Entertainment news
Terry Hall, Lead Singer of the Specials, Dead at 63 – Rolling Stone
Terry Hall, lead vocalist of British ska-punk band the Specials, has died at age 63.On Monday, the band released a statement on social media informing fans that the musician had died after a “brief illness,” though more details were not made available.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” read the statement.
“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls,” the note continued.“His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love.”
Along with his work with the band whose cover of “A Message to You Rudy” was a hit, Hall was a former member of the Colourfield and Fun Boy Three.He formed Fun Boy Three with Neville Staple of the Specials and The Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin after their departure from Specials in 1981.
“Gutted to hear of the passing of #terryhall.He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person.
Our extremely brief romance resulted in the song Our Lips Are Sealed, which will forever tie us together in music history,” Wiedlin wrote on Twitter.“Terrible news to hear this.
😢”
Among the Specials’ greatest hits are songs such as “Ghost Town,” “Gangsters,” and “Too Much Too Young.” The group had several revivals, for which Hall returned in 2008.
Asking for privacy for Hall’s family, the Specials wrote on Twitter: “He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity.”
The band added, “Terry often left the stage at the end of the Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words: ‘Love Love Love.’”
Hall formed the ska group in 1977, and served as lead vocalist until 1981.He later returned for a reunion in 2008 up until his death.
The group released album Encore in 2019, where they were deemed as “legends” by
Rolling Stone‘s Will Hermes.“The Special’s third album — 38 years since the last one, More Specials — is well timed,” the review states.“As frontman Terry Hall puts it, the band remain ‘horribly relevant.’”
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Disease Outbreak News: Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) – Indonesia (19 December 2022) – Indonesia – ReliefWeb
Outbreak at a glance
On 12 November 2022, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health notified WHO of a confirmed case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) from Pidie district in Aceh province.Field investigations were immediately launched by local and national public health authorities, with support from partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
On 28 November, the Ministry of Health launched an immunization campaign for children under the age of 13 years in the affected areas.
Description of the outbreak
On 12 November 2022, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health notified WHO of a confirmed case of VDPV2.The case was a 7-year-old boy from Pidie district in Aceh province, who developed AFP on 9 October 2022.The case had not received oral polio vaccine (OPV) or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and had no travel history or contact with those who had traveled.On 25 November 2022, three more genetically related isolates of cVDPV2 were reported based on the laboratory results of stool samples taken from three healthy children who were in the same community but not close contacts of the confirmed case.
Sequencing results from Biofarma lab showed 25 nucleotide changes for the AFP case and 25 to 26 nucleotide changes for the three asymptomatic children.These results are evidence of transmission of the virus and meets the criteria to be classified as circulating VDPV2 (cVDPV2).In the past in Indonesia, a cVDPV type 1 outbreak was reported in Papua province in 2019.
Aceh province has very low polio vaccination coverage in the routine immunization programme; however, coverage is also low in several other provinces in Indonesia, including three provinces nearby Aceh (North Sumatera, West Sumatera and Riau).In 2021, in Aceh province, bivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV3) coverage was 50.9%, and IPV 28.2%.and for Pidie district the coverage was 17.7% for OPV3 and 0.5% for IPV.
There is low population immunity against all polioviruses but primarily type 2 in children born after the switch from the trivalent to bivalent OPV in April 2016.
Epidemiology of Poliomyelitis
Polio is a highly infectious disease that largely affects children under five years of age, causing permanent paralysis (approximately 1 in 200 infections) or death (2-10% of those paralyzed).
The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, mainly through the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g., contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.
The incubation period is usually 7–10 days but can range from 4–35 days.Up to 90% of those infected are either asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms and the disease usually goes unrecognized.
Vaccine-derived poliovirus is a well-documented strain of poliovirus mutated from the strain originally contained in OPV.OPV contains a live, weakened form of poliovirus that replicates in the intestine for a limited period, thereby developing immunity by building up antibodies.
On rare occasions, when replicating in the gastrointestinal tract, OPV strains genetically change and may spread in communities that are not fully vaccinated against polio, especially in areas where there is poor hygiene, poor sanitation, or overcrowding.The lower the population immunity, the longer this virus survives and the more genetic changes it undergoes.
In very rare instances, the vaccine-derived virus can genetically change into a form that can cause paralysis as does the wild poliovirus – this is what is known as a vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV).The detection of VDPV in at least two different sources and at least two months apart, that are genetically linked, showing evidence of transmission in the community, should be classified as ‘circulating’ vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 continues to affect different areas of the world, notably in the African Region.
Public health response
The Ministry of Health has publicly announced the outbreak, and on 28 November, immunization campaigns were launched for 1.2 million children under the age of 13 years in the province of Aceh.
Risk assessment and field investigations were immediately launched and are still ongoing by the local and national public health authorities, with support from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, including a more detailed assessment of the origin of the isolated viruses.
The Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF and other partners, is undertaking strong measures to stop the transmission.
Measures include enhanced surveillance- active search for AFP cases at health facilities and communities, assessment of OPV/IPV coverage through a rapid community survey in a sample of 200 households, and training on the surveillance guidelines for the use of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2).
The WHO Director General approved the release of the nOPV2 for rapid response on 25 November 2022 and a rapid vaccination response was initiated on 28 November in Pidie district (the affected district) with approximately 95 603 children aged under 13 years to be vaccinated.
A rapid response vaccination campaign was launched in Aceh province for those aged zero to 12 years on 5 December 2022.Large-scale supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) with nOPV2 are proposed for those aged zero to 12 years in Aceh and zero to four years in North Sumatera, West Sumatra, and Riau in the first week of January 2023 and the first week of February 2023.
Advocacy campaigns, risk communication messaging, and social mobilization have been implemented.
WHO risk assessment
WHO assesses the risk to be high at the national level due to low polio vaccination coverage in Aceh and other provinces in Indonesia, the susceptibility of the population to poliovirus type 2 after switching from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOVP) to bOPV in April 2016 combined with low uptake of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), sub-optimal surveillance capacity, and vaccine hesitancy among the at-risk population.
The detection of cVDPVs highlights the importance of maintaining high levels of routine vaccination coverage everywhere to minimize the risk and consequences of the circulation of any poliovirus, as well as the need to ensure quality surveillance for early detection of any poliovirus.
WHO advice
It is important that all countries, in particular those with frequent travel and contacts with polio-affected countries and areas, strengthen surveillance for AFP cases and commence any planned expansion of environmental surveillance in order to rapidly detect any new virus importation and to facilitate a rapid response.
Countries, territories and areas should also maintain uniformly high routine immunization coverage at the district level to minimize the consequences of any new virus introduction.
WHO’s
International travel and health recommends that all travellers to polio-affected areas be fully vaccinated against polio.
As per the advice of the Emergency Committee convened under the International Health Regulations (2005) on the international spread of poliovirus, countries affected by poliovirus transmission are subject to Temporary Recommendations.To comply with the Temporary Recommendations issued under the PHEIC, any country that have had an importation of cVDPV2 with local transmission should (i) declare the outbreak as a national public health emergency (ii) encourage residents and long-term visitors to receive a dose of IPV four weeks to 12 months prior to international travel, (iii) ensure that travellers who receive such vaccination have access to an appropriate document to record their polio vaccination status, (iv) further intensify efforts to increase IPV immunization coverage, including sharing coverage data, and (v) intensify regional cooperation and cross border coordination to enhance surveillance for prompt detection of poliovirus, and vaccinate refugees, travellers and cross border populations, according to the advice of the Advisory Group.
WHO does not recommend any travel and/or trade restrictions to Indonesia based on the information available for this current event.
Further information
**Citable reference: **World Health Organization (19 December 2022).
Disease Outbreak News; Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2)-Indonesia.Available at:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON430
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From recovery to regulation: How China’s tech giants could fare in 2023 after a bruising year – CNBC
– It has been a rough year for China tech.Billions have been wiped off the value of the country’s giants including Alibaba and Tencent and companies have posted their slowest growth rates on record.
– Investors are treading with caution into next year in regards to Chinese tech stocks with analysts broadly expecting regulation to be more predictable and growth to accelerate.
– But uncertainty around China’s economic outlook and how it will exit its zero-Covid policy is creating risks.
It’s been another rough year for China’s tech stocks.Billions have been wiped off the value of the country’s internet giants including
Alibaba and Tencent and companies have posted their slowest growth rates on record.
A Covid resurgence in China, which the government countered with its strict “zero-Covid” policy of swift and harsh lockdowns in major cities, has hurt the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese internet firms have seen a slowdown as consumer spending was hit and advertising dollars were cut back.
Investors are treading with caution into next year with regard to Chinese tech stocks and analysts are broadly expecting regulation to be more predictable and growth to accelerate.But uncertainty around China’s economic outlook is creating risks.
Still, signs that China could be thinking about opening its economy again have given investors hope of a turnaround.
“We are positive on 2023 internet sector outlook in light of reopening story and improving consumer sentiment,” analysts at investment bank Jefferies said in a research note last month.
Zero-Covid relaxation in focus
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, China has adopted the so-called zero-Covid policy which attempts to use strict lockdowns and mass testing to control the virus outbreak.But that policy has
weighed on the economy and taken a toll on businesses.
Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba posted their
slowest revenue growth rates on record in 2022, while electric vehicle makers like Xpeng saw lackluster sales as consumer sentiment took a hit.
But there are signs that China’s Covid policy may be reversing.
This month, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is
less severe than previous versions, a shift in tone from the government ahead of announcements on relaxing Covid control measures.
On Dec.7, Chinese authorities formalized a
slew of easing measures which included allowing some people infected with Covid to isolate at home rather than at government facilities, and removing the need for a virus test for those travelling across the country.
In my view, the biggest challenge faced by tech firms next year is probably still COVID and, as a result, the weak and uncertain economic outlook.King’s College London
How the exit from zero-Covid is handled could ultimately determine the extent of the rebound for China tech.
“I will argue the prospect of a tech rebound next year depends primarily on the extent to which macroeconomy and especially consumption could recover,” Xin Sun, senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian business at King’s College London, told CNBC via email.
“Given the current extremely suppressed level of consumption, largely due to COVID restrictions and also the lack of confidence among consumers, a tech rebound is indeed likely if China could smoothly exit from zero-COVID and reopen the economy.”
Tech growth rates set to accelerate
Analysts broadly see growth for Chinese tech names reaccelerating in 2023 as the Chinese economy prepares to reopen — but growth won’t likely be on levels seen in the past, where quarterly revenue jumped 30% to 40%.
Alibaba is forecast to see a 2% year-on-year jump in revenue in the fourth quarter of this year, before accelerating to just over 6% in the March quarter of 2023 and 12% in the June quarter, according to analysts’ consensus estimates from Refinitiv.
Tencent, meanwhile, is expected to post year-on-year revenue growth of just 0.5% in the December quarter followed by 7% in the first quarter of 2023 and 10.5% in the second quarter, according to Refinitiv.
Jefferies said in a note that it considers “online shopping as being in a sweet spot to embrace the recovery story before advertising and entertainment.” That could benefit companies like e-commerce giant Alibaba and rival
JD.com.
Analysts at the investment bank said they expect online advertising industry growth to rebound in 2023 but warned that growth will be “highly dependent on macro environment.”
Regulation becomes more predictable
China’s strict Covid policy was a major headwind for its tech sector this year, but investors were already spooked since late 2020 when Beijing ramped up regulatory tightening.
The regulatory crackdown has been a big factor in giants posting slower growth rates and has hammered their stocks.
Since the start of 2021, the
Hang Seng tech index in Hong Kong, which includes most of China’s tech giants, has fallen more than 50%.
Over the past two years, Beijing has introduced a range of policies from new antiturst rules to
data protection laws and an unprecedented law governing the use of algorithms by tech companies.
Firms that fell foul of antitrust rules
were punished with large fines, including Alibaba and food delivery company Meituan, as Beijing moved to reign in the power of its internet giants which had, until recently, grown largely unencumbered.
The gaming sector has been badly hit.In 2021, regulators froze approvals for the release of new video games and brought in rules that
capped the amount of time kids under the age of 18 could play online.
The rules spooked investors who were largely caught unaware by China’s regulatory assault on its tech sector.
However, there are signs that some of the regulatory pressure may be easing.Regulators
restarted the approval of games this year, which will benefit Tencent and NetEase, China’s two biggest online gaming companies.
The government has also on multiple occasions this year pledged to support the technology sector.
“Beijing’s top priority this year is economic growth.The crackdown-style governance is over because Beijing has recognized that it’s a bad idea to spook markets and undermine business confidence,” Linghao Bao, analyst at Trivium China, told CNBC.
“We’ve already seen some recent attempts to relax Covid measures and rescue the property markets.That said, regulations will be here to stay.That means the focus has shifted toward a more measured, predictable approach to regulating big tech.”
Changing business models
From diversification to selling off stakes in other businesses, the impact of regulation and a slowing economy is changing the way Chinese technology giants are running their companies.
Firstly, Chinese tech firms have been cutting costs and exiting non-core businesses in order to
boost profitability.
In addition to running China’s most popular messaging service WeChat, Tencent is also a prolific investor in other firms.
But the company has recently started divesting stakes in some of China’s biggest companies.As scrutiny on the tech sector increased, Tencent sold off stakes in some investees including JD.com and Meituan.
Tencent is also
focusing on other areas including it fledgling cloud computing business and an international push as gaming sales, one of its biggest drivers of revenue, remains under pressure.
I’m more bullish than I was 6 months ago simply because I think the prices have fallen much further than future earnings estimates have had to be revised downward.Tariq DennisonGFM Asset Management
Alibaba, whose China retail business makes up the bulk of its revenue, is trying to
ramp up sales from areas such as cloud computing to diversify its business.
Beijing has also looked to separate some financially-linked businesses related to tech firms.
Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, was ordered in 2021 by China’s central bank
to become a financial holding company after its initial public offering was pulled in November 2020.Tencent said earlier this year that it is exploring whether regulations will require its WeChat Pay mobile payments service to also fall under a separate financial holding company.
“The crackdowns have fundamentally changed the business logic these firms need to follow … in the past Chinese tech giants strived to build the so-called ‘ecosystem’, which, by aggressively acquiring and integrating different lines of business, increased customer stickiness and engagement,” said Sun from King’s College.
“Now they have to scale back to focus on their main business lines and seek revenue growth from optimised operation and innovation.”
Biggest risks
While some investors have reasons to be optimistic about China’s tech industry next year, they are certainly treading with caution.
Uncertainty about the path of China’s exit from its zero-Covid policy and the trajectory of the economy in 2023.
Several investment banks have
cut their China economic growth forecasts over the past few months amid a slump in exports and a drag from the real estate sector, two important drivers of growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
“In my view, the biggest challenge faced by tech firms next year is probably still COVID and, as a result, the weak and uncertain economic outlook,” Sun said.
Tariq Dennison, wealth manager at Hong Kong-based GFM Asset Management, told CNBC there are also a number of geopolitical risks including American investors being blocked from buying Chinese tech stocks to companies being nationalized.
However, he clarified that these risks are present but unlikely.
“I don’t think many of those scenarios are that likely,” he said, adding that geopolitical risks are the “biggest collective threat.”
What it means for Chinese tech stocks
A number of analysts and investors told CNBC over the last few months that the plunge in Chinese technology stocks has
left some of them looking “cheap” or undervalued.
That’s because stock prices have fallen faster than what analysts believe could be the earnings potential for some of these Chinese technology companies.
“I’m more bullish than I was 6 months ago simply because I think the prices have fallen much further than future earnings estimates have had to be revised downward,” Dennison said.
One metric analysts look at is forward price-to-earnings, a measure of a company’s earnings relative to its stock price, expressed as a ratio.A high P/E could indicate that a stock’s price is relatively high compared to its earnings, and possibly overvalued.
“The average valuation of China internet names … is 14x 2023 P/E vs 22x of global peers as of 30 Nov,” Jefferies said.“We expect the market to look beyond the 2022 turmoil and revisit the sector in 2023.”
Indeed, analysts still see significant upside for Chinese tech stocks.
On average, analysts have a price target of $134.40 on Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares, indicating roughly 54% upside from the Monday close of $87.16.Analysts have an average price target of 386.91 Hong Kong dollars on Tencent’s stock, or about 20% upside from the Monday close of HK$320.40.
Entertainment news
Elizabeth Warren warns Tesla shareholders may be at risk from Elon Musk – CBS News
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is questioning whether Tesla’s board is protecting the electric car company’s shareholders in the aftermath of CEO Elon Musk’s
$44 billion purchase of Twitter.
Tesla directors are legally bound to look after the interests of the company, workers and shareholders, the Democratic lawmaker wrote Monday in a
letter to Robyn Denholm, chairman of the Tesla board.
Yet Musk’s steps as the new Twitter CEO raise “questions about possible violations of securities or other laws,” Warren added.
Tesla, worth $1.2 trillion at the start of 2022, has
shed about $700 billion in market value this year amid questions about Musk’s judgement and commitment to the electric-vehicle maker.The billionaire’s attention has been consumed by Twitter since its purchase in October, which has prompted him to sell almost $40 billion in Tesla stock to shore up investment in the money-losing social media network.
“Every board of directors of a company with multiple shareholders — especially publicly traded companies — is responsible for ensuring that a controlling shareholder (especially one who is also a chief executive officer, or CEO) does not treat the company as a private plaything,” Warren stated.
The senator called on the board to account for how it was “dealing with conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets and other actions by Mr.Musk that appear not to be in the best interest of Tesla and its shareholders.”
Those steps include pulling Tesla engineers and other key staff at the automaker to work at Twitter, Warren noted.She also cited the potential for conflicts of interest, given that Twitter relies on ad revenue from Tesla competitors such as Audi and Ford.
“Musk may decide to run the company to maximize badly-needed revenue, even if that includes great deals for Tesla’s competitors and potential injury to Tesla,” she stated.
“Musk could decide he is personally better served if Tesla overpays Twitter for advertising or pays up front to give Twitter access to much-needed cash.”
The board is responsible for ensuring Musk is an effective CEO and acts in the best interests of Tesla and its shareholders, “not just himself,” Warren wrote.
“The fact that Mr.Musk was, until recently, the world’s richest man does not absolve him of those legal responsibilities,” she said, referencing Musk’s slide last week to the
second spot on the Forbes and Bloomberg wealth rankings.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times earlier
reported on Warren’s letter.
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