A new law will see legal protections removed from thousands of square miles of classified forest and unprecedented power handed to industrial chocolate manufacturers. Civil society groups, environmental campaigners and workers’ cooperatives have warned that the new forestry code, ratified by the National Assembly and currently being implemented, will encourage unsustainable cocoa production and legalise large-scale deforestation in already ravaged areas. The majority of the Ivory Coast’s 7,700 square miles of protected forests are considered heavily degraded, with levels of deforestation at 75% or more. These will be turned into “agro-forests” under the control of international companies including Olam Cocoa and Siat. National parks and forests that are considered relatively intact will remain protected, according to the law, while a middle category will be gradually restored.
Airbus A380 Custom ($500 million): This is the most expensive private jet in the world, owned by Al-Waleed Bin Talal from Saudi Arabia and a member of the Saudi royal family – House of Saud. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has the eighth-highest amount given to charity ($3.5 billion) among the greatest philanthropists. He’s the 50th richest man in the world. He has almost everything gold plated in the plane and comes with a solid gold throne in the middle. The jet is referred to as Kingdom in the Sky and comes with a Turkish bath, a garage where he can park his Rolls Royce and even a prayer room with electronic mat that automatically rotates to face Mecca.
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