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☆ Why Egypt is asking its people to eat chicken feet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Abu Dhabi CNN —Egypt’s economic situation is so dire that the government is asking people to eat chicken feet. In Egypt, chicken feet are seen as the cheapest of meat items, considered by most as animal waste rather than food. After the recommendation to switch to chicken feet, the price of one kilogram of the product reportedly doubled to 20 Egyptian pounds ($0.67). But those firms don’t operate like private companies, enjoying special privileges without disclosing their financial data to the public. Experts have questioned why international creditors had not leveraged their loans to drive Egypt’s military out of the economy.

☆ Microsoft drops after UBS analysts warn of weakness in the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft shares sank almost 5% on Wednesday while the broader tech market rallied after analysts at UBS said the software company faces weakness, particularly in the cloud. Keirstead pointed to concerns at Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, and Office 365, the company's family of productivity software. Microsoft provides year-over-year growth for Azure and other cloud services but doesn't give a dollar figure, nor does it specify how much of the growth comes just from Azure. The Azure and other cloud services metric also includes, among other things, enterprise mobility and security, or EMS, tools that can be sold separately. Cloud rival Google put together an estimate of Microsoft's Azure business, based on a leaked Microsoft document and some extrapolation of other market data.

☆ Zimbabwe's night markets cushion crisis-weary citizens from inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nyasha Chingono | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Clothes and shoes are displayed for sale at a roadside night market in central Harare, Zimbabwe December 12, 2022. Tinotenda Taruberekera, a 21-year-old clothing vendor, says he makes more money selling at night than during the day. "In the afternoon, there are constant battles with police so selling at night helps," said Taruberekera. The street traders often undercut prices in mainstream shops, which have costly overheads, and this can eat into the retailers' market share. For college student Obert Chinganyama, street vendors offer bargains he cannot get in stores.

☆ A house price slump is coming. Rising unemployment could make it much worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Brendon O'Hagan/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesNew Zealand is at the sharp end of a global housing market squeeze that has grim ramifications for the world economy. “In an ideal world, you’ll get a bit of froth blown off the top [of house prices] and everything is fine. “A decisive increase in unemployment is a very big danger for housing markets,” said Slater of Oxford Economics. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA drag on the economyMost market watchers are not expecting a repeat of the 2008 housing market crash. But even a modest a fall in house prices will knock confidence, causing homeowners to cut back on spending.

☆ Tremors felt in Indonesia capital after earthquake in West Java
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] People gather as they are evacuated outside a building following an earthquake in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaJAKARTA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake rattled the Indonesian capital Jakarta for several seconds on Monday, the weather and geophysics agency (BMKG) said. The epicentre was on land in Cianjur in West Java, about 75 km southeast of Jakarta, and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), BMKG said, adding there was no potential for a tsunami. Muchlis, who was in Cianjur when the quake hit, said he felt "a huge tremor" and the walls and ceiling of his office building were damaged. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the earthquake at a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale.

☆ Australia central bank cuts growth outlook, rates need to rise to cool red-hot inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. However, the silver lining, according to the bank, is medium-term inflation expectations and wages growth have remained consistent with the inflation target, and it is important that this remains the case. The central bank lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday to a nine-year peak of 2.85%, bringing its tightening to a steep 275 basis points since May. It also acknowledged that higher inflation is eroding real household incomes against the backdrop of a possible global recession. However, the bank reaffirmed its determination to bring inflation back to target, warning that rates will need to rise further.

☆ Kenya's Safaricom targets more fixed Internet users with 5G network
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pedestrians walk on a sideway outside the Safaricom mobile phone customer care centre in the central business district of Nairobi, Kenya, November 10, 2021. REUTERS/Monicah MwangiOct 27 (Reuters) - Kenya's largest telecoms operator Safaricom (SCOM.NR) launched its 5G high-speed internet service on Thursday, becoming the first firm to deploy the technology commercially in East Africa. The company, whose internet provision business is one of its fastest growing, uses equipment from Nokia (NOKIA.HE) and Huawei (HWT.UL) to power its 5G network. While Safaricom dominates the mobile data market - commanding about a 65% share - it holds only about a third of the fixed data market, data from the Communications Authority of Kenya showed. Customers with compatible phones would however be able to use the network soon, the company said, when it starts selling 5G data packages.

☆ More severe weather forecast for Australia's southeast amid flood crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Australia's weather forecaster predicted heavy rain for large swaths of country's flood-hit south and east on Sunday as a flood crisis continues in the two most populous states. The week-long emergency in New South Wales and Victoria comes as Australia endures a third straight La Nina weather event, bringing heavy rains. There were 122 flood warnings in place for New South Wales, Australia's most populous state. Around 750 people have been rescued across the state in the last 10 days, the Victoria State Emergency Service said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday 150 Australian Defence Force personnel were assisting in New South Wales and 350 troops in Victoria.

☆ Australia's central bank has equity wiped out by billions in bond losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. Australia's central bank on Friday warned inflation was heading to three-decade highs requiring further hikes in interest rates that would slow growth sharply. Australia's central bank on Wednesday said its equity had been wiped out by losses suffered on pandemic-era bond buying, but its ability to create money meant it was not insolvent and would continue as normal. The losses eclipsed underlying earnings of A$8.2 billion and left the central bank with an accounting loss of A$36.7 billion. "The negative equity position will, therefore, not affect the ability of the Reserve Bank to do its job."

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