Category: World

Greek economy surges after decade of pain

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A decade ago, Greece was in the throes of a devastating debt crisis marked by years of austerity, hardship and unrest. Now, officials and investors say 2024 could be the year its rebound is finally complete.

The Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3% this year, approaching its pre-crisis size of 2009 and far outpacing the euro zone average of 0.8%.

Borrowing costs have plummeted to below those of Italy, and banks bailed out during the crisis are set to be fully privatised for the first time in decades – a move some of the country’s largest investors see as a final sign of normality.

“With (the state’s participation) out of the way, that’s a landmark,” said Wim-Hein Pals of asset manager Robeco, which recently bought shares in Greek banks.

“The Greek economy is in good shape to benefit from further growth going forward.”

The turnaround in Greece, whose debt crisis threatened to cause the demise of the whole euro zone, is stark – on paper at least. Now the country faces a novel problem: being held back by stagnation in the same euro zone giants that once imposed strict reforms on its economy.

After years shut off from international markets, Greece returned to investment grade credit rating in 2023. When the state’s bailout fund last month sold its stake in Piraeus Bank (BOPr.AT), opens new tab, one of the country’s largest, the sale was oversubscribed eight times.

Challenges remain, however. Falling birthrates and labour shortages threaten the long-term outlook, and the spread of climate-related disasters like wildfires and floods have strained government finances.

Many ordinary Greeks reeling from the crisis say they see little difference as economists say the wider benefits of the rebound will take time. To ensure long-term growth, the country needs to diversify beyond the typical economic drivers of tourism, real estate and services.

More than half of foreign direct investment into Greece, which totalled about 7.5 billion euros ($7.98 billion) in 2022, comes from northern European countries like France and Germany that are struggling with weak growth.

Greek exports, such as agricultural goods, fuel and pharmaceutical products – two thirds of which head to the EU – fell almost 9% last year. Economic growth slowed to 2% in 2023, partly a result of its lagging neighbours.

“The lower expectations for growth in Europe affect Greece in two main ways. Through pressure on exports… and through the higher cost of money,” said Nikos Vettas, head of economic think tank IOBE.

FINANCES REVIVE

Decades of rampant tax evasion and overspending caught up with Greece in 2009, when it went into recession and the government revealed a giant hole in its finances that sent shockwaves across global markets.

By 2015, it had signed three bailouts with the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund worth 280 billion euros. In return it agreed to austerity measures that slashed public sector wages and pensions, and triggered years of violent protests.

Since Greece emerged from the bailout in 2018 it has revived its banking system and has relied solely on debt markets for its borrowing needs. In 2022, it paid off the IMF two years ahead of schedule.

Calm is largely restored. In Athens’ central Syntagma Square, where 10 years ago protesters would hurl petrol bombs at riot police in protest at austerity measures, today buskers entertain tourists who sit in the shade of its sour orange trees.

Visits to the Acropolis, Greece’s best known ancient site, hit 3.8 million in 2023, nearly four times the number seen at the height of the crisis.

INEQUALITY REMAINS

For many Greeks though, economic recovery has not translated into improved living standards.

Unemployment remains above 10%, the second highest in the EU after Spain, and GDP per capita in purchasing power is among the lowest in the bloc, Eurostat data show. The average monthly salary of 1,175 euros is 20% lower than 15 years ago, according to labour ministry figures.

Greece needs to develop sectors where investments are more long term, said Vettas from IOBE, “like infrastructure projects and manufacturing.”

Unions held a general strike on Wednesday in which trains, buses, ships and taxis were halted and hundreds took to the streets calling for higher wages. Some people haven’t recovered from losing everything when the economy tanked.

Periklis Fryganas took out a bank loan in 2009 to expand his motorcycle repair shop in Athens, only for the crisis to reduce his turnover by 90% over the next six years. He closed the shop in 2020 and recently lost an apartment he shared with his unemployed wife and three sons after using it as collateral for the loan.

“The crisis broke a lot of people and I was one of them,” Fryganas, 61, said. “Things are getting better only for the ‘rich ones’, all the others are lοsing.”

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Nigeria floods to further cut cocoa crop, adding to shortage

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nigeria’s cocoa planting and mid-crop harvest will be disrupted as the Hydrological Service Agency has warned of heavy flooding in the country’s main cocoa growing areas.

The flood prone states include Ondo, Cross River, Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Taraba and Delta, Joseph Utsev, the minister of Water Resources and Sanitation said in Abuja on Wednesday. The areas account for 94% of the nation’s output of the chocolate ingredient.

The West African nation, the fifth largest grower of the crop globally, is expected to see output drop to 225,000 tons in the 2023-24 season from an earlier forecast of 280,000 to 300,000 due to bad weather that affected harvests, Mufutau Abolarinwa, the president of Cocoa Association of Nigeria said in February.

The flooding — expected between April and November — is like to worsen the situation, compounding a global shortage that has seen futures soar past records. Top cocoa producers Ivory Coast and Ghana have also seen poor crops because of severe weather and diseases.

Nigeria’s cocoa season begins in October with the larger main-crop harvest, followed by the smaller mid-crop harvest which ends in June.

Floods in Africa’s most populous nation claimed hundreds of lives in 2022 and resulted in to $9 billion in damage, according to a report from the nation’s statistics agency.

The extreme weather “will be devastating, considering the colossal loss in production that cocoa farmers are currently suffering from,” said Adeola Adegoke, the president of Nigeria’s Cocoa Farmers Association. “We intend to immediately embark on advocacy among our members to educate them on measures to take to mitigate the effects of the flooding.”

Cocoa futures climbed over 5% in New York on Thursday, moving back toward an all-time high set on Monday.

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Haunting photo of Palestinian woman cradling niece’s body in Gaza wins top journalism honor

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip.

The picture was taken on Oct. 17, 2023, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where families were searching for relatives killed during Israeli bombing of the Palestinian enclave.

Salem’s winning image portrays Inas Abu Maamar, 36, sobbing while holding Saly’s sheet-clad body in the hospital morgue.

“Mohammed received the news of his WPP award with humility, saying that this is not a photo to celebrate but that he appreciates its recognition and the opportunity to publish it to a wider audience,” Reuters’ Global Editor for Pictures and Video, Rickey Rogers, said at a ceremony in Amsterdam.

“He hopes with this award that the world will become even more conscious of the human impact of war, especially on children,” Rogers said, standing in front of the photo at the Nieuwe Kerk in the Dutch capital.

Announcing its annual awards, the Amsterdam-based World Press Photo Foundation said it was important to recognise the dangers facing journalists covering conflicts.

It said 99 journalists and media employees had been killed covering the war between Israel and Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza.

“The work of press and documentary photographers around the world is often done at high risk,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, the organisation’s executive director.

“This past year, the death toll in Gaza pushed the number of journalists killed to a near-record high. It is important to recognise the trauma they have experienced to show the world the humanitarian impact of the war.”

Salem, a Palestinian aged 39, has worked for Reuters since 2003. He also won an award in the 2010 World Press Photo competition.

The jury said Salem’s 2024 winning image was “composed with care and respect, offering at once a metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss.”

“I felt the picture sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip,” Salem said when the image was first published in November.

“People were confused, running from one place to another, anxious to know the fate of their loved ones, and this woman caught my eye as she was holding the body of the little girl and refused to let go.”

‘PROFOUNDLY AFFECTING’

Salem’s wife had given birth to their child days before he took the shot.

The photograph is “profoundly affecting,” said jury member Fiona Shields, head of photography at Guardian News & Media.

The jury selected the winning photos from 61,062 entries by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries.

GEO photographer Lee-Ann Olwage of South Africa won the story of the year category with images documenting dementia in Madagascar.

The long-term projects category was won by Alejandro Cegarra of Venezuela for the series “The Two Walls” for The New York Times/Bloomberg.

Ukrainian photographer Julia Kochetova won the open format award with “War is Personal”, which documented the war in her country by weaving together pictures, poetry, audio and music in documentary style.

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UK anti-smoking bill: All you need to know about PM Rishi Sunak’s flagship legislation

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The United Kingdom’s plan to ban the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2009 received lawmakers backing on Thursday. However, scores of Conservative MPs, including numerous ministers, voted against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s flagship legislation. During its second reading in the House of Commons, the tobacco and vapes bill was voted in favour of the government by 383 votes to 67.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins defended the measures, telling MPs that “there is no liberty in addiction,” as quoted by the BBC. Atkins stated that the proposal would result in a “smoke-free generation”.

What is the bill about?

The goal of the British government’s landmark smoking ban proposal is to prevent youth from ever taking to smoke. The measure, a key policy introduced by PM Sunak last year, will prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anybody born after January 1, 2009. Currently, it is prohibited to sell cigarettes to anybody under 18 years old.

The plan, once in effect, will provide Britain with some of the most stringent anti-smoking laws in the world. Officials claim it will usher in modern Britain’s ‘first smoke-free generation’.

Long-term goals of the bill

Children who reach 15 this year or younger cannot lawfully be sold tobacco products under the terms of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. When it’s implemented, which is expected by 2027, the legal age of sale in England for cigarettes will increase by one year each year until it finally becomes illegal for everyone.

If all goes as planned, the government hopes to abolish smoking among young people by 2040.

Along with steps to curb youth vaping, the bill also restricts the flavour options of the vapes and outlaws the sale of relatively cheap disposable vapes to keep children from developing an addiction to nicotine.

Are there any repercussions if found guilty?

Shops in Wales and England, if found selling vapes and cigarettes to underage people, will be fined 100 pounds (Over ₹10,000) immediately. Courts may impose fines up to 2,500 pounds (₹2,60,514).

Why is the UK enacting these new rules?

According to the Office for National Statistics, around 13% of the adult population in the UK, or 6.4 million individuals were smokers in 2022.

According to official statistics, the practice causes 64,000 deaths annually in England, with cancer accounting for around one in four of those fatalities.

Medical and healthcare professionals, as well as NGOs, believe the toll is greater, with 80,000 people dying each year from smoking.

The UK government expects that by the end of the century, the new prohibition will have prevented over 470,000 cases of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses.

Public support

According to YouGov, a worldwide public opinion and data organisation, there is substantial support for the ban among medical and healthcare specialists as well as charities. Additionally, research indicates that voters favoured a smoking ban, with 33% favouring a phased approach, 30% for a blanket ban and 25% opposing the prohibition.

Opposition’s take

Although the bill was generally welcomed by health professionals and supported by the opposition Labour Party, Sunak encountered criticism from his party’s more libertarian members.

According to The Guardian, several Tory MPs raised concerns, with former Prime Minister Liz Truss stating the measures were ‘profoundly unconservative’. Another former prime minister Boris Johnson called the ban ‘nuts’.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was the sole cabinet member to vote against the measure, claiming that it would place the burden of law on private firms and violate equality, according to The Guardian.

When will the bill become law?

The law must clear its third reading in the Commons before it can be moved to the Lords, where a final vote is anticipated in mid-June.

The changes can be tabled in the committee stage later in April. In May, MPs will vote on the third reading of the bill, after a vote on them.

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Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to host Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh over the weekend: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he will be hosting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh over the weekend, news agency AFP reported.

Earlier this week, Erdogan also said that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership were solely responsible for th erecent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

“Israel is trying to provoke a regional conflict, and its attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus was the last drop,” he told a press conference in Ankara after a cabinet meeting.

He added that new regional conflicts were possible as long as the “cruelty and genocide” in Gaza continued, and called on all parties to act with common sense. He also slammed the West for condemning Iran’s attack but not Israel’s strike on Iran’s embassy.

Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of explosive drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles launched on Saturday night, to which Israeli officials have vowed to respond.

Iran called the barrage retaliation for an Israeli strike that flattened a building in its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 and killed two of its generals and several other officers.

With inputs from Reuters

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US Congress moving swiftly on bipartisan action to punish Iran after revenge attack on Israel

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Iran’s attack against Israel over the weekend has spurred a flurry of bipartisan legislative action in Congress, uniting lawmakers against the country even as the risk of a larger regional war looms.

Several measures introduced and passed in the House and Senate seek to both publicly condemn Iran and punish the Islamic Republic financially. Lawmakers have denounced Iran’s actions, which came in response to a suspected Israeli strike weeks earlier on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals.

“The world is on fire, and history will judge us for our action,” said Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, during a news conference Tuesday.

The swift, bipartisan condemnation of Iran has put on sharp display the durability of American support for Israel, even amid growing partisan division over how the country is handling its more than six-month war with Hamas.

The House passed nearly a dozen bills by Wednesday that would, among other things, issue a slate of new sanctions and other financial restrictions against Iran and its leaders. Other legislation looks to prevent current Iranian officials sanctioned from evading those penalties and urge the European Union to “expeditiously” designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization as the U.S. has already done.

On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday advanced five bills, including ones that targeted Iran for its human rights record and would require sanctions on ports and refineries that receive and process Iranian oil.

“Iran’s direct attack on Israel this week underscores the need to further cut off the Iranian regime’s key revenue streams,” Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said in a statement. “I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill — which has already passed the House — so that we can send it to President Biden’s desk immediately.”

A number of the bills had passed the House weeks before Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October but have been stalled in the Senate committee. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has since caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials. Israel’s conduct of the war has revealed the depth of unease among U.S. lawmakers as concerns over the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza have caused even some of President Joe Biden’s closest allies to threaten conditioning future aid to Israel.

Congressional Democrats have been reluctant to challenge Biden’s handling of the ongoing conflict and related regional tensions that have taken shape, mindful that criticism could further weaken Biden in his reelection campaign against former President Donald Trump.

But the attack on Saturday has proven to consolidate public support for the Biden administration’s quick response as it ordered U.S. forces to help Israel down “nearly all” the 300 drones and missiles that were headed its way.

It also comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., released legislation Wednesday that would provide $95 billion in aid collectively to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The aid package had been held up for months over Republican opposition to continuing wartime funding for Ukraine as it battles Russia. Iran’s attack on Israel added urgency to Johnson’s plans to bring the issue to the floor for a vote.

While the measures targeting Iran have received overwhelming support — with the series of House bills mostly passing with at least 300 votes — there has been a quiet but growing dissent among progressive Democratic lawmakers in both chambers, who warn that legislative efforts could risk further escalation in the Middle East.

“Following last weekend’s unprecedented response by Iran to Israel’s attack on its consulate, the Republican Majority is explicitly leveraging a series of bills to further escalate tensions in the Middle East,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said in a statement Tuesday. “This is a blatant attempt to distract from their own incompetence.”

The strike on Saturday marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, risking further expanding the shadow war between the two foes into a direct conflict.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, condemned Iran’s attack in a statement but called on his colleagues to respond cautiously. He warned that further U.S. action against Iran could lead to a dangerous escalation that could drag America into a war in the Middle East.

“Cooler heads must now prevail to ensure peace in the region and security for Israel,” Sanders said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US to reinstate Venezuela sanctions, says Nicolas Maduro broke deal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Joe Biden’s administration reimposed oil sanctions on Venezuela, ending a six-month reprieve after determining that Nicolas Maduro’s regime failed to honor an agreement to allow a fairer vote in elections scheduled for July.

The US Treasury Department licence that permitted some oil and gas activities will expire, and the affected companies will have until May 31 to wind down operations, according to a document posted Wednesday on the agency’s website. The ruling doesn’t apply to Chevron Corp., a significant producer in Venezuela through joint ventures with the state oil company, allowing it to continue operating.

US officials said sanctions relief depended on Maduro meeting the terms of an agreement to allow inclusive and competitive elections. They determined that while some Venezuelan authorities met aspects of the deal, Maduro did not fully comply with the its spirit, citing moves to exclude some opposition candidates from running.

The Biden administration had sought to buy as much time as possible before finalizing the decision in hopes of an unlikely breakthrough, people familiar with the decision said earlier Wednesday. The people, who asked not to be identified to speak publicly, had said the sanctions would be reimposed in the absence of any concessions from Maduro ahead of a Thursday deadline.

Possibilities for a last-minute resolution that had been mentioned in recent days included the government extending the deadline for registering candidates, or the opposition throwing its support behind Manuel Rosales, a governor who was allowed to register but is distrusted by some for his willingness to negotiate with Maduro.

The US granted the relief in October after Maduro’s representatives traveled to Barbados to sign an agreement to take steps toward a free and fair election. Since then, Maduro has consistently tested the limits of the deal, barring Maria Corina Machado, who won an October opposition primary, and a proposed substitute from running. Maduro has brutally repressed protests against his decade-long rule, including arresting human-rights leaders and opposition officials.

Wednesday’s decision means companies that started buying Venezuelan crude and conducting other oil-related activities during the six-month reprieve can no longer do so without requesting a license from the US. Confirmed purchasers during that period included India’s Reliance Industries and commodity trading house Vitol Group. Firms can apply for specific licenses which would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Asked whether Chevron’s license would also be under review, an official said that predated the Barbados agreement and provided a baseline for the talks to start. Italy’s Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA also had waivers predating the Barbados accord, allowing them to lift Venezuela crude to offset natural gas-related debts.

“We reiterate our commitment to conducting our business in compliance with laws and regulations where we operate, as well as with US laws and regulations,” Chevron said in a statement.

A US official said the focus was on the political situation in Venezuela when asked about the impact on gas prices. Officials said they were also aware the economic situation in Venezuela had contributed to record levels of migration and were working with other nations to address that issue.

The officials said the decision to reimpose sanctions should not be viewed as a final judgment on the prospects that Venezuela may agree to hold competitive elections in the future, adding that they would continue to monitor the political process and maintain communication with the opposition.

Economic impact

Reimposing sanctions ends a brief respite that saw foreign oil executives flock to the South American nation. Renewed sanctions threaten to set back Maduro’s efforts to restart Venezuela’s economy, which requires significant foreign investment to rebuild its decaying oil infrastructure.

Sanctioning the nation’s limited production will bear little immediate impact on the global oil market. But over the medium- to long-term, the lack of investment from Chevron and other outside investors could ultimately see Venezuela’s oil output decline.

Maduro welcomed international oil majors to scout for deals with state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA in the hopes of boosting production. The temporary license gave Maduro an additional $740 million in oil sales from October until March, according to an estimate from Eduardo Fortuny, head of Caracas-based consultancy Dinamica Venezuela.

Venezuela’s oil minister, Pedro Tellechea, sought to downplay the impact, saying the US decision would not affect the country’s economy and oil companies can still seek new licenses to work with Petroleos de Venezuela.

Bond prices had been rising for the past two weeks as expectations over a resolution to the political stalemate grew. They reached a peak in January as investors increased their holdings in anticipation of Venezuela’s inclusion in the widely followed JPMorgan Chase & Co. emerging-market indexes this year. Bonds across the curve rose in January with 2027 sovereign notes touching a high of 23 cents on the dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The debt has been sliding since, and fell about 0.5 cent on Bloomberg’s report Wednesday, according to traders.

Cracking down on oil from the country also threatens to send rising US gasoline prices even higher, a danger for Biden, who has struggled to address voter anxiety over high inflation ahead of his November rematch with Republican Donald Trump.

The Biden administration also worried revoking the license could worsen the economic crisis in Venezuela, the second-largest source for undocumented migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border last year — another election-year issue.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

UAE in recovery mode after experiencing heaviest rainfall on record

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads.

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, allowed global carriers on Thursday morning to again fly into Terminal 1 at the airfield.

“Flights continue to be delayed and disrupted, so we urge you to only come to Terminal 1 if you have a confirmed booking,” the airport said on the social platform X.

The long-haul carrier Emirates, whose operations had been struggling since the storm Tuesday, had stopped travellers flying out of the UAE from checking into their flights as they tried to move out connecting passengers. Pilots and flight crews had been struggling to reach the airport given the water on the roadways. But on Thursday, they lifted that order to allow customers into the airport.

Others who arrived at the airport described hourslong waits to get their baggage, with some just giving up to head home or to whatever hotel would have them.

The UAE, a hereditarily ruled, autocratic nation on the Arabian Peninsula, typically sees little rainfall in its arid desert climate. However, a massive storm forecasters had been warning about for days blew through the country’s seven sheikhdoms.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. Other areas of the country saw even more precipitation.

The UAE’s drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed, flooding out neighbourhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road highway running through Dubai.

The st

ate-run WAM news agency called the rain “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.”

In a message to the nation late Wednesday, Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, said authorities would “quickly work on studying the condition of infrastructure throughout the UAE and to limit the damage caused.”

On Thursday, people waded through oil-slicked floodwater to reach cars earlier abandoned, checking to see if their engines still ran. Tanker trucks with vacuums began reaching some areas outside of Dubai’s downtown core for the first time as well. Schools remain closed until next week.

Authorities have offered no overall damage or injury information from the floods, which killed at least one person.

“Crises reveal the strength of countries and societies,” Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wrote on X. “The natural climate crisis that we experienced showed the great care, awareness, cohesion and love for every corner of the country from all its citizens and residents.”

The flooding sparked speculation that the UAE’s aggressive campaign of cloud seeding — flying small planes through clouds dispersing chemicals aimed at getting rain to fall — may have contributed to the deluge. However experts said the storm systems that produced the rain were forecast well in advance and that cloud seeding alone would not have caused such flooding.

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, said the flooding in Dubai was caused by an unusually strong low-pressure system that drove many rounds of heavy thunderstorms.

Scientists also say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires around the world. Dubai hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks just last year.

Abu Dhabi’s state-linked newspaper The National in an editorial Thursday described the heavy rains as a warning to countries in the wider Persian Gulf region to “climate-proof their futures.”

“The scale of this task is more daunting that it appears even at first glance, because such changes involve changing the urban environment of a region that for as long as it has been inhabited, has experienced little but heat and sand,” the newspaper said.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Thousands evacuated as Indonesia’s Ruang volcano erupts, causes tsunami threat

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indonesian authorities on Thursday raised the alert level of Sulawesi’s Mount Ruang to the highest and issued a tsunami warning after the volcano erupted at least five times as rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people, while a nearby airport was shut down.

The crater of Mount Ruang on a remote island in the province of North Sulawesi threw a fiery-red column of lava, accompanied by incandescent rock and ash as much as three km into the sky on Wednesday, according to reports.

On Thursday morning, the volcano was still billowing a column of smoke, forcing authorities to shut the nearest international airport in Manado City on the Sulawesi island for 24 hours, AFP reported.

Authorities rushed to evacuate around 11,000 people from the nearby areas, including the remote island of Tagulandang, where approximately 20,000 people reside.

Jandry Paendong, an official from the local search and rescue agency, said that on Wednesday night people evacuated on their own “but without direction due to the volcano’s eruption and materials in the form of small rocks that fell”.

Around 20 staff members were helping in the evacuation process along the coastline near the volcano on rubber boats, the official said.

Further, he has asked for more boats and equipment so that his team could “carry out evacuation for people in the coast or near the coast” facing the volcano, the news agency reported.

The tourists and residents have been warned by authorities to remain outside a six-kilometre exclusion zone of the volcano.

In the initial phase, over 800 locals were safely evacuated from Ruang to nearby Tagulandang island after the first eruption on Tuesday evening. Later on, four more eruptions were reported on Wednesday.

Tsunami warning

Looking at the current situation, the Indonesian authorities have warned of a possible tsunami due to the eruptions.

Hendra Gunawan, head of Indonesia’s volcanology agency, said communities in Tagulandang island, especially the ones residing near the beach, will have to be on alert for the potential ejection of incandescent rocks, hot clouds discharges and tsunamis that can be caused by the collapse of the volcano’s body into the sea.

Earlier in 2018, the crater of Mount Anak Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra islands had partly collapsed. It led to a major eruption that sent huge chunks of the volcano sliding into the ocean, triggering a tsunami. Over 400 people were killed in that incident, while thousands of others were injured.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Russia builds new Asia trade routes to weaken sanctions over war

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Russia is pressing ahead with construction of two new transport corridors linking Asia and Europe, seeking to weaken sanctions over its war in Ukraine at the same time as Middle East turmoil is disrupting global trade.

The shipping and rail networks via Iran and an Arctic sea passage could strengthen Moscow’s pivot toward Asian powerhouses China and India and away from Europe. They have potential to embed Russia at the heart of much of international trade even as the US and its allies are trying to isolate President Vladimir Putin over the war.

The routes could cut 30%-50% off transit times compared to the Suez Canal and avoid security problems plaguing the Red Sea as Houthi rebels attack international shipping over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Iran’s missile and drone strikes aimed at Israel have added to the regional turbulence.

While the US and its Western allies are shunning the Russia-backed routes despite potential cost savings, major Asian and Gulf economies have shown interest.

Still, significant hurdles remain.

Outdated Iranian infrastructure is holding up development of the International North South Transportation Corridor connecting India to the European part of Russia. And even as accelerating climate change melts Arctic ice to make the Northern Sea Route, or NSR, a more viable option, formidable logistical challenges remain along Russia’s remote coastline.

Russia is preparing to invest more than $25 billion to upgrade the route via Iran and improve facilities along the Russian Arctic shoreline, including a fleet of domestically manufactured ice-breakers. It also plans to patrol the NSR route with a network of drone bases, Izvestia newspaper reported, citing an unidentified Defense Ministry official.

Russia issued a 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) loan to Iran last May to build a vital missing rail link that will stretch 162 kilometers (101 miles) to connect the city of Rasht along the Caspian Sea coast to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. Once completed, the railway will allow cargo supplies from St. Petersburg to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main export port on the Persian Gulf.

“Its construction will allow us to create direct and uninterrupted railway transportation along the entire length of the North-South route,” Putin said during a videoconference with Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi. “This will help considerably diversify global transport flows.”

Transportation capacity along the north-south route, which includes a longer rail link via central Asia and a Trans-Caspian Sea network, could increase by 85% to 35 million tonnes a year by 2030, according to the Eurasian Development Bank. It will connect Russia with Iran and India as well as potentially the rest of South Asia, the Persian Gulf and Africa. Last August, Russia sent its first direct cargo train to Saudi Arabia.

“If the other routes are interrupted, this one will continue working because it’s sanctions-proof,” said Nikita Smagin, an analyst at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “That’s the main idea.”

Driven by Russian oil sales and purchases of electronics, industrial equipment and cars, trade with China hit a record $240 billion in 2023, more than double the $108 billion reached in 2020. Trade with India grew to almost $64 billion last year, versus around $10 billion three years earlier, as New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil have soared since the war in Ukraine began.

Russia’s growing trade with China is already spurring the Kremlin to spend billions to upgrade its vast eastern railroads to expand capacity on the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainline by 2030.

Neighboring Turkey’s trade boom with Russia is faltering, however, as the US and the EU crack down on so-called dual-use goods that could provide the Kremlin with a vital lifeline for its military offensive in Ukraine. Preliminary data published earlier this month from Turkey’s Trade Ministry showed exports to Russia fell by a third in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Development of the Northern Sea Route has been slowed by Western punitive measures over the invasion of Ukraine that have stalled a Russian plan to export liquefied natural gas from the Arctic LNG 2 plant to Asia as key foreign investors froze their participation. The sanctions also upended contracts for the plant to get specialized icebreaker vessels needed to navigate the freezing waters.

Chinese shipping company Cosco stopped using the route from 2022, even though a trip from Dalian, China, to Rotterdam in the Netherlands along the NSR takes around 33 days, compared to 48 days via the Suez Canal. All transit between Asia, North America and Europe through the Arctic that in 2021 represented 40% of shipping volumes has stopped amid concerns over falling foul of sanctions.

That’s despite continuing attacks since late last year by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants on vessels in and around the Red Sea, which is forcing Western shipping firms to avoid the Suez Canal and take a longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

“International transit traffic through the NSR was considered risky because of changes in the geopolitical situation,” said Mikhail Grigoryev, an Arctic expert who is the co-owner and director of consulting company Gecon.

Still, the United Arab Emirates’s DP World port operator in October signed an agreement with Russian state-run Rosatom nuclear operator to develop container shipping along the route between Vladivostok and Murmansk.

In January, Putin attended a keel-laying ceremony for the fifth of seven nuclear-powered icebreakers Russia is building for service on the Northern Sea Route, calling the fleet “an enormous competitive advantage” for the country.

At the launch of two earlier vessels in November 2022, Putin said the ships would “help Russia more fully unlock its export potential and establish efficient logistics routes, including to Southeast Asia.”

India meanwhile is investing in Chabahar, the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean, after getting a waiver from US sanctions.

The Russian-backed rail connection via Iran opens the way to central Asia — including crucially Afghanistan — and “offers a shorter route to Europe,” said Vaishali Basu Sharma, a former consultant at India’s National Security Council Secretariat.

“Emerging markets are finally breaking free from the hegemony created by developed countries,” she said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow