As conservatives put religion in schools, Satanists want in, too

Tyler Kingkade
Updated Fri, May 17, 2024 

When conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas won the fight to allow religious chaplains in public schools, they swung open the door to ministers from other faiths — including the Satanic Temple.

The demonic-sounding group, which describes itself as “nontheistic,” is using this debate and others like it to make a point about the growing encroachment of religion on public life.

It would prefer no chaplains in schools, it says, but would settle for equal representation, intentionally goading conservatives, some of whom are explicit about wanting Christianity, rather than just religion, in public education.


“If they pass these bills, they’re going to have to contend with ministers of Satan acting as chaplains within their school districts,” said Lucien Greaves, a co-founder of the Satanic Temple, who uses a pseudonym to protect him against threats. “We think the public should know in advance that that’s what the outcome of these bills can be.”The Satanic Temple, founded in 2013 and recognized as a religion by the IRS, is known for trolling the religious right by taking advantage of Christian campaigns. When Arkansas installed a statue of the Ten Commandments outside the State Capitol, the Temple unveiled its own statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed figure, there, too. It offered the Hellions Academy as an alternative to Christian studies during school hours and named a telehealth abortion clinic after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s mom.

Image: A statue of Baphomet surrounded by children. Baphomet sits on a throne adorned with a pentagram. (Hannah Grabenstein / AP file)

The Temple believes in reason, empathy and the pursuit of knowledge, its website FAQ helpfully explains. And it doesn’t worship Satan. “Satan is a symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority,” it states. But it’s not just a joke, supporters say. And opponents seem to agree.

One man was charged in January with a hate crime for vandalizing the temple’s altar at the Iowa State Capitol. Another was arrested and accused of throwing a pipe bomb at the group’s headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, leaving a note that urged the group to “REPENT” and “TURN FROM SIN.” And a third was arrested this month and accused of plotting to blow up the headquarters.

“It definitely started with a kind of humorous or satirical element to it, but this is a movement with hundreds of people that’s been going for 10 years now — they’re quite serious about it,” said Joseph Laycock, a religious studies professor at Texas State University who wrote a book-length study about the group. “They’re willing to put up with death threats. They’re willing to wear bulletproof vests because Neo-Nazis have threatened to kill them if they give a public speech. People don’t normally take those kinds of risks for a joke.”

Interest in joining the Satanic Temple shot up in recent years, Greaves said, and the number of congregations more than doubled since 2021. That coincides with a decrease in the number of self-identified Christians in the U.S. and a growing movement among right-wing activists to insert conservative Christian doctrines into public policy and schools.

“The real fear of Christian nationalism is driving people into the arms of groups like the Satanic Temple,” Laycock said. “And then the fact that there are now Satanists taking to the streets of America is causing the Christian nationalists to double down, too, and making them even more determined to cling to power for as long as they can.”

The laws in Florida and Texas require school boards to vote on whether to appoint chaplains in their districts. Similar bills have been proposed in 13 other states this year. The proposals, which vary slightly, would have chaplains of various denominations serve in similar capacities as school counselors, in some cases with on-campus offices or salaries paid for by the districts.

“They are able to help the child work through their issues, work through their feelings, and also encourage them to work with their parents, in accordance with their family’s underlying religious foundations,” said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative advocacy group that testified in favor of the Texas bill.

Proponents of chaplains in schools have gone on the offensive, vowing that the Satanic Temple won’t infiltrate their schools. “There will be no Satanists in Oklahoma Schools. Period,” Ryan Walters, the state’s right-wing superintendent of public instruction, recently tweeted. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared at a bill signing for the new law last month that the Temple wouldn’t qualify to provide chaplains. “That is not a religion,” he said.

But legal experts warn that conservatives disregard the Satanic Temple at their own peril, because the group’s strategy of stepping into spaces intended for other religions is often effective. In 2016, the Temple began running After School Satan Clubs, seeking to start them in schools that already had Christian-based groups on campus. A federal court sided with the Temple in a legal challenge last year, and there are currently seven clubs nationwide, where children make arts and crafts, learn about animals and do science experiments.

“The Constitution is unambiguous about this,” Greaves said. “You just cannot take a religious identity and cut it out from a public accommodation. It’s against the law, the school districts will lose, they’ll have to pay the attorneys fees, and frankly, they shouldn’t be pulling their budget into this culture war grandstanding B.S.”

Lucien Greaves outside a courthouse. (Josh Reynolds for The Washington Post / Getty Images file)

One of the Temple’s first actions was to perform a “pink mass” in which gay couples made out over the grave of the mother of Fred Phelps, founder of the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church, and declared her a lesbian. The Temple has protested corporal punishment of children and sued states to argue that abortion restrictions violate their religious rights.“It is a poignant way of pushing the idea of what these governments really care about,” said Jay Wexler, a Boston University law professor who studies church-and-state issues. “Do they really care about opening up their spaces for religious pluralism, or do they actually care about just promoting one view of God and Christianity in the public space?”

People often ask why the Satanic Temple, with its lofty principles, uses such divisive names.

“If we were to name it the ‘fluffy bunnies and rainbows science club,’ or anything else, and people were to find out it is run by the Satanic Temple, we feel that that would actually cause more harm than good,” said June Everett, a Satanic Temple minister and the campaign director of the After School Satan Club. “Also, we are proud to be Satanists. So anyone that has a problem with the name or what we’re trying to do is free to just not send their kids.”

Rocky Malloy, a born-again Christian and founder of the National School Chaplain Association, said his group organized a phone bank and letter writing campaign to lobby for the Texas chaplains bill, according to video of his remarks at a fundraiser in November. Malloy called it an effort to “bring the boldness of Christ Jesus to public education” and a “legal way to bring God and prayer in school.” Malloy didn’t respond to an interview request.

The National School Chaplain Association offers certification provided by Oral Roberts University, a Christian school in Oklahoma that suspends students for being gay.

“Who is against it? Alphabet people,” Malloy said, referring to members of the LGBTQ community. “It messes up their whole agenda,” he said at the fundraiser after having declared that school counselors are “confirming gender confusion.”

The Satanic Temple isn’t the only religious group opposed to chaplains in schools. In Florida, the Florida Council of Churches, Pastors for Florida Children and the National Council of Jewish Women opposed the bill. Over 100 Texas pastors signed an open letter asking school districts not to hire chaplains, and most school boards appeared to follow their advice. Only one district had hired a chaplain by last month, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Greaves said the Temple is waiting to learn the details of how the chaplain programs will be implemented. But the Temple plans to start with placing its first ministers in Florida and Oklahoma.

Everett, the minister, is optimistic that they’ll be welcomed into some districts. “A lot more people are now aware of the Satanic Temple and what we’re doing,” she said. “Basically fighting fire with fire.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

More Ultra-Rich Are Worth Over $100 Billion Than Ever Before

Diana Li and Jack Witzig
Thu, May 16, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- The world’s super-rich club now has 15 members with fortunes over $100 billion, the most on record, as they ride the waves of artificial intelligence, luxury goods and geopolitical shifts.

The combined net worth for these people is up 13% this year to $2.2 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, beating the pace of inflation and the broader stock market. Between them, they hold nearly a quarter of the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.

While the 15 have crossed $100 billion before, this is the first time all of them have held fortunes of that size at the same time. L’Oreal SA heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, Dell Technologies Inc. founder Michael Dell and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim all initially reached the threshold in the past five months and some have fluctuated around that level, crossing it multiple times.

Bettencourt Meyers became the first woman to amass a 12-figure fortune in December after shares of the luxury cosmetics company posted their best year since 1998. Bettencourt Meyers, 70, ranks 14th on the index with a net worth of $101 billion.

Dell, 59, also recently saw his wealth crest the $100 billion mark after demand for AI-related equipment boosted Dell Technologies’ share price to record highs. He’s now 11th on Bloomberg’s wealth index with a fortune of $113 billion.

Other new joiners include Slim, 84, who ranks 13th with $106 billion. The richest person in Latin America added about $28 billion to his net worth in 2023 amid a boom in the Mexican peso that’s helped to boost the stock of companies in his business empire, which range from construction to operating restaurants and shops.

There are also old names coming back to the club. Gautam Adani, 61, recently returned to the elite group after a short-seller attack caused him to lose more wealth than anyone in 2023. Shares of his flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. rose as global investors increasingly focus on India businesses.

Leading the pack is LVMH founder and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault, 75, with a net worth of $222 billion. He derives most of his wealth from his stake in the world’s largest luxury-good maker.

Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, 60, ranks second with a net worth of $208 billion, thanks to his ownership of the world’s largest online retailer. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, 52, has a net worth of $187 billion and ranks the third on the index. His wealth, which has fallen by more than $40 billion this year, mainly consists of his stake in the world’s most valuable car maker.

Most Read from Bloomberg Bus

CAPITALI$M IS ANTI DEMOCRACY

Analysis-Endeavor's $13 billion deal highlights push to sidestep minority shareholders

Endeavor Group Holdings logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York

Updated Fri, May 17, 2024

By Anirban Sen and Tom Hals

(Reuters) -Endeavor Group's decision to deny minority shareholders the ability to veto a $13 billion deal to take the entertainment conglomerate private is the latest example of a company's controlling investors risking lawsuits to avoid paying a higher deal price.

At stake is a corporate governance safeguard that reassures minority investors they are getting a fair price and protects companies' stock market valuations from taking a hit on concerns a deal would undervalue them, corporate lawyers and investment bankers say.

Endeavor agreed last month to be taken private by a consortium of its investors, led by private equity firm Silver Lake, which holds 71% of the voting stock in the company. It inked the deal without agreeing to hold a vote where a majority of the investors not participating in the consortium would have to approve it.

Without such a "majority-of-the-minority-investors" threshold, a deal vote becomes a formality, since the shareholders that control the company are also the ones buying out the minority investors.

A special committee of independent board directors that negotiated the deal on behalf of Endeavor tried unsuccessfully to convince Silver Lake to sign off on a majority-of-minorities shareholder vote, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Nearly a dozen lawyers and bankers told Reuters there is a growing realization among the controlling investors of companies that the financial benefit of depriving minority shareholders of a deal veto outweighs the legal risks.

"(The shareholder vote) opens the door to an activist who can say, 'I know you're negotiating with the special committee, but now you're going to negotiate with me, and I'm going to squeeze a second bite'," said Phillip Mills, an M&A partner at law firm Davis Polk.

Endeavor did not respond to requests for comment on the decision not to stage a shareholder vote on the deal. Silver Lake declined to comment.

Endeavor, run by Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel, is well-known for representing film and television talent. It has grown to become a sports and entertainment behemoth through more than 20 acquisitions.

At least three other U.S. companies were taken private by majority shareholders over the last two years without seeking approval by minority investors.

These include buyout firm Thomas H. Lee's $2.5 billion deal in February to take medical equipment management company Agiliti private, and grill maker Weber's controlling shareholders led by BDT Capital acquiring it last year for $3.7 billion.

GLOBALIZATION 2.O  

Toyota tests new EV pickup truck ahead of mass production in Thailand

OUTSOURCERS OUTSOURCING

Toyota pilots EV pickup trucks in key Thai market·Reuters

Thu, May 16, 2024,
By Devjyot Ghoshal

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Toyota Motor is testing the new battery-electric Hilux pickup truck to assess its performance in different conditions as the car maker prepares to manufacture the vehicle in Thailand by the end of 2025, an executive said on Thursday.

Pickup trucks make up more than half of total vehicle sales in Thailand, a critical market for Toyota that has been flooded by a wave of Chinese electric vehicle makers and where the Japanese auto giant has a large manufacturing base.

"Our intention is to be producing the Hilux BEV over here," Pras Ganesh, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Asia told Reuters on the sidelines of the Future Mobility Asia summit, referring to the battery-electric vehicle.

Ganesh declined to provide details on pricing or production volume for the Hilux BEV, which will be Toyota's first EV pickup truck offering.

Rival Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors also plans to manufacture its electric D-MAX pickup truck in Thailand, the Thai government said in March.

The vehicle will be primarily aimed at the Thai domestic market, but Ganesh said the automaker will also consider exporting the Hilux BEV.

Toyota is testing the Hilux BEV for multiple use cases in varying road and temperature conditions.

"The more range I have to put on it, the more battery I have to put on it, which means the weight of the vehicle also becomes significantly heavier, which means the loading can be much less," Ganesh said. "So 'Is it going to meet the customer's usage needs?' is always our biggest issue. We are always trying to understand what they do."

Trailing EV industry leaders Tesla and China's BYD, Toyota has profited from rising demand for hybrid vehicles as more consumers are embracing petrol-electric hybrids, the company's traditional strength.

Ganesh said Toyota expects hybrid sales to grow in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, where it faces rising competition in the segment from cost-competitive rivals including Great Wall Motor.

In 2023, the company sold a little over 30,000 hybrid cars in Thailand, contributing about 11.5% of its overall vehicle sales in the country.

(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Exclusive-Toyota repeatedly halted Mexico plant after suppliers hit by worker shortage, sources say

The New York International Auto Show, in Manhattan, New York City

·Reuters

Fri, May 17, 2024,
By Maki Shiraki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor was forced to repeatedly halt production at a Mexico plant in February and March after local labour shortages snarled output at suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the automaker's operations.

The stoppages, details of which were corroborated by documents from Toyota and suppliers reviewed by Reuters, illustrate a potential choke point for the world's top automaker, which plans to produce 10 million vehicles this year.


Toyota halted production for a total 19 days in February and March at its plant in Tijuana, Mexico, where it makes the Tacoma pick-up truck, according to two of the people. Technical issues at the plant were also a factor in the stoppage, they said.

Reuters spoke to four people at suppliers and Toyota. All of them declined to be identified because the information has not been made public.

Toyota is now working with some suppliers to ease the strain. Still, some parts makers are barely managing to keep production going because of the worker shortage, one of the people said.

The supply disruptions are the latest headache for the Japanese manufacturing giant, which has also been dealing with the fallout from a safety test certification scandal at subsidiary Daihatsu, as well as separate governance issues at two other group companies.

Those scandals have prompted the automaker to delay the start of the production of electric vehicles in the United States by six months to around June 2026, two of the people said. The EV delay was previously reported by Japanese media.

In response to questions from Reuters, Toyota Motor North America, the automaker's subsidiary, said: "Toyota's North American plants continue to face intermittent production delays due to supply chain disruptions. To minimise the impact, our teams are working diligently to do everything possible to lessen the inconvenience to our customers."

'FREQUENT HALTS'

In a letter to its North American supplier network in late April that was reviewed by Reuters, the automaker acknowledged the "frequent production halts" that were causing "inconvenience and concern".

At some suppliers, it said, regular employee turnover had lead to a decline in skills, while production capacity had decreased "due to issues with personnel, equipment and material supply".

The automaker requested details from parts makers on their challenges in North America and what kind of support they required.

Reuters was not able to determine whether the labour issues were hitting the suppliers of other Japanese automakers producing in the United States.

The supply-chain issues help explain some of Toyota's recent difficulties in the United States, even as it sees increased demand for vehicles, particularly hybrids. Toyota is expected to start selling a hybrid version of the Tacoma in the United States this year. "There were some operational issues involving parts makers, and it became clear in the fourth quarter that production was not going as expected," Yoichi Miyazaki, Toyota's chief financial officer, said at an earnings briefing last week, adding that the automaker was also impacted by one-time costs related to production changes.

Last week Toyota booked a 27.5 billion yen ($176 million) operating loss in North America for January-March, although overall, it delivered record earnings.

Toyota has forecast a 20% profit decline in the current financial year, citing investments in both suppliers and strategy.

Robust economic growth in North America and rising wages have meant higher turnover as workers leave jobs in heavy industry for those with better conditions.

"Employees are frequently changing jobs in search of higher salaries. It has become difficult to secure personnel, and we can no longer maintain the required production volume," said one of the sources, who works at a supplier.

Toyota sold more than 230,000 of the Tacoma in the United States last year, representing about 10% of its total sales in that market. Only the RAV4 and Camry were bigger sellers.

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki; Writing by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Nobuhiro Kubo, David Dolan and Tom Hogue)

HEGEMONIC EXCEPTIONALISM

China says 'bullying' tariff hike shows some in US are 'losing their minds'

Reuters
Wed, May 15, 2024


Chinese Foreign Minister Wang attends meeting in Belgrade


BEIJING (Reuters) -A U.S. move to raise tariffs on Chinese goods is a sign of weakness, not of strength, and shows that some in the United States may be "losing their minds", China's foreign minister said on Wednesday, in unusually blunt comments.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled steep tariff increases on Chinese imports including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products, risking an election-year standoff with Beijing as he woos American voters who give his economic policies low marks.

China immediately vowed retaliation.

"This is the most typical form of bullying in the world today! It shows that some people in the United States have reached the point of losing their minds in order to maintain their unipolar hegemony," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to a statement published by state broadcaster CCTV.

"The U.S.'s suppression of China does not prove that the U.S. is strong, but rather exposes that the U.S. has lost its self-confidence and is out of order," he said.

The U.S. move, instead of hindering China's development, will inspire its 1.4 billion citizens to work harder, Wang said.

"At this critical moment of global economic recovery, the international community should warn the United States not to cause new trouble for the world," he said.

Biden said China would probably raise tariffs in retaliation, possibly on unrelated products, but said the move was unlikely to lead to international conflict.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones)

 Jared Kushner’s Latest Massive Foreign Investment Deal Sparks Uproar

Talia Jane
Thu, May 16, 2024

NEW REPUBLIC


Jared Kushner secured a massive $500 million contract with the state of Serbia to build a hotel on the memorialized ruins of a former military base in Belgrade, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The announcement of the contract reportedly provoked protests in Belgrade against the deal, which is being bankrolled by Kushner’s Saudi-backed investment company, Affinity Partners. In defense of the contract, a Serbian government official described Kushner’s company primarily funded by foreign interests as a “reputable American company.”

“The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” the statement read. The deal with Kushner’s company inked by Serbian officials includes a 99-year lease to convert the site into a luxury hotel, commercial space, and over 1,500 residential units.

This is one of the biggest investment deals Kushner has landed while his father-in-law, Donald Trump, runs for president.

Prior to approval of the contract, public officials in Serbia heavily opposed the deal for its insensitivity and potential for political manipulation. Serbian politician Borko Stefanovic described the location as “one of the pearls of pre-war architecture” to The Daily Beast, noting, “Most Serbs believe this site should not be desecrated in any way.”

A petition was launched in Serbia against the contract with Kushner in late March that generated 10,000 signatures in a matter of hours and over 25,000 within days, according to The Daily Beast. The location has long been sought after by Trump and his acolytes: In 2013, Trump expressed interest in turning the site into a hotel. In 2020, while serving as a diplomat for Trump, Richard Grenell—who joins Kushner on this contract—suggested “repairing” the complex.

The Yugoslav Ministry of Defense military complex was bombed by NATO forces in 1999 during a U.S.-backed campaign that killed an estimated 2,000 civilians and lasted until the Yugoslav Army retreated from Kosovo during the Kosovo War. The prospect of a U.S. company building anything on the site was described by Politico as “if the Taliban wanted to build a luxury apartment compound on the site of New York’s Twin Towers.”

Protests are planned in Serbia against a real estate project financed by Trump's son-in-law Kushner

DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Updated Fri, May 17, 2024 


A tram car passes by former Serbian army headquarters, destroyed during NATO's bombing campaign in Belgrade, Serbia, March 24, 2013. Opposition groups in Serbia are planning protests against a real estate development project that will be financed by the firm of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at the site of the former Serbian army headquarters destroyed in a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign in 1999. The Serbian government earlier this week signed a deal with a Kushner-related company for the 99-year lease of land in central Belgrade for the "revitalization" of the bombed-out buildings. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Opposition groups in Serbia are planning protests against a real estate development project that will be financed by the firm of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at the site of the former Serbian army headquarters destroyed in a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign in 1999.

The Serbian government earlier this week signed a deal with a Kushner-related company for the 99-year lease of land in central Belgrade for the “revitalization” of the bombed-out buildings. Kushner has confirmed reports that his company plans to finance the $500-million project. It would feature a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops.

“The economic progress in Serbia over the past decade has been impressive,” Kushner said in a statement confirming the approval of the deal. “This development will further elevate Belgrade into the premier international destination it is becoming.”

Government officials have welcomed the project, but opposition groups and many in the general public have spoken out against it.

For many, the site of the bombed-out army command building is a potent symbol of Serbia’s resistance against what they call “NATO aggression” 25 years ago.

Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which was then a Serbian province. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day, U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign pushed Serbian troops out of Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but the government in Belgrade doesn’t recognize its neighbor as a separate country.

The leader of the Ecological Uprising opposition group, Aleksandar Jovanović, announced that the organization “will use all means, including physical” to defend the demolition of the old General Staff building and the handover to an American company.

“The moment the first bulldozers appear, we will be waiting for them,” Jovanović said at a press conference and called on all citizens to join them, especially members of the Serbian Armed Forces, “all those who have the courage to defend the old General Staff and not allow this crime to happen.”

Government officials defended the deal that was signed with Kushner's Affinity Partners company on Wednesday.

“We will restore the building 25 years after it was destroyed in the bombing,” construction minister Goran Vesić said. "For a quarter of a century, no one, before this Government, had thought to rebuild the complex. When this space is revitalized, it will contribute to the development of Belgrade and Serbia.”

He said that a bombing memorial will be built at the site, financed by the investor.

Earlier this year, the Albanian tourism ministry acknowledged it received an investment project application from Affinity Partners to turn a former military base on Sazan Island in the Adriatic Sea into a resort. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Albania was proud to have attracted such interest.

Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex
Eric Lipton
Updated Thu, May 16, 2024 

Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex

WASHINGTON — The Serbian government has approved a contract with Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former Defense Ministry in Belgrade, putting him directly into business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald Trump, vies to return to the White House.

Kushner is pursuing the $500 million hotel project in partnership with Richard Grenell. A former Trump administration aide, Grenell first proposed that U.S. investors attempt to redevelop the long-vacant bombed-out site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense while Grenell was still a diplomat, serving as a special envoy to the Balkans.

The deal, which provoked protests in Belgrade on Thursday, is with an affiliate of Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the 3-year-old, $3 billion investment fund backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

“The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” a Serbian government official said in a statement released Wednesday.

The complex was bombed in 1999 by NATO forces with the backing of the United States during the war Serbia was then waging with Kosovo. It is now considered a prime undeveloped real estate site in the middle of a much-changed city, and Trump himself considered building a hotel on it in 2013.

For Kushner, who is also planning two luxury hotel projects in neighboring Albania, these deals in the Balkans are among the largest he has made since starting his investment firm.

“The economic progress in Serbia over the past decade has been impressive,” Kushner said in a statement confirming the approval of the deal. “This development will further elevate Belgrade into the premier international destination it is becoming.”

The projects in Serbia and Albania both involve direct concessions from the governments there, meaning Kushner will be financially benefiting from foreign government acts potentially while his father-in-law is in the White House, even as these overseas officials might seek actions by the United States, such as support for Serbia’s bid to join the European Union.

The investments Kushner is making — with business partners in Israel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Germany and the United States, among other locations — are also backed by a fund where the bulk of the money comes from the Saudi government, again creating questions about potential conflicts of interest if Trump returns to office, ethics lawyers said.

“It is a conflict of interest in the most stark sense: The president of the United States needs to be advancing the interest of the United States and not the financial interests of family members,” said Adav Noti, executive director of Campaign Legal Center, which tracks ethics issues in the federal government.

In total, 99% of the money placed with Kushner’s firm by investors has come from foreign sources, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in late March. Kushner says his overseas investments will not constitute a conflict of interest, as he has said that he does not plan to return to the White House if Trump is reelected.

Kushner and his partners plan to build a hotel, retail space and more than 1,500 residential units. The approved plan includes a museum and memorial complex to those injured or killed during the NATO bombings. The memorial will be owned and managed by the government and designed “in collaboration with Serbian architects,” Kushner’s company said in a statement.

Kushner is working with a longtime real estate partner on the Serbia project, Asher Abehsera, who will oversee the actual development. “Reconstruction does not only mean building buildings, but also building bridges between cultures, respecting the past and creating the foundation for a prosperous future,” Abehsera said in a statement.

Grenell, in a prior interview, said his original proposal from the time he was in the Trump administration and his current involvement in the project reflect his belief that the United States should help rebuild the site that it had played a role in bombing 25 years ago. He said the redevelopment could be part of a “healing” of relations between the two countries.

The Serbian government, in its own statement, said it would retain ownership of the site and that the investor group, Affinity Global Development, has a set period of time to complete the project, or the land will be returned to the government’s control.

But the approval of the contract — which includes a 99-year lease and an agreement to share profits from the development of the three-block area with the Serbian government — has drawn criticism from opposition leaders in the Serbian parliament, among others.

Protesters blocked traffic in front of the former Defense Ministry headquarters Thursday and put up signs questioning the decision, including some that said: “Stop Giving Army HQ as a Present to American Offshore Companies.”

Some in Serbia object to the plan because of the United States’ role in the bombing 25 years ago.

“Somebody is trying to clear up the mess that they did, and they are not those who should do anything in this place,” said Dragan Jonic, a member of parliament, who participated in the protest Thursday. “We’ll use all the legal means and civil disobedience to stop this.”

The project also has drawn attention from House Democrats who asked Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to investigate the proposed deals, though there has been no movement by Republicans to do so.

“Jared Kushner is pursuing new foreign business deals, just as Donald Trump becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency,” Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote in March, after The New York Times disclosed details of the planned projects.

Kushner, in an interview, has said that as a private citizen he has the right to pursue international real estate and business deals, even if they involve foreign governments.

But Kushner has played a role in the background, advising a nonprofit set up by backers of Trump that already is working on Trump’s possible transition back to the White House.

“One of the reasons I think firms like us as investors, they know that if Affinity comes in we’re a mark of kosher,” Kushner said in an interview in March. “Because again, we’re a highly scrutinized firm. We operate very professionally.”

SEE

Serbia leases ex-army HQ in Belgrade to Trump son-in-law's firm

Exclusive-Vietnam forfeits billions of dollars in foreign aid amid anti-graft freeze, document says

STALINISM CREATES ITS OWN OPPOSITION

Thu, May 16, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: A picture illustration shows U.S. 100 dollar bank notes taken in Tokyo

By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam forfeited at least $2.5 billion in foreign aid over the last three years and may lose another $1 billion because of administrative paralysis, the United Nations, the World Bank and Western donors told the government in a letter seen by Reuters.

The previously unreported figures from the unpublished document, dated March 6, highlight frustration among foreign investors over regulatory hurdles and lengthy approval procedures that have caused prolonged deadlock as the Communist-ruled country is gripped by an escalating anti-corruption campaign and political turbulence.


"Approximately $1 billion in development funding is awaiting approval, with an additional $2.5 billion returned due to funding expirations," said the letter, sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh - effectively signalling potential losses worth nearly 1% of the country's gross domestic product.

The expired funding could delay much-needed projects, such as infrastructure upgrades, and donors stressed in the letter that much more may have been lost in additional funds that have been "deterred by the protracted approval processes".

Two senior foreign officials interviewed by Reuters directly linked the administrative hurdles to the "blazing furnace" anti-graft drive, echoing similar comments from other diplomats and officials in recent months.

The anti-graft drive has created a sort of paralysis, in which bureaucrats are slow to approve or advance initiatives because they fear accidentally violating complex regulations.

Amid those constraints, the country is struggling to spend even its own public funds, having failed to invest about $19 billion from 2021 to 2023, one-quarter less than it had planned, according to the finance ministry.

The letter was sent by the heads of the U.N. and World Bank in Vietnam and is co-signed by 18 ambassadors, including from the United States, the European Union and Japan, and the head of the Asian Development Bank in the country.

Vietnam's prime minister's office and the investment ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.N. and the World Bank said they kept working closely with the government on projects, with the U.N. acknowledging in a statement to Reuters that there were "challenges" for the use of funding.

POWER CONUNDRUM

Vietnam has made significant commitments to reduce its use of coal in exchange for Western climate funding, but a year and a half after a deal with Group of Seven (G7) nations was announced, no funds have been disbursed, while Vietnam is boosting its coal imports to avert power shortages in foreign-invested factories.

After multiple requests from donors, the government established a working group on the issue and instructed officials to review some regulations that hamper access to funds, one foreign official involved in the discussions told Reuters, noting that no deadline was set to complete the process.

The power grid, crucial infrastructure for the country, has been deemed in need of upgrades, and large amounts of foreign funds are available for the work. However, existing rules prevent the state-owned network operator from accessing that money at least until 2027 because of financial issues, the official said as an example of the deadlock.

Donors' frustration is leading to decisions that could reduce future assistance to Vietnam.

The World Bank, for instance, says it will merge its Hanoi office from July with operations in Cambodia and Laos to improve "management efficiency", a move that could lead to a shift in focus.

Vietnamese officials have urged foreign donors to reduce the costs of their funds, which come mostly in loans, often at market prices. But the country has also forfeited large amounts of grants, Western officials said.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Khanh Vu. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Sanctuary's 'Most Traumatized Bear' Is Living a Life 'of Hope and Happiness' a Year After Her Rescue

Kelli Bender
Thu, May 16, 2024 

Dawn the moon bear is thriving at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam after her rescue from a bear bile farm

Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn the moon bear shortly after her rescue in Feb. 2023 (left) and Dawn a year after moving into an Animals Asia sanctuary in Vietnam

Dawn the moon bear spent 20 years living in a cage at a bear bile farm in Vietnam before


Animals Asia rescued Dawn in Feb. 2023 and brought her to a sanctuary where she began the long road to recovery


Dawn was scared, balding, and helpless when she first arrived at the sanctuary but is now thriving over a year after her rescue

Dawn the moon bear is a reminder that every creature deserves a second chance.

On February 22, 2023, Animals Asia rescued Dawn from a bile farm— a facility where a bear's bile is painfully extracted while the animal is confined to a cage — in Phung Thuong, Vietnam.



Before the nonprofit arrived, Dawn spent 20 years in a small cage at the bile farm, undergoing routine bile extractions. Life on the bile farm left Dawn balding, fearful, and emotionally helpless. Animals Asia said the moon bear was "the most traumatized bear" the organization had seen when they rescued her in 2023.

Over a year later, Dawn is one of the happiest bears at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam. To celebrate Dawn's transformation and May 17's Endangered Species Day, Dame Joanna Lumley created a video with Animal Asia about the resilient moon bear.


In the moving clip, Lumley recounts Dawn's devastating beginnings and the many milestones the bear surpassed to reach where she is today.

"Seeing Dawn's transformation from a life of darkness to one of hope and happiness is a profound reminder of the resilience of those magnificent animals and the power of compassion," Lumley said in a statement. “This video not only tells the story of one bear's journey to freedom but also calls on each of us to act and help end the cruelty of bile farming. I am so proud to stand with Animals Asia, an organization poised to eradicate the centuries-long practice of bile farming in Vietnam and rescue the remaining bile bears in the country. Together, by supporting this vital cause, we can provide these endangered animals with the dignified life they rightfully deserve."



Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn the moon bear on the day of her rescue

Animals Asia believes bear bile farmers placed Dawn in a dark, cramped cage when she was a cub and kept the bear there for 20 years until her rescue. When Animals Asia went to transport the cub to its sanctuary, employees found a bear distressed by the sight of humans after a lifetime of neglect.

Dawn exhibited signs of psychological trauma — like head-swaying and a "learned helplessness" that left the moon bear curled up in a tight ball at the slightest provocation. Animals Asia also found evidence of physical injuries, including hypertension, broken teeth, arthritis, an infected gallbladder, and malnourishment.

After 20 years in her tiny cage, Dawn finally left and moved into the quarantine area of Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary, where she stayed for 60 days. Despite having a much larger space, several dedicated caretakers, and plenty of food, Dawn struggled to adapt to her new surroundings at first because of the trauma she endured.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn smiling during her recovery at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary

"While she is often calm, engages well with enrichment activities, and will even hand-feed, she can become overwhelmed in certain situations and completely shuts down. In these moments, she retreats to a corner, turns her back to whatever frightens her, tucks her head into her abdomen, curls up into a ball, and visibly flinches at any noises while in this state. It is one of the worst things I have seen in my time here, how incredibly fearful and shut down she is in these situations. Dawn has obviously learned this: no matter what she does, terrible things will keep happening to her," Sarah van Herpt, Animals Asia senior bear team manager, shared after the moon bear arrived at the sanctuary.

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Thankfully, through patience and compassion, the staff at Aniamls Asia taught Dawn that the "terrible things" she went through had ended. In Spring 2023, Dawn started smiling and acting more social with her human caretakers, who worked to gain the bear's trust through rapport-building sessions with lots of treats.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn the moon bear making friends with another bear at Animal Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam

Related: Bear Breaks into Calif. Family's Fridge, Steals a Watermelon, and Picnics in the Yard: Watch!

Many more firsts followed Dawn's initial smile. In May 2023, the moon bear was released from the quarantine area and moved into her new den at the sanctuary. Shortly after that, Dawn luxuriated in her first bath. In June 2023, after undergoing dental surgery, Dawn started to eat solid food. In the Summer of 2023, Dawn began making friends with a few other bears at the sanctuary and took her first steps outside.

After all these milestones, Dawn is a far different bear than when she first arrived at Animals Asia's sanctuary in 2023. She has grown back all her fur, exhibits curiosity and playfulness, and trusts that the humans around her are there to care for her—and they are!

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn the bear taking a bath

Related: Wild Bear Cub Pulled from Tree for Selfies Is 'Doing Well' in N.C. Animal Refuge's Care

"It's hard to believe Dawn is the same frightened little bear who came through the sanctuary gates just over a year ago." Jill Robinson, Animals Asia's founder, said. "Today, she has a life she never dared dream of: grass under her paws, the breeze ruffling her fur, and a love she'd never known warming her heart. Dawn's journey is a testament to the resilience of the spirit and the healing power of kindness."

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Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn enjoying time outside at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam

Animals Asia is working to bring this kind of happy ending to all the bears stuck in bile farms in Vietnam. In 2017, after years of negotiation with Animals Asia, the Vietnamese government agreed to end bear bile farming and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Animals Asia, naming the charity their official partner in closing the industry.

Since then, Animals Asia has been working to move all the bears remaining on bile farms to its sanctuaries. In November 2023, Animals Asia opened its second sanctuary in Vietnam. Once this sanctuary is full, Animals Asia estimates that no more bears will be trapped in bile farms in Vietnam.

To learn more about Dawn and how to support bears like her, visit Animals Asia's website.

Libcom.orgfiles.libcom.org/files/2023-08/beasts of burden antagonism.pdf

Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals - Communism - Libcom.org

Beasts of. Burden. Capitalism · Animals. Communism as on ent ons. s a een ree. Page 2. Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals -. Communism. Published October ...

Jellyfish could be one marine creature that benefits from climate change

Rosie Frost
Thu, May 16, 2024 


Climate change is putting countless marine animals under pressure but jellyfish could actually benefit from warming ocean waters.

A study by researchers at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) looked at eight different species of Arctic jellyfish. They exposed them to rising water temperatures, sea ice retreat and other changing environmental conditions through computer models.

Scientists found that by the second half of the century, seven of the eight species could expand their habitat polewards under these conditions. Simulations showed that the lion’s mane jellyfish - one of the biggest stinging jellyfish- in particular could nearly triple the size of its current habitat.

Just one species, Sminthea arctica, would experience a minor decrease in habitat since it would have to retreat to greater depths in order to find its optimal temperature range.

“These results clearly show how dramatically climate change could affect the ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean,” says Dmitrii Pantiukhin, a doctoral candidate in ARJEL (Arctic Jellies), a junior research group specialising in Arctic jellyfish at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).

“The projected expansion of the jellyfish habitats could have tremendous, cascading impacts on the entire food web.”

Despite their importance in the marine ecosystem, the transparent gelatinous organisms are often forgotten in ecological studies. This research closes an important gap in our knowledge.

Lion's mane jellyfish could triple their habitat as oceans warm. - Oleksandra Kharkova/Getty via Canva

Climate change could mean an ocean dominated by jellyfish

Researchers say that in the future, jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton may be some of the few organisms to benefit from climate change.

Studies have confirmed that marine organisms known as cnidarians, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates can thrive not only in rising water temperatures but also when there is nutrient contamination or overfishing.

When combined, all of these factors could mean a shift from a diverse marine ecosystem dominated by fish to an ocean full of jellyfish. Many researchers are already warning of impending ‘ocean jellification’.

“Jellyfish play an important part in the marine food web,” explains Pantiukhin.

“Now that climate change is putting more stress on marine organisms, it can often give the gelatinous zooplankton a leg up on their competitors for food, like fish.

“This in turn affects the entire food web and ultimately the fish themselves: many types of jellyfish feed on fish larvae and eggs, which can slow or prevent the recovery of fish populations already under pressure, which are often also heavily fished by humans.”

Pantiukhin adds that anyone interested in how fish - an important food source for many people - will develop in the future need to keep an eye on jellyfish.

US proposes ending new federal leases in nation's biggest coal region

Thu, May 16, 2024 



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the U.S. as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.

The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.

The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal leases take many years to develop and demand has flagged in recent years. But the proposal drew a harsh pushback from Republicans in Congress, coming just weeks after President Joe Biden's Democratic administration unveiled an air quality rule that could force many coal-fired power plants to reduce their pollution or shut down.

Thursday's proposal was made in response to a 2022 court order that said two federal land management plans drafted for the Powder River Basin during former President Donald Trump's administration had failed to adequately take into account climate change and public health problems caused by burning coal.

In response, the Biden administration is issuing plans that would stop further coal leasing in the region while preserving existing leases. The plans are subject to a 30-day public protest period before they become final.

Federal officials said they anticipate coal mining to continue from existing leases through 2041 in Wyoming and through 2060 at a mine in Montana.

Another Montana mine, the Spring Creek Mine, could run out of federal coal reserves by 2035 — more than 50 years earlier than if leases were to continue being issued, according to government analyses of the proposal.

Fourteen active coal mines in the region in 2022 produced almost 260 million short tons of coal — about 40% of total U.S. production.

Yet mining volumes already had dropped by almost half over the past two decades as competition from renewable energy and cheap natural gas shuttered many coal-fired power plants served by the mines.

Conservationists said the proposal marks a historic shift for the nation's coal program, which over the past half-century allowed companies to extract billions of tons of the fuel at low cost from massive strip mines, primarily in Western states.

Mark Fix, a southeast Montana rancher and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council conservation group, said the Biden administration proposal was a “commonsense plan” given the current state of the coal market.

“Coal companies in this region already have decades of coal locked up under leases, and it's hard to imagine they'll find buyers that far into the future given the competition from more affordable energy sources,” Fix said.

Elected officials in Wyoming and Montana responded with outrage, characterizing the proposal as an assault on domestic energy sources that will kill coal jobs and cost the states millions in lost revenue.

“Wyoming has been targeted left and right by rule after rule handed down by this administration,” said Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis. “Wyoming coal is needed now more than ever to power our nation and the world."

Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke — who sought to boost coal production with little success while serving as Trump's Interior Secretary — said coal provides reliable power for the electric grid and modern mining technologies have reduced its environmental impacts.

However, the improved technologies have not halted greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal to make electricity.

Ending federal leasing would reduce those emissions by the equivalent of 293 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to the government analyses. That's comparable to emissions from about 63 million gasoline-power vehicles, the analyses said.

Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Brian Hires declined to provide further details on why the agency was proposing to end new leases.

A longstanding partisan divide over federal coal reserves was deepened by 2016 federal lease sale moratorium under former Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump officials scuttled the moratorium before it was revived in 2022 by a federal judge.

An appeals court in February struck it down, raising fears among environmentalists of a potential mining resurgence on federal lands.

Thursday's proposals and the increasingly bleak market for coal in the U.S. would make such a resurgence more difficult.

Conor Bernstein with the National Mining Association said the change to the coal program “handcuffs” the industry's ability to respond to the market and make plans for future mining.

Global coal production has reached new highs in recent years even as mining companies in the U.S. have faced declining demand.

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press