The national average price for gasoline hit a seven-year high of $3.27 a gallon.
Yasin Ozturk/Getty Images
“At the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the cost of energy was dirt cheap as roads and airports sat nearly empty. Not anymore. The world economy has reopened and energy demand is back -- but the supply hasn't kept up. As a result, oil prices have skyrocketed, leading to sticker shock for many Americans filling up at the pump. The national average price for gasoline hit a seven-year high of $3.27 a gallon yesterday, up 7 cents in the past week alone, according to AAA. Unfortunately, the prices are likely to go up further due to the global energy crisis. Natural gas prices have skyrocketed so much in Europe and Asia, power plants and factories may increasingly turn to a relatively cheaper fuel source for electricity.” Read more at CNN
“London (CNN Business)The global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is weakening and risks are rising, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF on Tuesday slashed its 2021 growth forecast for the United States by one full percentage point to 6%, the biggest reduction suffered by any G7 economy in its latest World Economic Outlook.
The cut reflects disruptions to supply chains and softening consumption in the third quarter, the IMF said.
The revision comes days after Goldman Sachs cut its growth forecasts for the US economy this year and next, citing weaker consumer spending and the winding down of the government's Covid-19 relief programs.” Read more at CNN
“The elections office in Georgia’s heavily Democratic Fulton County said on Monday that two workers had been fired for shredding voter registration forms, most likely adding fuel to a Republican-led investigation of the office that critics call politically motivated.
The workers, at the Fulton County Board of Elections, were dismissed on Friday after other employees saw them destroying registration forms awaiting processing before local elections in November, the county elections director, Richard Barron, said.
Both the county district attorney and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state’s chief elections official, were asked to conduct inquiries into the matter, the chairman of the Fulton County Commission, Robb Pitts, said in a statement.
But it was Mr. Raffensperger who first revealed the allegations of shredded registration forms, issuing a blistering news release demanding that the Justice Department investigate “incompetence and malfeasance” in the agency. ‘After 20 years of documented failure in Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be,’ he said.
His declaration only underscored the political implications of the document-shredding charges, which would almost certainly have been less freighted in any other election office. Fulton County officials did not say how many forms were shredded, but Mr. Raffensperger put the total at about 300 in a county with 800,000 voters on the rolls.
While the charges of wrongdoing surfaced on Friday, it was unclear when the actual destruction of registration forms might have occurred.
Mr. Raffensperger, who won national attention for rejecting former President Donald J. Trump’s request to ‘find’ enough ballots to overturn President Biden’s narrow win in the state, faces a difficult primary race next spring against a rival endorsed by Mr. Trump. The Fulton County elections office, meanwhile, has become the object of fury by Trump supporters who baselessly claim that Mr. Biden’s win in the state was illegitimate.
Some supporters are suing to conduct yet another review of the presidential vote in Fulton County, which includes a broad swath of metropolitan Atlanta and where 73 percent of voters favored Mr. Biden. The statewide Georgia vote has been counted three times with zero evidence of fraud.
The Republican-dominated State Legislature approved legislation this spring that gives it effective control of the State Election Board, and empowers the board to investigate legislators’ complaints about local election bodies. Fulton County was quickly selected for an inquiry that eventually could replace the elections board with a temporary superintendent who would have sweeping powers to oversee the vote.” Read more at New York Times
“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning all state entities, including private employers, from enforcing vaccine mandates -- the latest move in his crusade against public health measures during the coronavirus pandemic. The order states that no groups or businesses can enforce the vaccine against anyone who objects ‘for any reason of personal conscience.’ While the vaccine is safe and effective, he said, it should remain voluntary for state residents. His decision comes a month after President Joe Biden directed the Labor Department to require all businesses with 100 or more employees ensure their workers are either vaccinated or tested once a week. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, reiterated that vaccine mandates are crucial in helping get more shots in people's arms. About a quarter of the eligible US population remains unvaccinated, and the rate of people getting booster shots is now outpacing that of those getting their first doses.” Read more at CNN
“AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration urged the courts again Monday night to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions since early September, as clinics hundreds of miles away remain busy with Texas patients making long journeys to get care.
The latest attempt comes three days after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the nation’s most restrictive abortion law after a brief 48-hour window last week in which Texas abortion providers — following a blistering ruling by a lower court — had rushed to bring in patients again.
The days ahead could now be key in determining the immediate future of the law known as Senate Bill 8, including whether there is another attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court weigh in.” Read more at AP News
“Hundreds of protesters, led by Indigenous people from across the country, marched to the White House on Monday demanding that President Biden stop approving fossil fuel projects fossil and declare a national climate emergency.
The protest was largely peaceful, with a few minor scuffles. The demonstrators sang, danced, and prayed holding signs that said ‘Water is alive’ and cardboard cutouts of fish and birds. At about 10:15 a.m., Park Police warned the group that they would be arrested if they did not disperse from Pennsylvania Ave.
While most of the group began moved north into Lafayette Square, about 100 remained on the sidewalk outside the White House and risked arrest. Police appeared to escort those remaining protesters to a nearby tent before issuing citations for failure to disperse.” Read more at Boston Globe
“HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Surfers and swimmers returned to the waves Monday at a popular Southern California beach that was shut for more than a week after an undersea pipeline leaked crude oil into the ocean.
The reopening of Huntington Beach — dubbed ‘Surf City USA’ — came far sooner than many expected after a putrid smell blanketed the coast and blobs of crude began washing ashore.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Jon Gruden has resigned as Las Vegas Raiders head coach after further emails emerged in which he used misogynistic and homophobic language.
‘I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction,’ Gruden said in a statement on Monday night. ‘Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.’
Gruden had previously said he didn’t have ‘a blade of racism’ in his body after the Wall Street Journal reported last week that he had described NFLPlayers Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is Black, as having ‘lips the size of michellin tires’ in an email 10 years ago. Gruden said he regularly used the phrase ‘rubber lips’ to describe anyone he considered a liar.
On Monday, the New York Times reviewed further emails which Gruden sent to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Team, during his time as an ESPN analyst. In the emails, Gruden called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a ‘faggot’ and a ‘clueless anti football pussy’. He also complained that Goodell had pressured then St Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher to draft ‘queers’ after the team selected Michael Sam, who is gay, in the 2014 NFL draft. This year, Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first active gay NFL player to come out as gay. At the time, Gruden told ESPN: ‘I learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great.’
In other emails, Gruden said Eric Reid, one of the first players to kneel alongside Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem in protest at police brutality, should be fired; called then Vice-President Joe Biden a ‘nervous clueless pussy’; and exchanged photos of women wearing only bikini bottoms.
After Sunday’s game, and before Monday’s emails became public, Raiders players were generally supportive of Gruden, who joined the team on a 10-year, $100m contract in 2018….
Gruden is known for his pugnacious, outspoken personality and won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2002 season. He later became a mainstay in the ESPN commentary booth before resuming his coaching career with the Raiders in 2018. The Raiders got off to an encouraging start this season, although they reached the playoffs just once since 2003. The Raiders said on Monday night that Rich Bisaccia will serve as interim head coach after Gruden’s departure.” Read more at The Guardian
“Another Facebook whistleblower says she is willing to testify before Congressabout her former employer. Sophie Zhang said she felt like she had ‘blood on her hands’ after working as a data scientist at the tech giant for almost three years. After she was fired last year, she wrote a lengthy memo detailing how she believed the company was not doing enough to tackle hate and misinformation -- particularly in developing countries. Zhang said she was encouraged that there appeared to be bipartisan support for action on the protection of children online following Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen's testimony to a Senate subcommittee. Zhang said she's passed on documentation about the company to a US law enforcement agency.” Read more at CNN
“Debt fix | The U.S. House is set to vote today on a $480 billion increase to the government’s borrowing limit, averting the immediate threat of a catastrophic default. But as Laura Davison and Billy House explain, that sets the stage for an even bigger showdown on debt and spending in less than two months.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The arrival of boosters increased the skepticism of many unvaccinated Americans.” Read more at New York Times
“Iraq says its forces captured Sami Jasim, the deputy of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was detained outside the country, the nation's prime minister said, without disclosing additional details on the operation. Jasim served as the financial supervisor of the terrorist group under Al-Baghdadi, according to a security expert. The US Treasury Department labeled Jasim as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, a designation that places financial sanctions on alleged terrorists and those who support them. The United States had a $5 million bounty on him and other ISIS leaders. US forces killed Baghdadi during a raid in Syria two years ago.” Read more at CNN
“A National Transportation Safety Board investigator is expected to visit the scene Tuesday of a small plane crash that killed two people and injured two others in a suburban Southern California neighborhood. The plane, a twin-engine Cessna 340, struck several homes and multiple vehicles Monday afternoon, including a UPS truck, said Fire Chief John Garlow. Three homes had "major damage" and two were completely burned. An injured woman was helped out the window of a burning home by neighbors. The plane was owned by Dr. Sugata Das, who may have been piloting the aircraft and died in the crash. He worked at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona, the hospital's chief medical officer said. UPS confirmed one of its workers died, although the employee's name wasn't immediately released.” Read more at USA Today
“Global efforts to reduce global warming received a welcome boost on Tuesday as 24 additional countries signed on to the U.S. and EU-led Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas by 30 percent from today’s levels by the end of the decade.
In announcing the newcomers, White House climate envoy John Kerry hailed the agreement as ‘the single most effective strategy to reduce near-term global warming and keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.’
Although there is 200 times more carbon dioxide than methane in the earth’s atmosphere, the latter gas is 80 times more potent over a 20-year period when it comes to trapping heat. Unlike carbon dioxide, which stays in the atmosphere for centuries, methane breaks down in roughly a decade, meaning efforts to reduce it have an outsized impact….
The pledge still has some key absentees. Just eight countries account for half of all human-induced methane emissions, but only four—Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United States—have signed on, with Brazil, China, India, and Russia the holdouts.
Organizers are optimistic that more than 100 countries will join the pledge before the COP26 summit in Glasgow begins on Oct. 31 and highlighted the inclusion of nine of the 20 worst methane polluters already.
Where to start. Anthropogenic methane is mostly produced in the agriculture and fossil fuel industries, and while techniques to reduce agricultural methane are progressing—from cow masks to livestock feed alternatives—the technology to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas is readily available, and cheap. A recent report from the International Energy Agency estimates that existing technology could cut 70 percent of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, with a 45 percent reduction possible at no net cost.
COP troubles. The agreement is a much-needed shot in the arm ahead of the COP26 summit, which is still likely to fall short of the standards set by COP21, the conference that led to the Paris Climate Accord.
The leader of the largest coal importer, Chinese President Xi Jinping, is expected to maintain his self-imposed travel ban and miss the gathering in-person while the leader of the largest coal exporter, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, said he had yet to decide whether to make the journey.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Poland vs. the EU. Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau has sought to play down the impact of a court ruling which held that the national constitution had primacy over EU law and brought thousands of Poles to the streets in support of the European Union over the weekend. In a series of tweets on Monday evening, Rau maintained that the EU had overstepped its bounds in certain areas, and that France and Germany—two of the major opponents of the Polish court’s decision—would also see it the same way.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Tigray battles. Ethiopian government and irregular forces have launched a multi-front assault on Tigrayan fighters, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has claimed, adding that the offensive includes airstrikes, drone attacks, and artillery bombardments. The Ethiopian government has not confirmed or denied the fresh assault, and communication blackouts make any independent confirmation difficult.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Lego, the world’s largest toymaker, has pledged to eliminate gender stereotypes from its products — including labeling that marks toys as ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’ — as part of a bid to match the wishes of its young customers.
‘Despite the progress made in girls brushing off prejudice at an early age, general attitudes surrounding play and creative careers remain unequal and restrictive,’ the Danish company known for its colorful building blocks said in a statement on Monday, which was also the United Nations Day of the Girl. ‘Girls today feel increasingly confident to engage in all types of play and creative activities, but remain held back by society’s ingrained gender stereotypes as they grow older.’
Lego’s move comes amid heightened debate about the role that toys play in creating and perpetuating gender stereotypes. On Saturday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a new law requiring large retail stores in the nation’s most populous state to provide gender-neutral shopping sections for child-care items and toys beginning in 2024.” Read more at Washington Post
“The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said it will cancel classes Tuesday as campus authorities investigate two possible suicides within the past month. ‘We are in the middle of a mental health crisis, both on our campus and across our nation, and we are aware that college-aged students carry an increased risk of suicide,’ University chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in an email Sunday, which also announced the class cancellations. The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on mental health and suicide prevention for teens and young adults, found that 63% of students say that their emotional health is worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic and one in five students have had suicidal thoughts in the past month.” Read more at USA Today
“Ever since the U.S. withdrew swiftly from Kabul in late August, the world hasn’t been sure what to do about Afghanistan.
Now with the economy collapsing, it’s time for some tough decisions. Italy is convening a virtual Group of 20 summit today to talk about how the world’s biggest economies can help stabilize the country before it turns into an even bigger humanitarian disaster.
The prospects for the meeting aren’t great. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin — whose governments have regularly engaged the Taliban militant group now running Afghanistan — aren’t even dialing in.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden isn’t keen to hand over money to the Taliban after getting hammered politically over the pullout.
Still, a failure to act could be devastating. While Afghanistan isn’t seeing a mass exodus yet, the United Nations last month warned that nearly the entire population could fall into poverty in the worst-case scenario. That could bolster extremist groups and send people fleeing to neighboring countries and even further afield to Europe.
The question now is how the U.S. and its allies can get cash into Afghanistan quickly without appearing to reward the Taliban for its treatment of women and other abuses.
As much as they might cringe at helping out their former enemies, an unstable Afghanistan teeming with desperation would be even worse.” Read more at Bloomberg
— Daniel Ten Kate“Increasingly combative customers — angry about everything from long wait times to mask mandates — are prompting workers to quit, Axios' Hope King and ‘Axios Today’ host Niala Boodhoo report.
Why it matters: The pace of the economic recovery hinges in part on workers returning to jobs.
Violent clashes between customers and service workers over COVID protocols have led to prison sentences, fines and deaths.
A former West Virginia bartender who goes by Ash told our ‘Axios Today’ podcast: ‘[T]he same people whining about people on unemployment were the same people who would come in and treat the people actually working like [crap].’
Many workers say they're not going to take it any longer — and their employers are often taking their side, even in industries that have long deferred to their customers.
Businesses have shut down in support of their employees. Some industries have provided self-defense classes.
Because consumers were so used to a ‘frictionless economy’ before the pandemic, there was no tolerance for a slowdown in services as businesses opened back up, says Melissa Swift, U.S. transformation leader at the consulting firm Mercer.
‘Technology has insulated the upper classes from the physical labor that enables their lifestyle,’ she said.
Now, the power balance is changing. ‘We're seeing a shift away from customer obsession to a more balanced view of the world,’ Swift said.
The bottom line: The customer is no longer always right. Share this story. Read more at Axios
“Southwest said it expects to resume normal service this week after canceling 2,500+ flights over the past three days, blaming unfavorable weather and air traffic issues in Florida, Reuters reports.
The airline canceled 800+ flights Saturday ... 1,124 on Sunday ... and 588 yesterday.
The meltdown remains largely unexplained on the usually chatty Southwest Twitter feed.
A pilot revolt against the airline's vaccine mandate, announced last week is a suspected factor.
Southwest said yesterday: ‘[T]he operational challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations.’
Fox News' Tucker Carlson, who hosts the highest-rated show in cable news, last night pushed the vaccine-mandate angle as his lead story — with a graphic showing Southwest's logo, a syringe and a pink slip.
Read Southwest's statement.” Read more at Axios
“Matt Amodio's reign as "Jeopardy!" champ has come to an end. The Yale computer science Ph.D. student and Ohio native was finally dethroned, ending his 38-game streak.” Read more at USA Today
“The new Superman, Jonathan Kent — who is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane — will soon begin a romantic relationship with a male friend, DC Comics announced Monday.
That same-sex relationship is just one of the ways that Jonathan Kent, who goes by Jon, is proving to be a different Superman than his famous father. Since his new series, Superman: Son of Kal-El, began in July, Jon has combated wildfires caused by climate change, thwarted a high school shooting and protested the deportation of refugees in Metropolis.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: Iohan Gueorguiev gained a following for videos of himself biking through remote landscapes. He died at 33.” Read more at New York Times
“YAVNE, Israel — Israeli archaeologists on Monday said they had unearthed a massive ancient winemaking complex dating back some 1,500 years.
The complex, discovered in the central town of Yavne, includes five wine presses, warehouses, kilns for producing clay storage vessels, and tens of thousands of fragments and jars, they said.
Israel’s Antiquities Authority said the discovery shows that Yavne was a winemaking powerhouse during the Byzantine period. Researchers estimate the facility could produce some 2 million liters (over 520,000 gallons) of wine a year.” Read more at Boston Globe