Month: September 2018

Правління Національного банку України ухвалило рішення підвищити облікову ставку до 18% річних із 7 вересня 2018 року, повідомила прес-служба НБУ. «Попри впевнене зниження інфляції з початку року, реалізація низки ризиків може в подальшому стати на заваді цій тенденції. Проведення більш жорсткої монетарної політики дозволить нівелювати вплив цих ризиків і повернути інфляцію в межі цільового діапазону в кінці 2019 року та досягти середньострокової цілі 5% у 2020 році», – заявили в НБУ. Згідно з повідомленням, у липні 2018 року споживча інфляція продовжила уповільнюватися – до 8,9% у річному вимірі, упритул наблизившись до цільового діапазону. У НБУ називають ключовою умовою зниження інфляції до цілі успішне продовження співпраці з Міжнародним валютним фондом. Востаннє Нацбанк підіймав облікову ставку до 17,5% у липні. 2 березня НБУ підвищив облікову ставку з 16 до 17 відсотків річних. Перед цим регулятор підвищував ставку у січні – до 16% річних, перед тим до 14,5% у грудні 2017 року, а ще раніше у жовтні 2017 року – з 12,5 до 13,5%. У березні 2015 року НБУ облікова ставка була на рівні 30%, згодом регулятор почав поступово знижувати облікову ставку. Облікова ставка є одним із інструментів, за допомогою якого Нацбанк встановлює для комерційних банків орієнтир щодо вартості залучених і розміщених коштів. Фактично вона визначає ціну грошей. …

В.о. міністра фінансів України зустрілася з представниками місії МВФ

В.о. міністра фінансів України Оксана Маркарова зустрілася з делегацією Міжнародного валютного фонду на чолі з керівником місії Роном ван Роденом та постійним представником МВФ в Україні Йостою Люнгманом, повідомила прес-служба Мінфіну. «Візит місії МВФ – позитивний сигнал у відносинах України з фондом. Станом на сьогодні ми вже виконали більшість зобов’язань перед МВФ в рамках поточної програми співробітництва», – заявила Маркарова. Згідно з повідомленням, під час зустрічі українська сторона обговорювала з МВФ «подальші кроки в рамках двосторонньої співпраці, включно з можливістю отримання фінансової допомоги для збереження та підтримки макроекономічної стабільності». 6 вересня у Києві розпочала роботу місія Міжнародного валютного фонду, яка перебуватиме в Україні до 19 вересня 2018 року. Постійний представник фонду в Україні Йоста Люнгман заявляв, що представники місії під час візиту обговорюватимуть останні економічні події й економічну політику. У червні прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман визнав, що підвищення цін на газ для населення залишається серед вимог Міжнародного валютного фонду, і додав, що уряд не має «простої відповіді» на це питання. Національний банк України розраховує отримати транш від МВФ до кінця 2018 року. У березні 2015 року між МВФ і Україною була затверджена чотирирічна програма розширеного фінансування на суму близько 17,5 мільярда доларів США. Наразі МВФ надав Україні за цією програмою близько 8 мільярдів 380 мільйонів доларів. …

В НБУ сподіваються на транш МВФ до кінця року

Національний банк розраховує на позитивне рішення Міжнародного валютного фонду щодо отримання траншу до кінця року, сказав голова НБУ Яків Смолій на брифінгу. «Ми прогнозуємо, що переговори з місією МВФ будуть успішними і що ми досягнемо консенсусу щодо отримання чергового траншу до кінця року», – сказав Смолій. При цьому він не уточнив, на який розмір траншу від МВФ варто сподіватися Україні. Смолій назвав успішну співпрацю з МВФ ключовою умовою зниження інфляції. «Отримання кредитних коштів від Фонду та пов’язаного фінансування від інших партнерів України сприятиме зміцненню макрофінансової стабільності та слугуватиме позитивним сигналом для учасників ринку щодо подальшого поступу у здійсненні реформ в Україні», – зазначив глава НБУ. Читайте також: В НБУ очікують транш МВФ на 2 мільярди доларів до грудня 6 вересня у Києві розпочала роботу місія Міжнародного валютного фонду, яка перебуватиме тут до 19 вересня 2018 року. Як раніше заявляв постійний представник фонду в Україні Йоста Люнгман, представники місії під час візиту обговорюватимуть останні економічні події й економічну політику. У червні прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман визнав, що підвищення цін на газ для населення залишається серед вимог Міжнародного валютного фонду, і додав, що уряд не має «простої відповіді» на це питання. У березні 2015 року між МВФ і Україною була затверджена чотирирічна програма розширеного фінансування на суму близько 17,5 мільярда доларів США. Наразі МВФ надав Україні за цією програмою близько 8 мільярдів 380 мільйонів доларів. …

Місія МВФ 6 вересня починає роботу в Києві

Місія Міжнародного валютного фонду 6 вересня прибуває до Києва і перебуватиме тут до 19 вересня 2018 року. Як раніше заявляв постійний представник фонду в Україні Йоста Люнгман, представники місії під час візиту обговорюватимуть останні економічні події й економічну політику. За словами Люнгмана, серед питань, про які йтиметься, буде також фінансова допомога від МВФ на підтримку політики, спрямованої на забезпечення макроекономічної стабільності в Україні і подальшого руху економіки країни в напрямку сталого й інклюзивного зростання. У червні прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман визнав, що підвищення цін на газ для населення залишається серед вимог Міжнародного валютного фонду, і додав, що уряд не має «простої відповіді» на це питання. Читайте також: Потрібна підтримка МВФ, бо Україна на межі глибокої економічної кризи – експерти У квітні Міжнародний валютний фонд заявив, що Україні потрібно деполітизувати процес формування цін на енергоресурси. У МВФ неодноразово заявляли, що Україні для отримання чергового траншу необхідно ухвалити закон про Антикорупційний суд і привести ціни на газ до рівня ринкових. У березні 2015 року між МВФ і Україною була затверджена чотирирічна програма розширеного фінансування на суму близько 17,5 мільярда доларів США. Наразі МВФ надав Україні за цією програмою близько 8 мільярдів 380 мільйонів доларів. Міністерство фінансів України очікувало на надходження нового траншу кредиту МВФ на початку 2018 року. У квітні в Нацбанку заявили, що очікують траншу від Міжнародного валютного фонду в третьому кварталі. …

Gordon Fizzles; Hurricane Florence Waits in the Wings

09/05/2018 sellheal

Tropical Storm Gordon weakened Wednesday into a tropical depression, while forecasters kept their eyes on a strong storm churning in the Atlantic. Gordon never strengthened into a hurricane but still brought misery along the central U.S. Gulf Coast. The storm knocked out power, caused floods and spawned several tornadoes. It was responsible for at least one death, when a large piece of a tree fell on a mobile home in Pensacola, Florida, killing a 10-month-old baby. Flash flood watches were out from the Florida Panhandle west to as far north as Illinois as Gordon moved farther inland. Meanwhile, forecasters were watching Florence, a strong Category 4 storm that was about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) east of Bermuda as of late Wednesday. Forecasters predicted Florence would weaken a bit over the next few days but would still be a powerful storm as it crept closer to Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast. That arrival was expected early next week. Florence would be the first major Atlantic hurricane of the season to make landfall. …

Warnings of Huge Disruption as Britain Prepares for Possible Cliff-Edge Brexit

Britain risks huge disruptions to its economy and society, including trade, transport, health care and citizens’ rights, if it leaves the European Union next March without a deal. That’s the conclusion of a new report on the short-term risks of a so-called ‘no-deal Brexit.’ The report comes as lawmakers return to London after a six-week summer break to face growing uncertainty over Britain’s future relations with the EU. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

Canada’s Strong-willed Foreign Minister Leads Trade Talks

She is many things that would seem to irritate President Donald Trump: a liberal Canadian former journalist. That makes Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland an unusual choice to lead Canada’s negotiations over a new free trade deal with a surprisingly hostile U.S. administration. Recruited into politics by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Freeland has already clashed with Russia and Saudi Arabia. Those who know her say she’s unlikely to back down in a confrontation with Trump. “She is everything the Trump administration loathes,” said Sarah Goldfeder, a former official with the U.S. Embassy in Canada. Freeland, a globalist negotiating with a U.S. administration that believes in economic nationalism and populism, hopes to salvage a free trade deal with Canada’s largest trading partner as talks resumed Wednesday in Washington. The 50-year-old Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar speaks five languages and has influential friends around the world. “I have enormous sympathy for her because she is negotiating with an unpredictable, irrational partner,” said CNN host Fareed Zakaria, a friend of Freeland’s for 25 years. Freeland cut short a trip to Europe last week after Trump reached a deal with Mexico that excluded Canada. Talks with Canada resumed but Trump said he wasn’t willing to make any concessions. The Trump administration left Canada out of the talks for five weeks not long after the president vowed to make Canada pay after Trudeau said at the G-7 in Quebec he wouldn’t let Canada get pushed around in trade talks. Freeland then poked the U.S. when she …

Major Opioid Maker to Pay for Overdose-Antidote Development

09/05/2018 sellheal

A company whose prescription opioid marketing practices are being blamed for sparking the addiction and overdose crisis says it’s helping to fund an effort to make a lower-cost overdose antidote. OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma announced Wednesday that it’s making a $3.4 million grant to Harm Reduction Therapeutics, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, to help develop a low-cost naloxone nasal spray. The announcement comes as lawsuits from local governments blaming Purdue, based in Stamford, Connecticut, and other companies in the drug industry for using deceptive marketing practices to encourage heavy prescribing of the powerful and addictive painkillers. Last week, the number of lawsuits against the industry being overseen by a federal judge topped 1,000. The Cleveland-based judge, Dan Polster, is pushing the industry to settle with the plaintiffs — mostly local governments and Native American tribes — and with state governments, most of which have sued in state court or are conducting a joint investigation. Hundreds of other local governments are also suing in state courts across the country. The sides have had regular settlement discussions, but it’s not clear when a deal might be struck in the case, which is complicated by the number of parties and questions on how to assign blame. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdoses killed a record 72,000 Americans last year. The majority of the deaths involved opioids. But a growing number of them are from illicit synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, rather than prescription opioids such as OxyContin or Vicodin. Governments …

Trump Team, Canada Officials Resume Talks to Revamp NAFTA

Trump administration officials and Canadian negotiators are resuming talks to try to keep Canada in a North American trade bloc with the United States and Mexico. “We are looking forward to constructive conversations today,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters as she entered a meeting with U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer. Last week, the United States and Mexico reached a preliminary agreement to replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. But those talks excluded Canada, the third NAFTA country. Freeland flew to Washington last week for four days of negotiations to try to keep Canada within the regional trade bloc. The U.S. and Canada are sparring over issues including U.S. access to Canada’s protected dairy market and American plans to protect some drug companies from generic competition. …

East Africa Gets Easy Money Transfer System

An international money transfer company has launched an online service for East Africans to send and receive money more easily. Analysts say WorldRemit will lower the cost of transferring money and boost African trade and economies. Africa has become a thriving market for money transfer companies as its telecommunication facilities improve and its economies grow. WorldRemit, a British-based money transfer company, recently launched a new digital service in four East African countries. The company facilitates the transfer of at least $1.6 billion to Africa each year. The co-founder and the head of WorldRemit, Ismail Ahmed, told VOA how money transfers in Africa have changed over the years. “When we launched our services, 99 percent of remittances were cash both on the sending and receiving side. But today that is changing fast and in the next few years we think as much as 50 to 60 percent of international remittances would move from traditional physical cash, traditional remittances, to digital. And that’s why our services has grown very fast in the last few years,” he said. Ahmed said that as transactions become digital, the cost of each transfer comes down, and tracking money becomes easier. “It’s easier for businesses and individuals to move within countries but also across countries. It’s easier to fight financial crime because once the transaction becomes digital, there is an audit trail compared to cash where there is no audit trail,” he said. Gerrishon Ikiara is an international economic affairs lecturer at the University of Nairobi. He …

Collapsing Emerging-Market Currencies Spark Concerns

First it was Argentina, quickly followed by Turkey. Now anxious investors and policy-makers are watching with alarm the plummeting currencies of several emerging-market economies, most of which have borrowed heavily in dollars. The nosediving currencies are prompting fears of a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crash or the “Tequila Effect” of Mexico’s 1994 financial crisis. Or is something even worse coming — a financial contagion to compare with 2008? Argentina’s peso dropped 29 percent against the U.S. dollar in August, the worst performer among major emerging-market currencies. Turkey’s currency followed closely, with a 25 percent slide.South Africa’s rand saw an almost 10 percent drop. The Indonesian rupiah fell to its weakest level since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, while India’s currency slid into unprecedented territory against the dollar. September has seen no major uplift in those currencies. The Turkish lira is down 40 percent to the U.S. dollar this year, sparking mounting alarm over the sustainability of the country’s sizable dollar-denominated debts held primarily by its banks and businesses rather than the government. The foreign exchange markets are jittery with traders watching to see if more countries start joining the troubled list, which would indicate contagion is underway. African countries like Angola, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Mozambique could be vulnerable. And in a worst-case scenario even more developed economies like Chile, Poland and Hungary, which are also shouldering large foreign-currency debts above 50 percent of their GDPs, could be impacted, say some financial analysts. Corporate debt in emerging and developing …

Кабмін підвищує мінімальні ціни на алкоголь

09/05/2018 sellbiz

Кабінет Міністрів України підвищив мінімальні оптово-відпускні та роздрібні ціни на алкогольні напої, ухваливши на своєму засіданні 5 вересня відповідну постанову. Згідно з постановою, ціни на горілку і лікеро-горілчані вироби зростуть на 12,4-19,6%; віскі, ром і джин – на 12%; коньяк – на 6,6-9,5% і вина – на 4,5-13,5%. Так мінімальну роздрібну ціну на півлітрову пляшку горілки пропонується підвищити до 89,4 гривні. Мінімальні оптово-відпускні ціни на горілку і лікеро-горілчані вироби підвищуються до 321 гривні за літр 100%-го спирту. Мінімальні ціни на вина натуральні підвищені до 42 гривень за пляшку 0,7 літра у роздрібній торгівлі, на кріплені вина і вермути – до 49 гривень, на шампанське за пляшку 0,7 літра – до 89 гривень. Постановою передбачене збільшення мінімальної оптово-відпускної ціни коньяку «три зірки» з нинішніх 386,98 гривні за літр 100% -го спирту до 412,5 гривні, роздрібної – з 597,3 гривні до 641,6 гривні, «чотири зірки» – з 412,85 гривні до 455,2 гривні і з 645,17 гривні до 696,7 гривні. Для коньяку «п’ять зірок» мінімальна оптова ціна знижена з 495,95 гривні до 481,6 гривні, тоді як роздрібна підвищена з 692,6 гривні до 758,3 гривні. Згідно з пояснювальною запискою, попереднього разу мінімальні ціни на алкогольну продукцію були затверджені у вересні 2017 року. Зазначається, що підвищення мінімальних цін на алкоголь пов’язане зі зростанням цін на складові, компоненти виробництва, зокрема, цін на спирт, тару, комплектуючі. Урядова постанова набуде чинності через 10 днів після її опублікування. Минулого року необхідність підвищення цін на алкоголь в уряді обґрунтовували зростанням ставок акцизного збору та прагненням захистити споживачів від контрафактної та сурогатної …

Scientist Trains Cameroon’s Future Innovators with Focus on Girls

09/05/2018 sellheal

The technology sector provides many jobs for today’s innovators. But one scientist and teacher in Cameroon says there’s no reason why women should not be part of that technological growth. She’s making it her goal to prepare more young girls to enter the workforce. Arash Arabasadi reports. …

Wild Blueberries Sing the Blues, With Industry in Decline

In the era of superfoods, Maine blueberries aren’t so super. The Maine wild blueberry industry harvests one of the most beloved fruit crops in New England, but it’s locked in a downward skid in a time when other nutrition-packed foods, from acai to quinoa, dominate the conversation about how to eat. And questions linger about when, and if, the berry will be able to make a comeback. The little blueberries are touted by health food bloggers and natural food stores because of their hefty dose of antioxidants. They’re also deeply ingrained in the culture of New England, and they were the inspiration for “Blueberries for Sal,” a beloved 1948 children’s book. But the industry that picks and sells them is dealing with a long-term price drop, drought, freezes, diseases and foreign competition, and farmers are looking at a second consecutive year of reduced crop size. At Beech Hill Blueberry Farm in Rockport, this year’s harvest was off by about 50 percent, said Ian Stewart, who runs the land trust that manages the farm. “Our year was a little underwhelming. There was a lot of drought. There was a freeze at a bad time,” Stewart said. “We’re hoping it’s a blip. We’ll see.” North America’s wild blueberry industry exists only in Maine and Atlantic Canada, and an oversupply of berries in both places caused prices to harvesters to plummet around 2015. Recent years have brought new challenges, such as particularly bad spells of mummy berry disease, a fungal …

Venezuelan Gas Lines Stretch as New Payment System Flops

Frustrated Venezuelan drivers faced lengthy lines for gasoline in border states Tuesday as the government struggled to roll out a new payment system that President Nicolas Maduro says will reduce smuggling of heavily subsidized fuel. Maduro says the payment system will pave the way for charging international prices for fuel, a massive increase given that gas is now almost free, as his government seeks to shore up state coffers amid a hyperinflationary economic meltdown. Any increase would mark the first time in 20 years that the OPEC member has significantly raised domestic fuel prices, which have been a sensitive issue ever since deadly riots broke out in 1989 in response to austerity measures that included higher gasoline prices. Fatherland Card flops The pilot program that began Tuesday in eight states was supposed to provide service stations with wireless devices that use a state-backed identification document called the Fatherland Card to carry out fuel transactions. “I see a lot of disorganization because they haven’t started making this work yet,” said Jose Coronel, 26, a civil servant, as he waited in line at a gas station in the border town of Ureña. “I can see that it’s difficult to control smuggling.” At gas stations along the border with neighboring Colombia, the new machines were either not installed or not functioning properly, according to drivers filling up their tanks and two gas station attendants in two different states. The new payment system will provide a subsidy to motorists with a Fatherland Card, directly …

Inactivity Puts Quarter of Adults’ Health at Risk, WHO Says

09/04/2018 sellheal

More than a quarter of the world’s adults — 1.4 billion people — exercise too little, putting them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and cancers, according to a World Health Organization-led study. In 2016, around one in three women and one in four men worldwide were not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity to stay healthy — at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. There has been no improvement in global levels of physical activity since 2001, according to the study, which was conducted by WHO researchers and published Tuesday in The Lancet Global Health. The highest rates of lack of exercise in 2016 were in adults in Kuwait, American Samoa, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, where more than half of all adults were not active enough to protect their health. By comparison, around 40 percent of adults in the United States, 36 percent in Britain and 14 percent in China did too little exercise to stay healthy. “Unlike other major global health risks, levels of insufficient physical activity are not falling worldwide, on average, and over a quarter of all adults are not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity for good health,” said Regina Guthold of the WHO, who co-led the research. Noncommunicable diseases The WHO says insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for premature death worldwide. It raises the risk of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. By becoming more active, …

Alaska Village Experiences Boom in Polar Bear Tourism

A tiny Alaska Native village has experienced a boom in tourism in recent years as polar bears spend more time on land than on diminishing Arctic sea ice. More than 2,000 people visited the northern Alaska village of Kaktovik on the Beaufort Sea last year to see polar bears in the wild, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday. The far north community is located on north shore of Barter Island on the Beaufort Sea coast in an area where rapid global warming has sped up the movement of sea ice, the primary habitat of polar bears. As ice has receded to deep water beyond the continental shelf, more bears are remaining on land to look for food. The village had fewer than 50 visitors annually before 2011, said Jennifer Reed of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “Today we’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of visitors, many from around the world, each year,” Reed said. Polar bears have always been a common sight on sea ice near Kaktovik, but residents started noticing a change in the mid-1990s. More bears seemed to stay on land, and researchers began taking note of more female bears making dens in the snow on land instead of on the ice. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists began hearing reports of increasing numbers of polar bears in the area in the early 2000s, Reed said. As more attention was given to the plight of polar bears about a decade ago, more tourists stated heading to Kaktovik. Bears stranded Most …

Gene Therapy Breakthrough Wins World’s Largest Vision Award

09/04/2018 sellheal

Seven scientists in the United States and Britain who have come up with a revolutionary gene therapy cure for a rare genetic form of childhood blindness won a 1 million euro ($1.15 million) prize Tuesday, Portugal’s Champalimaud Foundation said. Established in 2006, the annual award for work related to vision is one of the world’s largest science prizes, more than the latest 9 million Swedish crown ($987,000) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “This is the first, and still only, example of successful gene therapy in humans that corrects an inherited genetic defect and is therefore a milestone in medical therapeutics,” said Alfred Sommer, Dean Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and chairman of the award jury. One of those honored, Michael Redmond of the National Eye Institute in Maryland, had traced the cause of the disease, Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), to a mutated gene. Three cooperating research teams later managed to replace the gene in the eye, restoring vision to treated children and adults with one form of LCA and “enabling the entire field of gene therapy for human disease,” the foundation said. These teams are comprised of U.S. scientists Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire; Samuel Jacobson and William Hauswirth; and Britons Robin Ali and James Bainbridge. Their gene augmentation therapy involved the delivery of healthy genes using engineered harmless viruses, described by the foundation as “an elegant solution.” The foundation, which focuses on neuroscience and oncology research at its Lisbon base, was set up …

Cars Now Cruising Down the Monthly Subscription Highway

If you already subscribe to digital services like Netflix to binge on TV shows and Spotify to groove to an endless mix of music, the auto industry might have a deal for you: Subscribe to your next car as well. Make that cars, plural. Some of these packages — which charge a monthly fee for the bundled use of a car, insurance and maintenance — let you trade in your vehicle on a regular basis, sometimes almost as readily as you can skip to a new tune on Spotify. These still-developing car subscription programs are gaining traction among motorists who don’t want to be locked into the hassles of car ownership or even multiyear leasing commitments. All they want is a vehicle available whenever they want or need it. “It feels like Christmas morning every time they bring me a new car,” said Steve Barnes, a video producer who subscribes to a high-end vehicle subscription program offered through Clutch Technologies, a startup operating in the Atlanta area. Although they’re still in their infancy, car subscriptions are hooking more motorists as both long-established automakers and startups roll out plans. How it works Ford, a 115-year-old automaker with a network of more than 3,000 dealers, expanded into car subscriptions about 16 months ago through Canvas, a subsidiary in San Francisco. Canvas offers a variety of used, once-leased Ford and Lincoln models as subscriptions that cost anywhere from $379 per month (for a Ford Fiesta subcompact) to $1,125 per month (for a Lincoln …

US Factory Activity Hits 14-Year High; Supply Constraints Rising

U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated to more than a 14-year high in August, boosted by a surge in new orders, but increasing bottlenecks in the supply chain because of a robust economy and import tariffs could restrain further growth. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey was at odds with another survey published on Tuesday that suggested a peak in manufacturing and pointed to a slowdown in the months ahead against the backdrop of a strong dollar. Recent surveys have also signaled a cooling in regional factory activity. “The surge in the ISM manufacturing index is difficult to square with other evidence, which indicate that growth in the factory sector has started to slow,” said Michael Pearce, a senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in New York. “With export orders now waning as a result of the dollar’s rapid appreciation over the past few months, we still think that growth in the factory sector will slow in the coming quarters.” The ISM said its index of national factory activity jumped to 61.3 last month, the best reading since May 2004, from 58.1 in July. A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy. The ISM described demand as remaining “robust,” but cautioned that “the nation’s employment resources and supply chains continue to struggle.” According to the ISM, survey respondents were “again overwhelmingly concerned about tariff-related activity, including how reciprocal tariffs will impact company revenue and current manufacturing locations.” President Donald Trump’s “America First” trade policy has led to an escalating trade war with China and tit-for-tat import tariffs with other trading partners, including …

Qatar Lifts Controversial Exit Visa System for Workers

Qatar amended its residency laws on Tuesday to allow foreign workers to leave the country without exit permits from their employers, a provision which labour rights groups have long said should be abolished. Doha is keen to show it is tackling allegations of worker exploitation as it prepares to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, which it has presented as a showcase of its progress and development. Most migrant workers would be able to leave the country without having to obtain permits from their employers under the law, said the International Labour Organization in a statement via its Doha office. The ILO hailed the move as a “significant step” for gas-rich Qatar, which committed last year to introducing sweeping labour reforms, including changes to the exit visa system. “The ILO welcomes the enactment of Law No. 13, which will have a direct and positive impact on the lives of migrant workers in Qatar,” said Houtan Homayounpour, the head of the ILO office in Doha, which was set up in April. The official Qatar News Agency confirmed the adoption of Law No. 13, saying it amended “certain provisions” of previous laws regulating the entry, exit and residency of expatriates. It did not specify which provisions or offer details on the changes. Labour and rights groups have attacked Qatar for its “kafala” sponsorship system, which is common in Gulf states where large portions of the population is foreign. Qatar’s system still requires the country’s 1.6 million mainly Asian foreign workers to obtain …

Aid Agency: Yemen’s Plunging Economy Threatens to Kill More People Than War