of the human immune system. One unique aspect of the study, he said, was to focus on a narrow time window around the event.

Monica H. Green, an author and historian of medicine who has studied the Black Death extensively, called the research “tremendously impressive,” bringing together a wide range of experts.

“It’s extremely sophisticated" and addresses important issues, such as how the same version of a gene can protect people from a horrific infection and also put modern people — and generations of their descendants — at risk for other illnesses, said Green, who was not involved in the study.

All of this begs the question: Will the COVID-19 pandemic have a big impact on human evolution? Barreiro said he doesn’t think so because the death rate is so much lower and the majority of people who have died had already had children.

In the future, however, he said more deadly pandemics may well continue to shape us at the most basic level.

“It's not going to stop. It’s going to keep going for sure.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Laura Ungar, The Associated Press

DENIAL OF THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS

El Salvador’s government assures that imprisoned gang members have no right to reintegration

The Vice Minister of Justice and General Director of Penal Centers of El Salvador, Osiris Luna, has assured this Tuesday that not all prisoners have the right to reintegration into society, maintaining that some of those detained under the exception regime declared by the Government will remain in prison forever.


Archive - Gang members arrested in El Salvador - 

POLICÍA NACIONAL CIVIL DE EL SALVADOR© Provided by News 360

"These people who are being detained, these terrorists (...), are going to be held in a more severe regime. Anyone who is proven to be a gang member, who is part of these terrorists, should not hesitate for a single moment, these people will not be released from prison again", said Luna in declarations to Cadena Megavisión.

The Salvadoran Vice Minister of Justice assured that in countries like the United States or Spain, terrorists are not given the opportunity to reintegrate into society, but rather "they are put in the gas chamber and given a death sentence".

Likewise, Luna affirmed that the country's project promoted by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, "is comprehensive", since "nobody wants to break the law".

However, he assured that the deaths of prisoners in Salvadoran jails reported by some human rights organizations are due to their refusal to receive medical treatment or because they have previous health problems.

Luna said that the growing number of deaths among inmates is due to the fact that El Salvador's prisons receive people who "have up to four morbidities and arrive with a series of very complicated illnesses", in addition to the fact that there are people who do not want to undergo medical tests, as he said in the interview with Cadena Megavisión.

"Up to this moment, no death has been verified for any other reason than the health issue, and I can guarantee that. We are within the corresponding instances carrying out the clinical analyses (...), despite the fact that it is an extremely large population", Luna assured.

However, Luna's statements are contrary to what has been reported by human rights organizations and family members who have denounced the deaths of up to 73 people in the country's prisons who were detained under the legal framework of the emergency regime implemented to combat gangs.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) or the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have expressed their concern about the imposition of the state of exception in El Salvador, to which Bukele has responded that these organizations "defend the gang members". Meanwhile, the United Nations has also expressed concern over the wave of homicides in the Central American country.

Following a historic spike in homicides in March, Bukele asked Congress to authorize a state of emergency, which suspends some constitutional rights, to launch an offensive against the gangs that plague the Central American country.

During this period, the Salvadoran government is empowered to suspend certain freedoms and guarantees to facilitate the deployment of military and police in the streets and municipalities where these homicides occurred.

AFTER BITCOIN BUKELE'S  NEXT PROJECT

AMERICAN HEGEMONY

Petro accuses US of ruining «all the economies of the world».

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has accused the United States of ruining "all the economies of the world" while making decisions aimed at protecting itself in the face of an economic crisis that is already "unquestionable".


Colombian President Gustavo Petro - S. Barros/LongVisual via ZUMA Pr / DPA© Provided by News 360

In this sense, he has criticized that, with its latest decisions, such as the increase in interest rates, the world economy has suffered, especially that of Latin American countries, for which he has urged the creation of a block of countries in the region to face the recession.

"The Russians, the Ukrainians, the Europeans in the first place, have unleashed a war in their own continent: a war for gas, for energy", he explained, adding that "Latin America is being plundered", as reported by Blu Radio.

On the other hand, Petro has also charged against Washington in the migratory field, affirming that "they have put machine guns", "jails" and "walls" so that migrants do not enter through their border. "(So) they are treated and mistreated when they arrive there, if they arrive alive," he said.

Thus, he has stressed that "more prosperity must be achieved" in Latin American nations. "How many Colombians have already died in that exodus, that country that does not want them", he pointed out, adding that the United States "should understand" that in order to stop the migratory crisis it does not have to destroy Latin American economies, but help them, as reported by RCN Radio.

Norway intel agency takes over probe into drone sightings


Wed, October 19, 2022 




COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway's domestic security agency on Wednesday took over investigations of drone sightings near key infrastructure sites hours after the airport in the country's second-largest city briefly closed due to area residents spotting at least one drone nearby.

Bergen Airport, which is near Norway’s main naval base, shut down at around 6:30 a.m. when the area's air space was closed and reopened 2 1/2 hours later. Bergen police spokesman Ørjan Djuvik said several drone sightings were reported near the airport.

“There can also be observations that could be other phenomenon, for instance weather,” Djuvik said. “We are sure that there is at least one.”

North of Bergen, a drone was reported near the small, domestic Foerde airport, which also closed temporarily, Norwegian news agency NTB said.

Numerous drone sightings have been reported near offshore oil and gas platforms and other Norwegian infrastructure in recent months, Hedvig Moe, deputy chief of the Norwegian Police Security Service, said.

“We believe (the drone flights are) carried out in a way that makes it difficult to find out who is really behind it,” but Norwegian authorities suspect Russian involvement in operating unmanned aerial vehicles that “can be used for espionage or simply to create fear,” Moe said.

“Russia simply has more to gain and less to lose by conducting intelligence activities in Norway now compared to the situation before the war," she said during a news conference. "It is simply because Russia is in a pressed situation as a result of the war (in Ukraine) and is isolated by sanctions.”

”We are in a tense security-political situation, and at the same time a complex and unclear threat picture that can change in a relatively short time,” she said.

At least seven Russian citizens were detained over the past few weeks for flying drones or taking photographs of sensitive sites in Norway.

A 47-year-old man with dual Russian and British citizenship was jailed Wednesday for two weeks on suspicion of flying drones on Norway’s Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, NTB reported. He is accused of breaching sanctions which came into force after Russia went to war against Ukraine, Moe said, declining to elaborate.

Under Norwegian law, it is prohibited for aircraft operated by Russian companies or citizens “to land on, take off from or fly over Norwegian territory.” Norway is not a member of the European Union but mirrors its moves.

“It is not acceptable that foreign intelligence is flying drones over Norwegian airports. Russians are not allowed to fly drones in Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “We do not want anyone to fly this type of craft over important installations in Norway.”

Airport operator Avinor told NRK on Tuesday that 50 possible drone observations have been reported at Norway's civilian airports so far this year, 27 of them since July.

NTB said 17 and 14 drone sightings were reported in 2021 and 2020, respectively, while the number was 44 in 2019.

The Norwegian Police Security Service, known by the acronym PST, plans to work closely with local police agencies which have conducted investigations, Moe said.

Other European nations heightened security around key energy, internet and power infrastructure following last month’s underwater explosions that ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that were built to deliver Russian gas to Germany.

The damaged Nord Stream pipelines off Sweden and Denmark discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air.

___

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

Jan M. Olsen, The Associated Press

RENT IS INFLATION NATIONAL RENT CONTROL NOW

Canada's inflation beat boosts chances of 75 bps rate hike

Julie Gordon
Wed, October 19, 2022 a

Preparations ahead of Hurricane Fiona in Newfoundland

By Julie Gordon

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's annual inflation rate edged down but exceeded forecasts in September while underlying price pressures were largely unchanged, data showed on Wednesday, amplifying calls for another hefty rate hike by the central bank next week.

Inflation was 6.9%, ahead of forecasts of 6.8% and down from 7.0% in August. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.4% from 5.3% in August.

All three of the Bank of Canada's core measures of inflation, its preferred yardsticks for underlying inflation, were flat in September, with the average of the three matching August's upwardly revised 5.3%.

"Even though the headline numbers have moved lower - it does look like the inflationary shock is spreading a bit," said Andrew Kelvin, chief Canada strategist at TD Securities.

"I think it's going to really intensify the conversation around whether (the Bank of Canada) needs to lift rates by 50 or 75 basis points," he added.

Graphic: Canadian inflation and interest rates -

 https://graphics.reuters.com/CANADA-ECONOMY/INFLATION/zjpqkxxxnpx/chart.png

The central bank's next decision is Oct. 26, when it will also publish quarterly forecasts. Money markets bets swung to a 75-basis point move after the inflation data, with the policy rate now seen peaking between 4.25% and 4.50% early next year.

Most economists polled beforehand by Reuters said they expected a 50 bps rise.

The bank has hiked rates by 300 bps since March and made clear more increases are coming.

There are signs those fast-rising rates are cooling Canada's once red-hot housing market. Homeowner replacement costs, tied to the price of new homes, slowed to 7.7% in September, the fourth consecutive deceleration.

But it was lower gasoline prices that edged the annual inflation rate down, while consumers paid 11.4% more for their groceries, the largest gain since August 1981.

"We've seen some of the impact of hiking and also the weaker energy prices. The hope would have been that we'd see some more weakening and it's not happening," said Jimmy Jean, chief economist at Desjardins Group.

Jean also pointed to a Bank of Canada survey this week showing near-term consumer inflation expectations at record highs, which "puts the Bank of Canada in a position to have to still be aggressive."

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% lower at 1.3775 against the U.S. dollar, which rose against a basket of major currencies.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Dale Smith and Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Fergal Smith in Toronto; Editing by Mark Porter, Angus MacSwan, John Stonestreet)

AB IS SECOND TO ONT IN RENEWABLES
Construction underway on Drumheller Solar Project


Wed, October 19, 2022 

Construction on the Drumheller Solar Project, located near the Drumheller Water Treatment Plant ponds, is finally underway after initially receiving approval from the Alberta Utilities Corporation (AUC) in July 2020.

The $27 million, 13.5-megawatt installation, which also includes battery storage, underwent a change of ownership when Vancouver-based Concord Green Energy acquired the solar project from Longspur Developments in July 2021; supply chain issues following the acquisition created further delays for project development.

“It’s a big solar farm that ties directly into the ATCO substation,” says Concord Green Energy project manager Michael Becker. He adds the energy captured by the facility will be put “straight into the grid” for Drumheller and surrounding areas.

It is estimated the facility will generate enough energy to supply about 3,000 homes.

There will be some 41,200 solar modules installed once completed.

It was initially anticipated the solar project would be operational by late 2022. While Concord will not be able to meet this timeline, Mr. Becker says the project is anticipated to come online within the first quarter of 2023.

Once the solar modules are installed, work will then begin to install a battery energy storage system which will capture energy during low demand times, and discharge power during peak demand times to help ease stress on the system. This battery storage system is supported through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Biotechnology, Electricity, and Sustainable Transportation Challenges.

“Concord is certainly investing in green energy in south-central Alberta,” Mr. Becker tells the Mail.

This is the fourth solar project developed by Concord in southern and central Alberta; construction has already been completed on solar projects in Coaldale and Monarch near the City of Lethbridge, and a facility in Vulcan.

As solar facilities are “fairly low maintenance,” it is expected the project will create “a couple” permanent, full-time positions for facility and operations management once operational, according to Mr. Becker.

Lacie Nairn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Drumheller Mail

ICYMI

WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency

ISN'T THAT AN ABBOTT & COSTELLO SCHTICK 

Wed, October 19, 2022

FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the WHO in Geneva


(Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one.

The WHO's emergency committee first made the declaration for COVID-19 on Jan 30, 2020. Such a determination can help accelerate research, funding and international public health measures to contain a disease.

The UN-agency has said in recent months that while cases are falling in parts of the world, countries still need to maintain their vigilance and push to get their most vulnerable populations vaccinated.

"Although the public perception is that the pandemic is over in some parts of the world, it remains a public health event that continues to adversely and strongly affect the health of the world's population," the WHO's committee said.

It noted that even though the number of weekly deaths are the lowest since the pandemic began, they still remain high compared to other viruses.

"This pandemic has surprised us before and very well may again," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

RIGHT TO WORK (FOR PEANUTS) STATE
BMW invests $1.7 billion to build electric vehicles in U.S

David Shepardson
Wed, October 19, 2022 at 9:01 a.m.·2 min read

IAA MOBILITY 2021 show in Munich

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (Reuters) -BMW AG said on Wednesday it will invest $1.7 billion to build electric vehicles in the United States, the latest announcement from a major automaker about plans to ramp up U.S. EV production.

The German company said it was making a new $1 billion investment in its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant to prepare for EV production and will spend $700 million on a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in nearby Woodruff, South Carolina, and create at least 300 jobs.

"It's the biggest single investment we've done so far," BMW Group Chairman Oliver Zipse told Reuters in an interview.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said at a ceremony the BMW capital investment is the largest in the state's history.

BMW also said Chinese renewable energy group Envision's Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) will build a new battery cell plant in South Carolina with an annual capacity of up to 30 GWh to supply the automaker.

The luxury automaker plans to build at least six fully electric BMW models in the United States by 2030.

BMW would not set a date to end production of gas-powered vehicles, it said, raising concerns about new U.S. EV tax credit requirements aimed at preventing the use of Chinese battery components and minerals.

Zipse said no region could be completely independent especially on battery raw materials and that the United States "should have a regulation that is not completely unrealistic.”

He warned the new $7,500 EV tax credit law adopted in August could prevent automakers from using the credit.

"It would be a disaster if you stop industry from developing," Zipse said.

BMW said its new battery format will increase energy density by more than 20%, improve charging speed and boost range by up to 30%.

BMW Group had already announced that four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its needs. Zipse said the location of a sixth planned cell factory would be determined by market demand.

The cell factories being built by company partners will each have an annual capacity of up to 20 GWh.

BMW's 30-year-old South Carolina plant has built more than 6 million vehicles, employs more than 11,000 people, and has an annual production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles.

South Carolina awarded a $65 million grant to Spartanburg County to assist with costs related to the project.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Bernadette Baum)

MINING IS NOT GREEN
Biden awards $2.8 billion to boost U.S. minerals output for EV batteries


U.S. President Biden visits the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan

By David Shepardson and Ernest Scheyder
Wed, October 19, 2022 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration said on Wednesday it is awarding $2.8 billion in grants to boost U.S. production of electric vehicle batteries and the minerals used to build them, part of a bid to wean the country off supplies from China.

"By undercutting U.S. manufacturers with their unfair subsidies and trade practices, China seized a significant portion of the market," President Joe Biden said Wednesday in announcing the awards."Today we're stepping up... to take it back, not all of it, but bold goals."

Albemarle Corp is among the 20 manufacturing and processing companies receiving U.S. Energy Department grants to domestically mine lithium, graphite and nickel, build the first large-scale U.S. lithium processing facility, construct facilities to build cathodes and other battery parts, and expand battery recycling.

The grants, which are going to projects across at least 12 states, mark the latest push by the Biden administration to help reduce the country's dependence on China and other nations for the building blocks of the green energy revolution.

The funding recipients, first reported by Reuters, were chosen by a White House steering committee and coordinated by the Energy Department with support from the Interior Department.

But the program does nothing to alleviate permitting delays faced by some in the mining industry.

Albemarle is set to receive $149.7 million to build a facility in North Carolina to lightly process rock containing lithium from a mine it is trying to reopen. That facility would then feed a separate U.S. plant that the company said in June would double the company's lithium production for EV batteries.

Albemarle, which also produces lithium in Australia and Chile, said the grant "increases the speed of lithium processing and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from long-distance transportation of raw minerals."

Piedmont Lithium Inc, whose shares rose nearly 11% following the news, was awarded $141.7 million to build its own lithium processing facility in Tennessee, where the company will initially process the metal sourced from Quebec and Ghana. Piedmont's plans to build a lithium mine in North Carolina have faced strong opposition.

Talon Metals Corp, which has a nickel supply deal with Tesla Inc, will receive $114.8 million to build a processing plant in North Dakota. That plant will process rock extracted from its planned underground mine in Minnesota.

The grants are "a clear recognition that production of domestic nickel and other battery minerals is a national priority," Talon said.

Other grants include $316.2 million to privately-held Ascend Elements to build a battery parts plant, $50 million to privately-held Lilac Solutions Inc for a demonstration plant for so-called direct lithium extraction technologies, $75 million to privately-held Cirba Solutions to expand an Ohio battery recycling plant, and $219.8 million to Syrah Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Syrah Resources Ltd, to expand a graphite processing plant in Louisiana.

BIDEN'S GOAL

By 2030, Biden wants 50% of all new vehicles sold in the United States to be electric or plug-in hybrid electric models along with 500,000 new EV charging stations. He has not endorsed the phasing-out of new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2030.

Legislation tied to the program that Biden signed in August sets new strict battery component and sourcing requirements for $7,500 consumer EV tax credits. A separate $1 trillion infrastructure law signed in November 2021 allocates $7 billion to ensure U.S. manufacturers can access critical minerals and other components to manufacture the batteries.

The White House said that the United States and allies do not produce enough of the critical minerals and materials used in EV batteries.

"China currently controls much of the critical mineral supply chain and the lack of mining, processing, and recycling capacity in the U.S. could hinder electric vehicle development and adoption, leaving the U.S. dependent on unreliable foreign supply chains," the White House said.

In March, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to support the production and processing of minerals and materials used for EV batteries.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Alexandra Alper; Bernadette Baum, Matthew Lewis, Paul Simao and Deepa Babington)

'Massive gaps' seen in countries' plans to tackle climate change -study


 Smoke and steam billows from Belchatow Power Station, Europe's largest coal-fired power plant operated by PGE Group, near Belchatow

Tue, October 18, 2022 
By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The latest pledges by countries to tackle global warming under the Paris Agreement are "woefully inadequate" to avert a rise in global temperatures that scientists say will worsen droughts, storms and floods, a report said on Wednesday.

The 2015 pact launched at a U.N. global climate summit requires 194 countries to detail their plans to fight climate change in what are known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs.

In pledges made through September, the NDCs would reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases only 7% from 2019 levels by 2030, said the report titled "The State of NDCs: 2022." It was written by the World Resources Institute (WRI) global nonprofit research group.

Countries must strengthen their targets by about six times that, or at least 43%, to align with what the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is enough to reach the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the global temperature rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees F), it said.

"It really looks like we're hitting a bit of a plateau," Taryn Fransen, a senior fellow at WRI and author of the report said in an interview. She added that the COVID-19 pandemic and economic woes may have mostly capped countries' ambitions to boost their NDCs since 2021.

Current NDCs propose to reduce emissions by 5.5 gigatonnes compared with the initial NDCs from 2015, nearly equal to eliminating the annual emissions of the United States. But only 10% of that planned reduction has been pledged since 2021.

On the bright side, Australia and Indonesia did boost their NDCs this year. "That got us some progress," Fransen said, "but there hasn't been a lot beyond that." Countries in the Paris Agreement are required to update their NDCs by 2025.

"If the pace of improvement from 2016 to today continues, the world will not only miss the Paris Agreement goals, but it will miss them by a long shot," the report said.

Much of the focus of this year's global climate talks, to be held next month in Egypt, will center on reducing emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere. In an example of the work yet to be done, WRI found that only 15 of the 119 countries that signed a Global Methane Pledge launched last year included a specific, quantified methane reduction target in their NDCs.

Fransen said economic and health benefits of reducing emissions, such as the build-out of the energy transition and reduced air pollution, can help build momentum to deeper cuts. "Seeing those benefits can only help drive more ambitions, but it is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem," she said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Climate Questions: Why do small degrees of warming matter?


Why do small degrees of warming matter? (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin) 

SETH BORENSTEIN and DANA BELTAJI
Wed, October 19, 2022 

On a thermometer, a tenth of a degree seems tiny, barely noticeable. But small changes in average temperature can reverberate in a global climate to turn into big disasters as weather gets wilder and more extreme in a warmer world.

In 2015, countries around the world agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and pursue a goal of curbing warming to 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) as part of the Paris Agreement.

Two degrees of difference might not be noticeable if you're gauging the weather outside, but for global average temperatures, these small numbers make a big difference.

“Every tenth of a degree matters,” is a phrase that climate scientists around the world keep repeating.

__

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of an ongoing series answering some of the most fundamental questions around climate change, the science behind it, the effects of a warming planet and how the world is addressing it.

___

The Earth has already warmed at least 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, giving the world around 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.7 Fahrenheit) of more heating before passing the goal and suffering even more catastrophic climate change events, scientists have said.

These tenths of a degree are a big deal because the temperatures represent a global average of warming. Some parts of the world, especially land mass and northern latitudes like the Arctic have already warmed more than the 1.1 Celsius average and have far surpassed 1.5 Celsius, according to estimates.

It's helpful to look at temperatures like a bell curve, rather than just the average which doesn't reveal “hidden extremes,” said Princeton University climate scientist Gabe Vecchi.

“On the far end where the bell shape is very narrow, that is telling you the odds of very extreme events,” he said. “If you have a slight shift of the average of the peak of that bell to the warming direction, what that results in is a substantial decrease in the odds of extremely cold temperatures and a substantial increase in the odds of extremely warm temperatures.”

It's a similar picture with sea level rise, where the average obscures how some places are seeing much higher sea level increases than others, he said.

Most nations — including the world’s two largest emitters, the U.S. and China — aren’t on track to limit warming to 1.5 Celsius or even 2 Celsius, according to scientists and experts who track global action on climate change, despite promises to cut their emissions to “net zero”.

If temperatures increase by about 2 more degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the world will experience five times the floods, storms, drought and heat waves, according to estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“All bets are off” when it comes to how climate systems will respond to more warming, warned Brown University climate scientist Kim Cobb. The threat of some irreversible changes and feedback loops that amplify warming, such as the thawing of permafrost that traps massive amounts of greenhouse gas, could trigger even more heating.

“It’s just staggering to think about how many people will be under immediate threat of climate-related extremes in a two degree world," Cobb said.

___

Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

___