Iran demands United States should explain links with Sharmahd

The United States should explain its links with the Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd sentenced to death in Iran, Tehran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that progress had been made in a prisoner swap deal with Washington, reports Reuters.

Nasser Kanaani's remarks came after a US envoy for Iran, Abram Paley, met on Friday with the family of Sharmahd, who was convicted of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly bombing in 2008.

Sharmahd, who also has US residency, was sentenced to death by an Iranian Revolutionary court in February on charges of corruption on earth.

His daughter has urged Washington not to exclude Sharmahd from the developing prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Iran, under which US$6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would also be unfrozen.

Iran on August 10 released four imprisoned US citizens into house arrest, where they joined a fifth already under home confinement, in the first step of a deal under which the five would eventually be allowed to leave the Islamic Republic.

Kanaani said progress has been made regarding implementation of the deal, thanking the constructive role of neighbouring Gulf Arab states Qatar and Oman in facilitating the agreement.

Bangladesh faces deluge after India opens Gajoldoba barrage gates

According to media reports, the flood situation has now shifted to northern Bangladesh after recent flooding in Chittagong. This shift comes after India opened all gates of the Gajoldoba barrage, causing the waters of the region’s rivers to significantly swell.

Several areas on the bank of Teesta River in Gaibandha and Kurigram have been inundated by floods triggered by water from the upstream and heavy rains. As a result, hundreds of families have become marooned in these two districts.

Around 30 meters of the flood control spur dam in the Teesta River at Burirhat in Rajarhat upazila of Kurigram have been washed away.

Rivers in the district kept swelling due to the onrush of water from the upstream, flooding low-lying areas in Rajarhat upazila.

The Teesta was flowing 30cm above its danger level at Kawniya rail bridge point Sunday morning.

Sardar Uday Raihan, executive engineer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), said that heavy rainfall in West Bengal’s Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Sikkim regions has led to the surge in water levels.

However, he said, information about the opening and closing of the Gajoldoba barrage’s gates is not consistently communicated by India, making it challenging for Bangladesh to predict water level changes.

A bulletin of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC) said there is a chance of medium to heavy rainfall in the northwestern Indian states and adjoining Bangladesh in the next 48 hours in the Brahmaputra basin.

“Water levels of the Teesta may fall to improve the flood situation in low-lying areas of Lalmonirhat and Rangpur districts while Jamuna may flow close to its respective danger marks at several points in the next 24 hours,” the bulletin added.

In Nilphamari, at least 50 houses built under the Ashrayan Project of the government in Dimla area have gone underwater. As a result, the affected families are spending days amid great suffering. Local people said they have nowhere to go as the lone school building in the area is also underwater.

In Gaibandha, a number of houses in the low-lying areas have been inundated. Some families are also in fear of losing their homes due to river erosion.

In Kurigram, 50 houses went into the gorge of the river and 500 houses were inundated by floodwater in Bidyanondo and Ghorialdanga unions of Rajarhat upazila.

Many roads went under flood water that snapped road communication in the two unions, said members of the two union parishads.

Two government primary schools and a kitchen market in Bidyanondo union are on the brink of river erosion.

The FFWC said water levels of Jamuna River are rising and may flow close to their respective danger level at Fulchhari, Bahadurabad and Sariakandi points in the next 24 hours, the bulletin continued.

Levels of water of the Brahmaputra are rising and may flow well below the danger level at Noonkhawa, Hatia, and Chilmari points during the next 24 hours as the rate of onrushing water from upstream lessened during the last 24 hours.

 

 

Saudi Arabia launches plan to become global logistics hub

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is also chairman of the Supreme Committee for Transport and Logistics, has launched the master plan for logistics centers to make Saudi Arabia a global logistics hub.

The master plan aims to develop the infrastructure of the Kingdom’s logistic sector, as well as to diversify the local economy, and enhance the status of the Kingdom as a leading investment destination and a global logistics hub, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Crown Prince stressed that the plan is part of a package of ongoing initiatives set as targets by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) with the aim of developing the logistical sector to support the economy, as well as to increase the local, regional and international connections of the international trade networks and global supply chains. It also aims to boost the partnership with the private sector, and thus increase the opportunity to generate jobs, and make Saudi Arabia a global logistics hub, given its geographical location among three important continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.

The master plan for logistics centers stipulates 59 centers with a total area of more than 100 million square meters, including 12 in Riyadh region; 12 in Makkah region; 17 in the Eastern Province, and 18 distributed in the rest of the Kingdom. There are currently 21 centers under various phases of implementation and all centers will be completed by 2030.

The centers will also enable local industries to export Saudi products with high efficiency, support e-commerce by facilitating a rapid link between logistics centers and distribution centers in the Kingdom’s various regions, cities and governorates, as well as to provide high traceability and facilitate the issuance of licenses to practice logistic activity. This is especially after the launch of the unified logistics license and the licensing of more than 1,500 local, regional and international logistics companies, and the launch of the Fasah initiative, which is an e-system integrated in Saudi customs, in cooperation with the concerned government agencies.

The logistics services sector represents one of the promising pillars of economic diversification and development in the Kingdom. It is currently witnessing many important initiatives and major developments aimed at developing the sector and expanding its economic and developmental contributions. The Ministry of Transport and Logistics seeks to develop the logistics industry, enhance the export strategy, expand investment opportunities, and seal partnerships with the private sector.

 

US growth a puzzle for policymakers

US economic growth, still racing at a potentially inflationary pace as other key parts of the world slow, could pose global risks if it forces Federal Reserve officials to raise interest rates higher than currently expected. The longer the US economy outperforms, the more Fed officials wonder if they understand what's happening.

The Fed's aggressive rate increases last year had the potential to stress the global financial system as the US dollar soared, but the impact was muted by largely synchronized central bank rate hikes and other actions taken by monetary authorities to prevent widespread dollar funding problems for companies and offset the impact of weakening currencies.

Now Brazil, Chile and China have begun cutting interest rates, with others expected to follow, actions that international officials and central bankers at last week's Jackson Hole conference said are largely tuned to an expectation the Fed won't raise its rate more than an additional quarter percentage point.

While US inflation has fallen and policymakers largely agree they are nearing the end of rate hikes, economic growth has remained unexpectedly strong, something Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted in remarks on Friday could potentially lead progress on inflation to stall and trigger a central bank response.

That sort of policy shock, at a moment of US economic divergence with the rest of the world, could have significant ripple effects.

"If we get to a point where there is a need for ... doing more than what's already priced in, at some point markets might start getting nervous ... Then you see a big increase in the risk premia in different asset classes including emerging markets, including the rest of the world," said International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. "The risk of a financial tightening, a very sharp financial tightening, I think we cannot rule that out."

After the pandemic shock and the inflationary rebound that had most countries raising rates together, it's normal now for policies to diverge, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester told Reuters on the sidelines of the Jackson Hole conference on Saturday.

"The economy is a global economy, right? It's an interconnected economy," Mester said. "What we do with our policy - if we can get back to 2% in a timely way, in a sustainable way, if we have a strong labor market - that's good for the global economy."

Fed policymakers will deliver a crucial update to their economic outlook at the 19-20 September meeting, when they are expected to leave their policy rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5%.

Yet Fed officials remain puzzled, and somewhat concerned, over conflicting signals in the incoming data.

US gross domestic product is still expanding at a pace well above what Fed officials regard as the non-inflationary growth rate of around 1.8%. US GDP expanded at a 2.4% annualized rate in the second quarter, and some estimates put the current quarter's pace at more than twice that.

The contrast with other key global economies is sharp. The euro area grew at an annualized 0.3% in the second quarter, essentially stall speed. Difficulties in China, meanwhile, may drag down global growth the longer they fester.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde noted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, the outlook was for a euro-area recession, and a potentially deep one in parts of it.

"We expected all that to be a lot worse. It has turned out to be much more robust, much more resilient," Lagarde said.

U.S. fiscal policy is driving some of the difference with $6 trillion in pandemic-era aid still bolstering consumer spending. A recent investment push from the Biden administration is supporting manufacturing and construction.

China may also play a role, economists say. Its slowdown after a short-lived growth burst earlier this year could pinch Germany's exports and slow Europe's growth, for instance.

But, Citigroup Chief Economist Nathan Sheets said, "When you hear economists give you three or four reasons for something, that's usually because we really don't know."

Iran's BRICS membership a nail in the coffin of United States sanctions

Vahid Jalalzadeh, Chairman of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said, “Iran’s membership in BRICS is a nail in the coffin of the unilateral sanctions of the United States.”

“One of the main features of the new world order is the strengthening and expansion of the front of resistance against the domination system, the decline of America and the transfer of knowledge and wealth from the West to the East,” he told state news agency IRNA. 

Jalalzadeh added, “BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are definitely a front against the excesses of the domination system, particularly America.”

Jalalzadeh emphasized that BRICS, Shanghai, and Eurasia are the code names for the failure of Western sanctions.

“The neutralization of sanctions in the era of the formation of the new global geometry means the era of entering regional and international agreements, coalitions and unions. And this means the end of unilateralism,” he continued.

Hossein Qaribi, Iranian Ambassador to Brazil, has also said that Iran’s BRICS membership was the result of months of intense diplomatic efforts by the Ebrahim Raisi administration.

“Iran's membership in the BRICS group is a happy event that is the result of months of efforts and intensive diplomatic measures by the 13th government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian embassies in five member countries of that group,” Qaribi said in remarks to IRNA. 

He added, “Practically, the policy of strengthening multilateralism in the international system is better realized by advancing the goals of BRICS. In addition, it should be noted that the capacities that exist in the Islamic Republic of Iran will also be available to this group, and with development-oriented planning, it will lead to an increase in business interactions among its members.”

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has lauded the bloc for deciding to move towards expansion. “In addition to strengthening multilateralism, the great success of accepting Iran’s membership in BRICS can provide the basis for the pursuit of goals and the development of other macro strategies of the government in the implementation of dynamic diplomacy,” the top diplomat wrote on X.

During a BRICS summit held in Johannesburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the BRICS member states have agreed to admit Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia as full members. That means the bloc currently consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will double in the number of members as of the beginning of next year.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi who had traveled to South Africa to attend the summit called the advantages of Iran's membership in the bloc “history-making”. 

“Strategic cooperation between Iran and BRICS members in the fields of transit, energy, and trade, will support the BRICS global agenda. The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly supports the successful efforts of BRICS in the path of de-dollarization of economic relations between members, the use of national currencies, as well as the strengthening of BRICS mechanisms for payment and financial settlement,” Raisi told the BRICS summit.

 

Israel: Pure right wing government is a complete disaster

Dr. Micah Goodman, the Israeli philosopher, and founder of the Ein Prat pre-army preparatory program, has a surprisingly optimistic assessment of the future of Israel, even in the midst of the breakdown of unity that the judicial reform has fostered since initiated earlier this year.

Goodman is opposed to the judicial overhaul. He’s under no illusions that as long as this coalition remains in power, the coming years will likely be an ongoing hellscape of unilateral attempts at grabbing power and abusing minority rights, countered by continued civil insurrection.

Goodman says, when this coalition is no longer in power – and that day will come, if not tomorrow, when elections are called again – Israel that emerges will be profoundly changed. The processes that have fueled the outrage will lead to a new age of realism. 

Israel is about to go through a very similar experience that led to the collapse of the Left following the deadly years of the Second Intifada.

“This very extreme government was, for many years, a fantasy among circles of the Right,” says Goodman. “This fantasy has a name in Hebrew, memshelet yamin al-male, basically, a pure right-wing government. And this fantasy was very helpful for the Right because it was a great answer to a question ‘You’re in government for 40 years – why isn’t Israel the paradise you promised us it’s going to be? Why are there still traffic jams, security issues, economic issues?’”

The Right’s answer, “Well, we were never really in power. We always had a centrist or a liberal there to neutralize our power, to block us, to stop us from doing what we think we should do. [But] one day we’ll get what we want. We’ll have a massive majority. We won’t have to join with any centrist in the coalition. We’ll have a pure right-wing government, and then you’ll see what Israel will look like.’”

The long-awaited right-wing government has been a total disaster.

Most Israelis would agree – including many on the Right – that it’s been a complete and total disaster. 

The way changes to the judiciary have been pushed through without compromise or conversation; the hateful statements emanating from coalition leaders’ mouths on a daily basis; the branding of Israel’s most patriotic citizens as traitors, refuseniks, and anarchists; the growing police brutality; the economic and diplomatic devastation – all of these, Goodman says, show what a fully right-wing government is really like.

Fifty-four percent of Israelis say they oppose the recently passed law canceling the court’s ability to apply a reasonableness standard. That may seem like a slim majority, but it is 20 points higher than those who support it. 

Going forward, just 16% of Israelis want the government to legislate without an agreement.

The mask has been ripped off, and the fantasy has been shown to be untenable. Goodman says, is not unlike the 1990s when a similar fantasy – that of the Left – had us believing we’d soon be driving to Damascus for hummus.

“The best way to destroy a fantasy is to implement it,” Goodman says. “And now we’re living the fantasy, we’re living the dream. And many people… including on the Right, including Religious Zionists, including Likud voters…this does not look to them like a utopia. This looks to them like a dystopia.”

And what happens “the day after this government is over?” Goodman asks. “The idea of a pure extreme right-wing government will not be a fantasy. It will be a bad memory.”

Wouldn’t it be better to get to that point without having to create a balance of trauma in the meantime? But the Left has long been eviscerated. For healing to occur, the fantasies of the extreme Right must share the same fate. Only out of such mutual disillusionment can a true center arise. 

“Many people on the Right will not want to replicate this experiment,” Goodman asserts.

Goodman isn’t dismissing the idealism of either the Left or the Right. But “when you fall in love with an idea, you become blind to reality. You love the ideology. You really want it to become a reality. So, you don’t listen to reality itself.”

Does this mean the Right will soon disappear like the Left in this country? Not quite, Goodman says. What will be off the table in the future, though, is “a coalition with the extreme Right.” (Ditto for the extreme Left – not that it has any power these days.)

 “We needed judicial reform,” writes Daniel Gordis on his Substack page. “Almost everyone knows that.” (Polls have shown that some 60% to 70% of Israelis are in favor of some sort of change to the judiciary.) “But we needed unity more than that. We could have had both.”

“Sustaining mass mobilization, particularly in the face of intensifying repression,” writes Maria J. Stephan, who co-authored Why Civil Resistance Works, The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, requires investment in organizing infrastructure, training, and a commitment to nonviolent discipline.

Getting there won’t be easy. But for the first time in weeks – months, really – I feel just the teensiest bit better about the future of Israel.

Courtesy: The Jerusalem Post

DP World to invest half a billion dollars in India

Dubai-based ports giant DP World will invest around US$510 million to build a new container terminal at the Kandla port in the Indian state of Gujarat, its group chairman said on Friday.

"It will enable the delivery of trade opportunities by connecting northern, western and central India with global markets," Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who is also DP World's CEO, said after the signing of an agreement between the Deendayal Port Authority and DP World officials.

The Indian government earlier this year approved a plan by Hindustan Infralog, a joint venture between DP World and the state-owned National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, to develop the terminal on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

DP world, which operates in 73 countries, last week reported a nearly 10% fall in first-half profit to US$651 million despite a 13.9%YoY rise in revenue to more than US$9 billion.

The new terminal, which should be completed by early 2027, will boost container traffic in India and reduce the cost of logistics, company officials said.

DP World operates five container terminals in India – two in Mumbai and one each in Mundra, Cochin and Chennai – with a combined capacity of about 6 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs), giving it a market share of 28% of container traffic volume in the country. The new terminal will take the combined capacity to 8.19 million TEUs, a company statement said.

DP World’s Indian port and terminal investments are aligned with the country's Vision 2047, which aims to quadruple port handling capacity and develop logistics infrastructure to boost economic growth, the statement said.