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Trump Tells Florida Supporters Biden is Conducting ‘All-Out Assault’ on Everything Americans Value

Trump Tells Florida Supporters Biden is Conducting ‘All-Out Assault’ on Everything Americans Value

© AP Photo / Jason Behnken

US

03:09 GMT 04.07.2021Get short URL

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former US President Donald Trump, at a Saturday "Save America" campaign-style rally in Sarasota, Florida, again critiqued the administration of US President Joe Biden and urged supporters to vote Republican in the 2022 midterm elections.

Trump started off by calling for "free and fair elections and strong borders" and wished everyone a happy 4th of July. He also sought a moment of silence to honor the Surfside building collapse victims.

"May we have a moment of silence for the victims and families of the horrible building collapse in Surfside, Florida," Trump said, calling it a "terrible, terrible" tragedy. The Surfside incident occurred last week as a 12-story residential building partially collapsed. The death toll stands at over 24, while at least 124 people are still missing.

Switching his attention to politics, Trump said that "in just five months the Biden administration has launched an all-out assault on everything we cherish and we value."

The former president stated that US streets were being taken over by criminals, and that the southern border is "being erased before our very eyes."

Trump again claimed that he had good relations with the leaders of Russia and China during his presidency, comparing his reign to that of the Biden administration.

"Our leaders are weakly bowing down to Russia, Iran, and communist China," Trump said to the Sarasota crowd.

Trump critiqued the Biden administration for its approach to dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus and again blamed the pandemic on China, pronouncing that Beijing should be charged $10 trillion in reparations.

Trump also expressed the notion that it was "so unfair, so crazy" that men are allowed to play in women's sports.

© AP PHOTO / JASON BEHNKEN

Former President Donald Trump walks on stage during a rally at the Sarasota Fairgrounds Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Sarasota, Fla.

The former leader concluded his performance by saying that the US has "a truly sick election system."

"This country is in big trouble when an election cannot be open and free and fair and not stolen or rigged," Trump alleged, adding that the only way to "bring our country back" is with a Republican Congress. He promised more jobs and fair trade would come and free speech "which we don’t have" would be restored if Democrats are not in power. Trump declared that the Republicans need to win in next year’s midterm elections.

During a previous "Save America" rally in Ohio at the end of June, Trump called the Biden administration's performance a "catastrophe" and criticized the White House for a crime wave in major US cities, a migrant crisis at the southern US border and a dismal economic situation marred with high inflation.

Trump also criticized the Biden administration for what he called failures in foreign policy, including by suggesting that China and Russia are humiliating the United States, while continuing in a similar vein regarding a failure to prevent the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Trump brought up the Nord Stream issue again on Saturday in Florida.

While some pundits have interpreted the Trump rallies as a signal he could run in the 2024 presidential election, others have said things are not clear cut. Trump previously indicated that he planned on running again, but now he says the decision depends on the state of affairs in the United States and on the Republican Party.

THE RIGHT TO BE LAZY ABOLISH WORK!
Some Chinese shun grueling careers for

 'low-desire life'

FROM FUEDALISM TO LATE CAPITALI$M IN 100 YEARS

People walk across an intersection during rush hour in Beijing. (AP)

Updated: 04 Jul 2021, 

Beijing needs skilled professionals to develop technology and other industries

BEIJING : Fed up with work stress, Guo Jianlong quit a newspaper job in Beijing and moved to China's mountain southwest to “lie flat."

Guo joined a small but visible handful of Chinese urban professionals who are rattling the ruling Communist Party by rejecting gruelling careers for a “low-desire life." That is clashing with the party's message of success and consumerism as its celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Guo, 44, became a freelance writer in Dali, a town in Yunnan province known for its traditional architecture and picturesque scenery. He married a woman he met there.

“Work was OK, but I didn't like it much," Guo said.

“What is wrong with doing your own thing, not just looking at the money?"

“Lying flat" is a “resistance movement" to a “cycle of horror" from high-pressure Chinese schools to jobs with seemingly endless work hours, novelist Liao Zenghu wrote in Caixin, the country's most prominent business magazine.

“In today's society, our every move is monitored and every action criticized," Liao wrote. “Is there any more rebellious act than to simply lie flat?'"

It isn't clear how many people have gone so far as to quit their jobs or move out of major cities. Judging by packed rush hour subways in Beijing and Shanghai, most young Chinese slog away at the best jobs they can get.



Still, the ruling party is trying to discourage the trend. Beijing needs skilled professionals to develop technology and other industries. China's population is getting older and the pool of working-age people has shrunk by about 5 per cent from its 2011 peak.

“Struggle itself is a kind of happiness," the newspaper Southern Daily, published by the party, said in a commentary. “Choosing to lie flat' in the face of pressure is not only unjust but also shameful."

The trend echoes similar ones in Japan and other countries where young people have embraced anti-materialist lifestyles in response to bleak job prospects and bruising competition for shrinking economic rewards.

Official data show China's economic output per person doubled over the past decade, but many complain the gains went mostly to a handful of tycoons and state-owned companies. Professionals say their incomes are failing to keep up with soaring housing, child care and other costs.

In a sign of the issue's political sensitivity, four professors who were quoted by the Chinese press talking about “lying flat" declined to discuss it with a foreign reporter.

Another possible sign of official displeasure: T-shirts, mobile phone cases and other “Lie Flat"-themed products are disappearing from online sales platforms.

Urban employees complain that work hours have swelled to “9 9 6," or 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week.

“We generally believe slavery has died away. In fact, it has only adapted to the new economic era," a woman who writes under the name Xia Bingbao, or Summer Hailstones, said on the Douban social media service.

Some elite graduates in their 20s who should have the best job prospects say they are worn out from the “exam hell" of high school and university. They see no point in making more sacrifices.

“Chasing fame and fortune does not attract me. I am so tired," said Zhai Xiangyu, a 25-year-old graduate student.

Some professionals are cutting short their careers, which removes their experience from the job pool.

Xu Zhunjiong, a human resources manager in Shanghai, said she is quitting at 45, a decade before the legal minimum retirement age for women, to move with her Croatian-born husband to his homeland.

“I want to retire early. I don't want to fight any more," Xu said. “I'm going to other places."

Thousands vented frustration online after the Communist Party's announcement in May that official birth limits would be eased to allow all couples to have three children instead of two.

The party has enforced birth restrictions since 1980 to restrain population growth but worries China, with economic output per person still below the global average, needs more young workers.

Minutes after the announcement, websites were flooded with complaints that the move did nothing to help parents cope with child care costs, long work hours, cramped housing, job discrimination against mothers and a need to look after elderly parents.

Xia writes that she moved to a valley in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, for a “low-desire life" after working in Hong Kong. She said despite a high-status job as an English-language reporter, her rent devoured 60% of her income and she had no money at the end of each month.

She rejects the argument that young people who “lie flat" are giving up economic success when that's already is out of reach for many in an economy with a growing gulf between a wealthy elite and the majority.

“When resources are focused more and more on the few people at the head and their relatives, the workforce is cheap and replaceable," she wrote on Douban. “Is it sensible to entrust your destiny to small handouts from others?"

1. The Right To Be Lazy - SLP

   www.slp.org/pdf/others/lazy_pl.pdf · PDF file

   The Right To Be Lazy BEING A REPUDIATION OF THE “RIGHT TO WORK” OF 1848 By Paul Lafargue Translated and adapted from the French by Dr. Harriet Lothrop. Published by the INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 23 Duane Street, New York 1898 PAUL LAFARGUE (1841–1911) AUTHOR’S PREFACE. In 1849, Thiers, as member of the Commission on Instruction in Elementary

2. 1. The Abolition of Work | The Anarchist Library

      https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/bob-black-the-abolition-of-work

      2020-11-28 · The Abolition of Work No one should ever work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes …

Amazon doesn’t like FTC chair Lina Khan’s views, wants her off investigations

Sensing a changing antitrust landscape, Amazon fires a warning shot.

TIM DE CHANT - 6/30/2021

Enlarge / Lina M. Khan testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill on April 21, 2021, in Washington, DC.

Amazon filed a 25-page petition today with the Federal Trade Commission asking that Chairwoman Lina Khan recuse herself from antitrust investigations into the company.

FURTHER READING

Lina Khan, Big Tech skeptic, named FTC chair mere hours after confirmation

Khan, a frequent critic of Amazon and other Big Tech firms, was appointed FTC chair less than two weeks ago. Though there has been plenty of speculation about her first moves, her short tenure to date means she hasn’t had much opportunity to file lawsuits or announce investigations. Amazon’s petition shows that its legal team hasn’t sat idle since her nomination as commissioner and subsequent appointment as chair.

“Although Amazon profoundly disagrees with Chair Khan’s conclusions about the company,” Amazon wrote in the petition, “it does not dispute her right to have spoken provocatively and at great length about it in her prior roles. But given her long track record of detailed pronouncements about Amazon and her repeated proclamations that Amazon has violated the antitrust laws, a reasonable observer would conclude that she no longer can consider the company’s antitrust defenses with an open mind.”

Khan made a name for herself four years ago when she published a paper in a law journal. Titled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” the paper made the case that current antitrust laws have fallen short as tech platforms have risen to dominance. She argued that prices are a poor yardstick with which to measure anticompetitive behavior and market power, especially among platform companies like Amazon. The peculiar economics of platforms means that companies are happy to forgo profits in the name of growth, which leads to predatory pricing, she said. And because the very nature of platforms allows companies to control access to various products and services, it creates incentives for companies to favor their own products over rivals.

Since graduating from law school, Khan worked for the Open Markets Institute, which advocates for stronger antitrust laws and enforcement, and for the House Judiciary Committee, where she worked with Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) to open a congressional inquiry into tech companies’ behavior.Advertisement


That Amazon has come out guns blazing suggests that the company thinks some of its behavior will likely reach the FTC’s inbox, if it hasn’t already. The FTC’s agenda isn’t necessarily set by the chair, Harvard Professor Shane Greenstein told Ars when Khan’s appointment was announced. Rather, it’s shaped by consumer complaints, merger proposals, and so on. The FTC would need a complaint to act on if it were to take action against Amazon.

FURTHER READING

Amazon colluded with publishers to fix book prices, class-action suit alleges

Of course, Khan likely has plenty of complaints to choose from on that front. Earlier this year, an independent bookstore in suburban Chicago filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the company had colluded with five major book publishers to fix prices and stifle competition among sellers. Last month, the District of Columbia sued Amazon, saying that its most-favored-nation clauses prevented companies from selling their products for less on others sites. The high fees Amazon imposes on third-party sellers “impose an artificially high price floor” that affects prices on other sites.

And then there’s Amazon’s proposed acquisition of MGM Studios, which Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the FTC to investigate. “This $8.45 billion deal would ostensibly help Amazon attract consumers to its subscription streaming services. But because this service is tied to a wide range of additional Amazon products and services that affect broad sectors of our economy, this transaction requires meticulous antitrust scrutiny,” Warren wrote to the FTC in an argument that plugs neatly into Khan’s “Antitrust Paradox” thesis.

Khan said during her confirmation hearing that in cases where recusal questions arise, she would consult with FTC ethics officials. How they’ll advise her is unclear, but they are surely aware that political appointees seldom come into government as blank slates, wholly lacking in opinions related to the thing they’re going to oversee.

Amazon isn’t the first company to attempt to push an FTC commissioner off of an investigation. For decades, companies have argued that commissioners have conflicts that require recusal, ranging from potentially biased statements to previous employment at law firms that represented the company or a competitor—and even employment at the company requesting the recusal. The tactic can work, though not every time.


TIM DE CHANTis a journalist and editor who covers tech policy for Ars Technica. He is a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing and has written for The Wire China, the Chicago Tribune, NOVA Next, and Wired magazine, among others. De Chant was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, and he received his doctorate in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.

Lord of the Rings: Amazon Calls Unsafe Workplace Allegations "Completely Inaccurate"


By AARON PERINE - 

July 3, 2021 

NZ

Amazon is calling the allegations of an unsafe workplace during the production of their Lord of the Rings series “completely inaccurate.” The company issued a statement about the allegations in the New Zealand Herald this weekend. In their report, a number of stunt workers have been seriously injured. Two of the workers in question are reported to be getting surgeries that were reported to WorkSafe ahead of time. (WorkSafe is New Zealand’s health and safety regulator in the workplace.) That Lord of the Rings series is costing the commerce giant over $465 million to produce. Amazon Studios told Variety that their safety protocols match up with the country’s safety standards.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” an Amazon Studios spokesperson said. “As a top priority, the production team continues to be in full compliance with the mandated WorkSafe New Zealand Safety and Security government regulations. Any allegation or report that activities on set are unsafe or outside of regulations are completely inaccurate.”

In that case, a stunt performer named Dayna Grant had a head injury that was said to cause a concussion. WorkSafe regulations are the law of the land in New Zealand productions. However, a “notifiable event” determines what’s is considered a violation.

“A notifiable event is any of the following events that arise from work: a death, a notifiable illness or injury or a notifiable incident. Only serious events are intended to be notified. These trigger requirements to preserve the site, notify the regulator and keep records. The notifiable incident, illness, injury or death must arise out of the conduct of the businesses or undertaking. It could be due to the condition of the work site, the way the work activity is organized, or the way equipment or substances are used.”

“Notifiable events may occur inside or outside the actual work site. Deaths, injuries or illness that are unrelated to work are not notifiable events eg: a diabetic worker slipping into a coma at work, a worker being injured driving to work in his or her private care when the driving is not done as a part of their work, injuries to patients or rest home residents that are triggered by a medical reason (for example injuries from a fall caused by a stroke), a worker fainting from a non-work related cause.”

Vale strike at Canadian mine strains battery nickel supply

Mariana Durao and Yvonne Yue Li,

 Bloomberg News Jun 29, 2021

A strike at Vale SA’s Sudbury operations in Canada is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles.

Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries. Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, pushing up North American premiums, or extra charges consumers pay on top of nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange, as stockpiles of the metal dwindle. Inventories of briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses, have fallen 9 per cent since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year.

“Given the challenges at a number of Class 1 nickel operations over 2021 to date, availability of material for end customer purchases is more limited that might have been thought,” said Colin Hamilton, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

Battery-grade nickel is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, helping pack more energy into cells and allowing producers to reduce use of cobalt, a more costly metal that typically has a less transparent supply chain. The market for such nickel is expected to be in a tight balance in the next two to three years and could slip into a deficit as early as 2024, according to energy data and analysis firm Bloomberg NEF.

Since the Vale strike began, the premium on briquette has risen 24 per cent and U.S. prices on June 22 hit their highest level since November 2019, according to Fastmarkets data. Nickel for three-month delivery posted an 8 per cent weekly gain last week on the LME, the biggest since August 2019.

“The strike is not the main driver of nickel price increase, but it will be the main driver on the North American nickel premium increase,” said Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie.

Gardner said he isn’t optimistic about a solution to the Vale strike and anticipates the labor dispute could extend for many months. Vale faced a yearlong strike in Canada back in 2009 and 2010. Striking workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 6500 have twice rejected a wage offer presented by the Brazilian mining giant this year

GREENWASHING CAPITALI$M

Emboldened ESG activists savor next round of boardroom showdowns


Jeff Green and Saijel Kishan, Bloomberg News  June 30,2021

The Open Canadian energy companies getting better at communicating greener initiatives: Middlefield's Lauzon

Rob Lauzon, managing director and deputy chief investment officer at Middlefield Capital Corporation, joins BNN Bloomberg to weigh in on declining investor interest in the Canadian energy sector. He hasn't shunned the sector, but he's not overweight on these energy companies. At the same time, he believes that Canadian energy companies are getting better at communicating their greener initiatives.



8:23 Canadian energy companies getting better at communicating greener...

5:57  Bitcoin could solve ESG issues many organizations face: Chamber o...

11:00 Canada’s path to a low-carbon economy

Mention Engine No. 1’s victory over Exxon Mobil Corp. last month to the socially conscious investing crowd and they’ll rattle off a wish list of targets that have so-far resisted calls to reform their social practices.

The possibilities include Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc. and private prisons, to name a few. The question, though, is whether the tactics Engine No. 1 used to gain three seats on the oil giant’s board are a viable method for other small activist investors to replicate against companies where they’d like faster change.

Most activist investors say: not exactly. But, inspired by Engine No 1., they are getting more aggressive. Some say they’ll use the threat of targeting the board to get companies to engage in their proposals. Eli Kasargod-Staub, co-founder of Majority Action, a non-profit that pushes for corporate accountability, plans to ramp up “just vote no” campaigns against undesirable directors. Others are suggesting specific board candidates that favor social change, and some are lobbying Engine No. 1 to find its next Exxon.

James McRitchie, an activist investor who over decades has sponsored hundreds of proxy proposals about social and governance issues, emailed Engine No. 1 to suggest they look at Netflix. Investors have approved several proposals that would make it easier to replace Netflix directors, but the streaming giant has not agreed to the changes.

Engine No. 1 wouldn’t comment on its next possible targets, though it owns stakes in Square Inc., Microsoft Corp., Shopify Inc., Zendesk Inc., and Penumbra Inc. Netflix said in its proxy statement this year that it is taking steps to be responsive to ESG concerns from investors.

“A more collaborative approach would be ideal,’’ Renaye Manley, deputy director at the Service Employees International Union, one of the groups leading the charge to pressure companies to perform racial audits, said on a June 10 Bloomberg Intelligence panel. “But I can certainly see this type of a kind of activist-investor approach over civil rights happening at some point in the future.’’

Nell Minow, who advises institutional investors on corporate governance issues at ValueEdge Advisors, said Engine No. 1 primed boards to be more alert and responsive out of fear of losing control.

“After we spent a lot of money on our first proxy contest, and took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal for a quarter million dollars, we never had to do that again,” she said, referring to an aggressive campaign she waged against the Sears, Roebuck and Co. board in 1991. “Because people knew we would do that if we had to.”

Engine No. 1 succeeded under a set of unique conditions. First, the firm was started by a former hedge fund manager who used his personal wealth to finance a fight with around a US$13 million price tag, according to the fund. It also made a strong case for board change, arguing that the oil giant had lower shareholder yields than competitors and mounting debt and spending that jeopardized its dividend. Exxon was also losing money, and Engine No. 1 argued its resistance to transitioning to a low-carbon future would lead to more losses in the future.

“Exxon was unique in its own way,’’ said Eleazer “Ele’’ Klein, a lawyer who represented Engine No. 1 in its campaign. “It wasn't responsive to its shareholders’ frustrations.’’

Investors don’t often reject director candidates. So far this year, less than 0.5 per cent of the 15,000 board members in the Russell 3000 failed to get at least 50 per cent of the vote in an uncontested election, where seats are assigned based on vote totals. The three Exxon directors were the only ones ousted this year in a contested election, where board candidates have to receive a majority of votes, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data through June 29.

Pressuring companies to switch up their board, rather than a full-on takeover, may be a more realistic approach. Arjuna Capital, which has had success getting major technology and finance firms to release pay gap statistics, now has proposals at Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Twitter to add civil rights experts as directors. “It’s a different existential crisis than Exxon is facing,” Natasha Lamb, a managing partner at Arjuna, said. “But it’s a business imperative.”

Alphabet said in its proxy statement that its current board is sufficiently qualified to provide civil rights oversight. Facebook declined to comment but pointed to a website outlining the company's efforts to address hate speech on its platforms. Twitter declined to comment.

Activists have made progress making alternative directors more palatable to big investors, said Rusty O’Kelley, an executive recruiter at Russell Reynolds. Five years ago, the typical slate would have included members of the fund or their close associates, he said. Now the groups work with executive recruiters to establish networks of board-ready candidates.

“They are much more likely to have a slate of people who have industry relevance, who represent gender and ethnic diversity and look and feel more credible,” O’Kelley said. “It’s designed to gain support from BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.”

Activist investors have already this year submitted a record number of proposals aimed at improving diversity and equality in corporate America. Even though many of them failed, support averaged 32 per cent, well above the average 24.2 per cent over the previous five years, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence. Companies often engage with activists if their proposals get at least 30 per cent of the vote, though they’re under no obligation to do so in most cases.


Some of their biggest targets, however, like Facebook and Alphabet are somewhat insulated from these kinds of campaigns because of their dual-class share structures. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, for example, has majority control of the social network even though he owns less than 15 per cent of outstanding shares.

Still, some boards are being proactive. A survey this spring by recruiter Spencer Stuart of 77 committee chairs on S&P 500 boards found that expanding or enhancing ESG initiatives is their number one priority over the next three years.

Traders Betting on Hawkish Shift by Colombia Face Reality Check

BC-Traders-Betting-on-Hawkish-Shift-by-Colombia-Face-Reality-Check , Davison Santana and Maria Elena Vizcaino

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.

Colombia’s central bank is stymieing derivative traders betting on faster-than-anticipated interest-rate hikes and creating obstacles for those bullish on the peso.

The unanimity of the central bank’s decision this week to keep rates unchanged spurred an unwinding of bets that Colombia would join Brazil, Mexico and other nations that are pulling back stimulus to curb inflation as their economies begin rebounding from the pandemic.

While the market was far from pricing in a rate increase at the Monday meeting, the peso rallied ahead of it on speculation Colombia could follow in the footsteps of Mexico’s surprise hike last week.

But the resounding decision to instead stand pat has given investors a strong incentive to shift cash elsewhere to seize on higher rates, adding another potential headwind to a currency that has been weighed down this year by political protests and economic uncertainty. Rate futures now show roughly even odds that the bank will hold steady again at the next meeting on July 30, and the peso has slid some 1.6% against the U.S. dollar since the decision.

“A more hawkish central bank of Colombia was an important driver for short-term tactical bullishness” for the peso, said Jens Nystedt, a fund manager in New York at Emso Asset Management, whose firm oversees $6.8 billion. But what this week’s meeting “signals quite clearly here is that they’re not going to be hiking anytime soon. That catalyst is not going to be there.”

Nystedt said the peso may strengthen on the back of oil prices in the medium term. But he said the bank’s stance means that any near-term advance in the currency will hinge on credit-rating moves and whether President Ivan Duque Marquez has success in reviving fiscal reforms to shore up the government’s finances.

Speculation that the bank would start lifting its key benchmark from a record low of 1.75% was spurred in part by figures showing that inflation accelerated, even though that was partly attributed to supply-chain issues caused by nationwide demonstrations and unrest set off by Duque’s ill-fated attempt to raise taxes. On June 25, the day after Mexico’s hike, part of the Colombian swap-rate curve saw its biggest daily swing in more than a year, only to reverse that after the bank held steady.

Futures markets are now pricing in an approximately 50% chance of a 25 basis-point-hike in July and that the bank’s key rate will be at 2.29% in three months, less than the 2.41% predicted ahead of Monday’s meeting.

As in other countries, Colombia policymakers see some of the uptick in inflation as the result of temporary factors caused by the emergence from the Covid-19 lockdowns. And while inflation went from 1.5% year-over-year in December to 3.3% in May, it’s still well within the bank’s target range.

Even if investors agree that the central bank has time to tighten monetary policy, the country’s currency could still underperform those from counties such as as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa where similar recoveries are underway and interest rates are higher. The annual yield an investor receives to carry a long Colombian peso position for one month adjusted by currency volatility is only 0.12%, half what traders get in the Brazilian real and less than a third of the cushion offered by the Mexican peso, which drastically impacts the attractiveness of the Andean currency.

There’s also the risk of more downgrades to Colombia’s foreign-currency bonds, which were cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings in May. Late Thursday, Fitch Ratings followed suit, dropping the debt to one step below investment grade.

“The central bank of Colombia is facing a less challenging inflation outlook in the near term so they have more room to wait than the other countries, like Brazil and Mexico,” said Mauro Roca, managing director of emerging markets at TCW Group Inc. in Los Angeles.

“Colombian rates don’t look the most attractive in a relative basis in the moment,” he said. “There’s still important political noise and that may affect the prospect of tax reform, which may also impact local assets.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Australia's Afghanistan war crimes report: 39 alleged unlawful killings

Australia's Defence Chief says there is information to substantiate 23 incidents of alleged unlawful killing of 39 people by 25 special forces personnel.

Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo: AFP

A culture of secrecy, fabrication and deceit has cast a heavy shadow over the legacy of the Australian special forces deployment in Afghanistan, with a landmark inquiry recommending 19 soldiers be investigated by police for the "murder" of 39 civilians and the cruel treatment of two others.

Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell has released his final report after a long-running probe that found "credible information" that 25 current or former Australian Defence Force personnel were involved in the serious crimes, either carrying out the offences or at least being "accessories" to the incidents.

"To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian Defence Force, I sincerely and unreservedly apologise for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers," General Campbell said.

"It is my duty and that of my fellow chiefs to set things right."

He said the report found none of the alleged unlawful killings were described as "being in the heat of battle".

"None were alleged to have occurred in circumstances in which the intent of the perpetrator was unclear, confused or mistaken.

"Every person spoken to by the inquiry thoroughly understood the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement under which they operated."

The report follows a lengthy inquiry which examined allegations of unlawful killings and other possible breaches by Australia's elite special forces.


Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell Photo: AFP
SAS 'warrior culture' and 'blooding' called out

Major General Paul Brereton's report found problems with some SAS squadrons where some troops were "not well-mentored, but were rather left to swim or sink".

"A substantial indirect responsibility falls upon those in [the] Special Air Service Regiment who embraced or fostered the 'warrior culture' and the clique of non-commissioned officers who propagated it," he said.

"Special Forces operators should pride themselves on being model professional soldiers, not on being 'warrior heroes'."

The IGADF found there were "liberal" interpretations of when troops could consider people to be "directly involved in hostilities", and therefore able to be targeted.

The inquiry said junior soldiers were often required by their patrol commanders to shoot prisoners to get their first kill. This was a practice known as "blooding".

"Typically, the patrol commander would take a person under control and the junior member, who would then be directed to kill the person under control," Major General Brereton said.
Prosecutions after four and a half years of inquiry

The report recommends a total of 36 incidents be referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for criminal investigation.

Even before these matters end up in court, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) believes the Australian Government should pay compensation to the families of victims in Afghanistan.

The heavily redacted findings of Major General Brereton's investigation into allegations and rumours of war crimes by Australian special forces have been released in Canberra, after an inquiry running for more than four and a half years.

Major General Brereton said none of the incidents he was referring to the Australian Federal Police for criminal investigation could be discounted as "disputable decisions made under pressure in the heat of battle".

"The cases in which it has been found that there is credible information of a war crime are ones where it was, or should have been, plain that the person killed was a non-combatant," he said.

The inquiry interviewed 423 witnesses, and investigators pored over more than 20,000 documents and more than 25,000 images as part of the probe, investigating conduct between 2005 and 2016.
Secrecy and deceit

He said investigators struggled to get information from troops during the course of their probe, saying senior officers were "frustrated by outright deceit by those who knew the truth and, not infrequently, misguided resistance to inquiries and investigations by their superiors".

"The inquiry has encountered enormous challenges in eliciting truthful disclosure in the closed, closely bonded, and highly compartmentalised Special Forces community, in which loyalty to one's mates, immediate superiors and the unit are regarded as paramount, in which secrecy is at a premium and in which those who leak are anathema," Major General Brereton said.

The inquiry also found evidence some Australian troops in Afghanistan had carried "throwdowns" - such as weapons, radios and grenades not issued by the ADF - which would be planted next to the bodies of Afghan civilians to suggest they were a "legitimate target" in any post-incident investigations.

"This practice probably originated for the less egregious though still dishonest purpose of avoiding scrutiny where a person who was legitimately engaged turned out not to be armed," Major General Brereton said.

"But it evolved to be used for the purpose of concealing deliberate unlawful killings."

He argued the behaviour meant ADF personnel as a whole were undermined.

"Moral authority is an element of combat power.

If we do not hold ourselves, on the battlefield, at least to standards we expect of our adversaries, we deprive ourselves of that moral authority, and that element of combat power.

"We are all diminished by it."
Morrison called to express sorrow - Afghanistan President

Afghanistan's President says Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed "his deepest sorrow over the misconduct by some Australian troops" in his country, as Defence prepares to release a long-awaited report into alleged war crimes.

A statement from Afghanistan's presidential palace said Mr Morrison called President Ashraf Ghani overnight and told him that future investigations into the allegations would ensure justice.

According to the palace, Foreign Minister Marise Payne also wrote to her Afghan counterpart to extend "apologies for the misconduct identified by the inquiry, by some Australian military personnel in Afghanistan".
Special investigator to prosecute

Earlier in November it was reported that a special investigator would be appointed to prosecute allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were a "significant number" of incidents and issues to look into, and the investigation would be "inherently complex".

He warned the process would "[require] us to deal with honest and brutal truths where expectations and standards may not have been met".

"Given the likely allegations of serious and possibly criminal misconduct, the matters raised in the inquiry must be assessed, investigated and, where allegations are substantiated, prosecuted in court," he said.

"The Office of the Special Investigator will address the criminal matters made in the Inspector General's report and investigate those allegations, gather evidence and, where appropriate, refer briefs to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration."

Since 2016, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) has examined allegations of unlawful killings and other possible breaches of the law of armed conflict committed mainly by elite soldiers during their lengthy deployment in Afghanistan.

The prime minister said the office of the investigator would be set up within the Department of Home Affairs.

Morrison also announced a new panel will be established to drive cultural change inside Australia's SAS and 2nd Commando Regiment.

- ABC  19 November 2020

US exit leads Afghans to rue decades of war

As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday local time, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in US history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next.


A man holds a teddy bear as people look for useable items at a junkyard near the Bagram Air Base in Bagram. Photo: AFP

Violence has been raging throughout Afghanistan in the weeks since President Joe Biden announced troops would withdraw unconditionally by 11 September.

With peace talks in Qatar stuttering, and roughly a quarter of the country's districts having fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks according to one study, many are concerned that chaos looms.

Malek Mir, a mechanic in Bagram who saw the Soviet Army and then the Americans come and go, said he was left with a deep sense of sadness at the futility of a foreign presence.

"They came with bombing the Taliban and got rid of their regime - but now they have left when the Taliban are so empowered that they will take over any time soon," he said.

"What was the point of all the destruction, killing and misery they brought us? I wish they had never come."

More than 3500 foreign troops have been killed in a two-decade war, which has claimed over 100,000 civilians since 2009 alone, according to the United Nations' records.

Some, however, say the presence of foreign troops distorted Afghanistan's economy and that it is time for the country to stand on its own.

"The Americans leave a legacy of failure, they've failed in containing the Taliban or corruption," said Sayed Naqibullah, a shop owner in Bagram. "A small percentage of Afghans got so rich, while the vast majority still live with extreme poverty.

"In a way, we're happy they've gone ... We're Afghans and we'll find our way."


An Afghan boy cycles on a roadside behind the Bagram airfield while Afghan forces guard base towers in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: AFP or licensors

'I had many dreams that will not come true'

In the nearby capital, the news was a fresh reminder of the growing panic that has been gripping many parts of Afghan society, particularly in urban areas, since Biden announced the withdrawal in April.

"All the people are worried that if foreign forces leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will take over. Then what will we do?" asked Zumarai Wafa, a Kabul shopkeeper.

Wafa and others described a slump in business and signs of many urban residents trying to flee the country, with hundreds lined up outside embassies seeking visas.


Many are trying to get visas so they can leave Afghanistan. Photo: AFP

Medical student Muzhda, 22, who asked to be identified by only one name for security reasons, said her family had decided to leave the country because of the deterioration in security.

She said she wondered what future awaited women if the Taliban came back to power and restricted access to education for women, as they did during their previous time in power.

The Taliban say they have changed and that they will make provisions for women's rights in line with cultural traditions and religious rules.

Still, Muzhda said she feels bereft and let down by the American departure.

"The withdrawal of foreign troops in the current situation is irrational," she said. "It is now clear that the Americans came here for their own purposes, not to help and cooperate with Afghanistan.

"I'm very sad and disappointed, I had many dreams that will not come true."

- Reuters

Protesters are calling on Brazil's president to step down after members of his administration worked to illegally profit from COVID-19 vaccine purchase

Sarah Al-Arshani
4 hours ago

A puppet of Jair Bolsonaro with a signal that reads "Prison to Bolsonaro" is seen in a demonstration against Bolsonaro's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 3, 2021. MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images


Protesters in Brazil are calling on President Jair Bolsonaro to step down, the AP reported.

Members of his administration allegedly tried to illegally profit from COVID-19 vaccine deals.

He is being investigated for knowing about the illegal activity.

Protests are spreading across Brazil as residents call for President Jair Bolsonaro to step down following allegations that members of his administration tried to illegally profit off of a COVID-19 vaccine deal, the Associated Press reported.

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber authorized a criminal investigation into his response to the allegations.

The investigation is looking into whether or not Bolsonaro delayed or didn't take any action when the allegations were brought to his attention.

Luis Ricardo Miranda, the chief of the Health Ministry's import division, said he and his brother, lawmaker Luis Miranda, spoke to Bolsonaro after he was pressured to sign off on the import of millions of vaccines from Indian pharmaceutical Bharat Biotech, which showed invoice irregularities, including a $45 million upfront payment to a Singapore-based company.


Bolsonaro told him he would tell the Federal Police, but the police never got a request, the AP reported.

Eventually, Bolsonaro had the Miranda brothers investigated and his secretary-general of the presidency, Onyx Lorenzoni, said they presented falsified documents.

Bolsonaro has been criticized for his overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far infected more than 18 million Brazilians and killed over 523,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The New York Times reported that more than 100 lawmakers across multiple parties drafted impeachment articles against Bolsonaro last week.


"Every crime committed by the president is serious, but this one is even more serious because it involves lives," Joice Hasselmann, a member of Congress from São Paulo told the Times."Brazil can't stand another year with Bolsonaro."

Protests erupt against president Bolsonaro as Brazil surpasses 500k Covid deaths | In Pics

 

Brazilians protest against Bolsonaro after corruption probe opened

Martina Farmbauer

 Jul 3, 2021

©

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets against President Jair Bolsonaro's coronavirus policies on Saturday after the Supreme Court allowed investigations to be opened into Bolsonaro over corruption allegations related to vaccine orders.

In more than 110 cities in Brazil, demonstrators also called for an accelerated vaccine campaign, the Brazilian news portal G1 reported.

The protests were originally planned for July 24, but organizers called for them to take place earlier in light of the allegations.

Judge Rosa Weber granted a request by the Attorney General's Office to look into corruption allegations against Bolsonaro linked to the order of 20 million doses of the Indian Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, the news agency Agencia Brasil reported on Friday evening.

A group of senators had filed criminal charges against Bolsonaro on suspicion of abuse of office for ignoring a suspicion of corruption.

A former Health Ministry employee had reported "unusual pressure" in the handling of the vaccine deal, worth more than 300 million dollars in total. The price of 15 dollars is also said to be the highest that the Health Ministry has been willing to pay for a dose so far.

The Health Ministry is said to have ordered the vaccine, which was developed and manufactured in India, before it was even approved in Brazil.

A lawmaker, the brother of the former Health Ministry official, testified to having informed Bolsonaro about these inconsistencies.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian government, which suspended the contract to buy the Covaxin vaccine doses this week, gave several versions of the case. Bolsonaro said he had no knowledge of irregularities.

According to senators close to the government, on the other hand, Bolsonaro allegedly informed the health minister at the time, Eduardo Pazuello, about the allegations.

The Indian company Bharat Biotech said that the price of a dose of Covaxin for foreign governments was between 15 and 20 dollars, and the price for Brazil was within this range.

The Covaxin deal has also recently been the focus of a parliamentary investigative committee looking into the actions and omissions of Bolsonaro in the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the opening of impeachment proceedings against him depends on the president of the Chamber of Deputies - who is considered an ally of Bolsonaro's government.

PHOTO Jose Lucena/TheNEWS2 via ZUMA Wire/dpa

Covaxin row: Brazil top court gives nod for probing charges against Bolsonaro

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (REUTERS)1

Updated: 04 Jul 2021

Reuters

The president has been implicated in allegations of irregularities surrounding a 1.6 billion reais ($316 million) contract signed in February for 20 million doses with a Brazilian intermediary for the vaccine's maker, Bharat Biotech

Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber late on Friday authorized an investigation of President Jair Bolsonaro by the top prosecutor's office, or PGR, for dereliction of duty in the process of procuring an Indian Covid-19 vaccine, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.

The president has been implicated in allegations of irregularities surrounding a 1.6 billion reais ($316 million) contract signed in February for 20 million doses with a Brazilian intermediary for the vaccine's maker, Bharat Biotech.

A Brazilian Senate commission investigating the administration's handling of the pandemic has cited suspicions of overpricing and corruption related to the contract. After allegations of irregularities surfaced, the government suspended the contract.

Brazil has suffered the world's second-highest number of Covid-19 deaths.

Brazilian federal prosecutors and the comptroller general's office, or CGU, are also separately investigating the alleged irregularities in the deal. The case allegedly involves the government's chief whip in the lower house of Congress, Ricardo Barros, according to lawmakers.

Bolsonaro and Barros denied any wrongdoing.

The investigation of the president by the PGR had to be formally authorized by the Supreme Court. In her decision, Justice Weber gave authorities 90 days for collection of evidence pertaining to the case.

New, deadly bacteria may be lurking in US; CDC warns of three puzzling cases

This isn't the first time the deadly bacteria has surfaced in the US unexpectedly.

BETH MOLE - 7/2/2021, ARS TECHNICA

Enlarge / Burkholderia pseudomallei grown on sheep blood agar for 24 hours.

 Burkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, and it's the causative agent of melioidosis.

Getty | CDC/Courtesy of Larry Stauffer, Oregon State Public Health Laboratory


A deadly soil bacterium common in tropical and subtropical climates has mysteriously infected three people in three different US states, killing at least one, according to a health alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While US cases of the infection periodically pop up in travelers, none of the three infected people have recent travel history that could easily explain how they picked up the dangerous germ. The bacteria, Burkholderia pseudomallei, usually infects by direct contact with an environmental source, i.e. contaminated soil or water. It most often attacks through breaks in the skin and it very rarely jumps from human to human. Yet genetic analyses of the bacterial strains in the latest US cases indicate that the three, geographically-separated infections are related.

The curious cluster of cases suggests there was a common source of the bacteria. Investigators speculate that a yet-unidentified imported product or animal could be a common source. For instance, iguanas and monkeys imported with infections have been linked to cases in the past. But the cluster also resurfaces concern that B. pseudomallei is no longer a mere interloper in the US, rather it may have become a permanent, low-key resident.

The Great Mimicker

The distinction is not only critical for infection prevention efforts but also clinical care. Infections with B. pseudomallei cause melioidosis, which can be fatal in 10 percent to 50 percent of cases. People with diabetes, kidney disease, chronic lung disease, and alcoholism are most at risk. But the symptoms can be vague and widely variable. They include everything from localized pain, swelling, fever, ulceration, and abscesses, to coughing, chest pain, headaches, anorexia, respiratory distress, abdominal discomfort, joint pain, disorientation, weight loss, stomach or chest pain, muscle pain, joint pain, and seizures.

The symptoms are so nebulous, melioidosis is sometimes called the "Great Mimicker" because it's often mistaken for other serious conditions, such as tuberculosis. Without a travel history that may hint at an exposure to B. pseudomallei, doctors may misdiagnose it—and that can quickly turn deadly. B. pseudomallei is resistant to many antibiotic treatments. Delayed diagnosis and improper treatment can allow the infection to go systemic, which can be fatal in 90 percent of cases.Advertisement

In the three new cases occurring in two adults and one child, the symptoms ranged from cough and shortness of breath, to weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, intermittent fever, and rash on the trunk, abdomen, and face, the CDC said.

The cases occurred in Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota. One identified in March was fatal. The person had several risk factors for melioidosis, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cirrhosis, and this person died ten days after being hospitalized. Of the remaining two cases, one is still hospitalized and one has been transferred to a transitional care unit.

None of the three patients or members of their families reported traveling outside the continental US. In the health alert, the CDC recommended that healthcare providers, "Consider melioidosis in patients with a compatible illness even if they do not have a travel history to a disease-endemic country." It's a recommendation that's been made before.

Connections

This is not the first time that US residents with no recent travel have turned up with a mysterious B. pseudomallei infection. In 2018, a 63-year-old Texas resident, who had not left the state in 30 years, turned up with a near fatal case of melioidosis. To try to track down the infection source, state and federal health investigators thoroughly swabbed the man's small rural ranch, which had no running water. They sampled soil, surfaces, plumbing, and his water tanks, including the 1,600-gallon water storage tank that the man climbed into on a monthly basis to clean. They found no trace of B. pseudomallei.

But similar to the three new linked cases, the strain of B. pseudomallei infecting the Texas resident in 2018 was genetically linked to other strains that had popped up in US residents. In fact, the closest genetic match to the 2018 Texas case was a strain collected from a 2004 Texas case in the very same county, Atascosa. In that case, too, the Texas resident didn't seem to have any recent travel history that explained the infection. (It's unclear how the strains from the three new cases relate to others found in North America and elsewhere.)

In a case report of the 2018 case published last year, health investigators with the CDC and the Texas Health Department highlighted the link to the 2004 cases. In particular, they noted that it was "originally hypothesized that the 2004 patient was infected 62 years before disease onset, while serving during World War II in Southeast Asia." But the strain of B. pseudomallei infecting the 2004 Texas case was not related to strains from Southeast Asia, the investigators wrote—the strain was related to other strains from the Americas.

Besides the 2004 Texas case, the next closest genetic match to the 2018 Texas strain was to a strain from a 1999 case in Arizona. Though it was isolated from a patient who had recently emigrated from El Salvador, the strain was more genetically similar to the North American isolates than anything seen in Central America.

To the CDC and Texas investigators looking into the 2018 case, the possibility was clear that B. pseudomallei may be endemic to the US. They wrote:

The source of this patient’s infection remains unknown. However, genomic analysis showed that the patient isolate groups with existing isolates collected from other patients in the southwestern United States. Isolates TX2004 and TX2018b were collected ≈15 years apart from patients living in the same Texas county at time of illness onset and group together, a finding that suggests B. pseudomallei might be present in the environment in this area.

The investigators were also skeptical of the suggestion that a B. pseudomallei infection might "reactivate," as was the speculation in the 2004 Texas case. "Instead of a 62-year incubation period, the patient infected with TX2004 might have had an unknown local environmental exposure that preceded symptom onset," they wrote. And the investigators suggested that this long incubation idea may have misled previous investigations away from the possibility that the dangerous bacteria may, in fact, be endemic to the US. They noted a melioidosis case reported in 1991 in a patient living in New Mexico, who hadn't left the country in years. Doctors evaluating the patient attributed the infection to an exposure during the Vietnam War, 18 years earlier.
The bottom line

Most importantly, the CDC and Texas investigators concluded that "B. pseudomallei infection should be included in a differential diagnosis for a patient with compatible disease, even without reported travel history."

"Only when B. pseudomallei is isolated from the environment can it be definitively stated that B. pseudomallei is endemic to the continental United States," they note. But, "increased awareness among healthcare workers and diagnostic laboratory personnel for melioidosis as a disease potentially endemic to the southwestern United States is critical to improve case outcomes and prevent laboratory exposures."

The message largely echoes that from a 2015 report, which noted an uptick in melioidosis cases in the US between 2008 and 2013. Though most of the 34 human cases identified in the report were linked to travel, two were not.

"Given the slight increase in the number of melioidosis cases reported since 2009, melioidosis might be considered an emerging disease in the United States," the authors wrote. "Physicians and other health-care personnel should be aware of the increase of cases reported in the United States, especially given the identification of infected persons without travel histories to endemic areas or known risk factors."


BETH MOLE is Ars Technica’s health reporter. She’s interested in biomedical research, infectious disease, health policy and law, and has a Ph.D. in microbiology.EMAIL beth.mole@arstechnica.com // TWITTER @BethMarieMole

 

WHO: BioNTech, Pfizer, Moderna should do more for technology transfer

Jul 2, 2021

© Marcus Brandt/dpa

Geneva (dpa) - The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna to increase their efforts in order to boost the production of vaccines against Covid-19 around the world.

"I urge those companies like BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna to share their know-how so that we can speed up the development of new production sites," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday in Geneva.

"New manufacturing hubs including for mRNA vaccines are developed but this could be accelerated by companies openly sharing technology and know-how," he said.

His comments come as countries debate whether and how to make access to vaccines more equitable, with some calling for patents to be waived while others favour technology transfer.

Poorer countries do not have enough vaccines to inoculate 10 per cent of their populations by the end of September, while wealthy countries are much further ahead, Tedros said.

While governments in these countries are now donating vaccine doses, this is only a drop in the ocean, he said.

Tedros also warned of the dangers of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is more transmissible.

"We are in a very dangerous period of this pandemic, no country on Earth is out of the woods yet," he said.

The virus is able to mutate in many places where there is a shortage of vaccines, he said.

The Delta variant is now present in at least 98 countries, according to the WHO'S data