News of the World

[kyonides]

Iran Tried to Capture US Drone Ship, Pentagon Says

The U.S. Navy has foiled an attempt by Iran to capture an unmanned U.S. drone ship in the Persian Gulf, U.S. military officials confirmed on Aug. 30.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet late on Aug. 29 discovered that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ship was towing a Navy Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) to detain it. A coastal patrol boat, the USS Thunderbolt, immediately responded and the 5th Fleet launched an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from Bahrain, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Actions taken by U.S. Naval forces resulted in the Iranian vessel disconnecting the towing line to the USV, according to the statement.
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The Iranian Guard’s Shahid Baziar warship attached a line to the Saildrone Explorer in the center of the Persian Gulf in international waters, said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a 5th Fleet spokesman. The vessel then began towing the unmanned ship, which carries cameras, radars, and sensors for navigation and data collection, Hawkins said.
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Iranian state-run Tasnim News alleged that “many unmanned American vessels have been deployed to international waters” in recent weeks, saying they pose a danger to “international shipping lanes from Bahrain.” The website didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

California Grid Warns of ‘Flex Alerts,’ Suggests Residents Not to Charge Electric Cars

Californians were warned by the state’s grid operator that they might be asked not to charge electric vehicles in the coming days to prevent blackouts amid a regional heatwave—coming less than a week after state regulators voted to phase out new gas-powered vehicles in favor of electric cars by 2035.
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“During a Flex Alert, consumers are urged to reduce energy use from 4–9 p.m. when the system is most stressed because demand for electricity remains high and there is less solar energy available. The top three conservation actions are to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights,” the ISO said.
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In recent years, the California grid operator has issued flex alerts and made similar statements calling on residents to hold off on charging electric cars.
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The unelected California Air Resources Board (CARB) last Friday voted unanimously to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles, other than some plug-in hybrids, by 2035 as it attempts to transition toward electric vehicles. The state also set targets to require 35 percent of new vehicles sold in the state to produce “zero emissions” by 2026 and said that by 2030, 68 percent of new vehicles need to do the same.

As part of the rule, California regulators will issue fines of up to $20,000 for every vehicle that doesn’t meet the production target by 2035, CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph told the New York Times.
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While Randolph and others have said electric vehicles will go down, the data shows otherwise.

The average price of an electric vehicle in July 2022 was $62,893, up about 15 percent from $54,797 a year earlier, said Edmunds, a car pricing service.

 So how can you ask drivers to go green if that's too expensive and the electric grid is quite unreliable?

Russia Halts Gas Flows to Europe via Key Route, Germany Sees ‘No Cause for Alarm’

Russia halted gas supplies via a key European supply route on Aug. 31 citing maintenance issues, in a move that some European countries see as retaliation for backing Ukraine in the war and that sent prices on a wild ride intraday.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom stated that Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer, Germany, will be out for maintenance until Sept. 3.
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The pipeline’s operator, Nord Stream AG, confirmed on the morning of Aug. 31 that no gas was flowing via the Nord Stream 1 route.

The supply cut sent the price of gas in Europe surging by more than 5 percent on the London ICE exchange, with prices later retreating to trade down at about 7 percent by 7:30 a.m. EDT.

European countries have been racing to fill up their gas storage facilities ahead of winter in order to blunt the impact of reduced flows from Russia, with some analysts crediting the growing reserves cushion for the gas price rally fizzle.

The European Union also plans to intervene in energy markets to keep costs stable, a move that has also put downward pressure on prices in recent days.
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European gas prices have soared to record highs amid reduced supplies from Russia. Prior to the Aug. 31 shutdown, flows via Nord Stream 1 had been running at 20 percent capacity, with Moscow citing equipment problems.
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Gazprom said on Aug. 30 that it would suspend gas deliveries to France because of a payments dispute, which France’s energy minister called an excuse.

Firms Gave Newsom $1.6M in Contributions, Got $5B in California Contracts

The 30 firms—including Big Tech giants, some of the best-known banks in the United States, a select group of public utilities, and five health care titans—are the biggest winners among the more than 201,000 vendors that in 2021 received a total of $87.2 billion in payments from the state government headed by Newsom since 2019.
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The data made public on Aug. 31 by OpenTheBooks.com (OTB), the Illinois-based nonprofit that in 2021 filed more than 47,000 Freedom of Information/public records requests at all levels of government across the country...

All but 27 of the agencies responded, which enabled the nonprofit to publish on its website the 50th state government “checkbook,” along with most federal spending since 2001 and the spending of more than 15,000 municipal governments across the country.
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The biggest winner among the 30 firms is Anthem Blue Cross, which contributed a total of $69,305 to Newsom’s campaigns for governor and received just short of $845 million in payments from the state.
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Second on the list is another health industry giant, United Health Group, which made $120,900 in Newsom campaign contributions and received nearly $545 million in state payments.
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Third, with $13,026 in Newsom contributions, was Bank of America, which was the recipient of nearly $509 million in state money.
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The fourth firm among the top 30 is Granite Construction Co. Watsonville, California-based Granite sent $15,000 in campaign contributions to Newsom and received more than $393 million from the state government.

Fifth is Pacific Gas & Electric, the San Francisco-based public utility that contributed almost $124,000 to Newsom’s campaigns and was the recipient in 2021 of nearly $324 million in payments from the state of California.
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New York-based Citigroup contributed $171,250 to Newsom campaigns and received $264.7 million from California.

Invest in Gavin Newsom's campaigns and you'll become rich  in no time or so it seems.