AFP

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa’s news company Rappler was continuing to work “as usual”, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said on Wednesday, after it was ordered to shut down by authorities ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s last day in office.

Ressa has been a vocal critic of Duterte and the deadly drug war he launched in 2016, triggering what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, probes and online attacks against her and Rappler.

The latest blow was delivered by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In a statement Wednesday, it confirmed the “revocation of the certificates of incorporation” of Rappler for violating “constitutional and statutory restrictions on foreign ownership in mass media”.

Rappler said the decision  “effectively confirmed the shutdown” of the company and vowed to appeal, describing the proceedings as “highly irregular”.

But Ressa was characteristically defiant, vowing the news site would continue to operate as they followed the legal process.

“We continue to work, it is business as usual,” Ressa told reporters, adding “we can only hope for the best” under Duterte’s successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Marcos Jr, the son of the Philippines’ former dictator who presided over widespread human rights abuses and corruption, takes over from Duterte on Thursday.

Activists fear Marcos Jr’s presidency could worsen the situation for human rights and freedom of speech in the country.

– ‘Retaliation’ –

Rappler has had to fight for survival as Duterte’s government accused it of violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership in securing funding, as well as tax evasion. 

It has also been accused of cyber libel — a new criminal law introduced in 2012, the same year Rappler was founded.

Duterte has attacked the website by name, calling it a “fake news outlet”, over a story about one of his closest aides.

The news organisation is accused of allowing foreigners to take control of its website through its parent company Rappler Holdings’ issuance of “depositary receipts”.

Under the constitution, investment in media is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities.

The case springs from a 2015 investment from the US-based Omidyar Network, which was established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.  

Omidyar Network later transferred its investment in Rappler to the site’s local managers to stave off efforts by Duterte to shut it down.

“Let the law take its course, and allow the Securities and Exchange Commission (to) perform its mandate,” presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said.

“Rappler may avail of remedies accorded to it by law.”

Ressa, who is also a US citizen, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October for their efforts to “safeguard freedom of expression”.

Ressa is fighting at least seven court cases, including an appeal against a conviction in a cyber libel case, for which she is on bail and faces up to six years in prison. 

Rappler faces about eight cases, Ressa said.

– ‘Legal harassment’ –

Human Rights Watch said the website was facing “retaliation for its fearless reporting”.

The International Center For Journalists (ICFJ) urged the Philippine government to reverse its order to shut down Rappler. 

“This legal harassment not only costs Rappler time, money and energy. It enables relentless and prolific online violence designed to chill independent reporting,” ICFJ said on Twitter. 

The future of Rappler and its battle in the country’s highly politicised legal system under Marcos Jr’s presidency is uncertain. 

The president-elect has given few clues about his views on the website and the broader issue of freedom of speech. 

He has largely shunned media interviews and press conferences, preferring to communicate via his press secretary and through social media.

US Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who is heading a delegation to the Philippines for Marcos Jr’s inauguration, would not comment on the Rappler case.

He told reporters in Manila that the US administration had a “deep commitment towards freedom of speech, freedom of expression, human rights”.

The production of wild and farm-raised fish, shellfish and algae reached record levels in 2020, and future increases could be vital to fighting world hunger, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday.

Driven by sustained growth in aquaculture, global fisheries and aquatic farming together hauled in 214 million tonnes, the UN agency said in a report.

The total first-sale value of 2020 production topped $400 million, with $265 million coming from aquaculture, a sector poised for further expansion.

These trend lines are good news for a world facing price hikes and food shortages due to the war in Ukraine, disrupted supply chains, and inflation. 

“The growth of fisheries and aquaculture is vital in our efforts to end global hunger and malnutrition,” said FAO director Qu Dongyu. 

But overfished oceans, climate change and pollution — if left unaddressed — could threaten that potential, the UN agency warned.

“Aquaculture growth has often occurred at the expense of the environment,” Qu noted. 

Many shrimp farms in Vietnam, China and Cambodia, for example, have displaced mangrove forests that are nurseries for marine life and critical barriers against storm surges. 

Climate change poses additional challenges, experts say. 

“Warming waters will create environments where there’s more likelihood of bacterial disease,” said Josh Madeira, director of fisheries and aquaculture policy at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

That means a sector already highly reliant on antibiotics will likely become even more so, he told AFP.

Production of aquatic animals in 2020 — totalling 178 million tonnes — was evenly divided between fisheries and aquaculture, according to the FAO report.

The remaining 36 million tonnes was algae production.

– Overfished stocks –

Yields of fish, shrimp and other shellfish destined for human consumption are more than 60 percent higher than during the 1990s, far outpacing population growth, according to the report, released during the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

On average, people worldwide consume over 20 kilos (44 pounds) of aquatic foods per year today, more than double the amount 50 years ago.

Globally, 17 percent of the protein consumed by humans comes from aquatic sources. In many Asian and African countries, that figure rises to more than 50 percent.

Wild and farmed food from the seas and inland waters are also a critical source of essential omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, recent research has shown.

“Aquatic foods are increasingly recognised for their key role in food security and nutrition,” Qu said. 

Nearly 90 percent of aquatic animal production is for human consumption, with the rest destined for non-food uses such as fishmeal and fish oil.

Asian countries were the source of 70 percent of the world’s fisheries and aquaculture of aquatic animals in 2020.

China remaines by far the top fisheries producer, followed by Indonesia, Peru, Russia, the United States and Vietnam.

So-called capture fisheries of commercial species in the wild — including tuna, cod, salmon and especially anchoveta — dropped by four percent in 2020 compared to the average of the previous three years.

Part of the drop can be attributed to covid-related disruptions, but long-term decline is due to the pressures of overfishing, experts say. 

Catch levels peaked in the mid-1990s, and have — with fluctuations — stagnated since then.

“The FAO estimates that 34 percent of caught fish come from overfished stocks,” University of British Columbia economist and fisheries expert Rashid Sumaila told AFP.

“But they are very conservative,” he added. “Independent studies put that figure at 50 percent.”

Aggravating the problem is some $34 billion dollars annually in government subsidies. 

Earlier this month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) took preliminary steps to reduce these handouts to industry, but experts say the measures will have limited effect and take years to implement.

Global stock markets nursed steep losses Wednesday on resurgent fear that sharp interest rate hikes, aimed at tackling runaway inflation, could spark recession, dealers said.

Asia and Europe slumped after a gloomy US consumer confidence report had sent Wall Street tumbling on Tuesday.

European sentiment was rocked also by data showing Spanish inflation rocketed to a 37-year peak of 10.2 percent in June on rising energy and food prices. 

The news sent the Madrid stock market down 1.8 percent, mirroring losses in Frankfurt and Hong Kong.

“So much for the big stock market comeback. Another day, another sea of red on the market,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

The selloff followed more than a week of global gains caused by hopes that any signs of contraction could give central banks room to ease up on their pace of monetary tightening.

But New York stocks tanked Tuesday on data showing confidence among US consumers — a key driver of the world’s top economy — had fallen to its lowest level in more than a year.

The data re-ignited stubborn worries over the strength of the world economy, and eclipsed news of a surprise move by China to slash the quarantine period for incoming travellers.

That had raised hopes for further relaxations that can allow the country’s giant economy to recover more quickly.

– ‘Down the drain’ –

“With signs that consumer confidence is seeping away, worries that global growth will go down the drain have returned to rattle financial markets,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Covid restrictions may have eased for international travellers to China as infections rates slow, but one global problem is being replaced by another — fear that recessions are looming around the world.”

Fed officials on Tuesday tried to play down the chances of a recession, expressing hope of a soft landing.

Oil prices advanced on expectations of demand growth as China lifts Covid restrictions and owing to tight supplies following bans on Russian imports.

Observers warned that G7 plans for a price cap on Russian crude was unlikely to have a massive impact on benchmark values.

– Key figures at around 1100 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,288.04 points

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.9 percent at 12,985.01

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.2 percent at 6,012.53

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.3 percent at 3,504.94

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,804.60 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 21,996.89 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 3,361.52 (close)

New York – Dow: DOWN 1.6 percent at 30,946.99 (close)

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $118.65 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $112.55 per barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0525 from $1.0519 Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2159 from $1.2184

Euro/pound: UP at 86.57 pence from 86.33 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 136.48 yen from 136.14 yen

Inflation has surged back to levels not seen in many developed economies since the 1970s and 1980s. Economists and central bankers at the European Cental Bank’s conference in Portugal warn it will take time before price rises cool.

– How did we get here? –

For the ECB, established in 1998 to oversee the European single currency, the burst of inflation is without precedent.

“The current levels of food and industrial goods inflation have not been seen since the mid-1980s,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said in her remarks at the conference on Tuesday.

Likewise, the “increase in the relative price of energy in recent months is much higher than the individual spikes that occurred in the 1970s” during the oil shock, Lagarde said.

The take-off in inflation, over eight percent in the eurozone in May, was at the end of a “a sequence that happens in a chaotic world”, Richard Baldwin, an economics professor at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, told AFP.

The supply shock caused by the the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 had been followed by a “demand twist” where people used their money more on goods, Baldwin said.

Instead of seeing this fading, the Russian invasion in Ukraine is causing “a huge spike in fuel and food prices” and heaping pressure on inflation, he said.

But it is not just energy. As health restrictions fall away, consumers are turning back to services, while the pent-up demand for tourism is being released, Lagarde noted.

“There is no playbook for this inflation,” said economist Baldwin.

– How long will it stay like this? –

With no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, the disruptions caused to the supply of energy could keep prices high for some time to come.

Domestic factors could also prop up high inflation rates, with workers demanding higher and higher compensation to make up for the rising cost of living.

Adding to the pressure are low unemployment rates, handing more leverage to workers looking for pay rises.

– What can central banks do? – 

The message put out by central banks is one of their most powerful tools to calm markets and control prices.

But the task at hand “has become quite difficult in view of high inflation numbers” and as “people feel high inflation every day when they’re buying food or going to the gas station”, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the ECB’s executive board, told AFP.

“We can do little about current inflation, but we will take decisive measures so that inflation returns to our (two-percent) target over the medium term,” Schnabel said.

“Once inflation is there and it starts to increase the expectations and wages, monetary policy should act,” Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, an economic professor at the University of Maryland, told AFP.

That is what the ECB has planned to do, announcing an interest rate hike for July, its first in over a decade. But the Frankfurt-based institution has to be careful not to completely choke off sputtering growth.

“The question is not if the prices will go down after some time, but what will happen to growth,” Kalemli-Ozcan said.

That is why comparisons are being made with the 1970s and the “stagflation type of situation” where inflation persisted while growth rates faltered, she said. “In Europe there is a risk of stagflation.”