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Russia chokes major oil pipeline in further threat to global supplies

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Russia chokes major oil pipeline in further threat to global supplies

Russia is throttling again capability on a serious pipeline that sends crude oil to world markets, driving costs increased and elevating fears that Moscow was ready to retaliate in opposition to western sanctions by curbing its personal power provides.

As much as 1mn barrels a day of oil shipped by means of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s pipeline from central Asia to the Black Sea might be minimize for as much as two months whereas repairs are made to storm-damaged loading services, Russia’s deputy power minister mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday carried by the information company Tass.

The availability interruption comes on the eve of US president Joe Biden’s journey to Europe, the place EU nations are anticipated to debate imposing sanctions on Russia’s oil sector in response to nation’s invasion of Ukraine. The US has already banned Russian petroleum imports.

Worldwide oil costs rose by greater than 2 per cent to $117 per barrel instantly after the pipeline announcement earlier than falling again to $115 a barrel.

Analysts raised questions in regards to the timing of the reported storm harm, as not one of the pipeline’s western companions had been capable of examine the services.

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“If a storm shuts down infrastructure or if Russia shuts down infrastructure, Russia can resolve when it reopens infrastructure,” mentioned Kevin Ebook, managing director at ClearView Power Companions, a Washington-based analysis group.

The pipeline, which runs 1,500km from the large Tengiz oilfield in western Kazakhstan to the port of Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea shoreline, contains oil produced by US supermajors Chevron and ExxonMobil. Russian crude additionally feeds the road from oilfields alongside the route.

The whole pipeline capability is about 1.4mn b/d of oil — about 2.5 per cent of worldwide seaborne oil commerce — and accounts for round two-thirds of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, making it an important artery for the nation’s financial system.

CPC mentioned in an announcement that “present market situations”, an obvious reference to latest western sanctions, would make it more durable to repair components of the port loading services broken throughout a latest storm, which means that shipments might be minimize by two-thirds.

“Russia could make it very tough for repairs to happen given the challenges it’s at present dealing with to promote its personal oil,” mentioned Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Power Features, a consultancy.

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A Biden administration govt order this month banned the import of Russian crude into the US however exempted oil that flows by means of the CPC pipeline so long as it was licensed as coming from Kazakhstan.

ExxonMobil and others have continued to ship by means of it. Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chief govt, mentioned earlier this month that the CPC pipeline was “an necessary supply of provide . . . right into a world which proper now actually wants that oil provide”.

The Russian state is CPC’s largest shareholder with a 24 per cent stake. Chevron and Exxon are among the many different shareholders with 15 per cent and seven per cent stakes, respectively. A three way partnership between Russia’s state-controlled oil producer Rosneft and Shell owns one other 7.5 per cent stake.

Analysts mentioned western strikes to extend sanctions on Russia might set off retaliation from Moscow.

“Because the EU edges nearer to imposing strictures on Russian oil exports . . . rumblings of ‘rupture’ might preview Moscow reducing flows to the west by itself,” ClearView Power Companions mentioned in a be aware.

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Former Trump attorney agrees to cooperation agreement in Arizona 'fake elector' case

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Former Trump attorney agrees to cooperation agreement in Arizona 'fake elector' case

Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty in Atlanta on Oct. 24, 2023, to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings in the Fulton County election subversion case.

John Bazemore/Pool/AFP via Getty Images


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John Bazemore/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

A onetime attorney for former President Donald Trump has agreed to a cooperation agreement with the Arizona attorney general in the state’s “fake electors” case.

Jenna Ellis, an attorney for Trump’s 2020 campaign, is one of 18 individuals charged in April for allegedly scheming to undermine President Biden’s victory in Arizona in 2020 and deliver the state’s 11 electoral votes to Trump.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Monday that Ellis agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and is willing to testify in court. In exchange, the state will drop the nine felonies — including fraud and conspiracy charges — filed against her.

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“This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,” Mayes said in a statement. “I am grateful to Ms. Ellis for her cooperation with our investigation and prosecution. Her insights are invaluable and will greatly aid the State in proving its case in court.”

In a statement, lawyers representing Ellis continued to claim she was not involved in the fake elector scheme.

“We are grateful the Arizona Attorney General’s Office completely dismissed the indictment against Jenna Ellis as she was not involved in the so-called ‘fake elector’ scheme,” attorneys Matt Brown and Matt Melito said in a statement. “Jenna was originally told she was not a target and her cooperation is her continued willingness to tell the truth.”

According to indictment, 11 of the individuals charged in the case — including former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern — signed fraudulent documents claiming Trump won Arizona’s electoral votes. Other Trump allies, including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani, also face charges in the case.

Ellis had pleaded guilty last year in Georgia in the Fulton County election subversion case.

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UK rioters as young as 14 charged as government promises ‘swift justice’

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UK rioters as young as 14 charged as government promises ‘swift justice’

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Rioters as young as 14 years old appeared in court in the UK on Monday, as the government promised that those involved in recent violent unrest will face “swift justice”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called for perpetrators to be named and shamed as soon as possible, as he vowed to “ramp up criminal justice” and said a “standing army” of specialist police officers was being assembled to curb disorder.

The Cobra emergency response group of senior ministers and police and prison leaders met earlier in a bid to halt violence that has spread to more than a dozen towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland and led to hundreds of arrests.

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Authorities were braced for more violence on Monday evening, while further protests are expected later in the week.

On Monday, Lord Alex Carlile, a former independent reviewer of the UK’s terrorism legislation, said prosecutors should consider charging riot ringleaders with terrorism offences.

“Fundamentally what they’re doing is being done for a political reason — trying to undermine the polity of the nation,” Carlile told the Financial Times, adding that any organisations involved in orchestrating violent demonstrations could also be proscribed by the state as terrorist groups.

The police have not requested that the army be called in, while Downing Street insisted the police have the powers and resources they need.

No 10 is also resisting demands from opposition MPs for parliament to be recalled over the crisis.

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Several countries — including the UAE, Nigeria and Indonesia — have nonetheless issued alerts urging their citizens to avoid travel to the UK or attend gatherings while in the country due to the anti-immigration demonstrations and disorder.

Middlesbrough community members clean up after demonstrators caused damage in their neighbourhood © Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Communities across northern England in particular started the week with efforts to clear up the aftermath of the weekend’s disorder, while the first people appeared in court charged in connection with it.

They included a 14-year-old accused of setting off fireworks in the direction of a police van in Liverpool, who pleaded guilty. The first sentencing hearings have been scheduled for later this month.

Suspects also appeared before magistrates in Sheffield, South Tyneside and Belfast. The ages of those appearing in court ranged from teenagers to pensioners, with a 69-year-old in the dock.

Since violence broke out in the wake of the Southport mass stabbing last week there have been 378 arrests, with the tally expected to rise.

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Starmer drew attention to the suspected participants appearing in court on Monday, adding: “I have asked for early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those involved in the process who will feel the full force of the law.”

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, also told the BBC: “We do expect swift justice to take place. We do expect those cases to be reaching court this week.”

However, some suspects will not appear in front of a judge for weeks as the stretched legal system deals with a backlog. Avon and Somerset police said people accused of taking part in criminal unrest in Bristol are likely to attend court in September.

A demonstrator runs from police in Rotherham
A demonstrator runs from police in Rotherham © Hollie Adams/Reuters

Meanwhile, Downing Street warned that foreign state actors could be involved in amplifying online misinformation fuelling disorder on UK streets.

In some parts of the country police stressed that people from a range of backgrounds had taken part in disorder.

Greater Manchester Police chief constable Stephen Watson said that “it was clear that across all events, there were people of all political and cultural backgrounds who attended with the intent of causing trouble and breaking the law”.

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He added: “Justice will be forthwith.” The force tackled violent disorder in both Manchester city centre and Bolton last weekend and said it had made 23 arrests.

Following the Cobra meeting in London, Sir Mark Rowley, the most senior police officer in the country, appeared to grab a reporter’s microphone and cast it to the ground when he was asked about “two-tier policing” — the slogan accusing forces of dealing with some protests and activists more harshly than others.

Sir Mark Rowley
Sir Mark Rowley, Met police commissioner © Carl Court/Getty Images

The Met commissioner had been “in a hurry” when the incident occurred, the force said later.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed over the weekend that the “impression of two-tier policing” had “become widespread” in the UK.

The government also faced criticism from the left over its handling of the disorder.

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and four other independent MPs who campaigned heavily on a pro-Palestinian platform in the election, accused ministers of “pandering to those who have helped foment the ugly racism behind these protests”, as they hit out at “racist terror”.

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In a joint letter to Cooper published on Monday — the latest sign of co-ordination between Corbyn, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam — the quintet welcomed the home secretary’s condemnation of “far-right thuggery”, but said she had not gone “nearly far enough” in identifying hatred against migrants and Muslims that was “driving this violence”.

“When people are under attack for the colour of their skin and their faith, government references to ‘understandable fears’ send mixed messages and only give succour to those seeking to sow hatred and division,” the five MPs said.

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Justice Clarence Thomas took undisclosed trip aboard Harlan Crow’s private jet in 2010, senator says

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Justice Clarence Thomas took undisclosed trip aboard Harlan Crow’s private jet in 2010, senator says

Washington — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did not disclose travel aboard a private jet provided by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in 2010, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee revealed in a letter Monday.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said international flight records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, flew from Hawaii to New Zealand on Crow’s private jet in November 2010 and returned on the plane a week later. The flight manifest shows Crow was also a passenger on the flights, Wyden told Michael Bopp, Crow’s lawyer.

Thomas did not disclose the travel aboard the jet on his annual financial disclosure forms.

Wyden is demanding information from Crow not only about the November 2010 travel, but also about trips Thomas took on the Michaela Rose, Crow’s yacht, and other financial records.

Michael Zona, a spokesman for Crow, said his lawyers have already addressed Wyden’s inquiries, “which have no legal basis and are only intended to harass a private citizen.” He accused the Democratic senator of abusing the Senate Finance Committee’s powers to advance a “politically motivated campaign” targeting the Supreme Court.

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“Mr. Crow and his businesses are in good standing with the IRS,” he said. “He has always followed applicable tax law as advised by national accounting firms who serve as his tax advisors.”

The statement referred Wyden to previous correspondence from Crow’s lawyers. A request for comment from Thomas was not immediately returned.

Wyden’s demand for more information from Crow is part of an investigation he launched into his relationship with Thomas and travel the justice has accepted from the wealthy benefactor. Thomas said last year that he and Crow have been friends for more than two decades, and the justice maintained that he had been advised he did not have to report the travel under disclosure guidelines. 

He pledged to comply with new guidelines from the Judicial Conference, changed in March 2023, about personal hospitality.

Thomas included in his 2023 financial disclosure report trips aboard Crow’s private jet and a stay at his property in the Adirondacks. He also included details about a 2014 real estate transaction with Crow, which had been uncovered by the investigative news outlet ProPublica last year.

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In his latest disclosure report, made public in June, Thomas included an amendment to list two trips he took with Crow in 2019 to Bali and Monte Rio, California.

But Senate Democrats have said they still do not have a complete picture of the travel Thomas received from Crow. The Senate Judiciary Committee revealed in June that Thomas took three undisclosed trips aboard Crow’s private jet, including to Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park, in 2017; and roundtrip flights to Savannah, Georgia, in 2019 and San Jose, California, in 2021. Wyden told Crow’s lawyer in his latest letter that he is still seeking to understand the “means and scale” of his client’s “undisclosed largesse” to Thomas.

“I am deeply concerned that Mr. Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill,” he wrote. “This concern is only heightened by the committee’s recent discovery of additional undisclosed international travel on Mr. Crow’s private jet by Justice Thomas.”

In addition to the private jet travel in 2010, Wyden said Thomas has not disclosed other trips, including aboard the Michaela Rose in Greece and New Zealand, which was reported by ProPublica last year. The senator said a relative of Thomas’ witnessed the justice travel on the yacht in the Caribbean, Russia and the Baltics, trips that were not listed on his financial disclosure forms.

The Oregon Democrat said additional information is necessary to inform several bills his committee is working on, including reforms to the tax code, audit requirements for Supreme Court justices and ethics reform that would bolster disclosure rules for Supreme Court justices.

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“This is not a particularly complicated matter,” Wyden said. “Mr. Crow could easily clarify for the committee whether tax deductions were claimed on superyacht and private jet use by Justice Thomas, but he refuses to do so.”

In the wake of revelations about Thomas’ ties to Crow, congressional Democrats have called for reforms at the Supreme Court. President Biden last week offered three proposals, two of which would require legislation approved by Congress: 18-year term limits for justices and an enforceable, binding code of conduct. 

In response to pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court implemented its own ethics rules in November, but it does not include an enforcement mechanism.

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