A man watches the television message that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam makes an announcement on the extradition bill, at a home electronics retailer in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. Chief Executive Lam has announced the government will formally withdraw an extradition bill that has sparked months of demonstrations in the city, bowing to one of the protesters' demands. The bill would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China for trials. It sparked massive protests that have become increasingly violent and caused the airport to shut down earlier this month. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says the extradition bill that sparked months of demonstrations will be formally withdrawn in the legislative council without the need for debate or vote.
Lam made her first live remarks on the withdrawal of the bill at a news conference Thursday. She said there will be no debate and no voting in the council, which resumes meeting next month and is packed with pro-Beijing lawmakers.
Withdrawal of the bill meets one of protesters’ demands, but the activists have vowed not to yield until the government accepts other demands including an independent investigation into alleged police brutality against protesters, the unconditional release of those detained and democracy.
The massive protests since June have disrupted transportation links around the city and at its international airport.
BANGKOK — A handful of university students gathered to show their support for the Hong Kong protests Wednesday evening in front of a downtown arts space.
A group of 18 students calling themselves the CU Free Space student group gathered in front of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center, holding umbrellas in order to show solidarity with the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests.
“I’m here to express my support for the democratic and peaceful protest in HK, something we don’t see much in our country,” Sirin Mungcharoen, 21-year-old third-year at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Arts said. “The protest isn’t over yet only one of the demands have been fulfilled. Others shall be fulfilled too.”
Attending the protest was student activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisalas well as pro-democracy activist Sirawith “Ja New” Seritiwat.
The students mostly attend Chulalongkorn University. Some held signs with a quote from Joshua Wong: “We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy!”
The students brought umbrellas to show tribute to the Hong Kong 2014 Umbrella Movement.
“This year, a protest has begun again in Hong Kong, demanding the withdrawal of the extradition bill. Now, their effort is being rewarded as the bill is being withdrawed, against [sic] the police’s effort to break the protest down,” statement passed out by the group read in English. “In the effort, police have used violence, for example, a few days ago, the police had beat the protestors in the metro.”
In June, Netiwit and his friendsprotested in front of the Chinese embassy to mark a brutal crackdown that ended the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Previous interviews have shown that many younger Thais holdpro-Hong Kong views when interviewed about the protests, while the older generation offered more guarded stances.
This is a developing story and may be updated without notice.
A screenshot from the Facebook live video on Sept. 2 showing Phuwieng Phrakhammintara with robotic augmented reality filter over his head. Image: the Meteorological Department / Facebook
BANGKOK — A usually tedious weather forecast program went viral overnight after staff forgot to disable amusing face filters during a Monday livestream.
Ten minutes into a Monday Facebook live video by the Meteorological Department, director-general Phuwieng Phrakhammintara entered the frame to warn about the incoming storm Kajiki – while several face filters, such as a purple mustache, a robot, and even a wizard’s hat pop up.
Phuwieng said on Wednesday that he doesn’t mind being an online hit.
“My son even sent it to me,” Phuwieng said Wednesday. “It’s so funny and I laughed to myself. It’s also awkward, but mai pen rai.”
The moment of joy lasted for about a minute before his colleagues managed to switch off the filters. His briefing then continued as usual.
Phuwieng said his colleagues noticed the blunder, but the filters kept changing as they tried to disable them. They came to apologize after the live session.
“It’s quite a serious topic as many people are being affected by the floods. But I think it might help those people relieve their stress,” Phuwieng said.
The video has gained more than 280,000 views and been shared more than 5,380 times as of Wednesday.
BANGKOK — A feature film about the epic rescue of 13 boys and their football coach from a Chiang Rai cave in 2018 will screen in Thai cinemas later this year.
“The Cave” or “Nang Non” will be screened in Major Cineplex as well as SF Cinema cinemas from Nov. 21.
A one-minute trailer was released to the public Wednesday. “The Cave” will also screen at the BFI London Film Festival.
Director Tom Waller revealed at a recent screening of his 2008 indie film “Soi Cowboy” that he had to wrestle with the government censorship board while making “The Cave.” Since he could not get in contact with the boys, the film will be focused on the rescuers instead.
“It’s told from the point of view of unsung heroes, people not in the news,” Waller said. He mentioned the film includes the stories of an Irish diver who aided the rescue, an American who was on-site, and a farmer who allowed the water pumped from the cave to flood her fields.
“I feel like it’s an important story,” the Thai-Irish Waller said.
Todd Ruiz, former editor of Khaosod English, will feature in the film as a reporter. Ruiz was present at Tham Luang Cave during the rescue in July 2018.
See the trailer here:
Waller’s production company, De Warrenne Pictures, has produced films such as “The Last Executioner,” “The Elephant King,” and “Patong Girl.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said the release date was Nov. 28. The release date has since been moved up to Nov. 21.
Karen activists on Sept. 4, 2019 at Mida Hotel in Nonthaburi.
NONTHABURI — Karen activists are demanding authorities secure justice for the murder of a prominent community rights activist, who went missing for five years until officials confirmed his death yesterday.
Dozens of Karen gathered at Mida Hotel in suburban greater Bangkok on Wednesday to demand authorities both swiftly prosecute those behind the murder and uphold cabinet resolutions on revitalizing indigenous communities.
“We appreciate the work of the Department of Special Investigation and the forensic institute which were able to locate significant evidence on Billy’s case,” reads the statement. “We demand the state and relevant authorities accelerate their efforts in bringing the offenders to trial as soon as possible.”
The demands came after the Department of Special Investigation revealed yesterday it uncovered burnt bone fragments matching Billy’s DNA inside an oil drum in May, suggesting the missing activist could not possibly be alive.
Karen activists also urged the authorities to investigate the arson of Karen communities in Kaeng Krachan National Park during a series of raids in 2011 led by the former national park chief, Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn. Billy had been campaigning for the rights of Karen villagers to reside in disputed parts of the national park prior to his disappearance in April 2014.
Although the villagers won compensation from Chaiwat in a court case in 2018, the court did not allow them to resettle in the same area from which they had been evicted since they were not given land ownership rights from the government.
Prayong Doklumyai, the director of The Northern Development Foundation, said Karens are defending their rights under cabinet resolutions promulgated during Abhisit Vejjajiva’s administration in 2010. The resolutions allow ethnic Karen communities to reside in disputed areas in Kaeng Krachan National Park.
Prayong said he saw steady progress towards the protection of community rights under governments until current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha came into power in 2014.
“The current government sees these people as illegal settlers in forest areas,” Prayong said. “They even try to accuse them of being a risk to the environment and national security.”
The statement called further for the protection of activists’ rights through a law against torture and enforced disappearance. Thailand signed the UN convention against torture in 2012, but never ratified it in domestic law.
The Karen activists handed their statement to Future Forward MP Nattapon Seubwongsak, an ethnic Hmong, to further their voices in Parliament.
Left: Ton Boonmee sells sandwiches at Kaset Nawamin K. 251 Intersection in July. Photo: Mommtanaddak / YouTube. Right, Ton at an interview at his house. Photo: Sentangsedtee
BANGKOK — Ton Boonmee was begging on the streets for survival when a donation from a Good Samaritan changed his life – by pushing him to start his own sandwich business, “Tonbua Sandwiches.”
“Vendors would chase me away and people would look down on me. But I thought of begging as a job, a way to make a living,” he said. “No one can choose how they’re born. No one chooses to be born a beggar. But we can choose to do good.”
Today, Ton sells sandwiches from a basket, walking with crutches from car to car at the same intersection (Kaset Nawamin Tor Mor 251) that he frequented during his begging days.
Ton was diagnosed with polio at the age of three, and a year later began begging on the streets with his mother. He is still illiterate from never attending a day of school. From then on, it was a childhood of sleeping under bridges and at markets all over Bangkok. He even travelled to Pattaya and Phuket in search of new begging areas.
Ton in an interview with Khaosod at his house.
He would make around 120 to 150 baht a day and give all of it to his mom, save 10 baht for himself. Eventually, he began renting a 550-baht-a-month room in the Saphan Mai area on Phahon Yothin Road. He begged in the area until he was 23, frequenting the Kaset Nawamin intersections, especially the one at Tor Mor 251.
Back then, a businessman named P’Jeab regularly gave Ton 100 baht donations. One day, P’Jeab didn’t have to go to work and invited Ton inside his car for a chat.
“I told him everything about begging on the streets since I was four,” Ton said. “His last question was, ‘Do you want to stop being a beggar? Do you want things to change, or things to stay the same?’”
When Ton told P’Jeab that he wanted to start selling things rather than begging, the businessman gave him 2,000 baht. Ton used the money to set up an orange juice shop at the intersection.
“It was a promise between men. He said, ‘If I give you money, I don’t want to see you begging anymore.’ We shook on it,” Ton said. “2,000 baht might not be a lot to many people, but for me it changed my life.”
Although the orange juice sold well at first, customers trickled after five years. Ton took up a job at a sandwich shop instead and began saving up money to start his own sandwich brand.
Initially, he was met with scorn when he started asking shops if they would sell his sandwiches. Some shops even splashed him with water to chase him away.
The first media outlet to interview Ton was Wongnai in July, Ton said, which prompted more press to follow.
Ton on an episode of Mommtanaddak food blogger’s show.
“More and more people know me. I can feel my life getting better,” he said.
When asked what he would say to people who look down on the homeless, Ton said that many just lack opportunity like he did.
“If they had an opportunity and didn’t take the chance, then that’s up to their karma. But I got my opportunity and I’m walking in P’Jeab’s footsteps. One day, if I have enough money, I will help beggars and homeless people, like he did for me,” he said.
Ton seems to be a family man, recounting with fondness how he met his girlfriend. Today he has a 7-year-old daughter, Bua. His son, who passed away from heart failure, would be 10 today.
“My girlfriend used to be my roon p’s girlfriend. After they broke up, I started regularly going to Bang Na to flirt with her,” he said. “I was still homeless then and I asked her if she minded. She said I was still better than those bad men who go around raping and committing crimes.”
Tonbua Sandwiches offers seven sandwich fillings: chicken floss, pork floss, imitation crab sticks, baloney, chicken ham, pork ham, and tuna salad. Each box sells for 30 baht, but orders of 200 sandwiches or more are sold at the wholesale price of 17 baht a box.
Those interested can look for Ton selling sandwiches at Kaset Nawamin Tor Mor 251 Intersection, or buy from his house at Soi Khu Bon 32. If you can’t find him, call him at 090-273-5202.
Chen Xiaoping (R), director of a robot research and development team, and Jia Jia, an interactive robot that looks like a real Chinese young woman in traditional outfit, talk through internet with Kevin Kelly on screen, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2017. Jia Jia was invited as a special reporter of the Xinhua News Agency to conduct the man-machine dialogue with Kelly on Monday. Jia Jia was unveiled in 2016 by Chen's robot research and development team at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei. It took the team three years to research and develop this new-generation interactive robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips, and move its body. Photo: Guo Chen / Xinhua
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Xinhua) — Chinese and Russian media should strengthen cooperation and contribute to the development of bilateral ties, senior officials from both sides said here on Tuesday.
China and Russia have elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, opening a new epoch of relations, said Xu Lin, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
The China-Russia relationship now features maturity, stability and strength 70 years after the two countries established diplomatic ties, said Xu, who is also director of the State Council Information Office, at the fifth China-Russia Media Forum held in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok. Media outlets of both countries should contribute to boosting bilateral ties, Xu added.
He suggested that media outlets of the two countries coordinate more, consolidate mutual trust, seize development opportunities and seek common ground regarding public opinion.
Chinese and Russian media should work together to help promote communication between the two countries, enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges, facilitate partnerships at the local level, and boost mutually-beneficial cooperation, according to Xu.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said the Russia-China relations are at their best time in history and media outlets on both sides have contributed greatly to the development of bilateral ties and the friendship between the two peoples.
He said Russian and Chinese media should continue to strengthen cooperation during this era of digital media.
Since 2015, the annual China-Russia Media Forum has served as a platform for dialogue and cooperation between media outlets of the two countries.
More than 100 officials and media representatives attended the forum this year, which focuses on the development of traditional and new media in a digital economy.
Volunteers walk under the wind and rain from Hurricane Dorian through a flooded road as they work to rescue families near the Causarina bridge in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. The storm’s punishing winds and muddy brown floodwaters devastated thousands of homes, crippled hospitals and trapped people in attics. Photo: Ramon Espinosa / AP
FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) — Relief officials reported scenes of utter ruin Tuesday in parts of the Bahamas and rushed to deal with an unfolding humanitarian crisis in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the most powerful storm on record ever to hit the islands. At least seven deaths were reported, with the full scope of the disaster still unknown.
The storm’s punishing winds and muddy brown floodwaters destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes, crippled hospitals and trapped people in attics.
“It’s total devastation. It’s decimated. Apocalyptic,” said Lia Head-Rigby, who helps run a local hurricane relief organization and flew over the Bahamas’ hard-hit Abaco Islands. “It’s not rebuilding something that was there; we have to start again.”
She said her representative on Abaco told her that there were “a lot more dead” and that the bodies were being gathered. The prime minister also expected more deaths and predicted that rebuilding would require “a massive, coordinated effort.”
“We are in the midst of one of the greatest national crises in our country’s history,” Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis told a news conference. “No effort or resources will be held back.”
Emergency authorities struggled to reach victims and urged people to hang on.
“We don’t want people thinking we’ve forgotten them. … We know what your conditions are,” Tammy Mitchell of the Bahamas’ National Emergency Management Agency told ZNS Bahamas radio station.
With their heads bowed against heavy wind and rain, rescuers began evacuating people from the storm’s aftermath across Grand Bahama late Tuesday, using jet skis, boats and even a huge bulldozer that cradled children and adults in its digger as it cut through deep waters and carried them to safety.
One rescuer gently scooped up an elderly man in his arms and walked toward a pickup truck waiting to evacuate him and others to higher ground.
Practically parking over a portion of the Bahamas for a day and a half, Dorian pounded the northern Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama with winds up to 185 mph (295 kph) and torrential rain before finally moving into open waters Tuesday on a course for Florida. Its winds were down to a still-dangerous 110 mph (175 kph) late Tuesday, making it a Category 2 storm.
Over 2 million people along the coast in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were warned to evacuate. While the threat of a direct hit on Florida had all but evaporated, Dorian was expected to pass dangerously close to Georgia and South Carolina — and perhaps strike North Carolina — on Thursday or Friday.
Even if landfall does not occur, the system is likely to cause storm surge and severe flooding, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
“Don’t tough it out. Get out,” said U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency official Carlos Castillo.
In the Bahamas, Red Cross spokesman Matthew Cochrane said more than 13,000 houses, or about 45% of the homes on Grand Bahama and Abaco, were believed to be severely damaged or destroyed. U.N. officials said more than 60,000 people on the hard-hit islands will need food, and the Red Cross said some 62,000 will need clean drinking water.
“What we are hearing lends credence to the fact that this has been a catastrophic storm and a catastrophic impact,” Cochrane said.
Lawson Bates, a staffer for Arkansas-based MedicCorps, flew over Abaco and said: “It looks completely flattened. There’s boats way inland that are flipped over. It’s total devastation.”
The Red Cross authorized $500,000 for the first wave of disaster relief, Cochrane said. And U.N. humanitarian teams stood ready to go into the stricken areas to help assess damage and the country’s needs, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said. The U.S. government also sent a disaster response team.
Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, with a combined population of about 70,000, are known for their marinas, golf courses and all-inclusive resorts. To the south, the Bahamas’ most populous island, New Providence, which includes the capital city of Nassau and has over a quarter-million people, had little damage.
The U.S. Coast Guard airlifted at least 21 people injured on Abaco. Choppy, coffee-colored floodwaters reached roofs and the tops of palm trees.
“We will confirm what the real situation is on the ground,” Health Minister Duane Sands said. “We are hoping and praying that the loss of life is limited.”
Sands said Dorian rendered the main hospital on Grand Bahama unusable, while the hospital in Marsh Harbor in Abaco was in need of food, water, medicine and surgical supplies. He said crews were trying to airlift five to seven kidney failure patients from Abaco who had not received dialysis since Friday.
The Grand Bahama airport was under 6 feet (2 meters) of water.
Late Tuesday, Dorian was centered about 95 miles (155 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) from its center, while tropical storm-force winds could be felt up to 175 miles (280 kilometers) from the core.
The coastline from north of West Palm Beach, Florida, through Georgia was expected to get 3 to 6 inches of rain, with 9 inches in places, while the Carolinas could get 5 to 10 inches and 15 in spots, the National Hurricane Center said.
NASA satellite imagery through Monday night showed some places in the Bahamas had gotten as much as 35 inches (89 centimeters) of rain, said private meteorologist Ryan Maue.
Parliament member Iram Lewis said he feared waters would keep rising and stranded people would lose contact with officials as their cellphone batteries died.
Dorian also left one person dead in its wake in Puerto Rico before slamming into the Bahamas on Sunday. It tied the record for the strongest Atlantic storm ever to hit land, matching the Labor Day hurricane that struck Florida Gulf Coast in 1935, before storms were given names.
Across the Southeast, interstate highways leading away from the beach in South Carolina and Georgia were turned into one-way evacuation routes. Several airports announced closings, and hundreds of flights were canceled. Walt Disney World in Orlando closed in the afternoon, and SeaWorld shut down.
Police in coastal Savannah, Georgia, announced an overnight curfew. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper ordered a mandatory evacuation of the dangerously exposed barrier islands along the state’s entire coast.
Having seen storms swamp his home on the Georgia coast in 2016 and 2017, Joey Spalding of Tybee Island decided to empty his house and stay at a friend’s apartment nearby rather than take any chances with Dorian.
He packed a U-Haul truck with tables, chairs, a chest of drawers, tools — virtually all of his furnishings except for his mattress and a large TV — and planned to park it on higher ground. He also planned to shroud his house in plastic wrap up to shoulder height and pile sandbags in front of the doors.
“In this case, I don’t have to come into a house full of junk,” he said. “I’m learning a little as I go.”
Volunteers rescue several families from the rising waters of Hurricane Dorian, near the Causarina bridge in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. The storm’s punishing winds and muddy brown floodwaters devastated thousands of homes, crippled hospitals and trapped people in attics. Photo: Ramon Espinosa / APIn this Monday, Sept. 2, 2019 photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard Station Clearwater, boats litter the area around marina in the Bahamas after they were tossed around by Hurricane Dorian. The storm pounded away at the islands in a watery onslaught that devastated thousands of homes, trapped people in attics and chased others from one shelter to another. At least five deaths were reported. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Station Clearwater via AP
Story: Ramon Espinosa, Dánica Coto, and Michael Weissenstein. Tim Aylen in Freeport, Russ Bynum in Georgia and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.
Photo taken on Sept. 1, 2019 shows volunteers posing for a group photo after cleaning a pedestrian bridge near Wan Chai metro station in south China's Hong Kong. Recently, Hong Kong had some chaotic nights when rioters threw petrol bombs, set fire on roads, hurled bricks and vandalized shops and metro stations. When residents go out the next morning, they will find few traces of the tumultuous nights on the streets. A group of volunteers known as the scar removers are among the many people who have contributed to the rapid tidying-up of the ravaged streets. Photo: Mao Siqian / Xinhua
HONG KONG (Xinhua) — Recently, Hong Kong had some chaotic nights when rioters threw petrol bombs, set fire on roads, hurled bricks and vandalized shops and metro stations.
When residents go out the next morning, however, they will find few traces of the tumultuous nights on the streets. A group of volunteers known as the scar removers are among the many people who have contributed to the rapid tidying-up of the ravaged streets.
“As residents of Hong Kong, we feel obliged to do something when we see rioting bring chaos to our city,” said dance teacher Michelle Au Yeung, also the volunteer who brought together the scar removers.
Near the entrance of Wan Chai metro station, large blocks of slogans sprawled on a wall. To Au Yeung, these are like scars of Hong Kong, constantly reminding people of the chaotic and violent riots.
“By removing those ‘scars’ of Hong Kong, we are also healing the wounds violence inflicted on people’s hearts,” she said.
By the dawn of Monday, a night of massive violence had finally quieted down on the streets of Hong Kong. Au Yeung and about two dozen scar removers were busy cleaning up the mess rioters left in downtown Wan Chai area.
The volunteers, each holding a bucket with wipes and detergents inside, bustled around to scrape off provocative slogans and clean up the streets.
“Most of the people around me don’t agree with rioting and violence, but many feel intimidated and wouldn’t speak out, let alone take actions,” Au Yeung said.
The scar removers hope to set an example for more residents to take actions to restore peace and stability in Hong Kong. They also hope their actions could trigger reflection in violent protesters so that some of them might stop hurting their hometown.
Au Yeung had only a few friends with her when she started cleaning-up action since July. More people offered to join them after seeing them on the streets. The number of scar removers grew day by day.
As they labour on the streets, many people went to them to praise their good work and offer support. “Hong Kong is known to be clean and tidy. Residents of Hong Kong won’t allow radicals to ruin it,” Au Yeung said.
A volunteer cleans a pedestrian bridge near Wan Chai metro station in south China’s Hong kong, Sept. 1, 2019. Recently, Hong Kong had some chaotic nights when rioters threw petrol bombs, set fire on roads, hurled bricks and vandalized shops and metro stations. When residents go out the next morning, they will find few traces of the tumultuous nights on the streets. A group of volunteers known as the scar removers are among the many people who have contributed to the rapid tidying-up of the ravaged streets. Photo: Mao Siqian / XinhuaPhoto: Mao Siqian / XinhuaPhoto: Mao Siqian / Xinhua
Pedestrians pass a currency exchange board in London, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. Critics of Britain's prime minister are reacting with fury after he got Queen Elizabeth's approval to suspend Parliament. The move by Boris Johnson means his political opponents have less time to block a chaotic no-deal Brexit before the Oct. 31 withdrawal deadline. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
LONDON (AP) — The pound on Tuesday touched its lowest level against the dollar since 1985, excluding a brief “flash crash” in 2016 that may have been caused by technical glitches, as international investors fret over a political showdown over Brexit this week.
The British currency fell as low as $1.1960, down almost a cent on the day before recovering somewhat to $1.2060. Not counting the brief plunge in the autumn of 2016, in which the currency fell to $1.1789 for about two minutes before bouncing back, the pound on Tuesday touched its lowest point in 34 years.
Brexit is facing a crucial few daysas lawmakers challenge Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s insistence that the U.K. will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 even without a deal.
Parliament is returning from its summer recess Tuesday with a key piece of legislation on its agenda that would see it take control of the Parliament’s agenda. If that passes, the lawmakers are expected to vote to block the government from bringing the country out of the EU without a deal, which many experts say would cause chaos for people and businesses as border checks and tariffs resume, among other things.
Johnson has tried to crack down on members of his Conservative Party who oppose his Brexit plans, warning them they would be expelled from the party if they supported parliamentary efforts to block or delay Brexit. Johnson’s office also says he would call an early election, with uncertain consequences.
“Markets are extremely negative about the consequences of a no-deal scenario,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, analyst at online brokerage FxPro. “The pound will have a hard time if the (lawmakers’) initiatives fail.”
The pound has become the main indicator of international investors’ confidence in Britain’s economy. Its fall effectively makes British people poorer as they can spend less on travel and foreign goods, which become pricier.
But it also helps British exporters as well as the many multinationals that are based in the country but make most of their money in other countries and currencies. Oil companies like Shell and BP make their money in dollars around the world, converting that back to pounds when they report earnings, so the pound’s drop is generally a boost to them. It’s a similar story for global bank HSBC, mining firms Antofagasta and Rio Tinto and consumer goods producer Unilever.
That’s why the main stock index, the FTSE 100, has actually held up well in the face of the Brexit chaos. While the pound is down almost 7% this year, the stock index is up 8%. Stocks focused on Britain’s own economy, however, have fared more poorly.
The fall in the pound can also make British companies more vulnerable to takeovers from abroad as they effectively become cheaper to buy. Foreign takeovers of British companies jumped after the June 2016 Brexit referendum, when the pound fell around 10% in a day from over $1.500. They have increased again this year as the pound slipped again.
