CURRENT EVENTS

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“… POLITICO obtained an image taken during a virtual meeting that shows the flag pinned to what appears to be a cubicle wall behind Angelo Elia, one of Taylor’s staffers. Alongside the flag — with altered red and white lines in the shape of a swastika — are pinned images, including a pocket Constitution and a congressional calendar. It is unclear what role, if any, Elia had in the incident. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I am aware of an image that appears to depict a vile and deeply inappropriate symbol near an employee in my office,” Taylor said in a statement. “The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”

Taylor said he “immediately” directed a thorough investigation alongside the Capitol Police, adding, “No further comment will be provided until it has been completed.”

The flag was found inside Taylor’s office in the Cannon Building in Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon, according to an office spokesperson. Taylor believes it is the result of “foul play or vandalism,” the spokesperson said.…”
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www.theguardian.com

Plug-in hybrids pollute almost as much as petrol cars, report finds

Analysis of 800,000 European cars found real-world pollution from plug-in hybrids nearly five times greater than lab tests
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Even when the cars were driven in electric mode, the analysis found that levels of pollution were well above official estimates. The researchers said this was because electric motors were not strong enough to operate alone, with their engines burning fossil fuels for almost one-third of the distance travelled in electric mode.

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The researchers calculated that the underestimate of PHEV emissions had let four major carmaker groups avoid more than €5bn (£4.3bn) in fines between 2021 and 2023, by making it artificially easier to comply with the EU’s fleet-average CO2 targets. They added that drivers of PHEVs would also be paying about €500 more a year in running costs than would be assumed under laboratory tests.

“The bold claims that manufacturers like to make about their plug-in hybrid vehicles are clearly way off the mark,” said Colin Walker, a transport analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

“Consumers are being duped into believing that in buying a PHEV, they are helping the environment and saving money,” he said. “In reality, PHEVs are little better than regular petrol and diesel cars when it comes to the fuel they consume, the CO2 they produce and the money they cost to run.”
 

After President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020, he and his allies were pushing false narratives about the election being stolen, pressuring state and local officials, and calling for audits of the results.

In Fulton County, Pennsylvania, a Republican stronghold where Trump won a larger percentage of the vote than anywhere else in the state, local leaders wanted to help.

“Sending this email to see what’s going on with this rigged election,” County Commissioner Randy Bunch, a Republican, wrote to state Sen. Judy Ward, also a Republican, in a Nov. 12 email obtained by watchdog group American Oversight. “We can’t let this election get stolen if there is anything I can do please let me know.”

A few weeks later, according to court documents, the county let an outside company examine its voting machines and download data from them. In text messages sent shortly afterwards, one county commissioner said that if the county hadn’t given the company access, a Trump ally would have forced it to do so via a subpoena.

That decision to allow a third party to access sensitive voting equipment set off far-reaching consequences for Fulton County. As a result of a state order, it had to purchase all-new voting equipment. After years of legal proceedings, the county is facing more than $1 million in fines, an amount equal to roughly one-eighth of its yearly budget.

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Five years later, election officials in predominantly Republican counties around the country are again getting requests to inspect their voting equipment in connection with the 2020 election.

Recently, The Washington Post reported that a Republican consultant reached out to clerks in Colorado to ask if they would allow a third party to review whether their voting machines complied with federal law. The consultant claimed to be cooperating with “officials working on the President’s executive order.”

A representative of the U.S. Department of Justice also recently approached counties in Missouri asking for access to election equipment used during the 2020 election, though the exact purpose of the request was unclear.
 
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