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Why some US bank deposits are held up days after 'processing error' delayed 850,000 payments
Hundreds of thousands of payments never landed in US bank accounts last week because of a “processing error.” Days later, the private company responsible for that error is still wrestling with the fallout.
The Clearing House, which processes a large portion of the bank-to-bank electronic transfers that happen in the US each day, said Tuesday in a statement that some payments were delayed last Thursday because instructions were sent to financial institutions “with the account number and names of customers masked.”
That made it impossible for banks to immediately process and post the payments on Thursday or Friday. “In many cases” these transfers continue to be delayed, said the Clearing House, which is owned by 22 of the nation’s largest banks.
The glitch affected roughly 850,000 transactions. That represents a small percentage, or roughly less than 1%, of the 130 million payments that moved across the Automated Clearing House, or ACH, network last Friday.
That network, which has existed for decades, lets banks route payments to each other electronically. Banks use the system to send direct deposit paychecks or transfer money customers use to pay mortgage and utility bills.
It processed 7.8 billion in transactions during the third quarter of 2023, according to the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).
The Clearing House’s ACH operation essentially handles half the US commercial ACH volume. The Federal Reserve has a separate ACH network in the US that it said was not affected by last week’s glitch.
“We know that for those affected consumers and businesses, the impact is meaningful,” the Clearing House said.
To unwind the error, banks that tried to send money last week have to resend their original instructions for payments to be transferred. When the affected customers see their money "depends on when their originating bank resends the transaction," a JPMorgan Chase (JPM) spokesperson said.
“For a few days,” this spokesperson said, JPMorgan is refunding overdraft fees for affected customers who didn’t have enough money in their accounts to pay bills.
JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, is still seeing higher-than-normal problem reports from its customers as of Tuesday.
Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) also experienced a surge of customer complaints, according to Downdetector, which monitors reports of problems at financial institutions.
Some bank customers also took to social media to complain about the payment delays.
“Maybe it’s time to find a new bank,” said one Bank of America customer.
The Clearing House tried to make it clear in a statement that banks were not at fault, saying the error was "was not caused by the financial institutions that originated or received the payments or the businesses or other account holders that initiated them."
It added: "The November 2nd error was an unfortunate and isolated issue, and immediate steps have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence."
-David Hollerith, yahoo!finance
Why Are Online Banking Services Suddenly Being Disrupted All Over The United States?
This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog under the title: Why Are Online Banking Services Suddenly Being Disrupted On A Massive Scale All Over The United States?
Should we be concerned about all of the problems that are suddenly erupting at our banks? U.S. banks have been shutting down hundreds of branches, they have been laying off thousands of workers, and as I discussed yesterday vast numbers of customer accounts are being unceremoniously shut down without any warning whatsoever. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, now endless “glitches” are plaguing our banking system. For example, the glitch that caused paychecks not to be deposited at many banks on Friday still has not been fully resolved…
Customers at major U.S. banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo complained about delays with their direct deposits on Monday, following a glitch with processing payments that began Friday.
The Federal Reserve on Friday said the problem wasn’t related to a cybersecurity issue and that it had been resolved. But customers on Monday continued to report delays with direct deposits, reaching out to their banks on social media to report that their paychecks hadn’t landed in their accounts as expected.
Wells Fargo and Bank of America referred questions to The Clearing House, a payments company that operates the only private-sector automated clearing house (ACH) system in the U.S.
I have never seen a problem with direct deposits that is so widespread.
The Clearing House is promising to have things fixed “as quickly as possible”, but that could mean just about anything…
The Clearing House, the private operator of ACH, told CNN on Monday it is working with banks and the Federal Reserve to “resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
“Many of the delayed payments have already posted, and we will continue working with financial institutions to ensure the remaining transactions are processed,” The Clearing House spokesperson Greg MacSweeney said in an email.
An industry source confirmed to CNN on Monday that it’s likely some customers haven’t received their deposits yet. The source stressed that banks are at the mercy of the originating bank to resend payment files.
Meanwhile, online banking services are suddenly being disrupted all over the country on a massive scale. Steve Quayle was reporting this on his website, and this prompted me to go to downdetector.com to check it out for myself.
And I discovered that all of the big banks were experiencing unusual outages on Monday.
The following is a screenshot of Chase outages…
Citibank suddenly started getting hit by a spike in outages during the early morning hours on Monday too…
Unfortunately, the same thing also happened to Bank of America…
And outages followed the same pattern at Wells Fargo…
So why was there such a dramatic spike in outages all of a sudden?
Is this evidence that our banks are being hit by cyberattacks?
I don’t know.
Hopefully, things will settle down and these “glitches” and outages will start to subside.
But the credit crunch that has now begun is not going to go away any time soon.
According to the Federal Reserve, lending standards for business loans got even tighter during the third quarter…
Banks continued to tighten standards for business loans in the third quarter, according to a survey of loan officers conducted by the Federal Reserve.
In addition, a “significant” number of banks tightened lending standards for credit-card, automobile and other consumer loans.
Key details: Banks tightened standards on loans to firms of all sizes. Tightening was accomplished in premiums for riskier loans, spreads of loan rates over the cost of funds and costs of credit lines.
And a survey that was recently conducted by Goldman Sachs found that nearly 80 percent of small business owners in the U.S. “are concerned about their ability to access capital”…
A survey by Goldman Sachs quizzed small businesses owners, who reported serious concerns that the nationwide credit crunch is hindering their growth. Some expressed fear that they would have to close up shop.
According to the survey, 78% of small business owners are concerned about their ability to access capital, and 29% say they can’t afford to take out a loan given current interest rates. In addition, 85% say that if access to capital continues to tighten it will impact their growth forecast. Of those, 67% will halt expansion plans if credit continues to tighten, and 21% would close their business if the credit market continues on this trajectory.
Banks all over America have gotten very tight with their money.
And that is going to have enormous implications for the U.S. economy in 2024 and beyond.
The era of easy credit is over, and now our banks are drowning in mountains of bad debt. In a desperate attempt to save money, banks are shutting down branches and laying off workers.
In fact, at this moment workers at Citigroup are waiting to see who will survive and who will get the axe during the wave of layoffs that is rapidly approaching…
When Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser announced in September that her sweeping corporate overhaul would result in an undisclosed number of layoffs, a jolt of fear ran through many of the bank’s 240,000 souls.
“We’ll be saying goodbye to some very talented and hard-working colleagues,” she warned in a memo.
Employees’ concerns are justified. Managers and consultants working on Fraser’s reorganization — known internally by its code name, “Project Bora Bora” — have discussed job cuts of at least 10% in several major businesses, according to people with knowledge of the process. The talks are early and numbers may shift in coming weeks.
In my new book entitled “Chaos”, I warn about the extreme financial instability that is dead ahead.
The flow of credit is going to get even tighter, more bank branches are going to be shut down, and more prominent banks are going to fail.
And that is really bad news for all of us because the banks are the beating heart of our economic system.
We desperately need healthy banks, but now we stand on the verge of a banking crisis that will be unlike anything we have ever seen before.
-Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan
Millennials are struggling with credit card debt, NY Fed study finds
Credit card debt surged again during the third quarter and so did the number of people missing payments.
Credit card balances rose by $48 billion in the third quarter to a record high of $1.08 trillion, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The $154 billion year-over-year gain in debt was the largest such increase since the beginning of the series in 1999. At the same time, the 90-day delinquency rate measure for credit cardholders increased to 5.78%, up from 3.69% a year earlier.
While rising delinquencies spanned incomes and regions, they were particularly acute among millennials and those with auto or student loans, the report found.
The data comes as the three-year federal student loan payment pause ended in October and interest rates on credit cards have increased to 38-year highs. The combination has been a blow to some borrowers saddled with credit card debt.
"Millennials have seen the largest increase in their delinquency rates and now have rates definitely above pre-pandemic levels," New York Fed researchers said in a press call. "Given the strong labor market and general economy these increases are somewhat surprising. Understanding the cause of this shift — whether they reflect loosening of standards over the past years or overextension — is something we intend to dig into and monitor."
The share of newly delinquent borrowers grows
The youngest Americans are finding it harder to dig themselves out of credit card debt.
During the third quarter, some 2% of credit card users moved from current status in the second quarter to 30 or more days past due on at least one account in the third quarter. According to the New York Fed, that’s up from 1.6% in the first and second quarters of 2023, and higher than the third quarter average of 1.7% between 2015 and 2019 .
Those flowing into serious delinquency on credit card debt, which are 90 days or more past due on payments, posted the largest increases out of every debt category, the study found. Overall, the flow of debt moving into delinquency hit 1.28% in the third quarter, up from 0.94% a year ago, the report found.
The sharp uptick in delinquencies was driven by millennials — those born between 1980 and 1994. The group first began to exceed their pre-pandemic delinquency levels in the middle of last year and now have transition rates that are 0.4 percentage points higher than the third quarter of 2019.
On the other hand, the credit card delinquency rates for the Gen Z, Gen X, and baby boomers were still within pre-pandemic levels.
"There’s a lot of overlap between millennials and auto loans and student debt. Millennials have a fairly significant amount of student debt, and there’s a decent bit of new originations of auto loans during the pandemic when prices were high," New York Fed researchers said in a press call. "We can see that overlap correlates with higher delinquency rates."
Interest rates, which have risen in the last 18 months due to the Fed’s campaign to tamp down inflation, could also be partially to blame for the uptick in delinquencies. Higher costs of living and shelter costs have also caused borrowers to rely more on credit, with credit card balances rising for eight consecutive quarters, the study found.
-Gabriella Cruz-Martinez, yahoo!finance
House prices back on the rise for first time in six months, Halifax says
After six months of falls house prices across the country are on the rise again, according to analysis from part of the UK's biggest mortgage lender.
Last month, for the first time since March, the cost of buying a house increased as the number of properties on the market shrunk, according to the Halifax house price index.
Despite a rise of 1.1% in October, following a 0.3% fall in September, prices are still lower than a year ago.
The increases meant the average house was sold for roughly £3,000 more than the month before at £281,974 compared to £291,248 in the same month last year.
Halifax is owned by the Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's largest mortgage provider.
The steepest falls came in the southeast of the UK where prices declined 6% over the year to an average of £374,066.
Tuesday's data echoes the finding of the Nationwide house price index published last week, which also showed a surprise rise in selling figures.
It comes as mortgage rates have fallen from the highs seen over the summer as markets settle into the expectation that interest rates have peaked.
Meanwhile, the main measure of inflation - the consumer price index - stood at 6.7% in September, down from a recent high of 11% a year ago.
Contributing to the rise is a shortage of properties on the market, as sellers are cautious about listing a home, said the director at Halifax Mortgages, Kim Kinnaird.
This will grow prices in the short term but is not a sign of high buyer demand, she added.
"While many people will have seen their income grow through wage rises, higher interest rates and wider affordability pressures continue to be challenges for buyers."
Drops in house prices are forecast, with growth not expected to return until 2025.
During the pandemic, house prices soared as savings rose and demand grew in more rural areas.
"On average, prices remain around £40,000 above pre-pandemic levels", Kinnaird said.
-Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, Sky News
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Update: ‘Coding Error’ in Voting Machines Blamed For Votes Flipping in Pennsylvania
A ‘coding error’ in the voting machines caused the votes to flip in several districts in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Voting machines went down in Palmer Township, Bethany Wesleyan Church in Lehigh Township, College Hill Presbyterian Church in Easton, and at the Allen Township Fire Hall on Tuesday.
“Northampton County Elections Office reports an issue with the recording of votes only for the races for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, affecting Judge Jack Panella and Judge Victor P. Stabile,” a press release from the Northampton County Elections Office read.
The Associated Press reported:
A coding error in an eastern Pennsylvania county caused votes to be flipped on a ballot question that asked whether a pair of incumbent state appeals judges should be retained, officials said Tuesday.
Voters were asked to decide whether Pennsylvania Superior Court Judges Jack Panella and Victor Stabile should be retained for additional 10-year terms. The “yes” or “no” votes for each judge were being switched because of the error, said Lamont McClure, the Northampton County executive. If a voter marked “yes” to retain Panella and “no” on Stabile, for example, it was reflected as “no” on Panella and “yes” on Stabile.
McClure said voters first noticed the error on the printed voting records produced by the touchscreen machines.
The issue affected all the county’s voting machines in use Tuesday, which McClure estimated at more than 300. The Pennsylvania Department of State said the problem was isolated to the two retention votes in Northampton County and that no other races statewide were affected.
-Cristina Laila, The Gateway Pundit
BREAKING UPDATE: Special Counsel Investigating Hunter Biden to Testify on Tuesday Behind Closed Doors
Special Counsel David Weiss is scheduled to testify in a closed-door session before the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, regarding his involvement in the five-year investigation of Hunter Biden.
House Republicans are anticipating the interview to resolve contradictions among statements from Weiss, four IRS agents, two prosecutors, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. In June, Garland stated that Weiss “was given complete authority to make all decisions” in the Hunter Biden tax investigation.
It’s anticipated that Weiss will maintain he had complete control over his investigation but will refrain from addressing ongoing inquiries about the Hunter probe.
Weiss’s spokesman, Wyn Hornbuckle, informed reporters that, in line with department policy and the law, Weiss won’t be able to discuss the specifics of his investigation.
Garland’s claim about Weiss’s unrestricted authority contradicts assertions from four IRS informants and two senior prosecutors:
Four IRS whistleblowers contend the DOJ twice prevented Weiss from bringing stronger charges against Hunter Biden, including in separate jurisdictions, and that Weiss’s probe was politically influenced.
U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC, Matthew Graves admitted on October 3 that he balked at partnering with Weiss to bring tax charges in 2022 against Hunter Biden, broadly corroborating IRS whistleblowers’ claims Hunter Biden received preferential treatment.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg, the DOJ’s top tax prosecutor, told House investigators on October 25 that Weiss could not bring tax charges against Hunter Biden without high-level approval, according to a transcribed interview.
In June, The New York Times confirmed that the DOJ prevented Weiss from filing charges against Hunter in both Washington, DC and California.
Hunter Biden appears to be under investigation for potential FARA and tax infractions due to Weiss’s inability to guarantee that the president’s son would escape charges related to tax and FARA violations, as per the defunct plea deal hearing transcript. Subsequently, Special Counsel David Weiss filed three gun-related charges against Hunter Biden in September after their previously negotiated plea agreement unraveled.
The agreement allowed Hunter Biden to enter a guilty plea for failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income during 2017 and 2018, resulting in probation instead of jail time.
In addition, Weiss devised a separate diversion arrangement that granted Hunter immunity from potential future charges, which included a provision to effectively erase a felony gun violation from his criminal record.
-Conservative Roof
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Biden Administration Pressures Supreme Court to Overturn Bans on Trans Procedures for Minors
The Biden administration, on Monday, filed a petition with the Supreme Court aiming to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender transition procedures for minors.
This move by the Department of Justice follows earlier lower court decisions that allowed similar bans in Tennessee and two other states to progress earlier in the summer.
DOJ attorneys argued that these bans, including one in Kentucky, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In their petition, DOJ attorneys highlighted the national importance of determining whether the recent wave of bans on gender-affirming care align with the Equal Protection Clause, stating that it “requires a definitive resolution.”
The DOJ’s filing stressed the potential loss of essential medical care for families in states like Tennessee, where laws such as SB1 have been enacted.
Separately, petitions were submitted advocating for transgender plaintiffs and their families, urging the Supreme Court to consider cases involving similar bans in Kentucky and Tennessee.
However, the DOJ’s filing specifically requests the Supreme Court to address whether the Tennessee ban violates equal protection.
The argument revolves around the law being considered as a sex-based classification, with emphasis on its discriminatory impact on transgender individuals.
Additional private petitions related to the Tennessee and Kentucky bans question whether these laws infringe on the constitutional due process rights of parents to oversee their children’s upbringing.
In March, Governor Bill Lee signed SB1 into law, prohibiting transgender treatment for minors, effective from July. It mandates that children undergoing such treatments before July 1 must cease by March 31, 2024.
In response, groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of families with transgender children.
On Sept. 28, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tennessee’s ban on transgender treatment for children in a 2–1 ruling, rejecting a petitioner’s challenge.
In July, a panel of judges on the Sixth Circuit Court lifted an order blocking part of the ban, allowing it to take effect.
The DOJ’s filing argues that the Sixth Circuit Court made an error in deeming the Tennessee and Kentucky bans as likely constitutional and insists that these bans should face stricter scrutiny.
The DOJ urged the Supreme Court to consider all three cases together and address the equal protection issue.
They emphasized the potential harmful effects on transgender adolescents nationwide if these bans take effect, including increased distress, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies.
Tennessee’s legislation reflects a broader trend in multiple states taking measures against transgender treatments for minors.
It’s vital to note the serious health risks associated with gender transition procedures, ranging from mental health issues to physical complications and even death.
In May, lawmakers demanded answers after two youths in a transgender hormone study funded by the National Institutes of Health took their lives. Additionally, 11 participants reported having suicidal thoughts.
-Conservative Roof
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Zelensky Says Those Calling for Ukrainian Elections Are ‘Irresponsible’.
In a Monday video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said calls for holding an election are irresponsible in the midst of the nation’s ongoing military conflict with Russia. “We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner,” Zelensky said, before adding: “I believe that it’s not the right time for elections.”
The prospects of Zelensky moving forward with the 2024 Ukrainian presidential election have been murky for some time. Over 100 NGOs, several of which are funded by George Soros, recently made a public appeal asking that the elections be delayed. The ostensibly pro-democracy groups reasoned that an election could risk a “loss of legitimacy” for Zelensky’s government and undermine the war effort if he underperforms expectations. ““Elections alone do not constitute democracy,” the groups argued.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska appeared uncertain whether her husband would even run for re-election should they be held. While in Washington, D.C. with her husband to lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill for billions more in U.S. taxpayer dollars to be sent to Ukraine as military aid, the Ukrainian first lady appeared to indicate she was encouraging her husband to bow out of politics.
“Even when he ran for the first time, I didn’t fully endorse it,” Olena Zelenska said on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’. “But if he runs again, if he runs for the second time, if he decided it is necessary — well, we have some experience, we’ve been there.” Zelenska went on to suggest next year’s election may not occur at all.
-William Upton, The National Pulse
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Armed drones shot down near base hosting U.S. troops
Image Credit: U.S. Marine Corps Captain Joshua Brooks, an unmanned aircraft system representative, and Master Sergeant Willie Cheeseboro Jr., an enlisted aircrew coordinator with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1, prepare to launch and operate the first Marine Corps owned MQ-9A Reaper on Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, Aug. 30, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Gabrielle Sanders)
By Micaela Burrow
Daily Caller News FoundationThree armed attack drones were shot down in two separate attacks on an outpost near Erbil airport, in Iraq, hosting U.S. and coalition troops Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing a statement by Iraqi Kurdistan’s security service.
The attacks, if confirmed by the Pentagon, would bring the total of Iran-backed militia attacks on bases hosting American military personnel to 40 since Oct. 17. Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iraqi terrorist groups operating at Iran’s behest, claimed an successful attack on Al-Harir military base northeast of Erbil airport early Tuesday morning, accordingto Reuters and a statement from the group.
Hours later, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq also said it attacked the “American occupation base at Erbil Airport with drones, directly hitting their targets.” There was no evidence that the one-way attack drones impacted their targets, however.
A defense system at the military base near the airport intercepted the drones, the statement from Iraqi Kurdistan’s security service said, according to Reuters.
No casualties or damage to facilities resulted from the attack, a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson told the outlet. Coalition forces have been targeted at least 38 times since Oct. 17, although most of those attacks have been unsuccessful due to “robust defenses,” the spokesperson added, echoing the Pentagon’s comments from Monday.
U.S. troops in Iraq have been targetd 20 times and American personnel in Syria 18 times in repeated “harassing attacks of drones and rockets,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. At least 46 personnel sustained injures including traumatic brain injuries and minor wounds from shrapnel, headaches, perforated ear drums and other conditions, he said.
The Pentagon referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). CENTCOM did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
None of the injuries occurred since the U.S. conducted what is so far the only round of self-defense strikes since the wave of attacks began. The U.S. destroyed two facilities in Syria it assessed the militias and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used as weapons depots.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has deployed an Ohio-class submarine armed with up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles to the region alongside two aircraft carrier strike groups, conducting naval exercises and strategic bomber deployments over the weekend. The surge in public displays of American military power is in part aimed at sending a message to adversaries seeking to escalate conflict, the Pentagon has said.
-WND News Services
Italy can’t afford NATO’s cash demands – defense minister
Italy has no chance of boosting its military spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, despite NATO requirements, and won’t likely be able to meet the target within the next five years, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has told lawmakers in Rome.
Italy’s defense spending this year will equate to 1.46% of the country’s GDP, according to a NATO estimate. The ratio will reportedly drop to 1.38% next year and to 1.26% in 2025, even as defense spending rises.
Speaking to members of the defense and foreign affairs committees in both houses of Italy’s parliament on Tuesday, Crosetto said bringing military spending to 2% of GDP will be “impossible” in 2024 and “difficult for 2028 as well.” He went on to add, “We are indeed far from 2%, very far.”
“NATO must not set unrealistic financial objectives,” Crosetto said.
Italy won’t be able to increase its military spending as much as needed unless the defense budget is excluded from EU fiscal constraints, Crosetto has previously warned. “If we do not resolve the current framework of inconsistency between the responsibility to strengthen security and the public finance [restrictions] imposed by the EU, it will be very difficult to reach the 2% minimum threshold envisaged by NATO within a reasonable timeframe,” he said in June.
Members of the Western military bloc agreed at a 2014 summit to target defense spending equivalent to 2% of each country’s GDP by 2024. The bloc agreed in July to make the 2% threshold a minimum requirement, rather than a goal. However, only 11 of the 31 current members are projected to reach the target this year.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told lawmakers earlier this year that respecting the country’s spending commitments were necessary to protect national sovereignty and credibility.
“Freedom has a price, and if you are not able to defend yourself, someone else will do it for you, but will not do it for free,” she said. “They will impose their interests, even if they differ from yours, and I don’t think this was ever good business for anyone.”
-RT News
US frets that ATACMS won’t make difference in Ukraine – NYT
US officials have reportedly raised doubts about the effectiveness of the long-range missiles that President Joe Biden reluctantly agreed to provide to Ukraine, saying they might not be a significant difference-maker in Kiev’s conflict with Russian forces.
At issue is the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which Biden agreed to give to Ukraine in September after previously holding back on concern that the weapon could escalate the conflict by enabling Kiev to fire deep into Russian territory. “Now the fear about the ATACMS is that they will not make that big a difference because the Russians are learning how to park their aircraft beyond the weapons’ reach,” the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified Biden aides.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky pressed for months to persuade Washington to provide the ATACMS, saying it was crucial to striking deep behind Russian lines. Zelensky claimed to have used the missiles for the first time on October 17, saying they had “proven themselves” effective. Ukraine was reportedly given a version of the weapon with a range of about 100 miles (about 160km), rather than the system’s maximum reach of 190 miles.
Russian forces claimed to have intercepted two ATACMS missiles late last month. Ukraine has used the missiles to target Russian airfields. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the ATACMS would merely “prolong the agony” for Ukraine but would not be a game-changer on the battlefield. “We, of course, will be able to repel these attacks,” he told reporters.
Biden is “confronting the limits” of his leverage over the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, the New York Times said. US officials were troubled by Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny’s comment last week admitting that he didn’t expect a major “breakthrough” on the battlefield. Many of Biden’s aides agree that the conflict has reached a “stalemate,” the newspaper said, “but they fear that General Zaluzhny’s candor will make it harder to get Republicans to vote for aggressive funding for the war.”
Biden administration officials also are worried that the comment may embolden Putin to “dig in” and wait for a possible pullback in US support for Ukraine if Donald Trump or another Republican wins next year’s presidential election.
-RT News
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Largest hospital in Wales issues highest level of alert amid A&E pressures
The largest hospital in Wales has issued a business continuity incident - its highest level of alert.
Cardiff and Vale University health board said it was experiencing "significant and sustained adverse demand on services".
The board said in a statement the demand was greatest within the emergency unit, situated at the University Hospital of Wales.
The hospital, located in the Heath area of Cardiff, is the largest in Wales.
Last month, the Welsh government outlined plans to protect the NHS budget in Wales.
A spokesperson for the board said the situation was exacerbated by "seasonal pressures and limited bed availability" as people were staying in hospital for longer.
The public is being urged to only attend the emergency unit in the capital in cases of a "genuine life-threatening emergency".
Currently, there is "no disruption" to pre-scheduled appointments which "continue to operate as usual", the health board confirmed.
"Cardiff and Vale University Health Board would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience and support in what is an exceptionally difficult time for colleagues," the spokesperson added.
The Welsh Conservatives' shadow health minister, Russell George, said the situation at the hospital "eptimoises the crisis at the heart of our Labour-run health service".
A Welsh government spokesperson said the health board was dealing with the issue "with its local authority partners".
"The health board will keep the position under review and will de-escalate in line with national guidance when ready," they said.
"This ongoing intervention is agreed at executive level within the organisation, and they will continue to update us."
-Tomos Evans, Sky News
Nuclear dependence on Russia a ‘critical threat’ – US official
The US imports vast amounts of nuclear fuel and compounds from Russia, a reliance which poses a “critical” threat to national security, a senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden has told the Financial Times.
Contracts with Russian suppliers provide about 20% of nuclear fuel used by the US, which is “gravely concerning,” the assistant secretary for nuclear energy, Kathryn Huff, said in an interview published on Tuesday.
“It’s really critical that we get off of our dependence, especially from Russia,” Huff stated. “Without action Russia will continue to hold on to this market… this is really important for national security, for climate, for our energy independence.”
While the US and its EU allies have imposed sanctions on Russian oil and gas due to the Ukraine conflict, sales of nuclear fuel remain legal and unsanctioned. Currently, there are few alternative supply sources to power American and European power plants. However, the politics surrounding purchases of Russian uranium have forced many importers to seek alternative sources of supply, the FT reported, citing industry groups.
“There is alignment in our industry to step away from Russia, but you need something to step to. We really need to increase capacity in that part of the supply chain,” said Maria Korsnick, chief executive of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
A subsidiary of Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom, Tenex, is currently the only company in the world to provide commercial sales of Haleu, a new type of fuel used in the modern generation of smaller and more efficient nuclear reactors.
Russia owns about 50% of the world’s uranium enrichment infrastructure which is critical for producing nuclear fuel. The country continues to be a major provider of uranium mining, milling, conversion, and enrichment services for US utilities. Last year, Washington relied on Moscow for about a quarter of its enriched uranium, according to US government figures.
-RT News
Demand for Unvaccinated Sperm Sharply Increases.
An increased number of women are searching online for unvaccinated sperm donors following growing concerns about the various adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccines on reproduction, reports suggest.
Women are flocking to online groups on social media sites like Facebook to find men who refused the vaccines rather than relying on the more traditional sperm banks.
Jonathan David Rinaldi, the founder of one online group with hundreds of members, claims the space has helped dozens of people start families, with members ranging from young professionals, homosexual couples to single women from across the world.
One post in the group reads, “I’m an unvaccinated man (sperm not modiefied [sic] by mRNA)… Revolutionary. Dedicated my life to activism.”
Another states, “FYI: I will not explain why I desire an unvaccinated donor in this threat and I am not interested in being “educated” about the Covid jab…”
Rinaldi, a long-term sperm donor who refers to himself as “the sperminator,” justified the trend by stating, “I don’t trust government, big Pharma, I don’t trust them, and I don’t need to inject myself with things that I don’t even know what it is.”
Concerns about the impact of the vaccines are not unfounded, as multiple studies have found they have a detrimental effect on sperm count and menstrual cycles, among other things.
-Jake Welch, The National Pulse
FLORIDA: 14-Year-Old Dies After Experiencing Cardiac Arrest During 5K Run
Knox MacEwen, a 14-year-old boy from Florida, tragically passed away last weekend after suffering cardiac arrest while completing a 5K run.
MacEwen, a member of his school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program, went into cardiac arrest during the program’s 5K at Everglades High School in Miramar, Florida.
Erin Elizabeth Health Nut News
He was transported to Memorial Miramar Hospital, but doctors pronounced him dead after arrival.
People reports:
“I am saddened to share tragic news impacting our Wildcat community. One of our JROTC students passed away this morning after being transported to the hospital,” Jimmy Arrojo — the school’s principal — said in a message to students, families and staff, per the outlet. I want to offer my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, teachers, and classmates as they mourn this great loss.”
He continued, “I ask our Wildcat community to rally around the family in prayer and support during this time of deep sorrow. Please know that grief counselors will be available on campus this week to meet with anyone needing assistance or support.”
In a GoFundMe page created for the family, loved ones of MacEwen said he “was a revered member of his local community — a JROTC student, a volunteer with the kids ministry at his home church; and he was a beloved brother, son, grandson, nephew and friend.”
Watch:
NBC News added:
Police said in a statement that they found the teen experiencing cardiac arrest when they arrived at the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) 5K at Everglades High School in Miramar, Florida.
After the teen arrived at Memorial Miramar Hospital, doctors pronounced him dead. Police haven’t publicly identified the student.
However, according to a GoFundMe, the student was Knox MacEwen, who participated in the JROTC program at Western High School in Davie, Florida, and volunteered at his church in the kids’ ministry. His mother, Julie, recently had cancer, and the family is still grappling with the lingering physical and financial effects of her illness, the GoFundMe said.
-Danielle, 100 Percent Fed Up
NHL Goalie ‘Out Indefinitely’ Due To ‘Blood Clotting Issue’
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen is out indefinitely after medical tests discovered a blood clotting issue.
“During recent medical testing, it was discovered that Frederik Andersen had a blood clotting issue that needed to be addressed. There is currently no timetable for his return, but we are confident that Freddie will be able to make a full recovery,” Hurricanes President and General Manager Don Waddell said.
“Carolina put Andersen on injured reserve and recalled 24-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov from Syracuse of the American Hockey League,” the Associated Press reports.
From AP:
Veteran Jaroslav Halak also joined the team on a free agent tryout. Antti Raanta is expected to shoulder the load in net in Andersen’s absence.
Andersen last played on Thursday and was 4-1-0 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in six starts this season. The Denmark native has played 547 NHL regular-season and playoff games for the Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Hurricanes since making his debut in 2013.
Via Yahoo Sports:
Losing Andersen is a tough blow for a Hurricanes team that was beginning to find its form, winning four of its past five games.
Carolina has been one of the NHL’s best offensive teams in 2023-24, posting 41 goals in 12 contests. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, they have surrendered 42 goals on the year as they sit third in the Metropolitan Division.
Andersen, 34, spent the 2021-22 NHL season with the Carolina Hurricanes.
In September 2021, the Carolina Hurricanes announced on Twitter the team reached a “100% COVID-19 vaccination rate.”
-Danielle, 100 Percent Fed Up