- UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely amassing ‘significant stockpile’ of missiles for winter strikes against Ukraine Yahoo News
- Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow disputes Kyiv’s claim about captured territory in Donetsk The Guardian
- Ukrainian minister vows more drones for strikes on Russian warships Reuters
- Russia is probably preparing for attack on Ukrainian infrastructure in winter – UK intelligence Yahoo News
- Ukraine updates: Russia may attack power grids in winter – DW – 09/16/2023 DW (English)
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: stockpile
Berkshire Hathaway rises as investors cheer strong earnings and Buffett’s near-record cash stockpile – CNBC
- Berkshire Hathaway rises as investors cheer strong earnings and Buffett’s near-record cash stockpile CNBC
- Warren Buffett is trying to tell us something about the economy with Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings and the $147 billion of cash on hand Fortune
- Berkshire Hathaway reports strong Q2 earnings; Inflation data to watch; Campbell Soup to buy Rao’s Yahoo Finance
- Stocks to Watch Monday: Berkshire Hathaway, Yellow, KKR The Wall Street Journal
- 4 Key Takeaways From Berkshire Hathaway’s Second-Quarter Earnings The Motley Fool
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Fargo shooter who killed a police officer used ‘binary trigger’ device, had stockpile of weapons at home – CNN
- Fargo shooter who killed a police officer used ‘binary trigger’ device, had stockpile of weapons at home CNN
- Man who ambushed Fargo officers likely had bigger and bloodier attack in mind, attorney general says The Associated Press
- Man who ambushed Fargo officers searched online for ‘kill fast’ and for crowded area events, AG says Bismarck Tribune
- Forum Editorial: Fargo mourns a fallen police officer and struggles to understand an incomprehensible tragedy INFORUM
- First responders receiving mental health support following Friday’s deadly shooting KVLY
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Military briefing: escalating air war depletes Ukraine’s weapons stockpile
For two months Russian forces have been pounding Ukraine’s power network with the aim of plunging the country into darkness and breaking its resolve during winter. But in its latest bombardment, on December 5, only 10 out of 70 Russian missiles made it past Ukrainian air defences, according to Kyiv.
The claimed 87 per cent interception rate is a testament to the increasing effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defence systems, which are mainly Soviet-era but have recently been augmented by modern western equipment and improved techniques.
However, Kyiv is burning through its ammunition at an alarming rate as it faces down Moscow in a battle of dwindling stockpiles — of Russian precision-guided missiles on one hand and Ukrainian interceptors on the other.
Ukraine is therefore urging western backers to provide more modern Nato-standard surface-to-air systems.
Kyiv has been most eager for Washington to supply it with the longer-range Patriot system, which can intercept Russian ballistic missiles, but US president Joe Biden’s administration has so far withheld approval. That could change this week, however, US officials said, with the Biden administration expected to announce it has signed off on sending the Patriot system as soon as this week.
In the meantime, Kyiv has had to settle for deliveries of the decades-old Hawk anti-aircraft batteries, including six from Spain.
“If hundreds of rockets are fired at us, we knock down 70 to 80 per cent. Do they run out or not? Of course [they do],” said Colonel Yuriy Ignat, the Ukrainian air force’s chief spokesperson, referring to his side’s munitions.
Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, said last week that Russia was also depleting its stockpile of precision cruise missiles — an assessment shared by many western analysts.
“They have enough for several more massive attacks,” Budanov said, adding that the production of replacements was a slow process.
Russia began what have become almost weekly aerial strikes against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure on October 10. On that day, Ukraine said it shot down only 54 per cent of incoming missiles and drones, resulting in widespread damage to electricity installations.
On November 23, 76 per cent of Russian missiles were shot down, but the damage to a fragile power network was extensive enough to cause nationwide blackouts. In last week’s attack, Ukraine escaped further national outages, although there are still rolling power cuts as technicians race to repair damaged equipment.
Kyiv’s improving air defence capabilities demonstrate the contribution of western military technology to Ukraine’s war effort and its ability to defy Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war plans.
Ukraine denied Russia air supremacy in the wake of the February invasion thanks to its Soviet-era arsenal of S300 and Buk surface-to-air missiles together with thousands of western-supplied Manpads.
It has also adjusted its tactics, using mobile units in jeeps to chase down drones and cruise missiles with shoulder-launched Stinger missiles and UK-provided Starstreaks.
Ignat described cat-and-mouse games, where Ukraine moves and hides its air defence units while Russia seeks to find the weak spots.
“The positions of our air defence equipment are constantly changing so that the enemy cannot identify which zone is covered. We are trying to outwit them.”
But ammunition and spares for the S300 and Buk systems, the mainstay of Ukraine’s air defences, are dwindling. Ukrainian officials have confirmed a claim by British military intelligence that Russia has been firing X-55 nuclear missiles — with the nuclear warhead replaced by an inert one — simply to exhaust Ukrainian air defences.
Ignat revealed its units typically fire two S300s or Buks at every Russian missile to improve the chances of interception by what is ageing kit.
Purchasing additional S300 or Buk missiles from Russia, where they are produced, is impossible. Finding further available stock on the global market has proved difficult, apart from a batch obtained from Slovakia earlier in the war.
Britain’s Royal United Services Institute warned in a report last month against “western complacency about the need to urgently bolster Ukrainian air-defence capacity”. It said that if Ukrainian surface-to-air systems ran out of ammunition, it could open the skies to Russian heavy bombers operating at medium and high altitudes with devastating consequences.
Recently deployed western equipment has already demonstrated its value.
Germany’s Gepard mobile anti-aircraft guns, of which Ukraine has received 30 so far, have proved highly effective in taking down drones and low-flying missiles. However, the Swiss government has refused to authorise exports of Gepard’s Swiss-made ammunition to a war zone and there is no ready alternative.
Kyiv has also taken delivery of modern medium-range air defence systems from its allies, including a state of the art Iris-T system from Germany — with three more expected in near future — and two batteries of Norwegian-US Nasams, another medium-range system.
But Ignat said Kyiv would need “hundreds” of these and other systems as it sheds its older arsenal.
“We have no other choice but to switch to these types of weapons since the Soviet weapons of the [19]70s and [19]80s are both [ . . . ] obsolete and the enemy is exhausting them every day.”
G7 leaders promised on Monday to “continue to co-ordinate efforts to meet Ukraine’s urgent requirements for military and defence equipment with an immediate focus on providing Ukraine with air defence systems and capabilities”.
Even if Moscow’s cruise missile stocks are dwindling, it still possesses a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles. It also appears to have taken a new delivery of Iranian-supplied loitering munitions. They are noisy, slow and can be easily shot down. But they are hard to counter fully when launched in swarms. Above all, they are cheaper to purchase than the missiles used to intercept them.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 10 of 15 Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones fired on Saturday evening, but those that evaded air defence systems temporarily knocked out most electricity supplies in the strategic Black Sea port city of Odesa, which in turn affected grain exports.
Oleksiy Melnyk, a former Ukraine air force lieutenant colonel and now co-director of the Razumkov Centre think-tank in Kyiv, said Ukrainian air defences had made huge strides since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February.
But he added: “Trying to predict that Russia will one day run out of missiles is probably not a good strategy.”
America’s emergency oil stockpile is at a 38-year low but it’s still got firepower left
New York
CNN Business
—
Presidents don’t have magic wands to make inflation disappear. But they do have a powerful tool that can help ease the pain of high gas prices: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
More than any of his predecessors, President Joe Biden has aggressively leaned on this emergency oil stockpile to knock down the high pump prices that voters despise.
The SPR is a series of underground storage caverns holding vast amounts of crude oil that can be released during wars, hurricanes or other break-the-glass moments. And Biden has not been shy about doing just that, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The amount of oil in the SPR is down by roughly a third — 36% to be exact — since Biden took office in January 2021. That has left this emergency oil stockpile at its lowest point since June 1984 — a time when both the US economy and energy demand was significantly smaller than today.
And Biden is not done yet. The president plans to announce the sale of another 15 million barrels from the SPR on Wednesday, a senior administration official said Tuesday evening.
Biden has made clear to his advisers that he is prepared to authorize future releases to balance the oil market, if necessary.
Importantly, this latest sale to be announced Wednesday is not entirely new. It’s part of the previously announced plan to release 180 million barrels of oil over six months. That record-setting emergency release, detailed in late March, was running a bit behind schedule. It now appears the administration will reach its 180 million target, it will just take longer than expected.
The SPR headlines are rattling an energy market already on edge over a potential recession. US oil prices dropped 3% to $82.82 on Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before rumors swirled regarding OPEC+’s controversial production cuts. Analysts pinned the blame for the selloff on the SPR news.
This oil price selloff alone should help keep a lid on gasoline prices, which analysts say were already heading lower without Biden taking further action.
Although it’s hard to pin down precisely how much of an impact the SPR release has had on prices, oil industry veterans tell CNN that Biden’s strategy has been effective, helping to cushion the blow for not only the war in Ukraine but lackluster supply from both OPEC+ and US oil producers.
“Kudos to them. They’ve done a tremendous job achieving their goal of trying to get energy prices lower,” said Michael Tran, managing director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
Gas prices aren’t cheap — a gallon of regular fetched an average of $3.87 nationally on Tuesday — but they are well below the record high of $5.02 set in June.
“It has been effective, so far,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, who noted that oil prices have not taken out the all-time highs set in 2008. “You have to credit the SPR for that. The administration is laser-focused on gasoline.”
Kloza said he thinks there is a better than 50/50 chance that gas prices drop back down to their recent low of $3.67 a gallon. But rather than crediting US policy, Kloza cited market forces, recession fears and the reopening of refineries sidelined by maintenance.
“I don’t think they need to do anything until 2023. The market is doing most of the work for the White House,” Kloza said. “I think gasoline is destined to go lower.”
It’s not lost on oil market observers that this latest announcement of SPR sales is occurring just weeks before voters head to the polls before the critical midterm elections.
“Given that we are only weeks away from midterm election and the OPEC cut, the Biden administration is trying to ensure that energy prices are not top of mind,” said Andy Lipow, president of consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates.
But Lipow noted frustration in the oil industry that despite complaints about high energy prices, the SPR releases have “done nothing to encourage additional oil production.”
Not only that, but the aggressive emergency releases from Biden have diminished the SPR, potentially limiting the government’s ability to respond to future shocks.
The reserve is not a bottomless pit of oil. It’s more of a rainy-day fund and each release leaves less oil for the next crisis, whatever and whenever that might be.
That’s why the administration plans to detail efforts to refill the emergency reserve, laying out an important marker for market participants given the scale of the federal action over the course of the last six months.
Biden will announce that the administration intends to repurchase crude oil for the emergency reserve when prices are at or below between $67 and $72 per barrel.
The senior official said this will serve as “an important signal for producers” by helping to “moderate and stabilize” prices, not only when they are going high but when they are low.
The plan also serves the purpose of countering criticism about the unprecedented scale of Biden’s reserve releases, one that officials said underscores the administration’s intent to refill when market conditions make it most advantageous.
“We view the SPR is an incredibly important national security asset and we want to make sure that it serves its purpose well into the future,” the official said, noting that it is still the largest reserve in the world.
Despite recent emergency sales, the SPR still holds more than 400 million barrels of oil, considerable firepower that could be used in the coming months to respond to disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine.
“400 million barrels is a lot of barrels,” the official said.
Kloza, the OPIS analyst, said he’s not concerned by the shrinking SPR in part because more so than decades ago, the United States and Canada have the ability to sharply ramp up production, if needed (and if incentivized by higher prices).
“Sometimes reserves become archaic,” Kloza said. “I wouldn’t worry about it until it drops quite a bit lower.”
– CNN’s Alison Kosik contributed to this report
US in process of releasing monkeypox vaccine from national stockpile for ‘high-risk’ people, CDC says
There is one confirmed case of monkeypox and four suspected cases in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
“I can report that there has been a request for release of the Jynneos vaccine from the National Stockpile for some of the high-risk contacts of some of the early patients, so that is actively happening right now,” Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said Monday.
McQuiston said the United States has a “good stock” of vaccine because it has been preparing for the possibility of needing to use doses for smallpox.
In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent monkeypox.
“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses of that available, and we expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us,” McQuiston said.
There is another smallpox vaccine licensed in the United States, ACAM2000, that could be used to prevent monkeypox, she said, and the country has more than 100 million doses.
“ACAM2000 is an older-generation smallpox vaccine that has some potential significant side effects with it. So a decision to use that widely would have to have some serious discussion behind it,” McQuiston said.
Overall, “we are hoping to maximize vaccine distribution to those that we know would benefit from it,” she said. “Those are people who’ve had contact with a known monkeypox patients, health care workers, very close personal contact, and those in particular who might be at high risk for severe disease.”
The confirmed US monkeypox case is in a man in Massachusetts, and the four cases of orthopox are in men in New York, Florida and Utah, the CDC says. Orthopox refers to pox viruses in general.
McQuiston said health care providers should assume that these orthopox cases are monkeypox.
“It is likely that there are going to be additional cases reported in the United States,” she said.
McQuiston said the CDC expects to receive samples from the four suspected cases “today or tomorrow” for further analysis. Labs within the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network can test for an orthopox virus, and then confirmation of monkeypox specifically is done at the agency through PCR tests, which take “a couple of hours” to run, she said.
“From the time that CDC gets a specimen, we could do our monkeypox confirmatory PCR tests likely the same day. We’ve been seeing turnaround of a couple of days really, from the time a suspect patient might come to a doctor’s attention to they can get that initial state LRN laboratory results,” McQuiston said.
CDC sequencing of the sample from the confirmed case in Massachusetts went “really quickly,” and within 48 hours, researchers were able to see that it closely matched that of a case in Portugal.
“This process previously took up to two weeks, but we were able to get it posted within two days because we feel like this kind of public sharing of early sequence data is going to be important for all countries to do so that we can all better understand how the virus is spreading across the globe,” McQuiston said.
Monkeypox is not spread through sex itself but can be spread through contact during sex, said Dr. John Brooks, the CDC’s chief medical officer of HIV prevention.
“Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection in the typical sense, but it can be transmitted during sexual and intimate content, as well as with personal contact and shared bedding and clothing,” Brooks said Monday.
Anyone can get or spread monkeypox, but a “notable fraction of cases” in the latest global outbreak are happening among gay and bisexual men.
“Some groups may have a greater chance of exposure right now, but by no means is the current risk of exposure to monkeypox exclusively to the gay and bisexual community in the US,” Brooks said. “Anyone, anyone, can develop [and] spread monkeypox infection, but … many of those affected in the current global outbreak identified as gay and bisexual men.”
Brooks said the CDC decided to hold a news conference about the outbreak now because LGBTQ Pride month usually kicks off around the Memorial Day weekend, and officials wanted to make sure the community was aware of the situation. He also urged doctors to be on the lookout for the disease, because it can look like other types of STDs.
He said the rash is “showing up in different parts of the body than we typically expect to see it.”
“In some cases, it has produced anal or genital lesions that look like other diseases like herpes, chickenpox or syphilis. So anyone with a rash or lesion around or involving their genitals, their anus or any other place that they have not seen it before, get fully evaluated, both for that rash but particularly for sexually transmitted infection and other illnesses that can cause rash,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do by bringing attention to the fact that some of these cases have had a genital and perianal presentation is just to remind people that people may come in for an evaluation of what they think is an STD, but we’d like the provider to think ‘could it be monkeypox as well?’ if the circumstances fit the story.”
US in process of releasing monkeypox vaccine from national stockpile for ‘high-risk’ people, CDC says
There is one confirmed case of monkeypox and four suspected cases in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
“I can report that there has been a request for release of the Jynneos vaccine from the National Stockpile for some of the high-risk contacts of some of the early patients, so that is actively happening right now,” Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said Monday.
McQuiston said the United States has a “good stock” of vaccine because it has been preparing for the possibility of needing to use doses for smallpox.
In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent monkeypox.
“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses of that available, and we expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us,” McQuiston said.
There is another smallpox vaccine licensed in the United States, ACAM2000, that could be used to prevent monkeypox, she said, and the country has more than 100 million doses.
“ACAM2000 is an older-generation smallpox vaccine that has some potential significant side effects with it. So a decision to use that widely would have to have some serious discussion behind it,” McQuiston said.
Overall, “we are hoping to maximize vaccine distribution to those that we know would benefit from it,” she said. “Those are people who’ve had contact with a known monkeypox patients, health care workers, very close personal contact, and those in particular who might be at high risk for severe disease.”
The confirmed US monkeypox case is in a man in Massachusetts, and the four cases of orthopox are in men in New York, Florida and Utah, the CDC says. Orthopox refers to pox viruses in general.
McQuiston said health care providers should assume that these orthopox cases are monkeypox.
“It is likely that there are going to be additional cases reported in the United States,” she said.
McQuiston said the CDC expects to receive samples from the four suspected cases “today or tomorrow” for further analysis. Labs within the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network can test for an orthopox virus, and then confirmation of monkeypox specifically is done at the agency through PCR tests, which take “a couple of hours” to run, she said.
“From the time that CDC gets a specimen, we could do our monkeypox confirmatory PCR tests likely the same day. We’ve been seeing turnaround of a couple of days really, from the time a suspect patient might come to a doctor’s attention to they can get that initial state LRN laboratory results,” McQuiston said.
CDC sequencing of the sample from the confirmed case in Massachusetts went “really quickly,” and within 48 hours, researchers were able to see that it closely matched that of a case in Portugal.
“This process previously took up to two weeks, but we were able to get it posted within two days because we feel like this kind of public sharing of early sequence data is going to be important for all countries to do so that we can all better understand how the virus is spreading across the globe,” McQuiston said.
Monkeypox is not spread through sex itself but can be spread through contact during sex, said Dr. John Brooks, the CDC’s chief medical officer of HIV prevention.
“Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection in the typical sense, but it can be transmitted during sexual and intimate content, as well as with personal contact and shared bedding and clothing,” Brooks said Monday.
Anyone can get or spread monkeypox, but a “notable fraction of cases” in the latest global outbreak are happening among gay and bisexual men.
“Some groups may have a greater chance of exposure right now, but by no means is the current risk of exposure to monkeypox exclusively to the gay and bisexual community in the US,” Brooks said. “Anyone, anyone, can develop [and] spread monkeypox infection, but … many of those affected in the current global outbreak identified as gay and bisexual men.”
Brooks said the CDC decided to hold a news conference about the outbreak now because LGBTQ Pride month usually kicks off around the Memorial Day weekend, and officials wanted to make sure the community was aware of the situation. He also urged doctors to be on the lookout for the disease, because it can look like other types of STDs.
He said the rash is “showing up in different parts of the body than we typically expect to see it.”
“In some cases, it has produced anal or genital lesions that look like other diseases like herpes, chickenpox or syphilis. So anyone with a rash or lesion around or involving their genitals, their anus or any other place that they have not seen it before, get fully evaluated, both for that rash but particularly for sexually transmitted infection and other illnesses that can cause rash,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do by bringing attention to the fact that some of these cases have had a genital and perianal presentation is just to remind people that people may come in for an evaluation of what they think is an STD, but we’d like the provider to think ‘could it be monkeypox as well?’ if the circumstances fit the story.”
GOP Rep. Kat Cammack rages at huge stockpile of baby formula at border center
A Republican congresswoman took a trip to the US-Mexico border to expose the stockpiling of baby formula being sent to border facilities while American families continue to face empty shelves amid a nationwide shortage.
Rep. Kat Cammack, of Florida, was accused of lying about the formula crisis after she shared photos she was sent by sources last week showing full shelves of baby formula and food at a processing center at the southern border.
But now the congresswoman has visited and surveyed the facilities herself, finding not only an amass of formula, but other necessary infant supplies littered across the floor of a warehouse.
‘Last week, I received text messages and photos from Border Patrol agents showing a stockpile of baby formula and there was complete outrage from the White House, CNN and other liberal outlets claiming that we were lying, so I decided to go down myself and film it,’ she told Fox Business on Monday.
‘Lo and behold, not only was there stocked warehouses, but there were multiple stocked warehouses that have been not only filled with baby formula, diapers, wipes and clothing, but they have been doing this for months and there’s more en route.’
The GOP has criticized President Joe Biden’s slow response to the formula crisis, which was caused by ongoing supply disruptions and exacerbated by a February safety recall at the nation’s largest formula manufacturing plant.
Abbott Laboratories revealed Monday that it had entered into a consent decree with the FDA that creates a pathway to reopen its Michigan baby formula factory, however the timeline for operations remains unclear.
The outrage at the border stock pile also comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans next week to end restrictions, known as Title 42, that have prevented migrants from seeking asylum under U.S. law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Border officials are preparing for surge in the numbers of migrants when the health order expires on May 23.
A Republican congresswoman took a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in to expose the stock pile of baby formula being sent to border facilities
The congresswoman claims she went down south Sunday and surveyed the facilities herself, finding not only an amass of formula, but other necessary infant supplies
Rep. Kat Cammack, of Florida, was accused of lying about the formula crisis after she posted photos to Twitter last week showing full shelves of baby formula and food at a processing center at the southern border
Cammack argued the shortage is just another example of how Biden is incapable of quickly solving problems confronting the U.S.
‘This just points again to how out of touch this administration is and they could stop this with a simple policy change,’ she said Monday after sharing the footage she captured at the border facilities.
The legislator, escorted by border patrol agents, captured pictures and videos from inside the facility, showing pallets filled with unopened boxes of baby supplies.
One image showed mounds of infant formula featuring handwritten dates, likely to denote expiration, of June 2023.
She also showed video of migrants appearing to utilize the supplies.
Cammack, speaking to Fox after the visit, said it is ‘just another example of the broken administration that doesn’t know how to govern.’
Cammack is pictured amid the pallets of infant supplies
She also showed video of migrants appearing to utilize the supplies
Cammack said there were multiple stocked warehouses that have been filled with baby formula, diapers, wipes and clothing
Cammack surveys the facility alongside Border Patrol agents
The Republican also branded U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg a liar, criticizing his defense of the administration’s handling of the shortage and the shutdown of the Abbott Nutrition plant.
‘And to the Secretary of Transportation’s remarks that they have been on top of this from day one: That is a lie,’ she argued.
‘They canceled 43 percent of this manufacturer’s production with no plan to backfill that market share that they make up,’ Cammack said. ‘So, how have they been on top of this? Because moms for months have been saying it was getting harder and harder to find formula.’
Buttigieg, appearing Sunday on Face the Nation, had blamed the worsening formula shortage on Abbott Nutrition, the largest formula supplier in America.
‘Fundamentally, we are here because a company was not able to guarantee that its plant was safe, and that plant has shut down,’ the Democrat said.
‘Let’s be very clear. This is a capitalist country. The government does not make baby formula, nor should it. Companies make formula, and one of those companies — a company which, by the way, seems to have 40 percent market share — messed up and is unable to confirm that a plant, a major plant, is safe and free of contamination.’
He added: ‘The administration’s also been working with other companies to try to surge their production. That’s led to an increase in production, which is helping to compensate. But at the end of the day, this plant needs to come back online safely.’
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Sunday night blamed the worsening formula shortage on Abbott Nutrition, the largest formula supplier in America
Pete Buttigieg said the baby formula shortage is affecting him and his husband Chasten as they have had to ‘root around’ for food for their twins
Buttigieg also revealed Monday that he and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, have been directly impacted by the formula shortage, alleging they have had to ‘root around’ and talk to friends out of state to get food for their nine-month old twins.
The transportation secretary said their twins – Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg – are ‘completely reliant’ on formula.
‘Like millions of Americans we’ve had to root around find different solutions. Spend more time clicking and clicking online – even get in touch with relatives out of state. We’re okay we’ve figured it out at least for now,’ he told Sirius XM.
‘But I think a lot about the situation for parents who don’t have the time or don’t have a car, don’t have the money to be able to from from store to store to store looking for solutions,’ he added.
Cammack first revealed the stock pile last Thursday when she shared an image of a shelving unit at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Texas
Cammack first revealed the stock pile last Thursday when she shared an image of a shelving unit at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Texas that showed a single shelf with four boxes full of baby formula containers, and a half-dozen more baby formula containers on that shelf.
Cammack said at the time that a border patrol agent sent her the image.
Some conservatives have since claimed that Biden is shipping ‘thousands’ of pallets of baby formula to the border while parents in the U.S. struggle to find formula.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, last week, called the images ‘shameful.’
Then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that Border Patrol is ‘following the law’ that requires the government to provide adequate food, specifically formula for children under the age of one, who are detained at the border.
Nonetheless, American citizens are outraged by the images.
‘Have you contacted all the parents in the United States to ask them if they have formula? The illegals should not have been given formula when our shelves are empty,’ a social media user identified only as Sophie penned. ‘They could have stayed across the border and gotten all the formula they needed. Americans don’t have that option!’
‘Bottom Line is clown bozo Biden administration does not care about the baby formula shortage,’ echoed Karen. ‘It’s at the border given to illegals for their babies. It’s all about Power and Votes!’
‘Get the baby formula from the border warehouses. It’s ours to begin with. Those babies have their moms providing food along the trip,’ Robert Chell tweeted. ‘You can’t tell me those moms have been packing and walking all the way to the US with formula. It’s a little bit of hard luck but we are hurting.’
‘As much as the Biden administration has stripped mothers in America from feeding their babies and stockpiling formula at the border for illegal immigrants babies before giving it to American babies. This is unconscionable,’ added Terri Detherage.
‘We should NOT be sending formula to the border while American babies are hungry and parents are frantic,’ another Twitter user pleaded.
American citizens are outraged by the stock pile at the border facility and Biden’s handling of the formula shortage
Also Monday, Abbott Nutrition revealed it has reached a deal with the FDA that could see it reopen its shuttered Michigan plant within two weeks, pending approval from the federal regulator.
‘After FDA approval, Abbott could restart the site within two weeks; from the time of restart it would take six to eight weeks before product is available on shelves,’ a company spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Monday.
The federal regulator, during a media call Monday night, confirmed it has not yet given its approval, saying: ‘We are negotiating with Abbott to get them up and running as soon as possible.’
The agency has declined to answer questions about the timeline for the Michigan’s plants reopening and instead directed reporters to Abbott.
‘I think we all know the treachery of giving exact timeframes to get these things done because as corrections are made sometimes new things are discovered and sometimes it goes very quickly,’ FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said.
‘Abbott itself has made a statement that they believe they could be started up within about two weeks and then up to full capacity in about two months, I think they said. You can refer back to them for details on this.’
Califf did add that he believes Abbott’s ‘timeframes are reasonable.’
The Abbott Laboratories factory has reached a deal with the FDA that could see it reopen in as few as two weeks once the federal regulator grants its approval. The agency, during a media call Monday, called providing a specific timeframe for reopening ‘treacherous’ and referred the press to Abbott for more information
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf (pictured on April 28) has declined to provide a specific timeline for the reopening of America’s largest baby formula producer
Abbott told DailyMail.com on Monday it could restart the plant in two weeks ‘after FDA approval.’ Pictured: A locked, nearly empty, Walmart shelf displaying formula on May 10
Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food and Policy Response, weighed in to the conversation, offering another tiptoed response on timing.
‘When we went in to do the inspection at the time of the inspection, Abbott voluntarily ceased production and we issued our inspection report,’ he said.
‘Abbott has stated in the public domain that they have already been making adjustments and corrections to their facility and that’s the timeline they’re projecting – two weeks to be back up in operations and another six to eight weeks for their products to start hitting store shelves.
‘We think that’s totally reasonable and likely to happen.’
The FDA leaders also addressed the consent decree, which was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan and is decree is still subject to court approval.
Califf said he doesn’t expect the FDA to delay Abbott’s reopening.
‘In terms of a consent decree, it does mandate that we approve every step but it is in real time, including independent consultants who are brought in to oversee the process,’ the commissioner explained.
‘I don’t expect delays on the FDAs part on this unless we see a problem that needs to be dealt with.’
Yiannas stated the agency would review Abbott’s ‘corrective action plans’ and also echoed Califf’s response, saying: ‘We don’t believe the FDA will be a hindrance in getting them back up and running.’
Abbott told DailyMail.com on Monday the facility has been working on corrective actions since the FDA’s inspection earlier this year. The company claims it submitted its corrective action plan to the FDA on April 8.
‘Even before its formal response, Abbott had begun working to implement improvements and take corrective action,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Some of these actions included reviewing and updating education, training and safety procedures for both employees and visitors, as well as updating protocols regarding water, cleaning and maintenance procedures at the facility.
‘Abbott immediately implemented corrections to address the items that the FDA raised in its observations provided at the conclusion of the inspection. The company has also been making upgrades to the plant.’
Despite these actions, it still remains unclear when the agency will allow the agency to resume normal operations.
‘Once the FDA confirms the initial requirements for start-up have been met, Abbott could restart the site within two weeks,’ the manufacturer reiterated.
‘The company would begin production of EleCare, Alimentum and metabolic formulas first and then begin production of Similac and other formulas. From the time Abbott restarts the site, it will take six to eight weeks before product is available on shelves.’
The proposed consent degree between Abbott and the FDA ‘obliges’ the baby formula manufacturer to ‘take actions that are expected to ultimately result in an increase of infant formula products, while ensuring that the company undertakes certain actions that would ensure safe powdered infant formula is produced at the facility.’
Once the court has approved the agreement, Abbott may restart operations, and the plant could be back in business in as few as two weeks – but products could take six to eight weeks from that point to reach supermarket shelves across the country.
Robert B. Ford, the CEO of Abbott, described the news as a ‘major step’ towards resuming production.
‘Our number one priority is getting infants and families the high-quality formulas they need, and this is a major step toward re-opening our Sturgis facility so we can ease the nationwide formula shortage,’ he said.
‘We look forward to working with the FDA to quickly and safely re-open the facility.
‘We know millions of parents and caregivers depend on us and we’re deeply sorry that our voluntary recall worsened the nationwide formula shortage.’
On Monday afternoon, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra admitted to being aware of a coming shortage since last year.
By August, the nationwide ‘out of stock’ level was already above 10 percent. It is now at 43 percent.
‘FDA has kept me apprised of this from last year,’ Becerra said on CNN. ‘We have been moving as quickly as we can.’
The formula shortage is the result of supply chain disruptions and workforce issues, but it was amplified by a safety recall of formulas made by Abbott and an ongoing shutdown of its manufacturing plant.
The factory closed down in February after two babies who drank formula produced at the facility – which makes the brands Similac, EleCare and Alimentum – died from bacterial infections.
The FDA, in an effort to curb the shortage, has issued a temporary measure streamlining the importation of foreign-produced baby formula.
‘The guidance that we announced today is for 180 days, so it is a temporary measure,’ Susan Payne, Director of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said during Monday night’s media call.
She explained that the process allows for more flexibility for foreign and domestic formula producers while the nation is currently ‘under stress’.
‘There are some differences in our regulations with regard to things like nutrition between our products and those that are sold abroad,’ Payne shared.
‘Some of that comes right from our statutes where the FDA is required to take into account certain types of factors – like the ability of these formulas to support growth and data supporting growth, growth monitoring studies.’
‘We do have certain criteria that we take into account but in this period where we are under stress we will certainly look at products that may not necessarily have the same types of data we would use in our notifications process, but have a history of safe use in other countries and do support growth.’
The $4 billion US baby formula market is dominated by domestic producers, with import options limited, subject to high tariffs and onerous safety rules that include labeling standards.
These longstanding rules have exacerbated the current crisis – and are central to officials’ efforts to ease the shortage.
Califf cautioned that foreign products are labeled with instructions written in languages that American mothers and caretakers may not understand.
‘We also have to make sure we’re testing the formula,’ he said.
The Abbott plant closed down in February after the FDA uncovered multiple violations at the plant, ranging from a lack of hand washing among employees to poor temperature controls.
More than half of U.S. states are seeing out-of-stock rates between 40 percent and 50 percent
This chart shows how quickly the nationwide crisis has escalated. The scale of the crisis is revealed in the new analysis, which shows that only 43 percent of the usual national supply of baby formula is available
In February, the agency linked consumption of Abbott-produced formula to four infants who were infected with the bacteria Cronobacter sakazakii. A fifth infant developed a Salmonella Newport infection.
Cronobacter may have contributed to the death of two babies, the agency said.
Multiple reports say the FDA ordered the plant closed down, but Califf says the plant was closed ‘voluntarily based on the findings of inspections.’
On Friday, the CEO of formula giant Perrigo Murray Kessler told Reuters he expects shortages and heightened demand to last for the ‘balance of the year.’
Kessler said his factories in Ohio and Vermont are running at 115 percent capacity to compensate for Chicago-based Abbott’s shutdown, but added that supplies would remain erratic for the remainder of 2022.
‘We have stepped up and are killing ourselves to do everything we can,’ Kessler said.
At the request of the FDA, Perrigo is focusing on four items: the store-brand versions of Similac Pro Sensitive and Pro Advance, and Enfamil Gentle Ease and Infant, Kessler said.
His company and three others control 90 percent of the US market.
Perrigo is working with retailers including Walmart and Target Corp so they ‘get something each week,’ Kessler said.
Retailers’ allocations are based on an average of what the retailers received prior to ‘this crisis,’ he said.
China’s nuclear stockpile growing at ‘accelerating pace,’ will have 1,000 warheads by 2030: Pentagon
China is building nuclear warheads at an “accelerating pace” and will have 1,000 by the end of the decade, according to the Pentagon’s new China report released Wednesday after a two-month delay.
Just a year ago in the last China report, the Pentagon had estimated China’s nuclear arsenal to be in the “low-200s” and would “at least double” over the next decade. The new report demonstrates China is expanding much more rapidly.
“The accelerating pace of the PRC’s nuclear expansion may enable the PRC to have up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027. The PRC likely intends to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, exceeding the pace and size the DoD projected in 2020.”
The PRC, or the People’s Republic of China, is how the Pentagon refers to China.
ANTONY BLINKEN: US WILL SUPPORT TAIWAN AGAINST CHINESE AGGRESSIONS
China is able to build up its nuclear stockpile by “increasing its capacity to produce and separate plutonium,” the report says.
The U.S. is currently treaty limited with Russia to deploy up no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads. China is under no such restrictions because they don’t have any arms control treaties with any other country.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2021. (Photo by Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
China “is building hundreds of new ICBM silos, and is on the cusp of a large silo-based ICBM force expansion comparable to those undertaken by other major powers,” the report warns.
Over the summer, U.S. intelligence detected the presence of the missile fields and civilian satellite radar discovered some of them.
The report says in 2020, China launched more than 250 ballistic missiles “exceeding its launch numbers for 2018 and 2019 despite COVID-19.”
CHINA SAYS IT’S AN ‘IMAGINARY ENEMY’ OF US, CLAIMS HYPERSONIC MISSILE TEST WAS ‘ROUTINE’
A year ago in its last annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said China had amassed the biggest Navy in the world. It has since improved according to the new annual report to Congress.
China’s type 055 guided-missile destroyer Nanchang sails during the naval exercise Joint Sea-2021 on Oct. 19, 2021 in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Sun Zifa/China News Service via Getty Images)
(Sun Zifa/China News Service via Getty Images)
“In the near-term, the PLAN will have the capability to conduct long-range precision strikes against land targets from its submarine and surface combatants using land-attack cruise missiles, notably enhancing the PRC’s global power projection capabilities.”
The report measures the growth of China’s military in 2020 only, it does not account for China’s growth this year. The report did not cover the recent hypersonic weapons test from space, which caught U.S. intelligence by surprise.
The newly released report did cover the following development in the field of hypersonic weapons—the first deployment of the advanced system that travels five times the speed of sound, but more importantly according to experts, it does not travel in a predictable, ballistic trajectory.
“In 2020, the PLARF began to field its first operational hypersonic weapons system, the DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) capable medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM),” the report says.
The U.S. military’s top officer, Gen. Mark Milley called the recent test of a Chinese hypersonic a “very significant” test.
“We’re witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power that the world has witnessed,” Milley warned NBC’s Lester Holt at the Aspen Security Forum Wednesday. “If we, the United States military, don’t do a fundamental change to ourselves in the coming 10 to 15 to 20 years, then we’re going to be on the wrong side of a conflict.”
Milley later predicted a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is “not likely” in the next two years.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley testifies before a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill on September 29, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Olivier Douliery – Pool/Getty Images)
(Olivier Douliery – Pool/Getty Images)
The Pentagon’s new China report has added a section on “Chemical and Biological research,” saying China has “engaged in biological activities with potential dual-use applications, which raise concerns regarding its compliance with the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).”
The report did not touch on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. A senior defense official said the Pentagon is leaving that issues to the Director of National Intelligence.
Milley recently said China’s test of a hypersonic missile while orbiting the earth was very close to a “Sputnik moment.”
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In an interview with Fox News, Elbridge A. Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy, said it’s not just China’s development of hypersonic weapons that is concerning; it’s Beijing’s overall military advancements including its nuclear forces.
“The Sputnik moment was kind of this idea that we finally woke up to something. There are plenty of Sputnik moments we have before us,” Colby said in an interview with Fox News and author of the new book The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict. “It’s Sputnik on steroids.”
“There is a sense that we can’t be beaten and that’s just wrong. We can be beaten,” Elbridge added.
Britain to expand nuclear warhead stockpile by over 40% as global threats rise
LONDON – Britain will grow its nuclear warhead stockpile by more than 40% to ensure its security in a more risky global environment and as it faces new technological threats, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.
The country had previously been reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile, and in 2010, the government set a cap of 180 warheads for the mid-2020 period. Johnson scrapped the earlier limit and said the number would now rise to a maximum of 260.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the National Express depot in Coventry, central England, Monday March 15, 2021.
(Steve Parsons/Pool via AP)
In its security and defense review, Britain said it faced risks from nuclear-armed states, emerging nuclear states and state-sponsored nuclear terrorism, and its nuclear deterrent was needed to guarantee its security and that of its allies.
“Some states are now significantly increasing and diversifying their nuclear arsenals,” the government said. “The increase in global competition, challenges to the international order, and proliferation of potentially disruptive technologies all pose a threat to strategic stability.”
The move was criticized by The Elders, a group of former global policymakers who campaign for peace.
LONDON PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT DEMONSTRATION OVER POLICING POWERS AND VIGIL OF SARAH EVERARD
“While the UK cites increased security threats as justification for this move, the appropriate response to these challenges should be to work multilaterally to strengthen international arms control agreements and to reduce – not increase – the number of nuclear weapons in existence,” said Mary Robinson, chair of the group.
Questioned over the policy in parliament Johnson said Britain was still committed to global nuclear arms reduction.
Britain also said it planned to replace its current nuclear warhead with a new one that would be able to operate throughout the lifespan of four new submarines being built and due to enter service in the early 2030s.
It will work with the United States to ensure the new warhead remains Trident-compatible.
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With its current submarines, Britain said it would stick to its existing policy of always having one submarine of its four nuclear deterrent submarines on continuous patrol.