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A30 world news
Diaranson 1 December 2021
Inflation in 19 nations using euro hits record high of 4.9%
tion is running at multiyear tasked with setting policy to on inflation.”
highs, including in Germany, meet a 2% inflation target.
Europe’s largest economy, Many economists think the
where the annual rate has However, the recently dis- inflation spike over recent
hit 6%. Even that is below covered omicron variant of months will reverse next year
the 6.2% recorded at last the coronavirus has prompt- as base effects linked with the
count in the U.S., the biggest ed some uncertainty over sharp fall in prices during the
12-month jump since 1990. the global economic out- pandemic last year, primar-
look, and as a result, central ily of energy, are stripped out
The eurozone’s core infla- banks around the world are from annual comparisons.
tion rate, which strips out po- expected to hold back from
tentially volatile items such announcing any big policy Records started being com-
as alcohol, energy, food and changes soon. Were the vari- piled about the euro two
tobacco, also spiked higher in ant to start affecting growth years before its actual launch
November to an annual rate levels, then prices, such as in 1999. For the first three
(AP) — Consumer prices keeping began in 1997 and of 2.6% from 2%. oil, would likely drift lower, years of its existence, it was
across the 19 countries up from 4.1% in October, the easing inflation rates world- an invisible currency that
that use the euro currency previous high mark. That points to the headline wide. was traded on foreign ex-
are rising at a record rate rate already having second- change markets and used
as a result of a huge spike Like others, the eurozone, round effects, through higher “November’s inflation data for accounting purposes and
in energy costs this year, which is made up of 19 econ- wages, for example. were yet another surprise on electronic payments. In 2002,
official figures showed omies including France and the upside,” said Jack Allen- euro notes and coins first
Tuesday. Germany, is enduring big Under normal circumstanc- Reynolds, senior Europe came into circulation, replac-
price hikes as a result of the es, the increases would likely economist at Capital Eco- ing historic currencies such
Eurostat, the European economic recovery from the pile pressure on the European nomics. “The omicron vari- as the French franc, the Ger-
Union’s statistics agency, said coronavirus pandemic and Central Bank to start mull- ant has increased the level of man deutschmark and the
the eurozone’s annual infla- blockages in supply chains. ing the prospect of raising its uncertainty even further, but Italian lira.
tion rate hit 4.9% in Novem- main interest rate from a re- for now, we suspect that it
ber, the highest since record- Across the eurozone, infla- cord low of zero. The bank is will have a fairly small impact
MI6 spy chief says China, Russia, Iran top UK threat list
(AP) — China, which is increasingly flexing sponsored killing attempts, such as the poisoning potential of artificial intelligence and other rapidly
its muscles around the world, is one of the of former spy Sergei Skripal in England in 2018, developing technologies means the spy agency has
biggest threats to Britain and its allies, and a mounts cyberattacks and interferes in other coun- to “become more open to stay secret” in a world of
“miscalculation” by Beijing could lead to war, tries’ democratic processes. destabilizing technological change.
the head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence
agency said Tuesday. “We and our allies and partners must stand up to “Our adversaries are pouring money and ambi-
and deter Russian activity which contravenes the tion into mastering artificial intelligence, quantum
MI6 chief Richard Moore said that China, Rus- international rules-based system,” the MI6 chief computing and synthetic biology, because they
sia, Iran and international terrorism make up the said. know that mastering these technologies will give
“big four” security issues facing Britain’s spies in them leverage,” Moore said. He used China as an
an unstable world where both countries and illicit “No country in Europe or beyond should be se- example of a country that harvests data on a vast
organizations are racing to exploit fast-changing duced into thinking that unbalanced concessions scale to gain information and power.
information technology. to Russia bring better behavior,” he said, noting
Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine To keep up, he said British spies “are now pursuing
In his first public speech since becoming head of and its recent buildup of troops near the border partnerships with the tech community to help de-
the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, with Ukraine. velop world-class technologies to solve our biggest
in October 2020, Moore said China is the intel- mission problems.”
ligence agency’s “single greatest priority” as the His comments are the latest warnings from senior
Beijing leadership increasingly backs “bold and de- British and NATO officials aimed at deterring “Unlike Q in the Bond movies, we cannot do it all
cisive action” to further its interests. Moscow from further incursions in Ukraine. in-house,” Moore added, referring to the fictional
MI6 gadget-maker in the 007 thrillers.
Calling China “an authoritarian state with different Moore said Iran also poses a major threat, and uses
values than ours,” he said Beijing conducts “large- the political and militant group Hezbollah — “a Moore said working with the private sector is a “sea
scale espionage operations” against the U.K. and its state within a state” — to fuel political turmoil in change” for an organization enmeshed in secrecy.
allies, tries to ”distort public discourse and political neighboring countries. Until 1992, Britain’s government refused to con-
decision-making” and exports technology that en- firm the existence of MI6. The organization has
ables a “web of authoritarian control” around the Turning to non-state threats, he said the fall of Af- gradually become more open in recent years, even
world. ghanistan’s internationally backed government and allowing publication of an authorized history --
the return to power of the Taliban were a “morale though it only goes up to 1949.
“Beijing’s growing military strength and the (Chi- boost” to militants.
nese Communist) party’s desire to resolve the Tai- MI6 began publicly naming its chief, who uses the
wan issue, by force if necessary, also pose a serious “I won’t soft soap it: The threat we face will likely code name C, in the 1990s, and Moore is the first
challenge to global stability and peace,” Moore said. grow now we have left Afghanistan,” Moore said head of the service with a Twitter account.
— though he claimed it would be “overblown” to
The self-ruled island of Taiwan split from main- call the surprise speed of the Taliban’s takeover a
land China in 1949, and Beijing still claims it as Western intelligence failure.
part of its territory.
He argued that Britain’s spies must give up some of
“Beijing believes its own propaganda about West- their deep-rooted secrecy and seek help from tech-
ern frailties and under-estimates Washington’s re- nology firms to win a cybersecurity arms race that
solve,” Moore added. “The risk of Chinese miscal- is giving hostile countries and groups ever more
culation through overconfidence is real.” capacity.
Moore said the U.K. also continues “to face an Moore, speaking at the International Institute for
acute threat from Russia.” He said Moscow has Strategic Studies in London, said the disruptive