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The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE), in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), is currently investigating a human case of plague based on preliminary test results. The plague bacterium, known as Yersinia pestis, can be transmitted by fleas and wild rodents, such as prairie dogs, squirrels, rats, and rabbits. According to the CDC, “Humans usually become infected through the bite of an infected rodent flea or by handling an infected animal. Plague can be cured with antibiotics, but these must be given promptly to prevent serious illness or death.” Symptoms of plague...

If the Houthis make good on their threats, it would be an escalation of their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. To date, they claim attacks have been limited to ships going to Israel or those with connections to Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Pentagon disputes that claim and has said that the Houthis have targeted multinational ships. In at least one instance, the Houthis have targeted at least one Chinese ship, according to USNI News’ timeline of activity in the Red Sea. It is possible that the Houthis were...

Since November 2023, the Houthis have conducted dozens of attacks on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea, endangering civilian crews and threatening freedom of navigation through a critical global transportation route. The Houthis are non-state actors in Yemen who have used Iran’s support to gradually expand their military capabilities since at least 2015.In early December 2023, the Houthis threatened to attack any ships that they believed were heading to Israeli ports, though many of their attacks both before and since have been against civilian ships with either tenuous or no known Israeli affiliations or port calls. Since mid-December 2023, the...

“And I would say that really, it’s the Houthis that have failed to deter the United States and the international community from continuing to operate in the Red Sea. You know, they’ve conducted over 190 attacks, the vast majority of which have been knocked down, thanks to U. S. and international efforts to help safeguard shipping and the lives of mariners through operations like Operation Prosperity Guardian,” Ryder said.“The United States has continued to destroy Houthi offensive capabilities in Yemen, but the terror group continues to have sufficient means to threaten shipping. This offers insights regarding the size of the...

A drone attack caused damage to a merchant vessel 65 nautical miles west of Yemen's Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and British security firm Ambrey said on Sunday. "All crew members are reported safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call," UKMTO said in an advisory note. In a separate note, Ambrey identified the vessel as a "Liberia-flagged fully cellular container ship", without providing its name. It said no injuries were reported.

CHANCAY, Peru—In this serene town on South America’s Pacific coast, China is building a megaport that could challenge U.S. influence in a resource-rich region that Washington has long considered its backyard.... ...The U.S. worries that China’s control over what could become South America’s first true global commercial hub will allow Beijing to further strengthen its grip over the region’s resources, deepen its influence among America’s closest neighbors and eventually plant its military nearby.... Peru’s Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea said...“The United States is present almost everywhere in the world with a lot of initiatives, but not so much in Latin America,”...

Human activities affect the Earth’s climate through modifying the composition of the atmosphere, which then creates radiative forcing that drives climate change. The warming effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases has been partially balanced by the cooling effect of anthropogenic aerosols. In 2020, fuel regulations abruptly reduced the emission of sulfur dioxide from international shipping by about 80% and created an inadvertent geoengineering termination shock with global impact. Here we estimate the regulation leads to a radiative forcing of Wm−2 averaged over the global ocean. The amount of radiative forcing could lead to a doubling (or more) of the warming rate...

Converting America’s medium- and heavy-duty trucks to electric vehicles (EV) in accordance with goals from the Biden administration would add massive costs to commercial trucking, according to a new analysis released Wednesday. The cost to switch over to light-duty EVs like a transit van would equate to a 5% increase in costs per year while switching over medium- and heavy-duty trucks would add up to 114% in costs per year to already struggling businesses, according to a report from transportation and logistics company Ryder Systems. The Biden administration, in an effort to facilitate a transition to EVs, finalized new emission...

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Like more Baltimore-style bridge-ship collisions? According to a news nugget buried deep in a long Washington Post investigative report, ships losing propulsion is shockingly common and can lead to ships running aground or colliding with bridges and other structures. A look at Coast Guard records showed that more than 100 incidents involved huge container ships. One of the reasons they happen is because of greenie fuel mandates.The story is actually very good and very long, giving the reader a feel for what drives how ports operate.But that tiny item about greenie environmental regulations forcing ships to change fuel after they...

Layoffs continue across the freight and logistics industry, with companies in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas announcing job reductions and facility closures over the past two weeks. Universal Logistics Warren, Michigian-based Universal Logistics is permanently shuttering two of its subsidiaries and laying off a total of 677 employees, according to notices recently filed with the state. The layoffs are related to Universal-operated entities Logistics Insights Corp. and Universal Dedicated of Detroit, an auto parts warehousing and logistics facility. Both operations were in Detroit. Universal Dedicated of Detroit’s closure will affect 230 truck drivers who worked from the facility. Logistics...

Why shipping choke points like Panama are FUBAR and getting worse. Long, detailed explanation of all the problems.

“… Others believe this was a deliberate attack of US infrastructure based on various factors that do not seem to add up. Could it have been an inside job or a foreign agent? The truth will come to light, as it always does. Let me begin by explaining how crucial the Francis Scott Key Bridge was to America’s supply chain. Around 52.3 million tons of international cargo estimated to be worth $80.8 billion passed through the port in 2023. Around 4,900 trucks, carrying around $28 billion in goods, must be rerouted due to the bridge collapse. It is the second...

When I awoke early on Tuesday morning, I was stunned to learn that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore had collapsed. We are being told that it was a tragic “accident” and that there is no evidence that any foul play was involved. Hopefully that is true. But no matter how it was caused, this tragedy is going to have an enormous impact on U.S. supply chains. And of course this comes at a really bad time, because Houthi missile strikes in the Red Sea and low water levels in the Panama Canal have been putting a tremendous amount...

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Guest editorial by Jim Nelles: The video footage of the Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel, the Dali, crashing into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is truly horrifying. Video footage shows the ship’s lights flickering on and off, indicating it lost power shortly before crashing into the bridge’s stanchion. The video also shows black smoke coming from the ship’s exhaust vents, indicating that the crew was trying to restart diesel engines. Unfortunately, eight workers were performing construction on the bridge at the time of collapse, only two of whom were rescued. Given the temperatures of the Patapsco River, they must be...

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship

Despite an agreement with China to give safe passage to all Chinese shipping in the Red Sea, the Houthis struck a Chinese ship with a ballistic missile on Saturday.From 2:50 to 4:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) March 23, the Iranian-backed Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) into the Red Sea in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated oil tanker.At 4:25 p.m. (Sanaa time), a fifth ballistic missile was detected as fired toward M/V Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance. M/V Huang Pu suffered minimal damage, and a fire on...

Half the workers at Eilat Port are on the verge of losing their jobs after the seaport took a major financial hit due to the crisis in Red Sea shipping lanes, Israel’s main labor federation says. Eilat sits on a northern tip of the Red Sea and was one of the first ports to be affected as shipping firms rerouted vessels to avoid attacks by the Houthis in Yemen.

The Yemeni militia’s three-and-a-half month long campaign of ship seizures, missile and drone strikes has added billions of dollars to global commercial shipping costs, with the fighters vowing to continue their partial blockade of the Red Sea until Israel halts the war in Gaza. The Houthis will continue their operations against Israel-affiliated commercial vessels and Western warships in the Red Sea throughout the holy month of Ramadan, militia spokesman Yahya Saree has announced. “We will continue to prevent navigation to the ports of occupied Palestine until the end of the aggression and the siege of Gaza,” Saree said in a...