Daily Archives: May 15, 2023

A new report from the Chesapeake Bay Program says states need to flip the script in order to achieve pollution reduction goals for the Chesapeake Bay.

The 133-page report released by the programs Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee offers a range of findings about why progress toward those goals has been slow and why water quality improvements are proving more challenging than expected.

Among those findings are that pollution reductions from farmers have been insufficient, plans need to better take into account climate change and different habitats within the watershed with unique characteristics, and future conditions will impact the Bay differently in years to come.

Under the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, West Virginia and the District of Columbia agreed to meet specific goals to reduce pollution from entering the 64,000-square-mile watershed. Late last year, the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged that the 2025 goals are not likely to be met.

While pollution reductions have resulted from upgrades to wastewater treatment plants, most of the remaining reductions must come from so-called nonpoint sources, or those that are spread widely over geographic areas. Nonpoint sources include runoff from agricultural fields, urban areas and impervious surfaces, explained report co-editor Kurt Stephenson, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech.

It is the major challenge confronting water quality management now and into the future, Stephenson said. Three-quarters of the [pollution] loads entering the Chesapeake Bay come from nonpoint sources. The largest majority is from agriculture.

The report finds that existing efforts to reduce pollution from the agricultural sector through the use of best management practices have not been effective. According to the report, tens of millions of pounds of nitrogen reductions are needed to achieve the Bay water quality goals, but since 2010 best management practices have only produced 3 million pounds a year of nonpoint source reductions.

The extensive history of nonpoint policy illustrates the limits of relying on voluntary actions, the report states. New and refined requirements may be necessary to achieve substantial progress in reducing nonpoint source loads.

Virginia has an agricultural cost-share program to ease the financial burdens placed on farmers for installing best management practices. That program recently received record levels of funding from the General Assembly, which also recently extended the deadline for farmers to voluntarily install BMPs before they are required to.

Stephenson said that instead of instituting policies that incentivize farmers to implement certain practices, states could reward farmers for achieving greater pollution reductions.

Practices like planting riparian buffers are highly cost-effective from a public standpoint in terms of getting reductions per dollar, said Stephenson. They can be highly effective. But nobody has any incentives to adopt things that have high upfront costs and no personal benefit.

The report also finds nutrient reductions havent achieved the water quality improvements expected.

One reason for that is that tipping points, or periods when small changes yield big responses, havent been hit yet, explained Denice Wardrop, report co-editor, executive director of the Chesapeake Research Consortium and a professor of geography and ecology at Penn State University. Rising temperatures linked to climate change that offset roughly 6% to 34% of the nitrogen reductions that have occurred could also play a role.

The Bay of the future is not the Bay of the past, and we have no historical precedent and model to go off of, said Wardrop.

Improvements in resources like fish and wildlife populations can be achieved through additional management actions that dont need to apply across all habitats, the report notes. Instead, states might embrace different reduction goals for different habitats or incorporate the benefits of restored wetlands or living shorelines into load reduction calculations.

Uncertainties lie ahead for the Bay, the report authors note, given climate change, population growth and economic development.

Refining restoration goals over time should be considered as knowledge evolves about what future conditions are possible, what local communities and the partnership at-large see as priorities, and what is required to attain those possible futures, the report says. Uncertainty is inherent in each of these.

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Report details why progress to clean up the Chesapeake Bay has ... - Virginia Mercury

(RNS) Modernity is crumbling.

You can see it in the news. Rather than hearing about supposedly sophisticated, enlightened people, every day there are stories that seem to have been ripped from history pages about ancient barbarians and medieval vandals.

Halls of government are increasingly characterized by political theater more than rational, civil debate. We continue to grapple with the multiple long-term effects of a pandemic that is reminiscent of the Black Death. A former president, a leading candidate for the next presidential election, has been found liable in civil court for sexual battery.

Meanwhile, hundreds of citizens are being arrested, tried and convicted for violent acts undertaken to thwart democracy. Innocent people including children are being shot by private citizens simply for playing, sleeping, going to school or trying to pick up younger siblings at the wrong house. We drag kids to adult entertainment. The nations most-watched political commentator apparently doesnt believe a word he says.

So much for human progress. Whatever belief one might have held in the possibility of this idea, such a belief seems less tenable with each passing day.

The notion of progress is a modern one. By modern, I mean the modern age that was birthed by the Enlightenment and the very real advances it made in human knowledge. What made the modern age modern was the scientific revolution, a dramatic shift in the foundation of what we called knowledge. Once rooted in religion and myth, truth would now be rooted in reason and science.

Modernity, however, still carries a myth of its own.

The myth encompasses many things, but perhaps can be boiled down to a belief in the idea that our world and we can be governed by reason alone and that because of our reliance on reason our societies (and we) are more advanced than were people and civilizations of ancient times.

The myth of the modern, as a friend of mine observed the other day, is slowly unraveling.

Yes, civilizations rise and fall. Along the way, they have peaks and valleys.

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Those of us whove been around for half a century or more can attest to an overwhelming sense that 21st century American civilization has entered a valley. Our recent days are defined by cruelty, lawlessness, the shattering of norms and traditional boundaries, and an eagerness to annihilate truth and trust in institutions, Peter Wehner observed in a recent essay at The Atlantic.

The confidence in human potential, accomplishments and mastery over the natural world (one might more properly term such confidence pride) that the modern age cultivated is misplaced. It is all part of the myth.

Having given too much weight to this myth myself, I am at once chastened and cheered to see it unraveling. But recognizing it as a myth in order to see ourselves and the world we have made more clearly is perhaps our best hope. Science, technology and knowledge march forward, all based in reason. But the human condition remains unchanged. If we thought we are doing things better than our parents, our grandparents or our ancestors from long ago, we were wrong.

Yes, we are doing better on some things. Women can vote now! We dont auction fellow human beings in the town square! We sneeze into our elbows instead of our hands! But even in these advances we lurch forward by emotion, acting out in partisan enmity, with little optimism about human reason. We rarely show ourselves to be governed by our rational powers.

Ive spent the past couple of years researching and writing about some of the striking parallels between the 19th and the 21st centuries for a forthcoming book. As is our own day, the Victorian age, too, was convinced of its potential for both individual and social progress. Yet, in the midst of these hopes, wiser artists and philosophers offered prescient warnings.

One fitting warning for us can be found in Fyodor Dostoevskys 1864 novella, Notes From Underground.

The storys narrator, an unnamed recluse, offers personal confessions about his past life and cynical analysis about his present society, a society taken with its own sense of progress and improvement, symbolized by the Crystal Palace, a real-life British monument built to showcase the best inventions from around the world.

Amid such breathtaking human accomplishments, the narrator imagines a gentleman with an ignoble, or rather with a reactionary and ironical, countenance who rises to say, hadnt we better kick over the whole show and scatter rationalism to the winds, simply to send these logarithms to the devil, and to enable us to live once more at our own sweet foolish will!

Dostoevskys Underground Man concludes, he would be sure to find followerssuch is the nature of man.

Indeed, in the midst of Americas general prosperity, not just one ignoble gentleman, but legions of people seem gleefully, with arms akimbo, to be kicking over the whole show.

Whether such destructiveness is for the purpose of fame, power, wealth (or all three) it is hard to tell. Watching certain social media influencers gain followers by the millions with flame-throwing posts, I cant help but wonder if the purpose is merely, and more basely, to fulfill some sadistic delight in causing others to suffer.

The Underground Man can relate to this too:

They say that Cleopatra (excuse an instance from Roman history) was fond of sticking gold pins into her slave-girls breasts and derived gratification from their screams and writhings. You will say that that was in the comparatively barbarous times; that these are barbarous times too, because also, comparatively speaking, pins are stuck in even now; that though man has now learned to see more clearly than in barbarous ages, he is still far from having learnt to act as reason and science would dictate.

The halcyon days of modern progress and prosperity lead to boredom It is boredom sets one sticking golden pins into people, he says which leads him to conclude, I dare say people will be thankful for the gold pins

What is the entire outrage industry but the fruit of a bored people, a people who know not how to find satisfaction in the quietness of a book, the work of the hands, or the love of family and friends?

What is rage farming the enflaming of passions that overtake reason for the sake of clicks and personal profit but proof of the myth of the modern?

The myth of the modern is that the truth that will set us free is a truth of our own making. Perhaps the unraveling of this myth will lead us out of our current valley.

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Human progress, the myth of the modern age, is increasingly in doubt - Religion News Service

heart-1 Clinical Trial of VERVE-101 Ongoing with Initial Data Expected in the Second Half of 2023

VERVE-102 Named Second PCSK9-Targeting Program, Leveraging Novel GalNAc-LNP Delivery with Clinical Trial Initiation Expected in the First Half of 2024

VERVE-201 Targeting ANGPTL3 Progressing with Clinical Trial Initiation Expected in the Second Half of 2024

Well-capitalized with $508.7 Million Supporting Runway into the Second Half of 2025

BOSTON, May 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verve Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to the care of cardiovascular disease with single-course gene editing medicines, today reported pipeline progress and financial results for the first quarter of 2023.

The focus at Verve is to develop life-changing medicines for people with cardiovascular disease, said Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Verve. As leaders in the advancement of in vivo gene editing treatments to address cardiovascular disease, we believe that we are well positioned to achieve that goal. We now have several novel gene editing programs progressing, with our lead program being evaluated in the heart-1 clinical trial, and two additional programs expected to advance into the clinic next year. We have developed potentially best-in-class proprietary liver delivery technologies, established strategic collaborations with industry leaders, and have a financial position that we expect will fuel a multi-year operating runway. I am excited about our future and the opportunity to shift the treatment paradigm for the millions of people affected by ASCVD.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the world and care currently relies on a chronic treatment model of oral and injectable therapies administered over decades, imposing a heavy treatment burden on patients, providers and the healthcare system. About 50% of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in the U.S. are not currently on statin therapy1, todays standard-of-care aimed at lowering disease-driving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), the lead indication for Verves gene editing programs, is a morbid genetic cardiovascular disease marked by high levels of circulating LDL-C and ASCVD at an early age. More than 95% of FH patients worldwide are not at treatment goal for LDL-C2, further highlighting the critical need for treatments that meaningfully and durably reduce blood levels of LDL-C.

Verve is developing a pipeline of gene editing programs targeting the three lipoprotein pathways that drive ASCVD: LDL, triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL) and lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)). The companys pipeline is led by its clinical-stage candidate, VERVE-101 targeting the PCSK9 gene, followed by two preclinical-stage programs, VERVE-102 also targeting PCSK9 and VERVE-201 targeting ANGPTL3.

Andrew Bellinger, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer and chief medical officer of Verve stated, We are deeply committed to solving FH by targeting PCSK9 and ANGPTL3. When we started, we took what was a new base editing technology and an in-licensed lipid nanoparticle (LNP) and created VERVE-101. Since then, we have invented our own GalNAc-LNP delivery technology that enters liver cells through the use of either of two receptors the LDL receptor (LDLR) or asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) and with potential advantages of increased potency and greater tissue specificity. We have applied our GalNAc-LNP to develop an ANGPTL3 gene editor, VERVE-201, and created a second PCSK9 gene editor, VERVE-102, providing another opportunity to address this attractive target and the unmet needs of patients with FH. With this second program targeting PCSK9, we are enhancing optionality within our portfolio and maximizing our opportunity to bring the best product forward for patients. With VERVE-101 in the clinic, and VERVE-102 and VERVE-201 expected to enter the clinic next year, we look forward to advancing three product candidates that have the potential to disrupt the current chronic care model for ASCVD.

________________________1 Nelson AJ et al., J Am Coll Card. 2022;79(18):180213.2 EAS Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC). Lancet. 2021;398(10312):1713-1725.

VERVE-101 Progressing in heart-1 Clinical Trial

VERVE-102 Named as Second PCSK9 Product Candidate

VERVE-201 On-Track for Clinical Initiation in 2024

Upcoming EventsVerve plans to participate in the following events in the second quarter of 2023:

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

About heart-1heart-1 is an open-label Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) who have established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of VERVE-101 administration, with additional analyses for pharmacokinetics and reductions in blood PCSK9 protein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Initial clinical data from the dose escalation portion of the heart-1 clinical trial including safety parameters, blood PCSK9 level, and blood LDL-C level are expected in the second half of 2023. For more information, please visit clinicaltrials.gov.

About Verve Therapeutics Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERV) is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company pioneering a new approach to the care of cardiovascular disease, potentially transforming treatment from chronic management to single-course gene editing medicines. The companys initial three programs VERVE-101, VERVE-102, and VERVE-201 target genes that have been extensively validated as targets for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), a root cause of cardiovascular disease, in order to durably reduce blood LDL-C levels. VERVE-101 and VERVE-102 are designed to permanently turn off the PCSK9 gene in the liver and are being developed initially for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and ultimately to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) patients not at goal on oral therapy. VERVE-201 is designed to permanently turn off the ANGPTL3 gene in the liver and is initially being developed for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) and ultimately to treat patients with refractory hypercholesterolemia. For more information, please visit http://www.VerveTx.com.

Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the companys expectations regarding communications related to the clinical hold on the IND for VERVE-101; the companys ability to enroll patients in its ongoing heart-1 trial; the timing and availability of clinical data from its heart-1 trial; the expected timing of initiating clinical trials of VERVE-102 and VERVE-201; its research and development plans; the potential advantages and therapeutic potential of the companys programs, including VERVE-101, VERVE-102, and VERVE-201; and the period over which the company believes that its existing, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, including statements regarding the companys strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, potential, predict, project, should, target, will, would and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the companys limited operating history; the timing of and the companys ability to submit applications for, its product candidates; advance its product candidates in clinical trials; initiate, enroll and complete its ongoing and future clinical trials on the timeline expected or at all; correctly estimate the potential patient population and/or market for the companys product candidates; replicate in clinical trials positive results found in preclinical studies and/or earlier-stage clinical trials of VERVE-101, VERVE-102, and VERVE-201; advance the development of its product candidates under the timelines it anticipates in current and future clinical trials; obtain, maintain or protect intellectual property rights related to its product candidates; manage expenses; and raise the substantial additional capital needed to achieve its business objectives. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause the companys actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the Risk Factors section, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors, in the companys most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other filings that the company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the companys views as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing the companys views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. The company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the companys views to change. However, while the company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

Investor ContactJen RobinsonVerve Therapeutics, Inc.jrobinson@vervetx.com

Media ContactAshlea Kosikowski 1ABashlea@1abmedia.com

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Verve Therapeutics Announces Pipeline Progress and Expansion ... - GlobeNewswire

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said,"DEC is proud of the significant progress underway to help achieve Governor Hochul's historic commitment to the people of Mount Vernon. Working together in partnership with Mayor Patterson-Howard, County Executive Latimer, and our sister agencies, DEC is working to address decades of inequity and injustice by helping property owners meet their most basic needs with effective clean water investments that will transform this community."

Environmental Facilities Corporation President and CEO Maureen A. Coleman said,"EFC is excited to celebrate a year of continuous communication and cooperation among the City of Mount Vernon, County of Westchester and our four partner agencies to help empower Mount Vernon by providing the funding,resourcesand technical assistance necessary for the city to begin making immediate fixes to critical infrastructure. From planning and design to construction, EFC is committed to working shoulder-to-shoulder with Mayor Patterson-Howard and Public Works Commissioner Bush to help transform the city's crumbling infrastructure into a resilient system that residents deserve. The success of this partnership reflects Governor Hochul's commitment to Mayor Patterson-Howard and the residents of Mount Vernon."

Homes and Community Renewal CommissionerRuthAnneVisnauskas said, When Governor Hochul called us to action in Mount Vernon, we moved quickly to complement the State's historic investment with direct support to the residents most impacted by the water and sewer crisis. Thanks to the partnership with our Federal, State, and City partners, we are providing dozens of families with the peace of mind that comes from a safe and healthy home."

Department of Health Acting Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, "DOH is thrilled to see that the collaboration between the City of Mount Vernon, the County of Westchester, and all partnering agencies has led to the start of construction on the water infrastructure, and the beginning of long-overdue improvements to the health of these New Yorkers. The Department thanks Governor Hochul for her enduring commitment to safe drinking water for Mount Vernon residents and all New Yorkers now and for years to come."

Chief Counsel at the Natural Resources Defense Council Mitch Bernard said,"For decades, residents of Mount Vernon, a majority-Black community, have been dealing with crumbling pipes and flooded basements with little recourse. Finally, they're getting some relief. With the completion of these wastewater infrastructure projects, the community will serve as a model for infrastructure agreements across the country to show that collaboration with state and local government can make things happen."

New York Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow said,On behalf of the residents of Mount Vernon, I wanted to thank Governor Kathy Hochul for her leadership and expediency in addressing the citys sewage and water problem. The rebuilding of Mount Vernons infrastructure is the states commitment to sanitation and justice for all. This unprecedented collaboration between the state of New York, the County of Westchester, and the city of Mount Vernon is truly what good government looks like and stands for.

New York's Commitment to Clean Water

New York continues to increase its investments in clean water infrastructure. The 2023-24 Enacted budget included an additional $500 million in clean water funding as proposed by Governor Hochul, bringing New York's total clean water infrastructure investment to $5 billion since 2017. To leverage these investments and ensure ongoing coordination with local governments, the Governor proposed the creation of Community Assistance Teams to provide proactive outreach to small, rural, and disadvantaged communities to help them access financial assistance to address their clean water infrastructure needs. The initiative was recently launched and outreach meetings are underway. Any community that needs help with their water infrastructure needs is encouraged to contact EFC atefc.ny.gov/CAT.

In addition, voters approved the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act in November 2022, advancing additional, historic levels of funding to update aging water infrastructure and protect water quality, strengthen communities' ability to withstand severe storms and flooding, reduce air pollution and lower climate-altering emissions, restore habitats, preserve outdoor spaces and local farms, and ensure equity by investing at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of resources in disadvantaged communities.During Earth Week, Governor Hochul announced the first availability of Bond Act funding that, when combined with existing state funding sources, totals $425million being made available instate water grant funding.Applications are duebyJuly 28 and more information can be found atefc.ny.gov/wiia.

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Governor Hochul Celebrates Year of Progress Addressing ... - ny.gov

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to rain enforcement fire onto the crypto industry, Krakens chief legal officer, Marco Santori, says a specific legal doctrine could undermine the regulators authority.

The so-called major questions doctrine a point of U.S. administrative law that suggests federal agencies shouldnt step in front of Congress to engage on points of major economic significance has been cited by Coinbase (COIN) in its preemptive defense of a pending SEC action, and Santori thinks its especially relevant as lawmakers start work on crypto oversight.

The fact that Congress is taking this up, and you have representatives on both sides of the aisle two committees having a historic joint hearing on it these are all indicators that there is in fact a major question, Santori said in an interview. A court might look at what Congress is doing and say that the agency is getting ahead of its mandate from Congress, that this is a major question that ought to be decided by Congress.

The top lawyer for Kraken, which itself had settled a major recent SEC accusation that its U.S. staking services amounted to an offering of unregistered securities, said the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will have to bear in mind that doctrine, based in U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

The agencies have to decide for themselves whether this is a major question, said Santori, who was among the witnesses at this weeks joint hearing of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.

Santori said he was heartened that most lawmakers from both parties seemed to think legislation was in order for crypto oversight, though he acknowledged that the uncertainty of the Senates view leaves some question about its potential.

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Krakens Top Lawyer Says Signs of Progress in U.S. Congress Put SEC in Legal Bind - CoinDesk

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) completed an advisory service mission to Georgia focused on assessing the country's nuclear security regime for nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control (MORC). The team said the country has made progress in the development of arrangements to detect and respond to criminal or intentional unauthorised acts involving MORC. It encouraged Georgia to continue to develop these arrangements and their associated plans and procedures, and identified several examples of good practice in this area of nuclear security.

The mission, carried out at the request of the Government of Georgia, took place from 24 April to 5 May and involved a team of eight international experts from France, Greece, Jordan, Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam, and one IAEA staff member.

INSServ missionsaim to help States to better prevent, detect and respond to criminal and intentional unauthorized acts involving nuclear or other radioactive material which are lost, missing, stolen, improperly disposed of, or not adequately stored or handled. These cases are known as material out of regulatory control or MORC.

The mission aimed to review the current state of nuclear security in relation to MORC in Georgia and provide recommendations on how to strengthen it in accordance with international guidance and best practices. The team conducted a series of meetings with officials from the Agency of Nuclear and Radiation Safety (ANRS), State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), Georgia Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA), and the Customs Department of Revenue Service of Georgia. The team also visited sea ports, border crossing points and the Tbilisi airport to assess the detection and response measures in place.

The team provided concrete recommendations to Georgias national authorities to further develop the States nuclear security strategy and enhance the nuclear security detection and response systems and measures relevant to MORC, as part of the national detection architecture and response framework, said Theodoros Matikas, Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Ioannina in Greece, who led the mission.

The teams recommendations to Georgia to enhance its existing detection and response capabilities included the continued development of training and exercising programmes for front-line officers and the enhancement of existing nuclear forensics capabilities to support criminal investigations. Several good practices were identified, including the existence of clear, coordinated multi-agency arrangements at the national level for detection and response of nuclear security events with involvement of MORC, and the existence of strong international cooperation to support its nuclear security activities.

"We commend Georgia for its commitment to nuclear security and we stand ready to provide continued support as they work to implement the recommendations of the IAEA INSServ mission," said Elena Buglova, Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Security.

The IAEA's INSServ mission is part of its ongoing efforts to assist Member States in strengthening their nuclear security regimes in relation to MORC. The Agency provides a range of services in this area, including expert advice, training, and equipment support, to help Member States protect against nuclear terrorism and other malicious acts involving MORC.

"This is the first time that Georgia has hosted an INSServ mission and we would like to express our gratitude to IAEA for accepting our request, said Vasil Gedevanishvili, Head of ANRS. Acknowledging the critical importance of a sound national nuclear security regime, we are committed to implement the recommendations and suggestions, which are the result of thorough analysis and hard work of the distinguished experts. We appreciate the efforts of the INSServ team and look forward to further cooperation.

The draft findings and recommendations were presented to the Government of Georgia, and the final report will be presented in about three months time.

Background

The mission was the 85th INSServ mission conducted by the IAEA since the programme began in 2006.

INSServ missions, based on the INSServ guidelines published in 2019, assist States in establishing, maintaining and strengthening their nuclear security regime related to nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control.

The missions provide independent advice on implementing international instruments, along with IAEA guidance on the prevention and detection of and response to criminal and intentional unauthorized acts involving nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control.

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IAEA Mission to Georgia Finds Progress in Nuclear Security ... - International Atomic Energy Agency

RIYADH, May 11 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) has seen progress slow for the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its energy trading unit, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Bloomberg earlier reported the oil giant would postpone the IPO, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Reuters reported in June last year that Aramco would merge Aramco Trading with Motiva Trading, which has the largest refinery in the U.S., ahead of a planned IPO.

The deal completed in January, with Motiva Trading becoming Aramco Trading Americas, acting as Aramco Trading's regional office.

Saudi Aramco and other Middle Eastern producers accelerated their trading efforts as a way to boost incomes after the 2014 collapse in oil prices. They have slowly gained market share from oil majors and Swiss commodity merchants, using access to their own feedstocks and strength in refining to compete aggressively.

Aramco's share of U.S. oil imports has declined in recent decades as it turned more to Asia and as U.S. shale output grew. However, refiner Motiva remains an important outlet for Saudi crude and its entry point into the world's biggest oil consuming market.

Reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh; Writing by Yousef SabaEditing by Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Saudi Aramco sees slowed progress on planned IPO of trading unit ... - Reuters

Friday, May 12, 2023

Hazmat cleanup crews this week have removed mercury from most streets in downtown Martinez where a maintenance truck unknowingly spilled small amounts of the toxic substance on its trash-pickup route earlier in the week. Until the cleanup work is finished, people should avoid walking in areas that have been cordoned off, even if they are outside the originally identified areas.

A health advisory remains in effect while hazmat workers finish cleanup at a few remaining sites, including the downtown Amtrak station where the mercury was initially discovered on Monday by paramedics responding to another unrelated matter. The Amtrak station is expected to remain closed through the weekend.

Cleanup crews from CCH, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a private contractor have worked through the week to neutralize and remove all detectable mercury from more than 3,800 feet of roads along the city maintenance truck's route, an area that eventually extended to locations including in front of Rankin Park and a parking lot in the Martinez Marina.

Health officials believe the mercury was placed in a garbage can in the train station parking lot and, on May 8, removed by a city crew emptying trash cans along a route between the lot and the city yard off Buckley.

It was initially believed that the mercury spill was confined to the Amtrak station, but on Tuesday health officials found traces of mercury that dripped from the truck along the city crew's route on nearby streets, prompting the May 9 health advisory from Contra Costa Health (CCH) to avoid walking on those streets and to remain on sidewalks.

Exposure to mercury vapors can cause health problems, particularly from prolonged indoor exposure over time. None of the outdoor contamination was measured at levels high enough to create an immediate risk to health. CCH issued the health advisory as a precaution, to warn people against tracking traces of mercury inside, where risk of exposure would be greater. CCH's CORE homeless outreach teams are communicating with residents experiencing homelessness who are living outdoors near the spill to ensure they have access to information and healthcare if needed.

Anyone who believes they may have walked through or come in contact with mercury from this week's spill in Martinez, such as by walking in the street or gutter in an affected area, should place shoes, clothing or other items inside two sealed bags, place outside in a secure and sunny location, and call 925-655-3200 for instructions.

Other regulatory agencies are also assessing the potential environmental impacts of the mercury spill and whether it contaminated waterways where the toxin could be absorbed by fish and shellfish that people eat.

The source of the mercury remains under investigation by law enforcement. Anyone with information about the dumping of the mercury at the Amtrak station is encouraged to contact the Martinez Police Department's tip line at 925-372-3440.

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Hazmat Crews Continue Making Progress Cleaning up Mercury ... - cchealth.org

The U.S. has spent recent years strengthening its efforts to combat ransomware, yet that specific type of cyber attack remains a problem, with new strains that are harder to attribute and incident reporting gaps that leave questions. Even so, at the same time, there may be new reasons for optimism.

Ransomware has spiked in public awareness of late, with high-profile incidents such as the 2021 Colonial Pipeline panic, and it continues to cause new problems for local government, in places ranging from Dallas to Spartanburg County, S.C. As a result, federal efforts to fight these attacks are ongoing, and they have frequently aligned with the recommendations of the Ransomware Task Force (RTF), a public-private collaboration whose members have previously included the now-acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden.

RTF released a 2021 report detailing the global ransomware landscape with proposals for how nations could work to disrupt it in long-lasting ways, and the U.S. has made at least some progress on most of the recommendations in that report, speakers said during a recent event hosted by the Institute for Security and Technology (IST), which coordinates the RTF. Among the wins: international partnerships have disrupted some perpetrators, and the U.S. has started pre-emptively warning organizations when they have vulnerabilities that are susceptible to ransomware actors.

Federal security and cybersecurity officials said they want to compel cryptocurrency entities and cloud services providers to keep cyber criminals off their services. Anne Neuberger, U.S. deputy national security adviser, said the U.S. is also mulling a ban on ransomware payments, with exemptions granted to some essential organizations.

But its unclear if any of this marks a lasting shift away from ransomware. The drop in such attacks against the U.S. may have been driven by world events, with Russias war against Ukraine diverting the attention of cyber crime groups in the region, the RTF said.

Officials are cautious about describing the landscape, but some tentatively suggest hope.

The rate of ransomware attacks seems to be somewhat stabilizing, and, I think a level, plateau, steady state is where we've been, said David Ring, head of the FBI Cyber Divisions private-sector engagement and cyber criminal intelligence missions.

However, Allan Liska, intelligence analyst at the threat intelligence platform provider Recorded Future, said the situation remains murky.

We think ransomware attacks have seen a resurgence in 2023, after dipping a little bit in 2022," Liska said, "... but the answer is that we dont know, because theres not enough incident reporting to get a clear picture.

Regardless of the number of attacks, those that do successfully hit can be punishing. Ransomware continues to strike U.S. hospitals, schools and local governments.

Fully understanding the ransomware landscape is challenging, because reporting requirements are often nonexistent or fragmented, making it hard to get a complete view, Liska said. Even the FBI believes it only received victim reports on about 20 percent of Hive ransomware attacks, Ring said.

Michael Phillips RTF co-chair and chief claims officer at cyber insurance provider Resilience said organizations fear being stigmatized if they admit to suffering a ransomware attack, and they also want a standardized way to report. That latter step would make it easier for victims to inform authorities promptly, while theyre still in crisis mode dealing with the effects of an attack.

Mandatory reporting requirements are forthcoming for some sectors under the Cyber Incident Reporting For Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA), which passed in 2022. But the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is still paving the way for its implementation, and CISA Chief Strategy Officer Valerie Cofield said we won't see the fruits of that legislation for a couple of years.

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Prior years have seen ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) models proliferate, in which developers create the malware while other cyber criminals called affiliates deploy it and share some of the extortion profits.

We're now seeing a lot of threat actors move away from there, Liska said.

Ransomware code is increasingly leaked and stolen, leading to some new variants that include other ransomware groups code. Liska calls these variants Franken-ransomware and said the code recycling makes it difficult to determine whos actually behind attacks.

That kind of fracturing of the ransomware market has made it harder for us to track and identify what the growing strains are [or] even [identify] who hit us? Liska said. I get this question all the time now Hey, we got hit by this, do you know what it is? Because theres no name in the ransom note, just some random email address. Thats a real challenge for incident response and even for reporting.

The U.S. has made strides in the past year toward building intergovernment and public-private collaborations around disrupting ransomware as well as in working to address risks from cryptocurrency entities that facilitate perpetrators payments, per the RTFs report. The U.S. also deepened its focus on reporting and information sharing.

The U.S. has now made significant progress on 50 percent of the task forces 48 recommendations and some progress on 92 percent of them. Thats up from May 2022, when IST CEO Phil Reiner reported significant progress on 25 percent and some progress on 88 percent.

More remains to be done, even on areas that are showing progress. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin called for ensuring crypto exchanges, kiosks and trading desks follow Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering practices.

There are gaps in our crypto regulations, and these gaps allow bad actors to evade the law, Slotkin said in pre-recorded remarks.

Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden said multipronged efforts can help make ransomware less profitable and less easy for perpetrators to conduct. Addressing illicit cryptocurrency use can disrupt the flow of profits, while requiring cloud services providers to follow KYC practices could help hamper ransomware operations by preventing nefarious use of this digital infrastructure.

Pushing for software and hardware to be secure-by-design and secure-by-default could also make the U.S. more cyber secure overall and do so in a way that lifts the responsibility off of small players and end users, Walden said.

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When we talk about, potentially, countering Chinese malicious cyber activity, there are some countries who will say, We don't want to do that publicly, Neuberger said.

The U.S. and its partners have been trying a variety of disruptive efforts and are working to assess just how impactful any of these strategies are, Neuberger said. For example, the U.S. and international partners took actions against the Hive ransomware gang and dark web marketplace Genesis Market. Those included seizing Hive servers and decryption keys as well as 11 of Genesis Marketplaces domain names. But questions of effectiveness remain:

We know it has a disruptive impact for how long? Neuberger said. How do we extend how long that lasts? How do we ensure these disruptions have foundational impact on the infrastructure, on the people, on the money laundering networks, that makes this possible and that drive it?

Whether organizations should be allowed to pay ransom is a tricky question. The U.S. is actively discussing whether to issue a broad ban against this practice, while allowing case-by-case exemptions for essential entities, Neuberger said.

A question that weve grappled with both within the U.S. government and bilaterally, as well as multilaterally is, do we ban ransomware, with a waiver? Neuberger said.

Paying extortion makes the attacks profitable, enabling and encouraging more ransomware. But when victims are critical entities, not paying risks leaving their essential services going down for longer.

For an individual entity, it may be they make a decision to pay. But for the larger problem of ransomware, that is the wrong decision, Neuberger said. Now, there may be an individual entity a major hospital, an emergency services that we just are committed to bringing the services back up as quickly as possible. So [when] we think about banning ransom payments, we asked, Would we do so with a waiver e.g., notifying [and] asking the permission of the relative U.S. government?

The RTFs 2021 report warned that imposing a full ban on ransom payments might prompt perpetrators to initially test this resolve and ramp up their attacks against essential organizations like health-care providers, local governments and other custodians of critical infrastructure.

As such, any intent to prohibit payments must first consider how to build organizational cybersecurity maturity, and how to provide an appropriate backstop to enable organizations to weather the initial period of extreme testing, that report read.

The 2021 RTF report recommended nations require victims to avoid paying unless theyd first conducted a cross-benefit analysis to confirm that doing so would really be worthwhile. Victims should also have to consider alternative options before choosing to pay. Sometimes data is recoverable elsewhere or decryption keys are already available, for example.

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For example, the program in February warned 93 critical infrastructure owners and operators about a Microsoft Exchange ProxyNotShell vulnerability and has since seen a 30 percent uptick in patching that vulnerability, Cofield said.

The past two years have also seen ransomware victims become more trusting of federal government support, with the FBIs Ring saying victims are more likely to report attacks.

Two years into this, I think the conversation has shifted to, rather than, Should we report this to law enforcement? to When should we report this to law enforcement?, which is a small change, but a very, very significant change in terms of how people think, Ring said.

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Report: U.S. Making Progress in Fight Against Ransomware - Government Technology

City of Rochester

Mayor Malik D. EvansCelebrates Progress on ROC the Riverway Initiatives

Dual Ribbon Cutting and Groundbreaking Ceremony Takes Place

(Thursday, May 11, 2023) Mayor Malik D. Evans hosted a ribbon cutting for the newly improvedBrewery Line Trail and a groundbreaking for the Pont de Rennes and Browns Racerehabilitation projects in one ceremony as both are part of the ROC theRiverway Initiative and highlight the High Falls area.

The Mayor was joined forthe ceremonies by City leaders, State economic development and Genesee Breweryrepresentatives, Rochester's Sister City Rennes, France delegation members, andthe construction and engineering firms that have either completed or are aboutto begin work to transform these spaces.

"These ROC theRiverway projects are evidence of Rochester fully embracing the natural wonderof the Genesee River, the State's commitment to helping reimagine ourdowntown's access to the natural beauty that we have in abundance, and years ofhard work by City staff to put residents dreams into actionable plans,"said Mayor Malik D. Evans. "We would not be celebrating these achievementswithout Governor Hochul's continued support; her dedication to Rochester hasbeen unwavering since she took office."

The Brewery LineTrail project made enhancements to High Falls Terrace Park and the trailwayalong the Genesee River. Park improvements were made to highlight thewaterfront's scenic quality and the dramatic views of High Falls.

The Pont deRennes and Browns Race rehabilitation projects will begin next month. They willinclude structural work on the bridge and create a more dynamic public space.Similarly, improvements to Browns Race will be centered on making the area morepedestrian and business-friendly while keeping the site's historical integrityintact.

For more information about the ROC the Riverway projects, go towww.cityofrochester.gov/roctheriverway.

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News Release- Mayor Evans Celebrates Progress on ROC the ... - City of Rochester (.gov)