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Are you still undecided?

PCH VECTOR-FREEPIK

FOR this coming race in May or even past political surveys, I confess I have not been approached for my preference “if the elections are held today.” My closest brush with surveys deals with customer feedback in restaurants. I always answer this with a stub of a pencil with no eraser. (Was your carrot soup free of dead flies?)

Surveys have a biased sample in terms of those bothering to fill up forms, maybe out of sheer frustration with the service, or those randomly approached by masked researchers and stopping to be queried on their take on a free chocolate chip cookie sample. (Can I take two more?)

With online surveys, the concept of randomized and stratified respondents just got more complicated. Trolls, even from outside the country, can participate in electoral preference surveys even if they can’t vote. In-person surveys have become more challenging with the pandemic making one suspicious of any approaching masked stranger walking towards a respondent poised to ask questions. Time to walk away.

There is nothing wrong with not making up one’s mind until it’s time to vote. Even the undecided knows the candidates he loathes. These hate objects are more obvious to him than the one he will eventually choose, maybe between two possibilities.

Winnability becomes a factor as the election time approaches. Casting a vote on principle may be considered a wasted ballot if the preferred classmate is at the bottom of the survey heap as an asterisk.

Isn’t voter education concerned with providing more information on the candidates, both positive and negative — for the benefit of the undecided? The paid ads don’t provide an unbiased projection of the candidate. And fake news is just meant to muddle the issue.

The undecided may be waiting for more information. Are debates going to help? Theoretically, they provide the opportunity for fence sitters (with small letters) to make up their minds.

In this election, there seem to be few undecided voters left.

True believers stick to their candidates no matter how they do in debates. Anyway, these events are pretty much anticipated with the questions and issues known in advance, so seeming to be brilliant and up to date on the effect of the pandemic on the economy, the effectiveness of the war on drugs, and the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, can put the candidate at par with the interviewers and debate hosts in terms of preparedness.

Responses are not as off-the-cuff as they are made to appear, even with the time constraints. Still, the gong and switching off the audio when the allotted time is up is often a relief for the respondent.

Debates or serial answers to the same questions are supposed to define the candidates. But most answers seem too pat and don’t really help the undecided to change his uncertain status. Up to the day before he goes to the polls, he may not have made up his mind. There are, after all, other positions to fill up aside from the top two.

It’s best to appreciate the importance of customer (or voter) feedback, as in our restaurant. The survey form is intended to get a reading of how the service went and whether the customer liked the food he was served. The information is important in improving customer retention, and hoping for continued patronage — how can we improve the product?

So, when the customer comes back, he will not be as undecided as he may have been in his previous visit. He knows what he likes and what to order — the dish his companion seemed to have enjoyed?

In this election, with just about three months to go, there are probably few undecided voters left. Still, after more information from the interviews and debates, as well as pending cases and surprise revelations in late night announcements, some certainties may be shaken up.

So, as in the restaurant where we already know what to order on the next visit, it may be good to have a second choice, in case the first preference is unavailable. (Yes, it used to be on the menu.) But due to supply chain disruptions from the pandemic or the disqualification of certain ingredients due to their already expired status, it is good to have a second choice.

At some point, there will be no undecided left… as the counting begins.

 

Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Macron calls for calm to resolve Ukraine crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 1, 2022. — REUTERS

KYIV — French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to meet Vladimir Putin since Russia massed troops near Ukraine, said on Tuesday he believed steps can be taken to de-escalate the crisis and called on all sides to stay calm.

Mr. Macron, who in contrast to the US and British leaders, has played down the likelihood that Russia may soon invade its neighbor, shuttled from Moscow to Kyiv on Tuesday in a bid to mediate a settlement and avoid war.

The French president had no breakthroughs to announce but Mr. Macron said he thought his talks had helped prevent the crisis from escalating further. He said he had never expected “for one second” that Mr. Putin would make concessions.

Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had told him they were committed to the principles of a 2014 peace agreement, he said, adding that this deal, known as the Minsk accords, offered a path to resolving their ongoing disputes.

“This shared determination is the only way allowing us to create peace, the only way to create a viable political solution,” Mr. Macron told a joint news conference with Zelensky.

“Calm … is essential from all parties in words and in deeds,” Mr. Macron said, praising Mr. Zelensky for the “sangfroid” he and the Ukrainian people were showing as Russia amasses more than 100,000 troops, tanks and heavy weapons on Ukraine’s borders.

Mr. Zelensky made clear he was sceptical of any assurances Mr. Macron may have received from Mr. Putin. “I do not really trust words, I believe that every politician can be transparent by taking concrete steps,” he said.

Moscow denies any plans to invade but is seeking sweeping concessions from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance which has underpinned security in western Europe since 1949.

The demands include a promise of no missile deployments near Russia’s borders, a scaling back of NATO infrastructure and a ban on Ukraine ever joining the alliance.

Russia’s military build-up gained momentum on Tuesday with the arrival of three warships in the Black Sea, according to a Reuters witness. Turkish sources said another three were expected to pass through the Bosporus on Wednesday, in what Russia’s Interfax news agency reported as a pre-planned exercise.

Mr. Macron flew later to Berlin for meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In a statement alongside Mr. Macron before the talks began, Mr. Scholz told reporters: “Our common goal is to prevent a war in Europe.”

“Our appraisal of the situation is united, as is our position on this: any further attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is unacceptable and will draw wide-reaching consequences for Russia — politically, economically and geo-strategically,” he added.

Mr. Macron and Mr. Scholz also met in Berlin with Polish President Andrzej Duda. The French presidency said after the talks the three leaders expressed their joint support for Ukrainian sovereignty.

The meeting further illustrated the European convergence on a “committed and demanding approach” toward Russia, the French presidency added.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, asked in an interview with CNN about the likelihood of a Russian invasion, said: “There’s no certainty but what we see is a continued military buildup with more and more forces… The warning time is going down and the risk of an attack is going up.”

  The United States and European Union have threatened Russia with sanctions if it attacks Ukraine. Moscow, still Europe’s biggest energy supplier despite already being under sanctions since seizing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, has largely dismissed new sanctions as an empty threat.

While Western countries have stood together to back Ukraine, they disagree about the likelihood of war.

French officials have suggested they think Washington has overstated the threat, and Kyiv has also played down the likelihood of a large-scale invasion.

Mr. Macron, who is expected to stand for re-election in April, said before he left on his trip to Moscow that he believed Russia did not have designs on Ukraine but wanted to renegotiate European security arrangements.

But whatever Moscow’s true aims, Western countries say they cannot safely assume the crisis will end without war unless Russia pulls back its troops.

The European Central Bank is preparing banks for a possible Russian-sponsored cyber attack as tensions with Ukraine mount, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the region braces for the financial fallout of any conflict.

Japan would divert some LNG to Europe if the Ukraine crisis disrupted supplies, national broadcaster NHK reported. — Reuters

Novavax underdelivers on COVID vaccine promises

Image via Jernej Furman/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

NOVAVAX, INC. has delivered just a small fraction of the 2 billion COVID-19 shots it plans to send around the world in 2022 and has delayed first-quarter shipments in Europe and lower income countries such as the Philippines, public officials involved in their government’s vaccine rollouts told Reuters.

Novavax said it has completed delivery of around 10 million vaccine doses to Indonesia and that shipments of several million shots arrived in Australia and New Zealand on Monday. The company declined to comment on the exact number of deliveries it has made but said it is moving as quickly as possible to ship its contracted supplies for this quarter.

Some shipments have been held up by regulatory processes and are waiting in a distribution warehouse to go to healthcare providers, Novavax spokesperson Amy Speak said.

Novavax shares fell nearly 10% in early trading.

Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax, which had never launched a product, had ambitions to provide a vaccine for the world, promising to deliver its shots by mid-2021.

When the tiny company missed 2021 targets, buyers turned to rivals including Pfizer, Inc./BioNTech SE, Moderna, Inc., and Chinese drugmakers.

Shipments to the European Union (EU), Indonesia and the Philippines were held back by a late regulatory approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), export limitations of its production partner the Serum Institute of India, and delayed approval of individual vaccine batches by European regulators, who must vet the shots before they can be distributed, according to officials in those regions.

The delivery delays have left at least one country reconsidering its Novavax order.

The company has yet to deliver vaccine on its largest contract for 1.1 billion doses to COVAX — a global vaccine distribution program for poorer countries — which would make Novavax its third largest supplier, according to business data and analytics firm GlobalData Plc.

Novavax did not provide a timeline but told Reuters it expects to deliver around 80 million doses in the current quarter to COVAX, less than 10%.

A spokesperson for the GAVI vaccine alliance that co-runs COVAX with the WHO said it expected Novavax doses to be delivered soon.

“It’s concerning when they have been saying they have been ready to ship millions of doses but the numbers you’re hearing are different,” said Mayank Mamtani, a healthcare analyst at B. Riley Securities.

Novavax is expected to earn around $5 billion in 2022 from COVID-19 vaccine sales, according to Refinitiv data.

Its two-dose vaccine has been authorized by WHO and European Union regulators, as well as countries including India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Trial data has shown the vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing severe illness and death.

Low- and middle-income countries will feel the pinch the most if Novavax is missing planned shipments, said Stephen Morrison, the director of the global health policy at Washington D.C. research group Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s going to be painful for COVAX and painful for its bilateral partners.”

Novavax began delivering Serum Institute-produced doses to Indonesia late last year.

Although India has said Serum Institute shipped around 10 million shots to Indonesia in November and December, an Indonesian official who declined to be named said the country has received only around 200,000 doses. The Indian government has cleared 20 million Serum shots to be shipped to Indonesia, Novavax said.

RENEGOTIATING ITS CONTRACT
A Philippines official said the country has not received any of the 30 million shots it ordered.

The Philippines is renegotiating its contract and considering reducing its order from Novavax, in part because it has 96 million vaccine doses in its national stockpile, said Vaccination Secretary Carlito Galvez, head of COVID-19 vaccine procurement for Philippines. The country has authorized nine COVID vaccines.

Novavax did not comment on the Philippines deliveries or new contract but said it is working with governments to meet regulatory requirements for release of doses.

Novavax had said it would roll out shots in Europe by January but that has been delayed, the company spokesperson said. The initial shipments from Serum Institute were delivered to its distribution facility in the Netherlands and are awaiting final regulatory clearance for release, she said.

At least two EU countries have pushed back their planned timelines for administering Novavax shots as a result, a person familiar with the matter said.

Novavax has had difficulty getting the final regulatory nod because it has yet to provide sufficient information about batches produced in India, a person familiar with discussions between Novavax and EU officials said. Under the EU deal, initial supplies to the bloc would come from India.

Dutch health authority RIVM, which is tasked with clearing the batches, declined to comment on the reason for the timing but said the vaccine will be available from early March.

“We expect to ship as soon as the testing and release is complete and we are working to make that happen as quickly as possible,” the Novavax spokesperson said.

The UK approved Novavax’s shot on Feb. 3, but the drugmaker has not said when it will begin distributing doses there.

Novavax filed for US authorization late last month, almost a year after it had originally planned to do so.

Peter Shapiro, a pharmaceutical industry analyst at GlobalData, said: “The question is whether these manufacturing and logistics issues are going to get better with time.” — Reuters

US accuses couple of laundering $4.5 billion in bitcoin tied to 2016 hack

ALEKSI RAISA-UNSPLASH

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — The US Justice Department said on Tuesday it has unraveled its biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft, seizing a record-shattering $3.6 billion in bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of digital currency exchange Bitfinex and arresting a husband-and-wife team on money laundering charges.

Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, New Yorkers who were arrested in Manhattan Tuesday morning, spent the illegal proceeds on items ranging from gold and non-fungible tokens to a $500 Walmart gift card, prosecutors said.

The couple had active public profiles, with Morgan known as rap singer “Razzlekhan,” a pseudonym that she said on her website referred to Genghis Khan “but with more pizzazz.”

It was the Justice Department’s biggest financial seizure, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, adding in a statement that it shows cryptocurrency is “not a safe haven for criminals.”

Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan face charges of conspiring to commit money laundering as well as to defraud the United States. The case was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.

At their initial appearances in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, US Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman set bond at $5 million for Mr. Lichtenstein and $3 million for Ms. Morgan and demanded that their parents post their homes as security for their return to court.

The pair is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin stolen after a hacker broke into Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Justice Department officials said the transactions at the time were valued at $71 million in bitcoin, but with the rise in the currency’s value, the value now is over $4.5 billion.

A key clue may have come from the 2017 bust of an underground digital market used to launder a portion of the funds. US officials said some of the money was transferred to AlphaBay, an anything-goes version of eBay hosted on the dark web.

When the site was taken down, it likely allowed authorities to access AlphaBay’s internal transaction logs and connect them to a cryptocurrency account in Mr. Lichtenstein’s name, according to digital currency tracking company Elliptic.

Bitfinex said in a statement it was working with the Department of Justice to “establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin.”

‘PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM CYBERCRIMINALS’

Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan also tried to launder money via a network of currency exchanges or claimed that the money represented payments to Morgan’s startup, the Department of Justice said.

In addition to her rap singer profile, Morgan had sidelines in the painting, fashion design, and writing worlds, where she pitched herself as a kind of corporate coach. One of her recent pieces was titled, in part, “Tips to Protect Your Business from Cybercriminals” and featured an interview with a cryptocurrency exchange owner about how to prevent fraud.

Ms. Morgan, wearing a white hoodie at her court appearance, frequently glanced back at her parents, who were seated in the audience of the courtroom. Both she and Mr. Lichtenstein, who holds dual US-Russian citizenship, nodded as Ms. Freeman warned them of severe consequences if they tried to flee.

They will both be placed on house arrest, with electronic monitoring, and will be barred from engaging in cryptocurrency transactions pending trial, Ms. Freeman said. A judge in Washington, where further hearings will be held, could later set different conditions, she said.

Prosecutors sought to have both detained ahead of trial, arguing they posed a flight risk. But Ms. Freeman said she was swayed by defense lawyer Anirudh Bansal’s argument that both Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan had known they were under investigation since November and nonetheless remained in the United States.

Tuesday’s criminal complaint came more than four months after Monaco announced the department was launching a new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which comprises a mix of anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts.

Cyber criminals who attack companies, municipalities and individuals with ransomware often demand payment in cryptocurrency.

In one high-profile example last year, former partners and associates of the ransomware group REvil caused a widespread gas shortage on the US East Coast when it used encryption software called DarkSide to launch a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline.

The Justice Department later recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom that Colonial paid to the hackers.

Cases like these demonstrate that the Justice Department “can follow money across the blockchain, just as we have always followed it within the traditional financial system,” said Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general of the department’s Criminal Division. — Reuters

Discovery of Omicron in deer raises concern over possible new variants Use file pic of coronavirus

NEW YORK — The discovery of the Omicron variant in white-tailed deer in New York has raised concerns that the species, numbering 30 million in the United States, could become hosts of a new coronavirus strain, a lead researcher said on Tuesday.

Blood and some nasal swab samples from 131 deer captured on New York’s Staten Island revealed that nearly 15% had virus antibodies. The finding suggested that the animals had previous coronavirus infections and were vulnerable to repeated reinfections with new variants, researchers led by Pennsylvania State University scientists said.

“Circulation of the virus in an animal population always raises the possibility of getting back to humans, but more importantly it provides more opportunities for the virus to evolve into novel variants,” said Suresh Kuchipudi, a Penn State veterinary microbiologist.

“When the virus completely mutates, then it can escape the protection of the current vaccine. So we’d have to change the vaccine again,” Kuchipudi said.

The discovery — the first time Omicron was detected in a wild animal — comes as a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections fueled by the variant are abating among the US human population.

While there is no evidence that animals are transmitting the virus to humans, most coronavirus infections were reported in species that had close contact with a person with COVID-19, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

In August, the US government said it found the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in wild deer in Ohio, expanding the list of animals known to have tested positive for the disease.

The finding was based on samples collected from deer months before the heavily mutated variant Omicron emerged to replace the previously dominant Delta variant in people in countries around the world.

The USDA had previously reported COVID-19 in animals including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas and minks. — Reuters

Peso climbs as oil prices drop

THE PESO rebounded versus the greenback on Wednesday amid a correction in global oil prices and gains in the local stock market.

The local unit closed at P51.34 per dollar on Wednesday, appreciating by 16 centavos from its P51.50 finish on Tuesday, based on data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The peso opened Wednesday’s session stronger at P51.43 versus the dollar. Its weakest showing was at P51.445, while its intraday best was at P51.32 against the greenback.

Dollars exchanged dropped to $992.1 million on Wednesday from $1.005 billion on Tuesday.

The peso closed stronger following a decline in international oil prices following a reported resumption of the US and Iran’s negotiations on a nuclear deal, a trader said in a Viber message.

Reuters reported that oil prices decreased for a third session on Wednesday. Brent crude futures slipped by 8 cents or 0.1% to $90.70 a barrel by 0825 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude declined by 0.2% or 18 cents to $89.18 a barrel.

Both contracts dropped by about 2% on Tuesday as Washington renewed indirect talks with Iran to revive a nuclear deal which could lift US sanctions on Iranian oil and in turn boost supply.

Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort in a Viber message said the peso appreciated on upbeat sentiment due to gains in the local stock market. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 44.25 points or 0.59% to close at 7,502.48 on Wednesday. The broader all shares index likewise increased by 22.40 or 0.57% to 3,951.58.

For Thursday, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P51.25 to P51.45 versus the dollar, while the trader expects the local unit to move within P51.25 to P51.50.

Meanwhile, the dollar stayed in a holding pattern on Wednesday, a day before the release of US consumer price data that may offer new clues on the pace of Federal Reserve policy tightening.

The dollar index — which gauges the greenback against six major peers, including Europe’s single currency — was also little changed at 95.587, after bouncing off a 2-1/2-week low of 95.136 reached Friday. It touched the highest since June 2020 at 97.441 at the end of last month.

The dollar index is “in a holding pattern while markets weigh up the prospect of an abrupt Fed policy tightening against the ECB’s (European Central Bank) hawkish backflip,” Westpac strategists wrote in a client note.

The dollar briefly touched a one-month high versus the yen on Wednesday, boosted by a climb in Treasury yields to multi-year peaks overnight.

The dollar hit 115.69 yen before pulling back to last trade about flat at 115.50.

The Aussie added 0.17% to $0.7156, while sterling added 0.07% to $1.3555. — LWTN with Reuters

PSEi tracks Wall St.’s rise ahead of inflation data

PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

STOCKS advanced on Wednesday to track Wall Street on bargain hunting due to rate hike fears ahead of the release of latest US inflation data.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 44.25 points or 0.59% to end at 7,502.48 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index gained 22.40 points or 0.57% to close at 3,951.58.

“Philippines shares rode on the rebound of Wall Street as investors continued to bargain hunt ahead of Thursday’s key consumer price index report,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said foreign buying continued on Wednesday “as the bond rout has spread from the US to Europe, pushing investment flows into cheaply valued Asian equities with good macro and corporate earnings growth prospects like the Philippines.”

Net foreign buying was at P428.86 million on Wednesday, higher than the P191.24 million recorded on Tuesday.

“The positive spillovers from Wall Street also helped in the climb,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

Asian shares advanced on Wednesday with tech stocks particularly catching a lift following a strong session on Wall Street, while US treasury yields held near multi-year highs ahead of closely watched inflation data this week.

Barring any big surprises, the consumer price index should cement expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, with a strong print offering further support to those tipping a larger 50 basis point rise.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1% to its highest in two weeks, helped by a 3% gain in Hong Kong-listed tech stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.9%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06% to end at 35,462.78 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.84% to 4,521.52. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.28% to 14,194.46.

US Treasury yields held firm in Asian trading, after touching multi-year highs the day before as did yields in the euro zone.

“Market rose as it started pricing in the election spending kick benefiting consumption around 60% of the economy and corporate earnings with the start of the campaign season,” FMIC’s Ms. Ulang added.

Most sectoral indices went up on Wednesday, except for holding firms, which dropped 38.21 points or 0.53% to 7,170.02.

On the other hand, property rose 77.23 points or 2.34% to 3,364.52; services advanced 26.01 points or 1.31% to 2,012.13; mining and oil gained 52.55 points or 0.48% to 10,801.36; industrials climbed 37.40 points or 0.34% to end at 10,848.84; and financials inched up 3.46 points or 0.19% to 1,754.84.

Value turnover jumped to P8.41 billion on Wednesday with 975.43 million shares switching hands from the P6.99 billion with 1.07 billion issues traded the previous day.

Advancers beat decliners, 112 against 89, while 58 names closed unchanged. — MCL with Reuters

Choose your own audio adventure

PIXABAY

The Philippines could easily become a hub for interactive fiction, across both audiobooks and audio-based games, according to Johan Strömberg, chief executive officer of Wanderword, a Swedish interactive mobile content company.

“The Philippines is ripe for an explosion in interactive fiction. The country has been an early adopter and leader in both SMS and social. This digital savvy will lend itself well to works in this genre,” Mr. Strömberg said in a statement.

Interactive fiction was pioneered decades ago by choose-your-own-adventure books and choice-based video games. The genre resurfaced recently in “Bandersnatch,” a highly rated movie under Black Mirror, a sci-fi anthology series produced by Netflix in 2018.

To bring interactive fiction into the country, publishing house Bookshelf PH will produce an in-house line of audiobooks through Fabella, an editing product developed by Wanderword that will let Filipino writers and content creators author and deploy interactive audio content to Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and smartphones — as well as the web.

Fabella’s basic features allow creators to plot out a choose-your-own-adventure story, while its more advanced features can incorporate hit points or level checks, according to Kyle C. Nate, Bookshelf PH deputy editorial director.

“It may be helpful to have a programming background, but it’s still possible to learn with Fabella’s documentation. The Bookshelf PH team is also happy to help any author or publisher who wants to experiment with Fabella,” she said via e-mail.

However, one caveat is that the baked-in text-to-speech voices for narrating the book or game are generally optimized for English.

“Content creators in the Philippines would have to tell their interactive audio content in English or use external voice actors if they wish to still tell it in Filipino or another local dialect,” said Ms. Nate.

Community-building and social media publicity is also the local market’s strength — since a story can take different paths, readers naturally discuss the branches they took and the ending they arrived at across social media.

Monette G. Quiogue, Bookshelf PH executive creative director, said in a statement: “These kinds of interactive audiobooks put the player in the role of the protagonist, where they can actively shape the course of the story rather than just read what happens. Such interactivity is an immersive experience like no other.”

Bookshelf PH is open to collaborations with self-published authors, freelance writers, students, and brands that author books. Interested parties can visit their website, or e-mail hello@bookshelf.com.ph. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

‘No to the IMF’: thousands protest in Argentina against debt deal

BUENOS AIRES – Thousands of Argentines marched through the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to protest against a likely deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revamp more than $40 billion of debt the country cannot pay back.

The protesters paraded through the capital with banners saying “no to paying the IMF” and “no to an IMF deal“, a sign of rising tension in the South American nation over the tentative agreement struck late last month.

Argentina and the IMF announced a breakthrough in talks in late January to revamp a failed 2018 loan, which would see debt payments pushed back but involve pledges to meet certain economic targets agreed with the lender.

That agreement still needs details ironed out and approval from both Argentina‘s Congress and the IMF board.

“No to the government’s deal with the IMF,” said Celeste Fierro, a protest leader, wearing a T-shirt reading “scams are not paid”.

“They want us to pay with more (fiscal) adjustments, with more precariousness and taking more out of us, that is why we cannot allow the submission of our people to the designs of the IMF.”

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said last week that while an agreement had been reached in principle with Argentina on a new standby loan, “hard work” still lay ahead.

In Argentina, splits have appeared in the ruling Peronist coalition over the deal, with one prominent lawmaker stepping down from his position in Congress in opposition to it.

Juan Carlos Giordano, a representative for a leftist group in the march, said that the debt deal was akin to making working class people foot the bill and that the funds should be used to pull people out of poverty.

“The aim is to defend wages, defend work so that the money goes to combat social ills,” he said, blaming the previous government of conservative Mauricio Macri for taking on the IMF debt.

“We are marking a path. The path of no submission, no to resignation, and no to the IMF.” – Reuters

Meta, Chime file lawsuit against alleged phishing scam on Facebook, Instagram

BYCGZR-FREEPIK AND RAWPIXEL.COM-FREEPIK

Facebook parent Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it had filed a joint lawsuit with digital banking company Chime against two Nigeria-based individuals who engaged in phishing attacks to deceive people and gain access to their online financial accounts.

The lawsuit, which is the first joint complaint between Meta and a financial services company, alleged that the defendants used Facebook and Instagram accounts to impersonate Chime and lure people to fake branded phishing websites with the aim of obtaining their Chime account login information and withdrawing funds.

In the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Meta said the defendants used a network of computers to control more than 800 impersonating Instagram accounts and five Facebook accounts, in order to conceal their activity and evade technical enforcement measures.

Reuters could not immediately reach the defendants for comment.

“Impersonation scams are a serious challenge, and this action represents a major step forward in cross-industry collaboration against this abuse,” Meta‘s director of platform enforcement and litigation Jessica Romero said in a blog post.

Fintech company Chime was launched by former Visa Inc executive Chris Britt and Comcast Corp alumnus Ryan King in 2012. Reuters exclusively reported last month that Chime had asked Goldman Sachs to help it with IPO preparations.

Meta said it had taken several previous actions against the defendants since June 2020 for violating its terms, including disabling their accounts, blocking impersonating domains on its platforms and sending cease and desist letters. – Reuters

U.S. December trade data reveals massive shortfall in China’s ‘Phase 1’ purchases

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Ally Thomas from Pixabay

WASHINGTON – U.S. goods exports to China fell in December, cementing a massive shortfall in Beijing’s two-year purchase commitments under the “Phase 1” trade deal negotiated by former President Donald Trump’s administration.

The U.S. Census Bureau said on Tuesday that the United States’ 2021 goods trade deficit with China rose by $45 billion, or 14.5%, to $355.3 billion, the largest since a 2018 record of $418.2 billion.

The 2020 gap was $310.3 billion, a 10-year low driven by coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.

The global U.S. trade deficit in 2021 surged 27% to a record $859.1 billion as businesses restocked inventories to meet robust demand.

 

NO EXTRA PURCHASES

The data showed China by far missed its commitments to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. farm and manufactured goods, energy and services above 2017 levels – the year before a bitter trade war embroiled the world’s two largest economies.

The purchase commitments were the centerpiece of Trump’s Phase 1 trade deal with China, which launched in mid-February 2020 and halted a threatened escalation of tariffs.

The deal also called for China to grant increased U.S. market access to its agricultural biotechnology and financial services sectors and mandated some intellectual property protection improvements.

An analysis of final 2021 Census trade data compiled by economist Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics showed China met just 57% of its full two-year goods and services targets.

Beijing’s purchases of the goods, energy and services targeted in the Phase 1 agreement were not even enough to return to China’s baseline 2017 level of purchases of U.S. imports after retaliatory tariffs had eroded them in 2018 and 2019, he said.

“Put differently, China bought none of the additional $200 billion of exports Trump’s deal had promised,” Bown said in his analysis.

 

China exceeded the 2017 baseline in agricultural purchases, but only reached 83% of the $73.9 billion two-year farm goods target, Bown’s analysis showed.

Services exports to China, which had been a bright spot for U.S. trade, fell sharply as the pandemic slashed Chinese tourism and business travel to the United States and cut the flow of Chinese students to U.S. universities, reaching only 52% of the target.

“We have engaged the PRC (People’s Republic of China) on its shortfalls for months, but have not seen real signs towards making good on the purchase commitments and our patience is wearing thin,” Adam Hodge, a spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, said in an e-mailed statement.

“Regardless of how these negotiations conclude, the fact remains that the Phase One Agreement did not address the core problems with the PRC’s state-led economy,” Hodge said, adding that the Biden administration would “shape the environment around China” by building U.S. competitiveness, diversifying markets and limiting the impact of China’s “harmful practices.”

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said China has been working on implementation of the agreement “despite the impact of COVID-19, global economic recession and supply chain disruptions.”

“The Phase 1 deal benefits China and the U.S. and the whole world,” Liu added.

Beijing has sought the removal of tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods that were left in place by the Phase 1 deal.

The agreement contains a clause that the two parties “project that the trajectory of increases” in China’s purchases “will continue in calendar years 2022 through 2025” without specific targets.

Former USTR chief of staff Jamieson Greer, who helped negotiate the Phase 1 deal, said that clause could be used to pursue “retrospective enforcement for what’s been missed.”

“It’s in the interest of the administration to pursue enforcement,” said Greer, a trade lawyer with King and Spalding.

“With a few kind of narrow exceptions, we haven’t really seen that much enforcement” on trade matters from the Biden administration, he added. – Reuters

Global COVID response program ‘running on fumes’ amid budget shortfall

A global initiative to get COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines to poorer nations has only received 5% of the donations sought to deliver on its aims this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid groups.

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator budgeted $23.4 billion for its efforts from October 2021 to September 2022, of which it hoped $16.8 billion would come in the form of grants from richer countries.

However, so far it has had just $814 million pledged, leaders of the initiative told a media briefing on Tuesday. In addition to the WHO, the project is backed by organizations including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, The Global Fund, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“That’s just a minuscule 5% of what we require. It is time to awaken the conscience of the world,” said the WHO’s global ambassador for health financing, Gordon Brown, a former British prime minister.

On Wednesday, a number of world leaders are set to support publicly the push for more funding, calling for the investment to end the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.

The ACT-Accelerator hub encompasses the COVAX initiative, which has focused on equitable access to vaccines. It also involves providing tests and treatments to low and middle-income countries, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO official who acts as coordinator for the initiative, said it was stuttering due to a lack of funds.

“The global response is running on fumes,” he said.

The lack of funding has been apparent since the start of the pandemic. The gap for the project’s previous budget was $14.5 billion. Partners said the majority of funding so far had gone into COVID-19 vaccines, leaving the other goals – tests, treatments, and PPE – short.

Even so, the initiative has fallen well short of its goal to deliver 2 billion COVID vaccines in 2021, with only 10% of people in low-income countries having received at least one dose of a vaccine, compared to almost 68% in richer countries, according to WHO data.

Brown called for countries to fund the initiative under a “fair share” model based on the size of their own economies, which he said resembled how nations commit to funding United Nations peacekeeping forces. – Reuters

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