Australia condemns Taliban’s moves to silence Afghan women, girls

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Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has strongly condemned the Taliban’s efforts to suppress the voices of Afghan women and girls.

In a post on X, Wong criticized the latest decree by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which bans women from speaking or showing their faces in public.

“The latest vice and virtue decree bans women’s voices and bare faces in public,” Wong wrote, expressing Australia’s unwavering support for the rights of Afghan women and girls. “We stand together with the women and girls of Afghanistan, and in support of their human rights,” she added.

The new law, which further restricts the freedoms of Afghan women and girls, has sparked widespread condemnation internationally. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also denounced the Taliban’s newly ratified “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.” The law, which comprises 35 articles, imposes extensive restrictions on personal conduct and grants morality police broad and arbitrary powers of enforcement.

“This law presents a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future, where moral inspectors have the discretionary power to threaten and detain individuals based on a broad and often vague list of infractions,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA.

“It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation,” Otunbayeva added.

UNAMA also warned that the new legislation threatens religious freedoms by failing to acknowledge the diversity of Afghanistan’s religious communities. Additionally, it raises concerns about increased restrictions on journalists and the media, potentially stifling freedom of expression even further in the country.

Putin’s Deadly Healthcare Optimization Sparking Protests in Russian North

Putin’s Deadly Healthcare Optimization Sparking Protests in Russian North

            Staunton, Aug. 25 – Vladimir Putin’s healthcare optimization program is not only reducing the number of medical facilities and personnel in much of the country and sending mortality rates up there but also cutting the quality of those who remain because Moscow is inserting loyalists in place of experts, a practice that is sparking protests in the Russian north.

            Evidence of all this is to be found in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Lukas Zhalalis of the Okno portal says. In Kotlas, he points out, the number of doctors and nurses has been cut back to the point that few can see a specialist and the doctor who had been in charge for many years was replaced by an inexperienced Putin loyalist (okno.group/midicina-arh/).

            These developments, local residents say, have reduced healthcare there to what it was in the 19^th century. But perhaps more important, it has sparked protests by local residents whose relatives have been dying and who themselves are now at risk of premature death as well (vk.com/yarenskchist?w=wall-170660931_18074).

            Because these protests are small and even more because they are taking place in locations far from Moscow or from ethnic regions which typically have more developed online reporting, they have been largely ignored. But this pattern is critically important because it highlights two things that are often given less attention than they deserve.

            On the one hand, Russians are quite prepared to protest about developments that they see as having a direct impact on their lives, even if they do not take to the streets to demonstrate against Kremlin policies like the war in Ukraine because they do not see that they have any chance of changing such “political” things.

            And on the other, they suggest that as Putin pulls more money out of healthcare and other fields to finance his wars, he will trigger more Russians to protest this latest threat to their survival and may eventually lead some of them to connect the dots and see that the Putin regime itself constitutes a threat to their survival and thus is something they should be protesting against.

Bangladesh metro back on track after protests end

Dhaka is one of the world's most densely populated cities, and the railway is a critical transport link in the sprawling megacity of some 20 million people.


Bangladesh Metro services resumed after days of student protests rocked the country. (Photo: AP/file)


Agence France-Presse
Dhaka, Bangladesh,

UPDATED: Aug 25, 2024 
Posted By: Vivek Kumar

In Short

Commuters express feeling of relief upon resumption of metro

Welcome progress towards normalcy after days of commotion

Metro services started in Bangladesh in 2022

Bangladesh's metro railway in the notoriously congested capital Dhaka resumed on Sunday, more than a month after it was closed during the peak of student-led protests that eventually toppled the prime minister.

Much in the troubled South Asian nation remains in political turmoil since the revolution that ousted Sheikh Hasina and ended her 15-year-long iron-fisted rule, but on Sunday, the trains at least were back on track.
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Dhaka is one of the world's most densely populated cities, and the railway is a critical transport link in the sprawling megacity of some 20 million people.

Banker Shaheen Sultana said she was delighted her commute to work was a "relaxed" affair after weeks of car-clogged gridlock on the roads.

"I am very happy that it is working again," 40-year-old Sultana said, as she exited a station near her workplace in the city's commercial heart. "It is a great relief."

The elevated train network was closed in mid-July during student-led protests.

In the deadly violence - which would see hundreds of people killed until Hasina quit and fled the country by helicopter on August 5 - the stations were vandalised by a mob.

RETURN TO NORMAL

The resumption of metro services is a key sign of a return to normal daily life.

Its reopening was ordered by the new caretaker government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84.

"In the absence of the metro I had to take the bus to work," said Kaosar Khan, a speech therapist at a private hospital in the city.

"I faced massive traffic snarls," Khan, 25, added. "It used to take two hours on the bus, but with the metro, I can reach my destination in 15 minutes".

Hasina's government was accused of widespread abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political opponents.

But Dhaka's metro, inaugurated in 2022, is seen by many as one of the most significant infrastructure endeavours of Hasina's otherwise tarnished tenure.

It was an instant hit in the congested city where commuting by road is a source of massive frustration.

'WHY HURT THE NATION?'

Local researchers say the capital's economy loses upwards of $3 billion each year in lost work time due to traffic jams, often worsened by regular street protests and monsoonal downpours.

Pictures released by Hasina's office while she was still in office, showed her weeping at the sight of a vandalised metro station in an outlying Dhaka suburb.

Hasina had called the line a "matter of great pride" when she opened it in December 2022, and during the protests, she was furious that it had been attacked.

"Who has benefitted... Do I ride on the metro?" she asked at the time.

But others said Hasina's government had exploited the attack on the metro, to shut it down as a warning.

"They wanted to say if you go against us, you will have to suffer the consequences," said Mohammad Hridoy, 28, a technology worker waiting at the platform.

"The shutdown seemed more deliberate than necessitated by circumstances."

On Sunday, some passengers said the metro attack was a blot on the reputation of the protesters.

"Why hurt the nation and destroy public property?" said Sharmin Sultana, 55, a housewife travelling with her young daughter, a yellow scarf covering her head.

"We should protect our national property, irrespective of party politics."

Yunus asks China to relocate solar panel factories to Bangladesh

ByAriful Islam Mithu
Aug 25, 2024 

Yunus called on China to increase the import of Bangladeshi goods to increase economic cooperation between the two countries

Dhaka: Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s interim government, on Sunday emphasised the need for close economic collaboration between Dhaka and Beijing and urged China to do more for his country’s green transition and exports by moving some solar panel factories to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh interim government head Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus (AP Photo)


Yunus made the proposal when Chinese ambassador Yao Wen made an introductory call on him. The Chinese government welcomed the interim government on August 9, days after former premier Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled to India in the face of a student-led protest in which more than 600 people were killed.
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Yunus highlighted the close economic collaboration between Beijing and Dhaka and asked Chinese investors to relocate their plants to Bangladesh, a statement from his office said.

He said China has emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels “but the country increasingly faced restrictions in the export market”. Chinese manufacturers “can relocate” solar panel factories to Bangladesh, which will help Dhaka to diversify exports and transition into a green economy, the Nobel laureate said.

Also Read: Bangladesh’s Yunus proposes high-level collaboration on floods with India

Yunus called on China to increase the import of Bangladeshi goods to increase economic cooperation between the two countries. He also called for technology transfers and increased collaboration in disaster management, education and farming.

Yao conveyed the greetings of the Chinese leadership to Yunus on his assumption of the leadership of the interim government and said Beijing is ready to work with Dhaka. Yao hoped that Yunus would “fulfill expectations of a poverty-free Bangladesh”.

“The future of Bangladesh will be better and brighter under your leadership,” Yao told Yunus. He also said China remains committed to finding a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis, including a ceasefire in the violence-torn Rakhine state of Myanmar.

Yunus hoped China would continue to provide political, financial and humanitarian assistance to more than one million Rohingya people living in Bangladesh. He recalled his fond memories of China, where several universities have set up “Yunus Centres” and many young people have formed “Three Zero Clubs”, whose members make commitments for zero contributions to climate change, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment.

Yunus emphasised the need for youth-to-youth collaboration and people-to-people connections between the two countries.

Also Read: At least 13 killed after floods in eastern Bangladesh affect 4.5 million people

During the meeting, Yao conveyed Chinese leaderships’ invitation to Yunus to visit China at a convenient time. He said Bangladesh is at the crossroads but “the people of Bangladesh will overcome the challenges”.


Yao also handed over a cheque for $20,000 to the Flood Relief Fund of the Chief Adviser from the Chinese embassy. He said the Chinese Red Cross will donate $100,000 as humanitarian aid for flood victims.

He also noted that China and Bangladesh had recently upgraded their ties to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” and that both sides will celebrate the 50th year of diplomatic ties in 2025.

WORKERS CAPITAL
Australia’s Top Pension Takes Hit on Pluralsight Restructure


Amy Bainbridge
Mon, 26 Aug 2024

(Bloomberg) -- AustralianSuper, the country’s largest pension, has written down its investment in US education software firm Pluralsight Inc. after private credit lenders agreed to take ownership of the company.

AustralianSuper is an investor in Vista Equity Partners, which bought Pluralsight three years ago, according to the pension’s latest disclosures. Vista and its co-investors are losing around $4 billion on their original equity investment, Bloomberg News reported last week.

AustralianSuper is writing off A$1.1 billion ($750 million), according to the Australian Financial Review, which first reported the loss earlier Monday. Pluralsight was thrust into the spotlight several months ago, when some assets were moved to a subsidiary as part of an effort to raise fresh funds.

“The asset was well supported by a range of major global investors,” AustralianSuper Head of International Equities and Private Equity, Mark Hargraves, said in an emailed statement. “However, the impact of the Covid pandemic, volatile macroeconomic conditions, rising interest rates and increasing competition combined to create a very challenging environment for the company.”

Blue Owl-Led Private Debt Group Takes Ownership of Pluralsight

Australia’s A$3.9 trillion pension industry has shown increased appetite for private assets, which now make up around one fifth of investments. That’s brought increased scrutiny, with regulators this month flagging such investments as a priority. In April, AustralianSuper said it planned to almost double unlisted assets over the next four years.

Hargreaves said the higher risk-return profile for private equity was a “characteristic of the asset class,” adding that the valuation was fully accounted for and won’t impact its members’ future earnings.

“We will continue to invest in private equity, venture capital and also the tech sector in general,” Hargreaves said. “These asset classes and the tech sector are strong value creators for members.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Australian homeowners struggling to afford insurance as climate risks grow, report says


Residential homes can be seen in the coastal Sydney suburb of South Coogee, Australia·

Reuters
Sun, 25 Aug 2024, 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Home insurance is becoming unaffordable for a growing number of Australian households as increased climate threats drive up their premiums, potentially putting billions of dollars in mortgage loans at risk, a report said on Monday.

As of March 2024, 15% of Australian households were experiencing home insurance affordability stress, which is defined as having premiums that cost more than four weeks' of their incomes, the report from the Actuaries Institute found.

That is equivalent to 1.61 million households, compared to 1.24 million found to be facing affordability stress a year ago – an increase of 30%.

Rising insurance costs have fuelled inflation in Australia and there are signs that some homeowners can no longer afford to protect their homes due to climate-related risks and high construction costs.

"Unfortunately, we expect this will continue because of the overall increasing risk of natural disasters associated with climate change, which will continue to put upward pressure on premiums," said the report's lead author Sharanjit Paddam.

The report estimated that 5% of Australian households with home loans were experiencing extreme pressures, with their insurance premiums averaging A$5,216 ($3,505) a year, more than double the average of A$2,124.

Those households facing the most extreme affordability stress have about A$57 billion in outstanding mortgage loans as of March, representing 3% of all home loan assets, it said.

"If their home is damaged by a natural disaster and they either don't have insurance or are underinsured, they could find themselves in a stressful financial situation," Paddam said.

"So, this is potentially a problem that's bigger than just insurance. It's also a problem for lenders, regulators and governments."

The report estimated that due to heightened risks of floods and cyclones, half of households in southwestern Queensland, the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and regional Western Australia faced premiums that cost more than one month's income.

($1 = 1.4883 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Helen Popper)

Mushrooms are magic in the tussle with frizzy hair, says Dyson

Zoe Wood 

Consumer affairs correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 25 Aug 2024, 

Customers will have to dig deep – the styling cream and serum, which Dyson claims ‘reduces frizz by up to 50%’, cost £50 for 100ml.Photograph: Nancy Nehring/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Mushrooms are the wellness trend du jour, turning up in coffee, supplements and even beer. Now, we are being told to slather them on our heads after Dyson revealed they could be a secret weapon in the age-old battle with frizzy hair.

Dyson researchers have discovered that fungal chitosan – which is found in the cell walls of oyster mushrooms and commonly used in skincare products – can be used to tame unruly hair.

Named after this “hero” ingredient, Chitosan will go on sale in the company’s stores and on its website on Tuesday. Customers will have to dig deep – the styling cream and serum, which Dyson claims “reduces frizz by up to 50%”, both cost £50 for 100ml.

Chitosan is “delicate yet strong, it’s what gives the fungi its shape and provides the basis of Dyson’s flexible hold”, the company said.

Its engineers have “rigorously tested to find the optimum percentage of chitosan for all-day, flexible hold, while maintaining natural movement”. Dyson added: “Each bottle harnesses the power of up to eight oyster mushrooms.”.

James Dyson, who remains the company’s chief engineer, said: “Whilst some other styling products use simple polymers that stick the strands of hair together like glue. Dyson’s formulas work differently.

“The complex macromolecule helps create flexible bonds that support hair strand by strand, for twice the hold, with movement and shine.”

The company, which since its founding by the British inventor James Dyson in 1991 has made billions from innovations including bagless vacuum cleaners to bladeless fans, has in recent years been trying to conquer the lucrative beauty market with products such as a “supersonic” hairdryer.

Dyson is not the only company attempting to cash in on fungi – with the ingredient turning up in so many products that the consumer champion group Which? was compelled to look into the evidence base for the “mushroom mania” sweeping the high street.

Describing some mushroom products on sale in health food shops, the group said: “While they do have potential benefits, there isn’t enough evidence yet to suggest they work, and the vast majority don’t have authorised health claims in the UK.”

‘Enough is enough’: Rohingya demand end to violence in Myanmar

Rohingya seeking refuge in Bangladesh hold rallies marking the seventh anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar.

Rohingya refugees mark the seventh anniversary of the brutal military crackdown in 2017

[Mokammel Mridha/Reuters]

Published On 25 Aug 2024

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have held rallies in camps to mark the seventh anniversary of the military crackdown in Myanmar that forced them to flee.

Refugees from children to the elderly waved placards and chanted slogans on Sunday in the camps in Cox’s Bazar, demanding an end to violence and their safe return to Myanmar.

Keep reading

More injured Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh as Myanmar war intensifies

Bangladesh’s Yunus promises support to Rohingya in first policy speech

Photos: 300,000 in emergency shelters after Bangladesh flood

Many also wore ribbons bearing the words “Rohingya Genocide Remembrance”.

“Hope is home” and “We Rohingya are the citizens of Myanmar,” their placards read.

“Enough is enough. Stop violence and attacks on the Rohingya community,” refugee Hafizur Rahman told the Reuters news agency.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority, have long been a target of discrimination and ethnic violence in Myanmar.

In 2017, at least 750,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after the Myanmar military launched a crackdown that is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Rohingya refugee children hold placards in Cox’s Bazar as they protest at the Kutupalong Refugee Camp to mark the fifth anniversary of their flight from Myanmar to escape a 2017 military crackdown [File: Rafiqur Rahman/Reuters]

In recent weeks, thousands more Rohingya have reportedly fled western Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh as fighting escalates between the military regime and the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic armed group that recruits from the Buddhist majority.

The international medical group Doctors without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said its teams in Cox’s Bazar treated 39 people for conflict-related injuries, including mortar shell and gunshot wounds, in the four days leading up to August 7. More than 40 percent of the injured were women and children, it added in a statement.

UNICEF has also raised alarm over the worsening situation in Rakhine, citing increasing reports of civilians, especially children, being caught in the crossfire.

It said that seven years after the exodus from Myanmar, “about half a million Rohingya refugee children are growing up in the world’s largest refugee camp”.

“We want to return to our homeland with all the rights. The United Nations should take initiatives to ensure our livelihood and peaceful coexistence with other ethnic communities in Myanmar,” refugee Mohammed Taher said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s de facto foreign minister in its interim government, Mohammad Touhid Hossain, told the Reuters news agency this month that other countries neighbouring Myanmar, such as India, should do more.

Hossain also called for more international pressure on the Arakan Army to stop attacking the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

Orla Murphy, MSF’s country representative in Bangladesh, said in a statement there is also a need to immediately protect civilians caught up in the conflict in Myanmar.

“People must not come under indiscriminate attack and should be allowed to leave for safer areas, while all those in need of vital medical care should have unhindered and sustained access to medical facilities,” Murphy said.

Myanmar was plunged into uncertainty in February 2021 when the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Ky. The power grab triggered mass demonstrations against military rule that evolved into an armed uprising when the military responded with force.

 

Rohingya demand end to violence on 7th anniversary of flight from Myanmar

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees rallied in camps in Bangladesh on Aug 25 on the seventh anniversary of the military crackdown. PHOTO: REUTERS

Aug 25, 2024

DHAKA - Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees rallied in camps in Bangladesh on Aug 25 on the seventh anniversary of the military crackdown that forced them to flee, demanding an end to violence and safe return to Myanmar.

More than a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in southern Bangladesh with little prospect of returning home, where they are mostly denied citizenship and other rights.

Thousands more are believed to have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state in recent weeks, as fighting escalates between troops of the ruling junta and the Arakan Army, the powerful ethnic militia that recruits from the Buddhist majority.

Refugees, from children to the elderly, waved placards and chanted slogans in the camps in Cox’s Bazar, many wearing ribbons bearing the words “Rohingya Genocide Remembrance”.

“Hope is home” and “We Rohingya are the citizens of Myanmar”, the placards read.

“Enough is enough. Stop violence and attacks on the Rohingya community,” refugee Hafizur Rahman said.

The latest attacks are the worst violence against the Rohingya since a 2017 Myanmar military-led campaign, which the United Nations described as having genocidal intent, forced more than 73,000 to flee across the Bangladesh border.

Densely populated Bangladesh says repatriating the refugees to Myanmar is the only solution. Local communities have been increasingly hostile as funds for the Rohingya have dried up.

Bangladesh is in no position to accept more Rohingya refugees, de-facto foreign minister Mohammad Touhid Hossain told Reuters in August, asking India and other countries to do more.

Mr Hossain also called for more international pressure on the Arakan Army to stop attacking the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

The UN children's agency Unicef has raised alarm over the worsening situation in Rakhine, citing increasing reports of civilians, especially children, being caught in the crossfire.

It said that seven years after the exodus from Myanmar, “about half a million Rohingya refugee children are growing up in the world’s largest refugee camp”.

“We want to return to our homeland with all the rights. The United Nations should take initiatives to ensure our livelihood and peaceful coexistence with other ethnic communities in Myanmar,” Rohingya refugee Mohammed Taher said. REUTERS

Can Your Dog See Colors? Know How Dogs See The World

Dogs, unlike humans, have a unique ability to see color. Know what colors dogs can and cannot see.

Outlook International Desk
Updated on: 25 August 2024 

Representative oimage Photo: Pinterest

When you’re out walking your dog, the vibrant hues of the world—green grass, blue sky, and yellow sun—are part of your visual experience. But how does your dog perceive these colors?

For years, it was commonly believed that dogs see only in black and white. However, recent research has challenged this notion and provided new insights into canine vision.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, color vision in humans is facilitated by three types of cones in the retina: red-sensing, green-sensing, and blue-sensing. These cones allow us to perceive a wide range of colors. In contrast, dogs have only two types of cones, which can detect blue and yellow hues, as reported by VCA Animal Hospitals. This condition is known as "dichromatic vision."

Without red-sensing cones, dogs’ color perception resembles that of a person with red-green color blindness, a condition studied by Jay Neitz, a color vision researcher at the University of Washington. Such individuals often confuse colors; for example, red may appear as black or brown, and green may be perceived as yellow. Similarly, dogs may see a red ball as brown and a green toy as yellowish, according to the American Kennel Club.

Beyond color perception, dogs have several other visual differences compared to humans. VCA Animal Hospitals notes that dogs are more near-sighted, meaning that objects at a distance may appear blurrier to them. However, they have superior peripheral vision and a wider field of view, though their depth perception is less precise.

Dogs are less sensitive to changes in brightness. Therefore, while humans can distinguish subtle shades, dogs see these variations as more muted.

Israel Economy Is Secondary Concern as Netanyahu Focuses on War

Galit Altstein
Mon, 26 Aug 2024,

(Bloomberg) -- With domestic and international attention focused on Israel’s war in Gaza and escalating tensions with Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has stalled discussions on next year’s budget — set to be the most challenging and crucial in decades.

Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insist there will be a fiscal framework in place for 2025 but haven’t explained delays in its formulation, leaving markets and investors guessing on how it will be put together at a time that the conflict is causing the budget deficit and debt issuance to soar. Budgeting is usually well underway by this time of year.

Top central bank and finance ministry technocrats have joined credit-rating agencies and business leaders in warning that a hiatus will cloud Israel’s economic prospects and elevate the already-high risk premium on its assets.

Tensions over the budgetary process were evident in a letter Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron wrote to Netanyahu this month. He urged the prime minister to follow up on a meeting they held weeks ago to discuss ways to steady the nation’s finances — including trimming spending and raising taxes.

Yaron, who under Israeli law is the government’s top economic adviser, argues that permanent budgetary adjustments totaling some 30 billion shekels ($8 billion) are needed next year to sustain increased defense and other war-related expenditure. They are also necessary, he said, to steady Israel’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio — which the central bank sees at 67.5% this year, up from around 59% in 2022.

“Maintaining the budget framework for 2024 and promoting the orderly process of structuring the budget for 2025 are critical,” the governor wrote.

GDP grew just 2% last year, almost half the rate the finance ministry expected prior to the outbreak of the war, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. sees an expansion of just 1.4% this year after cutting its forecast twice over the past two weeks.

Disquiet over Israel’s economy, the government’s handling of its finances and the risk of intensified fighting is becoming evident in the financial markets. Yields on the government’s 10-year shekel bonds have risen almost 90 basis points this year.

Fitch Ratings cut Israel’s rating by one notch to A, the third-highest level, on Aug. 13. That followed a similar move by Moody’s Investors Service in February.

“The conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025 and there are risks of it broadening to other fronts,” Fitch said.

Fighting erupted after Hamas militants swarmed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage. Israel responded with an air and ground assault that have reduced large tracts of the Gaza Strip to rubble. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel and Hezbollah have also been engaged in tit-for-tat strikes since the war began. Those escalated on Sunday, when 100 Israeli warplanes swooped over southern Lebanon, taking out thousands of Hezbollah missile launchers in what it termed a pre-preemptive strike, and the group responded by firing more than 200 projectiles across the border. Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran and are designated as terrorist organizations by the US.

Israel has spent 88 billion shekels on the war so far — almost 5% of GDP — and has raised more than 190 billion shekels through July to help fund the military and plug the fiscal deficit. If sustained, this year’s borrowing will break the record set during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The deficit rose to 8.1% of GDP in the 12 months through July. The finance ministry and central bank expect it be around 6.6% for this year as a whole, but that’s presuming the conflict with Hezbollah doesn’t worsen.

“Fiscal policy is the elephant in the room” as far as markets are concerned, Yaron said last month. “If you wait for the last minute, you make bad decisions.”

Budget proposals are typically drafted early in the Israeli summer, brought to the cabinet for approval by August and passed by parliament by year-end. Under Israeli law, the process can be extended until as late as the end of March. The government automatically collapses if it isn’t concluded.

Netanyahu and Smotrich met last week to discuss the budget, but they’ve yet to agree on a basic framework and finance ministry officials say almost no substantive discussions have taken place so far.

An official at the prime minister’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said spending and financing plans can be comfortably approved even if they are placed before the cabinet as late as October — a time line technocrats say isn’t feasible.


The politics surrounding the budget are fraught, with some money directed toward entities headed by ultra-religious and nationalist politicians who form part of Netanyahu’s coalition and are key to him retaining power. Those discretionary budgets alone totaled 6 billion shekels this year, including funding for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and religious causes that have stirred controversy.

“The government stalls because the unveiling of a budget involves public scrutiny, and if controversial expenses aren’t cut it will be slammed domestically and may precipitate another downgrade in Israel’s credit rating,” Avigdor Lieberman, an opposition leader who preceded Smotrich as finance minister, said in an interview. “It’s likely that the government will choose to increase the deficit and its external debt.”

The stalling is vintage Netanyahu and he is likely to dismiss any criticism as politically motivated, according to Mazal Mualem, a political analyst who recently published a biography on the Israeli leader.

“For the prime minister, procrastination is a management strategy,” she said.

--With assistance from Srinivasan Sivabalan and Julius Domoney.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

 

Gaza war economic consequences for Israel

TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (MNA) – With growing concern, Zionist economists are warning officials in Tel Aviv that if the Gaza war does not end by 2025, the regime's economic situation will worsen.

According to the US media, the current state of the Israeli regime is the result of the high costs that this regime has incurred during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu tried to allay the fears of Zionist experts by saying that the economic damage is short-term and temporary, but contrary to his claims, the war in Gaza has harmed thousands of small businesses and international trust in Israel's economy.

Yacov Sheinin, an Israeli economist, said the total cost of the war could amount to $120 billion, or 20% of the country’s gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic activity.

The Israeli regime's Finance Ministry this month said the country’s deficit over the last 12 months has risen to over 8% of GDP, far exceeding the 6.6% deficit-to-GDP ratio the ministry projected for 2024. In 2023, Israel’s budget deficit was roughly 4% of its GDP.

The Israeli ports also saw a 16% percent drop in shipping in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2023.

Israeli business information company CofaceBDI reports that some 46,000 businesses have closed since the start of the war — 75% of them small businesses.

Iceland’s Second Chance initiative – A model for national rehabilitation

Following Paul Cowley’s interview on ITV’s This Morning, Iceland Foods’ Second Chance Initiative is gaining attention for its impactful approach to ex-offender rehabilitation. Under the leadership…

COMMENTARY

26 August, 2024 | by Natalie Fresen

Following Paul Cowley’s interview on ITV’s This Morning, Iceland Foods’ Second Chance Initiative is gaining attention for its impactful approach to ex-offender rehabilitation.

Under the leadership of Paul Cowley, a man with a deep understanding of the transformative power of employment, the company’s Second Chance scheme is not just a corporate initiative but a beacon of hope for those looking to rebuild their lives after prison.

Paul Cowley, who now serves as Iceland’s first Director of Rehabilitation, has been instrumental in driving this initiative. Since its inception in September 2022, Cowley has visited 98 prisons and extended job offers to 680 inmates upon their release. His efforts come at a time when six out of ten prisoners in England and Wales reoffend within a year of release, often due to the lack of employment opportunities. Cowley’s philosophy is simple yet powerful: “If you can offer someone gainful employment, it reduces reoffending by 50 per cent.”

The Second Chance scheme is built on the premise that hope is a critical factor in the rehabilitation process.

For many inmates, the future looks bleak, and the absence of opportunities post-release often leads them back to crime. However, as Cowley noted during his appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier this morning, the impact of receiving a letter while still in prison, promising a guaranteed job upon release, can be life-changing. “It changes their whole future,” he remarked, underlining the psychological and practical benefits of such a promise.

Iceland’s initiative has caught the attention of not just the public but also government officials. The grocery retailer has petitioned James Timpson, the newly appointed Minister of State for Prisons and Rehabilitation, to consider adopting Iceland’s model as a national blueprint. The potential for such a scheme to be rolled out across the country is significant, with the Ministry of Justice itself acknowledging that meaningful employment can halve the rates of reoffending.

The success of the Second Chance scheme is evident in the stories of those it has helped. One such individual, a former inmate named Stuart, shared his journey on Good Morning Britain. Stuart, who had been imprisoned for armed robbery, spoke candidly about how the lack of job opportunities led him to reoffend. However, the letter from Iceland offering him a job before his release was a turning point. “This opportunity has changed it for me. My mindset has changed. I absolutely love the company I work with,” he said, highlighting the profound impact of employment on mental health and self-respect.

Cowley’s commitment to rehabilitation extends beyond his role at Iceland. In 2005, he founded the charity Caring for Ex-Offenders, which has helped over 2,000 men and women reintegrate into society. His dedication to this cause was recognised with an MBE in 2016. Now, through the Second Chance scheme, he is expanding this vision on a larger scale, with Iceland employing 330 ex-prisoners across its 900 stores. The retention rate and reduced sick days among these employees are a testament to the effectiveness of the programme.

The success of Iceland’s initiative is not isolated. Other companies in the food and drink sector, such as Cook and Greggs, have also implemented similar schemes with impressive results. Cook’s Raw Talent scheme and Greggs’ Fresh Start programme have both shown that hiring ex-offenders is not only a moral imperative but also a sound business strategy.

As Iceland continues to champion the cause of rehabilitation, it is clear that these individuals deserve the second chance they are being given. Cowley’s words resonate deeply: “More needs to be done to ensure they are given the opportunity to succeed.” With the government now being urged to back such initiatives, the hope is that the Second Chance scheme will become a national model, paving the way for a more inclusive and just society.