Timeframe: August 6 to August 12, 2022
Contributors: Affan Bin Saber, Auhana Faruque, and Mansib Khan
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1. Politics
Pelosi’s Taiwan trip obstructs Biden from provoking Asia against China
Rising apprehension regarding the tension between the US and China is restricting regional stakeholders from playing an active role in the situation.
China’s extended military exercise upon the visit was supposed to gain adequate condemnation from the US allies in Asia, but many entities like South Korea, and India refrained from putting any definite comment on the issue.
Biden has been trying long since to create a congenial environment for its allies in Asia and establish a hegemonic hub that supports his cognitive plan to resist China in the region.
This sudden change of protocol by Pelosi might be considered an expression of cooperation from the US to Taiwan, but its reactionary attempts across the region are yet to observe.
Source: Bloomberg
New Zealand’s political right surges ahead in polls as Ardern’s popularity dips
Jacinda Ardern’s chances of re-election are looking shakier, with new polling indicating that New Zealand’s right-leaning coalition has enough support to form government.
The center-right National party remained ahead of the Ardern-led Labour party, at 37% to 33%. If National joined forces with its traditional partner, the libertarian-right Act party, on 11%, the two would have enough seats to form a government.
The Labour party, meanwhile, if it combined with traditional partners the Greens, at 9%, would fall short of government. Its other potential coalition partner, Te Pāti Māori, held 2% of the vote – not enough to push the left over the edge.
Can Jacinda Ardern turn her popularity abroad into domestic success before it’s too late?
Source: The Guardian
12th National Election: EC planning to bring in political parties to dialogue
The Election Commission is looking forward to inviting the political parties for receiving suggestions on conducting the 12th National Election poll with full participation. All parties, except BNP, have accepted the invitation.
BNP has also refrained from participating in any prior meetings organized by the EC and even the local government elections held under the commission.
They demanded that they would only participate in the process if the election is conducted under a non-party caretaker government.
Other parties are looking forward to attending the dialogue and are still in process of setting their agenda.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
2. Economics & Business
US Price hikes took a breather in July, fueling hopes that inflation has peaked
US inflation took a breather in July, with consumer prices increasing by 8.5% year over year, a slower pace than the 9.1% increase in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
“I think inflation probably has peaked in year-over-year terms,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank.
Expectations that the Fed will yet again raise its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points at its next monetary policy-making meeting have fallen since Wednesday’s inflation data came out. More analysts now expect the central bank to raise rates by 50 basis points.
Source: CNN
Singapore Regulator Reiterates Crypto Dangers Amid Hodlnaut Woes
Turmoil in the cryptocurrency market has not created financial-risk stability for Singapore, regulators in the city-state said after another digital-asset firm ran into trouble. The Monetary Authority of Singapore rescinded its in-principle approval for crypto lender Hodlnaut to obtain a license to provide digital payment token services after the company told MAS of its intention to withdraw its application amid a halt in customer withdrawals. The news comes as a fresh Bitcoin slump ended a four-day winning streak and as the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase posted a record $1.1 billion loss.
Source: Bloomberg
DOWNFALL OF TAKA SEES NO END
Yet again, the price of the taka has depreciated further hitting TK 95 on the interbank platform on Wednesday, which is a depreciation of 12.02 percent compared to last year. In the kerb market, the dollar hit a record Tk119.
The cause of this is the rise in imports against lower export in these recent months which destabilized the foreign exchange market in the process. A managing director of a commercial bank said the banks are now facing a dollar shortage to settle foreign exchange-related transactions.
Local Banks say that Bangladesh Bank should give an effort to make the interbank platform vibrant so that banks can buy and sell dollars among each other to fulfill their instant demand.
Source: The Daily Star
3. Science & Technology
The era of electric cars is starting in the US
After a decade electric cars became available to the public, EV registrations shot up a huge 60 percent in the first three months of 2022 even though the overall market was down 18 percent.
Currently, it’s estimated that around 1 percent of the 250 million cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks on American roads are electric. However, while it’s difficult to estimate future sales, it is expected that around 30% of the vehicles by 2030 will be electric. Newer models of cars that manufacturers are releasing and grabbing consumers’ attention explain this prediction.
Due to prices of fuel rising in the US and the increasing number of charging stations being built for EV cars, the future is looking bright for EV car manufacturers.
Source: Car and Driver
Disney’s Streaming Services Just Passed Netflix In Total Subscribers
Walt Disney’s total DTC subscribers totaled 221.1 million for the company’s fiscal third quarter ended in June. That was a big beat for Disney+ and its parent, and also marked the first time anyone has passed Netflix in total streaming subs.
Netflix reported 220.67 million total global subs, after losing almost 1 million for the three months.
Disney’s numbers include Disney+ (152M), ESPN+ (22.8M), and Hulu total, including Live TV, at (46.2M).
Source: Deadline
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.