** One major beneficiary of sanctions on Russian and Venezuelan oil? US suppliers who’ve muscled their way into markets once dominated by OPEC and its allies. US oil exports have set five new monthly records since Western nations began imposing sanctions on Russia in 2022. And with trade restrictions on Venezuela set to renew in April, American barrels are beginning to displace sanctioned crude in India, one of the biggest buyers of illicit oil.
** Workers have lifted out the first, 200-ton chunk of Baltimore’s collapsed bridge, officials said Sunday, as efforts get underway to clear the harbor of the steel structure destroyed by an out-of-control ship.
** Here’s what the Biden administration’s EV push led to: Demand for electric pickups has dried up. EV shoppers are more interested in smaller, cheaper vehicles. A majority of EVs are too expensive for the average shopper.
** On March 4, 2024, California man Michael Hart became the first person to be arrested and charged with smuggling greenhouse gases across the border from Mexico into the United States. This was the first U.S. prosecution to include charges associated with the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
** A group of climate change activists poured quarts of oil on the floor and on vehicles at the opening day of the New York International Auto Show on Saturday morning. In an unusual twist, the protesters were speaking out against electric vehicles and really, all cars.
** A spate of fridge failures has sparked a new lawsuit claiming that LG Electronics is defrauding consumers by selling refrigerators with compressors that die far too young. The federal fraud lawsuit alleges that a critical part called the linear compressor, found in many LG and Kenmore refrigerators, frequently breaks down years before its advertised lifespan is up.
** United Parcel Service will become the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) primary air cargo provider, the company said on Monday, as rival FedEx announced an end to its more than 20-year partnership with the postal service provider.
World
** Japan said Sunday its experts have held talks with their Chinese counterparts to try to assuage Beijing’s concerns over the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.
** Authorities in Russia’s Far East on Monday called off a rescue effort for 13 workers trapped deep underground in a collapsed gold mine and declared them dead. The miners got trapped on March 18 at a depth of about 125 meters (400 feet) when part of the mine collapsed in the Zeysk district of the Amur region, about 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) east of Moscow.
** Vietnam is seeking to learn from China to develop its first high-speed railway network, according to its government, with plans in the works for a rail line running the length of the country.