Timeframe: July 2 to July 8, 2022
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1. Politics
One scandal too many: British PM Boris Johnson resigns
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday amid a mass revolt by top members of his government, marking an end to three tumultuous years in power in which he brazenly bent and sometimes broke the rules of British politics.
Johnson stepped down immediately as Conservative Party leader but said he would remain as prime minister until the party chooses his successor. The timetable for that process will be announced next week, he said.
Source: AP News
Hong Kong’s Crackdown Leaders Rewarded in New Cabinet
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee will install a cabinet that retains national security hardliners and elevates officials with strong China ties on Friday, as President Xi Jinping touts his greater control over the financial hub.
The 21-person group keeps just six members of outgoing leader Carrie Lam’s team and 30% of the cabinet are women, the most in any initial pick since the city’s return to Chinese rule. Meantime, President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong had been “reborn” since he last visited five years ago. He is expected to give a speech later Friday.
Source: Bloomberg
2. Economics & Business
Warren Buffett-backed Chinese group BYD overtakes Tesla in global electric vehicle sales
BYD, the Chinese auto group backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has dethroned Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle producer by sales, signaling China’s rising dominance of the sector.
Shenzhen-based BYD sold 641,000 vehicles in the first six months of the year, a more than 300 percent jump from the same period a year earlier, according to company filings.
That compared with 564,000 vehicles sold by Tesla, which has blamed a tough second quarter on supply chain and sales disruptions in China after its operations were hit by coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Source: Financial Times
Musk’s Dispute With Twitter Over Bots Continues to Dog Deal
Elon Musk’s proposed acquisition of Twitter may fall apart over his doubts that the company is accurately reporting the number of spam bots on the service, the Washington Post reported. Musk’s team has concluded that Twitter can’t verify its figures on the spam accounts and has “stopped engaging” in discussions around funding the deal, according to the report. Twitter has repeatedly said that spam bots represent less than 5% of its total user base. Musk, meanwhile, has complained that the number is much higher. Legal experts have widely speculated Musk is using the bot issue as an excuse to abandon or renegotiate the deal, which is looking better and better for Twitter as stocks slumped this year. Twitter in a statement said it continues to share information with Musk and intends to close the transaction and enforce the agreement at the agreed price and terms.
Source: Bloomberg
3. Environment
‘Life-threatening’ floods force evacuations in Sydney, Australia
Thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate southwest Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, with torrential rain and damaging winds pounding the east coast and floods expected to be worse than those that hit the region in the past year.
Heavy rain and overflowing dams and rivers all combined to threaten flash floods and landslides along the east coast from Newcastle to Batemans Bay in New South Wales state on Sunday, and rain was expected to intensify in the night.
Source: Al Jazeera
4. Science & Technology
Twitter launches legal challenge in India over orders to block content
Twitter has mounted its first legal challenge to the Indian government over official orders to take down content. The San Francisco-based company filed a petition before the High Court of Karnataka, a state in southwest India, on Tuesday
The social media company has had a tough time in India since last year, spending months locked in a high-stakes standoff with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over freedom of speech.
Source: CNN
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the aforementioned third parties. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.