UN to Use US-Built Pier for Halted Gaza Aid Deliveries

By Michelle Nichols and Idrees Ali Reuters May 21, 2024

UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – The United Nations has planned new routes within the Gaza Strip to transport aid from a U.S.-built floating pier after crowds of desperate Palstinians intercepted 11 trucks, causing a halt to deliveries that continued for a third day on Tuesday.

The temporary pier was anchored to a Gaza beach last Thursday as Israel comes under growing global pressure to allow more supplies into the besieged coastal enclave, where it is at war with Palestinian militants Hamas and a famine looms.

Operations began on Friday and 10 aid trucks were driven by U.N. contractors to a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza. But on Saturday, only five trucks made it to the warehouse after 11 others were intercepted.

“Crowds had stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was … what I think I would refer to as self-distribution,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

“These trucks were traveling through areas where there’d been no aid. I think people feared that they would never see aid. They grabbed what they could,” he said.

Distribution was paused as the U.N. planned new routes and coordination of deliveries in a bid to prevent more aid being intercepted, said Abeer Etefa, a WFP spokesperson in Cairo.

“The missions were planned for today using the new routes to avoid the crowds,” she said. Dujarric later said there had been no transportation of aid from the pier since Saturday.

‘WAITING FOR AMERICAN AID’

The pier has been met with hope and skepticism by residents in Gaza. The pier operation – announced by U.S. President Joe Biden in March – is estimated to cost $320 million and involve 1,000 U.S. service members.

“The pier should be there when the (Israeli) occupation completely ends. Then, it will be good for us. It will be good to travel, to get things,” said Abu Nadi al-Haddad, questioning why it was needed now, given there were several land crossings.

Another resident, Abu Nasser Abu Khousa, came to the coastal road close to where the pier is located with his four-year-old son and a donkey-drawn cart in the hope of receiving aid.

“We are waiting for the American aid, but we did not get anything,” he said, adding that he had lost his home in the war and had been displaced multiple times. “We will come back tomorrow, God willing, in the hope that we will get some aid, that will help us survive.”

U.S. officials have said that once up and running the pier would initially handle 90 trucks a day, but that number could go to 150 trucks. The U.N. has said at least 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza.

Aid offloaded at the pier comes via a maritime corridor from Cyprus, where it is first inspected by Israel. Two ships carrying aid left Cyprus earlier this month and the Pentagon said more than 569 metric tons of aid had been delivered to Gaza.

“More is on the way, so you’re going to see those numbers increase,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear how much of the 569 metric tonnes of aid – which the Pentagon said had been donated by the U.S., Britain, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union – was still waiting to be transported by U.N.-contracted trucks.

Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza – an enclave of 2.3 million people – over the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militants where more than 1,200 people were killed and over 150 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Aid access into southern Gaza has been disrupted since Israel stepped up military operations in Rafah, a move that the U.N. says has forced 900,000 people to flee.

https://gcaptain.com/un-to-use-us-built-pier-for-halted-gaza-aid-deliveries/

Canada #58 >>20902152

US profits from climate change loans to poor countries – media

A program billed as fighting global warming has reportedly funneled back billions of dollars to wealthy nations

22 May, 2024

A program that ostensibly helps developing nations deal with the effects of climate change has reportedly generated windfall profits for Japan, the US, and other wealthy countries, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The gains stem from a pledge to provide $100 billion a year to help poor nations cope with climate change and undertake projects to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report, which cites an analysis of UN and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data. Benefactor countries have channeled money from the program back into their own economies, reaping billions of dollars in profits, it says.

Japan, the US, France, Germany, and other wealthy nations have made the initiative a money-making opportunity by extending loans at market rates – rather than giving grants or low-interest financing – or insisting that the recipients hire their companies to carry out the projects. Reuters said it identified nearly $22 billion in loans and grants that came with such strings attached.

“Offering climate loans at market rates or conditioning funding on hiring certain companies means that money meant for developing countries gets sent back to wealthy ones,” Reuters said. Liane Schalatek, associate director with Germany’s Heinrich-Boll Foundation policy think tank, called the tactics “deeply reprehensible.” She added, “Climate finance provision should not be a business opportunity.”

The funding pledges were first made in 2009, supposedly to help poor countries that were disproportionately harmed by climate change. Roughly $353 billion was paid from 2015 through 2020. Reuters said more than half of that money came in the form of loans, which indebted poorer nations used “to solve problems largely caused by the developed world.”

Andres Mogro, Ecuador’s former director of climate initiatives, said the program heaped a new wave of debt on the global south. “It’s like setting a building on fire and then selling the fire extinguishers outside.”

Ritu Bharadwaj, a researcher at the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development, told Reuters that the benefits reaped by developed nations have overshadowed the program’s primary objective of supporting climate action in poorer countries. “This is a classic example where a bad loan, which has been given to a country in the garb of climate finance, will create further financial stress.”

UN data showed that more than half of the 54 most indebted developing nations also ranked among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Reuters showed that ten debt-distressed nations – led by Egypt, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Tunisia – took on a combined $11.5 billion in climate loans.

“Heavily indebted countries face a vicious cycle: Debt payments limit their ability to invest in climate solutions, while extreme weather causes severe economic losses, often leading them to borrow more,” Reuters said.

https://www.rt.com/news/598074-wealthy-nations-profit-from-climate-loans/

>>20902540

If said anon serves the People and doesn't fall into the temptation of serving only self, then priceless

If said anon becomes that which has been deposed, then I believe at today's prices about $7.98 in raw chemicals

>>20902575

archive offline

General Research #23075 >>18802004

TIKTOK: CHINESE “TROJAN HORSE” IS RUN BY STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS

https://www.mintpressnews.com/tiktok-chinese-trojan-horse-run-by-state-department-officials/284353/

Amid a national hysteria claiming the popular video-sharing app is a Chinese Trojan Horse, a MintPress News investigation has found dozens of ex-U.S. State Department officials working in key positions at TikTok. Many more individuals with backgrounds in the FBI, CIA and other departments of the national security state also hold influential posts at the social media giant, affecting the content that over one billion users see.

While American politicians demand the app be banned on national security grounds, try to force through an internet surveillance act that would turn the country into an Orwellian state, make clueless statements about how TikTok is dangerous because it connects to your Wi-Fi, it is possible that TikTok is already much closer to Washington than it is to Beijing.

STATE DEPARTMENT-AFFILIATED MEDIA

hello Marketfag!

How long do you think it will be before BNP Paribas figures out they've been left holding the ESG bag and go to the IMF for a bailout?

BNP Paribas seeks significant emission cuts from shipping clients

Sam Chambers May 22, 2024

The world’s largest ship finance bank, BNP Paribas, has decided to include shipping into its drive to decarbonise its portfolio.

In 2022, the group committed to decarbonising its portfolio in three key sectors: oil and gas, power generation and automotive. In 2023, new targets were set for the steel, aluminium and cement production sectors. Today, the bank added aviation, shipping and commercial real estate.

By 2030, BNP Paribas is targeting an 18% reduction in its portfolio emissions intensity for air transport compared with the 2022 baseline, a reduction of at least 23% for maritime transport and at least 31% for commercial property compared with 2022 as well.

The bank has been a signatory to the Poseidon Principles for the past four years. The principles establish a common framework to quantitatively assess and disclose whether financial institutions’ lending portfolios are in line with climate goals set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

https://splash247.com/bnp-paribas-seeks-significant-emission-cuts-from-shipping-clients/

More insurers desert net-zero alliance as U.N. climate group sounds alarm

By Tommy Wilkes May 26, 2023

LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Lloyd's of London became the sixth organisation to quit a net-zero alliance for insurers within 36 hours on Friday, as a U.N.-backed coalition of financial groups warned about the fallout of "political attacks" on insurers in the United States.

Lloyd's joined Australia's QBE Insurance (QBE.AX) in withdrawing from the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) on Friday. Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE), France's AXA (AXAF.PA) and SCOR (SCOR.PA) and Japan's SOMPO Holdings (8630.T) left the day before following more accusations from U.S. Republican attorneys general that insurers are violating antitrust laws.

The NZIA has now lost a fifth of its members in a week all of them major global insurers and a total of 10 have quit since March, when it counted 30 members.

Vanguard, one of the world's biggest asset managers, in December left another alliance for fund managers, citing a need for independence, although other GFANZ groups have largely withstood the pressure.

More:

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/political-attacks-are-damaging-insurers-climate-efforts-gfanz-2023-05-26/

JPMorgan, State Street quit climate group, BlackRock steps back

By Simon Jessop and Ross Kerber February 15, 2024

JPMorgan Chase's (JPM.N), and State Street's (STT.N), investment arms on Thursday both quit a global investor coalition pushing companies to rein in climate-damaging emissions, while BlackRock (BLK.N), said it has transferred its membership to its international arm, limiting its involvement.

The decisions together remove nearly $14 trillion of total assets from efforts to coordinate Wall Street action on tackling climate change and came after the coalition, known as Climate Action 100+, or CA100+, asked signatories to take stronger action over laggards.

More:

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/jpmorgan-fund-arm-quits-climate-action-100-investor-group-2024-02-15/

>>20902884

First one looks like Apu with the Three Stooges Moe haircut

>>20902937

baker

The >>20902831 was actually me with the boatfag hat on asking the marketfags.

>>20902952

Please inform your fren it depends on jurisdiction, age difference, and what mood LEO is in that day

>>20902996

>>20903043

>No one on our side has the fucking balls to do the same

That you can name or have even seen

>>20903064

All the tracks in gray are "unspecified" so I could not tell you who's who in that zoo. Standard mush

USS Zumwalt is Losing its Iconic Cannon

Published May 20, 2024 9:16 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Navy's futuristic Zumwalt-class destroyers were built to carry twin high-velocity cannons for shore bombardment, like a modernized, stealthier version of a battleship. The cannons were installed, but after the number of vessels in the class was radically cut back from 32 to three, the cost per round of manufacturing the ammunition rose to an impractical $800,000-$1 million per shot. The production run of ammunition was canceled, and the guns are functionally unusable - but the Navy has other things in mind for the Zumwalts. Soon, half the cannons will come off and the ships will field the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system.

First-in-class USS Zumwalt is first in line for the modification, and her forward cannon has been removed, photos from her crew's Facebook page show. In its place, USS Zumwalt will carry four all-up round canisters, each containing three hypersonic missiles. This will add a dozen of the hard-to-stop hypersonic maneuvering missiles to her more conventional arsenal of 80 vertical launch cells.

Adding hypersonic missiles to the Zumwalt-class will not be cheap. Lockheed Martin, which is carrying out the work for the Navy, secured a contract worth $1.1-2.0 billion for the project (over all three vessels in the class). This covers removal of the forward gun and replacement with four extra-large missile cells; however, the second gun just forward of the deckhouse will remain in place for an indeterminate period.

Huntington Ingalls is carrying out the first modification on USS Zumwalt at Ingalls Shipbuilding, and second-in-class USS Michael Monsoor will be next. Bath Iron Works - the original home of the class - will perform Monsoor's refit.

Conventional Prompt Strike is the Navy's version of a joint hypsersonic weapons program, shared with the U.S. Army and U.S. Strategic Command. The Navy's version will be fielded on the Zumwalts first, and will be installed on the Block V Virginia-class attack sub when it begins to deliver in the 2030s. Strategic Command sees it as a "highly lethal platform" that will send a "strong deterrence message to our adversaries."

"The Navy / Industry team is moving with a sense of urgency to integrate CPS capability into USS Zumwalt," said Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, Program Executive Officer (PEO), Ships. "Many steps have been taken and are on track to get this important player on the field on time."

https://maritime-executive.com/article/uss-zumwalt-is-losing-its-iconic-cannon