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PepsiCo Inc . is exploring options for its business in Russia, including writing off the value of the unit, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that would mark a turn for a company that introduced American cola to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Large Western companies are under increasing pressure to pull out of the country in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. PepsiCo is reluctant to shut down its Russian unit—which includes a large dairy business it bought for about $5 billion a decade ago—because tens of thousands of Russians depend...

“Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” said Steven Chu — the man Barack Obama would ultimately tap to be energy secretary — in September 2008. He was explaining to The Wall Street Journal that higher energy prices are the centerpiece of the Left’s energy overhaul. Well, I don’t know if they’ve figured out the Euro-boost yet, but we are halfway to Vienna. Now, while I’m sure Barack Obama would love it if gas prices declined until November 6, 2012, there’s every reason to believe he shares Chu’s sentiments....

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky quoted William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill in an emotional address to both houses of the United Kingdom Parliament which ultimately appealed to British “greatness” to make sure “Ukrainian skies are safe” and to categorise Russia as a “terrorist state”. The Houses of Commons and Lords received an extraordinary address by the Ukrainian President on Tuesday afternoon, a short speech that expressed the Ukrainian experience of the renewed Russian invasion day-by-day for the past fortnight, and which also appealed to the United Kingdom to take further action.

If you are fed up of a mundane desk job, aren’t bothered by austere conditions and have an affection for the hirsute, a potentially ideal new role has opened up in Montana: a grizzly bear conflict manager. For a salary between $79,363 and $103,176, the US government is offering one lucky applicant the chance to spend time in the Montana wilderness, dealing with discord within the world of grizzly bears. The disputes aren’t between ursine combatants themselves – although territorial quarrels do occur – but in the friction between bears and humans. While grizzly attacks on people are exceptionally rare,...

You may have noticed that relations between the Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA have soured somewhat in the last few weeks, largely due to threats made by the head of Rosmoscos to crash the International Space Station (ISS) into Earth, the Russian space agency holding the launch of OneWeb to ransom, and — first and foremost — the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. NASA as an organization has been calm and controlled during the tensions, stressing cooperation on the ISS as well as other projects. However, retired American astronaut Scott Kelly, free from having to be diplomatic, has...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Biden administration issued guidance to states on Tuesday that it said will ensure the country’s largest-ever investment in water infrastructure doesn’t bypass disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards like pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency’s guidance memo applies to $43 billion from the infrastructure bill for making drinking water cleaner, improving sewage treatment and replacing lead pipes. The agency said the memo helps the Biden Administration meet its goal of addressing environmental needs in communities that often have high rates of poverty and unemployment. The money will be distributed over five years and...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published a video on Instagram Monday night revealing that he remained in his presidential offices, using his cell phone to record the streets outside and declaring he would not go into hiding amid the ongoing war with Russia. Zelensky published a similar video on Tuesday morning appearing to stand outside in Kyiv, again asserting that he would not flee the country.

An unruly chunk of rocket debris is thought to have crashed into the moon. Astronomers believe that the rocket piece, which experts have said originated in China, hit the lunar surface in the early hours of March 4. We won’t know that it hit the moon for sure until two satellites that orbit the moon pass over the possible impact site. These satellites could photograph any crater that resulted from the collision The rocket was heading for a collision with the dark side of the moon so “live” coverage of the event wasn’t possible. However, experts have now created a...

The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Goverment, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America. At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes. The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the...

Russian state media have released a photograph of WNBA star Brittney Griner in custody, the first since she was detained at the airport in Moscow last month on suspicion of carrying a cannabis-filled vape pen. Griner, 31, was taken into custody at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport after returning to Russia from New York during a two-week break from play at the end of February. The exact date of her arrest is unclear and it remains unknown where she is now. The Wall Street Journal reports that she was scheduled to play on February 20, and that a flight arrived at...

Just making a prediction here to revisit later. We saw in 2020 the rules legislatures set for elections (laws) don't matter as Dems can find a friendly judge to give them what they want: No ID, motor voter, vote drop boxes, etc. with the justification of an 'emergency' crisis. The argument will be that the high gas prices ($8-10) it has a negative impact on the poor and African-Americans. Therefore, they have to create these accommodations to secure American voting rights and anyone opposed is worse than Bull Connor.

The number of refugees reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II. One million were children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it “a dark historical first.” Most others were women. A decree by Ukraine’s government that prohibits men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country means that most of those fleeing are women and children, though the U.N. doesn't have exact numbers on gender. Ukraine's policy is meant to encourage men to sign up to fight against Russia’s invasion or to keep them available for military...

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On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reacted to President Joe Biden’s ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil and gas by stating that Congress should monitor the profits of oil companies and “profit margins should not go up. That’s just oil companies gouging when they do that. So, we’re going to be on them on this.”

MANILA, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Cerberus will acquire for $300 million a debt-laden shipyard in the Philippines at a former U.S. navy base close to the South China Sea, the facility's trustee and two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.The fate of the strategically located Subic Bay shipyard has been a national security concern for defence chiefs, with fears it could be taken over by state-run firms from China, with which the Philippines has a long history of mistrust.In 2019, at least eight foreign companies had expressed interest in the shipyard including two...

WASHINGTON — The first Jan. 6 defendant to take his case to trial has been found guilty on five counts related to his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attempted to storm the U.S. Capitol while allegedly armed with a gun and zip ties, was convicted of all five counts he was charged with, including transport of a firearm in support of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. Jurors began deliberating on Tuesday morning after a week-long trial in which they heard testimony from Reffitt's teenage son Jackson Reffitt, who...

The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Goverment, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America. At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes. The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the...

Something very strange is happening in Hong Kong. I am not the first to write about it, but I wanted to do a good job compiling the information and informing my readers so this post is somewhat complete. I will include additional reading below. Hong Kong’s stringent “Zero Covid” policy, stopped to work in mid-February and a “wall of cases” curve exploded in the territory. Now, we have seen such “walls of cases” before, but nothing close ever happened to deaths: [ MANY CHARTS AT LINK...............................] You can see that deaths per million in Hong Kong are basically three TIMES...

President Joe Biden announced his decision to ban oil imports from Russia at the White House on Tuesday, just days after his administration argued against the idea. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,” Biden said, painting the decision as a moral one after Russian president Vladimir Putin escalated his war in Ukraine.

A captured Russian soldier has described how he was shot at and his comrade killed after fellow troops opened fire on them when they tried to protect Ukrainian civilians. In a video, the POW described how he and a lieutenant tried to save a woman in her 20s, and her mother, after Russian soldiers were given orders to fire on civilians on February 24 in Kharkiv. In the clip, the captured soldier claimed he was shot in the foot, and the lieutenant killed, when other troops realised the pair weren't shooting at civilians. It comes as a separate video showed...