Trey Pearson, former CCM artist, celebrates LGBTQ freedom in new album

This is the former Christian rocker’s second album since coming out as gay in 2016.

Artist Trey Pearson. Photo courtesy of Trey Pearson

July 6, 2022

By 

Kathryn Post

(RNS) — When former Christian rocker Trey Pearson came out as gay in 2016, he decided being fully himself was worth risking his 15-year music career with the band Everyday Sunday. Six years later, Pearson says his latest solo album, “Somebody You Knew,” is some of his best and most authentic music to date.

Released on Friday (July 1), Pearson’s eight-song album has already gained traction in the alternative music scene — this weekend, it was No. 21 on the iTunes Alternative chart. A rerelease of his song “Hey Jesus,” about the painful process of coming out, is also included on the album and features queer Christian artist Semler. The duo’s new version was promoted on Spotify’s New Music Friday Christian playlist.

“To get to subversively be in that space feels so redeeming and so beautiful,” Pearson told Religion News Service.

Pearson was just out of his freshman year of college when he signed on with a Christian record label. Everyday Sunday would go on to have an album on the Billboard 200, as well as the most-played Christian rock song of 2007. Pearson married a woman and had two children. But, after nearly eight years of marriage, he shared in a public letter that he and his wife would transition from marriage to friendship and co-parenting. Today, at 41, he is in a happy relationship with his boyfriend of over two years.

His first full album since 2017, “Somebody You Knew” is a rebirth of sorts for Pearson. It captures both the heartache of losing a community that promised unconditional love and the transcendent joy of real belonging. RNS spoke with Pearson about his departure from the contemporary Christian music world, reconnecting with his mother after she was injured in a tragic car accident that killed his father, and the stories behind his newest songs.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was the inspiration for the new album?

An album release party poster for Trey Pearson’s album “Somebody You Knew.” Courtesy image

When I came out in 2016, I’d gone my whole life trying to be something I couldn’t. There was this huge part of my life I just kept trying to push down. When I finally accepted myself, something came to the surface and burst out. These last handful of years I was finally experiencing life in a new, authentic way. I’ve been writing about those experiences with a lot of joy and hope, but also heartache. I’ve lost a lot of people in my life. As I was putting the album together, I realized it has this journey from heartbreak to hope. 

Some songs sound like they could be about both a human relationship, and about a relationship with God or the church. Is that intentional?

“Can’t Go Back” is about my relationship with evangelical church people, people who told me they still loved me, but then the phone stopped ringing. They didn’t want to be in my life anymore. They didn’t actually love me in a way that was real and active.

I definitely believe that everything is spiritual. I wrote the song “Piedmont Park” for my boyfriend that I’ve been with now for over two years. He’s a huge part of my life and my kids’ lives. He’s from Georgia, and when we started dating, we’d go to Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. To me that song is about this love I never thought I’d get to experience. It’s a very spiritual thing as well.

Can you talk about the song “Broken Heart”? Who was that written for?

“Broken Heart” I had written for my parents, about yearning for them to be in my life and knowing that they chose not to be in the years since I’ve come out. They chose their religious beliefs over being in my life and it was devastating. The week after I got the final mix back for that song, my parents were in a car crash. My father passed away and my mom was extremely injured. All of a sudden, after my mom was not really in my life for six years, I’m sleeping on the floor of the hospital with her at night as she’s in the ICU trying to survive.

She’s really making an effort now to be in my life, my boyfriend’s life and my kids’ lives. And it’s something we both have talked about, how it’s so sad that it took that tragedy of losing my dad for her to realize that they were doing it wrong by thinking God would want them to not be in my life. But my album release party is at the Columbus Museum of Art tomorrow night and she asked if she could come. This will be her first time seeing me perform since I’ve come out of the closet.

“Hey Jesus” was also on your 2017 album “Love Is Love.” Why rerecord it for your new album?

I was sitting in my living room with a guitar in 2016 after coming out. I had all these feelings of grieving the loss of my family and my church family. Grieving that I had been brainwashed to believe I would be an abomination in God’s eyes. I had been married to a girl and had two kids. My whole identity was wrapped up in being a certain thing. Then to finally have my life fall apart and to face this major part of myself I’d never faced, writing that song was me grieving everything I had felt my whole life growing up. I wrote it in less than half an hour.

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RELATED: CCM industry stays silent on LGBTQ inclusion as queer artists carve inroads

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After I put the song out, it’s been amazing. There’s no marketing behind it, it just slowly grew and it’s now become personal to people that message me every day from around the world. It was featured in PBS’ first LGBTQ special that came out in June for Pride Month. Doing it with Semler felt like a way to put it out again. This doesn’t just belong to me anymore. This song belongs to every LGBTQ kid that has grown up being taught there’s something broken about them.

Artist Trey Pearson hugs a man in a final scene from the music video of his single “Silver Horizon.” Video screen grab

What does it mean to you to have that song on a Christian Spotify playlist?

The gatekeepers used to reject artists like me after coming out, or Jennifer Knapp when she came out six years before I did. There are still so many closeted LGBTQ artists in Christian music. So it’s fascinating that now, me as an openly gay man and Semler as an openly queer artist, have this song together on one of the biggest Christian playlists in the world. Hopefully, people who need to hear those words will find that song, whether it’s an LGBTQ person or their parent, sibling or friend. This song is easily one of the most meaningful songs I’ve ever written. To get to be subversively in this space feels so redeeming and so beautiful.

It’s been six years since you came out to your fans. Do you ever regret coming out publicly?

I don’t regret coming out publicly at all. I can’t believe it took me that long to finally experience freedom, joy and peace. I had three huge motivations. I wanted to tell my story on my own terms, and I wanted to do it in a way that could hopefully help other people. I know LGBTQ artists in Christian music, and if they had come out when I was a kid, I know how much that could have changed my life. And third, for my kids. When I came out, my daughter was 6 and my son was 2. I want my kids to grow up in a world where they’re not scared of being themselves. So I’m still very thankful that I did it for all three of those reasons.

Can you talk about what it’s been like writing and releasing music without a record label?

Record labels have the marketing money and power to promote you to radio stations, major streaming platforms and on YouTube and Facebook ads. I have not had any of that. But I feel like I’ve been writing the best, most authentic music of my life since I’ve come out. That’s such a wonderful feeling as an artist to be this far in my life and my career and to be making the most meaningful music I’ve ever made. And even with no label, marketing team, manager or booking agent behind me, I’m watching my music continue to blossom and grow and seeing more and more people find it.

Your album seems to reveal a complicated relationship with faith and with the church. What does that relationship look like today?

The older I’ve gotten, the more peace I’ve made with realizing there are lots of things you can’t know for sure. The most destructive things in my life have been the things people pretend to know that you can’t. That’s why I talk so much about fundamentalism, because to me it’s having to be right about something you can’t possibly know for sure. To me that’s the most toxic kind of spirituality.

One of the biggest things faith gave me as a kid was hope. I want to give that hope to my kids, and I don’t mind calling that hope God. Even in these last few months after losing my dad, it’s that hope that helps me process that. I didn’t get to have that closure with my dad. And I don’t know what happens after death, none of us do. But I like to think, somehow, he is with me. That he understands now. Even though he couldn’t be here with me, or part of my life with my boyfriend and my kids, that he gets to be now.

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RELATED: Trey Pearson releases first music video since coming out as a gay Christian rock star

Two senators call for FTC probe into TikTok over U.S. data access


FILE PHOTO: TikTok head office in United States


Tue, July 5, 2022 
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee chair and top Republican have called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate social media app TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance due to "repeated misrepresentations" over its handling of U.S. data.

The request on Tuesday from Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Republican Marco Rubio followed a Buzzfeed report saying the short video app permitted TikTok engineers and executives in China to repeatedly access private data of U.S. users. The senators said such access raised questions over TikTok's claims to lawmakers and users that the data was protected.

"In light of repeated misrepresentations by TikTok concerning its data security, data processing, and corporate governance practices, we urge you to act promptly on this matter," the senators wrote FTC Chair Lina Khan.

TikTok said Tuesday https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/our-approach-to-keeping-us-data-secure that access to data "is subject to a series of robust controls, safeguards like encryption for certain data, and authorization approval protocols overseen by our U.S.-based leadership/security team."

The company responded to the senators' letter by reiterating "TikTok has never shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government, nor would we if asked."

The FTC confirmed it had received the letter but declined further comment.

Last week, TikTok told U.S. senators it was working on a final agreement with the Biden Administration that would "fully safeguard user data and U.S. national security interests."

TikTok acknowledged in a letter Thursday that China-based employees "can have access to TikTok U.S. user data subject to a series of robust cybersecurity controls and authorization approval protocols overseen by our U.S.-based security team."

TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew told senators it was working with Oracle Corp on "new advanced data security controls that we hope to finalize in the near future."

The senators' letter

https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/e/3eeb87b3-e9b5-4aa4-8ea1-361a8472ff46/A42795C63518B32671F9ACCF82B1E26A.khan-ssci-tiktok-letter.pdf 

cited a BuzzFeed news story about leaked internal recordings that said China-based employees of ByteDance had at the "very least" access to U.S. data.

TikTok's letter Thursday said hit had not misled Congress about its data and security controls and practices.

Last month, TikTok said it had completed migrating information on its U.S. users to servers at Oracle but it was still using U.S. and Singapore data centers for backup.

It has been nearly two years since a U.S. national security panel ordered parent company ByteDance to divest TikTok because of fears that U.S. user data could be passed on to China's communist government.

TikTok is one of the world's most popular social media apps, with more than 1 billion active users globally, and counts the United States as its largest market.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Christopher Cushing)

NAT GAS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE/RENEWABLE

EU lawmakers back gas, nuclear energy as sustainable after vote


The European Union flags flutter ahead of the gas talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 19, 2019. (File Photo: Reuters)


The Associated Press
Published: 06 July ,2022

European Union lawmakers voted Wednesday to include natural gas and nuclear in the bloc’s list of sustainable activities, backing a controversial proposal from the bloc’s executive arm that has been drawing fierce criticism from environment groups.

The European Commission earlier this year made the proposal as part of its plans for building a climate-friendly future, dividing member countries and drawing outcry from environmentalists as “greenwashing.”

EU legislators from the environment and economy committees objected last month to the plan, setting up Wednesday’s cliff-edge vote in Strasbourg, France. But EU legislators rejected their resolution in a 328-278 vote, with the result announced in a salvo of applause.

Greenpeace immediately said it will submit a formal request for internal review to the European Commission, and then take legal action at the European Court of Justice if the result isn’t conclusive.

“It’s dirty politics and it’s an outrageous outcome to label gas and nuclear as green and keep more money flowing to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war chest, but now we will fight this in the courts,” said Ariadna Rodrigo, Greenpeace’s EU sustainable finance campaigner.

European Parliament rapporteur Bas Eickhout rued “a dark day for the climate and the energy transition.”

The green labeling system from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, defines what qualifies as an investment in sustainable energy. Under certain conditions, gas and nuclear energy will now be part of the mix, making it easier for private investors to inject money into both.

The plan has divided the 27 member countries amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, and even the parliament’s political groups, while environmentalists claim it amounts to “greenwashing.”

Protests that had started on Tuesday continued Wednesday outside the EU legislature as lawmakers debated the issue.

One argument for rejecting the proposal is that it will boost Russian gas sales at a time when it is invading neighboring Ukraine, but the European Commission said it had received a letter from the Ukrainian government backing its stance.

European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness quoted from the letter from Ukraine’s energy minister Tuesday: “I strongly believe that the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the taxonomy is an important element of the energy security in Europe, especially with a view to replacing Russian gas.”

“I don’t think we should second-guess this letter,” McGuinness said.

The commission believes that including nuclear and gas as transitional energy sources that would be phased out later doesn’t amount to a free pass, as conditions would still have to be met.

With the EU aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, it says the classification system is crucial to direct investments into sustainable energy. It estimates that about 350 billion euros of investment per year will be needed to meet the 2030 targets.

The EU is trying to wean itself off its dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and member countries have already agreed to ban 90 percent of Russian oil by year-end. Before the war in Ukraine, it relied on Russia for 25 percent of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas.

Russia criticises ‘unilateral leak’ of Putin-Macron call

Russian foreign minister says the release of the phone conversation between the two leaders breaches ‘diplomatic etiquette’.

Sergey Lavrov made the comments during a trip to Vietnam 

[File: Yuri Kochetkov/AP Photo]

Published On 6 Jul 20226 Jul 2022

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has criticised France for the publication of a call between the presidents of the two countries that took place days before the start of the war in Ukraine.

Broadcaster France 2 released in a documentary that aired last week the details of the confidential call on February 20 between French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

In the exchange, which finds Putin preparing for an ice hockey game, the Russian leader describes the 2014 Euro-Maidan revolution that brought pro-Western leaders to power in Ukraine as a “bloody coup”. He also accuses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of refusing to engage in dialogue with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s east.

“People were burned alive, it was a bloodbath,” Putin says, claiming that Zelenskyy is lying to Macron.

At one point, Macron is visibly irritated and tells Putin in a slightly raised voice, “I don’t know where your lawyer learned law,” as he criticises Russian views.

Despite the differences, Putin in principle agrees to a meeting with United States President Joe Biden in Geneva, which never materialised as Russia sent its troops into Ukraine four days later.

Commenting on the release of the conversation, Lavrov said on Wednesday “diplomatic etiquette does not provide for unilateral leaks of [such] recordings”.

He added, however, that Russia has nothing to be ashamed of from the content of the call.

“We, in principle, lead negotiations in such a way that we never have anything to be ashamed of. We always say what we think and are ready to answer for these words and explain our position,” he said during a trip to Vietnam.

The documentary also offers scenes rarely seen in public, including Macron holding a meeting in his bunker under the Elysee palace, and working with his team in the presidential plane.

It also highlights European leaders’ coordination to support Ukraine and impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia, and follows Macron with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in a train on their way to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in June, where they pledged arms and backed Ukraine’s candidacy to join the European Union.

 

Pioneering Radon Research in Cameroon Decreases Risks of Lung Cancer


Miklos Gaspar, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communcation
Aly Adams Diomande, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communcation



Several of the 3,000 homes – like these in the Northern Province – were surveyed in Cameroon for concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive radon isotopes. Almost 50% were found to have concentrations above WHO-established safety limits and residents were advised to ventilate their homes regularly as mitigation. (Photo: M. Gaspar/IAEA)


NGAOUNDERE AND YAOUNDE, CAMEROON – When Bobbo Hamadou gets up in the morning, he opens the door and window in his house. This is not just to air out his mattress – but to lower the concentration of radon in his home. He lives in one of the 150 dwellings in Ngaoundéré, found to have concentrations of this naturally occurring radioactive substance above the upper level recommended in IAEA safety standards and by the World Health Organization (WHO). Over a quarter of the houses surveyed in this city, capital of the Adamwa region, have high concentrations of radon.

“Dosimeters installed in my home enabled researchers to warn me that radon concentrations are high and that it is important to air out my home properly to avoid radon-related illnesses. Today, I air my house every morning and it has become part of my daily routine,” says Hamadou, who is the chief of a local district.

In a first of a kind pilot study in Africa, researchers at Cameroon’s Institute of Geological and Mining Research surveyed 3,000 dwellings across the country, including in areas that contain uranium deposits, where radon is often present at high levels. Over 2 per cent of the homes surveyed had radon concentrations above the upper IAEA recommended level of 300 Bq/m3, and a whopping 49 per cent were above the more conservative level recommended by WHO of 100 Bq/m3. Based on the data gathered – to be published in an article currently in press in the Journal of Radiation Protection and Research – the average radon level in Cameroon is 107 Bq/m3, versus the global average of just 40 Bq/m3.

“Our geology predetermines Cameroon for higher natural concentrations of radon, particularly in the north, south and west of the country, which are highly populated areas,” said Saidou, Chief of the institute’s Research Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology. The research was carried out with financial and technical support of the IAEA, along with other partners, including radiation protection institutes in India, Japan and Switzerland, which donated track detectors for measuring indoor radon levels.

Researchers at Cameroon’s Institute of Geological and Mining Research preparing a soil sample for test of radon concentration. (Photo: M. Gaspar/IAEA)

Radon accounts for around half of all human exposure to radiation from different sources, and inhalation increases the risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Outdoors radon quickly dilutes to very low concentrations and poses no harm. On the other hand, even moderate concentrations of indoor radon pose health risks due to prolonged exposure. Chemical elements that decay into radon may be present in ground or soil, water and construction materials. See this Nuclear Explained article for more on radon.

Open the window, let radon out

Managing radon levels in a dwelling is not difficult – as long as the inhabitants are aware of the high concentration. Regularly airing houses, particularly bedrooms, is the most important in warm climates. For new construction, proper isolation of residential area from the ground combined with proper ventilation are the most important solutions.

But awareness building is a tall order in a predominantly rural country of 250 languages and cultures, Saidou said. “It’s hard for people to understand radon; it is even harder to convince them to allow dosimeters into their homes for the two-month measurement period required – many fear it is spyware or a bomb,” he said. Efforts now focus on finding funding to remediate the buildings where radon has been found as well as on increasing the sample size in order to be able to draw a fully representative map of radon levels in the country.

As the government is starting to hand out licenses for mining, creating baseline levels for concentrations of radon and thoron at future industrial areas is a new project Saidou is leading. “This is key to the country’s sustainable mining efforts,” he said.

A hub in Central Africa

For now, Cameroon is one of just a few countries in Africa to have begun mapping radon concentrations systematically. Neighbouring countries with similar geology are also taking notice. Current and former PhD students of Saidou’s are starting to carry out similar research in the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. Of the current batch of 1000 single use dosimeters donated by Hirosaki University in Japan, 600 will be used for pilot studies in these countries.

In Congo, research will focus on an area near a phosphate mine, where high concentration of radon was found in rocks, said Dallou Guy Blancbard, a former PhD student of Saidou, leading the research there. “People living near phosphate mining areas consume crops grown in these areas and also groundwater that are potentially contaminated,” he said. “Beyond the research, it will be important to make recommendations and implement awareness raising campaigns on the harmful effects of radon and how to mitigate these effects.”

Saidou is supporting the efforts in the Republic of Congo and is working to establish a regional centre of excellence on the topic, in collaboration with the IAEA. In the meantime, Hamadou is breathing more easily:

“This research saves life. More people should benefit,” he said.

India Conducts Maiden Flight of Autonomous Technology Demonstrator

Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator. 

Image: @rajnathsingh

 INDER SINGH BISHT JULY 6, 2022

India conducted its maiden flight of an autonomous technology demonstrator, taking a critical step toward unmanned combat aircraft development.

The demonstrator — also referred to as the Stealth Wing Flying Testbed or SWiFT — “exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown,” India’s Ministry of Defence stated.

Designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) — a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory — the one-ton demonstrator is a scaled-down version of the upcoming Ghatak combat drone, DRDO wrote in a bulletin.

Stealthy Design

The platform’s “flying wing” configuration is 3.96 meters (13 feet) long and 4.8 meters (16 feet) wide and enables greater fuel-carrying capacity and range, The Print reported, adding that the design also makes the aircraft stealthier.

The SWiFT runs on a Russian NPO Saturn 36MT turbofan engine, according to Defense News. However, an indigenous small turbofan engine is being developed for the demonstrator, The Hindu added, citing a DRDO official.

The demonstration was intended to assess the platform’s “stealth and high-speed landing technology in autonomous mode,” DRDO stated.

Requires ‘10 More Flights’

The flight test demonstrated the platform’s ability to “take off, climb in altitude, cruise midair, navigate to waypoints, descend and land autonomously” Defense News reported.

The data collected from the flight will be evaluated to plan for future modifications. In the next step, a “proven autonomous combat surveillance platform” will be developed, the outlet added, citing an unnamed scientist.

The platform will take “at least 10 more flights” to prove its capability, which is essential for government funding of the Ghatak drone.

Flying wing - Wikipedia

Can We Trust AI? From Ottawa, a Qualified Yes


On the one hand, we’re told AI holds the potential to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. On the other, some very smart people have been sounding the alarm.

Mardi Witzel
July 6, 2022

The T-Head 910 chip is portrayed at the Alibaba stand at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, August 29, 2019. (REUTERS)

Will artificial intelligence — AI — save humanity or supplant us? The question has arisen with escalating frequency in recent years — a sort of journalistic thought bubble emerging from the collective, and anxious, consciousness of writers.

On the one hand, we’re told AI holds the potential to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, inequality and climate change. On the other, some very smart people have been sounding the alarm for years. Elon Musk called AI “humanity’s greatest threat.” Stephen Hawking said the technology could “spell the end of the human race.” That’s some major whistle-blowing.

Globally, there has been a surge in advocacy for ethical AI. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development catalogues more than 60 countries with national AI strategies, but few have hard legislation yet. In 2021, the European Union introduced its proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA); this year, in February, the Algorithmic Accountability Act was reintroduced in the US Senate and House of Representatives; on March 1, China passed a sweeping piece of legislation governing the way online recommendations are made through algorithms. And last month, the Canadian federal government joined the party, introducing the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act on June 16.

The proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is one of three regulatory components in the Digital Charter Implementation Act of 2022 and, if passed, will require firms designing, developing and using high-impact AI systems to meet certain requirements aimed at identifying, assessing and mitigating bias and harm. The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act outlines seven requirements relating to anonymization of data, system impact assessment, risk management, system monitoring, record keeping, publication of system description and notification of material harm. This proposed legislation is noteworthy because it is the first example of a hard law around AI being aimed at the private sector in Canada.

It will take some time to understand, in practical terms, what companies will need to do to comply, how they will demonstrate compliance and what the federal government’s approach to enforcement will look like. As with the European Union’s proposed AIA and the General Data Protection Regulation, the penalties for offences are severe and can result in fines of up to $10,000,000 or three percent of a company’s gross global revenues.

What does seem likely is that this type of law will induce the creation of an entire new services market, the market for AI assurance. The push to develop robust approaches to assuring the trustworthiness of AI is evident in places such as the United Kingdom, where the cultivation of a world-class AI assurance industry is seen as a critical component for harnessing the technology’s transformative potential. The vulnerability of institutional reputations to AI-related misadventure, and the financial materiality of these forays, has given rise to a broad discussion around ethical AI — but in most places, that discussion has yet to evolve from talk to walk.

There is a vanguard of practitioners carving a path with AI governance, but as yet there are few practical models. That will change with regulation, as the scales tip in favour of compliance. Firms and other organizations who are designing, developing and deploying AI will soon have a concrete reason to figure out what it means to practise AI governance, a function that encompasses establishing guardrails, applying specialty tools and employing services including education, conformity assessment and third-party audit.

The firms that do it well will be integrating the governance of AI into their enterprise risk-management systems, identifying and mitigating risks at each stage of the machine-learning life cycle. AI assurance is both a market need and a market opportunity, and there will be a flood of new entrants to the space, particularly as standards emerge and disclosure requirements from regulators, such as the securities and exchange commissions, proliferate.

Who will enter the fray to provide this type of service? Perhaps an existing profession, say, accountants or engineers, will round out their curriculum with new and broader competencies. The opportunity seems ripe for the chartered professions, with their combination of subject matter expertise, credentialling and integrity, but large institutional elements don’t always lead, as size and speed are often in tension.

Perhaps we will see the emergence of a new profession, based on a composite of data science, information technology and assurance skills. Maybe the start-up community will claim this territory, with an agility and expertise that combine to get more help to more organizations more quickly. In the next five years we will see the growth of a major new market in technology assurance, and much of it will be built around AI. Disclosure will be the linchpin in this emerging field.


The opinions expressed in this article/multimedia are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIGI or its Board of Directors.

https://www.cigionline.org/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mardi Witzel is an associate with NuEnergy.ai and an expert on AI governance and strategy.

Russian metal giants Rusal and Norilsk Nickel could merge under sanctions

Under threat of new sanctions two of Russia's biggest metals companies -- Norilsk Nickel and RusAl -- may circle their wagons with a merger / wiki

By bne IntelliNews

 July 6, 2022

Western sanctions for Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine could force two Russian oligarchs, Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska, to end the longest conflict in Russian corporate history and instead merge their respective metals giants – nickel and palladium major Norilsk Nickel and aluminium United Company Rusal.

Potanin told RBC business portal that he had received a merger proposal from Rusal’s management and confirmed starting negotiations on the matter. 

As covered in detail by bne IntelliNews, some Russian metals are deeply embedded in global markets and are hard to sanction. Most recently the US has exempted strategic metals as palladium, rhodium, nickel, titanium, as well as crude aluminium, from a hike of import tariffs.

A bad experience in 2018 means that both Potanin and Deripaska have managed to avoid sanctions until recently. Deripaska and his companies were singled out for sanctions then, but after the price of aluminium soared 40% in a day on the London Metal Exchange (LME) following the news, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) delayed imposing the sanctions and eventually backed off completely, making the sanctions on Deripaska the only ones to have been subsequently dropped since the regime was introduced in 2014.

Even the threat of sanctions against Potanin has already caused turbulence in the price of nickel, which doubled in price in April as the sanctions began to be imposed, breaking all records, and forcing the LME to suspend trading.

Fearful of disrupting a market which supplies a key component for the electric car industry, Potanin manage to avoid sanctions, despite being the richest man in Russia and one of the original 1990s seven oligarch due to his Norilsk Nickel being the major supplier of nickel and palladium for the global automotive industry. However, in June the UK rang the first warning bell by sanctioning the oligarch.

Once bitten, twice shy, Rusal is also not a direct target of the raft of sanctions on Moscow over the Russian invasion of Ukraine this time round, but Oleg Deripaska is sanctioned by the UK and the EU.

bne IntelliNews already suggested that should Norilsk Nickel start experiencing cash problems, it will have to be careful not to flare up his corporate conflict with Deripaska, one of the oldest shareholder spats in Russian corporate history. Potanin has continuously argued for cutting dividends to spend the cash on development because of the ambitious capex programme, especially in the palladium metals field, but Rusal, which relies on Norilsk Nickel’s dividends for its cash flow, strongly opposes the idea.

In 2021 Potanin and Rusal renewed the debate on dividend distribution of Norilsk Nickel, on which Rusal relies for a significant part of its cash flow. Norilsk Nickel previously lowered the dividend but proposed a $2bn buyback.

Instead of prolonging the shareholder agreement that expires at the end of 2022, the two companies could find a way to merge, Potanin suggests. Under the agreement, Norilsk Nickel has to pay at least 60% of EBITDA in dividends given net-debt-to-EBITDA leverage is 1.8x (the minimum payout of $1bn).

“Although no final decisions have been made and there are many different scenarios for the deal, we believe that deleveraging over the past few years, the expiration of the shareholders' agreement in 2022 and increased sanctions risks in Russia set the stage for the merger,” Renaissance Capital commented on June 5.

Potanin is the CEO of Norilsk Nickel and his Interros holds a 35.95% stake in the company, while Deripaska’s Rusal has 26.25% in the company. Another shareholder is Crispian of oligarch Roman Abramovich and Alexander Abramov (about 4% of shares), with 33% free float. The main shareholders of UC Rusal are En+ of Deripaska (56.88%) and SUAL Partners of Victor Vekselberg and Leonard Blavatnik.

In addition to nickel and palladium, Norilsk Nickel also mines copper, platinum, cobalt, rhodium, gold, silver, iridium, selenium, ruthenium and tellurium. UC Rusal mines bauxite and produces alumina and aluminium. Nornickel's revenue last year was $17.9bn and Rusal's $12bn. Therefore the two companies could generate almost $30bn, RBC estimates.

This would be on par with global metals mining giants such as Australo-British Rio Tinto (aluminium, mines copper, iron ore, titanium and diamonds, 2021 revenue of $63.5bn), Australia's BHP (nickel, copper, iron ore, coal, $61bn) Brazil's Vale (nickel, iron ore, copper and manganese, $54.4bn) and Anglo American (nickel, manganese, coking coal, platinum metals, iron ore, copper, aluminium and fertilisers, $41.5bn).

“The combined company will have a more balanced basket of metals, in terms of short-term and long-term trends in demand: 75% of metals by revenue according to our calculations (including aluminium, copper, nickel and cobalt) will refer to the global decarbonisation trend, while others, including palladium, will refer to emissions reduction of existing technologies,” the analysts at RenCap estimate.

The Bell and RBC business portal remind that the first merger rumours between Rusal and Norilsk Nickel date back to 2008, when Potanin and another oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov were splitting up heavy industry assets.

Deripaska's UC Rusal bought 25% of Norilsk Nickel from Potanin, but instead of synergy one of the longest corporate conflicts in Russian history emerged.

Fast forward to post-invasion 2022 and Potanin and Deripaska are ready to revisit the idea again, with Potanin arguing to RBC that the main potential synergies could be overlaps of sustainability and green agenda of both Rusal and Norilsk Nickel, as well as joint absorption of state support. 

However, he reiterated that "Nornickel still doesn't see any production synergies with UC Rusal” and that essentially the companies would maintain two separate production pipelines, but nevertheless potentially become a "national champion" within the metals and mining arena.

Commenting on the latest sanctions against him by the UK, Potanin argued to RBC that the sanctions “concern me personally, and according to the analysis that we have at Norilsk Nickel to date, they do not affect the company".

He might still be looking at Deripaska's experience of lifting the sanctions from Rusal. "In our view, the experience of SDN's exclusion from the sanctions list and the related Rusal/EN+ business structure could play a key role in a potential merger deal," RenCap analysts wrote.

Cost of Living: 2mln UK Households Missed Bill Every Month This Year


TEHRAN (FNA)- More than 2mln households have missed a bill payment every month this year as people struggle to keep their heads above water in a “relentless cost of living crisis”, according to new research from consumer group Which?.

In June an estimated 2.1mln households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill, according to the consumer champion’s monthly insight tracker. This figure has been above 2 million every month so far this year, it said, The Guardian reported.

The tracker, based on an online poll of 2,000 consumers, found the number of people in financial difficulty remains at a high level. Six in 10 consumers said they had had to make an adjustment – such as cutting back on essentials or dipping into savings – to cover essential spending. That figure is similar to April and May’s but much higher than a year ago, when it was about 40%.

“The prices of everything [are] rising so steeply, but wages and benefits are not. My wages have gone up by about £10 a week yet my petrol has gone up by £40 a week,” a 35-year-old woman on a low income told Which? Researchers, adding, “And the cost of a food shop feels extortionate. There’s no extra money coming in but the amount going out is increasing at an alarming rate.”

Rocio Concha, Which?’s director of policy and advocacy, said the tracker showed that a “relentless cost of living crisis is continuing to put huge pressure on household finances”.

“These pressures are especially apparent among the most financially vulnerable – with around two-thirds of those on incomes of £21,000 or lower saying they’ve had to make at least one financial adjustment to cover essentials in the last month,” she said.

Most consumers across all income groups said they had made an adjustment to cover essential spending in the past month, but this was most common among households with an income of up to £21,000. However, 57% of consumers with a household income of more than £55,000 had made at least one adjustment.

The recent series of one-off payments announced by the government to help with the energy price cap increase in October will bring relief to many, but their success will be judged on whether they continue to reach the most financially vulnerable, Which? said.

“The government and businesses must ensure that targeted support reaches the ever-growing number of consumers struggling to make ends meet,” said Concha.

The children’s commissioner for England also called on the government to develop urgent plans to tackle child poverty, amid the cost of living crisis that is hitting the most vulnerable in society hardest.

Rachel de Souza said children were increasingly worried about the soaring price of basic essentials and the impact on their lives, telling MPs on the Commons education committee that urgent steps were required to tackle poverty ahead of a difficult autumn for families.

“My plea would be to ensure that we have children, and families with children, really strategised properly in government so that we have a proper plan. I suspect – and I’m no economist – but I suspect this is going to get worse into the autumn,” she said.

Families across Britain are expected to face further pressure from rising energy bills this October, amid the worst squeeze on living standards since the 1950s, as Russia-Ukraine war and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic drive up inflation.

Asked by the Labour MP Kim Johnson about child poverty figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shared exclusively with the Guardian this week, De Souza said young people were growing increasingly concerned about the rising cost of living.

Haredim only sector in Israel not backing a 'right to abortion'

Majority of all Jewish demographic groups - including religious - and Arabs back right to abortion, with only haredim backing right to life.

David Rosenberg
Jul 6, 2022, 


A majority of Israelis believe that women have a right to abortion on demand during the first three months of pregnancy, a new survey has found.

The survey, conducted by Midgam Research for the Israel Democracy Institute’s Israeli Voice Index, found that majorities of both Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs support the following statement: “Every woman should have the right to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester if she wishes to.”

Jews were significantly more likely (75%) to believe a woman has a right to terminate her pregnancy during the first trimester, compared to 54% of Arabs who shared that view.

In both cases, there was a double-digit difference along gender lines for support for abortion as a right, with 70% of Israeli Jewish men and 48.5% of Arab men agreeing with the above statement, compared to 80% of Israeli Jewish women and 60% of Israeli Arab women.

Among Jews, a majority of every religious sector support the idea that abortion should be a right during the first trimester – except for the haredi sector.

Nearly all (94%) of secular Israelis said they agreed women should have a right to abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy, compared to 86% of traditional, non-religious Israeli Jews, 64% of traditional-religious Israeli Jews, and 54% in the National Religious sector.

Among haredim, 15% said they supported such a right.

Following the overturning of 1973’s Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court last month, the American haredi organization Agudath Israel of America lauded the ruling.

“Agudath Israel of America welcomes this historic development. Agudath Israel has long been on record opposing Roe v. Wade’s legalization of abortion on demand. Informed by the teaching of Jewish law that fetal life is entitled to significant protection, with termination of pregnancy authorized only under certain, extraordinary circumstances, we are deeply troubled by the staggering number of pregnancies in the United States that end in abortion.”

Another Orthodox Jewish organization, the Coalition for Jewish Values, a group which represents some 2,000 Orthodox rabbis in the US, said it “welcomed” the Dobbs decision.

The Orthodox Union, however, which represents a wide range of Orthodox communities in the US, refused to “either mourn or celebrate” the ruling, criticizing both abortion on demand, and “absolute bans on abortion” – though the Court’s ruling does not itself impose any ban.
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