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African swine fever: Fears rise as virus spreads to Indonesia

Indonesia has become the latest Asian country to face an outbreak of African swine fever, a deadly pig virus devastating farmers across the region. On Wednesday, the country's แทงบอล2020 agriculture ministry said nearly 30,000 pigs have died from the disease in North Sumatra. The virus is expected to wipe out more than half of China's pig herd this year. Australia has grown increasingly concerned, stepping up biosecurity measures to keep swine fever out. Although it's harmless สมัครแทงบอลออนไลน์ to humans, the disease can kill pigs within a few days, and the fatality rate can be up to 100%, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The virus is particularly คาสิโนออนไลน์ robust, and is able to survive for seven days without a host, and for months in frozen pork products. Which countries have reported outbreaks? The biggest impact so far has been in China, but the spread of the virus across South East Asia has been worrying too. Vietnam and the Philippines have seen some of the worst outbreaks in the region. Analysts at Rabobank expect Vietnam's pork production will drop by 21% this year, and by an additional 8% next year. The Philippines could see a 13% decline in its pig herd in 2020, it said. Rabobank put China's herd loss at 55% this year. Indonesia's Agriculture Minister Syahrul การพนัน Yasin Limpo told reporters so far, the virus has been contained to parts of North Sumatra. "Very serious handling is being carried out, including isolating those areas," Mr Limpo said. The disease has also been detected in Mongolia, Cambodia, South Korea, North Korea, Myanmar and East Timor, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. Outside of Asia, the OIE said the disease is also present in parts of Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. How have other countries responded? Australia, known for its strict biosecurity measures, is spending an additional A$66m ($45m; £35m) on measures designed to keep the virus out. However, recent seizures underline the difficulty of the task. Over the past six months, Australian authorities have seized 32 tonnes of pork products from passenger bags and mailed packages. "Of that, 49% had fragments of African swine fever," said Margo An Germany recently stepped up measures to prevent the disease after a case was discovered in a wild boar across the border in Poland. The US has never had a case of African swine fever, but there are animal health and import requirements enforced by authorities. What about the impact on the pork industry? Pork prices across Asia have increased, and in some cases, fuelled inflation. China's most recent inflation figures showed consumer prices rising at 4.5%, the fastest level in nine years, with pork accounting for much of that increase. Ratings agency Fitch said that domestic wholesale prices in the country nearly doubled in 2019, and predicts prices in South East Asia are also likely to rise. Rabobank said that China's pork imports from the US have doubled. Beef and chicken prices have also increased because of additional demand from consumers switching from pork. Tommy Wu, economist from Oxford Economics, said there's likely to be an additional price spike in the coming months as demand grows for Chinese New Year. The good news, Mr Wu said, is that China's biosecurity efforts have started to have an impact. He thinks the industry in China has turned a corner, but he cautions that a full recovery could take years. "We're still looking at 40% below peak in terms of pig stock," he said.

Hedge funds eavesdrop on Bank of England briefings

An audio feed of the Bank of England's press conferences was leaked to hedge funds before they were broadcast, the Bank has admitted. The Bank said one of its suppliers had "misused" the feed, which is there as a fall-back in case the video broadcast fails. As a result traders had access to สมัครแทงบอลออนไลน์ the words of Mark Carney and his officials between five and eight seconds early. The Bank of England คาสิโนออนไลน์ said it had disabled the supplier's access. The hijacking of the audio feed, first reported in the Times gave an advantage to high-speed traders who can make millions of pounds on tiny market moves. Comments from Bank officials about market sensitive matters such as interest rate decisions can affect the value of sterling and other market การพนัน assets within fractions of a second. The Times said it understood that the eavesdropping on the press conferences had been happening at least since the beginning of this year. The Bank of England said that since the leak "was wholly unacceptable use of the audio feed" and the way hedge funds were allowed to make use of it was "without the Bank's knowledge or consent, and is being investigated further". The matter has been แทงบอล2020 referred to the market regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. Although Bloomberg takes an unshared video at the press conferences and then broadcasts it later to the public, this is understood to be a back-up recording from a third party news supplier. Internal systems at the bank were accessed without the bank's knowledge and it was this back-up audio feed never intended for outside use, which was hacked and leaked to high speed traders. Any early information found in a Bank of England press conference would be an unfair advantage if heard early. Often the interest rate is discussed alongside the financial health of banks and markets. A statement from the bank said: "The Bank operates the highest standards of information security around the release of the market sensitive decisions of its policy committees".

Top tech firms sued over DR Congo cobalt mining deaths

Apple, Google, Tesla and Microsoft are among firms named in a lawsuit seeking damages over deaths and injuries of child miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. DR Congo produces แทงบอล2020 more than 60% of the world's cobalt The case has been filed by the International Rights Advocates on behalf of 14 Congolese families. They accuse the สมัครแทงบอลออนไลน์ companies of knowing that cobalt used in their products could be linked to child labour. DR Congo produces 60% of the world's supply of cobalt. The mineral is used to produce lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars, laptops and smartphones. However, the extraction process has been beset with concerns of illegal mining, human rights abuses and corruption. The lawsuit filed in the US argues that the tech companies had "specific knowledge" that the cobalt sourced for their products could be linked to child labour. They say the companies failed to regulate their supply chains and instead profited from exploitation. Other คาสิโนออนไลน์ companies listed in the lawsuit are computer manufacturer Dell and two mining companies, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Glencore, who own the minefields where the Congolese families allege their children worked. Glencore said in a statement to the UK's Telegraph การพนัน newspaper that it "does not purchase, process or trade any artisanally mined ore" adding that it also "does not tolerate any form of child, forced, or compulsory labour." The court papers, seen by the UK's Guardian newspaper, give several examples of child miners buried alive or suffering from injuries after tunnel collapse. The 14 Congolese families want the companies to compensate them for forced labour, emotional distress and negligent supervision. In a response to the Telegraph, Microsoft said it was committed to responsible sourcing of minerals and that it investigates any violations by its suppliers and takes action.

Boeing to temporarily halt 737 Max production in January

Boeing will temporarily halt production of its troubled 737 Max airliner in January, the manufacturer said. Production of the jet had continued despite the model being grounded for nine months after two deadly crashes. More than 300 แทงบอล2020 people died when two 737 Max aircraft crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia after reported problems with a new feature. Boeing had been hoping to have the planes back in the air by the end of this year. But US regulators made it clear that they would not be certified to return to the skies that quickly. What will Boeing do next? Boeing is one of the largest US exporters. The company said in a statement that it would not lay off workers associated with the 737 Max, สมัครแทงบอลออนไลน์ but the stoppage is likely to affect suppliers and the wider economy. "Safely returning the 737 Max to service is our top priority," the aircraft manufacturer said. "We know that the คาสิโนออนไลน์ process of approving the 737 Max's return การพนัน to service, and of determining appropriate training requirements, must be extraordinarily thorough and robust, to ensure that our regulators, customers, and the flying public have confidence in the 737 Max updates." What went wrong with the planes? Last week a congressional hearing was told that US aviation regulators were aware, following the first crash in Indonesia in October 2018, that there was a risk of further accidents. The Federal Aviation Authority's analysis suggested there could be more than a dozen more crashes over the lifetime of the aircraft unless changes were made to its design. Despite that, the 737 Max was not grounded until after the second crash in Ethiopia in March 2019. Boeing is redesigning the automated control system thought to have been the primary cause of the crashes. The manufacturer said it had 400 of the 737 Max aircraft in storage and would focus on delivering those to customers. While many airlines around the world have the planes on order, delivery was halted to allow Boeing's engineers to develop software fixes. What has the reaction been? Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said the decision to suspend production was unprecedented and likely to have a "massive impact on Boeing, its suppliers and the airlines". "It's really going to create some chaos for the airlines that are involved in this as well as the 600 or so companies that are part of the 737 Max supply chain and Boeing itself." The suspension of the 737 Max has already cost Boeing around $9bn (£6.75bn). Boeing shares fell more than 4% on Monday amid speculation production would be suspended.

Hong Kong protests test Beijing's 'foreign meddling' narrative

A few months ago a Chinese official asked me if I thought foreign powers were fomenting Hong Kong's social unrest. "To get so many เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด2020 people to come to the streets," he mused, "must take organisation, a big sum of money and political resources." Since then, the protests sparked at the UFA700 beginning of Hong Kong's hot summer have raged on through autumn and into winter. The massive marches have continued, interspersed with increasingly violent pitched battles between smaller groups of more militant protesters and the police. The toll is measured in a stark ledger of police figures that, even a short while ago, would have seemed impossible for one of the world's leading financial capitals and a bastion of social stability. More than 6,000 arrests, 16,000 tear-gas rounds, 10,000 rubber bullets. As the sense of political crisis has deepened and divisions have hardened, China has W88 continued to see the sinister hand of foreign meddling behind every twist and turn. The 'grey rhino' In January, China's supreme political leader Xi Jinping convened a high-level Communist Party meeting focused on "major risk prevention". He told the assembled senior officials to be 12BET on their guard for "black swans" - the unpredictable, unseen events that can plunge a system into crisis. But he also warned them about what he called "grey rhinoceroses" - the known risks that are ignored until it's too late. While state media reports show the discussions ranging over issues from housing bubbles to food safety, there's no mention at all of Hong Kong. And yet the seeds were already being sown for what has become the biggest challenge to Communist Party rule in a generation. A few weeks after the meeting, the Hong Kong government, with the strong backing of Beijing, introduced a bill that would allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China. Opposition to the bill was immediate, deep-seated and widespread, driven by the fear that it would allow China's legal system to reach deep inside Hong Kong. Despite assurances that "political crimes" would not be covered, many saw it as a fundamental breach of the "one country, two systems" principle under which the territory is supposed to be governed. It wasn't just human rights groups and legal experts expressing alarm, but the business community, multinational corporations and foreign governments too, worried that overseas nationals might also find themselves targeted by such a law.

Trump halts new tariffs in US China trade war

The US and China have announced a preliminary trade agreement. The so-called phase one deal will see billions of dollars in tariffs removed or delayed. US stocks hit a fresh record เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด2020 on hopes there will be a continued softening of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. A fresh wave of US tariffs on Chinese imports was due to take effect on Sunday. However, this has been cancelled for now. "We will begin negotiations on the phase two deal immediately, rather UFA700 than waiting until after the 2020 Election," US President Donald Trump said in a tweet. "This is an amazing deal for all." If the new, higher tariffs had gone ahead, Chinese-made goods such as smartphones, clothing and toys would have become more expensive for Americans just ahead of Christmas. US negotiators are reportedly offering to significantly reduce existing tariffs on about $360bn (£270bn) worth of Chinese imports. In return, China has W88 promised to buy large quantities of US soybeans, poultry and other agricultural products. The agreement is a deal in principle, which means if China breaks any part of the agreement, the Trump administration has the ability to re-implement tariffs. There's some festive cheer for American shoppers and businesses as the Christmas decorations, game 12BET consoles and iphones that were due to be hit with a 15% tariff are now off the hook. The share of these goods coming from China is around 85%, according to Bloomberg analysis, which would have made it difficult for companies to source them from elsewhere. America's business lobby group - the influential Business Roundtable has long been lobbying against the tariffs, saying they would be very damaging to the US economy. As the boss of JP Morgan Jamie Dimon put it "it's what happens to people's psyche and confidence and businesses". The International Monetary Fund estimates that the US-China trade war could shave almost a percentage point off of global growth this year. But there has been push back from others, such as Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro, who feel the US should keep the pressure on what are widely accepted as China's unfair business practices. Replacing 'trade' with 'aid' (subsidies) for the American farmers who have suffered since China put reciprocal taxes on the likes of soybeans. It's worth noting that this 'phase one' deal is just the beginning of the end. America imports $550bn dollars worth of products from China - and tariffs will remain on $370bn dollars of that.

Myanmar Rohingya: Aung San Suu Kyi cuts a haunted figure in court

The spectacle of Aung San Suu Kyi, a once-persecuted Nobel peace laureate now defending her country against allegations of genocide over its treatment of the Rohingya minority, has been one of bewildering irony. In the years after she was released from house arrest in 2010, princes, presidents and prime ministers welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi with open arms into their own opulent homes. The feel-good factor of rubbing shoulders เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด2020 with someone who had dedicated much of her adult life to the pursuit of democracy was irresistible. Then, the grandeur of the Peace Palace in The Hague - a marble-floored monument to global harmony - would have been comfortable surroundings for Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winner. A native habitat, even. But not now. There UFA700 was no red carpet, welcoming committee or brass band. Instead the light pouring through the stained glass of the Great Hall of Justice illuminated an often haunted-looking figure who had chosen to come and listen to descriptions of some of the most unimaginably gruesome acts. Acts said to have been committed in her country. On her watch. After two years on trial in the court of international public opinion, Aung San Suu Kyi was now trying to win over the 17 judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - as she defended the same W88 Myanmar military which had taken away her freedom for 15 years. It was something she - and the rest of the world - surely never imagined would happen. The cognitive dissonance of a faded beacon of universal human rights arguing against the horrific testimony of some of the 740,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees 12BET who had her fled her country pulsed through The Hague this week. I realised that she was taking her seat in court 28 years to the day after she had accepted her Nobel prize, in absentia. It was a quirk of history that defined the slow-motion transformation of Aung San Suu Kyi's global standing. I will long remember certain images from this remarkable week. There were the Rohingya survivors who'd travelled from the crushing bleakness of Cox's Bazar - the largest refugee camp in the world - to be guests in the court. Every morning, they arrived in the same type of sparkling executive transport as Ms Suu Kyi: afforded the same comfort as the leader of the country accused of trying to exterminate their people. For these three representatives of their stateless community, the scales of justice had finally levelled, if only for a few hours. Then there was the face of Aung San Suu Kyi, possibly hearing for the first time in such brutal detail the crimes alleged to have been perpetrated by the Burmese Army in their clearance operation in Rakhine state in August 2017. Such was the interest in Aung San Suu Kyi's appearance, they had to open a second room to contain the international media. There were rueful shakes of the head, gentle intakes of breath as lawyers for The Gambia read out graphic accounts from Rohingya survivors: pregnant women beaten to death, mass rape, children thrown into fires. We watched Ms Suu Kyi's face - seemingly frozen at times - on a large television as she listened to the allegations against her Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi may have sat alongside her legal team and a small Burmese delegation but she often cut a lonely figure. She is a leader who has alienated herself from former friends in the West and taken refuge in the powerful embrace of China, which continues to provide invaluable economic support and political protection in the UN Security Council. It is the certainty of a Chinese veto on any vote on Myanmar's alleged crimes that has blocked the most obvious path to justice for the Rohingya: a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). I will remember the crowds outside court - both for and against Ms Suu Kyi. More than a hundred supporters had flown the 5,000 miles from Myanmar to wave banners and shout slogans supporting "Mother Suu". I have no doubt the affection for her was genuine - this was no communist regime-style gathering where pure fear drives the chanting and nobody want to be first to stop applauding. In fact, they sang an old favourite which criticises the former military dictatorship - the apparatus of evil which truly instilled terror in people's hearts. That said, there was an approved list of songs and a ban on waving flags of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Presumably, this was to avoid the impression the NLD was benefitting from her appearance in the Hague. But be in no doubt her defence of the nation will have given her a huge domestic boost ahead of next year's general election in Myanmar.

Why Australia's PM is facing climate anger amid bushfires

Australia has spent months in the grip of a bushfire emergency, as vast areas of the nation continue to burn. Since September, blazes in eastern Australia have killed six people, destroyed more than 700 homes and blanketed towns and cities in smoke. As the crisis rolls on, many Australians have raised concerns about the impacts of climate change in exacerbating fires. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his opponents have faced a mounting backlash over their climate policies. How has the government เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด2020 responded to the fires? Mr Morrison called them a "national disaster" this week, but he has often been accused of downplaying the severity of the crisis. How has the government responded to the fires? Mr Morrison UFA700 called them a "national disaster" this week, but he has often been accused of downplaying the severity of the crisis. Deputy PM Michael McCormack rejected such questions as the W88 concerns of "raving inner-city lefties", adding: "We've had fires in Australia since time began." More recently, Mr 12BET Morrison has acknowledged climate change as one of "many other factors" in fuelling the bushfires. Why is this causing anger? Many say they are frustrated with the government's rhetoric on the crisis, as well as its efforts to tackle climate change. Aside from the threat of flames, the fires have also covered populated areas in smoke - including Sydney, a city of five million people. Social media users have frequently complained about the smoke while directing anger at the government. Top trends this week have included "NotMyPrimeMinister" and "AustraliaBurns". The backlash has also manifested in large protests. On Wednesday, thousands of people took part in a "NSW is burning, Sydney is choking" demonstration. One woman left the remains of her home, destroyed by a bushfire, outside Canberra's Parliament last week. On them she had written: "Morrison, your climate crisis destroyed my home." Much criticism has focused on the government's support for coal-fired power plants. But the Labor opposition has also attracted anger over its pro-coal policies. Their views are not shared by all, however. Others have placed the blame for the fires on a severe drought, the sheer amount of dry land there is to burn, and what they view as natural weather cycles. Is it fair to blame Australia's climate policies for exacerbating fires? In rejecting that notion, Mr Morrison - prime minister since last year - has cited Australia's percentage of global emissions.

New Zealand volcano: Divers deployed to find last two missing bodies

New Zealand police have deployed divers to look for two bodies near White Island volcano - after six bodies were retrieved in a recovery operation. The volcano erupted เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด2020 on Monday with 47 people there. Eight people were missing on the island, presumed dead. Another eight have already been confirmed dead and around 20 remain in intensive care with severe burns. The retrieval on Friday was launched despite the risk of another eruption. The recovery of the bodies from White Island, also known by its Maori name of Whakaari, was UFA700 delayed over safety concerns for the members of any search operation. Speaking to W88 reporters after the bodies were retrieved, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said questions over why people were allowed to visit the active volcano "must be answered, and will be answered". But she said "we also need to respect the phase we're in now, with families only just getting their loved ones back". How did the recovery unfold? On Friday morning, a "high-speed" retrieval 12BET to get the bodies was launched - even though the risk remained unchanged. Going in, authorities knew the location of six of the missing and those bodies were airlifted off the island. A team of eight specialists from the New Zealand Defence Force flew by helicopter to the island and spent four hours retrieving the bodies. They were taken to a naval patrol boat and then brought back to the mainland.

The big election trade-off - what have we learned?

The emergence of these lengthy secret accounts of two years of US-UK trade discussions are important for several reasons. They are the clearest account of a deal that could be done and dusted in the Parliament that is about to be elected. Almost zero detail on the approach to such a deal has been outlined in manifestos. The documents show there could be widespread consequences, not just for บาคาร่าฟรี the economy, but also important trade-offs to be made by the government elected next month. NHS Plot? The papers don't show a secret plot to sell the NHS or a "plot against the country". But they do show that pharmaceutical pricing 188BET has been on the table, and has been discussed between UK and US officials and UK and the US pharmaceutical industry. That is not a surprise, it was clear from the official US Trade objectives สล็อตฟรี published in February that sought "procedural fairness" and "full market access" for US pharmaceutical companies. UK-US trade deal - what do the leaked documents show? General election 2019: Boris Johnson vows to 'forge a new Britain' Conservative Party manifesto 2019: 13 key policies explained So they have been discussed in scoping discussions by officials. But the prime minister and the Conservative manifesto promises voters that the "price the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table" - presumably in the future. The PM is promising to resist and reject the US strategic objective to increase the price paid to its drugs companies. There are clear references to US negotiators asking the UK to diverge from existing EU standards for "Pathogen Reduction Treatments", which include the chlorination of chicken in order to remove bacteria. The US team offered to share its marketing material 188BET on the benefits of chlorinated chicken, to help persuade the public. Also the US raises EU restrictions on anti-microbial usage as "a significant concern". It was the Conservative government that pushed hard for such restrictions in the first place amid fears that their overuse is rendering them increasingly ineffective. One meeting was described as "challenging and difficult" because Theresa May's Chequers deal would have prevented changes on this. The now PM Boris Johnson resigned from Cabinet because of Chequers, and such changes are now possible under his deal. The Conservative manifesto says we "will not compromise our high food standards". Digital tax Big US tech firms are unhappy with the idea of the government's tax on digital services, and it has been described as a deal breaker for a US-UK trade deal. The issue wasn't raised by US officials according to the documents, but it is mentioned by UK officials who anticipate that it will feature as a "senior/political" issue. The Conservatives have a manifesto commitment to implement the tax. Economic impact The big picture here is that US officials repeatedly question Theresa May's decision to keep the UK economy close to the EU's. The former PM did this because of concerns of the manufacturing industry. US negotiators said repeatedly that such a close relationship would harm prospects of a US deal, even apparently welcoming the possibility of No Deal as "all to play for". This broad position has been backed by the current PM, who is offering the electorate a more distant relationship with Europe in order to pursue a US trade deal. That is good for some sectors and regions, and bad for others, such as for example car manufacturers dependent on the free flow of parts around the EU. The papers show that there was an attempt to quantify the benefits of a US trade deal, stating: "the macroeconomic results were small". But a US-UK deal alongside a more distant "hard Brexit" with tariffs between the UK and the EU was both less good for the UK, and better for the USA. In particular, a "hard Brexit scenario" saw a "larger expansion in US exports in dairy and meat" to the UK. The real message in these documents is not about an NHS plot, it is about shining some light on one of the most important sets of decisions due to occur in the next Parliament. A decision with big implications and trade-offs for jobs and growth up and down the country.