Calling women ‘household objects’ now permitted on Facebook after Meta updated its guidelines – CNN
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Calling women ‘household objects’ now permitted on Facebook after Meta updated its guidelines CNN
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The EU will be without cheap Russian gas following a decision by Ukraine to no longer allow Russia’s gas transferal to occur on Ukraine soil. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats.” The “Brotherhood pipeline” shutdown will allegedly cause Russian gas giant Gazprom more than $6 billion yearly.
EU on brink of gas war after Ukraine cuts off Russia’s £5bn supply | World | News– www.express.co.uk
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Ukraine will no longer allow Russian gas to pass through en route to European neighbours in a move that will hurt both the Kremlin and EU states dependent on Putin’s energy supply.
On January 1, the 2019 deal, which saw gas transit through Ukraine to states like Slovakia and Austria, expired.
President Zelensky heralded the move as “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats”, while his energy minister branded it “historic”.
The closure of the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod, which is also known as the Brotherhood pipeline, will cost Russian gas company Gazprom around £5bn a year – a bitter blow for Putin’s creaking war economy.
However, it’s not just Russia that is reeling following the expiration of the gas deal. Several European states are heavily dependent on Russian gas transported through Ukraine.
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, as well as Moldova, are reliant on the steady flow of energy through Ukraine. Now that that is no longer possible, the only route remaining into Europe from Russia is via the TurkStream pipeline and the BlueSteam pipeline, under the Black Sea.
The Mass Mailer President Joe Biden Committee has ordered all American offshore drilling banned to help “ensure our oceans and coasts are resilient to the threats of climate change and nature loss.” The administration believes somehow the Trump administration cannot undo this order with his own order, though legal skeptics abound.
The White House claimed, “Drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks. As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.”
Biden bans most offshore drilling in one of his final acts of ‘political revenge on the American people’– www.theblaze.com
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President Joe Biden evidenced his desire Monday to continue burning bridges and salting the earth on his way out of office, this time announcing a ban on all new offshore oil and gas drilling along the entire U.S. Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as in Pacific waters off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington and in the Northern Bering Sea bordering Alaska.
While Biden has approved numerous offshore wind projects that not only can have a devastating impact on wildlife and the environment but generate a tremendous amount of pollution, the White House framed his decision to ban offshore drilling as a way to help “ensure our oceans and coasts are resilient to the threats of climate change and nature loss.”
Biden’s ban, executed under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, applies to roughly 334 million acres of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf running down America’s eastern flank from Canada to the southern tip of Florida; to 250 million acres of federal waters off the West Coast; and to 44 million acres of the Northern Bering Sea.
The White House suggested that Biden’s unilateral decision to prevent Americans from taking advantage of the rich and internationally coveted resources under 625 million acres of U.S. ocean would not adversely impact the nation’s energy needs.
“Drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks,” Biden said in a statement. “As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.”
Federal Court Blocks Biden Administration’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules – The Daily Wire
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A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down the Biden administration-backed “net neutrality” regulations implemented last year by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against the FCC’s recent order that said Broadband Internet Service Providers must follow net neutrality rules because they are a “telecommunications service.” Net neutrality rules block broadband providers from varying speeds or blocking connections to third-party websites
In a 26-page decision, Judge Richard Griffin wrote that the FCC “lacks the statutory authority to impose its desired net-neutrality policies” because broadband providers offer an “information service” and are not a telecommunications service under federal law.
Griffin said that because broadband providers are an information service they are not “not subject to common-carrier regulations.”
Biden blocks U.S. Steel takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel, citing national security– www.cnbc.com
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President Joe Biden on Friday officially blocked the takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, making good on his promise to keep an industrial name that is more than a century old under domestic ownership.
Biden said the proposed $14.9 billion acquisition by Nippon would place one of the largest steel producers in the U.S. under foreign control, creating a risk for the nation’s critical supply chains.
“Today’s action reflects my unflinching commitment to utilize all authorities available to me as President to defend U.S. national security, including by ensuring that American companies continue to play a central role in sectors that are critical for our national security,” Biden said in a statement.
U.S. Steel’s stock dropped by nearly 8% in premarket trading Friday following the president’s announcement.
Biden FDA Handing Cartels, Smugglers Huge New Year’s Gift by Banning Cigarettes – RedState– redstate.com
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Excerpt:Like a lot of people, I was a smoker back in the day. Smokes weren’t taxed then as horrendously as they are now; I remember paying under a buck a pack for unfiltered Camels. I haven’t touched a cigarette in decades, but I still enjoy a good cigar now and then, and yes, you pay handsomely for them as well.
There are always ways around those onerous taxes, of course. Ask any smuggler. This is, however, something the outgoing Biden administration, in particular the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), doesn’t seem to understand. On Tuesday, we learned that the FDA is moving ahead with a rule that will effectively ban every cigarette now on the market in the United States. Yes, really.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a regulatory rule in the final days of the Biden administration that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of products with lower nicotine levels, which could end up boosting business for cartels operating on the black market, an expert tells Fox News Digital.
“Biden’s ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it’s cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia. It’s going to keep America smoking, and it’s going to make the streets more violent,” Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the current chair of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital of the proposal.
President-elect Donald Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court, asking them to delay a hearing on the potential TikTok ban from America should it not be sold to an American company. The President submitted an amicus curae, or “friend of the court” brief. He only requested a delay in the hearing, nothing more.
Trump asks Supreme Court to delay hearing on TikTok injunction – The Desk
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President-elect Donald Trump has weighed in on a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing that could decide the fate of short-form social video service TikTok in the coming weeks.
Last Friday, Trump invoked a legal doctrine known as “amicus curae” to file a so-called “friend of the court” brief, during which he took no position on the case at hand but encouraged the Supreme Court to delay its hearing on whether to approve an injunction that prevents TikTok from being banned in U.S. app stores.
The banishment is rooted in a law passed earlier this summer that forces TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S.-based business to a stateside entity. The law was rolled into a federal appropriations bill that was mainly intended to green-light financial funding for the wars in Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden signed the measure into law in April, and ByteDance filed its legal challenge soon after.
The law requires ByteDance to divest its U.S.-based business by January 19; if it doesn’t, the measure requires U.S. app stores run by Google, Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and others to pull the TikTok app, making it unavailable for download to computers, phones, tablets and smart TVs.
The law doesn’t ban Americans from using the service, and the TikTok app currently installed on devices will continue to work as long as ByteDance and the manufacturers of those devices support it. But it makes TikTok much harder to access when users buy new devices or switch from one platform to another, or if they delete the app and decide they want to reinstall it at a later time, because it won’t be available in app stores. (Android and Microsoft users will still be able to download the app beyond app stores, but Apple device users cannot download apps that aren’t available whiten the Apple App Store).
President Donald Trump published a post on Truth Social on Christmas Day that suggests America might have to take the Panama Canal back because the country is charging outlandish rates and handing over the canal’s operations to the Chinese military.
Trump posted, “Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.’”
Trump alleges ‘Chinese soldiers’ operating Panama Canal – Türkiye Today
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump alleged on Wednesday that ‘wonderful Chinese soldiers’ are operating the Panama Canal, sparking questions about U.S. investments in the vital waterway.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Christmas Day, Trump alleged that the Chinese presence is aimed at ensuring that the U.S. invests billions of dollars in repairs without reaping any benefits. “The United States puts in billions of dollars in ‘repair’ money and gets nothing in return,” he said.
Trump also addressed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him “Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada” and suggesting that Canada could achieve significant tax cuts and “would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world” if it joined the U.S. as its 51st state.
Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, is accusing Elon Musk of attempting to push the Republicans to take a softer approach on China and the Chinese Communist Party, especially when it comes to restricting American investment in the anti-American company.
Musk has deep ties to China, specifically through his electric vehicle company, Tesla, who hopes to make billions selling to a Chinese market. While Democrats have far more ties to the CCP than Republicans, it is worth noting that whatever benefits Musk may give the Republicans, he is sure to also bring with him protection for the Chinese Communist Party, for the good of Tesla alone.
Elon Musk Accused Of Bullying Republicans To Scrap US-China Investment Safeguards To Protect Tesla’s Interests – Yahoo Finance
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CEO Elon Musk has been accused by Rosa DeLauro of pressuring Republicans to abandon key U.S.-China investment restrictions to safeguard the EV giant’s business interests in China.
What Happened: In a letter on Friday, DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, stated that Musk used his influence to have Republicans scrap provisions aimed at regulating U.S. investments in China, reported Reuters.
After Mozambique’s ruling party saw a contentious October election deliver them a contested win, the nation has been tense while the process of validation of the election was completed. Now that the election has been “officially validated,” the people have taken to the streets.
The people were met with violence by government forces, resulting in the deaths of 56 people in these latest clashes. So far, 186 people have been killed in clashes that have been occurring since the results of the contested election were first announced in October.
Mozambique Descends Into Chaos as Crisis Over Vote Intensifies– financialpost.com
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(Bloomberg) — A wave of violence spread across Mozambique following the validation of the ruling party’s victory in October’s disputed election, resulting in the deaths of at least 56 people in the African nation.
The death toll has risen to 186 since the unrest began on Oct. 21, according to Decide Platform, a local monitoring group. Rioters looted shops and torched police stations, while GardaWorld’s Crisis24 said that as many as 2,500 prisoners escaped from a maximum security jail outside Maputo, the capital. Authorities are trying to recapture the inmates, according to Crisis24.
Crumbled Omnibus Bill Is A Mess Of Speaker Johnson’s Making– thefederalist.com
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Speaker Mike Johnson is getting some well-deserved coal in his stocking from conservatives livid with the Louisiana Republican’s attempt to play Santa with a Christmas list stopgap spending bill.
The massive house-of-cards measure Johnson countenanced collapsed Wednesday amid scathing criticism from conservatives and an incoming president who urged Republicans to get “SMART and Tough” with Democrats.
Johnson loathes the descriptor, but the proposed resolution the speaker has presided over is nothing more than a bloated omnibus bill packed with pork, censorship, and sweetheart deals for Congress. Turning from his reported intentions to deliver a clean “continuing resolution” to keep the bloated federal government fully open for another few months, the simple spending plan has grown to a bloated 1,500-plus pages.
On Wednesday, the scam proposal included a possible pay hike for congressional members and a provision allowing senators and representatives to opt out of Obamacare for better taxpayer-funded insurance.
Rank-and-file lawmakers currently earn $174,000 annually, with higher pay for those in leadership posts. House members earlier this year blocked a proposed pay raise despite complaints from some.