US crude production to hit record 13.41 million bpd in 2025, EIA says
The decline in 2026 production to 13.28 million bpd would be the first drop in U.S. output since 2021, the EIA data showed.
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The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Mars confirms M&M's, Skittles and others will have no synthetic dyes in 2026
M&M's, Skittles, and some of the world's most popular colorful candies will be made without artificial colors in the United States next year. Candy manufacturer Mars Wrigley North America quietly announced the move last month, saying the products would be made available online across the country. 'Brands that will soon have options made without FD&C colors: M&M's Chocolate, Skittles Original, Extra Gum Spearmint and Starburst Original fruit chews,' the company said. Mars Wrigley is slated to announce further commitments to complying with the Trump administration's push to 'Make America Healthy Again.' 'When we have identified fully effective, scalable solutions across the entire portfolio, we will share additional item commitments and timelines,' it said.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Judge rules Alex Jones' Infowars to be sold once again, paving way for The Onion to renew its bid
Months after conspiracy theorist Alex Jones mocked The Onion after the satirical news outlet's proposed purchase Jones' Infowars was rejected by a federal bankruptcy court, a state judge ruled this week that the far-right platform can once again be sold – clearing the way for The Onion to resurrect its bid. In a Wednesday hearing in Texas district court, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ordered the assets of Infowars' parent company Free Speech systems to be handed over to a court-appointed receiver, who will then start the process of selling them off in order to pay the roughly $1.3 billion that Jones owes the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. The families, who have spent nearly three years attempting to collect on the judgment in federal bankruptcy court, were awarded the damages over Jones' repeated false and baseless claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a 'hoax' and that the children killed were crisis actors. Last year, The Onion – backed by the Sandy Hook families – had won a court-ordered auction to purchase Infowars, with plans to turn the far-right conspiracy outlet into a parody site that would mock the conservative media ecosphere. Additionally, The Onion said that it planned on entering into an advertising agreement with gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. That sale was blocked in December, however, after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the acquisition was flawed and that he would not approve the sale, citing issues regarding the transparency of the process. That allowed Jones to keep Infowars for the time being – and he celebrated on-air by using music from Star Wars to mock The 'We are deeply disappointed in today's decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured,' Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion's parent company Global Tetrahedron, said after the December ruling. A giddy Jones, meanwhile, read Collins' statement on his show at the time alongside the 'Imperial March' from The Empire Strikes Back. 'I told you guys. We weren't going down,' Jones boasted. While halting the sale to The Onion, the federal bankruptcy judge suggested to the Sandy Hook families that they should go take their case to state court to get what they're owed from Jones, of which he has yet to pay a dime. And now, according to Gamble's ruling, it appears that Jones could soon be locked out of the Infowars studios. According to Wednesday's order, the receiver has the power 'to collect all accounts receivable… change the locks to all premises at which any property is situated… access all storage facilities, safe-deposit boxes, [and] real property… and exercise control over any website [of Jones].' Additionally, the receiver can turn to local law enforcement for help 'carrying out his duties and exercising his powers.' Unsurprisingly, Jones was not happy about the ruling. 'I'm pretty p*ssed off and wound up,' he grumbled on Wednesday's broadcast, telling his viewers: 'This fight is your fight.' Attorneys for the families, meanwhile, said that the judge's order was a 'critically important step closer to achieving the goal' of 'holding Alex Jones accountable for years of harm,' specifically noting that it could finally lead to Infowars shuttering for good. 'The receiver is now authorized to liquidate his business assets, and we look forward to the corrupt media empire that Jones built finally being dismantled,' attorney Chris Mattei, who represents the Connecticut-based families, told NPR. 'The families are pleased that the court has placed InfoWars parent company into receivership, which will finally lead to accountability for Alex Jones' monstrously cruel harassment," Mark Bankston, another lawyer for the families, stated. As for the likelihood that The Onion can finally complete its purchase of Infowars now that it's in a receivership, legal experts said that it may not be a 'panacea' but the conditions are now more 'favorable' for a sale. 'From a creditor's point of view, you're most often better off under state law … because the state court may be able to operate with greater speed and flexibility…[and fewer] constraints than the bankruptcy judge has to deal with,' Larry Ponoroff, dean and professor emeritus at Tulane Law School, told NPR. Reached for comment, Collins told The Independent that while he wasn't at liberty to fully discuss the situation right now, he could say that 'we're working on it.' Throughout this entire process, Jones has also insisted that even if the Infowars brand and property are taken from him, he will continue to stay on the air by stating another company. Still, because a bankruptcy judge ruled his behavior 'willful and malicious,' the families could continue to make claims on any money Jones makes in the future through other business ventures. In June, Jones was accused by the trustee overseeing his personal bankruptcy of trying to shield assets of more than $5 million to avoid paying on the Sandy Hook judgment. This included allegations that Jones fraudulently transferred $1.5 million to his wife, $800,000 to his father and attempted to hide his ownership of two condominiums with a combined value of $1.5 million.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Largest ICE detention facility at Fort Bliss opens after months of delays, contract squabbles, and a workplace death
A new immigration detention facility, expected to be the largest in the United States, is set to open this week after facing months of delays, including a failed contract and a workplace death. The detention facility, dubbed 'Lonestar Lockup' by Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, will begin receiving hundreds of people on August 17. The site at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, has an initial capacity of approximately 1,000, but that will expand to 5,000, making it the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the country. Donald Trump 's administration has rushed to open detention camps including in Florida, dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz', and Indiana's 'Speedway Slammer', to fulfill the president's mass deportation agenda. More than 60,000 people are now being held in immigrant detention centers, according to internal ICE records obtained by The New York Times, breaking the previous record of 55,654 people in August 2019. The process of building the soft-sided tent camp at the Texas military base has been beset by controversies since the beginning. For the past six months, Trump officials have been seeking to build an ICE facility on a military base, eventually settling on Fort Bliss. In April, the administration initially awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract to a company called Deployed Resources to build the Fort Bliss camp but it was quickly canceled. A White House document about the contract claims it was terminated 'for convenience', citing Trump's executive order on wasteful spending and transparency. Weeks later, the government offered two contracts to build and maintain the facility, but both offers were pulled before they could be awarded to a new company. It is unclear why. Finally, in July, the Department of Defense announced it had secured a $231.9 million contract, under a Navy program, with Acquisition Logistics LLC to construct and operate the ICE detention facility in El Paso. Another company that did not win the bid, Gemini Tech Services LLC., filed a bid protest in July. While it is sealed, a source told NBC News the company was seeking to stop construction of the facility. The Fort Bliss project is also subject of two investigations by the Government Accountability Office, an independent nonpartisan agency that audits, investigates, and evaluates government services, according to NBC News. Those investigations are for improper bidding. Last month, the project faced tragedy after Hector Gonzalez, a 38-year-old employee with a subcontracted company, died in a workplace accident. The death is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division. 'Hector was a beloved husband, father, son, brother and co-worker and he will be greatly missed. Our support and prayers are with his entire family,' a spokesperson for his company, Disaster Management Group, told NBC News. In response to questions about the bid protest and workplace accident death, an Army spokesperson told NBC News that they are 'aware of the GAO protest for the Acquisition Logistics contract,' but could not discuss the issue due to ongoing litigation. 'However, we can confirm that this protest is unrelated to the recent death, which is under investigation,' the Army spokesperson added. In a statement, ICE said that the Fort Bliss facility will adhere to the agency's detention standards and will include access to legal representation, visitation, recreation space, and medical treatment space. The immigration detention center will also provide balanced meals and necessary accommodations, ICE stated. The facility with serve as a detention center and processing center, streamlining the removal process, ICE noted. "Upon completion, this will be the largest federal detention center in history for this critical mission - the deportation of illegal aliens," Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson said. So far, several states have assisted the federal government by building detention facilities including Florida, which erected Alligator Alcatraz, a tent camp and temporary holding center in the Everglades. It's been subject to scrutiny by lawmakers and detainees for its poor conditions. Similarly, the Speedway Slammer, an extension of the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana, has also been subject to criticism from local people who believe the facility is an inhumane way of housing immigrants. Both facilities were built quickly to assist in the administration's mass deportation agenda which has compounded worries from Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates that the locations are unable to meet the stringent requirements of an ICE facility.
