Month: March 2023

According to the U.S. military, a Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to the US military.

A statement from U.S. European Command said that the Reaper drone and two Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the unmanned drone several times.  The aircraft then hit the propeller of the drone, prompting U.S. forces to bring the MQ-9 drone down in international waters. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in the statement: “Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9. In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

According to CNN, the incident was the first direct contact between Russian and U.S. aircraft since the start of the Russia’s war in Ukraine. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Biden was briefed on the incident t by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday morning.  Kirby said it was “not uncommon” for Russian aircraft to intercept US aircraft over the Black Sea, and said there had been other intercepts in recent weeks; however, he said the incident on Tuesday was unique in how “unsafe, unprofessional and reckless” the Russian actions were.

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The Biden administration gave the green light to ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil drilling project on the North Slope of Alaska on Monday, while moving to reduce the overall footprint of the project. According to the Interior Department, the multibillion dollar project will be located inside the National Petroleum Reserve, about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and could produce nearly 600 million barrels of crude oil over the next 30 year. The White House denied two of five drill sites and called on Conoco Phillips — Alaska’s largest crude oil producer — to give up rights to 68,000 acres worth of leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that it acquired in the 1990s.

The Department of the Interior noted in announcing the approval that it reduced the scope of the plan by denying two of the five drill sites proposed by ConocoPhillips. The department estimated that the project could produce nearly a quarter of a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The oil industry and Alaskan lawmakers had urged the president to approve the project for its energy production potential and its ability to create jobs. Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive officer, in a news release that “This was the right decision for Alaska and our nation.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a statement that she could almost “feel Alaska’s future brightening” after the administration’s announcement. ConocoPhillips estimated that the project would create up to 2,500 construction jobs and 300 long-term jobs.

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On Monday, President Biden assured Americans that the U.S. banking system remained strong , and that swift action to protect deposits of two closed banks should head off fears of additional failures of financial institutions. Biden ‘s White House briefing came after many feared that the closures of California’s Silicon Valley Bank (which handled the funds of many tech startups) and New York Signature Bank could lead to a wave of other bank collapses.

Biden said all customers can “rest assured” that they will be able to access their funds and protected, adding that the move will allow companies to make payroll, pay bills and stay open for business. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation normally insures deposits of up to $250,000 but the administration’s action will give that safety net to all depositors.  Said Biden: “Because of the actions of that, because of the action our regulators have already taken, every American should feel confident that their deposits will be there if and when they need them.” The president also said that fees from the deposit assurances will come from fees paid by the banking industry into the federal insurance fund and not taxpayers, and that those running failed banks will lose their jobs when they come under the control of the feds: “The management of these banks will be fired. If the bank is taken over by the FDIC, the people running the bank should not work there anymore.”

Biden said that an investigation will follow to find out what went wrong at these institutions: “There are important questions as to how these banks got into these circumstances in the first place. We must get a full accounting into what happened,” adding those responsible “will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

Silicon Valley Bank, a tech startup lender, became the first major bank to fail in more than two years. Regulators then shut down New York’s Signature Bank on Sunday, on the heels of closing Silicon Valley Bank on Friday.

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Authorities said that least eight people are dead and a search for at least seven victims was underway Sunday after a suspected human smuggling operation ended after two boats crashed off the San Diego coast late Saturday night.

James Gartland, chief of the lifeguard division in San Diego, said ‘this is one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies that I can think of in California, certainly here in the city of San Diego.’ Gartland said a woman called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, saying she was on a panga boat with 15 people aboard that made it to the shore at Blacks Beach. The caller said another panga (small fishing boats with outboard motors often used for smuggling operations) had capsized, and eight people were in the water. Officials from San Diego Fire and Rescue said Sunday that authorities are searching for what they believe are seven additional victims

Officials from the San Diego fire and police departments, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard and state and local lifeguards were among those who responded to the scene. The capsized boat was located about 800 yards north of Black Gold Road in La Jolla. According to the information shared by San Diego Fire and Rescue, the first group of lifeguards found the victims on a patch of dry sand along with two overturned panga boats and several lifejackets and fuel barrels. Coast Guard Petty Officer Eddie Berrios confirmed eight people had died and teams were searching for at least seven more. Officials said some or all of the remaining passengers could have escaped via the beach about 15 miles north of downtown San Diego.

The incident was one of the deadliest migrant smuggling operations ever in the area. San Diego Fire-Rescue deputy chief of operations Daniel Eddy said there was a long debris field on Black’s Beach, which is jointly owned by the city and the state. Pangas, frequently used in smuggling operations, often come ashore along the wide stretch of sand that’s also known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.

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Authorities confirm that three women have been missing for two weeks after traveling from Texas to Mexico for a shopping trip.  According to missing person posters posted by the Local Commission for the Search of Persons in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, the three women — Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47 — have been missing since Feb. 25. The Associated Press reported that Saenz is a friend of the Rioses, who are sisters.

Peñitas Police Chief Roel Bermea said that two of the women are from Peñitas, a Texas town on the U.S.-Mexico border. Peñitas police started looking into the three women’s disappearance after the husband of one of the missing women contacted the department. Bermea said tha the three women left on Feb. 24 to go to a flea market in Montemorelos, a city in Nuevo León. The chief said that after several days with no contact, his investigator contacted the FBI “to see what they could do.”  Said Bermea: “We did contact the FBI to let them know the ladies were considered missing .. but not much we can do ourselves” in a missing persons case in another country. The FBI confirmed in a statement they are aware of the matter.

According to the Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León, U.S. authorities have not intervened in the search because the women are not American citizens; they are Mexican nationals living in the U.S.  The Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León said in a statement that drones, all-terrain vehicles and canines have been deployed in the search, with search operations being carried out daily. Investigators are hoping to coordinate the search with authorities in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas as the women’s families believe “that the event occurred there.”  Authorities said that the women were traveling in a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado. Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI or the Peñitas Police Department at 956-581-3345.

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