AMERICANS WIN NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS FOR WORK ON AUCTION THEORY
Americans Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson have won the Nobel Prize in
economics for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction
formats.
Their discoveries have benefitted sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the
world, the Nobel Committee said, noting that the auction formats developed
by the winners have been used to sell radio frequencies, fishing quotas and
airport landing slots.
The winners were announced Monday in Stockholm by Goran Hansson,
secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The award caps a week of Nobel Prizes at a time when much of the world is
experiencing the worst recession since World War II because of the impact of
the coronavirus pandemic.
Technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in
Memory of Alfred Nobel, the award was established in 1969 and is now widely
considered one of the Nobel prizes.
AMERICA HEADING FOR POST-ELECTION STRIFE
There are increasingly ominous signs that the US is heading towards
postelection strife with massive distrust over voting procedures and
counting of ballots. Unless there is a landslide in favour of one of the
candidates and perhaps even if there is one it is unlikely the country
will see finale on November 3.
President Trump himself has laid the ground for questioning any adverse
result by repeatedly highlighting stray errors, mistakes, or malfeasance in
distribution of ballots, even though most experts agree they are not on a
scale that should make a difference to the final outcome. On Monday, Trump
retweeted a story about a New Jersey postal employee accused of dumping
1,800 pieces of mail, including 99 ballots for the upcoming election, with a
one word comment: Rigged!
With polls all across the country showing Biden opening up big leads and
drawing level even in toss-up states that Trump won in 2016, the president
appears to have decided on a slash-and-burn strategy that will involve
torching any result that does not favour him. At the same time, political
operatives on the ground on both sides are preparing for legal challenges
amid sporadic reports of ballot harvesting and malfeasance.
OLD GRUDGES HANG OVER FIRST DAY OF BARRETT HEARINGS
A deeply divided Senate Judiciary Committee kicked off four days of
contentious confirmation hearings on Monday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett,
President Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court, drawing battle lines that
could reverberate through the election.
Judge Barrett vowed to fulfill her duties "faithfully and impartially" if
she is confirmed to the Supreme Court, appearing before the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Democrats arrived ready to go on the offensive, portraying Judge Barretts
nomination as an election-season power grab by Mr. Trump and Republicans and
rank hypocrisy after the yearlong blockade in 2016 against President Barack
Obamas high court nominee, Merrick B. Garland. They characterized Judge
Barrett as a conservative ideologue who would overturn the Affordable Care
Act, invalidate abortion rights and side with the president in any legal
disputes arising from the Nov. 3 election.
Republicans tried to deflect those charges and redirect attention toward
Judge Barretts sterling résumé and compelling personal story. But their
goal above all else was speed pushing through the confirmation before
Election Day and it appeared that they had the votes to install her and
cement a 6-to-3 conservative majority on the court before the end of
October.
Unless something really dramatic happens, all Republicans will vote yes and
all Democrats will vote no, Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham
(R-S.C.) said, though he acknowledged that this is going to be a long,
contentious week.
The hearings will resume Tuesday, when senators will begin two rounds of
questioning that will stretch into Wednesday. Outside witnesses will testify
in support or opposition of Barrett's nomination on Thursday.
FATF'S REGIONAL GROUP KEEPS PAK ON 'ENHANCED FOLLOW-UP' FOR MEAGRE PROGRESS
AGAINST TERROR FINANCING
Noting that Pakistan's measures against money laundering and terror
financing "is not yet sufficient to justify a re-rating", a regional
affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force on Monday retained the country
on its 'Enhanced Follow-up' list, according to a media report.
The development came only a few weeks ahead of the meeting of the FATF --
the Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog --
to decide on Pakistan's grey list status.
The first Follow-Up Report on Mutual Evaluation of Pakistan released by the
Asia-Pacific Group (APG) underlined that the country's progress on the 40
FATF recommendations on the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and
combating financing terror (AML/CFT) system largely remained unchanged --
non-compliant on four counts, partially compliant on 25 counts and largely
compliant on nine recommendations, the Dawn News reported.
Pakistan has improved its full compliance on only two of the 40 FATF
recommendations, the APG report noted.
Pakistan will remain in enhanced (expedited) follow up, and will continue
to report back to the APG on progress to strengthen its implementation of
AML/CFT measures, the APG concluded in its 12-page report.
TAIWAN CLAIMS ENTRAPMENT AFTER CHINA SHOWS SPY 'CONFESSION'
Taiwan's government has denounced China, citing entrapment and manipulation,
after Chinese state television aired a documentary showing a Taiwanese
citizen confessing to visiting Hong Kong to support anti-government
protesters there.
China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has
repeatedly denounced Taipei for offering support to Chinese-administered
Hong Kong's protest movement, saying the forces of Taiwan and Hong Kong
independence are colluding.
Taiwan says it has a duty to stand up for democracy and human rights.
Late Sunday, Chinese state television showed a documentary detailing what it
said was a confession by Morrison Lee, who was arrested by police in
Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, last year, on suspicion of breaching
national security laws.
In Taipei, the Mainland Affairs Council labelled the show "complete
nonsense".
"This is malicious political hyping up by the other side, entrapping one of
our people into engaging in spying activities, deliberately damaging
relations across the Taiwan Strait," it said.
Taiwan says it will not provoke China or seek war, but that it will defend
itself and stand up for its democratic way of life.
FACEBOOK WILL BAN HOLOCAUST DENIAL OR DISTORTION CONTENT: MARK ZUCKERBERG
Facebook Incs chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced a new hate speech
policy on Monday, saying it will ban posts that denies or distorts the
Holocaust and will start directing people to authoritative sources if they
search for information about the genocide enforced by Nazis.
The companys decision comes amid a push by Holocaust survivors around the
world who lent their voices to a campaign targeting Zuckerberg, urging him
to take action to remove Holocaust denial posts from the social media site.
It is also Facebooks latest attempt to take action against conspiracy
theories and misinformation ahead of the US presidential election on
November 3.
Weve long taken down posts that praise hate crimes or mass murder,
including the Holocaust. But with rising anti-Semitism, were expanding our
policy to prohibit any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust as
well. If people search for the Holocaust on Facebook, well start directing
you to authoritative sources to get accurate information, Zuckerberg said
in a blog post on Monday.
Zuckerberg said that he believes the new policy strikes the right balance
in drawing the lines between what is and isnt acceptable speech. Ive
struggled with the tension between standing for free expression and the harm
caused by minimizing or denying the horror of the Holocaust. My own thinking
has evolved as Ive seen data showing an increase in anti-Semitic violence,
as have our wider policies on hate speech, he wrote.
Enforcement of these policies cannot happen overnight. There is a range of
content that can violate these policies, and it will take some time to train
our reviewers and systems on enforcement, he said.
BANGLADESHS CABINET APPROVES DEATH PENALTY IN RAPE CASES
Bangladesh's Cabinet on Monday approved an increase in the maximum
punishment in rape cases to death from life imprisonment after a series of
recent sexual assaults triggered protests on streets and in social media.
Cabinet spokesman Khandaker Anwarul Islam said President Abdul Hamid was
likely to issue an ordinance amending the Women and Children Repression
Prevention Act because Parliament was not in session.
Details of the amendment were not immediately available, but Islam said the
Cabinet agreed to a proposal that trials in rape cases be completed in a
speedy manner.
Under the current law, the maximum punishment in rape cases is life
imprisonment, except for cases in which the victim dies, when capital
punishment is allowed.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the President was expected to issue the
ordinance on Tuesday.
EU AGREES TO SANCTIONS ON RUSSIANS OVER NAVALNY POISONING: DIPLOMATS
European Union foreign ministers backed a Franco-German plan on Monday to
impose sanctions on Russians suspected of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny with a nerve agent, diplomats said.
Berlin and Paris made their proposal at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in
Luxembourg. They say they have not had a credible explanation from Moscow
for what the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
said was the presence of the banned Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in
Navalnys body.
SRI LANKA IN TALKS TO SECURE $500 MN IN CHINESE LOANS
On the heels of a top Chinese delegations visit to Sri Lanka, Colombo is
negotiating a $500 million loan with Beijing, as it gears up to repay a
daunting $4.5 billion of its outstanding debt next year.
The Chinese Embassy tweeted on Sunday, a $500 million concessional loan
requested by Sri Lankas Ministry of Finance to a China financial
institute is under negotiation, but yet to be finalised. This is in
addition to Beijings $90 million grant to Sri Lanka, announced days after a
Chinese delegation led by Yang Jiechi, a top foreign policy official in the
Beijing administration. If sanctioned, the new loan would take Sri Lankas
total borrowings from China over $1 billion, after the $500 million urgent
financial assistance that Beijing extended to Colombo in March, to help Sri
Lanka cope with the economic impact of the pandemic.
The negotiations come at a time when Sri Lanka is mulling ways to repay its
mounting foreign loans. State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State
Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal recently told media that Sri Lanka
is exploring all options, including the $1 billion currency agreement with
India under negotiation greater investment in the securities market,
bonds, as well as a $700 million syndicated loan from China.
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