Author: Steven Sahiounie

US-China chip war: How the technology dispute is playing outThe US is rapidly ramping up efforts to try to hobble China’s progress in the semiconductor industry – vital for everything from smartphones to weapons of war.In October, Washington announced some of the broadest export controls yet – requiring licences for companies exporting chips to China using US tools or software, no matter where they’re made in the world.Washington’s measures also prevent US citizens and green card holders from working for certain Chinese chip companies. Green card holders are US permanent residents who have the right to work in the country.It…

They say this is good economic news. It might not feel like it Earlier in December, CNN’s Christine Romans wrote about the “yes, but” economy.”Yes, the economy is strong,” she said. “But it comes with a lot of caveats.”Here’s a riff on that for this week: There’s some good news to report, but questions and caveats are looming in the future.Yes, inflation is coolingWell, maybe it’s more accurate to say inflation’s not boiling quite as much. CNN’s Alicia Wallace wrote Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index showed inflation slowing more than many economists expected.”Prices rose 7.1% annually in November, down from 7.7% in…

UK energy suppliers risk going bust – researchDecember 15, 2022Mounting unrecoverable debts could reportedly lead to company failuresThe British energy industry risks seeing more suppliers collapsing on the back of so-called “bad debts” arising from consumer bills, according to a study by energy consultants Cornwall Insight and Complete Strategy.Their joint report showed on Tuesday that household energy suppliers in the UK could be exposed to as much as £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) of debt, a significant portion of which could be unrecoverable.That debt could lead to more supplier failures, with the costs then added to consumer bills, which would further…

Morgan Stanley analysts have raised their forecast for China’s economic growth in 2023, predicting an earlier and sharper rebound in activity. The country’s gross domestic product is seen growing 5.4% next year, up from a previous projection of 5%.“We had previously expected a rebound in activity to materialize from late 2Q23. Now we are projecting mobility to improve from early March,” analysts said on Tuesday, adding that they expect to see a “faster and sharper rise in mobility” to be reflected in the economy starting in the second quarter.They also noted that Chinese policymakers are “taking concerted action to lift…

The billionaire has cashed out nearly $8 billion worth of shares after buying Twitter, according to regulatory filingsElon Musk has sold another 22 million shares in his electric car company Tesla this week, according to filings published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.The stock sale was worth $3.6 billion, bringing Musk’s total Tesla stock off-load this year near $40 billion. The billionaire’s stake in the carmaker now amounts to about 13.4% from around 17% a year ago, according to Refinitiv data.This week’s sale is the second big piece of stock Musk has dumped since his $44-billion…

Germany’s federal government intends to issue a record volume of debt next year to fund costs associated with the energy crisis, the German Finance Agency has revealed.According to the plan released on Wednesday, debt issuance will balloon to about €539 billion ($573 billion) in 2023 from €449 billion ($477 billion) this year. The previous record was in 2021, when the government was attempting to offset the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.Borrowing next year will reportedly include federal bonds worth €274 billion ($291 billion) and a further €242 billion ($257 billion) to be sold on the money market. In addition, between…

The bloc has been boosting purchases from Russia while banning their own exports to the country, the Russian president saysEU countries have been ramping up imports of Russian goods this year despite the numerous rounds of sanctions the bloc has introduced against Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.During his meeting with the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, Putin argued that the EU continues to consume Russian goods, but holds back on supplying its own products to Russia. According to the president, this situation “cannot continue indefinitely” so Russia will be looking for new partners.“It’s interesting to observe…

Canada to reintroduce sanctions on Nord Stream turbinesOttawa plans to revoke a waiver that exempted the pipeline parts for Russia’s oil and gas industryCanada is revoking the waiver that facilitated the repair of turbines in Montreal for Russia’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, and their subsequent return to Germany. The move was announced late on Wednesday in a joint statement by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.The decision was made after consultations with Ukraine, Germany and other European states, according to the statement.“Canada is making this decision recognizing that the circumstances around granting the waiver have…

Ruble’s share in Russian trade has doubled – PutinDecember 15, 2022The president calls the currency “one of the strongest in the world”The share of ruble transactions in Russia’s foreign trade has doubled since the start of the year and now accounts for one third of the country’s settlements, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects.According to the head of state, the use of national currencies instead of the US dollar and euro in trade with Russia’s international partners continues to grow.“We see the development of a convenient and independent…

Microsoft has release the third edition of Cyber Signals, a report spotlighting security trends and insights gathered from Microsoft’s 43 trillion daily security signals and 8,500 security experts. The report provides new insights on wider risks that converging IT, Internet of Things (IoT), and operational technology (OT) systems pose to critical infrastructure.OT is a combination of hardware and software across programmable systems or devices that interact with the physical environment (or manage devices that interact with the physical environment). Examples of OT can include building management systems, fire control systems, and physical access control mechanisms, like doors and elevators.As OT systems…