CHEAP LIKE BORSCHT
Cost of India quitting coal is $900 billion, think tank says

By SIBI ARASU

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Smoke rises from a coal-powered steel plant at Hehal village near Ranchi, in eastern state of Jharkhand, Sept. 26, 2021. India will require $900 billion over the next 30 years to move away from coal mines and thermal plants, a New Delhi based think tank said in a report Thursday, March 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

BENGALURU, India (AP) — If India stopped burning coal tomorrow, over five million people would lose their jobs. But for a price tag of around $900 billion over the next 30 years, the country can make sure nobody is left behind in the huge move to clean energy to curb human-caused climate change, according to figures released by New Delhi-based think tank Thursday.

The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, known by the acronym iFOREST, released two reports detailing how much it will cost for India to move away from coal and other dirty fuels without jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions who still are employed in coal mines and thermal power plants.

Ensuring that everyone can come along in the clean energy shift that’s needed to stop the worst harms of climate change and guaranteeing new work opportunities for those in fossil fuel industries, known as a just transition, has been a major consideration for climate and energy analysts.

“Just transition should be viewed as an opportunity for India to support green growth in the country’s fossil fuel dependent states and districts,” said Chandra Bhushan, the head of iFOREST.

To get the $900 billion figure, the group researched four coal districts in India and identified eight different cost factors, like setting up infrastructure and getting workers ready for the transition.

The biggest single investment to enable a just transition will be the cost of setting up clean energy infrastructure, which the report estimates could be up to $472 billion by 2050. Providing workers with clean energy jobs will cost less than 10% of the total amount required for a just transition, or about $9 billion.

The think tank said $600 billion would come as investments in new industries and infrastructure, with an additional $300 billion as grants and subsidies to support coal industry workers and affected communities.

“The scale of transition is massive. If formal and informal sector workers are included, we are talking about an industry that is the lifeline for 15-20 million people,” said Sandeep Pai, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C. based think tank. “Reports like this are extremely important since the just transition conversation is beginning only now in India ... we need much more of the same.”

India is one of the largest emitters of planet-warming gases, behind only China, the U.S. and the EU. The country depends on coal for 75% of its electricity needs and for 55% of its overall energy needs.

The country is still a far way off quitting coal. Earlier this month, the Indian government issued emergency orders stipulating that coal plants are run at full capacity through this summer to avoid any power outages. The country’s coal use is expected to peak between 2035 and 2040, according to government figures.

Prime minister Narendra Modi announced in 2021 that the country will achieve net zero emissions — where it only puts out greenhouse gases that it can somehow offset — by 2070. On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged nations to speed up their net zero goals, calling for developing countries to set a target of 2050. He was met with a muted response.

The reports recommends that the Indian government focuses on retiring old and unprofitable mines and power plants first. Over 200 of India’s more than 459 mines can be retired in this way.

“The energy transition has to start with coal,” said Jayant Sinha, who represents the coal-rich Hazaribagh constituency in the central Indian state of Jharkhand, adding that the switch to clean energy needs both funds and institutions to ramp it up. “Both of this must happen together for a successful transition,” he said.

Deals to help the coal-reliant nations of South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam make a just energy transition have been made in recent years. Energy experts say while these deals are moving in the right direction the scale of them are far short of what’s needed to make a real impact.

It’s still not clear if India will be open to a similar just energy transition deal.

Indian leaders have expressed skepticism over climate funds promised by developed nations, pointing to a promise to give low-income and developing countries $100 billion every year to help with climate challenges back in 2009 that is still yet to be met.

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Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Heavily indebted Chinese developer proposes restructuring

By JOE McDONALD

A cleaner sweeps near a map showing Evergrande development projects in China on a wall in an Evergrande city plaza in Beijing on Sept. 21, 2021. A Chinese real estate developer whose struggle to manage more than $300 billion in debt rattled global financial markets announced a long-awaited plan Thursday, March 23, 2023, to restructure what it owes to foreign bondholders

. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese real estate developer whose struggle to manage more than $300 billion in debt rattled global financial markets announced a long-awaited plan Thursday to restructure what it owes to foreign bondholders.

The Evergrande Group, the global real estate industry’s most heavily indebted company, ran short of cash after Beijing tightened controls on corporate debt the ruling Communist Party worries is dangerously high. Some other Chinese developers collapsed, leaving half-finished apartment blocks standing empty.

Evergrande’s struggle prompted fears about possible shockwaves for the global financial system. The Chinese central bank tried to reassure investors, saying its problems could be controlled and were unlikely to spill over.

A deputy central bank governor, Pan Gongsheng, said this month the real estate industry finally was recovering following a wave of defaults. Pan said financing conditions for healthy developers had “improved significantly.”

Evergrande’s plan would cover foreign bondholders who are owed about $20 billion. They would receive new bonds and other debt linked to two Evergrande subsidiaries that make electric cars and manage real estate. It wasn’t clear how much bondholders might lose compared with a full payout under the original terms.

The proposed terms are a “substantial positive milestone in achieving the restructuring” and represent “significant progress,” the company said in a statement through the Hong Kong stock exchange. It said investors would be asked for approval by the end of March.

The announcement comes at a time when Chinese leaders are trying to revive economic growth that fell to 3% last year, its second-lowest level since the 1970s. The ruling party set an official growth target of “around 5.5%” for this year.

Chinese regulators stepped in to supervise Evergrande’s debt restructuring, but economists said they rejected a bailout to avoid sending the wrong message to companies about the need to reduce their debts.

Foreign creditors were left guessing whether they would receive anything after the company missed two earlier deadlines to announce repayment terms.

China’s economic growth slid in mid-2021 after Evergrande and other heavily indebted developers were blocked from borrowing more money. That added to disruption from anti-virus controls.

Local governments took over some unfinished projects to make sure families got apartments that already were paid for.

Evergrande reported 2.3 trillion yuan ($330 billion) in assets, or more than its 2.1 trillion yuan ($305 billion) in debt to banks and bondholders. But the company said it was struggling to convert that into cash to repay lenders.

Artwork removed after honoring jailed Hong Kong protesters

By KANIS LEUNG

today

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In this undated image released by Art Innovation Gallery, Patrick Amadon's "No Rioters" digital artwork is seen on the billboard of the SOGO shopping mall in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong department store took down a digital artwork that contained hidden references to jailed dissidents, in an incident the artist says is evidence of erosion of free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. (Art Innovation Gallery via AP)

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong department store took down a digital artwork that contained hidden references to jailed dissidents, in an incident the artist says is evidence of erosion of free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

It was unclear whether the government played a role in the decision to remove the artwork, it came just days after a slasher film featuring Winnie the Pooh, a figure often used in playful taunts of China’s President Xi Jinping, was pulled from local cinemas.

Patrick Amadon’s “No Rioters” was put on display on a billboard at the SOGO Causeway Bay Store for an exhibition that started last Friday, as the city was promoting its return as a vibrant cultural hub following years of pandemic travel restrictions. Art Basel Hong Kong, a prominent art fair in Asia, began this week, alongside other art events.

Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China’s rule in 1997, promising to retain its Western-style freedoms. The city was rocked by a massive pro-democracy protest movement in 2019, which ended after China imposed a “National Security Law” that criminalized much dissent. The city’s government has since jailed and silenced many activists.

Amadon said he had followed the protests in Hong Kong closely, and he wanted his work to show solidarity with the protesters and remind people about the new reality of the city.

“It was too much watching Art Week in Hong Kong pretend the Chinese government didn’t crush a democracy and turn Hong Kong into a vassal surveillance state... because it’s a convenient location for a good market,” the Los Angeles-based artist said.

Amadon said he knew the work would be controversial and was surprised it had been displayed in public for days. It featured a panning surveillance camera.

Flashes of Matrix-like text showcased the names and prison sentences of convicted activists and other prominent figures in the pro-democracy movement, including legal scholar Benny Tai and former student leader Joshua Wong, who were both charged with subversion in the biggest case brought under the National Security Law.

These details were shown too fast to be seen by the naked eyes Amadon said, but viewers could see the details if they used a camera to capture stills. It also referred to journalist-turned activist Gwyneth Ho who was assaulted when she was live-streaming a mob attack in July 2019 during the massive protests sparked by an extradition bill.

The gallery that arranged the exhibit did not know whether the government ordered the work taken down, Francesca Boffetti, CEO at Art Innovation Gallery said in an email.

“Our intermediary told us that the owners of SOGO were concerned about the sensitive political content hidden behind Patrick’s work, so they decided to remove the work from the exhibition immediately,” Boffetti said.

No one mentioned any law or threatened them with fines, she added, but SOGO’s legal team asked the gallery whether it was aware of the content and message of Amadon’s work.

Local police and SOGO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau told the Associated Press that it did not contact SOGO.

Amadon said the gallery told him in an urgent call that it was very concerned about its legal exposure after a conversation with SOGO.

Since the passage of the National Security Law, the city’s art and media communities have learned to be wary of crossing vaguely defined red lines. Pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was forced to close after authorities arrested its top editors and executives and accused them of foreign collusion. Some artists known for their political work left Hong Kong under the shadow of the law. Some filmmakers have stopped showing their work in the city. Even those producing non-political content have become cautious. But the government insisted that its residents continue to enjoy promised freedoms after the enactment of the law.

Amadon said what happened to his work showed that the city had lost its freedom of expression and artistic freedom.

“This objectively shows that they are no longer here in the same way that they once were,” he said. “From a narrative standpoint, I mean, it did have to get censored and taken down, I feel like, to be a completed piece.”

Israel passes law protecting Netanyahu as protests continue

By TIA GOLDENBERG

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Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse Israelis blocking the freeway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Thursday passed the first of several laws that make up its contentious judicial overhaul as protesters opposing the changes staged another day of demonstrations aimed at raising alarm over what they see as the country’s descent toward autocracy.

Thousands of people protested throughout the country, blocking traffic on main highways and scuffling with police in unrest that shows no sign of abating, especially as the overhaul moves ahead.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition approved legislation that would protect the Israeli leader from being deemed unfit to rule because of his corruption trial and claims of a conflict of interest surrounding his involvement in the legal changes. Critics say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu, encourages corruption and deepens a gaping chasm between Israelis over the judicial overhaul.

Netanyahu’s office said he would be delivering “an important declaration” Thursday evening after Israeli media reported that his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, would publicly call for a halt to the legislative drive. Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife and close informal advisor, also issued a rare statement calling for broad compromise.

The legal changes have split the nation between those who see the new policies as stripping Israel of its democratic ideals and those who think the country has been overrun by a liberal judiciary. The government’s plan has plunged the nearly 75-year-old nation into one of its worst domestic crises.

“Either Israel will be a Jewish, democratic and progressive state or religious, totalitarian, failing, isolated and closed off. That’s where they are leading us,” Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and a prominent supporter of the protest movement, told Israeli Army Radio.

The opposition is rooted in broad swaths of society — including business leaders and top legal officials. Even the country’s military, seen as a beacon of stability by Israel’s Jewish majority, is enmeshed in the political conflict, as some reservists are refusing to show up for duty over the changes. Israel’s international allies have also expressed concern.

The law to protect Netanyahu passed in an early morning vote 61-47 in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, after a debate that ran through the night. Netanyahu, seated by his Justice Minister, and the overhaul’s architect, Yariv Levin, was seen smirking during the vote.

It stipulates that a prime minister can only be deemed unfit to rule for health or mental reasons and that only he or his government can make that decision. It comes after the country’s attorney general has faced growing calls by Netanyahu opponents to declare him unfit to rule over his legal problems. The attorney general has already barred Netanyahu from involvement in the legal overhaul, saying he is at risk of a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good governance organization, said it was challenging the law in court, in what could set up the first showdown between judges and the government over the legal changes. Experts say the overhaul could set off a constitutional crisis that would leave Israel in chaos over who should be obeyed, the government or the courts.

On Thursday, protesters launched a fourth midweek day of demonstrations. They blocked major thoroughfares, set tires ablaze near an important seaport and draped a large Israeli flag and a banner with the country’s Declaration of Independence over the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. Police said they made several arrests around the country. Several protest leaders were among those arrested, organizers said.

Protesters blocked the main highway in seaside Tel Aviv and police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators in that city and Haifa in the north.

Netanyahu called on opposition leaders to “stop the anarchy immediately,” after what he said was an attack on Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency.

Video on social media showed a protester swiping her flagpole in Dichter’s direction, hitting him once on the head, but he appeared unharmed and continued walking. A spokesman for Dichter said the flagpole tapped his head lightly and that the protester also smacked his car with it.

A protest was planned later in the day in a large ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv. The demonstration’s organizers say the demonstration there is meant to drive home to that community that their rights are in danger under the overhaul. Ultra-Orthodox leaders see the demonstration in their midst as provocative.

The overhaul crisis has magnified a longstanding rift between secular Jewish Israelis and religious ones over how much of a role religion should play in their day-to-day lives. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers in government are central drivers of the overhaul because they believe the courts are a threat to their traditional way of life. In contrast, secular opponents to the changes fear they will open the door to religious coercion.



In addition to Thursday’s demonstrations, tens of thousands of people have been showing up for weekly protests each Saturday night for more than two months.

Netanyahu’s government rejected a compromise proposal earlier this month meant to ease the crisis. It said that it would slow the pace of the changes, pushing most of them to after a monthlong parliamentary recess in April.

But the government was plowing forward on a key part of the overhaul, which would grant the government control over who becomes a judge. The government says it amended the original bill to make the law more inclusive, but opponents rejected the move, saying the change was cosmetic and would maintain the government’s grip over the appointment of judges. The measure was expected to pass next week.

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he could find an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul his government is advancing.

The government says the changes are necessary to restore a balance between the executive and judicial branches, which they say has become too interventionist in the way the country is run.

Critics say the government, Israel’s most right-wing ever, is pushing the country toward authoritarianism with its overhaul, which they say upends the country’s fragile system of checks and balances.

Rights groups and Palestinians say Israel’s democratic ideals have long been tarnished by the country’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.

___

Associated Press reporter Isaac Scharf contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

German unions call for wide-ranging transport strike Monday


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Demonstrators march through downtown Halle/Saale, Germany, Thursday, March 23, 2023. German unions are calling on thousands of workers across the country's transport system to stage a one-day strike on Monday that is expected to bring widespread disruption to planes, trains and local transit. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/dpa via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — German unions are calling on thousands of workers across the country’s transport system to stage a one-day strike on Monday that is expected to bring widespread disruption to planes, trains and local transit.

The ver.di service workers’ union and the EVG union, which represents many railway workers, announced the 24-hour walkout in a joint appearance Thursday that came as employees in many sectors have been seeking hefty raises to reflect persistently high inflation.

Ver.di chair Frank Werneke said that his union is calling for 120,000 workers to walk out. Those will include security and ground workers at all German airports except Berlin, local transit employees in seven of Germany’s 16 states, harbor employees and workers on highways — the latter a measure that Werneke said is likely to affect some tunnels.

“This strike day will have a massive effect — we are aware of this and it is also necessary,” Werneke said. He added that it’s important to make clear before the next round of negotiations “that our demands have broad support in the workforce.”

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EVG counterpart Martin Burkert said that his union is calling for 230,000 workers at Germany’s main railway operator, government-owned Deutsche Bahn, and others to walk out. He said people traveling on Sunday should take care “to be at their destination in a timely manner,” because some of the affected shifts could start on Sunday evening.

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Deutsche Bahn personnel chief Martin Seiler called the EVG strike announcement “completely excessive, unnecessary and disproportionate.”

“We assume that the country will be paralyzed on Monday, and that as good as nothing will be possible in rail transport,” he added. Deutsche Bahn said that it won’t operate any long-distance trains and most regional trains won’t run either.

Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, tweeted that its operations will be “heavily disrupted,” and “strongly advised” passengers against traveling to the airport on Monday.

Munich Airport, the country’s second-busiest, said that ver.di is hitting it with two days of strikes and it will have no regular passenger or cargo flights on either Sunday or Monday.

Ver.di is engaged in a series of pay negotiations, notably for employees of Germany’s federal and municipal governments. In that case, it is seeking a 10.5% pay raise. Employers have offered a total of 5% in two stages plus one-time payments of 2,500 euros ($2,700).
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It already has staged a series of one-day walkouts at individual airports and in public services, including local transit.

EVG is seeking a raise of 12%. Deutsche Bahn also has offered a two-stage raise totaling 5% plus one-time payments.

Germany’s annual inflation rate in February was 8.7%.

On This Day: 

Reagan calls for anti-missile defense system dubbed 'Star Wars' by some

On March 23, 1983, President Reagan called for the development of an anti-missile defense system to protect the United States from potential nuclear attacks.

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was dubbed "Star Wars" . 

By UPI Staff

Photo by Rich Lipski/UPI | License Photo

UPI ARCHIVES
MARCH 24, 1983

Reagan super-weapon plan wins mixed reaction

President Reagan's plans for a super-weapon to make nuclear war obsolete brought applause from some West German leaders Thursday, but the Soviet Union, Poland, church and arms control groups protested it would intensify the arms race.

Reagan announced Wednesday he was calling on U.S. scientists to develop a space-age system to destroy attacking nuclear missiles before they strike, theoretically eliminating the possibility of nuclear war.

Senior administration officials said such a missile defense system could employ such technology as lasers, microwaves or high-energy particle beams. The weapon could be ground-based or stationed in space.

'The picture that Reagan is suggesting -- that his proposal will lead to the abolishment of nuclear weapons -- is complete nonsense,' said Frank Blackaby, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

'It is more likely to lead to a multiplication of nuclear weapons rather than the dismantling of existing ones,' he said.

SIPRI, an independent institute for research into disarmament and arms regulation, is financed by the Swedish Parliament.

Blackaby was joined in his disapproval by West Germany's anti-nuclear Greens party and, in the Netherlands, the Dutch Inter-Church Peace Council.

Former Gen. Gerd Bastian, now arms spokesman for the Greens, said he viewed Reagan's program 'with skepticism and astonishment.'

'If his idea were realized, it would simply lead to an intensified arms race with the Soviets and the Americans trying to outmatch each other in weapons that could destroy the so-called defensive weapons,' Bastian said.

Strategist Laurens Hoogebrink of the Dutch church council condemned the plan as 'simply a new step towards a U.S. first strike capability.'

The Soviet Union accused Reagan of proposing to carry the nuclear arms race into the 21st century. Moscow's communist ally, Poland, called the program 'a threat to the whole world, including the United States.'

At the Dutch Foreign Ministry in The Hague, spokesman Jan Dirkx said it was too soon to comment on Reagan's speech.

A spokesman for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ruling Christian Democratic Union said Reagan had made 'a very interesting suggestion' that would be examined in full before the party commented on it.

West German Defense Minister Manfred Woerner, however, welcomed the concept as an effort to convert to a 'strongly defense-oriented strategy' by the end of the century.

Egon Bahr, the opposition Social Democratic party's arms control expert who usually criticizes Reagan's defense policy, uncharacteristically welcomed the latest announcement.

'President Reagan has broken a taboo. He has opened the way for dispensing with the strategy of deterrence and (replaced) the concept with defensive weapons systems.'

'The question is whether the Soviet Union would be prepared to switch to purely defensive systems and give up deterrence,' he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar issued a cautiously worded statement praising Reagan for his intentions.

U.N. spokesman Francois Giuliani said the secretary-general fully shared Reagan's view that the 'human spirit must be capable of rising above' dealing with countries by 'threatening their existence.'

'He welcomes the importance attached by the president to the goal of lowering the level of all arms, and particularly nuclear arms,' Giuliani said.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, a spokesman said the organization could not comment because it had not received a text of Reagan's speech. The spokesman emphasized NATO 'has no plans to militarize outer space.'

Relativity Space's 3D-printed rocket launches, fails to reach orbit

The rocket Terran 1 awaits liftoff Wednesday night at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Relativity Space successfully launched the 3D-printed rocket at 11:25 p.m. EDT, but it failed to reach orbit. Photo courtesy of Relativity Space

March 22 (UPI) -- Relativity Space launched the world's first 3D-printed rocket Wednesday night following two previous launch aborts this month. Despite the successful launch, the rocket failed to reach orbit after suffering an engine problem.

The rocket Terran 1 blasted off from Launch Complex-16 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:25 p.m. EDT, but experienced a problem several minutes into the flight with its upper stage, which is designed to ignite separate engines to boost it into orbit.

"Today's launch proved Relativity's 3D-printed rocket technologies that will enable our next vehicle, Terran R," Relativity Space tweeted shortly after the test flight.

"We successfully made it through Max-Q, the highest stress state on our printed structures. This is the biggest proof point for our novel additive manufacturing approach," the company added.

"Today is a huge win, with many historic firsts. We also progressed through Main Engine Cutoff and Stage Separation. We will assess flight data and provide public updates over the coming days."

The tweet ended with the hashtag #GoodLuckHadFun, which was the company's nickname for the test flight.



The two-stage Terran 1 rocket is a 110-foot-tall launcher designed to carry more than a ton of cargo into low Earth orbit. The Terran 1 will target the commercial launch market for small to mid-size satellites, but did not carry any satellites when it launched Wednesday.

"There are a number of firsts here potentially on this rocket," Josh Brost, vice president of revenue operations at Relativity Space, said before the launch. "It has the chance of being the first liquid natural gas/liquid oxygen rocket to make it to orbit."

"It has, by far, the highest 3D-printed content of any rocket in history. We're sitting at about 85% by mass, where I don't think any other rocket has gone past maybe 4%," Brost added.

Wednesday's launch was the rocket's third attempt for the aerospace startup, which is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. Launches were called off March 8 and on March 11 after a series of aborts were triggered during the countdowns, just seconds before liftoff.

Relativity Space said the first abort was related to a "corner case in the state separation automation" that "properly aborted" within a second of liftoff.

After pushing the launch to the edge of the three-hour launch window, an automated abort triggered around T-45 seconds because fuel pressure for the rocket's second stage was low.

"The team went HARD today and we intend to do so during our next attempt," Relativity Space said March 11.

The first scheduled liftoff was postponed three days earlier after the launch system automatically aborted during countdown twice because of fuel temperature issues, pushing the launch beyond its liftoff window.

Work to prepare for Wednesday's successful Terran 1 launch involved a number of "software redline tweaks" to resolve preset limits that were tripped and automatically aborted the first two liftoffs, according to Tim Ellis, co-founder and chief executive officer of Relativity Space.

"No new company has ever had their liquid rocket make it to space on their first attempt," Brost said before the company attempted its third launch.

"So if everything goes incredibly well, and we achieve orbit on our first launch Wednesday, that would be a remarkable milestone for us, which we would be, over the moon excited about."

ANTI HUMAN RIGHTS

White House criticizes Florida plan to expand 'don't say gay' measure to high schools


Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said Florida could expand its so-called ‘don’t say gay’ law to the high school level. Florida's Parental Rights in Education law currently prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or identity through Grade 3. 

Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

March 22 (UPI) -- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said the state could expand its so-called 'don't say gay' law to the high school level.

The amendment to the Parental Rights in Education bill is awaiting DeSantis' signature.

Florida's Department of Education said this week the law banning the teaching of sexual orientation through Grade 3 could eventually expand to include high school, a move the White House criticized Wednesday.

"For Grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards ... or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student's parent has the option to have his or her student not attend," reads the proposed rule.

The law prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or identity in primary grade levels took effect in July.

At the time, DeSantis said the law is "putting students first and protecting parents' rights."

The proposed change would extend that through Grade 12.

It also forbids educators from discussing the topics "in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

The White House responded to the news Wednesday afternoon.

"It's wrong. It's completely, utterly wrong," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing with reporters.

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"Make no mistake, this is part of a disturbing and dangerous trend that we're seeing across the country of legislation that are anti-LGBTQI+, anti-trans in a way we have not seen in some time. We're talking about students, we're talking about educators, we're talking about just individuals."

Arts sector contributed over $1T to U.S. economy in 2021


A 2022 sculpture titled 'Broken Violin' by Adam Schrader is pictured at Brooklyn College in New York City. The arts and culture sectors contributed more than $1 trillion to the United States' gross domestic product in 2021, as the arts grew quicker than the wider economy, officials said in a new report. Photo by Adam Schrader


March 19 (UPI) -- The arts and culture sectors contributed more than $1 trillion to the United States' gross domestic product in 2021, as the arts grew quicker than the wider economy, officials said in a new report.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Endowment for the Arts released a report Wednesday which found that arts industries made up 4.4% of the GDP and that the overall economic value of the arts grew by 13.7%. The wider economy grew by just 5.9% from 2020 to 2021.

"This annual report from the NEA and BEA underscores that arts and culture are an essential part of the American economy. It is similarly apparent, however, that the sector still faces tremendous hardships due to COVID-19," Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the NEA, said in a statement.

"Because the data reflect the economic activity of nonprofit and for-profit organizations alike, it's important to recognize the distinctive contributions both make in ensuring a vibrant and expansive arts and cultural sector."

The report found that 22 of the 35 industries in the arts sector had returned to or performed better than pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021.

Those industries included web publishing and streaming services, which climbed 27.3% from 2020 to 2021 for an economic contribution of more than $171 billion, largely due to being composed largely of for-profit companies, unlike other arts industries which are made up largely of nonprofits.

Other arts industries that saw growth beyond 2019 levels before the pandemic included creative advertising, art retail, performing arts presenters and museums that are not government-run.

The industry of independent artists, writers and performers grew in 2021 from their 2020 levels but have not yet returned to pre-pandemic numbers.

The value of independent artists to the economy was $41 billion before the pandemic, adjusted for inflation, but just $29 billion in 2020. That figure rose to $33.5 billion in 2021.

Performing arts organizations similarly dropped during the pandemic, contributing just $9.5 billion to the economy in 2020 but growing to $11 million in 2021.

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Similarly, fine arts schools and musical instrument manufacturing dropped off during the pandemic and partly bounced back.

Of the dozens of industries in the arts sector, only two saw "persistent declines" from 2019 to 2021 including arts-related construction, such as the building of new museums, and philanthropic giving.

The report, which also tracks employment at the state level, found that 49 states saw increases in arts and culture employment from 2020 to 2021 though none have reached pre-pandemic levels.

The Art Newspaper noted that the report's focus on jobs only accounts for employees on payroll and may not have included data from arts establishments that relied on self-employed contractors.

VA lowers home loan interest rates for Native American veterans


The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it has lowered the interest rate, from 6% to 2.5%, for VA Native American Direct Loans to make housing more affordable for Native American veterans. Photo courtesy of Department of Veterans Affairs

March 22 (UPI) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday it has lowered the interest rate for VA Native American Direct Loans to make housing more affordable for Native American veterans.

The VA, which provides direct loans to Native American veterans, dropped its interest rate from 6% to 2.5%, effective March 13. The new rate will be available for the next two years.

"Native American veterans are now able to more affordably buy, build and improve homes on trust land," said executive director of VA Loan Guaranty Service John Bell III.

The lower interest loans do not require down payments, have limited closing costs and no monthly mortgage insurance costs.

Mortgage rates have steadily climbed over the past few months as the Federal Reserve continues to raise the federal funds rate in an effort to curb decades-high inflation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced the latest quarter percentage point hike Wednesday, bumping the rate from 4.75% to 5%.

While the VA provides VA-backed loans to help all eligible veterans obtain housing, the department is required by law to provide direct loans to Native American veterans or to veterans who marry Native American non-veterans.

Veterans who currently have an NADL loan with an interest rate of 3.5% or higher will be allowed to refinance at the lower rate.

"We at VA are laser-focused on serving Native American veterans as well as they've served our country, and that's what this decreased interest rate is all about," Bell said.