G-7 joins EU on $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil
The Group of Seven nations and Australia have joined the European Union in agreeing to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil. It’s a key step as Western sanctions aim to reorder the global oil market to prevent price spikes and starve President Vladimir Putin of funding for his war in Ukraine. The nations needed to set the discounted price that other nations will pay by Monday, when an EU embargo on Russian oil shipped by sea and a ban on insurance for those supplies take effect. The price cap aims to prevent a sudden loss of Russian oil to the world that could lead to a new surge in energy prices.
Dems move to make South Carolina, not Iowa, 1st voting state
Democrats have voted to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar and replace it with South Carolina starting in 2024. President Joe Biden argues that the dramatic shakeup, which he endorsed, will better reflect the party’s deeply diverse electorate. The Democratic National Committee’s rule-making arm made the move Friday to strip Iowa from the position it has held for five decades after technical meltdowns sparked chaos and marred results of the state’s 2020 caucus. The move will still have to be approved by the full DNC in a vote likely early next year, but it will almost certainly follow the rule-making committee’s lead.
Macron hits New Orleans’ French Quarter, meets with Musk
French President Emmanuel Macron has paid a visit to Louisiana, the U.S. state most closely aligned with his country historically and culturally. Macron met with political leaders Friday and strolled through New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. He paused next to a street brass band and nodded and clapped as they played “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Macron also says he met with billionaire Elon Musk for a “clear and honest discussion” about Twitter, days after a top EU official warned that the company must do more to protect users. It is the first visit to Louisiana by a French president since Valery Giscard d’Estaing traveled to Lafayette and New Orleans in 1976.
Jury begins deliberations in Harvey Weinstein rape trial
The jury has begun deliberating in the Los Angeles trial of Harvey Weinstein. Jurors will have to decide on two rape counts and five other sexual assault counts after hearing more than four weeks of evidence in the trial of the 70-year-old former movie mogul. Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York and could be sentenced to more than 60 years in prison in California if convicted on all counts. He has pleaded not guilty and denied engaging in any non-consensual sex. Jurors had just a few hours to deliberate on Friday afternoon before a weekend break.
Infowars host Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy
Infowars host Alex Jones has filed for personal bankruptcy protection in Texas. Jones cites debts that include nearly $1.5 billion he has been ordered to pay to families who sued him over his conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school massacre. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday in Houston. The filing listed $1 billion to $10 billion in liabilities owed to creditors and $1 million to $10 million in assets. Jones acknowledged the filing on his Infowars broadcast. He said the bankruptcy case will prove that he’s broke and asked viewers to shop on his website to help keep the show on the air.
Amazon loses 10% of its vegetation in nearly four decades
The Amazon region has lost 10% of its vegetation in nearly four decades, according to a new report. That’s an area roughly the size of Texas, From 1985 to 2021, the deforested area surged from 190,000 square miles to 482,000 square miles, unprecedented destruction in the region. The vegetation loss was detailed in a report released Friday by the Amazon Networkof Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information, or Raisg, a consortium of civil society organizations from the region’scountries.
Snowden receives Russian passport, takes citizenship oath
Russian news agencies say former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who fled prosecution after revealing highly classified surveillance programs, has received a Russian passport and taken the citizenship oath. Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena was quoted as saying Snowden got the passport and took the oath on Thursday, about three months after Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him citizenship. Friday’s reports did not specify whether Snowden has renounced his U.S. citizenship. The United States revoked his passport in 2013, leading to Snowden being stranded in a Moscow airport for weeks after arriving from Hong Kong, aiming to reach Ecuador. Russia eventually granted him permanent residency. He married American Lindsay Mills in 2017 and the couple has two children.
Nevada toad in geothermal power fight gets endangered status
A tiny Nevada toad at the center of a legal battle over a geothermal project has officially been declared an endangered species after U.S. wildlife officials temporarily listed it on a rarely-used emergency basis last spring. The Fish and Wildilfe Service said in a formal rule published Friday that the Dixie Valley toad is at risk of extinction primarily due to the approval and commencement of geothermal development” about 100 miles east of Reno. Other threats to the quarter-sized amphibian include groundwater pumping, agriculture, climate change, disease and predation from bullfrogs. The temporary listing in April marked only the second time in 20 years the agency had taken such emergency action.
By wire sources