Todays Talk (2024)

07/09/2022

The Iranian government plans to use facial recognition technology to record women not complying with the law of wearing hijab, reported The Guardian.

The regime continues a crackdown on women's dressing. The secretary of Iran’s Headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, said that surveillance technology would be used in public spaces to keep an eye on women's clothing.

After July 12, which is the national Hijab and Chastity Day, women took to the streets and social media and protested against the idea. They posted pictures and videos of themselves without the hijab.

Recently, the government has made arrests and given detentions as a response to the countrywide protests.

Azadeh Akbari, a researcher at the University of Twente said that the Iranian government was using new technology to exercise "old-fashioned forms of totalitarian control".

Followed by the Iranian revolution in 1979, head-covering was made mandatory for all women.

A human rights group Hrana said that a 28-year-old non-hijabi woman whose video of being policed by a fellow passenger on the bus went viral "was beaten after her arrest".

Speaking about the country's president Ebrahim Raisi, Annabelle Sreberny, professor emeritus at the Centre for Iranian Studies at Soas University of London said that while Iran faces a plethora of problems, he is focusing on "women's rights".

07/09/2022

Netflix has officially unveiled the trailer for the upcoming tense series Narco-Saints. The six episodes series is scheduled to debut this Friday, September 09, 2022.

The upcoming South Korean crime series starring Squid Game star actor Park Hae-soo is directed by Yoon Jong Bin.

A thrilling and explosive criminal series features an explosive look at the underworld of drug lords as well as undercover secret operations from the underworld of drug lords.

Narco-Saints, which is based on true events, is about an entrepreneur who is forced to join a government secret mission to take down a Korean drug lord operating in South America.

07/09/2022

Gulf Arab states have demanded that US streaming giant Netflix remove content deemed offensive to "Islamic and societal values" in the region, according to Saudi Arabia's media regulator.

It did not specify the content but mentioned that it included content aimed at children. Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya TV, in a programme discussing the issue, showed blurred-out animation clips that appeared to show two girls embracing.

The Riyadh-based General Commission for Audiovisual Media statement said the content violated media regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

If Netflix continued to broadcast the content then "necessary legal measures will be taken," it said, without elaborating.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The UAE issued a similarly worded statement regarding Netflix content on Tuesday, saying it would follow up on what the platform broadcasts in the coming days and "assess its commitment to broadcasting controls" in the country.

Same-sex relationships are criminalised in many Muslim-majority nations, and films featuring such relationships have in the past been banned by regulators in those countries, while others with profanity or illicit drug use are sometimes censored.

The UAE and other Muslim states earlier this year banned Walt Disney-Pixar's animated feature film "Lightyear" from screening in cinemas because it features characters in a same-sex relationship.

06/09/2022

Sri Lanka's International Monetary Fund bailout plan could be a turning point in its worst economic crisis, but far-from-stable politics and a need to get debt relief from competing powers China, India and Japan means some of the hardest work is still to come.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe knows a lot of circles will need to be squared for the IMF's $2.9 billion lifeline to become a reality.

Spending cuts, tax hikes, and debt write-downs are a common formula for bankrupt countries, but crisis veterans say there are some uniquely difficult elements here.

An impoverished population that forced former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee in July still needs to accept Wickremesinghe, seen by many as of the same political ilk and a man who faces a bristling opposition.

The country's borrowings are so complex that estimates of the total range anywhere from $85 billion to well over $100 billion. To get it to a sustainable level Beijing, New Delhi, Tokyo, multilaterals and global asset managers must all swallow losses.

"This one of the biggest messes I've ever seen," said Renaissance Capital's chief economist Charles Robertson who has watched emerging market crises unfold for decades.

"The government destroyed its revenue base with unsustainable tax cuts, it tried to hold the currency when tourism revenues collapsed, and now it has no reserves in the bank and a population facing widespread poverty."

30/08/2022

The US Justice Department's search of former President Donald Trump's home this month turned up a "limited" number of documents potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Monday.

The new disclosure by the Justice Department could bolster a request by Trump's legal team to appoint a special master to conduct a privilege review of the items the FBI seized from Trump's Florida estate during its unprecedented August 8 search.

At the same time, however, the department also revealed that its filter team has already completed its review of the materials- a sign that Trump's request for a special master could be too late.

A special master is an independent third-party sometimes appointed by a court in sensitive cases to review materials potentially covered by attorney-client privilege to ensure investigators do not improperly view them.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida over the weekend issued an order saying she was inclined to appoint a special master.

She ordered the Justice Department to respond to Trump's request, and also to provide under seal a more detailed list of the items seized from Trump's home.

On Monday, the Justice Department said it will comply with the request and file the information under seal by Tuesday.

In the department's filing, prosecutors said the filter team was following procedures it set forth in the warrant for addressing any materials that may be covered by attorney-client privilege, which includes showing them to the court for a determination.

The department along with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is currently conducting a classification review of the materials seized, it said, adding that ODNI is separately spearheading an "intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security" that could arise if they were ever exposed.

30/08/2022

LUCKNOW: A police case has been registered against a group of Muslims in India's Uttar Pradesh for a "mass gathering" to offer prayers at their house "without prior permission",

Dilhepur village, where the incident occurred, does not have a mosque which is why a group of Muslims gathered to offer prayers.

Some villagers have reservations against gatherings for namaz even if Muslims do it privately.

The FIR was registered on the basis of "objections from neighbours" and stated that the gatherings for namaz were spreading hatred among people.

A total of 26 people were arrested under the Indian Penal Code's Section 505-2, which is supposed to be for hostile statements made in a religious gathering.

All Muslims were reported to be locals, out of which 16 have been named.

Photos and videos of people praying in the village have gone viral on social media, to which internet users have reacted with rage and disappointment.

Many have pointed out the bias of the villagers and their lack of rationality.

"This is what criminalisation of an entire religion looks like," said journalist Kaushik Raj.

29/08/2022

South African prosecutors have arrested several former executives at public logistics company Transnet, which is at the centre of a high-profile investigation into corruption during Jacob Zuma’s tenure as president.

On Monday, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Transnet’s former chief executive officer Brian Molefe and finance chief Anoj Singh were among four people held in connection with a multimillion-dollar corruption case.

“Several arrests of former Transnet executives have been effected this morning, through arrangement with their legal representatives,” the NPA said in a statement.

The arrested appeared before a court in Johannesburg on Monday and were granted 50,000 rand (about $3,000) bail.

An NPA spokesperson confirmed to the AFP news agency the executives are facing charges of fraud and breaching public finance regulations, linked to a 93 million rand ($5.5m at the current exchange rate) corruption and fraud case surrounding the 2015 procurement of more than 1,000 locomotives.

Transnet owns all of South Africa’s rail, ports and pipelines – the logistical backbone of the continent’s most advanced economy.

29/08/2022

Shares in Asia have fallen after the chairman of the US central bank said it would continue to raise interest rates to tackle soaring prices.

Jerome Powell warned that the Federal Reserve's policies will cause "some pain to households and businesses".

Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for individuals and companies, which could slow economic growth as well as inflation.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed 2.7% lower on Monday in Tokyo.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, the Kospi in South Korea and Australia's ASX 200 were both down by around 2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 0.8% lower.

That came after the main share indexes in New York each fell by more than 3% on Friday after Mr Powell's remarks.

During a highly-anticipated speech at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Mr Powell said the Federal Reserve was likely to continue raising interest rates in the coming months and could keep them high "for some time".

He said that, while the hikes would come at a cost to American households and businesses, "a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain".
Inflation in the world's largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP) is at a four-decade high.

"Fed Chair Powell went for the jugular, conveying (an) unflinching assault on inflation," Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, said in a note.

"Justification for this unrelentingly hawkish posture was as plain as it was unequivocal," he added.

Investors are also concerned that the Chinese economy is slowing, Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, told the BBC.

"The economic perspective has worsened in China due to prolonged Covid control, which means further policy rate cuts have to take place. Domestic demand is too weak without further rate cuts in China.

29/08/2022

LONDON: The US dollar climbed to a 20-year high against other major currencies on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled interest rates would be kept higher for longer to bring down soaring inflation.

The dollar index, which measures the currency's value against a basket of peers, scaled a fresh two-decade peak of 109.48.

That left its European peers in the doldrums even as hawkish European Central Bank comments boosted expectations for a supersised September rate hike.

The euro was down a quarter of a percent in early European trade at $0.99415 , within sight of recent 20-year lows, while Britain's pound sank to a 2-1/2 year low.

London markets were closed for a public holiday.

Powell told the Jackson Hole central banking conference in Wyoming on Friday that the Fed would raise rates as high as needed to restrict growth, and would keep them there "for some time" to bring down inflation that is running at more than three times the Fed's 2% goal.

"Powell's comments endorsed the pricing of a higher Fed funds rate for a longer period," said Kenneth Broux, a currency strategist at Societe Generale. "The assumption that the Fed would start cutting rates in mid-2023 is premature."

Money markets responded by ramping up bets for a more aggressive Fed rate hike in September, with the chances of a 75bps hike now seen around 70%.

US Treasury yields shot up, with two-year bond yields hitting a 15-year high at around 3.49%, bolstering the greenback.

The dollar was up 0.8% at 138.81 yen, having hit its highest since July 21, while the offshore yuan fell to a fresh two-year low of 6.9321 per dollar.

Sterling fell to a 2-1/2-year low of $1.1649 and was last down 0.5% to $1.1676.

"I think for this week, the (US dollar index) is going to track even higher towards 110 points, just as market participants continue to price in more aggressive tightening cycles by the major central banks," said Carol Kong, senior associate for currency strategy and international economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

29/08/2022

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said his government is focused on jobs and workplace reform as the country faces economic challenges in the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a speech in Canberra to mark 100 days of Labor government, Albanese said his government had a growth agenda that was pro-business and pro-worker.

A government-hosted jobs summit this week will bring together key employer and union groups to discuss wages growth, productivity, migration and workplace reform.

“The biggest single outcome I am hoping for is the beginning of a culture of cooperation,” Albanese told the National Press Club on Monday.

Albanese said widespread skills shortages were acting as a handbrake on the economy, and it was unwise for the previous government to tell temporary visa holders to leave Australia during the pandemic as borders closed.

In addition to discussions on lifting Australia’s migration intake, the government would look at creating “more paths to permanent migration” to attract foreign workers back in areas including nursing and engineering.

29/08/2022

As the war in Ukraine has passed the six-month mark, US and European officials say Ukraine has successfully used a method of resistance warfare developed by US special operations forces to fight back against Russia and bog down its vastly superior military.

The Resistance Operating Concept was developed in 2013 following Russia's war with Georgia a few years earlier but its value was only realized after Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014. It provides a blueprint for smaller nations to effectively resist and confront a larger neighbor that has invaded.

Russia's nearly bloodless takeover and annexation of the occupied territory stunned Ukraine and the west, intensifying a study of how to build a plan for total defense that included not only the military, but also the civilian population.

But Putin's wider war on Ukraine launched in February has been its proving ground.

The doctrine, also known as the ROC, provides an innovative and unconventional approach to warfare and total defense that has guided not just Ukraine's military, but also involved the country's civilian population as part of a concerted resistance against Russia's army.

"It's all hands on deck in terms of the comprehensive defense for the government of Ukraine," said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, who was commander of Special Operations Command Europe during the doctrine's development. "They're using every resource and they're also using some highly unconventional means by which to disrupt the Russian federation military."

29/08/2022

An inspection team from the UN nuclear watchdog is on its way to Ukraine's embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the organisation's head said.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the team was expected to arrive at the plant later this week.

"We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine's and Europe's biggest nuclear facility," he tweeted.

The nuclear plant has been occupied by invading Russian troops since March.

Fighting around the facility in Ukraine's south-east has led to mounting global concern over the safety and security of the site.

Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of shelling the area.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said Europe was "one step away" from a radiation disaster on Thursday when when the plant was briefly disconnected from Ukraine's power grid and back-up generators kicked in to supply it with power.

He said fires had damaged the overhead power lines, cutting the plant off for the first time in its history.

29/08/2022

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is all set to meet today (Monday) to consider the loan plan for Pakistan, while authorities of the cash-strapped nation expect the resumption of the month-long stalled $6 billion bailout programme.

However, a rally in the nation’s assets may fizzle out amid escalating political tensions.

Pakistan also made a request to the Fund’s Board to augment the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from $6 billion to $7 billion and jack up the timeframe from September 2022 to June 2023.

A recent letter written by KP’s finance minister to federal minister for finance might create an embarrassing situation for Pakistan during the IMF’s Board meeting but official circles are confident that the Board will not take up this issue. However, there is an apprehension that India’s representative might make efforts to highlight this issue at the meeting to embarrass Pakistan’s representative.

According to Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Tellimer Limited and Natixis SA predictions, Pakistan will win a loan approval from the IMF board when it meets on Monday, “paving the way for the release of $1.2 billion in immediate funds.”

However, amid ongoing political turmoil in the country, it is expected that the two-day later focus will shift to PTI Chairperson Imran Khan’s court hearing as he battles a string of legal troubles.

23/08/2022

A New Mexico grand jury on Monday charged Muhammad Syed, an Afghan refugee, with the murder of a third Muslim man in ambush shootings that have shaken the immigrant community in the state's largest city.

Cell phone evidence allowed prosecutors to link Syed, 51, to the Aug 5 murder of truck business owner Naeem Hussain in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County District Attorney's office said in a statement.

Police previously charged Syed with the killings of cafe employee Aftab Hussein on July 26 and urban planning director Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on Aug. 1 in the same area of southeast Albuquerque.

"Additional evidence deriving from cell phones came to light enabling us to present the homicide of Naeem Hussain to the Grand Jury," the statement said.

The grand jury indictment charged Syed with three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of tampering with evidence for the killings of the immigrants of Pakistani and Afghan descent.

Thomas Clark, an attorney for Syed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police have said Syed is the primary suspect in a fourth murder, that of a grocery store and cafe owner Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, in 2021.

District Attorney Raul Torrez's office said it was working with police to investigate Syed's possible involvement withAhmadi's homicide.

National Muslim advocacy groups have said the murders may have been driven by inter-Muslim sectarian hate.

However, people who knew both the victims and Syed said the killings were primarily connected to personal feuds or revenge.

Grand juries operate in secrecy and are often used by prosecutors to allow witnesses to speak freely without fear of retaliation.

Federal prosecutors have linked Syed's 21-year-old son to the Aug 5 murder of Hussain.

23/08/2022

So much for hopes that the Federal Reserve will tap the brakes on its aggressive interest rate hikes. Stocks tumbled Monday as investors once again began to worry that the central bank will raise rates by three-quarters of a point next month.

The Dow ended the day with a loss of more than 640 points, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 2.1% and 2.6% respectively.

All 30 Dow stocks were lower, and only 25 of the stocks in the blue chip S&P 500 index traded higher Monday.

Stocks also slumped Friday as the market snapped a four-week winning streak. The markets have rebounded in July and August following a brutal first half of 2022. But the pendulum may be swinging back to pessimism.

The CNN Business Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven indicators of market sentiment, edged closer to Fear levels Monday morning. The index inched into Greed territory just a week ago.

Concerns are mounting that the Fed is not done with its super-sized rate increases just yet. The Fed lifted rates by three quarters of a percentage point, or 75 basis points, in both June and July.

But following the most recent data on consumer and producer prices, which showed that the rate of inflation cooled a bit last month, investors had started to hope that the Fed might raise rates by only a half a point in September.

The thought was that inflation was easing and the economy might be slowing. However, the jobs market remains strong and retail sales have held up reasonably well, despite inflation.

11/08/2022

China's war games around Taiwan have led Biden administration officials to recalibrate their thinking on whether to scrap some tariffs or potentially impose others on Beijing, setting those options aside for now, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

President Joe Biden's team has been wrestling for months with various ways to ease the costs of duties imposed on Chinese imports during predecessor Donald Trump's tenure, as it tries to tamp down skyrocketing inflation.

It has considered a combination of eliminating some tariffs, launching a new "Section 301" investigation into potential areas for additional tariffs, and expanding a list of tariff exclusions to aid US companies that can only get certain supplies from China.

Biden has not made a decision on the issue and all options remain on the table, the White House said.

The tariffs make Chinese imports more expensive for US companies, which, in turn, make products cost more for consumers. Bringing down inflation is a major goal for Biden, a Democrat, ahead of the November midterm elections, which could shift control of one or both houses of Congress to Republicans.

10/08/2022

Runaway inflation took a breather in July, with consumer prices increasing by 8.5% year over year, a slower pace than the 9.1% increase in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

On a month-to-month basis, prices held steady, compared to the 1.3% increase in June.

Core inflation, which does not include volatile food and fuel components, was unchanged on a year-over-year basis after June's 5.9% jump.

Months' worth of elevated numbers for the Consumer Price Index, which covers a wide array of goods and services Americans buy, pose a growing challenge for the Federal Reserve, which has committed to reining in soaring prices while trying to avoid plunging the economy into a recession.

10/08/2022

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sold $6.9bn worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, tweeting it was important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock amid a legal showdown with Twitter Inc over a $44bn takeover deal.

Musk sold about 7.92 million shares on August 5, according to a series of regulatory filings that landed after US markets closed on Tuesday. He now owns 155.04 million shares in Tesla. As speculation mounted over the reason for the disposal, Musk responded in a series of late-night tweets, saying he wanted to avert an emergency sale of stock.

Asked by followers if he had finished selling Tesla shares and would buy the stock again if the deal does not close, Musk responded: “Yes.”

But legal experts have suggested that if Musk loses his battle against Twitter and is forced to complete the acquisition or pay a stiff penalty, he could conceivably have to sell more Tesla shares.

Todays Talk

07/09/2022

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