Llama 3.1 launched: Meta officially released the biggest version of its open source Llama large language model (LLM), a 405 billion-parameter version called Llama-3.1 yesterday. The 405 billion parameter version can “teach” smaller models and create synthetic data. Llama 3.1 will operate under an open-source license to allow for model distillation and synthetic data creation.
Ugandan Protestors Arrested: At least 60 people were detained by the Ugandan police during the crackdown on protests yesterday, with several protest leaders and a Ugandan Television presenter, appearing in court yesterday, according to lawyers for Chapter Four Uganda, a human rights group. Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said the authorities will “not allow a demonstration that will risk peace and security of the country”. It is reported that several government MPs are facing charges of corruption with protesters calling on Parliamentary Speaker, Anita Among, to resign after she was implicated in a graft scandal. Tuesday’s march was organised on social media with the hashtag #StopCorruption.
Body Guard Found Guilty of Treason: Sierra Leone’s ex-President, Ernest Bai Koroma’s former body guard, was found guilty of treason yesterday and sentenced alongside several others, charged with treason over a failed coup in November 2023. Amadu Koita Makalo, who is also a former soldier, was sentenced to 182 years in prison on charges of treason, murder and shooting with intent to murder.
Protest threats Emerge in Nigeria: President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has reportedly warned young Nigerians not to join nationwide cost-of-living protests planned for next week. The organisers are said to have drawn inspiration from events in Kenya and the current protest action in Uganda. There would seem to be a growing ground-swell of younger people in Africa who are not prepared to accept corruption and the associated higher cost of living any longer. Protesters in Kenya and in Uganda have called for their respective Presidents to resign. In Kenya this follows the scrapping of planned tax rises and the dismissal of almost the entire cabinet. Nigeria’s last mass demonstration was three years ago that resulted in dozens of protestors being killed by security forces.
Ethiopian Land-Slide Death Toll Grows: The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia, on Sunday and Monday, has jumped to 229 and could grow further as the search for survivors continued into a second day, according to Government officials. The initial land slide followed heavy rain in the mountainous Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia on Sunday night, then a second one affected others in the area who had gone to assist in recovering victims on Monday.
The Rand Takes a Hit: The Rand (ZAR) was weakened by nearly 1.2% at one point yesterday, trading at R18.47 levels as the local currency got hit on multiple fronts. The Dollar firmed steadily throughout the day on the back of the political uncertainty in the US, while commodity-linked currencies took a beating as prices continued to fall on demand concerns. The Rand did manage to recover to close at R18.38, but was still 0.6% down on the day. Local CPI data is due out at 10:00am this morning.
Gold Stronger while other Metals Lose Ground: Gold gained some support from the lower equity markets and is holding steady at $2,414, but both Platinum and Palladium are weaker at $941 and $923, respectively. Base metal prices continue to decline on the back of the demand fears out of China and stockpile build-ups with Copper, Nickel, Aluminum, and Zinc all closing weaker again yesterday. Brent crude has fallen below the $82.00 mark and is currently trading at $81.20 with WTI weaker at $77.20.
