CHEVY BOLT EV
Chevy discontinues cult-favorite car after just seven years on the market — but there may be hope for a comeback

Jeremiah Budin
Sat, July 15, 2023 

After hitting the road in 2016, the Chevy Bolt quickly became known as the U.S. market’s most affordable electric vehicle (EV). Unfortunately, General Motors has announced that it plans to end production of the car at the end of 2023, although recent statements by CEO Mary Barra suggest that may not be the end of the story.

The Chevy Bolt had a starting price of around $27,000. With the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bolt was a far more accessible EV than pricey Teslas.

Photo Credit: iStock

There are several other options for semi-affordable EVs, including the Nissan Leaf, which starts at $28,000 and takes up the mantle as the least expensive EV on the market. GM’s cheapest EV will now be the Chevy Equinox EV, which the company says will start at “around $30,000” when it is released later this year.

Still, it would be sad to see the Chevy Bolt go, and GM’s stated reason for doing away with it — Americans’ obsession with pickup trucks and SUVs means little interest in hatchbacks — is a bit of a letdown, too. GM has said that it will use the assembly plant space previously devoted to Chevy Bolts to make more electric trucks starting next year.

Another reason for the switch, as The Verge points out, has to do with the fact that GM is moving away from the Bolt battery technology to build its next generation of EVs using its newer Ultium battery architecture. Battery issues plagued the Bolt in its early days, causing several fires and leading to a recall, which may have permanently damaged the car’s reputation.

On the bright side, it’s also battery tech that may give the Bolt a new lease on life. In a recent podcast interview, CEO Barra called the Bolt an “important vehicle in our portfolio“ and said new technology could reduce battery costs up to 40 percent — which fueled speculation that the Bolt may yet see a revival with updated tech.

Barring that kind of comeback, though, Verge’s readers were largely not happy to see the Bolt go.

“The number of vehicles available in the U.S. that will fit in my slightly undersized garage is surprisingly small, and even fewer of them are utility-oriented hatchbacks instead of sedans. How frustrating,” wrote one commenter.

“What a disappointment; guess only rich people get to buy EVs, and only SUVs and trucks,” wrote another.

Tesla Luxury Rival Cadillac Unveils a Cheaper Electric Vehicle

General Motor's Cadillac division will roll out an SUV that's smaller and cheaper than the Lyriq.

KIRK O’NEIL
JUL 16, 2023 6:05 PM EDT

The luxury automobile market in the US is led by the electric vehicle industry's overall production and delivery leader Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report, after the Austin, Texas, automaker overtook the 2021 No. 1 luxury seller BMW to become as the top luxury car seller in 2022.

Tesla was the No. 1 luxury seller in 2022, followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz, according to Statista. Tesla sold 484,351 luxury models, while BMW sold about 327,930 luxury units and Mercedes had about 269,510 units.

DON'T MISS: Tesla Rival Hyundai Unveils High Performance Electric Vehicle

Aside from Tesla, BMW and Mercedes, the luxury electric vehicle market is a bit crowded with several luxury makers rolling out models over the next few years.

Cadillac

Electric Vehicle Makers Rolling Out Luxury Models

Luxury sportscar manufacturer Alfa Romeo will rollout its first all-electric vehicle in 2024, a small compact SUV that's based on parent company Stellantis' (STLA) - Get Free Report Jeep Avenger. The company will introduce its first dedicated EV in 2025, which will likely be a Giulia sedan.

When Alfa Romeo converts to all-electric in 2027, it will also roll out all-electric SUV that will be comparable to the size of a BMW X5.

Honda (HMC) - Get Free Report is teaming with General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report to introduce the Acura ZDX, its first electric vehicle that's scheduled to be released in 2024, which will use GM's Ultium battery platform.

Los Angeles-based EV maker Fisker on Aug. 3 is planning to unveil its Ronin four-door convertible GT sports luxury EV sedan, which is expected to retail for $200,000 beginning in 2025.

Nissan's Infiniti luxury division on June 23 introduced a brand refresh at a Los Angeles dealer meeting, which included a new logo, modernized showrooms and a new concept electric vehicle that will be produced at its Canton, Miss., plant and expects to be ready to sell to the public in 2026.

Aston Martin has an ongoing partnership with Mercedes-Benz and a new one with Lucid with plans to deliver its first all-electric EV in 2025.

GM's Cadillac Has Big Plans for New EVs

GM in May said that later this year Cadillac will launch an electric version of the iconic full-size Cadillac Escalade SUV. The new model, the Cadillac Escalade IQ, "promises the same commitment to craftsmanship, technology and performance that has helped the Escalade nameplate dominate the large luxury SUV segment for the last 20 years," the company said in a statement on May 22.

GM's Cadillac division has launched a price reduction campaign to try to compete against Tesla, BYD (BYDDY) and NIO (NIO) - Get Free Report and other luxury electric vehicle makers in China, as it recently cut the Cadillac Lyriq EV prices by 14% from a starting price of about $60,730 to $52,443, Electrek reported. Cadillac in June 2022 began selling its first all-electric vehicle in China, the Lyriq sports utility vehicle for $67,200, but it was forced to lower prices after Tesla began decreasing prices.

GM is determined to attack Tesla head on as it has filed papers with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to sell a new all-electric SUV in China that will be smaller than the Lyriq to be known as the Cadillac Optiq. The vehicle will also be less expensive than the Lyriq, but GM has not yet revealed the price.

The Optiq will offer a 150kW single motor version and a 180 kW single motor, and its electric packs will be a joint venture of GM and SAIC Motor Corp. and will be manufactured at the GM-SAIC plant in Wuhan, China. And there's no word yet if the new EV will be introduced in the US.

GM can't build or deliver new vehicles fast enough, exec says



Mon, July 17, 2023 
By Paul Lienert

LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - General Motors is seeing strong demand for many of its U.S. vehicles, but can't deliver them to dealers fast enough, one of the company's top executives told Reuters on Monday.

"GM very strongly continues to have discipline in terms of incentives, which means that demand is still very high," said Rory Harvey, the company's North America president, at an event in Lansing, Michigan. "At this particular point in time, we could just about sell every product that we can build."

But the automaker faces outbound logistics challenges in the aftermath of COVID, he said, particularly in shipping vehicles to dealers, whether by truck or rail.

"We would still like to improve our availability on the ground at dealers," Harvey said. "We have good inventory (levels) overall, but we'd like to get some of those units to our dealers from some of the plants quicker than they are today."

Harvey declined to say if lower-than-expected sales of GM's newest electric vehicles, the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq, were related to issues with Ultium batteries.

"I'm not sure that I want to be quoted as saying that Ultium is the bottleneck," he said in response to a question about low sales and dealer inventories of Hummer and Lyriq.

Those models, Harvey said, "have been going down the line in very limited quantities (but) we are building momentum."

"In May and June, there was good momentum growth. We will see another step change in terms of their (sales) performance in the second half of the year."

GM reports U.S. vehicle sales only on a quarterly basis. It sold just 1,348 Lyriqs and 47 Hummers in the second quarter.

In late June, the company had an estimated 831 Lyriqs and 25 Hummers in advertised retail inventories, according to S&P Global Mobility.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; editing by David Evans)

CAPITALI$M WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS
China Evergrande reports steep losses for 2021 and 2022, offers update on offshore debt restructuring

South China Morning Post
Mon, July 17, 2023 

China Evergrande Group, the world's most indebted developer, reported heavy losses for the past two years ahead of a proposed offshore debt restructuring plan that could allow it to resume normal operations.

The Guangzhou-based company, whose Hong Kong-listed shares have been suspended from trading since March 21, 2022, posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of 476 billion yuan (US$66.3 billion) for 2021, and narrowed it down to 105.9 billion yuan in 2022, according to its exchange filings late on Monday. It had posted a net profit of 8.1 billion yuan in 2020.

The group's total liabilities stood at 2.43 trillion yuan at the end of last year. The company's borrowings rose to 612.39 billion yuan, from 607.38 billion yuan in 2021, according to its filings.

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The company also provided an update on the proposed restructuring of its offshore debt. A hearing for the proposed scheme to be implemented by Evergrande is expected to be heard in the Hong Kong High Court on July 24 at 11.30am. Similar hearings will be held in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on July 24 and in the Cayman Islands on July 25.

China Evergrande Updates On Offshore Debts Restructuring

Residential buildings developed by China Evergrande Group in Shanghai. 

A successful restructuring of the company's overdue offshore bonds is an important step for Evergrande to remain as a going concern and maintain its Hong Kong listing. Regulations require the company to release its results before it can unveil the debt restructuring proposal.

"A debt restructuring will not necessarily result in the rebirth of Evergrande," said Ivan Li, a fund manager at Loyal Wealth Management in Shanghai. "Additional financing is needed to support its operations."

Evergrande also faces 1,519 cases and unresolved lawsuits involving a combined sum of 395.39.6 billion yuan as of end December, according to its filings.

The restructuring is a do-or-die moment for Evergrande, controlled by embattled Chinese tycoon Hui Ka-yan, because the company could be delisted if the Hong Kong shares remain suspended for 18 months.


Evergrande was the main victim of Beijing's clampdown on the red hot property market after the government introduced the "three red lines" policy to reduce developers' leverage.

Since late 2021 the Guangzhou-based developer has been struggling to complete projects and repay its suppliers and creditors.

Evergrande's contracted sales fell to 31.7 billion yuan in 2022, from 443 billion yuan in 2021. In 2020 sales stood at 723 billion yuan. As of end December 2022, there were a total of 1,241 projects at different stages of construction and completion, it said in the filing.

On Monday, Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference in Beijing that the country's property market would be back on track after the clean-up campaign to de-leverage some debt-ridden developers comes to an end.

About 50 mainland developers have defaulted on some US$100 billion worth of offshore bonds over the past two years, according to a JPMorgan report in December, with 39 of them ­seeking restructuring plans with creditors for US$117 billion of stressed debt.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exclusive-EU's AI lobbying blitz gets lukewarm response in Asia- officials


Humanoid robot 'Geminoid' is pictured at AI for Good Global Summit, in Geneva


Mon, July 17, 2023 

By Fanny Potkin, Sam Nussey and Supantha Mukherjee

SINGAPORE/TOKYO/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The European Union is lobbying Asian countries to follow its lead on artificial intelligence in adopting new rules for tech firms that include disclosure of copyrighted and AI-generated content, according to senior officials from the EU and Asia.

The EU and its member states have dispatched officials for talks on governing the use of AI with at least 10 Asian countries including India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the Philippines, they said.

The bloc aims for its proposed AI Act to become a global benchmark on the booming technology the way its data protection laws have helped shape global privacy standards.

However, the effort to convince Asian governments of the need for stringent new rules is being met with a lukewarm reception, seven people close to the discussions told Reuters.

Many countries favour a "wait and see" approach or are leaning towards a more flexible regulatory regime.

The officials asked not be named as the discussions, whose extent has not been previously reported, remained confidential.

Singapore, one of Asia's leading tech centres, prefers to see how the technology evolves before adapting local regulations, an official for the city-state told Reuters. Officials from Singapore and the Philippines expressed concern that moving overly hasty regulation might stifle AI innovation.

As Reuters reported last month, Southeast Asian countries are drawing up voluntary guidelines. Japan, for its part, is leaning towards softer rules than the stringent approach championed by the EU, as it looks to the technology to boost economic growth and make it a leader in advanced chips.

Efforts in Asia are part of a global push by European nations that include talks with countries such as Canada, Turkey and Israel, Dutch digital minister Alexandra van Huffelen told Reuters in an interview.

"We're trying to figure out on how we can make the regulation from the EU copied, applicable and mirrored ... as it is with the GDPR," van Huffelen said late last month, referring to General Data Protection Regulation, the EU's data privacy regime.

The emergence of AI has been hailed as a breakthrough that will usher in an era of rapid advances in science and technology, revolutionizing all aspects of human activity, but also painted as an existential threat.

1968

EU lawmakers in June agreed to a trailblazing set of draft rules, which would make companies such as ChatGPT operator OpenAI disclose AI-generated content, help distinguish so-called deep fake images from real ones and ensure safeguards against illegal content.

The proposed legislation, which also envisages financial fines for rule violations, faces resistance from companies, with 160 executives last month signing a letter warning it could jeopardise Europe's competitiveness, investment and innovation.

Still, officials from the EU, which has signed "digital partnerships" with Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, voice optimism they can find common ground with international partners to advance cooperation on technologies including AI.

"Our mission is again to make sure that what's happening in the EU, which is our large constituency if I may say so, is protected," EU industry chief Thierry Breton told Reuters during a trip to South Korea and Japan to discuss AI and semiconductors.

"I believe that it will be probably not too far from each other because we share the same values," Breton said of regulation of AI in the EU and countries such as Japan.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) economies made of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and the European Union, in May called for adoption of standards to create "trustworthy" AI and to set up a ministerial forum dubbed the "Hiroshima AI process".

Seoul will continue discussing AI regulation with the EU but is more interested in what the G7 is doing, a South Korean official said following a meeting with Breton.

The EU is planning to use the upcoming G20 meetings to further push for global collaboration on AI, notably with 2023 president India, van Huffelen told Reuters.

(Reporting by Fanny Potkin, Sam Nussey and Supantha Mukherjee; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

POSTMODERN QUISLING
Foxconn Founder Gou Urges Taiwan to Restart Talks With China

Cindy Wang
Mon, July 17, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou called for Taiwan and China to resume direct talks, while also criticizing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party for causing tensions with Beijing.

Writing in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Monday, Gou said he had “long advocated the immediate resumption of direct cross-strait negotiations between Taiwan and China as the only way to truly ease tensions and to preserve Taiwan’s democracy, freedom and rule of law.”

He said the two sides should work together under the one-China framework, a reference to the belief among Taiwan’s opposition that China and Taiwan have agreed that they are one nation but that they have different interpretation of what that country is.

Gou added the government of President Tsai Ing-wen and others in her party “have greatly aggravated the threat of war, isolated Taiwan internationally, damaged our economy, scared away investors and made Taiwan less secure.”

Gou has been the subject of speculation that he may run as an independent in the presidential election in January next year, especially after the opposition Kuomintang nominated New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih as its candidate.

He made an unsuccessful bid for Taiwan’s top job in 2019. The 72-year-old, whose company assembles the bulk of Apple Inc.’s iPhones in China, traveled to the US earlier this year in an apparent effort to rev up his bid to become president.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has refused to deal with Tsai because she rejects the view held by Beijing that there’s just one China. Beijing has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if necessary.

The Kuomintang, which lost a civil war to China’s now-ruling Communist Party before fleeing to Taiwan in the late 1940s and 1950s, also accepts the notion there’s one China.

Lai Ching-te, the vice president who is leading the race to succeed Tsai as president, has described himself as a “political worker for Taiwanese independence,” though he’s largely avoided making similar comments on the campaign trail.


He has also said Taiwan is already a de facto sovereign nation and therefore does not need to declare independence.

--With assistance from Debby Wu.

How the wreckage of the Titanic was found during a secret US Navy mission to recover nuclear submarines


Gabbi Shaw
Updated Mon, July 17, 2023 

The wreckage of the Titanic.AP Photo

It took 73 years to find the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.


The ship was finally found in 1985 by explorer Robert Ballard.


Decades later, Ballard revealed that the dive was actually a secret Cold War Navy mission.

Almost immediately after the Titanic sank in April 1912, there were attempts to recover the wreckage and the bodies of those who had gone down with the ship. But the limited diving technology of the time prevented this from becoming a reality for more than seven decades.

In 1985, the wreckage was found during a joint exploration by former Navy officer and oceanographer Robert Ballard and French oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel. But the dive initially had nothing to do with the Titanic at all — it was a secret mission to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher.

Of course, nobody knew that until 2008, when Ballard revealed the true nature of the mission to National Geographic.

"The Navy is finally discussing it," Ballard told National Geographic in 2008.

Robert Ballard during a book tour in 1987.Bettmann/Getty

Originally, Ballard met with the US Navy in 1982 to secure funding for a new type of submersible technology that would allow him to find the Titanic. The Navy agreed to fund the project — but only if it could be used to find the sunken submarines. The USS Thresher sank in April 1963, and the USS Scorpion followed two years later, in May 1965. They remain the only nuclear submarines the Navy has ever lost.

The Navy agreed that Ballard could search for the Titanic if there was any time left in the mission after finding the subs — and after confirming whether or not the Soviet Union had played any part in sinking them.

"We saw no indication of some sort of external weapon that caused the ship to go down," Ronald Thunman, the then-deputy chief of naval operations for submarine warfare, told National Geographic.

A shot of the Titanic wreck in 1996.Xavier Desmier/Gamma-Rapho/Getty

With 12 days left in the mission, Ballard was able to find the Titanic using a hunch that the ship had split in two and left a trail of debris.

"That's what saved our butts," Ballard said. "It turned out to be true."

According to Ballard, the Navy was nervous that people would catch on to why they were actually scouring the ocean floor.

"The Navy never expected me to find the Titanic, and so when that happened, they got really nervous because of the publicity," Ballard said. "But people were so focused on the legend of the Titanic they never connected the dots."

So, 23 years later, Ballard revealed the truth about his mission. He also wrote about his experience finding the ship in his book, "The Discovery of the Titanic."

"It was one thing to have won — to have found the ship," he wrote. "It was another thing to be there. That was the spooky part."

 

Congressmen to EPA: Don’t Trust Texas to Run Carbon Storage

Mitchell Ferman
Mon, July 17, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Two Texas Congressmen are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reject their state’s effort to oversee underground carbon storage and are calling for an investigation, arguing local regulators can’t be trusted to protect the public.

The EPA currently regulates underground carbon storage across most of the country except in North Dakota and Wyoming, which have been approved to oversee their own efforts. The EPA has minimal staff to regulate subsurface carbon storage, and companies are increasingly interested in capturing carbon and storing it underground due largely to economic incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Texas Democratic US Representatives Joaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett said in a letter Monday to EPA boss Michael Regan that they are concerned over their state’s enforcers, the Texas Railroad Commission, which is in charge of regulating oil, gas and related activities. They want federal regulators to investigate Texas’ permitting and enforcement of subsurface injections to ensure it adheres to environmental justice standards.

“The Railroad Commission of Texas can’t be trusted to uphold the standards that protect health and safety in communities with carbon capture infrastructure,” Castro said in a statement. “Moreover, Texas regulators are unwilling to meet their existing obligations to plug abandoned oil wells. The EPA must not give the commission more oversight over carbon storage wells and related infrastructure, which are disproportionately located in communities of color already exposed to dangerous levels of pollution.”

A commission spokesperson said in an email that the agency’s “top priority is ensuring the safety and security of Texans and the environment, while also providing a predictable regulatory environment that allows our state to be the nation’s top producer of reliable energy.”

SPACE WEATHER 

'Cannibal' coronal mass ejection that devoured 'dark eruption' from sun will smash into Earth tomorrow (July 18)


Harry Baker

LIVE SCIENCE
Mon, July 17, 2023 

An image of the sun with a white ring surrounding the flash of a solar flare

A "cannibal" coronal mass ejection (CME) birthed from multiple solar storms, including a surprise "dark eruption," is currently on a collision course with Earth and could trigger a sizable geomagnetic storm on our planet when it hits on Tuesday (July 18).

CMEs are large, fast-moving clouds of magnetized plasma and solar radiation that occasionally get flung into space alongside solar flares — powerful explosions on the sun's surface that are triggered when horseshoe-shaped loops of plasma located near sunspots snap in half like an overstretched elastic band. If CMEs smash into Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms — disturbances in our planet's magnetic field — that can trigger partial radio blackouts and produce vibrant aurora displays much farther away from Earth's magnetic poles than normal.

A cannibal CME is created when an initial CME is followed by a second faster one. When the second CME catches up to the first cloud, it engulfs it, creating a single, massive wave of plasma.

On July 14, the sun launched a CME alongside a dark eruption — a solar flare containing unusually cool plasma that makes it look like a dark wave compared to the rest of the sun's fiery surface — from sunspot AR3370, a small dark patch that until then had gone largely unnoticed, according to Spaceweather.com. On July 15, a second, faster CME was launched from the much larger sunspot AR3363.

A simulation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center showed that the second storm will catch up with the first CME and form a cannibalistic cloud, with a strong likelihood of it hitting Earth on July 18.

Related: 10 signs the sun is gearing up for its explosive peak — the solar maximum

A video clip of two coronal mass ejections erupting from the sun and combining into a single cloud

Both CMEs came from C-class solar flares, the mid-tier of solar eruption strength. On their own, they would be too weak to trigger significant geomagnetic storms. But their combined size and speed mean they are likely to trigger a G1 or G2 level disturbance, the two highest classes for a geomagnetic storm.

Cannibal CMEs are rare because they require successive CMEs that are perfectly aligned and traveling at specific speeds. But there have been several in the last few years.

In November 2021, a cannibal CME smashed into Earth, triggering one of the first major geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle. Two more CMEs slammed into our planet in 2022, the first in March and another in August, but both only triggered minor G3-class storms.

Cannibal CMEs become more likely during the solar maximum, the chaotic peak of the sun's roughly 11-year solar cycle. During this time, the number of sunspots and solar flares increases sharply as the sun's magnetic field becomes increasingly unstable.

Scientists initially predicted that the next solar maximum would arrive in 2025 and be weak compared to past solar cycles. But Live Science recently reported that the sun's explosive peak could arrive sooner — and be more powerful — than previously expected. Weird solar phenomena, such as cannibal CMEs, further indicates the solar maximum is fast approaching.

related stories

—See the 'monster' sunspot that launched the Carrington Event, the most devastating solar storm in recorded history

—10 solar storms that blew us away in 2022

—1st mission to 'touch' the sun discovers a mysterious source of solar wind

Earth has already been hit by five G1 or G2 geomagnetic storms this year, including the most powerful storm for more than six years. These storms have superheated the thermosphere — the second-highest layer of Earth's atmosphere — to its highest temperature in more than 20 years.

The number of sunspots is also increasing as we approach solar maximum, reaching its highest total for almost 21 years in June.

Thai alliance reaffirms backing for Pita's second PM bid


Thailand's parliament votes for a new prime minister

Updated Mon, July 17, 2023 
By Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK (Reuters) -An eight-party alliance seeking to form Thailand's next government reaffirmed its backing for Pita Limjaroenrat to become prime minister, Pita said on Monday, despite his defeat last week in a parliamentary vote.

Pita, leader of the progressive Move Forward party - the surprise winner of a May 14 election - failed in his initial bid to win the requisite support of more than half of the combined lower house and military-appointed upper house, or Senate.

The legislature will hold another vote on Wednesday.

After a meeting with the alliance, Pita said his re-nomination for prime minister could not be blocked by the Senate.

He also said his candidacy should not be affected by a complaint against him that was filed to the Constitutional Court.

However, Pita added that if he failed again he would let Move Forward's ally, the Pheu Thai party, "take action".

"If there is no substantial improvement, I have to think about this country... I'll step aside and let the second party try to be the manager of the next cabinet," 42-year-old Pita told reporters.

At the weekend, he raised the prospect of a political ally leading the new government if he failed to become prime minister.

Pheu Thai won the second-largest share of votes in May's election. One of its prime ministerial candidates, real estate magnate Srettha Thavisin, could be nominated for the next leader in the third vote for prime minister, if any.

In last week's vote, Pita secured 324 votes, with only 13 senators backing him and the rest voting against him or abstaining, which his party said indicated some were acting under duress.

Pita, a liberal from the private sector, has won huge youth support for his plan to shake up politics and bring reforms to sectors and institutions long considered untouchable.

That includes a law that prohibits insulting the monarchy -by far Move Forward's most contentious policy and a big obstacle in its attempts to persuade legislators to back Pita.

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Alex Richardson)


Thai Pro-Democracy Leader Pita to Take Another Shot at PM Job



Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Mon, July 17, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Thai pro-democracy leader Pita Limjaroenrat will attempt a second time to become the nation’s prime minister, after a previous try last week was thwarted by conservative lawmakers and military-appointed senators.

Pita, 42, the leader of the Move Forward Party that emerged as the single-largest party in the May general election, hopes for his support base to increase in the vote due July 19. He had secured 324 nods last week, 51 short of the number needed to secure the premiership.

“The eight-party coalition agreed to nominate me to be Thailand’s 30th prime minister on July 19,” he said after a meeting coalition partners on Monday evening. The allies reaffirmed their support to his candidacy, quelling speculation that there was rift within the group.

His comments came on a day when members of the 250-strong Senate cited parliamentary provisions to say that he can’t run for a second time, which adds a new hurdle for Pita’s attempt at government formation. Any delay in putting in place a new administration will hurt an economy that is already grappling with the effects of a global downturn in demand for goods.

Addressing some senators’ claim that he cannot be nominated again, Pita said a prime minister nomination is different from a motion, which if it fails cannot be raised twice in the same parliamentary session.

The main obstacle to Pita’s bid is the old guards’ opposition to Move Forward’s agenda to amend the lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the Thai criminal code, which penalizes criticism of the king and other royals.

Pita, who Monday reiterated that he won’t back down from that campaign promise, also said he will eventually step aside to let a coalition partner take the lead. That will happen only should he fail in his second attempt, and also if a bill brought by Move Forward to strip the Senate of its voting power fails to be passed.

On Wednesday, Pita will still be the lone candidate for the top job, with the conservatives, including the Palang Pracharath Party, yet to name a candidate to challenge Pita.

The Move Forward party won 151 seats in the May 14 election, making it the biggest winner. Pita cobbled together an alliance of eight parties that hold more than 60% of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives. But he still needs the support of senators to reach the minimum 375 combined parliament votes to become prime minister. One senator resigned last week.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court is also due to meet to consider a petition from the poll panel seeking Pita’s disqualification as a lawmaker, because it found he was in breach of election rules.

--With assistance from Pathom Sangwongwanich and Suttinee Yuvejwattana.

Leader of winning Thai party, rebuffed last week, to try once more to become prime minister

Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of Move Forward Party, center. and Leader of Pheu Thai party Chonlanan Srikaew, left , wave to supporters after meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 17, 2023. The top candidate to become Thailand's next prime minister, Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, who was rebuffed last week by an initial vote of Parliament, declared Monday he will remain a candidate for a second round of ballot but acknowledges he may have to make way for a political ally if he cannot attract substantially more support. 

(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Mon, July 17, 2023 

BANGKOK (AP) — The leader of the progressive party that won a surprise victory in Thailand's May elections said Monday he will make a second bid to become prime minister after being blocked last week by the country's royalist and military establishment. But Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, said he will make way for a political ally if he is unable to attract more support.

Parliament failed last Thursday to confirm Pita as prime minister even though his party captured the most seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. After the polls, Move Forward assembled an eight-party coalition with a combined 312 seats, a clear majority in the lower house, giving it the right to nominate a new prime minister.

However, selection of a new prime minister requires a majority of votes from both the lower house and the 250-seat Senate, which was appointed by the previous military government. Only 13 senators voted for Pita, giving him 324 votes, significantly short of the 376 needed for confirmation.

Many in the Senate, which represents the country’s traditional conservative ruling class, oppose Move Forward's goal of reforming powerful institutions including the monarchy, military and business monopolies.

Pita, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated businessman, declared after meeting with his coalition partners on Monday that when Parliament votes again on Wednesday, “the candidate for prime minister will still be me, for the second time.”

There are doubts that he can secure much more support, and some of his coalition partners have hinted they would like to see him step aside sooner rather than later.

Pita said that “If there is no improvement, no substantial improvement” in the vote, he would let the second-largest party in the coalition take a try at winning the prime minister's post.

That would mean the Pheu Thai party, the latest in a string of parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and has long been a target of royalist power holders.

Pita faces another threat to taking power, aside from the defiant senators.

Thai media report that the Constitutional Court will meet Wednesday morning to consider whether to accept a referral from the Election Commission alleging that Pita violated the constitution and should immediately be suspended from Parliament. It accuses him of violating a prohibition on politicians holding shares in a media company. The media company is no longer operating, and Pita says the shares are part of his father’s estate and don’t belong to him.

His supporters see this as the kind of dirty trick that has been used before by the ruling establishment against its challengers. For more than a decade, the ruling elite have repeatedly utilized the courts and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue rulings to cripple or oust political opponents.

Some senators have expressed outrage at the condemnation they have received for blocking Pita’s selection. Shortly after his bid fell through, two trending hashtags on Twitter urged the boycott of businesses associated with those senators and the exposure of their mistresses.

Several senators said they are launching criminal and civil suits to stop actions they said damaged the country and the good values of Thai people.

“It’s time to clearly show that senators will no longer tolerate this,” said Seree Suwanpanont, one of the most vocal opponents of Move Forward and Pita. He vowed to take action against all “those barbarians who just want to say anything they want, defame anyone they want.”

 

Thailand’s Pita Should Get More Chances in PM Vote, Poll Shows



Suttinee Yuvejwattana
Sat, July 15, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- Pita Limjaroenrat, whose political party won the most seats in Thailand’s general election, should get more chances to secure enough votes from lawmakers and become prime minister, according to an opinion poll.

He was backed by more than 60% of the 1,310 participants nationwide in the July 11-12 survey by the National Institute of Development Administration to be given additional opportunities. About 43.2% in the NIDA poll said coalition parties should continue to nominate Pita until he gets the top job, while 20.7% said he should be proposed as the top candidate one or two more times.

Pita is the sole candidate put forth by the election’s coalition winners to become prime minister. Yet, the 42-year-old leader of Move Forward Party had been thwarted by conservative parties and the military-appointed Senate in his first attempt July 13 to assume the position.

He posted a video message on Saturday, showing his willingness to step aside and let his coalition partner Pheu Thai Party form the next government, should he fail in attempts to secure the top political office. Parliament will meet again on July 19 to elect a new leader.

According to the poll, Pheu Thai’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra has the highest chance to become the next prime minister if Pita fails again to secure enough support. Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, had the nod from 38.6% of survey participants. Srettha Thavisin, another of Pheu Thai’s premier candidates, was second with 35%.

Thursday’s vote undermined the popular choice of the people, who handed an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy parties in the May election. While Pita’s Move Forward and seven of its allies held 312 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, they were outnumbered in the joint parliament sitting that included members of the Senate.

Thai PM frontrunner says only one more shot at forming govt

AFP
Sat, July 15, 2023 

Pita Limjaroenrat's Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May elections but his campaign to lead the next government was knocked back by military-appointed senators

 (Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

The liberal frontrunner to become Thailand's next prime minister said Saturday he would withdraw his candidacy if parliament did not endorse him next week, after military-appointed lawmakers foiled his first attempt.

Pita Limjaroenrat's Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May elections, buoyed by young Thais eager for progressive reforms after nine years of army-backed rule in the kingdom.

But the Harvard-educated millionaire's campaign to lead the next government was knocked back Thursday by senators in parliament who consider his pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws a red line.

The legislature holds its second ballot for a new prime minister on Wednesday, and Pita said he would support a candidate from coalition partner Pheu Thai if he again failed to win the needed votes.

"I'd like to apologise that we haven't succeeded," he said in a video address posted to social media.

"I'm ready to give a chance to Thailand by letting the party that has the second most votes... be the one to form the coalition."

Pita was 51 votes short of the 375 lawmakers he needed to support his candidacy during the first ballot.

Just 13 senators voted for him, with many voicing their opposition to MFP's pledge to soften the kingdom's royal defamation laws.

After the first ballot, the party ruled out compromising on its proposed revisions to the laws, which currently allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be jailed for up to 15 years.

- 'Help with this mission' -

All 250 senators were appointed under the junta-drafted constitution, which political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said was a reliable impediment to MFP's reformist platform.

"It is a way for the authority and the regime to stay in power in the long term and to prevent a pro-democracy government that can stand against them," he told AFP on Friday.

Pita urged his supporters on Saturday to get "creative" in urging senators to throw their support behind him in the next round.

"I alone can't change the senators' mind. Therefore, I ask everybody to help with this mission," he said.

"Send a message to the senators in every way possible, every way you can think of."

The MFP's largest coalition partner Pheu Thai is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political family, whose members include two former prime ministers displaced by military coups in 2006 and 2014.

Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, 60, is widely tipped to be Pheu Thai's candidate for prime minister if Pita's bid fails again.

Liked by business leaders among Thailand's influential elite, he has been touted as a potential compromise candidate.

- Wave of support -

Pita rode a wave of support that saw voters emphatically reject almost a decade of army-backed rule under Prayut Chan-o-cha, who took power in the 2014 coup.

But the MFP's reformist agenda has drawn strident objections from conservative supporters of the country's establishment.

Thursday's vote on Pita's candidacy came just a day after Thailand's top election body recommended the Constitutional Court suspend Pita as an MP -- providing more fuel for senators already poised to vote against him.

The electoral commission recommended Pita's suspension from parliament over allegations he broke campaign rules.

The recommendation followed a probe into Pita's ownership of shares in a media company, which MPs are prohibited from holding under Thai law.

The station has not broadcast since 2007, and Pita has said the shares were inherited from his father.

The Constitutional Court has also agreed to hear a case alleging that the MFP's position on royal defamation laws is tantamount to a plan to "overthrow" the constitutional monarchy.

Thai prime minister hopeful says he's open to let partner party contend for the job if his bid fails
 

Supporters of the Move Forward Party protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May's general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support.

 (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Sat, July 15, 2023 

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s rocky road to naming a new prime minister took a fresh turn Saturday as the candidate who led his party to first place in May’s general election said he is open to bowing out of contention if he cannot win a second round of voting in Parliament.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the 42-year-old leader of the progressive Move Forward Party, said he would be willing to let a coalition partner party field its candidate. However, he indicated the political battling could continue for weeks.

Lawmakers on Thursday failed to confirm Pita as prime minister despite his party's surprising victory in the May polls, when it garnered 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. It then assembled an eight-party coalition that together holds 312 seats, a clear majority in the lower house, giving it the right to nominate a prime minister.

To be elected for prime minister, a candidate needs to win a majority of votes in a joint sitting of the lower house and the 250-seat Senate. Thursday's vote to confirm Pita won only 324 votes, significantly short of the 376 needed, largely because he failed to bring enough members of the Senate over to his side.

Move Forward’s coalition leans liberal, with strong support from pro-democracy activists. The Senate’s members, who are not elected but appointed by a military government, represent Thailand’s conservative royalist establishment. They and other opponents of Move Forward cited the party’s proposal for minor reforms to the country’s monarchy system as the reason for rejecting Pita.

A second round of voting is expected on Wednesday.

Pita, in a video posted Saturday on Facebook, said that if it becomes clear his party has no chance of getting its candidate approved, it will hand over the opportunity to the Pheu Thai Party, the second biggest in its coalition, with 141 House seats.

Pita was Move Forward's only candidate while Pheu Thai has floated three names for a possible prime minister: real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin; Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daugther of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by a 2006 military coup; and Chaikasem Nitsiri, the party’s chief strategist.

It remained unclear on Saturday which one Pheu Thai would nominate.

Pita said that while Move Forward is committed to form a government as the winner of the election, its struggle goes beyond the 14 million voters who backed the party and the 27 million in all who cast votes for the eight parties in its coalition.

“This is a fight of all people in Thailand," he said. "The voice of the people must be the voice that shapes the future of this country.”

He called for political compromise and said: “We don’t have much time left, as I’m well aware that Thailand cannot go forward for long without a government of the people."

On Friday, Move Forward announced it is seeking to change the law to take away the Senate’s de facto veto power over who can form a new government and submitted a draft amendment to the Constitution.

Pita said Saturday that if all fails, he will step aside to let Pheu Thai take the lead in nominating a prime minister. His coalition would remain intact, according to a memorandum of understanding its members agreed to.

In a statement released after Pita’s video, his party spelled out the next steps. If Pita fails to win outright in a second round, but gains “significantly” more votes, it will have him contest a third round of voting. At the same time, if the second vote does fall short, the party will continue to push for the amendment to get rid of the Senate’s role in selecting a prime minister.

If the amendment succeeds, Pita’s nomination for prime minister will be submitted for another vote, perhaps by September. If that fails, Move Forward will step aside — while remaining in the coalition — to let Pheu Thai submit its candidate for prime minister.

Thai PM Candidate Pita Willing to Let Ally Form Government

 

Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Sat, July 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s frontrunner for prime minister Pita Limjaroenrat said he is willing to step aside and let his coalition partner Pheu Thai Party form the next government, should he fail in his attempts to secure the country’s top political office.

In a video message posted on Saturday, Pita said he will renew his candidacy for prime minister when the parliament meets again on July 19 to elect a new leader, while acknowledging that time was running out for him to secure the top job. The 42-year-old leader of Move Forward Party had been thwarted by conservative parties and the military-appointed Senate in his first attempt July 13, despite being the lone candidate.

Pita urged supporters to help him on his “missions” and try “every way possible and every method imaginable” to convince senators to back his nomination in the second joint sitting of the National Assembly on July 19. His party is separately trying to push through a bill that seeks to strip the Senate of the power to vote.

His message came amid speculation that the conservative Palang Pracharath Party might nominate former army chief Prawit Wongsuwan to challenge Pita next week, in a move that could lead to a minority-led government backed by the royalist military establishment. The prolonged political uncertainty has weighed on the currency, stocks, and bonds in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

Thursday’s vote undermined the popular choice of the people, who handed an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy parties in the May election. While Pita’s Move Forward and seven of its allies held 312 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, they were outnumbered in the joint parliament sitting that included members of the Senate.

Even if Pheu Thai were to stake claim for government formation eventually, the party that finished in the second-place in the May 14 general election will still need to muster enough support from the Senate to succeed. But Pheu Thai may draw less resistance from the conservative senators as its agendas are seen less reform-oriented than Move Forward’s.

Only 13 senators voted for Pita on Thursday, with the rest either abstaining or voting against his candidacy over his party’s push to reform the so-called lese majeste law that punishes anyone defaming or insulting the Thai king or other royals. That proposal was the subject of hours-long deliberation by conservative lawmakers and the reason why they could not support Pita.

“If we have tried our best in these two battlegrounds and it becomes evident that Move Forward Party has no chance at forming the next government, I’m willing to give Thailand a chance by letting Pheu Thai Party take the lead of the eight-party coalition,” he said in the video, adding that every Move Forward lawmaker will vote to endorse a prime minister candidate from Pheu Thai when the time comes.

“But until that day, we’re certainly not giving up,” he said. “I’m asking you to fight together until the end.”

It is not clear who among Pheu Thai’s three candidates for prime minister will be its top choice to take over from Pita if it comes to that. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, youngest daughter of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who hasn’t set foot in the country since 2008, was consistently the country’s most favored prime minister choice in most pre-election surveys. Former property tycoon Srettha Thavisin is another prominent candidate.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Opinion

Letters; Stand with UPS workers


Abby Drey/adrey@centredaily.com

CDT readers
Sat, July 15, 2023

On July 5, UPS walked away from negotiations with 340,000 of their workers organized with the Teamsters.

UPS didn’t just walk away from those workers: they walked away from our communities. By risking a national strike instead of bargaining in good faith, UPS sent a message they’ll prioritize stock buybacks — like the $8.6 billion paid out in 2022 — over our communities.

Despite company propaganda, they aren’t doing right by their workers. UPS employees kept our economy and our communities afloat during the pandemic, delivering COVID-19 vaccines they weren’t yet eligible to receive. Many of them continue to work six days and upwards of 60 hours a week, forced to work more to keep up with demand and to make ends meet.

The Teamsters have shared how many part-timers rely on government assistance, even as UPS makes record profits. Businesses shouldn’t be able to rake in the cash while passing the cost on to our communities.

The UPS contract expires July 31. It’s up to UPS to come to the table and reach a fair deal with their workers. If UPS refuses to do so, it’ll be up to us to stand with our local UPS workers organized with Teamsters Local 764, because they’re not just fighting for themselves. Their fight against corporate greed, for dignity on the job, and for a livable wage, is a fight for all working families.

Connor Lewis, State College. 

The author is the president of Seven Mountains Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Influencers thinking about using the SAG-AFTRA strike as a stepping stone should think twice about the bridges they're burning

Palmer Haasch

Mon, July 17, 2023 

Influencers thinking about using the SAG-AFTRA strike as a stepping stone should think twice about the bridges they're burning

Influencers should take note of the SAG-AFTRA guidelines for their profession during the strike.

Influencers who cross the picket line will be barred from future entry in SAG-AFTRA.

That's a door they should leave open, even aside from the reputational hit of scabbing.

As actors joined writers on the picket lines last week, it became apparent that promotional cycles for films were going to look a lot different — and that there was an ongoing opportunity for influencers to make more content. Still, they should probably reconsider before signing any new deals with struck companies.

Striking actors are barred from promoting their films per strike rules, and this week Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" premiere went on without its cast. Instead of stars, it featured prominent Disney characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as a smattering of influencers making TikTok content from the red carpet.

Some of them sustained backlash for covering the premiere during the strike. Per Deadline's reporting, those who worked the premiere were "already in the clear" per SAG-AFTRA rules.

@lyssynoel I attended Disneys Haunted Mansion Premiere 🖤👻 thank you so much @Disney for inviting me! The movie was amazing! #hauntedmansion #disney #hauntedmansionpremiere #disneyland #hauntedmansiondisney ♬ Grim Grinning Ghosts - From "The Haunted Mansion" - The Melomen & Paul Frees & Betty Taylor & Bill Lee & Thurl Ravenscroft

Influencers, now a crucial part of studios' marketing strategies, became eligible to cover brand deals under a contract with Hollywood's largest union in February 2021. And in light of the strike that began on Friday —over demands for better residual pay and the use of AI — the organization released an FAQ for influencers that explicitly states what they can and cannot do during the strike.

Brand deals covered by the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement are still acceptable, as are already-in-effect contracts to promote struck work. But new agreements to promote struck companies or their content are understandably off the table, per the strike. Influencers are also barred from participating in conventions, like this week's San Diego Comic-Con, to promote or on behalf of struck companies.

Actors won't be promoting their work during the strike, but influencers would be wise to think twice before rushing in to replace them on the red carpet. According to guidelines, strike rules apply not only to current SAG-AFTRA members, but also to potential future members, who'll be barred from joining the guild if they cross the picket line. Any influencer, whether or not they're thinking about pursuing a career in acting, would be wise to leave that door open — who knows whether TikTok will even be around in a few years, after all? And anyway, they might want to join the union as a content creator in the future.

Creators should also keep in mind that losing out on future SAG-AFTRA membership isn't the only consequence of crossing the picket line — they'll also risk ostracizing themselves from their peers in the industry.

"Fall on the right side of history. Do the right thing. It's really quite simple," film influencer Reece Feldman (@guywithamoviecamera) said in a TikTok announcing his solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. "Support the works, support the union, support the people that make your favorite shows and movies. That's it."