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PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — France’s TotalEnergies and U.S. hydrocarbon company APA Corp. plan to invest $10 billion to extract oil off the coast of Suriname in a historic investment for the South American country, officials announced Tuesday.

The first oil is expected by mid-2028, with an anticipated production of 220,000 barrels per day, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné, who flew to Suriname to personally announce the investment, the country’s largest to date.

The so-called GranMorgu project focuses on an offshore area believed to contain some 700 million barrels of oil. It is adjacent to a successful ExxonMobil project in waters belonging to neighboring Guyana.

“Today is a historic day for Suriname,” said a jubilant President Chan Santokhi, calling it “a day that will determine our future.”

TotalEnergies will partner with APA Corp, a holding company for Apache Corporation, a Texas-based hydrocarbon exploration business, and Staatsolie, the local national oil producer representing the Surinamese government.

Staatsolie plans to issue bonds in 2025 to finance its participation, since it is entitled to a 20% stake under the production sharing contract. The company secured an initial $175 million payment and is now in talks with banks and planning a bond offer to complete a second payment, Jagesar said.

Santokhi said the anticipated revenue from the project would be used to raise the standard of living in Suriname, a country of more than 640,000 people with a poverty rate of 18%, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

“This is a game-changer,” he said.

Suriname holds $3.5 billion in debt and is undergoing a three-year, $688 IMF restructuring program that led to austerity measures and sparked violent protests last year.

Annand Jagesar, CEO of Staatsolie, said that the oil exploration deal means that “Suriname will never be the same.”

But he warned of potential poor governance, noting how Venezuela had plenty of reserves but still struggled economically since it did not develop other resources and was oil dependent.

TotalEnergies has pledged to develop its project responsibly, utilizing advanced technologies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. ports from Maine to Texas shut down Tuesday when the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers went on strike for the first time since 1977.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday, picketing near ports all along the East Coast. Workers outside the Port of Philadelphia walked in a circle and chanted, “No work without a fair contract.”

A lengthy shutdown could raise prices on goods around the country and potentially cause shortages and price increases at big and small retailers alike as the holiday shopping season — along with a tight presidential election — approaches.

What are the issues in the dockworkers strike?

The International Longshoremen’s Association is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks that are used in the loading or unloading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Those ports handle roughly half of the nations’ cargo from ships.

The contract between the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, expired Tuesday. Some progress was reported in talks late Monday, but the union went on strike anyway.

The union’s opening offer was for a 77% pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.

Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The alliance also said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.

Which ports are affected?

While any port can handle any type of goods, some ports are specialized to handle goods for a particular industry. The ports affected by the shutdown include Baltimore and Brunswick, Georgia, the top two busiest auto ports; Philadelphia, which gives priority to fruits and vegetables; and New Orleans, which handles coffee, mainly from South America and Southeast Asia, various chemicals from Mexico and North Europe, and wood products such as plywood from Asia and South America.

Other major ports affected include Boston; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and Houston.

Can the government intervene?

If a strike were deemed a danger to U.S. economic health, President Joe Biden could, under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period. This would suspend the strike.

But Biden, during an exchange with reporters on Sunday, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene to plan a potential work stoppage impacting East Coast ports.

“Because it’s collective bargaining, I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” Biden said.

How will this affect consumers?

The strike could last weeks — or months. If the strike is resolved within a few weeks, consumers probably wouldn’t notice any major shortages of retail goods. But a strike that persists for more than a month would likely cause a shortage of some consumer products, although most holiday retail goods have already arrived from overseas. Shoppers could see higher prices on a vast array of goods, from fruit and vegetables to cars.

Businesses are making contingency plans

Since the major supply chain disruption in 2021 caused by pandemic bottlenecks, retailers have adapted to supply chain disrupters being “the new norm,” said Rick Haase, owner of a mini-chain of Patina gift shops in and around the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

“The best approach for Patina has been to secure orders early and have the goods in our warehouse and back rooms to ensure we are in stock on key goods,” Haase said.

Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, a Boca Raton, Florida-based maker of such toys as Care Bears and Lincoln Logs, has been monitoring the port situation for months and planned for it by shifting all of its container shipments to the West Coast ports, primarily Los Angeles and Long Beach, away from ports in New York and Newark, New Jersey. But he said the shift added anywhere from 10% to 20% extra costs that his company will have to absorb. He noted that Basic Fun’s prices for the next 10 months are locked in with retailers, but he could see raising prices during the second half of 2025 if the strike is prolonged.

Daniel Vasquez, who owns Dynamic Auto Movers in Miami, which specializes in importing and exporting vehicles, increased inventory, specifically for vehicles that take longer to ship, in anticipation of a strike.

He has also stopped relying on one port or shipping partner and has expanded his relationship with smaller ports and shipping companies that can bypass congested areas.

How will a strike affect holiday shopping?

Jonathan Gold, vice president of the supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said the strike arrives with the supply network continuing to face challenges from Houthi attacks on commercial shipping that have essentially shut down the use of the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The uncertainty over the supply chain is taking place at the peak of the holiday shipping season for retailers, which traditionally runs from July through early November. Many big retailers, anticipating a strike, started shipping their goods to U.S. distribution centers in June, and Gold said that the majority of products ordered are already in the U.S.

But retailers will have a hard time replenishing items and are incurring extra warehouse costs to store goods longer. Gold also noted that carriers are already announcing surcharges on containers to address potential disruptions.

Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of The Toy Association, the nation’s leading toy trade group, noted that a strike would happen at an extremely critical time for toy sellers and makers — up to 60% of a toy company’s annual sales come during the fourth quarter.

The holiday shipping window for the toy industry is anywhere from six to eight weeks and started in July, though some toy companies tried to ship earlier or add more toys to shipments, Ahearn said.

“It hits many ways,” he said. “From a consumer perspective, it starts with delays in availability and then starts to surface as product shortages within toys. At retail for the toy industry, it results in potentially higher prices based on scarcity and increased costs.”

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man convicted of fatally stabbing twin 16-year-old girls more than three decades ago was executed on Tuesday evening.

Garcia Glenn White was pronounced dead at 6:56 p.m. CDT following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the December 1989 killings of Annette and Bernette Edwards. The bodies of the twin girls and their mother, Bonita Edwards, were found in their Houston apartment.

White, 61, was the sixth inmate put to death in the U.S. in the last 11 days. His execution took place shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, rejected three last-ditch appeals.

Asked by a warden if he had any statement, White repeatedly apologized in his final words to witnesses looking on.

“I would like to apologize for all the wrong I have done, and for the pain I’ve caused,” he said from the death chamber, shortly before the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing into his arms.

He said he took responsibility for the slayings, regretted his actions and was praying for prison officials, officers and “for my brothers and sisters behind these walls.”

In a loud and strong voice he began singing a hymn, “I Trust in God,” singing several verses with the refrain: “I trust in God, my savior of the world, the one who never failed.” Then he urged family and friends to to “just keep pushing forward, keep loving one another,” and ended by thanking prison officials and officers “for treating us like human beings.”

As the drugs began taking effect, he exhaled softly several times then began sounds like snores, several of them loud. He burped, snored quietly once and gulped. Seventeen minutes later he was pronounced dead.

Testimony showed that White went to the girls’ Houston home to smoke crack with their mother, Bonita, who also was fatally stabbed. When the girls came out of their room to see what happened, White attacked them. Evidence showed White broke down the locked door of the girls’ bedroom. Authorities said he was later tied to the deaths of a grocery store owner and another woman.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who witnessed White’s death, lamented that it took some 30 years to carry out the jury’s death verdict as multiple appeals in White’s case worked through the courts.

“The suffering of surviving (victims’) family members is just unspeakable,” she said. “At least it’s over.”

White’s lawyers had unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution after lower courts previously rejected petitions for a stay. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday denied White’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty or to grant him a 30-day reprieve.

His lawyers argued that Texas’ top criminal appeals court has refused “to accept medical evidence and strong factual backing” showing White is intellectually disabled.

The Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in deciding how to determine such disabilities. Justices have wrestled with how much discretion to allow.

White’s lawyers also accused the Texas appeals court of not allowing his defense team to present evidence that could spare him a death sentence, including DNA evidence that another man also was at the crime scene and scientific evidence that would show White was “likely suffering from a cocaine induced psychotic break during his actions.”

White’s lawyers also argued he is entitled to a new review of his death sentence, alleging the Texas appeals court has created a new scheme for sentencing in capital punishment cases after a recent Supreme Court ruling in another Texas death row case.

Patrick McCann, one of White’s attorneys, said Tuesday that his client has spent his entire time in prison “working to be a better human being.”

The deaths of the twin girls and their mother went unsolved for about six years until White confessed to the killings after he was arrested in connection with the July 1995 death of grocery store owner Hai Van Pham, who was fatally beaten during a robbery at his business. Police said White also confessed to fatally beating another woman, Greta Williams, in 1989.

HOUSTON (AP) — An attorney said Tuesday he is representing 120 accusers who have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee said he expects lawsuits to be filed within the next month, with most expected to be filed in New York and Los Angeles. Buzbee described the victims as 60 males and 60 females, and that 25 were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct. One individual alleged he was 9 years old when he was abused, Buzbee said. The allegations cover a period from 1991 to this year.

“This type of sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation should never happen in the United States or anywhere else. This should have never been allowed to go on for so long. This conduct has created a mass of individuals who are injured, scared and scarred,” Buzbee said at a news conference.

Following the announcement of the accusations in Texas, an attorney for Combs said the performer “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” attorney Erica Wolff said in a statement. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”

Buzbee said more than 3,280 individuals contacted his firm and alleged they were victimized by Combs and that after vetting the allegations, his firm decided to represent 120 people. Other cases are still being reviewed. He said some of his clients have spoken with the FBI.

The individuals that Buzbee’s firm is representing are from more than 25 states, with the majority from California, New York, Georgia and Florida.

The abuse that’s being alleged took place mostly at parties held in New York, California and Florida where individuals were given drinks that were laced with drugs, Buzbee said.

Some of the alleged conduct took place at auditions where “many times, especially young people, people wanting to break into the industry were coerced into this type of conduct in the promise of being made a star,” Buzbee said.

Combs, 54, has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since pleading not guilty Sept. 17 to federal charges that he used his “power and prestige” to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”

Other alleged victims have already filed lawsuits against Combs that include allegations of sexual assault.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.

Combs is one of the best-known music executives, producers and performers across hip-hop, having won three Grammys and worked with artists such as Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112. He founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, the influential fashion line Sean John, a vodka brand and the Revolt TV network. He sold off his stake in the latter company in June of this year.

Buzbee has also represented women who accused NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and misconduct.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that the driver of the SUV that investigators believe caused the Deer Park pipeline fire earlier this month has been identified as a 51-year-old La Porte man, according to a Deer Park news release. The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Jonathan McEvoy as the driver of the 2022 Lexus NX350 that struck an above-ground pipeline valve earlier this month, leading to a fire that burned for more than three days and prompted evacuations in the immediate area. Investigators utilized a technique called radiography comparison to identify McEvoy’s remains, according to the release. A police spokesperson said investigators were left with only a partial skeleton by the time the flames subsided.

Radiography comparison, according to a study published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, is a technique that uses x-ray scans of skeletal remains to identify them. Similar to a fingerprint, an individual’s bone structure is unique and can be used even in advanced states of decomposition to determine identity. The events that lead up to McEvoy’s death are still under investigation, according to the City of Deer Park Police Department. Chad Richard, who witnessed the crash, told ABC13 that he and his wife watched as the SUV McEvoy’s remains were found in veered wildly through a chain link face and into the valve. His wife, Sherry Richard, said the vehicle caught their eye after they saw it was moving suspiciously slow. “It caught our eye because the car was moving so slow as we passed it,” Sherry Richard said.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports the state of California filed a lawsuit Monday against Houston-based oil giant ExxonMobil alleging the company engaged in a decades-long strategy to deceive consumers about the proliferation of plastic-based materials, according to a news release. California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Exxon of lying to consumers about the effectiveness of recycling plastics. Exxon, Bonta said, led consumers to believe recycling would stem the tide of plastics pollution while doing nothing to limit its production. Bonta said he is seeking to hold Exxon, which is California’s largest producer of polymer-based materials, financially accountable for the ongoing pollution crisis. “For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” Bonta said in the release. “ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health.”

The company recently began touting a new disposal technique called advanced recycling, Banta said. Advanced recycling, a process which uses heat to break down plastic waste, is nowhere near as effective as Exxon claims, Banta said. Among other concerns, the process cannot handle large amounts of waste and would ultimately only offset plastic waste by 1% of the company’s current output, according to the release. A spokesperson for Exxon, however, said California’s recycling infrastructure was the problem, not advanced recycling. “For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others,” the spokesperson said. “The first step would be to acknowledge what their counterparts across the U.S. know: advanced recycling works. To date, we’ve processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials, keeping it out of landfills.”

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that CenterPoint Energy plans to overhaul its power grid infrastructure ahead of the 2025 hurricane season, the Houston-area electric utility announced Monday, as it remains under scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators for its lackluster response to July’s Hurricane Beryl. The company aims to add 25,000 poles made of fiberglass or other material that can withstand extreme winds to its system, in some cases replacing poles made of wood, before June 1, 2025, according to Darin Carroll, who oversees its electric business. The utility also set a target of trimming or removing vegetation along 4,000 miles of power lines, Carroll said. CenterPoint has approximately 30,000 miles of aboveground distribution lines that directly deliver electricity to homes and businesses.

Carroll said CenterPoint had also committed to undergrounding more than 400 miles of power lines. About 46%, or 26,000 miles, of CenterPoint’s power lines are now underground. Asked if these improvements will be targeted for specific areas of Houston, Carroll said the company plans to conduct this work across the entirety of its customer base. “These storms are becoming more frequent, more powerful, and so we’ve got to change the way we play the game so that the grid can be ready to handle it,” Carroll said. Monday’s plan builds upon CenterPoint’s so-called Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, a campaign the company launched after Beryl under pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott to be better prepared for the remainder of this year’s hurricane season. From July to August, CenterPoint installed more than 1,100 stronger poles, trimmed vegetation along 2,000 miles of power lines and launched a new outage tracker it promised would work during a major storm, unlike the tracker that was defunct during Beryl.

LUBBOCK — The Texas Tribune reports that federal lawmakers are sounding the alarm on the economic catastrophe that could happen if a new farm bill isn’t passed by the end of this year, now that the 2018 version has officially expired.

Since it was introduced by the House Committee on Agriculture in May, there has been no progress on passing the wide-ranging, multi-year law. It has not been discussed on the House floor or in the Senate. In a letter to House Republican leadership, signed by 140 members of Congress, lawmakers said if they wait until the next year to enact an effective farm bill, the impacts will be felt nationwide.

“The negative impacts of failing to act will not just stop at the farm gate,” the letter warns, “but will Main Street businesses, rural communities, and the national economy.”

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act, also known as the farm bill, is considered a “must-pass” package of federal legislation that is typically reauthorized every five years. The last farm bill was passed in 2018 and was supposed to be renewed in 2023, until lawmakers extended the deadline to today — Sept. 30.

In the letter, the lawmakers say inflation and low market prices have squeezed farmers and ranchers. The money producers are making from their crops is not enough to cover the costs of growing it for the entire country. The result is an estimated $34 billion loss in crop cash receipts, which is expected to cause the sharpest two-year decline in net cash income in U.S. history.

U.S. Reps. Jodey Arrington, Ronny Jackson and Dan Crenshaw — all Republicans — are among the Texas lawmakers who signed the letter.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat who represents parts of North Texas, did not sign the letter. In a statement to the Tribune, Crockett said Democrats are aware the bill is vital. However, she stressed the need for open negotiations to get the bill passed.

“We need to negotiate a bipartisan bill,” Crockett said. “And leadership needs to put it on the (House) Floor so producers across the country can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

In Texas, the bill supports more than 230,000 farms and ranches that can be found in nearly every corner of the state — from sprawling pastures in the northern Panhandle to loam-covered rice fields in East Texas. According to a 2024 Feeding the Economy report, an economic impact study organized by food and agriculture groups, the state’s food and agriculture sectors contribute about $860.8 billion in economic activity and employ more than 4.5 million people.

The bill also helps provide more than 3.4 million low-income Texas families receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to Every Texan, a nonprofit advocacy organization that analyzes public policy and its impact on Texas residents.

The farm bill sets policies for many agricultural programs, such as federal crop insurance and loans for farmers. It also has loosely related programs for rural development and nutrition, including the Emergency Food Assistance Program and SNAP. Food programs in the bill may account for nearly 80% of the farm bill spending — the bill itself is estimated to be worth at least $1.5 trillion.

The SNAP program, or food stamps, is a sore spot for certain Republican lawmakers. While the bill is historically a bipartisan effort, fights along party lines about funding the program has derailed progress. In the version advanced by the U.S. House agriculture committee, led by Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, SNAP would get about a $30 billion cut. That’s a nonstarter for many Democrats.

Laramie Adams, associate government affairs director for Texas Farm Bureau, said it’s a pressing matter. After Jan. 1, 2025, the law reverts to statutes approved in 1938 and 1949 that don’t expire and are temporarily suspended with the passing of each new farm bill. Adams thinks the reason for this is to keep the pressure on lawmakers to pass a new bill in a timely manner.

With no agreement in sight and the clock ticking, Adams said farm organizations are not entertaining another extension. Instead, there’s the push to pass it before the end of the year, as well as disaster economic assistance to get farmers and ranchers through 2025. This comes after a particularly rough year for agriculture in Texas, as wildfires, drought and flooding has squashed hopes for a fruitful year.

According to a letter signed from the American Farm Bureau, even if a new bill is enacted this year, the benefits will not be realized until 2026.

“We need our members of Congress and leadership in Congress to recognize there’s no room for delay anymore,” Adams said. “It’s time to actually work together to get something done.”

While the current law has technically expired, the programs under it are still covered through the end of the year. Kody Bessent, CEO for Plains Cotton Growers which represents cotton producers in the Texas South Plains, said this is why there’s a strong push to get a new bill passed this year.

An extension would keep old policies in place, Bessent said. Since the last bill passed, the economy has changed from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and climate disasters, among other issues.

“Those programs are not sophisticated enough now to help producers,” Bessent said. “Based on where the cost of production and market prices are at today.”

For cotton growers, the cash crop in the South Plains is in better shape than it has been in recent drought-ridden years. Still, Bessent says production will be down because of two consecutive weeks of 100-degree days and little rainfall. Agricultural producers could have benefited from the passage of a farm bill in 2023 — its original deadline.

“That would have provided much needed cash flow assistance to producers,” Bessent said. “Especially right now, when we’re seeing systemic price declines and higher input costs.”

The first agricultural sector that would be affected if the proposed legislation doesn’t pass is the dairy industry. Dairy programs in the bill expire before commodity programs.

However, Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen, is trying to focus on what the dairy industry stands to gain if the current version is passed. This includes an increase to the Dairy Margin Coverage Program — essentially insurance for dairy producers.

“We do have some issues over the timeline,” Turley said. “It’s not as bad as other commodities.”

Adams with the Texas Farm Bureau said there are still concerns as agricultural producers are having difficulty getting financing from lenders and banks to start work in the new year, as the uncertainty with the bill affects that too. He’s hopeful lawmakers can pass a bill by the end of the year.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — From Maine to Texas, dockworkers at 36 ports across the eastern U.S. are now on strike for the first time in decades. And the work stoppage could snarl supply chains — leading to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation, even though some progress had been reported in latest contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight.

The strike also comes just weeks before next month’s tight presidential election, and could become a factor if there are shortages impacting voters.

In early picketing, workers outside the Port of Philadelphia walked in a circle and chanted “No work without a fair contract.” The union, which is striking for the first time since 1977, had message boards on the side of a truck reading: “Automation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection.”

Local ILA president Boise Butler said workers want a fair contract that doesn’t allow automation of their jobs.

Shipping companies made billions during the pandemic by charging high prices, he said. “Now we want them to pay back. They’re going to pay back,” Butler said.

He said the union will strike for as long as it needs to get a fair deal, and it has leverage over the companies.

“This is not something that you start and you stop,” he said. “We’re not weak,” he added, pointing to the union’s importance to the nation’s economy.

At Port Houston, at least 50 workers started picketing around midnight local time carrying signs saying “No Work Without a Fair Contract.”

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. But no deal was reached.

The union’s opening offer in the talks was for a 77% pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.

Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The alliance also said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.

The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn’t clear just how far apart both sides are.

In a statement early Tuesday, the union said it rejected the alliance’s latest proposal because it “fell far short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.” The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.

Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.

But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage could lead to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.

If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season — potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys and artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.

The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation’s supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

It also could snarl exports from East Coast ports and create traffic jams at ports on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union. Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can’t move enough to make up for the closed Eastern ports.

J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.

Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.

But during a Sunday exchange with reporters, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.

In an update Tuesday morning, the White House maintained that administration officials were working “around the clock” to help negotiations move forward — which included being in direct contact with both USMX and ILA. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also “closely monitoring” potential supply chain impacts, the White House added, enlisting a task force to meet daily and prepare for any disruptions.

AUSTIN (AP) – A federal judge ruled on Saturday that part of a Texas law that enacted new voting restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution by being too vague and restricting free speech.

The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, immediately halted the state’s ability to investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, such as the investigation into the League of United Latin American Citizens by Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Before today’s ruling, a person who knowingly provided or offered vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation was committing a third-degree felony. This meant that organizers of voter outreach organizations and even volunteers could spend up to ten years in prison and fined up to $10,000 for giving or offering these services.

Paxton on Monday vowed to appeal the ruling.

“A ruling—weeks prior to an election— preventing my office from investigating potential election violations is deeply troubling and risks undermining public trust in our political process,” he said.

According to Republican lawmakers, the provision was put in place to prevent voter fraud and secure election integrity. However, in the ruling, the judge noted that there was widespread confusion about how to implement the canvassing restriction from local election administrators. This confusion also left voter outreach organizations uncertain about whether they could provide volunteers with food or bus fare because it could look like compensation.

Many organizations – including La Union del Pueblo Entero, LULAC, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund – have filed lawsuits against many other provisions of the law, including voter assistance and mail-in ballot restrictions. The challenges to these provisions have not been ruled on yet. The original complaints were filed in August and September 2021.

Before the law, organizations like OCA-Greater Houston, an advocacy organization for people of Asian and Pacific Island descent, would host in-person election events and allow attendees to bring their mail-in ballots in order to receive help like language assistance.

Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, wrote that “Today’s ruling means that voter outreach organizers and other advocates in Texas can speak to mail ballot voters about issues on the ballot and urge voters to support improvements to their communities.”

ACLU of Texas celebrated the ruling on X saying, “This is a win for voting rights in the state, and for the organizations that help keep elections accessible.”