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Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


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Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

Romney's Reckless China Rhetoric Risks New Cold War

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: May 3, 2020

Rachel Esplin Odell argues for a wiser and more conservative strategy that resists the temptation to exaggerate the challenge posed by China.


Full Article

oric

A Historic Compromise in Tunisia? What Rome Can Teach Carthage

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 14:45:00 -0500


Next Sunday’s first round of the Tunisian presidential election is unlikely to produce an outright winner but the country can already lay claim to the most democratic success story in the uncertain post-Arab Spring period.

Earlier this year, the Islamist-led National Constituent Assembly in Tunis produced a pluralist constitution that set the stage for a parliamentary contest on October 26 in which the incumbents lost. That simple fact of political alternation is a historic milestone: Ennahda is not the only Islamist party to lose the confidence of its initial protest-vote electorate, but it is the first to live to tell the tale.

Islamist participation in the democratic process

The birthplace of the Arab Spring offers a tantalizing third way toward Islamist participation in the democratic process: a Goldilocks outcome between Turkish majoritarianism and Egyptian militarism. Tunisia is different: it is smaller, lacks a hegemonic army, and Ennahda doesn’t have anywhere near a majority of votes.

The alluring tableau, however, conceals a fragmented elite and a scattered electorate. Twenty-seven parties declared candidates for president, although a handful have dropped out. Last month, more than 15,000 candidates running on over 1,300 party lists vied for 217 parliamentary seats. Only two-fifths of eligible adults registered to vote and less than two-thirds of them actually voted.

The main pattern to emerge from parliamentary elections is the same that has defined the country for decades: an existential battle between Islamists and anti-Islamists with a majority for neither. The Islamists lost six percentage points (32 percent) but the secularists were not exactly embraced. Taking into account non-registration and abstention, the victorious party Nidaa Tounes’s share of the legislative vote (38 percent) corresponds to roughly one out of five eligible voters.

These results accurately reflect a highly polarized society. Nidaa Tounes is led by presidential frontrunner Beji Caïd Essebsi, an 87-year-old who served under every regime since 1956 independence and who stoked voters’ fear of Ennahda’s “seventh century project” during the campaign. Ennahda’s leadership framed the election as a contest “between supporters of the revolution and supporters of the counter-revolution.” It is the only Muslim-majority country where nearly half of the population claims to never step foot in a mosque.

Do Tunisians favor “authoritarian government”?

For the first time since the 2011 revolution, polling this summer showed a majority of Tunisians favoring “authoritarian government” over an “unstable” democratic government. Also for the first time, Ennahda declined to field a presidential candidate to contain apprehensions about them. While Essebsi mostly enjoys an untainted reputation his party, Nidaa Tounes is a loose coalition including many holdovers from the previous regime.

The last time electoral democracies experienced a comparable juncture was not in 2013 Cairo or Gezi Park, but rather Rome during the tense 1970s. In 1976, the Italian Communist Party received one-third of the votes, making it the largest Communist electoral bloc west of the Iron Curtain. Frequent small-scale terrorist attacks took place against the backdrop of global tensions between NATO and Warsaw Pact members.

It is hard to remember a time when the term “socialism” provoked as much angst as “Sharia” does today, but Tunisia stands at a crossroads analogous to the old Cold War alternatives of Washington and Moscow, with Qatar and other Gulf states filling the shoes of the old “evil empire.”

Recognizing that Italy was too divided to govern alone, party leader Enrico Berlinguer proposed a historic compromise (compromesso storico) with the archenemy Christian Democrats to bridge a seemingly impassible cultural-political gap.

Ennahda party faces doubts

Today’s Ennahda party faces the same doubts as Communist leaders in postwar Europe: are they truly pluralist democrats? Do they accept power sharing? The executive director of Nidaa Tounes, Mondher Belhadj Ali, said in an interview in Tunis earlier this year that Ennahda must undergo the equivalent process of the various leftist parties in Europe during the Cold War. The party needs to renounce its “jihadist logic,” Belhadj said, in the same way that the German left distanced itself from international Marxist-Leninist creed at Bad Godesberg in 1959.[1]

To be considered trustworthy despite its association with a revolutionary ideology, the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano, or PCI) underwent key shifts. Its leadership broke with the international Comintern by supporting Italy’s NATO membership. They also refused Moscow’s order of “intransigence” through silent partnership with a Christian Democrat-led government, giving way to the “via Italiana” – an Italian path – to socialism.

Why did the PCI pursue this path at a moment of rising strength, when their share of the vote was peaking at 32 percent? Italian Communists had no doubt noticed that NATO countries were willing to forego democratic outcomes in Chile three years earlier in the name of political stability and anti-communism.

“Alternative to the Islamic State”

It is also apparent that Ennahda’s leadership has correctly interpreted the West’s silence after the arrest of Egypt’s first democratically elected president last year. The party’s agreement to omit the word “Sharia” from the constitution, its decision to ban the extremist group Ansar Echaria and its voluntary departure from political posts in 2013 have been taken as early signs of a willingness to compromise. There is no exact Islamist equivalent to Moscow and the Comintern, but Ennahda has offered itself up as “the alternative to the Islamic State.” Ennahda has also adopted an official party line not to govern alone but only in alliance with other parties. Party leader Rached Ghannouchi said he hopes to avoid “the repetition of the Egyptian bilateral polarizing model.”

Political pressure already forced Ennahda and its partners to wage not merely ideological but also actual military war on violent Islamist extremism. The martyrs of the Tunisian Revolution now include not only the two secular politicians who were assassinated in the first half of 2013 but also the 39 Tunisian soldiers who have been killed since then – including five in an attack earlier this month.

The interim government has not hesitated to combat religious enemies of the state. President Moncef Marzouki, a human rights activist, looked ashen in an interview in his office this summer: “I deeply regret it: it means killing and arresting people but I have to defend this state” – at times leading to the deaths of a dozen combatants per month, including six on election weekend.[2]

In the years since the revolution, through a mixture of coercion and conviction, the religious affairs ministry whittled down the number of prayer spaces under the control of Salafi extremists from over 1000 in 2011 to under 100 today. This summer, the government fired an imam who refused to say prayers for a soldier who died in a raid on an Islamist cell.”[3]

Like Berlinguer before him, Ghannouchi has made timely visits to meet with American officials and offer democratic reassurances – but to far greater effect than the Italian Communists ever managed. Washington’s reception of the PCI is captured by the chiaroscuro headshot of Berlinguer on a June 1976 cover of Time declaiming “The Red Threat.” In 2012, the magazine named Ghannouchi one of the “World’s Most Influential People,” someone who offers “a vision of a moderate, modern and inclusive political movement.”

Critics will point out that shortly after the compromesso storico, the Communist Party’s electoral base bottomed out. Left-wing terrorism did taper off but not before the Red Brigades kidnapped and executed the Communists’ main Christian Democratic interlocutor, former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, in 1978.

Compromise may lead to national unity

With counterterrorism support to resist such extremist violence on the fringes and more enthusiastic backing from Western capitals, however, a Tunisian historic compromise may yet deliver the national unity that the country needs to advance to self-confident partisan rule – and mutual faith in political alternation. The recent announcement of joint U.S.-Tunisian counter-terrorism exercises and a gift of $14 million worth of equipment and supplies are small in scale but their timing conveys a broader reassurance.

The lack of a clear political mandate may turn out to be the hidden advantage of this inaugural election season in Tunisia. The country’s political parties can now use the first full presidency and parliamentary session of a democratic Tunisia to blaze a third way between military rule and majoritarian Islamist democracy.

Just as Italian communism was a different animal than the Soviet Communist Party, Tunisian exceptionalism is a real thing. The accelerated modernization period under Independence leader Habib Bourguiba after decolonization left behind the lowest illiteracy rate and lowest birthrate in the neighborhood. Its relatively peaceful democratic revolution has now passed several institutional milestones. As President Moncef Marzouki put it, “if the experiment in Islamic democracy doesn’t work here then it’s unlikely to work anywhere.”[4]

The Italian Communist Party voted to dissolve itself almost 24 years ago, not long after the Berlin Wall fell and sealed its obsolescence. An equivalent geopolitical shift in Sunni Islam – away from the hegemony of ideologically rigid Gulf States – is as unimaginable now as was the thaw of November 1989. But a great compromise between the region’s modern nemeses – secularist and Islamist – could well dislodge the first brick.

[1] Jonathan Laurence interview with Mondher Belhadj Ali, May 2014, Tunis, Tunisia.
[2] Jonathan Laurence interview with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, May 2014, Carthage, Tunisia.
[3] Jonathan Laurence Interview with Tunisian Minister of Religious Affairs Mounir Tlili, May 2014, Tunis, Tunisia.
[4] Ibid.
Image Source: © Anis Mili / Reuters
      
 
 


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75 years after a historic meeting on the USS Quincy, US-Saudi relations are in need of a true re-think

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:00:42 +0000

On Valentine’s Day 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud on an American cruiser, the USS Quincy, in the Suez Canal. It was the dawn of what is now the longest U.S. relationship with an Arab state. Today the relationship is in decline, perhaps terminally, and needs recasting. FDR…

       


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A backstage pass to the historic U.S.-Cuba thaw

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 13 Jun 2018 20:44:37 +0000

       


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How historic would a $1 trillion infrastructure program be?

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Fri, 12 May 2017 19:31:27 +0000

"We're going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it." From the very first night of his election win, President Trump was clear about his intention to usher in a new era in American infrastructure. Since…

       


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Infrastructure investment lags even as borrowing costs remain near historic low

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 08 Jun 2016 12:50:00 -0400


Voters and policy makers bemoan our crumbling roads, airports, and public transit systems, but few jurisdictions do much about it. The odd thing is that historically low interest rates now make it cheap to fix or improve our public facilities. The mystery is why decision makers have passed on this opportunity.

The sorry state of the nation’s roads, bridges, and public infrastructure has been widely reported. Every few years the American Society of Civil Engineers draws up a report card on U.S. infrastructure, highlighting its strengths and shortcomings in a variety of areas—drinking water systems, wastewater, dams, roads, bridges, inland waterways, ports. The report card spotlights areas where spending on maintenance falls short of the amount needed to keep our infrastructure functioning efficiently. For many kinds of infrastructure, a bigger population and heavier utilization require us to invest in brand new facilities. In its latest report card, the ASCE awards our public infrastructure a grade of D+.

It’s hard to think of a time more attractive for public investment than years when total demand for goods and services is depressed. The Treasury’s borrowing cost for investment funds is near historical lows. Since 2011, the interest rate on 10-year government bonds has averaged 2.3 percent. Savers buying inflation-protected bonds have been willing to lend funds to the federal government at a real interest rate of just 0.22 percent.

So long as there is excess unemployment, especially in the building trades, the labor resources needed to fix or improve public facilities should be abundant and relatively inexpensive. Employment in the construction industry has rebounded as home building and business investment have improved. Nonetheless, construction employment has recovered only half the loss it experienced between its pre-recession peak in 2006 and its post-recession low in 2011. Skilled labor is not nearly as abundant as it was in 2011, but the trend in wage inflation does not suggest employers are bidding up worker salaries.

The federal government’s failure to use fiscal policy and, in particular, public investment policy to bring the nation closer to full employment represents a notable lapse in policymaking, perhaps the most grievous lapse since the crisis began. It unnecessarily prolonged the suffering of the nation’s long-term unemployed and it wasted a rare opportunity to rebuild the nation’s public infrastructure at relatively low cost.

Why did this failure occur? One reason is that policy makers were too optimistic when the financial crisis took place back in 2008. Most public and private forecasts at the time understated the severity of the economic fallout from the bank meltdown. Decision makers in Congress and the Administration may have believed infrastructure investment would be unhelpful in the recovery. Well-conceived infrastructure projects take many months to design and many years to complete. Policy makers may have believed the economic crisis would be over by the time federally infrastructure spending reached its peak.

When forecasters and Democratic policy makers recognized their error, voters had elected a Congress that supported only one kind of fiscal policy to deal with the crisis—big tax cuts focused on high-income tax payers. Whether or not such a policy could have been effective, it would not make additional funds available for infrastructure projects.

Harvard’s Lawrence Summers and Rachel Lipset recently pointed to another reason voters have failed to back a big program to boost infrastructure investment—government ineptitude. In the Boston Globe they documented the painfully slow progress of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in overhauling a bridge across the Charles River. The bridge, which was built over 11 months back in 1912, has so far required four years for its reconstruction. No end date is in sight. In addition to the over-budget cost of the project, the overhaul has also caused massive and highly visible inconvenience for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians trying to move between Boston and Cambridge.

Few readers can be under the illusion Boston’s experience is exceptional. Many of us pass near or use public facilities that are being rebuilt or repaired. We often see bafflingly little progress over a span of months or even years. As Summers and Lipset note, the conspicuous failure of public managers to complete capital projects speedily and on budget undermines voters’ confidence that infrastructure projects can be worthwhile.

Despite wide agreement the nation’s infrastructure needs to be modernized, we have made little progress toward that goal. On the contrary, government capital spending has shrunk significantly as a share of the economy. In 2014, net government investment spending on items other than defense dipped to a 60-year low when spending is measured as a percent of GDP. Using this indicator, net government investment has shrunk almost half compared with its level in the first decade of the century. For many reasons this is a good time to fix our public infrastructure. It is also an excellent time to overhaul public management of government capital projects.

Editor's note: This piece originally appeared in Inside Sources.

Authors

Publication: Inside Sources
Image Source: © Lucas Jackson / Reuters
      
 
 


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Africa Industrialization Day: Moving from rhetoric to reality

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:58:58 +0000

Sunday, November 20 marked another United Nations “Africa Industrialization Day.” If anything, the level of attention to industrializing Africa coming from regional organizations, the multilateral development banks, and national governments has increased since the last one. This year, the new president of the African Development Bank flagged industrial development as one of his “high five”…

      
 
 


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Beautiful, historic town in Sicily is selling homes for $1

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 18 Jan 2019 10:21:11 -0500

Sambuca, the "City of Splendor" is hoping to save its historic structures and revive a waning community.


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Helsinki Converts Historic Slaughterhouse into Culinary Hotspot

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 13:30:00 -0400

Helsinki's old abattoir has become the heart of the city's culinary revival, a movement blending innovation and tradition that integrates local foods, pop-up eateries, and urban gardens.


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Hawaiian Licorice Company offers all-natural, mouth-watering flavors

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 03 Jun 2016 10:00:00 -0400

This is candy in its purest form -- certified organic ingredients, zero artificial colors and flavors, no preservatives or GMOs.


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Historic Warsaw building gets wrapped up in a gorgeous green wall

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:24:14 -0500

It also pushes the limit of what we mean by historic preservation.


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Historical courtyard residence converted into modern workspace in Beijing

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Thu, 30 Aug 2018 13:45:27 -0400

A traditional dwelling has been preserved by renovating it to include a new office, library, kitchen and guest room.


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10 Historical Figures You Had No Idea Were Environmentalists

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:48:12 -0500

From Genghis Khan's reforestation to King Edward I's 14th century ban of coal mining, these famous people were dedicated to TreeHugger ethics --- even if they didn't know it.


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Prehistoric shrimp emerge from Australian desert after heavy rain

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 13 Jan 2017 13:00:59 -0500

Imagine millions of these slithering out from the mud? The eggs of this alien desert crustacean remain dormant for years, waiting for a bout of rain to hatch.


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Historic bank transformed into modern library & community hub

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 14:54:33 -0500

In rural Alabama, an existing landmark building is converted into a new community gathering spot, instead of being torn down.


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Nanopad is a 236 sq. ft. micro-apartment in historic building (Video)

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 15:05:29 -0500

This redesigned space in a 1920s Art Deco building features a new layout that better maximizes space and light.


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Biking and walking in Berlin is a breath of fresh air (metaphorically, not literally)

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Wed, 28 Jun 2017 13:37:27 -0400

It is a strange and wonderful experience where you don't know what's around the corner.


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THE ONCE AND FUTURE JEWEL OF THE JERSEY SHORE: HISTORIC, MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR REDEVELOPMENT TO RESHAPE, RECLAIM, AND REVIVE ASBURY PARK WATERFRONT - The Asbury Park Waterfront

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: 19 Aug 2015 14:00:00 EDT

The Asbury Park Waterfront


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5 historical conservationists you should know

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:52:30 -0400

How well do you know some of history's most influential environmental activists?


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CES will propel gains for tech investors, historical data shows

By www.cnbc.com
Published On :: Fri, 10 Jan 2020 19:06:57 GMT

The Consumer Electronics Show, which kicked off Tuesday, could produce more gains for the tech sector, according to hedge fund trading tool Kensho. Historical data shows the VanEck Vectors Semiconductors ETF logs an average gain of nearly 1% during the four-day span of CES.


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Op-ed: Markets rising as economic numbers plunge is historically a setup for disappointment

By www.cnbc.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 15:23:46 GMT

We do not know how long investors will be patient, how long markets will rise on the policy response, how low the economic numbers will fall and for how long.


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Why the stock market is up even with historic job losses

By www.cnbc.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 19:57:00 GMT

The most Americans in history lost their job in April, but markets are moving higher. Here's why.


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Historic job losses, and stocks rally

By www.cnbc.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 21:31:49 GMT

Stocks were up today despite a record drop in payrolls. With CNBC's Melissa Lee and the Fast Money traders, Guy Adami, Tim Seymour, Brian Kelly and Jeff Mills.


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Wharton's Jeremy Siegel on why historic April job losses aren't impacting stocks

By www.cnbc.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 15:49:46 GMT

Jeremy Siegel, finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, joins "Squawk Box" to discuss the April jobs numbers and what the data means for the U.S. economy.


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Bank of England warns UK faces historic recession; US jobless claims hit 3.1m - business live

By www.theguardian.com
Published On :: 2020-05-07T16:14:49Z

Britain’s central bank warns that the spread of Covid-19 and the measures to contain it could wipe 14% off UK GDP this year

Time to recap

Britain is facing its worst recession in 300 years, according to the latest scenario from the Bank of England. The BoE estimates that GDP will plunge by 25% this quarter, with unemployment hitting 9%, due to the abrupt halt to activity under the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Related: UK unemployment to double and economy to shrink by 14%, warns Bank of England

New unemployment claims filed in the past 7 weeks:

Week ending...
March 21: 3.3 million
March 28: 6.9 million (**a record**)
April 4: 6.6 million
April 11: 5.2 million
April 18: 4.4 million
April 25: 3.8 million
May 2: 3.2 million

Total: Nearly 33.5 million Americans w/out work pic.twitter.com/KZonDSSPG7

US Initial Jobless Claims fell to 3.2m, down from the previous week’s figure of 3.8m and half the peak recorded 5 weeks ago, but roughly in line with economists’ forecasts. These figures support estimates of the April unemployment figure, to be released tomorrow, to reach a shocking 16%.

“Markets, however, are now looking beyond the employment data and forward to the potential recovery. With some US states now beginning to reopen for business, investors will be watching closely to see how quickly employees return to work and how rapidly economic activity bounces back.

A late rally has lifted the UK stock market to its highest level in a week.

The FTSE 100 has just closed 82 points higher at 5935, a gain of 1.4%.

The International Monetary Fund says it has approved requests for emergency pandemic aid totalling $18bn, from 50 of its 189 members, and is working through another 50 requests.

Reuters has more details;

The IMF’s executive board was working through requests at record speed and would consider a request from Egypt for both emergency financing and a stand-by lending arrangement on May 11, spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in an online briefing.

“It’s an IMF moving at an unprecedented speed in an unprecedented way to meet this unprecedented challenge which we’re all facing,” he said, noting the Fund had also temporarily suspended payments on IMF debts for 25 of the poorest countries.

The gloom in the luxury goods sector is deepening even though some countries have started to relax their coronavirus lockdowns.

“As consumers slowly emerge from lockdowns, the way they see the world will have changed and luxury brands will need to adapt.

Safety in store will be mandatory, paired with the magic of the luxury experience: creative ways to attract customers to store, or to get the product to the customer, will make the difference.”

Ronald Temple, Head of US equity at Lazard Asset Management, doesn’t share the exuberance in the markets today.

“The US labor market is in the worst position since the Great Depression and is unlikely to improve sustainably anytime soon. Until widespread testing, an effective therapy, and a vaccine are in place, any improvement in employment is likely to be temporary.

Premature efforts to reopen economies undermine our progress in controlling the pandemic and risk extending the duration of the downturn.”

The Nasdaq has shrugged off Covid-19 fears because investors are rushing into “giant tech names that are considered more resilient in this crisis”, explained Marios Hadjikyriacos of XM.

That includes Amazon (up 27% this year) and Microsoft (up 16%).

Remarkably, the US Nasdaq index has now caught up all this year’s losses.

The tech-focused share index is now flat for 2020, thanks to strong recoveries in major technology companies such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.

The Nasdaq is positive for the year. pic.twitter.com/HtkHzXAzEd

As expected, the US stock market has indeed jumped in early trading.

Jobless claims should be back below 1M by the 2nd or 3rd week of June; the rate of decay is quite consistent. pic.twitter.com/OtOoeir28P

European stock markets are holding onto their earlier gains, despite the latest grim US jobs data.

Wall Street is expected to open higher too, with the Dow up around 1% in pre-market trading.

Repeat after me.

Equities are forward looking jobless claims backward.

Therefore entirely normal at times for them to move in different directions. And yet we get the same old headlines asking why.

The spectre of unemployment is haunting America - but in some states more than others:

Jobless Claims Since March 20th as a Percent of Total State Employment: pic.twitter.com/me0mbMFvQj

Before the Covid-19 crisis began, America had never lost a million jobs in a single week before.

It has now suffered seven consecutive weeks of massive job losses, as firms have slashed staff under the coronavirus lockdown.

33.5 million Americans have filed jobless claims over the last 7 weeks. https://t.co/WIOd3ZzpVq pic.twitter.com/8vqdipxopI

Our US business editor Dominic Rushe says some US states are really struggling to cope with the unprecedented surge in unemployment.

He writes:

The pace of layoffs has overwhelmed state unemployment systems across the country. Over a million people in North Carolina have now made unemployment insurance benefit claims, equivalent to 20% of the state’s workforce.

Some 4 million have applied in California and the state’s jobless benefits fund is “very close” to running out, governor Gavin Newsom said this week.

Related: Coronavirus: three million more Americans file for unemployment

Some instant reaction to the latest US jobless report:

The effects of the #coronavirusrecession continue to ripple through the economy. In the week ending in May 2, 3.2 million workers filed for initial unemployment benefits, according to the @USDOL’s Weekly #unemploymentinsurance (UI) claims report. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/XUFFtG3Rpp

3.17 MILLION people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. Almost 33.5 MILLION filing jobless claims in 7 weeks. 1 in 5 Americans unemployed. These are lives and family shaken, devastated.

Though still tremendously elevated, the 3.2 mln new unempl claims continues downward trend as initial surge passes. But # of Americans receiving jobless benefits, pierced 22 mln. pic.twitter.com/b4SF5apZR6

Newsflash: Another 3.1 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefit last week, as the US jobless crisis rages.

That’s down from 3.8m in the previous week, but still another awful number.

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims

Initial claims were 3,169,000 for the week ending 5/2 (-677,000).

Insured unemployment was 22,647,000 for the week ending 4/25 (+4,636,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW

Stocks are continuing to rise in London, seemingly lifted by hopes that some UK lockdown restrictions will be eased soon.

The FTSE 100 is now up 63 points or 1.1% at 5917, after the government confirmed that Boris Johnson will reveal his strategy on Sunday evening:

NEW: Boris Johnson will be giving a statement at 7pm on Sunday discussing the route out of the #COVID19 lockdown and the government's next steps.

With oil, mining and banking stocks all in the green, the FTSE added another 0.9% as the session went on, sticking its nose across 5900 for the first time in a week. This would suggest that investors have swallowed the bitter 14% contraction in 2020 pill offered up by the BoE, thanks to the spoonful of sugar that is the expectation of a 15% rebound in 2021.

Elsewhere the markets were just as perky, investors continuing to express their relief at the various ongoing and soon-to-be unveiled lockdown-easing measures around the globe. The DAX passed 10700 as it climbed 0.8%, while the CAC struck 4470 following a 50 point increase.

Our economic editor Larry Elliott says the BoE is pinning its hopes on a V-shaped recovery to GDP - and pushing banks to do their bit.

One of the key messages from the Bank to the high street lenders was that they stand to lose more by not lending than they will by lending freely, because there will be more long-term scarring of the economy, more companies going bust and more losses for them to swallow. At his press conference, the Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said he was ramming home this point to lenders at at every opportunity.

Forecasting is tough at the best of times: in the current circumstances – where there is uncertainty about how fast restrictions will be lifted, how consumers will behave, and whether there will be a second wave of infection – it is all but impossible.

All that can really be said is that the risks to the Bank’s scenario are skewed heavily to the downside. Threadneedle Street decided against providing more stimulus at this week’s meeting, but it is only a question of time.

Related: Bank of England offers hope amid Covid-19's grim economic spectacle

New: BoE governor Andrew Bailey tells me while it's unlikely, he doesn't rule out cutting UK interest rates into negative territory (unlike M Carney):
"Previous governors didn't have in mind this scenario we're in today. And I think it's wise not to rule anything off the table."

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has told Sky News that the slump in the UK economy this year is “unique, certainly in modern times”.

But he’s also optimistic that activity is likely to recover “much more quickly” than after a normal recession:

.@bankofengland Governor Andrew Bailey says despite the "unique" challenges of #coronavirus, he believes the lifting of the lockdown will see activity in the economy recover 'quicker than it would if was a normal recession.'

Read more here: https://t.co/xVqko9FY6J pic.twitter.com/heyAfBtIMQ

It’s been a busy morning for telecoms news too.

Cable operator Virgin Media and mobile network O2 are merging, to create a £31bn “national champion” to challenge BT and Sky in the UK.

Related: Virgin Media and O2 owners confirm £31bn mega-merger in UK

Related: BT suspends dividend to free up 5G and broadband investment

Here’s Anna Stewart of CNN on the Bank of England’s forecasts:

Bank of England says the economy will contract by 25% in the second quarter. Yes it’s bad.

However, it’s far better than OBR forecast of -35% a couple of weeks ago.

Plus take a look at the projected recovery... pic.twitter.com/PMlsLDAPXe

Sharp rise in unemployment - expected to hit 9% in Q2.

However, compare that to :
WH economist Kevin Hassett has warned of 20% unemployment in April

London’s Evening Standard points out that the Covid-19 slump will be three times as severe as after the financial crisis of 2008.

Today’s ⁦@EveningStandard⁩ on the plans to stagger the rush hour and the latest Bank Of England forecasts pic.twitter.com/A811vwVaTL

Covid-19 lockdowns has already pushed British Airway’s parent company into the red.

My colleague Jasper Jolly explains:

British Airways owner International Airlines Group made a £1.5bn loss in the first three months of the year, as chief executive Willie Walsh said it would take three years for passenger demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

IAG has halted 94% of its flights in response to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, causing it to bleed cash. Last week, British Airways set out plans to make up to 12,000 of its staff redundant because of the global collapse in air travel.

Related: British Airways owner reports £1.5bn loss due to coronavirus

Despite the Bank of England’s gloomy prognosis for this year, stocks and the pound are a little higher this morning.

That’s partly because the BoE expects the economy to grow by 15% in 2021, after a 14% contraction this year [although arithmetically that still leaves the economy smaller]

The Bank of England’s new governor, Andrew Bailey, has hinted that the BoE could expand its stimulus programme at its next meeting in June.

Bloomberg’s Jill Ward has the details:

Two of the BOE’s nine policy makers wanted to immediately increase bond purchases -- the main policy tool now that the key interest rate is near zero -- by 100 billion pounds ($124 billion) in a decision announced early Thursday. The rest agreed downside risks “might necessitate further monetary policy action.”

Bailey, who earlier pledged “total and unwavering commitment” to safeguard the economy during the coronavirus crisis, told reporters that the fact no action was taken this time doesn’t rule out a response soon.

"Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey made clear that policy makers could expand monetary stimulus as soon as next month as the U.K. faces an economic slump that could be the worst in Europe"https://t.co/iQK3nKt2ef pic.twitter.com/XMtpY5HHsH

Trade unions are urging the UK government not to make the economic downturn worse by turning off its furlough scheme too quickly.

The TUC says that today’s statistics showing that two-thirds of firms have tapped the Jobs Retention scheme shows it is vital.

Around half of the workforce are working from home, but varies drastically by industry.

A big majority of workers in the information and communication and professional sectors are working from home, whereas it's a small minority in other industries. pic.twitter.com/QDN3wcbIVk

Around a quarter (23%) of businesses have ceased or paused trading.

This rises to around 80% in the arts and accommodation and food sectors. pic.twitter.com/IsHQKI5wYF

UK banks have approved an additional 8,550 government-backed business loans worth £1.4bn within the past week, but are still struggling to increase the pace of approvals amid rising demand.

The original coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) has now lent around £5.5bn to 33,812 small and medium sized businesses since the programme was launched on 23 March.

“Bank staff have worked tirelessly over the past week to provide businesses with the finance they need, delivering another £1.4 billion of lending under the CBIL scheme, on top of over £2 billion in Bounce Back Loans targeted at smaller firms and sole traders.”

Hat-tip to Ben Chu of the Independent, for showing just how grim the Bank of England’s forecasts are:

The Bank of of England's scenario for UK GDP for the full year of 2020 is...

-14%

That would be the worst year for the economy since 1706 according to the Bank's own historical dataset pic.twitter.com/aKflRovluH

We have estimates of quarterly UK GDP going back to 1920

The Bank's scenario has -25% in the second quarter of 2020.

That would be by far the worst seen: pic.twitter.com/7SH34zwqPW

The Treasury Committee chairman Mel Stride has ordered Barclays to explain why customers are still having trouble accessing bounce back loans - which are meant to protect UK businesses from this year’s slump.

The 100% government-guaranteed bounce back loan scheme is meant to get cash to struggling businesses far more quickly than other programmes. Any impediments put those firms at risk, Stride said:

“Issues that hamper this are very frustrating to customers and may in some cases threaten business survival.

“I raised the problems that some people were having in accessing the Barclays online system with their CEO during our public committee hearing on Monday and was assured then that the system was able to cope well.

Just in: nearly a quarter of UK firms have temporarily closed due to the pandemic, and two-thirds are furloughing some staff.

That’s according to the Office for National Statistics. It just reported that 23% of businesses who responded to its latest survey said they had “temporarily closed or paused trading” last month.

The Bank of England has also shown how its scenario compare to City economists’ forecasts -- where the range is rather, er, broad:

Here's my fave chart from this morning's Bank of England Monetary Policy Report - it's the all-important "nobody knows" chart. pic.twitter.com/vsozkW5fC6

The key message from the Bank of England today is that activity in the UK has fallen sharply, and is going to continue to plunge during this quarter.

Explaining why it thinks the UK will shrink 14% this year, it says:

Official data are sparse at this stage, but high‑frequency indicators suggest that consumer spending has fallen steeply since March. In large part, that reflects the impact of both enforced and voluntary social distancing, with some additional drag from lower incomes and confidence about the outlook. In those areas most affected, such as tourism and eating out, indicators including aircraft departures and data on the number of seated diners at restaurants suggest that spending has all but come to a halt.

The closure of businesses and widespread moves to working from home have reduced the number of journeys by car and public transport substantially. In addition, spending on many durables is likely to have been delayed. One area that has proved stronger is spending on food, as households substitute spending at supermarkets for eating out. Nevertheless, consumer spending in aggregate has fallen very significantly. In 2020 Q2, it is expected to be almost 30% lower than in 2019 Q4.

There are also signs that UK house prices are starting to slide, amid the lockdown.

Halifax has reported that prices fell by 0.6% in April, on top of a 0.3% dip in March:

The #Halifax reported #UK #house #prices dipped 0.6% month-on-month in April after a revised fall of 0.3% in March. The annual rate of increase moderated to 2.7% in April from 3.0% in March and a peak of 4.1% in January (which had been the highest level since February 2018).

The Covid-19 crisis has prompted Norway’s central bank to slash its interest rates to zero.

In a surprise move, the Norges Banks just lowered its key borrowing rate from 0.25% to 0.0%, a record low.

Norges Bank now predicts the mainland economy, which excludes oil and gas output, will contract by 5.2% in 2020, down from a March 13 forecast of 0.4% growth. It expects growth of 3.0% in 2021, up from 1.3% seen earlier.

BREAKING: #Norway's central bank delivers surprise rate cut to 0% in a unanimous decision. Don't envisage making further rate cuts but outlook and balance of risks imply very expansionary monetary policy stance. #Norges

#Norway's central bank lowers its benchmark rate to 0.00%! pic.twitter.com/e0pLjZzaSR

My colleague Richard Partington writes that the Bank of England has sounded the alarm about the slump in the UK economy this year:

The Bank of England has warned the British economy could shrink by 25% this spring and unemployment more than double as the coronavirus pandemic brings the country to an effective standstill.

Leaving interest rates on hold as the economic crisis unfolds, the central bank said economic activity across the country had fallen sharply since the onset of the global health emergency and the lockdown measures used to contain its spread.

Related: UK unemployment to double and economy to shrink by 25%, warns Bank of England

The Resolution Foundation think tank is concerned that the Bank of England predicts such a sharp jump in unemployment, and only a slow recovery in the labour market:

That 14 per cent hit to the economy is equivalent to around £300 billion, or £9,000 for every family in Britain, and shows why the Bank and Government are right to have protected households as much as possible with policies such as the Job Retention Scheme.

While the Bank’s scenario implies the UK economy will return towards its pre-pandemic growth path in 2021, it projects unemployment to remain above its pre-pandemic path until at least 2023 – after reaching a 25-year high of 9 per cent this year.

Stark unemployment forecast from the Bank of England this morning, and expects 25% contraction in the economy in the quarter to June. pic.twitter.com/pHQZPwXHCN

Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, fears the UK economy could shrink even more sharply than the Bank of England has forecast.

The Brexit cliff-edge at the end of the year, when the UK-EU withdrawal agreement ends, creates added uncertainty, she writes:

“Despite the stark numbers issued by the Bank of England today, additional pressure on the economy is likely. Some social distancing measures are likely to remain in place until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment for the virus, with people also remaining reluctant to socialise and spend. That means recovery is unlikely to start in earnest before sometime next year.

“Looking at the medium term, beyond the impact of reduced investment, other forces could to be in play dampening future productivity. Supply chains are likely to be reconfigured in light of this crisis, potentially increasing geographical diversification and reducing efficiency in order to increase resilience. ‘Just in time’ operations are also likely to be a thing of the past, further eroding productivity. On the other hand, we could see significant consolidation among SMEs, lifting productivity among the long tail of underperforming businesses.

The only good news today is that the Bank expects this economic bombshell to be short-lived, and for the economy to bounce back rapidly. However, the MPC itself concedes it is flying blind to a large extent, warning that a pandemic like this is “especially difficult to quantify”.

“While the Bank of England did not change its monetary policy stance at today’s meeting, it is surely only a matter of time before they decide to. The 7-2 split on whether to increase asset purchases indicates a continued dovish bias from certain voting members.

With the Bank hoovering up gilts equivalent to those issued since the additional £200 billion in quantitative easing was announced, it will run out of firepower to support government spending within in months. Therefore, expectations will be high for an increase in the purchase target at the next meeting in mid-June.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the Bank of England to delay its much-anticipated bank climate stress tests.

The central bank has concluded that UK banks have enough to deal with, without calculating how they are positioned to handle the climate emergency (a key concern for former governor Mark Carney).

“Recognizing current pressures on firms, and in light of the responses to the December 2019 Discussion Paper on the Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario, the PRC and FPC have agreed to postpone the launch of the exercise until at least mid-2021.

This delay reflects a desire to maintain the ambitious scope of the exercise, whilst giving firms enough time to invest sufficiently in their capabilities to allow them to deliver to a high standard.”

The Bank’s new Financial Stability Report says UK households have entered the lockdown in a stronger position than before the 2008 financial crisis, thanks in part to substantial support including payment holidays on mortgages and credit cards.

However, the Bank warned that the sharp economic downturn would put pressure on personal finances and that it would have to keep a close eye on potential risks that may emerge once those payment holidays expire. That could include a fresh wave of customers attempting to refinance their debt.

There is some good news.... the Bank of England is confident that Britain’s banks can ride out the Covid-19 pandemic, and handle a 14% plunge in GDP this year.

It says the banking sector is sufficiently capitalised to cover losses during the outbreak, especially as the BoE is providing more support to the sector.

Businesses and households will need to borrow to get through this period. We want banks and building societies to expand lending. We have tested the major UK banks. They are strong enough to keep lending, which will support the economy and limit losses to themselves.

We are offering more long-term funding to banks that increase their lending.

Here’s a table outlining the Bank of England’s new Covid-19 scenario.

As you can see, it shows UK GDP shrinking 14% this year, business investment crumbling by 26%, household spending down 14%, and average earnings down 2%:

The Bank of England has produced a 20-minute video, explaining today’s monetary policy decisions and its new scenario for how the UK economy will shrink this year:

Reuters points out that the Bank of England is predicting the worst economic slump in centuries this year -- and a very strong recovery in 2021:

The Bank of England held off further stimulus measures but said it was ready to take fresh action to counter the coronavirus hammering which could cause the country’s biggest economic slump in over 300 years in 2020 before a bounceback in 2021.

The BoE said its Monetary Policy Committee kept Bank Rate at its all-time low of 0.1% and left its target for bond-buying, most of it British government debt, at £645bn.

Bank of England gives a big "V" to economists who think there'll be a lasting hit from the COVID-19 slump.

Illustrative scenario shows 14% drop in GDP in 2020, followed by a rise in 2021 of... 15%! pic.twitter.com/Wf5Z4Rp9Ds

In another startling forecast, the Bank of England predicts that the global economy could contract by 20% this quarter.

It warns that the coronavirus pandemic, and the lockdown measures introduced to slow it, are hitting economic activity extremely hard:

The spread of the virus and the measures taken to protect public health have caused a substantial reduction in activity around the world. Survey indicators such as the output components of PMIs have fallen to record‑low levels since the start of the year, and suggest that many countries have experienced extremely sharp falls in activity.

Bank staff estimate that UK‑weighted world GDP declined by around 4% in Q1 and could fall by over 20% in Q2. World trade has also declined significantly, and is expected to contract by around twice as much as global GDP in 2020. While many major countries have introduced wage subsidy schemes to reduce job losses, unemployment has increased markedly around the world and many more employees are working less than usual.

Despite the government’s efforts, the Bank of England predicts that unemployment will rise sharply in the next few months.

Its new Covid-19 scenario suggests the UK jobless rate could soon spike to 9% - up from 4% at present - even though the government is encouraging firms to furlough staff.

As activity has fallen, the number of people in work has dropped sharply. It is likely that the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has materially reduced the number of redundancies. Early data suggest that applications for furlough have been received from 800,000 companies covering over six million jobs.

The number of people furloughed might be a little lower, though, as some could have more than one furloughed job. While the CJRS has significantly limited job losses, the flow of new Universal Credit benefit claims and early indicators of redundancies suggest that unemployment has risen sharply over the past couple of months. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 9% in Q2.

The Bank of England has forecast that the UK economy could shrink by 14% this year.

It has drawn up a new scenario, showing how the Covid-19 pandemic will hurt growth.

The spread of Covid-19 and the measures to contain it are having a significant impact on the United Kingdom and many countries around the world. Activity has fallen sharply since the beginning of the year and unemployment has risen markedly.

The illustrative scenario incorporates a very sharp fall in UK GDP in 2020 H1 and a substantial increase in unemployment in addition to those workers who are furloughed currently. Given the assumed path for the relaxation of social distancing measures, the fall in GDP should be temporary and activity should pick up relatively rapidly.

Nonetheless, because a degree of precautionary behaviour by households and businesses is assumed to persist, the economy takes some time to recover towards its previous path. CPI inflation is expected to fall further below the 2% target during the second half of this year, largely reflecting the weakness of demand.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Some early breaking news: The Bank of England has voted to leave UK interest rates at their record lows, at its policy meeting today.

The timeliest indicators of UK demand have generally stabilised at very low levels in recent weeks, after unprecedented falls during late March and early April. Payments data point to a reduction in the level of household consumption of around 30%.

Consumer confidence has declined markedly and housing market activity has practically ceased. According to the Bank’s Decision Maker Panel, companies’ sales are expected to be around 45% lower than normal in 2020 Q2 and business investment 50% lower.

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#1514; In which the Question is Rhetorical

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 07:00:11 +0000


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Irish support for Native American Covid-19 relief highlights historic bond

By www.theguardian.com
Published On :: 2020-05-09T06:00:49Z

  • GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi aid lists many Irish names
  • Choctaw Nation sent donation in 1847 for potato famine victims

The list of recent donors reads like an Irish phone book. Aisling Ní Chuimín, Shane Ó Leary, Sean Gibbons, Kevin Boyle, Kevin Keane, Clare Quinn, Eamonn McDonald, on and on down a GoFundMe page that by Friday had raised $3.15m of a $5m goal.

The individual amounts are not remarkable – $10, $20, $30, some exceeding $100 – but the story behind the donations stretches back two centuries and encompasses a singular act of generosity that forged a bond between Native Americans and Ireland, a bond now renewed in the coronavirus era.

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48 days to go: Al-Bishi’s historic strike

By www.fifa.com
Published On :: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 09:00:00 GMT

FIFA.com has begun the countdown to the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia, and from now until the start we will share an interesting fact about the tournament every day. Today we remember the first goal scored at the inaugural Confederations Cup.


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Four two wheelers, autorickshaws set ablaze in Thane

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 14 Jan 2019 09:25:45 GMT

Thane: Eight vehicles parked in Lokmanya Nagar area of Maharashtra's Thane city were torched by unidentified persons in the wee hours of Monday, a civic official said.

Locals saw smoke near a bus stop in Lokmanya Nagar and informed the authorities around 3 am about four two-wheelers and as many auto-rickshaws being on fire, Thane's regional disaster management cell (RDMC) chief Santosh Kadam said.

RDMC officials and fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames, he said. A probe was underway, a police official said, adding that no arrest was made so far. Last month, around nine two-wheelers had been set ablaze in Naupada area of the city. Later, two persons were arrested in connection with the incident.

In a similar incident, Delhi police arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly setting ablaze 18 vehicles in south Delhi's Madangir Village, police said Thursday. The accused was identified as Vijay Shukla and a country-made pistol and some matchboxes were found from his possession, a senior police officer said.

In a video of the incident which had gone viral, a man was seen setting fire to the vehicles after opening the fuel pipe of the motorcycles. Petrol overflowed from the tanks of six motorcycles after which they were set on fire by a match stick.

The cars parked nearby also caught fire, the officer said. The police rushed to the spot after receiving information about the incident at around 3.05 am Tuesday and doused the flames. A case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC against the man and subsequently, he was arrested, police said.

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Autorickshaw driver kills wife after doubting character; hangs self

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 18 Jan 2019 10:15:57 GMT

A 40-year-old man allegedly killed his wife and later committed suicide by hanging himself in Thane on Thursday. Sunil Sangle, an auto driver, on Wednesday night strangled his wife Archana Sangle (35), to death at their home in Sri Nagar locality and later hanged himself on Thursday afternoon, said police inspector Sulabha Patil.

The couple often had fights over domestic issues and apparently the man also suspected his wife’s character, and this may have triggered the murder, police said. According to Hindustan Times, Sunil Sangle was an auto-rickshaw driver and his wife worked as a security guard at an IT park in the city. A probe is underway, the police added.

In a similar case, a 38-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing a man suspecting him of having an extra-marital affair with his wife in outer Delhi, police said Saturday. The accused identified as Anil Chaudhary, a resident of Nangloi, used to work in a shoe factory.

Other two men, Bakil (38) and Kamrul Huda (27) who allegedly robbed the victim after he was killed by the accused Chaudhary, were also arrested, police said. On Thursday, Nihal Vihar Police station was informed by Satya Bhama Hospital that a person has been brought dead in the hospital, Rajendra Singh Sagar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) said.

The victim was identified as Vikas Yadav by his relatives. He used to work as a labourer in a chemical factory. On interrogation, the accused Chaudhary revealed he suspected Yadav of having an illicit relationship with his wife since a year. So, he decided to eliminate Yadav and on Wednesday night, he fired at Yadav, the officer said. Yadav was carrying two mobile phones and Rs 15,000 which were missing from his possession, the officer added.

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Digpal Lanjekar: True Historical Movie Director

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 2 May 2020 10:17:01 GMT

The Marathi film industry is speedily moving towards making movies with good budgets. But to provide exceptional content with this high budget is really challenging. Very few directors from the industry can fulfill this challenge. And amongst these names, an emerging name is Digpal Lanjekar. Digpal has come in the spotlight after delivering two consecutive hit movies on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj over a period of two years. since the great director Bhalji Pendharkar’s movies based on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, no one had embarked on such a mission. After 40 years Digpal has accepted the challenge of creating movies on this topic has succeeded. His passion was strengthened by his meetings with great historians like Ninad-ji Bedekar. 

His first movie was Farzand which was released in June 2018. The movie was based on one of the Sardar’s of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Farzand was an unsung hero. After the movie was released, the audience loved the movie. Digpal’s passion and efforts had succeeded. It was not only the box office numbers that made the news but the fact that it ran for more than 50 days in theatres, too.
His second movie was Fatteshikast launched in November 2019. The movie was based on the legendary campaign by Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Pune when he performed the country’s first surgical strike against the Mughal commander Shaistakhan. This movie was also a big hit. After the first movie, there was only a time period of one year in which Digpal completed the writing of the second film, shooting, direction, VFX, and post-production. In this time period, Digpal was also able to meet with the descendants of the sardars of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj and able to convince them to be a part of his movies. This enabled him to get a bunch of original documentation of historical events. Digpal Said, "I have decided to shoot in real location to get the feel and look right. It has been a cumbersome task, but my team has been wonderful". In his movies, Digpal reprises multiple roles of writer, director, dialogue writer, lyricist and also makes a cameo appearance as a character.

Digpal said, Maratha Light Infantry’s Belgaum training centre has decided to archive his film "Fatteshikast". The Movie will be a part of the their library and soldiers joining the Maratha Light Infantry Belgaum centre will be shown the film which is a great honour. "Fatteshikast" has also been awarded with many reputable awards and recognitions. 

Digpal’s style of movie making is not only appreciated by the audience but also his producers as well. In one of the interviews, Mr. Ajay Arekar the producer of the movie "Fatteshikast" said that ‘Digpal not only has a deep sense of movie direction and storytelling but also a detailed understanding of the producers' concerns and risks. At all times, Digpal has a plan ready for the next steps, the budgets and fail-safe scenarios.’ Owing to this attitude, the producers are very happy and agreed to support Digpal in his journey forward and are producing his next couple of movies as well.

Songs are a very important part of any movie in India. The songs in Digpal’s movies are very popular. Digpal also gets credit for the beautiful songs because he has penned most of the songs from his movies. The interesting part is that he has studied folk literature and music styles to write songs in folk dialects. This makes the songs very lifelike and perfect fit for the scenario in which the theme or the scene in the movie demands.

Digpal also plans his movie promotions wisely so that an inquisitive thought is triggered in the mindsets of the audience well before the movie is launched. The title poster of his upcoming movie "Jungjauhar", which displayed in a very attractive font has already created a buzz in Social media. Promotion of the movies is a key strong point of Digpal which the producers appreciate and because of this more and more producers are approaching Digpal for future projects.

 

Digpal’s upcoming movie is the ‘JungJauhar’. The shooting of the entire movie was completed in just 26 days. This movie is all set to be released in June 2020 and is based on the event in Pavan Khind when Baji Prabhu Deshpande and three hundred members of the Bandal clan sacrificed their lives so that Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj could safely reach the destination.

After JungJauhar, Digpal plans to create a few movies based on the lives of legendary characters and unsung heroes not just from the time period of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj but also from the Indian independence movement. The idea and script for this film is also finalised and scriptwriting is also in progress for this movie. Digpal plans to make this movie accessible to a wider range of audience by having it made and released it in the Hindi film industry with the central character being played by a renowned Hindi actor.  When asked about details, Digpal said ‘The movie is going to be about a brave freedom fighter who teaches the Britishers a lesson in their own home i.e. London in the year 1910’.

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Russel Crowe celebrates 20 years of historical epic 'Gladiator'

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 6 May 2020 02:16:22 GMT

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe on Tuesday took a look back at the movie 'Gladiator' which was released twenty years ago today. The widely lauded movie was released in the US on May 5, 2000, whereas in India the flick hit the theatres on September 1, 2000.

The 56-year-old actor took to Twitter and wrote: "20 years ago today Gladiator was released in cinemas in the United States ... Strength and Honour ..."

Helmed by director Ridley Scott, the action drama won the Best Picture and Best Actor award at the Oscars and went on to make USD 460 million at the box office worldwide. 'Gladiator', which released in 2000, featured Russell Crowe as Maximus, a General in the Roman army, who is betrayed by the Emperor and left for dead while his family is brutally murdered.

He is eventually forced to become a gladiator after being captured by slave traders, who lead him back to Rome to fight as a gladiator while he plots his revenge against the Emperor who betrayed him. Crowe has proved his calibre as an actor in movies like 'The Insider, and 'A Beautiful Mind', but the portrayal of Maximus remains one of his finest performances.

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'What a win', Sourav Ganguly recalls historic 2001 Test against Australia

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 15 Apr 2020 05:14:35 GMT

Former Indian captain and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday recalled the historic Test victory against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001.

A user had shared the celebratory moments from the 2001 Test. On that post, Ganguly commented, "What a win." In that Test, India clinched a 171-run win over Australia and became the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a match after being forced to follow-on.

Australia had made 445 in their first innings, courtesy Steve Waugh's brilliant hundred. However, it was Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh who stole the show at Kolkata with his spectacular seven wickets, including the first hat-trick in India's Test history.

In its first innings, India folded for 171 runs and were asked to follow-on by Australia. The Sourav Ganguly-led side played cautiously in the second innings and lost three wickets for 115 runs. India lost Ganguly in the 67th over of the innings, with the side getting reduced to 232/4.

Rahul Dravid joined VVS Laxman in the middle. The next 104 overs were a nightmare for the Aussies as the Indian duo stitched a 376-run stand to revive the innings and helped the team stage a dramatic comeback in the match.

Dravid scored 180 runs, while Laxman slammed 281, his highest score in Test cricket. India gave a target of 384 runs to Australia. However, the Waugh-led side were not able to achieve the target and bowled out for 212, handing India a massive win.

Harbhajan was again the pick of the Indian bowlers as he scalped six wickets. The Eden Gardens Test is best remembered for India's miraculous revival in the second innings and Laxman's knock of 281 runs, which was one of the most marvellous innings played in the modern era. Laxman's stunning innings also halted Australia's record of 16 successive Test wins.

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Oil market crashes further after US's historic low

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 22 Apr 2020 01:59:45 GMT

The oil market plunged further on Tuesday on concerns over a collapse in demand as the pandemic leaves factories, cars and airplanes idled around the world. The extreme volatility in energy markets highlights investors' worries about the duration of the Coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the economy.

That is in turn weighing on financial markets more broadly, including stocks. The benchmark US oil contract was down $4.78 at just $15.65 per barrel on Tuesday, having traded as low as $11.79 a barrel at one point. The drop comes a day after the price of oil fell below zero on Monday, partly due to technical factors as traders shifted from one futures contract to another. The US oil contract for delivery in May settled at -$37.63 per barrel on Monday, an indication that investors don't want to be left holding oil at a time when storage facilities are almost full and demand is at its lowest since the mid-1990s. The tumult in the oil market reflects uncertainty over where the world economy will head as governments begin to loosen controls imposed to contain the coronavirus.

"We could merely be in the eye of the hurricane as the epicenters of its rage remain centered around demand devastation and crude oil oversupply," Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. said in a commentary. "At a minimum, oil prices will be the last asset class to recover from lockdown" and only when travel restrictions are lifted, he said. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped $45.72 to $19.85. "The historic drop in WTI prices is an indication of the downward pressure which many other crude oil grades could face, given the oversupply situation," Sushant Gupta of Wood Mackenzie said. The volatility in energy markets unsettled stock markets as well. with Germany's DAX stock index losing 3.3% to 10,319 and the CAC 40 in France shedding 3.2% to 4,384. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 2.6% to 5,664.

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Moving beyond rhetoric: Responsibility in practice

By www.oecd.org
Published On :: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 11:08:00 GMT

This Global Forum plays an important role as the tool for on-going dialogue on responsible business conduct. I am pleased to announce that today, Ministers from over 20 countries are coming together to discuss how to integrate responsibility considerations throughout government policies. Their work will contribute to protect internationally recognised fundamental rights and to ensure good governance, fair regulations, and transparency.


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Vulnerability of social institutions: lessons from the recent crisis and historical episodes

By dx.doi.org
Published On :: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 18:30:00 GMT

The recent economic crisis has provided a stress test for the vulnerability of social institutions. This paper assesses the vulnerability of social institutions in light of the current crisis, and surveys past episodes, when social institutions faced similar challenges.


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Moving beyond rhetoric: Responsibility in practice

By www.oecd.org
Published On :: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 11:08:00 GMT

This Global Forum plays an important role as the tool for on-going dialogue on responsible business conduct. I am pleased to announce that today, Ministers from over 20 countries are coming together to discuss how to integrate responsibility considerations throughout government policies. Their work will contribute to protect internationally recognised fundamental rights and to ensure good governance, fair regulations, and transparency.


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Nationwide pulls tracker mortgages after historic base rate cut 

By www.ft.com
Published On :: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 11:43:14 GMT

Mortgage products tracking base rate vanish as ‘the numbers no longer stack up’ 


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Innovation Agenda Puts Meat on the Bones of the Rhetoric - 08 Dec

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Tue, 08 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +1100

Australia is facing a growth problem, and the best way to spark growth is to create a bedrock for innovation and support businesses to disrupt themselves and take risks.


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Fallon Sherrock misses chance for historic Premier League darts win in 6-6 draw with Glen Durrant

By www.dailymail.co.uk
Published On :: Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:36:36 GMT

Fallon Sherrock narrowly failed to create more history as she drew 6-6 with Glen Durrant at the Premier League in Nottingham after her PDC World Championship success in December.


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