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Rice prices up 91 pct year-on-year in Japan

Rice prices in Japan soared 90.7 percent in July year-on-year, official data showed Friday, but the rate of increase slowed from previous months offering some relief for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.Ishiba’s future is uncertain after his coalition lost its majority in both chambers in elections this year, as voters angry about rising prices deserted his long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party.Rice prices have skyrocketed in recent months because of supply problems linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, amongst other factors.Overall, Japan’s core inflation eased to 3.1 percent from 3.3 percent in June.But it remains above the Bank of Japan’s two-percent target, cementing expectations that it will hike interest rates this year.The reading, which excludes fresh food prices, was slightly above market expectations of 3.0 percent. Stripping out energy too, consumer prices rose 3.4 percent — the same as in June.The BoJ last hiked interest rates in January but has been reluctant to tighten monetary policy further.It sees above-target inflation as caused by temporary factors — including the price of rice.This month US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added to pressure on the BoJ to hike, saying the central bank was “behind the curve” on inflation.”Although inflation is likely to cool a bit further in the months ahead, it shouldn’t prevent the Bank of Japan from resuming its tightening cycle in October,” Abhijit Surya at Capital Economics said Friday.- Rice reserves -In June the price of rice was 100.2 percent higher than a year earlier. In May the rate was 101.7 percent.Ishiba has appointed a new farm minister and his government has released emergency stocks in an effort to bring prices down.Earlier this month it announced a change in its decades-old policy of encouraging farmers to grow crops other than rice.US President Donald Trump also wants Japan to import more American rice.Last week, data showed that Japan’s economy grew at an annualised pace of 1.0 percent in the second quarter.The reading suggested the economy was suffering less than feared from US tariffs.But other data released Wednesday showed exports to the United States plunging 10.1 percent in July, with cars down 28.4 percent.Trump initially imposed across-the-board tariffs of 10 percent on Japan, as well as levies of 27.5 percent on cars.Japan’s automobile industry, which includes giants such as Toyota and Honda, accounts for around eight percent of the country’s jobs.Japan last month secured a trade deal that cut threatened 25 percent “reciprocal” tariffs to 15 percent.The rate on Japanese cars was also cut to 15 percent, although this has yet to take effect.

Asian markets tick up as investors eye Jackson Hole meeting

Asian markets were mostly up Friday morning ahead of a pivotal speech by the US central bank chief, expected to shed light on possible interest rate cuts in the world’s top economy.Recent days have seen cautious trading as investors parse a mixed outlook for the global economy, beset by worries over inflation even as a boom in tech — especially artificial intelligence — continues.US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to deliver remarks during an annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, a key event for observers weighing the chances of a rate cut at a September meeting of policymakers.Powell has come under intense public pressure this year from President Donald Trump to lower rates — an unusual political intervention at the independent central bank.Stock markets across Asia were up narrowly on Friday, roughly 12 hours before Powell’s speech.Tokyo’s Nikkei index was barely above flat during morning trading, an improvement from Thursday’s 0.7 percent drop.Japan announced Friday that its core inflation rate had eased to 3.1 percent in July from 3.3 percent the previous month — still above its central bank’s two-percent target and boosting expectations of an October rate hike.Stocks in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei were also up.Sydney and Bangkok were slightly down.After a shaky few days on Wall Street, Asia “should act as a safe harbour while the Fed’s credibility is under the spotlight”, said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, in a note.Still, “hesitation to push risk higher will remain”, he said, adding that there is “a very low probability” of Powell calling explicitly for rate cuts in his speech later in the day.Also weighing heavily on investors’ minds is the potential for a peace deal in Ukraine more than three years after Russia’s invasion.Trump on Thursday set a two-week time frame for assessing peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, following days of high-stakes diplomacy that saw him meet in person with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as several European leaders.Observers have been speculating lately about the impact on oil markets of the possible lifting of sanctions on Russia, a major producer.Oil prices were down slightly on Friday morning, paring back gains over recent days.- Key figures at around 0215 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 42,634.00Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 25,232.39Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,783.76Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1611 from $1.1604 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3414 from $1.3412Dollar/yen: UP at 148.52 yen from 148.37 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.57 pence from 86.52 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.35 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $67.46 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,785.50 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,309.20 (close)

Texas, California race to redraw electoral maps ahead of US midterms

Republican-controlled Texas and Democrat-run California forged ahead Thursday with creating new congressional maps, in a cutthroat struggle to tilt the outcome of next year’s US midterm elections.The battle between the country’s two largest states was set off by President Donald Trump’s drive to protect the thin Republican majority in the US House of Representatives and avoid becoming mired in Democratic Party investigations from 2027.Under pressure from Trump, Texas fired the starting gun in a tussle that pro-democracy activists warn could spread nationwide. Its state house on Wednesday approved new congressional boundaries that would likely eke out five extra Republican districts.The state senate is expected to green-light the bill on Friday morning and send it to Governor Greg Abbott for a signature.California Governor Gavin Newsom — an early frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination — struck back with a plan for a new map that would likely cancel out Texas by adding five Democratic seats.The state’s legislature on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the plan, with thumping majorities in the house and the senate, both of which are Democrat controlled.”We will not let our political system be hijacked by authoritarianism,” Speaker Robert Rivas said, shortly before the vote.”Today, we give every Californian the power to say no… to Donald Trump’s power grab and yes to our people, to our state and to our democracy.”Voters will now be asked if they want to temporarily redraw constituency boundaries for elections, up to and including 2030.The Texas House approved its new district boundaries after a two-week drama sparked by Democrats fleeing the state in an effort to block the vote and draw nationwide attention to the issue of partisan redistricting, known as “gerrymandering.”The Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting passed the new map in a 5-3 vote Thursday lunchtime, teeing up a Friday vote of the full chamber.Redistricting usually occurs once every decade, taking into account population changes registered in the latest census.- ‘Clinging to power’ -The unusual mid-decade effort in Texas is expected to spark a tit-for-tat battle, potentially dragging in liberal-leaning Illinois and New York, and conservative Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri. “The Great State of Missouri is now IN,” Trump announced Thursday on social media, in a post understood to be referring to redistricting.”I’m not surprised. It is a great State with fabulous people. I won it, all 3 times, in a landslide. We’re going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!”But New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul called the push the “last gasp of a desperate party clinging to power,” warning Trump that she would “meet him on the same field and beat him at his own game.” Former president Barack Obama endorsed California’s retaliation as a “smart and measured” response to anti-democratic moves by Trump.”(Since) Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and maintain the House despite their unpopular policies, I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this,” he said.Newsom has a tougher task than Abbott in pushing through the redistricting plans, as California voters must first agree in a referendum in November to bypass the independent commission that normally controls the process. Californians have traditionally been wary of partisan redistricting, and while Democrats have called for independent commissions nationwide, a new Politico-UC Berkeley Citrin Center poll shows they would make an exception for the pushback against Texas.Republicans are suing Democrats, alleging that November’s vote would be unlawful, although the California Supreme Court rejected an initial challenge late Wednesday.”Yes, we’ll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore — it’s about how we play hardball,” Newsom said in a call with reporters.

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Pakistan woos old rival Bangladesh, as India watches on

Decades after Pakistani troops killed his friends in Bangladesh’s independence war, veteran freedom fighter Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed eyes warming ties between Dhaka and Islamabad with cautious pragmatism.Bangladesh is hosting the foreign minister and trade envoy this week, its most senior Pakistani visitors in years, in a bid to reset relations scarred by the bloody 1971 conflict and shaped by shifting regional power balances.”The brutality was unbounded,” said Ahmed, 79, a banker, describing the war in which East Pakistan broke away to form Bangladesh.Hundreds of thousands were killed -– Bangladeshi estimates say millions -– and Pakistan’s military was accused of widespread atrocities.”I would have loved to see the responsible people tried — the ones who killed six of my friends,” Ahmed told AFP.”I don’t mind normalising relations with those who opposed the war, but were not directly involved in the atrocities committed.”Contact between the two Muslim-majority nations was long limited to little more than cultural ties: a shared love of cricket, music and Pakistan’s prized cotton used to make the flowing trousers and shirt known as shalwar kameez.Bangladesh instead leaned heavily on India, which almost encircles the country of 170 million people.- ‘Flirting’ -However, a mass uprising in Dhaka last year that toppled longtime India ally Sheikh Hasina has strained ties with New Delhi and opened the door for dialogue with Islamabad.Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan arrived in Dhaka on Thursday and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected on Saturday.Analysts say India, which fought a four-day conflict with Pakistan in May, will be watching closely.”Bangladesh had been one of India’s closest partners in its neighbourhood, and now it is flirting with India’s chief adversary,” said Michael Kugelman, a US-based analyst.The last time a Pakistani foreign minister visited Dhaka was in 2012, according to Bangladesh newspapers.Pakistan and Bangladesh began sea trade last year, expanding government-to-government commerce in February.”It is the emergence of a new strategic equation — one that reduces Indian influence and instead strengthens a cooperative axis between Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Azeem Khalid, a New York-based international relations expert, told AFP.”If sustained, this evolution has the potential to reshape South Asia’s geopolitical and economic order.”Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus is furious that Hasina fled to India and has defied a summons to answer charges amounting to crimes against humanity.”Under Yunus, there have been a number of high-level meetings, trade relations have expanded, the two countries have agreed to relax visa rules and there has even been some limited military cooperation,” said analyst Thomas Kean from the International Crisis Group.- ‘Wound remains open’ -Still, reconciliation faces obstacles.Calls for Pakistan to apologise for the 1971 killings remain popular in Bangladesh, but foreign policy expert Qamar Cheema believes it is unlikely Islamabad will oblige.”Pakistan’s engagement with Bangladesh is only possible if Bangladesh does not bring historical animosity in re-establishing ties”, said Cheema, from Islamabad’s Sanober Institute.”Bangladesh always demanded an apology, which (Pakistan) never provided — and even today, doesn’t have any such intentions.”Dhaka’s foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain, asked if Bangladesh would raise the issue of a public apology, said that “all issues will be on the table”.Bangladesh courts have sentenced several people for “genocide” during the 1971 war, accusing them of aiding Pakistani forces in the ethnic cleansing of Bengalis.”As long as the wound remains open, the relationship cannot be sustainable,” said anthropologist Sayeed Ferdous from Dhaka’s Jahangirnagar University.Others strike a more balanced tone.”From a victim’s perspective, I can’t accept a warming of bilateral relations before Pakistan meets certain conditions,” said Bangladeshi academic Meghna Guhathakurta, whose father was killed by Pakistani troops.She said Islamabad “should make all information related to the war public”.However, the retired international relations professor from Dhaka University also accepted that it was “natural to have trade relations with Pakistan”, and acknowledged the “geopolitical dimensions”.With elections in February, when Yunus’s administration will hand over power, relations could shift once again.”If the next government is prepared to patch up ties with India — and Delhi is willing to reciprocate — then the surge in ties with Islamabad could become a casualty,” Kugelman said.burs-pjm/pbt/sco

Documents show New Zealand unease over Chinese warships in South Pacific

$346 mn US-Nigeria arms deal sets rights groups on edgeFri, 22 Aug 2025 02:24:18 GMT

Rights groups are questioning a multimillion-dollar arms sale by the United States to Nigeria as security forces in the west African nation continue to be accused of killing civilians with impunity.Last week the State Department approved the possible sale of $346 million in weapons, including bombs, rockets and munitions, to Nigeria, which is battling jihadist militants …

$346 mn US-Nigeria arms deal sets rights groups on edgeFri, 22 Aug 2025 02:24:18 GMT Read More »

Gauche: après l’appel à l’union de Tondelier, la réponse de Mélenchon

La rentrée politique se poursuit vendredi avec une prise de parole attendue de Jean-Luc Mélenchon aux universités d’été de La France insoumise, au lendemain d’un meeting unitaire des Ecologistes qui a rassemblé des représentants de toutes les nuances de gauche. A Chateauneuf-sur-Isère, près de Valence dans la Drôme, la motion de censure contre François Bayrou souhaitée par LFI et le mouvement de blocage du 10 septembre sont dans tous les esprits. Mais les municipales de 2026 et la présidentielle de 2027 – pour laquelle le leader insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon semble être déjà prêt – ne sont pas loin également. “Si Monsieur Bayrou est censuré, je pense que la question qui sera immédiatement posée, c’est la question du départ du président de la République lui-même”, a estimé jeudi le coordinateur du mouvement Manuel Bompard sur BFMTV.Pour sa première prise de parole des “Amfis”, surnom des universités d’été du Parti, jeudi, le triple candidat à la présidentielle a donné une conférence théorique sur l’organisation politique des villes. Mais sans entrer dans le concret de la stratégie insoumise pour les municipales, qui se tiendront dans plus de six mois. Quelques heures après, à Strasbourg aux universités d’été des Ecologistes, la patronne du parti Marine Tondelier a, une nouvelle fois, lancé un appel à l’union à gauche pour 2027, son cheval de bataille.”Arrêtons avec les attaques personnelles et les guerres picrocholines, et la commedia dell’arte, et les +gnagnagna, si tu me mets un dissident là, je t’en mets un là (…) On n’a pas le temps”, a-t-elle martelé.A gauche, le Parti socialiste d’Olivier Faure, les Ecologistes et les anciens Insoumis (Clémentine Autain, François Ruffin) sont des fervents défenseurs de l’union face à la menace de l’extrême droite, comme l’a su bon an mal an le faire le Nouveau Front populaire en 2024. Mais les deux présidentiables que sont Raphaël Glucksmann et Jean-Luc Mélenchon s’y refusent, mettant en avance les diverges programmatiques à gauche. Le second s’est déjà dit favorable à l’union, mais derrière LFI et autour de son programme de rupture. Présente à Strasbourg jeudi, la députée insoumise Alfa Dufour a fait état de “divergences stratégiques” entre LFI et les autres partis du NFP. “Tu as justement dit +combien de jours, combien d’heures, combien de minutes, combien de temps avant la menace?+ Moi, j’ai l’impression qu’on a déjà changé d’heure, qu’on est déjà dans une ère autoritaire”, a-t-elle lancé à Marine Tondelier. – A chaque parti sa rentrée -Les universités d’été de LFI seront également rythmées par un débat samedi sur la commission d’enquête “Betharram” sur les violences en milieu scolaire, auquel le député insoumis Paul Vannier a invité la députée macroniste Violette Spillebout.Les deux étaient co-rapporteurs de cette commission d’enquête.Le grand raout de rentrée du mouvement de gauche radicale se clôturera dimanche matin par un meeting de la cheffe des députés LFI Mathilde Panot et du coordinateur du mouvement Manuel Bompard.La France insoumise a refusé l’accès à ses universités d’été au journaliste du Monde, Olivier Pérou, co-auteur du livre enquête sur LFI “La Meute”. De son côté, le PCF organise ce week-end ses universités d’été avec un discours de Fabien Roussel attendu samedi.La semaine prochaine ce seront les socialistes qui feront leur rentrée à Blois et les “unitaires” (ex-LFI), autour des députés François Ruffin et Clémentine Autain, à Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir).

Gauche: après l’appel à l’union de Tondelier, la réponse de Mélenchon

Entre assurance aux marchés et pressions de Trump, le président de la Fed sur un fil à Jackson Hole

Donner des perspectives aux marchés tout en se montrant insensible à la pression grandissante venant de Donald Trump, telle est la ligne de crête sur laquelle doit marcher vendredi le président de la Fed, Jerome Powell, lors d’un discours très attendu.Si le président de la Réserve fédérale (Fed), qui doit s’exprimer aux rencontres de Jackson Hole, dans le Wyoming, ne s’engage jamais fermement sur une tendance, une de ses missions consiste à gérer les attentes des marchés, en indiquant dans quelle direction les prochaines décisions de la banque centrale pourraient aller.Et en l’espèce, la possibilité d’une baisse des taux lors de la réunion prévue mi-septembre, après avoir maintenu les taux inchangés depuis celle de décembre, est largement attendue par les analystes, si l’on en croit l’outil de veille de CME, FedWatch.Pourtant, jusqu’ici, ni la conférence de presse de M. Powell à l’issue de la réunion de fin juillet ni les “minutes” de la Fed publiées mercredi n’ont offert la moindre indication en ce sens.”Je trouve très surprenant que les marchés aient une telle confiance” dans une baisse des taux à venir, a remarqué Tim Urbanowicz, analyste pour Innovator Capital Management, interrogé par l’AFP.”Je pense que cela tient avant tout au fait que (Donald) Trump a répété vouloir que la Fed baisse ses taux. Il met une telle pression sur Powell!”Avant même son retour à la Maison Blanche, le président américain a en effet considéré que les taux de la Fed, actuellement dans une fourchette comprise entre 4,25% et 4,50%, étaient trop élevés.Une conviction qui s’est renforcée ces derniers mois, durant lesquels Donald Trump a demandé que la Fed baisse ses taux de trois points de pourcentage, estimant que M. Powell, qu’il surnomme “Trop lent”, ne faisait pas ce qu’il fallait.A ses yeux, une baisse des taux permettrait de venir en soutien de sa politique économique, droits de douane et baisse d’impôts pour les plus riches notamment, en augmentant l’accès à l’emprunt.”Quelqu’un pourrait dire à +Trop lent+ Powell qu’il abîme le secteur de la construction? Les gens n’ont plus accès aux prêts immobiliers, tout pointe vers la nécessité d’une importante baisse des taux. +Trop lent+ catastrophe”, a de nouveau écrit mardi soir Donald Trump, sur son compte Truth Social.- Dernier discours pour Powell -Sans succès cependant jusqu’ici: malgré les attaques de plus en plus virulentes, Jerome Powell s’est montré imperturbable, répétant à chaque fois que les décisions de l’institution devaient être avant tout basées sur les données économiques.Mais des divisions sont apparues fin juillet entre les membres du Comité de politique monétaire de la Fed (FOMC), alors que deux voix se sont prononcées en faveur d’une baisse des taux.Pour Michelle Bowman et Christopher Waller, tous deux nommés, comme Jerome Powell, par Donald Trump durant son premier mandat, l’impact des droits de douane sur les prix est transitoire alors que l’économie ralentit et le risque de dégradation du marché de l’emploi s’est renforcé.Or la Fed a une double mission, d’égale importance: maintenir l’inflation sur le long terme au plus proche de son objectif de 2% et une économie en plein emploi.Dans ce contexte, le discours d’ouverture des réunions de Jackson Hole par M. Powell, le dernier avant qu’il ne quitte la présidence de la Fed en mai prochain, sera particulièrement suivi.Les analystes vont en particulier chercher toute indication montrant que la balance des risques, entre inflation et chômage, évolue pour l’institution, ce qui serait un signe d’une redirection possible de la politique monétaire.Les derniers mois à la tête de l’institution promettent de s’avérer compliqués pour M. Powell, alors que Donald Trump renforce son contrôle sur l’institution.Il a déjà nommé au Comité de politique monétaire de la Fed l’un de ses plus proches conseillers économiques, Stephen Miran, qui doit encore être confirmé par le Sénat, après la démission d’une autre responsable de la Fed, Adriana Kugler.Et il s’en est pris mercredi à une autre responsable, Lisa Cook, la première femme afro-américaine à être nommée au prestigieux poste de gouverneure (en 2022 par Joe Biden), appelant à sa démission après qu’un proche du président a accusé cette dernière de falsification de documents en vue d’un prêt immobilier.En ligne de mire, le choix du successeur de Jerome Powell, pour lequel d’autres proches de Donald Trump, notamment son principal conseiller économique Kevin Hassett, sont régulièrement cités.