Tag: politics

Indian-American Pundit Trips Over Her Own Name While Condemning Nikki Haley for Her ‘Name Switch’

Post By Politics , ,

If we needed any more proof that we are hitting the throttle on our way to this nation becoming “Idiocracy”, this week the announced presidential campaign of Nikki Haley has brought out the Confederacy of Dunces. Suddenly, it has become fashionable in the press to question an individual’s self-identification, something we have been sternly lectured is a sign of hatred and intolerance.

Best of all – the same press that tells us if a person born male now declares they are a woman then we MUST consider them a woman, is now calling out the rightful claims of politicians to their accurate ethnicity. Last week the Hispanic GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was challenged over being rightfully Hispanic, and today Nikki Haley is being badgered because she is proudly saying she is Indian-American.

The obliviousness is amazing. First off, Haley once checked a box on a voter registration form that said “White”.

The word “reportedly” is doing the heavy lifting. There are a number of specifics behind this, going both ways, but few have been able to explain why we are supposed to care about a checked box on a form, made over two decades ago. This registration was before Haley entered political office. What does it matter in regards to – anything?

Now the next “controversy” is over the fact that she goes by the name Nilkki, not her formal first name of Nimarata. This is another of the old arguments trotted against Haley, and the idiocy behind it is amazing. It is alleged that this had been done to put a veil on her ethnicity because supposedly Republicans would reject her if she went by Namarata.

Haley has never hidden her heritage. Moreover, her family had called her Nikki since childhood, so accusing her of a cagey name switch is asinine in layers. But this did not stop the MSNBC guest and former CNN analyst, Asha Rangappa.

Asha is also Indian-American, so her critiques of Haley are especially sound and carry more weight. OR, Rangappa’s heritage makes her criticisms of Haley all the more ridiculous because she knows better and still levels these baseless charges. Go with the second choice there, because this is about to get good.

In a now-deleted tweet, Rangappa resorted to the leftist trope of accusing Haley of the name switch out of political expediency.

Throughout Haley’s career, she has been touted as a first-time Indian-American politician. It is not only well-known that Haley is Indian-American, but she did not take on an “Anglicized” name to be seen as a more palpable candidate by racist Republicans. Nikki is actually her given middle name. It is not an uncommon name to see in Punjabi culture. (It translates to “little one”.) Further, her family has always referred to her as Nikki, well before she contemplated getting into politics.

But it gets better. So much better. It turns out that Ms. Rangappa should be well-versed in the practice of adopting a middle name for any particular professional reason.

Ah, so here is what is happening. It turns out the accusation of Nikki Haley opting to use her middle name as an Indian-American is being made by a woman using her middle name as an Indian-American. This became a bit of a problem for Ms. Rangappa, and in the midst of her ranting, she went ahead with a slight alteration to her account.

By way of explanation, Asha justifies changing her preferred name, all while scorching Haley – for allegedly doing the same thing.

“Nikki” is not an Anglicized choice; it is her given middle name. That being the case, how is it wrong when there is evidence of Haley going by “Nikki” even further back in her history, such as in high school? By this point, Rangappa has come to realize she had stepped in it, but the last thing she can do is admit being called out.

From there it was a downward spiral. Once shown to be “guilty” of doing the exact same things as Haley, Rangappa oddly had to go with skin color.

And it was never a case of Haley hiding hers. Asha needs the accusation to stand in order to save face. It leads to this odd declaration, from the woman whose parents gave her an avowed and used middle name:

And now — we go full birther. Seriously. While flailing, Rangappa starts calling for birth certificate analysis to take place.

This…this is just something to behold. To see someone become this unwound over something that is completely innocuous and irrelevant to politics, and it being something that has been disproven time and again, is rather remarkable.

Best of all, the leftists and press entirely miss their own contradiction. What has all of them upset is that Haley declared America to not be a racist nation, so they resort to a claim that she changed her name because Republicans are racists who would not accept her as an Indian-American. But what set them off is Haley in her introductory video saying proudly she is Indian-American.

Today their argument is that she is wrong to be prideful because she allegedly hid her heritage from the racists before, AND she is declaring it today in order to gain a political edge. But then that would mean Republicans are not the racists  – which they will never admit to – so in racist fashion they have to find ways to say Haley is not brown enough and was ashamed of her heritage, which everyone was aware of all along.

To summarize what is taking place in the country this week:

  • NIKKI HALEY: “America is not a racist country.”
  • LIBERALS: “Yes it is! Hold our beer, let us prove it!!!”

 



Source link

#IndianAmerican #Pundit #Trips #Condemning #Nikki #Haley #Switch

First on CNN: HHS secretary sends letter to state governors on what’s to come when Covid-19 public health emergency ends | CNN

Post By Health , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



CNN
 — 

Plans are moving forward at the US Department of Health and Human Services to prepare for the end of the nation’s Covid-19 public health emergency declaration in May.

On Thursday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter and fact sheet to state governors detailing what exactly the end of the emergency declaration will mean for jurisdictions and their residents.

“Addressing COVID-19 remains a significant public health priority for the Administration, and over the next few months, we will transition our COVID-19 policies, as well as the current flexibilities enabled by the COVID-19 emergency declarations, into improving standards of care for patients. We will work closely with partners including state, local, Tribal, and territorial agencies, industry, and advocates, to ensure an orderly transition,” Becerra wrote in a draft of the letter obtained by CNN.

“In the coming days, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will also provide additional information, including about the waivers many states and health systems have adopted and how they will be impacted by the end of the COVID-19 PHE,” he wrote. “I will share that resource with your team when available.”

Declaring a public health emergency in the United States means that certain actions, access to funds, grants, waivers and data – among other steps – can happen more quickly in response to the crisis for the duration of the emergency. A declaration lasts 90 days – unless HHS ends it – and may be renewed.

On January 30, the White House announced its intention to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, signaling that the administration considers the nation to have moved out of the emergency response phase.

Becerra had agreed to give governors a 60-day notice to prepare for the end of the emergency. Thursday’s letter was sent 90 days ahead of the emergency’s planned end.

“We are having ongoing conversations about what else we need to do in the next 90 days to ensure a smooth transition. I can tell you that every one of our agencies has been working hard on this plan,” an HHS official told CNN. “We’re going to have a series of additional materials that will go out, as well as a series of conversations over the coming days and weeks.”

The end of the public health emergency will affect some Medicare and state Medicaid flexibilities provided for the duration of the emergency. This includes waivers like the requirement for a three-day hospital stay before Medicare will cover care at a skilled nursing facility.

“We’ve been working closely with the governors on the public health emergency. This is a combination of both federal flexibilities that we allow, and the states are often the ones who are using those flexibilities,” the HHS official said.

“Just about every aspect of the pandemic response, I would say, has been in partnership with our state partners. And so, I think they have been, frankly for months now, the ones that we have been going to and the ones that we publicly committed to notifying in advance of changes to the public health emergency declaration.”

But the emergency’s end will not impact the authorizations of Covid-19 devices, including tests, vaccines and treatments that have been authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the FDA has issued about 15 times as many emergency use authorizations as it did for all other previous public health emergencies, Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said Wednesday in a joint hearing of the House Oversight and Investigations and Health subcommittees.

“Today, we’ve issued EUAs or provided traditional marketing authorizations to over 2,800 medical devices for Covid-19, which is 15 times more EUAs than all other previous emergencies combined,” Califf said. He added that the effects of the end of the emergency declaration will be “modest” because the “EUAs are independent of the public health emergency, so we can keep them going as long as we need to.”

The emergency is slated to end May 11. “What happens on May 12? On May 12, you can still walk into a pharmacy and get your bivalent vaccine,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, wrote on Twitter last week.

He said that at some point, probably in the summer or early fall, the Biden administration will transition from federal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments to purchases through the regular health care system – but that’s not happening quite yet.

Overall, there are additional Medicaid waivers and other flexibilities that states and territories have received under the public health emergency. Some of those will be terminated. But state Medicaid programs will have to continue covering Covid-19 testing, treatments, and vaccinations without cost-sharing through September 30, 2024.

The end of the public health emergency declaration means Medicare beneficiaries will face out-of-pocket costs for over-the-counter home Covid-19 tests and treatment. However, people with Medicare will continue to have no cost for medically necessary lab-conducted Covid-19 tests ordered by their health care providers.

Covid-19 vaccinations will continue to be covered at no cost for all Medicare beneficiaries.

Those with private insurance could face charges for lab tests, even if they are ordered by a provider, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Vaccinations will continue to be free for those with private insurance who go to in-network providers, but going to an out-of-network providers could incur charges once federal supplies run out.

And the privately insured will not be able to get free at-home tests from pharmacies and retailers anymore unless their insurers choose to cover them.

Americans with private insurance have not been charged for monoclonal antibody treatment since they were prepaid by the federal government, though patients may be charged for the office visit or administration of the treatment, according to Kaiser. But that is not tied to the public health emergency, and the free treatments will be available until the federal supply is exhausted. The government has already run out of some of the treatments so those with private insurance may already be picking up some of the cost.

The uninsured had been able to access no-cost testing, treatments and vaccines through a different pandemic relief program. However, the federal funding ran out in the spring of 2022, making it more difficult for those without coverage to obtain free services.

Also, the “ability of health care providers to safely dispense controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person interaction is affected; however, there will be rulemaking that will propose to extend these flexibilities,” according to the letter’s fact sheet.

One of the most meaningful pandemic enhancements for states is no longer tied to the public health emergency. Congress severed the connection in December as part of its fiscal year 2023 government funding package, which state Medicaid officials had urged lawmakers to do.

States will now be able to start processing Medicaid redeterminations and disenrolling residents who no longer qualify, starting April 1. They have 14 months to review the eligibility of their beneficiaries.

As part of a Covid-19 relief package passed in March 2020, states were barred from kicking people off Medicaid during the public health emergency in exchange for additional federal matching funds. Medicaid enrollment has skyrocketed to a record 91 million people since then.

A total of roughly 15 million people could be dropped from Medicaid when the continuous enrollment requirement ends, according to an analysis the Department of Health and Human Services released in August. About 8.2 million folks would no longer qualify, but 6.8 million people would be terminated even though they are still eligible, the department estimated.

Many who are disenrolled from Medicaid, however, could qualify for other coverage.



Source link

#CNN #HHS #secretary #sends #letter #state #governors #whats #Covid19 #public #health #emergency #ends #CNN

Big Oil rakes in record profit haul of nearly $200 billion, fueling calls for higher taxes

Post By Oil and Gas , , , ,

Deer graze inside the gates of the Exxon Mobil Joliet refinery on the Des Plaines River. Exxon Mobil’s 2022 haul of $56 billion marked a historic high for the Western oil industry.

Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

The West’s five largest oil companies raked in combined profits of nearly $200 billion in 2022, intensifying calls for governments to impose tougher windfall taxes.

French oil giant TotalEnergies on Wednesday reported full-year profit of $36.2 billion, doubling last year’s total, as fossil fuel prices soared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The results see TotalEnergies join supermajors Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell in recording a massive upswing in annual profits, after Exxon’s 2022 haul of $56 billion marked a historic high for the Western oil industry.

Altogether, the five Big Oil companies reported combined profits of $196.3 billion last year, more than the economic output of most countries.

Flush with cash, the energy giants have used their bumper earnings to reward shareholders with higher dividends and share buybacks.

“You may have noticed that Big Oil just reported record profits,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. “Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. It’s outrageous.”

Biden said U.S. oil majors invested “too little of that profit” to ramp up domestic production to help keep gas prices down. “Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders.”

Biden proposed quadrupling the tax on corporate stock buybacks to incentivize long-term investments, insisting the supermajors would still make a “considerable” profit.

Activists from Greenpeace set up a mock-petrol station price board displaying the Shell’s net profit for 2022 as they demonstrate outside the company’s headquarters in London on Feb. 2, 2023.

Daniel Leal | Afp | Getty Images

Agnès Callamard, secretary general of human rights group Amnesty International, described Big Oil’s vast profits as “patently unjustifiable” and “an unmitigated disaster.”

“The billions of dollars of profits being made by these oil corporations must be adequately taxed so that governments can address effectively the rising cost of living for most vulnerable populations and better protect human rights in the face of multiple global crises,” Callamard said in a statement.

Big Oil executives have sought to defend their rising profits amid a barrage of criticism from campaigners, typically highlighting the importance of energy security in the transition to renewables and suggesting higher taxes could deter investment.

“Ultimately, taxes are a matter for governments to decide on. We, of course, engage and provide perspectives and the key perspective that we try to provide is a context around the fact that companies like ourselves that need to invest multiple billion dollars to support the energy transition require a secure and stable investment climate,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said Thursday.

His comments came shortly after Shell reported its highest-ever annual profit of nearly $40 billion, comfortably surpassing its previous record of $28.4 billion in 2008.

“For example, windfall taxes or price caps simply erode confidence in that investment stability and so I do worry about some of the moves being made,” Sawan said. “I think there is a different approach that needs to be had which is to really draw investment capital at a time when we need to be able to embed energy security into the broader energy system here in Europe.”

The CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest energy company, has previously warned about the dangers of pressuring oil companies through higher taxes.

Asked by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble last month if a windfall tax on oil profits was a bad idea, Saudi Aramco’s Amin Nasser replied, “I would say, it’s not helpful for them [in order] to have additional investment. They need to invest in the sector, they need to grow the business, in alternatives and in conventional energy, and they need to be helped.”

Nasser said the transition to renewable technologies required significant investment, and this is likely to take a hit if companies face increased taxation.

Windfall taxes

Former BP CEO John Browne said it is right for governments to tax the windfall profits of Big Oil — on the condition that the taxes are correctly designed.

“The thing about windfall taxes is, and when I ran BP I was subject to this many, many times, is they are jurisdiction dependent … and secondly there is a limit,” Browne told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Wednesday.

Browne said the issue of windfall taxes was a balancing act for policymakers. “The important thing about a windfall profit tax is if you put them on, you have to take them off,” he added.

Former BP CEO says it is right to tax windfall profits — so long as they are designed correctly

The advocacy group Global Witness says people have every right to be outraged by the extraordinary profits of Big Oil and called for an increased windfall tax.

“Given that we’re entering a global recession and that most of us know people who are struggling, we must all call out profiteering like this,” Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, told CNBC via email.

“An increased windfall tax to help those struggling to pay their bills, along with a significant boost in renewable energy and home insulation, would end the fossil fuel era that is harming both people and the planet so severely,” Harrison said.

‘People can see the injustice’

“People can see the injustice of paying eye-watering energy costs while big oil and gas firms rake in billions,” said Sana Yusuf, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth.

“Fairly taxing their excess profits could help to fund a nationwide programme of insulation and a renewable energy drive, which would lower bills, keep homes warmer and reduce harmful carbon emissions,” Yusuf said.

BP CEO Bernard Looney on Tuesday sought to defend the company from criticism after reporting record 2022 profits of $27.7 billion, saying the British energy major was “leaning in” to its strategy to provide the world with the energy it needs.

BP, which was one of the first energy giants to announce an ambition to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, had pledged emissions would be 35% to 40% lower by the end of the decade. It said Tuesday, however, that it was now targeting a 20% to 30% cut, saying it needed to keep investing in oil and gas to meet demand.

“We’re leaning into our strategy today,” BP’s Looney said. “We’re announcing up to $8 billion more investment into the energy transition this decade and up to $8 billion more into oil and gas in support of energy security and energy affordability this decade.”

Activist investor group Follow This was sharply critical of the move.

“If the bulk of your investments remain tied to fossil fuels, and you even plan to increase those investments, you cannot maintain to be Paris-aligned, because you will not achieve large-scale emissions reductions by 2030,” said Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This.

— CNBC’s Natasha Turak contributed to this report.

Source link

#Big #Oil #rakes #record #profit #haul #billion #fueling #calls #higher #taxes

Sarah Huckabee Sanders gives Republican response to Biden: Full text

Post By Stock , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here are the full remarks, as prepared for delivery, of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

“Good evening. I’m Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 
 
“Being a mom to three young children taught me not to believe every story I hear. So forgive me for not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden. From out-of-control inflation and violent crime to the dangerous border crisis and threat from China, Biden and the Democrats have failed you.
 
“They know it. And you know it.
 
“It’s time for a change.
 
“Tonight, let us reaffirm our commitment to a timeless American idea: that government exists not to rule the people, but to serve the people.  
 
“Democrats want to rule us with more government control, but that is not who we are. America is the greatest country the world has ever known because we are the freest country the world has ever known, with a people who are strong and resilient. 
 
“Five months ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was a hard time for our family, particularly for our kids – Scarlett, Huck, and George – but we kept our faith and persevered. 
 
“Thanks to exceptional doctors here in Arkansas, a successful surgery, and the grace of God, I am cancer-free. 
 
“Through it all, I couldn’t help but think about my mom. 
 
“She was 20 years old and in her first year of marriage when she was diagnosed with spinal cancer. The doctors told her she might not live. If she did live, they said she’d never walk again, and if she did walk, she’d definitely never have children. 
 
“The daughter she was told she’d never have was just sworn in as the new Governor
of Arkansas and is speaking to you tonight.
 
“Adversity and fear of the unknown can paralyze us, but faith propels us to charge boldly ahead. 
 
“We can’t stand still in the face of great challenges. You and I were put on this earth for such a time as this to charge boldly ahead.
 
“I’ll be the first to admit, President Biden and I don’t have a lot in common. 
  
“I’m for freedom. He’s for government control. 
 
“At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country. At 80, he’s the oldest president in American history.  
 
“I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is. 
 
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country. 
 
“Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or is simply too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely hijacked by the radical left.
 
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left.  
 
“The choice is between normal or crazy.  
 
“It is time for a new generation of Republican leadership.
 
“Upon taking office just a few weeks ago I signed Executive Orders to ban CRT, racism, and indoctrination in our schools, eliminate the use of the derogatory term ‘Latinx’ in our government, repealed COVID orders and said never again to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns.
 
“Americans want common sense from their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy.
 
“President Biden inherited the fastest economic recovery on record. The most secure border in history. Cheap abundant, home-grown energy. Fast-rising wages. A rebuilt military. And a world that was stable and at peace. But over the last two years, Democrats destroyed it all. 
  
“Despite Democrats’ trillions in reckless spending and mountains of debt, we now have the worst border crisis in American history. 
 
“As a mom, my heart breaks for every parent who has lost a son or daughter to addiction. 100,000 Americans a year are now killed from drug overdoses, largely from fentanyl pouring in across our southern border. Yet the Biden administration refuses to secure the border and save American lives. 
 
“And after years of Democrat attacks on law enforcement and calls to ‘defund the police’, violent criminals roam free, while law-abiding families live in fear.  
 
“Beyond our border, from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from North Korea to Iran, President Biden’s weakness puts our nation and the world at risk. 
 
“And the President’s refusal to stand up to China, our most formidable adversary, is dangerous and unacceptable. 
 
“President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander in chief.
 
“And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day. Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.
 
“Every day, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols, all while big government colludes with Big Tech to strip away the most American thing there is—your Freedom of speech.
 
“That’s not normal. It’s crazy, and it’s wrong. 
 
“Make no mistake: Republicans will not surrender this fight. We will lead with courage and do what’s right, not what’s politically correct or convenient.
 
“Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive in safe communities. Where jobs are abundant, and paychecks are rising. Where the freedom our veterans shed their blood to defend is the birthright of every man, woman, and child. 
 
“These are the principles Republican governors are fighting for. And in Washington under the leadership of Senate Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, we will hold the Biden administration accountable.
 
“Down the street from where I sit is my alma mater, Little Rock Central High. As a student there, I will never forget watching my dad, Governor Mike Huckabee, and President Bill Clinton hold the doors open to the Little Rock Nine, doors that forty years earlier had been closed to them because they were black. Today, those children once barred from the schoolhouse are now heroes memorialized in bronze at our statehouse. 
  
“I’m proud of the progress our country has made.  And I believe giving every child access to a quality education – regardless of their race or income – is the civil rights issue of our day.
 
“Tomorrow, I will unveil an education package that will be the most far reaching, bold, conservative education reform in the country. 
  
“My plan empowers parents with real choices, improves literacy and career readiness, and helps put a good teacher in every classroom by increasing their starting salary from one of the lowest to one of the highest in the nation. 
  
“Here in Arkansas and across America, Republicans are working to end the policy of trapping kids in failing schools and sentencing them to a lifetime of poverty.  
  
“We will educate, not indoctrinate our kids, and put students on a path to success. 
 
“It’s time for a new generation to lead. This is our moment. This is our opportunity. 
 
“A new generation born in the waning decades of the last century, shaped by economic booms and stock market busts, forged by the triumph of the Cold War and the tragedy of 9/11. A generation brimming with passion and new ideas to solve age-old problems. A generation moored to our deepest values and oldest traditions, yet unafraid to challenge the present order and find a better way forward. 
 
“If we seize this moment together, America can once again be the land of the free and home of the brave.
 
“During my two and a half years at the White House, I traveled on every foreign trip with the President. 
 
“A trip I will never forget was on December 25, 2018.
 
“My husband Bryan and I had just cleaned up wrapping paper that had been shoved into every corner of our house thanks to our three kids, when I had to walk out on my own family’s Christmas, unable to tell them where I was going, because the place I’d be traveling to was so dangerous they didn’t want anybody to know that the President was going to be on the ground for even a few hours.
 
“We boarded Air Force One in total darkness—there were no lights on the plane, no lights on the runway, our phones and computers shut down and turned in. We were going completely off the grid.
 
“Nearly twelve hours later in the pitch-black of the night, we landed in the war-torn part of western Iraq. It was again a similar scene—no lights on the plane, no lights on the runway.
 
“The only light you could see was coming from about a mile away in a dining hall where hundreds of troops—who were in the fight against ISIS— had gathered, expecting to celebrate Christmas with senior military leadership from around the region.
 
“They had absolutely no idea that the President and First Lady were about to walk into that room.
 
“And when they did—it was a sight, and a scene, and a sound I hope I never forget.
 
“The room erupted. Men and women from every race, religion, and region, every political party, every demographic you can imagine started chanting in perfect unison over and over and over again, ‘USA, USA, USA.’
 
“It was a perfect picture of what makes our country great.
 
“One of the young soldiers yelled from the back, ‘Mr. President, I reenlisted in the military because of you.’ The President said, ‘and son, I am here because of you.’
 
“Shortly after, that young soldier came up to me and said, ‘Sarah, you have a tough job.’ I told him ‘What I do is nothing. You take bombs and bullets. That’s a tough job.’
 
“And in a moment that I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, that soldier reached up, and pulled the Brave Rifles Patch he wore on his shoulder and placed it into my hand, a sign of ultimate respect, and said, ‘Sarah, we are in this together.’ 
 
“Overwhelmed with emotion and speechless, I just hugged him, with tears in my eyes and a grateful heart for our heroes who keep us free.
 
“That young man and everyone who has served before him, all of those who serve alongside him, and the thousands we know who will be called upon to serve after him, deserve to know they have a country and community back home doing our part in the fight for freedom.
 
“America is great because we are free.
 
“But today, our freedom is under attack, and the America we love is in danger.
 
“President Biden and the Democrats have failed you.
 
“It’s time for a change.
 
“A New Generation of Republican leaders is stepping up, not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be changemakers for the American people.
 
“We know not what the future holds, but we know who holds the future in His hands. And with God as our witness, we will show the world that America is still the place where freedom reins and liberty will never die.
 
“Thank you. God bless you. And God Bless America.”

Source link

#Sarah #Huckabee #Sanders #Republican #response #Biden #Full #text

New Western measures aim to turn up the heat on Putin’s oil revenues. Analysts are underwhelmed

Post By Oil and Gas , , , , ,

Freight wagons carrying oil and fuel at a petroleum products terminal in Riga, Latvia, on Feb. 2, 2023.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The West’s latest attempt to ramp up its oil war against Russia may cause some market dislocation, but some energy analysts remain far from convinced that the restrictions will constitute a “transformative event.”

An EU ban on Russian oil product imports came into effect on Feb. 5, following similar restrictions on EU crude oil intake, implemented on Dec. 5. The Group of Seven industrialized countries, the European Union and Australia on Friday set a ceiling for the price at which nations outside of the coalition may purchase seaborne Russian diesel and other refined petroleum products and still benefit from Western shipping and financial facilities.

The price cap coalition, which is composed of Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., seeks to deplete Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s war chest amid Moscow’s ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.

The EU and its G-7 allies said last week that they had set two price caps for Russian petroleum products — one is a $100-per-barrel cap on products that trade at a premium to crude, like diesel, and the other is a $45 cap for petroleum products that trade at a discount to crude.

Some analysts warned that the measures could cause “significant market dislocations” and that the EU embargo was more complex and more disruptive than what had come before.

Not everyone shares this assessment.

“There is an overwhelming assumption that this will be a huge disruption to everything. I don’t really think this will be a transformative event,” Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.

“I don’t really think that this will have the impact that a lot of people can imagine, and the main driver for this will be actually human creativity — and the constant search for a new solution, for a new supply chain or for a new route,” Katona said.

“This will bring us basically into the same story that we had with the oil price cap back in December. People expected a lot of things. In the end, it never really happened,” he added.

‘Russia may struggle to compensate fully’

As part of the sixth EU package of sanctions against Russia that was adopted in June last year, the 27-member bloc imposed a ban on the purchase, import or transfer of seaborne crude oil and petroleum products from Russia. The restrictions applied in early December and February, respectively.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video conference on Feb. 3, 2023.

Pavel Byrkin | Afp | Getty Images

Asked whether those predicting significant market disruption because of the measures targeting Russia’s refined oil products were likely to be wide of the mark, Katona replied: “I think they are. I would say that the main development of the past two weeks when it comes to Russian diesel has been happening not in Europe, but in North Africa.”

Katona said North African countries were expected to receive at least 6 million barrels of ultralow sulfur diesel from Russia, estimating that this was roughly one-quarter of what the European Union used to purchase from Moscow.

He explained that a “substantial transformation clause” remains under question because North African countries are not members of the price cap coalition.

“Basically, you drip one droplet of something else into a cargo of Russian diesel and it is already Moroccan, it is already Algerian, it is already Tunisian,” Katona said. “All of these countries have seen quite a substantial uptick in Russian diesel flows. And our expectation is that Feb. 5 kicks in, and there will be a lot of flows from North Africa, basically Russian in all but name.”

Ahead of the Western ban on its oil supplies, the Kremlin reaffirmed its opposition to the measures and warned it would cause more market imbalances.

“It will lead to further imbalances on the international energy markets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, according to Russian news agency Tass. “Naturally, we are taking precautions to protect our interests from the risks associated with it.”

Energy analysts at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said that the latest wave of Western sanctions was likely to dislocate flows rather than cause a severe disruption of supplies, noting that oil product markets have had several months of advance notice to prepare for the restrictions.

“Still, while flows are readjusting, some disruption is possible, especially in the middle distillate market, which was already tight before the latest sanctions,” analysts at Eurasia Group said in a research note.

“Russia may struggle to compensate fully for the loss of EU buyers, especially if a recovering China stops exporting so much surplus fuel and instead starts to import significant quantities again,” they added.

‘Shipments will take longer’

“This is a very substantial disruption to really a key industrial field across much of the euro zone,” Edward Bell, commodities analyst at Emirates NBD, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Monday.

“Russia was the dominant external supplier of diesel to euro zone economies, so the fact that this embargo is now in place means that there will be a little bit of a readjustment and scrambling to get those additional barrels.”

Bell said it appears as though Russia has so far been able to find new markets or expand diesel exports to historical markets, such as to Turkey and partners in North Africa and Asia. “All this means those shipments will take longer,” he added.

“This is not a positive indicator in terms of the direction for prices going downward and easing the burden of energy prices on consumers but in terms of actually disrupting supply it doesn’t like we are in any kind of panic stations just yet.”

Bell suggested Saudi Arabia’s diesel exports to Europe could be set for a “big uptick,” following the West’s embargo on Russian petroleum products.

Source link

#Western #measures #aim #turn #heat #Putins #oil #revenues #Analysts #underwhelmed

Google’s ex-CEO Eric Schmidt tapped for federal biotech commission that allows members to keep biotech investments

Post By Business , , , , , , , , , ,

On Dec. 30, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees announced the selection of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and 11 others to serve on a new federal commission on biotechnology.

Tasked with reviewing the biotech industry and suggesting investments that would benefit U.S. security, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is expected to have a prominent voice on policy and federal spending in the cutting-edge industry.

The appointment, however, doesn’t require commission members to divest their own personal biotech investments — even as they help shape U.S. policy overseeing the industry. Through a venture capital firm known as First Spark Ventures, Schmidt holds stakes in several biotech companies, placing him in a position to potentially profit if those companies are the beneficiaries of a new wave of federal biotech spending.

A person familiar with Schmidt’s thinking, who asked not to be identified, told CNBC on Jan. 19 that he wouldn’t be involved in selecting or monitoring any federal investments in the sector and that he isn’t involved in decision-making about First Spark’s investments. The person also said he would comply with all disclosure rules.

Then, on Jan. 25, after a series of emails and conversations with CNBC about the potential conflict of interest, the person said Schmidt will donate 100 percent of the “net profits” from his investment in First Spark to charity. The person didn’t say when Schmidt made the decision to donate profits, adding that he hasn’t yet named any recipient charities.

Due to the nature of venture capital investments, it could take years before a company is sold or goes public.

“This is a potential horror show,” Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, said of the new commission. “Congress created this commission without adequate safeguards against conflicts of interest.”

Shaub, an attorney who’s now a senior ethics fellow at the nonpartisan nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, said members of the commission are exempt from criminal conflict of interest laws that might otherwise require them to recuse themselves or divest certain holdings because it was set up by Congress and not the executive branch.

“These are individuals who are going to be helping to shape federal policy on the intersection of biotechnology and national security, and it’ll be legal for them to make recommendations that benefit their own personal financial interests,” Shaub said. “Because much of the work could be classified, the public may have no way to gauge how their financial interests are influencing their recommendations.”

A spokesperson for the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will oversee the commission, said Schmidt and other members were selected by bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate and are expected to follow government ethics rules.

“Every member on this commission is required to adhere to all government ethics policies,” the spokesperson said. “The commission itself is designed to prevent undue influence, and Congress will provide careful oversight throughout the commission’s work.”

The commission’s incoming chairman, Dr. Jason Kelly, doesn’t plan to relinquish his role as CEO of Boston biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks, which specializes in genetic engineering.

“Jason is serving on this commission in his personal capacity,” said Joseph Fridman, an executive at Ginkgo Bioworks. He didn’t address whether Kelly planned to divest any potential equity in the company as well. “I’ll also note that, in general, we regularly implement measures at Ginkgo to maintain our position as a trusted partner of the U.S. government.”

Schmidt’s decision to donate his profits “reinforce(s) that he volunteers for these roles for all the right reasons,” said the person familiar with his thinking. “The primary purpose is philanthropy,” the person said.

But Shaub said if Schmidt were to give the First Spark net profits to charity that it wouldn’t go far enough to address the problem. “Saying he’ll donate any profits changes nothing,” he said. “You either have a financial interest in the government work you’re doing or you don’t.”

The Pentagon is already deeply invested in the biotechnology sector. In September, for example, the White House announced that the Department of Defense will invest $1 billion in bioindustrial domestic manufacturing infrastructure over five years to spur development of the U.S. manufacturing base. The new federal commission will likely have a say in steering such investments over the two years of its lifetime.  

This is not the first time Schmidt has participated in an influential Washington commission. In October, CNBC reported that Schmidt and entities connected to him made more than 50 investments in artificial intelligence companies while he was chair of a federal commission on AI from 2018 to 2021. There was no indication that Schmidt broke any ethics rules or did anything unlawful while chairing the commission. And CNBC is unaware of any instance in which Schmidt abused his position on the earlier commission for personal financial gain.

Still, at the time, Shaub called Schmidt’s AI arrangement “absolutely a conflict of interest,” and said that it was “not the right thing to do.”

Schmidt’s biotech investments are relatively recent. Schmidt, who serves as a strategic advisor and nonmanaging partner, was a co-founder of First Spark in 2021. The firm’s investments are heavily concentrated in the biotech sector: in cutting-edge companies like Walking Fish Technologies, which focuses on cell engineering; Vitara Biomedical, a neonatal-care enterprise; and Valitor, which specializes in protein-based drug therapies. Representatives of the three companies did not respond to requests for comment.

CNBC attempted to reach First Spark officials through LinkedIn for comment, but did not receive a response. The firm’s website does not offer a telephone number or email address.  

CNBC attempted to reach the other members of the commission to determine how they would handle potential conflict of interest issues. A spokesman for Rep. Ro Khanna, who was named to the commission, said the congressman does not own any individual stocks, and his wife’s assets are in a diversified trust managed by an outside financial advisor. “Qualified diversified trusts eliminate conflicts and are therefore an appropriate vehicle to safeguard against any potential conflicts,” Khanna’s spokesperson said.

Dawn Meyerriecks, the former deputy director of the CIA for Science and Technology who will serve on the commission, told CNBC she does not have any personal investments in the biotech space.

“As you know, the Commission is not yet fully set up,” she said in a message via LinkedIn. “All the commissioners will file all disclosure forms that are required for service on the commission and work with government ethics counsel to consider any potential conflicts based on the expected work of the Commission. “

Source link

#Googles #exCEO #Eric #Schmidt #tapped #federal #biotech #commission #members #biotech #investments

Norway’s fossil fuel bonanza stokes impassioned debate about how best to spend its ‘war profits’

Post By Oil and Gas , , , , , , , ,

Norway is making more money from oil and gas exports than ever.

Ole Berg-rusten | Afp | Getty Images

Norway’s skyrocketing oil and gas wealth is expected to climb to new heights this year, boosted by higher fossil fuel prices in the wake of Russia’s nearly year-long onslaught in Ukraine.

The ballooning petroleum profits of the Scandinavian country put Oslo in a unique position: As many in Europe are struggling to cope with the region’s worst energy crisis in decades, Norway — already extremely rich — is getting richer still.

It has ignited an impassioned debate about international justice, with many questioning whether it is fair for Norway to rake in record oil and gas revenues at the expense of others’ misfortune.

Opposition lawmakers, prominent economists in the country, and even titans of Norway’s energy industry have called on the government to set an example to the world by pumping its fossil fuel revenues into a new international solidarity fund that helps countries meet their climate goals.

Norway’s Finance Ministry expects the state’s revenues from oil and gas sales to climb to 1.38 trillion Norwegian krone ($131 billion) this year. That’s up from a previous record of 1.17 trillion krone last year, and a nearly fivefold increase from 288 billion krone in 2021.

“They are war profits,” Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen, director of the Norwegian Climate Foundation think tank, told CNBC via telephone.

“Most European countries are getting poorer because of the war. Norway is getting richer — much richer.”

Opposition lawmakers, prominent economists and even titans of Norway’s energy industry have called on Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store’s government to set an example to the world by pumping at least some of its fossil fuel revenues into a new international solidarity fund.

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Michelsen said he was fearful that by choosing to pocket its bumper oil and gas profits, Norway is damaging its international reputation, warning that the country is at risk of being perceived as “very egocentric.”

“We are in a completely different position than the rest of Europe and I think, with that, it also bears a responsibility,” Michelsen said. He called for the government to redirect its extraordinary windfall to further help Ukraine, accelerate Europe’s energy transition and provide climate finance for low-income countries.

“This situation is certainly not of our making and not to our liking,” Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Eivind Vad Petersson told CNBC via telephone. He argued that it is critically important for Europe’s energy security that Norway keeps gas production high.

Petersson said the government’s financial support to Ukraine is approaching 1.5 billion euros ($1.63 billion), adding that the country’s policymakers are working on a multi-year program to continue to help Kyiv.

Oil companies are getting richer and richer, but we don’t see that money — and who is really paying for this?

Ingrid Fiskaa

Foreign affairs spokesperson for Norway’s Socialist Left

When asked about accusations that the country is war profiteering, Petersson replied, “No, not really … The indirect effect, we fully acknowledge, is that our revenues have increased, but I do not accept that label.”

“We are very well aware of the responsibility that comes with the fact that we have these resources. Of course, the responsibility to protect it, bearing in mind the crucial role of energy security now in Europe for this winter and possibly next,” Petersson said.

He added that Norway’s government is also “fully aware of the responsibility that comes with being a supporter and donor, not only to Ukraine but also other countries across the world suffering the effects of Russia’s war.”

‘We should contribute more with this money’

Norway, which last year overtook Russia as Europe’s biggest natural gas supplier, has been one of the world’s top crude producers for the past half-century. That’s thanks to its gigantic North Sea petroleum deposits — the spoils of which have been used to provide a robust safety net for current and future generations.

The Norwegian government’s net cash flow from petroleum sales is transferred into Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund. The government can only spend a small part of the fund each year, but this is still estimated to amount to nearly 20% of the government budget.

The so-called Government Pension Fund Global, among the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, was established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of Norway’s oil and gas sector. To date, the fund has invested in more than 9,300 companies in 70 countries around the world.

Norway, which last year overtook Russia as Europe’s biggest gas supplier, has been one of the world’s top crude producers for the past half-century.

Jp Black | Lightrocket | Getty Images

“These excess profits, as we may call it, are a direct result of the war,” said Ingrid Fiskaa, foreign affairs spokesperson for Norway’s Socialist Left, whose support is critical for Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store’s minority government.

Fiskaa highlighted that legislation in Norway limits the use of oil revenues in the domestic economy to avoid high inflation — and that, she argues, strengthens the case for investing in international solidarity.

“There should be a lot more debate on this issue,” Fiskaa told CNBC via telephone. “Oil companies are getting richer and richer, but we don’t see that money — and who is really paying for this? It is the rest of the world. We should contribute more with this money.”

Norway’s aid budget has hovered near 1% of its gross national income for more than a decade, making it one of the world’s most generous donors.

Store’s government was sharply criticized last year for proposing to cut the proportion of GNI it spends on foreign aid to 0.75%. That level is still significantly above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s average of 0.3%, but civil society groups described the move as “embarrassing” at a time when Oslo was making money like never before.

Norway’s foreign ministry has since pledged to deliver on its aid budget target of 1% of GNI in 2023.



Source link

#Norways #fossil #fuel #bonanza #stokes #impassioned #debate #spend #war #profits

Pediatricians are giving out free gun locks to approach the gun violence epidemic as a public health crisis | CNN

Post By Health , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



CNN
 — 

In a triage waiting room of St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri, a clear basket filled with gun locks sits near the walkway, just noticeable enough to those passing by.

The hospital staff calls it the “No Questions Asked” basket, to encourage gun safety without having to confront gun owners about what can be a sensitive and divisive topic. It holds an assortment of cable gun locks free of charge, available to those who need them, alongside pamphlets explaining how to properly and safely store firearms.

The initiative, aimed at reducing the stigma of addressing gun safety, is part of a growing effort by medical professionals who are treating the country’s gun violence epidemic as a public health crisis.

“It takes standing at the bedside of one child who has been shot to realize that we all have to do more and as the leading cause of death for children in this country, pediatricians need to be front and center of the solution, of all the solutions,” said Dr. Annie Andrews, a professor of pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina and an expert on gun violence prevention.

Over the course of two years, thousands of gun locks have been taken from the basket, according to Dr. Lindsay Clukies, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the hospital.

In the coming weeks, baskets filled with free gun locks will be available at more than 17 locations operated by BJC HealthCare, an organization serving metro St. Louis, mid-Missouri and Southern Illinois, Clukies said. It’s a low-cost and effective way to easily distribute firearm safety devices.

“We’ve had employees as well as patients take our locks, also their families and even a grandmother who took one for her grandson. It’s for anyone who needs them,” Clukies told CNN. In recent years, a rising number of pediatricians across the country have been engaging with the topic of gun safety in medical settings by focusing on safety and prevention, already a natural aspect of their work.

During patient visits, it’s increasingly common for pediatricians to ask the patient’s parents if there are guns at home, and if so, how they are stored. Some hospitals then offer free gun locks, often sourced from donations or police departments and paired with safe storage education.

Some pediatricians, who bear witness to the effects of gun violence on children in their workplace every day, told CNN they see it as their obligation as medical professionals to be part of the solution to the epidemic.

In 2022, 1,672 children and teenagers under 17 were killed by gun violence and 4,476 were injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization tracking injuries and deaths by gunfire since 2014.

“We have just as an important voice in this conversation as anyone else because we’re the ones who have invested our entire careers to protecting children and ensuring that children can grow up to be the safest healthiest version of themselves,” said Andrews.

“It is only natural that we see these things that we understand that they’re preventable, and we want to get involved in finding the solutions,” she added.

So far in 2023, high-profile incidents of children accessing firearms have heeded calls for stronger, more consistent laws nationwide, requiring adults to safely secure their guns out of the reach of children and others unauthorized to use them. They have also highlighted a lack of public education on the responsibility of gun owners to store their guns unloaded, locked and away from ammunition, CNN previously reported.

In early January, a 6-year-old boy was taken into police custody after he took a gun purchased by his mother from his home, brought it to school and shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, police said. Just over a week later, a man was arrested in Beech Grove, Indiana, after video was shown on live TV of a toddler, reportedly the man’s son, waving and pulling the trigger of a handgun, CNN previously reported.

Hundreds of children in the US every year gain access to firearms and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else, according to research by Everytown for Gun Safety, a leading non-profit organization focusing on gun violence prevention. In 2022, there were 301 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 133 deaths and 180 injuries nationally, Everytown data showed.

Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among people younger than 24 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Academy of Pediatrics released an updated policy statement in October 2022, stating firearms are now the leading cause of death in children under the age of 24 in the US.

The Academy’s statement urged a “multipronged approach with layers of protection focused on harm reduction, which has been successful in decreasing motor vehicle-related injuries, is essential to decrease firearm injuries and deaths in children and youth.”

The Academy has free educational modules for pediatricians to guide them on how to have what can be challenging or uncomfortable conversations about firearms with families, according to Dr. Lois Kaye Lee, a pediatrician and the chair of the Academy’s Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention.

“This shouldn’t be considered as something extra; it should be considered as part of the work that we do every day around injury prevention, be it around firearms, child passenger safety and suicide prevention,” Lee said.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told CNN the public health approach to addressing gun violence removes the politics from the issue and “puts it into a scientific evidence-based framework.”

“Physicians have a unique opportunity to engage their patients, the parents of kids or the parents themselves as individuals to make their homes safer,” Benjamin said. “We already do this for toxins under our kitchen cabinets, razor blades and outlets in the wall.”

In the emergency department at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, all patients are screened for access to firearms and offered free gun locks, as well as safe storage education, Clukies said. Gun locks can also be mailed to families, free of cost, through the hospital’s website.

“Every patient that comes into our emergency department, whether it’s for a fever or a cold or a broken arm, is asked about access to firearms,” said Clukies, adding 5,000 locks have been given out since the initiatives were started in 2021.

In a collaborative effort between trauma nurses, physicians, social workers, violence intervention experts and family partners, the hospital created a “nonjudgmental” script for doctors to follow as they ask patients about access to firearms, Clukies said.

During the screening process, pediatricians will ask parents or caretakers questions such as: Do you have access to a firearm where your child lives or plays? How is it stored? Is it stored unloaded or loaded?

“When I first started doing this, I would say, ‘Are there any guns in the home? Yes, or no?’ But I have found and learned from other experts that if you just say, ‘If there are any guns in the home, do you mind telling me how they’re secured?’ it takes away the judgment,” said Andrews, a pediatrician whose hospital, the Medical University of South Carolina, also offers free gun locks to patients.

An assortment of cable gun locks offered free of charge by the Medical University of South Carolina.

Families are asked about firearms in the “social history” phase of a patient visit, during which pediatricians will ask who lives in the home, what grade the child is in, what activities they engage in and where the child goes to school, according to Andrews. When parents indicate their firearms are not safely stored, like on the top of a shelf or in a nightstand drawer, Andrews said those are important opportunities for intervention and education about storage devices such as keypad lockboxes, fingerprint biometric safes and other types of lock systems.

It’s also important for pediatricians to understand the parents’ or caretakers’ motivation for owning a firearm to “inform the conversation about where they’re willing to meet you as far as storage goes,” she added.

Andrews and Clukies said they were pleasantly surprised by the willingness of families to discuss firearm safety, most of whom recognize it is an effort to protect their children.

“I expected more pushback than we received, which is attributed to us really focusing on how we properly word these questions,” Clukies said. “I think it’s because we turn it into a neutral conversation, and we focus on safety and prevention.”

Andrews added it is uncommon for medical schools or residencies to discuss gun violence prevention, which she says is due to the “politics around the issue.”

“Thankfully, that has evolved, and more and more pediatricians are realizing that we have to be an integral part of the solution to this problem,” Andrews said.

At the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, pediatricians followed up with patients who received a free gun lock in a research study roughly two months after they launched the initiative in the fall of 2021 to see if their storage practices changed.

The study found two-thirds of families reported using the gun lock provided to them by the hospital and there was a “statistically significant decrease” in those who didn’t store their firearms safely, as well as an increase in those who stored their firearms unloaded, according to Clukies.

But there is still much more work to be done in the medical community to fight the gun violence epidemic and scientific research on the issue is “woefully underfunded,” Andrews contended.

According to the American Public Health Association’s Benjamin, a multidisciplinary approach by policymakers, law enforcement and the medical community is essential to fostering a safer environment for children.

“Injury prevention is a core part of every physician’s job,” Benjamin said. “It’s clearly in our lane.”

Source link

#Pediatricians #giving #free #gun #locks #approach #gun #violence #epidemic #public #health #crisis #CNN

Why Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia means so much for the Gulf monarchy’s sporting ambitions | CNN

Post By Sports , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

It’s a partnership that’s been hailed as “history in the making.”

One of the world’s most famous soccer stars landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, where Cristiano Ronaldo was received in an extravagant ceremony, with excited children sporting his new club’s yellow and blue jerseys.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s success in luring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on a two-year contract with the kingdom’s Al Nassr FC is the Gulf monarchy’s latest step in realizing its sporting ambitions – seemingly at any cost.

According to Saudi state-owned media, Ronaldo will earn an estimated $200 million a year with Al Nassr, making him the world’s highest-paid soccer player.

Shortly after the 37-year-old’s signing with Al Nassr, the club’s Instagram page gained over 5.3 million new followers. Its official website was inaccessible after exceeding its bandwidth limit due to the sudden surge in traffic, and the hashtag #HalaRonaldo – Hello, Ronaldo in Arabic – was trending for days across the Middle East on Twitter.

Analysts say that his recruitment in Saudi Arabia is part of a wider effort by the kingdom to diversify its sources of revenue and become a serious player in the international sporting scene.

It is also seen as a move by the kingdom to shore up its image after it was tarnished by the 2018 dismemberment and killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents, and a devastating war it started in Yemen in 2015.

Critics have decried the kingdom for “sportswashing,” an attempt to burnish one’s reputation through sport.

“I think Saudi Arabia has recognized a couple of years ago that to be a powerful nation internationally, you cannot just rely on hard power,” Danyel Reiche, a visiting research fellow and associate professor at Georgetown University Qatar, told CNN.

“You also need to invest in soft power, and the case of Qatar shows that this can work pretty well,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia is following in the Qatari approach with sport, but with a delay of around 25 years.

Neighboring Qatar has also faced immense criticism since it won the bid to hosting last year’s FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Despite the smaller Gulf state facing similar accusations of “sportswashing,” the tournament has largely been viewed as a success, not least in exposing the world to a different view of the Middle East, thanks in part to Morocco’s success in reaching the semifinals and Saudi Arabia beating eventual World Cup champion Argentina in their opening group game.

Gulf nations engage in fierce competition to become the region’s premier entertainment and sporting hubs. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, in close proximity to each other, each have their own Formula One racing event. But their competition hasn’t been confined to the region. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also bought trophy European soccer teams.

Riyadh is playing catchup with neighbors who have long realized the importance of investing in sports, said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Lille, France, especially as its main source of income – oil – is being gradually shunned.

“This is part of an ongoing attempt to create more resilient economies that are more broadly based upon industries other than those that are derived from oil and gas,” Chadwick told CNN.

Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr is backed by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of the kingdom’s wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has played a pivotal role in Saudi Arabia’s diversification plans.

“It is also a sign of interconnectedness, of globalization and of opening up to the rest of the world,” said Georgetown University’s Reiche.

The move is part of “several recent high profile moves in the sports world, including hosting the Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua world heavywight boxing championship bout in 2019, and launching the LIV Golf championship,” said Omar Al-Ubaydli, director of research at the Bahrain-based Derasat think tank. “It is a significant piece of a large puzzle that represents their economic restructuring.”

The kingdom has been on a path to not only diversify its economy, but also shift its image amid a barrage of criticism over its human rights record and treatment of women. Saudi Arabia is today hosting everything from desert raves to teaming up with renowned soccer players. Argentina’s Lionel Messi last year signed a lucrative promotional deal with the kingdom.

Hailed as the world’s greatest player, 35-year-old Messi ended this year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar with his team’s win over France, making his ambassadorship of even greater value to the kingdom.

The acquisition of such key global figures will also help combat the monarchy’s decades-long reputation of being “secretive” and “ultra-conservative,” James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and an expert on soccer in the Middle East, told CNN’s Eleni Giokos on Wednesday.

Al-Ubaydli said that the kingdom wants to use high profile international sports “as a vehicle for advertising to the world its openness.”

Saudi Arabia bought the English Premier league club Newcastle United in 2021 through a three-party consortium, with PIF being the largest stakeholder. The move proved controversial, as Amnesty International and other human rights defenders worried it would overshadow the kingdom’s human rights violations.

Ronaldo’s work with Saudi Arabia is already being criticized by rights groups who are urging the soccer player to “draw attention to human rights issues” in Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has an image problem,” especially since Khashoggi’s killing, says Reiche. But the kingdom’s recent investments in sports and entertainment are “not about sportswashing but about developing the country, social change and opening up to the world.”

Saudi Arabia is reportedly weighing a 2030 World Cup bid with Egypt and Greece, but the kingdom’s tourism ministry noted in November that it has not yet submitted an official bid. Chadwick believes that Ronaldo’s deal with Al Nassr, however, may help boost the kingdom’s bid should it choose it pursue it.

Another way Saudi Arabia may benefit from Ronaldo’s acquisition is that it will be able to improve commercial performance, says Chadwick, especially if this collaboration attracts further international talent.

“It is important to see Ronaldo not just as a geopolitical instrument,” said Chadwick, “There is still a commercial component to him and to the purpose he is expected to serve in Saudi Arabia.”

What Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia shows is that the kingdom aspires “to be seen as being the best” and that it wants to be perceived as a “contender and a legitimate member of the international football community,” said Chadwick.

UAE FM meets Syria’s Assad in Damascus in further sign of thawing ties

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus on Wednesday in the latest sign of thawing relations between Assad and the Gulf state. The meeting addressed developments in Syria and the wider Middle East, according to UAE state news agency WAM.

  • Background: It was Abdullah bin Zayed’s first visit since a November 2021 meeting with Assad that led to the resumption of relations. Months later, in March 2022, Assad visited the UAE, his first visit to an Arab state since the start of Syria’s civil war.
  • Why it matters: A number of Assad’s former foes have been trying to mend fences with his regime. Last week, talks between the Syrian and Turkish defense ministers were held in Moscow in the highest-level encounter reported between the estranged sides since the war in Syria began. The regional rapprochement is yet to improve the lives of average Syrians. Syria is still under Western sanctions.

Turkish President Erdogan says he could meet with Assad

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday that he could meet the Syrian leader “to establish peace.”

  • Background: Erdogan’s comments came after the Moscow talks between the two nations’ defense ministers and intelligence chiefs. “Following this meeting… we will bring our foreign ministers together. And after that, as leaders, we will come together,” Erdogan said on Thursday.
  • Why it matters: The meeting would mark a dramatic shift in Turkey’s decade-long stance on Syria, where Ankara was the prime supporter of political and armed factions fighting to topple Assad. The Turkish military maintains a presence across the Syrian border and within northern Syria, where it backs Syrian opposition forces. Erdogan has also pledged to launch yet another incursion into northern Syria, aiming at creating a 30-km (20-mile) deep “safe zone” that would be emptied of Kurdish fighters.

Iran shuts down French cultural center over Charlie Hebdo’s Khamenei cartoons

Iran announced on Thursday it had ended the activities of a Tehran-based French research institute, in reaction to cartoons mocking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and fellow Shia Muslim clerics published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this week.

  • Background: Iran summoned the French ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday to protest cartoons published by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. More than 30 cartoons poking fun at Iran’s supreme leader were published by the magazine on Wednesday, in a show of support for the Iranian people who have been protesting the Islamic Republic’s government and its policies.
  • Why it matters: French-Iranian relations have deteriorated significantly since protests broke out in Iran late last year. Paris has publicly supported the protests and spoken out against Iran’s response to them. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna criticized Iran’s freedom of press and judicial independence on Thursday, saying “press freedom exists, contrary to what is going on in Iran and… it is exercised under the supervision of a judge in an independent judiciary – and there too it’s something that Iran knows little of.”

The prized legacy of iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum re-emerged this year when Rolling Stone magazine featured her in its “200 Greatest Singers of All Time.”

Ranking 61st, Umm Kulthum was the only Arab artist to make it to the list, with the magazine saying that she “has no real equivalent among singers in the West.”

Born in a small village northeast of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Umm Kulthum rose to unmatched fame as she came to represent “the soul of the pan-Arab world,” the music magazine said.

“Her potent contralto, which could blur gender in its lower register, conveyed breathtaking emotional range in complex songs that, across theme and wildly-ornamented variations, could easily last an hour, as she worked crowds like a fiery preacher,” it wrote.

Nicknamed “the lady of Arab singing,” her music featured both classical Arabic poetry as well as colloquial songs still adored by younger generations. Her most famous pieces include “Inta Uumri” (you are my life), “Alf Leila Weileila” (a thousand and one nights), “Amal Hayati” (hope of my life) and “Daret al-Ayyam” (the days have come around). Some of her songs have been remixed to modern beats that have made their way to Middle Eastern nightclubs.

The singer remains an unmatched voice across the Arab World and her music can still be heard in many traditional coffee shops in Old Cairo’s neighborhoods and other parts of the Arab world.

Umm Kulthum’s death in 1975 brought millions of mourners to the streets of Cairo.

By Nadeen Ebrahim

Women athletes aim their air rifles while competing in a local shooting championship in Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital Sanaa on January 3.



Source link

#Cristiano #Ronaldos #move #Saudi #Arabia #means #Gulf #monarchys #sporting #ambitions #CNN

Russian-Iraqi Oil Ties “Only Getting Stronger” | Iraq Business News

Post By Oil and Gas , , , , , , ,


By John Lee.

More than 100 representatives of leading Iraqi and Russian businesses took part in the Russian-Iraqi Business Forum in Moscow last week.

According to a press release from The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Ambassador of Iraq in Moscow, Mr. Abdurakhman Al-Husseini, told delegates that Iraq is open to the development of business relations in all areas. This is not only the oil industry, but also various areas of industry, trade, and healthcare. The Iraqi ambassador also reminded that any Russian can apply for a visa at the airport upon arrival in Iraq.

The President of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Abdurazzak Al-Zuheiri, speaking on behalf of the head of the Iraqi delegation, said there was a great desire to promote and strengthen Russian-Iraqi business relations, in particular, in the field of energy, construction, and food supplies.

Ali Warid, Director of the Technical Department of the Iraqi Oil Ministry, noted the long-standing Russian-Iraqi ties in the oil industry. According to him, they are only getting stronger, and most of the projects implemented by large Russian companies in Iraq are economically successful. Among the areas of development, Ali Varid outlined not only exploration, production, but also processing of oil and oil products.

Abbas Salim Hussein, Director of the Livestock Development Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, spoke about the specifics of doing business in Iraq in his industry and called for developing cooperation in the poultry, meat, dairy and fish industries.

Aziz Nadim Al-Isa, director of the Industrial Development Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry, said that since 2003, the Iraqi economy has completely changed and has taken a course towards attracting investment in industry. The country is implementing 25 strategic technological development projects. He stressed that Iraq is interested in cooperation with Russia, primarily with high-tech companies.

Concluding the plenary part, Maksim Malyarchuk, Executive Director of the Russian-Iraqi Business Council at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, spoke about the activities of the Council and assistance to Russian and Iraqi companies in the new conditions. In March, the Central Bank of Iraq banned settlements with the Russian Federation. But, despite this, according to Malyarchuk, today there are examples of direct deliveries from Russia to Iraq, and the issues of mutual settlements and logistics have been conceptually resolved. Also, he noted the growth of requests from the Iraqi side and the interest in importing Russian products.

(Source: The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation)



Source link