GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala‘s highest court on Monday sentenced five former paramilitaries to 30 years in prison after they were found guilty of raping 36 Mayan women between 1981 and 1985 during the bloodiest time of the Central American nation’s civil war.

The trial against the former members of the so-called Civil Self-Defense Patrol, armed groups recruited by the army, began three weeks ago.

During the trial, survivors and relatives of the victims of the Achi indigenous group gave testimony.

“The women were subjected to continuous rape and also to domestic slavery,” said Gervi Sical, one of the judges as the sentence was read.

The former patrolmen “disappeared” all the men from a village in Baja Verapaz, in northern Guatemala, and then raped, tied up and threatened the women, Sical said. After being raped, they were urinated on.

Pedrina Lopez, one of the victims, said they were not seeking revenge but rather justice. “We don’t want this to happen again,” she said.

The five former patrolmen are alive and in prison.

In 2016, two soldiers were sentenced for sexual violence, and sexual and domestic slavery of 15 Q’eqchi women, also of Mayan origin. – Reuters

SEOUL – South Korea’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in 11 years in 2021 helped by a jump in exports and construction activity, tempering declines in capital investment and a slow recovery in the coronavirus-hit service sectors.

Record exports drove the rebound but swathes of the economy have fallen behind. Jobs are still vanishing across manufacturing and service sectors, a reminder that liberal President Moon Jae-in’s promises to boost employment have not materialised.

Hours after Bank of Korea data showed the economy expanded 4.0% last year, hundreds of small business owners plan to gather near the National Assembly in Seoul to shave their heads in protest against social distancing rules that have hammered retail and service sector sales.

Sentiment remains pessimistic as South Koreans head to the polls for the 2022 Presidential election slated for March 9.

The main candidates from the ruling and opposition parties have seized on the discontent, making an equitable society a centerpiece of their policy visions.

The BOK expects GDP to grow 3.0% this year as Asia’s fourth-largest economy benefits from strength in semiconductor exports and increased public spending, though record domestic COVID-19 cases this week are a threat to consumption.

“Global demand for our chips is resilient and strong exports will keep (South Korea’s) growth momentum solid,” said Hwang Sang-pil, head of BOK’s Economics Statistics department.

“People are getting used to social distancing curbs. Activity was slower in December but the hit is smaller than before.”

The economy expanded a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in the October-December period from three months earlier, beating the 0.9% expansion tipped in a Reuters poll and up from a 0.3% rise in the third quarter.

From a year earlier, the economy expanded 4.1% in the fourth quarter, also beating a median forecast of 3.7% in the poll.

The BOK on Jan. 14 raised its benchmark interest rate to pre-pandemic levels and signalled it may tighten further as growth and inflationary pressures remain strong.

South Korea’s economy has had a sharp albeit uneven bounce from the coronavirus slump in 2020, when it contracted 0.9%, with exports expanding at their fastest annual pace in 11 years last year while the consumption recovery has been patchy due to social distancing curbs.

A recent Reuters poll of 20 economists forecast the economy will grow 2.9% this year, below the 3.0% projected by the BOK.

Tuesday’s data showed exports were the main driver of growth in the fourth quarter, jumping 4.3% on-quarter.

Growth was also helped by private consumption and construction investment, which expanded 1.7% and 2.9%, respectively.

The service sector grew 1.3% in the fourth quarter, stronger than the third quarter but slower than the second.

Capital investment declined 0.6% on-quarter, following a 2.4% drop in the preceding three months. – Reuters

GENEVA – The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of COVID-19’s acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic.

“It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant and that we are in the end game,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a WHO executive board meeting of the two-year pandemic that has killed nearly 6 million people.

“On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”

Though Omicron has sent total cases soaring to nearly 350 million, its less lethal impact and the increasing prevalence of vaccines has led to optimism in some parts that the worst of the pandemic may have passed.

Tedros, the WHO‘s first African head who is running unopposed for a second term, urged discipline and unity in combatting the coronavirus.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical juncture,” he told a news conference earlier. “We must work together to bring the acute phase of this pandemic to an end. We cannot let it continue to drag on, lurching between panic and neglect.”

GERMANY BIGGEST DONOR

Countries must maximise strategies and tools already available, such as testing and inoculation, for the global health emergency to end this year, he said.

Tedros’ bid for a second term received a boost when the WHO shelved a decision on his native Ethiopia’s request to investigate accusations of links to rebel forces.

He told board members he was seeking an overhaul of the agency’s funding model, with Germany now the largest donor, supplanting Washington which had accused the WHO of pro-China bias under former President Donald Trump’s administration.

The United States is resisting a financing proposal that would make the U.N. health body more independent, raising doubts about the Biden administration’s long-term support. – Reuters

Singapore‘s central bank tightened its monetary policy settings on Tuesday in its first out-of-cycle move in seven years, as global supply constraints and brisk economic demand elevate inflation pressures across the region.

The city-state’s trade-dependent economy is highly susceptible to swings in global inflation and the central bank’s sudden move comes as price pressures ring alarm bells for policymakers elsewhere in Asia.

Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC, said she expects the central bank to tighten again in April, describing Tuesday’s move as only a “slight tightening.”

“If they had announced a more aggressive tightening today, then that would have dampened expectations for April,” she said.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which manages monetary policy through exchange rate settings, said it would slightly raise the rate of appreciation of its policy band.

The width of the band, known as the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate, or S$NEER, and the level at which it is centered will be unchanged.

The MAS last surprised with an off-cycle move in January 2015 when it eased its policy after a collapse in global oil prices.

Last year, many Asia-Pacific economies largely shrugged off inflationary threats that had rattled policymakers in Europe and the United States but that thinking now appears to be shifting.

Australia’s core inflation flew to its fastest annual pace since 2014 in the December quarter, data showed on Tuesday, challenging the central bank’s benign interest rate outlook.

In Japan, a country renowned for its stubbornly tepid price growth, policymakers have also acknowledged creeping inflation pressures.

Singapore‘s policy move comes just a day after data showed core inflation in the city-state climbed in December by the fastest pace in nearly eight years.

“This move builds on the pre-emptive shift to an appreciating stance in October 2021 and is appropriate for ensuring medium-term price stability,” the MAS said, referring to its tightening move late last year.

The central bank is due to review its stance at a scheduled semi-annual policy meeting in April, when it was widely expected by economists to tighten again.

The Singapore dollar strengthened to 1.3425 versus the U.S. dollar, its highest since October 2021.

‘DOUBLE TIGHTENING’

Singapore‘s bellwether economy is expected to grow 3-5%, unchanged from earlier forecasts.

“2022 will be year of double tightening for Singapore – both fiscal and monetary levers will grind tighter,” said OCBC’s Ling.

The MAS expects Singapore‘s economic recovery, which has so far been led by the trade-related and services sectors, to extend to the domestic-oriented and travel-related sectors this year as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

Singapore has vaccinated 88% of its 5.5 million people against COVID-19 and 55% have received booster shots.

The MAS forecasts core inflation to be 2.0–3.0% this year, from the 1.0–2.0% expected in October. Headline inflation is expected to be 2.5–3.5%, from the earlier forecast range of 1.5–2.5%.

“While core inflation is expected to moderate in the second half of the year from the elevated levels in the first half as supply constraints ease, the risks remain skewed to the upside,” the MAS said.

Singapore will release its annual budget on Feb. 18, when the government is expected to announce the timing for an anticipated hike in goods and services tax.

The city-state’s economy grew 7.2% in 2021, its fastest pace in over a decade, rebounding from a record 5.4% contraction in 2020. The government has spent more than S$100 billion over the last two years to cushion its economy from the impact of the pandemic.

Instead of interest rates, the MAS manages policy by letting the local dollar rise or fall against the currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed band.

It adjusts its policy via three levers: the slope, mid-point and width of the policy band. – Reuters

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic cursing a Fox News reporter at a White House event on Monday after the journalist shouted a question about the impact of rising inflation on this year’s congressional elections.

As journalists were ushered out of a meeting of Mr. Biden‘s Competition Council, Peter Doocy, a White House correspondent with whom Mr. Biden regularly spars, asked if it was OK to ask about inflation and if it was a political liability.

“That’s a great asset, more inflation,” Mr. Biden responded sarcastically over a din of reporters shouting questions, apparently not realizing his microphone was still on. “What a stupid son of a bitch,” he added.

U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in December, culminating in the largest annual rise in inflation in nearly four decades.

Within about an hour of the exchange, Mr. Biden called Mr. Doocy’s cell phone and said “it’s nothing personal, pal,” Mr. Doocy later told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment while Fox News pointed Reuters to a transcript of an interview with Mr. Doocy about the exchange on Monday evening.

Mr. Biden took office a year ago pledging to take a hard line on any disrespect among members of his administration.

“If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot … no ifs, ands or buts,” Mr. Biden told political appointees during a virtual swearing-in ceremony. “Everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity,” he said at the time.

Mr. Biden‘s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, famously attacked reporters at rallies and news conferences, to the delight of many of his supporters.

Mr. Doocy, who has long covered Mr. Biden, regularly gets called on by the president at events, often asking skeptical and critical questions. Conservative-leaning Fox News has been critical of Mr. Biden‘s presidency and Democrats. – Reuters