Israel reboots fiercely opposed judicial campaign

Israeli lawmakers on Sunday began debating a bill that would limit the Supreme Court's powers, rebooting a fiercely opposed judicial overhaul instigated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition.

Anti-government demonstrations had prompted Netanyahu to suspend his judicial drive in March to allow compromise talks with opposition parties. He declared those talks fruitless last week and ordered some of the legislation to be revived.

The proposed changes, which include curbing on the court's ability to rule against the government, had sparked frequent street protests before the March suspension. On Saturday night anti-overhaul activists blocked a major Tel Aviv highway.

Coalition lawmakers have indicated that the new bill would be a far softer version of previous proposals that had sought to almost totally roll back the Supreme Court's power to rule against the executive.

The opposition, however, says the new bill would still open the door to corruption.

"You are renewing a legislation blitz meant to destroy the justice system's independence and badly hurt Israeli democracy's delicate checks and balances," Labour lawmaker Gilad Kariv said as the debate began.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Twitter urged Netanyahu to stop the legislation and revive negotiations "until we reach agreements that will safeguard democracy and prevent a national disaster".

The proposed judicial overhaul has also stirred Western concern over Israel's democratic health and spooked investors. Critics see it as an attempt to curb court independence by Netanyahu, who is on trial on graft charges that he denies.

The coalition says its goal is to balance the powers of the government, legislature and judiciary by reining in a Supreme Court they see as too interventionist.

 

Iranian oil output increases by 350,000 bpd

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Iran’s crude oil output has increased by about 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the beginning of 2023, despite the US sanctions targeting the country’s oil sector.

“Despite tough financial restrictions, Iran managed to increase crude oil output by about 130,000 bpd in 2022 to an average 2.55 million bpd, and by 350,000 bpd since the beginning of this year,” the IEA said in its latest report dubbed Oil 2023.

The report argued that Iran remains a wildcard for world oil markets, and if it is released from sanctions, production could ramp up gradually by roughly 900,000 bpd to reach the capacity of 3.8 million bpd.

Higher exports and domestic throughput have pushed Iranian crude production up to around 2.9 million bpd in May 2023, it added.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Iran has been shipping the highest amount of crude in almost five years despite US sanctions.

Bloomberg cited energy analysts as saying that Iran’s oil exports have surged to the highest level since the US unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on the country in 2018.

The crude shipments have doubled since last autumn to reach 1.6 million barrels a day in May 2023, according to the report.

A Reuters report said on July 16, 2022 that Iranian crude shipments continued to rise in 2023 with higher shipments to China, Syria, and Venezuela. The report quoted consultants, shipping data, and a source familiar with the matter.

A large chunk of Iran’s crude oil goes to China which is the world’s major importer of energy. Several European customers including Germany, Spain, and Bulgaria also imported oil from Iran.

The United States, under former president Donald Trump, abandoned the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions that the agreement had lifted.

Tehran's oil exports have been limited since May 2018. However, the exports have risen steadily during the term of current US President, Joe Biden.

The crude exports exceeded 1.5 million bpd in May 2023, the highest monthly rate since 2018, Reuters reported quoting Kpler, a major international tanker-tracking service.

The exports were roughly 2.5 million bpd in 2018, before the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Iran said in May it has boosted its crude output to above three million bpd. That's about three percent of global supply and would be the highest since 2018, according to figures from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

SVB International, a consultant, estimates crude production hit 3.04 million bpd in May, up from 2.66 million bpd in January. Exports of crude and condensate were 1.93 million bpd in May, according to the report.

"Sanctions are in place but perhaps they are not fully implemented or monitored," said Sara Vakhshouri of SVB.

The recently published figures are the latest sign that US sanctions on Iran have failed to cut the country’s oil revenues to zero, an objective frequently stated by former and current US administration officials.

They also vindicate efforts by Iran in recent years to rely more on diplomatic and economic resources to circumvent US sanctions rather than to submit to Washington’s pressure to scale back its nuclear, defense, and foreign policy programs in return for an easing of the sanctions.

In May, senior US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham confessed to the ineffectiveness of the sanctions that have been unilaterally imposed on Iran.

Graham slammed the Biden administration for failing to stop Iran’s oil exports.

“Iranians are making more money under sanctions not less and China is the biggest reason we're not doing a damn thing about it,” he reportedly said.

Why is US Media Blind to American War Atrocities?

Today I am obliged to share this text excerpted from Norman Solomon’s new book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine. On the first day of March 2022, visitors to the New York Times homepage saw a headline across the top of their screens in huge capital letters: ROCKET BARRAGE KILLS CIVILIANS.

It was the kind of breaking news banner headline that could have referred to countless US missile attacks and other military assaults during the previous two decades, telling of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere.

But those wars on terror, killings did not qualify for huge banner headlines. What stirred the Times to quickly publish one about civilian deaths was—as reported on the front page of its print edition, “A deadly Russian rocket assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that raised new alarms about how far the Kremlin was willing to go to subjugate its smaller neighbor.”

During the months that followed, the New York Times was among thousands of American outlets devoting the kind of news coverage to Russia’s war in Ukraine that would have been unthinkable while reporting on US warfare.

Early in April, 40 days after the Russian invasion began a jarring headline in all capitals—“HORROR GROWS OVER SLAUGHTER IN UKRAINE”—spanned the top of the front page of the Times print edition.

During April, 14 stories on the newspaper’s front page were primarily about civilian deaths as a result of the Russian invasion, all of which appeared at the top of the page, researchers found Fairness and Accuracy in reporting.

During a comparable period—after the US invaded Iraq—the Times published only one story about civilian deaths at the hands of the US military on the front page.

By any consistent standard, the horrors that the US military had brought to so many civilians since the autumn of 2001 were no less terrible for the victims than what Russia is doing in Ukraine.

But the US media coverage has been vastly more immediate, graphic, extensive, and outraged about Russia’s slaughter than America’s slaughter.

On the rare occasions when a major US news outlet provided in-depth reporting of civilian deaths caused by American forces, the pieces were usually retrospective, appearing long after the fact—postmortems with little political impact and scant follow-up, hardly making a peep in media echo chambers.

No matter how sophisticated its high-tech weaponry, the large-scale Russian warfare in Ukraine is barbaric. That the same could also be said about American warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq was a truth nearly taboo to utter in US mass media.

Both the United States and Russia had brazenly flouted international law, crossing borders and persisting with massive lethal force.

Coherent principles would condemn and illuminate each instance. But, despite press freedoms in the United States, very few big-name journalists and their imitators in the profession have been willing to break ranks with the gist of Washington’s official war narratives, which are, at bottom, not much more nuanced than assuming that America’s exemplary national character has been mobilized to defeat the unmitigated evil of the foe.

Nationalism masquerading as journalism covers war in darkness and light, telling us for whom the bell tolls. And so, when Russia invaded Ukraine and proceeded to terrorize, kill, and maim, the US media were all hands on deck with empathetic, poignant reporting via TV, radio, print, and online outlets.

But when American missiles and gravity bombs hit population centers over the previous two decades, the human tragedies rarely got anything more than short shrift in the US media.

The extreme differences in the quantity and tone of coverage reflected—and reinforced—the agendas of war makers based in Washington.

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, is published by The New Press

 

Tehran and Kabul reach major trade agreements

During the visit of the head of the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Afghan desk to Afghanistan, important agreements were made for the development of trade relations between the two countries, the TPO portal reported.

Hamidreza Karbalaie Esmaili’s visit to Afghanistan was aimed at improving trade relations between the two neighbors in the fields of technical and engineering services, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, petrochemical products, food industry, etc.

During the visit, Esmaili met and held talks with the economic, commercial, and medical officials of the country, including the acting minister of public health, first deputy of the chamber of commerce and investment, director general of Afghanistan customs, deputy and senior advisor to the acting minister of trade, consul general of Iran in Herat, border guard commissioner, and director general of Dogharoun customs.

Following the talks, the two sides reached initial agreements for completing several infrastructure projects and decided to begin negotiations on a preferential trade agreement and expanding customs cooperation.

During the talks, the parties prepared a list of 10 commodity items for the implementation of the first phase of the preferential trade agreement. The number of items will be increased in the near future.

Also, agreements were made regarding the formation of a joint industrial zone at the two countries' border, with energy infrastructure being supplied by Iran and the investment for establishing the zone being provided by Afghan businessmen in collaboration with the Iranian private sector.

The Afghan side also announced its readiness to open a transit route from Pakistan to Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province via the Taftan-Chaman-Islam Qala-Mashhad route, which will reduce the route between the two countries from 1,500 to less than 1,000 kilometers.

Acceptance of elite Afghan students in various medical and non-medical fields in Iranian universities and bilateral cooperation regarding the specialized training of Afghan medical staff by sending Iranian professors to Afghanistan were among other subjects that the parties agreed upon.

 

Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark index posts 3.0%WoW decline

The week ended on June 23, 2023 witnessed gloomy sentiments overwhelming Pakistan Stock Exchange. The benchmark KSE-100 index has experienced bearish sentiments since the announcement of the Federal Budget on June 09, 2023. The Index opened the week at 41,301 points and closed at 40,065, losing 1,236 points or 3.0%WoW.

Daily average traded volume was reported at 131 million shares as compared to 161.7 million shares a week ago, down 19.0%WoW. The market performance has been characterized by the IMF’s disagreement over the federal budget, aggravated by Pakistan’s non-inclusion in the Fund’s board meetings up till June 29, 2023.

Although there are assurances from the Prime minister and other senior officials regarding a positive conclusion to the program, investor sentiments remain bearish.

Foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged to US$3.5 billion, excluding the refinanced US$300 million from China and absence of any bilateral flows owing to the stalled IMF program, exacerbating the already precarious situation. Pakistan faces US$10.35 billion debt obligation by the end of December 31, 2023. The exchange parity registered mild gains to close at PKR286.7 to US$.

Other major news for the week were: 1) FBR income tax collection was up 41.0%YoY surpassing the annual target of PkR3,026 billion ahead of FY23 close; 2) SBP mobilized PKR2.43 billion through T-Bills auction, at a flattish yield of 22.0%; 3) current account surplus was recorded at US$225 million for May 2023, as compared to a surplus of US$78 million in April 2023. The deficit for 11MFY23 narrowed by 81% due to curbed imports; 4) FDI declined by 21%YoY during 11MFY23 to US$1.32 billion. Total foreign investment nosedived 82.0%YoY to stand at US$294 million. However, US$149 million inflows were recorded in May 2023, depicting a 6.0%MoM increase in FDI; 5) external government borrowing of US$8.6 billion during 11MFY23 declined by 36.0%YoY.

Leasing Companies, Transport, and Glass & Ceramics have been the worst performers, whilst Tobacco remained the exception.

Major net selling was recorded by Brokers at US$7.7 million. Companies absorbed most of the selling with a net buy of US$10.5 million.

Top performers during the week were: SML, SHEL, PAKT, UPFL, and AGP, while top laggards included MTL, PGLC, YOUW, GATM, and PSMC.

Market is expected to remain range-bound owing to a lack of clarity on the IMF program, stalled bilateral flows amidst a burgeoning debt burden fueling the default risk. Analysts expect the market to react once NA finalizes the Finance Act for FY24, keeping in view proposals put forward by the Senate and other business bodies.

They reiterate their stance of following a cautious approach to stock picking and we continue to advocate dollar-denominated revenue stream scrips (Technology and E&P sector) to hedge against currency risk and high dividend yielding scrips. 

Pakistan hits out at US and India after Biden-Modi meeting

According to Reuters, Pakistan on Friday criticized the United States and India after President Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House and both leaders called on Pakistan to ensure its territory was not used as a base for militant attacks.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said a joint US-Indian statement was unwarranted, one-sided, and misleading. The reference to Islamabad in it was contrary to diplomatic norms, it said.

The ministry added that it was surprised by the joint s

tatement and said it had close counterterrorism cooperation with the United States.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been fraught for years. Since independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.

The joint US-Indian statement said, "They (Biden and Modi) strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks."

Pakistan's foreign ministry said India was using the allegations of extremism against Islamabad to deflect from the situation in Kashmir and the treatment of minorities in India.

New Delhi has for years accused Pakistan of launching militant attacks in India, including the one in 2008 in Mumbai that killed over 165 people.

India also says Pakistan has helped Islamist militants who have battled Indian security forces in its part of Kashmir since the late 1980s. Pakistan denies the accusation and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris seeking self-determination.

The special status given to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked in 2019 when New Delhi split it into two federally controlled territories. Pakistan calls the moves illegal and wants them rolled back.

Biden rolled out the red carpet for Modi on Thursday, with both leaders touting deals their countries reached on defense and commerce aimed at countering China's global influence.

Pakistan also said it was deeply concerned over the planned transfer of advanced military technologies to India, saying such steps would not prove helpful in achieving peace in South Asia.

Pakistani Prime Minister meets IMF chief

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday briefed International Monetary Fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva on the economic outlook of the cash-strapped South Asian nation, hoping for the release of critical stalled funds.

The meeting on the sidelines of the Global Financing Summit in Paris came with about a week left before the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed in 2019 expires on June 30, 2023.

Under the US$6.5 billion EFF's 9th review, concluded earlier this year, Pakistan has been trying to secure US$1.1 billion of funding that has been stalled since November 2022.

"The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the funds allocated under the IMF's EFF would be released as soon as possible," said a statement from his office.

It said Sharif outlined the steps Pakistan had taken for economic growth and stability, adding that his country had already completed all the IMF's conditions to meet the 9th review.

With central bank foreign exchange reserves barely enough to cover one month of controlled imports, Pakistan is facing an acute balance of payment crisis, which analysts say could spiral into a debt default if the IMF money doesn't come through.

The IMF funding is critical to unlock other bilateral and multilateral financing.

Islamabad has expressed its frustration over the delay. It argues it has met all the painful fiscal measures the lender requested.

The IMF still has concerns over Pakistan's external financing gap, foreign exchange market operations and the budget presented earlier this month which it said violated the program's objective.

Pakistan has defended the budget, but at the same time offered to review it in any further talks with the IMF.