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CORE’ s MADE initiative shortlisted for campaign award | News and features about the latest developments relating to professional support from across optics. This includes updates from optical organisations such as the AOP and the GOC
An initiative created by the Centre for Ocular Research & Education ( CORE) to raise awareness of dry eye issues associated with mask-wearing has been nominated for an award in the US. The ‘ Alerting the World to MADE: Mask-Associated Dry Eye’ initiative has been shortlisted by the Public Relations Society of America for an Anvil Award, as one of the best communications campaigns of 2021. The Anvil Awards recognise organisations that successfully address challenging issues. After mask wearing became widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, CORE released the initiative in response to rising complaints of dry eyes. The project aimed to provide education and an explanation for MADE – in which the airflow redirected from poorly fitting masks causes tears to evaporate more quickly, leaving eyes feeling irritated. In 18 months, the initiative triggered more than 2500 mainstream news reports on six continents, as well as industry coverage, with eye care practitioners also adopting CORE’ s guidance to help provide affected patients with relief. The campaign has been shortlisted for a Silver Anvil for overall effectiveness, and the Bronze Anvil for a ‘ campaign-anchoring’ feature story. Winners of the Anvil Awards will be announced on 19 May.
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SARS-CoV-2 spike protein more stable, slower changing than earlier version -- ScienceDaily | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses 1 and 2 ( SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) have striking similarities, and researchers do not fully understand why the latter has been more infectious.
The spike proteins of each, which bind to host cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2, otherwise known as the human cell receptor, have been targeted as the potential source of the different transmissibility. Understanding the mechanistic details of the spike proteins prior to binding could lead to the development of better vaccines and medications.
The new finding does not necessarily mean that SARS-CoV-2 is more likely to bind to cell receptors, but it does mean that its spike protein has a better chance of effective binding.
`` Once it finds the cell receptor and binds to it, the SARS-CoV-2 spike is more likely to stay bound until the rest of the necessary steps are completed for full attachment to the cell and initiation of cell entry, '' said Mahmoud Moradi, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
To determine differences in conformational behavior between the two versions of the virus, Moradi's research team performed an extensive set of equilibrium and nonequilibrium simulations of the molecular dynamics of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, leading up to binding with cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2. The 3D simulations were done on a microsecond-level, using computational resources provided by the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium.
Equilibrium simulations allow the models to evolve spontaneously on their own time, while nonequilibrium simulations use external manipulation to induce the desired changes in a system. The former is less biased, but the latter is faster and allows for many more simulations to run. Both methodological approaches provided a consistent picture, independently demonstrating the same conclusion that the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins were more stable.
The models revealed other important findings, namely that the energy barrier associated with activation of SARS-CoV-2 was higher, meaning the binding process happened slowly. Slow activation allows the spike protein to evade human immune response more efficiently, because remaining in an inactive state longer means the virus can not be attacked by antibodies that target the receptor binding domain.
Researchers understand the importance of the so-called receptor-binding domain, or RBD, which is the critical part of a virus that allows it to dock to human cell receptors and thus gain entry into cells and cause infection. Models produced by Moradi's team confirm the importance of the receptor-binding domain but also suggest that other domains, such as the N-terminal domain, could play a crucial role in the different binding behavior of SARS-CoV-1 and -2 spike proteins.
N-terminal domain of a protein is a domain located at the N-terminus or simply the start of the polypeptide chain, as opposed to the C-terminus, which is the end of the chain. Though it is near the receptor-binding domain and is known to be targeted by some antibodies, function of the N-terminal domain in SARS-CoV-1 and -2 spike proteins is not completely understood. Moradi's team is the first to find evidence for potential interaction of the N-terminal domain and the receptor binding domain.
`` Our study sheds light on the conformational dynamics of the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, '' Moradi said. `` Differences in the dynamic behavior of these spike proteins almost certainly contribute to differences in transmissibility and infectivity. ''
The researchers ' study, `` Prefusion Spike Protein Conformational Changes Are Slower in SARS-CoV-2 than SARS-Cov-1, '' was published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. | science |
Volatile Supply-Demand Tug of War Lifts Oil Prices | Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday as concerns over supply disruptions once again outweighed worries over eroding demand.
The war in Ukraine and a fresh Covid-19 outbreak in China have caused oil prices to whiplash in recent days. Wednesday's uptick comes on the heels of two consecutive daily declines that had pushed prices roughly $ 10 lower than where they ended last week.
On ICE Futures, Brent for May delivery gained $ 3.22 to close at $ 113.45 per barrel on Wednesday, while the Nymex West Texas Intermediate ( WTI) May futures contract added $ 3.58 at settle at $ 107.82/bbl. Both benchmarks saw moderate trading volumes.
Large premiums for prompt supply show the market remains tight. Traders note that some of the war premium is coming off, but front-month Brent and WTI are still over $ 11/bbl more expensive than loadings in six months. Such a premium is unsustainable, traders have said.
Crude export volumes from Russia’ s European ports are keeping up, but are not always finding buyers. Some cargoes are sailing to Asia instead of Europe and the US, where sanctions and self-sanctioning deter buyers.
Since Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine just over a month ago, distorted crude flows are forcing refiners to bid up North Sea replacements, supporting benchmark Brent, while waiting for far-away replacements, if available.
Russia is unable to increase crude exports and more volumes are piling up inside the country as domestic refiners can not export their products and have limited runs by about 650,000 barrels per day. Expectations are that Russian crude production and exports will slow further in April and tighten markets even more. Russian pipeline operator Transneft has limited its crude intake as well.
Preliminary data suggest that Russian product exports are down 460,000 b/d, tightening the diesel market in particular and jacking up product prices. This is forcing refiners in Europe to step up runs and bid up spot oil.
Adding to supply woes, Kazakhstan has lost 320,000 b/d in flows from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal due to a damaged export buoy. Opec-plus is expected to add its standard 400,000 b/d to the market when it meets Thursday, but diminished Russian production could more than offset that increase.
Traders are spooked by the latest Covid-19 lockdowns in China and have lowered their economic growth expectations both there and in Europe, which could lower oil demand substantially.
Analysts expect China’ s lockdowns to lower gasoline consumption by 200,000 b/d and hurt economic growth, while bank Credit Suisse sees economic activity in the Eurozone slowing by one percentage point to 2.8% in 2022.
The outlook for lower demand growth is clouded, with forecasts varying from no impact ( Opec) to a decline of 1 million b/d ( International Energy Agency).
The US Energy Information Administration's ( EIA) release of domestic petroleum data on Wednesday caused a temporary wave of sales and sent crude prices down by some 60¢, but they soon bounced back.
US commercial crude inventories dropped by 3.4 million bbl in the week ended Mar. 25, while the nation’ s Strategic Petroleum Reserve ( SPR) sold 3 million bbl in an effort to cool prices, the EIA's data showed.
The US SPR has 568 million bbl left and is set to fall well below 300 million bbl by the end of the decade with sales that are already authorized by the US Congress. The US can allow the stocks in this emergency buffer to drain since it is close to being self-sufficient in oil.
The EIA data also showed that domestic crude production averaged 11.7 million b/d last week, roughly 600,000 b/d higher than the same time in 2021. Production of natural gas liquids and biofuels have also improved year to year by nearly 700,000 b/d and 270,000 b/d, respectively.
Despite those increases, however, the market is still short of refined products.
US refiners running WTI can sell gasoline for $ 31 more than they pay for the crude, and diesel for $ 50 more. US refiners typically turn 50% of a barrel of this oil into gasoline and 35% into diesel.
US crude throughput at refineries rose to by about 35,000 b/d to 15.913 million b/d in the week ended Mar. 25, according to the EIA. US refiners have little room to increase runs despite huge financial incentives after more than 1 million b/d of capacity has been shut in since the beginning of the pandemic. | general |
And Now A Word From The Panel: Doing The MDL Math | Welcome to the latest installment of And Now a Word from the Panel, a column that `` rides the circuit '' with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation as it meets on a bimonthly basis.As we welcome in spring, we also welcome the return of an in-person MDL hearing session, even if we need to wait an extra week until Opening Day of the baseball season. After a more than two-year hiatus in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the panel will hear in-person oral arguments at the March 31 hearing session in the Big Easy — New Orleans.At this month's session,... | general |
Government move to continue free COVID19 testing for optics welcomed | The Association of Optometrists ( AOP) has welcomed the announcement from the Government yesterday that free COVID-19 tests will continue to be available to help protect specific groups when universal testing ends on 1 April.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said that COVID-19 tests would continue to be free for NHS staff in primary care and that asymptomatic lateral flow testing will continue from April in some high-risk settings where infection can spread rapidly. The statement also confirmed that the cost will be met within existing funding arrangements.
“ The continuation of free COVID-19 testing for primary care staff is a welcomed move. This decision will help protect optical teams and their patients from infection and reduce the spread of the virus while prevalence remains high. No doubt, the added assurances to continue asymptomatic lateral flow testing within existing funding arrangements comes as a relief to many eye care practitioners – most of whom spend their day working in close proximity to patients, in the testing room. ”
For more information, please contact Serena Box, PR and Media Manager, at the Association of Optometrists, [ email protected ] or telephone 020 7549 2040.
The Association of Optometrists ( AOP) is the leading representative membership organisation for optometrists in the UK. We support over 82% of practising optometrists, to fulfil their professional roles to protect the nation’ s eye health. For more information, visit www.aop.org.uk | general |
What’ s happening in the attack surface market: mitigating threats in the cloud era | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
For an increasing number of organizations, the explosion in attack surfaces has reached unmanageable levels amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread adoption of cloud services. In fact, research shows seven in 10 organizations have been compromised by an unknown or unmanaged asset.
As remote working has grown more popular during the pandemic, environments that sprawl across on-premises and cloud environments have expanded enterprise attack surfaces to the point where they can’ t be secured through traditional IT security approaches alone.
One of the key challenges in the explosion in attack surface is that organizations find it difficult to identify exposed assets, and thus fail to address any software vulnerabilities that they possess.
“ Internet-facing assets on the attack surface can have software vulnerabilities or misconfigured, while user/admin credentials can be stored in clear text. Cyber-adversaries use automated tools to scan for these vulnerabilities and can then use them for exploitation as part of cyber-attacks, ” said senior principal analyst and ESG Fellow, Jon Oltsik.
As more organizations struggle to keep up with the increasing attack surface, many providers are emerging with attack surface management solutions to help automate the discovery of these exposed assets, with providers including CyCognito, Randori, and NetSPI.
As Gartner Senior Principal Analyst Mitchell Scneider suggests, ASM platforms “ can help answer questions, such as ‘ what does my organization look like from an attacker’ s point of view. Based on that, where should I prioritize my resources in mitigating/remediating issues that attackers are most likely to exploit?’ ”
In other words, they provide the user with a continuous view of infrastructure throughout the environment and any exposure to external threats.
These solutions sit loosely in the vulnerability management market, which researchers expect to reach a valuation of $ 2.51 billion by 2025 as organizations look for scalable solutions to secure their environments.
It’ s important to note that ASM platforms have the potential to eliminate repetitive manual tasks not only for penetration testers and red teams, but also provide under-resourced security teams with a solution for automatically discovering and securing assets.
One of the biggest providers in the market is CyCognito, an ASM vendor currently valued at $ 800 million, which earlier this month added a new surface intelligence tool called Exploit Intelligence to its set of existing external ASM solutions.
Exploit Intelligence’ s launch was conveniently timed after the discovery of the Log4j vulnerability, and provides enterprises with a solution for automatically discovering external assets, testing vulnerabilities, and generating threat-based insights.
“ The recent Log4j vulnerability proved that most security teams lack the visibility they need into a company’ s attack surface to neutralize potential threats. This is not something that can be remedied with classic firewall and endpoint solutions. Today, finding unknown and unmanaged assets simply isn’ t enough. Modern security teams also require the business and risk context in order to prioritize and neutralize any potential threats, ” said CyCognito CEO and cofounder, Rob Gurzeev.
For CyConito, the answer to this challenge is to proactively identify assets, apps, and devices connected to the network, and test their security posture.
Exploit Intelligence does this by scanning “ … billions of applications, servers, and devices across the Internet to contextualize and identify internet-exposed and unmanaged assets that could serve as entry points for attackers, and perform security testing on the assets and prioritization of the risks.
Another leader in the attack surface management market is Randori, which delivers a tool that can automatically discover and monitor attack surface assets from the perspective of an attacker and prioritize them according to risk. These asset include services, IPs, domains, networks, and hostnames.
Randori successfully raised $ 20 million in series A funding in 2020 and earlier this week announced the launch of its new channel program with partners including AccessIT Group, DeFy Security, Eversec Group, Gotham Technology Group, Optiv, Set Solutions, and Veristor.
One of the key features differentiating Randori from other providers in the market is its continuous automated red teaming capabilities.
With automated red teaming, organizations can proactively test infrastructure within the environment against real-world attacks to highlight how effective the organization’ s defenses are under pressure.
“ Our platform emulates how real attackers operate. The way attackers discover a company’ s attack surface, the way they prioritize targets, and the way they conduct attacks, said CEO and cofounder of Randori, Brian Hazzard.
“ We give organizations the opportunity to understand their opponent and validate their programs work in the real-world, ” Hazzard said.
This is a different approach to Cycognito, which is aiming to stand out from competitors by emphasizing automation, and automating tasks from asset discovery to attribution, and risk remediation to continuously mapping an organization’ s external attack surface.
As the need for ASM solutions increases, many security vendors are beginning to move into the space. One such provider is NetSPI, a penetration testing-as-as-service provider that’ s raised $ 100 million in funding to date, who last month launched a new ASM tool that incorporates human penetration testing.
NetSPI’ s solution automatically scans attack surface assets and alerts users to high-risk exposure, while NetSPI’ s internal team evaluates the risk posed by discovered issues and provides the organization with guidance on how to remediate them.
The use of human penetration testing is unique in the market, and enables organizations to benefit from automated asset scanning alongside the rich risk insights of an experience penetration testing team, who can identify what threats a risk poses in a way that automated solutions can not.
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World Moves From Shortages to Possible Glut of COVID-19 Vaccines | After racing to build capacity and meet once seemingly insatiable orders for COVID-19 shots, the global vaccine industry is facing waning demand as many late-to-market producers fight over a slowing market.
The trend is poised to rein in the blockbuster sales that global pharmaceutical giants from Pfizer Inc. to AstraZeneca Plc saw at the peak of the pandemic. It also stands to create new problems for local manufacturers from India to Indonesia that built mammoth capacity to make shots but are now grappling with excess supply.
Even as boosters are likely to keep demand alive for Covid inoculations worldwide, the desperate shortages that existed for much of last year have waned. Instead, in a dramatic reversal, the possibility of a global glut is now looking more likely.
Across the world more than 11 billion doses have been administered, with uptake increasingly coming from poorer countries with low rates of coverage. But after grappling with severe shortages last year, Covax, the World Health Organization-backed sharing initiative supplying low-to-middle-income countries, said in January that stocks are exceeding demand. Distribution, absorption capacity and hesitancy are now the main challenges to getting shots into arms in places such as Africa.
Shares in companies that have made their names during the pandemic have likewise plunged as movement and travel restrictions ease across many parts of the world. Projections that Covid vaccine revenue for Pfizer, Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson may top $ 61 billion this year, slightly above 2021 sales, might be “ over-optimistic, ” according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report this month, citing lack of enthusiasm for fourth doses in Israel as an early indicator of diminishing global demand.
“ Supply is exceeding demand in much of the world, even with many countries rolling out booster shots, ” said Scott Rosenstein, a New York-based special health-care adviser to Eurasia Group, who expects production to taper off this year and next unless there is a real variant “ curve ball. ”
“ Once the perception set in that omicron is less likely to lead to severe illness, and the vaccines don’ t do a great job at preventing infection while still providing strong protection against severe illness, demand for Covid vaccines has tailed off considerably, ” Rosenstein said.
The number of shots needed in the coming years is expected to decline from the early days of the pandemic. Meanwhile, a growing number of manufacturers are breaking into the market.
More than 9 billion doses could be produced in 2022, but vaccine demand may decline to a rate of about 2.2 billion to 4.4 billion doses per year in 2023 and beyond, with a clearer picture emerging over time, according to analytics firm Airfinity Ltd.
Sales of AstraZeneca’ s Vaxzevria inoculation are set to fall in 2022 after hitting about $ 4 billion last year, the company has said.
Pfizer had vaccine sales of $ 36.8 billion last year, and in February said it expected sales of $ 32 billion in 2022. That’ s based on contracts signed as of late January, and analysts expect the orders to go up during the year. Both Moderna and Pfizer have asked U.S. regulators to clear fourth-shot boosters.
Moderna’ s chief executive said on a conference call that the U.S. government has yet to put in orders for 2022, suggesting room for growth if the country buys a large amount of boosters. AstraZeneca declined to comment. Pfizer didn’ t directly address questions about vaccine demand, saying in a statement that there’ s enough capacity to vaccinate the world in 2022, yet barriers to access remain. Moderna didn’ t provide additional comment.
Yet more supply could be coming online soon. The problem is particularly acute in India, home to the world’ s largest vaccine industry, which is grappling with domestic and global oversupply. Some experts in India have questioned the need for boosters, doubting their effectiveness at preventing infections beyond a few weeks.
Biological E. Ltd., a large manufacturer based in the southern city of Hyderabad, invested about 15 billion rupees ( $ 195 million) to double capacity during the pandemic to about 4 million vaccine doses a day. Corbevax, its protein sub-unit Covid shot, was first granted local emergency approval for adults in December and then 12- to 18-year-olds last month. Yet, with most adults fully inoculated and the government showing no urgency to expand its booster drive, it’ s uncertain how many more Corbevax doses will be purchased beyond the 300 million New Delhi has guaranteed to take off the firm’ s hands.
The real challenge is going to be utilizing the increased capacity, Managing Director Mahima Datla said in an interview in Hyderabad. “ Fixed costs have to go somewhere, right? You’ re not going to be able to send people home, shut off half your plant. ”
Biological E. isn’ t the only Indian manufacturer facing that truth. Zydus Lifesciences Ltd.’ s DNA Covid vaccine was approved late last year, but India’ s government has only ordered 10 million doses, Managing Director Sharvil Patel said on an earnings call last month, conceding there was “ uncertainty ” on further opportunities.
The Serum Institute of India Ltd., the country’ s main supplier that produced 2 billion Covid shots last year, halted manufacturing in December after a lack of orders, Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla told a panel in January. Serum, a mammoth supplier of a variety of vaccines to the developing worlds, didn’ t respond to questions and requests for comment on the company’ s production levels of Covid inoculations.
“ One of the big questions moving forward will be what to do with all of this vaccine manufacturing capacity as demand dwindles, ” said Rosenstein. “ There probably isn’ t sufficient demand for other vaccines for this to be a viable option for all of these manufacturing plants. ”
Privately held Biological E., which was founded by Datla’ s grandparents in 1953 and supplies the likes of Unicef with childhood inoculations, may re-purpose lines built for coronavirus shots, Datla said.
Datla said her company hopes to supply Covax, which will need to replenish stocks that are expiring. However, Biological E. will first need to obtain WHO approval to make those shipments and efficacy data for the vaccine has yet to be published. Datla didn’ t give a timeline for the study’ s release.
Other Indian vaccine suppliers are also looking at innovative immunization opportunities beyond Covid.
“ We believe that not just COVID-19 vaccines, but flu shots, pneumococcal vaccines, vaccines for other neglected diseases will all start becoming very important opportunities, ” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the chairperson of Biocon Ltd., which inked an annual 100-million-dose access deal with Serum last year, told Bloomberg Television earlier this month.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, some developers are throwing in the towel. Indonesia’ s Kalbe Farma halted work on a Covid shot with South Korea’ s Genexine Inc. this month, citing abundant stocks. It now aims to use the DNA technology for other types of vaccines.
Despite the current pressures, companies will likely keep seeing demand for boosters while they pursue improved inoculations that are superior to the initial products. It appears Covid is evolving to what will likely be an endemic disease, meaning it’ s likely here to stay, said Gary Dubin, president of the vaccines unit at Japan’ s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.
Still, questions remain about whether regular boosters will be needed and how often, and potential variants “ could rapidly change the picture, ” he said.
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Changes to foreign buyers tax unlikely to quell Ontario market: Real estate experts | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
In most of the U.S., housing markets are exuberant. In some of the country’ s priciest neighborhoods, they’ re relatively subdued.
Several Chinese lenders have been told they can file legal cases against China Evergrande Group in local courts, in an apparent easing of a restriction that required all such lawsuits to be handled in a single court, according to people familiar with the matter.
China’ s soaring Covid infections are provoking little panic in the stock market, with investors betting that the authorities will unleash stimulus to prop up growth.
Chinese property stocks may be poised for a pullback after surging 28% in three weeks as pandemic lockdowns put a brake on economic growth. China Vanke Co. meanwhile announced a share buyback.
The billionaire Benetton family’ s motorway and airport company Atlantia SpA is poised to become the target of a bidding war in what could be this year’ s biggest deal.
Real estate experts say Ontario’ s decision to increase and expand its foreign buyers tax won’ t do much to cool the province’ s hot real estate market.
The industry's doubts come a day after the province announced the non-resident speculation tax would be moved to 20 per cent from 15 per cent and be applied beyond the Greater Golden Horseshoe starting Wednesday.
The province ‘ s changes to the tax targeting non-resident homebuyers were coupled with the closure of a loophole that gave rebates to foreign students completing full-time studies for at least two years after a home purchase and foreign nationals who continuously worked full-time in Ontario for a year after buying.
They 'll be joined by more housing legislation the province is set to table Wednesday.
But don't expect the policies announced Tuesday to send housing prices plummeting or quell the bidding wars that have become the norm in the market, said experts.
`` Everyone in the industry, myself included, are well aware that this isn't actually going to affect the market, '' said Michelle Gilbert, a Toronto broker with Sage Real Estate Ltd.
Gilbert feels this way because Statistics Canada data showed non-residents owned only about 3.4 per cent of all residential properties in Toronto five years ago.
Foreign buyers may have initially been deterred from buying properties in the region, when the non-resident speculation tax was implemented in parts of Ontario in 2017, but their attitudes have since shifted, she said.
`` Foreign investors quickly realized even with a dip our market is still a safe haven for their money and they already look at that tax as just the cost of doing business, '' she said.
`` So adding this additional five per cent, I don't foresee it affecting the amount of foreign buyers that do invest in let's say the Greater Toronto Area. ''
While BMO Capital Markets chief economist Douglas Porter said he 'll keep an open mind on the impacts of the tax hike, but right now he's `` not convinced it's going to have a big effect. ''
He believes non-resident investors were a big source of the heat Toronto and Vancouver's market saw in 2016 and 2017, around the time foreign buyers taxes were implemented in both provinces.
Policy-makers had a `` tremendous under-appreciation '' for how these investors ' were fuelling heated conditions, he said.
However, he believes the dominant force in Ontario's current market is intense inflationary pressures, which even pushed up prices in rural and suburban markets over the last two years.
But he's not downplaying the impact these buyers can have.
`` Many point to the supposedly low share of the market that such investors hold, but even a small increase in demand can have an outsized effect because there's no selling on the other side, '' he said.
`` These are just pure new buyers and they tend to be pretty aggressive in terms of what they 'll pay, and from what I 've seen, they do tend to drive up the price in neighbourhoods and markets that they care to invest in. ''
Porter and Gilbert feel there are many measures the province could implement to cool the market, especially the GTA, where the average selling price for a home surpassed $ 1.3 million in February, up from just above $ 1 million last February.
It appears the province will likely tackle supply first because its Wednesday announcement has been teased to be about home supply.
But supply is a `` slow moving beast '' that will take `` years, not months '' to weigh on the market, Porter said.
`` The only thing that's very straightforward and can be implemented relatively quickly is higher interest rates, '' he said. `` Now unfortunately, it has massive spillover implications for all kinds of other areas of the economy. ''
The province could also implement a speculation tax, but Porter said, `` that's pretty harsh medicine and it doesn't seem like they want to go down that route. '' | general |
Air Canada plans to more than double capacity this year | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
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Air Canada said it’ s poised to recover most of its pre-pandemic capacity this year, issuing a bright outlook for travel as the nation relaxes restrictions and Canadians try to move on from the gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The carrier expects to recover 75 per cent of the total seats offered in 2019, a 150 per cent bump compared to 2021, according to a statement Wednesday.
“ With the pandemic receding and travel returning, Air Canada has put in place a strategy to return to profitability and increase long-term shareholder value, ” Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau said.
Air Canada shares were trading slightly higher in early trading in Toronto. They rose almost 4 per cent on Tuesday.
To prepare for the expected rise in travel demand, the carrier has reinstated all of its Airbus SE A220 orders that were canceled in November 2020 and said it plans to buy 26 Airbus A321neo extra-long range aircraft.
Canada’ s flagship airline also said it expects the cost per available seat mile -- excluding fuel expense -- to rise as much as 15 per cent in 2022 compared with 2019.
Canada, which enforced one of the toughest pandemic restrictions globally, has been gradually opening up the country, including lifting an official advisory against leisure travel. And starting April 1, vaccinated travelers will no longer require a pre-entry COVID test. | general |
My ArchiSchool to host competition to increase sustainability awareness | Bird-hotel for bio-diversity support by Oscar Chung. Top image is a digital artwork of resort design inspired by fish by Jasper Ng
As part of the competition, students are invited to submit their projects, which can come in a variety of mediums including paintings, sketches, architectural models, and digital designs.
Previous student designs have included a floating restaurant, a geometrically-designed tea room, and a refuge for pandas.
`` Starting to accept submissions from 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2022, '' the competition organisers said.
`` The third Youth ArchiDesign competition by My ArchiSchool will call for both realistic and unrealistic architectural prototypes which could bring up more public awareness of the sustainable development goals for the city. ''
This year's competition includes new award categories including Sustainable Design of the Year, Innovation of the Year, Spatial Design of the Year, Pioneer of the Year, Creative Dwelling of the Year, and Honorable Mentions.
`` Jaw-dropping design ideas have been found since the first inception of the Youth ArchiDesign Competition in 2020, '' said My ArchiSchool.
`` With the support of the digital tools of design and platforms by Dassault Systemes, Trimble SketchUP, and Adobe, the young talents can now share their ideas with appealing models and various media. ''
The competition was first launched in 2020 as a positive initiative during the coronavirus pandemic.
`` We tried to cheer up our students by creating this competition in 2020 when the outbreak of the pandemic happened, '' said My ArchiSchool. `` After all these years, the beautiful young ideas bring us hope and joyfulness in return. ''
My Archischool is a Hong Kong-based organisation that provides courses for students aged six to 18.
Its courses intend to help young people develop 3D modelling skills that can be applied to future careers in urban planning and architecture. The Youth ArchiDesign competition is in its third year.
My ArchiSchool is accepting projects from 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2022.
as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content
to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen's official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese. | business |
Kesimpta-treated adults with multiple sclerosis not at risk of severe COVID-19 | The peer-reviewed journal Neurology and Therapy has published new data on COVID-19 infections in people living with remitting multiple sclerosis ( RRMS) treated with Kesimpta ( ofatumumab).
This data was gathered from the ongoing, single-arm, open-label, long-term extension Phase IIIb ALITIHIOS study, and from post-marketing reports submitted through the Novartis Global Safety Database. Of the 1,703 participants, 245 reported COVID-19, most cases were mild or moderate, and the vast majority of patients had either recovered or were recovering.
David Martin, CEO of Multiple Sclerosis Trust, commented: “ Access to a range of different treatment options is important for people living with MS to manage their condition in a way that is best for them and their lifestyle. This data gives reassurance to the MS community that the risk of severe COVID-19 infection in those vaccinated is in line with that reported currently in the general population. ”
Dr David Paling, Consultant Neurologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, added: “ COVID-19 has had a huge impact on people living with MS and has complicated decisions about treatment. This study of the outcomes of people who developed COVID-19 whilst on ofatumumab from the ALITHIOS study will allow my colleagues and I to reassure people with MS about their risks, and have informed discussions about treatment choices based on really accurate evidence. ” | tech |
Covid en Chine: les autorités de Shanghai s'ouvrent à l’ importation de traitements étrangers | De notre correspondant à Pékin, Stéphane Lagarde
C’ est une petite ligne dans un document de six pages en caractères chinois. À l’ alinéa 21 de cet avis du Bureau général du gouvernement populaire municipal de Shanghai, il est écrit qu’ il faut « soutenir l’ importation de vaccins et de médicaments thérapeutiques Covid-19 ». Des vaccins ARN messager ( ARNm) jugés plus efficaces que les vaccins inactivés chinois, selon certaines études, et attendus depuis longtemps en Chine continentale, notamment via le partenariat entre Fosun et le laboratoire allemand BioNTech.
Une stratégie qui a été retardée depuis deux ans, rappelle Eric Sautedé, du Centre d’ études français sur la Chine contemporaine à Hong Kong et expert de la stratégie chinoise « zéro Covid » pour Heidi News. « Fosun s’ est emparée de la question depuis novembre 2020 en réalisant des tests sur des humains. Elle avait alors sécurisé 100 millions de doses, avant de demander l’ agrément pour une distribution sur le marché chinois en avril 2021, sans jamais l’ obtenir. »
Une longue attente alors que le partenariat a obtenu un succès évident à Hong Kong, Macao et Taïwan, où le groupe Fosun affirme avoir déjà vendu pour près de 150 millions de vaccins Pfizer-BioNTech à Hong Kong, Macao et Taïwan. « Par ailleurs, il ne faut pas oublier que la Chine a 26 candidats vaccins en développement et qu’ elle cherche à mettre au point son propre vaccin ARNm, ajoute le chercheur. Ces nouveaux traitements et ces nouveaux vaccins qui permettent de croire à un allègement de la stratégie `` zéro Covid '' dans les semaines et les mois qui viennent. »
Pour l’ instant, les « vaccins révolutionnaires » chinois attendus semblent avoir pris du retard. Dix mille comprimés de Paxlovid, le traitement anti-Covid de Pfizer homologué récemment en Chine, ont été distribués à la province de Jilin, parmi les plus touchées par la flambée épidémique dans le nord-est du pays.
L’ avis du gouvernement de Shanghai sur l’ importation de traitements et de vaccins étrangers est donc important, alors que la fatigue de la stratégie « zéro Covid » se manifeste sur les réseaux sociaux, notamment via ses rappeurs locaux, qui chantent avec humour les pénuries dans les rayons alimentaires et les tests à répétition.
As Shanghai works through its most wide-reaching lockdowns of the pandemic, panic buying has hit many of the city’ s markets. Three local rappers created a song called “ Grocery Shopping, “ hoping to bring some good humor to a stressful situation. Click: https: //t.co/NC5jNAq5Yk pic.twitter.com/jxIfZfNjaG | general |
Ithaca boosts profits, revenue ahead of 'capitalisation ' plans | North Sea focused E & P Ithaca Energy has returned to profitability on the back of surging commodity prices, as it now looks to capitalise the company following the acquisition of a series of assets from Marubeni.
Ithaca Energy closed 2021 with a net profit of some $ 400 million ( £304m), compared with losses of $ 286m ( £217m) in 2020, according to results published by Israel-based parent Delek Group on Wednesday.
Ithaca’ s total revenue reached $ 1.47 billion ( £1.1bn), up on $ 1.17bn ( £890m) the year before, while EBITDAX surged by 40% to around $ 1bn, compared with $ 745m in 2020.
The company is expected to provide further details in its own annual results, published Thursday 31 March.
Meanwhile Delek’ s operating profit increased to 4.63 billion shekels ( £1.1bn), reversing losses of 94 million shekels ( £22.5m) in 2020.
Ithaca said the uptick in its performance was down to the sharp increase in oil and gas prices, offsetting a significant decline in production, which fell from 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day ( boepd) in 2020 to 56,000 boepd last year.
Ithaca holds a string of operated and non-operated assets across the UK North Sea, and in 2019 acquired a sizable portfolio from Chevron North Sea, establishing itself as the second-largest North Sea independent operator and fifth largest UK producer.
It blamed last year’ s output decline on “ large-scale maintenance work ” in summer 2021 – principally major work on the Forties Pipeline System – as well as maintenance postponed from 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.
Since the end of last year up until now, it said average production has risen to around 70,000 boepd.
Production costs for the year stood at around $ 18/barrel, compared with $ 16/barrel in 2020, again due to the decline in daily production.
Looking ahead, Delek said Ithaca’ s Abigail project, located in the Greater Stella Area, is also expected to commence in 2022.
The development – a subsea tieback to the FPF-1 floating production facility – will target up to 8.3million barrels of oil equivalent, and was approved by government in January.
It also provided further details of its agreement to acquire Marubeni’ s oil and gas assets. This included the group’ s 41.3% interest in the MonArb region ( an area with nine producing oil fields including Montrose, Arbroath, Arkwright, Brechin, Wood), as well as additional assets, accrued tax losses of some $ 1.6 billion ( £1.2bn) and decommissioning liabilities. | general |
Cape Town entices tourists with immersive gaming tech | The City of Cape Town is making use of immersive technology to woo global visitors to the Mother City.
This, as the country’ s tourism industry was negatively impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago.
Cape Town Tourism, the city’ s official tourism marketing body, has launched what it says is its most important initiative to date – the Find Your Freedom immersive travel experience.
According to the body, the interactive interface uses game-style graphics to empower global travellers to choose their Mother City adventure, based on the guide they identify with – the Fearless Foodie, Nature Warrior, or Urban Adventurer.
Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, says: “ Find Your Freedom uses the latest digital technology to immerse viewers in unique Cape Town choice-driven video experiences.
“ You choose your guide. You choose your adventure. It’ s an interactive journey from start to finish. ”
Alderman James Vos, City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for economic growth, says: “ Our goal is to fuel faster recovery in the visitor economy.
“ Following the pandemic, people worldwide are itching to explore, do more, and reclaim that sense of purpose. We want to encourage individuals in our key source markets to jump on a plane and come to Cape Town to find their freedom. This new campaign really hits the mark, not just in terms of being something original and fun, but most importantly, being enticing enough, I believe, to result in actual bookings. ”
Hosted on the Cape Town Tourism website, visitors are welcomed into an immersive world by an enchanted African storyteller, who urges them to choose their guide.
All characters are designed to be visually striking, in gaming-inspired, Afro-futurist graphics, says Cape Town Tourism.
It explains that once they select the Fearless Foodie, Nature Warrior or Urban Adventurer, the viewer is taken down a rabbit hole of rapid videos, showcasing some of the best offerings linked to their interests.
For example, a fearless foodie will ‘ visit’ La Colombe, watch an aunty fold samosas in the Bo Kaap, and dive into steampunk scenes at Truth Coffee.
The city says the fact that viewers get to make their own choices is the cornerstone of the campaign and very current with international trends.
Leigh Dawber, chief marketing officer at Cape Town Tourism, says: “ With the creeping onset of the metaverse, choice will continue to govern virtual experiences that feel ever more real. In this campaign, we’ ve combined real-life footage of Cape Town with whimsical CGI [ computer-generated imagery ] touches. ”
This method of putting the user in charge increases engagement, says the organisation. Dawber adds: “ Many of us remember those iconic Choose Your Own Adventure childhood books.
“ This campaign works in a similar way. It’ s innovative and inspiring. It lets you dictate how you explore our beautiful city. Millennials, especially, have a keen sense of adventure and desire to travel with purpose. Our aim is to appeal to this. The more personalised you can make your experience of the Mother City, the more likely you are to plan the trip of a lifetime. ”
The Find Your Freedom immersive travel experience also leans on the idea of co-creation. Cape Town Tourism is working with GoPro Global, where six international ambassadors will share what “ Find Your Freedom ” in Cape Town means through their lens.
Dawber says: “ The idea with this initiative is to delve into a different kind of storytelling. This partnership will see these renowned creatives share their stories, their way. ”
Cape Town Tourism is also partnering with Expedia on conversion, enabling visitors to book and enjoy special travel packages and discounts.
Ultimately, Find Your Freedom works to restore confidence in Cape Town, which suffered greatly from the global travel bans over the past two years, says the city. | general |
Comair: Taking off into the digital future with Google Cloud | Comair migrated from a legacy labour-intensive on-premises stack to Google Cloud within six months, creating an economic, scalable, future-proof business in the process.
Google Cloud results:
The global travel industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but as countries open up, the sector and its customers are thrilled to be going places once again. With aerospace company Boeing forecasting that Africa’ s airlines will require 1 030 new airplanes by 2040, valued at $ 160 billion, opportunities abound in this region. One of the largest airline operators in southern Africa, Comair is well placed to help the area’ s travel sector reach its sky-high goals.
“ Comair offers airline services across southern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the ocean islands through two distinct but complementary brands, ” explains Avsharn Bachoo, Chief Information Officer at Comair. “ Kulula.com is our low-cost airline brand, and one of the market leaders in affordable air travel. British Airways is our premium and corporate airline brand that we operate as part of a licence agreement. So we offer something for everyone in the region. ”
With various COVID-19-related lockdowns grounding its aircraft on the runway, Comair concentrated on updating its systems so that it would be ready to impress its increasingly digitally savvy customers as they returned to the skies. “ We were challenged to completely rethink our operations for the digital age, and we needed to replace our outdated legacy on-premises architecture, which was struggling to cope with our workload, ” says Bachoo.
“ We assessed each potential cloud provider for security, compute, processing power and storage. Google Cloud proved to run on average 70% faster than our on-premises systems, using fewer cores and less RAM. Plus, it supported a multitude of open source applications, and crucially, we saw it could be trusted, ” says Bachoo.
Upgrading to a cloud solution
To achieve this, Comair had to migrate most of its systems from its on-premises solution to the cloud, which would provide a more flexible dynamic platform for its ambitious plans. As Comair’ s technology stack supports everything from financial data, secure customer records and airplane navigation information, it was crucial that it chose a cloud provider that it could trust to secure all of its data and processes.
“ We work on a strong model of trust, ” reiterates Bachoo. “ If we don’ t have clear control of our systems, it can be serious enough to cause a fatality. Every piece of hardware and software that we use has to be 100% tested. ”
Prior to its move to the cloud, Comair relied on six on-premises data centres, which were labour intensive and nearing the end of their usability. It compiled a proof of concept ( POC) with which to judge potential cloud providers. “ We assessed each potential cloud provider for security, compute, processing power and storage. Google Cloud proved to run on average 70% faster than our on-premises systems, using fewer cores and less RAM. Plus, it supported a multitude of open source applications, and crucially, we saw it could be trusted, ” reveals Bachoo.
Taking off on Google Cloud
Comair began migrating its systems to Google Cloud in March 2020 and by August that year it had moved its full production stack over to Google Cloud; it would have been even quicker if the company did not have to navigate various lockdowns along the way.
Comair enlisted the help of Google Cloud partner Teraflow.ai to help with its move to Google Cloud. Bachoo says: “ Our strong partnership with Teraflow.ai, which empowers enterprises through AI-driven solutions, has allowed us to drive key strategic IT and digital transformation efforts. From migration and management of our cloud ops on the Google Cloud platform, to building and managing our DataOps, the results have been favourable. We have also worked with them to modernise our capabilities in machine learning, reviving core applications into a micro-serviceable, containerised architecture stretching from back end to the passenger front end ( app, web, etc). ”
Comair now runs 70% of its business on Google Cloud, and it uses some other cloud providers for applications that run on parent clouds. It also has a few legacy and client applications that remain on-premises because they have a single code base in a single database and will take a little longer to redevelop for the cloud.
“ The plan was always to stick with a hybrid-cloud approach, but we expect to eventually be a fully cloud-centric company and have 80% of our work on Google Cloud. We’ ve already migrated all of our tier-one systems over. Our booking platform, our e-commerce platform, all our travel businesses, our loyalty programme and our partner systems are now on Google Cloud, ” says Bachoo.
“ Rather than simply lifting and shifting into the cloud, Google Cloud has helped us rethink our architecture and our entire communications ecosystem so that everything works in harmony. It’ s all in the details. For example, we can now trigger push notifications using the Google Cloud middleware and streaming service Pub/Sub, ” says Bachoo.
Powering up with Compute Engine
Around 90% of Comair’ s Google Cloud operations, including all its virtual machines ( VM) and storage offerings, are now powered by Compute Engine. “ We use VMs to host our applications, and now we are moving our service databases from native SQL to the fully managed Cloud SQL. This means that more of our services are automated, freeing up our IT team for other work, ” says Bachoo.
To build and run its mobile applications and analyse the data it collects from them, Comair is using Firebase on the Google Cloud, which syncs to Flutter, the UI toolkit for developing apps for mobile, web and desktop from a single codebase. And, as Comair has to meet stringent governance requirements, it uses the fully managed data backup as a service solution HYCU in partnership with Google Cloud.
“ The next step is to migrate our tier-two operations, our finance and HR applications over to Google Cloud. For this, we will use the business insights and monitoring tools in the operations suite, ” adds Bachoo. “ And we’ re looking at using Cloud Run to help us to scale more flexibly and to optimise our development systems with DevOps.
“ Google Cloud enables us to optimise our costs and has given us a technology stack that scales up and down in line with demand. Previously, if we had an offer on, often our infrastructure couldn't keep up with the volume of sales. Now we seamlessly scale up for busy periods, ” says Bachoo.
Flying into the digital world
All these tools are helping the 78-year-old airline transform on both the strategic and operations fronts into a futuristic digital organisation, ready to make the most of social and mobile communications and data analytics. “ Rather than simply lifting and shifting into the cloud, Google Cloud has helped us rethink our architecture and our entire communications ecosystem so that everything works in harmony. It’ s all in the details. For example, we can now trigger push notifications using the Google Cloud middleware and streaming service Pub/Sub, ” says Bachoo.
Even with these additional benefits, the airline’ s monthly operating costs are now about a fifth of what they were for its previous on-premises architecture and it is now far quicker and easier for it to scale its various operations too. “ Google Cloud enables us to optimise our costs and has given us a technology stack that scales up and down in line with demand. Previously, if we had an offer on, often our infrastructure couldn't keep up with the volume of sales. Now we seamlessly scale up for busy periods, ” explains Bachoo.
Comair is using less processing power too. Its billing system, for example, was using 32 core and 256 gigabytes of RAM. Now that it is running in Google Cloud, it uses six core and 32 gigabytes of RAM. Bachoo says: “ We’ ve reduced our core usage by more than half and our RAM use by about 50%, which again helps us reduce costs and makes us more sustainable. ”
With its infrastructure optimised for the opportunities that the 21st century affords, Comair is now all set to make the most of its data. “ We're starting to build a data foundation built on AI and machine learning that will open up more opportunities for us and improve our customers’ experience. It will mean that we can analyse consumer data on an ongoing basis to create more personalised products and services and new opportunities for cross-selling. Google Cloud has created a lot of exciting openings for us, ” Bachoo concludes. | general |
Tech helps retailers overcome supply chain challenges | The COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsized impact on business and society − and one of the biggest of these is the disruption of supply chains.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine looks set to cause further disruptions, particularly with regards to potential fuel shortages and the concomitant rise in global fuel prices.
The last two years have seen a massive increase in online sales. Research by Adobe showed that, by May 2020, total online spending was up 77% year-on-year, with this high growth set to continue.
The result though is a global shortage of the corrugated cardboard used to pack goods ordered online. Global shortages of silicon chips, glass and a whole range of raw materials are also emerging due to a variety of factors.
The retail sector is already beginning to experience stock shortages or, worse still, empty shelves − and there's nothing like unavailability of essential goods to alienate customers. Somebody entering a Clicks or Dis-Chem, for example, to buy their regular toothpaste and not finding it will have his or her loyalty shaken, not to mention his or her faith in the retailer's ability to plan better.
In short, in 2022 and beyond, an unpredictable and volatile supply chain environment will create significant challenges and opportunities for retailers. As always, though, there are solutions for those who can think laterally − and technology has a big role to play.
The first item on the retailer's to-do list should be to take steps to integrate much more closely into its supply chain. It's vital that a retailer has a clear view of its suppliers and their ability to supply stock.
An end-to-end, digitalised stock-control process is essential to eliminate errors and also free up staff.
This information should then be used to refine how often stock is ordered and in what quantities. This ‘ stock transparency’ then needs to cover the location and quantities of stock across the retailer's distribution centres and outlets.
Unfortunately, many if not most retailers have poor stock control systems, so this is an area that needs urgent attention.
With sufficient accurate data, retailers should be able to manage their stock better to ensure empty shelves are minimised at the very least. A simple example could be that if only five boxes of an item are available, then ensure they are not all in one store.
It should be mentioned here that the accurate data required will not be forthcoming from manual processes − an end-to-end, digitalised stock-control process is essential to eliminate errors and also free up staff.
A digital retailer can generate and then process the accurate data it needs to support real-time decision-making.
Reacting speedily and then anticipating change
Retailers will also need the ability to identify ‘ market transparency’, and then react quickly. Shifts in market demand could be driven by significant events − stockpiling ahead of an anticipated lockdown or a war, for example − or something subtler, such as a new fad driven by social media.
The retailer has to be able to adapt in real-time and should be looking to develop the ability to predict changes or differences in demand.
To take the example of the fear of war or political disturbance, the likely reaction of consumers in Sandton is going to differ fairly markedly from those in Soweto or Langa.
Data, once again, is absolutely key to ensuring this can happen.
A third requirement to help retailers survive supply chain turmoil is enabling ‘ consumer transparency’. Many retailers have not yet fully cottoned onto the fact that consumers are using digital tools to improve their real-world shopping. For example, when supply chains are disturbed, consumers will turn to the web to help them plan their shopping to avoid unnecessary travel.
Very few retailers globally can use their websites to provide an accurate picture of what is on the shelves in a particular outlet − yet, today, vision AI algorithms exist that will count items on a shelf from a picture taken on a cellphone.
A big culprit here is outdated point-of-sale systems which do not link back into the stock control system, and which permit manual overrides. A fully digital system would not only streamline the customer experience, it would generate the information that builds customer loyalty.
Data, and the convergence of the real and virtual
It will be obvious now that accurate data generated by digitalised processes lies at the core of the response retailers can make to topsy-turvy supply chains. It is thus critical that they put the necessary technology in place to:
There's an underlying principle here, and it's one that retailers must recognise: the real and virtual worlds are steadily converging in all sorts of ways.
However it all ends up − the metaverse is one possibility, but far from the only one − putting these measures in place now is an essential foundation for the future, as well as a way of turning supply chain disruptions into a competitive advantage.
In my next article, I will reveal why retailers need to look at the role of brick-and-mortar in an increasingly omni-channel world, as the world struggles back to something like normality.
Co-founder and director, Consumption Information Real Time ( CIRT). He is a certified IOT professional and chartered accountant who is a serial entrepreneur who has founded several successful companies, including the Black Lite Group. Lalu has showcased CIRT's solutions at the world's largest IOT conference, IOT Solutions World Congress, Barcelona, 2019, and regularly comments on technology developments.A guest lecturer at the Gordon School of Business on digital innovation and strategy, he has been involved in technology innovation since 2018.Lalu is committed to changing the lives of ordinary Africans through his involvement in various NGOs, such as Greenpeace Africa and the Distell Development Trust. He is greatly involved in initiatives aimed at developing SMMEs and tech start-ups, based on his life experiences.
He is a certified IOT professional and chartered accountant who is a serial entrepreneur who has founded several successful companies, including the Black Lite Group. Lalu has showcased CIRT's solutions at the world's largest IOT conference, IOT Solutions World Congress, Barcelona, 2019, and regularly comments on technology developments.
A guest lecturer at the Gordon School of Business on digital innovation and strategy, he has been involved in technology innovation since 2018.
Lalu is committed to changing the lives of ordinary Africans through his involvement in various NGOs, such as Greenpeace Africa and the Distell Development Trust. He is greatly involved in initiatives aimed at developing SMMEs and tech start-ups, based on his life experiences. | general |
I 'm house-rich and cash-poor. Should I refinance my house and set up a joint savings account with my husband? ‘ I can tolerate him for 7 months — at the most. ' | Dear Quentin,
My husband of seven years owns a home in Minnesota and has a mortgage. I own a home in Florida with no mortgage. We have no savings or retirement accounts.
Should I pull my equity from my home in Florida to start a savings account for us? I’ m working and my husband is retired. My house is worth $ 216,000.
We live well enough together, but I’ m worried for our future. Other than the snowbird months, he has no intention of us living together 24/7.
I can tolerate him for seven months — at the most. I need five months off. But it works for the two of us. Thoughts?
House Rich, Cash Poor
D
ear House Rich, Cash Poor,
Congratulations on paying off your home.
I’ ll start with the personal, and then move onto the financial. I am obviously not familiar with the history of your marriage, or when you each bought your homes. But as a matter of principle, taking money that belongs to you alone out of anywhere — a house, a bank or the stock market — and putting it into a joint savings account is a bad idea.
Refinancing your home after working so hard to pay off your mortgage — and in an environment where interest rates are rising — is also a no-no. “ Mortgage rates are likely to push toward 5% before the end of the year, with lenders anecdotally reporting quotes around 4.75% for the 30-year fixed rate, ” George Ratiu, the manager of economic research at Realtor.com,
said recently.
Further down the road, you have other options open to you if you need money to live on. Those include reverse mortgage, which is especially attractive for seniors who are house-rich yet cash-poor. In this case, instead of the borrower making payments toward the mortgage, the opposite happens — the lender makes payments to the borrower, and the mortgage gets bigger.
In this case, the interest is added to the loan principal. “ Typically, no payment is due until the borrower dies or permanently moves out of the home, ”
writes MarketWatch’ s Tax Guy, Bill Bischoff.
“ You can receive reverse mortgage proceeds as a lump sum, in installments over a period of months or years, or as line-of-credit withdrawals when you need cash. ”
In the meantime, automate your savings and make a household budget. Assuming you don’ t have a 401 ( k) available to you, consider a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA, or
variable annuities
. You contribute after-tax dollars to a Roth IRA, and typically withdraw the money tax- and penalty-free after the age of 59 ½. Traditional IRA contributions are made with pretax dollars, and taxed upon withdrawal.
What you suggest is especially ill-advised, and not only because you would likely get a paltry 0.50% on a savings account, and be waiting quite some time for banks to pass on the Federal Reserve’ s rate hikes to their savings customers.
It’ s grand that you have achieved a mutually agreed-upon balance. Every relationship is different and special, and works on its own set of rules. Still, you are better off maintaining your financial independence and keeping your assets separate.
Yo
u
can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions related to coronavirus at qfottrell @ marketwatch.com, and follow Quentin Fottrell on
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‘ We’ ve been left out in the cold’: My mother named my sister beneficiary of her estate, but wrote a letter wishing to divide it among her 3 children. What now?
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‘ She had a will, but it was null and void’: My friend and her sister are fighting over their mother’ s life-insurance policy and bank account. Who should win out? | business |
How You Can Fulfill Your Employees ' Expectations of Returning to the Office | As the peaks of the Omicron variant of Covid grow more distant in the rear-view mirror, many people feel like they are finally coming out of a long slumber. In the recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden even introduced an optimistic, forward-looking transition intended to get kids back in school and people back in offices and workplaces.
This is nothing but good news, right? Maybe not for everyone.
People are certainly ( if cautiously) happy to see this new, more open phase of Covid response. But, after two long years of virtual spaces and remote work, the idea of face-to-face interaction in the workplace can feel overwhelming to many.
In a recent study, my company asked office workers how they felt about returning to workplaces, particularly in light of setbacks from earlier coronavirus variants. The results were surprising: 69 percent of respondents had been relieved and happy when planned office openings were delayed by their company.
Companies have big decisions to make as they prepare for how people will want to work in the coming years. In our study, we uncovered several key insights that can help HR leaders navigate this tricky transition by keeping productivity high while creating a positive experience for employees.
When it comes to working from home, the Covid pandemic is a bell that can't be un-rung. Two years of remote work has been an experiment in shifting labor forces that would have been impossible to conduct any other way.
Unfortunately for companies paying for office space, the results are in -- and people are happy and successful working from home. It's going to be tough to persuade them to consider the alternatives.
The home office is the ultimate safe space. The commute is short, you spend the day just steps away from your own kitchen and bathroom, and you can work from the sofa in your sweatpants if you want. Having a bad-hair day? Turn off the Zoom camera. Need to have a difficult conversation? Send a Slack message.
Most study respondents to our company's research did long for the human connection, though, with 61 percent saying they missed and wanted to return to in-person collaboration. However, among those who had already spent time back in the office, only 49 percent saw increased benefit from direct, interpersonal interactions.
The trend of worker interests skewing in favor of working from home was strong throughout our study. Avoiding commutes was the top appeal for 53 percent of all respondents, while 42 percent of parents with kids in school loved the flexibility of managing schedules and optimizing family time.
Perhaps starkest of all, one in three ( 37 percent) office workers who had returned earlier in the year actually felt worse just being in the office than they did at their lowest point during remote work. After two years of uncertainty and fear, it shouldn't surprise any leaders that people are experiencing anxiety and sometimes even dread when it comes to venturing back into the world.
As much as anything else, people want to keep their flexibility as more offices and workspaces begin to open.
During remote work, people enjoyed having more availability for doctor appointments, spending time with loved ones, playing with pets and addressing whatever needs arose. Managing their own schedules was a big part of it -- 80 percent of office workers said they had greater flexibility in determining their own work hours.
With wide-scale office returns looming once again, people are reluctant to give up that freedom. Nearly two-thirds ( 64 percent) of workers wanted flexible scheduling that didn't have to stick to the traditional 9-to-5. Just 28 percent of respondents felt that the full in-person, in-office workday with typical hours was their ideal employment moving forward.
Beleaguered company leaders trying to figure out how to best meet employee needs might be forgiven for simply shutting their offices down, but that could be a mistake. Preferences when it comes to the workplace have been in a state of flux since the beginning of the pandemic; 43 percent of office workers said they wanted to return early on, but have grown less interested as circumstances have changed.
As workplaces begin to return in a big way, opinions could shift back. This is especially true among younger workers, who are open to returning in the future. Only 9 percent of Millennials and 5 percent of Gen Z employees said they never wanted to work in an office again. When the social component of the workplace returns, people are likely to realize how much they missed it.
That's not to say that office life doesn't need to adapt. Company and HR leaders should learn how employees best function, recognize the desire for flexibility, and create hybrid work models that serve those needs. This will empower people to be their best and contribute significantly to the company, while at the same time expanding recruiting pools and bringing new talent to the business.
Office life will continue down the road and is likely to be a major part of the working environment for years to come. It just won't look like it did two years ago. The `` new normal '' will be achieved through dialog -- listening and responding to employees while being transparent about company direction and needs.
Working together to serve everyone's needs will be crucial as the pandemic response continues to evolve. Especially because it may seem like we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but it could turn out to be the proverbial next train. HR is more empowered than ever to be a driver of designing the employee experience and building great places to work, and your workplace strategy is a central part of that plan. | business |
Los Angeles ends its vaccine verification mandate for businesses | LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to end its mandate for many indoor businesses and operators of large outdoor events to verify that customers have been vaccinated against COVID-19, joining a wave of big U.S. cities that have relaxed the restriction.
The measure by council President Nury Martinez received enough votes to pass as an urgent measure so it can take effect quickly after it receives the mayor’ s signature and is published by the city clerk.
It was not immediately clear how soon the measure would reach the mayor’ s office, but the verification ordinance will not be enforced in the meantime because of the council vote, said Sophie Gilchrist, communications director for Martinez.
Businesses are still allowed to require vaccination verification for their clients.
The move came as COVID-19 infection cases have declined and states, counties and cities across the U.S. seek to return a sense of normalcy to people’ s lives after two years of pandemic restrictions.
New York City recently did away with several of its COVID-19 mandates, including masking in public schools and vaccination requirements at restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues. Chicago also stopped requiring proof of vaccination to dine inside restaurants.
The Los Angeles vaccination verification mandate was imposed in November 2021 when the omicron variant of the virus was rising toward a surge in California.
Verification was required of everyone age 12 and older entering food and drink establishments, gyms and fitness centers, entertainment and recreation venues, spas, nail and hair salons, barbershops and city of Los Angeles facilities.
Businesses that violated the ordinance by failing to verify vaccination status were supposed to be subject to citations with steadily increasing fines, but city officials issued a small number of warnings instead.
The Los Angeles Times reported on March 9 that the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety had sent notices to just six businesses urging correction of violations, but that no citations or fines had been imposed.
COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths have declined significantly in Los Angeles County, but public health officials have reported an increasing percentage of cases of the more-infectious BA.2 subvariant.
Even though restrictions have been lifted, health officials still recommend precautions —including masking, vaccinations and boosters. | business |
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Natural gas futures floundered on Tuesday as the domestic weather outlook shifted increasingly bearish, production ticked up and energy commodities broadly dipped lower amid pandemic flare-ups and the potential for a cease-fire in Ukraine.
On its final day as the prompt month, the April Nymex gas futures contract lost 17.2 cents day/day and settled at $ 5.336/MMBtu before rolling off the board. May fell 20.8 cents to $ 5.330. Futures faltered for a second straight day – after rallying throughout the prior week.
NGI’ s Spot Gas National Avg. shed 55.0 cents to $ 4.970, led lower by drops across Appalachia and the East.
U.S. production reached 95.5 Bcf on Tuesday, up more than a 1 Bcf from the prior week. This put output near 2022 highs of around 96 Bcf, Bloomberg data showed.
At the same time, the latest weather data Tuesday extended warmer trends as both the American and European models advertised mostly mild temperatures for the northern United States this weekend and through next week, according to NatGasWeather.
“ A relatively cool weather system is still expected to track across the northern U.S. this weekend …However, the amount of subfreezing air with this system decreased yesterday and overnight, resulting in only a minor bump in demand, ” the firm said.
For the April 5-12 time frame, the latest data showed a pattern that could lead to widespread comfortable conditions for the Lower 48, according to the forecaster.
NatGasWeather also noted reports from Ukrainian and Russian officials touting progress in cease-fire talks that eased war-induced concerns about oil and gas shortages. This, the firm said, put downward pressure on prices across most commodity markets. That noted, the Associated Press reported that Russia continued lethal attacks across Ukraine Tuesday.
At the same time, increasingly widespread mobility restrictions to slow coronavirus outbreaks in China, the world’ s second-largest economy, threatened to curb demand for travel fuels and natural gas. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, dropped nearly 10% over the course of Monday and Tuesday, though prices remained elevated and well above $ 100/bbl.
China and parts of Europe are grappling with a subvariant of the coronavirus Omicron strain that is spreading rapidly. China in recent days locked down much of Shanghai, the country’ s biggest city with more than 20 million residents.
China is the largest importer of liquefied natural gas ( LNG). The Shanghai lockdowns have curbed power and industrial gas demand and, as a result, China has resold LNG cargoes this month, according to Rystad Energy analyst Vinicius Romano.
Additionally, in Western Europe, German officials this week estimated they are tallying nearly 300,000 virus cases daily — more than six times the rate that the United States has reported in recent days. This could slow LNG demand in Europe as well.
Tapered European LNG needs could further ease global supply worries that have been amplified by Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine over the past five weeks. Europe is trying to wind down its use of Russian gas in objection to the war. This has ramped up demand for U.S. LNG exports and fueled price rallies, including the five-day surge in Nymex gas futures last week. American exporters have operated near capacity throughout March.
Fresh coronavirus challenges, however, could at least provide a reprieve, led by the impacts of China’ s actions in Shanghai, Romano said.
Last week, the Biden administration and European Union ( EU) announced a plan to ensure Western supplies of natural gas to the continent through 2022 and beyond. The two set a joint goal to send nearly 1.5 Bcf/d of additional LNG to EU countries this year.
However, as analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. noted, even if demand from Europe holds strong, markets may already have baked in the impact of Russia’ s war in Ukraine on U.S. LNG demand this year, given that U.S. exporters are now effectively maxed out.
That noted, the Goldman team said that, in coming years, U.S. companies are expected to expand capacity, and both European and Asia demand will likely be waiting to soak up the added supplies.
“ Further out the curve, we expect the balance between production and LNG exports to drive U.S. gas price cycles, ” the Goldman analysts said. “ Specifically, we expect the next wave of U.S. LNG export capacity additions from 2025 to bring a renewed tightening to U.. S gas markets after softer balances in 2023/24. ”
Cash prices clunked on Tuesday. Despite frosty air lingering across the Great Lakes and Northeast, buyers stepped back amid the forecasts for mild weather later this week and into April.
Northeast prices plummeted and dragged down the national average. Algonquin Citygate, where prices are often volatile, dropped $ 7.200 day/day to average $ 5.525.
Still, there were notable double-digit drops across Appalachia and the Southeast as well.
Columbia Gas shed 37.0 cents to $ 4.765, while Eastern Gas South lost 43.0 cents to $ 4.680.
Meanwhile, Cove Point fell 29.0 cents to $ 5.205 and Florida Gas Zone 3 lost 13.0 cents to $ 5.355.
While temperatures are expected to shift from chilly early this week in the Midwest and East to mild as April approaches, dampening demand, weather could still prove a wildcard.
AccuWeather noted Tuesday that a “ potent storm is taking aim at the southern United States. ” The storm is packing the potential to deliver “ all facets of severe weather, ” from hail to damaging wind gusts. This could temporarily threaten gas production and cause power outages.
If the expected storm materializes, it would follow a rash of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that fueled a bump in cash prices last week, from Texas to the Southeast.
“ Residents in portions of the South still reeling from last week’ s bout of destructive weather may find themselves in the path of Mother Nature’ s wrath once again this week, ” said AccuWeather meteorologist Mary Gilbert.
The storm was expected to travel out of East Texas late Tuesday and onward toward the East. AccuWeather forecasters said it could potentially impact Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and parts of neighboring states on Wednesday.
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The first full week of the historically quiet shoulder season was full of fireworks for cash and futures markets alike. Record-breaking heat on the West Coast and a late-season snowstorm on the East Coast drove up spot market demand during the April 4-8 trading period, while growing concerns about supply ahead of next winter lifted…
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WHO urges countries to keep up COVID-19 testing and surveillance as the viral outbreak remains a global pandemic | The WHO is warning countries it’ s too soon to stop surveilling and monitoring COVID-19 cases.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
The World Health Organization said Wednesday it’ s increasingly concerned at the reduction in COVID-19 testing, surveillance and overall monitoring among its member countries, reminding the public that the coronavirus is still circulating at high levels.
“ COVID-19 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and it is too early to reduce the quality of surveillance, ” the agency said
in its weekly epidemiological update.
Data are becoming “ progressively less representative, less timely and less robust, ” as many countries start to behave as if the pandemic has reached an endemic phase, where the virus is still present but is no longer infecting so many people that it’ s overwhelming healthcare systems.
“ Until we reach the end of the acute phase of the pandemic, countries must maintain sufficient epidemiologic surveillance to inform evidence-based operational decision-making on crucial parameters, including vaccination strategies, vaccine composition, use of therapeutics, and tailored and appropriate public health and social measures, ” said the update.
The global tally of new cases fell in the week through March 27, a welcome trend after it rose in the two preceding weeks. But global deaths climbed to more than 45,000, up 43% from a week earlier, although that might be due to changes in how they are defined in some countries in the Americas and Asia.
The WHO also offered another update on some of the recombinant variants of the virus, including
one that has been unofficially named deltacron
because it combines features of the delta and omicron variants.
Just last week, the agency assigned that variant Pango lineage designation XD under the system used to name and track variants as they emerge. It reiterated that, for now, there is no new evidence to suggest XD is associated with higher transmissibility or more severe outcomes but said it would continue to keep close tabs on that and other variants.
See:
U.S. average daily deaths from COVID fall below 800 to lowest level since mid-August, and FDA allows second booster shot for people 50 and older
The news comes a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the
BA.2 subvariant of omicron accounted for 55% of new U.S. cases in the week through Saturday
. The subvariant is more infectious than the original omicron but appears to be no more lethal.
The average number of deaths in the U.S. fell again after dipping below 800 on Tuesday for the first time since omicron took hold,
according to a New York Times tracker
.
The seven-day average death tally stands at 716, down 42% from two weeks ago.
New cases are averaging 29,253, down 9% from two weeks ago, and hospitalizations are down 34% at an average of 17,464.
But cases have started to climb again in states in the Northeast and South, and the pace of improvement in places where they are falling has slowed.
What is an endemic and how will we know when Covid-19 becomes one? WSJ’ s Daniela Hernandez breaks down how public-health experts assess when a virus like Covid-19 enters an endemic stage. Photo: Michael Nagle/Zuma Press
Other COVID-19 news you should know about:
• President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver remarks later Wednesday on the rollout of a new website to offer Americans help in accessing vaccines, tests, treatments and masks, according to a White House official. Biden will outline the infrastructure and tools and the systems the government has put in place to help the country battle COVID. Biden is also expected to urge Congress to allocate the funding needed for the next part of the program and to highlight the risks if lawmakers fail to act.
See:
Biden to receive second COVID vaccine booster shot: White House
• A sharp rise in COVID deaths during Hong Kong’ s fifth wave has led to a shortage of coffins,
the South China Morning Post reported.
In some instances, coffins are understood to have been stolen or the subject of mix-ups in funeral homes.
Barricades, panic buying and empty streets are some scenes from Shanghai as China’ s most populous city imposed a new lockdown. Offices and factories – including Tesla’ s – were affected by China’ s measures against its worst virus outbreak in two years. Photo: Aly Song/Reuters
• Adagio Therapeutics Inc.
ADGI,
-3.74%
said its experimental COVID-19 monoclonal antibody worked as a treatment and for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis
in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial.
Adagio said it plans to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of this year. The drug, adintrevimab, was put into clinical trials before the emergence of the omicron variant, the company said; however, Adagio noted that it then conducted a pre-specified exploratory analysis among a group of participants in the pre-exposure cohort, and when compared to placebo, “ a clinically meaningful reduction in cases of symptomatic COVID-19 ” was reported.
See now:
BioNTech reports soaring earnings, revenue on COVID vaccine, plans $ 1.5 billion in buybacks
• CureVac
CVAC,
-0.28%
said it dosed the first participant in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine it’ s developing with GlaxoSmithKline
GSK,
+0.89%
GSK,
+2.16%
.
The study is being conducted in the U.S. and is set to enroll 210 adults. The company said it expects to have data in the second half of this year. “ Continued innovation and progress in the development of mRNA-based vaccines is a critical prerequisite to combat the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, ” Dr. Klaus Edvardsen, CureVac’ s chief development officer, said in a news release.
Here’ s what the numbers say
The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 485.8 million on Tuesday, while the death toll rose above 6.13 million,
according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University
.
The U.S. leads the world with 80 million cases and 978,842 fatalities.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ s tracker
shows that 217.5 million people living in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, equal to 65.5% of the population. But just 97.4 million are boosted, equal to 44.8% of the vaccinated population. | business |
There’ s No Return to Normal for Millions of Children Orphaned During COVID | Forgotten in the calls for a “ new normal ” and the shuffle toward it are the millions of children around the world whose parent or guardian has died from Covid-19. Their post-pandemic lives will be anything but normal.
In a study published recently in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, we and several co-authors estimated that, in the first 20 months of the pandemic, more than 5 million children have lost a parent or other caregiver living in the home, such as a grandmother or grandfather. By the two-year anniversary of the pandemic in March 2022, the Covid-19 orphanhood calculator shows this number has grown to more than 7 million children.
Copyright ©2021 Better Care Network. All rights reserved. | general |
Adagio gets a second chance | A month ago the future looked bleak for Adagio Therapeutics. Today the company has a chance at resurrection, with surprisingly positive data from the pivotal Stamp and Evade trials of its Covid antibody adintrevimab ( ADG20) that had been unblinded early. Still, there are reasons to be cautious about adintrevimab’ s chances in the current Covid climate. The studies, in the treatment and prophylaxis settings, appeared to show some evidence of efficacy against the Omicron variant – albeit in small exploratory analyses. But there are questions about how the antibody will perform against the BA.2 subvariant, which is fast becoming dominant. Notably, a recent Nature Medicine paper found that adintrevimab was inactive against BA.2 in vitro. It was BA.2 that did for Glaxosmithkline and Vir’ s Xevudy, which had initially looked good against Omicron – last week, the FDA stopped its use in areas where the subvariant is prevalent. Adagio is “ re-engineering ” adintrevimab to improve efficacy against Omicron, but in the meantime will file for US emergency use authorisation for both treatment and prophylaxis in the second quarter. Shares surged 43% this morning, but the group is still only worth a tenth of what it once was. | general |
Xi battling distrust among global investors burned in China before and eyeing political risk | Efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to regain the trust of international investors face serious hurdles.
Xi’ s government showed little regard for those same investors last year when it unleashed a series of crackdowns on the country’ s most profitable companies — in a bid to curb `` disorderly capital ” and ensure the firms didn’ t become more powerful than the Communist Party.
The result was confusion and punishing losses for shareholders. Regulators have yet to follow through on promises made this month to ensure policies are more transparent and predictable.
Wariness toward Chinese assets has only increased since Russia attacked Ukraine just weeks after a Beijing summit reinforced the close ties between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Global investors feared the Biden administration would hit China with similar penalties, even though American officials say China has complied with U.S. sanctions and there’ s no evidence to suggest otherwise.
While there’ s little doubt Chinese assets are cheap — the MSCI China Index of stocks trades near its biggest discount to global peers in more than two decades — for many investors, the downsides of China exposure outweigh the potential upside. The trauma of investing in Russia, where sanctions and capital controls have made internationally held assets effectively worthless, has prompted investors to look at China in a different light.
`` There’ s a very thick layer of political risk over Chinese assets right now, ” said Daniel Murray, Zurich-based chief executive officer of EFG Asset Management in Switzerland. His firm manages and advises on about $ 50 billion. `` You could wake up and see China has done something to really complicate things, like providing military equipment to Russia or something. President Xi falls into the strong-man camp of global leaders which is not a popular club at the moment. ”
Such decoupling by global capital adds to risks facing Xi at a time when the spread of COVID-19 and a property slump are undermining the outlook for the world’ s second-largest economy.
The volatility threatens to spill over to the real economy ahead of a key party meeting later this year, at which Xi is set to trumpet China’ s global leadership and extend his decadelong rule.
Capital flight is a growing concern. The Institute of International Finance reported an `` unprecedented ” surge in outflows from China starting late February, when Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine began.
In the third week of March, redemptions from China equity funds were their highest since early 2021, while outflows from Chinese bond funds exceeded $ 1 billion for the first time ever, according to data provider EPFR Global. Foreign selling of the nation’ s sovereign bonds last month totaled $ 5.5 billion, the most on record and ending 11 months of inflows.
A rout in Chinese stocks listed on overseas exchanges was briefly halted after Beijing took coordinated action to address some of the biggest concerns by foreign investors. These included pledges to ensure stability in capital markets, support overseas listings, resolve risks around property developers and complete the crackdown on Big Tech `` as soon as possible. ”
`` The recent speculation driven rally is unlikely to be sustainable, ” wrote Morgan Stanley strategist Gilbert Wong in a Tuesday email. `` It was contributed by contrarian trades and quarter-end window dressing activities. We reminded investors — and traders — to book profits in this rally, and hedge for a potential out-sized market move in the second quarter. ”
A recovery in Chinese stocks was one of the most popular calls among Wall Street strategists going into this year. Cheap valuations, easier monetary policy and the peaking of Beijing’ s regulatory crackdown would finally attract money to the country’ s markets, they argued.
While the strategists weren’ t wrong in their reasoning — and most have stuck to those views — they overestimated the willingness of global funds to deploy money to China.
Chinese exchange-traded funds saw $ 3.7 billion in redemptions last week even as Asian markets like Taiwan and South Korea attracted foreign inflows, according to Citigroup Inc. Long-only investors with a global equity mandate now allocate just 2% of their portfolios to stocks in China and Hong Kong, Morgan Stanley’ s quantitative strategy team wrote in a March 24 note.
The MSCI China was trading at about 1.4 times book value when the 2022 outlooks by Wall Street banks started coming out in mid-December. The multiple fell as low as 1.1 times this month, the lowest in data going back to 2000. The MSCI All-Country World Index trades at 2.8 times book.
`` China’ s ties to Russia have created a geopolitical stigma risk that could pressure some investors to avoid Chinese assets, ” wrote BlackRock Investment Institute strategists led by Wei Li in a note dated Monday. `` We stay moderately overweight Chinese stocks as we see a shift to easier policies across the board. ”
Yet authorities have been cautious about throwing money around. The People’ s Bank of China unexpectedly held a key policy rate in March, even as some of its broad-based tools to spur liquidity and drive economic growth are becoming less effective.
Xi’ s pledge to reduce the economic damage of his `` COVID Zero '' strategy is looking increasingly challenging as lockdowns in cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai cost the country an estimated $ 46 billion a month, or 3.1% of GDP, in lost economic output.
`` So far, authorities have promised support but not delivered any new stimulus, ” said Thomas Thygesen, SEB AB’ s head of cross-asset strategy in Copenhagen. `` That’ s probably a fundamental driver of outflows. ”
Attracting foreign capital has long been one of Xi’ s priorities as he sought to make China’ s financial markets more efficient and boost international use of the yuan. Since he became president in 2013, the government has opened stock and bond trading links with the rest of the world via Hong Kong, and successfully pushed for the inclusion of yuan-denominated assets in major global benchmarks.
Such efforts paid off. Since the end of 2013, overseas holdings of local stocks had increased by more than 1,043%, to 3.9 trillion yuan ( $ 612 billion), central bank data as of December shows. Inflows into the nation’ s bond market rose by 925% to 4.1 trillion yuan in the period.
Xi reiterated China’ s commitment to opening up in January, at a time when his policies were being criticized by foreign investors including billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
`` All types of capital are welcome to operate in China, in compliance with laws and regulations, and play a positive role for the development of the country, ” Xi told the World Economic Forum, speaking via video, at the time.
But Xi can no longer count on the greed of investors to own a slice of his country’ s growing economy.
The question is whether China can still suck in global capital in a world where an entire country's holdings can be written down to zero almost overnight. | tech |
Now hiring! U.S. economy likely added another half-million jobs in March | The Federal Reserve is raising U.S. interest rates again soon no matter whether the March jobs report is good or bad, but Wall Street expects another big increase in hiring.
Here’ s what to watch in the employment report on Friday morning.
Lots of hiring
The U.S. likely created 490,000 new jobs in March,
according to a poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal
. That’ s not far below the 582,000 average in the prior three months.
Businesses have stepped up efforts to hire to keep up with seemingly insatiable demand for their goods and services. They are paying higher wages and benefits and taking other measures to retain employees amid a rash of job-hopping.
The demise of the omicron wave of the pandemic has also resulted in government restrictions being lifted and Americans being more comfortable going out again. Hiring is rising at restaurants, hotels, recreational sites and other service providers.
At the current rate of hiring, employment in the U.S. is on track to exceed pre-pandemic levels by early summer.
Read:
U.S. private sector adds 455,000 new jobs in March, ADP says
Unemployment rate
The U.S. unemployment rate has fallen sharply in the past year and a half to 3.8%.
In March, Wall Street
DJIA
SPX
expects unemployment to slip again to 3.7%.
The jobless rate is closing in on the pre-crisis low. Shortly before the pandemic erupted in March 2020, unemployment had sunk to a 50-year bottom of 3.5%.
By contrast, unemployment soared to as high as 14.7% officially early in the pandemic— and it was probably around 20% unofficially, economists say.
Returning workers
Millions of workers left the labor force after the onset of the crisis and many have still not returned. Some retired early and plan to stay retired. Others were caring for older relatives or younger kids.
Economists contend more people will return to the jobs market if the number of coronavirus cases stay low and life returns closer to normal.
The
highest inflation in 40 years
might also push more people to look for jobs to pay the bills, especially as their savings run out.
“ As financial pressures from inflation mount, more Americans who exited the labor force during the pandemic are likely to re-enter, fueling faster labor force growth, ” said Bill Adams, chief economist of Comerica Bank.
The share of the working-age population in the labor force steadily crept higher last year and touched 62.3% in February. Yet that’ s still well below the precrisis peak of 63.4%.
Read:
Is this it? More than half of workers still are not returning to office
What does it mean? About 1.8 million workers are missing from the labor force compared to the last month before the pandemic. That helps explain why the U.S. has such as big labor shortage.
Rising wages
The missing millions has been a boom for Americans who are still working.
Average pay has shot up 5.1% over the past year to $ 31.58 an hour — the biggest increase since 1982 excluding the first few months of the pandemic.
Economists forecast a robust 0.4% gain in wages in March.
Wages started to surge last year as businesses competed for workers and tens of millions of people quit one job for another in what’ s become known as “ The Great Resignation. ” Most of the job quitters ended up in positions that paid more money.
Read:
U.S. corporate profits jump 25% in 2021 to record high as economy rebounds from pandemic
Wages aren’ t keeping up with inflation, however. The cost of living has jumped almost 8% in the past year, leaving most workers worse off.
Economists predict inflation will slow later to this year to under a 4% yearly rate. But they expect wage growth to taper off as well. | business |
Biden to invoke Cold War powers to boost EV battery materials, report says | President Joe Biden is poised to invoke as soon as this week Cold War powers to encourage domestic production of critical minerals for electric-vehicle and other types of batteries, according to people familiar with the matter.
The White House is discussing adding battery materials to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Act -- the same authority wielded by Harry Truman to make steel for the Korean War and Donald Trump to spur mask production to tackle the coronavirus pandemic -- the people said. They asked not to be identified because the details are not yet public.
Shares of MP Materials Corp., the sole U.S. company that produces rare earth metals needed for electric vehicles, and Lithium Americas Corp., which runs a project in Nevada, surged on news of the administration's plans. Piedmont Lithium Inc., which runs a project in North Carolina, erased losses, rising as much as 6 percent
| general |
VW eyes keeping Shanghai plant open with staff sleeping on-site | SHANGHAI -- Volkswagen asked staff at its Shanghai plant to prepare sleeping bags and yoga mats so they can deploy a system that allows the automaker to continue to operate despite parts of the Chinese city being under a strict COVID-19 lockdown.
The arrangement will enable the plant, which VW runs with local partner SAIC Motor Corp., to run a so-called closed loop system when the west of the city is locked down for four days from April 1 for a mass testing blitz, people familiar with the matter said.
Workers were informed about the plan in a company message Wednesday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’ t public. They were also asked to bring two weeks’ worth of medicine for ailments such as colds and conditions like high
The arrangement is still being worked out alongside Shanghai government requirements and it's not clear whether VW will be able to execute it, the people said.
VW's plant is located to the west of the Huangpu River running through Shanghai -- the side that will be locked down for testing from Friday.
VW said on Wednesday it will partially shut production at the Shanghai factory on Thursday due to lack of parts from suppliers. It did not provide further details on the situation at the plant. | general |
Remarks by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell at the World Government Summit: Societal Wellbeing - The Next Chapter of Global Connectivity | DUBAI, 30 March 2022 - It is my great pleasure to be here today at the World Government Forum on my first visit to the United Arab Emirates as UNICEF Executive Director.
The theme of our session -- societal wellbeing -- is timely and critically important.
So, I would like to begin my remarks by invoking the late Nelson Mandela, who famously said that “ there is no keener reflection of a society than how it treats its children. ” By extension, there is no greater measure of a society’ s wellbeing than the investments it makes in the wellbeing of its children.
Children are the world’ s most precious resource. And yet, challenges to the rights and the wellbeing of children are increasing, seemingly by the day.
More than 426 million children live in conflict zones -- more children than at any time in UNICEF’ s 75-year history.
As we see so painfully in Ukraine and many other conflicts, the impact on children is horrific. They are being killed and maimed. They are being recruited to support or directly participate in the fighting. The schools they attend and the hospitals they visit are threatened, attacked, or occupied by armed actors. And they are being forcibly displaced from their homes -- putting them at risk of exploitation and trafficking.
I was recently in Romania on the border with Ukraine, where tens of thousands of women and children have fled to escape the violence. The impact of conflict on children is both immediate and long lasting.
The number of climate-related disasters has tripled in the last 30 years, with a profound impact on children.
Approximately 1 billion children – nearly half the world’ s children – live in countries classified as at extremely high-risk to the impacts of climate change.
All these threats to children are harmful enough on their own. COVID-19 has exponentially increased their impact.
After nearly a quarter century of steady global declines, we estimate that 100 million additional children are now living in multidimensional poverty. Increasing poverty could push an additional 9 million children into child labour by the end of this year.
The pandemic has closed schools all over the world -- exacerbating what was already a global learning crisis. Millions of children were already out of school and millions more were in school but not mastering foundational reading and math skills.
The impact on child health is also profound.
In 2020 alone, an additional 23 million children didn’ t receive essential vaccinations that protect their lives and their healthy development. We have seen outbreaks of polio in Ukraine, in several countries in Africa, in parts of Asia, and in Israel.
An additional 9 million children are at risk of wasting -- many of them caught in humanitarian crises without access to treatment.
I was recently in rural Afghanistan, and I saw the impact of conflict, drought, and a collapsing economy on children and their mothers. In a hospital in Kandahar, I saw emaciated babies, too weak even to cry. I met a mother who told me that she and her 5 children were surviving on bread and water.
The situation facing children in Yemen, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Nigeria is no less dire.
The pandemic is also having an impact on the wellbeing of girls. UNICEF estimates that an additional 10 million girls are at risk for child marriage, and there is mounting evidence of increases in gender-based violence and sexual abuse.
And children’ s mental health has been severely affected during the pandemic, in high-, middle-, and low-income countries alike.
These figures represent the lives and futures of millions of children -- and the future of their societies. The economic impact of pandemic-caused school closures alone could cause a US $ 17 trillion loss in lifetime earnings for this entire generation of schoolchildren.
And yet, children have been largely overlooked in the pandemic response.
UNICEF has called on the world to put children at the center of global, national, and local pandemic response and recovery planning and budgeting.
We need to use this moment to drive greater investment in essential, proven, cost-effective child survival systems. Stronger primary health services. A restoration of routine immunization. Expanded WASH and nutrition programmes.
We need to use this moment to address the global learning crisis. UNICEF just released data showing that even before the pandemic hit, 50 per cent of children in low-income countries could not read a simple sentence.
We now project that this number may be as high as 70 per cent. What can the future hold for these children?
Account for every child and bring them all back into the classroom. Assess every child to measure their learning. Accelerate every child’ s learning by providing support for them to catch up in the classroom.
And assure the wellbeing and protection of children. Children’ s learning depends on them being safe and well-nourished. Education systems can -- and should -- play a part in that.
We also need to invest in scaling up social protection programmes. Direct support like cash transfer programs is the most effective way to help families cover income losses in emergencies and other crises. By helping families avoid slipping into poverty in a way that respects their autonomy and protects their dignity, we can accelerate results for children across multiple fronts.
In everything we do, we need to do more to address gender inequality -- an issue that has been central to my career, and which is very close to my heart.
Around the world today, millions of girls are denied their right to healthcare and education. They are denied their right to live free from gender discrimination, sexual violence, and harmful practices. They are denied their right to make decisions concerning their own lives.
We need to invest more in programmes that support and empower adolescent girls’ learning and development. We need to find ways of working with communities and families to break down barriers and harmful norms that hold girls back.
And we need to invest in family-friendly interventions that help increase employment and enable women’ s economic participation. Approximately 54 million women left the global workforce in the first year of the pandemic -- often to care for children and other family members. This decreased family income and plunged millions of children into poverty.
Above all, our recovery must be an inclusive recovery. The pandemic has widened disparities and exacerbated inequality all over the world. The children with the least to lose are losing the most. The cost to these children is unconscionable -- and the cost to their societies is cause for concern.
We need to use data to identify which children are being left behind. We need to monitor how well our programmes are reaching those children. And we need to prioritize investments in basic services and social protection programmes that make all the difference for the most disadvantaged children.
At a minimum, we must protect social spending for children. Investments in social sectors serving the most disadvantaged should be the last in line for budget cuts.
This is not only right thing to do. It is also the strategic thing to do.
Nobel Laureate James Heckman has written widely on the economics of human potential.
He and others have proven that investments in children’ s potential -- in nutrition, in early childhood learning, in routine immunization, in girls’ education, in skills and employment training for young adults -- consistently offer the highest return. Returns on investment in the youngest children are greater than at any other time in human development.
Every child has the right to reach their full potential -- and every society has an enormous stake in helping them to do so.
I wish I did not have to paint such a dire picture. The situation is indeed extremely urgent for millions of children -- but the problems are not insurmountable.
We know that investing in scaling up proven interventions and strengthening essential systems saves children’ s lives. It changes children’ s lives. And it changes their societies -- reducing inequity and spurring prosperity for all.
As the world comes together to take stock and make plans for a global recovery -- and to “ rescue the SDGs ”, as the Secretary-General recently said -- we must put children at the center of the agenda. It is the only path to truly sustainable development and truly inclusive societal wellbeing.
In closing, I would like to thank you again for inviting me to join you in this critical discussion. The United Arab Emirates is one of UNICEF’ s most valued partners. I look forward to continuing our partnership as we work together to improve the lives of the world’ s most disadvantaged children -- and to protect the rights of every child.
UNICEF works in some of the world’ s toughest places, to reach the world’ s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.
`` We must take the rapid action needed to accelerate vaccination. '' | general |
PVH CORP. /DE/ Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ( form 10-K) | OVERVIEW
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Recent Developments in Ukraine
COVID-19 Pandemic Update
Our stores have been, and continue to be, impacted by temporary closures, reduced hours, reduced occupancy levels and high absenteeism as a result of the pandemic:
Throughout the pandemic, our top priority has been to ensure the health and safety of our associates, consumers and employees of our business partners around the world. Accordingly, we have implemented health and safety measures to support high standards in our stores, offices and distribution centers, including temporary closures, reduced occupancy levels, and social
Operations Overview
The following actions and transactions have impacted our results of operations and the comparability among the years, including our 2022 expectations, as discussed below:
•We announced in March 2021 plans to reduce our workforce, primarily in certain international markets, and to reduce
Less: Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interest
Gross Profit
SG & A Expenses
Our SG & A expenses were as follows:
Goodwill and Other Intangible Asset Impairments
Non-Service Related Pension and Postretirement ( Income) Cost
Please see Note 12, `` Retirement and Benefit Plans, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion.
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Costs
Other ( Gain) Loss, Net
We recorded a gain of $ ( 119) million in the third quarter of 2021 in connection with the Heritage Brands transaction.
We recorded a noncash net loss of $ 3 million in the first quarter of 2020 in connection with the Speedo transaction.
We recorded a noncash loss of $ 142 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 in connection with the then-pending Speedo transaction.
We recorded a noncash gain of $ ( 113) million in the second quarter of 2019 in connection with the Australia acquisition.
Equity in Net Income ( Loss) of Unconsolidated Affiliates
We currently expect that our equity in net income ( loss) of unconsolidated affiliates for 2022 will be relatively in line with 2021.
Interest Expense, Net
Please see the section entitled `` Financing Arrangements '' within `` Liquidity and Capital Resources '' below for further discussion.
Interest expense, net in 2022 is currently expected to be approximately $ 90 million compared to $ 104 million in 2021 primarily due to the full year impact in 2022 of long-term debt repayments made during 2021.
Income Taxes
Income tax expense ( benefit) was as follows:
Income tax as a% of pre-tax income ( loss) 2.1% 4.7% 6.5%
Redeemable Non-Controlling Interest
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Liquidity Update
We ended 2021 with $ 1.2 billion of cash on hand and approximately $ 1.5 billion of borrowing capacity available under our various debt facilities.
Cash Flow Summary and Trends
Supply Chain Finance Program
Capital Expenditures
Investments in Unconsolidated Affiliates
We, along with Grupo Axo, S.A.P.I. de C.V., formed a joint venture ( `` PVH Mexico '') in 2016, in which we own a 49% economic interest. We received dividends of $ 17 million and $ 7 million from PVH Mexico during 2021 and 2019, respectively.
Heritage Brands Transaction
TH CSAP Acquisition
We completed the acquisition of the Tommy Hilfiger retail business in Central and Southeast Asia on July 1, 2019 for $ 74 million. Please see Note 3, '' Acquisitions and Divestitures, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion.
Australia Acquisition
Mandatorily Redeemable Non-Controlling Interest
Cash dividends paid on our common stock totaled $ 3 million, $ 3 million and $ 11 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Acquisition of Treasury Shares
Financing Arrangements
Our capital structure was as follows:
In addition, we had $ 1.242 billion and $ 1.651 billion of cash and cash equivalents as of January 30, 2022 and January 31, 2021, respectively.
Short-Term Borrowings
We also have the ability to draw revolving borrowings under our 364-day unsecured revolving credit facility discussed below in the section entitled '' 2021 Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility. '' We had no borrowings outstanding under this facility during 2021.
Commercial Paper
We have the ability to issue, from time to time, unsecured commercial paper notes with maturities that vary but do not exceed 397 days from the date of issuance primarily to fund working capital needs. We had no borrowings outstanding under the commercial paper note program during 2021. We had no borrowings outstanding under the commercial paper note program as of January 31, 2021.
2021 Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility
Finance Lease Obligations
Our cash payments for finance lease obligations totaled $ 5 million in each of 2021, 2020 and 2019.
2016 Senior Secured Credit Facilities
2019 Senior Unsecured Credit Facilities
We refinanced the 2016 facilities on April 29, 2019 ( the `` Closing Date '') by entering into senior unsecured credit facilities ( as amended, the `` 2019 facilities ''), the proceeds of which, along with cash on hand, were used to repay all of the outstanding borrowings under the 2016 facilities, as well as the related debt issuance costs.
Borrowings available in Hong Kong dollars under the 2019 facilities bear interest at a rate equal to an applicable margin plus an adjusted Eurocurrency rate, calculated in a manner set forth in the 2019 facilities.
( In millions)
Notional Outstanding as of
( 1) We terminated early the interest rate swap agreements due to expire in February 2022 and February 2023 in connection with the repayment of the outstanding principal balance under our USD TLA facility. Please see Note 10, '' Derivative Financial Instruments, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion.
We expect to maintain compliance with the financial covenants under the 2019 facilities based on our current forecasts.
7 3/4% Debentures Due 2023
3 5/8% Euro Senior Notes Due 2024
3 1/8% Euro Senior Notes Due 2027
Please see Note 8, `` Debt, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion of our debt.
Additional Cash Requirements
35 $ 1,165 $ 500 $ 668 Interest payments on long-term debt
11
1,072
( 5) Represents cash requirements primarily related to ( i) information-technology service agreements, ( ii) minimum contractual royalty payments under several license agreements we have with third parties, and ( iii) advertising and sponsorship agreements.
contributions may differ from our planned contributions due to many factors, including changes in tax and other benefit laws, or significant differences between expected and actual pension asset performance or interest rates.
MARKET RISK
SEASONALITY
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
Please see Note 1, `` Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for a discussion of recently issued and adopted accounting standards.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
2020 Annual Impairment Test
2020 Interim Impairment Test
2019 Interim Impairment Test
2019 Annual Impairment Test
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets Impairment Testing
2021 Annual Impairment Test
2020 Annual Impairment Test
2020 Interim Impairment Test
the Heritage Brands transaction. Please see Note 3, `` Acquisitions and Divestitures, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion of the Heritage Brands transaction.
2019 Interim Impairment Test
2019 Annual Impairment Test
Please see Note 7, `` Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for further discussion of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.
actuarial assumptions, are recognized in the year in which they occur and could have a material impact on our operating results. These gains and losses are measured at least annually at the end of our fiscal year and, as such, are generally recorded during the fourth quarter of each year.
after the vesting date. For such awards, the grant date fair value is discounted for the restriction of liquidity, which is calculated using a model that is deemed appropriate after an evaluation of current market conditions.
Note 13, `` Stock-Based Compensation, '' in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report sets forth certain significant assumptions used to determine the fair value of our stock options and contingently issuable performance shares.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Information with respect to Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk appears under the heading `` Market Risk '' in Item 7.
© Edgar Online, source Glimpses | business |
China stocks gain as Russia-Ukraine peace talks lift appetite | - China stocks rose on Wednesday as traders found comfort in the likelihood of a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict, although media reports on the latest regulatory move on China's internet sector capped gains in the Hong Kong market.
* * The CSI300 index rose 2% to 4,215.89 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3% to 3,245.22 points.
* * The Hang Seng index added 1.2% to 22,180.69 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1% to 7,585.15.
* * Russia promised on Tuesday to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city, but the United States warned the threat was not over as Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status in a sign of progress at face-to-face negotiations.
* * `` Risk appetite among global financial markets had improved on the positive development in Ukraine-Russia peace talks, '' said Zhang Yanbin, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.
* * Real estate developers surged 5.3% on further easing bets on the cash-starpped sector, and financials gained 2.3%.
* * Consumer staples and information technology stocks both added roughly 1.7%, tourism stocks rose 2.5%, while new energy shares jumped 2.8%.
* * China reported 1,629 confirmed coronavirus cases and 7,196 new asymptomatic cases for March 29. The eastern part of China's financial hub of Shanghai city, home to 23 million people, is in its third day of a lockdown.
* * China's factory activity likely shrank in March amid virus outbreaks, a Reuters poll showed.
* * In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Tech Index edged up 0.3% at midday break, after surging more than 2% in early morning trade, following a Wall Street Journal report that China is planning new curbs on the country's $ 30 billion live-streaming industry.
* * Short-video and live-streaming company Kuaishou Technology slumped roughly 5% after opening 8.3% higher, despite a 37.9% surge in full-year revenue.
* * Mainland developers listed in Hong Kong gained nearly 4%, with Sunac China Holdings, China Aoyuan Group and Shimao Group surging more than 10% each.
( Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) | business |
Auto manufacturers scramble as Shanghai locks down | Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown roiled auto production on Tuesday as two major suppliers joined Tesla in shutting plants to comply with measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.
General Motors Co's joint venture in Shanghai maintained production by asking workers to sleep on factory floors and getting passes for trucks to continue deliveries, two people familiar with the matter said.
A key auto supplier, Aptiv PLC, told workers at one of its Shanghai facilities that supplies Tesla and GM's Shanghai joint venture to head home on Tuesday because of the need to enforce COVID controls, people briefed on the measure said.
Thyssenkrupp said it had closed a facility in Shanghai where it assembles production lines for automotive components, including powertrains and batteries, until April 6 to comply with local coronavirus regulations.
The Aptiv and Thyssenkrupp closures came on the second day of a lockdown in Shanghai, home to 26 million people and a major hub for manufacturing of vehicles and other goods. The city has instituted tough controls on movements of people to try to control the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The lockdown, one of the biggest tests for China's `` zero-COVID '' strategy, has forced automakers and suppliers to either try to adapt with extreme measures to keep factories running or to shut down and risk delayed shipments at a time when demand for vehicles is strong.
German auto supplier Bosch on Tuesday said its two plants in Shanghai are working with reduced personnel. `` We are doing everything we can to maintain the supply chains as much as possible and to serve the demands of our customers, '' the company said in a statement.
For global automakers and suppliers, the latest coronavirus-related disruptions in China, the world's largest market, are piling on top of problems created by the war in Ukraine.
The measures GM took to keep its Shanghai plant open equate to a `` closed-loop '' management process, which China's financial hub has asked companies to adopt to stay open during a two-stage lockdown to battle its outbreak.
In the bubble-like arrangement, workers sleep, live and work in isolation from the rest of the world to prevent virus transmission. A similar system was used at the Winter Olympics in Beijing to seal event personnel off from the public.
The facilities, which GM runs as part of a joint venture with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp, produce Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles. The facilities are in areas east of Shanghai's Huangpu River that have been locked down from Monday to Friday.
CONTINGENCY PLANS
GM, which said on Monday that its Shanghai joint venture was producing normally, declined to comment on the arrangements at its factory. A spokesperson said the company and its joint ventures had developed and were executing contingency plans with their suppliers to mitigate uncertainty related to COVID-19. SAIC did not have immediate comment.
SAIC-GM's ability to keep its Shanghai production lines running contrasts with that of Tesla Inc, which Reuters reported has suspended production for the four-day period. It was unable to secure sufficient provisions for its workers to achieve closed-loop management, one source said.
The workers at the affected Aptiv site were told to stay home on Wednesday and await further notice, the four sources told Reuters. Two of the sources said the affected compound produces for Tesla and GM's Shanghai joint venture with SAIC.
Aptiv's Shanghai facilities are in the west of the city and had not been affected by the city's lockdown, which started in eastern districts. The sources said the workers at the affected facility had been told that it had to shut due to COVID-19 issues.
Aptiv declined to comment on the production suspension. `` I can confirm that we are following all government orders and not impacting customers ' production, '' an Aptiv spokesperson said. Tesla, GM and SAIC did not have immediate comment.
TCL Corp and Apple suppliers Foxconn and Shenzhen Deren Electronic Co Ltd managed to keep production going in southern China this month with closed-loop management after manufacturing hubs such as Shenzhen and Dongguan were hit by similar lockdown measures.
( Reporting by Zhang Yan and Norihiko Shirouzu; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt, writing by Brenda Goh; editing by Paul Simao, Jonathan Oatis and Sam Holmes) | business |
China, HK stocks end higher on Ukraine peace talks, policy easing bets | - China stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the property sector leading gains, as traders found comfort in the progress made in Ukraine-Russia peace talks and awaited more stimulus measures domestically.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 2.9% to 4,254.10, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2% to 3,266.60 points.
The Hang Seng index rose 1.4% to 22,232.03, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.3% to 7,609.37 points.
* * Russia promised on Tuesday to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city, but the United States warned the threat was not over as Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status in a sign of progress at face-to-face negotiations.
* * `` Risk appetite among global financial markets had improved on the positive development in Ukraine-Russia peace talks, '' said Zhang Yanbin, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.
* * Foreign investors were net buyers of China stocks on Wednesday, with Northbound inflows through Stock Connect totalling 16.9 billion yuan ( $ 2.66 billion) on the day, according to Refinitiv data.,
* * Real estate developers surged 6.8% on further bets of easing in the cash-strapped sector, and financials gained 2.9%.
* * `` Local media reported that Shenzhen will relax price restriction for developers project selling prices... it signals that as the city with strictest housing policy in China, Shenzhen is also under huge pressure to loosen policy, '' said CGS-CIMB Securities analysts.
* * `` We expect to see more local cities to follow, '' they added.
* * Consumer staples, tourism firms and new energy shares jumped more than 3% each.
* * China reported 1,629 confirmed coronavirus cases and 7,196 new asymptomatic cases for March 29. The eastern part of China's financial hub of Shanghai city, home to 23 million people, is in its third day of a lockdown.
* * China's factory activity likely shrank in March amid virus outbreaks, a Reuters poll showed.
* * The rapidly deteriorating pandemic and escalating control measures added downward pressure on the world's second-largest economy, and analysts expect the government to roll out more stimulus to achieve China's 5.5% growth target.
* * In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Tech Index edged up 0.3%, after surging more than 2% in early morning trade, following a Wall Street Journal report that China is planning new curbs on the country's $ 30 billion live-streaming industry.
* * China's tax regulator said later in the day it would require livestreaming platforms to report livestreamers' identities, income and profits every six months.
* * Short-video and live-streaming company Kuaishou Technology slumped more than 6% after opening 8.3% higher, despite a 37.9% surge in full-year revenue.
* * Mainland developers listed in Hong Kong soared nearly 6%, with Sunac China Holdings, China Aoyuan Group and Shimao Group up between 16% and 20% each.
( Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel) | business |
Adagio plans comeback for COVID drug, but is it too late? | Before these trial results, Adagio already had some data that cast doubt on whether adintrevimab would help protect against omicron. In December, the biotech announced that lab tests of adintrevimab, also known as ADG20, showed a 300-fold reduction in neutralizing activity when compared to the original coronavirus strain.
The announcement triggered a major stock sell-off, erasing nearly $ 3 billion in Adagio's market valuation. Later analyses suggested that adintrevimab retained more of its neutralizing activity against omicron than initially thought. However, amid the confusion CEO Tillman Gerngross announced his resignation.
Wednesday's news are more positive, although data were only available via a company press release and, with limited trial results versus omicron, it's unclear how the FDA might view the drug.
Adagio tested adintrevimab in three settings across two trials. The first was in people at risk of coronavirus exposure because of their work or living situations and in people who have been exposed but were not symptomatic. The second trial evaluated whether the drug kept high-risk individuals who have tested positive from being hospitalized or dying.
The prevention trial showed success in both the pre- and post-exposure groups, reducing the relative risk of symptomatic disease by 71% three months after treatment in pre-exposure and by 75% in post-exposure, compared to a placebo.
In the pre-exposure group, about 28% enrolled after omicron became dominant. Among those individuals, researchers found a 59% relative reduction in the risk of symptomatic disease after eight weeks and 47% at 11 weeks when compared to a placebo. The small number of people exposed to omicron — just 402 volunteers — could raise questions over whether adintrevimab's apparent efficacy versus the variant will hold up when studied more widely.
In the trial in high-risk patients with symptomatic disease, adintrevimab reduced the relative risk of hospitalization or death by 66% four weeks later when compared to placebo. In that trial, 19% of patients tested positive for omicron. Of those, there were only two hospitalizations and no deaths, both in the placebo group.
Adagio said it has secured 1 million doses of adintrevimab for 2022, and is also testing to see how well a higher dose works. The company is also trying to re-engineer the antibody so that it binds more tightly to both omicron strains while retaining neutralizing activity against older variants.
Shares in Adagio rose by more than half in Wednesday morning trading, though they're still worth a fraction of the $ 17 price they debuted at last year.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
The first quarter ended with biotechs raising just $ 711 million combined in IPOs, less than in the same period in each of the previous three years and a signal that valuations have tumbled during the sector’ s downturn.
For the first time in years, biotechs no longer have an easy path onto Wall Street, a market reversal that could change what the next generation of young drugmakers looks like.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
The first quarter ended with biotechs raising just $ 711 million combined in IPOs, less than in the same period in each of the previous three years and a signal that valuations have tumbled during the sector’ s downturn.
For the first time in years, biotechs no longer have an easy path onto Wall Street, a market reversal that could change what the next generation of young drugmakers looks like.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more. | tech |
Orchard turns to layoffs in cutting gene therapy research | Orchard recently secured an important agreement on reimbursement in the U.K. for Libmeldy, a gene therapy approved in Europe in December 2020 for children with early-onset metachromatic leukodystrophy. The company is working to expand newborn screening for the ultra-rare disease in other European countries, where two patients were recently treated under early access schemes.
The restructuring announced Wednesday puts Orchard's focus on Libmeldy, which the company hopes to submit for approval in the U.S. later this year or early next, as well as on two earlier gene therapies also for inherited neurometabolic diseases.
`` In light of our experiences and knowledge gained in this current and rapidly evolving market environment for gene therapy, our plan is to concentrate resources on programs that have the potential to make a remarkable difference to patients while also providing sustainable value to the business to enable the achievement our long-term vision, '' said Bobby Gaspar, Orchard's CEO, in a statement.
While Orchard will keep active other research programs for future partnerships, the company will discontinue investment in gene therapies it was developing for rare primary immune deficiencies, including two currently in clinical testing. The path to an approval application in the U.S. for one of those gene therapies is now longer, Orchard said, citing feedback the company recently received from the Food and Drug Administration.
Orchard will also discontinue investment in Strimvelis, a gene therapy originally developed by GlaxoSmithKline that was approved in Europe six years ago. Since then, only 16 patients have received the therapy, which treats a rare immune condition known as ADA-SCID.
The cutbacks aren't the first time Orchard has laid off staff and discontinued research. The company announced layoffs soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began and, in June of last year, stopped developing another treatment for ADA-SCID.
This time, Orchard has company. At least nine other cell and gene therapy developers have announced layoffs, cost cuts or altered their research plans since December. Bluebird bio, long a leading company in the field, warned investors earlier this month that there was `` substantial doubt '' about its ability to remain solvent over the next year.
With the expected cost savings, Orchard now anticipates being able to fund operations into 2024 and said it will seek `` strategic alternatives '' for its discontinued programs.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
After several family members had early heart attacks, Kathiresan vowed to understand why they happen. His research journey has changed medical practice and led to a new biotech startup, Verve Therapeutics, that seeks to prevent them.
Rapid scientific advances have put the gene therapy field at the forefront of biomedical research. But, as recent setbacks have shown, researchers and drugmakers still face major challenges.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more.
After several family members had early heart attacks, Kathiresan vowed to understand why they happen. His research journey has changed medical practice and led to a new biotech startup, Verve Therapeutics, that seeks to prevent them.
Rapid scientific advances have put the gene therapy field at the forefront of biomedical research. But, as recent setbacks have shown, researchers and drugmakers still face major challenges.
Topics covered: Pharma, biotech, FDA, gene therapy, clinical trials, drug pricing and much more. | tech |
Banks’ Fossil Finance Addiction Continues | Despite falling in 2021 from the previous year, banks had more fossil fuel financing than the year the Paris climate accords were signed.
The Paris climate agreement was signed in December 2015, and went into effect in November 2016, with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Since the ink dried on the agreement, the top 60 banks continued to finance the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $ 4.6 trillion, according to the latest report from bankingonclimatechaos.org. The types of financing the report analyzed were tar sands oil, offshore-, arctic-, and fracked oil and gas, LNG, coal mining and coal power.
Last year total financing fell to $ 741.8 billion from $ 749.9 in 2020, marking the second consecutive decline. However, that was due to the Covid pandemic, the report noted. In fact, the 2021 financing level was higher than the 723.5 billion in 2016.
The report ranked the banks based on their cumulative financing since 2016, with J.P. Morgan at the top of the list with $ 382.4 billion, followed by Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America and RBC, each of whose cumulative financing since 2016 topped $ 200 billion.
Right Direction
The report also singled out some banks ' policies as heading in the right direction. For example, France’ s La Banque Postale « has set the bar for oil and gas policies, publishing in 2021 a commitment to end financing for all companies expanding oil and gas, and exit the sector completely by 2030, » with others such as Credit Agricole and Nordea making similar commitments on coal.
Green Financing
To be sure, this is a transition of historic proportions, and while there is a long history of lending to the fossil-fuel sector, the market for « green » investment is still in its infancy, as finews.com reported.
According to statista.com, the United States was the leading issuer of « green bonds » in 2021 with $ 81.9 billion followed by China with $ 68.1 billion and Germany at $ 63.2 billion.
Swiss Banks
Switzerland's two largest banks were also included in the rankings, with Credit Suisse coming in at 19th with cumulative financing totaling $ 91.7 billion. Last year the bank had $ 9.39 billion in fossil financing, down from $ 19.7 billion in 2016, declining each year but one since then.
Recently, a group of activist investors issued a call to Credit Suisse to reduce the bank's exposure to the financing of fossil fuel companies, as finews.com reported.
The investors are concerned about financial and regulatory risks and Credit Suisse’ s reputation, the statement said, pointing out the bank continues to finance business activities which appear incompatible with the bank's stated goals of aligning its financing with the Paris Agreement.
UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, had less than half the total financing of Credit Suisse with $ 40.1 billion, according to the report, and made the list in 34th position. In 2016, UBS financed $ 7.8 billion, rising to $ 9.1 billion the following year and topping out at $ 11.0 billion in 2018. Last year, the bank had $ 3.6 billion, an increase from $ 2.3 billion the year before.
Both banks are members of Swiss Sustainable Finance, which wants financial institutions to be in a position to meet their sustainability targets by 2030.
Swiss Government
The same day as the report was released, the Swiss Federal Council announced it initiated the consultation period on the implementing ordinance on climate reporting for large Swiss companies which will run until July 7 of this year.
The ordinance provides a binding implementation of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ( TCFD) recommendations by large Swiss companies based on the benchmarks set in August 2021, and expected to come into force in 2023.
| general |
Should you pay your taxes with a credit card to get points? | This
article
is reprinted by permission from
NerdWallet
.
Can you pay taxes with a credit card?
Yes — and with the right strategy, it can be a particularly lucrative decision for points and miles enthusiasts.
Paying a giant tax bill likely doesn’ t incite warm, fuzzy feelings. But if you make the most of it, you at least might be able to cozy up in a fuzzy robe at a five-star hotel or under a blanket in your lie-flat, first-class airplane seat. That’ s because paying taxes with a credit card can sometimes help you rack up mega points and miles.
Be aware that using a credit card to pay taxes isn’ t for everyone, and it does entail fees that can sometimes exceed credit card rewards. But with the right strategy, your tax bill can net you a slew of credit card points and miles.
Decide if paying taxes with a credit card is worth the fees
The many ways to pay your taxes to the Internal Revenue Service include check, an ACH debit, wire transfer, cash payments, installment payments and yes, even credit cards.
To make an IRS payment with a credit card, you’ ll have to use one of the IRS’ three independent payment processors, which then sends your money to the IRS.
But these payment processors charge fees, which start at either $ 2.20 or 1.87% of your overall bill, whichever is higher. Here are the processors and their fees for 2022:
ACI Payments, Inc.
Pay1040
payUSAtax
Minimum fee
$ 2.20
$ 2.50
$ 2.55
Fee as a% of total bill ( if greater than minimum fee)
1.98%
1.87%
1.96%
Processing fees on a $ 500 tax bill
$ 9.90
$ 9.35
$ 9.80
Processing fees on a $ 5,000 tax bill
$ 99
$ 93.50
$ 98
Processing fees on a $ 20,000 tax bill
$ 396
$ 374
$ 392
If you file and pay through a tax software such as TurboTax, you might owe even higher fees. For example, TurboTax charges a 2.49% credit card convenience fee if you pay income tax via credit card through its website. You can file through TurboTax and pay taxes separately through one of the above payment processors ( but still expect to be charged a convenience fee by the payment processor).
Given the fees, some experts suggest avoiding paying taxes with a credit card entirely. And if your card nets you less than 1.87% back in rewards, then certainly stop reading now, as you’ ll owe more in processing fees than the value of your rewards.
But if you’ re willing to embrace your inner nerd, then read on, as you can turn your tax bill into an opportunity to accrue major miles and points.
Check out:
7 off-the-radar places worth stopping on a California road trip
Earn the most points from your tax bill
You can rack up rewards by paying your taxes on a credit card in several ways.
Earn a sum of points and miles for your spending
Many rewards credit cards earn a fixed amount of points or cash back per dollar spent. As long as your card earns more than the 1.87% -1.96% fee, this can be a small rewards-generating venture.
For instance, a small handful of cash-back cards offer 2% back ( and some offer even more), netting you 0.13% or more in earned rewards.
Charge taxes to help earn a big introductory offer
Many rewards credit cards offer introductory offers, where you can quickly amass a giant stash of points for hitting a certain minimum spending threshold within a relatively short period of time. Often, the biggest point bonuses are tied to bigger spending requirements.
You might find a card offering 100,000 points, but it’ ll also require you to spend $ 10,000 within a few months. That might not be realistic for your normal spending, but could be attainable in the month you’ re paying taxes.
Here are this month’ s best credit card
sign-up bonuses
. And if it’ s travel rewards you’ re specifically seeking, here are the
best
travel credit card welcome bonus offers right now.
Plus
:
How to get a travel rewards card if you’ re just building credit
Hit spending thresholds on existing cards for more rewards
Earning 2% cash back when you’ re paying a 1.87% credit card processing fee isn’ t exactly going to make you rich. But here’ s a potentially highly lucrative way to earn rewards: Use this chunk of spending as a way to net other rewards.
For example, many hotel cards offer
free night certificates
if you spend a hefty sum on them. Some Hilton cards offer free night certificates that can be redeemed for hotel night stays worth over $ 1,000, but they require you to charge thousands of dollars in a calendar year to the card.
Say you owe $ 15,000 in taxes and would owe $ 280.50 in Pay1040 fees. But if you charge it to the right Hilton credit card, you could walk away with a free night certificate and redeem it for a room at Hawaii’ s opulent Grand Wailea Resort, which otherwise typically costs between $ 1,200 and $ 2,000 per night.
Meanwhile, many airline credit cards allow you to spend your way to elite status. For example, JetBlue’ s
JBLU,
-1.57%
credit card offers automatic JetBlue Mosaic status ( which NerdWallet estimates has nearly $ 2,000 in value if you frequently fly JetBlue) if you spend $ 50,000 in a calendar year. That’ s an unrealistic amount for most household budgets, but might be feasible if you have a large tax bill this year.
Say you charge $ 20,000 in taxes to the card and spend around $ 2,500 monthly on the card for a year. Your tax bill would incur close to $ 400 in processing fees, but the payoff to earn elite status benefits could be worth five times that.
Get points and miles from purchasing tax software
Certain tax preparation software companies run promotions to earn bonus points if you use them. If yours does, don’ t forget to connect your accounts to take advantage.
For example, you can earn 1,000 American Airlines
AAL,
-2.12%
AAdvantage bonus miles when you purchase Basic or Deluxe H & R Block tax software before April 30. While that’ s only worth about $ 12 by NerdWallet estimates, it can be an easy way to net more miles for a purchase you’ re likely making anyway.
Don’ t miss:
Inside Airbnb’ s high-profile, if sometimes frustrating, effort to house Ukrainian refugees
Other tips for paying taxes on credit cards
If you opt to pay taxes with credit cards, there are a few other things you should know:
Understand your credit limit:
You might have a $ 10,000 tax bill to charge to a credit card, but take caution if you only have a $ 5,000 credit limit. Exceeding that limit can sometimes incur additional penalties or create a negative impact on your credit scores.
You can use multiple credit cards:
Paying taxes across multiple credit cards can be handy in avoiding that exact situation of exceeding your credit limit. Charging two different cards can also help you capitalize on two separate sign-up bonuses. If you’ re paying money owed on a Form 1040, you can use two different payment types per tax year ( or two per month if you have an installment agreement).
Avoid paying interest:
In general, it’ s not a good idea to make charges on a rewards credit card that you can not pay off in full purely for the sake of earning rewards. The amount you’ ll owe in interest is typically more than the value of the rewards.
If you can’ t afford to pay your tax bill in full, you’ re likely better off applying for a payment plan with the IRS.
Read next:
Taxpayers wasted as much as $ 13 billion on filing federal returns, when they could have filed free
The bottom line
If you’ ve got a bunch of money to spend in one go ( like taxes), you might be able to jump on a sign-up bonus or qualify for a hotel free night certificate that typically requires hefty spending.
Just understand the cost in fees before you pay taxes with your credit card.
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Sally French writes for NerdWallet. Email: sfrench @ nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @ SAFmedia. | business |
India Venture Capital Report 2022 |
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Reaching escape velocity: 2021 was a record year for VC investments in India as the start-up ecosystem reached an inflection point.
By Arpan Sheth, Sriwatsan Krishnan, Arjun Upmanyu, and Sai Deo
Report
2021 was a pivotal year for the Indian venture capital ( VC) investment landscape—a convergence of heady tailwinds coming together in a record growth year as VC funding reached $ 38.5B with several highlights:
Investing momentum was driven by a significant confluence of factors that were several years in the making: maturing digital infrastructure ( Unified Payment Interface [ UPI ] -led payment rails, cheap and ubiquitous data access and Aadhar electronic Know Your Customer [ eKYC ]), increasing depth in the start-up ecosystem and reinvigorated investor confidence as long-held capital saw significant public and secondary exits, and a positive macroeconomic outlook for India. Further, as Chinese regulators tightened control over the local tech economy ( fintech and edtech), capital deployment saw redirection to India.
“ We believe that the Indian tech market has finally hit PMF—a perfect storm of talent, capital, infrastructure, depth in demand, and other enablers is brewing. The next decade is going to be growth. ”
Total deal value of $ 38.5B in 2021 was driven by dual impact of ~2x growth in number of deals ( 1,545 deals vs. base of 809 in 2020) as well as average deal size ( expanding from $ 12.4M to $ 24.9M over 2020–21). Most significant, however, was the shift in shape of deal flow as global VCs led 90+ mega rounds of $ 100M+ ( vs. ~20 in 2020), typically as follow-on rounds in market leaders such as Swiggy ( online food delivery) and Dream11 ( gaming). Similarly, early-stage deals saw a dramatic shift in pace and ticket size, with Series A rounds hitting the $ 10M+ mark in average deal size. Further, India minted 44 unicorns in the year, becoming the third largest home of unicorns, with 73 privately held active unicorns, after the US ( ~500) and China ( ~170).
Consumer technology, fintech, and software as a service ( SaaS) continued to account for 75% + of all VC investments by value ( in line with 2020). These sectors continued to see a significant expansion in deal size, indicative of a maturing landscape. SaaS specifically saw deal size expansion as marquee Indian unicorns became category-defining leaders globally, such as Postman in API management or BrowserStack in automated testing. A few emerging sectors stood out:
“ We continue to be excited about several sub themes: enterprise SaaS across sales & support enablement, upskilling and life-long learning tech, cross-border commerce, and challenger banking services are key areas of interest. On the healthcare front, digital and consumer health, tech-enabled healthcare services, next generation manufacturing, and innovation are examples of focus themes. ”
The active investor base in India also consequently saw a significant expansion, reaching 660+ from a base of 516 in 2020. Several seed funds and family offices debuted or raised funds for early-stage rounds, becoming more significant on the pre-seed to Series A landscape. Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital retained the top spots on the leaderboard in terms of deal volume and capital deployed, while SoftBank remained competitive on capital deployment, focusing selectively on large deals.
New investors made significant inroads into India in 2021: ( a) several Tier 1 global VCs and crossover funds ( e.g., Technology Crossover Ventures [ TCV ] and Dragoneer Investment Group) made large investments, ( b) emerging domestic VCs gained presence ( e.g., 3one4 Capital), and ( c) global sovereign funds ( e.g., Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company [ ADQ ], Qatar Investment Authority [ QIA ]) made direct investments. Sector-focused global and domestic funds doubled down ( e.g., Ribbit Capital in fintech or DSG Consumer Partners in consumer tech). Further, traditional PE funds such as KKR or Warburg Pincus also demonstrated an increasing focus on growth equity deals. Most funds have also forayed into offering several portfolio advisory services spanning from recruitment to business development to help differentiate their capital.
2021 was also a defining year for exits. Total VC exits reached north of $ 14B across secondary transactions and initial public offerings ( IPOs). Secondary transactions led 60% of the exit value, anchored by a few marquee deals ( BillDesk acquisition by PayU at $ 4.7B, and partial exit by Kalaari in Dream11 at $ 400M). Further, companies with VC backing accounted for at least five high-profile IPOs in the year in a major shift as the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI) relaxed norms for listing on the public bourses. Retail investor appetite for tech-led scrips further drove record levels of oversubscription for these IPOs ( e.g., Zomato oversubscribed at 7.5x while Nykaa was oversubscribed at 12.2x for retail investors).
The Indian start-up ecosystem reached an inflection point in maturity in 2021, fuelled by VC investments. With $ 400B+ in valuation across a burgeoning ecosystem of 50K+ active start-ups, companies are looking to unlock significant economic value, addressing major pain points for consumers and small and medium businesses ( SMBs). 2021 also saw significant wealth creation through employee stock ownership plan ( ESOP) liquidation—30+ start-ups announced ESOP buybacks.
Global headwinds in early 2022 are likely to affect the funding outlook for the rest of the year. Although we expect investments in 2022 to remain in a similar range as 2021 ( driven by existing dry powder), the pace and quality of deals is likely to shift. Investors are expected to double down more significantly on quality assets with larger rounds, and a more measured pace of dealmaking. Compressed multiples in global public markets will probably see a trickle-down impact, leading to rationalisation in valuations and a focus on unit economics. Exits via public listings may also see some moderation as IPOs in the pipeline may adopt a wait-and-watch stance given global headwinds in public markets. A few emergent sectors, however, will continue to see interest: Web 3.0 or crypto-based investments ( especially with the Indian government’ s ruling on validity of digital assets), creator commerce, and core sectors, such as agritech and healthtech.
Some India-specific trends may further affect momentum over 2022: ( a) stricter IPO norms are expected to be rolled out by SEBI, specifically focused on capping investor share offloading at IPO; ( b) regulatory shifts are likely to continue to affect a few sectors such as online gaming, cryptocurrency, and fintech; and ( c) talent attraction and retention will continue to remain top of mind for scaling start-ups.
“ We expect tech valuations to be restrained this year, especially across growth and late-stage financings. On the early side, we believe deal activity in the industry will be muted compared to 2021 but still higher versus the previous years, given the fundamental consumer shifts driven by the Covid-19 lockdowns, and substantial dry powder in the market. ”
Established, for over a decade, by industry professionals with a unified aim to drive forward alternate capital industry in India. The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association ( IVCA) is India’ s apex body representing the interests of PE/VC industry, real estate, infrastructure and credit funds, limited partners, family offices, and VCs.
IVCA is a nonprofit organisation powered by its members. The members are firms from around the world, including investment managers, investment advisors, general partners, funds whose sponsors are sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, national governments, large government entities, bilateral/multilateral financial institution, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices.
Undeterred by global turbulence, investors propel deal value to a new high.
Margin expansion and revenue growth are bound to become more important.
The industry logged records for the number of deals and disclosed value in 2021, and competition for deals should intensify.
Healthcare’ s resilience attracts both more capital and creative new forms of capital.
The industry roared back after a pandemic-induced lull in 2020.
Stay ahead in a rapidly changing world. Subscribe to Bain Insights, our monthly look at the critical issues facing global businesses.
© 1996-2022 Bain & Company, Inc. | business |
Two Cruise Lines to Buy and One to Sell, According to One Analyst | Cruise lines are trading down along with the broader market on Wednesday, but Carnival is seeing deeper losses than peers Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings following a skeptical take on the former from Wells Fargo —at least for now.
Analyst Daniel Politzer initiated coverage on all three U.S. cruise stocks on Wednesday. He is optimistic about the sector, which he calls “ one of the few remaining recovery stories ” among consumer stocks, citing his “ expectation for improving fundamentals in the coming quarters. ”
The industry received positive news on Wednesday, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its travel health advisory for cruise ships. The move means travelers must determine their own Covid-19 risk assessment when traveling on a cruise ship, the CDC said.
Politzer’ s optimism doesn’ t extend to Carnival ( CCL), which he rates at Underweight with a $ 21 price target. As is so often the case recently, blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Politzer is concerned by the company’ s international footprint—historically North America has accounted for less of its business than peers— ” which can be a challenge during periods of geopolitical tensions. ”
He also worries about Carnival’ s pricing power. Carnival is set to increase capacity ( i.e. new ships and berths) by 5.7% this year, its highest level in more than a decade, but historically yields, or pricing, has lagged on added capacity. “ With pricing a key driver for cruise line stocks ( higher yields flow straight to the bottom line), we see less opportunity for Carnival to achieve outsized ” earnings growth relative to peers, he writes.
That said, he notes that if the situation in Ukraine were to resolve, Carnival could also see a bigger bounce back that other cruise lines.
Yet absent a resolution, Politzer is more bullish on Royal Caribbean ( RCL) and Norwegian ( NCLH), starting coverage of both with Buy ratings and price targets of $ 93 and $ 27, respectively.
For Royal Caribbean, he highlights the company’ s industry-leading technology and pricing power, relatively high exposure to North American market, and the fact that it hedges fuel exposure, which should offer some protection from the recent spike in oil prices.
In terms of Norwegian, Politzer likes its “ smaller and more nimble fleet ” as well as new ships that allow it to command premium prices.
Carnival is off 1.5% to $ 19.63 at recent check, while Royal Caribbean is roughly flat and Norwegian is down 0.1% to $ 21.17.
Cruise lines as a whole were understandably hit hard throughout the pandemic, and while travel restrictions have been lifted in the U.S. and some other western nations, they persist elsewhere in the world. Moreover, while the threat of Covid-19 appears to be waning, the threat of new variants has kept pushing out the group’ s recovery.
Analysts as a whole aren’ t ready to pronounce smooth sailing ahead: Norwegian is the favorite of the three, but still just 41% of analysts tracked by FactSet have a Buy rating or the equivalent on the shares, though none are bearish. Thirty-five percent are bullish on Royal Caribbean, and Carnival is the laggard, with just 32% of analysts rating it Buy, and five bears. | business |
Watch live: Biden speaks about U.S. fight against Covid | [ The stream has ended. ]
President Joe Biden gave a speech Wednesday about the fight against Covid-19 in the U.S.
The president's remarks come a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a fourth Covid vaccine shot of Pfizer or Moderna for people ages 50 or older. The CDC also recommended that certain younger people with compromised immune systems should receive a fifth of dose.
Biden received his fourth dose after his speech.
Congress is also fumbling billions of dollars in Covid funding as a more contagious subvariant of omicron, BA.2, takes hold across the country. BA.2 has caused new outbreaks in Europe and China, though White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he does not expect another surge here.
However, the Biden administration has warned Congress that failing to pass $ 22.5 billion in new Covid money will result in drastic cuts to the nation's pandemic response plan, leaving the nation unprepared if another surge takes places.
Read CNBC's latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic: | business |
Oil falls more than 3% as Asia-Pacific stocks mostly decline | SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday as oil prices fell sharply.
In the afternoon of Asia trading hours, international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 3.48% to $ 109.50 per barrel. U.S. crude futures dropped 4.23% to $ 103.26 per barrel.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is considering a plan to release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic petroleum reserve for about six months, a source told NBC News. Global oil prices have spiked in volatile trade since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a month ago.
`` The issues we are seeing with Russia are medium to longer term in nature, and unfortunately, an SPR release is only a short-term solution, '' said Warren Peterson, head of commodities strategy at ING. `` Ultimately, these volumes would still fall short of the Russian disruptions we are seeing due to self-sanctioning, so the market will remain tight. ''
Meanwhile, Ziemba Insights ' Rachel Ziemba said she 'd be watching for messaging regarding the refill of supplies.
`` The question comes back of this issue about what's the messaging about how it's going to be refilled. Otherwise, it 'll just sort of look like a … short-term political move and I think that's going to end up backfiring, '' Ziemba, founder of the firm, told CNBC's `` Street Signs Asia '' on Thursday.
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In the broader Asia-Pacific markets, mainland Chinese stocks declined on the day as the Shanghai composite shed 0.44% to 3,252.20 while the Shenzhen component slipped 1.187% to 12,118.25.
Chinese factory activity shrunk in March, according to official data released Thursday. The country's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers ' Index for March came in at 49.5, lower than February's reading of 50.2.
The 50-point mark in PMI readings separates growth from contraction. PMI readings are sequential and represent month-on-month expansion or contraction.
The data comes after an independent survey by China Beige Book showed China's factories were hit harder in the first quarter than last year. In recent weeks, China has also been battling its most severe Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic began.
`` The Omicron outbreaks in many Chinese cities led to lockdowns and disruption of industrial production, '' Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a Thursday note. Economic activity is likely to slow further in April, he warned, pointing to a lockdown in Shanghai that only began in late March.
`` The lockdown policy is effective in containing outbreaks in the short term, but in the long term the economic costs could be significant, '' Zhang said.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also fell 0.66%, as of its final hour of trading. Shares of Baidu in the city tumbled more than 3% after the firm was added to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission list of companies potentially facing delisting from U.S. exchanges.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan closed 0.73% lower at 27,821.43 while the Topix index dipped 1.08% to 1,946.40. South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.4%, finishing the trading day at 2,757.65.
Meanwhile, the S & P/ASX 200 in Australia shed 0.2%, closing at 7,499.60.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.44%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.787 as it struggles to recover after dropping from levels above 99 earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 121.45 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 124 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $ 0.7477, having largely traded in a range between $ 0.747 and $ 0.753 so far this week.
— CNBC's Will Koulouris contributed to this report. | business |
Walgreens turns to robots to fill prescriptions, as pharmacists take on more responsibilities | In this article
NORTHLAKE, Texas — Bright yellow robotic arms are becoming a bigger part of Walgreens ' workforce.
Inside of a large facility in the Dallas area, they fill thousands of prescriptions for customers who take medications to manage or treat high blood pressure, diabetes or other conditions. Each robot can fill 300 prescriptions in an hour, the company said — roughly the same number that a typical Walgreens pharmacy with a handful of staff may do in a day.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is opening the automated, centralized hubs to keep up in the fast-changing pharmacy industry. The pandemic has intensified the drugstore chain's need to stay relevant as online pharmacies siphon off sales and more customers have items from toilet paper to toothpaste delivered to their doorstep. The global health crisis has also heightened demand for pharmacists, as hospitals and drugstores hired them to administer Covid vaccines and tests.
That has forced Walgreens and its competitors, CVS Health and Rite Aid, to rethink the role of their stores and pharmacists.
Walgreens ' new CEO, former Starbucks operating chief Roz Brewer, wants to make health care the company's `` growth engine. '' It acquired the majority stake of VillageMD, a primary care company, and iA, a pharmacy and health-care automation technology company that is helping it build out the centralized hubs. It is exploring a potential sale of its U.K.-based Boots business.
By 2025, as much as half of Walgreens ' prescription volume from stores could be filled at the automated centers, said Rex Swords, who oversees facilities as Walgreens ' group president of centralized services, operations and planning.
That will free up more of pharmacists ' time to provide health care, Brewer said in an interview with CNBC's Bertha Coombs.
`` We're doing all of this work, so that the pharmacist has an easier job, so that they can get back to being front and center, building a relationship with that patient and interacting the way they were trained — the work that they love to do, '' she said.
Pharmacists will continue to fill time-sensitive medications and controlled substances at local stores as the company expands its use of robots.
Brian Tanquilut, an analyst for Jefferies, said the automation could help Walgreens focus on ways to differentiate from online pharmacies suh as Amazon-owned PillPack and Capsule, and CVS, which owns health insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefits manager Caremark.
`` This is a complementary move to some of the health-care strategy they 've laid out, '' he said.
CVS uses robotics to assist in filling prescriptions in its highest volume stores, but through a spokesperson, the company declined to say how much of its overall volume is filled by automation.
Walgreens will share its fiscal second-quarter earnings on Thursday.
The robot-powered center in Northlake, roughly 36 miles northwest of Dallas, offers a glimpse of Walgreens ' future. It is staffed by 220 workers, including a handful of licensed pharmacists.
Each day, about 35,000 prescriptions are filled at the Dallas area facility — but eventually that number will increase to as many as 100,000 daily, Swords said.
Over the next three years, Walgreens plans to grow to a total of 22 facilities that serve over 8,500 of the company's nearly 9,000 stores. It has opened two others near Phoenix and Memphis.
Instead of getting filled by hand, pill bottles and caps move through a choreographed and highly automated assembly line.
A team of workers feed robot pods containers of pills. Each medication gets its own canister and pill counter. A yellow robotic arm grabs a labeled pill bottle and holds it up to the canister, which dispenses pills like a carefully calibrated vending machine.
Then, before the pill bottle leaves the pod, it get topped with a cap.
In the Dallas facility, the robot pods can dispense about 900 different medications. Some common medications are in multiple dispensers to keep up with the workload.
Pill bottles travel along the track. At one station, some get paired up with a patient's other medications or the rest of his or her 90-day medication supply. Scanners read bar codes, so printers can prepare paperwork and bags that customers will later pick up.
Those prescriptions — now packaged in a bag — are ferried by Roomba-like rolling robots. The devices sort prescriptions and drop them into plastic totes that head to the same pharmacy location.
About 30% of prescriptions at the facility skip the automated assembly line, Swords said. Instead, workers manually prepare items like asthma inhalers, eye drops and temperature-controlled medications.
There are security and safety checks throughout the process, including pharmacists who verify the medications in canisters and pill bottles, electronic locks on the robot pods that can detect and stop dispensing if a canister is in the wrong spot, and zip ties on totes that transport the filled prescriptions to stores.
The facilities do not yet fill direct mail prescriptions, but that is on the program's roadmap, Swords said.
Trucks from AmeriSourceBergen drive the ready-to-pickup prescriptions to more than 500 drugstores across most of Texas, parts of Arkansas and parts of Louisiana — a radius of about 400 miles. The same trucks also deliver wholesale drugs to those pharmacies.
To customers, the change to automation would be hard to detect — aside from slightly different packaging.
For Walgreens, the investment could translate into cost savings and new streams of revenue. Walgreens President John Standley said at the company's investor day in October that the micro-fulfillment centers will reduce the company's working capital by $ 1.1 billion by 2025.
As more prescriptions get filled by robots, he said pharmacists can take on other duties that Walgreens can bill to insurers or customers, such as testing and treating medical conditions like strep or the flu and writing prescriptions for people at risk of HIV.
For example, as part of a pilot program, pharmacists in Ohio are counseling and managing care for patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Rick Fernandez, a regional health care director for Walgreens in the Dallas area, said the pandemic underscored the value of pharmacists and how they can be used in smarter ways.
`` It's kind of dreary to be filling scripts all day long, '' he said. `` What we were hearing was pharmacy was more of an asset that people gave us credit for. ''
Jefferies ' Tanquilut said the automation can reduce staffing needs and turn pharmacists into more hands-on medical providers. It's not clear how that may play out — whether that will mean smaller pharmacy staff or a workforce that's the same size or bigger, but with different roles. Another factor is state laws. Walgreens is urging state lawmakers to allow pharmacists to provide a longer list of health-care services.
The challenge, he said, will be convincing customers and insurers to pay — rather than expecting free advice.
`` One of the key questions is 'Are you getting paid for these things? ' '' he said. `` The idea or the hope is that over time, there will be actual reimbursement for them providing that service to patients. ''
Join us for Healthy Returns on Wednesday, March 30 to hear health care experts, including Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer, discuss health tech investing, the drug market, health equity, wellness programs and more. Register here. | business |
How Google and Amazon bankrolled a 'grassroots ' activist group of small business owners to lobby against Big Tech oversight | In this article
Clay Montgomery owns a small blacksmith shop called `` Arrow M Enterprises '' outside of Mingus, Texas, where he manufactures hand-forged metal works and grilling tools. He also sells a spicy barbeque sauce and a meat rub called `` Bite My Butt. ''
In recent years, Montgomery's blacksmith shop has been listed as a member of a Washington, D.C.-based trade group called the `` Connected Commerce Council '' that claims to lobby on behalf of small businesses. On its website, the council describes itself as a non-profit membership organization with a single goal: `` to promote small businesses ' access to essential digital technologies and tools. ''
The group, which campaigns against aggressive regulation of big tech companies, also says it wants to ensure `` policymakers understand the essential intersection of technology and small business, '' according to its website.
But there's just one problem: Montgomery says he's not a member and, in fact, has never heard of the Connected Commerce Council. The blacksmith told CNBC he would never join a tech lobbying group in Washington. `` Technology is not exactly my forte, '' he said.
Montgomery isn't the only small business owner bewildered to find their names listed as a member of the Connected Commerce Council, which also goes by `` 3C. '' More than 20 other `` members '' contacted by CNBC said they similarly had never heard of the council and did not know why they were on their membership list.
The council, which pitches itself as a grassroots movement representing small business owners, is actually a well-financed advocacy group funded by tech heavy hitters Google and Amazon. The two tech companies are listed as `` partners '' on the organization's website. They are also currently the council's sole financial support, 3C spokesman Chris Grimm confirmed to CNBC.
Lobbying watchdog group the Campaign for Accountability called 3C an `` Astroturf '' lobbying organization, thanks to the tech giants ' financial support. That's a bit of Washington slang for a group that claims to represent grassroots entities, but in reality serves as an advocate for big industry. It's a tactic used in Washington to push for specific legislative or regulatory goals using the sympathetic face of mom and pop organizations. The Campaign for Accountability described 3C in a 2019 report as an `` Astroturf-style front group for the nation's largest technology companies. ''
`` Big Tech knows that voters and their representatives aren't hugely sympathetic toward the complaints of trillion-dollar corporations, so they 've decided to paint small businesses as the real victims of antitrust legislation, '' said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability.
To be sure, the group does have some active small business members, several of whom told CNBC they value 3C's offerings and agree with its issue advocacy in Washington.
Small business owners like Michelle Thom, owner of and a stylist at `` A Wild Hair by Michelle '' salon in St. Clair, Minnesota, are considerably more sympathetic to members of Congress than wealthy technology executives. The Connected Commerce Council listed her company on its website as a member, but Thom told CNBC she had never heard of the group and her business should not be on its roster.
The owner of Bud's Barbershop in Wylie, Texas, who declined to give his name, was similarly listed as a member even though he said he has never heard of the group.
Christine Little, whose company, 1058 Auto and Towing in Swansea, South Carolina, was also listed as a member, said she didn't know anything about the council either. `` I 'm pretty sure I 'd probably remember '' joining the group, she told CNBC. `` We just tow. ''
And it's not just small firms that told CNBC they aren't sure why they were listed on the 3C website. Until this week, the council also had a page on its website listing its `` partners '' – companies that the website suggested support the council's efforts. That page featured the logos of three tech giants: Amazon, Google and payment processor Square, which recently changed its name to Block.
But Block, which was created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, told CNBC it was not actually a partner of the Connected Commerce Council, despite the listing on 3C's website. The Connected Commerce Council pulled Square's logo from its website on Monday after CNBC contacted Block, which said it asked 3C to remove its name.
Grimm said 3C removed Square's logo Monday after CNBC's inquiry because Square is `` no longer an active partner of the Connected Commerce Council. ''
In a statement to CNBC, Connected Commerce Council Executive Director Rob Retzlaff said all of the group's members `` affirmatively sign up – at events, online, or through a personal connection – and thousands have opened emails, responded to surveys, attended meetings and events, and communicated with legislators. ''
Retzlaff said, `` I sincerely hope you do not ( a) mischaracterize our efforts or the views of small businesses by suggesting we are an astroturf organization that puts words in people's mouths, or ( b) use outdated membership information to distract readers from legitimate concerns of small businesses and their engagement with policymakers. ''
In February, the group also quietly removed a list of thousands of grassroots members from its website. Grimm, the council's spokesman, said it pulled the list because it fell behind in updating its member list. He said the group has more than 16,000 current members but did not provide a current list of them.
The Connected Commerce Council does not charge fees to its members or bill them for services, Grimm said. It is not clear whether the group has any sources of revenue beyond donations from the large technology companies. Documents filed with the IRS show the group received more than $ 1.6 million in revenue in 2018. That year, it spent more than $ 100,000 on a strategic communications firm in Washington.
Spokespeople for Google and Amazon both confirmed that the companies are affiliated with the Connected Commerce Council. They declined to say how much the companies donate, but they did not deny donating.
Facebook was also listed as a partner of 3C as recently as 2020, according to The Washington Post, but has since discontinued its involvement, according to a person familiar with the decision who requested anonymity to speak more candidly. A spokesman for Facebook's parent company, Meta, declined to comment or answer questions about how much money the company has previously given to 3C.
The Connected Commerce Council has been active in shaping the debate around antitrust regulation in Washington. It's worked with an outside lobbying firm, called the Majority Group, for several years to advocate on small business and technology issues on Capitol Hill. In 2021, the group spent $ 400,000 on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2018, the Connected Commerce Council offered public comment to the Federal Trade Commission on antitrust issues, arguing that large technology platforms such as Amazon and others provide benefits to small businesses.
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda sent a statement when asked about the company's involvement in 3C. He said many small businesses are concerned `` that Congress's controversial bills could harm the digital tools that they have relied on to adapt, recover and reach new customers throughout the pandemic. We encourage concerned businesses and the organizations that represent them to ask Congress to consider the unintended consequences of these bills for small businesses across the country. ''
The Connected Commerce Council, which has just 304 followers on Facebook, has been an active advertiser on the platform since its page was created in 2018. Since then, it's spent more than $ 600,000 on advertising in that time, including more than $ 9,000 in the last week, according to the company's advertising library, which discloses the sponsors and advertisements in such campaigns.
The ads sponsored by the Connected Commerce Council often support the same positions as the large tech companies that bankroll the group. The tech giants have also been advocating against several bills on Capitol Hill that would impose antitrust rules on the tech firms or make it easier to break them up altogether. One bill, for example, would block companies, including Amazon and Google, from pushing their own products in online marketplaces at the expense of their own competitors.
`` Don't let Congress give away America's technological edge. Send a letter, '' reads one ad sponsored by the Connected Commerce Council in March that's been viewed more than 125,000 times, according to Facebook. A message in the same ad reads, `` Harmful legislation in Congress will weaken America's economy and threaten our small businesses. ''
Another ad running in March refers directly to Amazon, which is one of the companies that finances the Connected Commerce Council. `` Amazon Marketplace is at risk, '' the ad says. `` Take this survey and stand up to Congress. '' The advertisement, which Facebook says has been viewed more than 8,000 times, also asks: `` Are you a small business seller? We're counting on your experience to help fight harmful legislation in Congress. ''
An online survey run on Facebook by the council tells Amazon Marketplace users, `` As you may be aware, some elected officials think Amazon is too big, and that is dangerous because we know Amazon helps our members and millions of small businesses sell more products and make more money! ''
The council runs like a well-oiled advocacy group. By 2019, 3C's lobbyists had met with 50 members of Congress, filed seven official comments at regulatory agencies and sent two representatives to testify before Congress, according the Campaign for Accountability's 2019 report. The council also `` published a raft of materials painting a rosy picture of the tech giants, complete with quotes from small business owners heaping praise on them, '' the report said.
`` For the Connected Commerce Council to succeed, it needs to convince legislators that it's truly advocating on behalf of the more than 10,000 small businesses it claims to represent, '' said Kuppersmith, executive director of the watchdog group. `` However, when you start to peel back the curtain on the organization just a bit, it's clear that this image of enthusiastic antitrust opposition is fueled by Big Tech cash. ''
The group pointed to plenty of small business owners who are legitimate members. Former 3C board member Mimi Striplin founded the Tiny Tassel in Charleston, South Carolina, which sells jewelry and accessories.
`` They're a great resource as a small business to get access to digital tools, '' she says of the group. 3C `` keeps me informed about new bills being passed. '' Striplin said new antitrust laws could negatively impact the affordability of the digital tools she depends on, such as social media and software to make her products more visible on Google.
Striplin's small shop caught the attention of Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Meta. In 2020, Sandberg designated the Tiny Tassel's earrings as one of her personal picks for Facebook's # BuyBlack Friday gift guide, which encouraged users to support Black-owned businesses. Striplin said the selection of her products by Sandberg was not connected to her membership in 3C.
Current board member Salil Gandhi operates a social media and digital marketing company called SBO Buzz in Chicago. He said the group provided a valuable platform for small business leaders during the Covid pandemic, including offering a regular Zoom happy hour for 15 to 30 small business owners to check in on each other.
`` We would get together and have a cocktail and talk about problems we were having, PPP issues, or other problems we were having as small business owners, '' Gandhi said. `` I 'm still friends with a lot of the people I met through there. ''
Gandhi said he doesn't mind that the small business advocacy group is largely funded by big tech companies because small businesses already depend on Google and other firms for free tools to run their operations, including Gmail accounts. `` When I look at issues, I look at them from my perspective, '' he said. `` It's not like anybody's ever telling me what to say or what's going on. ''
Council member Alfred Mai, who founded ASM Games with his wife in 2017, said he relies on Amazon to sell his products and agrees with the group's push against antitrust initiatives in Washington. The company sells card games for social gatherings, including games called `` These Cards will Get You Drunk '' and `` Do You Really Know Your Family? '' He says Amazon has been crucial to the success of his business.
`` These antitrust, quote unquote, 'break up Big Tech ' bills can critically affect my business, '' Mai said. `` This really isn't just about Big Tech it's also about small business. ''
He said he worries about unintended consequences of congressional action and the possibility that Amazon might be forced to shut down its third-party marketplace site, where he sells his card games.
`` I 'm not sitting here being brainwashed by an Amazon lobbyist telling me 'this is what you should believe, ' '' Mai said. `` I truly believe it. ''
— CNBC's Bria Cousins and Paige Tortorelli contributed to this report. | business |
Analysis: Assessing the supply chain risk landscape for UK businesses | Already strained by trading challenges brought about by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, UK exporters are now faced with navigating the trading restrictions imposed on Russia and Belarus in the last few weeks. Tommaso Aquilante, associate director of economic research at business intelligence firm Dun & Bradstreet, was formerly an economist at the European Central... | general |
What to do if student loans actually restart in May | There are a number of reasons to believe that the Biden administration will extend the payment pause for student loan borrowers beyond the current expiration date in May.
The White House has already hinted it might do so, and student loan servicers have been told to hold off on sending out notices about the bills resuming to the tens of millions of Americans with the debt.
Yet with payments set to start up again in just around a month, there's been no official announcement on an extension.
More from Personal Finance: Who felt the biggest pinch from rising gas pricesWhy high gas prices fall harder on lower earnersMore Americans are living paycheck to paycheck
Given all the uncertainty, experts recommend that borrowers be prepared for life with student loans again. Even if there is an extension, after all, the bills will likely restart eventually.
Here are the steps they say you should take to get ready.
Three companies that serviced federal student loans — Navient, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( also known as FedLoan) and Granite State — all recently announced that they 'd be ending their relationship with the government.
As a result, around 16 million borrowers will have a different company to deal with by the time payments resume, or not long after, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Double-check that your servicer has your current contact information, so that you receive all the notices about the upcoming change, Kantrowitz said.
Impacted borrowers should get multiple notices, said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for federal student loan servicers.
Come May, if you mistakenly send a payment to your old servicer, the money should be forwarded to your new one, Buchanan said.
If you remain unemployed or are dealing with another financial hardship because of the Covid pandemic, you 'll have options come May.
First, put in a request for the economic hardship or the unemployment deferment, experts say. Those are the ideal ways to postpone your federal student loan payments because interest doesn't accrue under them.
If you don't qualify for either, though, you can use a forbearance to continue suspending your bills. Just keep in mind that interest will rack up and your balance will be larger — sometimes much larger — when you resume paying.
If you expect your struggles to last a while, it may make sense to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan.
These programs aim to make borrowers ' payments more affordable by capping their monthly bills at a percentage of their discretionary income and forgiving any of their remaining debt after 20 years or 25 years.
Many people's lives have been changed by the pandemic.
If your circumstances look different than they did more than two years ago, it may make sense to review the payment plans available to you and find one that's the best fit for your current situation.
In the meantime, the law has also changed.
Student loan forgiveness is now tax-free until at least 2025, thanks to a provision included in the $ 1.9 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package that President Joe Biden signed into law in March of last year. That policy will likely become permanent.
That may make income-driven repayment plans more appealing, since they often come with lower monthly bills and borrowers will likely no longer be hit with a massive tax bill at the end of their 20 years or 25 years of payments.
But if you can afford it, the standard repayment plan is just 10 years.
To calculate how much your monthly bill would be under different plans, use one of the calculators at Studentaid.gov or Freestudentloanadvice.org, said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.
If you do decide to change your repayment plan, Mayotte recommends submitting that application to do so with your servicer now.
`` I have significant concerns that there will be some big servicing delays, '' Mayotte said. | business |
Lockdowns fail to dent China’ s appetite for salmon | For all the latest industry news, markets and jobs in aquaculture
Despite the resurgence of Covid in some parts of the country, seafood exports to China have got off to a strong start in the first two months of this year with salmon taking the lead.
The Norwegian Seafood Council says that 28,500 tonnes of fish worth NOK 1.2bn ( £100m) were sold during January and February.
Thanks to rising prices, this represents an increase of 111% on the same period in 2021 and a rise of 30% in volume terms.
The Seafood Council said the jump in value was driven both by increased volumes and by higher prices for salmon which have risen sharply in recent weeks.
It adds: “ Salmon accounts for 45% of the export value, and this is higher than what we have seen earlier for this period. In addition, we are also seeing a strong increase in value for both whitefish and pelagics. ”
The city of Shanghai, with a population of 26 million, has just gone into a 10-day lockdown to stem a sharp rise in Covid cases.
The Seafood Council said Chinese Civil Aviation Administration recently announced that between now and 1 May five airlines are diverting flights away from Shanghai to other cities in China. | general |
Is the New Stagflation Policy-Proof? by Nouriel Roubini & Brunello Rosa | Like the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's war in Ukraine has contributed to the stagflationary pressures in the United States and other advanced economies. While fiscal and monetary authorities currently have the situation under control, they are likely to run up against the limits of their policy options as conditions change.
NEW YORK – The global economy has suffered two large negative supply-side shocks, first from the COVID-19 pandemic and now from Russian President Vladimir Putin’ s invasion of Ukraine. The war has further disrupted economic activity and resulted in higher inflation, because its short-term effects on supply and commodity prices have combined with the consequences of excessive monetary and fiscal stimulus across advanced economies, especially the United States but also in other advanced economies.
Putting aside the war’ s profound long-term geopolitical ramifications, the immediate economic impact has come in the form of higher energy, food, and industrial metal prices. This, together with additional disruptions to global supply chains, has exacerbated the stagflationary conditions that emerged during the pandemic.
A stagflationary negative supply shock poses a dilemma for central bankers. Because they care about anchoring inflation expectations, they need to normalize monetary policy quickly, even though that will lead to a further slowdown and possibly a recession. But because they also care about growth, they need to proceed slowly with policy normalization, even though that risks de-anchoring inflation expectations and triggering a wage-price spiral.
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Cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based technologies are here to stay. But what will their next chapter look like?
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Writing for PS since 2007 162 Commentaries
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Nouriel Roubini, Professor Emeritus of Economics at New York University’ s Stern School of Business, is Chief Economist at Atlas Capital Team, CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, and Co-Founder of TheBoomBust.com. He is a former senior economist for international affairs in the White House’ s Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration and has worked for the International Monetary Fund, the US Federal Reserve, and the World Bank. His website is NourielRoubini.com, and he is the host of NourielToday.com.
Writing for PS since 2018 5 Commentaries
Brunello Rosa, CEO of Rosa & Roubini Associates, is a visiting professor at Bocconi University.
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If I read this right, Prof. Roubini considers that governments ' policy options — as regards monetary policy, fiscal spending, and taxation — are: -- Tighter monetary policy. -- Looser monetary policy. -- More fiscal spending. -- Less fiscal spending. -- Lower taxes. Am I missing something?
Roubini lays it out well -- policy is difficult when objectives conflict. A lot will depend on the supply side and how expectations emerge, but there is no doubt that stagflation is hard to manage.
Generally! The COVID-19 and the war of the Russian and Ukraine are going to decrease the economic.
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Faced with populist demagogues, the judiciary often must choose between bending the knee or defiantly asserting the supremacy of fundamental legal norms. Ketanji Brown Jackson took the latter route in her recent Supreme Court confirmation hearing; but she will now join an institution that has come to be regarded as political through and through.
While the terrible human and physical cost of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine is understandably the focus of political attention, the fight against global warming risks becoming another casualty of the war. What can policymakers do to prevent 2022 from being a lost year for climate action?
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COVID-19’ s Lessons for Democracies by Yves Leterme | While pandemics are rare, natural disasters, financial crises, and industrial accidents occur on a regular basis. By assessing the response to COVID-19, governments can craft more flexible, equitable plans to manage future emergencies and strengthen democratic institutions.
BRUSSELS – For more than two years, COVID-19 has taken lives, destroyed livelihoods, disrupted daily routines, and dominated political discussion around the world. As the acute phase of the pandemic comes to an end, we must evaluate what COVID-19 has revealed about the ability of democratic systems to respond to such emergencies.
There are several lessons to be learned from a crisis that has caused the death of over six million people and produced the deepest recession since World War II. Over the past year, Club de Madrid’ s Global Commission on Democracy and Emergencies brought together former heads of state and government, eminent experts, and civil-society leaders from around the world to discuss what COVID-19 has taught us, and how our countries can plan for future crises.
Just as no one ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and they are not the same person, no country ever experiences the same disaster twice. But learning from one emergency is essential to preparing for the next. Although pandemics are rare, epidemics, natural disasters, financial crises, and industrial accidents are regular occurrences. Governments, legislative bodies, judicial institutions, civil society, and international organizations must be equipped to promote resilience in the face of crisis.
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Yves Leterme, a former prime minister of Belgium, is Chair of the Global Commission on Democracy and Emergencies and a member of Club de Madrid.
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Like previous disruptions to the global economy, Russia’ s war in Ukraine has highlighted the fallacy of relying on markets alone to mitigate risks and strengthen countries’ resilience. Neoliberalism has failed yet another test and must finally be replaced by a new economic vision based on new values.
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Biden gets second Covid booster and says US at a ‘ new moment in this pandemic’ – as it happened | Richard Luscombe
Wed 30 Mar 2022 21.21 BST First published on Wed 30 Mar 2022 14.16 BST
From 7.07pm BST
19:07
Joe Biden was just at the podium in the White House launching a government website for coronavirus information, and telling the nation: “ We’ re now at a new moment in this pandemic. It does not mean that Covid-19 is over. It means that Covid-19 no longer controls our lives. ”
“ Thanks to the foundation we’ ve laid, America has the tools to protect our people, ” the president said, promoting the new website covid.gov.
“ The bottom line, no longer will Americans have to scour the internet to find vaccines, treatments, tests or masks. ”
But he swiftly turned his remarks towards asking Congress for more money to continue the effort to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
“ Just as we’ ve reached a critical turning point in this fight, Congress has to provide the funding America needs to continue to fight Covid-19, ” he said.
“ This isn’ t partisan, it’ s medicine, ” he added, warning that without the $ 22.5bn his administration is asking for, monoclonal antibodies will begin to run out by the end of May and preventive therapies for the immunocompromised will be exhausted by the fall.
‘ It does not mean that COVID-19 is over, it means that COVID-19 no longer controls our lives’ — On Wednesday, Pres. Biden provided an update on his admin’ s response to the pandemic, which now includes https: //t.co/LDEdMq9eOg, a ‘ one-stop shop’ website full of resources pic.twitter.com/qfsgvGzV9r
As for vaccines, he said: “ If Congress fails to act we won’ t have the supply we need this fall to ensure the shots are available free and easily accessible for all Americans. ”
Calling on politicians to act in unity, Biden gave a somewhat rosy account of taking over the presidency with Covid-19 omnipresent.
“ I’ m gon na remind you, I took office about 14 months ago, the pandemic was raging, the economy was reeling, the deficit was soaring. Most schools were closed, ” he said.
“ We didn’ t have enough vaccines. The unemployment claims were sky high. And then we got to work and we delivered enough vaccines for every American months ahead of schedule, effective treatments, at-home tests that are free and accessible. Over 99% of our schools are open again. ”
The Biden administration’ s response to the pandemic, however, stalled in several key areas, particularly after the growth of the spread of the Omicron variant.
He concluded the event by taking a second booster shot – authorized for Americans over 50 on Tuesday – and refusing to answer questions about the situation in Ukraine, or his earlier telephone call with Ukraine’ s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“ It didn’ t hurt a bit, ” Biden said of the shot, apologizing if the sight of a needle going into his arm had “ discouraged ” anybody from taking one.
Updated at 7.25pm BST
9.21pm BST 21:21
We’ re wrapping up our live political coverage on this blog, but you can follow ongoing developments of the Ukraine crisis on the Guardian’ s 24-hour live news blog here.
Here’ s what happened in US politics today:
8.44pm BST 20:44
The Pentagon says it has seen only minor “ repositioning ” of Russian troops as it assesses the validity of Vladimir Putin’ s insistence that his country is scaling back its attacks in Ukraine.
“ We have seen over the last 24 hours the repositioning of a small percentage of the troops, the battalion tactical groups that Russia had arrayed against Kyiv, probably in the neighborhood of 20% of what they had, ” John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said at an afternoon briefing.
“ We assess they are beginning to reposition some of those troops into Belarus. We’ ve seen none reposition to their home garrison and that’ s not a small point. If the Russians are serious about de-escalating, because that’ s their claim here, they should send them home. But they’ re not doing that, at least not yet. ”
Kirby added: “ Our assessment would be, as we said yesterday, they’ re going to refit these troops, resupply them, and then probably employ them elsewhere in Ukraine.
8.29pm BST 20:29
Bedingfield was asked if Joe Biden and Volodoymyr Zelenskiy had discussed in their earlier call their respective positions not to trust Russia’ s claim that it was scaling back its assault in Ukraine.
“ I won’ t characterize President Zelenskiy’ s thinking, but I will say that we continue to see evidence today of Russia advancing, attacking in places where they have previously said they would not, so I think that is self-evident, ” she said.
The readout of the call also did not mention specifics of any military assistance Ukraine was requesting. Bedingfield was asked if anything Zelenskiy had asked for had changed Biden’ s position on what was being offered.
“ I’ m not going into detail on what was discussed except to say we’ re doing everything we can to ensure Ukraine has what it needs on the battlefield, ” Bedingfield said.
“ We have provided an unprecedented amount of security assistance to Ukraine, including anti-air [ and ] anti-tank systems, small munitions, things that our military has assessed are the most impactful weapons.
“ So as the president is making a decision about what to send, he takes into account two things, the assessment of our military about what is most impactful… and, as he has said many times, he is not looking for direct American military conflict with the Russian military. ”
8.09pm BST 20:09
The White House said the decision on when to terminate the Trump-era policy of blocking refugee admissions to the US because of the coronavirus pandemic was an issue of public health, and would not be made by the Biden administration.
Speculation has been growing in recent days that Joe Biden was about to end Title 42, implemented by the previous administration as admissions at the US southern border increased.
Republicans seeking to reintroduce immigration as a central issue for the midterm elections have claimed a surge could occur if the policy ends, while homeland security officials say as many as 18,000 migrants could arrive at the border each day.
At her afternoon briefing, however, the White House communications director Kate Bedingfield insisted that it was not the president’ s decision to make.
“ Title 42 is a public health directive. It is not an immigration or migration enforcement measure, so the decision... we defer to the CDC, ” she said.
“ We are planning for multiple contingencies and we have every expectation that when the CDC ultimately decides it’ s appropriate to lift Title 42 there will be an influx of people to the border. And so we are doing a lot of work to plan for that contingency. ”
At White House press briefing. Communications Director Kate Bedingfield on southern border: “ The decision on when to lift Title 42 we defer to the CDC. ” pic.twitter.com/nwRDCcECA9
Updated at 8.48pm BST
7.54pm BST 19:54
The White House has declared Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine “ a strategic blunder that has left Russia weaker over the long term and increasingly isolated on the world stage. ”
Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, was reacting to a question at her afternoon briefing about reports that the Russian president Vladimir Putin was misled by advisers too frightened to tell him the truth about how badly the war was going.
“ We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership, ” she said.
“ What this does is paint a picture of what a strategic error Putin and Russia have made here.
“ They are now publicly trying to redefine the goals of their invasion to be different than they were at the outset. Putting forward this information simply contributes to a sense that this has been a strategic error for them. ”
7.07pm BST 19:07
Joe Biden was just at the podium in the White House launching a government website for coronavirus information, and telling the nation: “ We’ re now at a new moment in this pandemic. It does not mean that Covid-19 is over. It means that Covid-19 no longer controls our lives. ”
“ Thanks to the foundation we’ ve laid, America has the tools to protect our people, ” the president said, promoting the new website covid.gov.
“ The bottom line, no longer will Americans have to scour the internet to find vaccines, treatments, tests or masks. ”
But he swiftly turned his remarks towards asking Congress for more money to continue the effort to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
“ Just as we’ ve reached a critical turning point in this fight, Congress has to provide the funding America needs to continue to fight Covid-19, ” he said.
“ This isn’ t partisan, it’ s medicine, ” he added, warning that without the $ 22.5bn his administration is asking for, monoclonal antibodies will begin to run out by the end of May and preventive therapies for the immunocompromised will be exhausted by the fall.
‘ It does not mean that COVID-19 is over, it means that COVID-19 no longer controls our lives’ — On Wednesday, Pres. Biden provided an update on his admin’ s response to the pandemic, which now includes https: //t.co/LDEdMq9eOg, a ‘ one-stop shop’ website full of resources pic.twitter.com/qfsgvGzV9r
As for vaccines, he said: “ If Congress fails to act we won’ t have the supply we need this fall to ensure the shots are available free and easily accessible for all Americans. ”
Calling on politicians to act in unity, Biden gave a somewhat rosy account of taking over the presidency with Covid-19 omnipresent.
“ I’ m gon na remind you, I took office about 14 months ago, the pandemic was raging, the economy was reeling, the deficit was soaring. Most schools were closed, ” he said.
“ We didn’ t have enough vaccines. The unemployment claims were sky high. And then we got to work and we delivered enough vaccines for every American months ahead of schedule, effective treatments, at-home tests that are free and accessible. Over 99% of our schools are open again. ”
The Biden administration’ s response to the pandemic, however, stalled in several key areas, particularly after the growth of the spread of the Omicron variant.
He concluded the event by taking a second booster shot – authorized for Americans over 50 on Tuesday – and refusing to answer questions about the situation in Ukraine, or his earlier telephone call with Ukraine’ s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“ It didn’ t hurt a bit, ” Biden said of the shot, apologizing if the sight of a needle going into his arm had “ discouraged ” anybody from taking one.
Updated at 7.25pm BST
6.26pm BST 18:26
Joanna Walters
Vladimir Putin was misled by advisers who were too scared to tell him how poorly the war in Ukraine is going and how damaging Western sanctions have been, US and European officials have said, Reuters reports, signaling that the Russian president spends too much time with “ yes men ”.
Russia’ s February 24 invasion of its southern neighbor has been halted on most fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces, who have recaptured territory even as civilians are trapped in besieged cities.
“ We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, ” leading him to mistrust the military leadership, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and citing newly declassified intelligence reports.
“ Putin didn’ t even know his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian president. ”
The official did not provide the intelligence report, but said the information had been declassified.The Kremlin made no immediate comment after the end of the working day in Moscow, and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Washington’ s decision to share its intelligence more publicly reflects a strategy it has pursued since before the war began. In this case, it could also complicate Putin’ s calculations, a second US official said.
It’ s potentially useful. Does it sow dissension in the ranks? It could make Putin reconsider whom he can trust, ” that official said.
One senior European diplomat said the US assessment was in line with European thinking.
Putin thought things were going better than they were. That’ s the problem with surrounding yourself with ‘ yes men’ or only sitting with them at the end of a very long table, ” the diplomat said/
He was referring to the Russian president and his predilection of late for meeting with his top government officials and even other world leaders at an immense distance, often at either ends of comically-long tables.
“ We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth, ” the US official added.
Updated at 6.28pm BST
5.54pm BST 17:54
Joanna Walters
Joe Biden was back on the telephone to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy a little earlier and pledged extra aid for the country as it battles the invasion by Russia.
The US president told his Ukrainian counterpart that the US intends to provide his government with another $ 500m in direct budgetary aid.
`` President Biden informed President Zelenskyy that the United States intends to provide the Ukrainian government with $ 500 million in direct budgetary aid. '' pic.twitter.com/cVvuRln85O
Biden already signed a $ 1.5 trillion bill into law two weeks ago that included $ 13.6bn in assistance for Ukraine, both humanitarian and military. This is understood to be an additional pledge.
The two leaders spoke for 55 minutes earlier.
Zelenskiy discussed specific defensive support with Biden, the Ukrainian president wrote on Twitter, Reuters reports.
Just finished an hour-long conversation with @ POTUS. Shared assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. Talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.
The two leaders also discussed a new package of enhanced sanctions against Russia, Zelenskiy said, as well as financial and humanitarian aid support for Ukraine.
For all the developments on the ground in the war, please follow the Guardian’ s global, 24/7 live blog on the crisis in Ukraine, here.
Updated at 6.15pm BST
5.07pm BST 17:07
The US is imposing new financial sanctions against Iran following the country’ s missile attack on a target in Iraq earlier this month, the treasury department has announced.
Iran sent at least 12 ballistic missiles into Erbil, Iraq’ s northern Kurdish regional capital, on 13 March. They landed close to a US consulate under construction, but did not cause any damage or injuries, the state department said.
Wednesday’ s announcement of sanctions is aimed at Iran’ s revolutionary guard corps, which is responsible for the development of ballistic missiles, according to CNN. An Iranian company with government links, Parchin Chemical Industries, was also sanctioned.
“ This action reinforces the United States’ commitment to preventing the Iranian regime’ s development and use of advanced ballistic missiles, ” Brian Nelson, treasury department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
“ We will not hesitate to target those who support Iran’ s ballistic missile program [ and ] work with other partners in the region to hold Iran accountable for its actions, including gross violations of the sovereignty of its neighbors. ”
A military base in Erbil housing US forces came under Iranian missile attack in January 2020, in retaliation for the US killing of the Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani.
Updated at 5.08pm BST
4.44pm BST 16:44
In a symbolic moment following Joe Biden’ s lunchtime Covid-19 address, the president will receive his second booster shot from a member of the White House medical unit.
The move will punctuate Biden’ s announcement of a new government website collating coronavirus resources and information, and yesterday’ s decision by the US food and drug administration, later endorsed by the federal centers for disease control and prevention ( CDC), to approve an additional vaccine dose for adults over 50, and those immunocompromised.
Biden received his first booster on 27 September last year, at a time when 23% of the US population had not been vaccinated at all.
“ Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated, ” he said at the time.
Discussion over the need for a second booster has led to the administration making it an option for those whose most recent shot was at least four months previously, but not specifically recommending that they get it.
“ Giving people the choice to have an added level of protection is where we should be at this point in the pandemic, ” said Leana Wen, professor of health policy at George Washington university, according to Axios.
“ To me, the decision of getting an extra booster dose is not much different from the decision to continue masking or to use rapid tests before getting together with people indoors. ”
4.05pm BST 16:05
Biden and Zelenskiy spoke directly on 5 March, when the US president laid out moves his administration was taking to “ raise costs ” on Russia in the early days of its invasion, and to discuss the stalled progress of recently begun peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
According to a White House readout of their call, Biden also praised the decision by Visa and Mastercard to halt business in Russia, and noted the administration’ s “ surging security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine. ”
Zelenskiy subsequently made an historic and captivating address to Congress on 16 March, in which he laid out the need for more military and humanitarian support from the Nato, the US and its European allies.
Biden called the address “ convincing and significant ” but was not moved on Zelenskiy’ s call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, or request for Polish fighter jets to be delivered in a swap involving the US military.
3.46pm BST 15:46
Joe Biden is about to speak directly with the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the White House has just announced.
The discussion is certain to include Zelenskiy’ s call for additional military and humanitarian assistance from the west. The White House bulletin says the US president will affirm “ our continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. ”
There had been speculation that the leaders would meet during Biden’ s visit to Europe last week, but the encounter was not deemed feasible.
Updated at 3.49pm BST
3.28pm BST 15:28
Sam Levin
Police officers in America continue to kill people at an alarming rate, according to a data analysis that has raised concerns about the Biden administration’ s push to expand police investments amid growing concerns about crime.
Law enforcement in the US have killed 249 people this year as of 24 March, averaging about three deaths per day and mirroring the deadly force trends of recent years, according to Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group.
The data, experts say, suggests in the nearly two years since George Floyd’ s murder, the US has made little progress in preventing deaths at the hands of law enforcement, and that the 2020 promises of systemic reforms have fallen short.
Police have killed roughly 1,100 people each year since 2013. In 2021, officers killed 1,136 people – one of the deadliest years on record, Mapping Police Violence reported.
Read more here:
3.08pm BST 15:08
Here’ s some more on Joe Biden speaking later about the Covid-19 pandemic. The president is set to announce a new White House initiative to incorporate a “ one-stop shop website ” designed to give Americans better access to tools and information in fighting coronavirus.
The president will announce that the US is at “ a new moment in the pandemic ” with lifesaving tools such as improved testing, vaccines and treatments available, and that the website covid.gov will consolidate guidance into a single point of information.
“ With a click of a button, people will be able to find where to access all of these tools, as well as receive the latest CDC data on the level of Covid-19 in their community, ” a press release about Biden’ s announcement states.
“ Protecting the American people… now and into the future relies on affordable and accessible tools like vaccines, treatments, tests and high-quality masks. Through efforts like covid.gov and test-to-treat, the Administration continues to take steps to make these tools even more readily available. Now, we need Congress to do its part and continue to fund the Covid-19 response. ”
The funding of vaccinations, and the wider government response to the pandemic, has become a bone of contention, even as rates of infection and the number of deaths have tumbled since the peak of the Omicron variant.
In a statement earlier this month, the White House blasted Congress for failing to provide an additional $ 22.5bn the Biden administration says it needs to continue, among other initiatives, the funding and distribution of vaccines nationwide, and warned of the risk of a new wave of infections.
On Tuesday, the US food and drug administration ( FDA) and federal centers for disease control and prevention ( CDC) approved a second booster vaccine for Americans over 50, and those with compromised immune systems.
Many health officials are concerned about the fast spread of the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant, which has now become dominant in the US, the New York Times reports.
Here’ s more about the FDA approving a second round of booster shots:
2.37pm BST 14:37
Ketanji Brown Jackson will almost certainly become the first Black woman to sit on the US supreme court following a declaration by the Maine senator Susan Collins that she will vote for her confirmation.
Collins is the first Republican to announce support for Joe Biden’ s pick, citing Jackson’ s “ stellar qualifications. ” Her decision, assuming all Senate Democrats follow suit in the floor vote to be held before Easter, will avoid the prospect of vice-president Kamala Harris having to break a 50-50 tie.
Significantly, it will also allow Biden to claim that Brown’ s seating was a bipartisan appointment, regardless of how many of Collins’ colleagues end up supporting her.
Mitt Romney of Utah is seen as another possible Republican vote, and has said he is still making up his mind. Other Republicans, including the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, have already said they will not support her.
In a statement, Collins said she reached her decision after meeting twice with Jackson, who endured a rough ride from other Republicans in the senate judiciary committee during confirmation hearings last week:
After reviewing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’ s extensive record, watching much of her hearing testimony, and meeting with her twice in person, I have concluded that she possesses the experience, qualifications and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. I will, therefore, vote to confirm her to this position.
Judge Jackson has sterling academic and professional qualifications. She was a Supreme Court clerk, a public defender, a respected attorney, and a member of the Sentencing Commission. She has served as a Federal District judge for more than eight years and currently sits on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Her stellar qualifications were confirmed by the American Bar Association’ s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which awarded her its highest rating of ‘ unanimously well qualified.’
Jackson’ s likely elevation to the supreme court will not alter the panel’ s ideological balance, which will still be tilted 6-3 in favor of conservatives. But the lifetime appointment for the 51-year-old will seal a liberal voice on the bench potentially for decades.
Jackson will replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 83 and has served since his nomination by Bill Clinton in 1994.
Updated at 3.26pm BST
2.16pm BST 14:16
Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday’ s US politics blog. We open with the news that Susan Collins of Maine has become the first Republican senator to declare her support for Joe Biden’ s supreme court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson. Her confirmation vote all but ensures a Black woman will sit on the nation’ s highest court for the first time.
Developments in Russia’ s war in Ukraine can be followed on our main live blog here.
And here’ s what else is on the schedule in US politics today: | general |
Everyone is worried about gas prices, but diesel is driving inflation more than you think | Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the fuel that runs the global economy was in short supply.
Now some analysts say there could be spot shortages of diesel fuel and prices may stay elevated, even if oil and gasoline decline.
Those higher diesel fuel prices are also stoking inflation.
`` I 've started to use the term diesel 'crisis. ' It clearly is a crisis that's happening before our eyes. I wouldn't rule out lines, shortages or $ 6 [ price ] in places beyond California, '' said Tom Kloza, head of global energy research at OPIS. `` I wouldn't say it's a shortage yet. Europe, I think they're headed for a shortage. ''
A drop in demand if prices become too high could temper that outcome. The low supply of diesel fuel is the result of a loss of refining capacity worldwide, after Covid wreaked havoc on the oil industry.
Kloza said it is the middle of the barrel — diesel — that has been hit the hardest.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the price of oil has traded much higher, with volatile swings. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at about $ 107 per barrel Wednesday, after trading as high as $ 130.50 on worries about shortages due to sanctions on Russia.
`` When you're seeing crude rallying, you 've seen diesel outpacing it just because of supply concerns. We're already at eight-year lows for distillate inventories, '' said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst Americas at Kpler.
`` So what you're really seeing is while everyone is focused on the crude side of things, prices have really been pushing on because Europe is short diesel and it has to import a lot of diesel, whereas it exports gasoline, '' he added. `` While there's obviously concerns about the crude side of the picture, ultimately diesel is what the end-user needs. ''
While gasoline prices at the pump have held steady over the past week, the price of diesel continued to rise, gaining about 8 cents per gallon to a national average of $ 5.12 per gallon, according to AAA. The national average for unleaded gasoline is $ 4.23 per gallon, up from $ 2.86 a year ago.
The price of diesel, however, was $ 2.03 per gallon cheaper at this time last year. For a truck that fuels up with 125 gallons or more, that several hundred dollars extra at every filling can result in higher costs for anyone who buys anything that gets shipped, from food to home goods to automobiles.
`` The spread between diesel and motor fuel is the widest it's ever been in the data, '' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. `` It's $ 1 a gallon... the average over the last few decades has been 30 to 40 cents. That gives you a sense of how out of balance it is.... By my calculation, one-tenth of the acceleration in [ consumer price ] inflation [ over the past year ] is due to the surge in diesel prices. ''
That contribution to inflation includes related impacts.
`` The farmer ploughing the field, getting the food to the store shelf: It's the cost to FedEx and UPS getting the product we're buying to the front porch — all of those ancillary knock-on effects, '' Zandi said.
But for goods price inflation, for everything from production to shipping, the contribution of diesel prices to inflation is even greater. Zandi calculates that 17% of the acceleration of goods price inflation is due to the higher diesel costs.
`` Diesel is used in farming. It's used in a lot of industrial processes. All the machinery runs on diesel. A lot of construction runs on diesel, '' said Francisco Blanch, global head of commodities and derivatives research at Bank of America. `` I think it's very problematic. Trucks run on diesel, trains run on diesel, and planes run on jet fuel which is also diesel. ''
Since marine fuel rules changed in 2020, ships have switched to cleaner fuels, like marine gasoil, a type of diesel fuel. Heating oil is also diesel fuel, and diesel trades under the heating oil contract on the CME.
Blanch notes that before Russia invaded Ukraine, its crude exports totaled 5.5 million barrels a day, with just over half going to Europe. But Russia also exported 2.4 million barrels a day of refined products, including more than 1.1 million barrels a day of diesel exports. About half of the refined products also went to Europe.
Russia has had a difficult time unloading any waterborne oil or refined products because buyers and transport companies are reluctant to run afoul of sanctions slapped on its financial system by the U.S. and allies. As a result, Europe's diesel shortage has become a worldwide problem as shipments change course.
`` It does impact the backbone of everything we do, whether it's moving things around the world or harvesting or producing anything in a factory. Almost every human activity has some element of diesel consumption, '' Blanch said. `` In Europe, half the cars run on diesel. ''
Zandi said higher diesel prices spark an inflation that is `` corrosive to the economy's ability to grow, ''
`` The world's businesses run on diesel, and diesel is at record highs and as high as it's ever been relative to motor fuel costs, and that's bleeding into inflation in a meaningful way. That has negative consequences, '' he said.
Typically, analysts say diesel is cheaper than gasoline at this time of year. Some analysts say there could be just limited shortages of diesel.
`` On the margin, we just have a very tight oil complex right now. Part of the reason is that the refining system and the supply of diesel fuel is so tight, '' said Kurt Barrow, vice president of oil and downstream at S & P Global Commodity Insights. `` We had a significant number of refinery shutdowns because of the energy transition, combined with the Covid low demand period. ''
Barrow said the global refining industry is down about 3.5 million barrels a day of refining capacity from pre-Covid levels, with about 1 million barrels a day of that in the U.S. and another 0.6 million barrels a day in Europe.
As the economy has reopened, diesel supplies were already tight.
`` When you take 600,000 barrels a day of Russian exports out of a tight market, that's what adds pressure, '' Barrow said.
According to S & P Global, the U.S. consumed about 9.3 million barrels of gasoline per day in 2019 and another 4.1 million barrels of diesel fuel. For Europe, the mix was much different. Gasoline consumption was just 2.1 million barrels compared with 6.8 million barrels a day for diesel fuel.
The cure to high prices may already be showing up.
In the past week, diesel demand fell to 3.8 million barrels a day in the U.S. from 4.5 million the week earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration.
`` It's a big drop in diesel fuel demand, '' said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital. `` Five and six bucks will do that. ''
While the national average is $ 5.12 per gallon, prices at the pump in California are an average $ 6.44, according to AAA. In New York, diesel is an average $ 5.34 per gallon; $ 5.17 per gallon in Florida and $ 4.86 per gallon in Texas.
Kilduff said there may be more relief on the horizon.
U.S. refiners have increased their operating rate to 92%, much higher than last year, he said. Some refineries can also change the mix of fuels they produce, and could increase diesel production.
But there are more complicated issues impacting refining.
The Covid lockdowns in 2020 resulted in a sharp drop in oil and fuel demand, and have made for imbalances as the refinery industry first responded to sudden shutdowns and then ramped up as demand grew. Not all refineries have come back online, and two in the U.S. are in the process of transitioning to become biofuel facilities.
`` This is a 'gap year ' for worldwide refiners, '' Kloza noted. `` North America has seen the closure of about 1.2 million barrels a day of refining since just before Covid. ''
Refineries in California, North Dakota, Wyoming and Newfoundland are among those that have been or are in the process of being repurposed to make renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels, he added.
Kloza said there will be some relief next year when huge new refineries come online in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and West Africa. Those refineries are designed to maximize yields of fuels including diesel and jet fuel, he added.
The amount of diesel in storage in the U.S. is at an unusually low level
`` Diesel stocks have declined for the past year a half and are down by nearly 70 million barrels, to the lowest level since 2014, '' Kilduff said. `` There's just 112 million barrels of diesel fuel in storage, compared to 141 million a year earlier. ''
Inventories are 20% below the pre-pandemic five-year average, Kilduff added.
`` Right now the shortage is in diesel, and reserves are down to the ground, '' Blanch said. `` And that could move to gasoline because everyone is going to be maximizing diesel runs. '' | business |
SNOWFLAKE INC. MANAGEMENT 'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS ( form 10-K) | Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this report to '' Snowflake, '' the `` Company, '' `` we, '' `` our, '' `` us, '' or similar terms refer to Snowflake Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Overview
Initial Public Offering, Private Placements, and Elimination of Dual-Class Common Stock Structure
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Table of Contents
Key Factors Affecting Our Performance
Adoption of our Platform and Expansion of the Data Cloud
Expanding Within our Existing Customer Base
Acquiring New Customers
Key Business Metrics
Product Revenue
Net Revenue Retention Rate
Customers with Trailing 12-Month Product Revenue Greater than $ 1 Million
The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by ( used in) operating activities, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, for the periods presented ( in millions):
( 1) Free cash flow for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 included the effect of $ 68.6 million, $ 14.1 million, and $ 0.2 million, respectively, in the net cash paid on payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions.
Impact of COVID-19
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Table of Contents
Components of Results of Operations
Revenue
Overhead costs that are not substantially dedicated for use by a specific functional group are allocated based on headcount. Such costs include costs associated with office facilities, depreciation of property and equipment, and information technology ( IT) related personnel and other expenses, such as software and subscription services.
Cost of Revenue
Operating Expenses
Sales and Marketing
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Table of Contents
Research and Development
General and Administrative
Other Income ( Expense), Net
Other income ( expense), net consists primarily of ( i) unrealized gains ( losses) on our strategic investments in equity securities, and ( ii) the effect of exchange rates on our foreign currency-denominated asset and liability balances.
Provision for ( Benefit from) Income Taxes
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Table of Contents
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth our consolidated statements of operations data for the periods indicated ( in thousands):
( 1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows ( in thousands):
301,441 $ 78,399
% 51% 30%
Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2022 and 2021
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Table of Contents
Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit ( Loss), and Gross Margin
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Table of Contents
Other income ( expense), net increased $ 29.6 million for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022, compared to the prior fiscal year, primarily due to net unrealized gains on our strategic investments in equity securities recorded during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022.
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Table of Contents
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since inception, we have financed operations primarily through proceeds received from sales of equity securities and payments received from our customers as further detailed below.
( 4,036,645) $ 138,495 Net cash provided by financing activities $ 178,198 $ 4,775,290 $ 57,469
Financing Activities
Critical Accounting Estimates
Revenue Recognition
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Table of Contents
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2, `` Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, '' to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.
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Table of Contents
© Edgar Online, source Glimpses | business |
How NFTs can turn consumers into brand advocates | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - August 3. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Learn more about Transform 2022
Can you imagine visiting a shopping center, meeting friends or drinking tea in a coffee shop in virtual reality? Well, that future is quickly becoming a reality. The notion of shared, interoperable and persistent virtual worlds that make up the metaverse have taken the ( real) world by storm. Between tech titans such as Facebook and Microsoft throwing their weight behind the concept to major investors buying up virtual land, the metaverse is now estimated to become a $ 1 trillion revenue market across advertising, digital events, and hardware.
It’ s perhaps no surprise then that we’ ve witnessed an influx of brands such as Burberry, Coca-Cola, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Selfridges scrambling to enter the metaverse with their own digital offerings — typically in the form of non-fungible tokens ( NFTs). NFTs represent unique digital assets that convey holders’ verifiable ownership over digital or physical items, a notion that tightly correlates with the ideals of the metaverse and Web3.
Brands are starting to awaken to the potential NFT technology holds, allowing them to take their advertising to new levels and launch new, engaging promotional campaigns. At the same time, embracing NFT is opening up a new generation and demographic while still serving existing customers.
Already a hugely popular franchise in the meatspace, Coca-Cola is keen to remain relevant in this new digital frontier. Teaming up with Tafi, a Decentraland avatar creator, the soft drink manufacturer produced its first-ever NFT collectibles to celebrate International Friendship Day last year. A reimagining of Coca-Cola’ s iconic vintage vending machine, the friendship NFT box contained a Coca-Cola bubble jacket, which can be worn in Decentraland, a Friendship card, and a sound visualizer to capture the sound of opening a bottle of Coca-Cola. The campaign not only brought fresh eyes to the drinks brand, but also raised money for Special Olympics via the auctioning of the NFT.
Retailer Macy’ s has also been dabbling in digital collectibles and — similarly to Coke — placed a charitable spin on it. To celebrate the 95th anniversary of the brand’ s famed Thanksgiving Day parade, Macy’ s gave away 9,500 NFT artworks featuring balloons from the Parade’ s nine-decade legacy. Macy’ s also set aside 10 Ultra Rare NFTs for a special auction that saw 100% of the proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Moreover, harnessing the inherent programmability of NFTs, the digital collectibles were hard-coded to perpetually donate 10% of every secondary market sale of the NFT to Make-A-Wish.
Whether it’ s accessing NFT airdrops or exclusive collections, such as the one with the McLaren racing NFTs, campaigns stand to be far easier and cheaper in the metaverse than through traditional avenues. Producing virtual clothes, for example, is far more affordable than doing so in the real world as it removes the need to spend on physical supplies or source labor and equipment. COVID-19 has also highlighted problems that arise with supply chain complications; however, with digital offerings, brands can avoid distribution issues.
Not only that, but NFT giveaway campaigns can be designed to instill the feeling that consumers are receiving something for free while helping to build positive associations with a given brand. This is particularly true when those freebies are tied to a tangible asset such as outfitting avatars with wearables, access to events, or discounts.
In-game advertising is another area where brands can leverage the metaverse and virtual game worlds. From stadium ads in a sports game to fully blown real-world adverts played on virtual billboards. The sky is no longer the limit for advertisers. Brand ads can move beyond their typical staticity to a new and engaging aesthetic, enabling additional functionality such as mini-games with NFT prizes for following specific steps.
Product placement in VR games has been an enormous hit, as illustrated by the popularity of Pokémon Go, which used the game’ s creatures to attract more people to a specific location.
With the ability to create immersive ad experiences, brands are devising their own micro metaverses. We see this with the likes of the NBA’ s Cleveland Cavaliers, who launched a new digital NFT experience for fans. Dubbed “ My Cav Locker, ” the experience enables fans to collect in-venue-only NFTs when they attend home games, including digital t-shirts and varsity jackets. The experience represented a unique way of introducing fans to NFTs and digital collectibles while gamifying their real-world experiences.
Joining the physical and digital worlds, NFTs and the metaverse are changing how we see the advertising industry. With plenty of interest and appeal within the industry, the promises for brands using this technology remain untold. The metaverse will undoubtedly impact every industry, yet those who take the plunge now will be better positioned as the space matures.
Tom Mizzone is the CEO at Sweet.
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Ukraine war drives German inflation, darkens growth outlook | Hi, what are you looking for?
Inflation in Germany has surged to a post-reunification high, data showed Wednesday, as the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring.
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Published
Inflation in Germany has surged to a post-reunification high, data showed Wednesday, as the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring and diminished the prospects for growth in Europe’ s largest economy.
Consumer prices rose in March by 7.3 percent year-on-year, according to the federal statistics agency Destatis, up from 5.1 percent in February and the highest level since the modern German state was created in 1990.
Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine had sent prices for oil and gas soaring and had a “ considerable impact on the high rate of inflation ”, Destatis said in a statement.
Elevated prices for energy would take a toll on growth in Germany, a panel of the government’ s economic advisers said, slashing their output forecast for 2022.
The German Council of Economic Experts said it now expected gross domestic product ( GDP) to expand by just 1.8 percent year-on-year, down from its previous estimate of 4.6 percent.
The conflict in Ukraine was “ drastically worsening the economic outlook, ” they said in their latest report.
The experts, whose forecasts are closely watched by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ s government, said they saw inflation reaching a decades-high peak of 6.1 percent in 2022, with supply chain disruptions adding to the pressure on prices from rising energy costs.
– Russian energy –
The Ukraine conflict has derailed Germany’ s hopes of finally shaking off the coronavirus pandemic and roaring back to growth.
With its export-oriented industries, Germany has been particularly vulnerable to the supply chain bottlenecks and raw material shortages caused by the pandemic, and its recovery has lagged that of other major European economies like France and Italy.
“ The war is putting additional strain on supply chains already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, ” said expert panel member Achim Truger.
“ At the same time, the prices for natural gas and oil, which have risen sharply once again, are weighing on companies and private consumption. ”
Like many of its neighbours in Europe, Germany is highly reliant on supplies of Russian oil and gas to power its industry and heat its homes.
Berlin has vowed to wean itself off Russian energy in the near future, by turning to suppliers in other countries and accelerating a shift towards renewables.
But Scholz’ s government has resisted calls at home and abroad to boycott Russian energy, fearing it would have a devastating impact on the economy.
– Government support –
The last time Germany recorded such a high rate of inflation was in the autumn of 1981, when oil prices increased sharply because of the Iran-Iraq war, Destatis said.
In Spain, too, inflation reached a level in March not seen in almost 37 years, jumping to 9.8 percent from 7.6 percent in February.
Inflation was already elevated across the eurozone before the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, sitting at 5.8 percent in February — significantly above the European Central Bank’ s two-percent target.
With the war continuing to put pressure on prices the only way for inflation in Germany was “ up ” with the possibility the rate could enter “ double-digit territory ”, according to Carsten Brzeski, head of macro at the ING bank.
A survey by the German Ifo institute, also published Wednesday, showed “ more and more companies are planning to raise their prices over the next three months ”.
Consumers have to prepare for “ sharp price increases ”, the Munich-based think tank said, with food retailers in particular expecting rises, as the war drives up the cost of agricultural imports.
Germany’ s three largest unions, IG Metall, IG BCE and IG BAU, earlier in the week called on the government to provide support for particularly energy intensive industries.
In March, the cost of household energy and motor fuels rose by 39.5 percent year-on-year, according to Destatis, while food prices increased 6.2 percent.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
In the small town of Borodyanka, diggers sort through the rubble of houses destroyed by Russian bombardments, looking for the missing.
The Security Council failed to prevent the brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Zelensky said in a separate address to Japanese lawmakers.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, though one woman was arrested for displaying the letter `` Z '', a symbol of support for the Russian army.
Long considered the “ most peaceful country in the world ”, Iceland’ s tranquillity has been shattered by a spate of shootings and stabbings.
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Emerging Markets Are Feeling the Economic Shocks of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine | About the author: Desmond Lachman is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He was formerly a deputy director in the International Monetary Fund’ s Policy Development and Review Department and the chief emerging market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney.
The gods are not smiling on the emerging market economies.
These countries had largely recovered from the economic ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, only to find themselves having to brace for the economic fallout from Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine, an end to the days of easy global liquidity, and a prospective slowing in the world economy.
With uncomfortably high debt levels, this perfect economic storm could soon lead to a wave of emerging market debt defaults that could have important spillover effects on the rest of the world economy.
Even before Russia’ s invasion, the World Bank warned that the emerging market economies were at the risk of a hard economic landing. It did so on the basis of debt vulnerabilities that had been built up as a result of the Covid pandemic. According to the World Bank, by 2019, emerging market debt had risen to a 50-year high of around 176% of gross domestic product.
Russia’ s invasion now threatens to aggravate the emerging market debt vulnerability. It will do so not simply by leading to a likely default on Russia’ s external debt as a result of Western sanctions. It will also come about as a result of the skyrocketing international oil, grain, and metal prices that have come in the Russian war’ s wake.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, since Russia’ s invasion, the international oil price has increased by some 25% to its present level of around $ 110 a barrel. Meanwhile, there has been more than a 50% increase in the prices of wheat, fertilizers, and nickel.
The very rapid run up in energy and food prices will deal a particularly harsh blow to many overly indebted emerging market countries in Africa and Asia that are highly dependent on energy and food imports. Of particular concern from a global economic perspective are larger emerging market economies including Egypt, India, South Africa, and Turkey all of which are all too dependent on energy and food imports.
A Russian energy and food price shock would be worrisome for the emerging market economies in an environment of ample global liquidity and rapid world economic growth. Unfortunately, by adding to inflationary pressures in the advanced economies, the Russian commodity price shock is bound to put an early end to ample global liquidity and to contribute to a world economic slowdown.
According to the OECD, if sustained, the Russian commodity price shock will add 1.4 percentage points to U.S. inflation and two percentage points to European inflation. At the same time, it will directly subtract almost one percentage point from U.S. economic growth and 1.5 percentage points from European economic growth.
With U.S. inflation already running at nearly 8% before the Russian invasion, it must only be a matter of time before the Federal Reserve is forced to adopt a very much more restrictive policy to quell inflation. Indeed, in a recent speech, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that the Fed might soon be forced to increase interest rates by 50 basis points rather than in 25 basis point increments. With European inflation running at its fastest pace since the Euro’ s 1999 launch, it must be only a matter of time before the European Central Bank too is forced to follow suit.
Emerging market economies have not historically fared well in an environment of reduced global liquidity and a slowing world economy. Such an environment has generally been associated with increased investor risk aversion and with a large-scale repatriation of capital from the emerging markets. One would think that this time will not be any different given today’ s high degree of emerging market indebtedness and the large energy and food price shock to which many of these economies are now being subjected.
Over the past decade, the emerging market economies have proved to be a major engine for world economic growth. Considering that these economies now account for around half of the world economy, any major setback in these economies would constitute a meaningful headwind for the world economic recovery. | business |
Dow, S & P 500 snap four-session win streak as stocks close lower on fading Ukraine optimism | U.S. stock benchmarks finish lower in choppy trade Wednesday, as investors reassessed potential progress between Russia and Ukraine negotiators and heard more hawkish tones from the Federal Reserve.
How did stock indexes trade?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.40%
fell 65.38 points, or 0.2%, to end at 35,228.81
The S & P 500
SPX,
-0.27%
shed 29.15 points, or 0.6%, closing at 4,602.45
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-1.34%
lost 177.36 points lower, or 1.2%, finishing at 14,442.27
On
Tuesday
, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.40%
rose 338.30 points, or 1%, to close at 35,294.19, rising for a fourth straight day. The S & P 500
SPX,
-0.27%
gained 1.2% to finish at 4,631.60, exiting correction territory and marking its fourth straight gain, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-1.34%
climbed 1.8% to end at 14,619.64, its second consecutive day of gains.
Read:
S & P 500 exits correction: Here’ s what history says happens next to U.S. stock-market benchmark
What drove markets?
Stocks slipped and oil prices pushed higher Wednesday after
Russian forces shelled areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight
, just hours after it pledged to “ fundamentally ” cut back operations in the areas, Associated Press reported.
“ We do expect a little profit-taking after four days of gains but big picture-wise, we continue to expect volatility, ” Greg Bassuk, chief executive at AXS Investments, said in a phone interview.
In addition to developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, investors also heard from Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George, who said
the central bank must move expeditiously away
from an easy policy stance. That should include a significant reduction of the Fed’ s near $ 9 trillion balance sheet, she said.
“ We essentially have an economy that is operating still under very significant stimulus and very low rates compared with historical averages, ” said Matt Peden, senior portfolio manager of the Invesco Global Select Equity Strategies, in a phone call.
“ That leads to a lot of uncertainty as to the true underlying state of the economy. ”
To that end, Peden’ s focus is long-term and on stocks that can manage revenue growth despite higher interest rates, elevated inflation and the threat of an economic slowdown, such as the technology and payment sectors, rather than shorter term plays in commodity and financial companies that have seen gains in recent months.
Crude oil prices
CL00,
-0.37%
rose 3.4% to settle at $ 107.82 a barrel, recouping losses from Tuesday when the commodity
briefly dipped below $ 100
for the first time since midmonth.
In U.S. economic data, U.S.
fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth was revised
to an annualized 6.9% from 7%. Meanwhile, ADP said the
private sector added
455,000 jobs in March. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal forecast a private-sector payrolls gain of 450,000.
On the COVID-front, the omicron subvariant known as BA.2, which is
even more contagious than the original omicron
but seems no more lethal, accounted for more than half of new COVID cases in the U.S., according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said improvements on the vaccination front, treatments and more means the COVID-19 pandemic
“ no longer controls our lives,
” in a speech, while unveiling
a new website
that aims to help Americans deal with the pandemic.
Investors also kept watch on the bond market after the yield on the 2-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD02Y,
2.523%
traded briefly above the yield on the 10-year note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
2.715%
Tuesday afternoon, temporarily inverting the yield curve.
The phenomenon is widely viewed as an early warning signal of a potential economic downturn, though some analysts caution that
it serves as a poor market timing tool
. Yields were easing across the board on Wednesday.
“ We think investors aren’ t so sure that these inverted yield curves really will lead to a recession, ” due to “ the other, more positive indicators, ” according to AXS’ s Bassuk.
Which companies were in focus?
Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings
AMC,
-7.55%
skid 12.8% and those of GameStop Corp
GME,
-2.54%
fell 7.3% despite individuals pushing up
trading volumes
for the popular meme stocks in last few days.
Lululemon Athletica Inc.
LULU,
-2.58%
’ s
shares jumped 9.6% Tuesday, after it
topped $ 6 billion in sales
for the first time in 2021, and executives expect it to hit $ 7.5 billion this year. Lululemon reported fourth-quarter profit of $ 434.5 million, or $ 3.36 a share, on sales of $ 2.13 billion, up from $ 1.73 billion in the same period a year ago.
Bitcoin miner Stronghold Digital
SDIG,
-2.38%
on Tuesday posted a revenue miss for its fiscal fourth-quarter and a 2022 outlook warning. Its shares
skid
32% Wednesday.
Shares of Vir Biotechnology Inc.
VIR,
-2.89%
jumped 14.8% on Wednesday, the day after it was announced that
the stock will join the S & P SmallCap 600
SML,
-0.60%
,
effective April 4.
Shares of Adagio Therapeutics Inc.
ADGI,
-3.74%
shares surged 30.4% after the company said
primary endpoints were met
for three indications in its continuing global Phase 2/3 clinical trials evaluating its investigational drug adintrevimab ADG20 for treating Covid-19.
How did other assets fare?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
2.715%
went down 4.2 basis points to 2.357%. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
+0.09%
,
a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, fell 0.6%.
Gold futures closed up, with the June contract
GCM22,
+0.25%
gaining 1.1% to settle at $ 1,939 an ounce.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
+0.61%
fell 1.4% to $ 47,250.
In European equities, the Stoxx Europe 600
FXXP00,
-0.22%
declined 0.4%, while London’ s FTSE 100
UKX,
+1.56%
rose 0.6%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
+0.47%
closed 2% higher, while the Hang Seng Index
HSI,
+0.29%
in Hong Kong gained 1.4% while Japan’ s Nikkei 225
NIK,
+0.36%
was down 0.8%
—Barbara Kollmeyer contributed reporting to this article. | business |
Shanghai expands COVID lockdown as new daily cases surge by a third | - Authorities began locking down some western areas of Shanghai two days ahead of schedule, as new COVID-19 cases in China's most populous city jumped by a third despite stringent measures already in place to try to stop the virus spreading.
Home to 26 million people, China's financial hub is in the third day of a lockdown officials are imposing by dividing the city roughly along the Huangpu River, splitting the historic center west of the river from the eastern financial and industrial district of Pudong to allow for staggered mass tests.
While residents in the east have been locked down since Monday, those in the west were previously scheduled to start their four-day lockdown on Friday.
Locking down a major metropolis like Shanghai full-scale would result in a 4% reduction in the national real gross domestic product, economists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University and other institutes estimated https: //michaelzsong.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/1/4/48141215/truck flow and covid19 220315.pdf in mid-March.
On Wednesday Shanghai reported a record 5,656 asymptomatic COVID cases and 326 symptomatic cases for March 29, up from 4,381 new asymptomatic cases and 96 new cases with symptoms for the prior day. China reclassifies asymptomatic cases if and when they later develop symptoms.
Several residents living in western districts on Tuesday received notice from their housing committees that they would be stopped from leaving their compounds for the next seven days.
`` We will resume normal life soon, but in the next period of time we ask everyone to adhere closely to pandemic control measures, do not gather, and reduce movements, '' said one housing committee notice seen by Reuters.
Meanwhile the city's southwestern district of Minhang, home to more than 2.5 million people, said it would suspend public bus services until April 5.
Shanghai authorities told a press conference on Wednesday that since the lockdown began on Monday they had conducted 9.1 million nucleic acid tests.
They also said they planned to disinfect places such as office buildings, construction sites, wet markets and schools in a month-long campaign.
'PUDONG PANDEMIC '
China's `` dynamic clearance '' approach means it aims to clear all cases, and all people who test positive are sent to central quarantine centers or hospitals. Close contacts and neighbors must quarantine at home.
Many across the city have taken to social media to vent their frustrations in lockdown, posting videos and images of crowded quarantine centers and also issuing calls for help with medical treatment and purchasing food.
Business life has also been seriously disrupted.
The lockdown has roiled auto production in the city and Chinese firms have halted a wave of planned domestic initial public offerings, filings show, as the current case surge has hampered due diligence and information gathering - affecting an estimated $ 9 billion-plus in fundraising.
Across mainland China, the daily numbers of new local infections in the past two weeks were much higher than those seen in the first two months this year, marking the biggest wave since the 2020 surge centered on Wuhan.
The eastern city of Xuzhou, which reported a total of less than 20 local infections in the past week, has imposed a three-day lockdown in most areas starting Wednesday.
The Xuzhou government said each household in those areas should only send one person to go out to shop for necessities every other day, while non-essential companies should either shut operations, have employees work from home, or operate in a closed-loop manner.
The National Health Commission ( NHC) said on Wednesday China had built, or was in the process of constructing, 82 temporary hospitals across 46 cities. This is more than double the 33 temporary hospitals health authorities said the country had or was preparing eight days ago.
( Reporting by Brenda Goh and Roxanne Liu, additional reporting by David Stanway and the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Raju Gopalakrishnan) | business |
Alliant names Arkley president of retail property/casualty | BI’ s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.
To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “ workers compensation ”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.
To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “ hurricane ” & “ loss ”.
Alliant Insurance Services Inc. on Tuesday announced the promotion of specialty chief Peter Arkley to the newly created position of president of its retail property/casualty business.
Mr. Arkley joined Alliant from Aon PLC in 2011 to lead its construction insurance business and was named head of its specialty business in 2017.
Michael Cusack, executive vice president of specialty, will head the division following Mr. Arkley's promotion.
Alliant is the 10th largest broker of U.S. business, according to Business Insurance’ s most recent ranking.
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6. Lakers can proceed with COVID property case against Chubb unit | general |
Hardening market to go on longer than anticipated: Howden | BI’ s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.
To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “ workers compensation ”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.
To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “ hurricane ” & “ loss ”.
David Flandro, head of analytics at U.K.-based Howden Broking Group Ltd.’ s unit Hyperion X Ltd., said that fast-changing macroeconomic issues are expected pressure the hardening market to last longer than expected, Reinsurance News reported. Due to the rising secondary losses thanks to climate change, the insured loss event count has more than doubled over the last decade with inflation and adjusted losses doubling in the last five years.
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5. Insurers settle $ 20.5 million claims related to plane crash
6. Insurance market hardening slows down, but concerns remain | general |
Employers asked to consider mask-wearing in the workplace as 12,508 cases reported | Director of CIPD in Ireland Mary Connaugton said her team has been hearing concerns from members around the country in recent weeks and have updated their advice accordingly.
An immunology expert has called on employers to consider if mask-wearing should be re-introduced in offices.
It comes amid a spike in cases, with a further 12,508 cases of Covid-19 confirmed by the Department of Health today.
There were 5,381 PCR-confirmed cases while the remaining 7,127 were registered as positive antigen tests through the HSE portal.
The number of Covid patients in hospitals is now at 1,610, an increase of more than 1,000 in one month. Of these, 49 are in intensive care - down one from yesterday.
A possible peak of 2,200 hospital cases is predicted in the next seven to 10 days.
Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Kingston Mills says the disease is severely impacting those who have not been boosted.
Despite skyrocketing numbers of Covid cases and pressure on the hospital system Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said severe illness is not increasing.
With that in mind, Micheál Martin says it is planned to allow legal Covid regulations to elapse tomorrow.
`` We can not justify the economic restrictions that we had for a virus that is not translating into very significant illness or mortality or admissions to hospitals, '' said Mr Martin.
`` What it is doing, I have to acknowledge, it is causing a lot of disruption across society particularly in the health environment because if someone arrives in hospital with a different ailment who transpires to have Covid, they have to be isolated. ''
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CIPD Ireland, the professional body for HR in Ireland, has implored employers to not only consider if mask-wearing should be re-introduced into offices but to identify those instances where working from home would be safer for employees.
Concern
Director of CIPD Ireland Mary Connaughton said her team has been hearing concerns from members around the country in recent weeks and have updated their advice accordingly. | general |
Irish Examiner view: No simple answer to pensions dilemma | One-third of Irish workers do not have any supplementary income beyond retirement other than the State pension.
One of the consequences of the decision by major central banks to print money during the Covid-19 pandemic — quantitative easing, they like to call it — is that it has persuaded people that there is an inexhaustible supply of it.
Barely a debate takes place in the Dáil, barely an idea is tabled in the public square, or floated over the network, without a price tag attached. And yet society’ s finances are finite, and the main source of them, taxes paid by workers and businesses, are under pressure from an increasing range of demands, often domestic, but many beyond our control. | general |
Common Coronavirus Infections Don’ t Generate Effective Antibodies Against COVID | Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility ( IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Although SARS-CoV-2 ( the virus that causes COVID-19) has taken the world by storm, it’ s not the only coronavirus that can infect humans. But unlike SARS-CoV-2, common human coronaviruses ( HCoVs) generally cause only mild disease. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Infectious Diseases have shown that infections with two different HCoVs don’ t generate antibodies that effectively cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. So, prior infection with HCoVs is unlikely to protect against COVID-19 or worsen a SARS-CoV-2 infection through antibody-dependent enhancement ( ADE), the researchers say.
Because SARS-CoV-2 shares significant sequence similarity with its HCoV cousins, researchers have wondered if the immune system might recognize the new coronavirus from prior bouts with HCoVs. This could re-activate memory B cells, causing them to produce antibodies that helped the person overcome previous HCoV infections, and might also help fight COVID-19. On the other hand, if the antibodies against HCoVs recognize SARS-CoV-2, but not strongly enough to generate an immune response, they could cause ADE. In this rare condition, sub-optimal antibodies actually help some viruses attach to and enter host cells, making the infection worse. Sebastien Fiedler, Tuomas Knowles and colleagues wanted to compare the strength and concentration of antibodies against HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 in the sera of nine recovered COVID-19 patients and in three pre-pandemic sera.
The researchers used a technique called microfluidic antibody-affinity profiling, which unlike the traditionally used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( known as ELISA), can measure both antibody affinity and concentration independently. They found that all nine recovered COVID-19 sera samples contained moderate amounts of antibodies with high affinity to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In contrast, none of the pre-pandemic sera contained high-affinity antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. All 12 sera contained low amounts of very high-affinity antibodies against two common HCoVs, indicating previous infections. Other experiments showed that these antibodies did not bind to SARS-CoV-2. The results suggest that there is no significant cross-reactivity of antibodies against common HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2, and therefore, no expected protective or adverse effects of antibody cross-reactivity for these coronaviruses, the researchers say.
Reference: “ Microfluidic Antibody Affinity Profiling Reveals the Role of Memory Reactivation and Cross-Reactivity in the Defense Against SARS-CoV-2 ” by Viola Denninger, Catherine K. Xu, Georg Meisl, Alexey S. Morgunov, Sebastian Fiedler, Alison Ilsley, Marc Emmenegger, Anisa Y. Malik, Monika A. Piziorska, Matthias M. Schneider, Sean R. A. Devenish, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Adriano Aguzzi, Heike Fiegler and Tuomas P. J. Knowles, 30 March 2022, ACS Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00486
The authors acknowledge funding from the University of Zurich, the University Hospital of Zurich, the NOMIS Foundation, the European Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, the P.I. Terasaki Scholar program, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. | tech |
FutureFit AI Raises $ 4.5 Million to Empower Workers with a `` GPS for your Career '' | FutureFit AI, the AI-powered career navigation platform, announced that it closed on a funding round of $ 4.5 Million in late 2021, which will fuel product innovation and growth as the company meets the demand for career navigation and reskilling that has skyrocketed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The investment was co-led by JPMorgan Chase and Acumen America and is the company’ s first financing round. FutureFit AI is the market leader as the ‘ navigation layer’ of workforce development seamlessly connecting multiple stakeholders and solutions in one comprehensive user journey.
“ To support a more equitable economic recovery, we need to find ways to connect overlooked talent with career opportunity at a time when the needs of employers and the labor market are changing faster than ever, ” said Hamoon Ekhtiari, CEO of FutureFit AI.
Ekhtiari immigrated to North America two decades ago when he didn’ t know any English and directly experienced the challenges of navigating the labor market. “ Not only did I experience my own struggles in a country where the career paths were foreign to me, I experienced the very real pain of watching my parents who were skilled professionals have to change their names on their resume just to get a callback and even take credentials off their resume so they would be considered for entry level jobs. The opportunity to build a systemic solution to support people regardless of their background and empower them to reach their full potential in the economy is something that is very viscerally important to me, and has influenced our core mission and values at FutureFit AI. ”
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As the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the number of unfilled job openings in the US is nearing a record high at more than 11 million. At the same time, the economic fallout of the pandemic has exposed longstanding equity gaps in the workforce, with individuals from underserved and under-resourced communities significantly more likely to be unemployed two years after the pandemic began. Against that backdrop, employers and workforce development organizations are increasingly turning to technology solutions to address this shortage of skilled talent and growing equity gaps.
FutureFit AI partners with Fortune 500 companies, governments, and workforce development organizations ( including a flagship partnership with the National Association of Workforce Boards) to provide workers with a “ GPS for your Career ”. The platform uses advanced labor market data and ethical machine learning algorithms to identify an individual’ s ‘ starting point’ in the labor market, recommend best fit career path ‘ destinations’, and build a personalized roadmap of learning, resources, and work opportunities to successfully guide them from point A to point B. FutureFit AI’ s platform is differentiated by the strength of its data and algorithms, its focus on the individual worker through an equity lens, and its ability to integrate with other critical workforce partners to create comprehensive, end-to-end workforce solutions.
In addition to JPMorgan Chase and Acumen America, FutureFit AI’ s oversubscribed round was joined by Juvo Ventures, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Emerge Education, Techstars, and Plug & Play Ventures. A number of prominent angel investors, including Fortune 500 HR executives and workforce development professionals also participated in the round.
JPMorgan Chase is focused on creating economic mobility and career pathways for underserved populations, and in 2019, made a $ 350 million, 5-year global investment to develop, test and scale innovative efforts that prepare individuals with the skills they need to be successful in a rapidly changing economy.
“ Building a skilled workforce and ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to the skills, supports, and credentials they need for in-demand jobs is critical to a more equitable future, ” said Jennie Sparandara, Head of Programs, Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase. “ Preparing workers and businesses alike for the future of work is a collective effort, and tools like FutureFit AI that help people assess their current skills, develop new ones, and pursue better opportunities, are needed now more than ever. ”
Carlyle Singer, the President of Acumen, will join FutureFit AI’ s board. “ As Acumen America has invested in the workforce sector over the last 7 years, we have witnessed the enduring gap in career navigation infrastructure to support low-income workers. We are excited by the opportunity to partner with FutureFit AI on what we believe can be a transformative new tool to support workers’ career journeys, while positioning employers to tackle their labor challenges and build resilient workforces for the future, ” said Singer.
“ The fundamental realization in the workforce sector has been that if we truly want to create outcomes for workers, we need to have deep collaboration between stakeholders, whether it be learning providers, assessment tools, local workforce organizations, or employers. And what has resonated most deeply with our partners is that FutureFit AI has a unique ability to fuel these innovative partnerships by being the connective tissue between stakeholders that maximizes outcomes and creates transformative change in the workforce, ” said Taylor Stockton, FutureFit AI’ s Chief Operating Officer. | tech |
Ottonomy’ s Autonomous Delivery Robots at Work in Cincinnati Airport – IoT World Today | Since December, travelers at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ( CVG) have been able to order drinks, snacks and other pre-flight sundries without having to leave their boarding gates, thanks to a team of fully autonomous delivery robots fielded by deep-tech startup Ottonomy Inc.
The “ Ottobots ” are able to navigate the bustle of the terminal using Ottonomy’ s proprietary Contextual Navigation tech. The four-wheeled robots are situationally aware and enjoy active perception by fusing multi-sensor data streams to understand their environment and take appropriate actions, Ottonomy said. Each robot is equipped with 2-D lasers, multiple cameras and sensors, according to the company.
A cloud-based monitoring console monitors, tracks and enables emergency control of the robots while providing the client with business-relevant analytics for insights into delivery operations. The console can be integrated with the client’ s point-of-service and enterprise-resource-planning systems as well.
The robots have been particularly useful during the pandemic, thanks to their ability to facilitate contactless transactions, CVG Chief Innovation Officer Brian Cobb said, adding that the airport was already experiencing labor shortfalls before COVID exacerbated the problem, and the Ottobots have helped close that service gap.
“ We are aiding minimal staff with super capabilities, ” Ottonomy founder and CEO Ritukar Vijay said. “ These robots enable [ passengers ] to actually engage in the activity of buying things from their gate without standing in queue or waiting for their orders, ”
The robots are particularly suited for certain passengers, such as limited-mobility individuals, parents and guardians with children, and people who for whatever reason might be reluctant to leave their gates, Cobb said.
“ Ottonomy has operated flawlessly, and that’ s the critical aspect, that not only can it navigate, but it interacts in a safe, viable manner, ” Cobb said. “ If it can do it at CVG, it can do it at any other airport or any other large venue. ”
Ottobots are set to begin service later this year at Rome’ s Fiumicino Airport and at San Antonio International in Texas. Further out, the company expects to deploy its robotics-as-a-service model in other retail and restaurant locations where contactless deliveries are desired. | tech |
Hubble telescope spots most distant star ever seen | Hi, what are you looking for?
The newly discovered star, called “ Earendel, ” is so far away its light has taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth.
By
Published
The Hubble space telescope has peered back to the dawn of cosmic time and detected light from a star that existed within the first billion years after the Big Bang — a new record, astronomers said Wednesday.
The newly discovered star, called “ Earendel, ” is so far away its light has taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth, when the universe was seven percent its current age.
“ We almost didn’ t believe it at first, it was so much farther than the previous most distant, ” said astronomer Brian Welch of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, lead author of a paper in Nature describing the discovery.
The previous record holder was detected in 2018 when the universe was four billion years old.
Because the universe is expanding, by the time light from distant stars reaches us it is stretched to longer, redder wavelengths, a phenomenon called “ redshift. ”
Earendel’ s light came from an era called redshift 6.2.
“ Normally at these distances, entire galaxies look like small smudges, the light from millions of stars blending together, ” said Welch in a statement.
The galaxy hosting the star has been naturally magnified and distorted by an effect called gravitational lensing.
This is when a massive object in between the observer and the thing they’ re looking at bends the fabric of space-time, so that rays of light coming from the target object that were diverging are bent back towards the observer.
The cosmic magnifying glass in this case is a huge galaxy cluster known as WHL0137-08, which, thanks to a rare alignment, provides maximum magnification and brightening.
“ The galaxy hosting this star has been magnified and distorted by gravitational lensing into a long crescent that we named the Sunrise Arc, ” said Welch.
After he studied the galaxy in detail, Welch found that one feature is an extremely magnified star that he called Earendel, which means “ morning star ” in Old English.
Earendel existed so long ago that it may not have had the same raw materials as the stars that exist today, added Welch.
“ It’ s like we’ ve been reading a really interesting book, but we started with the second chapter, and now we will have a chance to see how it all got started, ” he said.
Astronomers intend to gaze at the star using the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’ s successor, which is highly sensitive to infrared light from the oldest celestial bodies, in order to confirm Earendel’ s age, mass and radius.
It has been hypothesized that primordial stars were made solely from the elements forged after the Big Bang: hydrogen, helium and trace amounts of lithium, and should be more massive than stars that exist today.
It remains to be seen if Earendel belongs to these so-called “ Population III ” stars, but while the probability is small, it is enticing, said Welch.
Webb, which should go online this summer, is expected to break Hubble’ s records and peer even further back in time.
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Government critic prevented from leaving India | Hi, what are you looking for?
A prominent Indian activist and writer has said she was prevented from flying to Europe to speak about intimidation of journalists.
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A prominent Indian activist and writer has said she was prevented from flying to Europe to speak about intimidation of journalists and rights in the world’ s largest democracy.
Journalists and activists have long complained of harassment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has been accused of trying to silence critical reporting.
Rana Ayyub, a fierce critic of Modi and his Hindu nationalist government, was due to take a flight to London on Tuesday and then to Italy to attend different events.
But Ayyub, 37, said on Twitter that she was stopped at Mumbai airport because of an investigation by authorities into an alleged money laundering case against her.
The events in Europe had “ been planned and publicised all over my social media for weeks. Yet, curiously the… summon arrived in my mail much after I was stopped at the immigration, ” she said.
Ayyub has been told to appear on Friday for questioning in connection with the case, local media reports said.
The Indian Enforcement Directorate, which was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday, has accused Ayyub of siphoning off money meant for coronavirus victims for her personal use.
Ayyub, who has denied the allegations, says she has been a victim of relentless harassment by far-right Hindu groups — including rape threats — because of her reporting on issues including the marginalisation of India’ s minority Muslims.
The International Center for Journalists expressed support for her on Tuesday, tweeting that the “ blatant legal harassment ” of Ayyub must stop.
Ayyub wrote a book accusing Modi of being complicit in deadly sectarian violence in Gujarat in 2002, when he was state premier.
Investigators cleared Modi of involvement.
She has since become a commentator for The Washington Post and other media.
In February UN rights experts called on the government to stop “ misogynistic and sectarian ” online attacks against her.
Last week, British anthropologist Filippo Osella from the University of Sussex said he was deported by “ remarkably rude and unprofessional ” immigration officials on arrival in India without any proper explanation.
The professor of anthropology and South Asian studies said he had a valid research visa and suspected his visits to India’ s arch-rival Pakistan may have triggered the government’ s action.
“ Collaborative research projects on charities in urban Sri Lanka and education opportunities in rural Pakistan were funded by the Economic and Research Council ( UK) and the British Council respectively. I have never tried to hide my short research trips to Pakistan from the scrutiny of the Indian authorities, ” he said.
The Indian Express quoted an official from India’ s Foreigners Regional Registration Office as saying he was “ denied entry as per orders from higher officials ”.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
The huge lockdown, which has required 26 million people to stay home has become unworkable.
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President Joe Biden will announce new measures cracking down on so-called `` ghost guns '' on Monday, with an executive order.
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Enterprise Ireland Partners with Zngly to Drive Overseas Expansion | Zngly, the no-code media platform for the creation, management and measurement of content marketing and client engagement, announces its partnership with Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government’ s trade and innovation agency, responsible for the development of Irish enterprises in world markets. Zngly is an innovative Irish company developing solutions to solve the common challenges faced by marketing and sales teams and transforming the way businesses use content marketing.
Enterprise Ireland has partnered closely with Zngly since January and recently featured in the agency’ s ‘ Ireland: Innovation at the Edge’ campaign, which highlights the conditions that have made Irish businesses among the most innovative in the world and the role they are playing in the post-pandemic recovery.
As organisations emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and embrace the new reality of hybrid sales models, many are looking for new tools to help build relationships across multiple channels. The experience of remote work has created a shift in customer engagement preferences. LinkedIn found that 43% of B2B buyers now prefer a sales-rep free experience, for instance. Managing different forms of content whilst miniating consistent messaging across each channel can therefore be a daunting task for marketing managers.
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Mike Wilson, CEO of Zngly, adds: “ We have created a solution that solves several issues that sales and marketing teams face day in and day out. Today’ s buyers are not only channel agnostic, but they are digitally dominant in preference. Zngly helps businesses collate their content and share it in a digestible and personalized way with potential prospects and existing clients. As a high-potential start-up, we have the pleasure of partnering with Enterprise Ireland to help enable us to deliver our solution to teams globally. ”
Clodagh Dolan, Marketing Executive at Enterprise Ireland explains the rationale behind the partnership: “ As one of the world’ s largest seed capital investors, we help develop a pipeline of cutting-edge Irish companies, providing our international partners with a gateway to Irish innovation. We are delighted to see the momentum Zngly has achieved, in the lead up to its launch and look forward to supporting Zngly as it continues to innovate, grow internationally, and transform the B2B industry. ” | tech |
Veriff Streamlines Hiring Processes with HR-Focused Identity Verification Offering | Veriff, a global identity verification provider has released enhanced identity verification solutions tailored specifically for the human resources and recruiting industries. The suite of solutions streamline and automate the hiring and recruiting process to enable HR teams and staffing firms to cut costs and recruit faster while building trust and creating a smoother application process for candidates.
While the future of work might not be fully remote for everyone, the need to hire and retain the best talent wherever they are based in the world is a stark reality for most businesses. A growing reliance on digital tools due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in identity fraud, leaving hiring teams to navigate everything from candidates sharing false information to the threat of human error within digital HR processes. Veriff’ s AI-powered identification platform and face match biometric authentication tool quickly ensures applicants are who they say they are while reducing human error and streamlining HR operations.
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“ As fraud and online deception increases globally, organizations across industries will need to work even harder to build trust and confidence between their employees and customers – and HR management and staffing is no exception, ” said Janer Gorohhov, Veriff co-founder and CPO. “ Businesses need to take the necessary steps to ensure that applicants are truthful about their identity and work history while leaving no room for human error in their HR processes. With Veriff’ s latest identity verification tool, we are building trust within the hiring and recruiting process, helping HR teams and staffing firms cut costs and recruit faster to meet growing hiring demands. ” | tech |
Three lessons to prepare for the 'next pandemic ' | The Director-General of the World Health Organisation ( WHO) has called for the global healthcare community to embrace technology to prevent future pandemics. He warned, however, that employing advanced healthcare systems won’ t be sustainable if they are not resilient and able to withstand major threats going forward.
Speaking at the World Government Summit 2022 in Dubai via video link today, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that the COVID-19 pandemic won’ t be “ the last ” one the world faces. However, governments can work together to better prepare for any possible ones in the future.
“ It’ s certain that COVID-19 won't be the last pandemic, but how likely is it to occur? And how much damage [ will it ] cause when it does?, ” he asked. “ Those are areas over which we have influence. We must learn the lessons of this pandemic. ”
In his remarks, Ghebreyesus offered three recommendations to governments and healthcare sectors going forward, the first of which is to embrace new technology to ensure fairer production and distribution of vaccines.
“ It is essential to strengthen local production of vaccines, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, to increase their independence and foster autonomy, ” he said. “ In many countries, vaccines have helped to turn the tide on the pandemic, saving lives and protecting health systems. But as we speak, more than 80% of the population of Africa is yet to receive a single dose of vaccine, and the gap in access to tests is even worse.
“ It has become obvious that equity can not be left to market forces, or the goodwill of donors… Expanding local production of vaccines, and other health products, is a high priority for WHO. ”
Ghebreyesus cited the establishment of the WHO mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in Cape Town in July of last year, which has “ now developed its own vaccine candidate, ” he said.
“ So far, 13 low- and middle-income countries are said to receive technology from the hub to produce their own mRNA vaccines. ”
The second learning, the Director-General stated, was that health systems needed to be strengthened, and that advanced technology wasn’ t enough.
“ A resilient system is not the same thing as an advanced medical care system, ” he continued. “ Health systems have been badly disrupted – including services for reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services, as well as routine immunisations and care for non-communicable diseases.
“ For too long, too many countries have invested happily in sophisticated medical care, but too little in public health. As a result, their health systems were overwhelmed. ”
He added: “ The backbone of public health is robust primary health care for detecting outbreaks at the earliest possible stage, as well as for preventing disease and promoting health at the community level. ”
Essentially, there needs to be more cross collaboration, as Ghebreyesus explained in his third recommendation.
“ The third lesson is that the world needs an enhanced global architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. In the face of a global crisis, no single country, organisation, or agency can go it alone, ” he said. “ The pandemic has, once again, illustrated the value of multilateralism. Instead of confusion and incoherence, we need cooperation in the face of common threats, along with sufficient resources for strengthening global health security. ”
Explaining the need for “ an empowered and sustainably-financed WHO at its core ” in order to coordinate with partners, Ghebreyesus explained that WHO’ s member states are “ now negotiating an international accord toward [ a ] more harmonised global response to future pandemics and epidemics, including the equitable sharing of countermeasures. ”
New systems and digital tools are being put in place to “ prevent, detect, and respond rapidly to epidemics and pandemics, ” he added.
They include the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, established in Berlin in September 2021; the WHO BioHub System for sharing pathogens in Switzerland; and the recent Global Genomic Surveillance Strategy for Pathogens with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential.
Earlier today, the WHO released its ten-year strategy for genomic surveillance of pathogens, sharing that at present, one in three countries do not have the capacity to use this critical tool.
Ghebreyesus concluded: “ Above all, the pandemic has shown us that health is not simply an outcome of development, but the foundation of social, economic, and political stability.
“ It's not a cost, but an investment. It's not a luxury for the few, but a fundamental human right for all. The World Government Summit [ provides ] an opportunity to work together for shared solutions, to share threats, and healthier, safer and a fairer future for all. ” | tech |
HHS OIG: 2 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth during first pandemic year | This past month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a study examining how Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By analyzing Medicare fee-for-service claims data and Medicare Advantage encounter data from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, along with those from the same period the year prior, the agency calculated the total number of services used via telehealth and in-person, as well as the types of services used.
`` Telehealth was critical for providing services to Medicare beneficiaries during the first year of the pandemic, '' read the report. `` Beneficiaries’ use of telehealth during the pandemic also demonstrates the long-term potential of telehealth to increase access to healthcare. ''
Healthcare IT News sat down with OIG analyst John Gordon to discuss the takeaways of the study and how the information the organization found may help decision makers in shaping future telehealth policies.
Q. What compelled the team to look into beneficiaries ' use of telehealth?
A. This report is part of an extensive body of work that our organization is conducting on telehealth. It's part of a series looking at the use of telehealth during the first year of the pandemic. It 'll be accompanied by two reports that are expected to be released in the coming months: one looking at the characteristics of beneficiaries that use telehealth and Medicare, the other looking at program integrity risks associated with the use of telehealth.
So that's really what drove us to do this work.
Q. What were some of the top-level findings?
A. Over 28 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth during the first year of the pandemic. This was more than two in five enrolled Medicare beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries used 88 times more telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic than they used in the year prior.
And overall, beneficiaries used telehealth to receive 12% of their services during the first year of the pandemic.
When it comes to the types of services that beneficiaries are using, beneficiaries most commonly used telehealth for office visits, which accounted for just under half of all telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic.
However, it was beneficiaries ' use of telehealth for behavioral health services that stood out. And that was because beneficiaries used telehealth for a larger share of their behavioral health services, compared to their use of telehealth for other services.
Q. Can you weigh in why you think behavioral care has emerged as one of the main use cases for telehealth?
A. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for mental health and substance use disorder treatment services throughout the nation. And clearly, many people, including Medicare beneficiaries, are struggling. So as a part of our study, we looked at how Medicare beneficiaries accessed both mental health and substance use disorder services during the first year of the pandemic. And as I was alluding to earlier, we found that beneficiaries received more than 40% of all behavioral health services using telehealth.
This was far more than for other services. For example, just 13% of office visits were through telehealth.
The way that we see it is that these data show that telehealth may serve as an important tool to address mental health needs for Medicare beneficiaries. So we were really struck by this information as it related to behavioral health and telehealth when we were analyzing the data.
Q. How did audio-only services come into play?
A. We found that audio-only services did play an important role during the first year of the pandemic, especially when beneficiaries may face barriers to receiving in-person care. In fact, one-quarter of all of the telehealth services used during the first year of the pandemic were audio-only services.
However, we want to note that as policymakers consider the future of audio-only services, it's really important to take a deeper look at these services in particular, including utilization patterns, their impacts on quality of care, and any associated program integrity risks.
Q. What broader conclusions might you be able to draw from this data about the general population?
A. Because we're looking just at Medicare beneficiaries here, it's hard to kind of extrapolate that out to the broader American population. But what I can say is some of our conclusionary points, which are that we feel that the use of telehealth during the pandemic shows its long term potential to increase access to healthcare, particularly for those behavioral health services that we were just discussing.
And we're really hoping that decision makers, such as Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, carefully consider both the data that we present in our report as well as other available data when they're making decisions about the future of telehealth policy.
Q. Was there anything that surprised you in the report?
A. That's a good question. I think I was surprised to see the difference in the overall share of people using behavioral health via telehealth versus the use of telehealth for other services. I know there are a lot of outstanding questions about how telehealth could substitute for in-person care, how it couldn't substitute for in-person care, and so on and so forth.
I found it really notable that over 40% of all beneficiaries use telehealth to receive their behavioral healthcare. Whereas we present that 12% of all healthcare services used by beneficiaries during the first year of the pandemic, was through telehealth.
So overall, most care remained in-person, but for behavioral health services, it was really quite different. So I would say that was something that surprised me about the data.
Q. Are there any other elements of the report that you feel are particularly notable?
A. One aspect of the report that we were really happy to be able to do is that it includes the use of telehealth by beneficiaries in both Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage. So when we're presenting this information, it's really gauging the use of telehealth amongst the entire Medicare population, rather than just a segment. We're really excited to be able to include these totals for the entire medical population.
Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.Twitter: @ kjercichEmail: kjercich @ himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication. | tech |
South says North Korea faked launch of so-called 'monster ' missile | Hi, what are you looking for?
North Korea faked the launch of what analysts have dubbed its “ monster missile ” last week.
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North Korea faked the launch of what analysts have dubbed its “ monster missile ” last week, Seoul’ s military said Wednesday, adding that the test was, in reality, likely the same intercontinental ballistic missile Pyongyang fired in 2017.
North Korea last Friday claimed to have successfully test-fired a Hwasong-17 missile — a long-range ICBM that analysts say may be capable of carrying multiple warheads — which it first unveiled at a military parade in 2020.
But South Korea’ s defence ministry told AFP that Seoul and Washington have now concluded that the launch was actually of a Hwasong-15, an ICBM that Pyongyang test-fired in 2017.
“ US and South Korean intelligence has determined that what was fired on March 24 was a Hwasong-15, ” the defence ministry official told AFP.
Both ICBMs are potentially capable of hitting the mainland United States.
Seoul and Tokyo had separately confirmed at the time that the March 24 missile had flown higher and longer than any previous test — but analysts later pointed to discrepancies in North Korea’ s account.
The false announcement was likely an attempt by Pyongyang to compensate for a failed launch on March 16, when a missile, which analysts said was actually the Hwasong-17, exploded shortly after launch.
According to Seoul-based specialist website NK News, debris from the failed test fell in or near Pyongyang as a red-tinged ball of smoke zigzagged across the sky.
“ Pyongyang residents must have been shocked ” by the failed launch, and it may have affected public opinion of the Kim regime, lawmaker Ha Tae-keung of the conservative opposition People’ s Power Party ( PPP), told reporters.
North Korea’ s state media — Rodong Sinmun and KCNA news agency — did not report on the failed launch at the time.
They typically carry reports on successful weapons tests within 24 hours of launch, often with photographs.
But the March 24 launch was trumpeted in state media, with KCTV releasing a slick video purportedly showing the giant missile being successfully test-fired.
Analysts have pointed out discrepancies in the footage which may indicate parts of the March 24 launch were faked.
– ‘ Propaganda value’ –
The isolated country’ s economy is reeling from UN sanctions over leader Kim Jong Un’ s weapons programs and a two-year-long self-imposed Covid blockade.
“ Not only does the Kim regime derive pride and legitimacy from its nuclear and missile programs, it portrays building military strength against external threats as moral justification for domestic economic suffering, ” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP.
The “ successful ” launch as portrayed in state-controlled media has significant “ propaganda value ” for the Kim regime, he added.
Analysts have warned that North Korea will likely launch a military reconnaissance satellite and conduct tactical nuclear warhead tests later this year.
On Monday, Pyongyang’ s state media reported that its leader Kim Jong Un had vowed to build up “ overwhelming ” and unstoppable military power.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
The Russian navy's Black Sea flagship is `` seriously damaged '' by an ammunition explosion, state media says.
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ECB is faced with the challenge of threading a response between record-high inflation and weak growth due to the war in Ukraine.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III ( C) arrives for a meeting with other religious leaders at the Petra Hotel at the Jaffa...
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Watch: How are AI and Robotics Changing Logistics? | Oliver Hedgepeth, professor of logistics with American Public University System online, offers guidance on what warehouse employers and workers must do to adjust to the new age of automation.
The increasing reliance by warehouse and logistics operations on robot arms is just a continuation of a trend toward automation that had been evident for a century or more. But the pace of automation, driven by advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, has quickened with the COVID-19 pandemic, as workers were forced to go home and refused to return to the workplace. “ Where we are now [ with automation ] is where we would be in five years without the pandemic, ” Hedgepeth says.
For the most part, warehouse automation takes over repetitive and even dangerous jobs, even if those jobs paid well when humans were required to do them. “ It’ s not a bad thing, ” says Hedgepeth. “ Product is being made better and safer. I don’ t see a risk involved in [ the coming of ] AI and robots. ”
As with any advance in technology, however, there’ s a price to pay — in this case, fewer jobs for humans in the warehouse. And retraining those individuals to take over more complex tasks isn’ t an automatic answer to the problem. There’ s a dual responsibility involved: facilities must offer retraining opportunities, and workers must accept them. In addition, most of the workers laid off in a particular facility due to automation likely won’ t be rehired by that same company; they’ ll have to seek opportunities elsewhere. Yet they have no choice but to adjust to the impacts of automation, as they have for decades.
For the foreseeable future, Hedgepeth, humans will still be needed in many positions relating to supply chain management. It’ s just a question of making the necessary adjustments, including a willingness to be retrained. | general |
London Police Arrests 7 Teenagers in Lapsus $ Cyberattack Case | Join Our Telegram Channel for More Insights. Join Now
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On March 24th, London police arrested seven teenagers after LAPSUS $ launched a new ransomware attack on Ookta, an identity and access management company. Researchers have traced back the recent Lapsus $ cyberattack incident to a group of teenagers working for this group. Lapsus $ was in the limelight when it launched a ransomware attack against the Brazilian Ministry of Health in 2021, hacking into COVID-19 data. It got involved in many other cyberattack incidents, targeting many high-profile companies like Nvidia, Samsung, Microsoft, and Vodafone. The incident came to light after LAPSUS $ posted screenshots of OOkta’ s apps and systems, earlier this week, using the remote desktop protocol ( RDP). OOkta reported that LAPSUS $ cyberattack could have affected 2.5% of customers’ data. According to Ookta, the hacker gained access to companies’ data by breaching into the internal account of a customer support engineer.
LAPSUS $ is pretty much popular in the hacking circles. Cybersecurity firm Check Point describes LAPSUS $ as a “ Portuguese hacking group from Brazil ” while Microsoft says it has a unique blend of tradecraft that employs sophisticated tactics like targeting with SIM swapping, dark web reconnaissance, phone-based phishing, etc. Even though the group claims the motivation behind the attacks is unclear, it can not be purely financial for a company that has a strong online presence, with posts like an opinion polls on who should be the next target.
Given its legacy in cybercrime and credentials of hacking top-notch companies, it is interesting to note that the mastermind behind the recent cyberattack is a teenager. Bloomberg reports that the 16-year-old teenager lives at his mother’ s house near Oxford, England ” and another teenager suspect lives in Brazil. When BBC spoke to the teenager’ s father, he said, “ I had never heard about any of this until recently. He’ s never talked about any hacking, but he is very good at computers and spends a lot of time on the computer. I always thought he was playing games. We’ re going to try to stop him from going on computers ”, The Verge reports.
As a cybersecurity expert, Brian Krebs’ says, the alleged teen hacker along with other members nicknamed “ Oklaqq ” or “ WhiteDoxbin ”, might have also been responsible for the intrusion at Electronic Arts ( EA), a game maker company. “ The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation with its partners into members of the hacking group. Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested and released under investigation ”, Michael O’ Sullivan, Detective Inspector of the City of London Police said, according to a report by The Verge. | tech |
KM² Solutions Lauded by Frost & Sullivan for Expanding | Based on its recent analysis of the customer experience outsourcing services market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes KM2 Solutions with the 2022 Central American and Caribbean Company of the Year Award for its distinctive customer-centric approach and deep commitment to innovation. In 2021, the company leveraged a combination of organic and inorganic growth strategies to achieve a revenue increase of 20%, cementing its dominance in nearshore outsourcing in the region.
“ In the past year, KM² increased capacity within existing countries of operation, specifically in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and St. Lucia, ” said Riana Barnard, Best Practice Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “ It recently partnered with private equity firm H.I.G. Capital to fuel its growth and expansion. This partnership enabled KM² to reinvest in its employees, embrace new technologies to expand its business lines, and add major US companies across multiple verticals to its client base. ”
The company’ s agents are well equipped to serve the United States market because of their cultural affinities and skills in English and Spanish. As a strategic partner, KM2 leverages its wide talent pool, nearshore facilities, and technical expertise to drive operational efficiencies while providing clients with business continuity. Even when faced with unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, KM2 ensured superior service delivery by adopting emerging technologies to address security issues and enhance productivity.
While KM² recognizes the potential of niche verticals and markets, it acknowledges the value of serving a diversified customer base and works with fast-scaling companies, medium-sized enterprises, and new growth areas. The entire organization functions as a single unit, prioritizing winning business and building true partnerships to create better products, processes, and outcomes.
“ KM² complements its skilled resource pool with an array of automation and AI-based tools, allowing it to offer self-service and automate simple and repetitive transactions to decrease costs, reduce errors, and save agent time, ” noted Sebastian Menutti, industry principal for Frost & Sullivan. “ Its focus on both customer and employee experience as well as its forward-looking business strategies are expected to help it expand its footprint and service portfolios in the Central American and Caribbean market. ”
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Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. | tech |
Drones are helping to deliver urgent medical supplies to Ukraine | Hi, what are you looking for?
Unmanned aerial vehicles have advanced rapidly, helping with supplies and warfare.
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North America’ s longest operating drone systems company, Draganfly, is sending ten Medical Response and Search and Rescue Drones to war-torn Ukraine. The drones will be used by the relief agency, Revived Soldiers Ukraine ( RUS), which is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to the people of Ukraine.
RSU is a prominent organisation in the conflict. Iryna Vashchuk Discipio, President of RSU, was recently awarded the Order of Princess Olga by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian civil decoration is bestowed on women for their achievements in state, production, scientific, educational, cultural, charity, and other social activities.
In a statement, reported by Tech Times, Discipio thanked the drone supplier: “ Brave Ukrainians continue to fight for freedom, democracy, and the fundamental values and principles of Western civilization. ”
She adds: “ There is an urgent need for medical supplies and equipment in several dangerous and hard-to-reach areas. Draganfly’ s Medical Response and Search and Rescue Drones will play a crucial role in ensuring that those affected have access to the aid they require. ”
Over the past six years, RSU has developed a logistical network in Ukraine and the United States to deliver essentials in the shortest possible time. The use of advanced drones provides an additional means to achieve this goal.
The Draganfly drones are equipped with temperature-managed payload boxes that can transport up to 15 pounds of blood, pharmaceuticals, insulin/medicines, vaccines, water, and wound care kits.
One innovation with the drone is where it is top-mounted. This design element is intended to make deliveries safer and more accessible.
In addition, Draganfly indicate they will be donating three drone systems to RSU. The total initial order size ( subject to conditions) is up to 200 units.
In other Ukraine-drone news, drone shave enabled Ukraine soldiers to halt part of a Russian convoy. During the first few weeks of the war, The Guardian reports that a convoy of armoured vehicles and supply trucks were ground to a halt because of a series of night ambushes carried out by a team of thirty Ukrainian special forces and drone operators on quad bikes, according to a Ukrainian commander.
This example indicates the shift that is taking place as to how wars are being fought, crossing into the area of both technology and tactics.
In the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles have advanced rapidly. The Ukraine defence example indicates how devastation can be achieved from the air despite a lack of conventional warplanes.
Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.
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Government in 'advanced ' talks with Airbnb as more than 15,000 Ukrainians come to Ireland | A young Ukrainian refugee cries on the shoulder of her mother at Przemysl Glowny train station in Poland after arriving from Ukraine to flee the Russian invasion. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA
More than 14,000 PPS numbers have already been issued to Ukrainian people who have arrived here since the Russian invasion.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has told the Dáil that officials are responding in a `` sensitive and caring way '' to the tens of thousands who are fleeing their country and are expected to seek refuge here in the coming days and weeks.
Ms Humphreys said: `` To give a sense of the scale of the issue, I will share some basic numbers with the House. To date, PPS numbers have been issued to over 14,000 Ukrainian citizens, just under 10,000 are women and young girls, and 4,000 are men and young boys.
`` Supplementary Welfare Allowance is already being paid in respect of over 9,000 people while Child Benefit is also being paid in respect of almost 4,000 children. ''
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Calling on Vladimir Putin to withdraw from Ukraine immediately and unconditionally, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described Russia's actions as `` illegal, barbaric and immoral ''. Mr Martin said the cost of accommodating Ukrainian refugees will be `` very significant '' but it is a cost `` we must bear ''.
Pointing to some of the actions the Government has taken in a bid to ease costs that have escalated in the wake of the Russian attack, Mr Martin said: `` We have to be realistic that it will not be possible to respond to every unfavourable price move on global markets ''.
`` History teaches us that chasing inflationary pressures with ever more Government spending would actually be counterproductive.
`` The country’ s economy was recovering strongly as we were getting over the worst of the Covid-19 crisis with strong growth and reducing unemployment. Our response to the crisis in Ukraine will affect economic growth and we need to be prudent in how we respond to the challenges that lie ahead. ''
To date, 15,294 Ukrainians have arrived here, mainly through Dublin Airport, the Dáil heard.
Accommodation
Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman added that over half of these are now being accommodated by the State and described the situation as `` perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis Ireland has ever faced ''.
He said `` all options are on the table '' when it comes to the accommodation of those fleeing Ukraine and his department is involved in advanced discussions with Airbnb. | general |
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Crude oil futures edged higher mid-morning in Asia March 30, in a tentative sign that the heavy sell off over the last two days has abated amid progress in the Russia-Ukraine talks and still rising Shanghai COVID-19 cases.
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At 10:50 am Singapore time ( 0200 GMT), the ICE May Brent futures contract was up 83 cents/b ( 0.75%) from the previous close at $ 111.06/b, while the NYMEX May light sweet crude contract rose 95 cents/b ( 0.91%) at $ 105.19/b.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appear to have moved closer to a ceasefire agreement as the two sides met in Istanbul March 28 for the first face-to-face talks in more than two weeks. Russia has promised to scale back military operations near Kyiv, while Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral stance with security guarantees, according to media reports.
The reports sent ICE Brent crude crashing by almost $ 8/b, though it later recouped most of its losses to settle $ 2.25/b lower on the day.
`` There is some scepticism around Russia's announcement which is why we saw the market recoup some of the initial losses later in the trading session, '' ING analysts Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said in a March 30 note.
`` Given the level of uncertainty in the market at the moment combined with the tight supply/demand balance, we expect that oil prices will remain extremely volatile, '' they added.
Nonetheless, front month ICE Brent crude contract has lost more than $ 10/b over the last two days alone, as sentiment was hit by lockdowns in Shanghai over surging COVID-19 cases and progress in Russia-Ukraine talks.
COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, currently the epicenter of the outbreak in China, continue to climb. The city reported 5,656 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and 326 symptomatic cases for March 29, a fresh record high. This was up from 4,381 asymptomatic cases and 96 symptomatic cases the previous day.
Analysts, however, point to signs that the current lockdown will not have as bad an effect on the economy as feared.
`` The term `` lockdown '' unfortunately conjures memories of 2020 -- this is nothing like 2020, '' SPI Asset Management Managing Partner Stephen Innes said in a note.
`` Similar measures elsewhere in China have allowed businesses to continue operating within bubbles. Other Chinese risk markets remain relatively unperturbed by Shanghai's COVID-related lockdown. This could reflect an expectation that business closures will remain short-lived, '' he added.
Focus will return to oil market fundamentals, with supply still reportedly falling far short of demand as many buyers remain averse to taking Russian oil, and Iranian nuclear talks remained in a deadlock.
The OPEC+ group's meeting on March 31 will also be on watch.
Dubai crude swaps and intermonth spreads were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia March 30 from the previous close.
The May Dubai swap was pegged at $ 100.76/b at 10 am Singapore time ( 0200 GMT), down 99 cents/b ( 0.97%) from the March 29 Asian market close.
The April-May Dubai swap intermonth spread was pegged at $ 4.31/b at 10 am, down 35 cents/b over the same period, and the May-June intermonth spread was pegged at $ 2.62/b, down 27 cents/b.
The May Brent-Dubai EFS was pegged at $ 10.26/b, down $ 1.29/b.
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Russian, US ISS record-holders return to Earth | Hi, what are you looking for?
A record-breaking US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station Wednesday.
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A record-breaking US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station Wednesday, with tensions between Moscow and the West soaring over Ukraine.
“ The crew of Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, has returned to Earth, ” Russia’ s space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.
Footage broadcast from the landing site in Kazakhstan showed the Soyuz descent module touching down at the expected time of 1128 GMT in bright conditions before the crew emerged from the vehicle that had blown onto its side.
“ Tasty! ” said Shkaplerov, the first man out of the descent module, as he sat sipping a tea provided by recovery staff.
NASA’ s Mark Vande Hei emerged from the vehicle last, after setting a new record for the single longest spaceflight by a NASA astronaut, clocking 355 days aboard the International Space Station.
Cosmonaut Dubrov, with whom he blasted off from Baikonur in April last year, now holds the record for the longest mission by a Russian at the ISS, although four cosmonauts clocked longer stints at the now-defunct Mir space station, which was the world’ s first continuously inhabited orbital lab.
Shkaplerov was rounding off a standard six-month mission.
– US, Russia relations in tatters –
Relations between Moscow and Washington have been in tatters since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine last month, killing thousands and forcing four million people to flee the country.
Space was one of the few areas of cooperation between Russia and the West untouched by the fallout of Russia’ s annexation of Crimea in 2014, but here, too, tensions are growing.
The ISS, a collaboration between the US, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency and Russia, is expected to be wound up in the next decade.
Last month, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, an avid supporter of what Moscow has called a “ special military operation ” in Ukraine, suggested that Western sanctions targeting Russia in response had put the orbital lab in jeopardy.
“ If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling on US or European territory? ” Rogozin wrote in a tweet last month — noting that the station does not fly over much of Russia.
At present, the ISS depends on a Russian propulsion system to maintain its orbit, some 250 miles ( 400 kilometres) above sea level, with the US segment responsible for electricity and life support systems — interdependencies that were woven into the project from its inception in the 1990s.
– War opposition –
ISS astronauts and cosmonauts traditionally steer clear of politics, stressing the need for cooperation to further humanity’ s goals in space.
But at least two retired heavyweights of the space world, US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russia’ s Gennady Padalka have responded to the invasion with criticism.
Kelly, who held the NASA spaceflight record before it was broken by Vande Hei earlier this month, said he had returned a medal awarded to him by the Russian government in 2011.
“ Please, give ( the medal) to Russian mothers whose sons have been killed in this unjust war, ” Kelly said in a tweet addressed to Russia’ s former president and current deputy security council chairman Dmitry Medvedev earlier this month.
Kelly’ s former ISS commander Gennady Padalka, also appeared to criticise the invasion in an interview with private Russian media this month.
“ One thing is clear to me: authorities, regimes, ideologies come and go, but Russia and Ukraine will always be next to each other. We can not be separated onto different planets, ” Padalka told liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
He expressed concern that Russia’ s invasion meant that Ukrainians would view current and future Russian generations with “ hatred ”.
Padalka, 63, holds the world record for cumulative days spent in space — 879 — and is a Hero of the Russian Federation.
NASA on Wednesday hailed its own record-breaker, Vande Hei, with the agency’ s administrator Bill Nelson noting in a statement that his mission was “ paving the way for future human explorers on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. ”
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
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Hopes rise for Spanish banks after long wait for crucial interest income boost | Spain's banks can expect a boost to revenues as the European Central Bank looks to tighten monetary policy and mitigate the impact of withdrawing a key cheap funding program.
With inflation running high, the ECB would consider raising interest rates after it completes its bond-buying program, which it hopes to do in the third quarter, President Christine Lagarde said earlier in March. Eurozone banks could pass higher rates on to borrowers, boosting margins at Spanish banks such as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Banco de Sabadell SA, which have endured years of declining net interest income, or NII, amid negative interest rates and the economic impact of coronavirus.
`` Falling NII for Spanish banks looks like it is going to be an old problem given how inflation and market interest rates are behaving, and how ECB expectations are changing, '' Pablo Manzano, vice president, financial institutions, at credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar, said in an interview.
Spanish banks have already voiced some confidence about the outlook for NII. BBVA expects flat to slight growth in NII in Spain in 2021, excluding targeted longer-term refinancing operations, or TLTRO, and regardless of any hike in interest rates, the bank said in an emailed statement. `` Potential higher rates in Europe will be a tailwind, '' it said. CaixaBank SA expects NII to trough in the first quarter, CFO Javier Pano said on an earnings call in January.
BBVA's, Sabadell's, CaixaBank's and Banco Santander SA's domestic businesses all have an above-average reliance on NII when compared to large European peers. For each of them, NII as a percentage of total revenue in their home market runs at more than 50%, and for CaixaBank it is almost 64%.
NII from domestic operations declined at three of Spain's four largest banks in 2021, compared with 2020. Two of the banks, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Banco de Sabadell SA, have seen NII in Spain fall for at least six consecutive years. CaixaBank SA suffered the biggest 2021 drop, of 6.1%. NII is the revenue generated from interest-bearing assets minus the expenses associated with liabilities such as deposits.
Banco Santander SA, which like BBVA does a large part of its business in emerging markets where net interest margins are more attractive, saw NII in its home market edge up by 0.9% in 2021 to €3.99 billion. NII in Spain has been stable for Santander since it integrated Banco Popular Español SA in 2017, although it has failed to beat its 2018 NII performance of €4.09 billion in every year since. Banco Popular Español SA
Net interest margins — a measure of the difference between interest received and interest paid, adjusted for the total amount of interest-generating assets held by a bank — at all four lenders ' domestic businesses have shrunk in the last two years, according to company filings. CaixaBank's NIM suffered the largest contraction, dropping by 31 basis points to 0.87% in the fourth quarter of 2021 from the same period in 2019.
Banks in Spain faced a variety of pressures on NII in 2020 and 2021 beyond the record low interest rates of recent years. The Spanish government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic involved a €140 billion state-guaranteed loan scheme to help impacted businesses, which banks were obliged to offer at attractively low rates to applicants, squeezing NII, said Manzano.
The pandemic stifled loan growth as the Spanish economy struggled to absorb an unprecedented shock, and generated a surge in deposits at the banks as lockdowns and restrictions forced consumers to save. Higher deposits reduce NII for banks as they must pay more interest to depositors holding their cash at the bank, unless a lender chooses to charge negative interest rates on deposits, which some European banks do.
Some of those headwinds are likely to feed through into 2022, said Benjie Creelan-Sandford, bank equity analyst at global investment bank Jefferies. Further pressure could come from a slowdown in new lending as Russia's invasion of Ukraine impacts eurozone growth, said Manzano.
Concerns that eurozone banks could face a further hit to NII from the completion of the ECB's third TLTRO program, which is due to end in June, may be alleviated by ECB action to soften the blow, according to Pau Labro Vila, director, financial institutions, Fitch Ratings.
The TLTRO programs, the first of which started in 2014, have offered banks long-term funding with attractive conditions — mostly at negative interest rates — aimed at stimulating bank lending to the real economy. The end of the program will see banks ' funding costs rise while their cost of reserves due to negative rates will remain, squeezing NII. Reserves are deposits the banks must hold at the ECB.
There is market consensus that the ECB will move to exempt a larger multiple of banks ' reserves from negative deposit facility rate charges, at least until it eventually raises the rate, said Labro Vila. The central bank's current deposit tiering framework exempts part of banks ' excess liquidity holdings at an amount of 6x a bank's required reserves, plus required reserves themselves.
`` The TLTRO effect will not be as strong as in 2021, but still we should expect some support for NII from this policy by the ECB, '' Labro Vila said.
Santander declined to comment for this article. CaixaBank was unable to provide a response before publication. Sabadell did not reply to a request for comment.
Further support for Spanish banks ' NII in 2022 is already appearing from market interest rates. The Euribor 12-month lending rate has recovered from a record low of negative 0.518% on Dec. 20, 2021, to hit negative 0.232% on March 16, despite having dipped by around 10 basis points in the two weeks either side of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
`` Euribor, which is a key reference rate for the Spanish mortgage book, has started to increase over the past couple of weeks, which means that even ahead of formal rate hikes from the ECB, that's going to feed through into numbers in the first quarter and be a partial support, '' said Creelan-Sandford.
Even without an ECB interest rate rise in 2022, there is enough evidence to suggest that NII for Spanish banks will not fall any farther than it has done in recent years, said Cristina Torrella, senior director, financial institutions, Fitch Ratings. Any rise in interest rates would be a `` positive add-on, '' added Torrella.
`` Spanish banks are well positioned to benefit from interest rate rises, '' Torrella said. | business |
Ukrainians arriving in Ireland to be housed in tents | A young boy arrives at Przemysl train station on a train from war-torn Ukraine. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
The Cabinet has been told that crisis measures such as tented villages will be needed to provide temporary homes for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland.
The government has accepted that the short-term challenge of providing suitable accommodation for the large numbers of Ukrainians coming to Ireland must be met with a range of measures outside of normal accommodation structures.
The Department of Housing is urgently developing proposals to help address those needs over the long term but the Taoiseach has said crisis measures such as tented accommodation at the Gormanston camp in Meath may be needed in the coming weeks.
The costs of humanitarian aid will be met from the remaining €2.5bn in the Covid contingency fund set aside in Budget 2022.
Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath is working on projections that now put the cost to the State at €400m for every 10,000 people who need assistance for a year.
Cabinet was told that 14,611 Ukrainians had arrived in Ireland by last night.
The volume of arrivals has seen the Citywest Convention Centre pressed into action to provide an overflow when high volumes occur at Dublin Airport.
Additional facilities are also being put in place in Rosslare Port and the Millstreet Arena will have the capacity for more than 400 people and is on target for use from April 18.
Diplomatic fallout | general |
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From remote working to home schooling, all via a seemingly endless stream of Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls, even those used to juggling work and childcare responsibilities have been stretched to breaking point.
And in many families, it is mothers who have borne the brunt of the extra domestic workload.
Here, we investigate the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on women and ask what the asset management industry is doing to help working mothers keep their careers on track post pandemic.
Statistically, there is little doubt that working women have suffered disproportionately due to Covid.
Analysis from the Women's Budget Group, for example, shows that 133,000 more women than men were furloughed in 2020.
And PwC's research indicates that this pattern continued into 2021, as many more women were forced to work less due to the extra care burden.
In late 2020, the European Parliament also voiced concerns about the detrimental effect Covid was having on women in the workplace.
`` Where people have been able to work at home, further challenges have arisen with juggling the additional care burden of children in the home and home-schooling, '' it said in The gendered impact of the Covid-19 crisis and post-crisis period.
`` This has meant that some parents ( predominantly women) have been forced to reduce their hours or leave their jobs to be able to manage the competing demands of paid and unpaid labour. ''
Unsurprisingly, given that women typically do so much more childcare than men, many female workers were keen for a more flexible work schedule even before the global health crisis.
According to the Chartered Management Institute, 42% of women with children said that flexibility from their employer around their current needs around work was a top five priority, compared to just 28% of men with children.
And once Covid restrictions began to bite, 69% of women with children said they wanted to work at least one day from home when the pandemic ends, compared to 56% of their male counterparts.
Offering flexible working should therefore help asset managers to retain talented women and promote gender balance, progression, and equal pay - especially at senior levels.
Asset management is not an industry that lends itself to a 100% remote working model. But with studies showing that most office-based would prefer a hybrid approach where they spend some time on site, a number of asset managers now offer employees the flexibility to manage their own working patterns, including where and when they work.
Several big firms have also invested in the Timewise and Diversity Project `` Smart Working '' initiative, which aims to promote flexible working in the investment and savings industry, for example by encouraging the creation of more part-time positions that have previously been in short supply in the industry.
While such opportunities are undoubtedly likely to appeal to women, especially those with children, the overall aim aim is to develop a framework that allows employees of all kinds to prosper: a truly inclusive working environment.
This article is part of a series of articles on diversity and inclusion, produced by Investment Week in association with HSBC Global Asset Management. You can find the full series on a dedicated hub here.
This post was funded by HSBC Asset Management.
How to break down socio-economic barriers to a career in investment management.
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As Ukraine holds out, its military losses remain hard to gauge | Hi, what are you looking for?
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Five weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has kept the extent of its military losses under wraps, but analysts say the country has probably succeeded in limiting the toll thanks to years of preparation and smart tactics.
Hiding combat deaths and equipment destruction is standard procedure in wartime, and both Russia and Ukraine have given scant details on losses that are impossible to verify, but surely downplayed in order to keep morale up.
“ It’ s not clear what the rate of attrition is for the Ukrainian forces is. The answer is, We don’ t know, ” said Michael Kofman, a Russia specialist at the CNA think-tank based in Arlington, Virginia.
Ukraine has provided just two military status reports since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24, initially hoping to overwhelm the country’ s main cities in just a few days.
The latest came March 12, when Kyiv acknowledged 1,300 soldiers killed out of the country’ s standing land-based force of 130,000 troops.
Taking a standard wartime ratio used by observers of three wounded for every soldier killed, this would mean the fighting has taken around 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers out of combat — a figure analysts say is probably much higher.
Kyiv has been far more eager to discuss Russian losses, giving daily updates that now claim that 17,300 Russian soldiers have lost their lives.
Moscow for its part said on March 25 that after a month of fighting it had lost 1,351 soldiers with 3,825 wounded, with Russian sources confirming the death of one general and a senior naval commander.
But NATO officials estimate that of the 150,000 to 200,000 Russian troops deployed to Ukraine, 30,000 to 40,000 have been either killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
Ukraine’ s army also claims it has killed seven Russian generals, a figure that Western officials say would be an unusually high casualty rate among military top brass.
– ‘ Perfectly prepared’ –
While such differences in tolls are seen as normal in an intense information war that is accompanying the ground conflict, observers say Ukraine may have had some success in limiting losses.
Attackers in a conflict risk greater losses than defenders, analysts say, while Ukraine has also benefitted from considerable improvements in its military over the last eight years.
Even with the help of airborne missile strikes, assault forces often struggle to break through positions held by smaller numbers of dug-in troops.
A recent analysis from the France-based Foundation for Strategic Research said the conflict provides an “ excellent demonstration ” of the notion of a defensive force being worn down less than an attacking force.
“ This is all the more true as Ukrainian forces have adopted tactics based on high-tech guerilla operations instead of direct confrontation, avoiding Russian firepower, ” the analysts said.
Analysts also note that since Moscow’ s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its aid to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’ s east, Kyiv has hiked defence spending while streamlining its military command capabilities.
The military budget has tripled to some 3.5 billion euros ( $ 3.9 billion) in 2021, and Washington has sent $ 2.5 billion in defence aid since 2014 even as NATO allies including Canada and Britain have provided training help.
“ The Ukrainians were perfectly prepared, and had perfectly deployed their resources, ” a Western military source, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Cutting-edge foreign equipment such as accurate anti-tank missiles from Britain and the US, as well as TB2 combat drones from Turkey have also allowed Ukraine to limit its losses.
Ukraine has also been able to tap on large numbers of human resources with non-professional soldiers willing to swap trades and defend their country.
As of Tuesday, the widely followed Oryx military analysis blog, using photos and videos taken on the battlefields, set Russia’ s losses at 318 destroyed or abandoned tanks; over 500 armoured vehicles, 16 fighter jets, 35 helicopters and two navy ships.
On the Ukraine side it counted 79 lost tanks, under 200 armoured vehicles, 12 jets and 13 ships.
“ There has been such evidence of the Russian casualties and massive equipment losses that we haven’ t seen on the Ukraine side, ” said a British military observer, who asked not to be named.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
Under a shattered crescent hanger at Ukraine's Gostomel Airport the world's largest plane lies buckled and broken.
A federal appeals court upheld Biden’ s vaccine mandate for federal workers, while COVID-19 cases rise.
The fake logic is simple to the point of idiocy, but it’ ll work in information-starved Russia.
At least 52 people are killed, including five children, in a rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
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Election rivals cite costly consultancy fees to attack Macron | Hi, what are you looking for?
Less than two weeks from presidential elections for which he has barely started to campaign, French leader Macron is under fire.
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Less than two weeks from presidential elections for which he has barely started to campaign, French leader Emmanuel Macron is under fire over his government’ s liberal use of public money on expensive management consultants.
Faced with opponents who sense an opportunity in recent revelations about record contracts handed out in 2021, Macron has been forced to defend bringing in companies such as US-based giant McKinsey to help the public sector.
While Macron is still the overwhelming favourite to win a new term, the tensions come as indications grow the vote may yet be tighter than assumed with the president distracted by Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine.
“ You get the impression that there’ s something murky, but that’ s not true, ” Macron said at the weekend, urging anyone with evidence of wrong-doing to report it to authorities.
He argued that public procurement policies had been strictly followed and additional help had been required during the Covid-19 pandemic when ministries and civil servants were stretched thin.
Some of Macron’ s rivals are hinting at possible criminality, while others are focusing on what they see as irresponsible spending and overly cosy relations between the government and companies known for high prices and cut-throat business advice.
“ With me, consulting groups will be gone, ” hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon promised on Monday, while far-right leader Marine Le Pen’ s party has denounced a “ state scandal ”.
Attention has focused in particular on McKinsey, whose eye-watering fees and tax policies have seen it join other US corporate bogeymen in France from the BlackRock investment group to Goldman Sachs or genetically modified seed maker Monsanto.
Behind the problems for government was a Senate investigation which concluded this month that public spending on consultants had more than doubled from 2018-2021, reaching more than a billion euros ( $ 1.1 billion) last year, a record.
The investigation, which condemned the “ sprawling phenomenon ”, also slammed McKinsey for failing to pay corporation tax for the last 10 years despite declaring sales of 329 million euros in France — which McKinsey denies.
Other consultancies used by the government include France’ s Capgemini and Britain’ s EY.
– ‘ Not a real issue’ –
The question for Macron is how much the issue will cut through to voters and affect his chances as the clear favourite for the two-stage election on April 10 and 24.
The former investment banker, derided as a “ president of the rich ” by left-wingers throughout his time in office, has so far largely steered clear of the election campaign, focusing instead on his diplomatic efforts to end Russia’ s assault against Ukraine.
He faced questions from journalists during his first pre-election walkabout to meet voters in Dijon on Monday.
“ They ( the opposition) are trying to make it into the Bokassa diamond scandal for the president. It’ s not a real issue. Everyone uses consultancies, ” one close ally of the president told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The scandal undermined the re-election chances of one-term president Valery Giscard d’ Estaing following revelations in 1979 that he had accepted precious stones from Central African dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa.
Other Macron allies point out that France spent far less than fellow European countries, particularly Britain.
Polls currently suggest Macron would easily win the first round if the vote were held today ahead of anti-immigration far-right leader Marine Le Pen, but she appears to be gaining momentum and is closing the gap.
One latest survey set off alarm bells in Macron’ s camp by showing her up three points in a week at 47 percent versus 53 percent for the president in a hypothetical run-off.
Macron will finally address a rally as candidate on Saturday in Paris, a key moment for his campaign.
“ It’ s a complicated issue that will sway those who were already convinced that Macron is a ‘ president of the rich’, but it’ s not a widespread issue, ” political analyst Philippe Moreau Chevrolet told AFP when asked about the consultancy revelations.
“ It counts much less than questions around household income and spiralling inflation and even fears about food supplies, ” added Moreau Chevrolet, the founder of MCBG Conseil, a PR agency specialised in political communication.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
In the small town of Borodyanka, diggers sort through the rubble of houses destroyed by Russian bombardments, looking for the missing.
The Security Council failed to prevent the brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Zelensky said in a separate address to Japanese lawmakers.
Long considered the “ most peaceful country in the world ”, Iceland’ s tranquillity has been shattered by a spate of shootings and stabbings.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, though one woman was arrested for displaying the letter `` Z '', a symbol of support for the Russian army.
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China soybean market weakens amid falling crush margins, COVID-19 lockdowns | In this episode of the Oil Markets Podcast, S & P Global Commodity Insights editors Paul Hickin, Emma...
After settling at its highest price in over a decade on April 7, the NYMEX Henry Hub prompt-month...
The legal gridlock that has affected Mexico's power market the past few years will likely continue...
China's soybean market has weakened on negative crush margins and lower downstream demand for vegetable oil amid COVID-19-related movement restrictions and lockdowns in many cities, market sources told S & P Global Commodity Insights.
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The state-owned Sinograin has been releasing soybean oil in the domestic market as part of its stocks-rotation strategy, which has added downward pressure on soybean oil prices, the market sources said.
With soybean oil prices holding at levels lower than expected, and weaker seasonal demand for soybean meal, persistent negative crush margins have lowered crushers ' buying interest.
The recent drop in crude prices following talks between Russia and Ukraine also brought down soybean oil prices, further lowering crush margins. `` The crush margin is declining, and with a negative macroeconomic outlook it is unlikely to see anyone buying for this week even with lower price indications, '' said a China-based trader.
The gross crush margin was assessed at minus $ 33.16/mt by S & P Global March 30, down 4% on the week and 128% on the month.
As a result, crushers will probably buy hand to mouth, according to market sources. For May shipment, the open demand projection is at 8 million mt, and 73% of this has been covered. For June shipment, no trades have been heard since the week ended March 25. The demand coverage remains stagnant at 12%, with less than 1 million mt covered out of the total open demand of 8 million mt.
Some crushers in the Northern part of China have halted operations amid COVID-19 outbreaks, the sources said.
`` Currently, it is hard to estimate how the crushing operations will be impacted due to [ COVID-19-related ] lockdowns. However, if lockdowns are not removed, the increased difficulty in cargo collection due to disrupted logistics will lower the downstream demand for soybean meal, '' said a China-based crusher.
The crusher also said that with lower labor participation and increasing costs, these would likely lead to slower crushing activity and subsequently slower purchasing pace for soybeans.
The market is also expecting the national reserve to release 3.5 million mt of soybeans. About 350,000 mt soybeans will be released each week for 10 consecutive weeks. The official announcement stated that on April 1, 500,000 mt imported soybeans will be auctioned, without further details on futures rounds of auctions.
`` The news about the soybeans stocks release has also discouraged buyers from continuing purchases from last week as buyers are waiting for more updates, '' a Chinese trader said.
Lower demands for soybean have pressured the prices down. The soybean flat price for CFR China first month was assessed by S & P Global at $ 729.64/mt March 30, down 3.74% week on week.
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Not so fast; court reverses Miss Universe suit dismissal | BI’ s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.
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Known as Miss Universe of 2006 and the sultry woman in the “ Despacito ” music video, Zuleyka Rivera has been given the green light to pursue a lawsuit against a Puerto Rican department store that allegedly failed to pay her in a promotional deal.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Ms. Rivera’ s lawsuit over a reneged annual deal with Kress Stores of Puerto Rico Inc., which was granted in 2009 “ exclusive rights to use her name, pageant title, image, and likeness for the development and promotion of, among other things, branded items of apparel and fragrances ” for $ 125,000 per year for two years with an option to renegotiate — a deal that went sour in the years that followed, according to Zuleyka Rivera v. Stores of Puerto Rico, Inc. et al., filed in Boston.
While the federal district court in Puerto Rico granted the department store’ s request for a dismissal, the appeals court on Monday revived the case, stating the district court erred in dismissing the action based on the forum-selection clause in the contract — a procedural detail that will allow the case to proceed.
A dog in the United Kingdom flooded a homeowner’ s kitchen after figuring out how to turn the tap on, costing the owner’ s insurer £4,000, or about $ 5,229, The Daily Mirror reported.
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German economists slash 2022 growth outlook on Ukraine, energy | Hi, what are you looking for?
The German government’ s economic advisers slashed their growth forecast for 2022 on Wednesday.
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The German government’ s economic advisers slashed their growth forecast for 2022 on Wednesday, warning that the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices would take a toll on Europe’ s biggest economy.
The German Council of Economic Experts said it now expected gross domestic product ( GDP) to expand by just 1.8 percent year-on-year, down from an earlier forecast of 4.6 percent.
“ Russia’ s war of aggression against Ukraine and energy prices are drastically worsening the economic outlook, ” they said in their latest report.
The experts, whose forecasts are closely watched by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ s government, said they saw inflation reaching a decades-high peak of 6.1 percent in 2022, as energy costs and supply chain disruptions continue to push up prices around the world.
For 2023, the panel sees inflation falling back to 3.4 percent, while economic output should rebound by 3.6 percent.
Germany is due to unveil its March inflation data later on Wednesday.
– Energy appeal –
The Ukraine conflict has derailed Germany’ s hopes of finally shaking off the coronavirus pandemic and roaring back to growth.
With its export-oriented industries, Germany has been particularly vulnerable to the supply chain bottlenecks and raw material shortages caused by the pandemic, and its recovery has lagged that of other major European economies like France and Italy.
“ The war is putting additional strain on supply chains already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, ” said panel member Achim Truger.
“ At the same time, the prices for natural gas and oil, which have risen sharply once again, are weighing on companies and private consumption. ”
German car giants Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have already been forced to curtail production at some plants because of a lack of key components from Ukrainian factories, while exports to Russia have been halted.
Germany also relies more heavily than other European countries on Russian oil, gas and coal to keep its industries running and homes heated.
The country imports 55 percent of natural gas from Russia, half its coal and about 35 percent of its oil.
Berlin has vowed to wean itself off Russian energy in the near future, by turning to suppliers in other countries and accelerating a shift towards renewables.
But Germany has resisted calls at home and abroad to boycott Russian energy, fearing it would have a devastating impact on the economy.
Energy Minister Robert Habeck earlier on Wednesday activated the first level of Germany’ s gas emergency plan, as concerns grow that Russia could close the energy taps in response to Western sanctions over the war.
Habeck also appealed to citizens and businesses to reduce their energy use.
“ We are in a situation where every kilowatt-hour saved helps, ” he said.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
In the small town of Borodyanka, diggers sort through the rubble of houses destroyed by Russian bombardments, looking for the missing.
The Security Council failed to prevent the brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Zelensky said in a separate address to Japanese lawmakers.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, though one woman was arrested for displaying the letter `` Z '', a symbol of support for the Russian army.
Long considered the “ most peaceful country in the world ”, Iceland’ s tranquillity has been shattered by a spate of shootings and stabbings.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking. | general |
O fim da Rússia como grande potência energética by Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko | WASHINGTON/KIEV – A Rússia tem um enorme peso nos mercados mundiais de energia. Ela fornece 40% do gás consumido na União Europeia, e esta é uma questão econômica particularmente importante para a Alemanha, a Itália e a Áustria. Mas a pegada energética global da Rússia tem a ver em grande parte com petróleo. O país é o segundo maior exportador de petróleo, atrás apenas da Arábia Saudita, com uma média de cerca de cinco milhões de barris por dia. A Rússia também exporta cerca de 2,85 milhões de barris de produtos refinados, como diesel e combustível de aviões.
Essas exportações de combustíveis fósseis permitiram a invasão da Ucrânia pela Rússia e sua extrema violência contra civis desarmados e infraestrutura civil. Aparentemente o presidente russo, Vladimir Putin, acredita que ninguém pode enfrentá-lo por causa do poder nu que ele é capaz de exercer através dos mercados de energia. Se os europeus apresentarem muita resistência, ele corta o gás deles. Se o resto do mundo reduzir suas compras da Rússia, o preço do petróleo vai subir – causando dificuldades econômicas em todos os lugares.
Contudo, Putin subestimou o horror e o medo que sua invasão criaria, principalmente na Europa. Pior ainda para ele, os Estados Unidos, a Europa e seus aliados têm todas as ferramentas necessárias para acabar com a alavancagem energética da Rússia. Importadores de todo o mundo estão se afastando do petróleo e gás russos. A Europa, decerto, nunca mais arriscará sua segurança nacional com importações de energia russas. Consequentemente, a Rússia em breve estará acabada como ator importante nos mercados mundiais de energia.
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Cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based technologies are here to stay. But what will their next chapter look like?
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Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and a co-chair of the COVID-19 Policy Alliance. He is the co-author ( with Jonathan Gruber) of Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream and the co-author ( with James Kwak) of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown.
Writing for PS since 2022 2 Commentaries
Oleg Ustenko has been Economic Adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since May 2019.
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What a mindless, ridiculous article is this? Simon Johnson’ s reputation has definitely taken a serious hit!
This article is correct, yet just a tiny bit too sanguine. To be honest, it would take some pain to remove Russian imports. There's no country or group of countries which can replace Russian exports - they exported a lot - the only way out is to reduce demand; That's not a bad thing! Fossil fuels pollute, and nearly all other major oil/gas exports are different types of dictatorships. It's best to get off fossils ASAP, and where that's not possible, rely only on Western extraction.There's already public willingness to sacrifice. Now, we just need to be honest that there will be a ( tolerable) price to pay. During the 70s oil crisis, many countries simply banned cars from driving for a day during the week. Surely we can handle a lower level of sacrifice, and surely article writers can tell this to the public. The public is, if anything, ahead of decision makers and article writers.
We 've been hearing this for at least 20 years, and Russia hasn't collapsed yet.
One need only look at the proposal that Europeans `` pay '' for Russian gas in frozen accounts to realize how delusional the authors of the above propaganda, er, sorry, I meant article, are.
Not only do I fully agree with this post, I 'm again disappointed in Project-Syndicate giving space to nonsensical moralists who neither have nor even fake to have a logical method to support their wishful view of obliterating Russian oil and gas exports.
So far it is not Russia but the US and EU that use the Russian gas and oil supplies as a political weapon. A very stupid, short-sighted policy. Dangerous for the whole world.
Have you thought about what would happen if Putin turned off the gas for Germany? It could literally destroy the national economy of Germany and other economies would be drawn into that as well. No one can seriously predict all the consequences. Hitler had needed enormous military forces in his attempt to defeat Russia. Putin only needs to turn off the gas to accomplish the same with Germany. And I guess he can decide that on his own. History books will be written about the question how Germany could ever allow itself to get into such an existence-threatening situation.
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Faced with populist demagogues, the judiciary often must choose between bending the knee or defiantly asserting the supremacy of fundamental legal norms. Ketanji Brown Jackson took the latter route in her recent Supreme Court confirmation hearing; but she will now join an institution that has come to be regarded as political through and through.
While the terrible human and physical cost of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine is understandably the focus of political attention, the fight against global warming risks becoming another casualty of the war. What can policymakers do to prevent 2022 from being a lost year for climate action?
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Nike Kyrie Infinity GS Tie-Dye DM3894-410 |
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Is this upcoming Nike Kyrie Infinity a subtle dig to the cross-town New York Knicks? Kyrie Irving’ s tenure in the Big Apple has been inconsistent due to injuries and his personal choice to not receive the COVID-19 vaccination, and Knicks fans have yet to let an opportunity go by when it comes throwing shade at the Brooklyn star. It’ s all in jest, of course, but it’ s hard not to see this upcoming release as a thorn to the Knickerbocker faithful.
in fact, the blue and orange is merely a base as a vibrant and colorful tie-dye pattern adorns not just the tongue, but the heel portion of the design. The choice of blue and orange as the primary base seems a bit random as Nike could’ ve gone a completely different route, but we digress.
As of now, this colorful Kyrie Infinity is set to arrive on Nike.com in full kids sizes; see the official images ahead and stay tuned. | general |
Australian journalist faces China trial on state secrets charges | Hi, what are you looking for?
Australian journalist Cheng Lei faced a closed door trial in China over accusations of supplying state secrets.
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Australian journalist Cheng Lei faced a closed door trial in China on Thursday after 18 months in detention over accusations of supplying state secrets, with Canberra saying the decision to deny its ambassador access to the hearing was “ deeply concerning. ”
Cheng — a mother-of-two and a former anchor on Beijing’ s state broadcaster CGTN — has been held in detention since August 2020. In February last year she was formally arrested for “ illegally supplying state secrets overseas. ”
But Chinese authorities have given no further information on the allegations against her, diplomats say.
“ We have been denied entry into the trial, ” Australian ambassador to China Graham Fletcher told reporters outside the Beijing court on Thursday.
“ This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and very regrettable. We can have no confidence in the validity of a process which is conducted in secret. ”
Diplomats could not confirm if the trial had begun as scheduled.
Cheng could face life imprisonment if deemed to have committed serious violations of China’ s national security laws.
A statement from her family said “ her two children and elderly parents miss her immensely and sincerely hope to reunite with her as soon as possible. ”
Concerns have swirled in Canberra over her welfare and detention conditions, with foreign minister Marise Payne urging China to meet “ basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment… in accordance with international norms ”.
Ambassador Fletcher assuaged some of those worries on Thursday, saying “ she is bearing up OK ” and had chosen “ very competent lawyers ” to defend her.
Born in central China’ s Hunan province, Cheng emigrated to Australia as a child and later acquired citizenship of her adoptive country — likely ditching her Chinese passport as Beijing does not permit its citizens to hold dual nationality.
After returning to China and joining the state broadcaster in 2012, she became a familiar face on CGTN and hosted interviews with noted CEOs from around the world.
– Broader tensions –
Cheng’ s detention came as relations between Australia and China plunged to their lowest level in years.
Beijing has lashed out at Australia’ s use of foreign interference laws to block Chinese investment in sensitive sectors and examine Chinese influence on the country’ s public life.
Canberra’ s repeated calls for an independent enquiry into the origins of Covid-19 — which first emerged in China over two years ago — have also raised Beijing’ s hackles.
Weeks before she disappeared, Australian authorities raided the homes of Chinese state media journalists as part of a foreign interference probe.
The timing of Cheng’ s detention and the lack of clarity about the charges against her led to speculation that her detention was politically motivated or tit-for-tat retaliation.
Two Australian journalists, Bill Birtles and Michael Smith, later fled China after being questioned about Cheng.
Months after her detention, Chinese authorities also detained Bloomberg News employee Haze Fan — a Chinese citizen — on allegations of endangering national security.
Another Chinese-born Australian, writer Yang Jun, has been accused by Beijing of espionage and is facing a trial that started last year behind closed doors.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
In the small town of Borodyanka, diggers sort through the rubble of houses destroyed by Russian bombardments, looking for the missing.
The Security Council failed to prevent the brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Zelensky said in a separate address to Japanese lawmakers.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, though one woman was arrested for displaying the letter `` Z '', a symbol of support for the Russian army.
Long considered the “ most peaceful country in the world ”, Iceland’ s tranquillity has been shattered by a spate of shootings and stabbings.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking. | general |
Закат энергетического могущества России by Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko | ВАШИНГТОН/КИЕВ. Россия занимает важное место на мировых энергетических рынках. Она поставляет 40% газа, потребляемого в Европейском союзе, и больше всего от него зависит экономика Германии, Италии и Австрии. Но глобальное энергетическое влияние России в основном связано с нефтью. Она второй по величине экспортер сырой нефти, уступающий только Саудовской Аравии и поставляющий в среднем около 5 миллионов баррелей в день. Россия также экспортирует около 2,85 миллиона баррелей продуктов переработки, таких как дизельное и авиационное топливо.
Экспорт ископаемого топлива позволил России вторгнуться в Украину и применить крайнее насилие в отношении безоружных мирных жителей и гражданской инфраструктуры. Президент РФ Владимир Путин, по-видимому, считает, что никто не может противостоять его власти силы, обеспеченной энергетическими рынками. Если европейцы будут слишком сильно сопротивляться, он отключит им газ. Если остальной мир сократит свои закупки в России, цены на нефть вырастут, что повлечет повсеместные экономические проблемы.
Но Путин недооценил ужас и страх, вызванные его вторжением, особенно в Европе. Что еще хуже для него, у Соединенных Штатов, Европы и их союзников есть все инструменты, необходимые для прекращения энергетического влияния России. Импортеры по всему миру избегают российских нефти и газа. Европа, безусловно, никогда больше не будет рисковать своей национальной безопасностью из-за российского импорта энергоносителей. Следовательно, Россия скоро перестанет быть крупным игроком на мировых энергетических рынках.
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Cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based technologies are here to stay. But what will their next chapter look like?
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Writing for PS since 2007 147 Commentaries
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Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and a co-chair of the COVID-19 Policy Alliance. He is the co-author ( with Jonathan Gruber) of Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream and the co-author ( with James Kwak) of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown.
Writing for PS since 2022 2 Commentaries
Oleg Ustenko has been Economic Adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since May 2019.
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What a mindless, ridiculous article is this? Simon Johnson’ s reputation has definitely taken a serious hit!
This article is correct, yet just a tiny bit too sanguine. To be honest, it would take some pain to remove Russian imports. There's no country or group of countries which can replace Russian exports - they exported a lot - the only way out is to reduce demand; That's not a bad thing! Fossil fuels pollute, and nearly all other major oil/gas exports are different types of dictatorships. It's best to get off fossils ASAP, and where that's not possible, rely only on Western extraction.There's already public willingness to sacrifice. Now, we just need to be honest that there will be a ( tolerable) price to pay. During the 70s oil crisis, many countries simply banned cars from driving for a day during the week. Surely we can handle a lower level of sacrifice, and surely article writers can tell this to the public. The public is, if anything, ahead of decision makers and article writers.
We 've been hearing this for at least 20 years, and Russia hasn't collapsed yet.
One need only look at the proposal that Europeans `` pay '' for Russian gas in frozen accounts to realize how delusional the authors of the above propaganda, er, sorry, I meant article, are.
Not only do I fully agree with this post, I 'm again disappointed in Project-Syndicate giving space to nonsensical moralists who neither have nor even fake to have a logical method to support their wishful view of obliterating Russian oil and gas exports.
So far it is not Russia but the US and EU that use the Russian gas and oil supplies as a political weapon. A very stupid, short-sighted policy. Dangerous for the whole world.
Have you thought about what would happen if Putin turned off the gas for Germany? It could literally destroy the national economy of Germany and other economies would be drawn into that as well. No one can seriously predict all the consequences. Hitler had needed enormous military forces in his attempt to defeat Russia. Putin only needs to turn off the gas to accomplish the same with Germany. And I guess he can decide that on his own. History books will be written about the question how Germany could ever allow itself to get into such an existence-threatening situation.
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Faced with populist demagogues, the judiciary often must choose between bending the knee or defiantly asserting the supremacy of fundamental legal norms. Ketanji Brown Jackson took the latter route in her recent Supreme Court confirmation hearing; but she will now join an institution that has come to be regarded as political through and through.
While the terrible human and physical cost of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine is understandably the focus of political attention, the fight against global warming risks becoming another casualty of the war. What can policymakers do to prevent 2022 from being a lost year for climate action?
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How China aims to treat Hong Kong's explosive COVID-19 outbreak | While the world’ s attention is focused on Ukraine, Hong Kong is being forced to fight against something totally different — the coronavirus.
For more than two years since the first COVID-19 outbreak, Hong Kong has been relatively successful in containing the virus. However, the situation changed completely with the emergence of the omicron variant.
After the daily cases of new infections in Hong Kong topped 100 in late January, the number experienced an explosive growth, exceeding 1,000 cases a day on Feb. 9, 10,000 cases a day on Feb. 25 and 50,000 cases a day on March 2.
Hospitals ran short of beds as people formed long queues in front of medical facilities.
The number of deaths per day topped 100, forcing some public hospitals to place the deceased in emergency rooms as morgues filled up.
Many distribution truck drivers became infected, causing shortages of fresh foods. Train and bus services were either reduced or suspended. Kindergartens, elementary schools and high schools started their summer break on March 7, much earlier than usual.
The Chinese government is treating the crisis in Hong Kong as a top priority.
Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, pro-Beijing newspapers in Hong Kong, reported on their respective Feb. 16 front pages that Chinese President Xi Jinping had issued “ zhongyao zhishi, ” or “ important instructions, ” to Hong Kong authorities regarding their anti-pandemic efforts.
“ Hong Kong’ s government must take up the main responsibility to stabilize and control the pandemic as soon as possible as a mission that overrides everything, mobilize all available forces and resource and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of Hong Kong’ s citizens and the stability of Hong Kong’ s society, ” the instructions said, according to reports.
It is extremely rare for a Chinese leader to issue such instructions related to Hong Kong.
The fact that Xi specifically mentioned the need to ensure the stability of society indicates his concerns over conflicts of views among the government and public opposition to disease control measures becoming a political issue. He may be recalling the nightmare of pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong in 2019.
In response to the edict, the Hong Kong government was forced to take a policy shift to implement stricter measures.
In February, Hong Kong banned unvaccinated people from entering shopping malls, restaurants and a host of other places.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam had initially said that there was no need to postpone the election of Hong Kong’ s next leader, scheduled for March 27. Following Xi’ s issuing of the instructions, however, she announced that the election would be delayed until May 8 to give top priority to the battle against surging COVID-19 infections.
As Beijing effectively pulls the strings in an election to choose Hong Kong’ s leader, whether Lam succeeds in containing the virus will decide her fate in the coming election.
China has persistently trumpeted that it achieved “ COVID zero, ” something not possible in Western countries. The country, which had been seen as the place where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged, came to be known globally as a success story in terms of containing the virus.
China has implemented stringent anti-COVID measures such as quickly identifying close contacts of confirmed coronavirus cases and suppressing the spread of infections at an early stage through large-scale testing and lockdowns of buildings and districts. Many of these measures are conducted through the use of a surveillance app to monitor people’ s movements.
Such a policy is possible in China where privacy and personal rights can be restricted, and Chinese leaders believe the achievement of COVID zero not only represents a success of their policies but also a symbol of the superiority of the Chinese system.
However, the situation in Hong Kong shows that it is difficult to apply Chinese-style policy to places outside mainland China.
It also reveals the limits to the capability of the Chinese system to respond to issues that can not be controlled based on preset scenarios.
Hong Kong, with a population of roughly 7.5 million, has been seeing new infections confirmed in every part of the city at a level of 50,000 cases a day, overwhelming hospitals and quarantine facilities. In such a situation, identifying contacts and isolating them does not mean much in terms of preventing the spread of infections.
However, as previously mentioned, the pillars of the Chinese-style COVID-19 control regime are testing and isolation. Following Xi’ s instructions, the Hong Kong government announced that all residents will have to undergo three rounds of PCR testing, something that has not been done before.
If implemented, the testings are likely to identify an enormous number of infected people at globally unheard-of levels.
But even if they identify infections, there are not enough facilities to isolate or treat them. So what would be the purpose of conducting so many tests? At last, on March 21, the Hong Kong government was forced to announce the postponement of the PCR testing of all residents.
Empty coffins are delivered to a funeral services shop and funeral parlors in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong on March 17 amid the soaring death toll in the city as a result of COVID-19. | AFP-JIJI
The Hong Kong government had been planning to adopt an mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, just like Japan. But immediately after Xi told Lam on Jan. 27 last year that he was “ worried and concerned ” about the spread of infections in Hong Kong, the authorities fast tracked the approval of an inactivated vaccine, developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech, for emergency use.
Inoculations of people in Hong Kong first began with the Sinovac vaccine. The use of mRNA vaccines followed later, but some 2 million people have received the Sinovac shot so far.
Meanwhile, a number of experiments have proven that the Sinovac vaccine has lower efficacy compared with mRNA vaccines. Given such findings, countries like Japan and Singapore have not approved the Sinovac vaccine.
Hong Kong media initially reported widely on cases of side effects among those who got the Sinovac jab, making many people, especially the elderly, vaccine-hesitant. And some point out that this may be the reason behind a huge number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in Hong Kong.
Because the Chinese government has made its disease control policy a top priority, in Hong Kong it has become taboo in a sense to engage in cool-headed debate over problems related to Chinese-style disease control measures.
The extraordinary directive issued by Xi for Hong Kong was released in an extraordinary way as well.
Usually, “ important instructions ” are first released by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, whose reports are then carried widely by Chinese media.
But this did not happen with the instruction on Hong Kong, and it was only reported by two state-run newspapers in the city.
Chinese authorities probably wanted the Hong Kong government to bear a heavy responsibility for failing to contain the virus, but without letting the people in mainland China become aware that an explosive outbreak was occurring in the territory.
After the Communist Party-led administration failed to cover up the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, it quickly shifted its course to seriously work on disease control and appeared to have been successful. But this does not mean its habit of being reluctant to face the inconvenient truth has been eradicated.
The situation is still ongoing, and it is uncertain how this crisis will turn out. But China’ s moves regarding disease control already show how it is trying to handle Hong Kong, which went through a major protest movement in 2019.
It also offers an important perspective for Japan in considering how to interact with Hong Kong and China.
As can be seen typically in the introduction of a new national security law for Hong Kong in 2020, the Chinese government has been trying to suppress demonstrations by abolishing several special treatments that had been allowed under the “ one country, two systems ” policy and incorporating Hong Kong in the Chinese-style system over which the Communist Party has centralized control.
Making Hong Kong adopt Chinese-style disease control is a part of such moves.
A stance of eliminating diversity within the country — such as benefits for minorities, objections to the government and regional distinctiveness — and treating everyone uniformly is one of the characteristics of the Xi administration also visible in its governance over ethnic minorities.
The Chinese government being insensitive about Hong Kong’ s distinctiveness as a global business hub means Beijing will act the same way toward the global community, including Japan.
For instance, Hong Kong’ s disease control measures — weeks of compulsory quarantine at designated hotels for those arriving in the city in particular — are much more stringent than those in other international financial centers in Asia such as Singapore, leading to complaints from many foreign firms and foreign nationals.
Hong Kong has seen an explosive rise in coronavirus cases since the arrival of the omicron variant. | AFP-JIJI
With the spread of the more transmissible omicron variant, more Hong Kong citizens are calling for an adoption of a policy to live with COVID-19, like in some Western countries, and the need to start considering a resumption of cross-border movement.
Still, the Chinese government has been strongly criticizing the idea of living with COVID-19 in state-run media such as Xinhua, and has been calling on Hong Kong to stick with and achieve the Chinese-style COVID zero policy so that restrictions on travel between the city and mainland China can be lifted.
With such a high hurdle set, there is no knowing now when Hong Kong will be able to lift overseas travel restrictions. And it has been reported that the exodus of foreign firms and foreign nationals from Hong Kong is accelerating.
Disease control is a typical example of Hong Kong adopting China-style policies.
Hong Kong’ s shift to China-style systems, being implemented fully in political, judicial, social, economic and international relations areas, has prompted some people in Japan and other countries to question Hong Kong’ s raison d’ etre.
The change in Hong Kong seems to show us that, unfortunately, we are facing an era in which people from Japan and elsewhere, in getting along with China or Hong Kong, can no longer talk business while putting politics aside.
Toru Kurata is a professor at the College of Law and Politics at Rikkyo University and an expert on Hong Kong politics. API Geoeconomic Briefing is a series that looks into global political and economic trends, with a particular focus on technology and innovation, global supply chains, international rule-making and climate change. | tech |
COVID-19 tracker: Tokyo reports 8,226 new cases, down slightly from week before | Tokyo reported 8,226 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, down about 600 from a week before, as experts grow wary of a possible rebound in the spread of new infections.
Thursday’ s tally in the capital was the first time in four days that daily cases declined from week-before levels.
The seven-day average of new cases came to 7,529.9, compared with 6,352 a week earlier.
The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms under the metropolitan government’ s criteria remained the same as Wednesday at 32, while 12 new deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported Thursday.
On Wednesday, 53,753 new cases were confirmed across the nation, up by over 12,000 from a week before.
The number of severe cases nationwide fell by 18 from Tuesday to 655, while 96 new fatalities linked to COVID-19 were reported nationwide Wednesday. | tech |
OPEC and Russia-led allies set to resist oil output pressure | Hi, what are you looking for?
The OPEC and its Russia-led allies were expected Thursday to again ignore Western pressure to significantly boost production.
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The OPEC group of oil producing countries and its Russia-led allies were expected Thursday to again ignore Western pressure to significantly boost production as the Ukraine conflict has rocked prices.
The 13 members of the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 10 countries spearheaded by Russia will likely back a modest increase of 400,000 barrels per day for May, the same amount as in previous months.
Officials began a technical meeting on Thursday that will be followed by a ministerial video conference before an announcement is made, according to a source close to the organization.
“ The signals suggest no deviation from the plan in recent months, ” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
The United States has urged OPEC+, as the alliance is known, to boost production as high energy prices have contributed to soaring inflation across the world, which has threatened to severely derail the recovery from the Covid pandemic.
Crude prices have spiked over fears of a major supply shortfall after Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24. Russia is the world’ s second biggest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia.
The international benchmark contract, Brent North Sea crude, flirted with a record high in early March as it soared to almost $ 140 per barrel.
It has retreated since then on hopes that Moscow and Kyiv could agree on a ceasefire, which would ease concerns over Russian supplies. Covid lockdowns in China have also weighed on prices as the country is the world’ s top crude consumer.
The recent fall in prices has made it “ even less likely ” that OPEC+ will decide to step up production, said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
OPEC+ “ is likely to feel that this confirms its view that the upswing in oil prices was driven chiefly by geopolitical risks rather than by any actual shortage of supply, ” he said.
Oil prices tumbled again on Thursday on reports that the United States is considering tapping its reserves, but they remain above $ 100 per barrel.
The White House is expected to announce a plan to release a million barrels a day for several months — totalling up to 180 million, according to Bloomberg News.
“ If such a gigantic release of emergency reserves actually happens, the oil market would no longer be undersupplied in the second quarter, ” Fritsch said, adding that it would even be oversupplied in the third quarter.
But Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, said the US plan gives OPEC+ “ no incentive to lift the production cap more than the planned ” increase.
– OPEC+ here ‘ to stay’ –
The United States, Canada and Britain have decided to ban Russian oil and gas, but the European Union has avoided an embargo as countries such as Germany are highly dependent on imports from Russia.
Berlin and the International Energy Agency, which advises developed countries, have also urged producers to boost production to bring relief to the market.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with oil-rich Saudi Arabia’ s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to lobby for higher production earlier in March.
But Gulf countries have resisted the pressure.
The United Arab Emirates on Monday urged Western countries to be “ reasonable ” in their expectations and said the OPEC+ alliance was here “ to stay ”.
OPEC+ drastically cut production in 2020 as oil prices sank due to the pandemic, with the WTI contract, the US benchmark, even crashing into negative territory.
It started to raise production again in August 2021 at its modest rate of 400,000 barrels per day.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
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China, Solomon Islands agree controversial security pact | Hi, what are you looking for?
The Solomon Islands on Thursday said it had inked a wide-ranging security pact with Beijing.
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The Solomon Islands on Thursday said it had inked a wide-ranging security pact with Beijing, an agreement Western allies fear will pave the way for the first Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific.
“ Officials of Solomon Islands and the People’ s Republic of China have initialled elements of a bilateral Security Cooperation Framework between the two countries today, ” said a statement from the prime minister’ s office in Honiara.
It is now awaiting signature by foreign ministers of the two countries.
A draft version of the agreement, leaked last week, detailed measures to allow Chinese security and naval deployments to the crisis-hit Pacific island nation.
It included a proposal that “ China may, according to its own needs and with the consent of the Solomon Islands, make ship visits to, carry out logistical replenishment in, and have stopover and transition in Solomon Islands ”.
It would also allow armed Chinese police to deploy at the Solomon Islands’ request, to maintain “ social order ”.
The “ forces of China ” would also be allowed to protect “ the safety of Chinese personnel ” and “ major projects in the Solomon Islands ”.
Without the written consent of the other party, neither would be allowed to disclose the missions publicly.
The leaking of the draft sent political shock waves across the region.
The United States and Australia have long been concerned about the potential for China to build a naval base in the South Pacific, allowing its navy to project power far beyond its borders.
Any Chinese military presence would likely force Canberra and Washington to change their military posture in the region.
Australia’ s Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said Thursday that the China-Solomon Islands pact would “ change the calculus ” of his country’ s operations in the Pacific.
The Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare dismissed critics of the deal in a fiery speech Tuesday, saying there was “ no intention whatsoever… to ask China to build a military base in the Solomon Islands ”.
He added that it was “ very insulting… to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs ” by other nations.
– ‘ Grave security concerns’ –
Word that the pact had been initialled came just hours after the president of the Federated States of Micronesia made public an impassioned plea to Sogavare to reconsider signing the deal.
President David Panuelo voiced “ grave security concerns about this proposed agreement ” in a March 30 letter to the leader, citing rising tensions between China and the United States.
“ My fear is that we — the Pacific Islands — would be at the epicentre of a future confrontation between these major powers, ” Panuelo wrote.
In his letter to Sogavare, Panuelo asked the Solomons leader to consider the long-term consequences “ for the entire Pacific region, if not the entire world ” of signing the security pact.
There are also fears the deal could fuel domestic strife inside the Solomons.
The nation of 800,000 has been wracked by political and social unrest, and many of its people live in poverty.
In November, protesters tried to storm the parliament and went on a deadly three-day rampage, torching much of Honiara’ s Chinatown.
More than 200 peacekeepers from Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand were deployed to restore calm, and Sogavare avoided being deposed.
The unrest was sparked by opposition to Sogavare’ s rule and fuelled by unemployment and inter-island rivalries.
But anti-China sentiment also played a role.
Leaders on the most populous island of Malaita fiercely oppose Sogavare’ s decision to recognise Beijing and break ties with Taiwan in 2019.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
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A black mark on Dias ' otherwise great career | The abrupt resignation of Jerry Dias as president of Unifor amid an accusation of corruption and a reckoning with personal problems leaves a dark cloud of suspicion over a career that had moments of brilliance.
Dias, named an Automotive News All-Star four times during his eight years leading the Canadian union, was never afraid to play the bare-knuckle brawler and provocateur in his quest to keep the Detroit 3's Canadian factories humming and to secure the futures of his blue-collar comrades. For his most recent All-Star award, in 2020, we cited Dias for negotiating deals that surely saved a big chunk of the Canadian industry from collapse.
At the bargaining table, he won $ 3.75 billion in investment commitments from the automakers, including the country's first major foray into electric vehicle production and the resurrection of vehicle assembly at General Motors ' Oshawa, Ontario, factory.
Recently, however, the union has accused Dias of taking $ 50,000 from a maker of COVID-19 tests and pushing employers to buy the tests for use by members.
Coming on the heels of the UAW scandal that led to convictions of 16 people, including two former presidents, the accusations look like just the kind of story that undermines the struggling labor movement.
We will not speculate to what degree Dias ' self-stated issues with painkillers, sleeping pills and alcohol to deal with a sciatic nerve issue influenced his judgment in relation to the allegation against him — he had professed neither guilt nor innocence as of press time. Nor do we know whether more allegations may follow.
What we do know is that recovery from substance abuse is a long and difficult process, and we wish Dias, who says he has entered rehabilitation, the best in what may be the most important battle of his life.
While the accusation, if proved, would tarnish his legacy as a labor leader, the episode appears to reveal a union where bad deeds are exposed, as they should be. The investigation, scheduled to include a hearing this month, should begin to yield some answers.
Unifor's next leader has big shoes to fill as the industry pushes ahead toward an uncertain electric future. Let's hope he or she does so effectively — and ethically. | general |
China's zero-Covid policy tests small businesses in a make-or-break it year | BEIJING — While China tries to shake off omicron, the country's zero-Covid policy of swift lockdowns sets small businesses up for a third year of stop-and-start uncertainty.
It's a critical time for that portion of China's economy. Medium- and small-sized businesses in the country have an average lifespan of three years, the People's Bank of China said in 2018, before the pandemic.
Although state-owned corporations play a significant role in China's economy, it's the smaller, non-state-owned businesses that account for the majority of national growth and jobs.
As the Covid situation worsened this year, central and local governments issued some support measures —such as rent waivers and tax refunds for certain affected small businesses, especially in services industries.
Shanghai, which is in a two-part lockdown this week, announced about 140 billion yuan ( $ 21.88 billion) in tax relief, according to state media.
But many small businesses `` don't have any income, so cutting taxes and fees doesn't work anymore, '' said an economic analyst, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about the Covid policy's impact on growth, currently a sensitive topic in China. That's according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese.
Businesses are looking to government policies for a clearer sense of whether it's worth sticking it out for another year, the analyst said. Right now `` small businesses don't have enough confidence. They can't see how the pandemic will pass. ''
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said Thursday that some small businesses involved with foreign trade face Covid-related problems for production. She said the ministry will work to implement measures such as tax and fee cuts, and guide local governments to introduce targeted support.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mainland China is trying to control its worst Covid outbreak since the initial shock of the pandemic in early 2020 pushed the economy into contraction. The country returned to growth within weeks by using lockdowns to control the virus ' spread domestically.
China has stuck to its zero-Covid policy in the two years since, while other countries have shifted to a looser `` live with Covid '' policy in the last several months. The mainland has reported far fewer Covid cases or deaths relative to other major countries.
And even with the last few weeks of scattered lockdowns and travel restrictions around major economic areas, other parts of the country are less affected. Anecdotally, Beijing's city streets are still filled with a fairly normal amount of traffic.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said earlier this month the impact of Covid would be felt more at a local level than a national one.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned in November how a coexistence strategy would likely result in hundreds of thousands of new daily cases and devastate the national medical system.
If the Covid situation remains severe, policymakers would allow more flexibility in how close GDP comes to the target of around 5.5%, said Zong Liang, chief researcher at the Bank of China, noting that growth above 5.1% is also possible.
Government policy can't help all businesses, Zong said, noting the ones that can survive these three years will probably have a stronger ability to withstand risks.
Small businesses have struggled disproportionately while China's overall economy has grown in the last two years.
The official Purchasing Managers ' Index for small businesses, an indicator of market conditions, has persistently reflected worse sentiment than large businesses. It has remained in contraction territory below 50 since May 2021.
The small business PMI ticked up to 46.6 in March from 45.1 in February, while that for medium-sized businesses fell below 50 for the first time since October, according to official data released Thursday. PMI for large businesses held above 50 with a 51.3 print.
The high transmissibility of the omicron variant behind the latest wave of cases in China has made tracking and controlling outbreaks harder, local governments have said.
In hard-hit areas like the northern province of Jilin and the southern metropolis of Shanghai, the new daily case count from the National Health Commission has remained elevated for the last few weeks.
An increasing number of reported new cases are asymptomatic, and outnumbering cases with symptoms. More than 6,600 such cases were reported for Wednesday on the mainland, mostly in Shanghai. That's far above the 355 new confirmed cases with symptoms for the day.
To control spikes in Covid cases, local authorities have announced lockdowns of city districts or individual buildings with just hours ' notice, which can disrupt pockets of business activity.
While large companies operating factories have sometimes said they could maintain production by keeping workers on site, businesses reliant on storefronts or in-person interaction face greater uncertainty.
Anecdotally, a ride down one street in Beijing — near buildings closed last week due to Covid contact — found that all of the roughly 15 storefronts on the north side were closed, while those on the south side were open.
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Also last week, police had to intervene in a dispute in which merchants sought Covid-related rent waivers at a major wholesale clothing market in the city of Hangzhou near Shanghai, according to the state-run China Internet Information Center. The report cited market managers as saying they 'd yet to hear of rent waivers at a local level, and claimed the `` pandemic must end '' before such waivers could even be considered.
CNBC was unable to independently get a response from market operators or merchants.
Earlier in the month, Hangzhou's government said it closed the market for Covid control but the health risk had ended as of March 18.
The state-run media report from China Internet Information said last week's incident reflected a lack of local implementation of a central government document released on Feb. 18.
In the policy document, China's top economic planner and 13 other government ministries announced support for services businesses, including calls for rent waivers or reductions if the landlord was a state-owned enterprise in a designated medium- or high-risk Covid area.
The document also called on local authorities not to arbitrarily expand high-risk areas of tight Covid control, or arbitrarily restrict areas for free movement. | business |
Oil: OPEC+ meets as U.S. considers massive release of oil reserves | Oil producer group OPEC+ on Thursday decided to stick to its strategy of gradually reopening the taps following reports the U.S. is considering the largest ever draw from its emergency oil reserve.
The influential energy alliance of OPEC and non-OPEC partners swiftly agreed to raise its output targets by 432,000 barrels per day from May 1.
Energy analysts had widely expected OPEC+ to rubber-stamp another modest monthly increase despite sustained pressure from top consumers calling for the group to pump more to cool soaring oil prices and aid the economic recovery.
Oil prices have rallied to a near all-time high on concerns about Russian supply disruptions after the U.S. and international allies imposed a barrage of economic measures against the Kremlin as a result of its unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine.
To be sure, Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer, behind the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, and the world's largest exporter of crude to global markets. It is also a major producer and exporter of natural gas.
It is against this backdrop that the U.S. is considering a plan to cool soaring crude prices by releasing up to 180 million barrels from the country's strategic petroleum reserve, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing four unnamed sources. President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks later on Thursday.
The move would mark the third time the U.S. has tapped its SPR in six months and the second since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Oil prices dropped sharply on the news.
International benchmark Brent crude futures traded 5% lower at $ 107.69 a barrel Thursday afternoon in London, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 5.4% to $ 101.96.
OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo on Wednesday encouraged members of the group, which includes Russia, to `` stay the course '' and `` remain vigilant and attentive to ever-changing market conditions. ''
OPEC+ is in the process of unwinding record supply cuts of roughly 10 million barrels per day. The historic production cut was put in place in April 2020 to help the energy market recover after the coronavirus pandemic cratered demand for crude.
The producer alliance has raised output targets by 400,000 barrels per day each month since August last year. This will now increase to 432,000 barrels per day from next month.
OPEC+ will hold its next meeting on May 5.
`` When you look at the structure of forward curves, they are very much telling you that this is not a market that is well supplied and there is a considerable supply shock going forward over the rest of 2022, '' Edward Bell, senior director of market economics at Emirates NBD, told CNBC's `` Capital Connection '' on Thursday.
`` I don't think though that this is really going to push OPEC+ to try and increase the scale of their production at a faster pace, '' Bell said, particularly given that the U.S. is reportedly considering the release of up to 180 million barrels from the SPR.
`` What this may do is just be the ammunition OPEC+ needs to say 'Well, look, there is oil available out there, you can draw it out on the reserves. ' We have seen similar messaging from OPEC countries in the past when there have been requests for faster increases. ''
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Tuesday that OPEC+ would keep politics out of its decision-making in favor of the `` common good '' of stabilizing energy prices.
Separately, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told CNBC earlier this week that Russia would always be a part of OPEC+ even as governments across the globe shun the oil exporter over its war in Ukraine.
Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said the prospect of a massive SPR release was one of two available tools to provide extra supply on short notice. The other one would be the return to the Iranian nuclear accord.
`` Presently it seems like an understandable act of desperation with [ a ] questionable outcome, '' Varga said.
Last week, the leaders of the G-7 major economies called on OPEC to raise oil production amid fears of supply shortages.
`` We call on oil and gas producing countries to act in a responsible manner and to increase deliveries to international markets, noting that OPEC has a key role to play. We will work with them and all partners to ensure stable and sustainable global energy supplies, '' the group said in a statement.
The G-7 group of major economies is comprised of the U.K., U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy. | business |
Ramadan prayers return to Istanbul's Hagia Sophia mosque after 88 years | Hi, what are you looking for?
“ Tarawih ” prayers which Muslims perform every night during the holy month of Ramadan, are returning to Istanbul’ s Hagia Sophia mosque.
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“ Tarawih ” prayers which Muslims perform every night during the holy month of Ramadan, are returning to Istanbul’ s Hagia Sophia mosque for the first time in 88 years, the country’ s top religious body announced on Thursday.
“ Thanks be to God. For the first time in 88 years, the mosque… will welcome believers for tarawih prayers this Ramadan, ” said Ali Erbas head of the Diyanet, the public body responsible for overseeing religious worship.
“ I will witness, God willing, this beautiful moment by leading the first tarawih prayer, ” he added.
The prayers will take place at Hagia Sophia on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the holy month of Ramadan, beginning this week, said Diyanet.
Although the iconic building, previously used as a museum, was turned into a mosque in 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic prevented the prayers taking place there until now.
It’ s not the first time the building has changed its use.
The edifice was first built as a Christian cathedral between 532 and 537 AD under emperor Justinian I and is considered the most important Byzantine structure.
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople ( now Istanbul) in 1453, it was converted into a mosque before being opened as a museum in 1935 after the secular modern Turkish republic was established in 1923.
It was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1985.
In June 2020, Turkish authorities converted Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, a move that triggered an international wave of criticism.
Last year the World Heritage Committee of the UN’ s cultural agency UNESCO asked Turkey to submit a report about the state of conservation of the Hagia Sophia, expressing “ grave concern ” over the consequences of its conversion into a mosque.
Turkey swiftly rejected the agency’ s criticism of the conversion of a revered Istanbul cathedral-turned-museum into a mosque as “ biased and political ”.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
That’ s the real danger. Nobody trusts Russian judgment anymore.
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Ryanair chief expects'strong recovery ', Covid and Ukraine permitting | Hi, what are you looking for?
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’ Leary said he expected a strong rebound in the airline’ s activity but said the recovery was fragile.
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Ryanair chief executive Michael O’ Leary said Thursday he expected a strong rebound in the airline’ s activity but said the recovery was fragile due to Covid and the geopolitical situation.
O’ Leary also told AFP he believed the Boeing 737 MAX, which was grounded for 20 months following two fatal accidents, was “ reestablishing its credibility ”.
The 737 MAX jetliner has been gradually returning to service since the end of 2020 following a crash in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia five months later that together killed 346 people.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Airlines for Europe meeting in Brussels, O’ Leary said the Ukraine war and soaring oil prices over supply fears posed a risk after several months of passenger numbers being hit by the pandemic.
“ We were coming strong in February and then the Ukraine invasion has cost us probably a million passengers in February and March as well, ” he told AFP in an interview.
“ So are we confident? No. But if there are no further significant disruptions, either Covid or Ukraine related, then I think there will be a very strong recovery, we could well get to 165 million passengers, ” he said.
He said that the airline, which flies mainly throughout Europe and to north Africa, had 65 737 MAX aircraft, which use 40 percent less kerosene.
O’ Leary said travellers had reacted well to 55 of those planes now being back in operation.
“ We thought there would be some customers hesitant to flying on a Boeing MAX. So we put up procedures. If you don’ t want to fly on the MAX, you can fly on the next available aircraft, ” he said.
But “ not one passenger in six months ” had done so.
He said that instead, passengers had welcomed more leg room, a “ much quieter flying experience on board the aircraft ”.
“ The MAX is re-establishing its credibility after the two-year hiatus after the Ethiopian and the Indonesian accidents, ” he said.
It “ has now accomplished over a million flights in North America and Europe, and safety has gone away as an issue for the MAX aircraft ”, he said.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
In Ukrainian town of Volnovakha, now under Moscow's control, children listen to a recording of the Russian anthem, watched by armed soldiers.
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India bets on satellite broadband to bridge rural digital divide | DUNGE, India – The day started well for Sayi Gharat. The 9-year-old schoolgirl managed to connect easily to her online science class, as she sat on a daybed in her grandmother’ s home in western India.
But Sayi knew she would not be able to stay in the same spot for long due to the shaky mobile internet connection she relied on for her education as classes in Dunge village and across India moved online when COVID-19 struck in March 2020.
“ Sometimes the network is good, sometimes it’ s not good; she has to move from one room to another, from one corner to another, and even go outside, ” said Sayi’ s grandmother, Chandrakamalkar Gharat.
Two years after the start of the pandemic, Sayi is back at school, but staying online all day remains a challenge for her and tens of millions of others with poor connectivity in rural India, where the digital divide hampers education, livelihoods and health care access.
“ It’ s very hard for her — we sometimes wonder if it’ s worth the trouble, ” Gharat said.
There are currently more than 800 million internet subscribers in the nation of 1.3 billion people, according to the telecom regulatory authority. Yet in rural India, only about 38% of the population is connected to the internet.
The government has made universal broadband a priority under its Digital India program to improve governance through technology, with projects such as the Bharat Net rural broadband project aimed at connecting about 650,000 villages nationwide.
But digital inclusion “ continues to remain a distant reality for most parts of rural India, ” marred by delays in implementation, and a lack of access and digital literacy, according to a report from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations ( ICRIER), a policy think tank.
That might now change due to recent policy moves including easier approvals for satellite broadband network rollouts, and the imminent launch of satellite broadband from India’ s Bharti Airtel and Jio Platforms, Elon Musk’ s Starlink and others.
“ With the saturation of urban markets, there is keen interest among service providers to increase rural subscribership, ” said Mansi Kedia, a fellow at ICRIER and a telecoms and internet expert.
“ But rural connectivity should look beyond the dominant technology — optical fiber and mobile communications. The use case for satellite broadband is the strongest in rural areas — it can help achieve connectivity at much lower costs, ” she said.
The United Nations stated in 2016 that internet access is a human right, adding a clause to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the “ promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet, ” including for women, girls, and those impacted by the digital divide.
India was among several countries that opposed the amendment at the time, and the country has among the most internet shutdowns in the world.
Residents of Sittlingi village in southern India check their internet connection on a laptop. | DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION / VIA THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION
It also has one of the lowest charges for mobile data globally, helping mobile wireless to account for the bulk of the country’ s 834 million internet subscribers. Only about 24 million subscribers have fixed internet connections.
Besides government programs, private-sector and philanthropic initiatives have also helped build last-mile connectivity and increase digital literacy in rural areas.
“ The big telcos will only go into rural areas if it makes economic sense, as it’ s more expensive to build infrastructure, and it is for a customer base with less ability to pay, ” said Michael Ginguld, a director at AirJaldi, which provides affordable networks in rural and semi-urban areas in India.
“ The deeper you went into rural areas, the less demand there was — they can watch a show or a film on their phones. But this is changing, and COVID has hastened that shift, with demand for better connectivity to access education or health care, ” he said.
AirJaldi, which has partnered with Google, Facebook and Microsoft on internet projects, reaches more than 200,000 users in about 1,500 villages in India, including some that had no mobile connectivity previously.
Globally, three-quarters of students who can not access remote learning come from rural areas or poor households, according to the U.N. children’ s agency ( UNICEF).
During COVID-19 lockdowns, Indian media carried reports of students and teachers in villages climbing trees or trekking up hills in an attempt to get online.
Earlier this year, OneWeb and Hughes Communications India — a joint venture with Bharti Airtel — said they had an agreement to bring low Earth orbit ( LEO) satellite broadband services, “ especially in areas outside the reach of fiber connectivity ”.
Last month, Jio Platforms — owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani — said it would launch satellite-based broadband services in India with Luxembourg-based telecom company SES, using geostationary and medium Earth orbit ( MEO) satellites.
Also in the mix is Musk’ s Starlink, which is waiting for its license in India, and has already launched about 2,000 of its intended 42,000 LEO satellites to deliver internet across the globe. Amazon’ s Project Kuiper is another potential entrant.
“ The fixed costs for satellite broadband are high, but it has a lower cost of implementation for larger geographical coverage and lower population density, as compared to technologies such as optical fiber cable, ” said Kedia.
Residents of the southern Indian village of Sittlingi, who once traveled to another village about 20 km away to get online, could not afford to wait for satellite broadband.
Nonprofits the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the Internet Society stepped in during the pandemic and established a stable internet connection in the village using free, unlicensed spectrum.
That meant students were able to resume classes, farmers could sell their produce online, and an indigenous crafts center found new buyers, said Lalitha Regi, manager of Porgai, the crafts center.
“ It was like a celebration — getting connectivity, ” she said. | tech |
The Westminster Series: Lord Holmes on UK Fintech Week | UK Fintech Week brings together the brightest and the best from the fintech ecosystem to discuss and debate crucial issues facing the sector and beyond. Themes this year are fintech hyper-growth and exits, investment trends and trade, Kalifa one year on, open finance, crypto and CBDCs, sustainable fintech and keeping up with regulation. UK Fintech Week gives us an opportunity to assess where we are and look ahead. The UK continues to be a leader in financial innovation. Its place at the centre of global financial services, with supportive regulation, access to world-class talent, and a rich investment landscape has created a perfect environment for start-ups and established companies. One year on from Ron Kalifa’ s excellent report into UK fintech, it is encouraging to see how many of his clear recommendations have been taken up by Government, not least support for a Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology ( CFIT). Fintech has the potential to fuel post pandemic brighter futures for the benefit of us all. Covid-19 accelerated the pace of digital adoption, six million UK residents downloaded a banking app for the first time during the pandemic. Fintech, at its best, has so much potential for good through promoting financial inclusion and services that can offer, for example, access to credit for those without a clear credit history, access to more affordable credit and more convenient and cheaper services including payments and money transfers. However, in the digital revolution we must ensure inclusion and accessibility is hardwired from the start. A new RSA report has found ten million people would struggle to cope in a cashless society despite only 17% of payments currently made with notes and coins. That is why I tabled an amendment to the Financial Services Bill - now Act - that enabled cashback without purchase. I am also campaigning for a review of Access to Digital Payments, in the same mould as the Access to Cash Review. We need to proactively engage with this issue and make sure no one is left behind. Embedded finance is also on the agenda at UK Fintech week, and I’ m delighted to be speaking on a panel at IFGS in which we will be discussing why embedded finance is such a hot topic and looking at emerging trends and current use cases. The embedded finance sector is predicted to be worth $ 3.6 trillion by 2030 and holds so much potential to empower the consumer and provide a more holistic view of finances. Demonstrating the value to the customer and delivering excellent UX, personalised automated finance management tools is key. We are increasingly seeing products that can take a full picture of salary, spending habits, investments, savings, even taxation and utilise variable recurring payments to help consumers manage their money. I’ m looking forward to hearing from other panellists on their insights and predictions in this area. The Future Regulatory Framework ( FRF) Review provides an important opportunity to determine how the financial services regulatory framework should adapt to the UK’ s new position outside of the European Union ( EU), and how to ensure the framework is fit for the future. Another Financial Services Bill is expected in the upcoming Queens Speech and I look forward to taking the opportunity to propose amendments that will drive forward some of the longer-term initiatives proposed in the Kalifa Review. Solutions to address crypto, digital assets and digital ID need a greater focus. Globally, it is a period of significant regulatory change to the crypto-asset sector, and it is vital that we foster the right environment for this sector to mature and grow in the UK. The UK fintech sector has the potential not only to drive global technological change but also to help the UK deliver its jobs and growth agenda. We need a bold vision and we need to make the most of our assets, combining the fine reputation of the Bank of England with the best of our new technologies, brains, and industry we have the potential to completely reset of the relationship between citizen and state, for the benefit of both. We have a world-class fintech eco-system and it’ s now more important than ever that we all play our part, build on the positive momentum and consolidate our position as the best place to start, build and scale a fintech business. UK Fintech Week promises an incredible opportunity to listen, learn, connect, collaborate, innovate and be inspired, I hope to see you there! | tech |
俄罗斯已不再是主要能源力量 by Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko | 华盛顿/基辅—俄罗斯在世界能源市场上占有重要地位。它供应了欧盟消耗的 40% 的天然气，这对于德国、意大利和奥地利来说是一个特别重要的经济问题。但俄罗斯的全球能源足迹主要与石油有关。它是仅次于沙特阿拉伯的第二大原油出口国，平均每天约 500 万桶。俄罗斯还出口约 285 万桶精炼产品，如柴油和航空燃料。
这些化石燃料出口使俄罗斯能够入侵乌克兰，对手无寸铁的平民和民用基础设施实施极端暴力。俄罗斯总统普京显然认为，没有人能与他抗衡，因为他可以通过能源市场发挥赤裸裸的力量。如果欧洲人反抗太多，他就会切断他们的天然气。如果世界其他国家减少从俄罗斯的采购，石油价格就会上涨——导致各地的经济困难。
但普京低估了他的入侵造成的恐怖和恐惧，尤其是在欧洲。对他来说更糟糕的是，美国、欧洲及其盟友拥有结束俄罗斯能源杠杆所需的所有工具。世界各地的进口商都在避开俄罗斯的石油和天然气。欧洲当然也永远不会再让俄罗斯能源进口威胁其国家安全。因此，俄罗斯很快将不再是世界能源市场的主要参与者。
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Writing for PS since 2007 147 Commentaries
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Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and a co-chair of the COVID-19 Policy Alliance. He is the co-author ( with Jonathan Gruber) of Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream and the co-author ( with James Kwak) of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown.
Writing for PS since 2022 2 Commentaries
Oleg Ustenko has been Economic Adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since May 2019.
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What a mindless, ridiculous article is this? Simon Johnson’ s reputation has definitely taken a serious hit!
This article is correct, yet just a tiny bit too sanguine. To be honest, it would take some pain to remove Russian imports. There's no country or group of countries which can replace Russian exports - they exported a lot - the only way out is to reduce demand; That's not a bad thing! Fossil fuels pollute, and nearly all other major oil/gas exports are different types of dictatorships. It's best to get off fossils ASAP, and where that's not possible, rely only on Western extraction.There's already public willingness to sacrifice. Now, we just need to be honest that there will be a ( tolerable) price to pay. During the 70s oil crisis, many countries simply banned cars from driving for a day during the week. Surely we can handle a lower level of sacrifice, and surely article writers can tell this to the public. The public is, if anything, ahead of decision makers and article writers.
We 've been hearing this for at least 20 years, and Russia hasn't collapsed yet.
One need only look at the proposal that Europeans `` pay '' for Russian gas in frozen accounts to realize how delusional the authors of the above propaganda, er, sorry, I meant article, are.
Not only do I fully agree with this post, I 'm again disappointed in Project-Syndicate giving space to nonsensical moralists who neither have nor even fake to have a logical method to support their wishful view of obliterating Russian oil and gas exports.
So far it is not Russia but the US and EU that use the Russian gas and oil supplies as a political weapon. A very stupid, short-sighted policy. Dangerous for the whole world.
Have you thought about what would happen if Putin turned off the gas for Germany? It could literally destroy the national economy of Germany and other economies would be drawn into that as well. No one can seriously predict all the consequences. Hitler had needed enormous military forces in his attempt to defeat Russia. Putin only needs to turn off the gas to accomplish the same with Germany. And I guess he can decide that on his own. History books will be written about the question how Germany could ever allow itself to get into such an existence-threatening situation.
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Faced with populist demagogues, the judiciary often must choose between bending the knee or defiantly asserting the supremacy of fundamental legal norms. Ketanji Brown Jackson took the latter route in her recent Supreme Court confirmation hearing; but she will now join an institution that has come to be regarded as political through and through.
While the terrible human and physical cost of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine is understandably the focus of political attention, the fight against global warming risks becoming another casualty of the war. What can policymakers do to prevent 2022 from being a lost year for climate action?
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