Category: General

U.S. consumer price growth slowed sharply in April as gasoline prices eased off record highs, suggesting that inflation has probably peaked, though it is likely to stay hot for a while and keep the Federal Reserve’s foot on the brakes to cool demand.

The consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, the smallest gain since last August, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. That stood in sharp contrast to the 1.2% month-to-month surge in the CPI in March, which was the largest advance since September 2005.

But the deceleration in the CPI is probably temporary. Gasoline prices, which accounted for most of the pull back in the monthly inflation rate, are rising again and were about $4.161 per gallon early this week after dipping below $4 in April, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine is the main catalyst for the surge in gasoline prices. The war has also driven up global good prices.

Inflation was already a problem before Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine because of stretched global supply chains as economies emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic after governments around the world injected large amounts of money in pandemic relief and central banks slashed interest rates.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday acknowledged the pain that high inflation was inflicting on American families and said bringing prices down “is my top domestic priority.”

The Fed last week raised its policy interest rate by half a percentage point, the biggest hike in 22 years, and said it would begin trimming its bond holdings next month. The U.S. central bank started raising rates in March.

In the 12 months through April, the CPI increased 8.3%. While that was the first deceleration in the annual CPI since last August, it marked the seventh straight month of increases in excess of 6%. The CPI shot up 8.5% in March, the largest year-on-year gain since December 1981.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer prices gaining 0.2% in April and rising 8.1% year-on-year.

While monthly inflation will likely pickup, annual readings are likely to subside further as last year’s large increases fall out of the calculation, but remaining above the Fed’s 2% target at least through 2023.

China’s zero tolerance COVID-19 policy is seen putting more strain on global supply chains, driving up goods prices. Prices for services like air travel and hotel accommodation are also seen keeping inflation elevated amid both strong demand over the summer and a shortage of workers.

Solid gains in rents, airline fares and new motor vehicle prices boosted underlying inflation last month.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI picked up 0.6% after rising 0.3% in March. The so-called core CPI increased 6.2% in the 12-months through April. That followed a 6.5% jump in March, which was largest gain since August 1982.

Source: Voice of America

Though inflation may be soaring, supply chains remain snarled, and the coronavirus won’t go away, America’s casinos are humming right along, recording the best month in their history in March.

The American Gaming Association, the gambling industry’s national trade group, said Wednesday that U.S. commercial casinos won more than $5.3 billion from gamblers in March, the best single-month total ever. The previous record month was July 2021 at $4.92 billion.

The casinos collectively also had their best first quarter ever, falling just short of the $14.35 billion they won from gamblers in the fourth quarter of last year, which was the highest three-month period in history.

Three states set quarterly revenue records to start this year: Arkansas ($147.4 million); Florida ($182 million), and New York ($996.6 million).

The numbers do not include tribal casinos, which report their income separately and are expected to report similarly positive results.

But while the national casino economy is doing well, there are pockets of sluggishness such as Atlantic City, where in-person casino revenue has not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

“Consumers continue to seek out gaming’s entertainment options in record numbers,” said Bill Miller, the association’s president and CEO. He said the strong performance to start 2022 came “despite continued headwinds from supply chain constraints, labor shortages and the impact of soaring inflation.”

The trade group also released its annual State of the States report on Wednesday, examining gambling’s performance across the country.

As previously reported, nationwide casino revenue set an all-time high in 2021 at $53.03 billion, up 21% from the previous best year, 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

But the report includes new details, including that commercial casinos paid a record $11.69 billion in direct gambling tax revenue to state and local governments in 2021. That’s an increase of 75% from 2020 and 15 percent from 2019. This does not include the billions more paid in income, sales and other taxes, the association said.

It also ranked the largest casino markets in the U.S. in terms of revenue for 2021. The Las Vegas Strip is first at $7.05 billion, followed by:

• Atlantic City ($2.57 billion)

• the Chicago area ($2.01 billion)

• Baltimore-Washington D.C. ($2 billion)

• the Gulf Coast ($1.61 billion)

• New York City ($1.46 billion)

• Philadelphia ($1.40 billion)

• Detroit ($1.29 billion)

• St. Louis ($1.03 billion)

• the Boulder Strip in Nevada ($967 million)

The association divides most of Pennsylvania’s casinos into three separate markets: Philadelphia, the Poconos and Pittsburgh. Their combined revenue of nearly $2.88 billion would make them the second largest market in the country if judged as a single entity. It also counts downtown Las Vegas, and its $731 million in revenue, as a separate market.

Seven additional states legalized sports betting and two more added internet gambling in 2021.

The group reported many states saw gamblers spending more in casinos while visiting them in lower numbers compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

The average age of a casino patron last year was 43 1/2, compared to 49 1/2 in 2019.

Americans bet $57.7 billion on sports last year, more than twice the amount from 2020. That generated $4.33 billion in revenue, an increase of nearly 180% over 2020.

Internet gambling revenue reached $3.71 billion last year, and three states — New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan — each won more than $1 billion online. West Virginia’s internet gambling market reached $60.9 million in revenue in its first full year of operation, while Connecticut’s two internet casinos reported combined revenue of $47.6 million after launching in October.

Source: Voice of America

Following China’s announcement that it would tighten restrictions in Shanghai to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said the country’s zero-tolerance policy is not sustainable.

Speaking at a media briefing Tuesday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted the behavior of the disease caused by the coronavirus and what experts “anticipate in the future.” He added, “We have discussed this issue with Chinese experts… I think a shift would be very important.”

Authorities in Shanghai have tightened restrictions on its 26 million residents, despite a steady decline in new COVID-19 infections.

Residents in some neighborhoods have been informed in writing that they are not allowed to leave their homes or receive deliveries as part of a “quiet period” that would last for at least three days. The new restrictions caught residents by surprise, coming after a brief period of being allowed to move about their neighborhoods.

There have also been accounts posted on Chinese social media sites of residents being forcibly removed from their homes and placed in hotels or quarantine facilities if their neighbors tested positive for the coronavirus, as well as anecdotes of cleanup crews in full protective suits entering apartments to disinfect them.

A Shanghai city official confirmed the move in an interview with The Associated Press, saying the homes of people in older communities with shared bathrooms and kitchens will be disinfected.

The actions prompted open letters posted on social media Sunday by Tong Zhiwei, law professor at Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law, and Liu Dali, a corporate lawyer in Shanghai, to question the legality of such practices.

Nearly all of Shanghai’s residents have been under strict orders for the past six weeks as officials in the Chinese financial hub struggle to contain a mass outbreak of new COVID-19 cases largely driven by a highly contagious omicron variant. The lockdown has led to angry complaints of a lack of fresh food and medicine throughout China’s biggest city.

Officials reported about 3,000 new cases Monday, far below a peak of 26,000 posted in mid-April.

Elsewhere in China, Beijing further tightened COVID-19 curbs on residents Monday with more mass testing and road closures as the country continues with its uncompromising battle with the virus.

Residents of the city’s worst-hit areas were told to work from home while more roads, compounds and parks were sealed off as the capital of 22 million grappled with its worst outbreak since 2020.

China has doubled down on its strict “zero-COVID” policy even as it severely disrupts everyday life and brings economic activity to a halt.

Source: Voice of America

Elon Musk on Tuesday said he would reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account.

The Tesla CEO who’s vying to buy Twitter and take it private for a reported price tag of $44 billion made the comment at the Financial Times Future of the Car conference.

“I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” Musk said. “I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”

Musk added that Trump’s ban was “morally wrong and flat-out stupid.”

Trump’s account was permanently banned after the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, with Twitter saying his continued presence on the platform was a “risk of further incitement of violence.”

Musk added that permanent bans should be “extremely rare” and reserved for “bots, or spam/scam accounts.”

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” he said in a recent statement.

Trump has said he does not intend to rejoin Twitter and will focus mostly on the social network he launched called Truth Social.

Source: Voice of America

Since 2015, the Australian Government, through the BEQUAL programme, has been supporting national primary curriculum reform led by the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Lao PDR (MoES).

As part of the programme, grants are provided to target districts to support increased and improved in-semester teacher support activities.

Women in district education offices in Laos often face a number of barriers to achievement, including entrenched gender roles and norms and hidden gender discrimination in promotion practices.

Through training and capacity building activities for relevant district staff who are responsible for managing and implementing grant activities, Australia and MoES actively promote the equal participation of women in BEQUAL district-level teacher support activities and grant management.

Ms Sysai Panyachack has been working in Samuay District Education and Sports Office, Saravan Province, since 2014 and was promoted to Pedagogical Adviser (PA) in 2020.

She is the first female PA in Samuay District and there are four other male PAs in the team. Since becoming a PA her involvement in BEQUAL-supported activities has enabled her to rapidly improve her skills and capacity, and she has become a very well-respected PA and part of the district team.

Sysai was the only PA from her district to be selected as a Provincial Trainer (PT) in 2021 for the Grade 3 primary curriculum training. In the same year she was allocated responsibility for the management of the BEQUAL district grant in her district.

She is the team leader for this activity, overseeing six staff (four male) and is responsible for the preparation of plans and budgets, as well as acquittal and reporting. She is also responsible for coordination of online data collection and reporting using KoBo. In this role she has participated in a number of BEQUAL supported workshops and has demonstrated a strong technical and organizational capacity, confidence and desire to learn.

The quality of the BEQUAL grant administration and implementation in 2021-22 has increased markedly due to Sysai’s management.

Since becoming a PA and taking on BEQUAL programme responsibilities, Sysai has been able to rapidly grow and develop her skills and confidence. Other PAs in her team, who have been in the role longer than her, report that they ask her for support and input regularly and find her knowledge and skills invaluable for their work and team. The district leadership has also acknowledged her strong capacity and commitment to providing well planned, quality teacher pedagogical support and training. They acknowledge her key role in ensuring that Samuay district performance in BEQUAL grant management has improved markedly from previous years. All staff at the district have developed a deep respect for Sysai’s contributions, both for her commitment to quality teacher support and for her continued desire to improve and learn in all areas. The Salavan Teacher Training College has also recently identified Sysai as the best performing PA in her district.

Sysai says “I feel comfortable working in the PA Centre with the team and they respect my contributions and effort. In the future I would like to undertake further study to upgrade my pedagogical knowledge to support teachers better.”

May the story of Sysai inspire more women and men to be active advocate of gender equality and opportunities for women in implementation of programme activities.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Government of the Lao PDR, the Government of the Republic of Korea, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a USD11-million project to support a sustainable UXO sector in the Lao PDR.

The Government of the Republic of Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Korean Government is contributing USD11 million as the third phase of their support to the UXO sector based on the best practices and lessons learned through the partnership between KOICA, UNDP and Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare since 2015.

The main objective of the Support to the Establishment of a Sustainable UXO Sector Project (2022-2026) is aimed to strengthen the national ownership and greater resilience of the sector in the country, by increasing the capacity of the National Regulatory Authority for the UXO and Mine Action Sector (NRA) and the Humanitarian Lao Army teams.

Through this project, more prioritized land will be released for socio economic development. Community exposure to the UXO threat will also be reduced and victims’ rights increased. The project will be implemented as part of the Government of the Lao PDR and UNDP’s UXO Programme, Supporting Efficiency in the UXO Sector to contribute to the achievement of SDG 18 and Safe Path Forward III (2022-2026).

With UNDP’s programmatic and technical support, the project will implement schemes for survey and clearance by the 20 Humanitarian Lao Army teams, explosive ordnance risk reduction, capacity enhancement of the NRA, and stronger legislative environment of the sector.

Mr Paduenphone Sonethany, Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare said, “Since 2015, the first phase of the project has been implemented until now, the third phase of the project. The Government of the Republic of Korea has provided grants for the clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Lao PDR through the United Nations Development Programme. The third phase of this project will focus on strengthening and sustaining the work of resolving the problem of unexploded ordnance in the Lao PDR over the next five years.”

“I am confident that the continued cooperation between the two countries in the field of UXO will contribute to the realization of Laos’ Sustainable Development Goal No. 18, Lives Safe From UXO,” said Moohong Im, Ambassador of Republic of Korea to the Lao PDR.

The UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Ricarda Rieger, thanked KOICA and the Government of the Republic of Korea for the partnership and commitment to improving the wellbeing of marginalized people and accelerating the development of the Lao PDR by continuing their support to address the UXO problem in the country. Ms. Riegercarda said, “I am delighted to be able to count on the support of the Korean government to support the Government of the Lao PDR’s efforts to meet the sector’s needs and achieve the targets set out in the national development plans and under SDG 18”.

It is envisaged that the project will contribute to the Lao PDR’s effort to achieve the 9th National Socio-economic Development Plan (9th NSEDP), ten-year national UXO sector strategy, Safe Path Forward III, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 18 on lives safe from UXO, SDG 1 on poverty reduction, SDG 10 on reduced inequalities, SDG 16 peace, justice and strong institutions and SDG 17 on partnership for the goals.

Source: Lao News Agency