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  • Good Friday Agreement & AEH: An Analysis in Biden’s UK & Ireland Visit and its Relevance to Solitary Confinement Reforms – World News Report – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Good Friday Agreement & AEH: An Analysis in Biden’s UK & Ireland Visit and its Relevance to Solitary Confinement Reforms – World News Report – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    Support the Agreement to End Hostilities, 2012, former prison artist Michael D. Russell

    Image depicts the signing of the Good Friday Agreement

    Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern sign the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998

    Image depicts the Angela Davis, MinisterKingXPyeface, and others

    MinisterKingXPyeface putting his arm around fellow prison abolitionist Angela Davis.

    Image depicts self portrait of prison artist C-Note

    Self portrait of prison artist C-Note

    Image depicts MinisterKingXPyeface standing in front of an indoors Hamilton play marquee sign

    MinisterKingXPyeface contemplating on his dream to go from the KAGE to the STAGE.

    The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and the California Prisoner Racial Groups Agreement to End Hostilities of 2012 are examples of successful conflict resolution.

    SILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, April 8, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — On April 11-12, 2023, US President Joe Biden will travel to the UK and Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday accord. The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), was signed a quarter century ago, as a US brokered agreement to help end decades of deadly sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

    Last year, in 2012, marked the 10 year anniversary of the Agreement to End Hostilities (AEH). The AEH was an agreement amongst California prisoners being housed in the most extreme form of long-term solitary confinement, Pelican Bay State Prison’s Short Corridor.

    The AEH was an agreement between the various ethnic groups in the Short Corridor to end racial violence amongst California’s General population housed prisoners,…

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  • Exclusive: India’s Bank of Baroda stops clearing payment for above-cap Russian oil – sources

    Exclusive: India’s Bank of Baroda stops clearing payment for above-cap Russian oil – sources

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    NEW DELHI, April 4 (Reuters) – India’s Bank of Baroda (BOB.NS) has stopped clearing payments for Russian oil sold above the price cap set by the West from this month, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that could expedite transition to a rupee trade mechanism.

    Some Indian refiners were paying in the United Arab Emirates dirham currency for Russian low-sulphur crude priced above the $60 a barrel cap using Bank of Baroda, mainly to Dubai-based traders, sources said.

    The Group of Seven economies, the European Union and Australia, set the price cap late last year to bar Western services and shipping from trading Russian oil unless sold at an enforced low price to deprive Moscow of funds for its Ukraine war.

    “Bank of Baroda is extremely cautious in settling payments for Russian oil bought (at levels) above the price cap,” one of the sources said.

    “They have told us no for settling payments for above-cap barrels,” the person said.

    The state-run lender told refiners last month that it would not settle payment from Russian barrels bought above the price cap, the three sources said.

    Bank of Baroda did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

    Before the Ukraine war, Indian refiners rarely bought oil from Russia due to higher freight costs. After Western sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Indian refiners have been gorging on discounted Russian oil.

    Russia has replaced Iraq as the top oil supplier to India in the last few months, data from trade sources showed.

    Sources anticipate that prices of Russian sweet crude such as Sokol and ESPO Blend, which was sold near $60 a barrel in recent weeks, could breach the price cap due to a sharp spike in global oil prices triggered by Sunday’s OPEC+ decision to cut output.

    Some refiners, mainly private operators, have been clearing payments in dirhams for Russian crude through private lender Axis Bank (AXBK.NS), sources told Reuters last month. It was not clear if Axis Bank had also stopped settling trades for Russian oil sold above the price cap.

    Axis Bank did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

    Although Indian refiners buy Russian oil on a delivered basis, copies of invoices reviewed by Reuters also show shipping charges, which helps in calculating the price of crude at Russian ports.

    Sources said that problems in settling trade for Russian oil could push sellers to accept rupee payments, at least for barrels that exceed the price cap.

    “We have neither stopped nor reduced purchases of Russian oil after Bank of Baroda’s decision … we will consider using rupees to pay for oil purchased above the price cap,” another source said.

    India does not recognise the Western price cap on Russian oil, a senior oil ministry source said last month.

    SETTLEMENT MECHANISM

    India set up a mechanism to settle its international trade in rupees last year. Some Russian banks later opened vostro accounts with banks in India to facilitate rupee trade.

    The mechanism has not yet started given the lack of Russian appetite for rupees and India’s trade deficit with Moscow.

    However, during a visit last week to India, Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian oil major Rosneft, discussed ways to expand cooperation with India across the hydrocarbons value chain, including the possibility of making payments in national currencies.

    A switch to rupee payments would help wean Russia from dollars and would save foreign exchange for India.

    Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Additional reporting by Siddhi Nayak in Mumbai; Editing by Tony Munroe and Jacqueline Wong

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  • Analysis: China’s intensifying nuclear-armed submarine patrols add complexity for U.S., allies

    Analysis: China’s intensifying nuclear-armed submarine patrols add complexity for U.S., allies

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    HONG KONG, April 4 (Reuters) – China is for the first time keeping at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine constantly at sea, according to a Pentagon report – adding pressure on the United States and its allies as they try to counter Beijing’s growing military.

    The assessment of China’s military said China’s fleet of six Jin-class ballistic missile submarines were operating “near-continuous” patrols from Hainan Island into the South China Sea. Equipped with a new, longer-range ballistic missile, they can hit the continental United States, analysts say.

    The note in the 174-page report drew little attention when it was released in late November, but shows crucial improvements in Chinese capabilities, according to four regional military attaches familiar with naval operations and five other security analysts.

    Even as the AUKUS deal will see Australia field its first nuclear-powered submarines over the next two decades, the constant Chinese ballistic missile patrols at sea pile strain on the resources of the United States and its allies as they intensify Cold War-style deployments.

    “We’re going to want to have our SSNs trying to tail them… so the extra demands on our assets are clear,” said Christopher Twomey, a security scholar at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in California, speaking in a private capacity. SSN is a U.S. designation for a nuclear-powered attack sub. “But the point here is that the information – the near continuous patrols – has changed so rapidly that we don’t know what else has changed.”

    The new patrols imply improvements in many areas, including logistics, command and control, and weapons. They also show how China starting to operate its ballistic missile submarines in much the same way the United States, Russia, Britain and France have for decades, military attaches, former submariners and security analysts say.

    Their “deterrence patrols” allow them to threaten a nuclear counterattack even if land-based missiles and systems are destroyed. Under classic nuclear doctrine, that deters an adversary from launching an initial strike.

    The Chinese subs are now being equipped with a third-generation missile, the JL-3, General Anthony Cotton, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told a congressional hearing in March.

    With an estimated range of more than 10,000 kilometres (6,214 miles) and carrying multiple warheads, the JL-3 allows China to reach the continental United States from Chinese coastal waters for the first time, the Pentagon report notes.

    Previous reports had said the JL-3 was not expected to be deployed until China launched its next-generation Type-096 submarines in coming years.

    The Chinese defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Pentagon report and its submarine deployments. The Pentagon did not comment on its earlier assessments or whether the Chinese deployments posed an operational challenge.

    The U.S. Navy keeps about two dozen nuclear-powered attack subs based across the Pacific, including in Guam and Hawaii, according to the Pacific Fleet. Under AUKUS, U.S. and British nuclear-powered subs will be deployed out of Western Australia from 2027.

    Such submarines are the core weapons for hunting ballistic missile subs, backed by surface ships and P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft. The U.S. also has seabed sensors in key sea lanes to help detect submarines.

    Timothy Wright, a defence analyst at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies, said U.S. forces could probably cope with the situation now, but would have to commit more assets in the next 10 to 15 years once the stealthier Type-096 patrols begin.

    China’s rapid expansion of its nuclear forces mean U.S. strategists must contend with two “nuclear peer adversaries” for the first time, along with Russia, he added.

    “That will be of concern to the United States because it will stretch U.S. defences, hold more targets at risk, and they will need addressing with additional conventional and nuclear capabilities,” he said.

    COMMAND AUTHORITY

    China’s navy has for years been thought to have the capability for deterrence patrols, but issues with command, control and communications have slowed their deployment, the military attaches and analysts say. Communications are crucial and complex for ballistic missile subs, which must remain hidden as part of their mission.

    The Jin-class subs, expected to be replaced by the Type-096 over the next decade, are relatively noisy and easy to track, the military attaches said.

    “Something concerning command authority must have also changed, but we just don’t have very good opportunities to talk to the Chinese about this kind of stuff,” Twomey said.

    The Chinese military has emphasised that the Central Military Commission, headed by President Xi Jinping, is the only nuclear command authority.

    Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, said he believed command and communications issues remained a “work in progress”.

    “While China probably has made progress on establishing secure and operationally meaningful command and control between the Central Military Commission and the SSBNs, it seems unlikely that the capability is complete or necessarily fully battle hardened,” he said, using the designation letters for a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

    Two researchers at a Chinese navy training institute in Nanjing warned in a 2019 underwater-warfare journal of poor command organisation and co-ordination among submarine forces. The paper also urged improvements in submarine-launched nuclear strike capability.

    The navy must “strengthen ballistic missile nuclear submarines on patrol at sea, so as to ensure that they have the means and capabilities to carry out secondary nuclear counterattack operations when necessary,” the researchers wrote.

    SOUTH CHINA SEA ‘BASTION’

    With the advent of the JL-3 missile, Kristensen and other analysts expect Chinese strategists to keep their ballistic missile subs in the deep waters of the South China Sea – which China has fortified with a string of bases – rather than risk patrols in the Western Pacific.

    Collin Koh, a security fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said China could keep its ballistic missile submarines in a “bastion” of protected waters near its shores.

    “If I was the planner, I would want to keep my strategic deterrence assets as close to me as possible, and the South China Sea is perfect for that,” Koh said.

    Russia is thought to keep most of its 11 ballistic missile submarines largely in bastions off its Arctic coasts, while U.S., French and British boats roam more widely, three analysts said.

    Kristensen said the more numerous Chinese submarine deployments have meant the PLA and U.S. militaries increasingly “rub up” against each other – increasing the odds of accidental conflict.

    “The Americans of course are trying to poke into that bastion and see what they can do, and what they need to do, so that is where the tension can build and incidents happen,” he said.

    Reporting By Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Gerry Doyle.

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Exits and Entrances (AuthorHouse.com) wins Official Selection Award on Film Freeway (2023) in Rome, Italy – World News Report – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Exits and Entrances (AuthorHouse.com) wins Official Selection Award on Film Freeway (2023) in Rome, Italy – World News Report – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    Exits wins in 2023

    Hemingway 23

    heming2

    Congratulations! “organized labor” wins our Hemingway award for April 12, 2023.

    NEWARK, NJ, USA, April 1, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Exits and Entrances (AuthorHouse.com) wins Official Selection Award on Film Freeway (2023) in Rome, Italy.

    Exits and Entrances (AuthorHouse.com) wins award on Film Freeway as best book in 2023 in Rome, Italy.

    Having produced and seen opera since I was in high-school EVERY performance that goes well is a miracle. There have been disasters at The Met, NY City Opera between management and singers; directors and designers; stage-hands and stage managers and Off-Broadway. Don’t break a leg is often in play on or off-stage.

    Exits and Entrances (AuthorHouse.com) chronicles 30 years of some of these. Break a leg but look 3 times in all directions., believe me

    My Projects – AuthorHouse

    Exits and Entrances: Producing Off-Broadway, Opera & Beyond: 1981-2006

    Daniel P. Quinn

    Genre :BIO026000ISBN

    Format Price Status 97814259263046×9

    Perfect Bound Softcover $19.99 Title Live

    Congratulations! “organized labor” wins our Hemingway award for April 12, 2023.

    This was our 4th Award since 2022 (as noted below). “Sweet Democracy Film Awards was created by the production team that made the latest film with Nobel Prize-winning writer Dario Fo…

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  • Apple CEO praises China’s innovation, long history of cooperation on Beijing visit

    Apple CEO praises China’s innovation, long history of cooperation on Beijing visit

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    SHANGHAI, March 25 (Reuters) – Apple (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook on Saturday used his first public remarks on his visit to China to praise the country for its rapid innovation and its long ties with the U.S. iPhone maker, according to local media reports.

    Apple (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook on Saturday used his first public remarks in China in recent years to praise the country for its rapid innovation and its long ties with the U.S. iPhone maker, according to local media reports.

    Cook is in Beijing to attend the China Development Forum, a government-organised event being held again in full force after the country ended its COVID controls late last year.

    Besides Cook, the event is being attended by senior government officials as well as CEOs of firms such as Pfizer and BHP.

    “Innovation is developing rapidly in China and I believe it will further accelerate,” Cook was quoted by The Paper news outlet as saying.

    His visit comes at a time of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington and as Apple has been looking to reduce its supply chain reliance on China and moving production to new up and coming centres such as India.

    Last year, production at the world’s largest iPhone factory run by Apple supplier Foxconn was heavily disrupted after China’s zero-COVID policies fuelled worker unrest.

    Cook also visited an Apple Store in Beijing on Friday, pictures of which went viral on Chinese social media.

    During his speech, Cook also discussed education and the need for young people to learn programming critical thinking skills, announcing that Apple plans to increase spending on its rural education programme to 100 million yuan, the local media reports said.

    Reporting by Brenda Goh

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • UPDATE

    UPDATE

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    A few days ago I posted this photo. Some brave souls ascended a peak above town in the middle of the night and cut in a thousand foot dong visible for miles.

    UPDATE. A few days ago I posted this photo. Some brave souls ascended a peak above town in the middle of the night and cut in a thousand foot dong visible for m

    Welp, the decided risk a heli drop ski patrol to wipe it out. But after several hours at max altitude they only managed to give it hairy balls and a dick vein before admitting defeat.

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  • Four behind bars after meth, marijuana found in separate traffic stops – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Four behind bars after meth, marijuana found in separate traffic stops – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    HORTON, Kan. (WIBW) – One man from Kansas and three from South Dakota are behind bars after meth, marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in two separate traffic stops in Brown Co.

    The Brown Co. Sheriff’s Office says that around 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, officials stopped a vehicle in the area of 5th Ave. and W. 15th St. in Horton for a traffic violation.

    During the stop, officials noted that K-9 Carla indicated that drugs had been in the vehicle and an investigation ensued.

    During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said about 6 grams of methamphetamine, pipes, baggies, needles, syringes and marijuana were seized as evidence.

    As a result, officials said John Whipple, 23, of Sioux Falls, S.D., Eric Cournoyer, 39, of Wagner, S.D., and Brand Langland, 56, of Sioux Falls, were all arrested. All three were booked into jail on possession of meth, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

    The Sheriff’s Office noted that Horton Police and Sac and Fox Police both aided in the investigation.

    Then, around 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, officials said they stopped another vehicle in the area of 250th and Prairie Rd. for a traffic violation.

    During this stop, officials also said meth, marijuana and paraphernalia were found. As a result, Zach Brown, 40, of Highland, was booked into jail on possession of meth, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and a felony warrant for parole violation.

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  • Host India doesn’t want G20 to discuss further Russia sanctions – sources

    Host India doesn’t want G20 to discuss further Russia sanctions – sources

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    BENGALURU, Feb 22 (Reuters) – India does not want the G20 to discuss additional sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine during New Delhi’s one-year presidency of the bloc, six senior Indian officials said on Wednesday, amid debate over how even to describe the conflict.

    On the sidelines of a G20 gathering in India, financial leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations will meet on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion, to discuss measures against Russia, Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.

    The officials, who are directly involved in this week’s G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs, said the economic impact of the conflict would be discussed but India did not want to consider additional actions against Russia.

    “India is not keen to discuss or back any additional sanctions on Russia during the G20,” said one of the officials. “The existing sanctions on Russia have had a negative impact on the world.”

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    Another official said sanctions were not a G20 issue. “G20 is an economic forum for discussing growth issues.”

    Spokespeople for the Indian government and the finance and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    On Wednesday, the first day of meetings to draft the G20 communique, officials struggled to find an acceptable word to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delegates of at least seven countries present in the meetings said.

    India tried to form a consensus on the words by calling it a “crisis” or a “challenge” instead of a “war”, the officials said, but the discussions concluded without a decision.

    These discussions have been rolled over to Thursday when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be part of the meetings.

    Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has previously said the war has disproportionately hit poorer countries by raising prices of fuel and food.

    India’s neighbours – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh – have all sought loans from the International Monetary Fund in recent months to tide over economic troubles brought about by the pandemic and the war.

    U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday that Washington and its allies planned in coming days to impose new sanctions and export controls that would target Russia’s purchase of dual-use goods like refrigerators and microwaves to secure semiconductors needed for its military.

    The sanctions would also seek to do more to stem the trans-shipment of oil and other restricted goods through bordering countries.

    In addition, Adeyemo said officials from a coalition of more than 30 countries would warn companies, financial institutions and individuals still doing business with Russia that they faced sanctions.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not openly criticised Moscow for the invasion and instead called for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war. India has also sharply raised purchases of oil from Russia, its biggest supplier of defence hardware.

    Jaishankar told Reuters partner ANI this week that India’s relationship with Russia had been “extraordinarily steady and it has been steady through all the turbulence in global politics”.

    Additional reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie

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  • Indian truckers say Hindenburg report a godsend in Adani dispute

    Indian truckers say Hindenburg report a godsend in Adani dispute

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    • India’s Adani reopens two cement plants after freight dispute
    • Truckers believe Hindenburg report was answer to their prayers
    • Adani says amicable resolution reached after negotiations

    DARLAGHAT, India Feb 23 (Reuters) – For truckers transporting cement from Adani’s factories in a hilly north Indian state, a U.S. short-seller’s critical research report on the giant conglomerate was a godsend they say helped them save their livelihoods.

    For weeks, around 7,000 truck owners and drivers in India’s Himachal Pradesh resorted to protest rallies against Adani’s Dec. 15 decision to shut two cement plants over a dispute on freight rates. Adani argued the plants were “unviable” at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half.

    On Monday, the Gautam Adani-led group said it had “amicably resolved” the issue with a 10-12% reduction in rates. Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani.

    The settlement comes four weeks after U.S.-based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations the group called baseless.

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    The Jan. 24 report triggered a $140 billion rout in group’s stocks, sparked regulatory investigations and saw the billionaire Adani slip to 26 on the Forbes global rich list, from third.

    While the truckers’ settlement will have only a small impact on the overall Adani empire, it was a big win for the drivers and owners in a state were most people live on around $7 a day.

    The report “played a crucial role in our battle against India’s biggest business group, helped mobilize truckers and gain political support,” said Ram Krishan Sharma, one of the lead negotiators for protesting truckers.

    Adani negotiators had refused to budge for weeks. So Hindenburg’s report, some truckers believe, was godsent.

    Just a day before it was published, many truckers visited a small, revered Hindu temple in Darlaghat which overlooks one of Adani’s cement plants, and offered a traditional semolina sweet offering to a deity as they sought to resolve the dispute.

    Bantu Shukla, a protest leader, showed Reuters a photo and video of truckers that day offering prayers inside the temple. Some stood with folded hands, while a person rang a temple bell in a typical Hindu worship ritual.

    ‘AMICABLE RESOLUTION’

    Adani Group did not answer Reuters questions on whether the Hindenburg report’s fallout contributed to its decision in Himachal.

    Adani Cements in a statement said it was “grateful” to all stakeholders including the unions, the local state chief minister and other departments, adding the “amicable resolution” was in interest of everyone including the state.

    A source familiar with Adani’s negotiation said the group had been under pressure following what it thinks was a “negative campaign” by Adani’s opponents after the Hindenburg report, and the settlement to reopen plants is a relief.

    Himachal is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunch rival, the Congress party. After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani. Both Adani and India’s government deny that.

    The source added the move will also help Adani signal it can resolve commercial matters in states ruled by Modi’s rivals.

    Without citing Hindenburg, the Himachal chief minister’s office on Monday said “we have been successful in resolving the issues” to end the 67-day dispute.

    WHATSAPP CHATS, PRAYERS AT TEMPLE

    Adani became India’s second largest cement manufacturer when it acquired ACC (ACC.NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS) in a $10.5 billion deal with Swiss giant Holcim (HOLN.S) last year.

    In December, it shut plants in the villages of Gagal and Darlaghat in Himachal, saying truckers were charging too much.

    The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0.0725) per tonne per km, from around 11 rupees. Many truckers told Reuters they struggled to make their loan repayments as their incomes shrank after the shutdowns.

    As a stalemate worsened, truckers formed WhatsApp groups to coordinate efforts, vent frustration and later share Hindenburg’s impact on Adani companies and stock prices to further drum up support.

    One such WhatsApp group chat of around 1,000 truckers, reviewed by Reuters, showed sharing of a local reporter’s video discussing the sharp fall in Adani’s shares and his alleged close ties to Modi.

    Although they accepted a small cut in freight rates when Adani agreed to pay 9.3-10.58 rupees per km per tonne, truckers felt they saved their jobs, and prayers at the Hindu temple were organised again this week.

    “We felt our deity had accepted our prayers when we saw the fall in the share prices of Adani companies,” protest leader Shukla said. “The Hindenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses.”

    (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word in paragraph 20)

    Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Aditya Kalra and Anushree Fadnavis; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Indian shares fall ahead of inflation data; Adani stocks slide

    Indian shares fall ahead of inflation data; Adani stocks slide

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    BENGALURU, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Indian shares were off to a muted start on Monday, ahead of domestic retail inflation data due later in the day and U.S. inflation data due tomorrow, while the ongoing uncertainty and spillover effects from the Adani Group’s market rout continued to create an overhang.

    The Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was down 0.29% at 17,804.60 as of 9:37 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.35% to 60,472.28.

    Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined, with information technology stocks (.NIFTYIT) falling nearly 2% amid worries of a growth slowdown in the U.S., from where they get a significant share of their revenue.

    On the flip side, metals (.NIFTYMET) gained with a 1% rise.

    Twenty-seven of Nifty 50 constituents advanced with Titan Co (TITN.NS) and Eicher Motors Ltd (EICH.NS) among top gainers.

    Wall Street equities closed lower on Friday, on fears of a longer-than-expected high-rate regime after hawkish comments from key Federal Reserve officials.

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    Asian markets fell, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) sliding 0.63%.

    Investors await India’s retail inflation data for January, due today. A Reuters poll of economists showed that India’s annual retail inflation rose from a 12-month low in December, but stayed within the 6% upper limit of RBI’s tolerance band in January.

    The uncertainty over the Adani conglomerate added to concerns in domestic markets.

    “The Adani group saga continues to weigh on investors’ minds and hence the sentiment has been negative,” said Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities.

    The group has lost over $100 billion in market value since Jan. 24, when U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens.

    India’s market regulator is probing the group’s links to some of the investors in its scrapped $2.5 billion share sale of the flagship Adani Enterprises.

    ($1 = 82.5250 Indian rupees)

    Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Nivedita Bhattacharjee

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Adani slashes growth targets amid rout sparked by Hindenburg – Bloomberg News

    Adani slashes growth targets amid rout sparked by Hindenburg – Bloomberg News

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    Feb 13 (Reuters) – India’s Adani Group has halved its revenue growth target and plans to scale down fresh capital expenditure, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

    Listed companies controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani have lost more than $100 billion in market value since Jan. 24, when U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and improper use of offshore tax havens.

    The group has rejected the allegations and denied any wrongdoing.

    The Adani Group will now shoot for revenue growth of 15% to 20% for at least the next financial year, down from the original target of 40%, Bloomberg News said citing people familiar with the matter.

    Holding back on investments for even as little as three months could save the conglomerate as much as $3 billion, the report said, adding that the plans are still imminent.

    A spokesperson for the Adani Group said the report was “baseless, speculative”, without elaborating further.

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    The group has also been a part of India’s market regulator’s investigation into its links to some of the investors in its scrapped $2.5 billion share sale.

    Earlier this month, India’s ministry of corporate affairs started a preliminary review of the group’s financial statements and other regulatory submissions made over the years, Reuters reported, citing two senior government officials.

    Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and Savio D’Souza

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Adani’s market losses top $100 bln as crisis shockwaves spread

    Adani’s market losses top $100 bln as crisis shockwaves spread

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    • Market rout deepens in Indian tycoon Adani’s shares
    • Adani Enterprises loses $26 bln in value since report
    • Falls after Adani pulled share sale, investors spooked
    • Analysts say signals confidence crisis in Indian market

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Adani’s market losses swelled above $100 billion on Thursday, sparking worries about a potential systemic impact a day after the Indian group’s flagship firm abandoned its $2.5 billion stock offering.

    Another challenge for Adani on Thursday came when S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would remove Adani Enterprises from widely used sustainability indices, effective Feb. 7, which would make the shares less appealing to sustainability-minded funds.

    In addition, India’s National Stock Exchange said it has placed on additional surveillance shares of Adani Enterprises <ADEL.NS>, Adani Ports <APSE.NS> and Ambuja Cements <ABUJ.NS>. read more

    However, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani is in talks with lenders to prepay and release pledged shares as he seeks to restore confidence in the financial health of his conglomerate, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. read more

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    The shock withdrawal of Adani Enterprises’ share sale marks a dramatic setback for founder Adani, the school dropout-turned-billionaire whose fortunes rose rapidly in recent years but have plunged in just a week after a critical research report by U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.

    Aborting the share sale sent shockwaves across markets, politics and business. Adani stocks plunged, opposition lawmakers called for a wider probe and India’s central bank sprang into action to check on the exposure of banks to the group. Meanwhile, Citigroup’s (C.N) wealth unit stopped making margin loans to clients against Adani Group securities.

    The crisis marks an dramatic turn of fortune for Adani, who has in recent years forged partnerships with foreign giants such as France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and attracted investors such as Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company as he pursues a global expansion stretching from ports to the power sector.

    In a shock move late on Wednesday, Adani called off the share sale as a stocks rout sparked by Hindenburg’s criticisms intensified, despite it being fully subscribed a day earlier.

    “Adani may have started a confidence crisis in Indian shares and that could have broader market implications,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.

    Adani Enterprises shares tumbled 27% on Thursday, closing at their lowest level since March 2022.

    Other group companies also lost further ground, with 10% losses at Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS), while Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shed nearly 7%.

    Since Hindenburg’s report on Jan. 24, group companies have lost nearly half their combined market value. Adani Enterprises – described as an incubator of Adani’s businesses – has lost $26 billion in market capitalisation.

    Adani is also no longer Asia’s richest person, having slid to 16th in the Forbes rankings of the world’s wealthiest people, with his net worth almost halved to $64.6 billion in a week.

    The 60-year-old had been third on the list, behind billionaires Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault.

    His rival Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) is now Asia’s richest person.

    Reuters Graphics

    BROADER CONCERNS

    Adani’s plummeting stock and bond prices have raised concerns about the likelihood of a wider impact on India’s financial system.

    India’s central bank has asked local banks for details of their exposure to the Adani Group, government and banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.

    CLSA estimates that Indian banks were exposed to about 40% of the $24.5 billion of Adani Group debt in the fiscal year to March 2022.

    Dollar bonds issued by entities of Adani Group extended losses on Thursday, with notes of Adani Green Energy crashing to a record low. Adani Group entities made scheduled coupon payments on outstanding U.S. dollar-denominated bonds on Thursday, Reuters reported citing sources.

    “We see the market is losing confidence on how to gauge where the bottom can be and although there will be short-covering rebounds, we expect more fundamental downside risks given more private banks (are) likely to cut or reduce margin,” said Monica Hsiao, chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based credit fund Triada Capital.

    In New Delhi, opposition lawmakers submitted notices in parliament demanding discussion of the short-seller’s report.

    The Congress Party called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee be set up or a Supreme Court monitored investigation, while some lawmakers shouted anti-Adani slogans inside parliament, which was adjourned for the day.

    ADANI VS HINDENBURG

    Adani made acquisitions worth $13.8 billion in 2022, Dealogic data showed, its highest ever and more than double the previous year.

    The cancelled fundraising was critical for Adani, which had said it would use $1.33 billion to fund green hydrogen projects, airports facilities and greenfield expressways, and $508 million to repay debt at some units.

    Hindenburg’s report alleged an improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani Group. It also raised concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.

    The Adani Group has denied the accusations, saying the allegation of stock manipulation had “no basis” and stemmed from an ignorance of Indian law. It said it has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures.

    Adani had managed to secure share sale subscriptions on Tuesday even though the stock’s market price was below the issue’s offer price. Maybank Securities and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had bid for the anchor portion of the issue, investments which will now be reimbursed by Adani.

    Late on Wednesday, the group’s founder said he was withdrawing the sale given the share price fall, adding his board felt going ahead with it “will not be morally correct”.

    Reporting by Chris Thomas, Nallur Sethuraman, Tanvi Mehta, Ira Dugal, Aftab Ahmed, Sumeet Chatterjee, Anshuman Daga, Summer Zhen, Ross Kerber and Bansari Mayur Kamdar; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jason Neely and Alexander Smith

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  • Adani crisis ignites Indian contagion fears, credit warnings

    Adani crisis ignites Indian contagion fears, credit warnings

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    • Both houses of parliament adjourned amid row
    • Flagship Adani firm plunges 35% at one point
    • Moody’s warns will find it harder to raise capital

    NEW DELHI, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Financial contagion fears spread in India on Friday as the Adani Group’s crisis worsened, with ratings agency Moody’s warning the conglomerate may struggle to raise capital and S&P cutting the outlook on two of its businesses.

    Chaotic scenes in both houses of India’s parliament led to their adjournment on Friday as some lawmakers demanded an inquiry after a dramatic meltdown in the stock market values of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies.

    The crisis was triggered by a Hindenburg Research report last week in which the U.S.-based short-seller accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and unsustainable debt.

    Adani Group, one of India’s top conglomerates, has rejected the criticism and denied wrongdoing in detailed rebuttals, but that has failed to arrest the unabated fall in its shares.

    In the latest sign of the crisis widening, India’s ministry of corporate affairs has begun a preliminary review of Adani Group’s financial statements and other regulatory submissions made over the years, two government officials told Reuters.

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    Although shares in Adani companies recovered after sharp falls earlier on Friday, the seven listed firms have still lost about half their market value, totalling more than $100 billion since Hindenburg published its report on Jan. 24.

    Moody’s warned the share plunge could hit the Adani Group’s ability to raise capital, although fellow credit ratings agency Fitch saw no immediate impact on its ratings.

    “These adverse developments are likely to reduce the group’s ability to raise capital to fund committed capex or refinance maturing debt over the next 1-2 years. We recognise that a portion of the capex is deferrable,” Moody’s said.

    For Adani, a former school drop-out from Gujarat, the western home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the crisis presents the biggest reputational and business challenge of his life, as his firm struggles to assuage investor concerns.

    Amid fears the turmoil could spill over into the broader financial system, some Indian politicians have called for a wider investigation, and sources have told Reuters the central bank has asked lenders for details of exposure to the group.

    “Contagion concerns are widening, but still limited to the banking sector,” Charu Chanana, a market strategist with Saxo Markets in Singapore, said on Friday.

    The Reserve Bank of India said the country’s banking system remains resilient and stable. State Bank of India said it was not concerned about the exposure to Adani Group, but further financing to its projects would be “evaluated on its own merit”.

    Adani Enterprises shares closed 1.4% higher, after earlier slumping 35% to hit their lowest since March 2021. That low took its losses to nearly $33.6 billion since last week, a 70% fall.

    Shares fell 5% in Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), a joint venture with France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), which said its exposure to Adani companies was limited.

    Traffic moves past the logo of the Adani Group installed at a roundabout on the ring road in Ahmedabad, India, Feb. 2, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave

    Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) was up 8%, while Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) and Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) were both down 10%.

    “There is a risk that investor concerns about the group’s governance and disclosures are larger than we have currently factored into our ratings,” S&P said, as it cut its outlook on Adani Ports and Adani Electricity to negative from stable.

    India’s divestment secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Reuters that Life Insurance Corp (LIC) shareholders and customers should not be concerned about its exposure to the Adani Group.

    State-run LIC (LIFI.NS) has a 4.23% stake in the flagship Adani Enterprises, while its other exposures include a 9.14% stake in Adani Ports.

    Reuters Graphics

    ‘ONE INSTANCE’

    Adani, 60, has in recent years forged partnerships with, and attracted investment from, foreign giants as he pursued global expansion in industries from ports to power.

    The market and financial crisis means foreign investors, many already underweight on India as they consider its stock market overpriced, are reducing exposure.

    “One instance, however much talked about globally it may be … is not going to be indicative of how well Indian financial markets are governed,” Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Network18 when asked about the market weakness.

    Reuters Graphics

    Hindenburg’s report said key listed Adani companies had “substantial debt” and shares in the seven listed firms had a downside of 85% due to what it called sky-high valuations.

    The Adani Group has called the report baseless and said over the past decade, its companies have “consistently de-levered”.

    The listed Adani firms now have a combined market value of $107.5 billion, versus $218 billion before the report.

    That has forced Adani to cede the crown of Asia’s richest person to Indian rival Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS), and he has slid to 17th in Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest people.

    He had ranked third, behind Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault.

    Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Chris Thomas, Ankur Banerjee, Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Shivam Patel, Tanvi Mehta and Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Mark Potter and Alexander Smith

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  • India makes COVID test mandatory for arrivals from some countries, including China

    India makes COVID test mandatory for arrivals from some countries, including China

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    NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (Reuters) – India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, the health minister said on Saturday.

    Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive, Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

    (This story has been refiled to correct grammar in paragraph 2)

    Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi

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  • I have obtained a dog

    I have obtained a dog

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    Only 4 weeks but the former owner left her out in the cold. Coonhound. Apparently coonhounds were bred to chase prey up trees and then howl real loud so the hunter can tell where they went, then shoot the animal in the tree. That’s where the phrase “barking up the wrong tree” came from.

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  • circle

    circle

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    An ant mill is an observed phenomenon in which a group of army ants are separated from the main foraging party, lose the pheromone track and begin to follow one another, forming a continuously rotating circle, commonly known as a “death spiral” because the ants might eventually die of exhaustion.

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  • Democrats seek vote reform, gay marriage, debt ceiling in ‘lame duck’ Congress

    Democrats seek vote reform, gay marriage, debt ceiling in ‘lame duck’ Congress

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    WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. Congress aim to pass bills protecting same-sex marriage, clarifying lawmakers’ role in certifying presidential elections and raising the nation’s debt ceiling when they return from the campaign trail on Monday.

    President Joe Biden’s party got a boost over the weekend when it learned it would keep control of the Senate for the next two years, while control of the House of Representatives is still up in the air as votes are counted after Tuesday’s midterm election.

    But Democrats escaped a feared midterm drubbing and will look to make the most they can of their current thin majorities in both chambers before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, a period known as the ‘lame duck’ session.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen both signaled that addressing the nations’ looming debt ceiling would be a priority during the session.

    Some Republicans have threatened to use the next hike in the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, expected in the first quarter of 2023, as leverage to force concessions from Biden. Yellen in a Saturday interview with Reuters warned that a failure to act would pose a “huge threat” to America’s credit rating and the functioning of financial markets.

    Pelosi, who would lose her position as speaker if Republicans win a majority in the House, told ABC News on Sunday that the best way to address the debt ceiling was “to do it now.”

    “My hope would be that we could get it done in the lame duck,” Pelosi said. “We’ll have to, again, lift the debt ceiling so that the full faith and credit of the United States is respected.”

    Biden told reporters over the weekend he would wait to speak to Republican leadership before deciding any priorities, adding he planned to “take it slow.”

    Congress has a long to-do list in the coming weeks. It faces a Dec. 16 deadline to passing either a temporary funding bill to keep government agencies operating at full steam until early next year, or a measure that keeps the lights on through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to enact one of those would result in partial government shutdowns.

    The House already has passed legislation legalizing gay marriage and the Senate was poised, as soon as this week, to approve its slightly different version of the “Respect for Marriage Act.” The bill is intended to ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court does not end gay marriage rights, which conservative Justice Clarence Thomas mused was possible when the court in June ended the national right to abortion.

    Another high-priority item is a bipartisan bill reforming the way Congress certifies presidential elections, intended to avoid a repeat of the violence of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump who wanted to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s win.

    Democratic leaders also aim to pass legislation speeding permits for energy projects and provide more financial and military support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

    Some Republicans have expressed reluctance to provide more financial support for Ukraine.

    Progressive Democrats have bridled at the prospect of the government stepping up the energy permitting process, thus encouraging the flow of fossil fuels to market even as Biden attempts to meet stringent goals to reduce the impact of climate change.

    Biden has suggested permitting reform could be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill funding the military that usually gets strong bipartisan support.

    But keeping the Senate majority for the next two years means that there will be less pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to confirm as many of Biden’s nominees for federal judgeships as possible before the end of the year.

    There are 57 judicial nominees pending before the Senate, with 25 already approved by the Judiciary Committee and awaiting action by the full chamber.

    The Senate has already confirmed 84 of Biden’s judicial nominees, allowing him to essentially keep pace with the near-record number of appointments Trump made during four years as he worked to move the judiciary rightward.

    Reporting by Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by David Lawder in New Delhi, Nandita Bose in Phnom Penh and Trevor Hunnicutt, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis

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  • Biden and Xi clash over Taiwan in Bali but Cold War fears cool

    Biden and Xi clash over Taiwan in Bali but Cold War fears cool

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    • Biden, Xi meet for 3 hours before G20
    • Both leaders stress need to get ties back on track
    • Indonesia seeks partnerships on global economy at G20
    • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to address G20 on Tuesday

    NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea on Monday in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained U.S.-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.

    Amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing for follow-up talks.

    “We’re going to compete vigorously. But I’m not looking for conflict, I’m looking to manage this competition responsibly,” Biden said after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.

    Beijing has long said it would bring the self-governed island of Taiwan, which it views as an inalienable part of China, under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. It has frequently accused the United States in recent years of encouraging Taiwan independence.

    In a statement after their meeting, Xi called Taiwan the “first red line” that must not be crossed in U.S.-China relations, Chinese state media said.

    Biden said he sought to assure Xi that U.S. policy on Taiwan, which has for decades been to support both Beijing’s ‘One China’ stance and Taiwan’s military, had not changed.

    He said there was no need for a new Cold War, and that he did not think China was planning a hot one.

    “I do not think there’s any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan,” he told reporters.

    On North Korea, Biden said it was hard to know whether Beijing had any influence over Pyongyang weapons testing. “Well, first of all, it’s difficult to say that I am certain that China can control North Korea,” he said.

    Biden said he told Xi the United States would do what it needs to do to defend itself and allies South Korea and Japan, which could be “maybe more up in the face of China” though not directed against it.

    “We would have to take certain actions that would be more defensive on our behalf… to send a clear message to North Korea. We are going to defend our allies, as well as American soil and American capacity,” he said.

    Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said before the meeting that Biden would warn Xi about the possibility of enhanced U.S. military presence in the region, something Beijing is not keen to see.

    Beijing had halted a series of formal dialogue channels with Washington, including on climate change and military-to-military talks, after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi upset China by visiting Taiwan in August.

    Biden and Xi agreed to allow senior officials to renew communication on climate, debt relief and other issues, the White House said after they spoke.

    Xi’s statement after the talks included pointed warnings on Taiwan.

    “The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

    “Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese and China’s internal affair,” Xi said, according to state media.

    Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over it.

    Taiwan’s presidential office said it welcomed Biden’s reaffirmation of U.S. policy. “This also once again fully demonstrates that the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is the common expectation of the international community,” it said.

    SMILES AND HANDSHAKES

    Before their talks, the two leaders smiled and shook hands warmly in front of their national flags at a hotel on Indonesia’s Bali island, a day before a Group of 20 (G20) summit set to be fraught with tension over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    “It’s just great to see you,” Biden told Xi, as he put an arm around him before their meeting.

    Biden brought up a number of difficult topics with Xi, according to the White House, including raising U.S. objections to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan,” Beijing’s “non-market economic practices,” and practices in “Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly.”

    Neither leader wore a mask to ward off COVID-19, although members of their delegations did.

    U.S.-China relations have been roiled in recent years by growing tensions over issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, trade practices, and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology.

    But U.S. officials said there have been quiet efforts by both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to repair relations.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters in Bali earlier that the meeting aimed to stabilise the relationship and to create a “more certain atmosphere” for U.S. businesses.

    She said Biden had been clear with China about national security concerns regarding restrictions on sensitive U.S. technologies and had raised concern about the reliability of Chinese supply chains for commodities.

    G20 summit host President Joko Widodo of Indonesia said he hoped the gathering on Tuesday could “deliver concrete partnerships that can help the world in its economic recovery”.

    However, one of the main topics at the G20 will be Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    Xi and Putin have grown close in recent years, bound by their shared distrust of the West, and reaffirmed their partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide any direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against it.

    Reporting by Nandita Bose, Stanley Widianto, Fransiska Nangoy, Leika Kihara, David Lawder and Simon Lewis in Nusa Dua, and Yew Lun Tian and Ryan Woo in Beijing; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Kay Johnson and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Grant McCool, Heather Timmons and Rosalba O’Brien

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • US to climate summit: American big steps won’t be repealed

    US to climate summit: American big steps won’t be repealed

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    SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — U.S. President Joe Biden is coming to international climate talks in Egypt this week with a message that historic American action to fight climate change won’t shift into reverse, as happened twice before when Democrats lost power.

    Current and former Biden top climate officials said the vast majority of the summer’s incentive-laden $375 billion climate-and-health spending package — by far the biggest law passed by Congress to fight global warming — was crafted in a way that will make it hard and unpalatable for future Republican Congresses or presidents to reverse it.

    Outside experts agree, but say other parts of the Biden climate agenda can be stalled by a Republican Congress and courts.

    Twice in the 30-year history of climate negotiations, Democratic administrations helped forged an international agreement, but when they lost the White House, their Republican successors pulled out of those pacts.

    And after decades of American promises at past climate summits but little congressional action, the United States for the first time has actual legislation to point to. The climate and health law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, was approved without a single Republican vote, prompting some advocates to worry it may not withstand GOP attacks if Republicans gain control of the House or Senate.

    Then Tuesday’s election happened, with a razor-thin contest for control of Congress.

    Results are still not quite known, but Democrats showed surprising strength. Sierra Club President Ramon Cruz at the climate summit Wednesday claimed a victory of sorts, saying, “We see in a way that people in the U.S. actually do understand and do support climate action.”

    If Republicans grab control of Congress, they won’t have a veto-proof majority, and even if a Republican takes over the White House in the next few years the tax credits will be in place and spur industry, said Samantha Gross, head of climate and energy studies at the centrist Brookings Institution.

    “It’s a lot of tax credits and goodies that make it hard to repeal,” Gross said.

    At the climate negotiations in Egypt, where Biden arrives Friday, his special climate envoy John Kerry said, “Most of what we’re doing cannot be changed by anyone else who comes to Washington because most of what we do is in the private sector. The marketplace has made its decision to do what we need to do.”

    It’s all by design, said Gina McCarthy, who until recently was Biden’s domestic climate czar.

    “About 70% of the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act are about (tax) credits that directly benefit” industries, McCarthy said in an interview with The Associated Press at the climate negotiations.

    She said it will be difficult for Republicans to “change the dynamic” to significantly undermine the act. “It is passed, is beneficial. We have Republicans all throughout the country actually doing ribbon cuttings.”

    Studies show most of the money, new jobs, are going into Republican states, said climate policy analyst Alden Meyer of the E3G think-tank. McCarthy and Kerry are “largely correct” in claiming the law can’t be rolled back, he said, and Gross agreed.

    Several analyses, inside and outside the government, said the law would cut U.S. emissions by 40% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, which is not quite the official U.S. goal of 50% to 52% cuts by that time.

    But McCarthy is saying, wait, there’s more. She said that upcoming but not yet announced carbon pollution regulations and advances by private industries, states and cities will allow the United States to achieve and even exceed that goal, something outside experts are far more skeptical about.

    Republicans are likely to push for a sharp increase in oversight of Biden administration policies, including incentives for electric vehicles and loans for clean energy projects such as battery manufacturers, wind and solar farms and production of “clean” hydrogen.

    “Republicans are looking for the next Solyndra,’’ said Joseph Brazauskas, a former Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency official, referring to a California solar company that failed soon after receiving more than $500 million in federal aid under the Obama administration.

    “Certainly, congressional oversight is likely to ramp up considerably’’ under a GOP-led House or Senate, said Brazauskas, who led the Trump EPA’s congressional relations office and now is a principal with the Bracewell LLP law firm.

    Republicans support many of the tax credits approved under the climate law. But they complain Biden is moving too fast to replace gas-engine cars with electric vehicles and say he hasn’t done enough to counter China’s influence in the renewable energy supply chain.

    Republicans also are likely to probe EPA actions on climate change, air quality and wetlands, citing a Supreme Court ruling last summer that curbed the EPA’s authority to address climate change, Brazauskas said. The decision, known as West Virginia v. EPA, “has really opened a window for regulatory scrutiny at the agency,” he said.

    Democrats say they learned important lessons from the Solyndra episode and don’t intend to repeat past mistakes. The loan program that helped Solyndra turned a profit and generates an estimated $500 million in interest income for the federal government every year.

    Even with a Democratic Congress, the Biden Administration couldn’t dramatically increase climate aid to poor nations. The rich countries of the world in 2009 promised $100 billion a year to help poorer nations switch to green energy sources and adapt to a warmer world. T hey haven’t fulfilled that promise, with the United States donating far less than Europe.

    That money doesn’t include the hottest topic at the Egyptian climate talks: Loss and damage, meaning reparations for climate-related disasters. The United States is historically the No. 1 carbon polluter, while poorer nations with small carbon emissions bear the brunt of climate disasters, like Pakistan, where devastating flooding submerged a third of the nation and displaced millions of people.

    Dozens of protesters called for reparations at a demonstration on Wednesday.

    “I think the regulatory agenda is tougher and the international climate finance landscape will be very, very bleak,” Meyer said.

    The U.S. government also released a new draft report about what climate change is doing to America, determining that over the past 50 years, the United States has warmed 68% faster than the planet as a whole. Since 1970, the continental U.S. has experienced 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming, well above the average for the planet, according to a draft of the National Climate Assessment, which is the U.S. government’s definitive report on the effects of climate change and represents a range of federal agencies.

    The changes in the U.S. reflect a broader global pattern in which land areas and higher latitudes warm faster than the ocean and lower latitudes, the report says.

    The effects of human-caused climate change on the United States “are already far-reaching and worsening,’’ the draft report says, but every added amount of warming that can be avoided or delayed will reduce harmful impacts.

    The congressionally mandated assessment was last issued under the Trump administration in 2018 and the Biden administration put out a draft of the newer version this week, seeking public comment and peer review. The final report is expected next year.

    Risks from accelerating temperatures and precipitation, sea-level rise, climate-fueled extreme weather and other impacts increase as the planet warms, the report says.

    “The things Americans value most are at risk,’’ the report says.

    ———

    Daly reported from Washington.

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  • India’s Aam Aadmi party set for big gains in Modi’s home state

    India’s Aam Aadmi party set for big gains in Modi’s home state

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    SURAT, India, Nov 4 (Reuters) – India’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), formed only a decade ago and having claimed power in Delhi and Punjab state, is set to be the biggest gainer in assembly elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat next month.

    AAP boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is known to have national ambitions. A strong showing in Gujarat, a prosperous state of more than 60 million, could indicate whether his party’s appeal has widened beyond smaller states ahead of the 2024 general election.

    According to a projection by ABP-CVoter, AAP’s vote share in Gujurat is expected to rise to 20% from zero five years ago, mainly at the expense of the main opposition Congress party, which dominated Indian politics before being drubbed by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last two general elections.

    Seven voters in Gujarat’s Surat city, a diamond cutting and polishing hub, told Reuters they had been drawn to AAP’s promise to improve education and healthcare – both areas where the party says it has delivered results in Delhi since 2015.

    “Ninety-nine per cent I am going to vote for Aam Adam Party,” said diamond worker Bharat Patel.

    “Many in my personal and professional circles are also going to do the same. I have heard a lot about their work in education and healthcare in Delhi and I feel they deserve a chance.”

    The Hindu-nationalist BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1998, with Modi serving as its chief minister for nearly 13 years. Current projections show Congress will stay the second- biggest party in the 182 member-assembly, but that could change.

    “It looks like the surge of the Aam Aadmi Party is not going down,” Yashwant Deshmukh, founder of polling agency CVoter, told Reuters. “If the trajectory continues, and they end up with a 25-26% vote share, they could trump Congress.”

    Gujarat will vote in two phases on Dec. 1 and Dec. 5. Results are due on Dec. 8.

    AAP, which grew out of an anti-corruption movement in 2012, has been strengthening its presence in Gujarat, including in its second-largest city of Surat.

    Early last year, it won 27 of the 120 seats in Surat’s municipal elections, emerging as the main contender to the BJP.

    Across Surat, large hoardings of the BJP and AAP dominate the streets. With pictures of Modi, the ruling party is underlining the advantages of having a BJP government at the state and nationally.

    “How many votes the AAP gets and how many seats it can win remains to be seen,” said Virang Bhatt, a Surat-based political analyst. “But the party has certainly managed to create strong visibility and appeal here.”

    Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Mark Potter

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