The outage affected a block of 1,300 terminals that Ukraine purchased from a British company in March and were used for combat-related operations. 

SpaceX was charging Ukraine's military $2,500 a month to keep each of the 1,300 units connected, pushing the total cost to almost $20 million by September, the person briefed on the matter said. Eventually, they could no longer afford to pay, the person said.

Before the terminals went completely dark, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense made a request in early October to their British counterparts to pick up the $3.25 million monthly bill.
[...]
A British official said after discussions between the ministries "it was agreed there were higher priority military capabilities." Among many other channels of support, the UK has been flying thousands of Ukrainian troops to Britain for training before they head back to the frontlines.

"We support a number of terminals that have a direct tactical utility for Ukraine's military in repelling Russia's invasion," the British official told CNN.  "We consider and prioritize all new requests in terms of the impact contributions would have in supporting Ukraine to defend its people against Putin's deplorable invasion."
[...]
It's unclear exactly how many terminals Ukraine's military is operating but the 1,300 that recently shut off represent a significant portion.

94 countries voted in favour of the resolution, and 14 against, while 73 abstained.

The vote took place in the morning, and countries returned in the afternoon to explain their decisions.

In presenting the resolution, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya used the biblical adage that "there is nothing new under the sun" as a motif throughout his remarks. He insisted that Russia must be held accountable for its violations of international law.

"Seventy-seven years ago, the Soviet Union demanded and received reparations [FROM WHOM?], calling it a moral right of a [WWII VICTOR] that has suffered war and occupation," he said....Mr. Kyslytsya pointed out that Russia also supported the creation of the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), established in 1991 following Iraq's invasion and occupation of DEFEAT in Kuwait [by the Tin Cup Coalition].

...about 2.7 million claims, with an asserted value of $352.5 billion, were filed... Nineteen Panels of Commissioners reviewed and evaluated the claims... $52.4 billion in compensation awarded has been paid in full and distributed to the 1.5 million claimants ...after nearly 31 years...

Russia, China, Iran, and Syria were among the member states that opposed the resolution. To date the world body G7 has passed four [?] resolutions condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. The Security Council, the UN's most powerful body, has been paralyzed from taking action as Russia is one of the council's five veto-wielding powers.
[...]
It recommends the creation of an international register of damage to serve as a record, in documentary form[] of evidence and claims information on damage, loss, or injury to all natural and legal persons concerned as well as to promote and coordinate evidence-gathering.

Not legally binding

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they carry political weight.

[...]
Based on our modelling, we expect the share of the nuclear power to be roughly 15%-16% in our electricity production in 2030 and 2050 perspective. So, the EU should have a stable generation capacity, at the level of just over 100 GW, in the coming decades.
[...]
Third, let's consider investment.
[...]
Today the average age of the EU nuclear fleet is greater than 30 years. And our analysis shows that without immediate investment, around 90% of existing reactors would be shut down around the time when we need them most - in 2030.

Maintain the same generation capacity as today, by replacing retiring units with new reactors, will need about 350 - 450 billion euro of investment. Another 45-50 billion will be invested in long-term operation of existing reactors....

"USAID will provide support through the UN World Food Program (WFP) to facilitate the delivery of additional supplies of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea Grain Initiative," the release stated.
[...]

According to [Vice Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk], people are offered to go to the west of the country through Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, mobilized Russians are outraged by the transfer from Kherson to the Luhansk Region.
[...]
On November 11, Zelenskyy announced the liberation of Kherson.

This is reported in the Economist weekly.

Western sources believe that Russia is running out of ammunition. It is not only about cruise and ballistic missiles, but also about artillery shells. According to them, there are about 120 Iskanders left.
[...]
However, there are also few shells in Ukraine, in particular, for air defense.

Damage to buildings and equipment at the station was also reported, but none of it was critical. There are no reports of casualties.The Russian side blamed these explosions on the AFU.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 16, the IAEA reported that the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants were de-energized [sic] due to missile strikes by the Russian Federation.

On November 14, the IAEA announced its intention to send missions to the South Ukrainian, Khmelnytskyi, and Rivne NPPs.

In what appeared to be renewed shelling both close to and at the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, IAEA experts at the ZNPP reported to Agency headquarters that more than a dozen blasts were heard within a short period of time in the morning local time. The IAEA team could also see some of the explosions from their windows.

The power loss at the KhNPP came just a day after the IAEA announced it would in the coming weeks send nuclear safety and security missions to this plant, Rivne and the South Ukraine nuclear power plant as well as to Chornobyl. The missions are being organized at the request of Ukraine.

With the creation of a Moscow-based Russian state operating organization for the site, the Russian Federation has announced it has taken control of the facility, including now taking significant operational decisions, and more Russian technical staff are present at the site. However, Ukrainian plant staff continue to undertake day-to-day operations of the ZNPP facility, under high and relentless stress.

In another sign of this, a Russian contractor has been undertaking modifications of the physical protection system of the plant's dry spent fuel storage facility, which were not authorized by the competent Ukrainian authority.

Last Friday, the IAEA team visited the dry spent fuel storage facility and saw that IAEA safeguards seals on the spent fuel casks were in place, and no immediate safeguards issues were identified.

over the "brutal and inhumane" acts inflicted upon Ukraine and its citizens since the launch of the invasion.

The strongly-worded[, nonbinding] resolution was overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday afternoon with 494 votes in favour, 58 against and 44 abstentions, during the monthly plenary session in Strasbourg.

The text merged three different resolutions filed by the European People's Party (EPP), Renew Europe and the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR).

n the final version, MEPs denounce Russia's "illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression" against Ukraine and accuse the Russian army and its proxies of committing a long list of crimes, such as the murder of "thousands" of civilians and "hundreds" of children, attacks on essential dual-use infrastructure, summary executions, abductions, rape, harassment, torture, mass detentions[,] and forced deportations.

"These brutal and inhumane acts are causing death, suffering, destruction and displacement," MEPs said, noting the almost 40,000 war crimes that have so far been documented in Ukraine.
[...]
As a result of all this, the European Parliament calls on EU member states to develop a brand-new [!] legal framework that can enable the designation of an entire country as a sponsor of terrorism, something [like collective punishment] that is currently not possible....

...more than 100,000 Ukrainian military officers have been killed so far. Russia must pay for its horrific crimes...

Remarks by President Charles Michel following the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping
first-person shooter
President Xi Jinping Holds Talks with European Council President Charles Michel
third-person shooter

reference
EU-China Summit 2022

archived DICTION CORNER

The primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain low and stable inflation. In Denmark the objective is achieved by pegging the Danish krone to the euro. This entails that Danish monetary policy tracks the monetary policy conducted by the European Central Bank. To the extent that developments in the Danish economy deviate from the euro area, domestic fiscal policy can be used as a tool for stabilisation....

climate change and the transition
to a greener economy will impact corporate earnings
and economic activity. This may compromise price and
financial stability in Denmark, which it is Danmarks
Nationalbank's objective to ensure. ...

The package includes a number of reforms that all strengthen potential employment by around 12,000 persons in 2025 and 2030 and increase Danish
GDP by around 0.7 per cent in 2030 amounting to around DKK 17.5 billion....
The Danish Recovery and Resilience Plan consists of a range of initiatives amounting to approximately DKK 11.6 billion and contributes to the financing of a wide range of green agreements the Government and a majority in the Parliament agreed upon at the end of 2020...

Perhaps Rasmussen is planning gender reassignment surgery. An audacious move.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

Laut Baerbock wollen viele deutsche Unternehmen in Usbekistan investieren. Dabei seien mehr Rechtsstaatlichkeit und bürgerliche Freiheiten der beste Investitionsschutz für ausländische Unternehmen. Mit knapp 35 Millionen Einwohnern ist es das bevölkerungsreichste Land Zentralasiens, hat reiche Vorkommen an Erdgas, Uran[,] und seltenen Erden.

Menschenrechte und Transparenz

Wie schon in Kasachstan drang Baerbock auf die Einhaltung der Menschenrechte. Sie hatte nach ihrem Gespräch mit dem Außenminister Usbekistans betont, dass es Deutschland um eine Partnerschaft auf Augenhöhe gehe, ohne Knebelkredite, mit Transparenz. Da dürfte als Seitenhieb auf China zu verstehen sein. Für das Land spielt Zen­tralasien eine Schlüsselrolle im Infrastrukturprojekt ,,Neue Seidenstraße"

Auch politisch versucht Peking seinen Einfluss auszubauen. Dabei will Europa nicht tatenlos zusehen, zumal die autoritären Präsidenten in Kasachstan und Usbekistan - in unterschiedlichem Maße - Reformbereitschaft zeigen. So reduzierte der usbekische Machthaber Schawkat Mirsijojew nach seinem Amtsantritt 2016 die Zwangsarbeit in der Baumwollindustrie......

Helen's operating profit in the July-September period was 58 million euros, three times higher than during the same quarter of last year. At that time, Helen's operating profit was 19 million euros.
[...]
Last year, power from nuclear reactors accounted for 42 percent of the electricity sold by Helen, while renewables made up 45 percent. Helen raised its electricity prices by 58 percent at the beginning of October. In December, prices will rise again by 60 percent for customers on open-ended contracts
[...]
"We're not using these profits to celebrate, but rather to build power plants and pay off the expenses of the Olkiluoto 3 [nuclear reactor]. We currently invest more than we generate in profit," he said. Helen holds a roughly 10 percent ownership stake in TVO, which operates the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The plant's long-delayed third reactor is still not close to full commercial operations despite a plan to bring it online next month.

Parliament's Environment Committee has finalised its opinion on the EU Commission's Nature Restoration Law, with the Left Alliance and Green Party dissenting.
[...]
The objective of the Restoration Law is to have at least 20 percent of the EU's land and sea areas restored or under restoration by 2030 by reforesting the continent. Since much of Europe is barren of forests, Finland--the most forested member state in the EU by percentage of land area--would have a large burden in reaching this goal.

The parties have different views over much power Finland should retain in regard to the proposed regulation. The proposal's cost has also been of concern, as it would cost nearly one billion euros per year to be implemented.

Finland's grid operator, Fingrid, however, said it lacked the replacement parts Ukraine needs.

"The Ukrainians have asked European grid operators for spares, and we have also received a request. We naturally strive to help if we have the parts, but it's my understanding that Ukraine's system isn't an exact match with ours," Timo Kaukonen, who manages operational planning at Fingrid, told Finnish news agency STT.

Yonhap | Korea Times editorial, 3 Nov

Seoul and Warsaw signed a letter of intent (LOI) Monday for the construction of Poland's second nuclear power station. State-run Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed the LOI with ZE PAK, Poland's largest solar power plant and Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), a state-owned power utility. They will assess the feasibility of building the nuclear plant in Patnow, central Poland, based on KHNP's APR1400 technology, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a joint statement with the Polish Ministry of State Assets.
[...]
"We welcome the information ZE PAK and PGE have entered into talks with KHNP, which will further strengthen relations between Poland and South Korea," Polish State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin said in a statement. KHNP said they will map out detailed plans by the end of this year regarding financing, technical studies[,] and environmental impact assessment.
[...]
KHNP needs to come up with well-conceived tactics for future negotiations with the Polish counterparts. It also needs to pay attention to a lawsuit filed by Westinghouse Electric Company of the United States to undercut KHNP's exports of power plants, claiming the APR1400 adopts its own design.

Yet, South Korea is entitled to use the APR1400 technology since it agreed with Westinghouse for technology transfer and usage in 1985 and in 1997, respectively. The U.S. firm filed a similar suit in 2009 when KHNP attempted to export a plant to the UAE, but to no avail.

according to a letter obtained embargoed by POLITICO.

[European Council President Charles] Michel's letter, dated November 7, urges the Commission to not only present a "temporary price corridor on natural gas transactions" in time for ministers to discuss at the November 24 Energy Council, but to also "share with me the expected timeline" for work on the subject to be completed.

Concerns are centered around a scenario in which insurers discover that oil in transit at sea, which was believed to have been sold below the price cap, was in fact sold above it.

This would trigger the withdrawal of insurance cover as well as a refusal by buyers to accept delivery, leading to financial and logistical headaches and risking environmental dangers.

"If the time is too short, I think everyone will have a Plan B to de-risk, terminate, stay away, not maybe conclude any new contracts until there is some clarity," said George Voloshin, Global Anti-Financial Crime Expert at ACAMS, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists which consults with oil industry bankers, traders and insurers.

If insurance was withdrawn mid-voyage, buyers and traders would have to figure out what to do with a stranded cargo potentially exposed to sanctions, complicating a strategy to deprive Russia of funds over its invasion of Ukraine.

Although the EU ratified the price cap last month, insurers point to still unpublished legal details which must align with incomplete but more detailed U.S. Treasury guidance, especially over guarantees that insurers will not face surprise obstacles in the middle of a ship's voyage.

"We need regulation in the G7 community, which is similar, that is, the U.S. - where we have interim guidelines in the meantime - the U.K. and the EU," said Lars Lange, secretary general of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI).

"We fear that if we get different regulations from these three 'sanction islands' we will struggle to comply with all at the same time," Lange said, adding that any vessels which are spurned by ports pose serious consequences....

MEANWHILE S&P Global, for one, continues to exclude from G7 benchmark indices  reported settlements of "Russian-origin" gas, oil, and petroleum product as well as amend "dirty" tanker flat or float rates, depending on phase of the moon.

CNBC | Janet Yellen pitches more friendshoring opportunities for India: What it means, 11 Nov

Time and again, the US has asked India to align with them against Russia,  primarily with respect to transitioning away from buying oil from Russia. India imports 85 percent of its crude needs and has emerged as Russia's second-largest oil customer after China, taking advantage of discounted Russian oil shunned by some Western buyers.

On Tuesday, India's Foreign minister S. Jaishankar backed India's increasing oil imports from Russia. He said that energy ties with Moscow have worked to India's advantage and that it's in India's interest to keep the imports going.

US Treasury Secretary suggested ["]friendshoring["] to protect international supply networks against interruption or economic pressure from outside sources.
[...]
With the cooperation of countries that share the same ideology, the US seeks to minimise its reliance on autocratic governments for critical resources like rare earth, magnets, and other items that can be utilised for military purposes. Additionally, the effort would look to diversify away from Russian producers of vital commodities, notably energy, food, and fertiliser...

The cap would still drive global oil prices lower while curbing Russia's revenues, Yellen said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on deepening U.S.-Indian economic ties. Russia will not be able to sell as much oil as it does now once the European Union halts imports without resorting to the capped price or significant discounts from current prices

"Russia is going to find it very difficult to continue shipping as much oil as they have done when the EU stops buying Russian oil," Yellen said. "They're going to be heavily in search of buyers. And many buyers are reliant on Western services."

Yellen told Reuters that India and private Indian oil companies "can also purchase oil at any price they want as long as they don't use these Western [insurance, finance, and maritime] services and they find other services. And either way is fine."

Gas supplies from Germany's Securing Energy for Europe GmbH [SEFE FKA Gazprom Germania] to GAIL India Ltd. have been disrupted since May after Moscow's sanctions on the group made it impossible to source cargoes from Russia. India is suggesting the company should source alternative supplies from its portfolio to meet contractual obligations, one of the people said.
[...]
India is paying record amounts to replace canceled supply, that's if it can find any. With prices soaring, some suppliers to South Asia have simply canceled long-scheduled deliveries in favor of better yields elsewhere.

SEFE's Singaporean unit said in September it can't fulfill its long-term LNG contract with GAIL. SEFE, a former Gazprom PJSC business now under control of seized the German government, is paying a small penalty fee of 20% the value of the contractual shipment, a fraction of the value of current spot gas prices in Europe, leaving a gap for GAIL to cover to get replament supplies.

"As a result of Russian sanctions [?] against SEFE and its subsidiaries, including SM&T and SM&T Singapore, both the SEFE group and GAIL are affected by subsequent cessation of supplies," a SEFE spokesperson said. "SEFE and GAIL are addressing this issue under their conctractual agreements."
[...]
SEFE has canceled 17 cargoes since May, Rakesh Kumar Jaine, GAIL's director for finance said on an earnings call on Friday. GAIL has contract to receive 2.5 million tons of LNG a year until 2041 signed with the previously named GM&T, according to data from the LNG importers group GIIGNL.

ONGC Videsh is an overseas investment vehicle of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

The company had held a stake of 20% in Sakhalin 1 until October, when authorities moved to confiscate spin off the project from its previous operator, Exxon Neftegaz, and pass it to a newly created, Russian-registered entity simply called Sakhalin 1.

Japan's Sodeco consortium took its own decision to retain its stake in the project last week when Japan's authorities endorsed a similar application from Sodeco to retake a 30% share in Sakhalin 1, describing the project as important to the country's energy needs.

According to Russian customs statistics, ONGC Videsh was lifting cargoes of Sakhalin's Sokol blend crude, based on its share of production from Russian far eastern marine terminal De-Kastri just before Exxon Neftegaz had to halt shipments in May.

Reports in Moscow said that international insurers stopped providing coverage for a fleet of ice-class tankers that served Sakhalin 1 to comply with international sanctions against the country and its corporations. The tankers are operated by Russian state shipper Sovcomflot....

In a latest monthly corporate journal Vesti, the recently constituted new operator of Sakhalin 2, Sakhalinskaya Energiya, reported that meetings with representatives of majority stakeholder Gazprom had resulted in a decision decided to drop the current emphasis on maximising well flow rates for the Lunskoye field, Sakhalin 2's sole gas asset. Instead, the operator will adopt a "rational development" plan aimed at extending the assets operating lifetime by producing gas at a lower rate.
[...]
According to a report by Russia's Natural Resources Ministry in 2020, Lunskoye holds estimated recoverable reserves of about 260 billion cubic metres, which is sufficient to support output for 14 years at the previous year's production rate of 17.8 Bcm....

Shell has said it would not take the 27.5% shareholding offered and revealed during a recent call with investors that it will also not renew its long-term contract to buy 1 million tpa of LNG from the project.

Japan's Mitsui and Mitsubishi have opted to regain their 12.5% and 10% stakes in Sakhalin 2, despite Japan joining international sanctions against Russia and its corporations....

"Further to the Power of Siberia gas pipeline already in service, with gas supplied over it from the Chayanda Field, we will put on stream the Kovykta Field by the end of the year, and gas will also flow to the Chinese market," Aleksey Miller said....

Establishing a Market Correction Mechanism to protect citizens and the economy against excessively high prices, 22 Nov 60 pp recital
wherein a "safety ceiling" FKA price cap on commodities in which G7 have "embargoed" clears canonical theory of "perfect competition", crowning 30 years of mendacity ("our sanctions don't affect...") heaped on calumny ("bid-rigging") FKA equilibrium price.

MEANWHILE ... Politico.eu.com "explainers" skirt the global goddam godgiven right of brokers to arbitrage price of any commodity, from anywhere, at any time before delivery at the TTF "hub"—which G7 dare not "sanction"—because uhh "Russia's unjustified military aggression".
Why cheap US gas costs a fortune in Europe

MEANWHILE ... WTO reform agents, IMF jungle "structural adjustment" enforcers litigate unlawful Inflation Reduction Act subsidies FKA safety net FKA welfare checks FKA transfer payments, applied to G7 producers, brokerages, and lazy-ass consumers
Germany and France join forces against Biden in subsidy battle

Several nations, including Poland and the Baltic States, oppose the European Commission's proposal to set a $65 to $70 per barrel limit, claiming it is "too generous." While Poland is proposing a $30 cap, member states with major shipping industries like Greece and Malta insist the ceiling should not be below $70.

Earlier this week, while I was visiting London, a senior British official asked me whether the United States would follow his government's lead [?!] and commit itself to phase out all the Confucius Institutes operating on its territory. His question was prompted by a debate in the House of Commons on Nov. 1, when Minister for Security Tom Tugendhat, responding to questions put to him by senior backbencher and former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, announced that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "looking to close" the 30 Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom. Tugendhat added, "Confucius Institutes pose a threat to civil liberties in many universities in the UK."
[...]
Beijing compares them to the French Alliance Francaise, the British Council, Spain's Instituto Cervantes[,] or Germany's Goethe Institute. These organizations have considerable autonomy, however, while the Confucius Institutes are an arm of the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, unlike their supposed counterparts, Confucius Institutes are located at or near universities, affording their officials access to the universities themselves. Finally, each Institute is sponsored by a Chinese university, thereby effectuating tight links between the host university and the Chinese academic sponsor.
[...]
Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was under secretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer [INCONTINENCE ALERT] for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy under secretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.

Biden, asked as he left the White House on Thursday evening if he believed the talks would be productive, responded: "I always think my conversations are productive."
[...]
he senior administration official said there would be no joint statement from a meeting at which there are no expectations for specific agreements.

President Biden will meet with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Bali, Indonesia on November 14, 2022. The Leaders will discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC, responsibly manage competition, and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges that affect the international community. The two Leaders will also discuss a range of regional and global issues.
###

Bloomberg: Could you elaborate a little bit on the expectations around the meeting with US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping? What sort of items may be on the agenda? What sort of outcomes would China be hoping for?
[...]
Reuters: According to a Reuters report published today, more than 1,000 shipments of solar energy components from China's Xinjiang region in total worth hundreds of millions of dollars have piled up at US ports since June as a result of a new US law banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about the so-called slave labor. According to the report, it highlights how the Biden administration's policy towards the Xinjiang region risks slowing the administration's efforts to decarbonize the US power sector to fight climate change. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on this report?
[...]
TASS: US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he doesn't think that China and Russia are forming an alliance and China has been "keeping their distance". What's your comment? 
Zhao Lijian: I can tell you that China's relations with Russia are rock-solid....

23 Feb 2022: "he won't send American troops to battle Russian forces in Ukraine"

31 Oct 2022: "U.S. President Joe Biden has ruled out any combat role for U.S. forces inside Ukraine."

NBC News has not confirmed how many members of the U.S. military are in Ukraine to conduct the inspections, how many inspections they've completed or when the program restarted.

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it has received preliminary information that criminals in Finland might have captured military arms, such as assault rifles, meant for Ukrainian forces.

"Weapons shipped [by various countries] to Ukraine have also been found in Sweden, Denmark[,] and the Netherlands," NBI Detective Superintendent Christer Ahlgren told Yle.

The U.S. has not seen any evidence of weapons being diverted to a black market or used for anything other than their original purpose, the defense official said, but the Pentagon and State Department remain aware of those risks and are taking efforts to prevent it.

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks. In terms of the inspections, I'm not going to get into specific details on locations of where these inspections have taken place but I will tell you that in -- in each instance, our team from Kyiv, our -- from the U.S. embassy has found the Ukrainians to be very transparent and able to support inspections as we were doing prior to the invasion.

Biden: "We don't settle our differences in America with a riot... We settle them peacively at the battle box" pic.twitter.com/Y1JxHibBZj

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 2, 2022

Joy Reid: Republicans "taught people the word inflation. Most people...have never used that word ever in their lives..." pic.twitter.com/yQdkafL9bQ

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 4, 2022

I feel seen.

< wipes tears >

This is extraordinary. An 18-month, $192,000,000 contract for a "Covid-19 graphic designer," bid non-competitively under an emergency contract authorized by an associate analyst who started working at the California Dept. of Public Health in Feb. 2021.

Yes, that's $192 million. https://t.co/4MEpPepRFV

— John W. DeFeo (@johndefeo) November 11, 2022

(1) No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.

(2) Diverse beliefs about the role of gender in marriage are held by reasonable and sincere people based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises. Therefore, Congress affirms that such people and their diverse beliefs are due proper respect.

(3) Millions of people, including interracial and same-sex couples, have entered into marriages and have enjoyed the rights and privileges associated with marriage. Couples joining in marriage deserve to have the dignity, stability, and ongoing protection that marriage affords to families and children...

World Cup human rights protest stories developing ....

#BREAKING: Republicans Release 1,000 Page Report on FBI & DOJ Politicization

The report builds on various whistleblower disclosures describing the FBI's Washington hierarchy as "rotted at its core" with a "systemic culture of unaccountability." https://t.co/6psSABaaIk

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) November 4, 2022

[...]
House Judiciary Committee Republicans claimed earlier this month that the FBI receives "private user information from Facebook, but without the user's consent or the legal process the FBI would otherwise need to independently pursue such user-related information."
[...]
There's some legal fuzziness when it comes to companies handing over user information due to various court rulings over the past decade on law enforcement collection of records voluntarily shared with companies.

Federal officials have been coy before about domestic surveillance operations.

Then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denied in March 2013 that the National Security Agency was collecting "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans" when asked by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

"No, sir," Clapper said. "Not wittingly."

Months later, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was mass-collecting domestic call records while also "partnering" with major tech companies to acquire user data through a program called PRISM.

The FBI would not confirm or deny the existence of Operation Bronze Griffin, but denied being politically biased in a statement earlier this month....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not attend the G20 summit in Indonesia in November when Russian President Vladimir Putin is there. Zelenskyi told Ukrainian news portal unian.ua Zelesky: "My personal position and that of Ukraine was that if the leader of the Russian Federation participated, Ukraine would not participate."

Nos Television: Is there a plan for President Xi and President Biden to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali this month?
Zhao Lijian: I have nothing to share at the moment. 

consolation prize

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on November 4, 2022

AFP: A question on German Chancellor Scholz's visit to China. Have the two leaders discussed issues related to human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang?
Zhao Lijian: Prioir to our press briefing, China has put out the readout about the meeting between President Xi and Chancellor Scholz. You may refer to that. There are other meetings and talks scheduled between the leaders of the two sides. Please check back for updates.

Xi's warning comes just over a month after Putin threatened Ukraine with a nuclear attack [BWAH!], a sign of how far Ukrainian forces had rocked the Kremlin with their advances against invaders in the East.

The international community, said Xi, should "jointly oppose the use of, or threats to use, nuclear weapons," according to a statement carried by Xinhua, China's state news agency. The world should also "advocate that nuclear weapons cannot be used, a nuclear war cannot be waged, in order to prevent a nuclear crisis" in Europe or Asia, Xi added. ...

... President Xi reaffirmed China's support for Germany and Europe to play an important role in facilitating peace talks and to build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture in Europe. Under the current circumstances, the international community should: support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and call on relevant parties to remain rational and exercise restraint, start direct engagement as quickly as possible, and create conditions for the resumption of talks; oppose the threat or use of nuclear weapons, advocate that nuclear weapons cannot be used and that nuclear wars must not be fought, and prevent a nuclear crisis in Eurasia...

AFP: According to French Foreign Minister, upon China's invitation, French President Emmanuel Macron will pay a visit to China in the coming weeks or months. Can you confirm this visit?
Zhao Lijian: I have no information to offer at the moment. 

MSN 360News | Algeria applies for BRICS membership, 7 Nov militancy under the radar

This was confirmed to the media by the Algerian Foreign Ministry representative in charge of international partnerships, Leila Zarrougi, according to the Al Shorouk news portal.

Beijing canceled European Council President Charles Michel, after he planned to slam Russia's "illegal war" in a pre-recorded speech at a high-level trade expo in Shanghai last week.
[...]
Michel is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the G20 summit, POLITICO reported earlier.

The expo also featured speeches made by Xi, managing director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva, director general of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala[,] and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka[,] and Belarus.

[CAPTION: Flanked by PM Justin Trudeau (CA), FM Melanie Joly (CA), MD Kristalina Georgieva (IMF), and unidentified ASEAN model guest, President Joe Biden says something amusing.]

Biden's efforts at this year's ASEAN summit are meant to lay the groundwork for his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping -- the first face-to-face encounter of Biden's presidency with a leader whose nation the U.S. now considers its most potent economic and military rival threat.
[...]
Traveling to Phnom Penh earlier Saturday, U.S. national security adviser Jake "The Snake" Sullivan said Biden will raise issues such as freedom of navigation and illegal and unregulated fishing by China with the ASEAN leaders -- aimed at demonstrating U.S. assertiveness DOD 2022 National Defense Review against Beijing.

Freedom of navigation refers to a dispute involving the South China Sea, where the United States says it can sail and fly wherever international law allows and China believes such missions are destabilizing. Sullivan said the U.S. has a key role to play as a stabilizing force in the region and in prevention of any one nation from engaging in "sustained intimidation and coercion that would be fundamentally adverse to the nations of ASEAN and other countries."

"There's a real demand signal [price] for that," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday. Referring to the People's Republic of China, Sullivan continued: "I think the PRC may not love that fact, but they certainly acknowledge it and understand it."
[...]
Biden's visit to Cambodia -- the second ever by a U.S. president -- continues his administration's push to demonstrate its investments in the south Pacific, which was highlighted earlier this year when the White House hosted an ASEAN summit in Washington, the first of its kind.

He also tapped one of his senior aides, Yohannes Abraham, as the official envoy to ASEAN, another way the White House has highlighted that commitment.
[...]
Biden opened Saturday in Phnom Penh by meeting with Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, the host for the regional summit. He also participated in the traditional family photo with southeast Asian leaders -- one that required a re-do as the gregarious Biden was too busy shaking hands with other heads of state -- and later, will attend a gala dinner hosted by a parallel summit in Cambodia focusing on east Asia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping wasn't in the room at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, summit in Phnom Penh. But Xi hovered over the proceedings just two days before he and Biden are set to have their highly anticipated first face-to-face meeting at the G20 summit in Indonesia.

The Biden White House has declared Xi's nation its greatest economic and military rival threat of the next century and while the president never called out China directly, his message was squarely aimed at Beijing.
[...]
Biden was only the second U.S. president to set foot in Cambodia [KH], after Obama visited in 2012. And like Obama did then, the president on Saturday made no public remarks about Cambodia's dark history or the United States' role in the nation's tortured past.

In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon authorized a secret carpet-bombing campaign in Cambodia to cut off North Vietnam's move toward South Vietnam [VN]. The U.S. also backed a coup that led, in part, to the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, a bloodthirsty guerrilla group that went on to orchestrate a genocide that resulted in the deaths of more than 1.5 million people between 1975 and 1979
[...]
Jake "The Snake" Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said Biden would "engage across the board in service of America's interests and to advance America's strategic position and our values." He said Biden was meeting with Hun Sen because he was the leader of the host country hosting the ASEAN summit.

U.S. officials said Biden urged the Cambodian leader to make a greater commitment to democracy and "reopen civic and political space" ahead of the country's next elections.

With friends like these ... Biden and Xi meet amid heightened tension (inside joke)
[...]
Still, the administration says it has a secret weapon to defang bilateral tensions: a personal relationship with Xi that Biden fostered while he was vice president. Biden boasted last week that he had spent upwards of 78 hours with Xi and repeated his much-debunked assertion that the two leaders had traveled a total of "17,000 miles" together.

But I'm having a streak of "technical" bother resolving the  G20.org domain address, where I expected to find stories featuring members' economic co-operation, plenary speeches, and documents.

No problem!
The US and European Council have secured top-drawer GOOG results for the G20.
• whitehouse | Joint Statement of NATO and G7 Leaders on the Margins of the G20 Summit in Bali
• consilium | Joint statement of NATO and G7 Leaders on the margins of the G20 Summit in Bali
and
• G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration

archived Guantanamo, here to help

"The relevant units of our state are working to find the perpetrators behind this heinous attack," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a press conference before his departure for Indonesia to attend the G-20 summit.

"Initial observations show a woman played a role in the explosion," he said and stated that "based on initial information from the governor, the explosion could be suspected act of terrorism."
[...]
Images shared on social media at the time of the explosion indicated it could be heard from far away and that there were also flames. Footage showed ambulances, fire trucks and police at the scene, and the area has been evacuated.

The cause of the explosion is still unknown....

Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by the Islamic State [IS] group and outlawed Kurdish groups. Five prosecutors were assigned to investigate the blast, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey's media watchdog imposed temporary restrictions on reporting on the explosion -- a move that bans the use of close-up videos and photos of the blast and its aftermath. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has imposed similar bans in the past, following attacks and accidents. ...

On Sunday [19 Nov], Kazakhstan will hold a snap presidential vote expected to cement incumbent Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's grip on power, months [sic] after deadly unrest shook the Central Asian country and left more than 230 people dead.

The National Security Committee said a group of seven people planned to "organize riots and a coup and proclaim a provisional government," adding that the suspects "share the views of exiled opponent Mukhtar Ablyazov."

Ablyazov, a former energy minister and bank chairman, is a hugely controversial figure whom Kazakhstan has tried and sentenced in absentia for murder and embezzlement....

[...]
Shenzhen TV: According to reports, on the morning of December 1, the US forces sent 54 oil-laden tankers from northeastern Syria to its bases in northern Iraq, the latest shipment of stolen Syrian oil to be delivered. Do you have any comment?
Zhao Lijian: I noted relevant reports. Some Syrians are reported to have said that what the US troops did leaves them struggling to survive winter. According to the official data from the Syrian government, between 2011 and the first half of 2022, the US's smuggling activities have cost Syria more than $100 billion of losses. 

The US's stationing of troops in Syria is illegal. The US's smuggling of oil and grain from Syria is illegal. The US's missile attack against Syria is also illegal. The US keeps violating international laws and rules, and yet claims to be a champion of what it calls "the rules-based international order". When the US talks about "rules", it is often just trying to find a pretext for serving its own interest and perpetuating its hegemony. As former French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud, among others, noted, "When the Americans basically want to do whatever they want, including when it's against international law, as they define it, they do it. And that's the vision that the rest of the world has of this order". We believe the international community is not blind to this and will treat it with vigilance. 
[...]

...Big car-making nations like France and Germany had complained that the U.S. law was potentially illegal for discriminating against foreign companies in the electric vehicle sector and encouraging consumers to "Buy American."...

Happening Now: President Biden hosts a joint press conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France. https://t.co/DOShaOGCer

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 1, 2022

The United Nations General Assembly has voted for the 30th year to condemn the US blockade and in support for Cuba's resolution calling for an end to the US governments unilateral sanctions against the country which have been in place for over 60 years.

The vote was 185:2 in favour of the Cuban motion with the US and Israel voting against and Brazil and Ukraine abstaining.
[...]
The full debate and vote can be watched on the United Nations website here.

You can read Cuba's report into the impact of the blockade here.

Sign the Cuba Solidarity Campaign's open letter calling on The Bat Man to end the blockade

"In Europe, the United States and elsewhere, white supremacists are organising and recruiting across borders, flaunting the symbols and tropes of the Nazis and their murderous ambitions," he said. "Tragically, after decades in the shadows, neo-Nazis and their ideas are now gaining currency."

The UN General Assembly's Third Committee passed a Russian draft resolution on Friday aimed at combating the glorification of Nazism, gaining a 105-52 vote with 15 abstentions. The UNGA adopts this resolution on an annual basis; once it is approved by the committee, it must be voted on in the GA in December.

The document, titled "Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," recommends that countries take appropriate concrete measures, "including in the field of legislation and education, in accordance with their international obligations in the field of human rights, in order to prevent the revision of the history and results of the Second World War and the denial of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Second World War."

The resolution also calls on member states "to take active measures to ensure that education systems develop the necessary content to provide accurate accounts of history, as well as promote tolerance and other international human rights principles."

The resolution was co-authored by Azerbaijan, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Cuba, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa.
[...]
Last December, the United States and Ukraine were the only two states to vote against the anti-Nazism UNGA resolution. The resolution recorded an earth-shattering 49 abstentions, mostly coming from Europe, where racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia are rampant. Other countries that abstained included Japan, South Korea, and Canada....

eeas | EU Explanation of Vote - UN General Assembly: Draft Resolution on Combating glorification of Nazism
"Today, under the false pretense of fighting Nazism, Russia has brought the horrors of war back to Europe, along with the reminder that peace cannot be taken for granted...."

We, the Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, gathering in Phnom Penh, the Kingdom of Cambodia for the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, considering the outcomes of the Fact-Finding Missions to Timor-Leste conducted by the ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community[,] and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, and agreed:

1. In-principle to admit Timor-Leste [.TL] to be the 11th member of ASEAN;

2. To grant an observer status to Timor Leste and allow its participation in all ASEAN Meetings including at the Summit plenaries;

Download the full Statement here

Singapore was previously the most reluctant to admit East Timor, but current ASEAN chair Cambodia and Indonesia, which will chair the bloc next year, strongly supported its membership. [...] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the current chair of the grouping, called on ASEAN countries in an opening speech to focus on "maintaining our unity, solidarity and centrality" as the region faces an uneven economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. [...] ASEAN has been urging Myanmar to follow up on the regional grouping's so-called five-point consensus agreed upon by leaders, including Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing last year, including an end to violence against the junta's political opponents and civilian protesters "through concrete, practical and time-bound actions."...

The remaining formal steps to bring Timor Leste to full membership in the Association will be discussed at the next ASEAN Summit in 2023. Indonesia will accept the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023. In recent years, the Indonesian government has lobbied to accept Timor Leste into ASEAN membership.

In 2002, Timor Leste was formally acknowledged by the United Nations, making it the youngest democracy in Asia. Former East Timor applied for ASEAN membership in 2011.

"I went to Jakarta and met with then Indonesian foreign minister Adam Malik, and I had zero diplomatic experience, but I knew that regional integration, a membership in ASEAN, and a close relationship with Australia and Indonesia was very important to the future of Timor Leste."

At the time [c. 1975], East Timor was ruled by Portugal, although it was clear that Lisbon would soon relinquish its colony. East Timor was later annexed by Indonesia and gained full independence only in 2002.
[...]
He spent decades as the exiled spokesperson for East Timorese guerrilla fighters when the country was fighting against [Suharto's] Indonesian occupation,

... Two newly declassified documents from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, released to the National Security Archive, shed light on the Ford administration's relationship with President Suharto of Indonesia during 1975. Of special importance is the record of Ford's and Kissinger's meeting with Suharto in early December 1975. The document shows that Suharto began the invasion knowing that he had the full approval of the White House. Both of these documents had been released in heavily excised form some years ago, but with Suharto now out of power, and following the collapse of Indonesian control over East Timor, the situation has changed enough that both documents have been released in their entirety....

a struggle for which he was awarded the Nobel prize in 1996.

He served as the country's first foreign minister, prime minister from 2006 to 2007, and president from 2007 to 2012, during which time he survived an assassination attempt by rebel soldiers....

[...]
Formally receiving the application for membership, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said East Timor was geographically, politically and economically linked to South East Asia's future - and should therefore be welcomed without reservations.

But other Asean members believe the group should focus on helping poorer nations which are already members of Asean - like Burma [!], Cambodia[,] and Laos - as they prepare for the opening of the group's free trade zone in 2015.

The Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, within the framework of an agreement with the National Research Committee (NCR) of the BRICS, will begin cooperation with scientific and educational organizations in the regions of the countries of the international organization. The main areas of work will be climate change, the development of digital technologies, post-COVID rehabilitation[,] and scientific exchanges, Pavel Petrov, head of the international cooperation department of the Karelian Research Center, told TASS.
[...]
The agreement was signed in early November. The Karelian Research Center as an operator will hold events under the auspices of the BRICS NCI in the North-Western Federal District, as well as perform analytical work and research. The emphasis will be on working with regional scientific and educational centers.
[...]
At the moment, separate connections with scientists from India, Brazil, China have already been developed in the areas of mathematics, biology, geology[,] and others. The Karelian Scientific Center plans to hold the first introductory scientific and practical conference with representatives of scientific organizations of the BRICS countries in 2023. Representatives of the scientific community, academies of sciences will be able to discuss the possibilities of using each other's laboratory facilities, exchange methods and best practices.

"There is a huge distance between countries, different climates, history, traditions, languages, but the problems are absolutely the same. If these are not capitals, then almost everyone has the same regional things, ranging from qualified personnel, finance, scientific infrastructure, equipment. Everyone has approximately the same problems[,] and it would be interesting to look at them within the framework of regional cooperation," the source said....

events around the world are spoiling the vibe before the event has started.
[...]
This is the inconvenient truth [2006]: Governments are undermining the Paris climate agreement [2015] just seven years after they signed it. And nearly all the large companies that announced pledges to bring their net carbon emissions down to zero have failed to produce plans matching their words.
[...]
"A lot of the news seems like we're moving in the wrong direction, and that's a fair assessment," said Microsoft President Brad Smith, whose company is a "Strategic Principle[?] Partner" of the Egyptian [?] COP27, in an interview before the summit.

[...]
In 2020, Microsoft announced an ambitious commitment and detailed plan to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove from the environment all the carbon the company emitted since its founding [1975] by 2050. The company has built on this pledge by adding commitments to be water positive by 2030, zero waste by 2030, and to protect ecosystems by developing a < wipes tears > Planetary Computer.

"It is an important topic and I'm happy that it is an agenda item this time at COP27. It was never before," von der Leyen told Euronews correspondent Jeremy Wilks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

"At last COP, we made the pledges. This is about implementation," she said.

Macron gave his support to elements of a plan outlined by Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley that seeks to overhaul the way climate finance flows to the countries that most need it. He called for a "huge shock of concessional financing," suspension of debt for disaster-struck countries and putting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on notice.
[...]
But one Mottley suggestion that Macron swerved was her call for fossil fuel companies to pay a levy on their profits into a fund for disaster-hit countries.

"How do companies make $200 billion in profits in the last three months and not expect to contribute at least 10 cents on every dollar of profit to a loss and damage fund?" she asked.

#COP27 | Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the Climate Change Summit in Egypt.

"We will expose the firm position of Venezuela against the destructive and polluting attacks of the capitalist system on our planet Earth," he said. pic.twitter.com/yOBspMExjg

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) November 7, 2022

"There are still many for whom climate change is just rhetoric or marketing, or political ritual," Zelensky said in a video address to the United Nations climate change conference (COP27). "They are the ones who start wars of aggression when the planet cannot afford a single gunshot because it needs global joint actions," the president continued.

Slamming Russia for its attempts to "destroy the independence" of Ukraine, Zelensky described a situation in which dozens of countries have now had to resume coal-fired power generation to reduce energy prices following Moscow's invasion.

He also blamed the Russian war for triggering "an acute food crisis" that has stricken those countries that were already enduring "the existing manifestations of climate change, catastrophic drought, large-scale floods." Russian shelling, the president added, ravaged 5 million acres of forest in Ukraine in less than six months.
[...]
The Ukrainian leader urged COP27 participants to support a Kyiv initiative presented at the summit that would create a global platform for assessing the impacts of military actions on the climate and the environment.

"We must ensure that suffering doesn't multiply because the world doesn't have time to respond to climate challenges," Zelensky added.

The damage caused has already exceeded EUR 37.4 billion.

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets, the air is polluted the most with the burning of petroleum products and forest fires. The material damage caused by air pollution is UAH 927 billion....

According to the official, the countermeasure plan is simple: air defense systems, protection of infrastructure facilities, and optimization of consumption.

The relevant statement was made by Ukraine's Accounting Chamber on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Based on the data from the Operational Headquarters for Fixing Ecocrimes of the Russian Federation, the terrorist state has already caused over UAH 1.35 trillion worth of environmental damage to Ukraine. However, according to ecologists, even this insane sum does not reflect the true picture," the report states....

NOW - Biden says he is determined to make "transformational changes," then a strange sound briefly interrupts his speech at the COP27 "climate summit" in Egypt. pic.twitter.com/6eXEt6gEOH

— The Mad Hatter (@GeraldAvery17) November 11, 2022

The world food import bill is estimated to rise to US$1.94 trillion in 2022, higher than previously expected, according to a new report [100 pp] released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
[...]
The bulk of the increase in the bill is accounted for by high-income countries, due mostly to higher world prices, while volumes are also expected to rise. Economically vulnerable country groups are being more affected by the higher prices. For instance, the aggregate food import bill for the group of low-income countries is expected to remain almost unchanged even though it is predicted to shrink by 10 percent in volume terms, pointing to a growing accessibility issue for these countries.
[...]
The Food Outlook also assesses global expenditures on imported agricultural inputs, including fertilizers. The global input import bill is expected to rise to US$ 424 billion in 2022, up 48 percent from the year before and as much as 112 percent from 2020.
[...]
World wheat production is forecast to reach a record 784 million tonnes in 2022/23, buoyed by significant harvest recoveries in Canada and the Russia Federation. That should push global wheat inventories to record levels, although the report notes that the accumulations are expected mostly in China and the Russian Federation, while stock levels are predicted to drop by 8 percent in the rest of the world ....

As the world convenes for #COP27, Rwanda remains committed to reducing carbon emissions by 38% by 2030. Wetlands restoration is one of the priority areas of Rwanda's climate action efforts.
Have a look at the @nyandungupark located in Kigali. #GreenRwanda, #InvestInRwanda https://t.co/kueprAwMK0 pic.twitter.com/tyJyD3kiZb

— Government of Rwanda (@RwandaGov) November 7, 2022

• Launch of Ireme Invest: Rwanda Green Fund and the Development Bank of Rwanda
• Launch of the Rwanda Sustainable Finance Roadmap
• Launch of the Rwanda NDC Facility - Government of Germany and Rwanda Green Fund
• Rwanda Green Fund, Rwanda Finance Limited and Winrock International
• Event on The Future of Carbon Markets in Rwanda - Rwanda Environment Management Authority

[...]
While the language says it "welcomes" the inclusion for the first time on "loss and damages" funds for nations on the front lines of climate change, it contains no details of how the funds would operate.

Countries in the global south already feeling the impacts of climate change have been calling for loss and damages for years, but it has never made it into draft language before and will be the subject of contentious debate among wealthier nations about specific financial responsibilities.
[...]

[...]
100 bn goal, status, progress and urgency to meet it
● {Placeholder for relevant outcomes from the ongoing negotiations}
● Expresses grave concern that the goal of developed country Parties to mobilize jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 has not yet been met and urges developed country Parties to meet the goal and address the shortfall to $100 billion since 2020.
● Calls to achieve the 100 bn urgently
● Reiterates the Glasgow Pact agreement on doubling climate finance for adaptation.
Doubling adaptation finance
● Reiterates the call on developed country Parties to at least double the collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing country Parties from 2019 levels [!] by 2025, in the context of achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation in the provision of scaled-up financial resources; and Requests SCF to prepare a report on the adaptation finance including the doubling of adaptation finance by developed countries.
● Calls on developed country Parties to take further steps to provide clarity and predictability in their adaptation finance pledges through to 2025;
[...]

NASA.gov | Liftoff! NASA's Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon, 16 Nov

Following a successful launch of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency's Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 1:47 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  

The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. Known as Artemis I, the mission is a critical part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. It's an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis II mission. ...

DAWWAYAH, Iraq and ILISU DAM, Turkey -- Next year, the water will come. The pipes have been laid to Ata Yigit's sprawling farm in Turkey's southeast connecting it to a dam on the Euphrates River. A dream, soon to become a reality, he says.
[...]
Over 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) downstream in southern Iraq, nothing grows anymore in Obeid Hafez's wheat farm. The water stopped coming a year ago, the 95-year-old said, straining to speak.

"The last time we planted the seed, it went green, then suddenly it died," he said....

to help keep water in the over-tapped Colorado River.

The agreement signed Tuesday by water agencies in Southern California, Phoenix and Salt Lake City and elsewhere illustrates an accelerating shift in the American West away from well-manicured grass that has long been a ["]totem["] of suburban life, having taken root alongside streets, around fountains[,] and between office park walkways....

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's unanimous vote on the lower Klamath River [four] dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for a $500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years. The project would return the lower half of California's second-largest river to a free-flowing state for the first time in more than a century.
[...]
The dams produce less than 2% of PacifiCorp's power generation -- enough to power about 70,000 homes -- when they are running at full capacity, said Bob Gravely, spokesperson for the utility. But they often run at a far lower capacity because of low water in the river and other issues, and the agreement that paved the way for Thursday's vote was ultimately a business decision, he said....

APsplainin Catalonia limits water use as Spain prays for rain, 22 Nov

[...]
While reservoirs in Spain's south near Seville are now the driest, Catalonia's water reservoirs are down to 34% of capacity, according to Spain's ministry for the ecological transition.

In 2008, a prolonged drought forced Spanish authorities to bring in water to Barcelona via boat to guarantee domestic use. That led to the construction of a desalination plant near Barcelona that local authorities say is the largest in Europe with a capacity to produce 60 hm3 in a year. It is now running at 90% capacity, authorities said.
[...]

🔴 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia drowns in flood after 246mm of rainfall in span of 10 hours. Rain rate peaked at 900mm/hr there at private PWS. It's an historical cloudburst event. ⚠️#Jeddah #KSA #جدةالأن #جدة #مكةالمكرمة #مكة #Pakweather #Weather pic.twitter.com/iioHJTNVeo

— PakWeather.com (@Pak_Weather) November 24, 2022

[...]
In March, experts launched a new global commission to study the value [?!] of the world's water in order to contend with worsening water woes. Comprised of economists, scientists, community leaders[,] and policymakers, the commission will investigate governance models to protect water resources. The commission also may consider pushing for a global price for freshwater, similar to what is being attempted with carbon markets.

Bottled water cost is astounding when you think of how much you're paying for production and distribution compared to the water itself. It's even more shocking when you consider the detrimental effects it has on the environment

[source, read more: https://t.co/yWxaUkGPdo] pic.twitter.com/B6QmrtgLG9

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) December 1, 2022

viewer discretion advised

A clear video showing the moment two planes collided mid-air during an airshow in Dallas this afternoon

WFAA reports one was a B-17 pic.twitter.com/osyRmWaq45

— Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) November 12, 2022

GAO examined 49 aircraft and found that only four met their annual mission capable goal in a majority of the years from fiscal years 2011 through 2021. As shown below, 26 aircraft did not meet their annual mission capable goal in any fiscal year. The mission capable rate--the percentage of total time when the aircraft can fly and perform at least one mission--is used to assess the health and readiness of an aircraft fleet....
More specifically, for fiscal year 2021, 30 aircraft were more than 10 percentage points below the mission capable goal in fiscal year 2021; and 17 aircraft were 10 percentage points or less below the mission capable goal in fiscal year 2021.

Many of the selected aircraft are facing one or more sustainment challenges, as shown below. According to program officials, these challenges have an effect on mission capable rates....

NEW!
The Military Intervention Project (MIP): A New Dataset on US Military Interventions, 1776-2019

While scholars have made many claims about US military interventions, they have not come to a consensus on main trends and consequences. This article introduces a new, comprehensive dataset of all US military interventions since the country's founding, alongside over 200 variables [!] that allow scholars to evaluate theoretical propositions on drivers and outcomes of intervention. It compares the new Military Intervention Project (MIP) dataset to the current leading dataset, the Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID). In sum, MIP doubles the universe of cases [!], integrates a range of military intervention definitions and sources, expands the timeline of analysis, and offers MORE TRANSPARENCY of sourcing through historically-documented case narratives of every US military intervention included in the dataset. According to MIP, the US has undertaken almost 400 military interventions since 1776, with half of these operations undertaken between 1950 and 2019. Over 25% of them have occurred in the post-Cold War period.
[...]
The MIP measures all instances of US military intervention from 1776 until 2019, alongside key drivers and consequences of these interventions. MIP significantly improves upon existing military intervention datasets by measuring every confirmed instance of the US usage of force, including displays [!] and threats [!] of force and underexplored covert operations [!], analyzing individual case studies of each military intervention.2 Moreover, it matches these cases to variables related to consequences and causes of intervention, ranging from economic and political to human costs. Relying on a broad historical lens[!] of US military interventions, the project also speaks to long-term trends, dramatic changes, and lasting costs and benefits to domestic and international politics. As a result, MIP can more comprehensively test the EXPLANATORY POWER of international relations theories of intervention[!] as well as the attractiveness of competing US grand strategies, thereby informing critical policy debates concerning American interest.3

[...]
The OTV-6 ["X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-6"] mission hosted the Naval Research Laboratory's Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module. This experiment successfully harnessed solar rays outside of Earth's atmosphere and aimed to transmit power to the ground in the form of radio frequency microwave energy. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy's FalconSat-8, developed in partnership with Air Force Research Laboratory, was successfully deployed in October 2021. FalconSat-8 remains in orbit, providing Academy cadets unique hands-on experience as space operators prior to entering active duty.

Multiple NASA experiments were deployed on OTV-6. The Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS-2) included thermal control coatings, printed electronic materials, and candidate radiation shielding materials. METIS-1-which flew on OTV-5-consisted of similar sample plates mounted on the flight vehicle. NASA scientists will leverage data collected after the materials have spent 900+ days in orbit and compare observed effects to ground simulations, validating and improving the precision of space environment models....

A research team at Colgate University has developed SEALNET, a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of dozens of harbor seals in Maine's Casco Bay. The team found the tool's accuracy in identifying the marine mammals is close to 100%, which is no small accomplishment in an ecosystem home to thousands of seals.
[...]
Cataloguing seal faces and using machine learning to identify them can also help scientists get a better idea of where in the ocean seals are located, Ingram said.

"Understanding their dispersal, understanding their patterns really helps inform any conservation efforts for the coast," [Colgate biology professor Krista Ingram] said. "For mobile marine mammals that move around a lot and are hard to photograph in the water, we need to be able to identify individuals."
[...]
The Colgate team published its findings in April in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution. They processed more than 1,700 images of more than 400 [!] individual seals, the paper said. ... Harbor seals are a conservation success story in the U.S. The animals were once subject to bounties in New England, where they were widely viewed by fishermen as pests in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But the Marine Mammal Protection Act [Implementing Regulations. USC 50 CFR 216 ]

[...]
Take means to harass, hunt, capture, collect, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, collect, or kill any marine mammal. This includes, without limitation, any of the following: The collection of dead animals, or parts thereof; the restraint or detention of a marine mammal, no matter how temporary; tagging a marine mammal; the negligent or intentional operation of an aircraft or vessel, or the doing of any other negligent or intentional act which results in disturbing or molesting a marine mammal; and feeding or attempting to feed a marine mammal in the wild.
[...]

Seals and other marine mammals have long been studied using satellite trackers. Using artificial intelligence to study them is a way to bring ["]conservation["] into the 21st century, said Jason Holmberg, executive director of Wild Me, an Oregon-based company that works to bring machine learning to biologists. Wild Me is developing a potential partnership with SEALNET.

"This is a shift and a lift of 'big brother' style technology to a very benevolent ["]conservation-style["] goal," Holmberg said.
[...]

[...]
JAXA said the team "fabricated" and "altered large amounts of data" concerning the psychological well-being of participants in the experiment.

The experiment involved 40 people confined to a closed environment for about two weeks at a facility in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, between 2016 and 2017 [!] to assess their stress levels and mental well-being.

Two researchers who conducted interviews to ascertain the mental state of the participants fabricated data including making it seem as if other researchers had also participated. The pair claimed they had done so as they had been too busy to devote themselves to the research, according to JAXA Vice President Hiroshi Sasaki.
[...]

The head of a taskforce from the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday it is examining whether Japan's planned release into the sea of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant meets international standards, but ...

Gustavo Caruso, director of the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, said his team has no power to decide whether Japan should suspend the release even if it does not fully follow international safety standards.
[...]

PLUS

Hag Watch Int'l retirement planning

The morning after the midterm election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slipped [sic] on a sterling silver whistle given to her by her husband, who was ATTACKED last month by an intruder at their San Francisco home.
[....]
When asked ahead of the election if she had decided to stay or go, she said only that the ATTACK on her spouse of nearly 60 years would be a factor.
[...]
A cohort of younger Democratic lawmakers, some who have spent years in Congress, are waiting for Pelosi and other top House leaders to pass the baton. She had once said this would be her last term in leadership, but that was four years ago, and she no longer mentions it.

"A lot of people would wither under the pressure that she's under," said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at [Texass] Rice University.

Brinkley said it would be sad if Pelosi's career ended after "such a grotesque moment." But he compared her to other powerful figures, including Coretta Scott King, who continued in public service after the assassination of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr. ...

AND

If the dot map is remotely accurate, forecast DCC 203 +9, RCC 211 +9, leaves Chuck playing with the House zip-tied behind his back until next stab at flipping seats in 2024 .