1 What Japan’s recession means for the world (BBC) In
a surprise, Japan said its economy, the world's 3rd-biggest following the US
and China, contracted 1.6 percent at an annual pace in the July-September
quarter as consumer and corporate spending failed to regain momentum after a
sales tax increase in April.
Here are some implications for the global economy
and for Japan: The slump comes as China's growth is slowing and Europe's
economy is limping along. It could drag on Asia's growth if Japanese businesses
hold back on investing abroad and companies and consumers buy fewer imports.
The drop also adds to uncertainties in world financial markets.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely delay another
sales tax hike planned for October 2015, and use that decision and the bad GDP
numbers as reasons to call snap elections, possibly as early as next month, to
seek a public mandate on this course of action.
Japan's population is shrinking and aging, creating
a smaller domestic market and placing heavier tax burdens on younger
wage-earners. Apart from its automakers, Japan's many manufacturers have lost
their innovative edge and have been shifting production offshore. Household
incomes peaked more than a decade ago, and a growing share of workers struggle
to make ends meet on part-time, contract work.
Abe has promised drastic reforms of labor
regulations, the tax system and the health industry, among other areas, to help
improve Japan's competitiveness. But so far he's made little headway, while
most companies have not passed on windfall gains from stock price increases and
surging profits to their workers in the form of higher wages.
2 Facebook mulls free internet for Africa (Christopher
Williams in Telegraph/Johannesburg Times) Facebook is in an advanced stage of
talks with UK satellite operator Avanti about a ground-breaking project that
would provide free internet access across swathes of Africa. Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg says he is determined to connect the developing world.
It is expected that a deal between Avanti and the
social network, under the auspices of its internet.org initiative, will be
announced soon. Internet.org aims "to bring the internet to the two-thirds
of the world's population that doesn't have it". Avanti, which owns two
broadband satellites positioned over Africa, plans to launch two more in the
next three years to increase capacity and coverage.
According to internet.org, if developing economies
had the standard of internet access enjoyed in rich countries global
productivity would be boosted by 25% and 160million people would be lifted out
of poverty. Facebook turned to the British company after an appeal to network
operators to help spread internet access received a cool reception.
The Avanti solution is also likely to be quicker to
set up and more reliable than some of the more exotic and experimental
technologies in development. Google, for instance, is working on Project Loon,
which involves high-altitude balloons. Facebook itself is testing solar-powered
drones but has said they will not be ready for deployment for years. Facebook
and Avanti declined to comment.
3 Terrorism took 18,000 lives last year (Ewen MacAskill
in The Guardian) Terrorism is on the rise, with an almost fivefold increase in
fatalities since 9/11, in spite of US-led efforts to combat it in the Middle
East and elsewhere around the world, according to a report.
The Global Terrorism Index recorded almost 18,000
deaths last year, a jump of about 60% over the previous year. Four groups were
responsible for most of them: Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria; Boko
Haram in Nigeria; the Taliban in Afghanistan; and al-Qaida in various parts of
the world.
The terrorism index raises questions about the effectiveness
of a western counter-terrorism strategy since 9/11 that has seen US-led
invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and the
use of proxy forces around the world. According to the index figures, the
number of fatalities has steadily grown over the last 14 years, from 3,361 in
2000 to 11,133 in 2012 and 17,958 in 2013.
Supporters of the US strategy can find solace in a
decrease in the four years from 2007, which could be attributed to the US troop
surge in Iraq. The next steep rise began in 2011 as a result of the Syrian
civil war, which was born out of the Arab spring rather than US-led action. But
the emergence of Isis can be attributed directly to the US invasion of Iraq.
Its genesis can be traced to the insurgency against the US forces. It grew from
al-Qaida in Iraq.
Steve Killelea, executive director of the Institute
for Economics and Peace, an independent thinktank with offices in Sydney, New
York and Oxford, said there had been a “significant and worrying increase in
worldwide terrorism” over the last two years. He did not have the figures for
this year yet but “my gut instinct is that it will be worse. I think we will
see an increase.”
The report says that the two most successful
strategies for ending terrorist groups since the late 1960s have been policing
and the initiation of a political process. “These strategies were the main
reason for the ending of more than 80% of terrorist organisations that ceased
operation. “ The report says that there were 437,000 murders in 2012 compared
to 11,113 terrorist deaths.
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