Timeframe: July 23 to July 29, 2022
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1. Politics
Egypt -Russia forges new Partnership in Nuclear Energy sector
Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, has begun construction on Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, a $25 billion project billed as the largest joint venture between the two countries in decades.
The El-Dabaa plant, located on the Mediterranean coast about 300 kilometers northwest of Cairo, is expected to have four reactor units, each with a 1,200 Megawatt generating capacity.
Source: TRT World
Centrist politicians form new third US political party
A dozen of former Republicans and Democrats from the two main political parties in the US have announced the formation and emergence of a third new party. The aim of this endeavor has been to dismiss America’s dysfunctional two-party system and bring forward a better option for the voters.
The party has been named “Forward” and will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey.
The prefixed objectives of the party have been set to “reinvigorate a fair, flourishing economy” and to “give Americans more choices in elections, more confidence in a government that works, and more say in our future.
Though a third party so far has been hardly able to put any influence in the process, with the current situation at the state, the effects of “Forward” are yet to be observed.
Source: NBC News
Nine killed as Al-Shabaab claimed suicide bombing hit Somalia
On Wednesday, a suicide attack was organized in southern Somalia that killed nine people including local government officials and injured several others. Extremist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks.
According to authorities, an attack took place when Deputy Commissioner Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Wafo was speaking to locals outside the administrative building in the southwest port city of Merca. Merca, 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Somali capital Mogadishu, is a major town that houses several African Union peacekeeping mission contingents.
Source: TRT World
2. Economics & Business
Bangladesh government requests 4.5 billion dollar fund from IMF
Speculations of whether Bangladesh would ask for foreign aid finally ended when Finance Minister AMF Mustafa Kamal finally sent a formal request to IMF seeking 4.5 billion dollars. The request was sent on 24th July (Sunday) to IMF Managing Director Kristina Georgieva
The root of this request is because of the sky-rocketing price of imports into the country which caused the current account deficit to multiply 6 times in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2021-2022. The inflation is cost-push, Kamal said in the letter to Georgieva.
In September, the government expects an IMF mission for the terms and conditions of the loan and by December the deal is hoped to be locked in.
Source: The Daily Star
China’s Slowdown Spills Over to Major Economies Through Imports
China’s economic slowdown is reaching far and wide. It is spilling over to major exporting nations in Europe and East Asia through falling demand for manufactured goods as Covid-19 lockdowns spook consumers. That in turn caused Germany and South Korea to post rare deficits with the world’s second-largest economy. Elevated global commodity prices meant that China’s official import growth of 1% in June from a year earlier hid a worse result for manufactured goods. Imports of hi-tech products and mechanical and electrical goods fell about 8% and there doesn’t seem to have been an improvement this month. China’s role as a driver of global commodity demand tends to overshadow the fact that the majority of its imports are manufactured products.
Source: Bloomberg
Facebook reports drop in revenue for the first time
The social network reported its first-ever yearly decline in revenue for the second quarter, announcing a 1 percent drop to $28.8 billion, and predicted that growth in the third quarter could fall even more. Apple’s privacy update on iPhones has made its ads much less effective, costing Meta $10 billion in ad revenue last year alone. And now a rapidly slowing economy has caused advertisers to pull back on their spending. Another major pain point for Zuck is competition from TikTok: TikTok is taking up an increasingly large portion of users’ screen time—and with it, advertising dollars.
Source: The Verge
3. Science & Technology
UK satellite takes one more step to combat global warming
Intended to be built in the UK by the aerospace company AIRBUS, The Forum satellite aims to monitor far-infrared radiation coming up from our planet’s surface.
Its one-ton body will fly across the globe monitoring the various levels of radiation reaching the earth’s surface which leads to global warming. In space, it will use laser technology to check and send 60-70% of informational data to be processed and let researchers know what’s entering our planets so that they can come up with ways to avoid or combat it. With the increasing amount of global warming and its harmful effects which was be clearly seen in our day-to-day life, this project is a step in the right direction.
The Forum satellite got its seal of approval from the government of Britain on 25th July and is expected to be operational by 2027.
Source: BBC
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the aforementioned third parties. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.