Month: June 2022

Categories
-Top News USA

US economy shrinks 1.6% in first quarter

The GDP data for the first quarter marks the US economy’s first contraction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic….reports Asian Lite News

The US economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.6 per cent in the first quarter in the third and final estimate, the Commerce Department reported.

In the advance estimate released in late April, the decline in real GDP was 1.4 per cent. In the second estimate last month, that was revised to a decrease of 1.5 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

The GDP data for the first quarter marks the US economy’s first contraction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decrease in real GDP reflected decreases in exports, federal government spending, private inventory investment, and state and local government spending, while imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.



Non-residential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), and residential fixed investment increased, according to the report.

“In the first quarter, an increase in Covid-19 cases related to the Omicron variant resulted in continued restrictions and disruptions in the operations of establishments in some parts of the country,” the Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in the report.

The BEA noted that government assistance payments in the form of forgivable loans to businesses, grants to state and local governments, and social benefits to households “all decreased as provisions of several federal programs expired or tapered off”.

With inflation at four-decade high, more and more economists believe that the Federal Reserve’s more hawkish stance could plunge the US economy into a recession.

Even Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently said that recession is “certainly a possibility” though “it’s not our intended outcome at all”.

ALSO READ: ‘Chip exports to Russia plunged by 90% after curbs’

Categories
-Top News USA

Jan. 6 panel has mounting evidence to impeach Trump

The select committee has had 1,000 people before it having their say on the Jan 6 riots through several hearings televised live to the American public, causing much ripples….reports Ashok Nilakantan

The Senate committee probing the Jan 6, 2021 riots on Capitol Hill tapped 19 key witnesses to testify before the bold disclosures made on Tuesday by a top White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, that Donald Trump and his key west wing staff knew the mob was armed, that the ex-President wanted to lead them and the White House COS Mark Meadows did nothing to stop Trump.

The shocking revelations, which could reach down the alley to impeachment of an ex-President never seen before in American democracy, has led the Senate committee to make its case stronger with mounting evidence it has gathered with the depositions of 19 key witnesses to testify on Trump’s alleged involvement in inciting the mob, coercing VP Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 verdict against Trump, and his un-president like behaviour in grabbing the steering wheel from his security to the Capitol Hill to lead the mob and asking the security there to dismantle metal detectors and allow his protesters to have a free run.

Now the committee has left the nation in an awe-inspiring shock on who is next to testify against the ex-President.

The select committee has had 1,000 people before it having their say on the Jan 6 riots through several hearings televised live to the American public, causing much ripples.

Among the 19 key officials to have been tapped are Pat Cipollone, one of former President Trump’s top legal advisors on January 6, 2021.


Cipollone was in talks with the January 6 committee to publicly testify about last year’s Capitol Riots and would focus on discussing Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official who allegedly used his powers to try and aid Trump in overturning the 2020 elections, according Business Insider which had tracked the hearing’s progression.

The Jan 6 committee co-chair Liz Cheney had urged Cipollone to testify at the Capitol Hill hearing saying, “We think the American people deserve to hear from Mr. Cipollone personally.”

Richard Donoghue, former Department of Justice official, is another DOJ official the Senate committee tapped for inside information on the riots as he served as Trump’s acting deputy attorney general on January 6, 2021.

CNN had reported that Donoghue jotted down notes about a call he was on during which Trump tried pressuring him and Rosen to overturn the 2020 election results. Donoghue testified on June 23.

Caroline Edwards, US Capitol Police officer, who was the first law enforcement officer injured by the rioters storming the Capitol grounds, testified before the bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence related to the January 6 attack at the Capitol Hill for a year. It will present its findings in a series of televised hearings.

On January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for Joe Biden. Edwards was one of the congressional police officers who confronted the violent mob of Trump supporters as they swarmed the Capitol building.

The New York Times had reported that she was thrown to the ground, blinded with chemical spray, and suffered a concussion during the hours-long ordeal. Edwards testified on June 9 about the carnage she witnessed that day.

Steve Engel, former Department of Justice attorney, charged two men with giving gifts to ingratiate themselves with federal law enforcement officers. Engel was an attorney in Trump’s Department of Justice on January 6, 2021.

ABC News had reported that the January 6 committee members wanted to work him into a panel that would include former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, and Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general. Engel testified on June 23.

Benjamin Ginsberg, GOP election lawyer, and Robert Bauer, co-chair of The Presidential Commission on Election and Administration, were key Trump advisors. Ginsberg was one among the attorneys who worked on the month-long recount fight in 2000 that ended with George W. Bush becoming President. In 2000, Ginsberg wrote that the GOP was “destroying itself on the altar of Trump” in a scathing op-ed. Ginsberg testified on June 13.

Tom Jacob, part of the Trump coterie, is one of the people then-Trump attorney John Eastman blamed for the violence on January 6.

“The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,” Eastman wrote to Jacob during the attack, according to The Washington Post. Jacob testified on June 16.

Michael Luttig, Conservative attorney and former judge, was a Conservative lawyer and former appeals court judge who advised Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s attempt to overturn the election, The Washington Post reported. He testified that Trump is working on rigging the 2024 election “in plain sight” on June 16.

Wandrea AR Shaye Moss, former Georgia election worker, was a full-time employee in the Fulton County, Georgia elections office during the 2020 election who was allegedly harassed by Trump supporters, who embraced the embattled former president’s baseless claims of election fraud. Moss testified on June 21.

Byung J. Pak, former US attorney for the northern district of Georgia, was a Department of Justice attorney in Atlanta who resigned in January 2021 because he said he refused to go along with President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. Pak testified on June 13.



Nick Quested, British filmmaker who documented the Proud Boys, recipient of the courage under fire award from the Los Angeles academy, had been following the Trump-supporting Proud Boys in the months leading up to Capitol riots of January 6, 2021, and was likely privy to planning conversations involving alleged rioter Enrique Tarrio, the New York Times had reported. The Department of Justice charged Tarrio with seditious conspiracy. Quested testified on June 9.

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, was one of the Georgia officials Trump famously asked to “find” 12,000 votes he needed to beat Biden in the Peach State. Instead, Raffensperger conducted a recount and certified Biden’s victory, compelling Trump to campaign against him in May’s GOP primary (which Raffensperger won, anyway). Raffensperger testified on June 21.

Jeff Rosen, former acting attorney general, served as Trump’s acting attorney general on January 6, 2021. He spoke to the committee in October 2021 about ideas Trump and those who supported false claims about the 2020 election kicked around to try and overturn the results. Rosen testified on June 23.

Al Schmidt, former Philadelphia city commissioner, from Pennsylvania who defended the state’s electoral process in 2020, thus invoking former President Donald Trump’s wrath. Schmidt testified on June 13.

Marc Short (C) was Pence’s chief of staff on January 6, 2021. Short warned the Secret Service that Trump was about to publicly attack his boss the day before the January 6 insurrection. The committee showed clips from his taped deposition during the June 16 hearing.

Bill Stepien, former Trump campaign manager, was former Trump’s 2020 campaign manager. The New York Times reported that during a meeting on November 7, 2021, in which Trump was pushing his baseless claims of election fraud, Stepien had laid out the “exceedingly low odds of success with his challenges.”

The January 6 committee staff announced on June 12 that Stepien was scheduled to testify on June 13, but later said Stepien would not appear due to a family emergency and that his lawyer would make an on the record statement.

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia state election official, was Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperberger’s top deputy. Sterling testified on June 21.

Chris Stirewalt, former Fox News executive, was the Fox digital politics editor who called Arizona for Joe Biden on election night 2020. He was fired in January 2021. Stirewalt testified on June 13.

ALSO READ: Trump knew Jan 6 rioters were armed, says aide

Categories
-Top News Europe

‘Chip exports to Russia plunged by 90% after curbs’

Raimondo, also said that controls placed on Russia’s aerospace sector were hammering its ability to generate revenue and support military aviation…reports Asian Lite News

Global exports of semiconductors to Russia have plummeted by 90% since the United States and allies slapped export controls on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday.

Raimondo, speaking at an annual Commerce Department conference, also said that controls placed on Russia’s aerospace sector were hammering its ability to generate revenue and support military aviation.

“Russia may be forced to ground between half and two-thirds of its commercial aircraft in the next four years in order to cannibalise them for spare parts,” she added.

The remarks came a day after President Joe Biden’s administration added five companies in China to a trade blacklist on Tuesday for allegedly supporting Russia’s military and defence industrial base, flexing its muscle to enforce sanctions against Moscow.

The United States has worked with allies to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, which Moscow calls a “special operation”, by sanctioning a raft of Russian companies and oligarchs and adding others to a trade blacklist.

While U.S. officials had previously said that China was generally complying with the restrictions, Washington has vowed to closely monitor compliance and rigorously enforce the regulations.

On Wednesday, Raimondo also doubled down on threats to “shut down” China’s top chipmaker SMIC if it is found to be supplying chips to Russia.

“What if SMIC or other Chinese-based semiconductor companies are found supplying chips to Russia?” she said. “We will shut them down and we can, because almost every chip in the world and in China is made using U.S. equipment and software and I intend to make good on that commitment if it’s necessary.”

ALSO READ: Turkey Allows NATO Expansion

Categories
-Top News USA

NASA to reveal deepest image ever taken of Universe

During the event, NASA discussed Webb’s forthcoming operational image release on July 12 as well as the different science experiments that will be conducted using the observatory in its early life….reports Asian Lite News

Ahead of NASA’s release of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-colour images and spectroscopic data, we may finally have hints of what the first few operational images will look like. The first pictures from the $10 billion-dollar deep-space observatory will include “the deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken,” according to NASA administrator Bill Nelson.

Space.com reports that while NASA didn’t specify which early-universe objects Webb will focus on, the space agency’s administrator suggested that the image will show some of the earliest objects yet seen. This should mean that we would see objects older than the ones seen in the Hubble Space Telescope’s series of deep image fields that show galaxies that formed as little as a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

Nelson was speaking at a press conference at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. During the event, NASA discussed Webb’s forthcoming operational image release on July 12 as well as the different science experiments that will be conducted using the observatory in its early life.

The first set of images will also involve Webb’s first spectrum of an exoplanet, according to Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator at NASA’s science mission directorate, who spoke during the same event. Measuring the amount of light emitted at certain wavelengths with such spectra will provide hints of a planet’s chemistry and its formation history.

NASA has shared an image comparing the same cluster of stars captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array and Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). The test image shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way with a dense star field.

Even though Spitzer, which was decommissioned on January 30, 2020, was responsible for many important scientific observations, it is now outclassed by Webb’s better imaging system. Webb’s significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors allow it to capture higher resolution images with better clarity than the Spitzer ever could.

ALSO READ: Turkey Allows NATO Expansion

Categories
-Top News Europe

NATO launches biggest military buildup

The alliance plans to increase almost eightfold the size of its rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year…reports Asian Lite News

The Biden administration on Wednesday pledged more troops, warplanes and warships for Europe as NATO launched its biggest military expansion since the Cold War in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Western military alliance declared Russia the “most significant and direct threat” to peace and security, and vowed to increase supplies of arms and ammunition to Kyiv.

But it is on NATO’s eastern borders that the consequences of the alliance’s summit in Madrid will be most obvious, with the creation of a major new military base in Poland.

More German, British and other allied troops are on alert to deploy eastward, and the US is adding to the 100,000 personnel already in Europe by sending more warships to Spain, planes to Britain, weapons to the Baltic states and troops to Romania.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg talk to military personnel during a visit to a NATO military base in Tapa, Estonia. (Picture by Tim Hammond No 10 Downing Street)

The alliance plans to increase almost eightfold the size of its rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year.

The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where NATO plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

NATO will “defend every inch of allied territory,” US President Joe Biden told the summit. “We mean it when we say an attack against one is an attack against all.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: “President Putin’s war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and has created the biggest security crisis in Europe since the Second World War. NATO has responded with strength and unity.”

In addition, NATO’s 30 leaders invited Finland and Sweden into the alliance, a decision that once ratified would end decades of Nordic neutrality by putting the two countries under the US nuclear umbrella.

The invitation went ahead after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped Turkey’s veto on membership following four hours of talks on Tuesday evening in Madrid, ending weeks of drama that threatened allied unity.

Erdogan had threatened to block their bids over Ankara’s accusations that the two countries supported Kurdish militias in northern Syria that Turkey views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK.

Finland and Sweden will bring well-trained militaries into the alliance, possibly giving NATO Baltic Sea superiority. They are not yet covered by Article 5, the alliance’s collective defense clause, but “our aim is that this period should be as short as possible,” Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.

ALSO READ: NATO brands China a ‘security threat’

Categories
-Top News China

NATO brands China a ‘security threat’

China reacted to being labelled a threat by calling the Western alliance a “Cold War remnant” and a source of instability that is “smearing” Beijing’s international reputation….reports Asian Lite News

NATO, the worlds most powerful military alliance, has declared China as a security threat for the first time, warning that Beijings ambitions and coercive behaviour is a major challenge to the groups interests, putting its forces on a potential war-footing against Russia, media reports said.

NATO’s new 10-year strategic blueprint, agreed to by leaders at a summit in Spain on Thursday morning (AEST), called out the rising Asian power for conducting “malicious” cyber operations, for its strategic partnership with Russia, rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and its efforts to dominate key supply chains, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

China reacted to being labelled a threat by calling the Western alliance a “Cold War remnant” and a source of instability that is “smearing” Beijing’s international reputation.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at the summit as part of the Asia Pacific 4′ group of guests, said the Western world needs to reassert its democratic values.

He dismissed China’s criticism of NATO and declared the summit “extremely successful”, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“What we’ve seen is the world come together in rejecting the Russian aggression on Ukraine, and also having a reassertion of our shared values of having a rules-based international order,” Albanese said before leaving for Paris.

“We need to reassert our democratic values and that is something that has occurred at this NATO summit.”

The 30-member alliance agreed to formally treat Russia as the “most significant and direct threat to the allies’ security”, condemning its “brutal and unlawful invasion” of Ukraine as having “gravely altered” Europe’s security environment.

ALSO READ: Turkey Allows NATO Expansion

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Films Lite Blogs

‘Vikram’ ready for world wide OTT premier

The movie had a blockbuster opening and the theatres soon became a place of carnival, with the scenario of house-full shows continuing, even three-four weeks after the release…reports Asian Lite News

Kamal Hassan-starrer ‘Vikram’, which is still going strong even after grossing Rs 400 crore in box office collections worldwide, will have its worldwide OTT premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on July 8.

‘Vikram’, which has been showered with praises from people, continues to hog the spotlight. The movie hasn’t just impressed Indian trade circles alone, but has left even International markets awestruck as well.

Written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the Kamal Haasan-Vijay Sethupathi-Fahadh Faasil-Suriya starrer had its worldwide theatrical release on June 3, 2022.

The movie had a blockbuster opening and the theatres soon became a place of carnival, with the scenario of house-full shows continuing, even three-four weeks after the release.

‘Vikram’ has broken several box office records and has officially become the number one top grosser in Tamil Nadu. This is a fact that has been confirmed by the producers, distributors and exhibitors.

And now, the movie is to have its worldwide OTT premiere on Disney+ Hotstar, from July 8 onwards. The film will be available in Tamil, Telugu & Hindi from July 8.

Aamir discloses story of heart break during ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ song launch

Categories
Arab News UAE News

ALNAMA Smart City plans to become zero carbon destination

The project is masterminded by URB and provides the highest standards of social, environmental & economic sustainability…reports Asian Lite News

ALNAMA Smart City is planned to become a zero carbon destination. The city will promote sustainable living in a 10 square kilometer community with various hubs including residential, educational, commercial, tourism and medical.

Derived from the Arabic word “thrive”, Riyadh’s smart city is planned to provide 11,000 residential units for a population of 44,000 people. The 1,000 hectare development will create 10,000 jobs in various sectors including green-tech industries to create a green circular economy for the city.

The project is masterminded by URB and provides the highest standards of social, environmental & economic sustainability. Various hubs will transform the city into a unique destination as well as an attraction for ecotourists and medical tourists. The green-tech hub will provide an innovative ecosystem for urban-tech companies related to food, energy, water, waste, mobility & building materials.

CEO of URB, Baharash Bagherian, who has masterminded designs of various sustainable cities including recently launched projects such as The Sustainable City in Yiti, The Sustainable City Yas Island, Nexgen Sustainable City and many more yet to be revealed, explains ALNAMA as the next evolution in smart cities.

“ALNAMA aims to be the next generation of self-sufficient city, producing all the city’s renewable energy needs, as well as the resident’s caloric food intake on site. Biosaline agriculture, productive gardens, wadis and carbon-rich habitats are key features of the development’s innovative & resilient landscape design. The city was planned through the design of its landscape, rather than its buildings. This creates an urbanism that is more socially inclusive, more economically valuable, and more sensitive to the environment.”

ALSO READ:University of Birmingham’s first international campus opens in Dubai

Eco-friendly glamping lodges, eco resorts as well as a nature conservation centre are key components of the hospitality hub, which will promote ecotourism. An autism village, wellness centre & clinics within the medical hub will promote medical tourism.

Ultimately the city will become a work, live & visit destination where people, planet and profit can thrive in balance. It will become a new benchmark model for all future cities to be planned to promote greener economies that center around food, water, energy and waste.

Categories
-Top News Asia News

Marcos Jr. sworn in as Philippines’ 17th President

The Marcos administration needs to address a slew of problems besetting the Philippines, such as unemployment, inflation, a high debt-service ratio to the gross domestic product…reports Asian Lite News

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of late Filipino leader Ferdinand Marcos, was sworn in as the 17th President of the Philippines on Thursday at the National Museum in Manila in front of thousands of people who witnessed the inauguration.

The 64-years-old wearing a native Barong Tagalog formal shirt, took his oath of office as his 92-year-old mother Imelda and family members looked on, reports Xinhua news agency.

More than 15,000 police and security personnel have been deployed across the capital for the inauguration.

Foreign dignitaries, diplomats, and three former Presidents, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, attended.

Ahead of the swearing-in, outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte received Marcos at the Malacanang presidential palace.

On May 25, the Philippine Congress proclaimed Marcos winner of the May 9 presidential election, with over 31 million votes or more than 58 per cent of the votes cast.

He succeeded Duterte who has finished his six-year term.

The Philippine constitution permits the president to serve a single six-year term.

The Marcos administration needs to address a slew of problems besetting the Philippines, such as unemployment, inflation, a high debt-service ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP), as well as rocketing gas and oil prices.

Last week, Marcos said he would serve as the secretary of agriculture temporarily after he takes office as the problem of food supply “is severe enough”.

Managing inflation is also on the top of Marcos’ to-do list. Government data showed that 23.7 percent of the country’s nearly 110 million population lives in poverty.

The new administration will also inherit over $240 billion in accumulated debt by the end of March, mainly due to the COVID-19 expenses.

Bureau of Treasury data showed that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 63.5 per cent as of end-March, well over the internationally recommended threshold of 60 per cent.

“The priority is economy,” Marcos said earlier this month, assembling his economic team to steer the economy.

The Philippine economy grew by 8.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2022.

The government is optimistic that the solid first-quarter 2022 GDP growth will help the country attain its target of 7 to 8 per cent growth this year.

Marcos Jr.’s win in the May election also marked a stunning comeback for the Marcos political dynasty, which was ousted after a popular revolt in 1986.

Ferdinand Marcos led the country from 1965 until 1986, imposing martial law and presiding over a period of widespread human rights abuses, corruption and poverty.

That rule ended in 1986, when a mass uprising saw millions of people take to the streets and the Marcos family fled the country for Hawaii.

Marcos Jr., a long-time politician who returned to the Philippines in 1991, has since sought to paint his father’s presidency as a “golden period” of growth and prosperity.

His popularity was buoyed by an aggressive social media drive, which proved especially appealing to voters not old enough to have experienced the years of dictatorship first-hand.

Meanwhile, critics levelled accusations that his social media campaign was rife with misinformation and whitewashed atrocities under his father’s rule.

He has denied these allegations.

ALSO READ: Philippines cancels China talks for joint energy exploration

Categories
Arab News

Israel to invest $880 mn in climate technology innovation

Israel flag

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has announced that the country will invest 3 billion shekels (about $880 million) to facilitate innovation in climate technologies…reports Asian Lite News

The decision is aimed at accelerating innovation in Israel’s climate tech ecosystem to support Israel’s efforts to address the climate issue, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the ministry.

Major quantitative goals to support climate innovation stated in the decision are expected to be met by 2026.

ALSO READ:US, Israel, Arab nations deepen ties

These goals include the doubling of climate tech applied studies, patents, startup companies, and pilot projects carried out on state infrastructure, increasing the number of fundraising deals and Israeli venture capital funds specializing in climate technologies, and the promotion of joint research with other countries.

The plan also includes the use of satellites to monitor climate change and environmental hazards, and the establishment of a technology incubator to promote projects, according to the ministry.