Watch live: VSS Unity launch the billionaire Richard Branson to space

By Boyko Nikolov 

WASHINGTON, BM – Today, July 11, 2021, at 9 a.m., EDT begins the era of private space tourism with the flights of the Virgin Galactic VSS Unity spacecraft and billionaire Richard Branson on board. A crew of six astronauts will take off from New Mexico.

The VSS Unity Crew, Photo credit: CNN

Co-pilot Dave Mackay and his co-pilot Michael Masucci (this is his second space flight) will pilot VSS Unity and launch Richard Branson, Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, Virgin Galactic lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, Virgin Galactic researcher.

“Astronaut 001” is the code name of Richard Branson with which he wants to identify himself as the first space tourist in human history, but with the ship VSS Unity. “As the founder of Virgin Galactic, I am extremely proud to have this incredible VSS Unity space crew on my side. I have always been a dreamer. My mother told me never to give up and strive for the stars. This July is our dream. It’s becoming a reality and we’re very excited to share this moment with you. But when we get back to Earth, I’m going to announce something very exciting that will allow many more people to become astronauts. Because space belongs to all of us,” billionaire Richard Branson said in the presentation video of the flight.

The last little over 12 months have proved crucial in the development of the space industry, and are likely to change our minds about space flight. It all started on May 30, 2020, when the private space company of billionaire Elon Musk launched the first private space flight to the International Space Station with two astronauts on board – Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The success was twofold, as Elon Musk showed that the booster could successfully return to Earth and land, paving the way for reusable carriers.

Today, Richard Branson will try to be the first American civilian to visit outer space. But its success can be challenged by another American billionaire – Jeff Bezos and his space company Blue Origin.

Blue Origin refuses to recognize this space flight attempt because Unity will not cross the Carman line. This is the limit of 100 km above the earth’s surface, beyond which space begins. According to the International Aviation Federation, at such altitudes, the first space speed (7.91 km / s) is already needed to create lift. According to NASA, space starts even higher – at 122 km, because this is the limit at which space shuttles crossed when returning to aerodynamic maneuvering, ie. flight based on the Earth’s atmosphere. In this sense, there will be no space flight for the Bezos team today.

Two billionaires have already been in space, but with a Russian state-owned company, Charles Shimoni of Hungary (2007) and Guy Laliberte of Canada (2009), one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil, spent several days aboard The International Space Station.

 

Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson set to win space race against Bezos

The 70-year-old British billionaire is blasting off nine days before Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' own flight. But Bezos' company says Branson is simply not flying high enough.

    

Richard Branson, third from the right, is heading into space with five other team members.

British businessman Richard Branson is looking to go where no billionaire has gone before by blasting off towards the stars on board a Virgin Galactic vessel later on Sunday.

The 70-year-old entrepreneur behind Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Records looks set to beat Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in the ultimate space race between some of the world's richest men.

The 70-year-old Branson is set to fly above the NASA-defined limit for outer space

Bezos plans to travel on July 20 on his own New Shepard ship built by his Blue Origin firm. The Amazon founder is set to pilot the spacecraft himself.

The world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, is set to fly to space nine days after Branson

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also has ambitions to travel to outer space and eventually Mars, although his timetable is less clear. However, Musk's SpaceX project is expected to carry civilians into space as early as September this year.

Space X's Elon Musk has plans to build a city on Mars

What will Branson's flight be like?

Branson, who will be joined by two pilots and three other passengers, is expected to climb to 88 kilometers (55 miles) above Earth during a journey that will last roughly an hour.

In a short video released on Twitter, he said that his goal was "to turn the dream of space travel into a reality - for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for everyone."

For his first flight, he will be joined by two pilots, Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, as well as Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut instructor, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett, and Sirisha Bandla, a research operations and government affairs vice president.

They will take off from a base in New Mexico later on Sunday.

Elon Musk, the founder Space X and Tesla, suggested in a social media post that he would attend the launch.

"Will see you there to wish you the best," he wrote on Twitter.

Is Branson's plane flying high enough?

There was no well-wishing from the Bezos camp, with Bezos' Blue Origin company pointedly noting that Branson is not even set to cross what most countries see as the border of outer space.

Branson's VSS Unity will climb to over 80 kilometers, which the US air force and NASA considers to be the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. But the World Air Sports Federation, known by its French acronym FAI, is the world governing body for air sports and defines human spaceflight differently.

The Lausanne-based organization defines outer space 100km above Earth's mean sea level, the so-called Karman Line, 20km higher than Branson is going to travel.

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith dismissed Virgin Galactic’s approach as "a very different experience" because "they’re not flying above the Kármán line."

How much money is there in space tourism?

That controversy has not dissuaded people from snapping up tickets for the first space tourism flights.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber are among the 600 customers to have stumped up for the $250,000 (€210,000) seats.

Branson founded Virgin Galactic 17 years ago, with it now attempting to finish development testing this year so it can begin flying space tourism passengers in early 2022. He, Musk and Bezos ave invested billions into their respective projects, but this could prove to be a canny investment.

Switzerland's UBS predicts the value of the space tourism market will hit $3 billion (€2.5 billion) annually by 2030.

jf/dj (AP, AFP, dpa)

Star Wars: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic flight to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel
By: Vaishali Dar |
July 11, 2021 

Richard Branson is set to take off for space today, beating fellow billionaire businessmen Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, and ushering in a new era of private commercial space travel

A file photo of Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson outside the New York Stock Exchange (AP)

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is scheduled to take off with the crew of the test flight of his Virgin Galactic space plane today—two weeks before Jeff Bezos. This would be yet another landmark achievement by Branson, marking a new era of private commercial space travel. Last week, Branson had tweeted: “I’ve always been a dreamer… My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. On July 11, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next Virgin Galactic spaceflight.” He will be “testing the private astronaut experience” alongside four mission specialists and two pilots.

That’s not all. The billionaire also shared a teaser of an additional announcement after his flight. “When we return, I will announce something very exciting to give more people a chance to become astronauts, because space does belong to us all,” he said. “So watch this space.” VSS Unity spacecraft will have onboard Virgin Galactic’s mission specialists, including chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett, vice-president of government affairs at Virgin Galactic Sirisha Bandla, and pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci. The one-of-a-kind experience will be livestreamed on the company’s website, as well as on its Twitter, YouTube and Facebook channels.

Branson’s flight into space is the latest development in the big billionaire space race. Before him, Jeff Bezos, founder of retail giant Amazon, grabbed headlines last month with news of his travel to space on July 20 as part of the first crewed flight by his space company Blue Origin. For more than two decades, both Branson and Bezos have been testing suborbital rockets to take on a 2,300-mile-per-hour ride above earth. Branson, Bezos and even Elon Musk have been leading the new age of commercial spaceflight with technologies that would be economical and safe.

However, if all goes as per plan, Branson would become the real showstopper with an early takeoff. In interviews, though, Branson has stated that he has no intention of competing with anyone. In fact, he has agreed to invite Bezos to watch the event. In a CNN interview, he said that any suggestion that Virgin Galactic may be compromising safety in an effort to get Branson to space before Bezos is “completely wrong”.

Virgin Galactic (a carrier airplane that can reach high altitudes around 90 km to view earth’s curvature) would fly with commercial space transportation operator licence approval granted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the largest transportation agency of the US government, which regulates all aspects of civil aviation, as well as surrounding international waters.

Space travel now doesn’t seem so distant. With qualified space travellers, the digital revolution and sophisticated tech, we will see a new class of explorers in the future. More companies are placing bets on the sector in the coming months—rocket-builder Astra and satellite broadband-focused AST & Science are in talks with companies Rocket Lab, Spire Global, BlackSky, Momentus.

Talking about the opportunities in the space travel market for companies like Virgin Galactic, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Branson told CNBC in an interview last week: “There’s room for 20 space companies to take people up there… The more spaceships we can build, the more we can bring the price down and the more we’ll be able to satisfy demand, and that will happen over the years to come.”

Earlier, Virgin Galactic’s leadership had forecast that “around two million people can experience” space flights that are priced in the $250,000-$500,000 range, as per reports. At the moment, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are competing to take passengers on short flights to the edge of space (suborbital tourism), while Musk’s SpaceX plans to launch private passengers on further, multi-day flights (orbital tourism), as per reports

Here are just some of Richard Branson's near-death experiences ahead of his first space flight


By Chris Isidore, CNN Business
Updated 10:23 AM ET, Sat July 10, 2021



New York (CNN Business)Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur who is set to take a test flight on his Virgin Galactic spaceship to the edge of outer space on Sunday, has rarely been one to shy away from risky activities, and because of that he's narrowly avoided being killed numerous times in his nearly 71 years.
Some of the near-death experiences were the result of bad luck, such as a stubbed toe in 1980 that nearly sent him down a deep gorge on his private island to the jagged rocks below.

Everything you need to know about Richard Branson going to space this weekend
Some were the result of publicity-seeking promotions, such as bungee jumping off Victoria Falls as part of a television show about him or leaping off the side of a Las Vegas casino to promote flights to the city by one of his airlines. Both stunts left him bloody and injured.
Some were just due to his sense of adventure, such as numerous balloon accidents as he attempted, and sometimes succeeded, to set records for long-distance balloon flights.




Coast Guard helicopters head back to the Barbers Point Naval Station after rescuing multi-millionaire adventurers Richard Branson and Steve Fossett and pilot Per Lindstrand after they were forced to abort their latest round-the-world bid due to bad weather December 25. The giant hot-air balloon, shown deflating in the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii, took off from Morocco December 18, travelled about 8,200 miles (13,120 kms) -- about half the distance of its intended odyssey.
His second autobiography, "Finding My Virginity," includes an appendix entitled "75 Close Shaves," in which he details some of the instances when his life has been at risk. Here are some of the highlights he wrote about on that list, in his own words:
1972: Survived a fishing boat sinking on honeymoon with my first wife, Kristen, off Mexico. We decided to jump off the boat and swim for shore, while the others stayed put -- we were the only survivors.
1976: Flew a microlight aircraft by mistake. It was the first time I'd sat in it, I had no idea how to fly it and accidentally took off. I was pulling wires out desperately. I cut the engine and managed to crash-land into a field. My instructor died in an accident the next day
1980 -- I stubbed my toe while walking around Necker Island and suddenly fell down a gaping gorge. I managed to get my hand to the other side, and Steve Barron managed to rescue me, pulling me up before I fell to what would have been certain death on the jagged rocks below.
1985 -- Sank in the [high-altitude hot-air balloon capsule] Virgin Atlantic Challenger 1 as we were crossing the Atlantic, had to be pulled out of the ocean.
1986 -- Crashed a car while driving through the Alps with my family. I hit some ice and went down a small cliff and turned the car over.
1986 -- On my first solo hot-air balloon flight, I crashed badly, smashing into the ground. It was a sign of things to come.
1986 -- On my first time skydiving, there was one cord that opened the parachute and one that got rid of it. I pulled the wrong cord by mistake. I was falling through the air before an instructor managed to yank my spare ripcord.
1987 -- On our attempt to cross the Atlantic in a hot-air balloon, the balloon's solar heating was too good and we headed up, up and up with seemingly no way to stop it. My co-pilot Per managed to bring the balloon down just before the capsule imploded and we tumbled to our deaths.


Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand attend a press conference to announce their 'Trans Atlantic Balloon Challenge' attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the 'Virgin Atlantic Flyer' hot air balloon on May 12, 1987 in New York City.
1987 -- On the same challenge I lost my co-pilot when Per jumped into the Atlantic, leaving me alone in the hot-air balloon as it disappeared back above the clouds. I was convinced I was going to die. On that memorable flight...I managed to crash the balloon into the North Sea and was rescued by helicopter.
1989 -- I decided to make an entrance to my wedding with Joan, dangling from a helicopter in an all-white suit. I dropped into the shallow end of the pool by mistake, smashed my legs, and spent the whole wedding hobbling.


Virgin chairman Richard Branson arrives for his wedding to partner of 14 years, Joan Templeman, on the Caribbean island of Necker
1991 -- In a hot air balloon saw it catch fire at 30,000 feet. We managed to extinguish the fire before the balloon was destroyed. On the same balloon flight, we lost half our fuel when full tanks dropped as we jettisoned empty fuel. We thought we would run out of fuel halfway across the Pacific, before strong winds in the jet stream saved us. We crashed in the Artic -- successfully completing the challenge, but crashing in minus-50-degree temperatures 3,000 miles from our planned destination in Los Angeles.


Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand in the balloon capsule before launch in Japan, 1991
2001 -- Narrowly missed stepping on a live track with 25,000 volts charged above, while inspecting our new tilting trains in England.
2004 -- Agreed to do a bungee jump off Victoria Falls as part of my TV show "The Rebel Billionaire." As I fell through the air I clipped my head on something and came back up with blood streaming down my face.
2007 -- Jumped off Palms Casino in Las Vegas as we announced Virgin America's new route to the city. After initially refusing to do the jump, I reconsidered and plunged down the building at high speed in strong winds. I smashed painfully hard into the buildings. Fortunately I hadn't spun around, so my backside hit the wall rather than my head. It completely ripped the back of my trousers off, cut my legs and arm open and badly bruised my hand.


Founder of the Virgin Group Richard Branson stunts off The Palms Fantasy Tower at The Palms Casino Resort on October 10, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2016 -- My life flashed before my eyes as I went over the handlebars while cycling on Virgin Gorda. My bike disappeared over the cliff, I escaped with a cracked cheek, severe cuts and bruises and a torn shoulder.

Messi announces retirement after Argentina win Copa America title



Argentina's Lionel Messi (centre) holds the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after beating Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final. APGulf Today Report

Finally Lionel Messi cried with joy as Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in Sunday's Copa America final to secure the national team's first title in 28 years and the superstar's first major international trophy.


Argentina's Lionel Messi is thrown into the air by teammates. AFP


After four losses in the finals, early exits in major tournaments and even a decision to retire from the national team the superstar celebrated a much-awaited title in the Maracana Stadium.

Messi was 18 years old when he made his international bow in 2005 for a powerful Argentina side.

Messi's hopes of international success were repeatedly frustrated despite a glittering career that has seen him help Barcelona to win the Champions League four times, La Liga 10 times and the Copa Del Rey seven times and finally Sunday's Copa America title that ended Argentina's 28-year drought of major trophies,


Lionel Messi kneels at the end of the Copa America final soccer match at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. AP

The captain Messi also broke the team's record for international appearances with 151 matches.

History would not repeat itself this time around as Messi not only inspired his side but also finished the tournament as the top goalscorer and with the most assists.

He was named the player of the tournament, during which Messi equalled and then broke Javier Mascerano's record of 147 caps for Argentina, setting a new mark of 151 on Saturday.


Fans of Argentina celebrate after the nation's victory. AFP

Brazil became last-minute hosts of Copa America two weeks before kickoff after original organisers Colombia and Argentina withdrew. Many players protested against the tournament taking place as the COVID-19 pandemic caused thousands of deaths a day in South America, even more so in Brazil where 532,000 have died.Officials allowed a few thousand fans into the Maracana for the decider, the only match in the tournament to have spectators. There was very little social distancing in celebrations, and some fans removed their masks.

Fans go wild on the streets as Lionel Messi leads Argentina to Copa America - in pictures

Barcelona star finally lifts a trophy for his country


Jul 11, 2021

Argentina fans went wild in Buenos Aires as Lionel Messi's side won the Copa America, their first trophy after a wait of 28 years.

Messi finally lifted his first silverware for the national team, filling in one of the biggest gaps in his decorated career, made all the sweeter as it was in the domain of their arch rivals Brazil.

READ MORE
Copa America: Lionel Messi's trophy wait is over as Argentina beat Brazil

Argentina's winning goal at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro came in the 22nd minute after veteran forward Angel di Maria lobbed goalkeeper Ederson.

The trophy saw a huge outpouring of relief for Argentina fans, who last saw a victory when Messi was only six years old. Saturday's victory in Rio gave the team their 15th Copa America title, equalling Uruguay's total.

Barcelona star Messi had reached the final of Copa America three times and lost all of them in 2007, 2015 and 2016.

Now, at last, he will have good memories at the Maracana, where Argentina lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany.

Fireworks and wild partying followed the final whistle, as can be seen in the gallery below

Image15 of 15
















Fans celebrate in Buenos Aires after Argentina won the Copa America with a 1-0 victory over arch rivals Brazil. (MATIAS BAGLIETTO/REUTERS)
The National

Biden's competition order seen fueling long-run gains for economy

Olivia Rockeman, Bloomberg News
Jul 9, 2021

President Joe Biden’s new plan to promote competition across industries and in the labor market can deliver long-run gains for the U.S. economy by boosting productivity and wages, economists say.

The president announced an executive order on Friday that directs federal agencies to ban or limit non-compete agreements -- which make it harder for workers to switch jobs in search of higher pay -- along with a raft of proposals aimed at barring unfair competition between large and small businesses.

While there’s a focus on the technology, agriculture, transportation and drug industries, some of the measures will apply across the economy. The aim is to counter a trend that’s seen market share in many industries become concentrated in a small number of businesses, widening gaps in income and wealth, the administration says.

“If it’s successful, that’s going to create more competition, improve mobility in the labor market, and in the longer run we could see maybe some upside risk to our forecasts for wage growth and productivity,” said Ryan Sweet, head of monetary policy research at Moody’s Analytics.



Waning competition and the dominance of large firms has been a hot topic for economists in recent years. A series of studies have found that in most U.S. industries there is more concentration now than there was a few decades ago.

Many researchers have argued that this is one reason why wage increases have been slow: with markets for goods or services divided up among a smaller number of competitors, workers in those industries end up with less bargaining power.

‘Flawed Belief’

Reducing the trend toward corporate consolidation will promote competition and provide benefits for workers, consumers, farmers and small businesses, the White House said in a statement outlining the executive order. The measure also aims to step up enforcement of antitrust laws.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest business group, called the idea that the economy has become too concentrated a “flawed belief,” and warned the administration against neglecting the importance of large firms for economic growth.

“In many industries, size and scale are important not only to compete, but also to justify massive levels of investment,” the group said in a statement Friday. “Larger businesses are also strong partners that rely on and facilitate the growth of smaller businesses.”

The move to ban non-compete agreements -- contractual clauses in which workers agree that if they quit or are fired, they can’t leave to work for a competitor, at least for a time -- could remove a barrier to better pay in many industries.

The clauses are meant to prevent trade secrets from being exchanged. Instead, they often end up locking workers into bad jobs and reducing their bargaining power, said Karla Walter, director of employment policy at the Center for American Progress.


What’s a ‘Competitor’?

In 2014, for example, it was revealed that sandwich chain Jimmy John’s was requiring workers to sign non-compete agreements that banned them from working at one of the sandwich chain’s competitors for a period of two years following employment there. The company’s definition of a “competitor” was wide-ranging, encompassing any business that was near a Jimmy John’s location or derived 10% of its revenue from sandwiches.

Walter said that by barring non-compete agreements -- which an estimated one-third of Americans have signed -- worker mobility would increase and entrepreneurs would find it easier to attract talent.


It’s “an important change that will give workers more leverage for higher wages,” said David Jaeger, a labor economist at the University of St. Andrews. “Stockholders in large corporations may feel a pinch in the short run, but the increased competition will likely spur overall growth over the longer term.”

The executive order also calls on regulators to take steps to lower drug prices, toughen merger enforcement in technology and banking, and ensure transparency in airline and shipping fees.

The breadth of the order makes its economic impact hard to gauge, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum. He said the enforcement of non-compete agreements is something that often happens at the state level.

Sweet at Moody’s said that growth benefits from an increase in competition could take years to emerge, but he sees a possible boost to entrepreneurship in the shorter term that could help job creation.

“The net benefit to GDP is down the road,” Sweet said. “But if it boosts productivity even a little bit it’s going to raise the speed limit of the economy.”

Sobeys' owner partners with Pathway Health on new medical cannabis program

By David George-Cosh

BNN BLOOMBERG

Canadian grocery chain operator Empire Co. is taking its first formal steps to provide cannabis access to its pharmacy customers after announcing a partnership with Pathway Health Corp. to develop a medical marijuana program. 

Pathway will provide pharmacists who work for Empire's pharmacy businesses across a network of grocery chains that include Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, and FreshCo with a certified online training program to educate them on how medical cannabis can be prescribed to patients. 

Pathway will also provide Empire's pharmacists with a management system that can offer medical cannabis assessments to patients and connect them with a physician for further evaluation through either physical or virtual care.

"We believe it is essential for Canadians to have access to support from experienced health-care professionals to help them navigate medical cannabis safely and effectively," said Marie-Claude Vezina, vice president and general manager of Sobeys National Pharmacy, in a statement. An Empire representative wasn't immediately available for further comment on the company's medical cannabis plans. 

Pathway will begin deploying its medical cannabis program throughout Empire-owned pharmacies in Nova Scotia, followed by a rollout across Atlantic Canada and the rest of Canada later this year. 

Medical cannabis usage in Canada has been on the decline since recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018. There are 292,399 Canadians who had an active medical cannabis prescription as of March 2021, down from a peak of 369,614 in September 2019. The market was valued at approximately $445 million in 2020, representing roughly 15 per cent of the total Canadian cannabis market, according to the Brightfield Group. 

Despite the relatively smaller market size compared to Canada's recreational cannabis space, medical marijuana has drawn interest from large companies like Loblaw Co.'s Shoppers Drug Mart unit which operates an online dispensary for active patients. 

Wayne Cockburn, president of Pathway Health Corp., said in a phone interview that once a pharmacist deems it appropriate for a patient to receive a medical cannabis prescription, they will be connected to a Pathway Health physician. That physician will be able to process a prescription for the patient and then connect them with a licensed Canadian producer to receive their medical cannabis. Under current regulations, pharmacists can’t dispense medical cannabis from a pharmacy. 

"The pharmacist is really the first step. The patient goes there and says, 'You know, I'm having trouble sleeping, I've got pain.' The pharmacist makes an assessment at that point in time and if they think it's appropriate then it goes to the next step. That's where we would come in," Cockburn said.

Cockburn said the partnership with Empire's pharmacy group comes ahead of potential changes to cannabis regulations that would allow the sale of over-the-counter products that only contain cannabidiol (CBD) and not through a regulated or licensed retailer. 

Health Canada established a scientific advisory committee last year following a public consultation process in 2019 that sought feedback from Canadians on allowing certain cannabis products, including CBD-only items, for sale without the need for medical practitioner oversight. It's unclear when Health Canada will make a formal decision on the matter. 

"This is a brand new consumer packaged goods category for [pharmacies] and they're going to have to make shelf space for this. They've got no experience with it at all at this point in time, so they're looking to work with somebody to help them get ready for this," Cockburn said.

POLLUTER NON PAYES ITS YOU AND ME

Oil sands carbon cuts come with US$60-billion bill, loose ends

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

It will cost about US$75 billion (US$60 billion) to zero out greenhouse gases from oil sands operations by 2050, with a good deal of the costs borne by taxpayers and many loose ends yet to be tied up, according to two of the Canadian industry’s top CEOs.

To achieve the goal announced last month, about half of the emission cuts would need to come from capturing carbon at oil sands sites and sequestering it deep underground, which may require as much as two-thirds government capital like in Norway, Mark Little, chief executive office of Suncor Energy Inc., said in an interview. It’s still unclear how and when most of the projects will be implemented, or which agreements will be needed, but it’s clear the industry doesn’t want to do it alone.

Alex Pourbaix, chief operating officer of TransCanada Corp., smiles during the 2017 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. CERAWeek gathers energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial, and industrial communities to provide new insights and critically-important dialogue on energy markets.

“We haven’t been able to find any jurisdiction in the world where carbon capture has been implemented, where the national government or the state governments are not very significant partners in that investment,” Alexander Pourbaix, CEO of Cenovus Energy Inc., said in the same interview “I don’t think any of us would ever be in a position to go at this on our own. It’s just too significant an undertaking.”

The initiative follows mounting pressure from large, climate-minded investors, many of which have ditched their oil sands holdings. Sitting atop the world’s third-largest crude reserves, the Canadian industry uses carbon-intensive extraction methods that have made it a target of environmentalists. Also at stake are jobs and tax revenues from an industry that represents about 10 per cent of the Canadian economy.

Mark Little, chief operating officer of Suncor Energy Inc., speaks during the 2018 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. CERAWeek gathers energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial, and industrial communities to provide new insights and critically-important dialogue on energy markets.

“We have one Achilles heel: It’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Little said. “We can bury our heads in the sand and become a victim, or we can actually deal with it.”

The oil sands industry emits almost 70 million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide, about 10% of Canada’s emissions, “so we are a big emitter for sure,” Little said.

The plan to cut those emissions-- which also has the support of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Imperial Oil and MEG Energy Corp. -- will include measures like switching the fuels used at oil sands operations. Cenovus and the other companies are also developing ways to use solvents like propane to help separate the oil from the sand more efficiently and pump more crude with lower steam requirements. Later on, the industry might employ small nuclear reactors to make steam, Pourbaix said.

One of the group’s first big project is to build a carbon dioxide-carrying trunk line along a corridor that links oil sands facilities in the Fort McMurray area and Cold Lake regions of Northern Alberta to a nearby carbon sequestration hub. The trunk line will likely cost $1 billion to $2 billion, and could be in operation by the middle of the decade. But the biggest costs are associated with capturing the CO2, ranging from about $50 a ton for industries that emit high concentrations to “several hundred dollars a ton” for direct capture from the air, Little said.

The plan doesn’t include so-called Scope 3 emissions, the ones generated by cars, aircraft, homes and factories when the fossil fuels produced in the oil sands are burned by the end consumers.

--With assistance from Danielle Bochove.

'Monster incentive' for companies to go green, BMO's Barclay says

Bloomberg Markets A lot of investment is needed for Canada's energy sector transition: BMO Capital Markets CEO

The head of Bank of Montreal’s investment banking arm says companies have a lot of opportunities to profit from the shift towards a green economy, thanks to government sustainability incentives.

BMO Capital Markets CEO Daniel Barclay said in a broadcast interview that a switch towards luring companies into fighting climate change by offering them benefits instead of penalizing them for not doing enough is the most exciting development that’s happened in the green economy transition in the last two years.

“[CEOs are] seeing this as a great opportunity to build their companies, to build the economy, to build the future together,” Barclay said. “When you move to a system which is based on incentives and think ‘I can run my company cheaper if I run it more sustainably,’ then I generate better cash flow, I generate better earnings, I generate -- if it’s a public company -- a better stock price. You actually got a monster incentive today to be green and make transition happen.”

Barclay said that though the transition is at an early stage, and much more investment is still needed, the eventual shift will trigger a major move to new solutions.

“You think about the innovation of the North American economy, the innovation of technology, the innovation of new companies, new industries that are going to rise out of this energy transition and it might be one of the most exciting times to be in our economies,” he said.

 

Feds to begin talks on high frequency rail with Indigenous groups, private sector

The Canadian Press

Parliament Hill stands in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. It makes sense for the U.S. and Mexico to meet bilaterally on Nafta on certain issues and Canada looks forward to rejoining talks on the trilateral pact in the coming days and weeks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. , Bloomberg

QUEBEC - The federal government says it's taking the first steps in building a long-awaited high frequency rail line along the Toronto to Quebec City corridor.

Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra says the government is now looking to engage with Indigenous groups and the private sector for feedback about the projected line that would connect Quebec City to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Officials are also set to begin dialogue with partner railways to negotiate dedicated routes in and out of the major cities.

Alghabra says the new line will provide more reliable service, aiming to bring Via Rail's on-time arrival performance to 95 per cent from the current average of 67 per cent.

He says the improvements will also allow the number of daily departures to triple and called the upcoming train line one of the largest infrastructure projects in Canada in decades.

The request for proposals for the procurement process is expected to launch this fall.

Colombians held in Haitian president’s murder claim ties to Florida security firm
2021/7/10 
©Miami Herald

VALERIE BAERISWYL/AFP/AFP/TNS

MIAMI — The Miami area is looming ever larger as investigators question the men held in the plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Seventeen Colombians and two Haitian Americans from South Florida are in custody in Haiti. A person who interviewed the detained Colombians in Haiti told the Miami Herald that the men claimed to have been recruited to do work in Haiti by an under-the-radar firm in Doral called CTU Security. It is run by a Venezuelan émigré, Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera.

The Miami Herald visited the company’s offices on Thursday, where a doorbell rang to a phone, and a man declined to discuss the events in Haiti. He did not return phone calls, texts or emails asking about reports of involvement in the monumental developments gripping Haiti. No one answered on Saturday.

Multiple sources in Haiti, requesting anonymity for their safety, have confirmed to the Herald that the detained men said they were hired by CTU, and several of the men indicated they had been in Haiti for at least three months, some longer. It is unclear if they knew or believed CTU leaders were aware of the assassination plot.

The men were hired to provide VIP security, one source in Haiti said, and were paid about $3,000 a month. The two Haitian Americans — previously reported to be James Solages, 35, and Vincent Joseph, 55 — told a judge that they were hired as translators but did not reveal who their employer was, Judge Clément Noël told the Miami Herald.

Solages worked as a maintenance director at a senior-living center in Lantana until this past April 12. Little is known about the other man but documents obtained Saturday show his name may have been reversed in the Haitian proceedings and that it is really Joseph Gertand Vincent. His sparse public footprint shows he was indicted in 1999 for making a false statement on a passport application and given probation.

In another Florida-related development, interim Haitian police director Leon Charles in an interview said that with the help of Colombian authorities now in Haiti the investigation is “moving fast to get some more groups who played a role as the intellectual authors.”

He said the suspects, including the Haitian Americans, confirmed that they worked for a company “based in the U.S .and Colombia. They worked with the two Haitian Americans and a high-profile doctor here.”

Those versions square with what family members of captured Colombians are now saying.

The Colombian station W Radio featured an interview Friday with the wife of captured security man Francisco Uribe, who said he’d been hired by CTU, paid $2,700 and provided travel to the Dominican Republic to work as private security for powerful families. (The Washington Post reported Saturday that Uribe has been under investigation for extrajudicial killings when he was a Colombian soldier.)

Also on Saturday, W Radio interviewed Yenni Capador, sister of another Colombian, Duberney Capador Giraldo, who retired from the army in 2019 and was reported killed this past week in Haiti in a police raid.

The “hypothesis we are all working is that it went wrong and they are unjustly accused of something that my brother did not do,” she told the media outlet. “He lived with his mother and we know he was hired to work with a security company.”

Intriago’s CTU is formally registered as the Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy LLC, and was incorporated in Florida in 2019 under his name, and it has filed annual reports in the two successive years. It lists a member named Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, who had run a now-defunct security firm of his own called Taktical Consulting Corp.

Florida licensing records show Intriago is authorized by the state to provide security services and to carry a firearm. He has little other footprint in public records except for a detainer filed against him in 2011. He has several eviction complaints filed by landlords against his company over the years.

Intriago has a website that shows him as a wholesaler and retailer of security equipment.

“As a representative for big and important security and safety device manufacturers around the world our objective is to offer first-class personalized products and services to law enforcement and military units, as well as industrial customers,” the company says in its About Us section.

Known in Venezuelan expat circles in South Florida, Intriago would boast of his police background in the South American country. At times, said one who knew him but did not want to be identified in the widening story, Intriago claimed to have connections to or to have worked directly for U.S. agencies.

A person claiming to have known him back in Venezuela said Intriago worked out of a small Doral office, where he would boast of being a paid mercenary and a coordinator of special forces, but most people did not take those claims seriously.

The source, who demanded anonymity to speak freely, said that Intriago is also known for providing firearms, firearms parts, and military and police equipment such as bulletproof vests.

Public records link him to a small, fenced three-bedroom residence a few blocks off of I-95 near Miami Northwestern High. Venezuela’s voter database shows he remains registered to vote there through the consulate in Miami.

Intriago’s Facebook page provides a bit of a timeline. It shows him appearing to arrive in the United States around 2009 and working initially with alarm systems. His social media presence is largely apolitical except for some postings against the Venezuelan government and one in support of Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan lawmaker the Trump administration recognized as the oil-rich country’s legitimate leader.

Intriago’s security firm has a limited social media presence and does not appear to have won any federal contracts to provide security or training. His personal Facebook page shows that he offers personal security classes at night for people wanting to protect their families and pitches the services occasionally in posts.

On Saturday, a Herald reporter and photographer rang the doorbell of CTU’s storefront at 2510 NW 112th Ave., tucked in a beige, green and orange corporate office complex. The store, near the Dolphin Mall, had a cargo company, a CCTV camera store, a Realtor and a blinds warehouse nearby. The office unit had a white garage door in the back and a pickup truck parked out front with a CTU bumper sticker. No one answered the door.

A security guard sitting in a golf cart told the Herald that CTU hosts shooting range classes inside and those classes have people constantly coming in and out of the store. She said the company had a class as recently as last Thursday and added the black pickup with a Texas license plate is always parked out front.

At one of the company’s two other listed locations, the office headquarters on 53rd Street, Herald journalists knocked on the door of the listed suite number inside a white office building with black awnings. The suite was identified with a plaque that read Offix Solutions, which is owned by someone who appears to be unaffiliated with Intriago. No one answered the door.

Intriago and his now ex-wife owned a South Florida newspaper company Prensa Libre Newspaper Corp., which corporate records show existed between 2003 and 2009.

There is nothing in Intriago’s public footprint to indicate that he had either the money or the scope to train dozens of private soldiers to raid the private residence of the Haitian president and kill him.

What role Miami and Intriago played directly, or inadvertently, in the Haitian assassination will surely be investigated with the FBI. Haiti has asked for FBI help, in part because of the large number of businessmen and drug gangs that might have had an interest in getting rid of the president.

A team from Colombia is already in Port-au-Prince, dispatched on Friday to collaborate with the Haitian government on how the Colombians became involved in the assassination.

Miami and the Doral enclave have become sort of a Star Wars bar for would-be liberators and for-hire warriors.

A botched coup in May 2020 in Venezuela similarly involved for-hire security men in Florida and some of the plotting traced to the 12th fairway of the Red Course at the Doral resort.

———

(The Miami Herald's Monika Leal contributed to this report.)

Gang boss wades into Haiti turmoil, sees conspiracy behind president's killing

Reuters
July 11, 2021


By Andre Paultre and Sarah Marsh

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders said on Saturday his men would take to the streets to protest the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, threatening to pitch the impoverished Caribbean country deeper into chaos.

Jimmy Cherizier, a former cop known as Barbecue https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haiti-gang-leader-launches-revolution-violence-escalates-2021-06-24 who heads the so-called G9 federation of nine gangs, railed against police and opposition politicians whom he accused of colluding with the "stinking bourgeoisie" to "sacrifice" Moise this week.

"It was a national and international conspiracy against the Haitian people," he said in a video address, dressed in khaki military fatigues and sitting in front of a Haitian flag.

"We tell all bases to mobilize, to mobilize and take to the streets for light to be shed on the president's assassination."

Moise was gunned down before dawn on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities said was a unit of trained assassins comprising 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans.

The murder and the still murky plot behind it has caused further political instability in the long-troubled country, prompting the government to call for U.S. and U.N. assistance.

Cherizier said his followers would practice "legitimate violence" and that it was time for "the masters of the system" - business magnates of Syrian and Lebanese descent who dominate parts of the economy - to "give back" the country.

"It's time for Black people with kinky hair like us to own supermarkets, to have car dealerships and own banks," he said.

Some of the magnates had been at loggerheads with Moise.

Fears of worsening clashes had citizens on edge in Port-au-Prince, which has been racked by violence for weeks as gang members battled police for control of streets.

"They really don't have the capacity to handle security," city resident Benoit Jean said. "There aren't enough cops."

Tension has been fanned by questions about the government's account of Moise's killing, with families of at least two of the Colombians saying they had been hired as bodyguards.

Earlier on Saturday, Moise's widow Martine Moise, who was wounded in the attack, accused shadowy enemies of plotting his assassination to thwart democratic change.

"They sent mercenaries to kill the president at his home with members of his family because of roads, water, electricity and the referendum as well as elections at the end of the year so that there is no transition in the country," she said.

Jovenel Moise had spoken of dark forces behind years of unrest - rivals and oligarchs angry about what he called his attempts to clean up government contracts and politics - and proposed a referendum to change Haiti's constitution.

The referendum, scheduled for Sept. 26 along with presidential and legislative elections, could abolish the prime minister's position, reshape the legislative branch and strengthen the presidency. Critics called it a power grab.

Moise's killing has clouded those plans and led to political disarray in Haiti, triggering the requests for foreign help.

The United States said it has no plans to provide Haiti with military assistance for now https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombian-suspects-haiti-presidents-killing-arrived-via-dominican-republic-2021-07-09, while the request to the United Nations would need Security Council authorization.

INVESTIGATION

Haitian officials have not provided a motive for the assassination or explained how the killers got past Moise's security detail.

None of Moise's guards were injured in the attack, Mathias Pierre, the elections minister, told Reuters.

Seventeen of the men suspected of involvement in his assassination were captured after a gun battle with Haitian authorities in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, while three were killed and eight are still at large, police say.

The detained Colombians said they were recruited to work in Haiti by Miami-based company CTU Security, run by Venezuelan emigre Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera, the Miami Herald reported.

Calls and emails to CTU Security were not immediately answered on Saturday. Intriago could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sister of Duberney Capador, 40, a Colombian killed in the firefight with Haitian police, told Reuters in a video https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombian-ex-soldier-killed-haiti-was-hired-bodyguard-sister-says-2021-07-10call on Saturday that the retired soldier had been offered work in security for high-profile people.

Jenny Carolina Capador said her brother messaged her on the day of Moise's death, saying: "We got here too late; unfortunately the person we were going to guard ... we couldn't do anything."

Colombia's foreign ministry said late on Saturday it was providing consular assistance to the detained Colombians.

The ministry posted on Twitter that it would work with Haitian authorities to repatriate the remains of the two deceased Colombians, who died in what it called "confused circumstances."

POWER STRUGGLE

Late on Friday, the man Moise whom appointed prime minister just before the assassination claimed the right to lead Haiti, pitting him against acting head of state Claude Joseph, whose government has so far managed the response to the killing.

Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who Moise named prime minister on Monday, told Reuters it was he who held power, not interim Prime Minister Joseph, and that he was forming a government.

"After the president's assassination, I became the highest, legal and regular authority because there was a decree nominating me," he said.

Henry said his government would create a new electoral council which would determine new dates for elections to be held "as soon as possible."

But Henry has yet to be sworn in, and Joseph, who was named interim prime minister in April, has stayed put.

The power struggle has created confusion over who is the legitimate leader of the country's 11 million people.

Elections Minister Mathias Pierre said acting premier Joseph would keep that role until the Sept. 26 vote.

Meanwhile, Haiti's Senate, which currently comprises just a third of its usual 30 senators, nominated its head https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-president-senate/haitis-senate-says-its-head-should-replace-assassinated-president-idUSKCN2EG00K, Joseph Lambert, on Friday to act as the interim president, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

(Reporting by Andre Paultre in Port-Au-Prince, Sarah Marsh in Havana, Luis Jaime Acosta and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Paul Simao, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis)