TURKIYE

Turkish medical workers on nationwide strike after murder of doctor, assistant

Jul 07 2022 

Turkey’s healthcare workers on Thursday began a two-day strike following the murder of a doctor and his secretary by a patient’s relative in central Konya province, BBC Turkish reported.

The country’s top medical organization, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has called for the strike to protest against soaring cases of violence targeting the country’s medical workers, while calling for the resignation of the Minister for Health Fahrettin Koca, BBC said.

Cardiologist Ekrem Karakaya and his secretary were killed on Wednesday at Konya City Hospital by the relative of a patient, who was reportedly frustrated with the specialist physician’s treatment of a family member, BCC Turkish reported. The assailant, Hacı Mahmut Akcay, took his own life following the incident, it said.

The killings are the latest in a string of attacks against the country’s healthcare employees, who for months have also protested what they are calling inadequate pay and unmanageable working conditions.

“In the face of violence, we can no longer tolerate any damage to … physicians/health workers,’’ the TTB said in a statement issued on Thursday. “As we have repeatedly stated, violence is a predictable and preventable social problem, and this problem can be overcome with overarching policies aimed at solving it.”

Turkey’s healthcare workers were subject to 190 acts of violence targeting 361 healthcare workers in 2021, according to a report by the Union of Health Care and Social Service Workers (Sağlık-Sen). The figure marks a 62 percent uptick compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) banned all media coverage of the double homicide, SoL news site reported on Wednesday.

Erdoğan ally condemns ‘unlawful’ medics strike after doctor’s murder

Jul 08 2022

The leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on Friday condemned a protest led by the country’s top medical association for safer working conditions, prompted by the murder of a doctor and his secretary.

The junior coalition partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the two-day nationwide healthcare workers protest led by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) was “unlawful” while accusing of TTB of “intentional provocation” of the sectors workers, Evrensel newspaper reported.

Turkey’s healthcare workers on Thursday began a strike following the murder of a doctor and his secretary by a patient’s relative in central Konya province. The TTB called for the strike to protest against soaring cases of violence targeting the country’s medical workers, while calling for the resignation of the Minister for Health Fahrettin Koca.

Wednesday’s double murder at Konya City Hospital is the latest in a string of attacks against the country’s healthcare employees, who for months have also protested what they are calling inadequate pay and unmanageable working conditions.

“I find it very wrong that our physicians have gone on a protest for two days, (prompted) by the intentional provocation of the Turkish Medical Association, which was become a vehicle for separatism,” the MHP leader said, adding that the subsequent cancellations of physician appointments across the country were both “wrong” and “unlawful.”

Turkey’s healthcare workers were subject to 190 acts of violence targeting 361 healthcare workers in 2021, according to a report by the Union of Health Care and Social Service Workers (Sağlık-Sen), a 62 percent increase compared to 2020.

The Erdoğan ally in recent years targeted the TTB, over the organisation's criticism of Ankara’s healthcare policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the MHP leader called for TTB officials to leave Turkey, after the organization voiced concerns about working conditions for the country’s medical workers.

Turkish imam to face investigation for calling for violence against doctors

Jul 09 2022 

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has launched an investigation on an imam in the central Anatolian Konya province for calling for violence against doctors upon a healthcare strike earlier in the week.

“Doctors say they are on strike today. Would you not kill him? Would you not beat him up?” the imam said during the Friday sermon, in the wake of a cardiologist being shot to death on duty.

The imam in question made “inappropriate comments” while on duty, the Diyanet said in a statement, condemning him.

An inspector has already been sent to Konya to carry out the investigation, the religious body said.

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said the imam’s comments were “incitement to violence, murder, even massacres”, calling on the Diyanet and courts to take action.

Doctors and healthcare staff in the country went on a two-day strike ahead of the Eid al-Adha holidays to protest their worsening working conditions and violence they face, especially in emergency rooms.

Cardiologist Ekrem Karakaya was killed in a hospital in Konya on Wednesday by a man who blamed him for the death of his sick relative. The killer later took his own life.

In 2021 there were 190 acts of violence against healthcare workers, targeting 361 members of the medical community in a 62 percent rise in recorded incidents compared to the previous year.

UPDATED

GOTA GO

Sri Lanka crowd breaks Rajapaksa grip on power

By Anbarasan Ethirajan
BBC News, Colombo

IMAGE SOURCE,EPA

Image caption,

Thousands stormed the presidential residence in Colombo

These are extraordinary times for Sri Lanka - after a day of fury and violence, the country's two senior leaders have agreed to step down.

The news triggered jubilation at the main protest site in Colombo. Firecrackers were set off in many parts of the city.

I am at the Galle Face protest site - many protesters have started returning home, thousands are still present. Some have been singing and playing musical instruments, celebrating.

What a turnaround of events. A few days ago a photo of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe smiling in parliament was widely shared on social media.

Many vented their anger, saying the two men appeared to be happy while millions were struggling to eat three meals a day. But a week is a long time in politics.

President Rajapaksa's resignation has been the main demand of the protesters during months of unrest, as inflation surges and the authorities struggle to import food, fuel and medicine.

Sri Lanka is facing a crippling foreign currency shortage and has asked the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan.

IMAGE SOURCE,EPA

Image caption,

Security forces fired water cannon and tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowd

I have seen President Rajapaksa at the peak of his power. He was a ruthless and much-feared man. No-one, including journalists, would want to be on the receiving end of his angry outbursts.

Many of the staunchest critics of the regime were either severely beaten or even disappeared, though the Rajapaksas - the president and his brother, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa - always denied any links to the violence or disappearances.

Now President Rajapaksa fleeing his official home for safety is dramatic - unthinkable a few months ago. The man had the support of the majority Sinhala Buddhist community, after leading the military to crush the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2009.

The Rajapaksa brothers were then celebrated as war heroes. In a dramatic twist, now they face the ignominy of being overthrown by the same people who brought them to power.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Protesters got onto the roof of Temple Trees, the prime minister's official residence

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign on July 13, says Speaker

Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign on July 13.

Press Trust of India

Colombo

July 9, 2022

Agitating protesters on Sri Lanka streets and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.


Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said late Saturday night, hours after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for an unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.

President Rajapaksa informed the Speaker about this decision to quit after Abeywardena wrote to him seeking his resignation following the all-party meeting of leaders held on Saturday evening.

Also read: Protesters swim in President's pool as Sri Lanka struggles to stay afloat | Watch

The party leaders had demanded the immediate resignation of President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to make way for Abeywardena to become acting president until Parliament appointed a successor.

Wickremesinghe, 73, has already expressed his willingness to resign. But an angry mob did not spare his private home here and set it on fire.

Rajapaksa, 73, responded to the Speaker's letter, saying he would quit on July 13. Rajapaksa became Sri Lankan President in November 2020.

Earlier, Speaker Abeywardena had asked President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to resign immediately to make way for an all-party government after the country witnessed its biggest protest yet amid an unprecedented economic crisis.

Abeywardena in his letter to Rajapaksa, whose whereabouts are still not known, informed him about the outcome of the party leaders’ meeting he had convened this evening after which Wickremesinghe offered to resign and form an all-party government.

He told Rajapaksa that party leaders wanted him and Wickremesinghe to resign immediately, Parliament to be convened in seven days to appoint an acting president, and appoint an interim all-party government under a new Prime Minister commanding majority in Parliament. It was also decided to call for elections within a short period of time and install a new government.

Rajapaksa appears to have gone underground in the face of massive public anger over an unprecedented economic crisis since the country became independent in 1948.

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters stormed the official residence of President Rajapaksa. It is believed that President Rajapaksa left the house before the massive crowd arrived.

At least 45 people, including seven security personnel, were injured in clashes between security forces and the protesters some of them holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets - who had gathered in large numbers in the Fort area, demanding President Rajapaksa's resignation.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, and other essentials.

The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026.

Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion

Sri Lanka protesters storm president's residence amid economic crisis

Saturday 9 July 2022

Sri Lankan protesters have been angry over a crippling economic crisis.

Credit: AP


Sri Lankan protesters forced their way into their president’s official residence on Saturday, demanding his resignation amid an economic crisis.

It was not clear if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was inside the residence in Colombo but mobile phone footage showed crowds inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.

A government spokesman, Mohana Samaranayake, said he had no information about whether Mr Rajapaksa had left the residence.

Police had earlier fired tear gas at protesters who surrounded the premises as they moved toward the main gates.

The protesters eventually broke the barricades and entered the house.

Protesters blame Rajapaksa for the economic woes and have occupied the entrance to his office for three month

Sri Lankan prime minister resigns after weeks of escalating violence

Thousands have been carrying Sri Lankan flags earlier, riding on the relatively few vehicles on the roads due to an acute fuel shortage.

Others rode bicycles and many walked to protest sites in Colombo from the suburbs after police lifted an overnight curfew.

Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last month that the country's economy has collapsed.

The government's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have been complex because it has now entered negotiations as a bankrupt state.

In April, Sri Lanka announced it is suspending repaying foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage.

Its total foreign debt amounts to $51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027

.

Protesters gathering in a street leading to the president's residence.

Credit: AP

Police imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other main urban areas on Friday night but withdrew it on Saturday morning amid objections by lawyers and opposition politicians who called it illegal.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so.”

“Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” Ms Chung said in a tweet.

The economic crisis has led to a heavy shortage of essentials like fuel, cooking gas and medicines, forcing people to stand in long lines to buy the limited supplies.

Protesters storm residence and office of Sri Lankan president

Protesters massed on a street leading to the president’s official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Amitha Thennakoon/AP)

SAT, 09 JUL, 2022 -
KRISHAN FRANCIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sri Lankan protesters demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have forced their way into his official residence and nearby office, as thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Colombo decrying the nation’s worst economic crisis in recent memory.

It is not clear if Mr Rajapaksa was at the residence in Colombo, but footage filmed on mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.

Hundreds of protesters, some carrying national flags, also entered the president’s office in a nearby building.

Protesters blame Mr Rajapaksa for the economic woes and they have occupied the entrance to his office building for the past three months calling on him to step down.

A protester throws back a tear gas shell fired by police

 (Amitha Thennakoon/AP)

Video posted on social media showed hundreds of protesters running into the president’s residence, chanting “Gota go home”, calling the president by his nickname. Outside the building, barricades were overturned.

At the president’s office, security personnel tried to stop protesters who passed through the fences and stormed the colonial-era parliament building, which has been converted into his office.

At least 34 people including two police officers were injured in scuffles as protesters tried to enter the residence. Police fired tear gas at protesters.

Two of the injured are in a critical condition while others have sustained minor injuries, hospital officials said.

Thousands of protesters had entered Colombo from the suburbs earlier on Saturday after police lifted an overnight curfew.

Protesters shouted anti-government slogans as they marched through the capital Colombo (Amitha Thennakoon/AP)


Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last month that the country’s economy has collapsed. The government’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have been complex because it has now entered talks as a bankrupt state.

In April, Sri Lanka announced it is suspending repaying foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to 51 billion US dollars (£42.4 billion), of which it must repay 28 billion (£23.3 billion) by the end of 2027.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so”.

She said in a tweet: “Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now.”

Police fire tear gas at protesters calling for the Sri Lankan president and his government to resign (Amitha Thennakoon/AP)

The economic crisis has led to a heavy shortage of essentials like fuel, cooking gas and medicines, forcing people to stand in long queues to buy the limited supplies.

Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

One of Mr Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew quit their cabinet posts earlier, but Mr Rajapaksa has held on to power.

Mr Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister in May and protests temporarily waned in the hope he could find cash for the country’s urgent needs, but people now want him to resign saying he has failed to fulfil his promises.

Sri Lanka lifts protest curfew after thousands hit streets

The curfew was lifted after a large number of anti-government protesters hit the streets and even forced railway authorities to operate trains to take them to Colombo for Saturday's rally.

Police withdrew the stay-home order issued the previous evening after opposition parties, rights activists and the bar association threatened to sue the police chief. (AFP)

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka has lifted a curfew already defied by thousands of people overnight, ahead of a mass rally planned for later in the day demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation.

Huge crowds already poured into the capital Colombo on Saturday for the demonstration, the latest expression of unrest sparked by the country's unprecedented economic crisis.

Police withdrew the stay-home order issued the previous evening after opposition parties, rights activists and the bar association threatened to sue the police chief.

Thousands of anti-government protesters ignored the curfew and even forced railway authorities to operate trains to take them to Colombo for Saturday's rally, officials said.

"The curfew was not a deterrent, in fact it encouraged more people to get on the streets in defiance," a top defence official told AFP.

"Passengers had commandeered trains to reach Colombo."

Economic crisis

Sri Lanka has suffered through months of food and fuel shortages, lengthy blackouts and galloping inflation after running out of foreign currency to import vital goods.

The country has nearly exhausted already scarce supplies of petrol, but protesters backed by main opposition parties, had hired private buses to travel to the capital.

Demonstrators have camped outside Rajapaksa's seafront office to demand his resignation over the government's mismanagement of the crisis.

Thousands of soldiers armed with assault rifles were bussed into Colombo on Friday to reinforce police guarding Rajapaksa's official residence, which protesters have vowed to storm on Saturday.

Authorities have deployed nearly 20,000 troops and police officers for a security operation to protect the president.

On Friday, three judges refused police requests to outlaw Saturday's protests.

The United Nations urged both authorities and protesters to ensure that Saturday's demonstrations were peaceful.

"We urge Sri Lankan authorities to show restraint in the policing of assemblies and ensure every necessary effort to prevent violence," the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

Nine people were killed and hundreds wounded when clashes erupted across the country after Rajapaksa loyalists attacked peaceful protesters outside the president's office in May.

Sri Lanka has defaulted on its $51 billion external debt and has been in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.

Sri Lanka Police Lift Curfew Under Pressure as Thousands Head to Colombo in Massive Rallies

'We will not give up until this president and prime minister go home,' protesters have said.

Police use tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators near President's residence during a protest demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

The Wire Staff

New Delhi: With Sri Lankan Police lifting the curfew that was imposed in seven divisions in the country’s Western Province, including Colombo, large numbers have been heading to the commercial capital for the anti-government protests planned today, July 9 and tomorrow.

Police have reportedly teargassed protesters in a Colombo neighbourhood.

A massive rally to Colombo from around the country was planned by religious leaders, political parties, medical practitioners, teachers, civil rights activists, farmers, and fishermen, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.


Police in Colombo on Friday fired tear gas and used a water cannon on student protesters. The students staged a sit-in overnight, with other protesters including healthcare workers, clergy, trade unions and opposition supporters joining them on Saturday, organisers told reporters.

Sri Lankan media has reported that as the second Test with Australia is underway in the Galle International Cricket Stadium, protestors have made their way to the Galle Fort, overlooking the grounds, breaking police barricades.

Removal of curfew after pressure from top bodies

Cops removed curfew after coming under pressure from the top lawyers’ association – the Bar Association of Sri Lanka –, human rights groups and political parties.

The curfew was imposed in seven police divisions in the Western Province, which included Negombo, Kelaniya, Nugegoda, Mount Lavinia, Colombo North, Colombo South and Colombo Central with effect from 9 pm of Friday night until further notice, Inspector General of Police (IGP) C. D. Wickramaratne had announced on Friday.


The Bar Association of Sri Lanka and The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka protested the police curfew, terming it illegal and a violation of fundamental rights.

The island nation has been crippled by a shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, food and medicine. Its 22 million people have been bearing the brunt of record inflation, currency depreciation and rolling power cuts for months.

Many blame President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the swift slide in living conditions, the worst since independence in 1948, which has sparked widespread protests that have sometimes turned violent.

Police use tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators near President’s residence during a protest demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte


“People are dying in fuel queues and can barely manage three meals a day. This is what the president and his government have done to this country,” said Wasantha Mudalige, a member of the Inter University Students’ Federation that organised a march to the president’s house on Friday.

“We will not give up until this president and prime minister go home,” Mudalige said, referring to Ranil Wickremesinghe who was appointed as prime minister in May to replace Rajapaksa’s elder brother after he stepped down.

In a statement, Rajapaksa said the public were being misled and said essential supplies were scheduled to be delivered soon.

“At a time when successful solutions have been achieved to the existing problematic situation, the programme of the opposition political groups to mislead the people is very sad and unpleasant,” the statement said. “This will lead to set the country back once again.”

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said there were concerns over Saturday’s protest turning violent.

“With security forces we have seen the use of lethal weapons in protests. This is why we are putting out this preventive call because we are very concerned about what might happen tomorrow,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung called for the military and police to allow peaceful protests.


Political instability could potentially undermine Sri Lanka’s ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a potential $3 billion bailout.


The country hopes to submit a debt restructuring plan to the global lender by August and raise additional funding via a donor conference after reaching a staff level agreement.


(With Reuters inputs)

BlackRock, crypto ETFs bleed in biggest Canadian outflow in years

Layan Odeh, Bloomberg News

Canadian exchange-traded funds suffered their biggest monthly outflows since 2013 as investors dumped equity and cryptocurrency funds to escape a brutal selloff.  

In a country that was early to embrace crypto exchange-traded funds, investors have abandoned them quickly. Crypto asset ETFs “faced sudden outsized redemptions” and saw nearly $700 million in net outflows in June, about 16 per cent of assets under management, National Bank Financial analyst Daniel Straus said in a report.

Equity ETF outflows came primarily from investors selling Canadian and US index funds. Total outflows for all Canada-listed ETFs were $682 million in June, the first monthly decline in three years.   

RBC iShares, an alliance between Royal of Bank of Canada and BlackRock Inc., was hit with the biggest loss, more than $1 billion in withdrawals. An iShares fund that tracks Canada’s large-cap S&P/TSX 60 Index was hit with $719 million in outflows, or about 6 per cent of assets. 

Investors poured $2.1 billion into fixed income ETFs during the month -- despite the terrible performance of bonds so far in 2022 -- “perhaps in expectation of a reversal in trend if central banks would be able to orchestrate a ‘soft landing,’ or to make strategic allocations as the yields on bonds finally start to make sense,” Straus said. Inflows into ESG-labeled funds were $292 million during the month.

Global equities and cryptocurrencies have plunged this year as soaring inflation and tighter monetary policy have triggered deep anxiety about a coming recession. The MSCI World Index has dropped 21 per cent this year and the S&P/TSX Composite Index has fallen more than 11 per cent. 

 

UK think tank calls for global digital currency rules

July 9, 2022


CNA – Global rules would allow central bank digital currencies to operate smoothly cross-border and speed up wholesale payments, a think tank backed by the City of London Corporation said yesterday.

Most central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, are studying the potential launch of a digital version of their currencies.

Britain has said any digital version of sterling would not be available under the second half of this decade, while the Fed has said a digital dollar could help maintain the greenback’s international standing.

“Key to realising the full potential of CBDCs is ensuring that they can operate across different markets to facilitate wholesale cross-border payments,” said Chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) Kay Swinburne, a think tank backed by the City and TheCityUK.

“Global regulatory principles and collaboration will be needed to realise this vision.” The IRSG said in a report published yesterday there are many benefits to including CBDCs in wholesale digital payments if they are made “interoperable” for cross-border transactions.

Harmonisation of rules would allow firms who are licensed in one jurisdiction to provide services in another, and stop countries trying to undercut each other with laxer rules, the report said.

Voyager judge gets a lesson in crypto as bankruptcy case kicks off

Jeremy Hill, Bloomberg News
Jul 8, 2022

The judge overseeing crypto lender Voyager Digital Ltd.’s first-of-its-kind bankruptcy got a crash course in digital assets on Friday in the company’s first appearance in court.

Judge Michael Wiles, who said he’s relatively new to crypto, received a real-time primer on concepts like staking and stablecoins from a lawyer for Voyager. The crypto platform filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this week, and its users likely won’t get all of their holdings returned.

Both the lawyer and Wiles acknowledged the murky legal questions hanging over the case -- like how, exactly, a bankruptcy court should treat digital assets.

“I think for many of us this is unchartered territory,” Joshua Sussberg, a Kirkland & Ellis lawyer representing Voyager, said in the hearing. “There will be many potential legal issues of first impression.”

Wiles quickly dug into Voyager’s relationship with account holders, pressing Sussberg for details on whether the company acts as a custodian for customer money or whether users are more like depositors at a bank. Of particular interest to Wiles is the US$350 million held by Metropolitan Commercial Bank on behalf of customers.

“That money belongs to those customers and will go to those customers,” Sussberg said, adding that the company will have to sort through who owns what and conduct a fraud prevention process before returning the money.

As for the rest of Voyager’s assets -- including US$1.3 billion of commingled crypto -- the company plans to gives users a yet-undetermined slice of the crypto they’re owed, stock in Voyager, tokens tied to the platform and their share of any money recovered from now-bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

That plan could change if Voyager is able to find a buyer for its business. The company has identified “some interested parties” and will continue to pursue a sale, Christopher Marcus of Kirkland & Ellis said in the hearing. In the meantime, Voyager is parrying threats to it business like banks trying to close their accounts, states trying to void their money transmitter licenses, and angry customers threatening the company’s management.

“We are focused on a path forward,” Marcus said. “It is not correct to think that there is no hope.”

The bankruptcy is Voyager Digital Holdings Inc., 22-10943, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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US Crosses the Electric-Car Tipping Point for Mass Adoption

Tom Randall, Bloomberg News

A Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV at a car dealership in Novato, California. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Many people of a certain age can recall the first time they held a smartphone. The devices were weird and expensive and novel enough to draw a crowd at parties. Then, less than a decade later, it became unusual not to own one.

That same society-altering shift is happening now with electric vehicles, according to a Bloomberg analysis of adoption rates around the world. The US is the latest country to pass what’s become a critical EV tipping point: 5% of new car sales powered only by electricity. This threshold signals the start of mass EV adoption, the period when technological preferences rapidly flip, according to the analysis.

For the past six months, the US joined Europe and China — collectively the three largest car markets — in moving beyond the 5% tipping point. If the US follows the trend established by 18 countries that came before it, a quarter of new car sales could be electric by the end of 2025. That would be a year or two ahead of most major forecasts.

Why is 5% so important? 

Most successful new technologies — electricity, televisions, mobile phones, the internet, even LED lightbulbs — follow an S-shaped adoption curve. Sales move at a crawl in the early-adopter phase, then surprisingly quickly once things go mainstream. (The top of the S curve represents the last holdouts who refuse to give up their old flip phones.)

In the case of electric vehicles, 5% seems to be the point when early adopters are overtaken by mainstream demand. Before then, sales tend to be slow and unpredictable. Afterward, rapidly accelerating demand ensues.

It makes sense that countries around the world would follow similar patterns of EV adoption. Most impediments are universal: there aren’t enough public chargers, the cars are expensive and in limited supply, buyers don’t know much about them. Once the road has been paved for the first 5%, the masses soon follow.

Thus the adoption curve followed by South Korea starting in 2021 ends up looking a lot like the one taken by China in 2018, which is similar to Norway after its first 5% quarter in 2013. The next major car markets approaching the tipping point this year include Canada, Australia, and Spain. 

A higher bar for hybrids

The analysis above is for vehicles that run on batteries only. Some countries, primarily in Europe, were quicker to adopt plug-in hybrids, which have smaller batteries backed by a gasoline-powered engine. Including those, the world just surpassed 20 million electric vehicles on the road, and that figure will double again by the end of next year, according to a recent report by analysts at BloombergNEF.

Since using a plug-in hybrid doesn’t require the same level of infrastructure or consumer awareness, the early phase of adoption was less consistent. A consistent tipping point for this broader category of EVs wasn’t achieved until 10% of new vehicles had a plug. 

The US and China mostly skipped plug-in hybrids and went straight to fully-electric vehicles, and the US hasn’t yet crossed the 10% threshold. 

Behind every country that crossed an EV tipping point is a program of federal incentives and pollution standards. In the US, the Biden administration last year issued an executive order calling for EVs to make up half of new vehicles by 2030 (including plug-in hybrids). According to the tipping-point analysis, it should beat that goal with several years to spare. 

Tipping the carmakers

Continued growth also depends on the ability of automakers and their suppliers to increase production fast enough. Volkswagen, Ford, and BMW are each targeting 50% or more of their global sales to be fully electric by the end of the decade.

It turns out, automakers have tipping points, too. Factories must be retooled and supply chains reconfigured. To achieve the most cost savings, the entire vehicle must be redesigned with electrification in mind. In Europe, once 10% of an automaker’s quarterly sales go electric, the share triples in less than two years.

The chart below doesn’t include Toyota, which is the biggest automaker that hasn’t reached the 10% EV threshold in Europe. Toyota’s target of 3.5 million annual EV sales by 2030, as a share of its 10 million annual vehicle sales, is among the least aggressive of the major automakers. The chart also doesn’t include Tesla, the world’s biggest EV maker, whose sales are entirely electric. 

Is the world’s transition to EVs inevitable?

So far, 90% of the world's EV sales have come from the US, China and Europe. That means countries responsible for about a third of global annual auto sales haven't passed the tipping point. None of the countries in Latin America, Africa, or Southeast Asia has made the jump. If they do, it’s uncertain whether global miners will be able to keep up with demand for battery metals. 

Still, global sales of electric vehicles tripled in the last two years, according to the International Energy Agency. All of the net growth in global car sales in 2021 came from electric cars, and that’s a trend that BloobmergNEF forecasts suggest will continue indefinitely. This year could be the high water mark for vehicles on the road without a plug. 

Applying the tipping point analysis to the entire globe, the share of fully electric vehicles worldwide passed the 5% threshold for the first time last year. Including plug-in hybrids, the 10% tipping point will be passed sometime this year. If the trends holds true, accelerating demand can be expected.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

CMHC says residential mortgage debt grew last year by fastest pace since 2008

The Canadian Press

Residential mortgage debt grew last year by the fastest pace since 2008 says a new report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. 

The federal housing agency says that mortgage debt grew by nine per cent for the year, and topped 10 per cent in the early months of this year before rising interest rates started to slow the market. 

"The levels of investments of households are quite high. So it is a source of vulnerability," said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, a senior economist at CMHC and co-author of the report on mortgage trends.

Banks saw a 43 per cent increase in new mortgage originations and an increase of 22 per cent for refinances compared with 2020, leading to an additional $400 billion in residential mortgages on their balance sheets, while credit unions added $54 billion.

Activity in the housing market has however slowed considerably in recent months as central banks raise interest rates to slow inflation. On Wednesday the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said sales were down 41 per cent in June compared with last year, while on Tuesday Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said regional home sales were down 35 per cent in the month. 

CMHC says that variable rate mortgages were increasingly favoured last year as the discount on interest rates increased, with the mortgage type growing to 53 per cent in the second half of the year, from 34 per cent of total mortgages in the first half.

The increase of variable rate mortgages means more people are exposed to rising interest rates, though the majority of such mortgages have fixed payments so increases would most be felt at renewal.

"Canadians that took on a new mortgage with variable interest rates will be the ones that will be feeling that increase the most, and most rapidly," said Bourassa-Ochoa.

Data from last year showed that there was little indication of any problems with people making mortgage payments, as high savings rates and the buoyant housing marker helped push down mortgages in arrears, which fell across all lender types. 

In looking at inequality in the housing market, the report noted that Indigenous, Black, Arab and Latin American populations had significantly lower homeownership rates than the national average as of the 2016 census, the latest data available as the authors wrote the report.

Homeownership rates were a little under 50 per cent for the groups, while the overall rate for Canada was 74 per cent and slightly higher for white and Chinese populations.

The report noted that after controlling for demographics, metropolitan area and income, Indigenous, Black, Latin American, Arab and Filipino Canadians have lower average property values than other Canadians, a gap that has increased since the 2006 census. It said that since housing wealth is a strong indicator of economic success of future generations, any large deviations between population groups are an indication that inequalities will persist.

 Rogers outage implications show need for competition: Expert

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

A widespread Rogers Communications Inc. outage that caused trouble for 911 services, retailers and transit operators Friday had many warning the incident is a sign that monopolistic telecommunications companies need more competition.

"The outage is illuminating the general lack of competition in telecommunications in Canada," said Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University's master of public policy program.

The country's telecom sector is dominated by three large carriers — Rogers, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. — and their hold on the industry has long been a concern of academics, who have called for regulators to increase competition for mobile and internet services in Canada.

The Competition Bureau is currently fighting Rogers' plans to purchase Shaw Communications Inc. for $26 billion despite the planned sale of its Freedom Mobile business to Quebecor Inc. because the regulator feels the deal would only bolster Rogers' monopoly and not create a viable fourth carrier.

When the outage began Friday, Rogers, Shaw and the Competition Bureau had just wrapped a two-day mediation period that ended with no resolution.

The company offered no explanation for the outage or its expected duration, number of customers affected and location, but promised technical teams are "working hard to restore services as quickly as possible."

When everything from 911 services to GO Transit is impacted by a Rogers outage, the reach of telecommunications companies is very obvious, Bednar said.

"But unless we're going to see people switching their providers today or new publicly run options suddenly springing up, there's not much more that we can do right now other than perhaps factor in people's anger and frustration, as the pending Rogers-Shaw deal is considered."

She added that people should be compensated for the disruption.

"It's a huge expense to Rogers, but even a modest decrease on people's bills would acknowledge some kind of deficit."

Rogers said in a statement late Friday afternoon that some customers have already raised the question of credits.

"Of course we will be proactively crediting all customers and will share more information soon," the statement said.

Beanfield, an independent fibre network operator, called the outage "every telecom provider’s nightmare," but said it was also an example of why it has long been concerned with the lack of rivals for Rogers, Telus and BCE.

"A lack of competition and choice can lead to a building with the population of a small town going completely dark- cut off from all communications," the company said on Twitter. 

"If you can't even get help from a neighbour, where do you go? How do you call 911?"

The business implications are likewise tremendous, the company added.

"The consequences of such an outage for the financial sector, the lack of functioning ATMs, of working bank branches, can be catastrophic," it said. 

"Not to mention the independent businesses across the country with no way of processing payment."

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/07/canada-massive-rogers-outage-snarling.html

Thousands rescued at flood-hit Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir

Emergency workers have rescued thousands of pilgrims after flash floods triggered by sudden rains swept through their makeshift camps during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to an icy Himalayan cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir

The Associated Press
July 09, 2022, 

Indian army soldiers carry an injured of a cloudburst for treatment, at Baltal, 105 kilometers (65miles) northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, July 9, 2022. At least eight pilgrims have been killed after a cloudburst triggered a flash flooding during an annual Hindu pilgrimage 

SRINAGAR, India -- Emergency workers rescued thousands of pilgrims after flash floods triggered by sudden rains swept through their makeshift camps during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to an icy Himalayan cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Saturday. At least 16 people have died and dozens were injured.

Authorities suspended the pilgrimage for two days as rains continued to lash the region. Teams of rescuers combed through the slippery mountain tracks and used sniffer dogs and through-the-wall radars to locate dozens of missing amid inclement weather. Civilian and military helicopters evacuated the injured to hospitals.

The heavy rain Friday evening near the mountain cave revered by Hindus sent a wall of water and boulders down a gorge and carried away about two dozen camps and two makeshift kitchens, officials said. Thousands of people were in the mountains when the rains struck.

Officials said about 15,000 devotees were moved to safer locations and at least five dozen injured were administered first aid at base camp hospitals set up for the pilgrimage, which is undertaken by hundreds of thousands of Hindus from across India.

Groups of pilgrims are staggered over 1 1/2 month for security and logistical reasons.

The Amarnath pilgrimage began on June 30 and tens of thousands of devotees have already visited the cave shrine where Hindus worship Lingam, a naturally formed ice stalagmite, as an incarnation of Shiva, the god of destruction and regeneration.

This year, officials expect nearly 1 million visitors after a two-year gap due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Worshippers trek to the cave along two routes through lush green meadows and rocky and forested mountain passes with a view of glacial lakes and snowy peaks. A traditional route via the southern hill resort of Pahalgam takes three days while a trip through northeastern Baltal lasts one day. Some pilgrims use helicopter services to make quick visits.

The cave, at 13,500 feet (4,115 meters) above sea level, is covered with snow most of the year except for the short summer period when it is open to pilgrims.

Hundreds of pilgrims have died in the past due to exhaustion and exposure to harsh weather during the journey through the icy mountains. In 1996, thousands were caught in a freak snowstorm, leading to more than 250 fatalities.

The pilgrimage concludes on Aug. 11, a full-moon night that Hindus say commemorates Shiva revealing the secret of the creation of the universe.