Latest news with #FGI
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Attacks On Kurdish Oil Fields Is All The Negotiating Baghdad Wants To Do
The series of attacks against oil fields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) last week underlines long-stated view that the dispute between this Region and the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) is not really to do with oil at all – it is all about sovereignty. The FGI in Baghdad does not want the KRI in Erbil to have any independence from it, and the KRI wants to have more. The FGI's stance aligns perfectly with that of its key sponsors China and Russia. This was relayed to some time ago by a senior energy source who works closely with Iran's Petroleum Ministry: 'By keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq, the end of Western hegemony in the Middle East will become the decisive chapter in the West's final demise.' The KRI's view also equally reflects the view of its principal sponsors – the U.S. and its key allies. This is that they want the Kurdistan Region to terminate all links with Chinese, Russian and Iranian companies connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the long term. The U.S. and Israel also have a further strategic interest in utilising the Kurdistan Region as a base for ongoing monitoring operations against Iran. Once these basic elements are understood, then everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen, makes perfect is the key to success for any state large or small, and both the KRI and FGI have spent years doing their utmost to assert control over the semi-autonomous state's finances. In 2013 – on 23 April – the Kurdistan Region's government passed a bill that would allow it to independently export crude oil from its fields and those of Kirkuk in the event that Baghdad failed to pay its share of oil revenues and exploration costs for crude found in the Region, as analysed in my latest book on the new global oil market order. A corollary bill to create an oil exploration and production company separate from the Federal Government in Baghdad and a sovereign wealth fund to take in all energy revenue was approved at the same time. At that point, the Kurdistan Region was producing around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) – out of a total 3.3 million bpd across Iraq -- and planned to increase this to 1 million bpd by the end of 2015. In sum, the Region intended the 2013 bill to give it complete financial independence from the rest of Iraq as a precursor to total political independence shortly thereafter. The next phase -- after independent oil sales were assured by the Kurdistan Region -- was a planned referendum on independence. The Federal Government correctly saw this as an existential threat to its future, given the U.S.'s promise to the Kurds that they would gain full independence for their vital help in defeating Islamic State. Efforts to put these new measures towards greater independence into practice were hampered by overt and covert pressure from Baghdad's key regional sponsor Iran. And when the independence referendum finally did take place – in 2017 – and the result was a resounding vote in favour, it was Iran that moved quickly and forcefully into the Kurdistan Region to quell any idea of full independence being granted. A year after the Kurdistan Region had made its move in 2013 to secure more independence, Baghdad suggested that instead of independent oil sales for the Kurdistan Region, the two sides instead agreed to a deal. The 2014 'Budget Payments-for-Oil Deal' focused on the south paying the north a certain amount of its budget each month in return for a certain level of oil pumped in the south then being sent in return. Specifically, the original deal involved the Kurdistan region exporting up to 550,000 bpd of oil from its own fields and Kirkuk via the Federal Government of Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO). In return, Baghdad would send 17% of the federal budget after sovereign expenses (around US$500 million at that time) per month in budget payments to the Kurdistan region. From the outset, each side tried to gain an advantage, with the Kurds either failing to send the required amount of oil (while also attempting to sell some of it independent of Baghdad), and the Federal Government failing to send the required levels of budget payments. Russia's effective takeover of the Kurdistan Region's key oil infrastructure in 2017 after the independence referendum was aimed at further sowing discontent between the two sides – and it worked – as also detailed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. These themes have consistently continued to play out in the country, all centred on maximising control over the money from the Kurdistan Region's oil sales, which in turn is a proxy for the level of independence it has from Baghdad. Matters have been complicated by a lack of clarity in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution. According to the Kurdistan region, it has authority under Articles 112 and 115 of the Constitution to manage oil and gas in the Kurdistan Region extracted from fields that were not in production in 2005. In addition, the Region maintains that Article 115 states: 'All powers not stipulated in the exclusive powers of the Federal Government belong to the authorities of the regions and governorates that are not organised in a region.' As such, the Region maintains that, as relevant powers are not otherwise stipulated in the Constitution, it has the authority to sell and receive revenue from its oil and gas exports. Additionally, it argues the Constitution provides that, should a dispute arise, priority shall be given to the law of the regions and governorates. However, the Federal Government maintains that under Article 111 of the Constitution oil and gas are under the ownership of all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates and should therefore be handled through Baghdad. The upshot of this impasse was the 25 March 2023 embargo placed on all independent oil sales from the Kurdistan Region which is still in place. As this issue of independent oil sales is actually about the sovereignty – and geopolitical alignment – of a key piece of land in the heart of the Middle East, it should come as no surprise to anyone the lengths to which the interested parties will go to make sure their side wins. It is apposite to note that around the same time as the U.S. was stressing again that both sides – the Kurdistan Region and the Federal Government – should redouble their efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the long-running oil embargo, a series of attacks from 'unknown assailants' occurred at multiple oil fields in the Kurdistan Region. Among these key oil sites affected were Sarsang, Tawke, Peshkabour, Khurmala, and Ain Sifni, resulting in the Kurdistan Region's crude output dropping by around half, to 150,000 bpd. All these sites were operated by foreign firms, which the Federal Government of Iraq has long maintained should not be dealing direct with the Kurdistan Region but should instead be dealing with the central government in Baghdad. Indeed, May saw Iraq's federal authorities file another complaint against the Kurdistan Region for signing gas contracts with two U.S. companies, including HKN Energy (the operator of the Sarsang site). So who possibly could have been behind the attacks? Unsurprisingly, given the pinpoint accuracy of U.S. laser-guided missile technology, no group has claimed responsibility, but the Kurdistan Region's authorities have questioned whether it could be Iran-backed Iraq paramilitaries. Again unsurprisingly, the Federal Government in Baghdad has rejected this idea. Whether it was one of these many such groups that have attacked foreign targets in Iraq for years remains to be seen. But what is clear is that a very clear link has now been established between foreign powers seeking to up the pressure on Baghdad to resume negotiations on ending the ban of oil sales from the Kurdistan Region and wide-ranging attacks on the very oil fields from which that oil comes. At the same time, the Federal Government of Iraq has refloated a variation of the original 2014 'Budget Payments-for-Oil Deal'. This latest manoeuvre saw the Iraqi Cabinet approve the immediate transfer of all oil produced in the Kurdistan Region to the federal Government of Iraq-controlled State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) for export. This time around, Baghdad has offered to provide the KRG with an advance of $16 pb (cash, or in-kind benefit), based on a minimum delivery of 230,000 bpd, with any additional production to be included under the same mechanism. This, of course, is aimed at wresting control of the Kurdistan Region's oil sales -- and therefore finances – away from its de facto authority in Erbil and firmly to the Federal Government of Iraq in Baghdad. By Simon Watkins for More Top Reads From this article on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Daily Mail
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Woke school program turns beloved children's character trans and warns of racist babies
A woke school program turned a beloved children's character transgender and warned teachers of racist babies, according to a new report. Head Start, a federally-funded educational program for children aged three-five, held webinars that said infants 'discriminate between faces by race' and that 'babies can categorize people by gender or race,' according to a Functional Government Initiative (FGI) report. A series of 2020 webinars, focused on 'anti-bias and anti-racism strategies,' were distributed to teachers, parents and children and specifically claimed that babies can start to 'discriminate' at three months. At six months, babies can classify people by race and gender before they use racial categories to reason about others' and 'may use race to choose playmates' as a toddler, the presentation, reviewed by FGI, said. By age five, 'some children express preference for their own race' and have learned 'many of the same racial attitudes as adults' by the time they go to kindergarten, it found. The national program, run by Dr. Deborah Bergeron at the time, also proposed that children's activities need to become 'more inclusive,' including the traditional nursery rhyme Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Instead of the jingle's classic 'Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had a pig,' Head Start switched the famous lyric to: 'Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he/she/they had a pig,' one webinar shared. Head Start also pushed transgender ideology by referring to pregnant women as 'pregnant people' or 'birthing parents,' according to the program's social media posts, the report found. The report, titled 'Head State Needs a Restart,' noted that the goal of the program was 'started with the laudable goal of free early childhood education and health services to struggling children and families,' but has since 'used taxpayer dollars on priorities well outside of its original purpose.' 'Sadly, Head Start has fallen victim to the same politicization that many government programs have also fallen to in recent years, according to documents analyzed by FGI,' the report read. 'Head Start not only embraced the controversial ideology of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), they pushed it on parents, teachers, educators… and children.' Another webinar, reviewed by FGI, found that Head Start prompted questions to consider when discussing books, including how characters are 'represented.' A separate presentation went over 'Personally-Mediated Racism in Early Education,' and featured what appeared to be a growth chart of children with the phrase 'They're not too young to talk about race!' above. Another slide read: 'Advocated that 'all Head Start policies AND funding' should be applied through a 'racial equity lens".' Yet another slide dealt with exactly how teachers can go about talking to their young students about race, stating: 'We can start talking about race even if we don't have all the answers... 'But if we commit to collectively trying to talk about race with young children, we can lean on one another for support as we, together, envision a world where actively challenged racism each and every day,' the quote, provided by read on a slide. The government program also encouraged educators to read about critical race theory, including Nikole Hannah-Jones' 1619 Project and 'How to be Antiracist' by Ibram X Kendi. Meanwhile, in September 2022, Head Start and Sesame Street got together to push for 'racial justice' in children's education. For this, Sesame Street featured new characters, including ones that encouraged 'black pride' and 'black joy' among kids. Head Start not only has several DEI-based initiatives going for them, but also runs the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation that supports illegal migrants in getting an education. The group also offers assistance with applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was created when former President Barack Obama was in office. Head Start, which is now directed by Tala Hooban, was initially launched in 1965 as a way to offer educational and 'high-quality services in safe and healthy settings that prepare children for school and life' to families in need. Program benefits are dispersed across the country by partner organizations, including non-profits, school districts, and faith-based organizations. Through all of these, Head Start programs provide nutritional support, medical assistance and education.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Superpower Struggle Puts Iraqi Kurdistan's Oil Autonomy at Risk
It has been over two years since the Baghdad-based Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) placed an embargo on independent oil exports from the Erbil-based Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The legal basis for the halting of these essential flows to the finances of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan was the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) order that they would not be resumed until Turkey paid the FGI the US$1.5 billion in damages for these allegedly unauthorised oil exports over many previous years. That said, the real reason why the FGI moved to stop the KRI's independent oil sales is simply that it wants to remove any independent status from the region and roll it into the rest of Iraq as just another province like any other. Baghdad has correctly identified the best way of doing this as cutting off the KRI's key source of revenue through which it finances its semi-autonomous status – revenues from independent oil sales. Early in his new office, Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani carefully laid out this as being Baghdad's plan when he introduced the new Unified Oil Law being drafted at the time. He said that it would be run in every respect out of Baghdad, that it will govern all oil and gas production and investments in both Iraq and its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and that it will constitute 'a strong factor for Iraq's unity'.Unsurprisingly, the great global powers have their own views on whether the KRI should lose its semi-independent status and be subsumed into a greater Iraq. To begin with, both the U.S. and its allies, and China and its allies, know that Iraq as a whole is full of oil (and associated gas). The FGI side officially holds a very conservatively-estimated 145 billion barrels of proved crude oil reserves (nearly 18% of the Middle East's total, and the fifth biggest on the planet), according to the Energy Information Administration. Unofficially, it is extremely likely that it holds much more oil than this. In October 2010, Iraq's Oil Ministry increased its own official figure for the country's proven reserves but at the same time stated that Iraq's undiscovered resources amounted to around 215 billion barrels, as analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. This was also a figure that had been arrived at in a 1997 detailed study by the respected independent oil and gas firm Petrolog. However, even this did not include the KRI's actual and potential oil reserves. As the International Energy Agency highlighted at the time, before the relatively recent rise of exploration activity in the semi-autonomous region, more than half of the exploratory wells had been drilled prior to 1962 -- a time when technical limits and a low oil price gave a much tighter definition of a commercially successful well than would be the case today. Based on the previous limited exploration and development of oil fields in the KRI area, the proven oil reserves figure was first put at around 4 billion barrels. This was subsequently upgraded by the KRG to around 45 billion barrels but, again, this may well be a very conservative estimate of the oil resources there. Additionally important to both sets of superpowers is Iraq's geographical and geopolitical importance, located as it is in the heart of the world's greatest hydrocarbons region. In the former's case it is a key link in the land bridge from the Asia-Pacific region into Europe and in the case of the latter it is a core part of the Shia Crescent of Power dominated by Iran as a counterpoint to the Sunni style of Islam championed by Saudi Arabia. Given these factors, the stakes for both the West and the East in winning the most influence in the country – north, south or combined – are exceptionally high. To put it plainly: the U.S. and its key allies want the KRI to terminate all links with Chinese, Russian and Iranian companies connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the long term, a senior source who works closely with the European Union's (E.U.) energy security complex exclusively told recently. 'This could then be used as a bridgehead to reassert the West's influence in the rest of Iraq through big investment deals firstly, and then related infrastructure developments,' he added. The most notable such deal in the south of Iraq so far is TotalEnergies' US$27 billion four-pronged deal, including the cornerstone Common Seawater Supply Project, analysed fully in my latest book. In the north, BP's US$25 billion deal across five major oil fields is similarly strategically vital for the West's future plans. The U.S. and Israel also have a further strategic interest in utilising the Kurdistan Region as a base for ongoing monitoring operations against Iran, according to the E.U. source. On the other side of the equation, China and Russia have long been behind the idea of subsuming the KRI into the wider Iraq. As a senior political source in Moscow exclusively told many months ago: 'Iraq will be one unified country and by keeping the West out of energy deals there, the end of Western hegemony in the Middle East will become the decisive chapter in the West's final demise.' Legally speaking, Iraq's 2005 Constitution cannot settle the matter of whether the KRI or FGI has the predominant rights over revenues from oil drilled in the KRI's area. According to the KRG, it has authority under Articles 112 and 115 to manage oil and gas in the Kurdistan Region extracted from fields that were not in production in 2005 -- the year that the Constitution was adopted by referendum. In addition, the KRG maintains that Article 115 states: 'All powers not stipulated in the exclusive powers of the federal government belong to the authorities of the regions and governorates that are not organised in a region.' As such, the KRG maintains that, as relevant powers are not otherwise stipulated in the Constitution, it has the authority to sell and receive revenue from its oil and gas exports. Additionally, it argues the Constitution provides that, should a dispute arise, priority shall be given to the law of the regions and governorates. However, the FGI maintains that under Article 111, oil and gas are under the ownership of all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates, which means they should be controlled by the FGI via the State Organization for Marketing of Oil. Consequently, given the lack of legal clarity on the issue, the KRI's future looks set to be determined by a straight superpower brawl. China would seem currently to have the advantage in terms of land and resources held. More than a third of all Iraq's proven oil and gas reserves and over two-thirds of its current production are managed by Chinese companies, according to industry figures. In hard numbers, Chinese companies combined have direct shares in around 24 billion barrels of reserves and are responsible for production of around 3.0 million barrels per day (bpd). Additionally, it has developed a spider's web of influence through multiple infrastructure projects that run adjunct to its oil and gas developments, as also detailed fully in my latest book. That said, the U.S. and its allies appear to be picking up the pace on building out their presence across Iraq, too, in line with the aforementioned plan to do so. In addition to the potentially game-changing projects of TotalEnergies and BP, May 19 saw two deals signed by U.S. firms HKN Energy, and WesternZagros, to develop two fields – the Miran gas field and the Topkhana oil and gas field -- in the KRI area. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was also very clear about the deeper intention behind these deals, saying that they align with the administration's broader strategy of striking commercial deals with allies to counter Iran's influence. By extension, given the extremely strong links between Tehran and Beijing and Moscow, this also means countering China's and Russia's influence across Iraq as well. By Simon Watkins for More Top Reads From this article on
Korea Herald
20-05-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
More Seoul elementary students report depression, anxiety
A recent study by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education found that there has been a steady increase over the last three years in the capital city of elementary school students experiencing symptoms related to depression and anxiety. The study, conducted over three years beginning in 2021, included 113 elementary schools based in Seoul and surveyed 3,754 students. The study was conducted in the format of a focus group interview, which is a qualitative research method where participants engage in a guided discussion about a specific topic. Based on the conclusions drawn from the FGI study, the city's education office consulted with relevant mental health experts on signs of mental health concerns. According to the Education Office's study, elementary students showing signs of depression on a three-point scale increased each year, from 0.51 point in 2021 to 0.66 in 2022 and 0.73 in 2023. Students showing signs of anxiety also showed a steady increase among elementary school students over the three years. On a 1-point scale, the score increased from 0.44 in 2021 to 0.54 in 2022 and 0.58 in 2023. Over the same period, elementary school students showing sensitivity in emotions increased from 0.41 point in 2021 to 0.49 point in 2023. As for students exhibiting pessimism, the study also noticed an increase from 0.17 in 2021 to 0.26 in 2023. As for reasons behind the consistent decrease in mental health conditions among elementary students, the study pointed to several factors, including stress from academic pressure and peer-to-peer relationships, increased time spent on smartphones, greater exposure to social media and reduced sleep. 'There are more underage students nowadays using social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, where they are able to indirectly experience what others' lives are like,' the report noted. 'This phenomenon can lead students to compare themselves to the glamorous lives of others, leading to feelings of relative deprivation.' Other than these factors, however, the study suggested that overprotective parenting attitudes in Korea can also be said to have contributed to the rise in negative emotions. 'Children who are excessively emotionally protected and supported in the face of small concerns tend to have higher levels of anxiety and become easily discouraged by minor difficulties,' the study added. "Due to the trend of sensitive parenting and the incorrect approach of overly accommodating to children's emotions, elementary school students' emotional immunity is at a low level, making them more vulnerable to depression and anxiety."
Fox News
14-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Key Biden agency dropped $60K on overseas conference with DEI workshop: 'Should never happen'
FIRST ON FOX: A government watchdog has uncovered that former President Joe Biden's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars sending top officials to a conference in Scotland that included diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) workshops. The Functional Government Initiative (FGI), via a FOIA request, discovered that the Biden FDA spent an estimated $60,000 on a dozen staffers, including Senior Advisor for Health Equity Dr. Charlene Le Fauve, to attend the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco's (SRNT's) conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in March 2024. While at the conference, members of the team attended a workshop that focused on the "stigma" facing LGBTQ+ people in the field of tobacco research. Topics included in that workshop, according to the FDA's own report on the trip, included "how anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and discriminatory and stigmatizing environments toward LGBTQ+ populations impact tobacco use and tobacco control research" and "process to develop a community-based participatory research project to address smoking cessation among transgender individuals in Argentina." Another topic discussed was "the challenges of conducting research on tobacco use in the high-stigma environment of pregnancy in a post-Dobbs era." Le Fauve justified the trip, in part, by claiming "the knowledge gained at the meeting is critical to attendees' ability to understand emerging scientific issues that may impact their work and their ability to effectively move forward agency initiatives." "The formal SRNT conference included many sessions where health equity was an identified focus and I attended several which were highly relevant, well done, and informative including the Presidential Symposium that included three presenters supporting the premise that in order to have a global impact on the tobacco smoking pandemic, nicotine and tobacco research must broaden its vision beyond wealthy countries to include research and researchers in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the vast majority of the world's people who smoke live," Le Fauve added. Also present on the trip was Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King, who was recently relieved of his duty by the Trump administration in a move that a former agency official told Fox News Digital was a result of the FDA straying from its core mission under the Biden administration and focusing on issues like DEI. "There were many, many failures in the key core missions for the center that needed dramatic change in new leadership," David Oliveira, who recently left the FDA after six years, told Fox News Digital last month, explaining that the FDA was ceding responsibility to other departments and not doing enough to crackdown on China flooding the market with illicit vapes. FGI Communications Director Roderick Law told Fox News Digital in a statement that spending tens of thousands of dollars to send a dozen employees to a conference in Scotland is another example of the agency losing focus on its mission. "I, like anyone else in the world, would love to have a $60,000 vacation paid for by my employer," Law said. "Sadly, this dream became reality for 12 people on the taxpayer's back. How can a group of government officials spend $60,000 on an LGBTQ+ workshop? How is it possible that this trip helped the agency stop illegal Chinese-made products or process applications for new products that could provide for harm reduction? This kind of waste should never happen again." Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment.
