CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Greensill: £335m of taxpayer money at ‘increased risk’ due to ‘woefully inadequate checks’ on firm

Former prime minister David Cameron is reported to have earned $10 million (£7.2m) from his two-and-a-half years’ part-time work for Greensill Capital before it collapsed in March

Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron lobbied on behalf of the finance firm before its collapse earlier this year (Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

By Poppy Wood
November 20, 2021 

​​Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money could be at risk due to failures by the Government-owned British Business Bank to properly scrutinise collapsed lender Greensill Capital, according to a new report.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that the Bank failed to carry out sufficient due diligence into Greensill, the finance firm that former prime minister David Cameron lobbied for, meaning that “up to £335m of taxpayer money is at increased risk”.

The committee questioned why the Bank was “insufficiently curious” about reports that implied Greensill was close to collapse and said checks on the lender were “woefully inadequate”.

Boris Johnson can’t escape the growing backlash of Tory sleaze – now MPs are imagining life after him

It also criticised the British Business Bank for striking the “wrong balance” between “making decisions quickly” during the pandemic and “protecting taxpayer interests”.

The British Business Bank approved Greensill as a lender for both the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) during the pandemic.

Greensill loaned £400m under CLBILS, the maximum it was permitted to lend, and £18.5m under CBILS.

But in March 2021, Greensill filed for insolvency. Its collapse triggered a series of investigations examining the financier’s close links with the Government and Mr Cameron.

The saga marked the first in a series of renewed calls to ban MPs and former politicians from lobbying, and cast a fresh spotlight onto the “revolving door” between politics and business.

According to BBC Panorama, leaked documents revealed that Mr Cameron earned $10 million (£7.2m) from his two-and-a-half years’ part-time work for Greensill before it collapsed.

The former Conservative prime minister reportedly made $4.5m after-tax when he cashed in Greensill shares in 2019. This was on top of his $1m-a-year salary as an adviser and a $700,000 bonus in 2019.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Mr Cameron sent a slew of WhatsApps, texts and emails to ministers, officials and the Bank of England in attempts to secure Greensill access to Government-backed Covid support schemes.

Mr Cameron has maintained that he did not know about the perilous financial state of the company when he lobbied for it to be given taxpayer support.

In its report published today, the PAC found that “a lack of information-sharing across Government” had “once again hampered sound decision-making in government’s response to the pandemic and allowed Greensill access to taxpayer-funded schemes”.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the PAC, said: “The British Business Bank only had to read the papers to be aware of serious questions about Greensill’s lending model, over-exposure to borrowers, and its ethical standards – yet it didn’t really start to delve into those issues until the problems were clear and hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money was already at risk.

“It professed itself ‘very surprised’ to discover where these taxpayer-backed loans had gone on its watch, in contravention of its own lending and accreditation rules.”

The British Business Bank said: “The National Audit Office (NAO) concluded in July 2021 that the British Business Bank appropriately applied a streamlined version of its established process when it accredited Greensill Capital (UK) Limited as a lender under the Covid-19 business support schemes.

“Between March 2020 and March 2021, the British Business Bank accredited 116 CBILS lenders, 27 CLBILS (Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme) lenders and 28 BBLS (Bounce Bank Loan Scheme) lenders to provide essential access to finance for more than 1.6m businesses.

Tory sleaze allegations: All the claims that have emerged since the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal

“A less streamlined accreditation process would have meant fewer lenders would have been accredited and fewer businesses would have received the critical emergency finance they needed during the pandemic.

“The NAO also found that it was to the bank’s credit that its post-accreditation monitoring and audit processes picked up a potential issue quickly, as they were designed to do.

“The bank’s investigation into Greensill Capital’s potential breaches of the scheme rules for CLBILS is ongoing.”

A Government spokesperson said: “The government was not involved in the decision to accredit Greensill. The decision was taken independently by the British Business Bank, in accordance with their usual procedures.”

'A night full of screams' highlights Africa's climate change impacts

Kristin Palitza Nov 15, 2021

© Kate Bartlett/dpa

Climate change is abstract to many, but not those living in large swathes of Africa. Five of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are there, and many of their residents are fighting for their lives amid worsening storms, floods and drought.

Blantyre, Malawi/Maputo (dpa) - The night when her husband died in the floodwaters has been etched into her memory, says Malita Tembo.

The members of the family were torn out of their sleep when the wall of their clay hut in the village of Nyachikadza, in southern Malawi, caved in. They were pelted by rain from a storm, which was later given the name Idai, and which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called "one of the worst weather-related catastrophes in the history of Africa."

It only took a couple of hours in March 2019 for Idai to destroy the village and large areas in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Bringing extreme rains and wind gusts of up to 195 kilometres per hour (km/h), the World Bank estimated it wreaked damages of 2 billion dollars. More than 3 million people were affected; more than 1,000 died.

"It was a night full of screams, as one house fell after the other," says Tembo through tears.

The government eventually set her up with a tent, a parcel of land, two sacks of grain and fertilizer, but that wasn't enough to restart. Now the 27-year-old mother of two small children fights for survival every day.

"We are now struggling to eke out a living," she says.

Five of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are in Africa, according to the environmental organization Germanwatch. Mozambique, in the continent's south, is the worst affected worldwide, followed by neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Malawi, to Mozambique's south, as well as Niger, in the west, and South Sudan, on the Horn of Africa, are also in the top 10.

The impact of climate change is particularly fatal for poor countries, since their governments lack the means to either prepare for catastrophes or to launch rebuilding projects. It's not uncommon for whole regions to lie in ruins for many months, if not years.

When that happens, key infrastructure like water and power supplies are disrupted. Diseases spread and ruined crops mean a cycle of hunger.

That's what happened to Francisco Joao Amade, who lost everything he owned when Idai struck his home in Macomia District, in northern Mozambique. A few weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth followed, literally ripping the roof off of his house.

Packing wind speeds of 200 km/h and flood surges 2.5 metres high, it also brought destruction to Tanzania and the Comoros.

Since then, Amade has been living with his wife, three children and multiple relatives in a narrow room in a small hut that he set up out of wreckage. A smallholder, he has replanted some banana stands and sugar cane, but only earns enough to get a few sacks of rice, some oil and soap for his family.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, about 118 million people will experience drought, flooding and extreme heat in Africa through 2030. The continent is heating up faster and worse than the global average, even though the 54 countries there put out less than 4 per cent of all greenhouse gases globally.

The combination of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic has already brought Malawi to its knees, warned President Lazarus Chakwera ahead of the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland.

"For us in Malawi, it means urgent investments in climate change adaptation," he told state TV broadcaster MBC. He is hoping for help from the West to finance these projects.

Things aren't much better in Zimbabwe, which is also dealing with years of financial crisis.

"If climate change continues at its current rate, thousands of Zimbabweans will lose their jobs, homes or even their lives," tweeted President Emmerson Mngangagwa recently.

After Idai, the country was also hit by cyclones Eloise and Chalane. Many Zimbabweans have had to run for their life multiple times.

Enita Mauraye knows the problems. Living in the small eastern Zimbabwean city of Chimanimani, she has been living in a Red Cross tent city for two years now.

Her 5-year-old daughter disappeared in the floods Idai brought. Instead of going to school, her three surviving sons try to help her support the family by doing odd jobs. The government promised to build new homes, but that's nothing more than a promise, she says. Mauraye has given up hope of a better life.

To the north, Niger suffers alternating floods and drought. More than 210,000 people were affected a few weeks ago when the Niger River burst its banks. Half of them were children.

Abdou Aziz Soumana, a farmer who lives in Kiskisoye, near the capital, Niamey, lost his entire rice crop.

"We have no idea how we're supposed to survive," says the 54-year-old father of eight with desperation. The changes in the weather have been catastrophic, with harvests getting worse every year, he says.

"We didn't believe in climate change for a long time, but now we think that it really does exist."

Highland earthquake was 'quite unusual', says expert

The earthquake which hit Scotland was "quite unusual" because people could actually feel it, a seismologist said.

By Alison Campsie
Saturday, 20th November 2021, 

The earthquake was felt in Roybridge, Lochaber, on Friday. PIC: Jim Barton/geograph.org.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) reported a 2.2 magnitude earthquake just outside Roybridge, near Spean Bridge, in the Highlands on Friday around 9.30pm.

It was the second quake to hit the country in less than a week.

The earthquake, which had a depth of 7.5km, was described by Glenn Ford, the BGS seismic analyst on call at the time of the tremor, as "absolutely tiny" when compared with other quakes seen around the world.

But he said this one was unusual as only around 10% of earthquakes are felt at all.

Mr Ford said: “In UK terms, because we are a very low seismic area, we only perhaps get about 15 earthquakes a year of this size or greater, so it's quite unusual in that respect.

"We get about two to three hundred earthquakes every year somewhere in the United Kingdom area, so the fact that this one was actually felt was unusual because approximately 90% of them are so small nobody actually perceives them."

One person who did feel it was Iain MacDonald, who was staying in the village at the time of the tremor.


He said: "It was about 9.30pm and I felt the tremor, but I heard it much more. It was really quite loud, like a train rumbling past the house.

"To me it seemed like a train rumbling past. I knew what it was straight away, I have heard it before and felt the tremor before."

The quakes was 17 billion times smaller than the earthquake which devastated Japan in 2011, said Mr Ford.

He added: "You literally wouldn't look up from your coffee or your newspaper for an earthquake that size in California or Japan."

He added there were a number of factors as to why people felt earthquakes in the UK, including size and depth.

"The other type is time of day. Because people are not used to earthquakes in the UK, they put a small earthquake, because it could just be a small tremor, down to traffic noise, so if somebody is in a very remote area like this which occurred last night there is much better opportunity to actually feel it because they are nice and still, it was late at night, and probably in a sedentary position," Mr Ford said.

"Normally if the roads had been busy or you're near a motorway, you'd just put it down to traffic,” he added.

A 3.1 magnitude earthquake was reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Tuesday just before 2am, with its epicentre some 11 miles north-west of of Lochgilphead, 88 miles north-west of Glasgow.

More than 30 people reported to the USGS that they had felt the tremor, with reports coming from as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

The agency said that quake happened 10km below the Earth's surface.

As for the recent quakes in Scotland, Mr Ford said there had "obviously been a little bit of stress built up in that area".

Data from the British Geological Survey shows between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected in the UK every year, with tremors of between 3.0 and 3.9 magnitude occurring on the mainland once every three years on average.

Earthquake Scotland: Reports of tremors of west Scotland earthquake coming from as far as Edinburgh and Northern Ireland

Residents of western Scotland received a bump in the night after an earthquake shook the region in the early hours of Tuesday.

By Trevor Marshallsea
Tuesday, 16th November 2021

A quake with a magnitude of 3.1 occurred just before 2am with its epicentre some 11 miles north-west of the town of Lochgilphead, 88 miles north-west of Glasgow, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

More than 50 people reported to the USGS that they had felt the tremor, with reports coming from as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

The agency said the quake happened 10km below the Earth's surface.

Data from the British Geological Survey shows between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected in the UK every year, with tremors of between 3.0 and 3.9 magnitude occurring on the mainland once every three years on average.

In August of 2017, Scotland experienced its biggest earthquake in years, which had a magnitude of 4.1. It occurred in Moidart, but was felt widely across the northwest of Scotland.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located some 11 miles north-west of the town of Lochgilphead, however, tremors were felt as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle, North Ireland.

Tennis players take on Communist Party: Where is Peng Shuai?


1 of 5

FILE - China's Peng Shuai serves to France's Caroline Garcia during their second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 31, 2018 in Paris. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)


Some of the world’s most famous tennis players, distraught by the disappearance of colleague Peng Shuai, are challenging China’s Communist Party to get answers.

So far it’s a standoff with little visible impact as tennis greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — joined by tennis governing bodies, human rights groups, retired players, and several athletes’ lobbies — try to turn their profiles into power.

Peng, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 in doubles, disappeared after making allegations of sexual assault over two weeks ago against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, who was a member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee and a lieutenant of General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Athletes may sense a pressure point.

China is just 2 1/2 months from hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is facing a diplomatic boycott over allegations of crimes against humanity involving at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities. NBA player Enes Kanter has been the most outspoken in defense of the Uyghurs, calling Xi a “brutal dictator.”

Peng’s case is unique. She is a star athlete and has a platform and credibility that few other women in China share. The effort to silence Peng reflects the Communist Party’s determination to squelch criticism of its leaders and to prevent any organized public response.

Athletes are especially sensitive politically because they are well-known and admired. The ruling party publicizes their victories, especially those of a three-time Olympian such as Peng, as evidence it is making China strong again.

China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly disavowed any knowledge of the case. Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told media on Friday the issue is “not a diplomatic question and I’m not aware of the situation.”

Peng wrote a lengthy social media post on Nov. 2 in which she said she was forced to have sex three years ago with Zhang. The post was quickly deleted from Peng’s verified account on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform. But screenshots of the explosive accusations were shared on the internet.

Athletes have been weighing in ever since.

“She’s one of our tennis champions, a former world No. 1, and clearly it’s concerning. I hope she’s safe,” Federer told Sky Italia on Saturday. “The tennis family sticks together and I’ve always told my children as well that the tennis family is my second family. … I just want her to be OK and that she’s safe and that we hear something hopefully soon.”

Nadal told the French newspaper L’Equipe, “The most important thing is to find out whether she is OK. All of us in the tennis family hope to see her back with us soon.”

French tennis player Nicolas Mahut said he won’t play in China if the situation isn’t resolved, and he added that the International Olympic Committee needs to do more.

“It’s really embarrassing to not speak out. They should say something a few months before (the) Olympics in China,” Mahut said. “I hope they will do something soon.”

Players have been emboldened by the unequivocal support of the Women’s Tennis Association and its chairman and CEO Steve Simon, who has threatened to pull the WTA’s events out of China. That means almost a dozen next year, including the WTA final.

“There’s too many times in our world today when you get into issues like this that we let business, politics, money dictate what’s right and what’s wrong,” Simon said in an interview on CNN.

“And we’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it because ... this is bigger than the business.”

A statement from Wimbledon said the sport’s most prestigious tournament is “united with the rest of tennis in the need to understand that Peng Shuai is safe.”

“We have been working in support of the WTA’s efforts to establish her safety through our relationships behind the scenes,” the All England Club added.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tweeted: “We are deeply concerned by reports that tennis player Peng Shuai appears to be missing, and we join the calls for the PRC to provide independent, verifiable proof of her whereabouts. Women everywhere deserve to have reports of sexual assault taken seriously and investigated.”

Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office in Geneva, said Friday it was calling for “an investigation with full transparency into her allegation of sexual assault.”

Global Athlete, an advocacy group, has asked the Switzerland-based IOC to suspend the Chinese Olympic Committee until Peng’s safety is guaranteed.

“The IOC must use its substantial leverage to ensure that the international community is provided proof of Peng’s whereabouts,” Global Athlete head Rob Koehler said.

Despite Peng being a former Olympian, the IOC has remained quiet. A sports business, it derives 91% of its income from selling broadcast rights and sponsorships. But it prefers to cast itself as a non-government organization whose role is to defend high-minded ideas like “promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity,” which appears in its Olympic Charter.

Emma Terho, the newly elected head of an IOC’s Athletes’ Commission that is supposed to represent the interests of Olympic athletes, issued a brief comment on Saturday and said “we support the quiet diplomacy” approach favored by the IOC.

The IOC always says athletes are its first priority, but there is growing pressure from some athletes to get a larger slice of the IOC’s billion-dollar pie.

“Experience shows that quiet diplomacy offers the best opportunity to find a solution for questions of such nature,” the IOC had said in an earlier statement. “This explains why the IOC will not comment any further at this stage.”

It also said it has received assurances that Peng is “safe.”

The World Olympians Association declined to issue a statement. It claims to represent 100,000 living Olympians. It was founded by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who heads the IOC preparations for the Beijing Olympics which begin Feb. 4. IOC President Thomas Bach is the honorary president.

“The IOC has more leverage than any other organization with the pending Winter Olympic Games,” Koehler of Global Athletes wrote to AP. “They need to use that now. Athletes going to these Games are watching how the IOC will protect athletes.”

___

AP reporters Joe McDonald in Beijing and Andrew Dampf in Turin, Italy, contributed to this report.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

___

More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports




Photos of missing Chinese tennis star posted online


Peng Shuai of China wipes her face during the women's singles match against Samantha Stosur of Australia on the second day at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on July 3, 2018. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)


BEIJING (AP) — An employee of Chinese state TV has posted photos of missing tennis star Peng Shuai online in a new effort to dispel concern about her disappearance after she accused a senior leader of sexual assault.

The photos appeared Friday on Twitter, which cannot be seen by most internet users in China. The state TV employee, Shen Shiwei, wrote they were on Peng’s account on the WeChat message service with the comment, “Happy Weekend.”

The ruling Communist Party faces mounting appeals from tennis stars and the sport’s professional tour to prove Peng, a three-time Olympian and former No. 1-ranked women’s doubles player, is safe and let her speak freely.

Meanwhile, the editor of a newspaper published by the party said Peng would “show up in public” soon.

The controversy is politically awkward as the Chinese capital prepares to hold the Winter Olympics in February. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday denied knowing about the outcry over Peng’s disappearance.

Peng, 35, hasn’t been seen in public since posting a statement on social media this month accusing Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the party’s Standing Committee, the ruling inner circle of power, of forcing her to have sex despite repeated refusals.

Shen works for CGTN, the English-language arm of China Central Television that is aimed at foreign audiences. His Twitter post came after CGTN this week distributed a statement it said came from Peng that retracted the accusations against Zhang.

The editor of Global Times, an English-language newspaper published by the Communist Party, said on Twitter he had confirmed from unidentified sources that the photos “are indeed Peng Shuai’s current state.”

“In the past few days, she stayed in her own home freely and she didn’t want to be disturbed,” wrote the editor, Hu Xijin. “She will show up in public and participate in some activities soon.”

The photos showed Peng with a gray cat and holding a panda figurine in what appeared to be a private home with stuffed animals lined up behind her. There was no indication when the photos were taken.

Steve Simon, the chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, reacted Saturday to a video purporting to show the tennis player at a restaurant.

“I am glad to see the videos released by China state-run media that appear to show Peng Shuai at a restaurant in Beijing. While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference. This video alone is insufficient,” Simon said.

“As I have stated from the beginning, I remain concerned about Peng Shuai’s health and safety and that the allegation of sexual assault is being censored and swept under the rug. I have been clear about what needs to happen and our relationship with China is at a crossroads.”

Simon has threatened to pull the WTA’s events out of China. That means almost a dozen next year, including the WTA Finals.

Emma Terho, the chair of the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, tweeted Saturday that the body “is very concerned about the situation of three-time Olympian Peng Shuai.”

“We support the quiet diplomacy approach that is being taken and hope it will lead to the release of information about the whereabouts of Peng Shuai and confirmation of her safety and well-being,” Terho added.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Biden mulls reversing Trump rules on western grouse species

By MATTHEW BROWN

November 19, 2021

 In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male Greater Sage Grouse perform their mating ritual on a lake near Walden, Colo. The Biden administration is considering new measures to protect the ground-dwelling bird that was once found across much of the U.S. West. It has lost vast areas of habitat in recent decades due to oil and gas drilling, grazing, wildfires and other pressures. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday said it will consider new measures to protect greater sage grouse, a bird species once found across much of the U.S. West that has suffered drastic declines in recent decades due to oil and gas drilling, grazing, wildfires and other pressures.

The announcement of a range-wide evaluation of habitat plans for greater sage grouse came after the Trump administration tried to scale back conservation efforts adopted when Biden was vice president in 2015.

A federal court blocked Trump’s changes. But Biden administration officials said the attempt set back conservation efforts — even as the chicken-sized bird’s habitat was further ravaged by wildfires, invasive plants and continued development.

Disagreement over the region’s sage grouse is longstanding and often bitter, and any new restrictions the administration adopts against energy or agriculture is sure to further inflame tensions. Republican-run states and industries that profit off public lands have clashed with wildlife advocates over how much space the birds need to survive.

Many environmentalists insisted that the 2015 conservation plans didn’t go far enough because of loopholes that allowed grazing and drilling on land that sage grouse need. Opponents said they hobbled economic progress.

Biologists say wide buffers from drilling and other activities are needed to protect sage grouse breeding areas where birds engage in elaborate annual mating rituals.

Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Nada Culver said “everything’s on the table” as the agency launches its evaluation of sage grouse habitat, with no set deadlines for action.

“From changes to the buffers, to how we manage energy development, to how we manage every other activity....we are evaluating it and we are looking for input on what are the most important things to look at,” Culver said.

Officials also will look at how climate change is adding to pressures on sage grouse. Culver pointed to data showing wildfires burned almost 10,700 square miles (28,000 square kilometers) of the bird’s habitat since 2016. The vast majority of the fires were on federal lands.

Greater sage grouse once numbered in the millions across all or portions of 11 Western states. Populations have dropped 65% since 1986, government scientists recently concluded.

In 2010, wildlife officials said drastic habitat losses meant protections for sage grouse had become warranted for under the Endangered Species Act. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not take any action at the time, saying other species took priority.

In 2015, the wildlife service determined protections were no longer needed after other federal and states officials adopted sweeping land management plans meant to halt or reverse the species’ decline.

The plans were billed as a compromise, but some components unraveled after Trump took office in 2017 and states sought changes to the documents that critics said would hurt grouse.

The quirky birds with long tail feathers are known for elaborate courtship displays in which males puff up air sacs in their chests to make an odd popping sound.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said he believed land bureau director Tracy Stone-Manning — a former aide to the lawmaker — would pursue a collaborative, balanced approach that will keep sage grouse from becoming an endangered species.

But Western Republicans — including Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines and Wyoming’s Gov. Mark Gordon and Sen. Cynthia Lummis — criticized the Biden administration action. They said states should be given deference to manage wildlife and federal lands kept open for energy exploration and grazing.

“Wyoming knows how to manage the greater sage grouse, and I’m very concerned that greater federal control will do nothing for the birds, but be devastating for ranchers and energy producers,” said Lummis.

Gordon noted that Wyoming has more sage grouse than any other state and said “no changes are necessary.”

Daines said state and local conservation efforts needs to be protected from “federal overreach,” while Brooke Stroyke, a spokesperson for Gianforte, said Montana already has a plan that balances conservation and rural economies.

In May, federal officials in response to a court order said that they would consider bans on new mining to help the birds.

A ban proposed under former President Barack Obama was dropped by the Trump administration. The affected lands totaled 10 million acres (4 million hectares) in Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

The land bureau has resumed that process. It will consider the original proposal and additional options, spokesperson Alyse Sharpe said.

The order to take a new look at mining came in a lawsuit from environmentalists. The judge faulted the Trump administration for ignoring prior science on the issue.

Erik Molvar with plaintiff Western Watersheds Project said falling back on the Obama-era plans would not work, because they allowed too much disturbance of sage brush habitat, he said.

“The Obama administration did their best to please all the different ends of the political spectrum. But in the end they didn’t please anybody and they didn’t give the sage grouse the habitat they needed,” Molvar said.

Kathleen Sgamma with the Western Energy Alliance, a group representing oil and gas companies, said Friday’s move by the administration came as no surprise.

“Sage grouse has been a political football for decades,” she said. “The back and forth continues.”

___

Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP

Wildfires torched up to a fifth of all giant sequoia trees


1 of 13

Assistant Fire Manager Leif Mathiesen, of the Sequoia & Kings Canyon Nation Park Fire Service, looks for an opening in the burned-out redwood tree from the Redwood Mountain Grove which was devastated by the KNP Complex fires earlier in the year in the KingsCanyon National Park, Calif., Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, leading to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth’s largest trees, officials said Friday.

Fires in Sequoia National Park and surrounding Sequoia National Forest tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias, which are the largest trees by volume.

Nearby wildfires last year killed an unprecedented 7,500 to 10,400 giant sequoias that are only native in about 70 groves scattered along the western side of the Sierra Nevada range. Losses now account for 13% to 19% of the 75,000 sequoias greater than 4 feet (1.2 meters) in diameter.

Blazes so intense to burn hot enough and high enough to kill so many giant sequoias — trees once considered nearly fire-proof — puts an exclamation point on climate change’s impact. A warming planet that has created hotter droughts combined with a century of fire suppression that choked forests with thick undergrowth have fueled flames that have sounded the death knell for trees dating to ancient civilizations.

“The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes,” said Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “As spectacular as these trees are we really can’t take them for granted. To ensure that they’re around for our kids and grandkids and great grandkids, some action is necessary.”

California has seen its largest fires in the past five years. Last year set a record for most acreage burned and this year, so far, is running second.

Tree deaths this year might have been worse if heavy rain and snow Oct. 25 hadn’t dampened the fire. Fires burned from August last year into January.

After last year’s Castle and SQF Complex fires took officials by surprise — and drove some tree lovers to tears — extraordinary measures were taken to save the largest and oldest trees this year.

The General Sherman tree — the largest living thing on earth — and other ancients that are the backdrop for photos that rarely capture the grandeur and scale of the giant sequoias were wrapped in foil blankets.

A fire-retardant gel, similar to absorbent used in baby’s diapers, was dropped on canopies that can sit above 200 feet (60 meters) tall. Sprinklers watered trunks and flammable matter was raked away from trees.

The measures helped spare the Giant Forest, the premiere grove of massive trees in the park, but the measures couldn’t be deployed everywhere.

The bulk of the Suwanee grove in the park burned in extreme fire in the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River drainage. The Starvation Complex of groves in Sequoia National Forest was largely destroyed.

The greatest amount of damage was done in Redwood Mountain Grove in Kings Canyon National Park. The inferno became so intense it created a fire cloud that whipped up 60 mph (97 kph) winds.

A fire ecologist accurately predicted the areas that would burn hottest, but nothing could be done in such erratic conditions to save trees in the second-largest grove, said Christy Brigham, chief of resource management and science for the parks.

“That’s even more heartbreaking to me that we knew it and we couldn’t take action to protect it,” Brigham said.

Groves with the worst damage stand like timber graveyards with blackened trunks soaring high in the sky. Canopies have faded from vibrant green to a rusty shade. Many damaged trees are expected to perish in three to five years.

Save the Redwoods League, which lost the Waterfall tree — one of the world’s largest — in 2020, suffered losses this year in its Red Hill Grove.

“We need to call this situation in the giant sequoia what it is: an emergency,” said league President Sam Hodder. “Just a few years ago, it was considered unprecedented to lose a handful of giant sequoia to wildfire in a season, but now we’re losing thousands.”

In 2013, the park had done climate modeling that predicted extreme fires wouldn’t jeopardize sequoias for another 50 years, Brigham said. But that was at the start of what became a punishing five-year drought that essentially broke the model.

Amid the drought in 2015, the park saw giant sequoias torched for the first time. Two fires in 2017 killed more giant sequoias. Just over 200 giant sequoias were killed in the fires that served as a warning for what was to come.

“Then the Castle Fire happened and it was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Brigham said. “We went from the warning sign to hair on fire. To lose 7,000 trees in one fire is crazy.”

An accurate mortality count from last year is not available because crews were confirming how many trees died when lightning struck Sept. 9, igniting the Windy Fire in Sequoia National Forest and two fires that merged to become the SQF Complex in the park, Brigham said.

Not all the news in the park’s report on the fires was bleak.

While flames burned into 27 groves and large numbers of trees were incinerated, a lot of low-intensity fire that sequoias need to thrive will clear out vegetation and the heat from flames will open cones so they can spread their seeds.

There was also less damage in many of the groves where the park has routinely used prescribed fire to clear out accumulated vegetation under cooler and more humid conditions. Those successes emphasized the need to expand that work and, where that’s too risky, begin thinning forests, Jordan said.

However, areas where fire burned so hot that seeds were killed and trees can’t regenerate may need additional help. For the first time, the park is considering planting seedlings to preserve the species.

“I’m not ready to give up on giant sequoias,” Brigham said. “This is a call to action to better protect the remaining old growth and make our Sierra Nevada forests wildfire resilient, because the fire’s coming.”

If seedlings are planted, though, it will take hundreds of years to replace the trees that were lost.

A year later, Rhode Island buildings still say ‘Plantations’


1 of 5

Visitors to the Rhode Island State House, in Providence, R.I., pass by the state seal on the rotunda floor that displays Rhode Island's full former name, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Voters chose to strip the words "and Providence Plantations" from Rhode Island's formal name a year ago by approving a statewide referendum that was revived amid the nation's reckoning with racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd. The phrase remains on walls, doors, floors and rugs. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)


PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island dropped “Providence Plantations” from its name a year ago, but not from its buildings.

Providence Plantations is written in the script in marble near the State House dome and on bronze plaques in the entryway. The state seal with the full former name is on the rotunda floor, the elevator doors, door numbers and directional signs. It’s even on the rug in front of George Washington’s portrait in the state room.

Voters chose to strip the words “and Providence Plantations” from Rhode Island’s formal name a year ago by approving a statewide referendum, which was revived amid the nation’s reckoning with racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd. The word “Plantations” didn’t specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, but supporters of the measure insisted it elicited such imagery and was offensive.

Democrat Gina Raimondo signed an executive order in June 2020, when she was governor, to change state employee paychecks and executive agency websites. Voters approved the referendum in November 2020.

Since then, the state changed official websites, business cards and state employee paychecks. New letterhead is in use and citations are issued with the new state seal.

The administration is still compiling an inventory of places where the wording still exists, as well as determining potential costs and best practices for the removal, officials in Gov. Dan McKee’s administration said. A working group will convene before the end of the year to develop goals for next year.

State Rep. Anastasia Williams, a Providence Democrat, pushed to change the state name. Now she says there are other, extremely serious matters at hand that the state’s leaders need to address — the ongoing pandemic, the growing number of homeless people, the need to welcome immigrants and refugees, and an education system that has failed children of color.

“I’m not taking any of the importance of it away, but where it is for me as a priority, we already won that battle and we know it has to be done,” Williams said last week. “We have some serious things at hand that are not even being seriously addressed.”

The remaining displays of the old name can be an opportunity to strike up conversations about what the voters voted for and why, she added.

Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea is the keeper of the state seal, and has been using a new embosser to apply the redesigned state seal to official documents.

Gorbea is running for governor. If elected, she said she would make sure there’s a plan for removing the old name from the more challenging places, especially the seal in the State House rotunda, since many people see it there.

“It is the change that the voters wanted and so we should have, at bare minimum, a plan,” Gorbea said. “If it hasn’t been done, why not? But if it can be done, let’s do it.”

In early November, state Department of Administration officials said they would share the inventory of places where the old state name was written and the costs for changing it, but as of this week it had not provided that accounting to The Associated Press. In the DOA building, the old state seal is on the front desk and on the directory of rooms.

Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it declared statehood in 1790. In 2010, nearly eight in 10 voters rejected the shorter name in a referendum.

Gorbea said she fears people will become cynical if they voted for the change yet the most public-facing displays remain the same.

“The state has changed,” she said, “times have changed and government needs to change to accommodate that.”

Top US diplomat warns Russian group not to interfere in Mali

1 of 14

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accompanied by Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall, departs following a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. Blinken is on a five day trip to Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)


DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned a shadowy Russian company with connections to the Kremlin not to interfere in efforts aimed at restoring democracy in the West African nation of Mali.

As he wrapped up a weeklong, three-nation tour of Africa that was dominated by crises across the continent, Blinken said it would be “unfortunate” if the Wagner Group became active in Mali, where there are internationally backed plans to have a democratically elected government in place by April.

Mali “remains a linchpin for future stability in the Sahel and we have deep concerns about that stability and deep concerns about the extremism and terrorism that is spreading tentacles in the region,” Blinken said at news conference with Senegal’s foreign minister, Aissata Tall Sall. West Africa’s Sahel region is the vast area south of the Sahara Desert where extremist groups are fighting for control.

“It would be especially unfortunate if outside actors engage in making things even more difficult and more complicated,” he said. Blinken said he was speaking particularly of the Wagner Group, which has deployed mercenaries to Syria, the Central African Republic and Libya, drawing protests from the West and others.

The Wagner Group, owned by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused by Western governments and U.N. experts of human rights abuses in the Central African Republic and involvement in the conflict in Libya.

France and Germany have objected to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Mali, and the European Union said this past week that it would consider sanctions against anyone interfering in Mali’s democratic transition.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the company has a “legitimate” right to be in Mali because it was invited by the transitional government, and he has insisted the Russian government is not involved.

Blinken, who has also been pressing while in Africa for an end to crises in Ethiopia and Sudan, said the United States was ready to restore aid to Mali that was suspended after a military coup.

“This is ultimately about the people of Mali and their aspirations for peace, their aspirations for development and respect for human rights,” he said. “We look forward to taking the next steps to resume the full array of assistance as soon as the democratically elected government has taken office.”

Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.

In June, Col. Assimi Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government after carrying out his second coup in nine months. Mali faces increasing international isolation over the junta’s power grab. Elections are due to be held in February, but the EU fears they will be delayed.

In Dakar, Blinken was pushing American-built infrastructure projects, including an initiative to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Senegal, a first for Africa. He also promoted sustainable development, women’s empowerment and other human rights initiatives to bolster faltering democracies.

In meetings with female entrepreneurs and executives from U.S.-based multinational companies, Blinken extolled the benefits of boosting women’s roles in economies and of buying American. In a jab at China, with which the U.S. competes for lucrative business, he noted that America invests “without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle.”

“The effects are going to be felt inside of Senegal, improving infrastructure, creating jobs and reinforcing public safety and climate resilience,” he said as he witnessed the signing of four road, traffic management and other deals between Senegal and U.S. firms worth about $1 billion.

The investment, he said, shows “our shared values of democracy, transparency and rule of law as well as innovation.”

In less than two weeks Senegal will host a major China-Africa trade and investment forum, underscoring Beijing’s interest in increasing the scope of its influence on the continent. U.S.-China competition in Africa has been a major underlying theme of Blinken’s trip, although he has tried to downplay it.

“Our purpose is not to make our partners choose, it is to give them choices,” he said. “And when people have choices, they usually make the right one.”

Tall Sall, the foreign minister who will play a major role in the forum, thanked Blinken for his comments.

“We have a diplomacy of sovereignty from which we do not exclude anyone,” she said. “There is not only one choice. We have many choices.”

As he does in France and other French-speaking countries, Blinken spoke extensively in French at his public appearances, including with Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, and at an event at Dakar’s Institute Pasteur, which hopes to begin producing COVID-19 vaccines with American help next year.

In his meetings, Blinken addressed security issues, particularly a rise in jihadi violence across the Sahel and increasing authoritarianism that many believe is fueling extremism.

Senegal is a key partner in the fight against extremism and last year it hosted the U.S. military’s annual counterterrorism exercise, Flintlock.

One area where Sall may seek U.S. help is with increased security measures along the country’s borders with Mali and Mauritania, where several counterterrorism operations have taken place in recent years.

___

Associated Press writer Babacar Dione contributed to this report.

Thailand’s festival honoring rivers also pollutes them

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSAyesterday

1 of 11

A Thai family places krathongs, small boats made of corn and decorated with banana leaves and flowers, into a Ong Ang canal during Loy Krathong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Thais believe that the candle-lit boats launched during the charming and popular Loy Krathong festival can carry the year's misfortunes away with them, but workers must clean up the waterways afterward to keep them from getting clogged and polluted. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


BANGKOK (AP) — Thais flocked to rivers and lakes on Friday evening to release small floats adorned with flowers and candles in an annual festival honoring the goddess of water, with thousands of the tiny boats ending up clogging and polluting the country’s waterways.

Within hours, workers began trawling the rivers to fish out the offerings, as paying tribute to the divinity is increasingly proving to be ecologically hazardous.

The Loy Krathong festival allows believers to symbolically float their misfortunes away on “krathongs” and start another year of life with a clean slate. The festival is celebrated on the night of the full moon of the 12th lunar month, which traditionally marks the end of the rainy season.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a leading Thai marine biologist, said getting people to stop using harmful materials such as polystyrene foam — Styrofoam — for their floats remains the priority because they cause the most damage to the water and aquatic life. The number of endangered sea creatures found dead ashore, which he believes stems from the problem of ocean trash in Thailand, doubled from 2017 to 2020.

Activists have noted a change in people’s behavior over decades, pointing to rising awareness of the damage krathongs cause. The total number of krathongs collected in Bangkok has fallen from over 900,000 in 2012 to just over 490,000 last year, and there has been an even sharper reduction in the number of floats made of Styrofoam, from 131,000 to under 18,000 over the same period.

Even so, some conservationists advocate a more radical solution.

“We need to revolutionize the practice, allowing the ecosystem of the waterways to be restored,” said Tara Buakamsri, Thailand country director for the environmental group Greenpeace. “We should not release any floats, because even if they are made from natural materials, the amount of them exceeds what rivers can naturally deal with.”

“We depend on clean water for our livelihood and the aim of Loy Krathong should be to protect and rejuvenate our rivers without putting anything in them.”

Sales of materials for krathongs have been slow this year due to the pandemic, said Nopparat Tangtonwong, a vendor at Pak Klong market, famous for selling flowers.

“COVID-19 causes the economy to be sluggish, so people prefer saving their money and floating online instead,” she said.

At the same time, children are uninterested in banana-leaf floats, the main natural alternative to Styrofoam, she said. “They prefer fancy floats made of ice-cream cones and bread because they can feed the fish at the same time.”

Such an approach is not helpful, said Wijarn Simachaya, president of Thailand Environment Institute. “If you float somewhere with no fish, those floats will cause pollution in the water. It is difficult to collect them, too, as the bread absorbs the water and sinks into the river. ”

“In addition, the sellers usually put chemical colors in those floats, which is harmful to the water,” he said.

Banana leaves are the best krathong material because they do not decompose too quickly, and once collected, can be used for making fertilizer, Wijarn said.

“Doing a virtual Loy Krathong celebration is another good solution to avoid environmental damage, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak, but I don’t think it can satisfy people’s lifestyle, as they still want to enjoy the festival,” he said.

Late Friday night after people floated their cares away, municipal workers come out to scoop up a sea of floats that drifted along canals and down the Chao Phraya River before they decomposed and contaminated the water.

Dozens of small boats traveled along the river, each carrying about half a dozen people with hand-held nets. The boats then took their catch to a moored mothership, where it was dumped into a large shredding machine, compacted and hauled away by garbage trucks for landfill in a waste dump.

“We hope that this year the numbers of krathongs made with Styrofoam will continue to decrease and will be less than last year. And we will finish our cleanup operation before 5 o’clock in the morning,” said Chatree Wattanakhajorn, a top Bangkok official.

 

Worker collect small floating krathong from Chao Phraya River during Loy Krathong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. As Thais flocked to waterways Friday to release small floats adorned with flowers and candles in an annual festival honoring the goddess of rivers, they also pile trash that clogs drains and canals and pollutes the country's rivers. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Thai woman prays before floating a krathong, a small boat made of corn and decorated with banana leaves and flowers, into a Ong Ang canal during Loy Krathong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Thais believe that the candle-lit boats launched during the charming and popular Loy Krathong festival can carry the year's misfortunes away with them, but workers must clean up the waterways afterward to keep them from getting clogged and polluted. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Catholic Church finally offers apology

The Roman Catholic Church is responding to renewed criticisms after it was revealed that the church had managed to avoid many commitments to pay residential school survivors as part of the 2005 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA).

That agreement, in which the federal government offered a formal apology and compensation to residential school survivors, also obligated the Catholic Church to pay survivors $29 million and offer another $25 million as “in-kind” donations.

However, a 2015 investigation by CBC and the Globe and Mail unearthed court documents that demonstrated how the church managed to reduce its payment to only $1.2 million. It was able to get out of fundraising obligations after only raising $4 million out of the pledged $25 million.

The church said it had nonetheless donated $25 million in “in-kind” donations, which included addiction treatment and scholarships, but also questionable items such as Bible study groups and routine travel expenses to send clergy to remote communities.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and others are calling for a criminal investigation. Part of the concern is over the fact that the Catholic Church in Canada does not have one centralized body. Thus, the legal obligations from the IRSSA were against a corporation formed to represent the Catholic Church in the legal proceedings.

That corporation was dissolved after 2015, which means no central Catholic entity remains that is responsible for reparations to residential school survivors. The Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches, also parties to the IRSSA, respected their financial obligations – but the Catholic Church ran most of Canada’s residential schools.

All of this was settled behind the scenes in a 2015 court case, in which federal government officials alleged that the church had spent more than $6.4 million of the fund meant for survivors on legal and administrative fees and other expenses.

The documents were only unearthed in early October after CBC News and the Globe and Mail won a judicial order to expose the contents of that court case. A further Globe and Mail investigation revealed that the Catholic Church across Canada had combined assets of $4.1 billion, while receiving yearly donations of $886 million, making it the largest charity in the country.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, director of the University of British Columbia’s Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, told CBC News that the documents showed that the Catholic Church had betrayed survivors, but also that the federal government and courts allowed them to get away with it.

“From the get-go, this was not something survivors sat in the room and agreed to. Survivors were outside of this,” she said. Turpel-Lafond noted that the Canadian government could re-open the court case.

After calls to boycott Catholic mass, a petition to end the church’s tax-exempt status, calls by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the Catholic Church to take responsibility, and churches burned down after the unearthing of mass graveyards on the grounds of former residential schools, Catholic bishops from across the country finally issued a public apology to residential school survivors on September 24.

“We, the Catholic Bishops of Canada, gathered in Plenary this week, take this opportunity to affirm to you, the Indigenous Peoples of this land, that we acknowledge the suffering experienced in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools,” the statement on behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) read.

“Along with those Catholic entities which were directly involved in the operation of the schools, and which have already offered their own heartfelt apologies, we, the Catholic Bishops of Canada, express our profound remorse and apologize unequivocally.”

The CCCB also pledged a renewed fundraising effort to raise $30 million over five years, encouraging local parishes to participate. They pledged that funding would be determined locally, in consultation with Indigenous communities in each region.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald said in a statement that she welcomed the apology. “However, I am disappointed that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops did not take the long overdue step of passing a motion/resolution to formally invite the Pope to Canada to offer his apology to First Nations and Indigenous survivors and intergenerational trauma survivors here on Turtle Island,” Archibald added.

The CCCB told the Nation that the bishops recently committed to engage with the Pope on a potential visit to Canada and highlighted that a delegation of Indigenous leaders would be granted a papal audience from December 17-20 at the Vatican.

“While we cannot speak for the Holy Father, we are confident in his understanding of the ongoing and historical trauma caused by residential schools, as well as his commitment to playing a constructive role in the healing and reconciliation journey,” the CCCB said in a statement.

The bishops’ organization said that it believed that the Catholic parties to the IRSSA had met their obligations, but that they recognized there was “widespread disappointment” with the fundraising campaign, and that they were confident their renewed fundraising pledge would be successful in “achieving its financial goal and in delivering meaningful contributions to Indigenous communities and residential school survivors.”

The Pope had said in June that he was pained by the discovery of children’s remains at residential schools but did not offer an apology at the time, despite offering similar apologies for the church’s role in colonialism and sins committed in Bolivia against Indigenous communities there.

Benjamin Powless, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nation