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Fossil fuel spending to fall for first time since pandemic

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Fossil fuel spending to fall for first time since pandemic

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Investment in fossil fuels will fall this year for the first time since the Covid pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency, led by a contraction in the oil sector where a sharp drop in prices is forcing companies to reassess their plans. 

In its annual report on money flowing into the energy sector, the IEA predicted a 6 per cent drop in spending on oil production this year. Excluding the Covid-19 pandemic years, it will mark the largest fall since 2016, when oil prices crashed below $30 a barrel. 

“This is the first time we have seen such a decline, except for Covid, because of lower prices and lower oil demand,” said Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based intergovernmental energy advisory body. 

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Since hitting $82 a barrel in mid-January, oil prices have fallen to about $65 a barrel after Opec, the oil cartel, started to significantly increase its production. The IEA said US shale oil producers, who account for 15 per cent of global spending on oil production, were the most sensitive to lower prices and would cut their investment by 10 per cent this year. 

It also expects international oil majors to slightly reduce their spending, as they prioritise shareholder returns. The pullback means that the giant state oil companies of the Middle East and Asia will account for 40 per cent of all spending on oil and gas this year, compared with a quarter ten years ago. 

International oil companies are also continuing to cut their spending on clean energy, with the IEA noting that they had collectively invested $22bn in low emissions technology in 2024, some 25 per cent less than the year before.

Overall, the IEA said the world would spend $1.1tn on fossil fuels in 2025, compared with more than $2.2tn on renewable energy, nuclear, batteries, power grids, low emission fuels and energy efficiency. 

While overall spending on fossil fuels will shrink by 2 per cent this year, China and India have both committed to build significant fleets of coal-fired power plants to meet rapid electricity demand growth. By contrast, for the first time on record, the world’s advanced economies placed no new orders for turbines for coal-fired plants. 

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“The addition of coal is mainly driven by energy security reasons,” said Birol. “China had some bitter experiences when there was very hot weather and hydropower was very weak.” 

In the US, where the Trump administration has been plain about its disdain for renewable energy, Birol said the jump in electricity demand from AI and data centres would mean that there would be an additional need for renewables, gas and nuclear.

In a separate report, Enverus, a research firm, said that while there are 517 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in the US that need federal tax credits to be viable, there are 284 gigawatts that do not require such funding.

“If these projects are built at the same pace as last year, that is enough to sustain today’s build-out pace for more than six years,” said Corianna Mah, an analyst at Enverus.

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

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Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

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Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

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A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

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When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

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