UNITED KINGDOM
Economy exits recession
The kingdom exited a shallow recession and beat growth forecasts in the first quarter, official data showed yesterday, in a boost to embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of this year’s election. GDP expanded 0.6 percent, bolstered by robust growth in service industries and auto manufacturing, the Office for National Statistics said. That beat market expectations of 0.4 percent growth and marked the strongest performance since the fourth quarter of 2021, helping send London’s stock market to yet another record peak. Sunak — whose governing Conservatives are trailing the Labour Party before a general election and suffered heavy losses in English local polls last week — has made economic growth one of his top priorities. The economy had suffered two successive quarters of slight contraction in the second half of last year on the back of elevated inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
RUSSIA
Putin reappoints Mishustin
President Vladimir Putin yesterday reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister. In line with the law, Mishustin, 58, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term. Mishustin’s reappointment was widely expected by political observers, who said that Putin has appreciated his skills and low political profile. Mishustin, the former head of the nation’s tax service, has steered clear of political statements and avoided media interviews during his tenure. Lower house Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced that Putin had submitted Mishustin’s candidacy to the State Duma, which was to hold a session later yesterday to consider it. Mishustin’s approval is a mere proforma in the Kremlin-controlled parliament.
ZIMBABWE
Official forex rate pushed
The government said it would fine businesses using inflated exchange rates as it battles to maintain the value of its newly introduced gold-backed currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG). Any business using an exchange rate higher than the official rate of 13.5 ZiG per US dollar would be fined 200,000 ZiG (US$14,815), a government notice on Tuesday showed. Anyone offering “goods or services at an exchange rate above the prevailing interbank foreign currency selling rate” would be guilty of a civil infringement, it said. The government has been striving to keep the ZiG afloat since its launch early last month, with authorities launching a blitz on illegal foreign currency traders last month. Some businesses such as supermarkets have been charging a premium above the market rate for customers paying in the new currency, while the ZiG is being rejected by informal traders.
UNITED STATES
Scores of pelicans starving
Scores of sick and starving pelicans have been found in coastal California communities in recent weeks and many others have died. Lifeguards spotted a cluster of two dozen sick pelicans earlier this week on a pier in coastal Newport Beach and called in wildlife experts to assist. Debbie McGuire, executive director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, said the birds are the latest group that they have tried to save after taking in more than 100 other pelicans that were anemic, dehydrated and weighing only half of what they should. “They are starving to death and if we don’t get them into care, they will die,” she said. “It really is a crisis.” It is not immediately clear what is sickening the birds. Some experts said the pelicans are malnourished even though marine life abounds off the Pacific Coast.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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