UK greenhouse gas emissions fell 5.4% in 2023: data 👏


By AFP
March 28, 2024

UK net emissions fell largely due to reduced gas use - Copyright TT News Agency/AFP/File Hanna Brunlof WINDELL

UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5.4 percent in 2023, largely due to a reduction in the amount of gas used in power stations, according to official data published on Thursday.

Net emissions of all greenhouse gases were estimated to have been 384.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023, compared to 406.2 million tonnes in 2022, the government’s provisional figures showed.

Carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 6.6 percent annually to 302.8 million tonnes, part of a 52.7-percent decrease in total greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

The UK government said the figures showed that the country was halfway to reaching net-zero emissions.

“This latest drop in our emissions follows the UK’s achievement in becoming the first major economy to halve its polluting carbon emissions,” said Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho.

The UK government’s target is to reach net zero by 2050.

Gas use for electricity generation fell 21.1 percent in 2023, “primarily due to higher electricity imports from France, as well as UK electricity demand continuing to decline”, said the report.

The reduced demand is mainly due to “greater efficiency resulting from improvements in technology and a decline in the relative importance of energy-intensive industries”, it added.

High energy prices are also likely to have been a factor, with less fuel being used to heat buildings and by industry, said the report.

Nuclear and renewables accounted for 56.7 percent of fuel used for electricity generation in 2023, up from 22.2 percent in 1990.

Domestic transport remained the largest source of UK emissions, accounting for 29.1 percent in 2023, almost all of which are from carbon dioxide, the main source being the use of petrol and diesel in road vehicles.

However, the sector’s emissions decreased by 1.4 percent in 2023, the first fall since 2020 when travel was heavily restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Germany in January reported a 9.8 percent fall in carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 due to the sharp decline in coal consumption and crisis in its industrial sector.

And France last week said its domestic greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 4.8 percent over the same period.

UK’s biggest water supplier plunges into deeper financial crisis

P3;PENSIONS FUND PRIVATIZATION

By AFP
March 28, 2024


City of London: — © AFP

Debt-plagued Thames Water has failed to raise a major cash injection from shareholders, it revealed Thursday, blaming industry regulations that made its rescue plan “uninvestable”.

Britain’s biggest water supplier said in a statement that £500 million ($630-million) of new equity would “not be provided by Thames Water’s shareholders” this month.

The cash represented most of a £750-million funding lifeline agreed with investors in July to stay afloat.

The company on Thursday said it was in talks with industry regulator Ofwat over a plan that is “affordable for customers, deliverable and financeable for Thames Water, as well as investible for equity investors”.

Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency said Ofwat had refused to bow to Thames Water’s demands for concessions, which it said included a 40-percent jump in water bills that would worsen the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

Thames Water is Britain’s biggest water supplier – Copyright AFP SAUL LOEB

Other concessions sought reportedly include an easing in capital spending requirements and leniency over regulatory penalties.

– ‘Pursue all options’ –

“Safeguards are in place to ensure that services to customers are protected regardless of issues faced by shareholders of Thames Water,” said an Ofwat spokesperson.

“Today’s update… means the company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers.”

Thames Water, which supplies more than 15 million homes and businesses in London and elsewhere in southern England, is saddled with debts of almost £15 billion that have placed it at risk of nationalisation.

“We prepare for a range of scenarios across our regulated industries — including water — as any responsible government would,” said a statement Thursday from the Conservative administration led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Steve Reed, environment spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, said “the government and regulators must do everything in their power to stabilise the company and ensure new investment comes through to fix the broken sewage system without taxpayers being left to foot the bill.”

Labour, widely tipped to win a UK general election this year according to several polls, “will strengthen the regulator’s powers and make financial stability a priority to prevent this situation from happening again” should it win power, Reed added in a statement.

Thames Water has faced fierce criticism over missing targets to reduce leaks and slash sewage discharges into rivers, despite major infrastructure investment.

Environmentalists have increasingly voiced outrage at the rise in pollution on the UK’s beaches and waterways, and have pointed the finger at privatised water companies.

Elsewhere on Thursday, researchers revealed that high levels of E.coli, a bacteria found in human waste, had been found in London’s River Thames.

The river will Saturday host the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race — an annual event featuring competing rowing crews from England’s two oldest universities.

THAMES WATER SHAREHOLDERS INCLUDE OMERS; 

ONTARIO MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM

Is China leading the way with renewable energy targets?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
March 28, 2024


Innovations in solar energy. Image by Tim Sandle (Barbican, London).

Data relating to the use of renewable energy indicating some positive findings in terms of environmental protection. Power capacity additions reached a new benchmark of 473 gigawatts in 2023.

However, there is a less positive side to these data in that many countries are cut off from the benefits of energy transitions.

The information comes from the report Renewable Capacity Statistics 2024 which was released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA provides advice and support to governments on renewable energy policy, capacity building, and technology transfer.

The report shows that renewables accounted for 86 percent of capacity additions; however, this growth is unevenly distributed across the world, indicating a trend far from the tripling renewable power target by 2030.

The 473 GW of renewables expansion was led by Asia with a 69 percent share (326 GW). This growth was largely driven by China, whose capacity increased by 63 percent, reaching 297.6 GW. For China, solar and wind’s increasing competitiveness against coal and gas power generation became the key driver of renewable power development.

Growth was also seen in the European Union, driven by an enhanced policy focus and heightened energy security concerns stemming from the Russian-Ukraine war. Other regions that saw significant expansion were the Middle East at 16.6 percent increase and Oceania at 9.4 percent increase. Overall, the G7 countries as a group increased by 7.6 percent, adding 69.4 GW last year.

This reflects the gap between the other regions, indicating that the vast majority of developing countries are falling behind.

For example, while Africa has seen some growth, this pales in comparison with other continents showing an increase of 4.6 percent, reaching a total capacity of 62 GW.

IRENA Director-General, Francesco La Camera says, in a statement sent to Digital Journal: “This extraordinary surge in renewable generation capacity shows that renewables are the only technology available to rapidly scale up the energy transition aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless, the data also serves as a telltale sign that progress is not moving fast enough to add the required 7.2 TW of renewable power within the next seven years, in accordance with IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook 1.5°C Scenario.”

He adds: “Policy interventions and a global course-correction are urgently needed to effectively overcome structural barriers and create local value in emerging market and developing economies, many of which are still left behind in this progress. The patterns of concentration in both geography and technology threaten to intensify the decarbonisation divide and pose a significant risk to achieving the tripling target.”

China’s competitive car market at heart of global EV revolution

By AFP
March 28, 2024

Xiaomi is the latest Chinese firm to enter a highly competitive EV market 

- Copyright AFP STR

China is the biggest electric vehicle market in the world, a battle royale featuring both established carmakers as well as upstarts such as Xiaomi, which launched its first EV on Thursday.

EV makers from China have made inroads into markets from Europe to Southeast Asia and Tesla’s Elon Musk described them in January as “the most competitive car companies in the world”.

How big is the Chinese EV market?

China’s market for EVs dwarfs the rest of the world.

Of all new EVs sold globally in December last year, 69 percent were in China, according to the research firm Rystad Energy.

And of its forecast of 17.5 million EV sales this year, Rystad expects China to account for 11.5 million, or 65 percent.

The explosive rise of these EV firms has also fuelled China’s challenge to traditional auto powerhouses — it overtook Japan as the world’s biggest car exporter last year.

Which Chinese EV company is the biggest?

Founded as a battery company, BYD — known as “Biyadi” in Chinese or by the English slogan “Build Your Dreams” — has become China’s undisputed EV champion and Tesla’s biggest challenger.

It said last year it had become the first company to produce five million all-electric and hybrid vehicles, crowning itself the world’s top maker of “new energy” vehicles.

And, in the last quarter of 2023, it surpassed Tesla as the world’s leading EV seller.

BYD also enjoys cost advantages because of its strong capabilities across the EV supply chain, especially power storage.

Many foreign auto giants, including Tesla and BMW, rely on BYD for batteries.

Who are the other players?

There are a staggering 129 EV brands in China, but just 20 have managed to achieve a domestic market share of one percent or more, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The data showed BYD at almost 33 percent, with Tesla in second place with more than eight percent.

In third place with 5.8 percent of the market is Wuling, which makes China’s best-selling EV to date — a tiny two-door car named Hongguang Mini.

The rest of the pack includes Volvo Cars-parent Geely and electric SUV maker Li Auto, as well as the relatively newer XPeng and NIO.

And the offerings for Chinese customers are just as varied — from buses and entry-level and mid-range city cars to luxury sedans and roadsters.

China’s tech giants also want a slice of the multi-billion-dollar EV pie.

Huawei, under heavy US sanctions over alleged links to Chinese security agencies, has in recent years developed EVs with production partners, with heavy use of its technology.

Search giant Baidu is also working on an EV project, with a focus on autonomous driving.

And Xiaomi, the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, entered the fray on Thursday.

Is this sustainable?

The glut of models from companies that have spent heavily for years has led to what has been widely described as an EV price war, with firms including BYD and Tesla offering significant discounts.

Analysts have said the process of consolidation in China’s EV market will continue as some companies go out of business, look to merge with others or seek buyers for their technology and assets.

Further, while heavy state support promoted the industry’s growth for years, purchase subsidies have been phased out.

However, industry experts point to China’s industrial and manufacturing prowess, as well as the country’s dominance of key EV supply chains including minerals as factors that will aid its auto sector.

How have traditional auto powers reacted?

The stunning rise of China’s EV industry has sparked worries in Brussels and Washington, especially over the subsidies Chinese auto firms receive from the government.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen announced in September an investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric cars, vowing to defend European industry from unfair competition.

And while Chinese EV makers have not made inroads into the United States, President Joe Biden’s administration has taken aim at auto parts from China.

Beijing filed a complaint this week at the World Trade Organization, arguing that new US auto policies discriminated against Chinese companies, state media reported.

Aside from car makers, China’s CATL dominates the global EV battery markets and supplies heavyweights including Tesla, Volkswagen and Toyota.

Musk warned of the challenge posed by Chinese automakers.

“Frankly, I think if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world,” he said during a Tesla earnings call in January.

“They are extremely good.”

China’s Xiaomi to enter cut-throat EV market for the first time

SMARTPHONE ON WHEELS


By AFP

March 28, 2024

A Xiaomi SU7 electric car is displayed at a Xiaomi store in Beijing on March 26, 2024. - Copyright TT News Agency/AFP/File Hanna Brunlof WINDELL

Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi will launch its first-ever EV at a press conference in Beijing Thursday, injecting itself into a fiercely competitive sector in the world’s largest car market.

China’s EV sector has grown rapidly in recent years — propelled by purchasing subsidies that were discontinued in late 2022 — and dozens of domestic automakers are engaged in a stiff price war to get ahead in a crowded market.

Xiaomi is known around the world for affordable smartphones and sleek home appliances, and CEO Lei Jun says he is now putting his “reputation on the line” with the SU7 EV, and challenging Chinese car giant BYD and Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Sleek, sporty, and available in blue bay, olive green or elegant grey, the SU7 even includes “sound simulation”, Lei says, “to recreate the thrill of driving a sports car”.

Lei has not divulged the price, but has promised it will be “the best-looking, best-driving and smartest car” costing under 500,000 yuan ($69,200).

Analysts have said they expect it to come in at half that price.

“If my guess is correct, the 200,000 to 250,000 yuan range, that actually is the most competitive segment in the China EV space at the moment,” Johnson Wan, an analyst at Jefferies Financial Group Inc, told Bloomberg.

China is now the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, but officials plan for domestic car sales to be made up mainly of electric and hybrid models by 2035.

The launch of the SU7 comes just days after BYD, the world’s top seller of EVs, posted record annual profits as it pushes a rapid expansion overseas into countries in Southeast Asia, as well as further afield in Latin America and Europe.

In a note attached to the earnings report, BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu acknowledged the year had not been all smooth sailing.

“At the beginning of the year, the recovery of automobile consumption was relatively lagging behind, affected by the switch in promotional policies and market price fluctuations,” he wrote.

XPeng — one of BYD’s top competitors in China — last week reported a net loss of 10.4 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in 2023.

Hyundai to invest more than $50 bn in South Korea in major EV push


By AFP
March 27, 2024

South Korea's Hyundai is one of the world's biggest automakers

 - Copyright AFP/File 

Yasuyoshi CHIBA

Hyundai on Wednesday revealed plans to invest more than $50 billion in South Korea by 2026, with a huge chunk dedicated to boosting the development and production of electric vehicles.

Along with its affiliate Kia, Hyundai is the world’s third-largest automaker by sales, but the South Korean giant lags in the EV sector behind Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese firm BYD.

Hyundai is keen to break into the global EV top three, saying last year that it was aiming to boost electric car production to more than 3.6 million units by 2030.

With the 68 trillion won ($50.5 billion) investment announced Wednesday, Hyundai Motor Group said it wants to “secure future growth engines in an uncertain business environment through constant change and innovation”.

“The automotive sector, including future mobility projects, accounts for… 63 percent of the Group’s total investment,” it added.

Under the plan, Hyundai will create 80,000 jobs in South Korea and build three new EV factories, with the aim of increasing annual EV production in the country to 1.51 million units by 2030.

The group’s EV strategy also includes investments in infrastructure, software, battery technology and autonomous driving.

A Greenpeace report in November said Hyundai’s growing sales of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles had offset any climate gains from its transition to EVs.

It noted that Hyundai-Kia had posted SUV sales increases of more than 150 percent over the past decade.

SUVs emit approximately 12 percent more carbon dioxide than sedans, the environmental group said, urging Hyundai to reduce SUV sales.

When asked about the report, Hyundai said it was expanding its fleet of “fully electric SUV vehicles”, including Kia’s EV6 and EV9.

‘Operation Beethoven’: Dutch 2.5bn-euro charm offensive to keep ASML

By AFP
March 28, 2024

ASML is the "Messi" of Dutch companies, says the economy minister 

- Copyright AFP STR
Richard CARTER

The Dutch government on Thursday unveiled a plan worth 2.5 billion euros to retain global firms like chip giant ASML amid fears of a far-right clampdown on immigration.

The plan, dubbed “Operation Beethoven”, mainly aims to prevent ASML, which constructs machines to make semi-conductor chips, from moving abroad to attract talented workers.

The funding, equivalent to $2.7 billion, will come from the government but also the region around Eindhoven, in eastern Netherlands, where ASML is based.

“This is one of the most important companies in the Netherlands, a global player,” said Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens, according to local news agency ANP.

“ASML is our Messi and such a star player brings a whole team along with them,” she added.

ASML has raised concerns that reducing immigration including skilled workers to the Netherlands — as promised by far-right leader Geert Wilders, who won November elections — would force it to look elsewhere.

“If we cannot get the people here, we’ll get the people somewhere else. It’s very simple,” said chief executive Peter Wennink in January when ASML published its annual report.

“We are a company, we are a global company. We will go where we need to go to make sure the company can grow and service our customers,” he added.

“If the Netherlands shuts down, because we cannot get immigrants or foreign students, fine. You have to accept the consequences.”

The money announced Thursday will go towards investments in talent development, making it more attractive to live and work in the area, but also addressing concerns about electricity grid shortages.

“With these measures, the government assumes that ASML will make further investments in the Netherlands and retain the location of its statutory, tax and actual registered office in the Netherlands,” the government said.

“If investment plans change, these forecasts and the required commitment will be adjusted,” warned the Dutch government.

– ‘Significant source of talent’ –

Wilders has since indicated he will not seek to become prime minister but his PVV Freedom Party and others negotiating a coalition have all vowed to bring down immigration.

Another policy worrying multinationals based in The Netherlands is the phasing out of a lucrative tax break for talented expats.

Many politicians also want to crimp the number of foreigners at Dutch universities, which attract many talented students with high-quality English-language courses.

“That is a very significant source of talent that we need to drive innovation,” said Wennink.

ASML employs 42,000 worldwide, more than half of whom are based at the firm’s huge complex in Veldhoven, in the east of the country, with a significant proportion coming from abroad.

The “Brainport” region, which hosts ASML but also tech firms such as Philips, is considered to be the “Silicon Valley” of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has traditionally been seen as a good place to do business, with a liberal economy and well-educated, English-speaking workforce.

But a report in February by the VNO-NCW business association suggested that climate was deteriorating.

Almost half (44 percent) of entrepreneurs surveyed group do not find the Netherlands an attractive country to do business in and almost 20 percent are considering leaving, the VNO-NCW said.

A year ago these percentages were 28 percent and 13 percent respectively.

The biggest concern voiced by entrepreneurs is a lack of political stability after the stunning election win of Wilders and his PVV party.

The PVV is currently negotiating a programme with three other parties but the process will take several more months and is not guaranteed to result in a stable government.

The Dutch business community has been shaken by recent departures of corporate behemoths such as consumer goods firm Unilever and energy giant Shell.

There are hopes that Unilever will list its ice cream division on the Amsterdam stock market, after spinning it off from the core business.

AI, skills and jobs: How will the future workforce change?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
March 27, 2024

Germany had a surprise jump in factory orders in February 

- Copyright AFP/File Daniel LEAL

Will it be the case, in the near future, that workers who lack AI skills will behind to those workers who are at ease with the technology? This certainly may be the case in certain sectors and job roles.

Most concerningly for the more vulnerable, there is a risk in leaving behind non-graduates, older workers, and individuals in lower socio-economic brackets in terms of acquiring the necessary AI job skills.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether. For those impacted, the case may be similar to the situation when computers became commonplace at work or when the Internet was widely adopted. Hence, just like with the technological revolution, it is time for workers to adapt.

This message is reiterated by Sara Gutierrez, SHL’s chief science officer. Gutierrez anticipates this trend to continue as AI skills continue to spearhead innovation and drive efficiency, as she explains to Digital Journal.

According to Gutierrez: “This trend underscores the growing demand for professionals with expertise in AI, whose skills are proving resilient to market fluctuations. The rise of AI applications, catalysed by the release of ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) in late 2022, has sparked increased interest in the field.”

In terms of predictions, Gutierrez argues: “As more companies embrace and invest in AI capabilities for their products and services, we anticipate this investment to be mirrored in their hiring strategies, with a heightened emphasis on recruiting talent with AI skills to spearhead innovation and drive efficiency within their organizations.”

The outcome will be an organisational shift, as Gutierrez identifies: “This marks a notable shift in focus and resource allocation, within the tech sector, towards artificial intelligence.”

Looking at the Wall Street Journal findings, Gutierrez observes: “According to the survey, AI-related roles command higher compensation compared to non-AI positions highlighting the high demand for skilled AI professionals and the competitive nature of the job market in this field. ”

The key, self-question Gutierrez ponders, is with hiring for skills. Here Gutierrez recommends: “By focusing on skills, employers are better equipped to identify candidates with the specific competencies required for the job, fostering a more agile and responsive workforce.”

Interpreting this, Gutierrez determines: “This agility becomes extremely important in the face of expanding labour shortages and skill gaps within the global workforce. We’ve seen the private sector increasingly embrace skills-based hiring and there is a growing momentum that suggests more organizations will follow suit.”

Conflict in Haiti exacerbates an already deteriorating health crisis


By Dr. Tim Sandle
March 27, 2024


Haiti has been in turmoil for years, with armed gangs taking over parts of the country and unleashing brutal violence, leaving the economy and public health system in tatters - Copyright AFP/File AHMAD GHARABLI

The rampant gang violence in Haiti is pushing the health system to a breaking point, according to a new expert review. As gang violence continues to grow in Port-au-Prince, Haitians are facing a declining healthcare system (starting from an already weak base). UN reports indicate there are over half a million legal and illegal weapons in the country, most in the hands of the warring gangs.

In terms of the roots of the violence, a special forces police officer turned gang kingpin – Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier – is mentioned in The Guardian as suggesting that the criminal groups’ mission was to overthrow the country’s unpopular leader, Ariel Henry, and also to liberate the 11.7 million citizens from ‘anti-democratic rule’.

Other factors leading to a deterioration include escalating food insecurity, and limited access to water. In addition, the continued insecurity is forcing many Haitians to flee their homes, with over 362,000 people internally displaced since the beginning of 2024, and 731,000 displaced over the past two years furthering instability and the impact on host countries.

Commenting on this dire situation is Dr. Tamakloe, Project HOPE’s Country Director for Haiti. In a statement provided to Digital Journal, the medic says: “The security situation in Port-au-Prince has had a direct impact on Haitians and the humanitarian organizations that serve them. Gang violence has brought aid deliveries to a halt and led to government entities not functioning or functioning only intermittently.”

Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is an international global health and humanitarian aid non-governmental organization founded in the U.S. in 1958.

Tamakloe adds that the look ahead is not positive: “The violence and limited humanitarian aid will only break the already fragile health system. Project HOPE’s team in Grand Sud, Haiti has noticed a significant uptick in the migration of people fleeing the violence in Port-au-Prince. This has exponentially increased the demand for support.”

In terms of his group’s contribution to the aid effort, Tamakloe indicates: “While our team has adequate medicine and medical supplies today, we are uncertain what could happen in the coming days and weeks. If violence continues, lifesaving shipments of aid will be disrupted.”

As part of relief efforts, Project HOPE is deploying mobile medical units in the South and Nippes departments to provide people with medical care, mental health counselling, and support for survivors of gender-based violence.

The reason for focusing on mobile means is due to the lack of health infrastructure. Hence, mobile medical units have proven to be an effective means of reaching people in rural areas.

Project HOPE has a long history of partnering with local communities in Haiti to rebuild and enhance health services, as well as respond to emergencies and health crises brought on by disasters, disease outbreaks, and economic conditions.

UN expert defiant amid threats after Israel ‘genocide’ finding

By AFP
March 27, 2024

While condemning Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, 'nothing justifies what Israel is doing', says Albanese - Copyright AFP STR

Nina LARSON

A UN expert who determined that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza said Wednesday she had faced threats over her work but stressed this only made her more determined to push ahead.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said this week there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was “committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinians as a group in Gaza”.

Israel, which has long been highly critical of Albanese, denounced her report as an “obscene inversion of reality”, while pro-Israeli groups called for her to step down.

Asked about the blowback at a news conference in Geneva, she acknowledged that “it has been a difficult time”.

The independent expert, who was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said she had “been attacked since the very beginning of my mandate”.

“I do receive threats,” she acknowledged, adding though that she had received “nothing that so far I have considered needing extra precautions.”

The pressure, she said, “pisses me off, of course it does. But it … creates even more pressure not to step back.”

– Israeli visa ban –

Albanese has also received support from a long line of mainly Arab and Muslim countries, since releasing her report.

She said that when she one day does decide to leave her post, it would not be because of her critics.

“It won’t be because they vilify or they mistreat me in the public discourse”.

Israel last month announced a visa ban on Albanese over comments denying that Hamas’s October 7 attack was “anti-Semitic”.

It said that her report was “simply an extension of a campaign seeking to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish State”.

“I do not question the existence of the State of Israel,” Albanese insisted Wednesday, adding though that she was “part of a movement which wants the end of the apartheid” and for Israel to behave “in accordance with international law”.

She stressed that she “of course” condemned Hamas and its brutal attack on Israel, which sparked the deadly war raging in Gaza, but added: “nothing justifies what Israel is doing”.

The October 7 attack resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,490 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry, and has spurred a humanitarian catastrophe and UN warnings of a looming famine.

German economy to nearly flatline this year, think-tanks say


By AFP
March 27, 2024

Europe's largest economy will expand by just 0.1 percent in 2024, German think-tanks said - Copyright AFP/File Kazuhiro NOGI

Michelle FITZPATRICK

The German economy is expected to barely grow this year, leading economic institutes said Wednesday, as weak demand at home and abroad slows the path to recovery.

Europe’s largest economy will expand by just 0.1 percent in 2024, five think-tanks said in a joint statement, a sharp downgrade from their earlier forecast of 1.3 percent growth.

“Cyclical and structural factors are overlapping in the sluggish overall economic development,” said Stefan Kooths from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

“Although a recovery is likely to set in from the spring, the overall momentum will not be too strong,” he added.

The German economy shrank by 0.3 percent last year, battered by inflation, high interest rates and cooling exports, and is struggling to emerge from the doldrums.

Even though inflation has steadily dropped in recent months, consumer spending was picking up “later and less dynamically” than previously forecast as wages lag behind, the institutes (DIW, Ifo, IfW Kiel, IWH and RWI) said.

And Germany’s export sector, usually a key driver of economic growth, was suffering from cooling foreign trade against a fragile global economic backdrop.

Energy-intensive businesses in particular have been hit hard by soaring energy prices following Russia’s war in Ukraine, contributing to a manufacturing slump in Europe’s industrial powerhouse.

Corporate investments meanwhile have been dampened not just by the European Central Bank’s interest rate rises, which have made borrowing more expensive, but also by “uncertainty about economic policy”, the institutes said.

– Debt brake debate –

The criticism of Berlin comes after a shock legal ruling late last year threw Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s budget into disarray, forcing the government to rethink its spending plans.

The government recently also drastically downgraded its own economic forecasts, expecting output to expand by just 0.2 percent this year.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck last month acknowledged the economy was “in rough waters” and in need of a “reform booster”.

But Scholz’s three-way coalition government — made up of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal FDP — is divided over how to turn the tide.

Calls have grown for the government to relax its constitutionally enshrined “debt brake”, a self-imposed cap on annual borrowing, in order to turbocharge much-needed spending on infrastructure modernisation and the green transition.

Habeck is in favour of relaxing the debt rules, but Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP is deeply opposed.

The think-tanks said they recommended “a mild reform” of the debt brake to allow “for more debt-financed investments than before”.

Looking ahead, the institutes expect the recovery to quicken next year as inflation eases further and demand picks up.

They now expect the economy to grow by 1.4 percent in 2025, only slightly below their previous forecast of 1.5 percent.

Myanmar army behind Facebook pages spewing hate speech: UN probe

By AFP
March 27, 2024

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were driven into Bangladesh in a crackdown now subject to a UN genocide investigation - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON

Nina LARSON

Myanmar’s military was behind dozens of seemingly unrelated Facebook pages spewing hate speech against the Rohingya prior to its dramatic 2017 crackdown against the mostly Muslim minority, a UN probe found Wednesday.

Facebook has long been accused of helping spread vast amounts of hate speech against the Rohingya before hundreds of thousands of them were driven into neighbouring Bangladesh in a crackdown now subject to a UN genocide investigation.

In late 2021, Rohingya refugees sued Facebook for $150 billion, claiming the social network failed to stem the hate speech directed against them.

Now, the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) says there is clear evidence Myanmar’s military secretly orchestrated the hate speech campaign.

The military had in a “systematic and coordinated” manner “spread material designed to instil fear and hatred of the Rohingya minority”, the investigators said in a fresh report.

“It accomplished this by creating a clandestine network of pages on a social media site with the potential to reach an audience of millions.”

– ‘Interconnected network’ –

The IIMM was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect evidence of the most serious international crimes and prepare files for criminal prosecution.

Its new analysis looked at content posted on 43 Facebook pages between July and December 2017.

That report found that seemingly unrelated pages, most of them with no outward affiliation to the military and including some devoted to celebrity news and popular culture, “formed an interconnected network — the Military Network — on Facebook”.

The report identified 10,485 items with hate speech on the pages, and which Facebook removed from its platform in August 2018.

The investigators had identified hate speech content on six pages that were removed for being connected to 20 individuals and organisations banned by Facebook for human rights violations. All but one of which was overtly associated with the military.

The investigators also examined 37 other pages with no outward affiliation to the military, taken down due to so-called “inauthentic behaviour”, detecting hate speech content on 30 of those pages.

– ‘Excused and promoted violence’ –

The “hate speech content often played upon prevalent discriminatory and derogatory narratives concerning the Rohinguya, it said. These ranged from the narrative that the Rohingya pose an existential threat to Myanmar through violence, terrorism or ‘Islamisation'”.

Some of the hate speech also played “to the narrative that they pose a threat to Burmese racial purity through their alleged rampant breeding”.

The connections between the pages were seen in various ways: they often shared creators, administrators, and editors, and regularly posted material using the same IP addresses used by the Myanmar military.

“Identical material was often posted on multiple pages in this network, sometimes within minutes,” the IIMM said.

The investigators highlighted that the military’s hate speech campaign “was ongoing at the very time that many Rohingya villages were burned and while thousands of Rohingya men, women and children were beaten, sexually assaulted and/or killed”.

And, they pointed out, it had “continued as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were forced to flee from their homes.

“Rather than taking all steps to prevent the violence and protect its people, the Myanmar military conducted a social media campaign that excused and promoted violence against the Rohingya minority.”