1 China manufacturing gathers pace (BBC) China's
manufacturing activity grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in July, an
initial survey by HSBC showed, the latest in a series of signs that the
country's economy may be stabilising. The bank's purchasing managers' index
(PMI), a gauge of the sector's health, rose to 52 in July, from 50.7 in June.
A reading above 50 shows expansion. It is the second
successive month in which HSBC's PMI has been above that level. Qu Hongbin,
chief economist for China at HSBC, said the latest data suggested "that
the cumulative impact of mini-stimulus measures introduced earlier is still
filtering through".
Earlier this month, China reported that its economy
expanded by 7.5%, in the April-to-June quarter, from a year ago, up from 7.4%
growth in the previous three months. Other data released in recent weeks has
shown that factory output rose 9.2% in June, from a year earlier, while fixed
asset investment jumped 17.3% in the first six months of the year. The slew of
positive data has followed a series of measures in recent months by
policymakers to help boost China's growth. China has set a growth target of
7.5% for 2014.
2 Facebook earnings beat estimates (Wendy Lee in San
Francisco Chronicle) Facebook reported a $791 million profit in the second
quarter, up 138 percent from a year ago. The boost comes as Facebook continues
to grow the number of its users and increase the money it makes on ads. The
number of daily active users in the quarter was 829 million in June, up 19
percent from a year ago.
Revenue for the company was up 61 percent to $2.91
billion in the second quarter, the company said. Of that amount, $2.68 billion
came from advertising, a 67 percent boost from the same period a year ago. The
results beat analysts’ estimates on revenues and earnings per share. “Our
community has continued to grow, and we see a lot of opportunity ahead as we
connect the rest of the world,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO and
founder.
3 Five things about the Israel-Gaza conflict (Straits
Times) The toll of the two-week fighting between Israel and the Islamist Hamas
group in Gaza topped 500 on Monday. Here are five things about the Israel-Gaza
conflict. History of the Gaza conflict: Israelis
and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It is part of
the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. After World War II and the Holocaust in which
six million Jewish people were killed, more Jewish people wanted their own
country.
They were given a large part of Palestine, which
they considered their traditional home but the Arabs who already lived there
and in neighbouring countries felt that was unfair and did not accept the new
country. In 1948, the two sides went to war. When it ended, Gaza was controlled
by Egypt and another area, the West Bank, by Jordan. But in 1967, after another
war, Israel occupied these Palestinian areas and Israeli troops stayed there
for years.
Israel finally left Gaza in 2005 but soon after, a
group called Hamas won elections and took control there. It refuses to
recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to
their old home - and will use violence to achieve its aims. Since then, Israel
has held Gaza under a blockade, which means it controls its borders and limits
who can get in and out.
What Gaza is and who controls it: The Gaza Strip is
an area about half the size of Singapore on the border with Egypt up against
the Mediterranean Sea. Technically part of the Palestinian Authority, it has
been governed since 2007 by the militant group Hamas. With 1.8 million people
living in just 139 square miles, Gaza is one of the most densely populated
places on earth.
What sparked this latest wave of violence? While
rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli military incursions in the West Bank are
regular occurrences, last month's abduction of three Israeli teens in the West
Bank have brought the tensions to a fever pitch. The mood darkened further when
a Palestinian teenager was abducted and killed in Jerusalem in what police say
could be a revenge killing.
Who are the key players? Hamas controls the Gaza
Strip and is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the US. But while there
is no Israeli military presence inside Gaza anymore, the effective control of
Gaza's sea, air and borders is under Israeli control.
What's next? The current conflict comes after almost
two years of relative calm between Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli
military still believes that it has more of its mission to complete. Hamas
fighters may be emboldened by their ability to inflict pain on the Israeli
forces, and they too may not want an immediate halt. The only way to put a stop
to the regular outbreaks of violence is to start by securing a ceasefire and
then looking for a long-term solution, said Martin Indyk, a diplomat with a
long history of working in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment