U.S. Democrats charge disrespect over Kenya leader snub at Congress

Agence France-Presse
May 18, 2024 

Kenyan President William Ruto speaks about recent floods during an address from State House in Nairobi on May 3, 2024 (AFP)

Lawmakers from President Joe Biden's Democratic Party on Friday accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of disrespecting Africa after he did not invite Kenyan President William Ruto to address Congress during an upcoming Washington visit.

Biden has invited the key U.S. regional ally next week for a state visit -- the most prestigious trip a foreign leader can pay to Washington, which includes a ceremonial welcome and formal dinner at the White House.

Leaders on state visits often also address joint sessions of Congress, but Johnson, a Republican, brushed aside an appeal for an invitation to Ruto made by both the top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

In a letter to Johnson, 14 House Democrats told Johnson they were "extremely disappointed" by the decision and said, "The people of Kenya deserve more respect."

"Foreign adversaries like China, Russia and Iran are working tirelessly to subvert America's alliances, particularly in Africa," wrote the lawmakers including Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Your choice not to provide the Kenyan president, a key African partner, the opportunity to address the Congress helps create an opening for autocratic adversaries to make inroads in African public opinion."

Four foreign leaders have addressed joint sessions of the current Congress, in which the Republicans control the House -- the prime ministers of India and Japan and the presidents of Israel and South Korea.

"Failing to offer the same invitation to President Ruto risks sending the message that African partnerships are less valued by Congress," the Democratic lawmakers wrote.

The speaker's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The state visit comes as the US election season enters full swing, with many lawmakers occupied by campaigning.

Kenya has long been a close partner of the United States both economically and diplomatically and has partnered with Washington on security issues including in neighboring Somalia.

More recently, Kenya has volunteered to take the lead in a security mission aimed at stabilizing violence-ravaged Haiti, a relief for the United States after months of searching for a solution.

The last African leader to address Congress was Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the continent's first female elected head of state, in 2006.

Muslim advocacy group sues Abbott, saying university executive order violates free speech

Sejal Govindarao, The Texas Tribune
May 18, 2024

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Shutterstock.com)

"Muslim advocacy group sues Abbott, saying university executive order violates free speech" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

A national Muslim advocacy group is suing Gov. Greg Abbott for singling out pro-Palestinian student groups and critics of Israel on Texas college campuses over his March executive order that aims to take stricter action against acts of antisemitism.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations argues that Abbott’s order violates the First Amendment and falsely equates advocacy for Palestinian liberation – through slogans like “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” – to antisemitism. The organization is filing the lawsuit on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Texas at Dallas, and the Democratic Socialists of America.

The executive order, which Abbott signed in March, directs Texas universities to “review and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech” and names expulsion as an “appropriate punishment” for violating such policies. It specifically names the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine as groups he believes have violated policies and should be subject to discipline.
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“Texas supports free speech, especially on university campuses, but that freedom comes with responsibilities for both students and the institutions themselves; and such speech can never incite violence, encourage people to violate the law, harass other students or other Texans, or disrupt the core educational purpose of a university,” the executive order states.

The executive order came as tensions over the war between Israel and Gaza were heating up on college campuses, and nearly a month prior to the crackdown on University of Texas at Austin protests, where demonstrators attempting to build encampments on campus were forced out by police in riot gear and horses. More than 100 people were arrested. Two protestors were arrested at University of Texas Houston, and 21 protestors were arrested at the University of Texas at Dallas.

"Our community has a long history of opposing unjust policies that specifically target pro-Palestinian voices and we fully intend to keep that winning history in place with this legal challenge," William White, director of CAIR-Houston, said in a press release.


The Governor’s Office did not respond to immediate request for comment.

We’ve got big things in store for you at The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Join us for three days of big, bold conversations about politics, public policy and the day’s news.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/16/lawsuit-greg-abbott-texas-campus-protest-antisemitism/.

House approves measure condemning ‘calls to defund the police’

Mychael Schnell
Fri, 17 May 2024



The House approved a resolution Friday that condemns “calls to defund the police,” taking aim at the rallying cry embraced by some progressives amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

The chamber approved the four-page measure in a 337-61 vote, with all opposition coming from Democrats, a number of whom are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The nonbinding resolution — which Republicans brought to the floor as part of their Police Week legislative push — condemns calls to defund the police, which the measure claims “has increased violence towards law enforcement officers.”


It also “expresses condolences and solemn appreciation” to the loved ones of law enforcement officials who were killed in the line of duty, and it recognizes the need for better data collection regarding officers who are assaulted, injured or disabled in the line of duty, among other provisions.

The “defund the police” resolution was one of several law enforcement-related measures House GOP leadership brought to the floor as part of Police Week. Republicans have sought to put a spotlight on crime, which has become a central topic in the 2024 election cycle and emerged as a key weak spot for President Biden as he vies for another four years in office.

“Under Joe Biden and far left failed leadership, the safety of America’s law enforcement has been sacrificed for the sake of the Democrats pro-criminal agenda,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the chair of the House GOP conference, said Wednesday. “Lawless liberals handicap our police from doing their jobs with failed bail reform like my home state in New York and pro-criminal policies that appease the far left Democrats’ defund the police agenda.”

A number of Democrats, however, slammed the Police Week proposals as messaging bills.

“Resolutions that mislead the public about violent crime rates, legislation that increases the availability of deadly weapons in our communities, and bills that fuel xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments do not make our communities safer–for our children, for our most vulnerable neighbors, for law enforcement, other first responders, or anyone else,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) wrote in a statement earlier this week.

The phrase “defund the police” was popularized following the Black Lives Matter movement, particularly after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Black advocates argued police departments were overfunded, allowing for the overpolicing of Black communities.

For many advocates, defunding the police would mean reinvesting city and state funds from law enforcement to services such as mental health services or other first responders.

But many opposed to the concept argued the phrase — and advocates — demonized law enforcement. They also expressed concerns that limiting the police budget would lead to a closure of police departments, though advocates said they do not want police departments abolished.

Republicans have seized on the rallying cry since it surged in popularity, with GOP lawmakers using it as a way to argue that Democrats are anti-police.

The House Democratic campaign arm, however, pointed out that the Republican Study Committee (RSC) — the largest conservative caucus in the lower chamber — released a budget proposal in March that called for reducing funding to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, the federal program that offers funding for various levels of law enforcement agencies.

“Conservatives support our men and women and blue but should question whether the government should involve itself in state and local law enforcement, even if it is only a matter of funding,” according to the RSC budget.

“The federal government should not bail out cities that wish to cut their police budgets, so the RSC Budget would support a reduction to this program,” the budget adds.

Asked about that provision of the RSC budget Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — a former chair of the RSC — said he hasn’t “looked into the details of the RSC budget” before shifting the focus back on to Democrats.

“A lot of the Democrats in the House now are trying to revise history and pretend as though and even say that they never supported defund police,” Johnson said.


These 61 House Democrats voted against a resolution that condemns calls to defund the police

Bryan Metzger
Fri, 17 May 2024 


The House passed a resolution on Friday condemning calls to defund the police.


61 House Democrats voted against it.


The resolution also blamed progressive policies for an uptick in violence against cops.

The House of Representatives easily passed a resolution by a 337-61 margin on Friday that condemned calls to defund the police and blamed progressive policies for an uptick in violence against officers.

61 House Democrats voted against the resolution, while 134 — along with other Republicans present — voted for it.

The resolution, authored by Republican Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, included several noncontroversial provisions, such as clauses expressing "condolences and solemn appreciation" for the families of slain officers and recognizing "the mental stress and strain law enforcement officers suffer."

But it also included language that Democrats took issue with, including blaming "decreased penalties and no-bail policies" for opening the door to "record criminal activity in cities across the country."

Many progressive district attorneys have supported efforts to reform bail policies, arguing that the status quo leads to poorer people who are accused of crimes being stuck in jail while the wealthy are able to buy their freedom.

Many Democrats voted against the resolution, arguing that it was an unserious effort to address police safety. Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland, a former prosecutor, listed off several previous bills that Democrats had supported and passed when they controlled Congress, including legislation to extend benefits to officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Several of the Democrats who voted against the resolution have also expressed support, in various forms, for efforts to shift resources away from traditional policing and toward alternative community safety approaches.

Here are the 61 House Democrats who voted against the resolution:



Balint
Barragán
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Bowman
Bush
Cárdenas
Carson
Casar
Casten
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Crockett
DeGette
Doggett
Eshoo
Foster
Foushee
Frost
Garamendi
García (IL)

Garcia (TX)
Garcia, Robert
Goldman (NY)
Gomez
Green, Al (TX)
Huffman
Ivey
Jackson (IL)
Jayapal
Johnson (GA)
Kamlager-Dove
Lee (CA)
Lee (PA)
McClellan
McGarvey
McGovern
Moore (WI)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Ocasio-Cortez

Omar
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Ramirez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Stansbury
Takano
Tlaib
Underwood
Velázquez
Waters
Watson Coleman
Williams (GA)


Read the original article on Business Insider

Expedia CTO, Senior Engineering Leader Exit on Policy Violation

Natalie Lung
Fri, May 17, 2024


(Bloomberg) -- Expedia Group Inc. said its chief technology officer and a senior engineering leader were fired due to “a violation of company policy,” just days after the online travel firm’s annual product and partner conference.

CTO Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president, core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the company, Expedia said Friday in a statement, without disclosing further details. “We’re actively searching to fill these roles and remain confident in our technology, strategy, and employees,” the company added.

The surprise move comes just days after Murthy presented at the main stage at Expedia’s annual conference with its business partners in Las Vegas, where she announced the launch of the company’s AI travel assistant.

“Due to confidentiality, we will not be making any further comments on the matter,” Expedia said in the statement.

Murthy and Rachamadugu joined Expedia in 2021 within months of each other from Verizon Media, a former unit of Verizon Communications Inc., where Murphy had been CTO for more than a year.

During Murthy’s time at Expedia, the company underwent a multiyear, resource-intensive back-end update, which served to unify Expedia’s two other main brands, vacation rental site Vrbo and Hotels.com, onto a single technical platform. That enabled the company to also launch a unified loyalty program across the three flagship brands.

But the technical updates have slowed its vacation rental business in particular and haven’t yet brought the anticipated recovery in overall growth, at a time when the travel industry are grappling with uneven demand.

Read More: Expedia Hits Five-Month Low After Booking Miss, Guidance Cut

It’s also the second surprise C-suite change the company has had this year. New Chief Executive Officer Ariane Gorin officially took over this week after former CEO Peter Kern announced in February he was stepping down in tandem with the completion of the technical upgrades.

Disgruntled Boeing investors take aim at $33 million pay for ex-CEO amid ongoing safety issues

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATHE

Fortune· Aaron Schwartz—NurPhoto via Getty Images

Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
Fri, May 17, 2024

Boeing shareholders pulled no punches at the aviation manufacturers’ shareholder meeting on Friday, asking the board how it could justify the CEO’s $33 million compensation plan and whether Boeing’s culture can reorganize itself around safety in the manufacturing process.

The concerns from investors offer a behind-the-scenes view of the battle Boeing has been waging on all fronts: A whistleblower testified before Congress last month that he was told to “shut up” after raising safety concerns in meetings; two Boeing whistleblowers died in succession; CEO Dave Calhoun is leaving at the end of the year and there is no readily apparent successor to take his place; other airlines are seeking repayment from Boeing for late aircraft deliveries; and, the Justice Department is considering pursuing charges of fraud against the company. On top of that, the stock price is down 29% year-to-date, making Boeing the second-worst performing company in the S&P 500 index.

The timing almost couldn’t be worse for Friday’s annual shareholder meeting and Boeing stuck to crisis management 101—Chairman Steven Mollenkopf remained calm but offered almost no real details about the progress of the company’s CEO search.

Still, shareholders exacted their toll, firing off sharply worded questions about the board’s effectiveness and its key decisions—an uncomfortable position for a company that boasts a slew of current and former CEOs from such Fortune 500 companies as Amgen, Carrier Global, Duke Energy, and others in private equity.

A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment to Fortune on the pointedness of the questions.

One investor asked about the process for finding a new CEO to lead the complex $112 billion company. Mollenkopf, who is leading the search, said almost nothing about timing or criteria but stated that he had been meeting with investors and customers for feedback.

“We will announce the new CEO once we have completed a thorough and thoughtful process,” he said.

Calhoun read prepared remarks aloud. He said Boeing has added more quality controls, including at its suppliers. In response to a shareholder question about safety, Calhoun added that the company is increasing training for new employees and simplifying some of its processes to help avoid defects. Whistleblowers have reported a culture of retaliation at Boeing for those who raise safety issues, but Calhoun added that the company is addressing it with investigations and stricter enforcement of its non-retaliation policy.

“We will measure our progress one airplane at a time,” he said in the prepared remarks.

While management proposals are usually rubber-stamped with unanimous support, shareholder opposition began even before the meeting, ramping up the difficulties the embattled airplane manufacturer has contended with following a January incident in which a door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight. Following the Alaska debacle, Boeing dramatically revamped its comp plan to incentivize executives for safety and quality and paid zero bonus to Calhoun at his request, according to the company’s proxy statement.

But it wasn’t enough for at least some of its shareholders.

Ahead of the meeting, some investors protested against Calhoun’s reelection to the board and the approval of his $33 million compensation package. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co. recommended that shareholders vote against Calhoun’s reelection, along with two other directors, Akhil Johri and David Joyce, who chair Boeing’s audit and aerospace safety committees, respectively.

Glass Lewis said a vote against Calhoun and the other directors would, “strongly signal dissatisfaction with the Company's oversight of its safety culture and its efforts to transform said culture, which, in our view, have not progressed quickly enough…”

Proxy Adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended shareholders vote against Calhoun’s giant compensation package because of the large increase he saw last year, Bloomberg Law reported. Calhoun’s pay jumped 45% to $32.8 million, according to the company’s proxy statement.

“While the committee provided rationale, it was not viewed as particularly compelling for such a significant increase, especially given two other recent increases since Calhoun became CEO in 2020.”

Despite the objections, both proposals were approved, based on the preliminary results at the meeting.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Boeing shareholders approve CEO's compensation as company faces investigations, possible prosecution


 A Boeing 737 MAX 7 is displayed during a debut for employees and media  in Renton, Wash. Boeing holds a virtual shareholders' meeting on Friday, May 17, 2024, as it deals with multiple federal investigations, frustrated airline customers and disappointing financial results. 

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

DAVID KOENIG
Updated Fri, May 17, 2024, 

Boeing shareholders on Friday approved CEO David Calhoun's $32.8 million compensation and heard leaders explain what the troubled aircraft maker is doing to improve the quality and safety of its planes after a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 Max jetliner in January.

Calhoun said the company is finishing a 90-day plan for fixing its manufacturing problems — a report the Federal Aviation Administration demanded after the door-plug blowout.

The CEO added that the company is still working to complete an acquisition of key supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but he gave no deadline for completion. Spirit makes fuselages for Max jets and has been a source of manufacturing flaws.

The shareholder meeting was conducted online and heavily scripted. A moderator posed a handful of shareholder questions, which Calhoun and Steven Mollenkopf, the new chairman of Boeing's Board of Directors, fielded by seeming to read their answers. None of the questions were too pointed.

Shareholders approved an advisory measure on executive compensation by a 64%-36% margin — nearly all of Calhoun's pay for 2023 was in stock awards — and rejected shareholder resolutions dealing with subjects such as pay gaps for women and people of color, and the company's ties to China.

All 11 nominees to the board were approved. Calhoun got the second-lowest support, at 78%, with former GE Aviation CEO David Joyce last at 67%.

The company has lost more than $23 billion — including $2.2 billion last year — since Calhoun took over as CEO in January 2020, mostly related to a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes that occurred in Indonesia and Ethiopia while he was on the board but before he became chief executive.

Through Thursday, the shares had fallen 27% since the door plug accident during an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon.

“Our CEO was paid $33 million last year for failure,” said James McRitchie of CorpGov.net, an activist shareholder who presented an unrelated resolution during Friday's online meeting.

Calhoun announced in March that he would step down at the end of the year. Another shareholder said Calhoun should leave immediately.

Boeing was made the subject of multiple investigations after the door plug blowout. It could also face criminal prosecution for allegedly violating terms of a settlement with the Justice Department after the Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people. The company has fallen far behind European rival Airbus — the world's other major manufacturer of large passenger jets — in sales and deliveries.

Mollenkopf said the months and years ahead are critical “as we take the necessary steps to regain the trust lost in recent times.”

“The world needs a healthy, safe and successful Boeing, and the board is going to make sure that is what it's going to get,” he said.

Top Climate Investor in India Seeks to Raise a $1 Billion Fund

Anto Antony
Thu, May 16, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- Eversource Capital, which closed India’s largest climate impact fund in 2022, is seeking to raise at least $1 billion as it scouts for companies to back in other Asian countries, according to its Chief Executive Officer.

“Water, food, agri-value chain and recycling will be the key themes the new fund will invest in,” Dhanpal Jhaveri, Eversource’s CEO said in an interview at his Mumbai office, without sharing a time line for the latest round of fund raising.

The climate-focused asset manager plans to tap new investors as well as the existing backers for its second fund. While India will remain the focus, there are plans to diversify to countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh, Jhaveri said.

Eversource — the joint venture of local private equity firm Everstone Capital and the UK’s Lightsource BP — raised $741 million for its maiden fund in 2022 from investors including, National Investment & Infrastructure Fund and British International Investment.

There is a growing cohort of asset managers from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to BlackRock Inc. looking for investments that aim to combat climate change. The global scientific community overwhelmingly agrees that climate change poses a threat to the economy and society at large, through loss of labor hours, food chain disruptions and worsening health outcomes.

While Europe still towers over the rest of the world when it comes to investing in climate strategies, there’s increasing interest in Asia. There’s also a large unmet need. Asian economies face a funding gap of $815 billion to meet their climate mitigation and adaptation needs, International Monetary Fund said on its blog.

Already Looking

Eversource’s 32-member team is already on the look out for projects and companies that seek to combat climate change to invest in from the next fund, according to Jhaveri.

It invested in seven companies through its first fund including waste management platform EverEnviro Resource Management Ltd., e-buses operator GreenCell Mobility Ltd., and climate lender Ecofy Finance Pvt.

Some exits are likely through sales to larger investors, Jhaveri said. Eversource typically looks for an annual return of over 20% on the equity investment over a life cycle of as much as seven years, he added.

“We are a classic feeder to global investors like large pension funds and private equities,” Jhaveri said. “We take the companies to a certain level, and then they buy us out and play the whole game.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Brookfield Plans to Invest $500 Million in Leap Green

Baiju Kalesh
Fri, May 17, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is planning to invest about $500 million for a majority stake in Indian renewable power firm Leap Green Energy Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

If a deal is completed, Toronto-based Brookfield would likely own a majority stake in Leap Green, with the company’s founding family and global investor The Rohatyn Group holding the rest, the people said. An investment could boost Leap Green’s plans to expand its wind energy capacity in India, the people said.

Brookfield aims to invest in Leap Green via its global transition fund, one of the people said. In February, the firm announced it had raised $10 billion in the first closing of a fund dedicated to investing in areas such as clean energy.

Representatives for Brookfield and Leap Green declined to comment.

Leap Green is based in Coimbatore, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has an operational capacity of more than 750 megawatts, with ambitions to expand beyond seven gigawatts by 2029, according to its website. Its portfolio includes wind, solar, green hydrogen and electric-vehicle charging assets.

The Rohatyn Group, known as TRG, is an existing investor in Leap Green, along with the founding family. New York-based TRG specializes in emerging markets and real assets.

Global alternative asset managers are being drawn to India amid a focus on clean energy and the country’s rapid economic growth. Other sectors attracting interest include digital infrastructure and health care. In another example of India’s growing allure, KKR & Co. recently agreed to acquire Bengaluru-based medical device maker Healthium Medtech Ltd. from Apax Partners.

UK Government Resists Helping Thames Water as Pressure Grows


Jessica Shankleman and Philip Aldrick
Fri, May 17, 2024


(Bloomberg) -- The UK government is continuing to resist stepping in to help Thames Water, despite its rapidly deteriorating financial situation.

The utility needs to find new equity to stabilize its finances. Shareholders say they won’t put in more money and it’s difficult to see why a new investor would want to take on the burden of Thames’s £18 billion ($22.9 billion) debt pile.

On Friday, Thames’s biggest shareholder wrote off the entire value of its stake in the latest sign of trouble for the utility. That comes after a key member of its board stepped down on Thursday and the regulator said it was mulling action against the company for paying millions of pounds in dividends to shareholders last year.

Thames — which serves about a quarter of the UK population — including London, is at the center of a crisis that is increasingly looking like it will require government help. Pressure is mounting on ministers to take the company into special administration, an effective nationalization.

However, both the government and the regulator Ofwat on Friday insisted Thames could yet find ways to secure new sources of equity. The company needs around £3 billion ($3.8 billion) to fund its turnaround plan to fix chronic leaks and sewage spills as well as protect against growing drought risks caused by climate change.

Thames still had a “wide range of options” to secure new investment, including “the injection of new equity from any prospective investors,” a government spokesperson said, adding that the regulator Ofwat is continuing to work with the utility to boost its financial resilience.

“We prepare for a range of scenarios across our regulated industries, including water, as any responsible government would,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier Friday, Omers Farmoor Singapore Pte, a vehicle of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, said its 31.7% stake in Thames’ parent company Kemble Water Holdings was valued at £990 million at the end of December 2021. That was cut by 29% last year to £700 million, when the company was first plunged into crisis as steep interest rates caused its debt pile to balloon. By the end of last year, it had cut the value by another 62%.

That is effectively now worthless. Omers said events this year had led to a “full write down” of its investment, in its annual financial report published Friday.

How Debt and Sewage Pushed Thames Water to the Brink: QuickTake

Kemble defaulted on its debt last month. Before that, the group of shareholders, including Omers, denounced Thames’s business plan as “uninvestible” and refused to inject any more equity into the company.

Thames has been bargaining with the regulator to try to get more favorable conditions for its next big spending plan to make it a more appealing prospect for investors. Chief executive Chris Weston has maintained there is still a chance the utility can attract new equity after June 12, when Ofwat is due to make a draft ruling on all water companies’ five year business plans.

An Ofwat spokesperson said Thames should “continue to pursue all options to seek further equity,” adding that the company still had liquidity to run operations until July 2025.

A representative for Omers declined to comment.

--With assistance from Paula Sambo and Joe Mayes.

Thames Water’s biggest investor cuts value of its stake to zero

CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT 2.0

TikTok Parent Seeks to Fast-Track Suit Over US Divest-or-Ban Law

Sabrina Willmer
Fri, May 17, 2024, 


(Bloomberg) -- China-based ByteDance Ltd. asked an appeals court to speed up its lawsuit challenging a US law that would force it to sell the TikTok video-sharing app or face a ban.

“Prompt consideration of these cases is needed to avoid irreparable harm, “ lawyers for ByteDance and TikTok said Friday in a filing in the District of Columbia federal appeals court.

The company was joined in its request by eight TikTok creators who separately sued to block the law that would ban the platform in the US if ByteDance doesn’t divest itself of the app by Jan. 19. President Joe Biden signed the measure into law in April to address national security concerns about the Chinese government accessing user data and influencing US citizens through the platform.

The legal battle, which pits free-speech rights against national-security interests, is expected to be protracted with the case potentially making its way to the US Supreme Court. If the DC Circuit expedites the case and the Supreme Court takes it up, there could be a decision by the second quarter of 2025, said Matthew Schettenhelm, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.

TikTok urged the appeals court to decide on the merits of the case by Dec. 6 so there is adequate time to request an emergency review by the Supreme Court.

In its complaint, TikTok claimed that the law is unconstitutional because it violates free-speech rights.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” according to the 67-page suit.

TikTok also said that a “qualified divestiture” as laid out by the law wasn’t feasible. “And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the act,” according to the complaint.

CHILD MARRIAGE EN MASSE 
Nigerian mass wedding for orphaned girls provokes outcry

Ben Farmer

TELEGRAPH
Fri, May 17, 2024 

Mass weddings are not uncommon in Nigeria, where brides are dressed in red robes - KOLA SULAIMON/AFP


A mass wedding for 100 girls orphaned by attacks in Nigeria has prompted outcry amid criticism that some of the brides may be underage, or being forced to get married for money.

The ceremony supported by a local politician has been condemned by the national women’s affairs minister who has threatened an injunction to stop the nuptials.

Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the local assembly in north-west Niger state, said the wedding was to help constituents who had all lost relatives to attacks on villages by heavily armed gangs.


Mr Sarkindaji has since distanced himself from the wedding and has said the families must decide among themselves, but local clerics have said it should still go ahead next week.

Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, the federal women’s affairs minister, called the ceremony totally unacceptable and demanded an investigation into the ages of the brides and whether they had consented to marriage.

She said: “I have written a petition to the police ... and I have filed a case for an injunction to stop him from whatever he is planning to do.”
‘Let children be children’

Abiodun Essiet, the president’s senior special assistant on community engagement, also objected.

She said: “I am not against conducting marriage for orphans above 18 years of age if they give their consent to the marriage.

“But I am against under-aged marriage. Let children be children.”

Mass weddings are not uncommon in Nigeria, especially in the mostly Muslim north, where they are seen as a way to help impoverished families manage their expenses.

But underage marriage also happens in rural areas where communities struggle with poverty, insecurity and little access to education.

No details were immediately available on the ages of the orphans.
All wedding expenses paid

In January this year, Muktar Aliyu Betara, another Nigerian politician from Borno state, sponsored a mass wedding for 180 girls from his constituency.

The 17 and 18-year-old girls had lost their parents to jihadist violence.

Mr Betara paid for all the wedding expenses as the families of the brides could not afford the costs.

Mass wedding for Nigeria orphans sparks outcry

Simi Jolaoso - BBC News, Lagos
Fri, May 17, 2024 

Mass weddings are fairly common in northern Nigeria (file photo) [AFP]

The planned mass wedding of about 100 orphans has sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria.

The orphans, some of whom are feared to be underage girls, are set to be married off on 24 May in the north-western state of Niger.

They have all lost parents to attacks by armed bandits, who regularly target civilians across the state.

Nigeria's Women's Affairs Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye said she has filed a court order to stop the ceremony.

According to reports, the mass wedding was supported by the Speaker of the Niger State Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, who said local religious leaders had approached him for help funding it.

The Imams Forum of Niger have said that the marriage ceremony should go ahead, insisting that the girls are not below the 18 - the legal age of marriage.

However, critics have expressed concern that some girls may be younger than 18, or being forced to comply for financial gain.

Minister Kennedy-Ohanenye said the girls "deserve better" and that her department was looking into who the 100 girls are, their ages and whether they consented to the marriage.

Her department will offer the girls education and training, she said, adding that if the Niger State speaker attempts to block these efforts "there will be a serious legal battle between him and the Ministry of Women Affairs".

On Friday, senior presidential aide Abiodun Essiet reiterated Ms Kennedy-Ohanenye's plan of action.

Ms Essiet added: "My appeal to all stakeholders is to stop embarking on policies and programs that exploit economically handicapped vulnerable people, increase and recycle poverty, and deepen ignorance."

Human rights activists in Nigeria have launched a petition to stop the plan. As of Friday evening, it has 10,500 signatures.

According to international campaign group Girls Not Brides, 30% of girls and 1.6% of boys in Nigeria are married before the age of 18. Some 12% of girls are married before their 15th birthday.

Child marriages are most common in the northern part of the country, among poor, rural households. It is seen as a way to reduce their families’ financial burdens or to improve political and social alliances.

Northern Nigeria is mostly Muslim and religious and cultural norms, such as polygamy, favour the practice.

Why Are Some Republican Lawmakers Hellbent on Preserving Child Marriage?

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IS NOT POLYGAMY