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Ukraine to receive 120-140 tanks in “first wave“ of deliveries – minister

2023-01-31T14:07:48Z

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, Romania November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Ukraine will receive 120 to 140 Western tanks in a “first wave” of deliveries from a coalition of 12 countries, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday.

Kyiv secured pledges from the West this month to supply main battle tanks to help fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion, with Moscow mounting huge efforts to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.

“The tank coalition now has 12 members. I can note that in the first wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive between 120 and 140 Western-model tanks,” Kuleba said during an online briefing.

He said those tanks would include the German Leopard 2, the British Challenger 2 and the U.S. M1 Abrams, and that Ukraine was also “really counting” on supplies of French Leclerc tanks being agreed.

Kuleba gave no timeline for any of the deliveries. Time will also be needed for training with the tanks.

Kuleba said Kyiv was working behind the scenes to win over more countries to supply tanks at what officials say is a critical time in the war.

“… We continue to work on both expanding the membership of the tank coalition and increasing the contributions of those already pledged,” he said.

Kyiv plans to launch a major counteroffensive to recapture swathes of territory taken by Russia in the south and east of the country.

The United States has told Kyiv to hold off on those plans until Western military assistance has arrived in Ukraine.

Ukraine is also concerned that Russia could launch its own major offensive in the coming weeks or months.

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Imperial Oil reports higher fourth-quarter profit

2023-01-31T14:12:40Z

Canada’s Imperial Oil Ltd (IMO.TO) reported higher fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by increased refining margins amid elevated energy prices and tight global supplies.

Calgary-based Imperial, which is majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), reported net income of C$1.7 billion, or C$2.86 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from C$813 million or C$1.18 per share, a year earlier.

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Marathon Petroleum tops profit estimates on high demand, tight supplies

2023-01-31T14:11:55Z

Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) on Tuesday beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit as its margins soared amid tight supplies and high demand for refined products.

The top U.S. refiner also approved an additional $5 billion in stock repurchase, while rival Phillips 66 (PSX.N) raised its quarterly dividend by 5% to 97 cents per share.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has criticized oil firms for pouring cash into shareholder payouts rather than expanding capacity despite short supply.

Marathon’s crude capacity utilization was about 94% in the fourth quarter, resulting in total throughput of 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd), which was roughly flat year-over-year.

It expects current-quarter throughput to be 2.8 million bpd and forecast full-year spending of $1.3 billion.

The company’s refining and marketing margins surged 81.5% to $28.82 per barrel compared with last year.

Meanwhile, realized refining margins for rival Phillips 66 jumped 65% to $19.73 per barrel in the October to December quarter.

Profits last year from turning oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel hit multi-decade highs as refineries ran at full throttle to meet rising demand amid a supply squeeze following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and plant closings.

Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon posted fourth-quarter adjusted net income of $6.65 per share compared with analysts’ average estimate of $5.67 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Phillips 66 reported an adjusted income of $4 per share, missing analysts’ expectations of $4.35 per share.

“Refining margins (for Phillips) were weaker than forecast in the Atlantic Basin and West Coast, driving the earnings miss,” said Jason Gabelman, analyst, Cowen and Co.

Marathon shares rose 1.4% in premarket trade, while Phillips 66 slipped 0.4%.

Related Galleries:

A Marathon Petroleum banner covers an Andeavor sign outside the El Paso refinery following a closed $23 billion deal after the Ohio-based Marathon bought the Texas-based company, forming one of the largest global refiners in El Paso, Texas, U.S., October 1, 2018. REUTERS/Julio-Cesar Chavez/File Photo

Cargo shipping containers, surrounded by storage tanks for refined petroleum products, are seen at Marathon Petroleum’s Los Angeles Refinery, in Carson, California, U.S., March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Bing Guan


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Tesla gets Justice Department subpoena for self-driving cars

The U.S. Justice Department has requested documents from Tesla Inc. related to its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” features, according to a regulatory filing.

“To our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred,” Tesla said in the filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle maker cautioned that if the government decides to pursue an enforcement action, it could possibly have a material adverse impact on its business.

A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from the Justice Department.

Tesla is already facing multiple investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for problems with its two driver-assist systems, Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving.”

Despite their names, Tesla still says on its website that the cars can’t drive themselves. Teslas using “Full Self-Driving” can navigate roads in many cases, but experts say the system can make mistakes, which even CEO Elon Musk acknowledges. “We’re not saying it’s quite ready to have no one behind the wheel,” CEO Musk said in October.

The systems have been under investigation by NHTSA since June of 2016 when a driver using Autopilot was killed after his Tesla went under a tractor-trailer crossing its path in Florida. A separate probe into Teslas that were using Autopilot when they crashed into emergency vehicles started in August 2021. At least 14 Teslas that have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the Autopilot system.

Including the Florida crash, NHTSA has sent investigators to 35 Tesla crashes in which automated systems are suspected of being used. Nineteen people have died in those crashes, including two motorcyclists.

“Full Self-Driving” went on sale late in 2015, and Musk has used the name ever since. It currently costs $15,000 to activate the system. That year, Musk said the company will have full autonomy in about three years.

In 2019 he promised a fleet of autonomous robotaxis by 2020, and he said in early 2022 that the cars would be autonomous that year.

Since 2021, Tesla has been beta-testing “Full Self-Driving” using owners who haven’t been trained on the system but are actively monitored by the company. Tesla said this month that 400,000 owners are participating.

Auto safety advocates and government investigators have long criticized Tesla’s monitoring system as inadequate. Three years ago the National Transportation Safety Board listed poor monitoring as a contributing factor in a 2018 fatal Tesla crash in California. The board recommended a better system, but said Tesla has not responded.

NHTSA has noted in documents that numerous Tesla crashes have occurred in which drivers had their hands on the wheel but still weren’t paying attention. The agency has said that Autopilot is being used in areas where its capabilities are limited and that many drivers aren’t taking action to avoid crashes despite warnings from the vehicle.

In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in 2020 that Tesla’s system to make sure drivers are paying attention is not adequate, and it should be limited to areas where it can safely operate.

In premarket trading, Tesla shares slipped 1.3%.

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Hungary FM: Sweden should ‘act differently’ to join NATO

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Sweden’s government should “act differently” if it wants to clinch Turkish support for its bid to join NATO, Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday, adding that a recent Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was “unacceptable.”

Peter Szijjarto made the remark at a news conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Hungary’s capital Budapest. Both diplomats addressed the Jan. 21 anti-Turkish protest that increased tensions between Ankara and Stockholm as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join the NATO military alliance.

“As a Christian and as a Catholic, I must say that burning of a holy book of another religion is an unacceptable act,” Szijjarto said, and criticized a statement by Sweden’s prime minister that while the burning of the Quran was inappropriate and “deeply disrespectful,” it fell under Swedish freedom of speech protections.

“Stating that the burning of a sacred book is part of freedom of speech is just plain stupidity,” Szijjarto said, adding that “perhaps they (Sweden) should act differently than that” if they want to secure Ankara’s backing.

The meeting in Budapest came as Turkey and Hungary remain the only two NATO members that haven’t approved bids by Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance. The northern European neighbors which share a border with Russia dropped their long-standing military neutrality and sought NATO membership in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

A unanimous vote of all 30 NATO members is necessary for admitting new countries.

Cavusoglu said Turkey shares Hungary’s wish for NATO enlargement, but that it was now “impossible for us to confirm (Sweden’s) accession” into the alliance. He called the Quran-burning protest a “provocation which will take us nowhere, it can only lead to chaos.”

Ankara has also said it’s displeased with Sweden’s efforts to crack down on groups that it considers to be terrorist or pose a threat to the country, including Kurdish groups. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support in its membership bid.

Hungary’s government was expected to vote on accepting Sweden and Finland into NATO by the end of last year. The issue will be on the Hungarian parliament’s agenda during its first session of the year in February, Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto said Hungary has a “clear standpoint” on admitting Sweden and Finland into NATO, but would not attempt to influence Turkey either way.

“I never urge any other foreign governments to do things which are not of our concern,” Szijjarto said.

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China accuses Washington of wanting ‘technological hegemony’

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government accused Washington on Tuesday of pursuing “technology hegemony” following news reports the United States might step up pressure on tech giant Huawei by blocking all access to American suppliers.

The possible move, reported by Bloomberg News, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, would tighten restrictions imposed in 2019 that limit Huawei’s access to processor chips and other technology. The company, which makes network equipment and smartphones, was allowed to buy some less-advanced components.

Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of conflict between Washington and Beijing over technology and security. U.S. officials say Huawei is a security risk and might facilitate Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies.

“China is gravely concerned about the reports,” said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning. She accused Washington of “over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power” to suppress Chinese competitors.

“Such practices are contrary to the principles of market economy” and are “blatant technological hegemony,” Mao said.

Mao said Beijing would “defend the legitimate rights” of its companies but gave no indication how the government might respond. Beijing has made similar declarations after past U.S. action against its companies but often does nothing.

The ban on sales of advanced U.S. processor chips and music, maps and other services from Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit crippled Huawei’s smartphone business. The company sold its low-end Honor smartphone brand to revive sales by separating it from the sanctions on its corporate parent.

The Commerce Department agreed to grant export licenses to U.S. companies to allow them to sell less-advanced chips and other technology to Huawei that was deemed not to be a security risk. That followed complaints suppliers would lose billions of dollars in annual sales.

The Biden administration is considering no longer granting such licenses, although no decision has been made, the news outlets reported, citing unidentified people familiar with official deliberations.

Huawei scrambled to remove U.S. components from its network and other products and has launched new business lines serving factories, self-driving cars and other industrial customers. The company hopes those are less vulnerable to U.S. pressure.

Huawei says its business is starting to rebound.

“In 2020, we successfully pulled ourselves out of crisis mode,” Eric Xu, one of three Huawei executives who take turns as chairman, said in a December letter to employees. “U.S. restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual.”

Last year’s revenue was forecast to be little-changed from 2021 at 636.9 billion yuan ($91.6 billion), Xu said.

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Feds use rare veto to block Alaska copper, gold mine plan

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday effectively vetoed a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine in a remote region of southwest Alaska that is a trove of minerals coveted by mining interests but that also supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

The move by the agency, heralded by Alaska Native tribes and environmentalists who have long pushed for it, deals a potentially devastating blow to the proposed Pebble Mine and comes while an earlier rejection of a key federal permit for the project remains unresolved.

Pebble Limited Partnership CEO John Shively in a statement called the EPA’s action “unlawful” and political and said litigation was likely. Shively has cast the project as key to the Biden administration’s push to reach green energy goals and make the U.S. less dependent on foreign nations for such minerals.

The Pebble Limited Partnership, the developer behind Pebble Mine, is owned Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Tuesday’s announcement marks only the 14th time in the roughly 50-year history of the federal Clean Water Act that the EPA has flexed its powers to bar or restrict activities over potential impacts to waters, including fisheries.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said his agency’s use of its so-called veto authority in this case “underscores the true irreplaceable and invaluable natural wonder that is Bristol Bay.”

The veto is a victory for the environment, economy and tribes of Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, which have fought the proposal for more than a decade, said Joel Reynolds, western director and senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The mine would have jeopardized the region’s salmon fishery, which brings thousands of jobs to the area and supplies about half the world’s sockeye salmon, Reynolds said.

The Pebble deposit is near the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed, which supports a bounty of salmon “unrivaled anywhere in North America,” the EPA has said.

The agency, citing an analysis by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said discharges of dredged or fill material to build and operate the proposed mine site would result in a loss of nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) of stream habitat, as well as wetland areas.

The Pebble partnership has maintained the project can coexist with salmon. The partnership’s website says the deposit is at the upper reaches of three “very small tributaries” and expresses confidence any impacts on the fishery “in the unlikely event of an incident” would be “minimal.”

Tuesday’s announcement represents the latest blow to the project. Late in former President Donald Trump’s term in 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit for the project. An appeal filed by the Pebble partnership is pending.

The EPA’s decision said it is prohibiting certain waters from being used as disposal sites for the discharge of material for the construction and operation of the project Pebble proposed. The decision also prohibits future proposals to build or operate a mine to develop the deposit that would result in the same or greater level of impacts and imposes restrictions related to future proposals to develop the deposit.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, called the EPA’s actions “the final nail in the coffin for the Pebble Mine” and the culmination of a “hard fought battle.”

“Now, we will have a thriving Bristol Bay salmon run for generations to come,” she said.

Tribes in the Bristol Bay region in 2010 petitioned the EPA to pursue protections for the area under the federal Clean Water Act. Alannah Hurley, executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, said that to call the EPA announcement “welcome news is an understatement.”

The EPA during the Obama administration proposed restrictions on large-scale mining in the region that were never finalized. The Pebble partnership said the proposed restrictions were based on hypothetical mine plans and argued the project should be allowed to go through the permitting process.

In 2017, during the Trump administration, the parties reached a settlement giving the Pebble partnership time to file a permit application with the Corps of Engineers, which it did. Eventually the EPA withdrew the proposed restrictions, leading to a court challenge from mine critics.

The EPA during the Biden administration asked a judge to vacate the withdrawal decision and send the matter back to the agency for further consideration. That led to the process culminating in Tuesday’s announcement.

The EPA’s action means the Army Corps of Engineers could not approve the mining project as it was proposed even if it made it through an appeals process, said Radhika Fox, EPA assistant administrator for water.

The project is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. The nearest villages are within about 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the deposit.

The EPA’s action ignores the rights of Alaska to see development on more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers) of its land and ignores the interests of the rural villages in the area whose residents could benefit from jobs and economic development, Shively said.

Leila Kimbrell, executive director for the Resource Development Council for Alaska Inc., called the EPA’s decision “a dangerous abuse of power and federal overreach.”

___

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

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‘Time Is of the Essence’: GOP’s Weaponization Committee Won’t Wait Long on Subpoenas

The newly established House committee to investigate the “weaponization of government” will waste no time before flexing its subpoena power, as Republican members prepare to tackle an ambitious oversight agenda on matters that Democrats failed to address when they were in the majority.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) says the committee, officially dubbed the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, is composed of members who know how to “dig,” and they are hungry for answers after having their requests for documents and witnesses ignored when they were in the minority. Though the committee was established just a week ago, its first actions were on matters Stefanik and her colleagues have had their sights on for years. Stefanik says it’s time for answers.

“Time is of the essence, we understand that,” Stefanik told the Washington Free Beacon. “Almost all these document requests have already been issued. There is a process, and we will follow that process, but we will leave no stone unturned.”

Stefanik, now the fourth-ranking House Republican, saw her star rise in the party after demonstrating effective cross-examination of witnesses during impeachment hearings in 2019. The Republican defense of President Donald Trump was credited with unifying the party, showcasing Stefanik, a New York moderate, working well alongside outspoken Freedom Caucus members such as Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio). The two will join forces again on the Weaponization Committee, and Stefanik is excited at the prospect.

“I will tell you, working with Jim Jordan in the past, we know how to dig, dig, dig, how to follow and pull these threads,” Stefanik said. “I’m really looking forward to continuing that in this important committee. This committee is going to be some of the most important work of this majority.”

Armed with subpoena power that comes with the gavel, the committee is letting witnesses know that ignoring it won’t be an option.

Jordan, the committee’s chairman, on Friday issued letters to five subjects and indicated that subpoenas will follow if respondents are unresponsive. Witnesses called to testify include Nina Jankowicz, the TikTok star who was slated to head a “disinformation” board for the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security. Jankowicz was first asked to testify in May 2021 but was unresponsive.

Two other individuals in the committee’s sights, Dr. Viola Garcia and Chip Slaven, were first called in November 2021 due to their involvement in the government’s decision to treat parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists. Neither recognized receipt of the request.

Stefanik says the committee’s focus will be wide-ranging. In recognition of that fact, leadership increased the number of Republicans on the committee from 9 to 12. Other members include Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who led Republican oversight efforts during the Obama administration.

Stefanik’s position on the Weaponization Committee, which is sure to win the political spotlight as it probes issues such as corruption at the FBI, will be an opportunity to showcase the oversight prowess that won her support from colleagues.

“My questions were very fact-based, they were very professional, they were the type of oversight the American people deserve, and it caused a meltdown for Democrats and the far left,” she said. “I wear it as a badge of honor that I asked some of the most effective, important questions in those impeachment hearings.”

Stefanik’s role in oversight also established her as a target of the media. The Associated Press during the impeachment hearings questioned why such a low-ranking Republican was given a starring role in the Republican defense of Trump and suggested she was given the spotlight because she is a woman.

“It was no accident that the GOP featured Stefanik—who looks even younger than her age and is one of only 13 Republican women in the entire House—so prominently,” the wire service wrote, quoting a Democratic member saying she was given the leading role only because “it’s a better look” to have a woman cross-examine witnesses.

Stefanik said the treatment was no surprise and that the “mainstream media is terrified of effective conservative women.”

“It’s become a topic of conversation among Republican women in Congress about how the media just does not want to acknowledge success,” Stefanik said. “They want women to fit in a box and only be in elected leadership on the Democrat side.”

She’s hopeful other Republican women on the committee, such as Reps. Kat Cammack (R., Fla.) and Harriet Hagemen (R., Wyo.), will show that they can be effective in the spotlight as well.

“They’re on this committee for a reason, and it’s because they’re going to work and focus on standing up for the American people and holding these departments accountable,” Stefanik said.

The post ‘Time Is of the Essence’: GOP’s Weaponization Committee Won’t Wait Long on Subpoenas appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

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Podcast: What Next in Russia’s War Against Ukraine? – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Podcast: What Next in Russia’s War Against Ukraine?  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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Trump from Michael_Novakhov (8 sites): The Trump Investigations Network: Michael Novakhov retweeted: 8:04 AM 1/31/2023 – Did James Kallstrom, a specialist in #FBI-FBI electronic surveillance, Trump’s “top fun boy”, a close associate of Giuliani & Co, pull the “Clinton emails & Weiner sexting show”, his last act of rage and revenge? thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2023/01/did-ja… youtube.com/watch?v=7ZVvUs…

Michael Novakhov retweeted:

8:04 AM 1/31/2023 – Did James Kallstrom, a specialist in #FBI-FBI electronic surveillance, Trump’s “top fun boy”, a close associate of Giuliani & Co, pull the “Clinton emails & Weiner sexting show”, his last act of rage and revenge? thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2023/01/did-ja… youtube.com/watch?v=7ZVvUs…

The post Michael Novakhov retweeted:

8:04 AM 1/31/2023 – Did James Kallstrom, a specialist in #FBI-FBI electronic surveillance, Trump’s “top fun boy”, a close associate of Giuliani & Co, pull the “Clinton emails & Weiner sexting show”, his last act of rage and revenge? thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2023/01/did-ja… youtube.com/watch?v=7ZVvUs… first appeared on The Trump Investigations Network.

7441751 The Trump Investigations Network

7771882 Trump from Michael_Novakhov (8 sites)

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