Egypt has to make hard economic choices, the death toll keeps rising in the occupied West Bank, and the execution of an Iranian official threatens further isolation. Here’s this week’s round-up, written by Danylo Hawaleshka.
The Egyptian pound has certainly seen better days. In less than a year, the currency has lost almost half its value against the dollar. But that’s mainly been a result of meeting the stipulations of a loan issued by the International Monetary Fund to bail out the Egyptian economy to the tune of $3bn. The IMF generally pushes for less economic intervention by government, and in this instance that means allowing the Egyptian pound to fluctuate according to market forces.
At the same time, Egypt has also agreed to privatise state-owned businesses, including ones owned and operated by the military, as well as slow down public investment in national projects like the building of the New Administrative Capital, and major weapon purchases from Germany and Italy. The day after the IMF announcement, the pound’s value against the dollar dropped 10 percent.
Then there’s inflation, which is running at more than 20 percent. Grocery stores are emptying out. You can’t find many imported products, stores are running out of frozen chicken, and staples such as eggs and cooking oil have doubled in price.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi blames the war in Ukraine. In the weeks after the Russian invasion, foreign investors couldn’t sell their Egyptian treasury bills fast enough, resulting in a $20bn outflow. But many analysts also blame el-Sisi for keeping the value of the Egyptian pound artificially high for years. As one analyst put it, “They cooked the numbers way too long.”
Turmoil in the Occupied Territories
The number of Palestinians killed last year shot up dramatically, as Israel ramped up its raids in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, killing more than 170 people. But so far this year has already been worse, with one Palestinian killed almost every day.
On Saturday, Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinian men during a raid in the West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Ezzedine Bassem Hamamreh, 24, and Amjad Adnan Khaliliyeh, 23, were killed during an assault on the village of Jaba, south of Jenin. Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the two men were members of the group, and died while trying to intervene against the “occupation forces, which were carrying out a cowardly assassination operation”. The next day, 45-year-old Ahmed Kahla became the 13th Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in 15 days when he was shot near the West Bank city of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, witnesses said Kahla was shot after a scuffle with Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. Then, on Monday, the Israeli army shot 14-year-old Omar Khaled Lutfi Khmour in the head during a raid in southern West Bank. A day later, Hamdi Abu Dayyeh, 40, was killed by Israeli fire in Halhul, a town on the outskirts of Hebron. Palestinian media outlets reported that Abu Dayyeh was shot dead while carrying out an armed attack against Israeli forces at a checkpoint.
Against that violent backdrop, the new Israeli government, said to be the most right-wing in Israel’s history, has been getting to work on implementing its far-right agenda. Led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the nationalist-religious government wants to weaken the Supreme Court and annex the West Bank. Justice Minister Yariv Levin plans to increase government control over the judicial system, and limit the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws.
Over the weekend, Israeli media, citing police, estimated that 80,000 protesters marched in Tel Aviv in opposition to the government’s plans. Demonstrators called Netayahu the “crime minister” with one person accusing him of “destroying Israeli democracy”. But columnist Yara Hawari calls that nothing new, seeing as “there has been no Israeli prime minister that hasn’t been a criminal with hands stained with the blood of Palestinians, and there has been no Israeli government that has actually upheld democracy.”
Iran Hangs Former Deputy Minister
ran has executed a former deputy defence minister, Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian dual national who was convicted of spying for the UK. Akbari was hanged on Saturday for “harming the country’s internal and external security by passing on intelligence”, a charge his family denies. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called it a “callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”, and it’s only likely that the execution will further isolate the Iranian government after months of protests.
Hassan al-Kontor once spent seven months stranded in a Malaysian airport, unable to leave. His ordeal was another example of the barriers faced by Syrian refugees trying to reach a safe haven. And he may have been forgotten in the airport if he hadn’t started uploading videos of his life, struggling to get by, with no one willing to help him out. That was until Canada stepped in, and allowed him to travel there in November 2018. Last week, he finally received citizenship in a place he can now call home.
Quote of the Week
“Don’t forget the last colony of Africa, Western Sahara. Let us fight to free Western Sahara from oppression.” — Mandla Mandela at the opening ceremony of the African Nations Championship in Algeria, eliciting an angry response from Morocco, which had already pulled out of the tournament after Algeria refused to give the team clearance to fly directly from Morocco.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.