Democratic Senator Cardin aims for bipartisan fix to shield Israeli leaders from ICC

COLLABORATION IN GENOCIDE

Laura Kelly

THE HILL
Fri, 14 June 2024 

The Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he wants to work with Republicans to hold back the International Criminal Court (ICC) from issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister over allegations of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

While Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the committee’s outgoing chair, has rejected a Republican, House-led effort to sanction the ICC, he did not rule out sanctions specifically as he answered questions from reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.

“I’m not going to get into specifics, there are a lot of tools that are at our disposal to deal with concerns,” he said.

He criticized a Republican-led bill that passed the House earlier this month as “not well drafted.”

That bill would impose financial sanctions and travel restrictions on ICC officials. Democrats critical of the bill said it had far-reaching, unintended consequences that would force U.S. allies or American businesses to cut off work with the ICC or risk penalties themselves.

Cardin said he was looking for “a bipartisan way forward” and that he had had positive conversations with the administration to stop the ICC from going forward with its planned arrest warrants for Israeli officials.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said last month he is asking the court to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three senior Hamas officials for bearing “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel’s supporters balk at drawing an equivalency between Israel’s eight-month war against Hamas and the triggering action, the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7. In that attack, Hamas fighters streamed into Israel and killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Around 120 hostages are still held in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.

“To put any reference to anything being equal between Hamas’s activities and Israel’s activities is an affront to humanity, and it gives Hamas more credibility than they should ever have,” Cardin said.

Democrats have criticized Israel’s handling of the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and led to the wide-scale destruction of the Gaza Strip, along with warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The committee chair said he wants to focus on a strategy that has the ICC recognize Israel’s justice system as having the strength to investigate any wrongdoing by the Israeli military before bringing it to the level of international action.

“We’re looking at a way that gives us the best chance for an off-ramp for the prosecutor general to recognize that there is a responsibility for complimentary systems, there’s a responsibility to allow Israel an opportunity to deal with these issues,” he said.

“Israel’s still at war. So we’re looking at a way that will provide the right type of leverage from the United States, and I must tell you, I think the strongest message that we can send is one that is bipartisan, and not one that divides the Democrats and Republicans in Congress with the president.”

Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the committee, has threatened to block committee work in order to force cooperation on ICC legislation. The Republican senator has put his support behind the House-passed bill but is open to working through differences with Democrats, according to an aide in his office.

But he put the onus on Democrats to approach Republicans with an effort at compromise.

“Our staff will continue to work with the majority staff on finding a path forward to move legislation before the summer’s end,” said Suzanne Wrasse, spokesperson for the senator.

“Senator Risch is willing to pursue multiple avenues for the Senate to work on ICC legislation but despite several offers made by Risch and his colleagues to negotiate, Democrats have not responded substantively and we haven’t made progress.”

Pro-Palestinian Canadian students’ post for ‘teach-in’ features masked guerrillas

Campbell MacDiarmid in Ottawa

GUARDIAN UK
Fri, 14 June 2024 

A post advertising the McGill Gaza solidarity encampment’s ‘youth summer program’.Photograph: Instagram


A pro-Palestinian student encampment at a prominent Canadian university has announced a “revolutionary youth summer program” with posts featuring photos of masked, armed guerrillas reading communist literature, drawing criticism from a Canadian Zionist organization decrying what it said was metastasizing antisemitism.

The student group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill called for students to sign up for “revolutionary” trainings to be held on the university campus this month. Since April SPHR McGill has been occupying part of the Montreal campus to protest against Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.

“We pledge to educate the youth of Montreal and redefine McGill’s ‘elite’ institutional legacy by transforming its space into one of revolutionary education,” the group said in a post.


“The daily schedule will include physical activity, Arabic language instruction, cultural crafts, political discussions, historical and revolutionary lessons.”

The announcement was illustrated with photos of gunmen wearing keffiyeh scarves covering their faces reading from Chairman Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book. The photos of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation were taken in Jordan in 1970, a time when the Chinese Communist party supported the Palestinian movement.

Related: Canadian students hunger-strike for college to divest from Israel-linked firms

In a statement on Friday, the McGill president and vice-chancellor, Deep Saini, described the use of the image as “extremely alarming” and said the university had contacted law enforcement agencies.

“It should go without saying that imagery evoking violence is not a tool of peaceful expression or assembly. This worrying escalation is emblematic of the rising tensions on campuses across North America, where we have seen many incidents that go well beyond what universities are equipped to manage on their own,” he said.

Saini said the university had contacted “municipal, provincial and federal public safety authorities, flagging this social media post and other recent activities as matters of national security, and requesting all appropriate interventions to ensure the safety of our community”.

Montreal police say they have no plans to end the pro-Palestinian encampment.

SPHR did not respond to requests for comment but one McGill faculty member said that while the advertisement used deliberately provocative imagery, what was being proposed appeared to amount to a teach-in.

“I don’t see anything objectionable in providing history and context to the current movement,” said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill.

“Are you going to be outraged about a 50-year-old picture of a PLO guerrilla, or by hundreds of people in a refugee camp being slaughtered because the Israeli government doesn’t know how to negotiate and feels that they can kill any number of Palestinians to justify liberating a few hostages?” he asked.

This week SPHR rejected McGill’s latest offer aimed at securing an end to their protest.

The student group has been calling on the university to cut investments they say are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and to end relations with Israeli academic institutions.

The students rejected a proposal to offer clemency to protesting students and to review McGill’s investments in weapons manufacturers as “laughable” and “an immaterial response”.

The Canadian Zionist organisation the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) called on McGill to stop turning a blind eye to “hate and toxicity”.

“Authorities must act to dismantle the toxic encampment immediately, or the antisemitism, hate, intimidation & harassment will continue to metastasize,” it said in a statement.

“You have masked individuals with assault rifle weapons as the image representing what they hope to do, they’re calling it revolution,” Eta Yudin, CIJA vice-president for Québec, told the Guardian. “One has to ask what they have planned?”

McGill condemns 'alarming' image of armed fighters shared by encampment group

CBC
Fri, 14 June 2024 at 5:45 pm GMT-6·4-min read


The pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the McGill University campus has been in place since late April. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press - image credit)


McGill University is sounding the alarm after a student group associated with the school's ongoing pro-Palestinian encampment posted a photo of armed individuals and called for participation in a "revolutionary youth summer program" on campus.

"This is extremely alarming," said Deep Saini, the university's president, in a statement. "It has attracted international media attention, and many in our community have understandably reached out to express grave concerns — concerns that I share."

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) made the post Wednesday evening, saying the summer program is planned for lower field next week.

The photo used was originally taken in 1970. It depicts fighters of the Palestine Liberation Organization reading copies of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung in Jordan. The fighters are holding assault rifles.

"It should go without saying that imagery evoking violence is not a tool of peaceful expression or assembly," said Saini.

"This worrying escalation is emblematic of the rising tensions on campuses across North America, where we have seen many incidents that go well beyond what universities are equipped to manage on their own."

The post to the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill Instagram page shows several armed fighters reading books. The photo dates back to 1970.

The post to the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill Instagram page shows several armed fighters reading books. The photo dates back to 1970. (sphrmcgill/Instagram)

Zeyad Abisaab is a Concordia University student who volunteers at the McGill encampment. He is also co-ordinator of Concordia's SPHR chapter. He said the post is about ongoing activities at the encampment such as workshops, discussions and art programming.

"It's a space for people to learn. It's an educational space," said Abisaab.

He said the image, which has circulated in pro-Palestinian online spaces for years, is a historical photograph of a colonized people learning about the colonial struggles of others. Rather than focusing on the photo, he said Saini should be more concerned about the school's ties with the manufacturers of weapons used to kill, injure and displace about two million people in Gaza.

"This is what truly should be spoken about," said Abisaab.

SPHR pledges to educate Montreal youth

The caption of the post reads, "We pledge to educate the youth of Montreal and redefine McGill's 'elite' instutional [sic] legacy by transformining [sic] its space into one of revolutionary education. The daily schedule will include physical activity, Arabic language instruction, cultural crafts, political discussions, historical and revolutionary lessons."

On Monday, McGill said it is proposing to review its investments in weapons manufacturers and grant amnesty to protesting students as part of a new offer to members of the pro-Palestinian encampment. Several groups involved in the encampment later issued a joint statement describing the latest offer as "laughable" and an "immaterial response" to their demands.

In Friday's statement, Saini said McGill has reached out to municipal, provincial and federal public safety authorities, flagging the group's social media post and other recent activities as matters of national security.

Zeyad Abisaab is co-ordinator of Concordia’s chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. He says the photo his group recently posted is historic.

Zeyad Abisaab is co-ordinator of Concordia’s chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. He says the photo his group recently posted is historic. (CBC)

Saini said this is "only the latest escalation in SPHR's long-standing strategy of intimidation and fear."

This is the same group that described the Oct. 7 Hamas assault and taking of hostages as heroic, said Saini, accusing SPHR of harassing McGill community members and invoking offensive antisemitic language and imagery.

"Their incendiary rhetoric and tactics seek to intimidate and destabilize our community," Saini said.

Saini said McGill will further increase the presence of security staff near the encampment and elsewhere on campus while continuing to pursue legal action to bar SPHR from using the McGill name on social media platforms and elsewhere. He said the school will pursue internal disciplinary processes as well.

Federal minister, B'nai Brith react

Henry Topas, Quebec regional director with B'nai Brith Canada, said participants in the encampment on McGill's campus have exceeded the boundaries of a peaceful demonstration.

He called on the city to intervene, saying there has been "a plethora of all types of hate-ridden" images on campus.

Montreal MP and federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller took to the social media platform X to lament SPHR's post.

"Enough is enough, this is hate speech and incitement to hate, pure and simple," Miller wrote. "De-escalation at McGill has clearly failed. This needs to end!"

 

• Storyful

  Stranded Dogs Rescued Amid Southern Chile Flood

  Local authorities said that rescue efforts in Chile’s Bio Bio region continued on Thursday, June 13, in the wake of widespread flooding.The footage here, released by Emergency Services, shows two dogs being rescued in Arauco, a village affected by a new overflow of the Pichilo River.The Bio Bio region was declared a “disaster zone” following the heavy flooding. Credit: Carabineros Region del Bio Bio via Storyful

  2 days ago
• 

  Storyful

  'Working Tirelessly': Rescue Efforts Continue in Wake of Chile Flooding

  Local authorities said that rescue efforts in Chile’s Biobio region continued through Thursday, June 13, in the wake of widespread flooding.The footage here, released by the Chilean National Firefighter Operations System, shows a flooded village and ongoing rescue operations.“Our teams have been working tirelessly since the beginning of the emergencies generated by the frontal system,” they said wrote.The Biobio region was declared a “disaster zone” following the heavy flooding. Credit: Sistema Nacional de Operaciones via Storyful

  2 days ago

Offshore windfarm zone off Illawarra coast given green light in bid to ‘power Australia’s clean energy future’

Jordyn Beazley

THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
Fri, 14 June 2024 

An offshore windfarm zone has been approved for an area 20km off the coast of the Illawarra region south of Sydney.Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian


The federal government has given the green light to an offshore windfarm zone south of Sydney, making it Australia’s fourth such zone to be declared.

Announcing the project in the Illawarra on Saturday, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the move would bring thousands of new jobs and help “power Australia’s clean energy future”.

The zone will be 20km from the coast and exclude areas significant for the little penguin and for southern right whale migration.


It will cover an offshore area of 1,022 sq km – a one-third reduction from the original proposal – and has the potential to generate 2.9GW, or enough power for 1.8m homes.

“The Illawarra has been an engine room of the Australian economy for generations, and now it’s ready to power Australia’s clean energy future,” Bowen said.

Related: Falling short of ambitious emissions targets isn’t failure – but rushing towards 2C of heating is | Katherine Woodthorpe

“Declaring this offshore wind zone brings the Illawarra a step closer to becoming a major provider of the building blocks of the net zero transformation – green power, green hydrogen and green steel – along with thousands of new jobs.”

Since last year, the proposal for a windfarm zone in the Illawarra and the declaration of a zone in New South Wales’s Hunter region has drawn fierce opposition, with some online groups sharing factually incorrect information about the windfarms.

The Coalition has fanned opposition to the project, despite introducing legislation for the development of an offshore wind industry while in government.

The federal Labor MP for Whitlam, Stephen Jones, said the declaration showed the government’s commitment to supporting local jobs and delivering cheaper and more reliable energy for Illawarra businesses and households.

“We want Australia to be a global renewable energy superpower and regions such as the Illawarra have an important role to play in our nation’s energy transformation,” he said.

The zone does not guarantee an offshore windfarm will go ahead, but is the first of five regulatory stages. The stages will include project-specific feasibility and commercial licences and an environmental assessment under national conservation laws.

If an offshore windfarm does go ahead, the turbines could be up to 268 metres high. The government has said the size, arrangement and number of turbines will be determined after the prospective developer undertakes studies.

The government views creating an offshore windfarm industry in Australia as key to helping the country replace ageing coal-fired power plants, and reaching its plan for the energy grid to be made up of 82% of renewable energy by the end of the decade.

The federal Labor MP for Cunningham, Alison Byrnes, said she was pleased the zone had been amended to start further from the coast and exclude significant environmental areas.

“[It’s a] sensible compromise that reflects the majority of community opinion while helping to achieve our shared goals of more renewable energy, more jobs and fewer emissions,” she said.

“There is now an extensive process of studies and approvals that will be required but this is a positive step for a region that wants to secure its industrial future and power it using clean energy.”

Related: ‘People prefer that we’d never close’: Eraring lifeline a mixed blessing for a coal community in limbo

Many welcomed the development on Saturday.

The Climate Council policy and advocacy head, Jennifer Rayner, said the Illawarra would continue to thrive for generations with affordable and clean energy being produced in the region.

“Offshore wind will be an important part of Australia’s clean energy grid because it provides reliable, steady renewable energy right around the clock,” Rayner said.

“This is one of the important ways we’ll power Australia as our ageing and unreliable coal-fired generators close.

“The federal and state governments need to work together to rapidly break through roadblocks that are holding back the delivery of onshore wind projects already supported by communities and investors.”

The University of Wollongong Energy Futures Network director, Ty Christopher, hailed the offshore wind project as a positive step for the region.

“By working together as a community, sharing our concerns for the environment to codesign a clean energy future for the region, we have the ability to deliver positive outcomes for our oceans, our communities and our local economy,” he said.

– with Australian Associated Press

AMERIKA

Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging federal rules to accommodate abortions for workers

Claire Savage And Alexandra Olson
Fri, June 14, 2024

The Associated Press


CHICAGO (AP) — A lawsuit filed by 17 states challenging federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions lacks standing, a federal judge in Arkansas ruled on Friday.

Republican attorneys general from each state, led by Arkansas and Tennessee, sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April, days after the agency published rules for employers and workers to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a 2022 law requiring many employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant or postpartum employees.

In addition to more routine pregnancy workplace accommodations like time off for prenatal appointments, more bathroom breaks, or permission to carry snacks, the rules say that workers can ask for time off to obtain an abortion and recover from the procedure.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Arkansas argued the regulations go beyond the scope of the 2022 law that passed with bipartisan support.

Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr., who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, denied the states' request for a nationwide preliminary injunction on the federal rules, which are scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday.

"The States’ fear of overreach by one branch of the federal government cannot be cured with overreach by another," Friday's ruling says.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement provided by a spokesperson that he is “disappointed in the court’s ruling” and "am considering all legal options and remain confident we will ultimately be successful.”

The other states that joined the lawsuit are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

The EEOC regulations are also being challenged in another federal lawsuit in Louisiana that is still awaiting a ruling. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with other religious groups, have filed a separate lawsuit over the abortion provision in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. That case has been consolidated with a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi, which also asks the judge to postpone the enforcement of the EEOC rules pending the outcome of the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union and more than 20 labor and women’s advocacy groups, including A Better Balance, a non-profit that spearheaded the 10-year campaign for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act's passage, filed amicus briefs in both cases arguing the EEOC rules should take effect as scheduled, calling them key to the successful implementation of law.

“Today’s ruling in Tennessee v. EEOC is a victory for millions of pregnant and postpartum workers across the country, because it allows the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations to go into effect next week, providing important clarity about how the law works in practice,” said Dina Bakst of A Better Balance.

In their briefs, the groups cited dozens of examples of pregnant workers who have reached out to advocacy groups or filed lawsuits claiming that employers have continued to deny them accommodations in violation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

“The relief sought in this case is completely overboard and would have harmed literally millions of people,” said Gillian Thomas, a senior staff attorney in the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, referring to the lawsuit in Arkansas. “The law has been in place for a year and employers are violating it in the most egregious way right and left and clearly need guidance.”

The EEOC in its regulations said it was conforming to decades of legal precedent establishing that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws include abortion.

Abortion rights defenders have also hailed the protection under the EEOC rules as especially critical in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Women in states with strict abortion restrictions increasingly have to travel far to obtain the procedure, needing time off to do so.

____

The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

‘Brazen corruption’: Donald Trump is selling policies for a second term to the highest bidders

Richard Hall and Andrew Feinberg
Thu, June 13, 2024

Donald Trump is increasingly shaping and reversing his policies to match the desires of donors (The Independent/Getty)


Donald Trump is no stranger to a quid pro quo — he was impeached for one, after all. But while campaigning for a second term in the White House, he has gone further than perhaps any other candidate in recent history to shape his policies in return for cash.

Trump is not making these bargains behind closed doors or in smoky back rooms, but at fundraisers and events attended by dozens of influential and extremely wealthy people.

On several occasions he has made explicit offers to reward donors by enacting or dismantling policy on their behalf should he win in November, often reversing his own previously held positions.


Democrat Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House committee on oversight and accountability, accused Trump of treating the presidency “as a for-profit business enterprise and money-making venture”.

He told The Independent that the former president was “brazenly offering to sell out US policy to any corporate and billionaire campaign donors ready to make a deal, including telling Big Oil he will sign their executive orders in exchange for a cool one billion dollars”.

“Donald Trump will literally sell out the future of humanity for another billion dollars,” he added.

Donald and Melania Trump arrive at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson (Getty)

The Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit watchdog that focuses on campaign finance laws, called Trump’s actions “brazen, quid pro quo corruption”.

"It is deeply concerning and problematic to see a presidential candidate solicit millions of dollars from wealthy donors in exchange for promised policies or actions that cater to the donors’ wishes,” said Saurav Ghosh, the group’s director of federal campaign finance reform.

Ghosh told The Independent that “years of deregulatory court decisions” have fostered a culture of big money in US elections that allows Trump “to act with impunity, pushing legal boundaries or even breaking them outright”.

Trump’s bargaining began almost the moment he left office, and has continued to this day.

Here are the policies he is selling to donors.
$1bn from oil companies

At a lavish dinner at Mar-a-Lago in April, the former president gathered with around two dozen executives from the biggest oil companies in the country. His campaign was facing a sizeable cash shortfall against his opponent, President Joe Biden, and he was desperate to make up the difference.

As the executives complained about how the Biden administration’s environmental regulations were hurting their business, Trump made a starkly transactional pitch: raise $1bn to send me back to the White House.

If he won, he said he would immediately reverse dozens of Biden’s environmental rules and policies. The $1bn would be a “deal” for the companies, he added, because of the money they would save from deregulation.

The account of the meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, came from several people who attended. Among them were 20 executives from ExxonMobil, EQT Corporation and the American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the oil industry. It was reportedly organized by oil billionaire Harold Hamm.

Trump speaks to city officials and employees of Double Eagle Energy on the site of an oil rig in Midland, Texas (Getty)

Specifically, Trump vowed to undo a Biden administration freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports “on the first day” of entering office, one attendee told the Post.

The meeting prompted a furious response from Democrats in the House and Senate.

Representative Raskin wrote to the CEOs of nine of the oil companies that attended the meeting to demand answers, calling it an “unvarnished quid pro quo”.

He said that reports that oil companies are working on potential executive orders for Trump “suggest that certain oil and gas companies, which have a track record of using deceitful tactics to undermine effective climate policy, may have already accepted or facilitated Mr Trump’s explicit corrupt bargain”.
The crypto president

Trump once called Bitcoin “a scam" and argued that it threatened the supremacy of the US dollar. A few years later, in desperate need of campaign cash, he is pitching himself to Silicon Valley as “the crypto president”.

Trump used the term to describe himself at a fundraiser hosted by tech investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya at the former’s home in San Francisco this month.

Both Sacks and Palihapitiya have spoken publicly about their investments in crypto, and the event was attended by a number of other notable crypto investors, including executives from Coinbase and twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who own the crypto company Gemini.

Trump has not always been popular in Silicon Valley. In 2020, the tech industry spent big to make him a one-term president. But this time around, there has been a slight yet notable shift among a certain set of crypto-loving tech billionaires.

Trump once called Bitcoin a scam but is pitching himself to Silicon Valley as a crypto champion (Associated Press)

The crypto industry has spent tens of millions of dollars in an effort to influence the 2024 elections, funneling money to help elect lawmakers who will undo regulatory moves by the Biden administration. The industry hopes that deregulation will lead to huge profits for crypto investors.

Trump’s message appeared to land: He came away with $12m in donations from that fundraiser in San Francisco, and the promise of much more.
TikTok flip-flop

As president, Trump spearheaded efforts to ban TikTok.

“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” the then-president declared to reporters aboard Air Force One in July 2020.

Indeed, he signed an executive order in his last year in office that would have effectively prohibited the video app, which is majority-owned by a Chinese company. But just this month he joined TikTok himself. And more recently he has spoken out against efforts from both the Biden administration and his own party to regulate it.

On March 7, a House committee advanced a bill that would ban the app if it didn’t divest, even as TikTok users flooded congressional lines with thousands of calls urging lawmakers to back off.

That same day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “if you get rid of TikTok, (then) Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

TikTok supporters protest at the hush-money trial of Donald Trump in New York in April (Associated Press)

“I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last election, doing better,” wrote Trump, echoing a baseless conspiracy theory that social media platforms rigged elections against him. “They are a true Enemy of the People!”

What prompted this dramatic change?

Some clues may be derived from the fact that his words came swiftly after a very public rapprochement with Republican mega-donor Jeff Yass. Yass has a $20bn stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and is the largest donor in this election campaign cycle.

At the request of Yass, Trump spoke at a conference of the influential right-wing Club for Growth, which the former president previously blasted as “Club for No Growth”.

Yass has given $61m to the group since 2010 but it backed Florida’s Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary against Trump.

At the conference, Trump told donors that he and the organization’s president, David McIntosh, are now “back in love”.
West Bank-rolling

Perhaps the most brazen quid pro quo of Trump’s first term came with a giant donation from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the Republican Party’s biggest funder over the past decade.

According to New York Times writer Maggie Haberman in her book ‘Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,’ Adelson made a $20m donation to a political action committee to pressure then-president Trump to adopt the highly controversial decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

For his second term, Trump may be poised to sell another controversial policy to the Adelson family.

Sheldon died in 2021, but his wife Miriam has continued his cause and may even surpass Yass to become Trump’s biggest patron in this election cycle.

A New York Magazine profile of Miriam, published last month, suggested that Trump’s support for the Israeli annexation of the West Bank was top of her wish list for a second term.

Miriam Adelson listens as Trump addresses an Israeli American Council summit in Hollywood in 2019 (Associated Press)

The West Bank is considered Palestinian territory and would form the basis of a future Palestinian state. Annexing it would be against international law.

By March, Mrs Adelson had not yet opened her checkbook to fund Trump’s campaign. That month, after he won the Republican primary, he invited her to a Shabbat dinner at Mar-a-Lago, according to the magazine, during which his courting of the donor appears to have begun in earnest. He gave an interview to the Adelson-owned newspaper Israel Hayom in which he described himself as “a very loyal person”.

“I’ve been the best president in history to Israel by a factor of ten because of all the things I do. The embassy, Jerusalem being the capital. Then you have Golan Heights … Nobody even thought that was going to be possible. I did that,” he said.

Ten days after the publication of the New York Magazine profile, Politico reported that Adelson would fund a massive political action committee for Trump’s re-election.
Trickle-up tax cuts

During his presidency, Trump implemented sweeping tax cuts for the top 1 per cent of earners and cut the maximum corporation tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. His cuts were “one factor helping the fortunes of US billionaires grow by a collective $1 trillion during the pandemic, from March 18 to December 7, 2020,” according to the non-partisan group, Americans for Tax Fairness.

The group said that an analysis of donations to Trump found that he was “enabled with a total of almost a quarter billion dollars in campaign contributions from 134 of America’s billionaires during his short, violent political career”.

Trump is looking to replicate that windfall by promising even more tax cuts for the wealthy, should he win a second term. Several billionaire donors backed off following the riot on January 6, 2021 — they are now finding their way back to Trump, largely thanks to that promise.

Speaking at a donor event at the luxury Pierre Hotel in New York last month, Trump warned the wealthy attendees that taxes would go up unless he wins in November because Biden has vowed to let his tax cuts expire at the end of 2025.

“You’re going to have the biggest tax increase in history,” he said. “So whatever you guys can do, I appreciate it.”

The comments are part of a pattern of offers to wealthy donors from Trump. Donate to me, he says, and I’ll make you richer.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago in December last year, Trump drew laughs as he described the audience as “rich as hell” before declaring: “We’re gonna give you tax cuts!”

Money has always played a role in presidential campaigns, but the scale and brazenness of Trump’s policy firesale could have a dramatic impact on future elections. If it works, the US government could become even more in thrall to the billionaire class.

AMERIKA

Religious conservatives are coming out hot against IVF. Trump is in trouble

Eric Garcia
Fri, June 14, 2024 at 12:21 p.m. MDT·4 min read

On Wednesday, the day before former president Donald Trump paid a visit to Capitol Hill, Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas were on the floor debating their legislation to protect access to IVF.

The two Republicans — one a rising star in the party who is the youngest female Senator, the other a firebrand conservative who is trying to rebrand himself as a consensus builder as Texas gets purpler — proposed the legislation in response to Democrats teeing up their own vote on legislation. Cruz and Britt were trying to make the argument that Republicans like them aren’t against the fertility treatment, all while avoiding voting for a Democrat-led law.

But just as Britt and Cruz were speaking, the Southern Baptist Convention voted on a resolution that denounced IVF. Their denunciation was based on the practice — normal during IVF treatment — of creating multiple embryos that could be potentially used in the future but many of which could be destroyed.

Democrats only began talking about IVF after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling classified frozen embryos as children under state law. That Alabama ruling mentioned Dobbs v Jackson, the US Supreme Court ruling that killed Roe v Wade, which came because of Supreme Court justices that Trump nominated and Cruz voted to confirm.

The whole episode shows how almost two years after the Dobbs case, Republicans have still not figured out how to talk about abortion — and there are few signs they will figure it out soon.

As Inside Washington reported on Thursday, Trump talked with congressional Republicans about abortion when he appeared on Capitol Hill, but only spoke in platitudes. Representative Nancy Mace, a pro-Trump Republican, said that Trump talked about exceptions for rape and incest and the life of the mother, but apart from that was low on specifics.

In April, he gave a mealy-mouthed, meandering statement on Truth Social where he refused to support a national abortion ban and essentially said the issue should be left to states. That infuriated some conservatives.

Similarly, Trump tried doing an abortion two-step earlier this week when he delivered a pre-recorded address to a forum held by the Danbury Institute, which denounces abortion as “child sacrifice.” The former president notably did not use the word “abortion” in his address at the conference. But one of the speakers there, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Dr Albert Mohler, said that IVF had caused “the alienation of reproduction from the conjugal setting” and wanton destruction of babies.

Such open hostility toward IVF from the second-largest denomination in the United States — behind only Roman Catholicism — shows that Democratic attacks about Republicans don’t come out of thin air. They are rooted in explicit opposition from a denomination that counts many Republicans as its congregants.

But Trump has not given Republicans marching orders about how to discuss the issue.

Indeed, Kevin Hern, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest subgroup in the House GOP, told The Independent that Trump did not bring up IVF at all when he spoke to Republicans. That’s a misstep, because party members need some instruction in how to talk about it. The Republican Study Committee has explicitly endorsed the Life Begins at Conception Act, which says that the right to life is guaranteed in the US Constitution “at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization,” which would also endanger IVF. So other Republicans claiming they support the treatment at the same time is extremely confusing.

For the record, the RSC is not a fringe group. House Speaker Mike Johnson led the group at one point and he is a co-sponsor of the Life Begins at Conception Act.

Republicans still find themselves lost at sea when it comes to talking about IVF or abortion rights. This gives Democrats an opening even in states where they have not been competitive in a long time. In Florida, the state supreme court allowed for a six-week abortion ban to go into effect — but also allowed for a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution to move forward. Democrats hope this can help them knock off Senator Rick Scott, who has never lost a race in Florida since he ran for governor but failed to flip a single seat as National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman last cycle, largely in response to Dobbs.

Scott, a self-funded businessman and an ally of Trump, announced a seven-figure ad buy talking about his support for IVF and the fact his daughter is undergoing IVF treatments.

The ad announcement came after he voted against the legislation to protect IVF on Thursday.

Senator runs campaign ad about his daughter’s IVF — 24 hours after voting against it

SHAMELESS

Eric Garcia
Fri, June 14, 2024 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has touted his support for IVF despite voting against legislation that would have protected access to it. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

A Republican Senator has spent seven figures on a campaign ad touting his support for in vitro fertilization — despite the fact that on Thursday, he voted against legislation that would have protected access to treatments.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida is running for re-election in Florida. He faces a somewhat competitive race against former Democratic congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

On Friday, he announced an ad touting his support and his personal connection to IVF. In the ad, he notes how he is a grandfather of seven grandchildren.

“But sometimes families need help,” he said. “Millions of babies have come into this world through IVF, in vitro fertilization. In fact, our youngest daughter is receiving IVF treatments right now hoping to expand her family.”

Each of my 7 grandkids is a precious gift from God. But sometimes families need help.

You can count on this grandpa to always protect IVF.

Watch my latest campaign ad👇 pic.twitter.com/UEf5ByrFeo

— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) June 14, 2024

The ad is the Scott campaign’s second as part of a seven-figure statewide ad buy, according to the Scott campaign.

But Scott, along with almost every other Republican voted to block the passage of the Right to IVF Act, Democrats’ legislation to protect access to the fertility procedure. Only two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined the Democrats to vote on the bill.

Scott and the 48 other Republican senators signed a letter saying they supported IVF and criticized Democrats, who they said are fearmongering about IVF.

“Senate Democrats have embraced the Summer of Scare Tactics — a partisan campaign of false fearmongering to mislead and confuse the American people,” the letter read. “In vitro fertilization is legal and available in every state across our nation. We strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF, which has allowed millions of aspiring parents to start and grow their families.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has staged a series of votes on legislation on everything from protecting access to contraception to access to IVF. Scott told The Independent last week that Schumer did so for campaign purposes and that his efforts at legislation “have no chance of passing”.

Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas had proposed their own legislation on IVF, which Democrats opposed as insufficient.

“I think what you see is Democrats continuing to fearmonger on this very issue,” Britt told The Independent.

The vote comes after Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are classified as children, which led to three of the largest IVF centers in the state pausing coverage. This was seen as a result of the overturn of Roe v Wade. The end of federal abortion rights led many to worry that access to contraception and to fertility treatments could be impacted, as they have been in Alabama.

Katie Hawkinson contributed to reporting



Couples ask judge to find Alabama law that provides legal immunity to IVF providers unconstitutional

Associated Press
Fri, June 14, 2024

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Couples whose lawsuits against fertility providers led an Alabama court to rule that frozen embryos could be considered children have asked a judge to toss out a new state law that provides legal immunity to in vitro fertilization providers.

The couples asked the judge to declare that the law — which was hastily approved by state lawmakers to protect IVF services in the state — as unconstitutional. It is the latest development in the legal saga that drew international attention and sparked concerns over the availability of IVF.

Three couples had filed wrongful death lawsuits against a fertility clinic and hospital over the accidental destruction of their frozen embryos when someone opened the storage container. The Alabama Supreme Court in February ruled the the couples could pursue lawsuits for the death of their “extrauterine children." That led three large fertility clinics to cease services because of liability concerns raised by the ruling treating the embryos the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute. Facing public pressure to get IVF services restarted in the state, lawmakers approved lawsuit protections for clinics. Clinics reopened soon after its approval.

The new statute, which took effect immediately, shields providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits “for the damage to or death of an embryo” during IVF services. Civil lawsuits could be pursued against manufacturers of IVF-related goods, such as the nutrient-rich solutions used to grow embryos, but damages would be capped to “the price paid for the impacted in vitro cycle.”

The couples asked the judge to declare the new immunity law unconstitutional. They said it violates the Alabama Constitution which says it is state policy to recognize the “rights of unborn children, including the right to life." They also argued the new law violates their due process and equal protection rights.

“Bottom line: IVF healthcare professionals should bear liability for medical negligence under the Alabama Medical Liability Act just like all other healthcare professionals," lawyers for two of the couples wrote in a motion filed Monday.

The defendants in the case have cited the new law in arguing the lawsuits should be dismissed. A judge has yet to rule on the requests. Any decision in the case is likely to be appealed back to the state Supreme Court.

The Alabama case continues to unfold amid a national debate over IVF.

Democrats in Congress, attempting to draw an election-year contrast with Republicans, have championed legislation to guarantee access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments. Southern Baptist delegates this week expressed alarm over the way in vitro fertilization is routinely being practiced, saying it often results in the “destruction of embryonic human life.”

The Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature sidestepped proposals that would address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs. Some state Democrats argued that action would be needed to permanently settle the issue.

Trudeau, Modi meet for first time since Canada publicly accused India of Sikh leader's assassination

CBC
Fri, June 14, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Apulia, Italy on Friday, June 14, 2023. (Narendra Modi/X - image credit)


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met for the first time since Trudeau publicly accused Modi's government of involvement in the assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist.

Modi posted a photo to his 98 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, of the two leaders shaking hands on Friday on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

"Met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit," he wrote.


No formal bilateral meeting between the two leaders was scheduled.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said the two leaders had an "interaction on the margins of the G7."

"The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his re-election and the leaders had a brief discussion on the bilateral relationship," Ann-Clara Vaillancourt said in a media statement. "Of course there are important issues between our two countries right now. You can appreciate that we won't be making any further statements at this time."

Earlier on Friday, Trudeau and Modi were both around the same G7 table during an outreach session. They were positioned about six seats away from one another, according to video footage.

India was one of the countries invited to observe this year's annual summit of the leading advanced democratic economies. It is not a member of the G7.

Modi held a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders at the summit, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but does not have a meeting scheduled with Trudeau on Friday, according to Trudeau's public itinerary.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, is welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, Friday, June 14, 2024.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, is welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari, in southern Italy, on Friday. (Luca Bruno/The Associated Press)

The last time Trudeau met with Modi in person was during the fraught G20 summit in India in September 2023. That same month, after returning from the trip, Trudeau rose in the House of Commons and accused India's government of involvement in the brazen shooting of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Earlier this month, Trudeau congratulated Modi on his re-election win.

"Canada stands ready to work with his government to advance the relationship between our nations' peoples — anchored to human rights, diversity and the rule of law," he said at the time.

A few days later, Modi responded on X, thanking Trudeau for the congratulatory message.

"India looks forward to working with Canada based on mutual understanding and respect for each others concerns," he wrote.

Modi government has denied allegations

Nijjar was brazenly shot and killed by masked gunmen in his pickup truck in June 2023 in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C.

Nijjar was a supporter of a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state. He had been deemed a "terrorist" by India's government and accused of leading a militant separatist group — a claim his supporters denied.

"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India" and Nijjar's killing, Trudeau said.

Four Indian nationals — Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Amandeep Singh — were arrested last month and charged in connection with Nijjar's killing.

Modi's government has denied ordering killings in Canada. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar initially called Canada's allegation "absurd" and accused Canada of harbouring violent extremists.

Report warned of India's political meddling in Canada

The allegations hurt an already shaky bilateral relationship between India and Canada that got even rockier last week.

A bombshell report written by an all-party committee of Canadian parliamentarians about foreign interference said India is the second biggest foreign threat to Canadian democracy after China.

The report contained the starkest warnings yet about India's attempts to meddle in Canadian politics.

"India seeks to cultivate relationships with a variety of witting and unwitting individuals across Canadian society with the intent of inappropriately exerting India's influence across all orders of government, particularly to stifle or discredit criticism of the Government of India," the report said.

The heavily redacted report also said there's intelligence that suggests "India has an active proxy, who has proactively looked for ways to further India's interests by monitoring and attempting to influence politicians."

One note says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has information indicating an Indian proxy claimed to have "repeatedly transferred funds from India to politicians at all levels of government in return for political favours, including raising issues in Parliament."

In a media briefing on Wednesday ahead of the G7, India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra did not say whether Modi and Trudeau would have a bilateral meeting at the summit.

"I think the main issue with regard to Canada continues to be the political space that Canada provides to anti-India elements, which advocate extremism and violence, and we have repeatedly conveyed our deep concerns to them, and we expect them to take strong action," he told reporters.

One expert said Friday that the leaders' meeting may be a sign that relations between India and Canada are improving.

"That they spoke given what has happened over the past year suggests that there is progress in repairing the relationship," said Tristen Naylor, an assistant professor of history and politics at Cambridge University.

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and an international affairs professor at the University of Ottawa, said relations between the two countries are "strained for obvious reasons."

"It's also important for Canada to keep the channels of communication open with India because India remains an important partner in other areas," he told CBC News in an interview before the summit.

Modi Seizes Center Stage at G-7 to Ambush Biden, Trudeau

Brian Platt and Josh Wingrove
Sat, June 15, 2024 



(Bloomberg) -- Narendra Modi seized a window to end his diplomatic purgatory with the US and Canada.

The Indian prime minister arrived at the Group of Seven meetings bruised by disappointing election results and facing an outcry over a pair of assassination plots allegedly backed by his government.

Yet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the host of the summit, gave Modi prominent placement during Friday’s events and the Indian leader took full advantage, striding over for encounters with two leaders whose governments have accused his own of murder plots.

Modi was placed at center stage for the family photo, a perch that allowed him to dart over to US President Joe Biden for a brief chat. He also shared a photo of a similar greeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canada has accused India of killing a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil, while the US has leveled allegations of a failed attempt on another dissident in its country. India has generally downplayed the allegations, and in the US case chalked up the plot to rogue elements of the government.

But Modi’s invitation to the summit is a sign of India’s role in the emerging economic race between the G-7 and its rivals, particularly China. Biden and Trudeau meeting with him, however briefly, casts doubt on how long the outcry over the assassination allegations will linger.

The US has said its position on the alleged plots hasn’t changed.

“We’ve made our views known on this issue, and it will be a continuing topic of dialogue between the US and India, including at very senior levels,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, one of Biden’s top foreign affairs aides, said Wednesday.

A US official said Friday that Biden and Modi only spoke briefly.

On Saturday, a grim-faced Trudeau was repeatedly asked about his interaction with Modi but did not want to engage.

“I’m not going to get into the details of this issue,” he told reporters in southern Italy. “There are important, sensitive issues that we need to follow up on, but this was a commitment to work together in the coming times to deal with some very important issues.”

Meanwhile, the Indian prime minister looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself at the summit. Meloni posted a clip of her and Modi, laughing cheerfully behind her.

Canadian police recently arrested four Indian nationals over last year’s killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in a Vancouver suburb. The case is now before the courts and could take years to wind to a conclusion.

Modi’s government reacted furiously when Trudeau first accused India last September of orchestrating the assassination, rejecting the claim as baseless and expelling Canadian diplomats. Trudeau has long called on Modi to cooperate with the investigation, with the hope of moving forward constructively.

Indian officials have never walked back their initial denials, but there are signs that behind the scenes, Canada and India are now cooperating more fully on sharing information about the case.

That may have helped provide an opening for a conversation between the two leaders.

The last time Trudeau crossed paths with Modi in person was at the G-20 in New Delhi last year, and it was a very tense meeting because Canadian officials had spent weeks privately presenting evidence to India’s government of a hit job on Canadian soil. Trudeau at the time was largely iced out by Modi at that summit and then had his departure delayed after his plane broke down.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.


Photo Gallery: Trudeau at the G7 summit in Italy
The Canadian Press
Fri, June 14, 2024 










































Photo Gallery: Trudeau at the G7 summit in Italy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives in Grottaglie, Italy on Wednesday, June 12, 2024., to attend the G7 Summit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The Canadian Press

Pope Francis met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday at the G7 summit, where the pontiff warned leaders about the dangers of artificial intelligence and counselled them to centre humanity in its development.

Trudeau met with Francis before his address Friday afternoon. The prime minister was expected to speak to him about advancing reconciliation and advocate for the return of Indigenous artifacts held in the Vatican Museum.

Trudeau was in a working session on migration in the morning while leaders will hold a working luncheon on the Indo-Pacific and economic security.

The first day of the summit was dominated by news that the leaders will deliver a US$50-billion loan to Ukraine using interest earned on profits from Russia's frozen central bank assets as collateral.

Canada, for its part, has promised to pitch in up to $5 billion toward the loan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Climate Dealmakers Brace for China Showdown Over Money at COP29

John Ainger
Thu, June 13, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- With just five months to go before the COP29 climate summit, the biggest fights are set to be over how to channel trillions of dollars from developed nations to emerging markets — and how China fits into the equation.

Negotiators representing more than 190 countries convened in Bonn, Germany, this week for a meeting that typically sets the tone for the annual talks. While the atmosphere was more positive than last year — where the controversial appointment of an oil executive to lead COP28 overshadowed discussions — the gathering also made clear the scale of the challenge facing Azerbaijan, a relatively small player on the international stage that stepped in to host COP29 at the last minute.

The key goal of November’s summit in Baku is to agree on a new post-2025 goal for raising money to speed up the green transition in developing nations and protect them from more extreme weather. The world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable states are loathe to accept anything less than trillions, with some pushing for up to $1 trillion a year coming from public funds. Meanwhile, developed countries are trying to broaden the donor base to ease pressure on their strained budgets.

“Trillions will be needed,” said Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands. “We need an overhaul of the international financial system to address the persistent inequities that punish rather than support the most vulnerable.”

Analysts estimate that between $1 trillion and $6 trillion a year will be required to meet the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious goal to keep global temperatures in check. Negotiators in Bonn suggested any climate finance deal would likely resemble an onion, with a headline figure of what’s needed, including from the private sector, and an amount that will come from the public coffers of developed nations. Further layers could include contributions from countries that haven’t previously been donors, like China, and multilateral development banks.

This year’s climate talks are taking place against a less-than-ideal backdrop. COP29 will kick off just days after the US presidential election, and negotiators are already bracing for the possibility of a Trump victory. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza have pit the world’s biggest economies against each other. It’s also unclear how cooperative China, currently the world’s biggest emitter, will be as it faces fresh trade restrictions on green technologies from both Washington and Brussels.

Still, “there is a unanimous understanding that the current status quo is not viable,” Yalchin Rafiyev, the lead negotiator for Azerbaijan, said in an interview. “The current flow of finance is not sufficient. This is a moment of truth for the international community.”

Disputes over money come down to a fundamental tension that underpins global climate negotiations: What do the countries most responsible for climate change — those that industrialized first and added billions of tons of carbon to the atmosphere — owe the nations that are now paying the price in weather damages.

Attempts by developed countries to shift some of the burden to developing countries like China at COP29, would "severely undermine the effectiveness of global cooperation on climate change," Lin Jian, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday at a press briefing in Beijing.

Developing countries and small island states say the likes of the US and the European Union have so far fallen way short of the mark. A commitment made by rich countries to deliver $100 billion of public finance per year by 2020 — a fraction of what’s needed to protect billions of people — was only met two years later. India is leading calls for that figure to be 10 times higher as part of the new post-2025 “New Collective Quantified Goal.”

“If money makes the world go round, today’s unequal financial flows are sending us spinning toward disaster,” United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres said last week. “Climate finance is not a favor. It is fundamental to a livable future for all.”

But developed nations don’t want another albatross like that hanging around their neck, according to one European negotiator, who requested anonymity to discuss details of sensitive talks. China’s economy has grown so much in the last three decades that it needs to contribute, as does Saudi Arabia, whose production of fossil fuels significantly adds to global warming, the person said.

“China will always be a member of the Global South and the developing world,” President Xi Jinping said in a video speech to a UNCTAD event Wednesday, repeating a frequent argument that the nation shouldn't be ranked alongside industrialized economies.

The China question will likely to be one of the toughest to navigate, according to Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington. The uncertainty of the November election, bitterness over trade measures and loss of the close personal connection between former US and China envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, who both stepped down last year, could make progress difficult.

“There is a way to get China to play a role, but traditional donors still need to pay their fair share,” Li said. “The climate finance issue is particularly thorny and the politics this year are very challenging.”

For Li, whether Azerbaijan provides the leadership needed is the wildcard for COP29. The nation has so far given few clues on the path it sees to delivering the enormous sums of money required. Rafiyev said officials have gone back to the drawing board on its signature initiative to place a levy on producers of oil, gas and coal amid pushback on the proposal in its current form.

Mukhtar Babayev, the Azeri minister set to preside over COP29, has expressed optimism that countries will ultimately reach a comprehensive climate finance deal. “Details will come later,” he said in a June 4 interview in Baku. “Now it’s time to talk.”

--With assistance from Jess Shankleman, Jing Li and Lucille Liu.

(Updates with China foreign ministry spokesman comment in ninth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek