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Cover Drive Six

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Eurozone inflation hits record 8.1% amid rising energy costs

Inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency hit a record 8.1 percent in May.

Annual inflation in the eurozone soared past the previous record of 7.4 percent reached in March and April, according to the latest data from European Union statistics agency Eurostat.

Energy prices jumped 39.2 percent, highlighting how the war and the accompanying global energy crunch are making life more expensive for the eurozone’s 343 million people.

Inflation in the eurozone is now at its highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997. The latest figures add pressure on European Central Bank policymakers to raise interest rates from ultralow levels to rein in the rising prices.

Food prices also rose 7.5 percent, Eurostat said — another sign of how the war is pushing up prices around the world because Russia and Ukraine are major global food suppliers. Prices for goods like clothing, appliances, cars, computers and books rose 4.2 percent. Prices for services increased 3.5 percent, Eurostat said

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/eurozone-inflation-hits-record-8-1-amid-rising-energy-costs-8613751.html
 
 
Inflation was on the up anyway, but the bright boys of NATO didn’t factor in the consequences of economic sanctions on Russia.

As for EU, a failed political and economical union. Some of the EU members have negative interest rates; there is no way out, EU is bankrupt - debt ridden flop. I bet EU blame Brexit, of course they do, said it all along EU needs UK, not the other way round. Largest single market my backside. Thank god UK is out!
 
EU is killing itself economically for next 3-5 years but it’s an opportunity for different skills and industries, lets see of they are up for it.
 
JaDed said:
EU is killing itself economically for next 3-5 years but it’s an opportunity for different skills and industries, lets see of they are up for it.
Click to expand...

Living in Denmark - the oil price and food price is increased 50% - Situations is very very bad,
 
The ‘cheapest’ pasta in the UK has in risen by 50%.

This is not due to demand.

NATO members should remove sanctions on Russia to cushion the blow, but alas! NATO isn’t interested in preserving the subsistence of the people it alleges to protect, but is interested in the war economy.
 
Turkish inflation soars to 73%, highest since 1998

ISTANBUL, June 3 (Reuters) - Turkey's annual inflation rate jumped to a 24-year high of 73.5% in May, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and a tumbling lira -- though the figure was slightly lower than economists had feared.

Inflation has surged since last autumn, when the lira slumped after the central bank launched a 500 basis-point easing cycle sought by President Tayyip Erdogan.

The latest figure surpassed the 73.2% touched in 2002 and is the highest since October 1998, when annual inflation was 76.6% and Turkey was battling to end a decade of chronically high inflation. Nevertheless, the consensus forecast was for annual inflation to rise to 76.55%.


Month-on-month consumer prices rose 2.98%, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) said on Friday, compared to a Reuters poll forecast of 4.8%.

Transport and food costs have soared by 108% and 92% respectively over the last year, reflecting a deepening economic crisis for Turks struggling to afford basic goods. The domestic producer price index climbed 8.76% month-on-month in May for an annual rise of 132.16%.


The lira weakened 0.25% to 16.5050 against the dollar touching its weakest since December. The local currency tumbled 44% in 2021 and another 20% this year. read more

Despite the highest annual rate in Erdogan's two decades in power, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on Twitter monthly inflation readings are trending lower in a positive sign.

Nebati has previously said inflation will fall to single digits in time for next year's election under an economic programme that prioritises low interest rates, high production and exports, and a current account surplus.


However the trade deficit widened 157% year-on-year in May to $10.7 billion, mainly due to energy imports. The central bank forecasts single digit inflation by end-2024.

Economists see inflation remaining high for the rest of 2022 and ending the year at 63%, based on a median estimate, up from 52% in last month's poll.

"It is not possible for Turkey, which has gone beyond the rules of the economic doctrine, to solve its key problem of high inflation with its current policies," said economist Arda Tunca, a columnist at PolitikYol.

DATA CREDIBILITY

Opposition lawmakers and economists have questioned the reliability of TUIK's figures, claims TUIK has dismissed. Polls show Turks believe inflation is far higher than official data.

In a surprise, TUIK said it stopped publishing average prices of individual items in the inflation basket, which had been listed in a monthly table since 2003.

The institute said it will publish an index table showing changes in item groups, as part of Eurostat compliance.

"Establishing TUIK's structure independent from government is as important as the central bank's independence," said Mahfi Egilmez, another Turkey-based economist said on Twitter. "Accurate and reliable data production is the first and foremost prerequisite to implementing correct policies."

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/turkeys-annual-inflation-soars-24-year-high-73-2022-06-03/
 
 
Tesla lost 45% of its market cap from the peak.

Elon Musk lost almost half of his wealth in the stock meltdown including his bitcoin investment which crashed 66%
 
The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the fifth time in a row to 1.25% and set the scene for more forceful action ahead as it eyes a mounting inflation threat.

There had been speculation of a more aggressive tightening after the sharpest rate hike since 1994 was imposed by counterparts at the US central bank last night.

But Bank rate was raised by 0.25% as financial markets and economists had expected, continuing the gradual increases that began in December last year as the rate of inflation gathered pace.

The Bank said on Thursday it was now forecasting that the headline rate of inflation would top 11% in the autumn - a rise of almost 1% on the figure it expected for the end of the year just last month.

The rate-setting committee was split 6-3 on the rate hike vote, with the minority favouring a rise of 0.5%.

The BoE dropped its guidance from May when it said most MPC members believed "some degree of further tightening in monetary policy may still be appropriate in the coming months".

That was seen as guidance that, as far as Bank rate is concerned, the only way is up.

As the Bank was giving its update, growing fears of a global recession were continuing to take a hold of financial markets with stock markets in Europe widely down by more than 2.5% as the recent rush for safe havens reared its head again.

The reopening of economies after the pandemic and, latterly, the effects of Russia's war in Ukraine have been responsible for the bulk of the soaring costs across the world.

The UK's main inflation measure has since hit a 40-year high, leaving economic growth intensely choked by a cost of living squeeze that is only tipped to intensify as energy, food and fuel bills rise sharply.

The anticipated rise, of more than £800 in the energy price cap due in October, was largely responsible for the adjustment to the Bank's inflation forecast.

Its latest rate action will mean there is further pain for millions of mortgage holders on tracker or standard variable deals.

There is some small relief for savers as savings rates lag inflation considerably.

Although many of the price increases in the economy are outside the Bank's control, it is keen to keep a lid on rises in wages for fear that levels matching the pace of price increases will only make the inflation problem worse.

Its plea for wage restraint has come under attack from unions, which argue that plunging living standards are no fault of their members.

The rail network is set to become the first national battleground in strike action expected to start next week.

https://news.sky.com/story/fifth-co...te-raised-to-1-25-by-bank-of-england-12634875

Not enough..
 
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U.S. has 40% chance of tumbling into recession next year, Wall Street analysts say

The U.S. has a 40% chance of entering a recession in 2023, Wall Street analysts say, noting that the odds of a downturn happening this year are low.

In a client note, Bank of America Global Research also criticized the Federal Reserve for failing to move earlier to raise interest rates in an effort to curb inflation.

"Our worst fears around the Fed have been confirmed: They fell way behind the curve and are now playing a dangerous game of catch up," analysts wrote. "We look for GDP growth to slow to almost zero, inflation to settle at around 3% and the Fed to hike rates above 4%."

The Fed on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate 75 basis points — the biggest jump since 1994. BofA Global Research said it expects the central bank to raise its target rate — what banks charge each other to borrow money overnight — a total of 175 basis points over its four next meetings. That would lift the federal funds rate to a range of 4% to 4.25% by May of 2023.

The current range is at 1.5% to 1.75%, so a move by policymakers to boost rates above 4% would represent an even more concerted push to curb inflation — and significantly higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.

Boom and bust
"In the spring of 2021 we argued that the biggest risk to the U.S. economy was a boom-bust scenario," Ethan Harris, global economist at BofA Global Research, told investors. "We worried that the Fed would take too long to put the brakes on. We asked, if the fiscal authorities are doing so much stimulus, why does the Fed need to add fuel to the fire with unusually late policy normalization? Over time the boom-bust scenario has become our baseline forecast."

As higher interest rates kick in, Harris now expects U.S. economic growth to slow this year and to "fade close to zero" by the second half of 2023.

Pricier mortgages and credit cards
The Fed's push to contain inflation is already having an impact on consumers. The average long-term mortgage rate jumped to 5.78% this week, up from 5.23% the previous week — the highest it has been since November of 2008. Some credit card issuers have also jacked up their rates above 20%, according to Bloomberg.

"APRs on most U.S. credit cards, including new card offers, are all but certain to soar in the coming weeks as lenders adjust to dramatically higher rates at a faster clip than they've had to do in years," CreditCards.com reported.

Higher borrowing costs add to the financial strain on Americans, who are facing the steepest inflation since the early 1980s. Gas prices edged down from a record high earlier this week and now average $5 for a gallon of regular unleaded, data from AAA shows.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/recession-inflation-federal-reserve-inflation-bank-of-america/
 
https://www.ft.com/content/1f53abbd-2e49-4fe2-809c-f6dde97632fe

Laos hit by fuel shortages and growing default risk

Moody’s downgrades communist-run Asian country’s sovereign debt rating deeper into ‘junk’ territory

——————————————

Laos has borrowed heavily in recent years to fund hydropower projects and a Chinese-built railway bisecting the country that opened in December.

According to the World Bank, the south-east Asian country’s public and publicly guaranteed debt rose to $14.5bn, or 88 per cent of gross domestic product in 2021, up from $12.5bn, or 68 per cent of GDP in 2019. Electricité du Laos, the power utility, accounted for more than 30 per cent of its government debt, according to the multilateral lender.

Unlike Sri Lanka, which has a wide range of creditors, Laos owes about half of its debt to China, with which it shares a border, giving its financial crisis sharp geopolitical implications.
 
I wonder if it will work like Mr.Robot.. and China takes over Laos considering it owes half its debt to them and can default.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. <br><br>Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.</p>— President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1543263229006254080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
A great many people nowadays literally own practically nothing already and “buy” their phones, tv’s, cars, medical equipment, you name it on some sort of financial plan.

Distribution of debt to the far edges has been a continuous effort.

There are literally layers of companies whose business it is to step in at different levels of default / risk to offer renewed financing at higher rates, tempting people in despair to enter into more strangling agreements.

Economic conditions will apply accelerating pressure.
 
daytrader said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. <br><br>Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.</p>— President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1543263229006254080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

Ridiculous statement.. bring in a law then instead of whining on twitter, embarrassing.
When has it not been a time of war in America if anything Americans are not in middrleast anymore.
 
Bangladesh is seeking $4.5 billion bailout package from IMF as its forex reserves dips to dangerous levels.
 
World Bank refuses new funding for bankrupt Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April.
World Bank will not give funds until govt takes necessary reforms.
The country is currently in bailout talks with IMF.
 
In Layoff Season, Google Too Preps For Purge, May Cut 10,000 Jobs: Report
Google had so far not cut jobs even though other tech giants have let thousands of employees go amid global financial crunch

Google's outlier status amid staff cuts by fellow tech giants is set to go as its parent company Alphabet, too, plans to fire a significant chunk of its workforce -- around 6 per cent, or 10,000 people. It'll be done after identifying those who are performing below expectations, insiders have said. But at the nub of the impending cut is the tough -- and worsening -- global financial situation, according to tech news portal The Information.
Team managers have been asked to evaluate staff in a new “ranking and performance improvement plan”. The purge may begin by early 2023, meaning just another few weeks.

In the previous performance review system, managers were expected to put 2 per cent of employees in that bucket.

Google or Alphabet hasn't confirmed any layoff plans as yet. NDTV has reached out to Google for a comment on the report.

But chief executive Sundar Pichai had hinted at it a couple of months ago. He had said that Google believes as a company that “when you have fewer resources than before, you are prioritizing all the right things to be working on and your employees are really productive…”.

In its report, The Information said the system would first allow managers to decide not to pay bonuses. “As layoffs spread across Silicon Valley, Google has stood out by not cutting employees so far. But as outside pressure builds on the company to improve the productivity of its workers, a new performance management system could help managers push out thousands of underperforming employees starting early next year,” it reported.

Several big tech companies had bet on the surge of online activity during Covid to continue once the pandemic wanes too. But that did not happen.

Facebook founder and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said as much when he announced a cut of 11,000 jobs, which was around 13 per cent of the company's workforce.

At Twitter, a change overdrive by new owner Elon Musk has meant 60 per cent of the 7,000-odd staff is gone. He says he won't settle at losses, so needs to restructure almost everything.

Google or Alphabet has been facing pressure from investors too.

In Layoff Season, Google Too Preps For Purge, May Cut 10,000 Jobs: Report

Google's outlier status amid staff cuts by fellow tech giants is set to go as its parent company Alphabet, too, plans to fire a significant chunk of its workforce -- around 6 per cent, or 10,000 people. It'll be done after identifying those who are performing below expectations, insiders have said. But at the nub of the impending cut is the tough -- and worsening -- global financial situation, according to tech news portal The Information.
Team managers have been asked to evaluate staff in a new “ranking and performance improvement plan”. The purge may begin by early 2023, meaning just another few weeks.

In the previous performance review system, managers were expected to put 2 per cent of employees in that bucket.

Google or Alphabet hasn't confirmed any layoff plans as yet. NDTV has reached out to Google for a comment on the report.

But chief executive Sundar Pichai had hinted at it a couple of months ago. He had said that Google believes as a company that “when you have fewer resources than before, you are prioritizing all the right things to be working on and your employees are really productive…”.

In its report, The Information said the system would first allow managers to decide not to pay bonuses. “As layoffs spread across Silicon Valley, Google has stood out by not cutting employees so far. But as outside pressure builds on the company to improve the productivity of its workers, a new performance management system could help managers push out thousands of underperforming employees starting early next year,” it reported.

Several big tech companies had bet on the surge of online activity during Covid to continue once the pandemic wanes too. But that did not happen.

Facebook founder and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said as much when he announced a cut of 11,000 jobs, which was around 13 per cent of the company's workforce.

At Twitter, a change overdrive by new owner Elon Musk has meant 60 per cent of the 7,000-odd staff is gone. He says he won't settle at losses, so needs to restructure almost everything.

Google or Alphabet has been facing pressure from investors too.

Activist investor TCI Fund Management recently called on the company to cut costs by lowering its headcount, saying that it needs to adjust to an era of slower growth, according to news agency Reuters. The fund, an investor in Alphabet since 2017 with a $6 billion stake, said the company had "too many employees and cost per employee is too high".

TCI said Alphabet pays some of the highest salaries in Silicon Valley, noting that the company has increased headcount by 20 per cent annually since 2017.

NDTV
 
These are the world's most expensive cities to live in 2022

It seems like every month when household bills come due, we grumble about how the cost of living has gone up again.

But it's not just anecdotal. According to this year's Worldwide Cost of Living Index, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the average cost of living is up 8.1% in 2022, owing to the Russian war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the pandemic.

In other words -- no, it's not just you.

"The war in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia and China's zero-Covid policies have caused supply-chain problems that, combined with rising interest rates and exchange-rate shifts, have resulted in a cost-of-living crisis across the world," Upasana Dutt, head of worldwide cost of living at EIU, said in a media statement.

She added: "We can clearly see the impact in this year's index, with the average price rise across the 172 cities in our survey being the strongest we've seen in the 20 years for which we have digital data. The rise in petrol prices in cities was particularly strong (as it was last year), but food, utilities and household goods are all getting more expensive for city-dwellers."

So, in an expensive year, what are the most expensive cities to live in?

Europe in transition
The EIU, which tracks everyday expenses in 172 cities around the world, is based in London. The British capital fell significantly down the list this year, landing in 27th place.

There were four European cities in the top 10 -- Zurich (sixth place) was the highest, with Paris, Copenhagen and fellow Swiss city Geneva rounding out the rest.

The most significant cause of price upticks in western Europe was increasing gas prices, the result of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine and the region trying to find alternate sources of gas. The cost of one liter of gasoline has gone up a whopping 22% compared to this period last year.

Unsurprisingly, Russian cities Moscow and St. Petersburg both saw significant hikes in cost of living expenses, while Ukraine capital Kyiv was not analyzed this year.

In addition to gas costs, one factor cited by the EIU was the uneven value of the Euro, which is used by some but not all of the European cities on this year's list -- the UK is on the pound, and Switzerland has the franc.

Three other cities in Europe -- Stockholm, Lyon and Luxembourg -- also declined on the list.

A first-ever winner
Although it seems like New York City should have topped the list by now, this is the first time the biggest city in the US has landed in first place -- albeit in a tie with frequent winner Singapore.

In 2021's accounting, New York was in sixth place. Two other American metropolises also made the top 10 -- Los Angeles in a tie for fourth place with Hong Kong and San Francisco in eighth.

In total, 22 of the 172 cities the EIU tracks annually are in the US, including Portland, Boston, Chicago and Charlotte. Every single one of those 22 experienced a rise in inflation this year.

Meanwhile, last year's winner, Tel Aviv, fell to third place.

How the list is made
In order to create the list, the EIU compares more than 400 individual prices across more than 200 products and services in 172 cities. They survey a range of businesses, both high and low end, to get a sense of how much prices have fluctuated over the past year.

Another company, the global mobility firm ECA International, publishes its own rankings of the world's priciest cities every year. The ECA list uses slightly different methodology, looking at everyday expenses like rent and the cost of public transit and does not include luxury products in its calculations.

Its list, published in June, awarded Hong Kong the title of most expensive city for the third year straight and New York in second. However, the ECA's list leans heavily toward big cities in Asia, as Seoul, Shanghai and other East Asian urban centers all landed in the top 10.

The EIU list is benchmarked against prices in New York City, hence cities with currencies that are stronger against the US dollar are likely to appear higher in the rankings.

The world's 10 most expensive cities to live in 2022
1. New York and Singapore (tie)
3. Tel Aviv, Israel
4. Hong Kong and Los Angeles (tie)
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. San Francisco, California
9. Paris, France
10. Copenhagen, Denmark
 
Third of world economy to hit recession in 2023, IMF head warns
China’s lagging growth a key threat this year, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said, while the US is ‘most resilient.’

For much of the global economy, 2023 is going to be a tough year as the main engines of global growth – the US, Europe and China – all experience weakening activity, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The new year is going to be “tougher than the year we leave behind,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on the CBS Sunday morning news program Face the Nation on Sunday.

“Why? Because the three big economies – the US, EU and China – are all slowing down simultaneously,” she said.

“We expect one-third of the world economy to be in recession. Even countries that are not in recession, it would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people,” she added.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...onomy-to-hit-recession-in-2023-imf-head-warns
 
Amazon to axe 18,000 jobs citing economic uncertainty
Amazon chief points to company’s rapid hiring in recent years while saying layoffs mainly to hit its brick-and-mortar stores

Amazon has announced it will cut more than 18,000 jobs from its workforce – the largest set of layoffs in the US company’s history – while business software maker Salesforce is to cut 8,000 workers in the latest purge of tech jobs.

Amazon cited “the uncertain economy” and said the e-commerce giant had “hired rapidly over the last several years” in making the announcement on Wednesday.

Its chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a note to employees: “Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles.”

Dream jobs brought them to Silicon Valley. Now they’re laid off and in an ‘impossible’ situation

He said Amazon had weathered “difficult economies” in the past and would continue to do so. “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.”

...
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...to-axe-18000-jobs-citing-economic-uncertainty
 
Brazilian forces regain control after Congress stormed

  • Security forces regain control of Congress in the capital Brasilia after it was stormed by far-right protesters
  • Supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro gained access to the Supreme Court and police fired tear gas when demonstrators wrapped in the national flag surrounded the presidential palace
  • Bolsonaro, who is in the US, lost the presidential election to left-wing veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October
  • The former president tweeted to condemn the "invasions of public buildings"
  • His supporters are refusing to accept he lost the election and have been calling for military intervention and Lula's resignation
  • Lula, who is on an official trip to Sao Paulo state, called Sunday's rioters "fanatic fascists" and vowed to punish them

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-latin-america-64206148
 
Dell To Cut About 6,660 Jobs, Battered by Plunging Personal Computer Sales
Layoffs have hammered the tech sector in recent months, including many of Dell's peers and competitors.
Dell Technologies Inc., facing plummeting demand for personal computers, will eliminate about 6,650 jobs, becoming the latest technology company to announce it will let thousands of employees go.
The company is experiencing market conditions that "continue to erode with an uncertain future," Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke wrote in a memo viewed by Bloomberg. The reductions amount to about 5% of Dell's global workforce, according to a company spokesperson.

After a pandemic-era PC boom, Dell and other hardware makers have seen cratering demand. Industry analyst IDC said preliminary data show personal computer shipments dropped sharply in the fourth quarter of 2022. Among major companies, Dell saw the largest decline — 37% compared with the same period in 2021, according to IDC. Dell generates about 55% of its revenue from PCs.

Clarke told workers that previous cost-cutting measures, including a pause on hiring and limits on travel, are no longer enough. The department reorganizations, along with the job reductions, are viewed as an opportunity to drive efficiency, the spokesperson said.

Layoffs have hammered the tech sector in recent months, including many of Dell's peers and competitors. HP Inc., similarly exposed to the PC market, announced in November a reduction of as many as 6,000 workers. Cisco Systems Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. each said they would eliminate about 4,000 workers. The tech sector announced 97,171 job cuts in 2022, up 649% compared with the previous year, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

...
https://www.ndtv.com/business/dell-...puter-sales-3756866#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll
 
"We Also Made Mistakes": Zoom To Cut 1,300 Jobs, CEO Will Take 98% Pay Cut
Zoom Video Communications chief executive Eric Yuan is also taking a 98 percent cut in salary this year and forgoing his executive bonus.

The company behind the Zoom video conferencing platform -- which became a household name during the pandemic -- announced Tuesday it is laying off about 15 percent of its staff.
Zoom Video Communications chief executive Eric Yuan is also taking a 98 percent cut in salary this year and forgoing his executive bonus, he said in a blog post about the job cuts.

He added that members of his executive leadership team are taking a 20 percent salary reduction and also forfeiting bonuses this year.

While people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom "as the world transitions to life post-pandemic," the Silicon Valley-based firm is seeing customers cut back on spending, Yuan said in the post.

Zoom has made the "tough but necessary" decision to lay off about 1,300 people, or roughly 15 percent of its staff, according to Yuan.

"Our trajectory was forever changed during the pandemic when the world faced one of its toughest challenges, and I am proud of the way we mobilized as a company to keep people connected," Yuan said.

...
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/zoo...1-300-to-go-3763190#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll
 
Mexico protests: Huge crowds rally against electoral reform

Huge rallies have been held in several Mexican cities against what protesters say are government attempts to undermine the electoral authorities.

The biggest was in Mexico City, where organisers say 500,000 people marched on the city's main plaza. The local government put the number at 90,000.

Lawmakers last week voted to slash the budget of the National Electoral Institute (INE) and cut its staffing.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accuses the INE of being partisan.

But opponents describe the recent vote as an attack on democracy itself, pressing the Supreme Court to overturn them as unconstitutional.

...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64781306
 
High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN
After almost 20 years of talks, United Nations member states agree on legal framework for parts of the ocean outside national boundaries

It has been almost two decades in the making but on Saturday night in New York, after days of gruelling round-the-clock talks, UN member states finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas.

A full day after the deadline for talks had officially passed, the conference president, Rena Lee of Singapore, took to the floor of room 2 of the UN headquarters in New York and announced the treaty had been agreed. At a later date, the delegates will meet for half a day to formally adopt the text. She made it clear the text would not be reopened.

“In Singapore, we like to go on learning journeys and this has been the learning journey of a lifetime,” Lee said.

She thanked delegates for their dedication and commitment. “The success is also yours,” she told them.

She received cheers and a standing ovation from delegates in the room who had not left the conference hall for 48 hours and worked through the night in order to “get the deal done”.

...
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ct-international-waters-finally-reached-at-un
 
Asia markets fall as global banking fears widen

Stock markets across Asia fell on Thursday as troubles at international banking giant Credit Suisse intensified fears of a wider bank crisis.

Major indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia fell by over 1% amid heavier losses in bank shares.

This comes as Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to 50bn francs ($54bn; £44.5bn) to shore up its finances.

Shares in the bank plunged after it found "weakness" in its financial reporting.

Problems in the banking sector surfaced in the US last week with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the country's 16th-largest bank, followed two days later by the collapse of Signature Bank.

Developments at Credit Suisse were "amplified" by problems at the smaller banks, Sayuri Shirai, an economics professor at the Keio University in Tokyo told the BBC.

"Investors and creditors are concerned about risk. Banks may suffer from raising funds, which in turn will affect the cost of funding for SMEs and start-ups globally," she added.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.1% at mid-day Asian trading. The Topix Banks share index fell by more than 4% after recording its worst day in three years earlier this week.

Shares in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the country's largest lender by assets, were down by 3%. This was in line with losses at counterparts Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group.

Indexes in Hong Kong and Sydney fell by over 1.5%, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% lower.

...
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64973321
 
Fed, ECB and four other central banks take ‘coordinated action’ to ensure dollar liquidity

he Federal Reserve and five of the world’s other top central banks unveiled an enhanced U.S. dollar-liquidity arrangement Sunday in the wake of recent banking woes at Credit Suisse (CS), Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) and other financial institutions.

The Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank joined the Fed in rolling out an enhanced liquidity swap line for U.S. dollars.

The six central banks said in a joint announcement that they “are today announcing a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar-liquidity swap-line arrangements.”

Under terms of the agreement, the six banks will expand standing U.S. dollar-liquidity swap-line arrangements by increasing the frequency of seven-day maturity operations to daily from the previous level of just once per week. The banks said daily operations will begin on Monday and continue through at least April 30.

...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...action-to-ensure-dollar-liquidity/ar-AA18PeYV
 
Samsung to cut chip production after profits plunge 96%

Samsung Electronics will cut memory chip production after estimating a 96% drop in its quarterly operating profit.

The chip-making giant said sales had dropped sharply due to a slow global economy and less demand after Covid.

Samsung said preliminary numbers showed operating profits fell 600 billion won (£366m) in January-March, from 14 trillion won the previous year.

The firm's shares rose more than 4% despite the decision to slow chip-making.

"We are lowering the production of memory chips by a meaningful level, especially that of products with supply secured," the South Korean tech giant said.

Demand for memory chips ramped up during Covid-induced lockdowns as consumers bought new electronics to use at home.

The industry is now recovering from a chip shortage over the past couple of years, but many semiconductor manufacturers are struggling to find a balance between their inventories and current demand.

"When the overall economy slowed down, suddenly the demand for these end products slowed. So, the makers of these end products stopped ordering chips and focused on selling through the inventory they already had," said analyst Peter Hanbury from management consultancy Bain & Company.

"This led to a strong 'bullwhip' effect for semiconductor makers further back in the supply chain, where sky-high demand during the chip shortage suddenly dried up", he added.

Samsung, the world's biggest maker of televisions, tablets and smartphones, had resisted the move to cut memory chip production compared to its competitors.

...
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65210190
 
Germany ends nuclear energy era as last reactors power down
Germany’s nuclear exit was delayed to this year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine wreaked havoc in energy markets.

Germany will switch off its last three nuclear reactors on Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age.

Following years of prevaricating, Germany pledged to quit nuclear power definitively after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster sent radiation spewing into the air and terrifying the world.

But the final wind-down was delayed from last year to this year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Germany to halt Russian fossil fuel imports. Prices soared and there were fears of energy shortages around the world – but now Germany is confident again about gas supplies and expansion of renewables.

The exit decision was popular in a country with a powerful anti-nuclear movement, stoked by lingering fears of a Cold War conflict and atomic disasters such as Chernobyl in Ukraine.

“The risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who this week made a pilgrimage to the ill-fated Japanese plant in advance of a G7 meeting in the country.

But the challenge caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which put an end to cheap gas imports, and the need to quickly cut emissions has upped calls in Germany to delay the withdrawal from nuclear power.

Greenpeace, at the heart of the anti-nuclear movement, organised a celebratory party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mark the occasion.

“Finally, nuclear energy belongs to history! Let’s make this April 15 a day to remember,” the organisation said.

...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/15/germany-ends-nuclear-energy-era-as-last-reactors-power-down
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Recession probability forecast, 2023:<br><br>&#55356;&#56814;&#55356;&#56819; India: 0%<br>&#55356;&#56814;&#55356;&#56809; Indonesia: 2%<br>&#55356;&#56824;&#55356;&#56806; Saudi Arabia: 5%<br>&#55356;&#56808;&#55356;&#56819; China: 12.5%<br>&#55356;&#56807;&#55356;&#56823; Brazil: 15%<br>&#55356;&#56808;&#55356;&#56813; Switzerland: 20%<br>&#55356;&#56810;&#55356;&#56824; Spain: 25%<br>&#55356;&#56818;&#55356;&#56829; Mexico: 27.5%<br>&#55356;&#56816;&#55356;&#56823; South Korea: 30%<br>&#55356;&#56815;&#55356;&#56821; Japan: 35%<br>&#55356;&#56823;&#55356;&#56826; Russia: 37.5%<br>&#55356;&#56806;&#55356;&#56826; Australia: 40%<br>&#55356;&#56831;&#55356;&#56806; South Africa: 45%<br>&#55356;&#56811;&#55356;&#56823; France: 50%<br>&#55356;&#56808;&#55356;&#56806;…</p>— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) <a href="https://twitter.com/stats_feed/status/1653415950383824896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
WATCH: Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged but signals likelihood of another hike this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday for the second time in its past three meetings, a sign that it’s moderating its fight against inflation as price pressures have eased. But Fed officials also signaled that they expect to raise rates once more this year.

Watch the announcement in the player above.

Consumer inflation has dropped from a year-over-year peak of 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 3.7 percent. Yet it’s still well above the Fed’s 2 percent target, and its policymakers made clear Wednesday that they aren’t close to declaring victory over the worst bout of inflation in 40 years. The Fed’s latest decision left its benchmark rate at about 5.4 percent, the result of 11 rate hikes it unleashed beginning in March 2022.

The Fed’s hikes have significantly raised the costs of consumer and business loans. In fine-tuning its rate policies, the central bank is trying to guide the U.S. economy toward a tricky “soft landing” of cooling inflation without triggering a deep recession.

Besides forecasting another hike by year’s end, Fed officials now envision keeping rates high deep into 2024. They expect to cut interest rates just twice next year, fewer than the four rate cuts they had predicted in June.

The Fed’s moves underscore that even while the policymakers approach a peak in their benchmark rate, they intend to keep it at or near its high for a prolonged period. They expect the rate to still be 5.1 percent at the end of 2024 — higher than it was from the 2008-2009 Great Recession until May of this year.
 
I really can't see rates being held this high as we get into an election cycle. The US economy is slowing, and inflation is cooling. If the US economy slows even more into 2024, it will just make life so much easier for the Republicans to win the next election
 

IBM wants employees to voluntarily resign as the company plans to reduce workforce: Full story in 5 points​

IBM has reportedly initiated a voluntary redundancy program and is asking employees to resign if they don't want to work at the company. A report from The Register also claims that the company doesn't want to eliminate the ones who are not interested in leaving IBM. The latest move signals a shift in its approach to downsizing. Here's the full story in five key points.

-Following the announcement in January about laying off 3,900 employees, IBM is reportedly gearing up for further job cuts. However, this time, the company is opting for a different tactic. According to reports from The Register, IBM has urged employees willing to voluntarily resign to come forward. This move is part of the company's efforts to thin out its workforce, particularly focusing on regions like Europe and specific departments.

-Among the markets expected to be most affected by the restructuring is Slovakia. IBM has dubbed this initiative the "Resource Action," which was hinted at during the Q4 earnings call last month. The aim is to identify employees willing to opt for voluntary redundancy rather than imposing layoffs on those unwilling to leave.

-IBM insiders suggest that the primary goal of this latest process is not merely financial but rather "transformative." While specific figures regarding the number of employees targeted for redundancy or the number of volunteers sought remain undisclosed, the focus appears to be on reshaping the workforce to align with the company's evolving needs.

-Earlier statements from IBM's CFO, James Kavanaugh, underscore the company's broader strategic vision. Kavanaugh emphasized a target of achieving $3 billion in annual savings by the end of 2024. However, IBM insists that the upcoming job cuts are not solely driven by cost-saving measures but rather by a desire to realign the workforce with the skills demanded by clients, particularly in areas like AI and hybrid cloud technologies.

-IBM reassures that any financial savings resulting from the workforce rebalancing will be reinvested into technical and industry-specific skills. The company aims to use these investments to stay at the forefront of technological innovation and meet the evolving demands of its clientele.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/top...1&cvid=122bf4f36f264fde9335a4000d029b61&ei=37
 
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