The Speaker News Journal

Pro-military mob attacks locals and media in Yangon

February 25, 2021February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

YANGON, Myanmar – Downtown Yangon, the pro-military mob attacked local people and media, with 20 people being wounded this morning, according to a local source.

The mob destroyed some cars stuck in traffic as well.

Some protesters have claimed they received money from the military to vandalize in particular areas.

Recently, A group of people including some monks rallied to stand with the military after the coup. They are members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Under international pressure, law enforcement forces constricted the violence as much as they could, especially in big cities such as Yangon and Mandalay. The military has also lobbied ASEAN countries to legitimatize its administration.

By Htay Win
Feature image credit Het Arkar

Mythical place for the history of rock in Hollywood closes abruptly after 22 years

February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

The iconic hotel The Standard on the Sunset Strip was a perennial bastion for Hollywood stars and a legendary boutique hotel, and was said to have been a model for boutique hotels worldwide. It closed after losing its lease.

By Milan Sime Martinic

First flight to ancient Timbuktu in 9 years sparks hope of tourists’ return

February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

As Mali returns to normalcy after years of war, the first commercial flight landed in the city that was long a magnet for tourists from all over the world. Timbuktu officials say they hope it reestablishes the city as an exotic travel destination. The historic city has been in the stranglehold of Islamists since Al Qaeda overran the storied city in 2012.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Sales boom pushes US housing market near 13-year record high

February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

Fueled by low mortgage rates, pent-up demand, and Americans working from home seeking larger quarters, new home sales shattered predictions and drove up the median sales price 5.3% to $346k from a year earlier, marking the highest for any January on record. Government data showed a 4.3% increase in new home purchases in January to a total beating the forecasted 856k with a 3-month high of 923k units. The data released Wednesday suggests the trend can continue in the months ahead, according to industry analysts.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Bank wires worth trillions of dollars halted by US Fed’s “operational error”

February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

Over 3 trillion dollars in daily transactions for the world’s biggest banks were disrupted Wednesday, according to an alert status on the Fed’s website announcing a disruption in several business lines for Fedwire, FedACH, and 11 other areas affecting wire transfers, ACH transactions and check-clearing in the U.S. banking system. About 850,000 transactions each day move an average daily volume of $3.4 trillion.

“We are restoring services and are communicating with all Federal Reserve Financial Services customers about the status of operations,” says an email from the Fed explaining that Fedwire is “the premier electronic funds-transfer service that banks, businesses, and government agencies rely on for mission-critical, same-day transactions.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

South African government continues its fight for Caster Semenya’s participation at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and has taken the matter to the European Court of Human Rights

February 25, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

DURBAN, South Africa – South African former Olympic champion Caster Semenya is set to appeal at the ECHR and South Africans are rallying behind her.

Semenya wants to overturn a World Athletics’ regulation dealing with hormone use. She is expected to file the papers in March.

The 800m world champion is still unable to compete professionally, as her bid to overturn the drug-hormone rule was so-far unsuccessful. She was not included in SA’s provisional squad for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics which is scheduled to get underway July 23.

News of her appeal was revealed at the portfolio committee meeting of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture where SA’s preparedness for the Tokyo Olympics was discussed.

In a statement, Athletics South Africa President, Aleck Skosana, said Ms Semenya has not been included in South Africa’s provisional Olympic squad.

The Chairperson of the committee, Beauty Dlulane said most countries would like to see Ms Semenya participate in the Games, an aspiration frustrated by “rules and guidelines.”

“We are concerned that this has affected Caster’s preparation. This issue of rules unjustly disadvantages Caster and denies her rights to participation and qualification, and the committee’s view is that those rules are unfair,” she said.

South Africans have taken to social media and voiced their opinions on the Semenya matter.

“Caster Semenya, all eyes on you. You have immense people of interest externally support from South Africa. Bless her,” wrote one interested citizen, while another wrote, “I’m proud of her, she can’t give up just like that. She is doing for the upcoming generations too.”

Another social media user wrote, commenting on the social aspect of the issue, “So this is the level of civilization we are currently at. Someone has to defend their sexuality because they are genetically gifted. If sports is against genetical gifts tall people like Bolt should probably not be allowed to compete. That guy is a beast and not fair to other normal men.”

SA remains hopeful, as Athletics South Africa told the committee that it has received support from Sweden and looks forward Ms Semenya winning her appeal.

By Zakithi Dlamini

Ethiopian government allows seven international media outlets to report in the Tigray region

February 24, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian government has given permission to seven international media outlets, including the BBC, Reuters and Al Jazeera, to report on the situation in Tigray.

The government said in a statement that it was concerned about the baseless and politically motivated information being spread about the situation in Tigray State.

Additionally, of the 135 international organizations that have applied for humanitarian assistance in the region, 29 are said to be already operating there.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPC) announced that the power supply that was cut off was due to the attack on the main power transmission line in Tigray State and has since been restored. Electricity has been cut off across the region for more than a week.

According to the government, electricity was cut off by TPLF militants during an attack on a high-voltage transmission line from Alamata-Mehoni-Mekele in the area known as Adigudom.

EEPC announced that power supply repairs were successfully completed in days following the power outage in the region.

By Henok Alemayehu

US Evangelicals raise alarm about “Radicalized Christian Nationalism” in their midst, call for opposition in wake of the Jan 6 insurrection

February 24, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

More than 100 pastors, ministry and seminary leaders, and other prominent American evangelicals have penned an open letter calling on other Christians to take a public stand: “We recognize that evangelicalism, and white evangelicalism in particular, has been susceptible to the heresy of Christian nationalism because of a long history of faith leaders accommodating white supremacy. We choose to speak out now because we do not want to be quiet accomplices in this ongoing sin.”

Quoting Jesus Christ, the letter says, “No Christian can defend the un-Christlike behavior of those who committed the violence on January 6. Not only was it anti-democratic, but it was also anti-Christian,” urging other evangelical leaders “to boldly make it clear that a commitment to Jesus Christ is incompatible with calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice.”

The progressive evangelical group VoteCommonGood is behind the action.

by Milan Sime Martinic

Commodity demand growth will go up, due to low-income households and green energy – Goldman Sachs

February 24, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

Global head of commodities research at Goldman, Jeff Currie, stated his position on the future of the sector this week, citing two big factors why commodities would continue to go up.

One was that while historically stimulus benefited high-income households, current stimulus benefits low-income, who spend a lot more on commodities.

The second factor was the future prospects of oil. Because oil will be less in demand in the future, companies won’t be investing in bringing more oil to the market, even if oil prices rise.

Demand growth for oil, Currie said, would start to slow in 2024-2025 and after 2030 would decline. “What that means, the stimulus effect of all this green spending actually amplifies oil demand,” Curry posited, but, “If we know we have a blueprint for energy transition in the U.S., Europe and China, and the clock is ticking on oil, are you going to invest in long-lived oil production? The answer is ‘no.’ So the only thing you’re going to invest in is short cycle production in the U.S., Middle East and Russia. Everything else is too risky to make investments. The hurdle rate to get investment in this sector is substantially higher than what it was historically.”

Currie saw some potential inflation risk accompanying the demand-pull factors that are driving commodity prices. Commodities prices increases, he said, are in part due to the hedging of bond-holding portfolio managers dealing with inflation possibly creeping up into the 2% range.

By Sid Douglas

73% drop in migration from Horn of Africa to Gulf countries due to pandemic

February 24, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – New data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) this week confirms a nearly three-fourths decline in migration from the East and Horn of Africa regions toward Gulf countries through Yemen during 2020.

These findings are especially significant because African migration through Yemen to the Gulf of Arabia has been high for the past four years. Despite reduced arrivals in 2020 — due in part to Coronavirus-related restrictions — risks for migrants increased, with more detentions, exploitation and forced transfers.

Data released by IOM show that the number of migrants crossing via Yemen from the Horn dropped from a high of 138k in 2019 to 37k in 2020. Forced returns from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were also significantly reduced, passing from nearly 121k Ethiopian migrants in 2019 to 37k in 2020.

Border closures, which have left thousands of workers stranded, resulted in many workers from the East African countries facing exploitation from people smugglers when trying to get home. As of September 2020, some 3,000 migrants were stranded within the East and Horn of Africa, in addition to tens of thousands of other migrants from the region stranded in Yemen.

By Henok Alemayehu

There is now a blueprint for energy transition in the US, Europe, and China

February 24, 2021 by The Speaker Editors

Share this

Something that didn’t exist eight weeks ago.

With U.S. President Joe Biden rejoining 190 other countries in the Paris Climate Agreement, basically all countries on Earth are participating in a unified movement to combat global warming.

Under the agreement the U.S. plans to cut carbon emissions 25% from it’s 2005 levels by 2025 and contribute $3b to the cause. The U.S. is the world’s second biggest polluter after China, which last October announced a net-zero target for 2060. The EU is aiming at climate neutrality by 2050.

Biden’s election, as well as the stated goals of other world powers, have caused green energy companies to see significantly increased investment over the past months, a trend investors see continuing.

Global Sachs head of commodities research, Jeff Currie, spoke on the subject this week and said Goldman believed the green capex is going to be worth around $16t over the next decade. He compared that figure with the $10t China spent on green capex in its boom 2000’s, which in real terms is about the same amount.

By Sid Douglas