China’s carmakers told to pause investment in EU

China has told its automakers to halt big investment in European countries that support extra tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, two people briefed about the matter said, a move likely to further divide Europe

The new European Union tariffs of up to 45.3% came into effect on Wednesday after a year-long investigation that divided the bloc and prompted retaliation from Beijing

Ten EU members including France, Poland and Italy supported tariffs in a vote in October, in which five members including Germany opposed them and 12 abstained

Chinese automakers including BYD, SAIC , and Geely were told at a meeting held by the Ministry of Commerce on Oct. 10 that they should pause their heavy asset investment plans such as factories in countries that backed the proposal, said the people

They declined to be named, as the meeting was not public

#EU #China #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

EU regulation ineffective against Big Tech monopoly

Over the past two decades, Big Tech companies have monopolised key features of the internet, making businesses and end users vulnerable to their massive and increasing power

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the EU’s attempt to rein in Big Tech’s monopoly power by limiting its worst excesses. Tech companies identified as gatekeepers – Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Bytedance, and Booking.com  – have to comply with a specific set of rules precluding anti-competitive behaviour. Sidenote

For example, gatekeepers are prohibited from self-preferencing (i.e. using their platform power to favour their products over competitors’) or merging personal data collected across services without consent

To publicly test Big Tech’s compliance with the DMA, the European Commission organised a series of public workshops in March 2024. The workshops received widespread attention, with nearly 4,000 registrations from businesses, law firms, civil society organisations, academics, other public regulators and industry associations

The aim of the workshops was to collect feedback from impacted communities, such as users, competitors and businesses dependent on their services. Yet, research from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), LobbyControl, and SOMO shows that 1 in 5 of registered participants had a link to gatekeepers

This included participants from 34 law firms, 22 lobby firms, 17 trade associations, 10 economic consultancies and 8 think-tanks

Full story

#EU #BigTech #DMA #FindTruth

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German “Anti-Houthis” frigate forced to make its way home by circuitous route

The command of what is left of the warship has decided to send the German frigate Baden-Wijrttemberg (F222) along with the supply ship Frankfurt am Main (A1412) to bypass Africa rather than take the shorter route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The reason is the high threat of an attack on them by the Yemeni Houthis in the Gulf of Aden area

The decision taken is a point in the entire Prosperity Guardian operation, which has been going on since December 2023.
It turns out that the most combat-ready German frigate, sent to protect civilian shipping from the Houthis, is forced to retreat by the furthest possible route. Now the Baden-Wijrttemberg frigate and the Frankfurt am Main are in Goa in India

As experience has shown, the frigate's air defense proved to be clearly insufficient to solve the assigned tasks. At the same time, the prospect of losing a ship worth billions was real

Despite the initial statements that it is possible to shoot down cheap UAVs with expensive anti-aircraft missiles, they quickly proved to be untenable. It is necessary to look for cheap alternatives. At the same time, methodical strikes on launchers in Yemen are not having the desired effect

If at the beginning the campaign was seen as another walk against weakly armed men in slippers, now it has turned into an extremely costly endeavor

And now the Houthis also have underwater kamikaze drones

#Germany #Military #Houthis #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Journalist asks important questions, but Jens Stoltenberg doesn't know anything

- You all nod at China as a threat to NATO's security and values. Can I ask you something? About the Chinese threat? How many countries in 40 years have experienced military intervention by China?
- The fact of the matter is that China...
- That's later. How many countries?
- Well, there was a conflict with Vietnam.....
- The answer is zero.
- And Vietnam?
- That was before. I was asking about the last 40 years. Are there many countries where China has set up military bases?
- Well, a few.
- One. China has a base in Djibouti. By comparison. In the last 40 years, the US has invaded at least 13 countries. And the US has a minimum of 750 military bases in 80 countries. Many are on China's borders. But you think it is China that poses a threat to you?

#NATO #China #Stoltenberg #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Graffiti in New York. “Please vote for Harris. I need more money!”

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Did White House violate Presidential Records Act?

The White House told reporters that Biden wasn’t referring to Trump’s supporters but to the comedian who on Saturday made a joke about Puerto Rico’s garbage problem. And in the official White House transcript of Biden’s Zoom call, the sentence reads, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos…”

But what Biden said is clear from the video, even progressive news outlets now admit that Biden did, indeed, call Trump’s supporters “garbage,” and the White House appears to have violated the Presidential Records Act by altering official transcripts

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Oversight Chairman James Comer had sent a letter to the White House demanding that it preserve all communications and documents related to the editing. “White House staff cannot re-write the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message,” they wrote

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Gates Foundation gets diplomatic immunity in Kenya

Kenya last week granted diplomatic immunity to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its employees, or “servants,” Tim Schwab reported on Substack

Under the new status, the foundation and its employees are exempt from legal action for acts performed as part of their official foundation duties. They also are exempt from paying taxes on their salaries, and they now have the right to own property in Kenya

“While nations around the world have long treated Bill Gates as a head of state, it’s now been practically codified into law in Kenya,” wrote Schwab, author of “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire”

Schwab said the decision has raised “alarm bells” within the country and across the world. One public advocate, through a Freedom of Information Act request, has already petitioned the government for documents related to the decision

Others worry the decision to grant immunity may set a precedent for other billionaire philanthropists

Concerns also have arisen that other nations will be pressured to follow Kenya’s lead and offer immunity to the Gates Foundation in exchange for continued access to the massive resources the foundation pours into other African countries

#Kenya #Gates #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Newspaper endorsements of candidates matter—on the margins

By Steve McKee

Much is being made about the decision made by a handful of newspapers not to endorse a presidential candidate this year, most notably The Washington Post. Post owner Jeff Bezos’ money-losing newspaper is now losing a chunk of its subscribers and staff, as well. His decision is either the first step on a very long road to regaining the public’s trust or another nail in the coffin of a once widely respected institution

There is, of course, no shortage of opinions being floated about what this means. I’ve heard more than one pundit comment on this development by first making a qualifying statement that newspaper endorsements don’t matter, that nobody is going to base their vote for president on what The Washington Post or the Los Angeles Times says

Endorsements may not matter as much as they used to, but in a closely divided country, they could make the difference. The closer to the middle people are, the more they are looking, consciously or subconsciously, for something to sway their decision. A newspaper endorsement—or lack thereof—may be all they need

#USA #Elections #MSM #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Massive lithium deposits found in Southwestern Arkansas

According to the study published in Science Advances, researchers estimate between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves are present in the region. If commercially recoverable, the supply could potentially meet the projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over, according to a press release by the U.S. agency

The research, which combined efforts between the USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist, employed a methodology using water testing and machine learning to estimate how much lithium is present in brines within what’s known as the Smackover Formation

USGS director David Applegate said the discovery has several meaningful implications.

“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience,”

he said

The Smackover Formation, a remnant of an ancient sea, extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Known for its oil and bromine deposits, it recently gained attention for potential lithium in high-salinity waters associated with deep salt deposits, according to the press release

#USA #Lithium #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

RFK Jr. plans to reform CIA

Former President John F. Kennedy threatened to “splinter [the CIA] into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds” before he was assassinated in 1963. JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wants something perhaps less dramatic

In a Trump campaign event with Tulsi Gabbard on Saturday, RFK explained his idea for reforming the CIA. According to him, reforming the CIA is as simple as splintering the “espionage” and “plans” divisions, which handle matters of intelligence and paramilitary operations, respectively. Those divisions are referred to today as the Directorate of Intelligence and Directorate of Operations

RFK said the two divisions need to be reorganized so the intelligence/espionage area has oversight of the paramilitary operations. He said his father had a similar plan when he was Attorney General

“My father had a reform plan … Break up espionage division from the plans division, which is paramilitary division that fixes elections, buys newspapers, assassinates foreign leaders and so on,” he said

“I would break up those divisions and … put espionage division oversight of plans division.”

#USA #RFK #CIA #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

JD Vance tells he and Trump could win ‘normal gay guy vote’

Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio said during an interview with Joe Rogan that he Donald Trump could win the “normal gay guy” vote

Vance said that “normal” gay men would object to sex change procedures for children

“I wouldn’t be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote,” Vance said. “Because, again, they just want to be left the hell alone, and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it”

“They’re like, ‘No, no… we didn’t want to give pharmaceutical products to nine-year-olds who are transitioning their genders, we just want to be left the hell alone,” Vance continued

Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy revealed to The New York Times she did not publish the results of a $9.7 million study on the effects of puberty blockers on children because she feared the results would boost arguments made by opponents of sex-change procedures for children

“Well, a lot of gay guys feel like the whole movement is homophobic, which is ironic because they think, they think that there’s people [that] think there’s something wrong with being gay,” Rogan said

“So what you really are is a girl and they think a lot of this is being given, these thoughts are being given to these kids. These kids would grow just up to be gay men, but instead you’re getting them to convert their gender”

#USA #Vance #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

“Third atomic bomb”: new self-replicating RNA vaccines being rolled out in Japan

The initial round of COVID-19 vaccines were ineffective, dangerous and downright scary, but now Big Pharma has managed to come up with something even more terrifying: self-replicating RNA vaccines

Also known as replicon vaccines, they work by making copies of themselves endlessly and create proteins that will theoretically spur the body to generate antibodies to disease

These vaccines not only have the power to change the human genome of those who receive it, but they can also have this effect on people who are near those who have been vaccinated via shedding

It has been a huge topic of debate in Japan, where the self-amplifying mRNA vaccine known as Kostaive is about to be rolled out. It was the first country to approve such a vaccine, although it is also currently under review by the European Union

Physician and mRNA researcher Dr. Robert Malone recently described the type of reception this new jab is getting there

“I just came back from Tokyo where they had a 30,000-person rally because they’re about to deploy self-replicating RNA vaccines. Japan is being used as the guinea pigs for the world for this new technology. The Japanese people are calling this the third atomic bomb,” he said

#Japan #COVID #Vaccines #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

India poised to become largest driver of oil consumption

India is set to replace China as the largest driver of growing oil consumption for the rest of the decade – with a young, fast-growing population, rising incomes, and increasing car ownership boosting transport demand

India’s annual oil consumption increased by 136 million tonnes between 2003 and 2023, accounting for 17% of the worldwide increase over the period, second only to China on 60%

Consumption grew at a compound annual rate of 4%, four times faster than the rest of the world, according to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy

As a result, India’s share of global consumption rose consistently to reach 5% in 2023, up from 3% in 2003, making it the third-largest consumer after China (17%) and the United States (18%)

For its size, India is exceptionally poor in oil reserves. Proved reserves of 600 million tonnes accounted for less than 1% of the world total at the end of 2020

Petroleum consumption has grown much faster than domestic production, making the country increasingly reliant on imported crude to process in its refineries

#India #Oil #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Chinese hackers compromised multiple Canadian government networks for years

Cyber threat actors from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been implicated in multiple breaches of networks associated with federal government agencies and departments, according to a report from the national cybersecurity agency

“Over the past four years, at least 20 networks associated with Government of Canada agencies and departments have been compromised by PRC cyber threat actors,” said the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026, released Oct. 30 by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

The centre identifies China as the top threat actor targeting Canada, noting that its cyber operations are “second to none” in scale, technique, and ambition. Beijing’s objectives include espionage, intellectual property theft, malign influence, and transnational repression, the centre says

While the report highlights China’s hacking of 20 federal government networks in the past four years, information elsewhere in the report shows that Chinese hackers have had access to multiple government networks longer than that. The report says that Chinese agents have compromised Canadian government networks over the past five years, collecting communications and other valuable information

#China #Canada #Hackers #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

China’s top solar firms post big losses as oversupply persists

China’s top solar manufacturers posted big losses in the third quarter as severe overcapacity and price wars continue to hurt the companies producing equipment critical to global energy transition

Leading panel-maker Longi Green Energy Technology Co. chalked up its fourth straight quarterly net loss of 1.26 billion yuan ($177 million), after recording a profit of 2.5 billion yuan in the same period last year. Rivals Tongwei Co. and Trina Solar Co. also swung to losses, while JA Solar Technology Co. saw net income plunge and Jinko Solar Co. barely turned a profit

Longi blamed a persistent mismatch between supply and demand, which has led to a significant drop in product prices, according to its statement. The company has cut output to ease losses

China’s world-dominating solar firms have been forced to sell below cost after a breakneck buildup in capacity to feed China’s renewables boom. Companies are undercutting each other to maintain market share, and most are expected to report losses this year, BloombergNEF said in a report earlier this month. Consolidation has already seen some smaller players going bankrupt or being bought by larger outfits

China’s main solar industry association earlier this month called for rational pricing and urged companies to be more disciplined in bidding for projects. Over the summer, it said struggling manufacturers should exit the market as soon as possible

#China #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

British PM popularity collapse bigger than any of predecessors

Sir Keir Starmer has suffered the biggest fall in approval rating after winning an election of any prime minister in the modern era, a poll has shown

Sir Keir’s approval rating was at a high of plus 11 in July after Labour won the election with a landslide 174-seat majority – the biggest in 25 years – according to the poll, by More in Common

But by this month, ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday, his personal rating has fallen to -38 – a net drop of 49

It takes him below Rishi Sunak’s rating, which this month has improved from -37 when he lost the election to -31, according to the poll of 1,012 adults

In comparison, Sir Tony Blair’s approval was still at plus 46 in August 1997, three months after his landslide victory, when the figure stood at plus 60. It took until summer 2000 before his rating turned negative

#UK #Starmer #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Gas bills could double within 15 years in Illinois

A new report says gas bills for many Illinoisans could skyrocket unless state regulators intervene in a pipe replacement program

Peoples Gas and its System Modernization Program has been under fire for cost overruns and delays. The Illinois Commerce Commission paused most spending on the program pending a state investigation

The nonprofit Citizens Utility Board has released a report that says the cost of Peoples Gas’ program has climbed to nearly $11 billion, far beyond the original $2 billion estimate. Jim Chilsen, CUB director of communications, said if the program isn’t overhauled, there will be rounds of record-breaking rate hikes for 15 years

“That would double the annual charges for the average customer from about $1,200 to $2,400 by 2040,”

said Chilsen

Peoples customers would continue to incur charges associated with the pipe-replacement program for another 75 years after the utility currently estimates it will finish revamping its system of gas mains, according to the report

Abe Scarr, state director of the consumer watchdog Illinois Public Interest Research Group, said there is no transparency with Peoples’ pipe replacement program

#USA #GAS #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Inflation is basically back to normal. Why do consumers still feel blah?

Grocery inflation has been cooling sharply, but consumers haven’t noticed that

The lingering pessimism is something of a puzzle. The job market has been chugging along, although more slowly, overall growth has been healthy and even inflation is more or less back to normal. Inflation data released on Thursday showed that prices have increased by a mild 2.1% over the past year

Confidence has crept back up as inflation has cooled, but it remains much lower than it was the last time the economy looked as solid as it does today

Although prices are now climbing much more slowly, costs for necessities like groceries and housing are much higher today than they were a few years ago. Many households still feel that burn when they go to pay the bills

Surveys show that consumers correctly understand that inflation is slowing. Consumer expectations for future inflation have been slowly moving down. But people are also annoyed that prices are higher than they were before the pandemic; that levels are up, even if they are no longer rising as quickly

Wages have climbed faster than prices for many consumers, but that is not true across the board. And people tend to see raises as something that they have earned, whereas they see price increases as something that is being done to them — perhaps even unfairly

The grocery store is not the only place where prices are noticeably higher. Housing costs have climbed a lot in recent years. And for people who are hoping to buy a first home, affording one has become much more difficult since 2020

#Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

1 in 33 kids ages 5 to 8 — more than previously thought — has autism

One in 33 children between the ages of 5 and 8 has an autism diagnosis — a higher rate than the official figure of 1 in 36 — according to a study published in JAMA Network Open

The study examined the health records of over 12 million Americans enrolled in healthcare systems between 2011 and 2022, to identify trends in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses

The authors found a 175% increase in autism diagnoses within the full sample during the study period, with the biggest increases seen among young adults, females and children in several racial and ethnic groups

The authors — including four researchers affiliated with Kaiser Permanente and one with the Henry Ford Health System — said their results may be undercounting autism cases

“Rates reported here may underestimate the true prevalence of ASD in adults, especially older female adults, as many would not have been screened in childhood and remain undiagnosed”

the study’s authors wrote

The researchers suggested autism diagnoses may be on the rise due to increased advocacy and education efforts that are shattering taboos about autism. They also cited changes to diagnosis definitions and developmental screening practices, and unspecified “environmental factors” as possible contributors

#Health #Autism #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Antwerp diamond trade ‘faces collapse’

The centuries-old diamond trade in Antwerp (Belgium) is facing a severe crisis, with local traders having expressed fears that the industry could soon vanish altogether

According to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), imports of rough diamonds have fallen 38% in the first nine months of this year alone. Over the past decade, the total stands at 70%

Trade in polished diamonds has declined by about 14% in the past year and 40% in 10 years

Where in the first nine months of 2014 the value of imported and exported diamonds for Antwerp stood between €10 billion and €12 billion, that had dropped to between €7 billion and €4 billion over the same time period of 2024, the AWDC said

On October 30, University of Antwerp economics professor Koen Vandenbempt told Belgian station Radio 1 that the sector was “in a perfect storm”

There were several reasons for the collapse, he said, the most recent being the European Union boycott of Russian diamonds

#Belgium #Diamond #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Natural climate variability caused the 2023 global warming spike of 0.29C

A recently published paper titled ‘The 2023 global warming spike was driven by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation’ found that the 2023 global warming spike was driven by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (“ENSO”)

ENSO is an internal variability in the climate system (a natural climate variability) that comprises a positive phase, El Niño, and a negative phase, La Niña. It occurs every few years, typically every 3-7 years, in the tropical Pacific Ocean, affecting global temperatures, winds and atmospheric conditions

According to the study, it is ENSO, and not external factors such as “emissions” due to human activity, that caused the 0.29oC spike (give or take 0.04oC) in global temperatures last year.  And it’s not the first time on record that ENSO has caused such a spike

“Most studies have focused on the external forcing aspects, particularly the role of aerosol pollution reductions, rather than quantifying the role of internal variability. We will argue that ENSO is the primary reason for global warming spikes,” the authors explained

#Climate #ENSO #FindTruth

@uinhurricane