JOHANNESBURG, July 9 (Reuters) - The South African rand was little changed in early trade on Tuesday, as markets awaited the Federal Reserve chair's testimony in Washington and U.S. June inflation data for clues on the country's future interest rate path. At 0644 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1300 against the dollar , near its previous close of 18.1175. "The rand has opened marginally softer at 18.13 this morning, and we expect trading to remain range-bound in the short term," said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE. Markets will listen to the tone of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday and look to June inflation data out of the U.S. later this week for hints on the future interest rate path in the world's biggest economy. "Analysts will be gauging the Fed's response to the recent softer U.S. economic and labour data, with markets already starting to price in two rate cuts this year," Cilliers added. The risk-sensitive rand often takes cues from global drivers like U.S. economic policy in the absence of major local factors. South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early deals, with the yield down 1 basis point at 9.74%.

Companies are going to have fewer people and fewer layers. Ten years from now, the software development circuit may have fewer jobs, higher salaries, and more product-centric work. The reason behind it is the rapid development of AI, AI has approached human beings at the intelligence level, a lot of work relying on thinking ability may be handed over to AI, while emotion is still the territory of human beings, how to communicate and collaborate is the most important ability in the near future. When Indeed's chart for software development and operations jobs was released, we found that, as the chart shows, there was a peak in early 2022, but after that there was a precipitous decline.

U.S. and Australian officials said on Monday (July 8) that both countries are committed to improving financial connectivity in the Pacific and strengthening banking services in the region to resist China's growing covetousness. According to Reuters, at the two-day Pacific Banking Forum co-hosted by the United States and Australia, Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said that Canberra hopes to be the partner of choice in the Pacific region, both in banking and defense. "If there are countries acting in this region whose main goal is to promote their own national interests rather than the interests of Pacific island countries, we will be very concerned," Jones said at the first day of the forum in Brisbane. He made this comment when asked about Chinese banks filling the vacuum in the Pacific region. The report said that as some Western banks have interrupted their long-standing business relationships with banks in small Pacific island countries, while others are preparing to close their businesses, these Pacific island countries face many challenges and their ability to obtain US dollar-dominated banking business is limited. The report said that experts said that Western banks are taking de-risking actions to meet financial regulations, which makes it more difficult to do business in Pacific island countries. This in turn weakens the financial resilience of these island nations. At the same time, Washington is also stepping up efforts to support Pacific island nations in limiting China's influence. Brian Nelson, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence, said, "We recognize the economic and strategic importance of the Pacific region, and we are committed to deepening engagement and cooperation with our allies and partners to enhance financial connectivity, investment and integration." The report said that neither the United States nor Australia has yet announced detailed plans at the forum, but comments from officials from both countries reflect the growing unease among Western countries that have traditionally had influence in the Pacific region about China's growing influence in the region.

The U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet announced on Wednesday (May 22) that the 2024 Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC 2024) is expected to take place on June 26, with 29 countries participating in and around the Hawaiian Islands, a larger lineup than the previous exercise in 2022. The Philippines, which has had multiple maritime conflicts with China recently, and Japan, which has tense diplomatic relations with China, will send troops to participate. China has been excluded from participating in the international military exercise since 2018, and its aggressive actions and reactions are causing tensions in the Pacific region to continue to rise. The biennial Rim of the Pacific military exercise is the world's largest international maritime exercise. The U.S. Navy said that the exercise will last until August 2, and it is expected to involve 29 countries, 40 surface ships, 3 submarines, 14 countries' army forces, more than 150 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel. The U.S. Navy said that the theme of the 29th RIMPAC 2024 is "Partners: Integrated and Ready", emphasizing inclusiveness as the core, promoting multinational cooperation and trust, and using military interoperability to achieve their respective national goals to strengthen integrated and ready alliance partners. Its goal is to "enhance collective strength and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region" through joint training and operations. The 29 countries participating in the exercise this year include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States. Compared with the 28th RIMPAC held in 2022, which involved 26 countries, 38 surface ships, 4 submarines, 9 countries' army forces, more than 170 aircraft, and about 25,000 officers and soldiers, the number of countries, ships and army forces participating in this exercise has increased. The countries participating in this year's RIMPAC military exercise include all members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) between the United States, Japan, India and Australia, and the Australia-UK-US Trilateral Security Partnership (AUKUS), as in the previous exercise. In addition, countries surrounding the South China Sea and the South Pacific island nation of Tonga are also participating. Many analysts believe that the military exercise itself is sending a message to China: China's expansion in the Western Pacific region will be blocked and defeated. The United States invited China to participate in the RIMPAC military exercise twice in 2014 and 2016. In 2018, due to China's expansion in the South China Sea, the United States withdrew its invitation to China. In addition, despite Taiwan's repeated willingness to participate, Taiwan is still not included in the 29 countries participating in this year's RIMPAC military exercise. Analysts pointed out that the US-led RIMPAC military exercise is intended to unite allies to militarily intimidate China. If Taiwan is invited to join, it will be too provocative to China, which will not only aggravate the tension between the United States and China, but also embarrass some allies. The U.S. Navy said the commander of the U.S. Third Fleet will serve as the commander of the joint task force for the exercise, while Chilean Navy Commodore Alberto Guerrero will serve as deputy commander of the joint task force, which is a first in the history of the RIMPAC military exercise. In addition, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Admiral Kazushi Yokota will also serve as deputy commander. Other key leaders of the multinational force exercise include Canadian Commodore Kristjan Monaghan, who will command the maritime forces, and Australian Air Force Commodore Louise Desjardins, who will command the air forces. According to the U.S. Stars and Stripes, Vice Admiral Michael Boyle is currently the commander of the U.S. Third Fleet. Vice Admiral John Wade has been nominated to replace Boyle. The U.S. Navy press release said the exercise will enhance the ability of international joint forces to "deter and defeat aggression by major powers in all domains and conflict levels," but did not provide specific information on which exercises will be held this summer. Previous RIMPAC training exercises have included sinking ships at sea with missiles, amphibious landings and the first landing of a Marine Corps Osprey aircraft on an Australian ship.

In the past few weeks of anti-government activities in Kenya, AI tools have been creatively used by protesters to serve protests. According to the US "Flag" News Agency on July 5, protests in Kenya triggered by the 2024 fiscal bill are still continuing. In the past few weeks, Kenyan protesters, mainly young people, have creatively developed a series of AI tools to assist anti-government activities. The Kenyan government expressed concern about the risks associated with the use of AI tools in protests. Kelvin Onkundi, a software engineer in Kenya, developed the "Fiscal Bill GPT", which operates similarly to ChatGPT and can receive questions about the fiscal bill and generate responses. Martin Siele, a reporter from the "Flag" News Agency, analyzed: "The 'Fiscal Bill GPT' can convert professional terms in many legislative fields into easy-to-understand information for protesters, helping Kenyans understand the potential impact of the fiscal bill." Another software engineer, Marion Kavengi, developed the "SHIF GPT" to provide Kenyans with information about the upcoming Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF). In addition to AI tools designed to help people understand controversial policies, protesters have also developed "Corrupt Politicians GPT" to assist protest demonstrations. After entering the name of a politician on the platform, the platform will generate a list of corruption scandals about the politician in chronological order. Developer BenwithSon wrote on the social platform X on June 28: "'Corrupt Politicians GPT' allows people to search for any scandal related to any politician. I have seen some leaders stand at the forefront of the political arena, but they are corrupt behind the scenes." Kenyan Chief Minister and Foreign Minister Mudavadi issued a communiqué to ambassadors of various countries in Nairobi on July 2 local time on protests and relevant government measures, expressing concerns about the use of AI and false information in protests. Mudavadi said: "AI technology is used by people with ulterior motives, which will fill the global information system with false narratives." The Kenya Times reported on June 30 that AI technology enables people to force the government to increase transparency and strengthen accountability, and its role in Kenyan political activities is becoming increasingly prominent. Martin Siller believes that AI is reshaping African political behavior in many ways. AI is a new tool for both governments and opposition parties in Africa, but Kenya is one of the African countries with the most developers, and its young protesters are particularly good at using AI technology to fight the government. The 2024 fiscal bill voted and passed by the Kenyan National Assembly on June 25 clearly stated that additional taxes will be levied to repay the interest on high sovereign debt, triggering large-scale demonstrations. After President Ruto announced the withdrawal of the tax increase bill on the evening of the 26th, demonstrations in many parts of Kenya continued. According to Reuters on July 3, Kenyan anti-government protesters are re-adjusting their activities to prevent the protests from turning into violent incidents.