'A new stage of the struggle begins': Venezuela's newly elected Congress is getting slammed by the opposition and foreign governments

• Brian Ellsworth, Reuters

• 4h
• 3,487

A woman in Madrid on Sunday at a protest held by Venezuelans against Venezuela's Constituent Assembly election. The placard says in Spanish: "No to the new Constituent." REUTERS/Sergio Perez

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party has vowed that a newly elected legislative super-body will begin passing laws quickly after a vote that was boycotted by the opposition and slammed by foreign governments as an affront to democracy.

At least 10 people were killed in protests Sunday by opponents of unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who insists the new "constituent assembly" will bring peace after four months of protests that have killed more than 120 people.

The country's CNE elections authority said 8.1 million voters went to the polls on Sunday. The opposition estimated only 2.5 million ballots were cast.

Maduro's critics characterized the election as a naked power grab meant to keep him in office despite repudiation over an economic crisis that has spurred malnutrition and left citizens struggling to obtain basic products in the nation of about 30 million people.

The vote could exacerbate those economic woes if the US — the top market for Venezuelan oil — follows through on threats of economic sanctions, and it could sow doubts among investors about the legitimacy of financing deals backed by the new assembly.

"The constituent assembly will start its work right away," Diosdado Cabello, the deputy head of the Socialist Party, told a postelection rally in Caracas that featured singers and dancers and that culminated after midnight in the announcement of the official vote count and a fiery speech by Maduro.

"Good morning, Venezuela. We have a constituent assembly!" he shouted. "I ask our countrymen to close ranks so that the assembly can be a place of dialogue."

On Sunday, the US State Department vowed "strong swift actions against the architects of authoritarianism" that, according to US officials, will involve sanctions on the oil sector.

Allies of the Socialist Party won all 545 seats in the new assembly, which will have the power to rewrite the constitution, dissolve state institutions such as the opposition-run Congress, and sack dissident officials.

"The constitutional assembly will not resolve any of the country's problems — it just means more crisis," opposition leader Henrique Capriles told a news conference, calling for a new round of protests at noon on Monday.

"As of tomorrow, a new stage of the struggle begins," Capriles said.

Latin American nations from Argentina to Mexico, which are historically wary of siding with Washington in hemispheric disputes, sharply condemned the vote.

Several refused to recognize the results, while Spain and Canada joined in the condemnation.

Socialist Party official Cabello hinted that the constitutional assembly would hold sessions in the same legislative palace as the existing Congress, which the opposition took over in a landslide 2015 victory.

"They kick us out the door we come back through the window," he told a news conference. "We never surrender. We insist and insist until we win. Today we feel victorious."

The opposition organized an unofficial referendum over Maduro's plan in July, when more than 7 million voters overwhelmingly rejected his constituent assembly and voted in favor of early elections. 

(Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero, Diego Ore and Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Paul Tait)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2017. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

More: Reuters Venezuela Nicolas Maduro

Brits are more worried about the state of the economy than at any point since the Brexit vote

• Will Martin
 

• Jul. 28, 2017, 3:17 AM
• 449
 

Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images

LONDON — Brits are more worried about the state of their finances and their ability to spend than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, a closely watched survey of consumer confidence has shown.

GfK's monthly consumer confidence monitor fell to a score of -12 in July, a number last seen in GfK's July 2016 data, making it the joint worst score since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

That represented a fall of two points from -10 in June, and was well below the long-run average of -9, which takes into account all data collected since 1974.

"Consumer confidence across the UK has fallen to the level last seen in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote," Joe Staton, GfK's head of market dynamics said in a statement.

"All bets must now be on a further drift downwards in confidence. Yes, employment is booming, but wages have fallen in real terms since 2008 once inflation is taken into account."

GfK's personal finance reading, a sub-measure that makes up the overall confidence figure, declined by one point to -2. The outlook for the general economic outlook category declined by six points to -31.

GfK's numbers come just two days after official data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the British economy grew by just 0.3% during the second quarter of 2017, just expanding from 0.2% growth at the beginning of the year.

Here's the chart:

GfK

"The economy has experienced a notable slowdown in the first half of this year," ONS Head of GDP Darren Morgan said in a statement released alongside the data.

"While services such as retail and film production & distribution showed some improvement in the second quarter, a weaker performance from construction and manufacturing pulled down overall growth.”

NOW WATCH: HENRY BLODGET: This chart explains everything that's wrong with the economy today

00:00

03:37

More: Consumer Confidence GfK GfK Consumer Confidence Index Brexit

It looks like China's economy lost a bit of momentum in July

• David Scutt, Business Insider Australia

• 7h
• 351

A man speaks on a phone in front of a stall on November 20, 2008 in Shanghai, China. China Photos/Getty Images

China’s economy continued to perform strongly in July, continuing the theme seen in the first half of the year.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the nation’s manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) came in at 51.4 in July, moderating slightly on the 51.7 level previously reported in June.

It also missed market expectations for a smaller decline to 51.6.

The PMI measures changes in activity levels across China’s manufacturing sector from one month to the next. Anything above 50 signals that activity levels are improving while a reading below suggests they’re deteriorating. The distance away from 50 indicates how quickly activity levels are expanding or contracting.

So at 51.4, that means that activity levels across the sector improved at a slower pace than June.Business Insider Australia

The NBS said that production subindex eased to 53.5, down from 54.4 in June, while new orders and new export orders — indicators on domestic and external demand and lead indicators for activity levels in the months ahead — also grew at a slower pace than June.

The new orders subindex fell to 52.8 from 53.1 while the new export orders subindex dropped to 50.9 from 52.0.

That indicates that both domestic and international demand softened slightly in July, an outcome that will no doubt be watched closely in the months ahead.

Despite that softening, expectations for operating conditions in the period ahead soared to 59.1, leaving it sitting at the highest level since February this year.

By size of manufacturer, the NBS said that larger firms reported stronger activity levels, masking renewed weakness for small and mid-sized firms.

The subindex for larger firms rose by 0.2 points to 52.9, while those for small and mid-tier manufacturers fell by 0.9 points and 1.2 points to 49.6 and 48.9 respectively.

Akin to the headline PMI figure, a reading below 50 indicates that activity levels deteriorated from a month earlier.

As was seen in the manufacturing PMI report, the separate non-manufacturing PMI released by the NBS also improved at a slower pace than June.

It fell to 54.5, down from 54.9 in July.

This PMI measures the performance of other sectors in the Chinese economy such as services and construction.

As seen in the chart below, these sectors of the economy have consistently outperformed China’s manufacturing sector over the past five years.China non manufacturing PMI July 2017.Business Insider Australia

The NBS said that individual subindices for air transport, postal services, telecommunications, information technology and construction all came in above 60 for July, indicating that activity levels improved at a rapid pace.

That helped to offset sub-50 readings from the nation’s road transport industry, real estate and residential services sectors.

The weakness in the latter two subindices suggests that attempts from Chinese policymakers to cool China’s red-hot east coast housing market are having some success, mirroring the slowdown in house prices seen in recent months.

The NBS said that new orders and new exports orders both grew in July from the levels of a month earlier, hinting that conditions across the nation’s non-manufacturing sectors are likely to remain strong in the period ahead.

There has been little market reaction to both PMI reports, with the underlying themes from both largely unchanged from those seen in the first half of the year.

Read the original article on Business Insider Australia. Copyright 2017. Follow Business Insider Australia on Twitter.

MORE FROM BUSINESS INSIDER AUSTRALIA:

• Iron ore just posted its biggest gain of the year, and is above $US73
• Gladys Berejiklian is pressing ahead with plans to move Sydney's Powerhouse Museum further west
• The 10 most important things in the world right now
• AUSTRALIAN STOCKS LIFT: Here's what you need to know
• Australian mining stocks are storming ahead as iron ore futures go ballistic

NOW WATCH: Scientists overlooked a major problem with going to Mars — and they fear it could be a suicide mission

00:00

01:33

More: Business Insider Australia China China PMI Manufacturing