What’s been making the News!

The Fed raised interest rates to 4.75%, the highest since 2007. It pushes mortgage rates to 6% and peaking at 7% by October. The Bank of England (BoE) also raised its base rate from 3.5% to 4%, the highest in 14 years, which will increase the interest rates on mortgages, credit card debt and bank loans but good for savers, assuming, the banks pass on the rate rises to savings accounts!

 

A recession is defined as when the economy shrinks for two consecutive three-month periods. Typically companies make less money and cut jobs, leaving the government with less tax revenue to spend on public services.

The Bank is now predicting a shrink in the economy by 1% versus 3%, as a result of fall in wholesale energy prices; unemployment rate which stands at 3.7% to peak at 5.3% rather than 6.4%, inflation to fall back to 8% in June before dropping further to 3% by the end of the year, which is good news and hopefully it will happen as predicted and finally, huge pay rises for workers which they deserve even though critics say, it would lead to slower rate of inflation coming down! The financial markets expect interest rates to peak at 4.5% in 2023, which will help drive down inflation.

 

In another breaking news, the Bank of England and UK Treasury are considering introducing a digital pound to rival and compete with the Big Tech digital currencies but it will not come into place before 2025 when the idea will be revisited. 

 

An earthquake of the magnitude of 7.8 struck South East Turkey on 6th Feb with the epicentre in Gaziantep and Northern Syria leaving almost 50,000 people dead and many more injured. A 2nd earthquake of the magnitude of 7.5 struck few hours later with more aftershocks as tremors were felt as far as Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and even Greenland. Many Countries including the EU have rallied round to assist Turkey and Syria with medical and humanitarian aid as well as, sanitary packs, toiletries, blankets, water and meals.

A 3rd earthquake of the magnitude of 6.4 again struck Southern Turkey (Antakya) on 20th Feb in the already devastated areas where the 1st earthquake hit few weeks back and more buildings and structures that were already shaken by the first earthquake collapsed. 3 people died and many trapped under the rubble. More than 6,000 aftershocks have hit the area since first earthquake on 6th February. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Turkey and Syria on a very sad tragedy. May those that have died RIP!

 

Remember the 1st ever satellite mission from Cornwall Newquay Airport in the UK, which failed at first launch? The reason it failed was down to the “rocket fuel filter that was dislodged from its normal position, according to Virgin Orbit following investigation. The fuel pump that is downstream of the filter operated at a degraded efficiency level, resulting in the Newton 4 engine being starved for fuel. Therefore, it was performing in an anomalous manner resulting in the engine operating at a significantly higher than rated engine temperature.” 

“A rocket engine overheated in turn, leading to the loss of the rocket and satellites it was carrying. Virgin Orbit sent up a jumbo jet carrying the rocket from Cornwall on 9 January. The aircraft returned safely. The CEO Dan Hart said the company would "proceed cautiously towards the launch" of its next rocket.” Additional data shows that "The early thrust termination ended the mission, and the second stage and its payloads fell back to Earth, landing in the approved safety corridor in the Atlantic Ocean."

 

Flying objects that ventured into US airspace were shot down after the first incident that was detected was allowed to fly for almost a week if not more before it was shot down when it landed in the Ocean. Although investigations didn’t detect any indication that the flying objects were part of the CCP’s spying and espionage mission until the debris is found and analysed. Nevertheless, it showed China’s brazen affront to send a balloon into US airspace or indeed any other sovereign nations’ airspace. Subsequently, other unauthorised flying objects in US airspace and over Alaska, Canada and Michigan have since been shot down until the debris is found and analysed.

Beijing denied any espionage charges stating that the balloon as simply a weather airship that was blown off course describing the US response as an over-reaction. If it was the other way round, Beijing would be throwing a hissy fit and making a mountain out of a mole-hill!

 

The EU has ordered staff in Brussels to stop using TikTok on all corporate and personal devices for fear of data protection breaches. They were given a deadline of 15th March to remove and delete the Apps. The US has also asked all govt employees after “TikTok admitted that its Chinese headquarters could access worldwide data of its users last November.” Young people have also been warned that they should think twice before using the App. Same goes for chips in cars, phones and surveillance camera on the streets. Canadian govt followed suit and has banned all govt workers from using TikTok.

 

On the 1st anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a resolution that reaffirmed support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, rejecting any Russian claims to the 4 regions of Ukraine it occupies, which Russian MPs voted to illegally annex last September. The UN also demanded "that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders" and called for a cessation of hostilities. It condemned Russia's action and called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and a halt to fighting, calling for peace ASAP.

 

The motion was backed by 141 nations with 32 (China, India, Iran and South Africa) among others, abstained and 7, including Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria, voted against it. Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba echoed the UN resolution and demands, as well as, the results of the vote and he said the vote "made it clear that Russia must end its illegal aggression with Ukraine's territorial integrity restored".

New Zealand experienced flooding when heavy downpour led to flash flooding & landslides and closure of Auckland airport which got flooded following the biggest cyclone Gabrielle and La Nina that hit the Country. Many of the towns and cities sit on the river banks and floodplains which they have been known manage quite well.

These occurrences are predicted to become more frequent as global temperatures warm and New Zealand lies in the South Pacific Ocean which is vulnerable to tropical cyclones that typically form in the north but can affect any part of the country in their path. Some parts of the Country have also experienced droughts in recent times!

The Country’s Academics, Scientists and Environmentalists opine that the govt is most likely to look at the resilience of infrastructure and embark on “protection works rather than moving people away and would rather build sea walls, levees, stop banks and building houses on higher plains in order to adapt.

Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles to win the 57th Super Bowl 2023 and lift the vince Lombardi trophy. Patrick Mahomes was key to the win, making it his 2nd title after his 1st win in 2020 and after he had collected his 2nd League Most Valuable Player (MVP) earlier. He now joins Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Joe Montana as the only players with special achievements by winning multiple Super Bowl and League MVP titles. Congratulations to the team and Patrick Mahomes for their win!

 

In Basketball, Lebron James broke the all-time NBA scoring record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 38 years (5th April, 1984). Congratulations to both men who were celebrated with Kareem sitting Courtside and watching the game on Feb 7th at the Crypto.com Arena.