WWIII

Malaysia Defies China With Offshore Drilling, US Think Tank Says

Philip J. Heijmans
Tue, October 1, 2024 a



(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia is expanding oil and gas exploration in the disputed South China Sea despite pressure from Chinese vessels that have maintained a constant presence in waters where both sides have overlapping claims, according to a new report.

Short-range coastal tracking data show that China’s coast guard ships operated in waters claimed by Malaysia “like clockwork,” with at least one of its vessels stationed in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone or continental shelf area nearly every day of the year, according to the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

“Despite the CCG’s efforts, Malaysia has not only continued its existing oil and gas production but also expanded exploratory activity,” according to the report published Tuesday. It adds that Chinese vessels spent most of their time near Luconia Shoals, a group of mostly submerged reefs 80 nautical miles (150 kilometers) northwest of Sarawak state on Borneo that sits between a number of major Malaysian oil and gas projects.

The study comes after the leak of a diplomatic letter weeks ago in which Beijing privately urged Malaysia to halt its offshore oil and gas activities near Luconia Shoals, prompting a rare public acknowledgment of the long-running dispute from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim just as his government seeks to foster deeper economic links with China.

“China is a great friend, but of course we have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory,” he said during a visit to Russia.

Read: Xi’s Fleet Is Winning the South China Sea Energy Fight

Stretching from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan down to Malaysia and Indonesia, the South China Sea is a critical artery for global trade, including about 37% of the world’s maritime crude. China has laid claim to a vast swath of the waters, based on a vague 1940s map that has broadly been rejected by other nations and a UN tribunal.

To assert its expansive claims, China has utilized a maritime militia of fishing fleets and coast guard vessels to swarm resource rich waters, effectively blocking other claimant nations like the Philippines and Vietnam from tapping the deposits beneath the surface.

“While China’s presence at Luconia Shoals is continuous, it doesn’t come close to matching the scale of activity farther north in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has deployed dozens of coast guard and hundreds of militia ships to contest Philippine activities in disputed waters,” the AMTI report said.

“However, with Malaysia’s expanding drilling and a potential reduction in China-Philippine tensions, Beijing could ratchet up the pressure on Malaysian hydrocarbon production,” it said.

 HELP WANTED

CIA expands online recruitment of informants to China, Iran, North Korea

Jonathan Landay
Updated Wed, October 2, 2024


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. CIA on Wednesday launched a new drive to recruit informants in China, Iran and North Korea, adding to what it says has been a successful effort to enlist Russians.

The premier U.S. spy agency posted instructions in Mandarin, Farsi and Korean on its accounts on X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn and the Dark Web on how to contact it securely, a CIA spokesperson said in a statement.


"Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we're open for business," the spokesperson said, adding that the CIA was adapting to increased state repression and global surveillance.

A Mandarin-language video posted to YouTube featuring only written instructions advised individuals to contact the CIA via its official website using trusted encrypted Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or the TOR network.

"Your safety and wellbeing is our foremost consideration," it said.

It asked for individuals' names, locations, and contact details not associated with their real identities, along with information that could be of interest to the CIA, cautioning that responses were not guaranteed and could take time.

Liu Pengyu, a Chinese embassy spokesman, accused the U.S. of waging "an organized and systematic" disinformation campaign against China and said that "any attempts to drive a wedge between the Chinese people and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) or to weaken their close bond will inevitably fail."

The Russian embassy and Iran's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The CIA's thirst for intelligence has grown as China expands cooperation with Russia and Iran and flexes its regional military muscle.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are known within the U.S. intelligence community as "hard targets" - countries whose governments are difficult to penetrate.

The U.S. also is grappling with Iran's conflict with Israel, its nuclear program, its growing links with Russia and its support for militant proxies.

North Korea's nuclear weapons program is another U.S. intelligence target, along with what U.S. officials say are Pyongyang's arms supplies to Moscow for the war against Ukraine, an allegation that Moscow and Pyongyang deny.

The CIA began recruiting Russians in 2022 by posting Russian language texts on its social media accounts on how to contact the agency securely, followed by videos in 2023.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Andrea Ricci)

Bill Gates calls for higher taxes on the rich — but warns against crushing the American dream

Theron Mohamed
Tue, October 1, 2024 

Bill Gates' ideal tax system would leave him worth 62% less, but still a billionaire.

Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters

Bill Gates' ideal tax system would leave him worth 62% less, but still a billionaire.


He warned that excessive taxes would deter people from starting businesses and curb economic growth.


The Microsoft cofounder said the rich should pay higher taxes and give the rest to good causes.

Bill Gates wants steeper taxes on the wealthy — but not so steep that he wouldn't be a billionaire, or that the founder of the next Microsoft wouldn't become one.

"I would set tax rates quite a bit higher for rich people," Gates said during a recent live recording of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast.

He voiced support for a tax system that would take away 62% of his wealth — but not over 99% as one hardline critic, Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for on his new Netflix show: "What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates."

"You definitely do get to the point where ... you're killing the goose that lays the golden egg," Gates said, noting that North Korea has "unbelievable equality."

"We've created wealth, and I think that the system that does that has a few elements that we shouldn't throw out," he added.

The Microsoft cofounder ranks as the world's sixth-richest person with a $163 billion net worth, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He said America is the "envy of the world" as a place for creating hugely valuable companies, and the economy has to grow for the government to raise the social safety net as high as progressives like Sanders want.

Gates also said he's a "huge believer" in the estate tax, and eliminating it would be a mistake as that would protect dynastic fortunes — wealth that's inherited, not earned.

The tech billionaire and cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said the uber-wealthy should give more money to the government and commit the rest to help others. He said that "once you pay those taxes, whatever's left over, you should engage in philanthropy."

Gates' latest comments suggest he'd like to be about $100 billion less wealthy at around $62 billion. He's previously said he would have paid "tens of billions" more in taxes if he'd designed the US tax system.

Opinion

Republicans are extremely mad that CBS fact-checked JD Vance's lies about Haitians

Nicholas Liu

SALON
Wed, October 2, 2024 

JD Vance Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republicans are crying foul after CBS' Face the Nation anchor Margaret Brennan, one of two debate moderators for the vice presidential showdown on Tuesday, fact-checked false claims by Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, that "illegal immigration" was the root cause of a crisis in Springfield, Ohio.

Vance himself admitted in the past that he was "creating a story" about Haitian immigrants to draw attention to the apparent suffering of his constituents, who now face bomb threats from people who think Springfield is the epicenter of immigrant pet-eating and other crimes.

Blaming journalists for their own missteps has become a common tactic for Republicans to divert attention from poor performances or outright falsehoods. Former President Donald Trump hardly waited for Brennan and CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell to commit any apparent transgression, complaining that “both young ladies have been extremely biased Anchors!” barely two minutes into the debate on Truth Social. (O'Donnell and Brennan are 50 and 44 years old, respectively.)


In this case, Vance repeated his claim about Haitian immigrants early in the debate, prompting Brennan to interject that many of them had "legal status." Vance then complained that “the rules were that you were not going to fact check me" before trying to explain that the "illegal immigrants" could apply for asylum through the CBP One application and be granted legal status by the federal government. Midway through his speech, and with Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., trying to get in his own responses, CBS cut both of their mics.

The New York Post editorial board, declaring the fact-check "a load of horse manure," echoed Vance's invocation of CBP One and claimed that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been abusing the process by potentially allowing 1,000 immigrants in per day, even if they're only seeking "better economic opportunity" rather than escaping from persecution. The right-wing tabloid did not mention that Haiti is in the throes of a political and humanitarian catastrophe where murder and kidnapping is rampant — and that the vast majority of asylum applications have historically been rejected.

The Biden administration has even been deporting Haitian migrants back to their country on chartered flights.

Brennan's fact-check and O'Donnell later clarifying that there was "no widespread fraud" in the 2020 election provoked a furious response by Republicans on social media within minutes of those happening.

"Margaret Brennan just lied again about the ILLEGAL MIGRANTS let into our Country by Lyin’ Kamala Harris, and then she cut off JD’s mic to stop him from correcting her!" Trump declared on Truth Social. "Norah just made a statement about the Election, not a question. She’s having a bad night!" he wrote in another post.

Some of Trump's Republican supporters also joined the protest. Former vice presidential prospect Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., fumed on X that the moderators "offered two gratuitous editorial statements, (one of them misleading), taking a shot at JD Vance under the guise of 'fact checking.'"

Fox News' Brit Hume, crowing that Vance won the debate, said that the debate moderators were "obnoxious" and that it felt like a "three-on-one" ganging up on the Ohio senator — repeating the line Trump used to blame his poor debate performance on the media. His former colleague Megyn Kelly was more concise: "F you CBS - how DARE YOU,” she wrote on X.

When ABC News fact-checked Trump during his debate with Harris, the GOP nominee and his supporters likewise railed against the network for holding him accountable rather than reflecting on a performance that prompted the fact-checking in the first place. The backlash may have persuaded CBS to relegate fact-checks to an opt-in, "second-screen" experience rather than correcting the candidates live, generally allowing Vance and Walz to speak without interruption from the moderators, with the rare exception by Brennan.

The decision by CBS angered some journalists who accused the network of sacrificing ethics in a vain attempt to assuage Republicans who want to make up stories with impunity.

“If there’s one thing Vance has learned from Trump, it’s that lying to get ahead is OK," former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather wrote on Substack. "If you get caught, just double down and lie some more. Who’s going to fact check you? Well, apparently not CBS News.”


JD Vance didn’t like being fact-checked on the spot, so the CBS debate moderators cut the mics

Jennifer Mattson

FAST COMPANY
Wed, October 2, 2024 



Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Republican nominee JD Vance and Democratic nominee Tim Walz was, for the most part, a civil exchange, focused on policy—especially when compared to last month’s presidential debate.

However, there was one dramatic moment in the debate where things got heated, leading CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan to fact-check Vance, and eventually leading to both nominees having their microphones cut.

In response to a question about immigration, Vance claimed that in Springfield, Ohio, and across the country, schools and hospitals are overwhelmed and housing is “unaffordable because we’ve brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes.”

Brennan directly fact-checked Vance’s claim, saying Springfield’s Haitian migrants “have legal status, temporary protected status.”

“Margaret, the rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance protested.

His continued response prompted a back-and-forth rebuttal from Walz, leading Brennan and co-moderator Norah O’Donnell to ask both candidates to refrain from further discussion, finally cutting both mics.

At the beginning of the debate, the moderators said their role was “to provide the candidates with the opportunity to fact-check claims made by each other.”

After last month’s presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and some of this supporters had complained that the ABC moderators fact-checked Trump during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Immigration, one of the hot-button issues for voters in this election, came up a number of times in the debate and has been one of Trump’s talking points on the campaign trail.

As for the mics, CBS News and the vice presidential nominees did agree to ground rules allowing the moderators to cut off microphones when necessary.

With just 33 days left until the election, both vice presidential nominees were back on the campaign trail courting voters on Wednesday in two highly contested battleground states. Vance is in Michigan while Walz is expected to campaign in central Pennsylvania.

Harris is headed to Georgia to discuss hurricane relief efforts in the aftermath of Helene, then onto Wisconsin on Thursday.

This post originally appeared at fastcompany.com
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Tokyo expands underground 'cathedral' complex to counter climate change rains

Issei Kato and Tom Bateman
Wed, October 2, 2024 

The Wider Image: Tokyo expands underground 'temple' complex to counter climate change rains

KASUKABE, Japan (Reuters) - For picture essay, click

Just after 5 a.m. on August 30, water began flooding a vast underground chamber called the "cathedral" just north of Tokyo. The gushing water, captured by security cameras, was the rain that was drenching the capital region as Typhoon Shanshan lashed southwest Japan, 600 km (373 miles) away.

The cathedral and its vast network of tunnels did their job: they prevented a vulnerable river basin in the metropolis from flooding. But as global warming causes more severe weather, authorities are having to give the system a major upgrade.

"As the temperature rises, the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere increases, resulting in relatively larger quantities of rainfall," said University of Tokyo professor Seita Emori, who is a member of a climate science group that won a Nobel Prize in 2007.

"We anticipate that previously unseen amounts of rain will fall as the temperature rises in the future," he added.

Japan is prone to numerous natural disasters, from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to typhoons and landslides. And like much of the world, the nation is dealing with unprecedented weather due to global warming.

This summer was the hottest ever since records began in 1898, while record rainfall in northern regions resulted in disastrous flooding in July, according to the weather agency. In Tokyo, sudden, violent storms known as "guerrilla" showers have become increasingly common.

The cathedral complex, officially called the Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel, took 13 years and 230 billion yen ($1.63 billion) to build. Since coming online in 2006, it has already prevented more than 150 billion yen in flood damage, the land ministry estimates.

In addition to its engineering ingenuity, the complex is a popular tourist spot and filming location. The cavernous expanse has the capacity to hold the water in almost 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Inside are 59 massive pillars, each weighing 500 tonnes (551 tons) and stretching 18 metres (59 ft) tall. When nearby rivers flood, the overflow courses through 6.3 km of massive underground tunnels before collecting in the reservoir.

Descending about six floors to the bottom of the chamber is an otherworldly experience. It has its own microclimate, much cooler than the surface in the summer and warmer in the winter. Clouds of mist obscure the top of the pillars.

The dim interior, punctuated by spears of natural light from apertures in the ceiling, and towering pillars evoke an ancient religious structure, giving rise to names such as "the cathedral", "the shrine" or "the temple".

The drop of the No. 1 shaft is deep and wide enough to comfortably hold the Statue of Liberty.

The system kicked in four times in June, more than all of last year. During Typhoon Shanshan, it captured enough water to fill the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium almost four times, before pumping it safely into the Edogawa River and out to sea.

"Compared to years past, there's a tendency for a great deal of rain to come down all at once in what we call guerrilla downpours," said Yoshio Miyazaki, the land ministry official in charge of the complex.

"If this facility didn't exist, the water levels of the main Nakagawa River and its tributaries could rise much higher, leading to flooding of homes and even deaths," he said.

Even so, the system couldn't stop the inundation of more than 4,000 homes in the river basin from heavy typhoon rains in June 2023. Those floods prompted authorities to embark on a seven-year, 37.3 billion yen project to bolster levees and water drainage in the area.

And closer to the centre of Tokyo, another major project is underway to link channels that take in overflow from the Shirako and Kanda rivers. When completed in 2027, it will carry floodwater about 13 kms underground out to Tokyo Bay.

Tokyo's sewer network is designed to handle rainfall of up to 75 mm per hour, but increasingly there are localised storms bringing down as much as 100 mm, overtaxing the system, said Shun Otomo, a construction site manager for the project.

"For example, if there is a temporary downpour in the Kanda River basin, we can tap the watershed capacity in basin areas where it isn't raining," Otomo said. "We believe that will be effective against these guerrilla rains."

(Reporting Issei Kato and Tom Bateman; Writing by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

SPACE/COSMOLOGY

Another setback for Elon Musk's SpaceX after mishap with NASA rescue mission

Tom Carter
Updated Wed, October 2, 2024



SpaceX launched its mission to rescue two Starliner astronauts — but it didn't go according to plan.


The company's Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded after a booster landed in the wrong place.


It's the third time in three months that the Falcon 9 has been grounded.

SpaceX's workhorse rocket has been grounded for the third time in three months after malfunctioning during a mission to rescue two astronauts stuck in space.

The Crew-9 mission successfully reached the International Space Station on Sunday as it prepares to bring home the astronauts left stranded by Boeing's Starliner — but the launch didn't go entirely to plan.

In a post on X on Sunday, SpaceX wrote that its Falcon 9 rocket's second-stage booster experienced an "off-nominal deorbit burn" that caused it to land outside the targeted area.

SpaceX said it would resume launches once it had got to the bottom of the issue, with the Federal Aviation Administration requesting an investigation. The regulator said no public injuries or property damage had occurred because of the landing.

It's the third time SpaceX's reusable rocket has been grounded in the past three months.

The Falcon 9 was grounded in July after a mishap with the booster caused a batch of Starlink satellites to burn up in orbit. This was the company's first mission failure in more than seven years.

The rocket was also briefly grounded by the FAA in August after failing an attempt to land back on Earth.

The issues have come as SpaceX and Musk clash with the FAA over the regulator's investigations into the company and the pace at which it's green-lighting rocket launches.

SpaceX slammed the FAA in September after the fifth launch of its Starship rocket was delayed by two months, with Elon Musk saying humanity would "never get to Mars if this continues."

Musk also accused the regulator of playing favorites, arguing it should punish Boeing over the issues with its Starliner spacecraft rather than fine SpaceX for "trivia."

The Crew-9 mission traveled to the space station half-empty as it prepared to bring home the two astronauts left stranded there by Boeing's Starliner.

The NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to return home aboard Starliner several months ago, but glitches with Boeing's spacecraft on its maiden crewed flight led NASA to decide to send it home empty.

SpaceX stepped in and is now set to bring the two astronauts back to Earth aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft in February at the earliest.

SpaceX won its contract to supply the space station at the same time as Boeing but has raced ahead of its rival in the space race.

Musk has frequently taunted Boeing over the issues with the aerospace giant's space program, saying the company has too many "non-technical managers."

SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment sent outside normal working hours.

Business Insider

The FAA Grounds SpaceX's Rockets for a Third Time After Mysterious Anomaly

Victor Tangermann

FUTURISM
Tue, October 1, 2024



Off Target

The US Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rockets for the third time in just three months.

An upper stage encountered a mysterious problem after dropping off two astronauts at the International Space Station over the weekend as part of its Crew-9 mission.

According to a statement posted by SpaceX, the rocket "experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn," causing it to splash down in the Pacific Ocean just east of New Zealand, which was "outside of the targeted area" approved by the FAA.

Even before the FAA announced that it had launched its own investigation, SpaceX had already made the decision to halt all future launches.

"We will resume launching after we better understand root cause," the Elon Musk-led company wrote in its statement.
Falcon Misfortune

It's the third time since July that the FAA has grounded all Falcon 9 launches.

"The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX NASA Crew-9 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on September 28," the regulator noted in a statement.

"The incident involved the Falcon 9 second stage landing outside of the designated hazard area," the statement reads. "No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is requiring an investigation."

In July, a Falcon 9 rocket exploded after launching a batch of Starlink internet satellites, leading to the FAA grounding the rockets for several weeks.

Then in August, the regulator grounded them once more after a Falcon 9 first-stage booster, which unlike the upper stage is reusable, caught fire and toppled over while attempting to land on a floating barge.

It's unclear how long the FAA's latest investigation will take or whether the space company will have to take any corrective actions.

The next Falcon 9 launch is tentatively slated for just nine days from now to launch NASA's massive Europa Clipper probe.

But given the current animosities between the two — just last week, Musk called for the FAA's chief to resign over an ongoing dispute — the latest incident will likely test the relationship even further.

More on the incident: SpaceX Mission Runs Into Mysterious Problem After Dropping Off Astronauts

'I think it was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, that's my rocket and that's my crew.' How the NASA astronauts bumped from SpaceX's Crew-9 watched their ride launch without them

Elizabeth Howell

SPACE.COM
Wed, October 2, 2024 

The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts before two people were removed from the flight. From left: Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson. | Credit: SpaceX

Two astronauts who were supposed to be in space right now say they are still glad to be part of the ground team.

Until recently, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were assigned to SpaceX's Crew-9 mission. But their Crew Dragon spacecraft left without them on Saturday (Sept. 28) after their seats had to be reassigned in August to bring home two other NASA astronauts currently living on the International Space Station (ISS).

"I think it was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, 'That's my rocket and that's my crew,'" Cardman said during the launch broadcast on NASA+, formerly NASA Television, of the Crew-9 astronauts who did leave Earth: NASA's Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

"It makes me feel very connected to this mission," Cardman added.

Wilson, speaking during the same broadcast, emphasized that astronauts are always working for the same team no matter if they are in space or on the ground. "We, of course, want to be together," she said of Crew-9. "We have built friendship and camaraderie … but I'm very excited for them [Hague and Gorbunov], looking forward to hearing their stories from space."

Related: SpaceX's Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft arrives at ISS to help bring Starliner astronauts home (video)

Crew Dragon went to space with two mass simulators in Cardman's and Wilson's former seats. When Crew-9 wraps up in February 2025, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will occupy those spots. Williams and Wilson were left without their expected ride home after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth autonomously on Sept. 7.

— SpaceX moving Crew Dragon splashdowns to West Coast after multiple space debris incidents

— NASA cuts 2 astronauts from SpaceX Crew-9 mission to make room for Boeing Starliner crew

— SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket failure forces NASA to evaluate astronaut launch schedule for ISS

Starliner launched to space without major incident, but docking with the ISS on June 6 was problematic. Issues with the propulsion system on Starliner delayed the spacecraft's arrival to the ISS during its first-ever mission with astronauts. Two months of troubleshooting followed, but NASA said the risk remained too high to bring Starliner home with the crew. So Crew-9 was modified to accommodate Williams and Wilmore on the return trip.

Cardman praised NASA for taking the time to "prioritize the safety of the crew," even though Starliner's uncrewed return to Earth was deemed safe enough, after the fact, to have brought home the NASA pair. As for Williams' and Wilmore's unexpected ISS extension from a few days to eight months: "Butch and Suni are professionals who are well prepared. They are previous flyers who have spent time on the space station before, so they're doing great work on board."

Wilson and Cardman remain eligible for future NASA spaceflights.

Charted: How SpaceX hit the world record for rocket launches

Anthony Cuthbertson
Wed, October 2, 2024 

A screenshot from a Starship rocket test on 3 March, 2021, in Boca Chica, Texas. The next-generation rocket is currently grounded until November 2024 while it awaits regulatory approval (SpaceX)


SpaceX is one lift-off away from breaking its own record for the number of orbital rocket launches in a single year – however two of its rockets are currently grounded.

The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Center in Florida of a Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday equaled the previous milestone of 96 launches set in 2023.

The latest launch is part of a rescue mission to return two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS, however the Falcon 9’s second stage encountered a problem when returning to Earth.


There were no injuries or property damage, though the rocket landed outside of the designated hazard area set out by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

SpaceX decided to pause launches of its Falcon 9 rocket – which have performed more than 90 per cent of all orbital launches this year – until it better understood the cause of the “off-nominal deorbit burn” last weekend.

The FAA confirmed that it was awaiting the results of the investigation before space flights can resume.

Among the missions currently on hold include Nasa’s Europa Clipper mission, as well as launches to deliver SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit.

The US regulator has also postponed the next orbital flight test of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, despite Elon Musk claiming that the world’s biggest rocket has been ready to launch since August.

The SpaceX boss accused the FAA of “regulatory overreach”, however a spokesperson for the regulator responded to the criticism by claiming that SpaceX changed the profile of the next Starship mission to include new variables that require new safety and environmental reviews.

“SpaceX chose to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch which triggered a more in-depth review,” a spokesperson for the FAA told The Independent. “In addition, SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed.”

One of the updated mission objectives requiring review is an attempt to catch a Super Heavy booster with a “chopsticks” system built into the same launchpad that the rocket will lift off from. The FAA said a conclusion to its review would not be completed until late November at the earliest.

consoler-in-chief.

Harris consoles those devastated by Helene in Georgia — a contrast with Trump's visit

Megan Messerly
Wed, October 2, 2024 a


Kamala Harris, surveying the wreckage of Hurricane Helene in a swing state on Wednesday, offered a glimpse of how she might fulfill the role of consoler-in-chief.

Against a backdrop of felled trees in Augusta, Georgia, the vice president telegraphed solidarity as she spoke about the assistance the administration is providing to communities devastated by the severe weather that tore through the southeastern United States last weekend. She thanked local emergency responders for stepping up, even as their homes and communities have been destroyed.

The Democratic nominee's approach offered a stark contrast to the overtly political posture Donald Trump took during his visit to Valdosta, Georgia earlier this week, when he accused President Joe Biden and his administration for failing to deliver the aid needed by the community. It's a sentiment even the state's Republican governor did not share, and during her visit on Wednesday, Harris praised Gov. Brian Kemp for his leadership.


“We are here for the long haul,” Harris promised those who had gathered in Augusta’s Meadowbrook neighborhood. “There's a lot of work that's going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks, and months, and the coordination that we have dedicated ourselves to will be long-lasting to get families, to get residents, to get neighborhoods back up and running.”

Her remarks, which did not mention Trump, followed a briefing from local officials at the Augusta Emergency Operations Center. She also met with affected families and business owners and visited a distribution center where she handed out food. The Augusta events were coordinated through the White House, not her campaign.

The storm has offered an opportunity for both candidates to demonstrate their leadership chops to voters a little more than a month out from Election Day. Trump took a different tack when he deviated from his prepared remarks on Monday, suggesting that Biden was “sleeping,” criticizing Harris for attending fundraisers in California and a rally in Las Vegas during the early storm recovery efforts and calling her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “Tampon Tim.” He also repeated a false claim that Biden hadn’t spoken with Kemp — even though the governor himself said that he had and that he appreciated the federal disaster assistance.

It mirrored the posture Trump often took during his presidency and has taken as a candidate: using the spotlight to criticize his opponents rather than turn the public attention on the communities affected by a disaster. In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump again tried to politicize this latest disaster by falsely claiming that the Biden administration and North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper were “going out of their way not to help people in Republican areas.”

Harris, meanwhile, scuttled several informal campaign events in Las Vegas earlier this week to return to Washington for a briefing at FEMA’s headquarters. And her campaign on Wednesday sent out a fundraising email directing supporters to contribute to the disaster relief effort.

The vice president has said she plans to visit North Carolina, a state deeply affected by flooding, mudslides and other devastation from the storm, in the coming days — as soon as she can do so without impacting disaster response operations — but spoke with Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer on Tuesday, according to the White House. Biden was in the Carolinas on Wednesday to survey the hurricane damage, taking a helicopter tour of hard-hit Western North Carolina.

Trump is scheduled to attend a Friday evening rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It’s unclear whether he also plans to visit areas affected by the storm as part of that trip.

CLIMATE CRISIS IS CAPITALI$T CRISIS

Mayorkas warns FEMA doesn't have enough funding to last through hurricane season

KEVIN FREKING and COLLEEN LONG
Wed, October 2, 2024


Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, during a briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency can meet immediate needs but does not have enough funding to make it through the hurricane season, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday.

The agency is being stretched as it works with states to assess damage from Hurricane Helene and delivers meals, water, generators and other critical supplies. The storm struck Florida last week, then plowed through several states in the Southeast, flooding towns and killing more than 160 people.

Mayorkas was not specific about how much additional money the agency may need, but his remarks on Air Force One underscored concerns voiced by President Joe Biden and some lawmakers earlier this week that Congress may need to pass a supplemental spending bill this fall to help states with recovery efforts.


“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting," Mayorkas said. “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season."

Hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30, but most hurricanes typically occur in September and October.

Congress recently replenished a key source of FEMA's response efforts, providing $20 billion for the agency's disaster relief fund as part of a short-term government spending bill to fund the government through Dec. 20. The bill also gave FEMA flexibility to draw on the money more quickly as needed.

Both chambers of Congress are scheduled, however, to be in their home states and districts until after the election, as lawmakers focus on campaigning.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave no hint he was considering changing that schedule during a speech Tuesday. He said that Congress just provided FEMA with the funds it needs to respond and that lawmakers would make sure those resources are appropriately allocated.

A bipartisan group of Senators from affected states wrote their leadership this week saying it’s clear Congress must act to meet constituents’ needs. They said that may even require Congress to come back in October, ahead of the election.

Mayorkas made his comments as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris fanned out across the Southeast to witness the damage from the hurricane and seek to demonstrate commitment and competence in helping devastated communities. Biden is heading to North and South Carolina, while Harris is going to Georgia.

More than 150,000 households have registered for assistance with FEMA, and that number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.

The devastation was especially severe in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where at least 57 people died in and around Asheville, North Carolina, a tourism haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.

“Communities were wiped off the map,” North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said at a news conference Tuesday.

DISASTER  CAPITALI$M

Price-gouging complaints about the cost of fuel, water, and hotels are surging in states hit by Hurricane Helene

Joshua Nelken-Zitser,Grace Eliza Goodwin

Business Insider
Wed, October 2, 2024 

Hurricane Helene has caused price-gouging complaints to surge in southeastern states.


Price gouging involves hiking prices excessively on essential goods, often during emergencies.


South Carolina and North Carolina saw a rise in complaints, mostly about hotels and fuel.

As Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across southeastern US states, complaints of price gouging have surged.

Price gouging is when businesses hike prices on goods or services to excessive levels, often during emergencies, like a natural disaster, taking advantage of high demand and limited supply.

Business Insider contacted the states worst hit by the hurricane — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia — and found that several of them were either inundated with complaints of price gouging or had to issue warnings against it.

In South Carolina, which had about 36 storm-related deaths, the Attorney General's office told BI it had documented at least 142 price-gouging complaints since the start of Hurricane Helene.

"Of these, most of the complaints are about hotels, gasoline, gas cans, generators, ice, and eggs," said Robert Kittle, communications director for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, in an email.

Kittle said in an email that he couldn't name specific businesses accused of price gouging.

But Kittle said the office has gotten reports of stores that have been putting out cases of bottled water for sale, but ringing up customers for each bottle individually, totaling $60.

"When the customers complained, the stores refused to refund their money," Kittle said in an email.

He added that more complaints were expected, noting that they still had 246 voicemails and emails to review.

However, Kittle said not all of the complaints would warrant further investigation or meet the legal definition of price gouging under the state's law.

Wilson, the AG, announced on Thursday that the state's price-gouging law was in effect.

The announcement said that while the state could expect normal price fluctuations, which are legal, it also anticipated "businesses and individuals looking to unfairly take advantage of the situation," which would violate the law.

Kittle said that most of the complaints were coming from upstate South Carolina.

In neighboring North Carolina, which experienced the highest death toll of about 56, there were also dozens of price-gouging complaints.

A spokesperson for the North Carolina Attorney General's Office said the state's Department of Justice had received 64 complaints alleging price gouging in western North Carolina.

Most complaints were about hotel rates as well as grocery and fuel prices, which they said the AG's office was investigating.

In a statement provided to BI, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said: "North Carolina has an anti-price gouging law to make sure that no bad actors try to take advantage of people's desperation."

"My team and I aggressively enforce that law and won't let them," he added.

Stein noted that more complaints might emerge as residents in western North Carolina, heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene, could be facing difficulties connecting to phones or the internet.

Florida, which had about 14 storm-related deaths, also received multiple complaints, though the state did not specify how many.

Kylie Mason, communications director for Attorney General Ashley Moody, told BI they had received complaints "mostly about fuel and water."

On Monday, Moody issued a warning urging Floridians to be "vigilant" for price gouging.

The warning urged anybody suspicious of price gouging on storm-essential items to report it, noting that violators are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation.

The attorneys general of Tennessee, which had about eight deaths connected to Hurricane Helene, and Georgia, with about 25, did not immediately respond to BI's request for data. But both states have issued warnings on price gouging.

Georgia's Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division warned that "although competition and demand drive prices in our free-market economy," Georgia law prohibits businesses from "taking advantage of the situation" during a state of emergency.

It said price increases are only allowed if they reflect legitimate cost increases in stock, transportation, or the retailer's typical markup from the 10 days before the emergency.

Similarly, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti condemned price gouging in a statement on Tuesday, urging victims to contact the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs.

"Price gouging and scamming vulnerable people after disasters is not only repulsive, it's illegal," he said.

In Virginia, which had about two storm-related deaths, there were no complaints of price gouging at the time of reporting.

"While it is still early, we do not have any reports yet," said Shaun Kenney, director of communications for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, in an email Tuesday.

Kenney added: "The Virginia Attorney General's Office is doing everything we can to inform the public and make them aware of both their rights and the pathways available to move forward on any complaints or concerns."

The issue of price gouging has become a political hot topic in the presidential election cycle, with Vice President Kamala Harris pledging to stop it in the food and grocery industries if she is elected president.

Harris said she plans to pursue the first federal ban on price gouging in response to painful inflation in recent years — a plan that has received mixed reviews from economists.

This is how to identify price gouging after Helene in SC and how to report it

Patrick McCreless
Wed, October 2, 2024 




Have you seen higher prices for gas or other products in South Carolina since Helene hit?

If so, is any of that price gouging?

Governor Henry McMaster declared a State of Emergency for South Carolina on Sept. 25 in preparation for the storm that resulted in 31 deaths, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents, flooded many homes and downed countless trees and limbs in the state. South Carolina’s prohibition against price gouging will be underway as long as the State of Emergency is in effect.

But just because you see a product or service that’s more expensive than usual, that doesn’t mean it’s price gouging. Here’s what to know.
What is price gouging in SC?

Businesses and industries heavily impacted by storms like Helene may need to raise prices to resupply. Those businesses should disclose the increases so consumers can make informed decisions.

However, under State law (SC §39-5-145), price gouging is “a general prohibition of unconscionable prices during times of disaster.” Price gouging is a misdemeanor and can be punishable by a $1,000 fine and or 30 days in jail.

“We can expect normal price increases, and those are not considered price gouging under our law. But we may see businesses and individuals looking to unfairly take advantage of the situation through price gouging of food, gasoline, lodging, and other commodities as defined by the statute. By our law, that’s a criminal violation and an unfair trade practice,” S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a recent press release.
How to report price gouging in SC

If you believe a business is price gouging, here are the steps to take:

Note the time, address, place and name of the business.


Write down the price you paid.


Note any prices nearby and get the same information on those gas stations or businesses.


Take pictures that show the business, along with the price.


Provide your name and contact information.


Email the examples and documentation of price gouging to pricegouging@scag.gov. You can also provide that information at https://www.scag.gov/price-gouging/.


If you don’t have access to email or the website, call 803-737-3953 and leave a message if you have witnessed price gouging. Include details listed above.
How to avoid price gouging

Here are tips to take to avoid price gouging, according to S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs.

Buy essential items like food, water and fuel before you need them. When it comes to bad weather like a hurricane, you usually have some warning to make a last-minute trip to the store.


Research products and service you anticipate needing. While prices may go up a bit because of supply and demand, a large jump from the estimate/quote you initially receive will give you evidence of price gouging. Make sure to have the phone numbers of several companies so that when you need their service — like for flood damage repair — you can compare prices and find the best deal.

Broken power lines caused deadly Maui wildfire, new report shows

BURY THEM!

KIARA ALFONSECA and LEAH SARNOFF

ABC
Wed, October 2, 2024 

Broken power lines caused deadly Maui wildfire, new report shows

A report has found that broken power lines caused the deadly August 2023 wildfire in Maui.

The wildfire on the Hawaiian Island killed 102 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, causing more than $5 billion in damages.

The nearly 300-page report released Wednesday comes from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which worked with local officials like the County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety to determine the cause.

The fire was initially blamed on the combination of high winds and dry weather. However, the investigation found that the widespread destruction was caused by a single fire that started by the "undetected re-energization of broken utility lines, which caused sparks that ignited unmaintained vegetation," Maui Fire Chief Bradford Ventura said during a press conference Wednesday.

The investigation found no definitive conclusion with how the ignition started, Ventura said, but noted that the report found the fire cause to be accidental.

"The origin of the fire was the overgrown vegetation at and surrounding utility pole 25 off of Lahainaluna Road," according to the report. "The cause of the fire was the re-energization of broken utility lines which caused the ejection of molten metallic material (sparks) to fall to the base of pole 25, igniting the unmaintained vegetation below."

The investigation also ruled out the possibility that there had been two separate fires. "This, in fact, was one fire," Ventura said.


PHOTO: Maui Mayor Richard Bissen stands before the Kuhinia Maui Paddle Out remembrance event honoring Lahaina wildfire victims on Aug. 8, 2024 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images, FILE)

The wildfire was the fifth deadliest in U.S. history and the worst natural disaster in Hawaii's history, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. It sparked several other investigations centered on police response and the response from state and Maui county agencies.

In the days before the Aug. 8 wildfire, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency issued a red flag warning of "gusty winds and dry fuels" creating a risk of "extreme fire."

PHOTO: An aerial image taken on Aug. 10, 2023 shows a person walking down Front Street past destroyed buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Fingers were pointed between the local agencies and companies connected to the fire. A report from state Attorney General Anne E. Lopez found that there is no evidence that Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Maui Fire Department, Maui Police and others had developed plans to deal with such a fire risk.

A preliminary Maui Police Department report in February found that the understaffed police force grappled with communications and equipment issues that hadn't been anticipated. The police investigation didn't address the utility's potential culpability for the fires, the origin of the blazes or the fire crews' response.

PHOTO: In this Aug. 14, 2023 a view of destruction from Hwy 30 days after a fierce wildfire destroyed the town in Lahaina, Maui, Aug. 14, 2023. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE)

MORE: Native Hawaiians fighting to take control of Maui's water rights amid wildfire cleanup

The report found that police went without proper protective gear while juggling frantic traffic evacuations and that emergency dispatch for the island was overwhelmed by a call volume it was unable to handle. It also noted that suspended cables and downed electrical wires were strewn across roadways, cutting off what could have been critical routes for escape.

In August, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced a historic $4.037 billion settlement to resolve claims arising from the tragedy. The settlement addresses roughly 450 lawsuits filed by individuals, businesses and insurance companies in both state and federal courts against seven defendants -- state of Hawaii, County of Maui, Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Co., Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum/Charter Communications.

They say they "undertook significant efforts to find a resolution that addresses the needs and ensures the well-being of plaintiffs, all affected individuals, and their families," according to a press release from Green's office.


Deadly Maui fire erupted from earlier blaze believed to have been extinguished, investigation finds

Associated Press
Wed, October 2, 2024 

The wildfire that killed at least 102 people on Maui last year erupted from an earlier brushfire caused by downed power lines that firefighters believed they had extinguished, officials confirmed, Wednesday as they presented their findings on the cause of the tragedy.

The Aug. 8, 2023, blaze — the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century — was long known to have emerged in the afternoon, in the same area as blaze that began early that morning. Driven by strong, erratic winds, the fire raced through the historic town of Lahaina, destroying thousands of buildings, overcoming people trapped in their cars and forcing some residents to flee into the ocean.

It has been unclear whether the blaze was a rekindling of the morning fire after firefighters spent hours dousing it or a separate one. The answer could prove significant to questions about liability for the destruction, though a tentative $4 billion settlement has been reached.

In presenting their findings, officials with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Maui Fire Department did not address liability, but found that it was a rekindling of the morning fire.

The rekindling was most likely caused by high winds that blew undetected embers into the dry gully, they said.

A Hawaiian Electric power line fell early on the morning of Aug. 8, sparking a fire in overgrown brush near the edge of town. Fire crews responded and stayed for several hours until they believed the fire was extinguished. After they left, flames were spotted again and though firefighters rushed back, they were no match for the wind and flames.

Pictures and crosses are displayed at a public hillside memorial to Lahaina wildfire victims on August 1, 2024 in Lahaina, Hawaii. August 8 marks the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfires which killed 102 people and devastated the historic community of Lahaina in West Maui. Hawaii Governor Josh Green has announced that parties involved in the wildfire lawsuits against the government and utilities are nearing a settlement of claims which will total about $4 billion. - Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMore

Communication between the police and fire departments was spotty, cellphone networks were down and emergency officials did not activate the emergency sirens that might have warned residents to evacuate. Power lines and poles had fallen in many locations throughout town, and police blocked some roads to protect residents from potentially dangerous power lines. First responders also had trouble getting a firm answer from Hawaiian Electric representatives if the power had been cut to the area.

The blocked roads contributed to gridlock that left fleeing people trapped in their cars as the flames advanced. Others died in their homes or outside as they tried to escape. The death toll surpassed that of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise.

In the months since, thousands of Lahaina residents have sued various parties they believe to be at fault for the fire, including Hawaiian Electric, Maui County and the state of Hawaii. The defendants have often tried to point fingers at each other, with Hawaiian Electric saying the county shouldn’t have left the first fire unattended, and Maui County contending the electric utility failed to take proper care with the power grid. Exactly who was responsible for clearing brush and maintaining area has also been a point of contention among the defendants, along with the utility’s lack of a public safety power shut-off program.

A few days before the one-year anniversary of the wildfires, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced a $4 billion settlement. That’s the amount the defendants — including Hawaiian Electric, the state, Maui County, large landowners and others — have agreed to pay to settle claims.

But the deal is tied up in court, awaiting a decision from Hawaii Supreme Court on whether insurance companies can go after the defendants separately to recoup what they’ve paid to policyholders. Lawyers for people seeking compensation fear allowing insurance companies to sue Hawaiian Electric and others will subvert the deal, drain what is available to pay fire victims and lead to prolonged litigation.

Maui community implements changes after deadly wildfire
Gina Mangieri
Wed, October 2, 2024 


HONOLULU (KHON2) — In the wake of the deadliest fire in the U.S. in over a century, officials took steps to prevent future disasters in Maui. Gina Mangieri reported from Lahainaluna Road, where the fire originated.

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Residents were eager to learn what improvements had been made to enhance community safety. The focus was on the electric system; utility poles were replaced and reinforced to better withstand future incidents.

Maui Fire Chief Ventura emphasized the importance of underground utilities but acknowledged the costs involved.

“We’ve been proponents for underground utilities for years, but it’s expensive, and that cost will be passed on to homeowners,” he said.

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) expressed regret over its operations contributing to the fire and implemented changes to its protocols, including a power safety shutoff program and measures to prevent automatic re-energization of power lines.

Another key concern highlighted in investigations was the issue of unmaintained brush.

County codes required vegetation to be no more than 18 inches high within 30 feet of a home. Community members, like Shane Treu, who recorded the initial spark of the fire, noted that the area had previously been overgrown, exacerbating the fire risk.

One fire by re-energization caused Lahaina fire: ATF report

Kamehameha Schools, the landowner in the area, improved vegetation management and established larger fire breaks.

Mangieri reached out to Kamehameha Schools to learn more about ongoing efforts.

“We recognize that we can do better. Steadfast in our commitment to be responsible land stewards, we are using all sources of information and guidance to improve our efforts to manage our lands,” said Kamehameha Schools.

However, some residents, including Treu, raised concerns about access to emergency escape routes, noting that locked gates could hinder evacuation efforts.

“I was told to get myself cutters,” Treu said, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

In response, Chief Ventura announced plans for inspectors to assess vegetation management across Maui County before the fire season.

“We plan to identify high-risk areas and notify landowners if vegetation needs to be managed,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stated that the fire was deemed accidental but refrained from commenting on potential liabilities or criminal implications.

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Mangieri will continue to investigate these concerns, including the use of emergency evacuation routes.

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