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DW.com reporter Sean Goodwin goes from Germany to Australia and finds a very different attitude to coronavirus, kind of laid back. Australians he says have a sense that it is a lucky country, and that "she'll be right." The government and Sydney have been slow to adjust to the reality. A stay at home order is now in place in Sydney and New South Wales state.  Australians seem to think they are somehow far away and isolated from the world's problems. It is a cruisy optimistic mentality, says this report.

 

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Liz truss commits to building fast rail that connects the north of England from east to west from Liverpool to Hull. She says things have not improved much since she got on transport in Leeds as a young girl.

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The January 6 hearings on the riot at the Capitol in Washington DC led to a subpoena for testimony by Steve Bannon which he rejected- leading to the contempt of Congress sentence.

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Leaders of France, Germany and Italy are shown on a train ride from Poland to Kviv as they visit Irpin and Kviv to show solidarity with Ukraine, in this story in The Guardian.

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A new $490 billion aid package in Japan is designed to help families and small business. Families with small children will get $900 per child and small business will get $22,000 each if they can show they were affected by the pandemic. Wage increases for nurses and care workers. Economy minister Yamagiva in the new Fumio Kishida government says this aid will "bring security and hope to the people by rebuilding the economy." Japan is following the US by providing aid to the people and business to help rebuild after the lingering effects of the pandemic. In the US president Biden is expected to pass a $2 trillion package including help for child care, paid leave for caregivers and mothers, other aid, and a big investment to tackle climate change.

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US House Republicans are pursuing cuts in spending of as much as 50% in many programs that are considered essential, such as a 50% cut in foreign aid at a time of global food insecurity, deep cuts in the FBI's counter intelligence budget, deep cuts in healthcare services and housing to low income Americans following the pandemic and high inflation, and other cuts to services benefiting workers and families. Democrats in Congress and president Biden oppose such cuts and hope to eliminate the deficit with cuts that do not place an unfair burden- taxes on the wealthiest with over $100 million and on stock buybacks would generate about $2 trillion to cover the whole deficit which is in the range of $1.4 trillion in 2023 moving to $2 trillion a year. Much of the Republican plan is being shaped by Mr. Trump's former Budget Director, Russell Vought, says this report in the NYT. Mr. Vought calls it an attack on the bureaucracy and woke spending. Other Republicans see this as an ideological approach that does not address today's problems. Chuck Schumer, Democrats Senate Majority Leader asks Republicans to spell out their plan. ...

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US and China agree on the first step to a broader trade deal. US offers to take in Chinese students at American Universities, something DJT says he was good with.  “Chinese students using our college and universities,” adding that such attendance has “always been good with me.”  China for its part will not slow move export of magnets and rare earth minerals on which it has established a near monopoly of the supplies. These rare earth minerals are needed for technology products made in the US. US tariffs of 55% will still say in place as "deterrance" that the other side keeps its promises and to cut the trade deficit with China not simply talk about it has has happened for a decade of Bush, Obama, Biden. Treasury Secretary Bessent and Jamieson Greer US Trade Representative were at London talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Luttnick to find ways to get an impasse resolved. Both sides lack confidence in what the other is doing so that theis the first step to clarify the direction of talks for achieving a broader deal.  ...

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The CEO of Little Bird Company, Marshall Kirkpatrick, on why startups should move to Portland, and the Oregon area.

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Many people ask how prime minister Modi can maintain a high level of energy while having such a busy schedule. Modi had 20 meetings in 65 hours in his 3 day trip to the US. Many of these meetings were important ones, including one with Quad leaders, meeting with Mr. Biden, his speech at the United Nations, meetings with US CEO's.

Modi drinks a lot of water to stay hydrated. He also tunes his body and sleep cycle to the time zone of the destination. Yoga, exercize, and good nutrition habits, also play a part in Modi's ability to maintain that level of energy. Concentration, discipline, determination, play a part in how he handles work.

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Mr. Trump signs executive orders to prevent eviction of tenants from their homes during the pandemic, provide relief for businesses from the payroll tax, and other actions. He continues to negotiate with Democrats for the direct aid to continue for each household.

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Boris Johnson has the most support at the grassroots of the Conservative party of Britain, more than Sunak or Mordaunt the other two candidates. His style of governing with the big picture has some supporters and some detractors, and he has lost some support over handling of the Christmas parties episode, yet he has broad appeal among older Conservatives.

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The buyout was an effort to infuse the agency with new energy and to set new goals such as fighting the fentanyl and drug flows, the fight against drug cartels designated by DJT as terror groups.

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Judo4Balance exercise for falling down safely are popular in Sweden and Netherlands where volunteer instructors help seniors practice falling safely. This is important for older adults so that they can live lives to the fullest without the fears that restrict activities and lead to mental heath issues from isolation or restricted activity. There are no judo based fall prevention programs in the US and this report shows the need to help seniors in the US with similar programs.

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In April 2012 the PBOC widened the trading range for the yuan to 1% from 0.5%. In Feb. 2014 the PBOC is expected to widen that trading range to 2%, as part of the PBOC's plan to gradually let the yuan trade freely. Increasing capital flows into China in 2013 and beginning of 2014 have led to appreciation of the yuan. To control one way appreciation the PBOC bought about $45 billion in foreign exchange in Dec. 2013, for the fifth month of net purchases. The yuan was at 6.1248 per dollar on Feb. 26, 2013. It has declined by 1.2% against the dollar from the beginning of 2014 to Feb 26. In 2013 the yuan gained 2.9%. The PBOC policy statements indicate that it sees the yuan at an "equilibrium level," or fair market value. The new policy to decrease its value slightly is designed to widen the trading range close to 2% and make trading a two way bet.

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In new developments German chancellor Scholz visits London and European Union president Von der Leyen visits Bucha and Kviv in Ukraine. Von Der Leyen is accompanied by Joseph Borell, the EU commissioner for foreign and security affairs. For the first time the European Union offers membership in the EU to Ukraine. In handing a document with a questionnairre to Ukraine president Zelensky she says- "This is where your path towards the European Union begins." Adding "It will not be, as usual, a matter of years, but rather a matter of weeks" to complete this step. The questionairre forms the basis of an opionion she said that gets passed on to the European Council this summer. Ukraine now becomes the first country in Europe to have fought a war and suffered from millions of refugees just to join the European Union. It also shows how much has changed since Angela Merkel left office with her policies that offered Ukraine no such prospect even as it integrated the German economy with the Russian economy and China's economy during 4 terms in office. Leyen said "Ukraine is marching towards a European future." Chancellor Scholz addressed the German parliament after the invasion and hundreds of thousands of people turned out in Berlin that day.  Europe is voting with its emotions having been completely shaken by this experience. Leyen writes " It was important to start my visit in Bucha. Because in Bucha our humanity was shattered." ...

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What is behind the anti-vaccine movement in the US? This NYT report looks at some of its unlikely origins- the anti-vaccine efforts of Robert Kennedy's son, Robert Kennedy Jr.. Mr. Kennedy is planning to run against Mr. Biden for the White House. Kennedy's opposition to vaccine's is traced back to his getting involved in cases as an environmental lawyer. Parents who had intellectually disabled children from other chemicals asked Kennedy to look into vaccines. Around 2010 Thimerosal, a mercury based preservative which been used for many years to prevent bacteria from growing in multiple dose vials of vaccine, was suspected to cause autism.  Already by 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics, federal health agencies and pharmaceutical manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be removed from childhood vaccines.  Yet it is still used, says this report.  This led to Mr. Kennedy's getting into vaccines in general by the time of the pandemic. He had a book out that was critical of Dr. Faucci, during the pandemic. Mr. Kennedy cautioned about the unintended effects of vaccines. He has another book out called the Wuhan Coverup that looks into the origins of the coronavirus. It refers to research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that was funded by the US. Mr. Kennedy believes that more transparency is needed on decisions made in the health care sector, and that critical views need to be aired for the public to be able to decide the right course of action. Vaccination is generally supported by people in America though there is a subsection of people who have concerns about side effects. On issues outside of vaccination there is a sense that America's health sector needs more transparency.     ...

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South Korean workers illegally in the US for Hyundai contractors flown back to South Korea. South Korean government obtained their release and sent a plane to fly them back home. It sends the message that even if they do not work directly for a Asian company, only for contractors or contractors of contractor, and are here illegally, they will be sent back home.

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Efforts by China's climate envoy at Glasgow COP26 and US envoy John Kerry to build cooperation between China and the US on climate change. This happens at the end of COP26 talks and after president Jinping missed the Glasgow summit. Xie says China will work towards "concrete plans" for "finalization of the Paris Agreement rulebook." The US China agreement is not specific on details but includes arranging regular talks, and also a focus on curbing methane gas emissions which can produce immediate results in reducing global warming. The US and over 100 countries signed an agreement on methane gas emissions control. 

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About the collapse of two banks- Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Fed vice chairman for financial and banking supervision, Michael Barr, had this to say at a Congressional hearing last week- "I think anytime you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed, and our regulatory system failed."  The rest of this report looks at changes the Fed can on its own make stricter supervision of banks over $100 billion, action the Biden administration is thinking of taking, and action by the FDIC. The Biden administration does not want to be seen supporting wealthy depositors at Silicon Valley Bank by guaranteeing uninsured deposits as it did. It took this action solely to protect the financial system so that it would not hurt working families. For this reason alone the Biden administration will seek tighter controls of mid sized banks now that the illusion that banks below $250 billion do not pose a risk to the financial system is gone. It will also seek to recover all funds used to support these failed banks from the banks and financial sector that has lobbied for so long for less regulation leading to failure of banks not once in 2009, but again in 2023. This time under the Biden administration the damage is carefully controlled so that it does not affect the American economy and working families. ...

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IMF chief economist, Gita Gopinath, says multispeed recoveries are in place in regions and across income groups, linked to the differences in vaccine rollout, and extent of economic policy support. 

All regions in the world are expected to grow faster than estimated in January 2021 by IMF. 

US - forecast raised to 6.4% from 5.1%, this follows contraction of 3.5% in 2020. Rapid vaccination drive and large economic support under president Biden accelerating growth. About $5 trillion in economic support in the US by April 2021.

Europe- forecasts raised for growth in UK and Italy.

Latin America- growth forecast raised to 4.6% from 4.1%.

Africa- growth forecast raised to 3.4% from 3.2%.

Emerging and developing economies including India as a whole- growth forecast raised to 6.7% from 6.3%.

 

 

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A new generation of young people born between 1995 to 2012 get the name iGen. It makes up 24% of the population in the U.S. San Diego State University Prof. Twenge describes this group of young people as open and tolerant but very casual about most things, and not literate in comparison to the Millenials and previous generations of young people. They are tolerant to LGBT and transgender, not church going,  and at the same time can be intolerant of other opinions than their own. One of four students in this group says someone who says something insensitive about race can be fired. This group also does not try to look deeper to obtain a better understanding. Virtual relationships are preferred to social relationships. They tend to spend about 6 hours on technology devices such as smartphones and social media outlets. They interact less and yet do not find time for reading, and read much less than GenX or Millenials, or baby boomers. Twenge says they are less informed about current events and their academic skills lag behind that of Millenials. Not that this is a good place they have found, as the more time they spend on the internet the worse they feel. Making them less happy than other generations of young people before them who had face to face interaction instead of endless hours on social media. The reviewer is skeptical of what is happening here, saying that the use of technology devices in this way has stunted their development in ways one could not imagine possible. Not let them develop the skills of previous generations of young people who did not have these devices and lived a simpler life with face to face interaction. ...

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China's Liu He's meetings with Janet Yellen in Jan 2023 at Davos and other locations are helping to stabilize economic ties between China and the US. Liu He is economic adviser to president Xi of China.

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French prime minister Attal says Macron's party will stand down in seats that can be won by France Unbowed or LFI the socialist parties alliance. This is an effort to prevent National Rally to get a majority in parliament.