Shell Reports Highest Profits in 115 Years
On Thursday, oil and gas giant Shell reported record annual profits of $39.9B for 2022 after energy prices surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company's profits were double those from the previous year and its highest in 115 years.
Shell reported a profit of $9.8B in Q4, with over 40% of the company's full-year earnings coming from its integrated gas operations, which include liquified natural gas trading.
The British company's record 2022 earnings mirror those reported by US rivals earlier this week, including ExxonMobil's $59.1B report and Chevron's $36.5B recorded profit.
Left narrative
Oil giants have gained excess profits due to the war in Ukraine and the rapid rise of energy prices. A more serious and fair windfall tax on energy companies' profits would redress the imbalance between companies' contributions to the state and their earnings and help struggling families pay their rapidly increasing utility bills. Individuals are obligated to contribute to society through taxes and other forms of support, and companies must do so too.
Right narrative
Windfall taxes weren't a good idea in the first place, and increasing them will have serious repercussions. While it may seem like an obvious solution to the UK's growing hole in public finances, in reality, it's a short-term crutch that will lead to a new set of problems down the road It discourages domestic investment and sends the dangerous message to businesses that success must be accompanied by a heavy price.
US Military Gains Expanded Access to Philippine Bases
The Philippines’ Department of National Defense announced Thursday that the US will be given access to four additional military bases in "strategic areas" of the Southeast Asian country amid persisting tensions with China over Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.
The new deal was sealed under the 2014 US-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which has allowed Washington to rotate troops to a total of nine bases across the Philippines. The Philippines gained independence from the US in 1946.
The agreement, unveiled during a visit to Manila by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, reportedly aims to enhance the decades-old security alliance between both countries and ramp up the modernization of combined military capabilities.
Anti-China narrative
The Philippines should boost its security ties with Washington as China's expansionism increasingly threatens its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. It's no coincidence that key regional players such as Japan have also opted to join the US in stepping up deterrence against Beijing. Given China's increasingly aggressive stance, the question is no longer if, but when, military escalation will occur.
Pro-China narrative
The US is exploiting the alleged "Chinese threat" to defend its hegemonic claims around the world. Manila must understand that Washington is not concerned with any of Manila's security interests, but that the US seeks to use the Philippines as another tool in a potential conflict with China. The Philippines should therefore pursue a well-balanced foreign policy as a sovereign state and thus avoid becoming a de-facto US colony again.
Day 344: EU Leaders Arrive For Talks in Kyiv
A delegation of 15 EU officials — including Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen and the bloc's top foreign policy chief Josep Borrell — arrived in Kyiv for two days of talks on Thursday. Discussions are set to focus on military aid, reconstruction efforts, and Ukraine's EU accession aspirations.
So far, Borrell has announced that the EU plans to double the number of Ukrainian troops that will be trained by the bloc, taking the figure to 30K. A €25M ($27.5M) demining initiative has also been announced.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov warned of the possibility that new Russian offensives may coincide with the one-year anniversary of the war later this month. He alleged that Russia had mobilized 500K troops — 200K more than had publicly been stated — and that Ukrainian intelligence had observed these newly-mobilized troops massing at the Russia-Ukraine border.
Pro-establishment narrative
Ukrainians have fought not only for their own country but also for all of Europe, reminding the alliance why it was founded in the first place. It's only right that the EU opens its doors to Ukraine.
Establishment-critical narrative
If Ukraine were to join the EU, it would only further complicate the country's relations Russia and draw the world even nearer to a global conflict. The West should resist being so blindly positive about Kyiv's potential bloc candidacy.
Nerd narrative
There is a 1% chance that Ukraine will join the European Union before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
King Charles Won't Appear on Australian $5 Bill
According to an announcement from Australia's central bank on Thursday, King Charles III will not appear on the country's new five-dollar note.
An indigenous design will be featured instead of the British monarch, who remains Australia's head of state. A statement from the bank declared that the change would honor "the culture and history of the First Australians," but clarified that the other side of the five-dollar banknote "will continue to feature the Australian parliament."
The decision — made following consultation with the Australian federal government, which reportedly supports the new design — comes amid a revival of the debate concerning Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy following Queen Elizabeth II's death.
Pro-establishment narrative
The new King belongs on the five-dollar banknote. The Labor government does not have the mandate to implement a "republic by stealth" and — until the Australian people make the democratic decision otherwise — Australia is still a constitutional monarchy. Charles III possesses the same level of affection for the nation as his late mother — Australia should honor that.
Establishment-critical narrative
King Charles III will still be featured on Australian currency, just not banknotes. It is high time that First Australians — who make up 3.2% of the population — were consulted and recognized through the currency of Australia, rather than the lineage of colonizers.
Study: Merck COVID Drug May Cause Virus Mutations
In a preprint study from the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London, and other UK institutes, researchers found that Merck & Co.'s COVID medication, Lagevrio — also known as molnupiravir — causes new mutations of the virus in patients.
Molnupiravir, administered as a pill, was developed to eliminate the virus in infected persons by creating mutations in the viral genome. The data shows that the drug generates novel viruses that are transmissible — causing researchers to be concerned that the mutations could extend and reinvigorate the pandemic.
Merck & Co. denies that Lagevrio causes mutations in the virus. Pfizer, who has endured similar claims for its drug Paxlovid, has dismissed these concerns; both companies blame uncontrollable community transmission instead.
Pro-establishment narrative
While this research finding may seem worrying, it has not gone through the rigorous peer review process. While during the pandemic many scientists started publishing their research on “preprint servers” prior to review in an attempt to more quickly share findings, this practice is dangerous — it means that there is less oversight on research and unverified scientific findings may confuse the public. More validation is needed; the processes of scientific research and confirmation must run their due course.
Establishment-critical narrative
While peer review is important, the world of publishing moves dangerously slowly — with some studies taking months or even years to move through the peer review and publication process. Preprints accelerate scientific communication and sharing scientific knowledge in a timely manner far outweighs the risks of sharing un-reviewed work. This is just the beginning of findings about the risks of Merck's product, and the public deserves to be aware of the early findings.
Italy, Libya Renew Migration Pact; Spark Criticism
The Memorandum of Understanding on Migration between Italy and Libya — originally signed in 2017 to give Libya financial and technical support to "combat illegal immigration" — was automatically renewed for a second time on Thursday, sparking criticisms from humanitarian organizations.
In the lead-up to the renewal, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused Italy and the EU of being complicit in serious human rights violations, citing a June 2022 UN report that claims that migrants sent back to Libya faced "inhumane acts," such as murder, torture, and enslavement.
The EU has handed over €57.2M ($62.8M) for integrated border and migration management in Libya since 2017, with its border agency Frontex providing surveillance information. Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni vowed last month to provide Libya's coast guard with five "fully equipped boats."
Left narrative
Thanks to the anti-immigrant beliefs of Italian leadership, tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been intercepted at sea and forced back to Libya, where they face unimaginable atrocities. If Italy wants to work with Libya, it should amend the agreement to include releasing migrants from detention centers and ensuring they can safely arrive in Europe.
Right narrative
Though some in the EU leadership don't acknowledge it, there are dozens of individual countries within the bloc, each of which has its own right to border protection. If Italy wants to enact stricter illegal immigration laws, it should be allowed to allocate more resources toward that goal. And if other countries wish to open their doors, they should be given the resources to do so. Europe is facing an unprecedented immigration crisis — as not all are refugees — and it calls for real solutions, not empty virtue signaling.
Cynical narrative
While all eyes are now on Italy, the West, with its neocolonial policies and imperial logic, is itself responsible for the ongoing migration and refugee crisis and the rise of populist and right-wing governments in Europe, such as that of Giorgia Meloni in Italy. It must not be ignored that, ultimately, it was NATO's "humanitarian intervention" that destroyed Libya and opened Pandora's box.
Report: Record $3.8B in Cryptocurrency Stolen in 2022
Cryptocurrency theft was at its worst in 2022, with hackers stealing upwards of $3.8B, according to a report released Wednesday by Chainalysis, a crypto blockchain analytics firm.
The stolen amount increased by a half billion dollars from 2021's totals and came as the overall crypto market declined significantly, with Bitcoin falling 60% last year. North Korean hackers allegedly stole a record $1.7B in crypto, up from $429M in 2021.
DeFi ["Decentralized Finance"] platforms were reportedly the primary target of hackers, who used cross-chain bridges and blockchain infrastructure as their main methods of theft, accounting for more than 82% ($3.1B) of the crypto stolen.
Pro-establishment narrative
Although DeFi platforms are popular because of their transparent nature, they’re also vulnerable to major hacks. North Korean hackers have abused these vulnerabilities and have popularized the switch from attacking mainstream crypto platforms to focusing on unguarded decentralized ones. DeFi platforms need to strengthen their security through measures including third-party audits.
Establishment-critical narrative
Governments spying on average citizens is coming disguised as cyber security against threats from US adversaries, including North Korea and Russia. Canada was able to do this when it regulated cryptocurrency during last year’s trucker protests, setting an example for other countries. Financial autonomy is tough in a surveillance state.
House of Representatives Removes Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee
The GOP-majority House of Representatives voted Thursday to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote occurred along party lines, 218 to 211, with David Joyce (R-Ohio) voting “present.”
The resolution cites comments Omar made in the past that some have claimed to be anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli, such as a tweet claiming that Israel's relationship with the US is "all about the Benjamins."
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has already blocked Democrat Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from rejoining the House Intelligence Committee after Republicans gained a House majority in the 2022 midterms.
Republican narrative
Omar's concerning comments downplaying 9/11 as well as comparing the US to terrorist organizations are solid justifications for her committee removal. Her comments about Israel — a trusted US ally — are also concerning. Former House Speaker Pelosi set the precedent of removing officials from such positions, so McCarthy is well within his rights to make this move.
Democratic narrative
After unfairly blocking Schiff and Swalwell, once again McCarthy is unfairly targeting Democratic representatives. McCarthy lacks the moral compass to make a decision on which Democrats should take part in important committees. This reeks of political revenge and bigotry.
College Board Revises African American Studies Course
The College Board, which is responsible for developing high school Advanced Placement (AP) courses, announced revisions to the AP class in African American studies on Wednesday, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had threatened to ban in his state.
The DeSantis administration had objected to the parts of the course that dealt with “queer theory” and allegedly taught tenets of so-called Critical Race Theory, which — per the Associated Press —"centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that those institutions maintain the dominance of white people."
Many of the names of Black writers and scholars were removed from the curriculum, which also no longer studies Black Lives Matter and other political topics.
Right narrative
Claims that DeSantis is trying to erase Black history are ludicrous, as these revisions were in the works before Florida issued its complaints. Nonetheless, this is a win for DeSantis’s fight against "woke" culture, and a victory for students who can now study Black history without an ideological bent distorting the facts or sowing division by defining people as oppressors and oppressed based simply on race.
Left narrative
It’s hard to accept the College Board's claim that its watering down of the curriculum isn’t a reaction to complaints from DeSantis, whose term as governor has been largely devoted to erasing Black and LGBTQ+ experiences from education. The College Board caved, and sadly students will now be robbed of the educational opportunity to understand how Black history impacts the present world Americans live in.
Bank of England Raises Interest Rates to 14-Year High
Though it says inflation "is likely to have peaked," the Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday raised interest rates from 3.5% to 4% — a 14-year high — stressing that this hike was needed due to higher-than-expected private sector wage growth.
Seven of the nine Monetary Policy Committee members voted to increase the Bank Rate for the tenth consecutive time, with the bank's minutes, however, showing a softer tone after previously suggesting it would respond "forcefully" to inflation.
This decision, which is set to increase mortgage costs for millions of UK homeowners, comes in a bid to control inflation after it reached a record 11.1% in October.
Pro-establishment narrative
Though interest rates have been raised again — and output in Britain is still expected to shrink this year — prospects for the British economy are much better than in the immediate aftermath of Liz Truss's premiership. This measure may be seen as overprotective, but the UK's central bank deserves credit as it has been exceeding expectations while dealing with multiple shocks. Previous fears of a "Great Recession 2.0" should be replaced with hope.
Establishment-critical narrative
The Ukraine war, pandemic, supply chain chaos, and labor shortages have not helped Britain's economy over the past years, but it's inconceivable that the BoE still refuses to take responsibility for its own mistakes. The inflationary spiral affecting the UK was created much earlier than these shocks because interest rates were kept close to zero for too long. Central planners should be honest with the public when their mistakes lead to life-altering cost-of-living crises.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that UK's annual inflation rate will be at least 6.63% by 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.