Emerging shortage of seafarers

The shortage of seafarers, in particular qualified senior officers, was an issue that came up repeatedly at Crew Connect Global in Manila.

While some believe the industry faces an acute shortage of seafarers, others say this is simply not true and not borne out by the situation on the ground, while some point to a mismatch in supply and demand, and a failure by the ship owners to provide cadet berths.

Setting the scene in the opening sessions of the conference Guy Platten, Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) detailed the expected shortage of officers.

” According to the latest ICS/Bimco study, 96,000 seafarers short by 2026. That's a huge challenge. That's certified officers we're going to be short of, so that's something that we need to embrace,” Platten said.

The move to alternative low and zero carbon fuels will complicate things yet further with research commissioned by the Just Maritime Transition Coalition showing that up 800,000 seafarers will require additional training by the mid-2030’s so as to be able to use alternative fuels safely.

The extreme lack of diversity in the seafaring workforce of which just 2% is female was highlighted as an issue that needed to be addressed. “Diversity is on the agenda and is going to be a very hot topic,” stated Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority told the conference. “We have to find out what to do. It’s not just to do with fairness of gender.”  

Nordseth said that have a more diverse is better for safety, retention and a wide range of factors.

Platten was in agreement saying, “It’s a disgrace really that only 2% of our workforce is women. And we're just missing out so much talent and with the digitalization with technologies, with all that's happening, we've got a golden opportunity to change that.”

The crew supply forum later on in the first day of the conference grappled further with the issue of the shortage of officers.

The lack of cadet berths was highlighted as an issue along with the longstanding huge mismatch between the numbers of graduates from Philippines maritime schools and academies and the actual number that ever work on board a ship. Philippines maritime schools churn out around 25,000 – 30,000 graduates annually yet only around an estimated 5,000 of those will ever serve on board a merchant vessel.

It was an issue pressed by conference chairman John Adams, Senior Advisor to V.Group, and whether it related anyway to the quality of the training and issues such as STCW compliance.

Iris Baguilat, President of Dohle Seafront Crewing, questioned the lack of cadet berths and the long-term commitment of ship owners to Filipino seafarers. As to why so few Filipino graduates managed to get jobs at sea she said, “It’s a question you have to ask the ship owners, why are they not hiring our graduates.”

Marlon Rono, President and CEO, of Magsaysay People Resources Corp, said, “That really is a big issue, and one is because not so many ship owners take cadets.” Rono highlighted the policy of Japanese ship owners that two cadets have to be taken on every ship, and if cadets are not taken there is penalty levied to a fund for training. The result is it is better to take cadets than not.

Speaking from the audience Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General of Intermanager, said he did not believe there was a shortage of crew noting that in a capitalistic world if there is a shortage of something the price goes up. “Do you see salaries going up now except LNG? I’m sorry, no, and if there are its only 1% to 2%,” he said.

As many as 800,000 seafarers serving global shipping will need up skilling by the mid-2030’s to meet the industry’s decarburization ambitions according to research commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force.

The task force launched a 10-point action plan at COP27 based on the new research which it commissioned from DNV Maritime’s consultancy modeling three different scenarios for decarburization of shipping through to 2050. The Maritime Just Transition Task Force was launched at COP26 last year bringing together UN Global Compact, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) with an aim to ensure seafarers at the frontline of decarburization were properly looked after and trained in shipping’s energy transition.

The research modeled three scenarios based on the original IMO 2018 targets of a 50% emission reduction by 2050, zero carbon by 2050, and decarburization by 2050.

The zero carbon by 2050 scenario, modeled Lloyds Register and University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS), foresees 450,000 seafarers would require some additional training by 2030, and 800,000 by the mid-2030’s to handle alternative fuels.

Under the decarburization by 2050 scenario, modeled by DNV, 750,000 seafarers would require additional training by 2050, and under the IMO 2018 scenario, also modelled by DNV between 310,000 and 750,000 seafarers would require additional training by the 2040’s.

Guy Platten, Secretary General, International Chamber of Shipping, said, “There is an urgent need to establish the infrastructure and training required to prepare our seafaring workforce, both in developed and developing countries, to help meet our decarburization objectives. This should be done as of today, so they are ready and able to meet the challenges that new green fuels and propulsion technologies will pose and mitigate any potential health and safety risks for ships, communities, the environment and seafarers themselves.”

The Action Plan makes recommendations to industry, governments, seafarer unions and academia in terms of meeting the challenge of training for alternative fuels. Recommendations include: strengthening global training standards, ensuring a health-and-safety-first approach, and establishing advisory national maritime skills councils.

While the urgent need for training is clear which fuels this training need to be for is not. In its general conclusions the report notes a lack of clarity viability and uptake of alternative fuels, and uncertainty over regulatory developments and finance made it difficult to plan further training for seafarers.

The safety of handling for alternative fuels was stressed by the ITF. “The good news is that seafarers are prepared and willing to be part of this transition. But crew want to know that the fuels they’re handling are indeed safe, and that we as an industry have the training pathways established to upgrade their skills,” Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

Safety was also stressed by DNV Maritime CEO, Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, who said: ​​”Decarburization is bringing new opportunities, new technologies but also new risks. Our first priority must be to achieve safe decarburization. We must take a collaborative approach to safeguard our people, our ships and our environment.”

In terms of the regulatory challenge IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said it would be in “sharp focus” in a review of the STCW Convention.

 

 

 

 

Volatility of oil prices will be name of the game in December 2022

The month of December has started and it can be rightly termed the most crucial for the energy market as several events and factors would determine the trend in prices by the end of year 2022 and beyond.

While the Chinese zero-Covid policy and protests against that policy weigh negatively on market sentiment, the OPEC plus meeting on December 04 and the beginning of the European Union embargo on Russian seaborne crude oil imports on the next day are likely to shape the course of the prices. Uncertainty is high, which would stoke further volatility in prices. 

Oil slumped early on Monday to the lowest level in nearly a year – since December 2021, weighed down by risk aversion in commodity markets amid protests in China over the authorities’ strict Covid curbs policy. 

The recent price rout, with Brent plunging by 10% in one week, intensified speculation that OPEC Plus members could consider another production cut when they meet on Sunday, December 4. On the following day, December 5, the EU ban on imports of Russian crude oil and the associated G7-EU price cap begins, with the exact price of the cap yet to be agreed on and announced. 

With so many uncertainties, oil prices are seesawing on every rumor or report. This week and the ones after that will likely see more of the same and prices could swing either way depending on the OPEC Plus meeting, the EU ban and price cap on Russian oil and Russia’s reaction to it, and the developments in China, which, so far, is singlehandedly dragging down oil prices due to fears of weak demand in the world’s top crude oil importer at least in the short term. 

A violent move down in prices began on November 21 after The Wall Street Journal citing OPEC delegates that the members of the group had informally discussed whether there would be a need for more oil on the market in view of the EU embargo on Russian crude oil imports. The report was immediately denied by OPEC’s top producer Saudi Arabia and another influential member of the cartel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

“United Arab Emirates denied that it is engaging in any discussion with other OPEC+ members to change the last agreement, which is valid until the end of 2023,” its Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on November 21.

“We remain committed to OPEC Plus aim to balance the oil market and will support any decision to achieve that goal,” the minister added. 

As of November 29, speculation is mounting that OPEC Plus could consider a cut at its December 4 meeting due to gloomier-than-expected oil demand outlook amid Chinese Covid curbs and protests and slowing economies elsewhere. 

Considering that oil prices slumped to the lowest level since December 2021, OPEC Plus could indeed decide to defend an US$80 floor under prices, but it will have a difficult task in predicting how the embargo on Russian crude will impact trade flows and prices. 

The structure of the oil futures market is showing sign of sluggish global oil demand and sufficient supply just ahead of the embargo on Russian oil. Weakening physical demand and plunging spot premiums for Middle Eastern crude could prompt OPEC Plus to announce a fresh cut on Sunday. 

The alliance of OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia regularly denies it’s defending a certain oil price, but it always says that it looks at the market fundamentals.

These days, the physical market is showing signs of weakness and even an oversupply in the short term, considering the contango in both WTI and Brent front-month to second-month futures. 

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, signaled this weekend that the OPEC+ meeting would focus on the current market conditions and balances.  

Several hours after the OPEC+ meeting, the EU embargo and the price cap on Russian oil enter into force. There are so many uncertainties surrounding the measures that analysts cannot predict anything but further volatility in oil prices. The uncertainties range from the exact price of the cap – with the EU still at odds over this five days before the embargo kicks in – to how many vessels Russia would need to place its oil to willing buyers, where ship-to-ship transfers can occur for Baltic exports bound for Asia, how big the ‘dark fleet’ under the radar could be, and last but not least, whether Putin will go through with his promise to stop supplying oil to anyone joining the price cap. 

“All of these things are so significant to the oil markets that they could whip prices from one direction to the other very significantly,” Michael Haigh, Global Head of Commodities Research & Strategy Societe Generale, told The Wall Street Journal.   

Equities remain under pressure in November

Pakistan Stock Exchange, in a repeat of recent performance failed to hold onto mid-month gains, November closed with a muted gain as the benchmark index gained 2.6% increase in Rupee terns and paltry 1.2% in US$ terms.

Politics remains in flux, with PTI keeping up the pressure on the ruling coalition, while the economy - and the external account position in particular - remains vulnerable.

However, these top-down concerns are balanced against ultra-cheap valuations, with the market absorbing the surprise 100bps rate hike reasonably well and foreign investors turning net buyers in oil & gas exploration after a significant gap.

Analysts believe economic outlook takes precedence over political developments, with the former paramount in determining the near-term course of the KSE-100. The pending 9th IMF review is the key deriver.

Imran Khan had an eventful November, to say the least! He survived an assassination attempt, ended his march to Islamabad, and has threatened to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies. The overall calculus remains the same, to force early general elections but there is some change in tack, with the US no longer blamed for his ouster, and a less combative stance adopted towards the army in the run up to the appointment of the new army chief.

General Munir faces the tough task of regaining lost face for the army (in farewell speeches, his predecessor vowed the institution will be apolitical), while also focusing on preserving hard-fought security gains given the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has recently ended its ceasefire.

The major win in November for PML-N was the issuance of a diplomatic passport to Nawaz Sharif. His eventual return to Pakistan, subject to legal relief, cannot be ruled out.

The PML-N led ruling coalition is anticipated to complete its term in the center, but there is still a significant lack of clarity on political outlook.

Sustaining the IMF program remains critical. There is greater realization that Pakistan needs stability to put economy on track.

After no change in the preceding two monetary policies, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised the policy rate by 100bps to 16%, with high inflation and external account vulnerabilities outweighing weak GDP growth.

A return to prudent policymaking possibly signals the overarching importance of sustaining the ongoing IMF program but there are challenges – no date has been set for the 9th IMF review

 The PKR appears to have been kept in check by import controls and restrictions on the movement of foreign exchange and fear of a mini-budget to impose additional taxation may yet be in play to make up for flood-related losses.

There are positives, with the SBP Governor announcing Pakistan will repay its international Sukuk ahead of its scheduled December 05, 2022 maturity, as partial offsetting funding from the AIIB has already been secured.

However, with the import cover a shallow 1.5 months, analysts believe Pakistan not only needs to sustain the IMF program, but also fast-track the promised assistance from Saudi Arabia and China (debt rollover and additional financing). Potential measures such as a higher levy on diesel may be taken as leading indicators for the government’s will in keeping the IMF program on track.       

Analysts expect equities to respond more closely to the evolution of foreign exchange reserves in the near-term, rather than noisy politics which may already be in the price. Valuations are ultra-cheap backed by more companies announcing share buybacks, most recently BAFL, and mean reversion implies significant upside through the cycle.

MSCI changes are also generally positive, with LUCK, SYS, TRG and POL added to the FM100 Index effective end-November. For our top picks, we replace EFERT with ENGRO and PSO with APL. EFERT’s theme of a high dividend yield loses a little luster in the higher interest rate environment, while ENGRO offers a good blend of both yield and growth. With tough reforms appearing unlikely for now, including on the energy side, APL’s stronger fundamentals win out over cash-strapped PSO. 

 

Iran sentences four people to death for cooperating with Mossad

Four people were sentenced to death on Wednesday by Iran's judiciary for allegedly cooperating with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service and committing kidnappings, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The Islamic Republic has long accused arch-enemy Israel of carrying out covert operations on its soil. Tehran has lately accused Israeli and Western intelligence services of plotting a civil war in the country, now gripped by some of the biggest anti-government protests since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mehr named the four accused and, referring to Israel, said they were sentenced to death for the crime of cooperating with the intelligence services of the Zionist regime and for kidnapping.

It added, "With guidance from the Zionist intelligence service, this network of thugs was stealing and destroying private and public property, kidnapping people, and obtaining fake confessions."

Mehr said the accused had been arrested by the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Intelligence.

Three other people were handed prison sentences of between five and 10 years for allegedly committing crimes such as acting against national security, aiding in kidnapping, and possessing illegal weapons, it said.

Death of Jiang Zemin, end of an era

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who led the country for a decade of rapid economic growth after the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, died on Wednesday at the age of 96, Chinese state media reported.

Jiang died in his home city of Shanghai just after noon on Wednesday of leukemia and multiple organ failure, Xinhua news agency said, publishing a letter to the Chinese people by the ruling Communist Party, parliament, Cabinet and the military.

"Comrade Jiang Zemin's death is an incalculable loss to our Party and our military and our people of all ethnic groups," the letter read, saying its announcement was with profound grief.

Jiang's death comes at a tumultuous time in China, where authorities are grappling with rare widespread street protests among residents fed up with heavy-handed COVID-19 curbs nearly three years into the pandemic.

The zero-COVID policy is a hallmark of President Xi Jinping, who recently secured a third leadership term that cements his place as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong and has taken China in an increasingly authoritarian direction since replacing Jiang's immediate successor, Hu Jintao.

China is also in the midst of a sharp economic slowdown exacerbated by zero-COVID.

Numerous users of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform described the death of Jiang, who remained influential after finally retiring in 2004, as the end of an era.

"I'm very sad, not only for his departure, but also because I really feel that an era is over," a Henan province-based user wrote.

"As if what has happened wasn't enough, 2022 tells people in a more brutal way that an era is over," a Beijing Weibo user posted.

The online pages of state media sites including People's Daily and Xinhua turned to black and white in mourning.

Wednesday's letter described our beloved Comrade Jiang Zemin as an outstanding leader of high prestige, a great Marxist, statesman, military strategist and diplomat and a long-tested communist fighter.

Jiang was plucked from obscurity to head China's ruling Communist Party after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, but broke the country out of its subsequent diplomatic isolation, mending fences with the United States and overseeing an unprecedented economic boom.

He served as president from 1993 to 2003 but held China's top job, as head of the ruling Communist Party, from 1989 and handed over that role to Hu in 2002. He only gave up the position as head of the military in 2004, which he also assumed in 1989.

When Jiang retired, it was said by sources close to the leadership at the time that everywhere Hu looked he would see the supporters of his predecessor.

Jiang had stacked China's most powerful leadership body, the Politburo Standing Committee, with his own protégées, many of them from the so-called "Shanghai Gang".

But in the years after Jiang retired from his final post, the military commission chairmanship in 2004, Hu consolidated his grip, neutralized the Shanghai Gang and successfully anointed Xi as a successor.

 

Can Yuan Replace US Dollar?

Chinese entrepreneur Wang Min is delighted about Russia's embrace of the yuan. His LED lights company can price contracts to Russian customers in yuan rather than dollars or euros, and they can pay him in yuan. It's win-win, he says.

Wang's plans have been transformed by the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow that have shut Russia's banks and many of its companies out of the dollar and euro payment systems.

His contract manufacturing business with Russia has been small in the past, but now he's preparing to invest in warehousing there.

"We hope that next year sales in Russia can account for 10-15% of our total sales," said the businessman from China's southern coastal province of Guangdong, whose annual revenue of about US$20 million mainly comes from Africa and South America.

Wang is seeking to capitalize on a rapid "yuanization" of Russia's economy this year as the isolated country seeks financial security from Asian powerhouse China. He sees a win-win situation in Chinese exporters reducing their currency risks and payment becoming more convenient for Russian buyers.

While the yuan, or renminbi, has been making gradual inroads into Russia for years, the crawl has turned into a sprint in the past nine months as the currency has swept into the country's markets and trade flows, according to a Reuters review of data and interviews with 10 business and finance players.

Russia's financial shift eastwards could boost cross-border commerce, present a growing economic counterweight to the dollar and limit Western efforts to pressure Moscow by economic means.

Total transactions in the yuan-rouble pair on the Moscow Exchange ballooned to an average of almost 9 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion) a day last month, exchange data analyzed by Reuters showed. Previously, they rarely exceeded 1 billion yuan in an entire week.

"What happened was that it became suddenly very risky and expensive to keep traditional currencies - dollar, euro, British pounds," said Andrei Akopian, Managing Director of Moscow-based investment firm Caderus Capital, citing the potential danger of a bank that keeps foreign currency deposits being sanctioned.

"Everybody was motivated and even pushed towards the rouble or other currencies including, and first of all, the renminbi."

Indeed, yuan-rouble trading totalled 185 billion yuan in October, more than 80 times the level seen in February when Russia launched what it refers to as a special military operation in Ukraine near the end of the month, according to exchange data.

The surge of interest has seen the yuan's share of the currency market jump to 40-45% from less than 1% at the start of the year, said Dmitry Piskulov, international projects head at the Moscow Exchange's foreign-exchange market department.

By comparison, the dollar/rouble pair, which commanded more than 80% of trading volumes on the Russian market in January, has seen its share drop to about 40% as of October, according to exchange data and the central bank.

Until April, Russia didn't even make the top 15 list of countries using the yuan outside mainland China, in terms of the value of inbound and outbound flows, according to data from global financial networking system SWIFT.

It has since jumped to No. 4, lagging only Hong Kong, the city's former colonial ruler Britain and Singapore.

To put this in a global context, though, the dollar and euro are still by far the dominant currencies, representing more than 42% and 35% of flows respectively as of September this year. The yuan has risen to almost 2.5% from below 2% two years earlier.

Wang's business optimism is echoed by Shen Muhui, who heads a trade group for small exporters to Russia in neighbouring Fujian province. He said more and more Russian buyers were opening yuan accounts and settling transactions directly in the Chinese currency, which he said was a big advantage.

"The Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought opportunities for Chinese businessman," said Shen, adding that his association had received many inquiries from Chinese companies interested in doing business in Russia.

It's not only Chinese companies, or small companies, joining the yuan train. Seven Russian corporate giants, including Rusal, Rosneft and Polyus, have raised a total of 42 billion yuan in bonds on the Russian market, according to Reuters calculations, and the list could grow with No.1 lender Sberbank and oil firm Gazpromneft saying they're also considering renminbi debt.

Aluminium producer Rusal, which buys raw materials from China and then sells a large chunk of its finished goods there, told Reuters it had stepped up the share of yuan used in those purchases and sales this year, and that the share would continue to rise, though it declined to provide a detailed breakdown.

While President Vladimir Putin has long sought to reduce Russia's reliance on the dollar, geopolitics has turbo-charged this trend in 2022.

China, the world's No. 2 economy, is the biggest global power not to join economic sanctions against Russia. Indeed, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping sealed a no limits partnership in February, weeks before Moscow launched what it describes as a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The yuan comprised about 19% of Russia's trade settlements with China in 2021 versus the dollar's 49% share, Andrey Melnikov, deputy director at international cooperation department at the Russian central bank, said in September.

While 2022 figures haven't been published yet, the Chinese currency is gaining ground, according to Melnikov, who told a conference that demand for yuan liquidity had risen sharply due to reduced access to traditional payment methods and the freezing of its overseas gold and foreign exchange reserves.

The central bank declined to comment for this article.

Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina is tracking the growth, telling lawmakers this month that the influx of yuan illustrated a transformation of the currency composition of our economy.

Regulators are also aware of potential perils, such as a disparity between a growing number of yuan-held current accounts and deposits of the currency, with yuan-denominated lending only starting to develop.

The central bank has said lenders should seek to reduce the growing risks of yuanization of their balance sheets - or gaps between yuan assets and liabilities - by increasing payments in yuan for imports, investing in yuan-denominated securities or using yuan in trade transactions with other countries.

Regulators do not plan to limit yuan usage now and may encourage banks to use more by relaxing provisioning requirements for the currency while tightening them for dollars and euros, Elizaveta Danilova, director at the central bank's financial stability department, told a conference this month.

Tehreek-e-Taliban ends ceasefire with Government of Pakistan

Reportedly, the armed group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has announced the end of an indefinite ceasefire agreed with the Government of Pakistan in June 2022 and issued orders to its fighters to carry out attacks across the country.

“As military operations are ongoing against mujahideen in different areas, … so it is imperative for you to carry out attacks wherever you can in the entire country,” the group said in a statement on Monday.

The group said it is facing a rising number of attacks by the Pakistani military, particularly in the Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We submit to the people of Pakistan that we have repeatedly warned you and continued to be patient so that the negotiation process is not sabotaged at least by us, but the army and intelligence agencies do not stop and continue the attacks, so now our retaliatory attacks will also start across the country,” the statement said.

The TTP has been waging a rebellion against the state of Pakistan for more than a decade. The group demands the imposition of hardline Islamic law, release of key members arrested by the government and a reversal of the merger of Pakistan’s tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

On November 16, the TTP claimed responsibility for an attack on a police patrol in Lakki Marwat, about 200km (125 miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Peshawar. Six policemen were killed.

The TTP made its declaration hours after the government said the state minister for foreign affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, will visit Afghanistan on Tuesday.

According to the foreign ministry, Khar will hold talks on regional security with the Taliban government in Kabul.

Security specialist Asfandyar Mir of the United States Institute of Peace told Al Jazeera that while the TTP has been escalating its violence recently, it has also exercised restraint by not carrying out attacks outside tribal areas.

“I have inferred the targeting as a function of Afghan Taliban pressure on the TTP to calibrate their escalation,” he saId. “Now if the TTP follows through in its declaration of countrywide attacks, the key question is how will the Taliban respond.”

The government and the TTP have held multiple rounds of talks facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, the last of which took place in June. The talks began weeks after the Taliban took control of Kabul last year.

Despite the ceasefire, the TTP continued its attacks this year, saying they were defensive in nature and only in retaliation for operations carried out by Pakistan’s military.

According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based research organization, at least 65 such attacks took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the end of October. These killed at least 98 people and wounded 75, it said.

 

Iran publishes list of sensitive sites in Israel

Under the guise of reporting on reports by Beirut-based Al Mayadeen, a pan-Arabist satellite news channel, media outlets close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have published a list of “sensitive” sites that could be targeted in a future war. The reports listed a number of buildings and sites in Israel in what was clearly intended as a threat, reported The Jerusalem Post.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency on Monday reported, “In this regard, Al Mayadeen network has published a report on the analysis of Israel’s target bank and the sensitive positions of this regime that can be targeted in any war. At the beginning of this report, the general situation of the Zionist regime at the military level and its equipment has been examined.”

The article included a list of sites in Israel, such as the Knesset, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Defense Ministry. It included what Tasnim characterized as nuclear sites and facilities. In the list of warehouses and facilities, the report included a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems site in Haifa, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

The report also examined airports and military and intelligence bases. It mentioned civilian airports, such as Ben-Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport near Eilat. A list of military bases followed.

This appears to be one of the few times that Iranian media close to the regime have so openly published what it claims is a list of Israeli sites that could be targeted in a future war. This appears to point to Iran and its proxies’ estimates of their targeting ability.

In the last conflict with Hamas, the terrorist group claimed to have targeted Ramon Airport. Operations at the airport were briefly suspended during that conflict. Hamas also appeared to target other sites that have infrastructure, using large-scale salvos of rockets to try to overwhelm the Iron Dome air-defense system.

Hezbollah has also made threats regarding targeting Israel’s infrastructure, including threatening gas rigs off the coast and industrial sites near Haifa.

The overall context of Iran can be seen as merely bragging and threatening. But it also illustrates the shift in thinking in Tehran and among Iran’s proxy groups. The proxies include Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in Yemen and members of Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq.

Recent reports that an Iranian IRGC member linked to Iran’s drone program was killed in Syria, and that Iran wants to move air-defense systems to Syria, show Iran’s possible concerns regarding these latest tensions and threats.

Publishing the kind of list that Iran’s pro-regime media published on Monday, listing sites that Iran thinks are sensitive, can be seen as a message to Israel.

It can also be seen as illustrating that Tehran believes the conflict with Israel is entering a strategic stage in which Iran would like to supply proxy groups in Lebanon and Syria with more advanced weapons, including drones and precision-guided munitions that can target the sites Al Mayadeen listed.

Iran has increased its drone threats against Israel in recent years, and Tehran works closely with Hamas and Hezbollah to try to learn from past conflicts and tensions with Israel.

 

 

 

Israelis being shunned at Qatar World Cup

According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, multiple Israelis have claimed to have been met by an atmosphere of hostility and hatred at the World Cup in Qatar, with fans refusing to speak to Israeli journalists, waving Palestinian flags in the background of their videos and yelling at them.

Moav Vardy, KAN’s foreign affairs reporter was yelled at by a Saudi fan who told him, “You are not welcome here. This is Qatar. This is our country. There is only Palestine; no Israel.”

Other videos from Qatar show people immediately walking away when they find out the person interviewing them is Israeli.

In one particular video, N12’s Ohad Hemo begins to interview a group of Lebanese men who then walk away when Hemo tells them he’s Israeli. One of them then turns back and asks Hemo what he’s doing there and then tells him that Israel doesn’t exist.

In other videos, people stand behind various Israeli reporters and raise Palestinian flags.

Israeli soccer legend and KAN World Cup panel member Eli Ohana also faced anti-Israel sentiments when he was on a golf cart being driven by a Qatari policeman. When Ohana said he is Israeli, the officer asked him if he was joking, and Ohana then said he was really Portuguese in order to avoid trouble.

The officer told him that if he had been Israeli, he would have turned the car around and refused to drive him.

Raz Shechnick, Yediot Ahronoth’s reporter for the World Cup, wrote on Twitter about his experiences in Qatar, describing an atmosphere of rejection and hostility from both locals and foreigners attending the games.

“We didn’t want to write these words, we are not the story here. But after 10 days in Doha, we cannot hide what we are going through. We are feeling hated, surrounded by hostility, not welcomed,” the journalist wrote.

He also described an incident in which he and his colleague had lied about their country of origin, saying they were Ecuadorian in order to prevent them from being harassed by fans.

Israeli journalist Dor Hoffman reported that a Qatari taxi driver kicked him out of his cab when he discovered he was Israeli, refusing to take his money.

He later continued to a restaurant on a beach, where he was escorted out of the restaurant by security, with the owner demanding that he delete every photo taken in his restaurant. Hoffman said the owner took his phone and that he felt threatened.

On Saturday, Tunisian fans waved a banner saying “Free Palestine,” despite Qatar and FIFA’s policy of not allowing political protests at matches, a policy that led to the confiscation of rainbow-colored items in support of the LGBTQ community and Iranian anti-regime signs.

Jerusalem resident Michael Janekowitz, a former spokesman for the Jewish Agency who is attending the World Cup, refuted the claims that Israelis were being targeted, and said his experience has been without incident.

“Qatar is very welcoming to the Israeli visitors,” he said.

These Israeli journalists are going with magnifying glasses to find haters of Israel. Most of these Israel-bashers have come to the World Cup from outside of Qatar. They are being provoked by headline-seeking Israeli journalists.

“Qatar has a population of about 3.3 million of whom only 300,000 are Qataris. The other 3 million are mostly workers from mainly India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines and Sudan,” he added, saying that was where the antagonism against Israelis was emanating from.

 

Pakistan: Banking sector posts robust performance during H1CY22

Banking sector has shown robust performance and steady resilience during H1CY22, says Mid-Year Performance Review of the sector by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The review covers the performance and soundness of the banking sector for the period January-June 2022 (H1CY22). It also covers the performance of financial markets and Microfinance banks (MFBs) as well as the results of Systemic Risk Survey (SRS), which represents independent respondents’ views about key risks to financial stability.

The Review reveals that sustained economic activity during H1CY22 supported the expansion of banking sector balance sheet by 16% during H1CY22. Substantial increase in the asset base was mainly driven by the flows of private sector advances and increase in investments, particularly the Government securities.

Besides sizable mobilization of deposits, banks’ reliance on borrowings increased significantly to finance the expanded balance sheet.

The pace of private sector advances growth during H1CY22 was the highest in comparable periods of previous three years. Improved manufacturing activity, as reflected in double digit growth in Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) index during H1CY22, higher input prices and SBP’s refinance schemes augmented the overall flow of advances. Individuals and sugar sector availed major chunk of financing followed by textile sector.

Besides noteworthy growth, banks’ asset quality indicators further improved. Gross Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) ratio moved down to 7.5% by end June 2022, from 7.9% at end December 2021. However, recent catastrophic flooding in many parts of the country may impact the repayment capacity of agri-borrowers of banks’ and Microfinance borrowers.

The Review highlights that baseline profitability indicators moderated — despite strong growth in incomes — mainly due to the impact of sharp increase in tax charges.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the banking sector slightly edged down to 16.1% due to faster growth in asset base and advances. Nonetheless, the ratio remains well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 11.5% and banking sector in general has adequate capital buffers and resilience to withstand the impact of severe stress of macroeconomic conditions and shocks to key risk factors.

The Review also covered the results of 10th wave of SRS (July-2022) based on perceptions of independent market participants. The respondents perceive that the key risks for the financial system are mostly exogenous in nature i.e. global and macroeconomic risks. Majority of the respondents expressed confidence in the stability of the financial system.

Recent catastrophic flooding in many parts of the country may impact the repayment capacity of agri borrowers of banks and microfinance borrowers, and that of other borrowers as a second round effect. As such, banks as well as MFBs need to make prudent assessment of the possible impact on lending portfolios and take necessary measures for maintaining the asset quality and resilience of financial strength of their institutions, the Review adds.

Iran's Joining Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian praised Iran’s decision to move forward with an accession bill to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), noting that a recent vote on the bill for the accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the SCO shows the determination and seriousness of our country to develop regional, international, and economic cooperation and strengthen its view of Asia.

The SCO includes countries in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and China. These are important countries because Russia and China tend to position themselves at odds with the US. This is increasingly true with Russia after the Ukraine invasion. Russia and the West appear to have completely destroyed their relations, and Iran would like to swoop in and benefit.

Iran calls this multilateralism. Recently in an interview with the Chinese People’s Daily Online published on Saturday, Mohammad Keshavarzzadeh stated that the SCO seeks to assist in providing better answers to the problems faced by member states as well as the region.

He argued that there was great “significance of Iran joining the bloc by pointing out that the organization includes members from Central and Eastern Asia in addition to other regions, and this can give Iran a platform to make overtures with all of these countries.”

The reason Iran likes the SCO is that it views it as an organization that has no Western members. “On a question that some Western nations equate the SCO with NATO, Keshavarzzadeh said such a comparison is wrong because the SCO is an inclusive bloc and not a military alliance,” a report in Tehran Times noted. These are pro-regime publications and reflect Iran’s stance.

An article at the Carnegie Endowment for International peace notes that Iran joining the SCO will bring some benefits to Tehran, but there are also hurdles.

“Iranian officials still maintain that officially joining the SCO – which is slated to occur by April 2023 – will bring benefits in the economic, commercial, and strategic sectors. Furthermore, from the perspective of the SCO itself, Iran’s political cooperation may be useful for the organization’s relations with the Islamic world,” the report noted.

It also notes that trade between Iran and SCO countries surpassed US$651 billion last year. But Iran will need to modernize its infrastructure to take advantage of any new opportunities. Also, the new China-Iran partnership will take a while to be realized in terms of benefits for Tehran.

 

US Soccer scrubs emblem from Iran flag at World Cup

The United States Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying the move supports protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match scheduled for Tuesday.

Iran’s government reacted by accusing America of removing the name of God from their national flag.

The decision by the US Soccer Federation adds yet another political firestorm to the Middle East’s first World Cup, one which organizers had hoped would be spared of off-the-field controversies.

It also comes as the US faces Iran in a decisive World Cup match, which was already freighted by the decades of enmity between the two countries and the nationwide protests now challenging Tehran’s theocratic government.

The US Soccer Federation said in a statement Sunday morning that it decided to forego the official flag on social media accounts to show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.

The Twitter account of the U.S. men’s team displayed a banner with the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The same could be seen in a post on its Facebook and Instagram accounts laying out the point totals so far in its group.

By Sunday afternoon, the normal flag with the emblem had been restored in the Twitter banner as attention to it grew.

“We wanted to show our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours,” the federation said.

The U.S. Soccer Federation displayed the official Iranian flag in a graphic showing Group B standing on its website.

The brief absence of the emblem comes as monthslong demonstrations have challenged Iran’s government since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police.

The protests have seen at least 450 people killed since they started, as well as over 18,000 arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, an advocacy group following the demonstrations.

Iran has not released casualty or arrest figures for months and alleges without providing evidence that the protests have been fomented by its enemies abroad, including the US

Tehran also restricts press access and has detained over 63 reporters and photographers since the demonstrations began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, making covering the unrest that much more difficult.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations and its soccer federation did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. As comments raged online, Iranian state television described the US federation as “removing the symbol of Allah” from the Iranian flag.

Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Safiollah Fagahanpour, an adviser to the Iranian Football Federation, saying that the measures taken regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran flag are against the law of FIFA competitions.

“They must be held responsible,” Fagahanpour said. “Obviously they want to affect Iran’s performance against the US by doing this.”

The Islamic Republic emblem, designed in 1980, is four curves with a sword between them. It represents the Islamic saying: “There is no god but God.” It also resembles a tulip or lotus.

At the top and the bottom of the flag, there are 22 inscriptions of “God is Great” as well, which honors the date on the Persian calendar when the Islamic Revolution took hold.

The flag has become a point of contention at the World Cup. Apparent pro-government supporters have waved it, shouting at those demonstrating over Amini’s death. Others at matches have waved Iran’s lion and sun flag, an emblem of its former ruler, the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

More security forces could be seen at Iran’s last match against Wales. In the capital Tehran, anti-riot police — the same ones cracking down on protests — waved the Iranian flag after the Wales win, angering demonstrators.

Iran and United State to clash in Qatar

The United States and Iran, diplomatic rivals for more than 40 years, clash on the soccer pitch on Tuesday, their places at the World Cup on the line in a fitting finale for the most politically charged group at this year's tournament.

The national team coaches sidestepped the icy bilateral relations, saying they were focused on the tournament and its ability to bring people together.

Washington and Tehran severed diplomatic relations in 1980 after the Islamic revolution. Ties have been strained in recent years when then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an Iran nuclear deal. The United States killed a top Iranian general in 2020 and Tehran responded with missile strikes at US forces based in Iraq.

“I envision the game being hotly contested for the fact that both teams want to advance to the next round, not because of politics or because of relations between our countries," said US coach Gregg Berhalter.

"The thing about soccer is you meet so many different people from all around the world, and you're united by a common love of the sport. We're soccer players and we're going to compete and they're going to compete and that's it."

Iran's dramatic 2-0 win over Wales and the US team's tense goalless stalemate against England on Friday set up a tantalizing final round of Group B matches.

England, sitting top with four points, face bottom side Wales, meaning the Iran-United States contest will decide which team goes through to the round of 16.

The eagerly awaited meeting is a rematch of the 1998 World Cup group stage contest, dubbed the mother of all games, which Iran won 2-1. In a symbolic moment before that match at Lyon's Stade Gerland, the Iranian players gave white roses, a symbol of peace in the country, to their American opponents.

Overshadowing Iran's World Cup build-up this year has been civil unrest at home over the September death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested for flouting the country's strict Islamic dress code.

Team Melli declined to sing Iran's national anthem in their first game against England in an apparent show of solidarity with protesters. They sang quietly on Friday at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, where boos and jeers were heard from Iran supporters.

Amid growing public pressure on players to take a stand over a deadly crackdown on protests, Iran rallied late against Wales to rescue a World Cup campaign that seemed to have flatlined following their 6-2 thrashing by England.

Berhalter, whose exuberant side drew 1-1 with Wales in their group opener, described the match as his team's "first knockout game" of the World Cup and was wary of the threat posed by Iran after their second-half assault against Wales.

"Now we need to be sure that we are good enough to go to the second round," Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said after his team kept alive their hopes of a first ever trip to the knockout stage.

"The US is a brilliant team as well, as we saw them against Wales.

"Our preparation starts with a good rest, refresh the minds and put all the complementary and garbage things outside of our minds and focus on our goal, because what we want to do is to give this gift to Iranian fans."