The alleged murder attempt against Vladimir Solovyov What we know about the far-right ex-convicts accused of plotting to kill Russia's chief propagandist

Source: Meduza

On June 21, Russian news outlets Mediazona and Baza both published articles about the men the Russian authorities have accused of attempting to assassinate Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov — a crime that, according to the FSB and the Russian Investigative Committee, was planned by neo-Nazis at the orders of Ukraine’s Security Service. The articles, which were prepared and written independently of one another, describe in detail what we know so far about the suspects, the majority of whom have been convicted of committing racially motivated murders in the past. Meduza summarizes the articles’ findings below.

Most of the defendants in the case of the alleged assassination attempt against Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov were arrested on the morning of April 25 — just hours after the attempt was thwarted, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed. According to the FSB, the attack was planned by members of an organization called National Socialism/White Power, which is banned in Russia.

According to Mediazona, in the 2000s, the NS/WP name was used by “many unrelated Nazi groups” that carried out racially motivated attacks and killings. A movement that arose on a forum of the same name “essentially became a separate subculture for juvenile murderers, or “stakeholders,” as they called themselves.

Investigators have named 29-year-old Andrey Pronsky, who allegedly planned the attempt, as the group’s leader. Pronsky, who’s also known as “Bloody,” was arrested for the first time in 2009, when he allegedly attacked a Kyrgyzstani migrant worker. He was arrested against in 2021, this time for killing a Jewish acquaintance. According to reports, Pronsky lured the man into a forest and killed him with an ax before post a video of himself abusing the man’s corpse to the Internet. Andrey Pronsky was declared insane and sent in for compulsory treatment (a source Baza spoke to, referred to as “Bloody's psych ward-mate,” has claimed that Pronsky was faking his insanity).

In 2021, Pronsky was released, but that summer he was arrested again and put under house arrest after allegedly getting involved in a fight between far right concert attendees and anti-fascists in Moscow’s Degunino district. In a later video that shows Pronsky getting arrested for the alleged Solovyov assassination attempt, an ankle monitor can be seen on his leg.

A video posted showing the arrest of the men accused of plotting an assassination attempt against Vladimir Solovyov

Both Mediazona and Baza cited a book written by Pronsky in which he recounts looking for collaborators with whom to “really bring back the glory days.” According to Baza’s article, Pronsky regularly invited over a group of people that included his now co-defendants in the Solovyov case; together, Baza wrote, they would “drown in nostalgia for the old days.”

In 2021, Pronsky created a Telegram channel and started posting messages advertising weapons, instructions for building bombs and hiding one’s Internet activity, and evidence of “protest acts” he carried out — including the destruction of a monument at a Jewish person’s grave. Baza quoted a person who allegedly belonged to the “combat group” and who wasn’t arrested like many of the others; he claimed that one of the channel’s goals was to “facilitate the creation of autonomous units throughout the entire country.”

After the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, a message on the Telegram channel called for members to set fire to any police vehicles or cars with Z stickers, promising a reward for anyone who did (the neo-Nazis condemned the war as a conflict between “two anti-Slavic systems: a Judo-Chekist one and a Judo-oligarchic one.”)

According to journalists, Pronsky also spent time with defendants 27-year-old Vladimir Belyakov and 26-year-old Vladimir Stepanov. Both of them were charged a decade ago for their involvement in a murder and a series of attacks carried out in 2009-2010. According to Mediazona, they were released from prison in the late 2010s.

Belyakov served out his sentence in the Yaroslav region’s Penal Colony Number 1, where employees have been charged with torturing inmates and uploading videos of the abuse. According to human rights advocate Ruslan Vakhapov, who served time in the prison, Belyakov was “even-tempered and calm,” and while he was an “activist” (meaning he cooperated with the administration), he didn’t cause anyone harm. In Pronsky’s book, he refers to Belyakov and Stepanov as “an example for others to follow” since they “remained loyal to the idea” after their release. According to Baza, after Belyakov was released from prison, he worked as a security guard at a hotel for cats and dogs, while Stepanov became a grave digger at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. During his arrest on April 25, Stepanov reportedly jumped out of a window and broke his leg.

Another defendant in the case is 29-year-old Timofey Mokiy, who was arrested in early June. In 2009, Mokiy was arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in Moscow and was linked to explosions in markets, the organization of which was traced to the NS/WP movement. He was declared insane and sent for compulsory treatment.

Andrey Pronsky was later sent to the same psychiatric hospital where Mokiy was staying; it’s possible that that’s where they met. In Pronsky’s book, he says that Mokiy sent him shipments of prohibited items for “many years,” risking his own freedom.

According to a number of sources, after the majority of defendants in the Solovyov case had been arrested, Timofey Mokiy set several military enlistment offices on fire in the Moscow suburbs and surrounding areas. He was arrested in connection with the Solovyov case on June 6.

A video of the arrests on April 25 shows two men talking about their plan to assassinate Solovyov and connecting it to the Ukrainian Security Service. Mediazona identified both of them. The first is 42-year-old Vasily Strizhakov, who has previously been convicted of selling marijuana and of assault. He spent time in the same psychiatric hospital as Mokiy and Pronsky.

The second man is 32-year-old Maxim Druzhinin (the only defendant with no criminal history). Mediazona noted that according to records from the court session to determine what preventive measures would be taken against the defendants, none of them admitted guilt — despite the video. According to Public Monitoring Commission member Eva Merkacheva, one of the defendants who has a “serious psychiatric diagnosis” said he was feeling ill after his arrest because he was being deprived of his medication; journalists from Mediazona believe she was referring to Strizhakov. Druzhinin, meanwhile, complained to the Investigative Committee that he had been beaten and forced to confess to “things he didn’t do” during the course of his arrest. He also claimed that law enforcement had planted evidence on him.

A source referred to by Baza as a “participant in the armed group” claimed that Strizhakov and Druzhinin have no connections to the other defendants, and that they’ve wound up in the case “by complete accident.” The source speculated that Strizhakov may have been arrested because he's “a person who’s willing to testify to anything.”

Mediazona’s article did not evaluate the accuracy of the claims that the defendants were preparing an assassination attempt against Solovyov, or that they were working for the Ukrainian Security Service. The outlet noted that the criminal case was initiated in early April, after Solovyov first reported receiving threats to the Investigative Committee. However, Solovyov has also claimed that he learned about the alleged assassination attempt “along with the rest of the country,” despite saying the same day that the attempt was “ordered” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mediazona noted that it’s unclear whether Zelensky is mentioned by name in case materials.

According to the alleged “participant in the armed group” who spoke to Baza, there really was an assassination attempt being planned, but not at the orders of the Ukrainian Security Service; the group simply wanted to commit a crime that would attract more attention than setting cars or military enlistment offices on fire. Baza’s source claimed that the group also considered trying to assassinate Novaya Gazeta Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov (“a consistent anti-fascist”), but ultimately decided on Solovyov because he was “significantly more well known.” The source also said that he “didn’t directly participate” and that he doesn’t know the details of the plan. Baza’s team didn’t indicate whether they consider the claims credible

The USA: 

Champion of democracy or imperialist bully?

The USA doesn’t learn from history

By Sunbal Nawaz Lashari


No need to delve deeper. Just take a closer look into the historical background of the dubious foundations of the nation under discussion. Columbus, the highly celebrated and yet controversial figure, while making his sea journey towards Asia in search of gold and spices for the Spanish monarchy accidentally, and to say, out of sheer luck came across an unknown land that lay between Europe and Asia: the Americas.

Columbus writes in his findings:

‘’As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts’’.

Columbus and his crew were met by Arawak Indians who greeted them graciously, offered them food, water and gifts. Noticing that they were wearing gold ornaments in their ears, it led Columbus to take some of them aboard ship as prisoners so that they would guide him to the source of gold. He then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola (the island which today consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). There, bits of visible gold in the rivers, and a gold mask presented to Columbus by a local Indian chief, led to wild visions of gold fields.

The discovery of gold, silver and abundance of land for cultivation, and the outright ignorance and lack of armaments on the part of the Native Americans led to the exploitation of the Americas by the European settlers. Most Native American societies perished and the few that survived did so barely on often marginal lands.

Indigenous people both north and south were displaced, died of disease, and were killed by Europeans through slavery, rape, and war. In 1491, about 145 million people lived in the western hemisphere. By 1691, the population of indigenous Americans had declined by 90–95 percent, or by around 130 million people. [American Philosophy: From Wounded Knee to the Present (2015)]

The America that we see today following into the footsteps of its ruthless forefathers has no qualms about spilling the blood of the innocent as long as the bloodshed aligns with the goal of maintaining its implied hegemonic rule in the global community, as can be assessed from the following examples of the USA wreaking havoc in countries that committed the abominable sin of refusing to bow down to the wishes of the New World.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001, the USA declared the infamous War on Terror against extremism, ‘radical Islam’ to be more accurate. Rather than bringing the proponents of al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization that took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks) to justice, the USA ruthlessly killed innocent civilians that in turn gave impetus to anti-US sentiment across the entire Muslim globe. The Afghan youth trained by the CIA, that had fought against the USSR during the 1980s, now started fighting against the US invasion and gained sympathies of Muslims from around the world who considered them as mujahidin fighting against the foreign invasion in their homeland.

The USA likewise put pressure on Pakistan to support its endeavours in relation to the War on Terror. The US government gave directions to General Musharraf, the then President of Pakistan, and his government, that included clamping down on Al-Qaeda operations on the Pakistani border, handing over intelligence information, granting the USA access to Pakistan’s naval and air bases, breaking off diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and cutting off their fuel supply. Musharraf in an interview with CBS News’ magazine show “60 Minutes,” mentioned that the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, told his intelligence director that Pakistan had to help the USA or Pakistan would be ‘’bombed back to the stone age’’.

While the ‘War on Terror’ fostered the myth of equating Islam with radicalism and violence, a Gallup survey published in 2008 revealed that the vast majority of Muslims worldwide condemned the 9/11 attacks. Like non-Muslims, their priorities and dreams involved better jobs and security, not holy war or bloodshed.

There is a dire need for the USA to recognize the fact that in order to stay relevant in the arena of global power dynamics, it needs to commit to the vision of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, uphold non-interference in internal affairs, and respect the independent choices of development paths and social systems made by people in different countries.

The Pakistani government launched military operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan killing thousands of innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. It resulted in disastrous consequences for Pakistan as the disgruntled youth in tribal areas turned against the military and Pakistani interests, and launched a stream of terrorist attacks against Pakistan. Pakistan is still facing the uncalled-for consequences of supporting the War on Terror which has gravely upset its national security interests. As of April 2021, more than 71,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians are estimated to have died as a direct result of the war.

The US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 and tried to justify gross human rights violations based on the specious claim that Iraq, under dictator Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of building weapons of mass destruction. The 9/11 attacks provided the US administration with the perfect excuse to overthrow Saddam Hussein since it was pushing for regime change in Iraq since 1997. Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December 2003 and executed three years later in 2006. The power vacuum following Saddam’s demise and mismanagement by the caretaker government established by the US-led Multinational Force or coalition, led to widespread civil war between Shias and Sunnis, as well as a lengthy insurgency against coalition forces.

In 2008, President Bush agreed to a withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq. The withdrawal was completed under President Barack Obama in December 2011. No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Numerous claims made by the officials of the Bush Administration about a purported Saddam–Al-Qaeda relationship and WMDs based on sketchy evidence were rejected by intelligence officials. The rationale for war faced heavy criticism both domestically and internationally. In total, the war caused at least 100,000 civilian deaths, as well as tens of thousands of military deaths. The majority of deaths occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. The Iraqi civil war (2013-17), which is considered an after effect of the invasion and occupation, caused at least 155,000 deaths, in addition to the displacement of more than 3.3 million people within the country. The country suffered gravely in terms of socio-economic and financial disability as a result of which the country fell a prey to a heightened level of sectarianism and terrorism. But the USA has blatantly refused to take responsibility for its gruesome actions.

The problem with the USA is that it never learns from history. It takes immediate actions and bases its foreign policy on creating fear in the developing countries without fully assessing the consequences of its actions and their overall effect on the international community. By waging war against Afghanistan without taking into account, the Pashtun mentality and importance of jihad against foreign occupation, it literally opened a Pandora’s box resulting in an increase in Anti-USA sentiment around the Muslim world, and a marked increase in terrorist attacks in the USA itself as well as in the West.

To many Muslims, US interference in internal politics, its wanton disregard for other countries’ sovereignty, its backing of corrupt dictators and invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are just modern examples of colonial injustices in a long list that started with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 (Imran Khan in his book Pakistan: A Personal History)

It took the USA nearly 20 years to realize the fact that there was never going to be a military solution in Afghanistan. The US Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on 30 August 2021, marking the end of the 2001–2021 war following the US-Taliban deal signed between the Trump Administration and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020. With the US exit from Afghanistan, the Taliban took over the reins of the country, and the USA, embarrassed by its defeat, imposed sanctions against the Afghan nation. Its attempt to destabilize the country economically and financially resulted in the worst humanitarian crises seen in the modern age.

The question of the hour is that for how long the leaders of our nation, in their lust for relishing power and glory that is all but fleeting, are going to let the New World get away with the gross human rights violations committed by it?

There is a dire need for the USA to recognize the fact that in order to stay relevant in the arena of global power dynamics, it needs to commit to the vision of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, uphold non-interference in internal affairs, and respect the independent choices of development paths and social systems made by people in different countries.

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/

Europe’s gas dash risks leaving African countries high and dry

Africa should be wary of Europe’s sudden rush to diversify its oil and gas suppliers.

By Aisha Majid

Gas flares burn from pipes at an oil flow station operated by 

Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd in Idu, Rivers State, Nigeria. 

Photo by George Osodi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In May, the European Commission announced a €210bn plan to end its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. Among REpowerEU’s stated goals was a desire to explore the energy export potential of African countries, despite promises at Cop26 to move away from fossil fuels. The European phase out of Russian energy prompted by the invasion of Ukraine presents an unexpected opportunity for African countries with sizable reserves of oil and gas.

Twenty-five per cent of EU oil and 40 per cent of the bloc’s gas comes from Russia. High oil prices have benefitted producers such as Nigeria and Angola in the short-term, and Algeria, Egypt, Congo and Senegal have all signed gas deals this year with Germany and Italy. But while Europe’s efforts to engage with African energy producers may benefit some countries in the short-term, Europe’s turn to Africa could cause serious economic and social problems longer term.

Many African governments support the idea that fossil gas be considered a transition fuel, and even the former UN climate envoy Mary Robinson has argued that African countries should be allowed to exploit their gas reserves to tackle energy poverty and support development. Any remaining carbon budget – the limited amount of Co2 that can be released into the atmosphere while keeping global warming within the 1.5 degree Celsius limit as agreed in the Paris Agreement – should, said Robinson, go to countries in Africa where, across the continent, 570 million people still lack access to electricity.

“There is an assumption, perhaps unverified, that there will still be a fossil fuel space to 2050, although it is narrowing,” explains Silas Olan'g, a director at the non-profit organisation the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). “Call it a necessary evil, but any kind of small space that remains should be provided to those who contributed the least to climate change.”

However, the International Energy Agency has said there should be no new developments of fossil fuels if the world is to reach net zero by 2050. Africa’s climate and poverty levels, agree experts, make the continent particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts if the 1.5 degree limit is exceeded. There’s also the question of the timeline. The EU has committed to sourcing 45 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2030. Today this figure stands at just over 22 per cent. Eight years is a short horizon in oil and gas where investments are often planned on the basis of two or three decade returns. “It seems like Europe needs a lot of additional gas supply now but there's a big question mark over whether it will need that past 2030,” says Thomas Scurfield, an economist analyst at NRGI.

See also: How to end the world’s dependence on Russian oil and gas 

What this means in practice, say Scurfield and Olang, is that potential beneficiaries are limited to the small number of African countries which could quickly ramp up production. This solution could include increasing investment in existing gas plants in established producer nations such as Algeria and Nigeria which are operating below capacity to increase supply to Europe. Senegal, although less established, is another contender to become a supplier of gas to Europe, although the first batch of the country’s gas will only appear next year and is already promised to Asian buyers.



As for oil, demand could peak as soon as the mid-2020s, before falling rapidly meaning that any benefits would also only accrue to countries that can quickly step up production. The majority of Africa’s oil and gas, although plentiful, is largely undeveloped, and wider opportunities exist in the medium and longer term, says Vanessa Ushie, director of the Natural Resources Centre at the African Development Bank. “Moving from exploration to production in sub-Saharan Africa can take around a decade,” says Olang. “In that case, we will probably have missed [Europe’s] window of opportunity.”

Stepping up production would also not be cheap. Energy consultancy Rystad estimates that for gas, some $400bn would be needed through to 2035 to scale up existing production and bring online the continent’s undeveloped potential.

And, while large oil and gas investments in the context of global commitment to net zero are risky for any country, the outlay is likely to be costlier for countries with less developed oil and gas sectors. A March report into fossil fuel financing by a coalition of NGOs identified some $230bn of new oil and gas projects in the next 10 years that are at risk of becoming stranded assets should the world live up to its climate commitments. “It's really important that states don't take state money to either continue to invest in this legacy business, or potentially even worse, start to try and invest into an oil and gas economy,” says Mike Coffin of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a think tank. A number of countries in Africa including Mozambique are developing LNG projects which are particularly resource-intensive since liquifying gas and shipping it is costly. “Participating in the global gas industry requires substantial investment that is predicated on it being useful for a number of decades,” says Coffin. Given climate change and net-zero ambitions this is unlikely to be the case.

Given the large outlays needed, the responsible course of action says Olang would be for Europe to at least clarify its fossil fuel intentions and needs towards African countries. Linking any investments in fossil fuels with investment in renewables is also necessary, he says. REpowerEU links Europe’s short-term energy needs with investment in clean technologies, such as green hydrogen, promising to combine gas cooperation with longer-term investments in hydrogen, renewable gases and other green energies to prevent stranded assets and ensure low-income nations can also become clean energy economies.

The concept of trading off fossil fuel supplies in the short-term for a long-term renewable energy transition is a good idea in theory, says Olang, but he worries that the reality may be different. “It’s worth remembering from history that developed countries have not lived up to their commitments.” Amos Wemanya, a senior analyst at Powershift Africa is also doubtful that any fossil fuel investment can pay off for Africa. “What we have seen with fossil fuel development in Africa before is that it is actually counterproductive to development. Multinational corporations work in cahoots with a few local elites,” he says, pointing to the Niger Delta where battles over control of oil have led to thousands of deaths and the displacement of people.

Some countries such as Senegal have more robust resource management frameworks. The country recently passed a law prohibiting spending of future gas incomes on government salaries while allocating a portion of revenues to future investments in health and education. In the scramble to capitalise on what might be seen as the last opportunity to get their oil and gas out of the ground, some countries could, however, rush to sign off on projects without considering potential social and environmental harms.

Despite the short-term lure, governments across Africa should forgo any invitation to produce more fossil fuels for the European market, says Wemanya. The idea that exploitation of fossil fuels is necessary for countries to develop is, he says, based on outdated ideas. “The existing narrative holds that no country has ever developed without exploiting its fossil fuels, but we are living in different times. Africa has a huge benefit in being a latecomer in building the foundational infrastructure for development, including in energy. It can leapfrog the development pathways that the north underwent and build smarter, distributed energy systems powered by renewables.”

But while renewable technologies can help countries across Africa meet its own domestic energy needs, they don’t necessarily provide the export revenue some African countries are seeking to capitalise on through new deals with Europe. Coffin agrees this is an issue, but insists that the key question all countries need to answer when thinking about how to frame their economy is how “not to waste money by investing in something that is going to become stranded and will ultimately lose money”.

[ See also: Europe’s fossil fuel imports have funded Russia’s war ]

HUMAN RIGHTS TRUMP RELIGIOUS RITES

Students at Seattle Pacific University end sit-in, plan to sue over LGBTQ exclusion

As of Saturday afternoon, students have raised more than $35,000 through GoFundMe to cover legal fees.
People participate in the third day of a sit-in at Seattle Pacific University, May 26, 2022, after the board of trustees recently decided to retain a policy that prohibits the hiring of LGBTQ people.

 Photo via Twitter/@SPUisGay

July 2, 2022
By Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Students from Seattle Pacific University, a Christian school associated with the Free Methodist Church, have ended their more than month-long sit-in protesting the board of trustees’ decision to uphold a policy prohibiting the hiring of LGBTQ people. They are now planning legal action against the trustees.

“The board has elected to refuse our demands, meaning we will be moving forward with litigation. This is not a decision that we take lightly, but it is a decision we believe will protect the future of our university,” the Associated Students of Seattle Pacific said Friday (July 1) in a statement posted on Instagram.

Tracy Norlen, a spokesperson for Seattle Pacific University, told Religion News Service in an e-mail on Friday afternoon that there were no plans to change the university’s “employee lifestyle expectations,” which the dissenting students have described as homophobic and discriminatory.

As of Saturday afternoon, the student group has helped raise more than $35,000 through GoFundMe to cover legal fees.

RELATED: Are LGBTQ students at Christian schools discriminated against? A lawsuit, scholarly studies say yes.

People demonstrate at Seattle Pacific University, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, after the Board of Trustees recently decided to retain a policy that prohibits the hiring of LGBTQ people. Video screen grab via Twitter/Jeanie Lindsay

Students participating in the sit-in, which began in late May, had given the board of trustees until July 1 to rescind the hiring policy. On Friday night, as the sit-in concluded, students hung paper hearts from the ceiling and walls of the building where the protest took place. There were 924 paper hearts in the “Heartfelt Reactions” display, representing the hours spent protesting the policy.

The display is a nod to the board of trustees’ statement in late May noting that their decision to retain the policy, “which brings complex and heart-felt reactions,” was made in order for the university to “remain in communion” with the Free Methodist Church USA.

At issue is the school’s employee lifestyle expectation policy that states, in part, that “employees are expected to refrain from sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the University’s understanding of Biblical standards, including cohabitation, extramarital sexual activity, and same-sex sexual activity.”

The Associated Students of Seattle Pacific on Friday posted a letter on Instagram from Board Chair Dean Kato that was addressed to sit-in representatives.

“We acknowledge there is a disagreement among people of faith on the topic of sexuality and identity. But after careful and prayerful deliberation, we believe these longstanding employee expectations are consistent with the University’s mission and Statement of Faith that reflect a traditional view on biblical marriage and sexuality, as an expression of long-held orthodox church teaching,” the letter reads.

The Associated Students of Seattle Pacific, in the same Instagram post, said they “remain committed to pushing forward with the knowledge that God’s love is too big for small ideologies.”

RELATED: Seattle Pacific University faculty vote no confidence in board over LGBTQ exclusion

In April 2021 the university’s faculty took a vote of no confidence in its board of trustees after members of the board declined to change the hiring policy. The no-confidence vote was approved by 72% of the faculty. In the aftermath, a campus work group was assigned to explore how the university could better address issues involving gender and sexual orientation, according to The Seattle Times.

The campus of Seattle Pacific University in Seattle. Photo by Matthew Rutledge/Creative Commons

But before the trustees could vote on the campus work group’s recommendations, the Free Methodist Church USA issued a statement making clear the school would no longer be in communion with the church if it changed the hiring policy to be inclusive of those in same-sex marriages.

Chloe Guillot, who graduated last month, told RNS in June that their suit will be against the board of trustees, not the university.

“It’s not about the university being homophobic because, ultimately, the university is not. The university has been kept back by this board of trustees,” Guillot said.

With La Luz del Mundo’s leader behind bars for sex abuse, will the Mexican church survive?


Alejandra Molina - Religion News Service

June 23, 2022

CHRISTIAN HIJABS

Women fill a section of stands at the Fairplex fairgrounds on Feb. 14, 2020, during the third and final day of La Luz del Mundo’s Holy Supper ceremony in Pomona, California. 

RNS photo by Alejandra Molina

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — As La Luz del Mundo leader Naasón Joaquín García was sentenced to nearly 17 years for sexually abusing young female followers, Jack Freeman — a spokesman and minister for the church — remained steadfast in his support for García as God’s elected.

“Even if the whole world would come against me, I would still declare with my faith. I am a Child of God and a believer of Apostle (Naason) Joaquin!” Freeman said on Twitter a day after García’s sentencing.

La Luz del Mundo leaders continue to maintain García’s innocence, even after he was called “evil,” a “monster” and the “Antichrist” in his sentencing by five young women he was charged with sexually abusing. The women urged the judge to impose a longer sentence than the 16 years and eight months he received.

His followers believe the claims of abuse are fabricated and his guilty plea is the result of a fraudulent justice system. García abruptly pleaded guilty just before his long-awaited trial was to start.

Church leaders have noted that their congregations continue to grow in the U.S., where a new house of worship was just inaugurated in Waukegan, Illinois, and as new members were baptized in a ceremony in Pachuca, a city in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.

In the church’s official statement, leaders say García, who goes by the title of apostle, is on a “path that God has placed in front of him for a reason, as he did for Apostle Paul.”

“The Apostle will continue ministering to the church,” they said.

Church leaders are going to reach for whatever biblical analogy they can to justify the situation, said Arlene Sánchez-Walsh, a professor of religious studies at Azusa Pacific University. “Because that shores up the true believers’ idea that this is a persecution,” she added.

“The church is going to say that they are persecuted, like the historic Christian church has been, tying their persecution complex to the biblical idea of persecuted leaders in jail, like Peter and Paul,” said Sánchez-Walsh, author of “Latino Pentecostal Identity: Evangelical Faith, Self, and Society.”

Sánchez-Walsh said the church could continue to move forward despite García’s imprisonment. If a church has a substantial base of true believers and money, “it has enough to keep going for as long as they want,” she said.

If a church has a substantial base of true believers and money, “it has enough to keep going for as long as they want,” she said.

As well, she noted, there’s just too much to lose in leaving a belief system in which followers have invested “a lot of time, money and emotional currency.”

“That’s incredibly difficult to do for any organization, particularly a religious organization that’s given you a worldview that says, ‘We are God’s chosen. We are led by God’s apostle. We are the true church,” Sánchez-Walsh added.

Headquartered in the Catholic stronghold of Guadalajara, Mexico, the tightknit Mexico-based Pentecostal movement claims 5 million worldwide followers. La Luz del Mundo temples are across the United States, with several in Southern California, predominantly in working-class Latino communities such as East Los Angeles, Huntington Park and San Bernardino.

La Luz del Mundo was founded in 1926 by García’s grandfather, Eusebio Joaquín González. The church rejects the concept of the Trinity and teaches that Jesus is God’s son and church leaders, like García, his father and grandfather, are his apostles.

In 2020, an ex-member sued the church and more than a dozen of its leaders, alleging decades of abuse at the hands of the group’s leaders. García’s father was the subject of child sex abuse allegations in 1997, but authorities in Mexico never filed criminal charges.

Followers of La Luz del Mundo don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter, but they do recognize the birthdays of García and the other apostles.

As a former pastor of La Luz del Mundo, Sergio Meza said he understands why congregants would choose to remain in the church.

Meza was labeled as no longer “being of God” when he left his pastoral position years ago in about 1986, and he said if church members decide to leave, “they have to be willing to lose their entire family, their husbands and wives, their children and parents — everyone.”

“As soon as you start to question, you are seen as the enemy of the apostle and of the church,” said Meza, 72, of Los Angeles.

Meza served as pastor in churches in East LA; in San Antonio and Houston; in Ensenada in Baja California; and in various parts of Mexico. Pastors are reassigned every two or three years, he said, causing his family to move often. He said he made no money as pastor and sold food on the street to make ends meet.

“As soon as you start to question, you are seen as the enemy of the apostle and of the church,” said Meza, 72, of Los Angeles.

He left the church for good in about 2000. Aside from his wife, children and grandchildren, he said he has no other family, considering that many of his nephews and cousins still remain in La Luz del Mundo. His family’s involvement in the church spans five generations, with his mother, a former Catholic, joining in 1950.

“I understand that leaving is not easy,” he said.

La Luz del Mundo leaders have not answered questions as to how García will minister from behind bars, but García has been reported as addressing his followers through letters he wrote as he awaited trial from his jail cell. In one letter, according to the BBC News, García wrote that he was fulfilling a “divine mission” by preaching to fellow prisoners.

“God’s plan is perfect, even though it is not always pleasant,” he said in the message read out at the 2019 Holy Supper gathering in Guadalajara.

Daniel Ramírez, a Claremont Graduate University associate professor of religion, said the letters García sends to congregations “are received like the epistles of Paul in the New Testament.”

“A lot of his epistles were sent by Paul from Roman jail, so the faithful receive it in that genre of apostolic exhortation,” said Ramírez, author of “Migrating Faith: Pentecostalism in the United States and Mexico in the Twentieth Century.”

“No matter where the letter was read, whether Chicago, Atlanta or elsewhere, it was received with great emotion, great joy, as word from God’s apostle on earth,” Ramírez added.

Ramírez said it’s not completely clear how García’s imprisonment could ultimately affect the state of the church, but he did note “an explosion of dissent of former Luz del Mundo members and victims, who have now been able to use this moment to expose everything.”

Ramírez said it’s not completely clear how García’s imprisonment could ultimately affect the state of the church, but he did note “an explosion of dissent of former Luz del Mundo members and victims...”

He said this may be an opportunity for ex-members to reach out to their loved ones who remain inside. “It may stymie future growth,” Ramírez said.

Ramírez noted some distinct differences from decades ago, when church membership grew after Mexican authorities failed to bring criminal charges against García’s father when he was accused of child sex abuse.

La Luz del Mundo’s followers saw those accusations as proof of discrimination against them by Mexico’s Catholic majority, who often refer to them derogatorily as a sect or cult. Ramírez said the group’s leaders have in the past used setbacks to their advantage.

Now, Ramírez said, it’ll be interesting to see how the younger generations, including those born in the U.S., react to these developments. They’re social-media savvy, Ramírez said, and “they can run around any kind of barriers of information.”

To Raquel Guerra, who grew up attending a La Luz del Mundo church in San Antonio, Texas, the majority of church members “are good people.”

“They just put their faith in the wrong person,” said Guerra, who blames the church leadership for “falsifying and twisting everything.”

She said many don’t believe the claims of abuse, partly because the women alleging the abuse are listed as Jane Does in court documents. While Guerra recognizes their names aren’t listed in order to protect them, she said others may not grasp that. Some simply think such claims are fabricated, she said. Still, Guerra said there are those who say that, even if Garcia is responsible for abuse, “we cannot judge him.”

“They just put their faith in the wrong person,” said Guerra, who blames the church leadership for “falsifying and twisting everything.”

To some, Guerra said, leaders like Garcia “are able to experience pleasure of all kinds because they’re sent by God.”

While Guerra said she didn’t directly see any sexual abuse while she was a part of the church, she became more aware of stories of abuse after leaving the church and connecting with other ex-members.

She left La Luz del Mundo at around age 19 because she was pregnant and in a relationship with a man who wasn’t part of the church. An insular community, the church frowned on relationships with outsiders, Guerra said. She recalls church leaders saying the child was a product of sin.

Guerra still has family in the church who have “received her with open arms, even knowing that they consider me an apostate.”

“There are still some good members out there who practice love instead of hatred as his doctrine teaches,” Guerra said.

African Member States work together to boost analytical chemistry skills

OPCW’s laboratory capability enhancement programme supports chemical analysis skills relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention

THE HAGUE, Netherlands— 23 June 2022— The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in partnership with the Protechnik laboratories of South Africa, organised the 12th edition of the Analytical Chemistry Course from 23 May – 3 June 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. The two-week long course is part of the laboratory capability enhancement programme aimed at developing analytical chemistry skills relevant to the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It is part of OPCW’s Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Matome Mookodi, Director of the South African National Authority, stressed the importance of the course for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in the African region. The OPCW Programme Officer, Taeeon Kim, coordinating the course stated: “The course showcases the cooperation between the African Member States.”

Participants learned about the Chemical Weapons Convention and the use of analytical methods to detect Convention-related substances, using Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS is an instrumental technique to identify different chemical substances that can be used during the OPCW inspection and verification processes. Throughout the two weeks, the participants learned the theories of the GC-MS and participated in practical exercises on the use of the GC-MS equipment in the analysis of chemical substances in the laboratory.

At the end of the course, participants demonstrated the knowledge and skills gained in using the GC-MS methods by successfully passing the exam given at the end of the training.

“It was a very useful course, and I am looking forward to sharing the knowledge I learnt from the course with my colleagues at home and to prepare for the OPCW Proficiency Test”, said one of the participants from Sierra Leone in the closing ceremony.

The in-person training was attended by 22 participants from 16 African Member States: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cóte d’lvoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Background

OPCW supports its Member States in the peaceful use of chemistry as mandated under the Article XI of the Convention (economic and technological development). Capacity building under Article XI focuses on integrated chemicals management, laboratory capabilities enhancement, and promotion of chemical knowledge.

OPCW’s Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa on the Chemical Weapons Convention – more commonly known as the Africa Programme – focuses on the needs of African Member States, including the promotion of peaceful and authorised uses of chemistry for inclusive and sustainable development and for a safe and secure Africa.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Over 99% of all declared chemical weapon stockpiles have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

More InformationChemical Safety and Security Management Programme
Africa Programme
Analytical Skills Development Course
Protechnik Laboratories
Photos from the Event
OPCW Basics

INDONESIA

As tech craters, founders find someone to blame: VCs

And Jakarta's unfashionably slow-growing companies feel pretty good.

Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

By ANTONIA TIMMERMAN

 JAKARTA, INDONESIA

In late May, as the global tech cooldown began to trigger layoffs in Jakarta, Gibran Huzaifah, the 32-year-old founder of Indonesian startup eFishery, wrote a Twitter thread that quickly caught fire. In it, he took venture capital firms to task, criticizing the growth-over-profit, money-burning model propelled by the region’s investors. He also took a jab at his founder peers who used splashy funding rounds for media exposure — and who would be the ones most deeply affected by a potential funding crunch.

“Yes, it’s the founders and VCs who drive this aggressively. Yes, in many cases, the business model is chaotic,” one section read. “But it’s also about the way that cashburn is seen by consumers, talent, and the media.”

With 4,000 retweets and over 10,000 likes, the post reflected a deep current of dissatisfaction: the opinion that VC cash had disproportionately funded discounts and promotions to gain new customers and win market share, instead of building valuable infrastructure and creating something truly sustainable. Academics and economy experts, too, lashed out across Twitter and other social media. Huzaifah seemed to channel the frustration — in part, too late — of a tech community that witnessed and enabled a first-time Jakarta boom built on the fast churn of venture money. Now, it was beginning to unravel.

In June, when Rest of World recently met Huzaifah in a high-ceilinged café near his headquarters in coastal Bandung, the capital of West Java, he was calm and soft-spoken. But he grew animated when recalling how pushy investors needled him at the height of the tech boom. “Why are you profitable? You should chase growth over profitability,” he recalled one berating him when he tried to raise money.

The aquatech startup eFishery, which he had bootstrapped in 2013, first attracted seed capital in 2014, and swung into profit four years later. Its technology infrastructure promises to streamline the process of fish farming — a vast but tricky-to-manage industry the world over. In January of this year, eFishery attracted big-name investors like SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital India, and Temasek in a $90 million funding round. That’s a remarkably slow fundraising journey for a Southeast Asian tech startup.

“I had experienced how building a long-term and profitable [business] was not properly appreciated by investors,” Huzaifah said, visibly frustrated. “[They] don’t get the same opportunities.”

VC investors in Southeast Asia closed almost 600 deals last year — nearly seven times the number of deals closed a decade ago — injecting more than $32 billion into startups, data from Tech in Asia show. East Ventures, Sequoia, Wavemaker, 500 Global, and Alpha JWC Ventures were among the most active investors, having funded over 12,000 startups in the region. During the pandemic, valuations shot up as investors threw money into tech firms, many of which had been operating by the acknowledged rule of the ecosystem: grow first, make profits later. Some startups course-corrected. Those that didn’t, however, face the reality that, when the money dries up, they’re typically forced to resort to cost-cutting measures, such as layoffs and pay cuts.

To some, the current backlash is a reaction to something obvious. “We all know how VCs work, right?” Pang Xue Kai, CEO and cofounder of crypto trading platform Tokocrypto, told Rest of World over Zoom. “[VCs] take the valuation … and then they will pass it on to another VC or another fund, so that they ultimately will be able to get that upside number of multiples in terms of valuation.”

“I do agree that this model, the growth-at-all-costs model, is not a sustainable way to go,” added the Singaporean mechanical engineer turned entrepreneur.

Tokocrypto, which claims to have turned a profit last year, has gone through only two fundraisings since its inception in 2018 and raised just $5 million, according to Kai. (There’s no public record of the company’s funding history.) That kind of modest fundraising is unusual for crypto startups, many of which rode the crypto enthusiasm wave to its heights. Kai believed that the funding base gave the company, which now has 2.6 million customers, more leeway to navigate the current market downturn. The company has kicked off the auditing and director due diligence processes, in preparation for going public on the Indonesian stock market.

Lingga Madu learned his lesson about prioritizing growth over profit even before the latest crunch. Once the co-founder of a rising e-commerce star in Southeast Asia — Sale Stock, later rebranded as Sorabel — he raised a $20 million series A funding in 2015, one of the largest such rounds that year, he said.


“The model just didn’t work.”

The company, backed by Gobi Partners, Alpha JWC Ventures, and Kejora Capital, among other VCs, grew quickly with the promise of “honest pricing” — the idea that advertised prices wouldn’t change, responding to a peeve of disappointed customers who purchase a product only to find it heavily discounted the next day. Speaking to Rest of World, Madu held that the business was healthy and was structured to cover its customer acquisition costs in six months.

But along the way, Madu said he felt the need to grow, prompting him to introduce discounts. The number of customers grew, but its customers’ lifetime value (CLV) — a metric showing an existing customer’s purchase value over the longer term — fell.

“There was a lot of pressure to grow,” Madu said. “It was something that’s misguided.” In 2020, Sorabel went bankrupt and shut down. “The model just didn’t work.”
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Sorabel’s investors Alpha JWC Ventures and Kejora Capital declined to comment. Gobi Partners did not respond to a request for comment.

Some of the less fundraising-dependent companies, like Huzaifah’s eFishery, are feeling vindicated, saying they’ve expanded organically and are better able to withstand the new environment of belt tightening and expectation management. Modest fashion e-commerce site Hijup, which has been profitable since 2017, told Rest of World it is no longer pursuing fast growth, and that it plans to expand its online third-party marketplace to compete with giants like Tokopedia and Shopee. “Our management believes that the ones who will thrive are organic businesses, going forward,” said Hijup spokesperson Annisa Nurrizky during Rest of World’s visit to the company’s busily humming warehouse.

Tokocrypto claims to have turned a profit last year and has gone through two fundraisings since its inception in 2018. Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Others are publicly shrugging off the pressure: Edward Tirtanata, CEO and co-founder of profitable, tech-enabled coffee startup Kopi Kenangan, told local media in late May that his company aimed to open 50 new outlets over a single month, expanding into new food and beverages, from fried chicken to ready-to-drink coffee products.

“Our startup climate is toxic due to ridiculous valuations from VCs and founders,” Harry Su, managing director at Jakarta-based advisory firm Samuel International, told Rest of World. VCs shouldn’t be entirely blamed, though, he added. The recipients of their money are complicit too. “Founders are also guilty as they thirst for more funding and greater exit valuations,” he said. “Hence, operating sustainability often falls by the wayside.”

Su pointed out that VCs investing in Southeast Asia tend to expect the growth rates of U.S. startups, leading them to invest with U.S.-comparable valuations. But unlike their American counterparts, Indonesian startups do not have the ability to scale globally, creating valuations that outstrip performance.

Faced with what looks like a long winter — the U.S. Federal Reserve just approved another interest rate increase, aiming to curb inflation — VCs have also begun to put out messages emphasizing profitability and positive unit economics, the founders of eFishery and Tokocrypto noted. There will be more changes in the ecosystem, too, they believed.

“There’s a change in mindset,” Huzaifah said. He predicted that startups in niche verticals, such as agritech and port logistics, will have more opportunities to shine.

Huzaifah, for his part, told Rest of World that eFishery was looking for 1,000 more employees across Indonesia this year to double its near-1,000-strong team. The startup is testing its first regional expansion, in Thailand and India, and aims to be in 10 countries in three years. At the same time, the company is developing its downstream business — selling fish to restaurants and food stalls.

“What we need to focus on is actually to build products,” said Tokocrypto’s Kai. “Not just products that will make people spend, but products that will actually bring value to people that are using them.”


This article has been updated to clarify Sorabel’s decisions made around discounting.

John Paul I and birth control: Rare audio recording shows he wanted change in church teaching before becoming pope

Cindy Wooden - Catholic News Service

Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, are pictured in Venice in September 1972. The editorial director of Vatican News, Andrea Tornielli, wrote in a June 21 article that Archbishop Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, had hoped that Pope Paul VI would liberalize church teaching on artificial birth control, but when he didn't, the archbishop helped promote acceptance of "Humanae Vitae." (CNS photo)

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—On the eve of the World Meeting of Families and with a view toward the beatification Sept. 4 of Pope John Paul I, attention turned to his initial openness to softening Catholic teaching on contraception and his later support for the teaching of Paul VI.

The editorial director of Vatican News, Andrea Tornielli, and the vice postulator of John Paul’s sainthood cause, Stefania Falasca, both focused in June on a document drafted in 1967 by then-Bishop Albino Luciani of Vittorio Veneto—the future pope.

Written on behalf of the bishops of Italy’s Triveneto region, the document was given to Paul VI before he issued “Humanae Vitae,” which upheld the church’s opposition to artificial birth control. The document was not available publicly until 2020, when it and other unpublished works were released with a biography of Pope John Paul.

“The moral and scientific problems related to birth control had interested Albino Luciani, who studied them with particular attention."

But Tornielli, who is doing a podcast about the pope for Vatican News, also wrote about “a very rare audio tape” of Bishop Luciani talking about church teaching on regulating births during a conference in Mogliano Veneto in 1968, shortly before the release of “Humanae Vitae.”

“In the course of that conference he had said, ‘For me this is the biggest theological issue that has ever been dealt with in the church. When there was Arius or Nestorius and they were talking about the two natures in Christ, they were serious issues, yes, but they were understood only at the top of the church, by theologians and bishops. The poor people understood nothing about these things and would say, ‘I adore Jesus Christ, I love the Lord who redeemed me,’ and it was all there, there was no danger.”

But the issue of whether it is permissible under some circumstances to use some forms of birth control, the future pope said, “‘is a problem that no longer concerns the top leadership of the church, but the whole church, all young families.’ And he had added shortly afterward that he hoped for a ‘liberalizing’ word from the pontiff,” Tornielli wrote June 21 in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

Falasca, writing June 13 in Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, said that “the moral and scientific problems related to birth control had interested Albino Luciani, who studied them with particular attention, seeking a way in which the application of Catholic doctrine could also take into account the drama of conscience of many believing couples, tormented by the discord between fidelity to magisterial indications and the actual difficulties of life as a couple.”

“One must distinguish, on the one hand, the reflection and concerns in research by a pastor and, on the other hand, consider the bishop faithful to a doctrine that had remained steadfast in its disapproval of contraceptive practices.”

By urging a somewhat more liberal position before “Humanae Vitae” and urging full acceptance of the teaching afterward, Bishop Luciani was being Catholic, Falasca argued. “One must distinguish, on the one hand, the reflection and concerns in research by a pastor who is also a dogmatic theologian, close with great pastoral sensitivity to the difficulties of so many Christian couples and therefore in favor of a deepening of Catholic doctrine on the issue and, on the other hand, consider the bishop faithful to a doctrine that had remained substantially and consistently steadfast in its disapproval of contraceptive practices.”

In the paper he drafted on behalf of the Triveneto bishops, the future pope had made it clear that the bishops were not in favor of liberalizing church teaching against the use of instruments or chemicals that attack a fertilized egg or sterilize the sperm or inhibit the implanting of a fertilized egg on the uterus wall.

Instead, Bishop Luciani’s paper argued only that in some situations of hardship, a couple should be allowed to rely on the use of synthetic progesterone and estrogen to do what nature does with natural progesterone and estrogen, that is, repress ovulation for a period of time and therefore prevent pregnancy.

“It would seem not to go against nature if, manufactured in imitation of natural progesterone, one would use it to distance one birth from the other, to give rest to the mother and to think of the good of children already born or to be born,” he had written. “Of course, for the lawfulness of its use, the circumstances must concur: righteous intention, that is, the intention to bring into the world -- over the years of fecundity -- the number of children that can be appropriately supported and educated.”

When, however, the pope published “Humanae Vitae,” Bishop Luciani acknowledged the disappointment of many Catholics, but insisted the pope “put his trust in God” and was inspired to uphold “the constant teaching of the magisterium in this most delicate matter in all its purity.”

Bishop Luciani argued that in some situations of hardship, a couple should be allowed to rely on the use of synthetic progesterone and estrogen to repress ovulation for a period of time.

At the same time, Falasca wrote, Bishop Luciani urged pastors to be gentle with penitents, encouraging them to grow in accepting the teaching of “Humanae Vitae” without condemning them if they could not fully comply.

“One may think that God, all seeing and considering, has not suspended his friendship with these souls,” the future pope wrote. In the context of an otherwise “Christian life,” one can assume that “the will of those spouses has not departed from God and that their guilt may not be serious, although it is not given to us to know with certainty.”

He added that he hoped his reply “will not earn me the accusation of wanting to place pillows under the elbows of sinners!”


Cindy Wooden - Catholic News Service
@Cindy_Wooden

Spain Demands EU Withdraw From Energy Treaty That Undermines Climate Action

Spain is the first nation to publicly call for abandoning the Energy Charter Treaty.


German energy company RWE has sued the Netherlands for 1.4 billion euros as compensation for the country's plan to phase out coal by 2030. 

(Photo: Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

KENNY STANCIL

Spain has urged the European Union to leave an arcane energy treaty that protects fossil fuel investors at the expense of maintaining a habitable planet.

At issue is the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), an obscure agreement whose investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism enables fossil fuel corporations to sue governments over anticipated economic losses stemming from plans to move away from coal, oil, and gas.

German energy companies RWE and Uniper, for example, are suing the Netherlands for 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) and 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), respectively, as compensation for the Dutch government's plan to phase out coal by 2030.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera told Politico Tuesday that more than a dozen rounds of talks to reform the treaty, including an E.U. proposal that wouldn't end protections for many existing fossil fuel investments until 2040, have made it clear that the effort "will fail to ensure the alignment of the ECT with the Paris agreement and the objectives of the European Green Deal."

"At a time when accelerating a clean energy transition has become more urgent than ever, it is time that the E.U. and its member states initiate a coordinated withdrawal from the ECT," she said, making Spain the first nation to publicly call for abandoning the accord.

Ribera's comments came as five youth plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the ECT in the European Court of Human Rights.

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Young Europeans Sue to Stop Treaty That Fossil Fuel Giants Use to Foil Climate Action
Kenny Stancil

In addition to draining billions of dollars in taxpayer money that could otherwise be used to fund climate action, the ECT hinders more robust decarbonization plans, according to critics.

Last year, Yamina Saheb, a former employee of the ECT secretariat who resigned to sound the alarm in 2018, called the pact "a real threat" to the Paris agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5ºC above preindustrial levels by century's end. "It's the biggest threat I am aware of," added the whistleblower.

According to Saheb, foreign investors could, under the ECT, sue governments for 1.3 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) between now and 2050 as reimbursement for the closure of fossil fuel plants. That sum is equivalent to what the E.U. hopes to spend on a green transition during this pivotal decade.

Given that an estimated 60% of secretive ECT tribunal decisions favor investors, critics say the mere threat of costly litigation has a chilling effect on climate ambition—prompting states to weaken policies in an attempt to discourage energy companies from arguing that certain measures do not meet the ECT's ambiguous standard of "fair and equitable treatment."

The ECT's so-called "future earnings" clause is particularly consequential, as it protects hundreds of billions of dollars worth of fossil fuel infrastructure.

Spain's call to quit the ECT coincided with the publication of a new letter in which 76 climate scientists warned E.U. leaders that continuing to shield coal, oil, and gas investors under the treaty's rules would force countries to "choose between keeping the existing fossil fuel infrastructure running until the end of their lifetimes or facing new ISDS claims."

"Both options will jeopardize the E.U. climate neutrality target and the E.U. Green Deal," said the letter, which implored recipients to withdraw European nations from the ECT.

The ECT's 54 members, stretching from Western Europe through Central Asia to Japan, are meeting this week to negotiate the "modernization" of the nearly 30-year-old agreement.

"Several countries, including Spain and France, have previously called for the European Commission to prepare legal advice on walking out of the pact," Politico reported.

Countries that withdraw from the ECT are still subject to ISDS lawsuits for 20 years after they pull out thanks to a "zombie clause" in the agreement.

British company Rockhopper Exploration exploited this loophole in 2017, suing Italy for 225 million euros ($237 million) in future profits after the government, which had just left the ECT, reintroduced a ban on oil drilling in the Adriatic Sea.

Two unnamed E.U. officials told Politico earlier this week that the bloc's proposal for an extended phase-out of fossil fuel protections was still being discussed despite Japan's opposition.

ECT members are scheduled to meet on Friday to formally conclude reform talks, at which point the European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the E.U.'s 27 member states, is expected to announce the continent's response to the process.

Influencers peddling medical, financial advice now need certification, China says

Rita Liao@ritacyliao 

Image Credits: Screenshot of Luo Xiang, a law professor who's attracted millions of fans through his video and livestreaming lectures

(opens in a new window)

China has taken another step to regulate how online influencers impart information to their followers.

The government has put a great deal of effort into moderating digital content over the years. The rise of more real-time media formats, like livestreaming and snappy video sharing, has made it harder to weed out illegal and unwanted information. As such, new control measures are constantly being proposed as the internet landscape evolves.

Influencers and livestreamers distributing “professional” content in fields like medicines, finance, law and education must have the relevant licenses for their regarding fields, said a set of new provisions announced by China’s National Radio and Television Administration, which issues permits to content providers, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which oversees internet culture.

Platform operators should be responsible for reviewing broadcasters’ certifications and subsequently putting the relevant information in the official records. Artificial intelligence-synthesized presenters and content are subject to the same set of requirements as human broadcasters, the rules say.

The new policy will inevitably raise the bar for grassroots, independent content creators but can be good for tackling disinformation, especially when their opinions can potentially have effect on individuals’ healthcare and financial decisions.

Online live broadcasting has boomed in China over the last few years and become the default way for many to consume information and shop for clothes, produce and more — sort of like TV shopping in the mobile internet era. As of December 2021, over 700 million people in China were livestreaming users, 68% of the country’s entire internet population, according to official data.

ByteDance’s video app Douyin, which is TikTok’s Chineseversion, and Tencent-backed Kuaishou are two of the top livestreaming platforms in the country. Other big players like Huya and Douyu specialize in gaming content.

Livestreaming has really become an integral feature for platforms of all kinds to engage users. A finance app might have their analysts sharing wealth management tips in live sessions and a healthcare app similarly might invite doctors to give real-time talks.

The other recent change to how China wants to control digital content is a new mechanism that would vet user comments before they go live, according to a proposed rule, which has stirred up debate around room for expression.