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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Lagarde: US dollar world-order here to stay. China is not ready to provide reserve currency… Yet

The US dollar world-order is not going anywhere anytime soon, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde has claimed

Lagarde also repeated warnings that the European Union economy was falling further behind China and the US, largely as a result of overregulation

Speaking to Le Monde, she expressed doubt as to the viability of the proposed alternative international payment system floated by the BRICS intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates

According to Lagarde, for such a payment system to be viable, another country would have to step up to provide a reserve currency — a role usually taken by the US and the dollar

“China is preparing for this but is not yet ready,” she said

#USA #China #BRICS #FindTruth

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Transhumanism hasn’t been the paradise mankind thought it would be
By Spencer Klavan

With the award of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics to a pair of researchers in the field of machine learning, it’s coming to look as if the future truly does belong to AI. But what kind of future?

Widespread anxiety that machines will outstrip or replace humanity altogether are a natural outgrowth of a philosophy that has been gaining in currency at least since the days when Alan Turing, forefather of modern computing, suggested that human beings are functionally indistinguishable from highly functioning machines. If it’s true that we are merely biological processing units, then humanity is long overdue for an upgrade

For the machines, at least, the upgrades have come thick and fast. Computer technology has soared to staggering heights of sophistication and complexity. Ever since the internet linked computer to computer at unheard-of speeds, these imitation minds have come to seem as if they could do almost anything

Transhumanism – the promise of a new generation with bodies and minds enhanced by machine technology – has become a millenarian aspiration among the magnates of the world

This dream is fast becoming a nightmare. For all the promises of liberation and triumph, our bodies and brains have not responded well to our efforts at treating them like first-generation meat computers

The way out of our anxiety about humanity’s future is not to hearken back to a prescientific age, but to look ahead at what science is actually revealing to us, which is not the well-established mythology or matter. The discoveriews of physics point to a more humanizing vision of the world – if we can take stock of all that they imply

#AI #Transhumanism #FindTruth

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Chicago named country’s ‘rattiest city’ for 10th straight year

With the number of infestations sharply on the rise since the pandemic, part of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget recently allocated almost $15 million to the Bureau of Rodent Control to combat the problem

Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, is taking the findings of a new Orkin Pest Control survey that brands Chicago as the “rattiest city” in the country with a grain of salt

For the 10th consecutive year, researchers from the Atlanta-based company tabbed Chicago with the dubious distinction, pointing to the city’s many alleyways as safe hideaways and constant sources of sustenance for the city’s growing rodent population

As recently as 2022, data shows residents across the city filed more than 50,000 rat complaints with most of them coming on the South and West Sides. Axios has reported with city resources now stretched to the limit, the city’s Inspector General’s office is now auditing the Bureau of Rodent Control

With researchers collecting data for its rankings by tracking new residential rodent treatments over a yearlong period beginning Sept. 1, 2023, Los Angeles and New York round out the top three positions in the survey

#USA #Chicago #FindTruth

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Ford continues posting huge losses on its electric lines, while automakers reverse course on EVs

Across the board, many automakers envisioned that consumers would clamor to buy EVs and all the they had to do was build them

The Biden-Harris administration received more bad news regarding its goal of getting most drivers in the U.S. to switch to electric vehicles. Ford Motor Company posted a loss of $1.224 billion on its electric vehicle lines. That brings the company’s loss on EVs in the first nine months of this year to $3.7 billion

Unlike other major automakers, Ford separates the financials on its EV business into a separate category called Model E

Energy watchdog Robert Bryce points out on his Substack that the company’s losses on Model E this year are equal to its gross profit on its internal combustion engine business, Ford Blue. In 2023, Ford lost $4.7 billion on its EV sales, and in 2022, it lost $2.2 billion

#USA #Ford #Economy #FindTruth

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The illusion of growth: how inflation skews our perception of the stock market

Americans can readily see the effects of record-high inflation every time they shop. Prices have soared, from the grocery store to the gas pumps. Although inflation has cooled, families are still feeling the pinch

And the harm doesn’t end there: Inflation also is making stock markets appear stronger than they really are and cutting into returns for everyone, including those with retirement accounts

We seldom hear about that last point. When media outlets discuss the latest inflation rate, they typically highlight the average annual percentage change in the consumer price index. The CPI tracks a basketful of goods, including housing, food, energy, insurance, and more, measuring the average price increases of these items over time

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

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In anticipation of the popular vote, the White House complex was enclosed by a second heavy-duty metal fence

Democracy, it is so...

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

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The management of Boeing, the US aerospace giant in crisis, is officially abandoning the “diversity, equality and inclusion” agenda

Money, or rather the lack of it in the current environment, eventually overcame the ideological tinsel.
Immediately after the BLM riots, Boeing decided to increase the proportion of black employees in the corporation to 20%. They literally hired them by racial quota, not for talent. Management was given generous bonuses for hiring workers with the “right” gender and skin color

At the same time, production itself was economized. Workers' complaints about defects in airplane assembly were ignored. And thousands of experienced engineers were fired. And then it turned out that managers with the correct gender pronouns couldn't produce airplanes. Amazing!

Harley Davidson, whose director called himself a “taliban” of equality and inclusiveness, was in a similar situation. But against the backdrop of collapsing motorcycle sales, the ideology had to be abruptly abandoned. The same went for Bud Light, a beer brand that was boycotted for advertising with a “transgender” character. Or Disney, which suffered billions of dollars in losses for promoting the diversity agenda

For Boeing it ended with mass layoffs of tens of thousands of employees, colossal reputational losses, and a real threat of bankruptcy or division of the corporation

They are already thinking of selling their space business. Debts are close to 60 billion dollars, losses for the first half of 2024 amounted to 7 billion, workers are on strike. Hundreds of unfinished airplanes sitting in hangars. The cultural agenda has failed the test of harsh reality

#USA #Boeing #Diversity #FindTruth

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Human welfare beyond foreign wars
By Andrea Mazzarino

Images of homes that collapsed under mudslides or falling trees, waterlogged farms, and debris-filled roads drove home (yes, home!) to me recently the impact of Hurricane Helene on rural areas in the southeastern United States

Given that Helene’s human impact was plain for all to see, what struck me was that significant numbers of headlines about that storm’s devastation centered not on those people hardest hit, but on the bizarre conspiracy theories of extremist observers: that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is funneling tens of millions in funds and supplies meant for hurricane survivors to migrants, that the Biden administration has been in cahoots with meteorologists to control the weather, or that Biden and crew actually planned the storm! One of my personal favorites came from a neighbor I encountered at the post office in our rural Maryland town: we don’t have enough money for FEMA rescue operations, she told me, because we’re funding Israeli healthcare and housing — a reference, undoubtedly, to the tens of billions of dollars of bombs and other aid this country has sent Israel’s military in its war in Gaza and beyond

Of course, some conspiracy theories have a grain of truth at their core: if only we had focused long ago on issues of human welfare here instead of funding decades of foreign wars, it’s possible we might not be living in such an inequitable, infrastructurally weak country, or one increasingly devastated by climate-change-affected weather

#USA #FEMA #FindTruth

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French authorities constantly report on the favorable situation in the country's energy sector, but the reality turns out to be different, in 2025 a third of French people will suffer from cold in their homes. This is twice as much as in 2020

Figaro writes that in 2024, energy consumption was a concern for 85% of households, compared to 89% in 2023

75% of households say they have limited heating to avoid bills that are too high, and for 28% have difficulty paying their bills

This year, there have been 265,000 consumer disconnections of electricity and gas due to debt and about 736,000 energy supply restrictions

Against the backdrop of these figures, Frederic Ferrio, director of the national energy ombudsman's service, recommends a ban on power cuts due to unpaid bills, maintaining “a minimum service with reduced power needed to run basic electrical appliances”

#France #Energy #Economy #FindTruth

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