Aurelia Butler

The Wednesday-to-Friday demonstrations are the third round of protests that the opposition has called this month. Several people were reported shot, some possibly fatally, on Wednesday, and several senior opposition leaders were arrested.”The voice of the people must be heard. Our peaceful protest continues,” veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga wrote on Twitter on Thursday.The Nation newspaper reported that Odinga’s Azimio party had called for its supporters to assemble at Huruma and Kangemi grounds, and Central Park in the capital Nairobi. Broadcaster NTV showed a large police deployment in anti-riot gear at Nairobi’s Jacaranda grounds, scene of opposition rallies in the past.Many shops in the city’s central business district reopened on Thursday and traffic picked up on major roads. Schools also reopened in Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and Kisumu, the country’s third-largest city, after being shut on Wednesday. Odinga lost last August’s election to President William Ruto, his fifth election defeat in a row, and has repeatedly called for acts of civil disobedience against a government he accuses of raising the cost of living and consolidating power.Ruto has pledged to champion the interests of the poor, but the price of basic commodities has ballooned under his administration. His government argues higher taxes are necessary to help with growing debt repayments and to fund job-creation initiatives.At least 15 people were killed in the two previous rounds of protests earlier this month. Civic leaders have warned about sporadic incidents of apparent ethnic-based attacks in a country with a history of deadly political violence.”We don’t want a Kenya full of fighting. We don’t want a Kenya of destroying people’s property and roads built by Kenyans’ money,” Ruto said after commissioning a water project on Wednesday.Kenyan newspapers carried a joint editorial on Thursday titled: “Let’s save our country”.”President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga, in particular, owe it to themselves and to the people of Kenya to consider if they want more blood on their individual hands,” part of the editorial read.Odinga ally Maina Njenga, the former leader of the Mungiki criminal gang, was among those arrested on Wednesday, Njenga’s lawyer told Reuters. More

The maker of Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy says it has no more price rises planned this year following a substantial easing of costs, adding to hopes that shoppers have experienced the worst of surging inflation. “We believe the recent period of significant input cost inflation is now past its peak and have no further price increases planned for the rest of 2023,” said Premier Foods chief executive Alex Whitehouse.The comments echo those made by several large food retailers in recent weeks indicating food inflation is moderating. On Tuesday Tim Steiner, Ocado’s chief executive and co-founder, said the UK was “over the worst” while Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said in June that he believed “we’re past the peak inflation”. UK grocery price inflation eased for a fourth consecutive month to 14.9 per cent in the four weeks to July 9, according to data published by market research provider Kantar, raising hopes that lower energy and raw material costs are beginning to be reflected on supermarket shelves. Overall UK inflation fell to a 15-month low of 7.9 per cent in June, a bigger than expected drop. Premier Foods said in its trading update that sales grew 21 per cent to £231.1mn in the 13 weeks to July but warned that revenue growth was likely to moderate in the following quarters as the year-on-year impact of higher prices reduced.Although higher prices being passed on to shoppers have boosted overall revenues for food manufacturers, many have experienced a drop in volume as consumers cut consumption or traded down to cheaper and private brands as a result of the cost of living squeeze. PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever reported lower or flat sales volumes in their first-quarter earnings earlier this year.Investors will be watching closely to see whether sales fall further amid persistently high prices when companies report half-year results in the coming weeks. “The majority of Premier Food’s revenue growth has been price-based and that has reflected the enormous increase in costs,” said Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital, adding that the company’s next trading update was likely to reveal disinflation but not price decreases.Premier Foods said it did not disclose volume or pricing data. Shares in the group were up 1.5 per cent in morning trading. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said this week that “hopefully” consumers were starting to see the effects of falling energy prices in their shopping baskets. “Food inflation was driven by the global cost of energy rocketing and supply chains being hit,” he added. “Yet consumers should share the upside as both issues unwind, and we’re watching closely to make sure they do.” More

In February the United States proposed to expand offshore wind power development into the Gulf of Mexico, introducing the nascent clean energy industry into a major hub for oil and gas production.The Interior Department will announce that the sale will take place on Aug. 29, the White House said.The sale will include a lease area of 102,480 acres offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two lease areas totaling nearly 200,000 acres offshore Galveston, Texas, the White House said. Companies will bid on the right to develop those acres.The Biden administration has held three offshore wind lease auctions, including the largest ever such U.S. sale last year for areas off the New York and New Jersey coasts that attracted a record $1.5 billion in bids, and the first ever off the Pacific coast in California.Biden is traveling to Philadelphia on Thursday to pitch the promise of a green economy to union workers who remain skeptical that the solar, wind and electric vehicle industries can deliver the same economic punch for organized labor as oil refineries and fossil fuel-fired power plants. More

1. Tesla margins fall; Netflix revenue disappointsShares in Tesla and Netflix both dropped in premarket trading as investors digested mixed second-quarter results from the electric carmaker and the streaming giant.For Tesla, attention centered around recent price cuts to boost volumes and combat intensifying competition in the electric vehicle market. The decision pushed revenues up to a record high of $24.93 billion during the three-month period.But the move also weighed on its gross profit margin from automotive operations, excluding the impact of regulatory credits, which dropped to 18.2% from 18.8% in the first quarter and 26.2% last year. Although that decline was not as large as many analysts had expected, Tesla’s stock still slumped after chief executive Elon Musk later suggested that more price reductions could be coming this year.Meanwhile, Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing between users appears to be working, with the company adding 5.9 million subscribers in the quarter, far above Wall Street estimates. It also told analysts that the number of canceled accounts was “low.”However, this trend was overshadowed by softer-than-anticipated revenue of $8.2B. Netflix’s third-quarter projection of $8.5B for the top-line figure missed forecasts as well. Shares in Netflix tumbled as a result.2. Nasdaq futures slumpFutures for the Nasdaq pointed lower on Thursday as results from Tesla and Netflix weighed on the broader tech sector.At 05:14 ET (09:14 GMT), Nasdaq 100 futures shed 141 points or 0.88%, pulled lower by an after-hours decline in shares of the two major tech players that extended into premarket trading.S&P 500 futures also edged down by 9 points or 0.20%, while Dow futures added 31 points or 0.09%.The broad-based Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its eighth consecutive session of gains on Wednesday, its longest winning streak since 2019. Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.24% and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.03%.3. Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines highlight busy earnings dayA fresh batch of U.S. corporate earnings is scheduled to be released Thursday, with health care behemoth Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and carrier American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) among the biggest brands to report.Insurer Travelers (NYSE:TRV), investment manager Blackstone (NYSE:BX), tobacco group Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM), and regional lender Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ:FITB) also feature on the results calendar.Earnings have largely been stronger-than-expected during this latest earnings season, fuelling hopes that this could be a sign that the U.S. economy may be able to engineer a soft landing after a series of aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. According to FactSet data cited by CNBC, three-quarters of the firms that have already reported beat Wall Street estimates.4. Apple testing ChatGPT rival – BloombergApple is developing a new generative AI program to compete with the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, according to Bloomberg News.Workers at the tech giant have already constructed a framework, known as “Ajax,” the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. A chatbot dubbed “AppleGPT” is also being tested.Shares in Apple touched a fresh record high on the report, while peers such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Google-owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped.California-based Apple, which has stayed relatively quiet on the subject of AI despite a surge in the technology’s popularity this year, did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.5. TSMC pessimistic on hopes for AI-driven boost in chip demandTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TW:2340) (NYSE:TSM) — also known as TSMC — posted second-quarter earnings that topped estimates, but the world’s biggest contract chipmaker poured cold water on expectations that the boom in AI interest will fuel a surge in chip demand.Net profit at TSMC in the three months to June 30 tumbled by more than a fifth to 181.80B Taiwan dollars, although this was still above expectations of analysts polled by Refinitiv.But, in a post-earnings webcast, chief executive C.C. Wei flagged that the rush into AI may not be long-term or sustainable. He noted that “[while] we have recently observed an increase in AI-related demand, it is not enough to offset the overall cyclicality of our business.”TSMC subsequently slashed its annual revenue guidance, saying it expects the figure to slip by 10% in 2023 versus its previous outlook for a single-digit drop. U.S.-listed shares in TSMC were lower in premarket trading Thursday.The move stood in contrast to bullish comments earlier this year from the chip industry from Nvidia, one of TSMC’s largest customers. Nvidia previously forecast a jump in semiconductor demand later this year, citing the need for computing parts to power AI programs. More

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s government on Thursday forecast inflation sharply exceeding the central bank’s 2% target this year, acknowledging broadening price rises that may keep alive market expectations of an end to ultra-low interest rates.The estimates come ahead of closely watched Bank of Japan policy meeting next week, when the board will revise its quarterly forecasts and debate progress on sustainably meeting its price target.In its mid-year review, the government expects overall consumer inflation to hit 2.6% for the fiscal year that began in April, up sharply from 1.7% projected in January. Inflation last year was 3.2%.The government projects inflation to slow next fiscal year but, at 1.9%, stay close to the central bank’s target.”The government’s inflation forecasts are well in line with market forecasts. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BOJ revises up its price projections this month,” said Masamichi Adachi, an economist at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM).Underscoring the fragile nature of Japan’s recovery, the government slashed its economic growth forecast for this fiscal year. It expects the economy to expand 1.3% this fiscal year, below the 1.5% estimated in January, due to a hit to exports from slowing global demand.”Japan’s economy is recovering moderately” with positive signs emerging, such as steady wage hikes and strong corporate spending appetite, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.”It’s important to ensure Japan makes steady progress in exiting deflation, and shift to a society where wage hikes become a norm,” he told the government’s top economic council.After more than two decades of deflation and stagnant wage growth, Japan has seen inflation exceed the central bank’s 2% target for more than a year as firms continued to pass on rising raw material costs to households via price hikes.Companies offered pay raises unseen in three decades at this year’s wage negotiations with unions, heightening market expectations of a tweak to the BOJ’s yield curve control (YCC) policy, which caps long-term interest rates around zero.BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has brushed aside the chance of a near-term exit from ultra-loose policy, arguing that the recent cost-driven rise in inflation must be replaced by price gains driven more by robust domestic demand and higher wage growth.But an upgrade to its inflation forecasts will likely keep alive market expectations that Ueda will soon start to phase out his predecessor’s massive stimulus programme.In its April forecasts, the central bank predicted core consumer inflation – which strips away the effect of fresh food costs – to hit 1.8% this fiscal year and 2.0% the following year. More