Bayer, others defeat US farmers' chemical price-fixing lawsuit

A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing agriculture giants Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and others of conspiring with wholesalers and retail outlets to fix prices for seeds and crop protection chemicals, causing farmers to pay higher prices.

St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk ruled,on Friday that farmers and other plaintiffs failed to present sufficient allegations that the companies had violated U.S. antitrust law.

The farmers said Bayer and others schemed to collectively boycott electronic “crop inputs” platforms, depriving the ability of farms and other purchasers to make effective cost comparisons for key agricultural materials.

Pitlyk said the plaintiffs’ allegations did not rebut the companies’ claims that their practices served legitimate business purposes. She faulted the plaintiffs for advancing "mere generalizations" in their lawsuit.

Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF, another defendant, welcomed the court's ruling in separate statements. Bayer said the crop input market is "competitive, fair and diverse." Corteva said it will continue to "vigorously" compete in agricultural markets.

All of the defendants had denied any wrongdoing.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs at law firms Lockridge Grindal Nauen and Gustafson Gluek declined to comment.

The case includes lawsuits that were filed across the country in 2021. The crop protection chemicals at issue include fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.

Farmers accused wholesale and retail outlets of pressuring manufacturers such as Bayer not to deal with emerging e-commerce platforms that would have opened the crop input market to greater price transparency.

The defendants countered that there was no evidence supporting the plaintiffs’ conspiracy claims, and that any resistance to the electronic platforms “was entirely consistent with each individual defendant’s independent commercial interests.”

The case is In re: Crop Inputs Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, No. 4:21-md-02993-SEP.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/bayer-others-defeat-us-farmers-chemical-price-fixing-lawsuit-2024-09-16/

'Harris says Trump and abortion ban to blame for death of Georgia woman'

 Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday a Georgia woman's death could have been prevented if the state did not have an abortion ban, and pinned the blame on Republican presidential rival Donald Trump.

At least two women in Georgia have died after they could not access abortion-related medical care in their state, investigative news outlet ProPublica reported Monday.

Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, died in August 2022 following complications after she took an abortion pill, and "suffered from a grave infection that her suburban Atlanta hospital was well-equipped to treat," the news outlet said, citing reports from a state committee that called her death "preventable."

"This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school," Harris, the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 5 presidential election, said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down," she said. "These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions."

Trump as president named three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion, fulfilling a promise he made when he campaigned in 2016. Since the 2022 decision, Georgia and about dozen other U.S. states have passed laws banning or severely limiting abortion rights.

"President Trump has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, which Georgia's law provides. With those exceptions in place, it’s unclear why doctors did not swiftly act to protect Amber Thurman’s life," Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump has said that he believes abortion rights should be decided by states and include those exceptions.

An official state committee concluded that Thurman's death was preventable, ProPublica reported. Doctors and a nurse involved in Thurman's care did not respond to questions about her treatment, it said.

The Supreme Court decision and subsequent state abortion laws have resulted in multiple complaints against hospitals and doctors alleging they are refusing to treat women for pregnancy complications.

Women in Texas have asked U.S. health authorities to investigate local hospitals for denying them abortions for dangerous ectopic pregnancies, and women in Idaho, Tennessee and Oklahoma have filed lawsuits alleging they were denied abortions despite suffering life-threatening pregnancy complications.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/harris-says-trump-abortion-ban-151944000.html

Microsoft, BlackRock to launch $30 billion fund for AI infrastructure

 BlackRock and Microsoft plan to launch a more than $30 billion fund to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure to build data centers and energy projects, the companies said on Tuesday.

AI models, especially those used for deep learning and large-scale data processing, require substantial computational power, leading to higher energy consumption.

The computing requirements for AI have dictated that tech companies string together thousands of chips in clusters to achieve the necessary amount of data crunching power, leading to a surge in the demand for these specialized data centers.

The investment vehicle, known as Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, aims to help enhance AI supply chains and energy sourcing, BlackRock and Microsoft said.

MGX, the Abu Dhabi-backed investment company, will be a general partner in the fund, while AI chip firm Nvidia will provide expertise.

The partnership will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing, the companies said.

The investments will be chiefly in the United States and the remainder in its partner countries, according to the companies.

The Financial Times had first reported on the development.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-blackrock-plan-30-billion-202125616.html

US sues owner of cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge over cleanup costs

 The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday filed a civil claim against the owner and operator of the container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore killing six, seeking more than $100 million.

The department is seeking to recover costs the United States incurred in responding to the disaster and for clearing the wreck and bridge debris so the Port of Baltimore could reopen in June. The department also is seeking punitive damages to deter the owner and operator of the Dali cargo ship and others.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-sues-owner-cargo-ship-143504916.html

'US FBI disrupts second Chinese hacking group, director says'

 U.S. law enforcement has disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday, wresting thousands of compromised devices from its grasp.

Speaking at a cybersecurity conference in Washington, Wray said Flax Typhoon was being run by a Chinese company called the Integrity Technology Group that posed as an IT firm but also “collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies.”

A previously known hacking group dubbed “Volt Typhoon” has been the subject of increasing concern by Western officials since it was first identified last year as cyber sabotage group focused on establishing a foothold in critical U.S. infrastructure.

U.S. officials have said it is a China-backed group, while Beijing has said it is a ransomware gang.

Representatives for China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation statement.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-fbi-says-struck-second-134308978.html

'Ghost' cybercrime platform dismantled in global operation, 51 arrested

 An international law enforcement operation has dismantled an encrypted communication platform, known as Ghost, notorious for enabling large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering, Europol said on Wednesday.

The investigation led to the arrest of 51 suspects from multiple countries, with more arrests expected.

The platform had gained popularity among criminal organisations for its advanced security features and its dismantling marks a significant blow to global organised crime networks.

"This was truly a global game of cat and mouse, and today, the game is up," Europol's Deputy Executive Director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe told reporters.

The operation prevented several threats to life, dismantled a drug lab in Australia, and led to the global seizure of weapons, drugs, and over 1 million euro ($1.11 million) in cash, Europol said.

"Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they can’t evade our collective effort," Europol's Executive Director Catherine De Bolle said, calling the Ghost platform "a lifeline for serious organised crime".

The operation was conducted with the help of authorities from Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, as part of a broader commitment to combat global organized crime.

As the investigation continues, further disruption of illegal activities is anticipated.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ghost-cybercrime-platform-dismantled-global-104454396.html

'Pager attack throws Hezbollah into disarray'

  Lebanon's Hezbollah was bracing for the risk of Israeli military escalation when its old foe struck a blow it hadn't seen coming, plunging the Iran-backed group into hours of unprecedented disarray, sources familiar with Hezbollah operations say.

The explosion of thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah fighters, medics and others sparked confusion and panic in the group known for military discipline and order. Some tossed away their devices as blasts echoed through Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. Others buried them.

A Hezbollah official said that as the attack began, the group quickly raised its level of military readiness in case it was the opening shot in a bigger offensive by Israel, which has stepped up warnings of escalation in the conflict which has been raging across the border for a year.

Hezbollah leaders - who didn't carry the devices - turned to the group's internal phone network to find out what was going on. Families of Hezbollah members struggled to locate relatives as the wounded were ferried to scores of hospitals.

Hezbollah officials have described the attack as the most serious security breach in the history of the group, which was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon that year.

A source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said last week that the group had expected Israel to heighten its attacks in Lebanon, based on what the source described as Israeli "preparations for worse".

In the opening moments of Tuesday's explosions, the group had initially entered a state of confusion before absorbing the "massive, unexpected shock", a second source familiar with Hezbollah operations said.

The attack had not paralyzed Hezbollah, the source added.

Hezbollah has vowed revenge.

BODYGUARDS AMONG THE WOUNDED

Hundreds of its fighters have been wounded, mostly in Beirut rathern than frontline villages in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah official said.

The official said many of the casualties are medics or people with administrative roles in Hezbollah institutions - or their relatives who happened to be nearby.

Some have lost their sight or had hands amputated, their attention having been drawn to their pagers by a buzzing sound before it exploded.

"This is a sword that went through the organisation's guts," said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center.

The attack appeared to cause a pause in Hezbollah's cross-border attacks on Israel, which resumed on Wednesday afternoon with the group announcing it had fired rockets in retaliation for attacks on villages in south Lebanon and in support of Gaza.

Hezbollah's media office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bodyguards of some of top Hezbollah figures are among the wounded, though there have been no reports of casualties among the leadership. Sources have said Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was unharmed.

A top Lebanese security source and another source said Israel had planted explosives in 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility. The explosions killed at least 12 people, including eight Hezbollah members - six fighters, a nurse and an engineer - in addition to children.

The number of wounded stands at some 2,800, according to Lebanon's health minister.

A senior Lebanese official said the situation was difficult for Hezbollah but the group could absorb the impact and had not been paralysed by the attack. The official, who is allied to Hezbollah but part of the group, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.

Nasrallah is due to deliver a speech on Thursday. The sources said the speech had been timed to allow the group to build a fuller picture of the attack before the address.

With several Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, it marked one of the deadliest days for the group since it began firing on Israel nearly one year ago in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pager-attack-threw-hezbollah-disarray-142050952.html