Tag: natural resources

US forces hit Yemen oil port in ongoing strikes against Houthis

U.S. forces on Thursday hit a major fuel port in western Yemen used to supply Houthi rebels, the first such airstrike publicly announced since Washington began an air campaign against the militant group in March.

“Today, U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue,” read a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

The command said it targeted and destroyed the port of Ras Isa, a primary oil terminal on the Red Sea coast.

“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis,” CENTCOM said.

The U.S. first began airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen on March 15 as part of a campaign to force the militant group to stop attacking civilian and military ships in the Red Sea, a vital maritime corridor. 

President Trump has vowed to continue such strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis and warned Tehran to stop supporting the group, declaring that the country will be held directly responsible for any future attacks by the rebels. 

The U.S. military has also built up its forces in the region, sending a second carrier strike group to Middle East waters as well as bombers, fighter jets and air defense batteries.

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Newly Unredacted Documents Show Joe Biden Was Negotiating Oil, Gas Deal to Benefit Hunter and Burisma Through Private Email Account

Joe Biden’s private email scandal is likely much worse than Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.

And just like Hillary, Biden was never indicted for his use of burner phones and private emails while he was US Vice President.

Special Counsel Robert Hur ignored Joe Biden’s use of private emails.

The National Archives previously confirmed through a FOIA response that they found 5,138 email messages and 25 electronic files pertaining to the known Joe Biden pseudonym accounts robinware456@gmail.com, JRBWare@gmail.com and Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov.

According to newly unredacted documents, in 2014, while Joe Biden was publicly calling for sanctions against Russia, he was privately negotiating an oil and gas deal to help his son Hunter.

Just The News reported:

While Joe Biden publicly led the charge to punish Russia for its first invasion of Ukraine, he used his role as vice president to quietly open a backdoor for Moscow’s gas to flow to its neighbor in fall 2014, at a time when his son Hunter’s Ukrainian energy company sought such help, according to government messages in a private email account kept from Americans for more than a decade.

The emails, sent to Joe Biden’s private account that used the fake name RobinWare456@gmail.com, were recently turned over by the National Archives, mostly redacted, to Just the News under an open records lawsuit and in unredacted form to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that continues to investigate corruption concerns surrounding the former first family.

They confirm that Joe Biden played a secret role at a “critical moment” to help secure Russia’s willingness to re-open natural gas spigots to Ukraine, a deal that publicly Germany and its then-chancellor, Angela Merkel, received credit for brokering.

“Ukraine gas deal was just signed. The Germans earlier indicated to Tony that your call had come at a critical moment,” the vice president’s Deputy National Security Advisor Jeffrey Prescott wrote in an Oct. 30, 2014 email to Joe Biden’s private account that appears to reference then-Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, a longtime Biden confident who would later serve as Biden’s chief diplomat during the 46th presidency.

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Ukraine to Send ‘Team’ to US to Discuss Mineral Deal After Zelensky Botched The First Meeting

Following a fiery meeting at the White House on February 28 where Ukraine’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky insulted America, Kiev will now be sending ‘a team‘ of delegates to Washington to begin negotiations regarding President Donald Trump’s mineral deal.

On April 1 President Trump reduced the revenue Ukraine will receive from the mineral deal from 50 percent to 0 percent while also removing any security guarantees due to the Dictator’s reluctance to peace negotiations. This follows the March 25 negotiations between Kiev and Moscow in which no deal was reached.

While the exact day the U.S. Ukrainian meeting will take place is not yet known, it will reportedly happen this week.

Representing Ukraine, the team will be comprised of members of Kiev’s Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance.

“This week, Ukraine will send a delegation to Washington to move forward with negotiations on a strategic agreement with the United States regarding critical natural resources,” the first deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko said in a social media post Monday morning. “This dialogue reflects the strategic interests of both nations and our shared commitment to building a strong, transparent partnership. The delegation will include representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Finance. We aim to align on project selection, legal frameworks, and long-term investment mechanisms.”

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Colombia seizes nearly 49 tonnes of China-bound smartphone mineral

Colombian police said Wednesday they had seized nearly 49 tonnes of tin and coltan, a mineral used in smartphones, that had been illicitly extracted by leftist rebels and readied for shipment to China.

They valued the seizure, one of the biggest of illegally mined coltan in Colombia in years, at US$1.2 million.

The police said the minerals, which are mined together, were extracted by dissident members of the now-defunct rebel Farc army in the jungle near the Venezuelan border.

The shipment seized in the city of Villavicencio came from illegal mines in the remote eastern departments of Guainia and Vichada.

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Top German Politicians Are Calling For Resumption Of Russian Gas

In Europe, the lure of a return to cheap energy is ever-present, and that conversation is becoming easier as the Trump administration in Washington pushes hard for ceasefire negotiations with Moscow.

Senior German politicians are already calling for a resumption of ties with Russia. For example Michael Kretschmer, a senior member of Friedrich Merz’s centre-right Christian Democrats, is now arguing that EU sanctions on Russia are “completely out of date” as they increasingly openly contradict “what the Americans are doing.”

Financial Times in a fresh report quoted Kretschmer’s words to the German press agency DPA as follows: “When you realize that you’re weakening yourself more than your opponent, then you have to think about whether all of this is right.”

The same publication has observed the expected immediate backlash to the statements as follows:

Kretschmer, who is also a long-standing opponent of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, is the latest in a string of figures from both Merz’s centre-right CDU and the centre-left Social Democrats to have gone public in recent weeks with calls to resume economic or energy ties with Russia.

That has created a problem for Merz — who is all but certain to be Germany’s next chancellor — as well as for his likely coalition partners in the SPD at a time when he is trying to cast himself as a strong partner for Ukraine and for Europe. Germany’s Green party, which is strongly pro-Kyiv, called on Sunday for Merz to clamp down on “friends of Putin” in his party. 

But Merz hasn’t himself actively tried to silence this growing desire in some political circles for rapprochement with Russia.

But Bloomberg reported Monday, “The co-head of Germany’s Social Democrats party and frontrunner to become the next finance minister Lars Klingbeil dismissed swirling speculation over reviving pipeline gas deliveries from Russia after a potential peace deal for Ukraine.”

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After Rejecting Peace, Ukraine Loses Security Guarantees & Revenue From Trump’s Mineral Deal Offer

President Donald Trump’s administration revised the previous mineral deal it had offered Ukraine, which the country’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky rejected after disrespecting the United States in the White House. The new version of the mineral deal, which Reuters claimed to have attained a draft of on Friday, provides less to Ukraine than the old version did. Interestingly, the revised deal comes directly after Kiev failed to agree to a ceasefire and Moscow announced it will no longer deal with Ukraine’s current government due to trust issues.

“The U.S. has revised its original proposal, said the sources, and it gives Ukraine no future security guarantees but requires it to contribute to a joint investment fund all income from the use of natural resources managed by state and private enterprises across Ukrainian territory,” Reuters said Friday.

Security guarantees have been a key goal for the Dictator, who in October based his ill-fated ‘victory plan‘ around them.

The original mineral deal only required Kiev contribute 50 percent of its income from state-owned, and just state-owned natural resources.

The new requirement for Kiev to contribute 100 percent of its income from the public, and chiefly, private use of its natural resources to a joint fund is likely another critical blow to the war-torn nation, as it has relied on foreign gifts to maintain its war, going so far as to have its Dictator travel the globe begging for money.

Trump sees a mineral deal as a method of recouping costs associated with funding Ukraine’s war. He has also said that the sheer fact American businesses would be engaged in commerce in Ukraine is a type of security guarantee in and of itself.

On Wednesday Trump said that Washington is making progress toward a ceasefire via a strategy of commerce and trade. The mineral deal appears central to Trump’s operations in this space.

While negotiations between Moscow and Kiev have taken place as recently as this week, no ceasefire deal had been reached.

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Rubio Threatens Venezuela With War Over Essequibo Region

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Thursday that the United States will respond forcefully if Venezuela attacks Guyana, amid an ongoing territorial dispute that includes massive oil and gas reserves. Rubio said it would be a “very bad day” for Venezuela should that happen, reported AP.

During a visit to Guyana, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela against aggression over the Essequibo region, hinting at possible U.S. military response.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro fired back, calling Rubio an “imbecile” and declaring Venezuela would not be threatened.

The century-old Essequibo dispute reignited after ExxonMobil’s 2015 oil discovery. The U.S. has since boosted military and intelligence ties with Guyana.

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Burgum Orders Nearly 20 Million Acres In Alaska Opened For Oil, Gas Development

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has directed the Bureau of Land Management to “pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development” of oil, gas, and mineral resources across nearly 20 million previously off-limits acres within Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The move was not unexpected after President Donald Trump issued a Jan. 20 ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ executive actions package mandating federal agencies “expedite permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects,” prioritize “development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential,” and expand fossil fuel development in the 23-million-acre NPR and 19.6-million acre ANWR.

Burgum followed through with a Feb. 3 order requiring the Bureau of Land Management to “exercise all lawful authority” in developing a plan to implement the president’s policy.

“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum said in a March 20 press release announcing the directive.

The sweeping actions by Trump and Burgum, who also chairs the National Energy Dominance Council, rescind “all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions … promulgated, issued, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025,” essentially erasing dozens of actions related to Alaska by President Joe Biden and his administration.

During Trump’s first term, Congress directed the Department of Interior (DOI) to open a 1.56-million acre coastal plain area within ANWR’s Section 1002 to oil and gas drilling for the first time when it adopted the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the area could hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of oil.

However, the Biden administration auctioned only 400,000 acres in January 2025, drawing no bidders because “new severe restrictions” imposed in November 2024 made “any development economically and practically impossible,” Alaska argued in a Jan. 5 lawsuit that alleged DOI and the Bureau of Land Management were in violation of the TCJA.

Under the executive actions and Burgum’s directive, the bureau must now make the entire 1.56-million-acre ANWR coastal plain and 82 percent of NPR available for oil and gas leasing. More than 13 million of NPR’s 23 million acres had been off-limits to development for decades since at least 1980.

“For far too long, the federal government has created too many barriers to capitalizing on the state’s energy potential,” Burgum said.

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DR Congo Offers Trump Minerals in Exchange for Help with Rebels

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi wrote a letter to President Donald Trump in which he offered extensive mineral rights to the U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund in exchange for military assistance against the Rwanda-backed insurgent group M23.

The February 8 letter, which has not officially been disclosed to the public, was allegedly reviewed by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday.

“Your election has ushered in the golden age for America,” Tshisekedi told Trump. “Our partnership would provide the U.S. with a strategic advantage by securing critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Tshisekedi asked Trump for unspecified military assistance and a “formal security pact” to push back M23, which has been advancing from the eastern reaches of the DRC to capture key cities and threaten the capital of Kinshasa.

A spokeswoman for Tshisekedi’s office confirmed the authenticity of the letter and said negotiations with U.S. officials over the DRC’s natural resources are already underway. A source told the WSJ that the White House National Security Council (NSC) requested a briefing on Tshisekedi’s proposal.

“The DRC is interested in partnering with the Trump administration to end the conflict and stop the flow of blood minerals via Rwanda,” Tshisekedi’s spokeswoman said.

The White House, on the other hand, refused to comment on the letter, which it described as “private correspondence to the president.”

The WSJ noted that the DRC has been separately attempting to work out a deal for securing its mining operations with former Blackwater CEO and founder Erik Prince. Blackwater is long gone, having been sold off in 2010, but Prince is involved with other private security operations and he is an outspoken supporter of President Trump.

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Is Greenpeace Finished? Jury Orders Far Left Group to Pay $660 Million in Damages for Protest Against Dakota Access Pipeline

A few years ago, Greenpeace and other far left activists protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, causing all kinds of damage to construction equipment in the process.

Now a jury in North Dakota has ordered them to pay more than $600 million in damages over the protests.

Some people are suggesting the court’s decision could bankrupt the group.

CBS News reports:

Greenpeace ordered to pay more than $660 million to fossil fuel company over pipeline protests

In a win for the oil and gas pipeline company Energy Transfer, a nine-person North Dakota jury found the environmental group Greenpeace liable for more than $660 million in damages and defamation for the 2016 to 2017 Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In their lawsuit, Dallas-based Energy Transfer claimed Greenpeace was responsible for defamation, disruption and property damage for the protests that captured national attention in 2016. Greenpeace claimed the lawsuit threatened its freedom of speech.

In a statement, Energy Transfer said, “This win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace. It is also a win for all law-abiding Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law.”

Greenpeace plans to appeal the verdict. “This is the end of a chapter, but not the end of our fight. Energy Transfer knows we don’t have $660 million. They want our silence, not our money.” Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace Inc., told CBS News.

So they’re planning to appeal? What if the appeal fails?

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