US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday reiterated Washington’s commitment to defend the Philippines in the face of any aggression in the South China Sea. Blinken emphasized the importance of the waterways for regional and global security and economic interests at a joint press conference with his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo. “That’s why we stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defense commitments, including under the mutual defense treaty,” he said. “We have a shared concern about (China’s) actions that threaten our common vision for a free open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and in the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ).” Manalo thanked the visiting US Secretary of State for his country’s support with regard to recent events in the South China Sea.
Paul Manafort helped to steal a Ukrainian election for a Putin ally. He went from doing that to working for Donald Trump. Also known for working for Russian oligarchs and dictators accused of human rights abuses, Donald Trump is now eyeing Manafort for his 2024 presidential campaign. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joins Joy Reid to discuss.
Molly Jong Fast, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Professor of History at NYU, and Jason Stanley, Professor of Philosophy at Yale join Alicia Menendez in for Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House for the latest installment of the American Autocracy series discussing Donald Trump enables doing his bidding to be an autocrat.
The U.S. Senate Budget Committee is investigating Citizens Property Insurance, Florida’s property insurer of last resort that now has the largest share of property insurance holders in the state.
Concerns over what the next major storm, or storms could bring has a U.S. Senate panel probing Florida’s top home insurer.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee is questioning state-backed Citizens Property Insurer in a letter sent to company and Florida leaders.
“The Committee is … increasingly concerned about Florida’s uniquely large and growing exposure to climate-related property losses, Citizens’ rapidly expanding market share, and state law allowing Citizens to levy special assessments on all policyholders in the event that losses exceed its ability to pay,” Chairman Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote in the letter.
The letter highlights his concerns over the company’s solvency and requests documents as part of an investigation into whether the state-backed insurer could afford to cover massive storm-related claims in a city like Miami or Tampa.
“What we want to do is judge the scale of the risk and the likelihood that it can be contained within Florida and not spill over to other states or to a big ask to the federal government for a bailout or propagate that coastal property values melt-down,” Whitehouse said in an interview with 10 Tampa Bay.
Citizens is one of many insurers being questioned, amid a larger probe into the insurance industry’s response to climate change and potential economy-wide harms from widespread uninsurability.
In a statement, Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier say they’re “so that it will always be able to protect its policyholders and pay claims.”
“If Citizens were to pay out all reserves and reinsurance following a major storm or series of disasters, it is required by Florida law to levy surcharges and assessments on its policyholders and all Florida insurance consumers until any deficit is eliminated. As such, Citizens will always have the ability to pay claims,” Peltier added.
This video is the second in its workshop series held for teachers on histories of Africa and the Indian Ocean, with a particular focus on enslavement, indenture, and resistance.
The first part of the video shows Dr. Elsa Wiehe framing the presentation and goes into introducing our speaker, Dr. Krish Seetah. Dr. Seetah uses his knowledge in archeology to discuss the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean between the time 1834 and 1920.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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