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His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued on Monday Amiri Decision No (24) of 2023 appointing HE the Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani as Commander of Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya).The decision is effective starting from the date of its issuance and is to be published in the official gazette. (QNA)

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China, ending a more than year-long stay overseas that was viewed by industry as reflecting the sober mood of China’s private businesses and troubled policymakers trying to spur the economy.The return of China’s best-known entrepreneur may help to quell the concerns of the country’s private-sector businesses after a bruising two-year regulatory crackdown.His public reemergence provides support for the government’s softening tone toward the private sector as leaders try to shore up an economy battered by three years of Covid curbs.Online discussion saying that Ma was in China began emerging on Chinese social media early on Monday and his return was confirmed by a school he had visited and the Alibaba-owned South China Morning Post newspaper.Ma, a former English teacher, discussed topics such as artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT and also said he hoped to return to teaching one day during his visit, the Yungu School said on its official WeChat account.The school was founded by Ma and other Alibaba founders in the e-commerce giant’s home city of Hangzhou in 2017.He returned to China last week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.Reuters was not able to establish how long he plans to stay in China this time round.Ma’s return “boosts the sentiment of the broader platform, internet industry,” said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.“Because that means the new top leadership has indeed been re-examining the position and the importance of the platform companies in China’s economic development.The previous restrictive policies on the platform, internet sector are also expected to be adjusted,” Zhang said.Alibaba shares jumped more than 4% after news of Ma’s return broke before giving up some of its gains.Ma’s stay abroad came to symbolise the reversal of fortunes for the country’s private sector after his empire and the technology industry were the targets of Beijing’s regulatory crackdown.A speech Ma gave in 2020 criticising China’s regulatory system is commonly accepted as the spark for the tighter government scrutiny and triggered his public retreat.In late 2021 he left Mainland China and has been seen in photographs in Japan, Spain, Australia and Thailand.While Chinese authorities have recently said they are easing the crackdown and would support the private sector, Chinese entrepreneurs and investors said they saw Ma’s decision to stay overseas as a factor hindering confidence.Recognising this, China’s new Premier Li Qiang had since late last year asked Ma to return to the mainland, hoping that this would boost business confidence among entrepreneurs, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Some of these efforts involved asking people close to Ma such as his business associates to persuade the Alibaba founder in person while he was living in Japan, two of the sources said.Reuters was not immediately able to establish whether Ma had returned due to Li’s efforts.Alibaba and the State Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Li, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, has been at the forefront of government’s effort to bolster the private sector, saying earlier this month that the country’s environment for entrepreneurial businesses will improve and that Beijing will treat all firms equally.However, companies are hesitant, privately pointing to a lack of new supportive policies and the new regulatory framework the crackdown had brought.That view is shared by long-time Asia analyst Fraser Howie, who has written several books on China’s financial system.“I can see how this sort of signals a relaxation but none of the laws and institutions set up to control the private sector have changed,” he said. “It doesn’t matter at all to private business because he is already beaten. The State won, Jack has lost control, power, wealth and its not coming back.”

Ammar al-Khudairy, the chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG’s largest shareholder, has resigned just days after his comments helped trigger a slump in the stock and bonds that prompted the Swiss government to step in and arrange its takeover.Al-Khudairy, who became chairman of Saudi National Bank in 2021 when it was created via a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, is leaving “due to personal reasons,” according to a statement on Monday.His departure comes twelve days after he said in a Bloomberg TV interview that Saudi National Bank would “absolutely not” be open to further investments in Credit Suisse if there was another call for additional liquidity.The Swiss bank’s stock plunged to the lowest level on record and its credit spreads surged following his comments. That helped drag all European banks lower as investors shied away from risk following the collapse of three lenders in the US.“The SNB chairman was a victim of giving his honest opinion at such a tense time for Credit Suisse,” said Mohamed Ali Yasin, capital markets specialist and investment adviser. “In hindsight, seeing the buyout rate of CS by UBS, his answer was the right course of action: awaiting for the crisis to be clearer.”In the days after his comments to Bloomberg TV, al-Khudairy sought to calm the market, telling CNBC that the panic surrounding Credit Suisse’s share slide was “completely unwarranted.”While his remarks were consistent with the Saudi firm’s previous stance, al-Khudairy’s comments were largely seen as the tipping point for Credit Suisse’s chances of survival. Days later, UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse in a historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across global financial markets. UBS offered to pay 3bn francs ($3.3bn) for its rival in an all-share deal that included extensive government guarantees and liquidity provisions.Saudi National Bank, which is 37% owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, saw the value of its investment in Credit Suisse plummet by about $1bn in a matter of months after it acquired a roughly 9.9% stake for 1.4bn francs last year. During that time, shares in Saudi National Bank had slumped by about a third, wiping more than $25bn off its market value before Credit Suisse’s deal with UBS. The stock was trading up 1% in Riyadh on Monday.Al-Khudairy said in October that he “likes” Credit Suisse’s new leadership and their resolve to execute on its turnaround plan, but that any additional equity for the moment was “out of the question.”Middle Eastern investors have been backing global banks such as Credit Suisse for many years. The most recent losses on Credit Suisse are a stark reminder of a series of investments made by Gulf investors during the 2008 financial crisis – many of which ended in financial loss or legal battles. Regional investors are becoming more cautious of making fresh investments in global banks after emerging as some of the hardest hit in the Credit Suisse turmoil.Born in 1963, al-Khudairy spent his career in Saudi Arabia’s financial sector running some of the kingdom’s top institutions. He’d been chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley in Saudi Arabia.He also founded alternative assets management business Amwal AlKhaleej and Amwal Capital Partners, based in Riyadh and Dubai.He will be replaced by SNB chief executive officer Saeed Mohamed al-Ghamdi. The bank also appointed Talal Ahmed al-Khereiji as acting CEO. He was previously deputy CEO and head of wholesale banking at the Saudi lender.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest energy company, has signed agreements with Chinese partners to build a state-of-the-art refining complex in the northeast region of the Asian nation.Aramco agreed to the deal with North Huajin Chemical and Panjin Xincheng to start construction on the refinery and petrochemical complex in Liaoning Province, Amin Nasser, the Saudi company’s president and chief executive officer, said at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.“We see a major win-win opportunity to build a world-leading, integrated downstream sector in China, with special emphasis on the high conversion of liquids directly into chemicals as part of our broader liquid-to-chemicals business expansion plans,” Nasser said.Aramco wants to be an all-inclusive source of energy and chemicals for China’s long-term energy security and China’s high-quality development, he said. An initial framework agreement for the Liaoning refinery was first signed during Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s visit to Beijing in March 2017.In 2019, Aramco agreed to set up a venture with two Chinese partners when Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman was in Beijing in what was seen as a landmark deal with a key ally. However, the Saudis briefly paused investment in the refinery venture in 2020 amid an uncertain market outlook when Covid lockdowns in China throttled downstream demand.After reviving talks of investments in early 2022, Aramco said last March that it would go ahead and invest in a 300,000 barrel-a-day refinery with ethylene cracker with China North Group Corp, known as Norinco, the parent company of North Huajin Chemica and a Pajin-based company.Aramco is expanding oil production capacity by 1mn barrels per day to 13mn barrels by 2027 and will increase gas production by more than 50% by 2030, which would add an extra one million barrels a day of oil for export, Nasser said.The Saudi company is also partnering with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co to produce steel plates in Saudi Arabia with a lower carbon footprint, he said. The company also signed a letter of intent to be part of a new entity being created by Renault SA and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co amid efforts to develop more efficient and lower-emission engines and hybrid systems, he said.

Former Kerala MP and veteran Malayalam actor Innocent died at the age of 75 at a private hospital in Kochi yesterday.The actor, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer in 2012, was admitted to a private hospital in the city about a week ago for a cancer relapse after he complained of uneasiness following an infection in his throat.The actor had been placed under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support after his condition worsened, according to doctors attending to him. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a form of cardiopulmonary support where the patient’s blood is pumped and oxygenated outside the body using a machine. ‘Innocent’ has starred in over 750 movies in a career spanning five decades, primarily in Malayalam, and a few in Tamil and Hindi. Known for his roles primarily as a comedian, he served as president of the artistes’ guild, Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes, during 2003-18. He last acted in the Prithviraj Sukumaran, Vivek Oberoi-starer Kaduva (2022).The actor has played memorable roles in many box office hits which spawned remakes in Tamil and Hindi.

Under its Ramadan Campaign for 1444 AH, ‘Humanity First: Give to Charity’, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) is planning to launch nine shelter projects this year for the benefit of 43,190 people in Syria, Yemen, Gaza, Niger, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, at a total cost of over QR21mn.In northern Syria, a model residential village will be constructed for the earthquake-affected families, comprising 300 homes, a mosque, a school, a health centre, facilities and services. Also, QRCS will support, rehabilitate and operate four orphanages in northern Syrian villages. In Yemen, 25 housing units will be constructed for poor families, and 5,440 shelter kits will be distributed to displaced families.Other development projects include a 25-home residential village for poor families in Niger, 10 80sq m mosques (each with a capacity of 1,000 people) and 10 120sq m mosques (each with a capacity of 1,400 people) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, to enable refugees and locals to perform prayer and other religious practices.In Gaza, 90 poor families and persons with special needs will have their homes restored, maintained and provided with solar panels. In Afghanistan, QRCS’s representation office will distribute 1,500 shelter kits to poor Afghan families.During 2022, the shelter sector ranked second in QRCS’s foreign operations in terms of budget, totalling QR63,277,524. Among the achievements are the establishment of residential villages and services complexes, construction and restoration of homes, winterisation aid, Eid clothing, and distribution of nonfood items (NFIs), a press statement noted.A total of 343,667 people benefited from these projects in 17 countries: Sudan, Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Tajikistan, Bangladesh, India, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Venezuela, South Africa, Mongolia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.In recognition of QRCS’s considerable achievements in the shelter sector, its representation office in Yemen featured among the partners with the highest implementation in the mid-year report of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Shelter Cluster Yemen.“This selection was the product of great efforts of QRCS’s personnel to carry out shelter projects in many humanitarian tracks and inaccessible areas of Yemen. QRCS pays great attention to collecting accurate data, is committed to submitting timely results, and has active participation within the national shelter cluster and hubs,” the statement added.QRCS’s interventions focus on the activities with maximum benefit for the target groups, while complying with international humanitarian standards and considering the work environment.Priorities of work include transparency with beneficiaries and accountability among stakeholders, beneficiaries and the organisation. In its development projects, QRCS takes into consideration the issue of gender and supports continuity in overlapping areas, to ensure no impact on beneficiaries upon the closure of projects.Apart from shelters, QRCS provides NFI assistance to improve the living conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), such as blankets, jerrycans, mosquito nets, tarpaulins, kitchenware, shelter toolkits and hygiene kits.The shelter sector proved evidently critical in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Syria, Turkiye and several neighbouring countries almost two months ago. Millions of people in northern Syria and Turkiye remain desperate for emergency shelters, such as tents and caravans. Most of them had their homes destroyed by the earthquake and aftershocks, but many are reluctant to return to their unaffected homes in fear of potential earthquakes.To qualify its field relief personnel to provide emergency shelter, QRCS holds theoretical lectures to introduce the trainees to the rules of planning, establishing, furnishing and operating refugee/IDP shelter camps in compliance with the Sphere Project criteria, as well as practical training to install makeshift individual/family shelter tents using the standard shelter toolkit.To donate to QRCS’s shelter projects, one can visit its website (www.qrcs.org.qa), download the mobile application QRCS (App Store or Google Play), call the donor service (66666364) or home donation collection (33998898), or send an SMS with “shelter” to the following numbers: 92552 (QR250), 92869 (QR350), 92092 (QR500), 92556 (QR750), 92246 (QR1,000). One can also make a bank transfer to the following bank accounts: QNB (QA21QNBA000000000850020196062), QIB (QA51QISB000000000110575190014), QIIB (QA66QIIB000010026100001002610) and Masraf Al Rayan (QA18MAFR000000000011199980003).

Gold sales go up in Ramadan every year, as many people buy it in celebration of the holy month, considering it a valuable gift and also because it maintains its value in most cases with the fluctuations that global markets are exposed to.Ramadan is considered one of the seasons gold traders in Qatar await, as sales increase in varying proportions that may reach more than 50% at their best compared to other seasons. For many, gold is a safe currency in times of crisis, and the best vessel for investment and savings. It is also linked to popular heritage, especially Qatari designs passed down through generations.Gold dealers in Qatar wait for the Ramadan season to display their new designs, according to Executive Director of Al-Salahi Holding Group, Mohamed al-Salahi, who said that the gold market is currently witnessing a great recovery, as the rates of sales increase since the first day of Ramadan range from 40-50%.In a statement to QNA, al-Salahi said that “gold is still the best gift that is presented so far, and Qatari families are keen to acquire gold and also exchange gifts of gold, because of its high value, as it retains its value in most cases even if markets have been volatile.”Al-Salahi indicated that most of the buyers in the market currently are Qataris, who prefer traditional gold jewellery.“With the approaching night of Garangao in the middle of the holy month, sales rise above these percentages, due to the high demand for gold, handicrafts, and designs related to heritage and traditions, as families and relatives exchange gifts, and gold is the best gift on such occasions,” he added.On the other hand, al-Salahi commented on gold prices and linked them to economic and political factors, saying: “It is known that gold prices rise with political crises and economic fluctuations to levels of $1,634 an ounce, due to economic data indicating a recovery in the US economy, and thus a rise in the dollar strength index, as well as a rise in the yield on US Treasury bonds on the one hand, and interest rate hikes on the other hand.”He added: “In the current year, gold prices range between levels of $1800-2000 per ounce, and the inflation factor plays the most prominent role in the fluctuation of its prices between those levels, but after some US banks declared bankruptcy in recent weeks, gold prices jumped above the ceiling of $2,000 per ounce. It has been indeed a safe-haven currency during global financial market turmoil.”With regard to gold price expectations for the coming period, al-Salahi said the price is expected not to exceed $ 2,080 per ounce unless there are major developments or new bankruptcies, indicating that predictions of a significant rise in gold prices are nothing but misleading propaganda. (QNA)

Nowadays, we live in a time in which many ideologies exist - a time of confrontations with different misconceptions, challenges and questions that are often witnessed, heard and repeated. Each one of us in this world, regardless of his/her position, needs something at times to strengthen him, help him stay steadfast and increase his faith and reliance on Allah so he can face strong desires and new challenges as firm as mountains that are unaffected by strong winds or earthquakes.When a person feels lonely, or a problem occurs, when things are bad, when he is about to give up hope on the Mercy of Allah, or when he does wrong; he needs what guides him through such conditions to help him solve the problem, to remind him of the Mercy of Allah and to warn him when he does wrong.Unless a person heads in the right direction with his entire body (his feelings, heart and limbs) towards the Book of Allah, by reading it, contemplating its verses and practising what it contains, then one cannot hope to be steadfast and strong in his faith. He will not feel secure from being punished. He cannot expect a promise to be fulfilled nor to be mentioned or remembered after his death.The Qur’an is the pure spring that never depletes, the great treasure that does not diminish from use, rather it only increases. Its repetition and recitation add to its sweetness and encourage one to read from it again. The Qur’an is the Word of Allah that cannot be likened to any other words. It is protected from falsehood being entered into it from any direction. It was sent down by The All-Wise, Worthy of all praise, Allah, Glory be to Him, Who took it upon Himself to protect it so no one can add to it or subtract from it. It cannot be increased or decreased. It is written in a Preserved Book (in Arabic: Al Lawh Al Mahfooth). It is easy to learn and is often contemplated, memorised, and recited. Allah Says (what means): “And We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember?” [Qur’an 54: 17]Anyone, young or old, can memorise it even non-Arabic speaking people. It is not burdensome to read or recite repeatedly. Due to its sweetness, no one gets bored listening to the Qur’an. Scholars never have enough pondering over it, educating themselves from it and learning more of its meanings. Neither mankind nor jinn can produce a chapter that resembles it, because it is an eternal miracle and proof. Allah, Glory be to Him, Commanded us to recite it and to reflect upon it. He made it a blessing as well as blessed.Allah Says (what means): “[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.” [Qur’an 38: 29]The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “He who recites or reads a letter from the Book of Allah gets a reward and the reward is multiplied by ten. I don’t mean ‘Alif Laam Meem’ is a letter, rather, Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter and Meem is a letter.” [At-Tirmithi] Allah gave a certain position to those who memorise and work according to it -- a position that makes one different from other people. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The best amongst you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others.” [Al-Bukhari].He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, also said: “The example of the believer who reads the Qur’an is like the “Utrujjah” (a type of fruit). It has a nice smell and a sweet taste. The example of the believer who does not read or recite the Qur’an is like a date, which has no smell but tastes sweet. The example of a hypocrite who reads the Qur’an is like the Rayhannah, it smells nice but it tastes bitter. The example of the hypocrite who does not read the Qur’an is like the Hanthalah (colocynth) which does not have any smell and it tastes bitter” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]Tranquillity and true happiness lie in glorifying the Book of Allah, reading it, resorting to it as a reference and using it as a guidance. Wretchedness lies in turning one’s back on the Qur’an, degrading it and deserting it. Allah says (what means): “And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind. He will say, “My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing? [ Allah ] will say, “Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten.” [Qur’an 20: 124-126]The blessed month of Ramadan that we live in these days should remind the believing Muslim Nation of the importance of going back truly and sincerely to the Book of Allah, the great Book that Allah has honored by having revealed it during this month. He, The Almighty, Says (what means): “The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion.” [Qur’an 2: 185]The best way to spend time during the month of the Qur’an (Ramadan) is to give increased importance to the Qur’an by memorising, reciting, practicing and contemplating it. Let us look at our best model, the Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Ibn‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was the most generous of people and he used to be more generous during the month of Ramadan, when he used to meet Jibreel (Angel Gabriel) and review the Qur’an with him. During this time, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was faster (in his generosity and bringing good) than a blowing wind”. [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]We understand from this Hadith that it is recommended to review the Qur’an and study it in the month of Ramadan, even gathering in group sessions to do so. In addition, we can conclude from it that it is recommended to repeatedly recite the Qur’an during the month of Ramadan. Many people have the mistaken idea that they should recite the Qur’an repeatedly during the day of Ramadan and then stop reciting it during the night. Some of the Salaf (righteous predecessors, may Allah have mercy upon them) used to read the entire Qur’an in Ramadan every three nights, and some used to do it every seven nights, like Qataadah, may Allah be pleased with him; others used to finish it every ten nights. Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The Salaf used to recite the Qur’an in the month of Ramadan during prayer and other times; Qataadah used to teach the Qur’an in the month of Ramadan. Whenever Ramadan started, Az-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say: ‘This is the month of reciting the Qur’an and giving food’.” During Ramadan, Allah gives honour and elevates people with the Qur’an and degrades others as a result of neglecting it. All thanks are due to Allah that the Qur’an is amongst us and it is very easy to obtain a copy: they are in the mosques, the homes, in the libraries and bookstores. In some of the Muslim countries you can even listen to it on the radio. Having the Qur’an available is a great bounty of Allah, glory be to Him. Being able to learn His Book, listen to it, and act according to it is another great favor and bounty of Allah, The Most Exalted.The Qur’an can also be a proven evidence against all of those who neglected it when it was so easily available. Allah Almighty says (what means): “Say (O Muhammad): ‘What thing is greatest in testimony?’ Say, ‘Allah is witness between me and you. And this Qur’an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches...’” [Qur’an 6: 19]The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The Qur’an is a proof or an evidence for or against you.” [Muslim] So we must fear Allah and pay attention to the Book of Allah, learning it, teaching it, acting according to it and applying it so that we will be among its people. About the Qur’an, Allah Almighty says (what means):“Indeed, this Qur’an guides to that which is most suitable and gives good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a great reward. And that those who do not believe in the Hereafter - We have prepared for them a painful punishment.” [Qur’an 17: 9-10]Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/Spiritual and physical well-being via fastingAl-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon him, has reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Paradise has eight gates and one of them is Ar-Rayyaan through which none will enter but those who observe fating.” As-Suyooti, may Allah have mercy upon him, has reported that Al-Haarith Ibn Kalda, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated that: “Imposing abstinence from food” was the essence of medicine. Fasting, in medical terms, may mean a variety of things. Some health care practitioners might recommend juice fasting. This type of fast eliminates all solid foods and the person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices. Others might recommend elimination of all foods except fruits and water for a specified time. Some might even recommend eliminating all foods and drinks for specific periods. The reported purpose for these forms of fasting is to cleanse toxins and poisons form the body and the digestive tract. Islamically speaking, fasting both voluntary and obligatory is an act of worship. Although there may be health benefits, its primary purpose must always be to please Allah.Alternative medicine views fasting as a detoxification method. This simply means that it is used to purify the body by eliminating “toxins.” This process enhances the healing processes of the body. Fasting generally is perceived to spare any harm to vital organs but uses fatty tissue, etc. For energy production. Naturopathic healthcare practitioners generally proscribe short fasts. Because body temperature may drop during a fast, as does blood pressure, pulse, and respiration, it is considered important to stay warm. Fasting is seen as possible treatment for a variety of disorders and diseases including: obesity, chemical poisoning, arthritis, allergies, psoriasis, eczema, leg ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, bronchial asthma and even depression.Fasting is a protection for the body and the mind. At-Tirmithi, may Allah have mercy upon him, has reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Fasting and the Qur’an intercede for a man. Fasting says, ‘O my Lord I have kept him away from his food and his passions by day, so accept my intercession for him.’ The Qur’an says, ‘I have kept him away from sleep by night so accept my intercession for him.’ Then their intercession is accepted.” Research has shown that fasting can improve the control of diabetes. Another study has shown that fasting improved the health of persons with irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. Another study suggests that fasting may improve cholesterol levels.Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon him, has reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said that Allah said: “All the deeds of the children of Aadam are for them, except fasting, which is for Me and I will give the reward for it.” Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon him, has also reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, narrated that Allah said: “The fast is for Me and I will give the reward for it, as he (who observes the fast) leaves his (sexual) desire, food and drink for My Sake. Fasting is a shield (from Hell) and there are two pleasures for a fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord. The smell of the mouth of a fasting person is better in Allah’s Sight than the smell of musk.”There are specific requirements for the Muslim to consider when fasting. First is the intention to worship Allah and obey His commandments. Second, is that the fasting must take place between dawn to dusk. Muslims are prohibited from fasting for more than two continuous days without breaking the fast. This is based on the narration reported in Al-Muwatta, which states that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, forbade fasting for two days or more without breaking the fast in between. Likewise, fasting is prohibited on certain days: ‘Eid Al-Fitr, ‘Eid Al-Adha, and on Jumu’ah (Fridays unless the person has fasted the day before or will fast the day after). Married women are admonished not to fast without the permission of their husbands, as the husbands have a right over their wives.Breaking the fast with dates or sips of water is better. Again, this is based on the Prophet’s Sunnah and the narration reported by Abu Daawood, may Allah have mercy upon him: “When one of you is fasting, he should break his fast with dates, but if he cannot get any, then (he should break his fast) with water, for water is purifying.” Muslim, may Allah have mercy upon him, has reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The Ajwah date is an excellent remedy.” The best days for fasting are Mondays and Thursdays. At-Tirmithi, may Allah have mercy upon him, also reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The deeds of men are presented to Allah on Mondays and Thursdays, and I like mine to be presented when I am fasting.” The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of each lunar month are also recommended for fasting. While both the obligatory fasting during Ramadan and the voluntary fasting during the remainder of the year are acts of worship, they may provide healing to the body. Whatever healing may occur because of fasting is a blessing from Allah, however this should not be the intention or the goal of fasting. Fasting gives us a greater ability to control our desires and emotions. It should not be considered a “cure-all” or a diet programme. Those who fast will receive their reward from Allah as long as their intentions are pure and their fasting is not harmed or nullified by lying, backbiting, or evil deeds.Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

Air India Ltd is in talks with banks to help fund its recently announced record aircraft order, benefiting from the support of new owner Tata Sons Ltd, the carrier’s chief executive officer said.“We have the backing of Tata Sons, so there is financing available for these aircraft,” CEO Campbell Wilson said in an interview with Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the CAPA India Aviation Summit in New Delhi yesterday. “We have already made some downpayments for these aircraft from our internal funds.”Air India has placed an order of 470 aircraft from both Boeing Co and Airbus SE, with deliveries due to start from the end of this year. Discounts are common for such large purchases.The formerly state-run carrier will use cash, shareholder equity, and sale and leaseback of aircraft to help fund the order, Wilson said last month. With the fleet expansion, Air India is seeking to take on the likes of leading Gulf carriers, which dominate lucrative routes from India to the US and Europe through their hubs in the Gulf.Wilson didn’t say which banks Air India is talking to.India has been quicker than most other nations to get back to pre-Covid levels of air traffic, aided by a strong local market and growing middle class. Domestic air traffic is expected to rise 20% to 160mn passengers in the year through March 2024, and the nation’s carriers may operate a fleet of 1,400 jets by 2030, according to Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation.India plans to spend about 980bn rupees ($12bn) over the next two years on airports, including new terminals and the renovation of existing facilities to meet surging demand. A lot of that growth may come from smaller cities where air travel penetration is low.“India over the last few decades has been punching below its weight,” said Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. “The government is doing what is natural, to build up potential as an aviation hub.”Air India is preparing to integrate Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines Ltd and Tata Group, to form a single, full-service carrier. The airline is spending $400mn to upgrade its widebody planes, replacing all seats and in-flight entertainment systems with new products. India’s largest conglomerate Tata bought Air India for $2.4bn from the government in 2021. The high-profile privatisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended decades of attempts to sell the money-losing, debt-laden carrier, which had been kept alive on years of taxpayer bailouts.

Saudi Arabia will rely on fiscal loosening to “balance out” the tight monetary policy imported from the US Federal Reserve, a senior government official said, even as turmoil in oil markets injects more uncertainty for the kingdom’s budget.Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim described Saudi Arabia as having an “expansionary fiscal environment” that he said will offset the impact of higher interest rates.The world’s largest oil exporter has largely moved in lockstep with the US to protect its currency peg to the dollar even as the Fed embarked on its most aggressive tightening campaign in a generation to cool off inflation.But price gains in Saudi Arabia have been far more modest, driven recently by apartment rental costs. A cap on domestic fuel prices introduced in 2021 has been among factors constraining inflation.While pushing interest rates higher, Saudi Arabia has already enacted fiscal policies to give its economy an extra boost. Expenditure rose at double-digit rates over the past year even as authorities tried to keep spending in check during a period of high oil prices.In 2022, the kingdom had the highest annual income from oil sales abroad during Mohamed bin Salman’s time as crown prince. The windfall, alongside higher production volumes, made Saudi Arabia’s economy the fastest growing in the Group of 20 last year and helped it run a fiscal surplus for the first time in nearly a decade.Alibrahim said his country would achieve its growth forecast for this year and plans to keep the non-oil economy expanding at a pace similar or faster than last year’s. Authorities are also on track to implement multi-trillion-dollar plans to diversify the economy and turn the kingdom into a major investment and tourism centre, he said.“We are very confident in the ability to fund everything we set out to do until 2030,” he said, referring to the crown prince’s blueprint for transforming the Saudi economy and society.When asked how falling oil prices might impact the budget for this year, Alibrahim said “it’s too early to tell.”The government’s latest fiscal outlook, unveiled in December, showed it expected to run a surplus of 16bn riyals ($4.3bn) in 2023, nearly double its previous estimate. The economy is forecast to expand 3.1%.“We always assess different scenarios and look at what their outcomes and implications can be, and we adjust as needed,” Alibrahim said. “We feel very confident in the long-term view that we had earlier.”

The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has issued the National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar, which has been developed by CRA in collaboration with Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and Qatar University (QU).The initiative aims to identify and build an efficient regulatory foundation for blockchain, creating a solid basis for the government’s approach in this field and creating and enabling a supportive environment for creativity and innovation.The blueprint establishes the frame for blockchain at the national level and identifies its key elements, regulatory foundation, adoption foundation, innovation, and creativity. Further, it identifies key blockchain requirements and provides a set of recommendations for achieving the desired objectives.Ali al-Suwaidi, Technical Affairs Department director at CRA, said: “We are pleased to collaborate with HBKU and QU to issue the National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar. Through the blueprint, we have set the most prominent opportunities that blockchain could bring to private and government sectors and outlined the necessities and incentives that must be provided by each sector for the technology adoption, which contributes to the development of emerging startups and pilot projects.”He added: “I would like to invite all stakeholders to review the blueprint, so that we work together towards developing the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, supporting local and foreign investments and a knowledge-based economy to support achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. I want to thank HBKU and QU for all their efforts and cooperation in developing the blueprint and we look forward to expanding our collaboration in the future.”Dr Ahmed Elmagarmid , executive director, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), HBKU, said: “We were delighted to work with the Communications Regulatory Authority and Qatar University on developing the National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar”. “Our contribution reflects HBKU’s enduring commitment to solving challenges facing Qatar, particularly those concerning the country’s innovation and technology capacities.”Qatar University College of Engineering dean Dr Khalid Kamal Naji said, “We are proud to have contributed to the development of the National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar, which is a crucial step towards realising the country’s vision for a knowledge-based economy. “Our collaboration with the Communications Regulatory Authority and Hamad Bin Khalifa University has allowed us to leverage our expertise in blockchain technology and promote its adoption across the public and private sectors.” He added: “We believe that this blueprint will serve as a guide for stakeholders and pave the way for future innovation in this field. College of Engineering is committed to continuing its partnership with CRA and HBKU to drive the growth of the country’s digital economy and foster a culture of innovation and creativity.”The National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar is available through CRA’s website via https://www.cra.gov.qa/en/document/national-blockchain-blueprint-for-qatar

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), attended the opening of the TEDinArabic Summit – the first of its kind in the Middle East, organised through a partnership between Qatar Foundation and TED that is dedicated to amplifying ideas in Arabic on a global scale.Her Highness Sheikha Moza also toured the interactive spaces and Arabic stations at the Summit, together with HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation. Under the theme ‘The Butterfly Effect’, the opening of the two-day Summit at Qatar National Convention Centre was also attended by a number of dignitaries, and an audience of thousands who listened to a series of talks in Arabic from TED speakers from the Arab world, explored the event’s interactive Discovery Sessions, and exchanged ideas and stories.Giving a keynote speech on the first day of the Summit, Moza AlHajri, a student at QF partner university Georgetown University in Qatar and a participant in QF’s QatarDebate, said: “We meet today as people with different specialisations, cultures, identities, and dialects, with different preferences in music, literature, art, and poetry, and different political and intellectual views.“But today, we all choose to be united by the Arabic language. We choose to listen to each other, and to search for inspiring horizons that bring us together, and for paths that we can follow to move toward a better future.”The Summit’s opening ceremony began with a song specially written for the event, performed by Saudi Arabian artiste Alaa al-Wardi and Qatari singer Aisha al-Zayani, and another song written by Mohamad Ali Bahri, Arabic Language Programme Coordinator at the Translation and Interpreting Institute, part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University.Its first day also included a performance, inspired by Qatari heritage, from 12 students of QF schools, titled ‘Epic Poetry in the Modern Era’.“We are delighted to be welcoming Arabic thinkers with amazing ideas, and people who love the Arabic language, from around the world to this groundbreaking TEDinArabic Summit,” said Machaille Hassan al-Naimi, Strategic Initiatives Executive Officer, Qatar Foundation.“The two days of this event capture the essence, the spirit, and the aspirations of TEDinArabic – to provide Arabic speakers everywhere with a platform to amplify their ideas globally, and to showcase to the world how Arabic is a language of innovation, of original thought, and of new knowledge.“This Summit is a true landmark for the Middle East, and we hope that everyone who experiences its talks, its sessions, its activities, and its opportunities for accessing and exchanging ideas will find themselves being energised and inspired.”Helen Walters, Head of Curation, TED, said: “TED is thrilled to be in Doha this week for the inaugural TEDinArabic Summit. “Our three-year partnership with Qatar Foundation has established a platform to showcase the brilliance and innovation of Arabic speakers throughout the region. We could not be more proud of the diverse lineup of speakers, reflecting as it does TED’s longtime curation philosophy celebrating the power and beauty of interdisciplinary thinking and unexpected connections.”TED speakers who shared their stories on the first day included Mahdi Mansour, a physicist and poet from Lebanon; Rafia al-Talei, a journalist and women’s advocate from Oman; Ahmad Habib, a writer and accessibility specialist from Iraq; Amr Ramadan, a climate justice advocate from Egypt; and Belal Khaled, a Palestinian artist and activist.Over the course of the Summit, which continues today, its international audience are exploring activities, workshops, experiences, and talks – all in Arabic - on themes including creativity, language, science, and discovery, as well as artistic performances. Reflecting QF and TED’s emphasis on inclusivity, talks at the TEDinArabic Summit come with Arabic sign language, as well as English translation.The Summit is being held with the support of partners including Qatar Museums’ Years of Culture initiative – which provided a grant enabling young people from across the Arab world to attend the event - Tasweer, Alif Stores, Doha Film Institute, Geekdom, QF’s Doha Debates, the Generation Amazing Foundation, Enbat, QINWAN, and Al Jazeera Media Network’s AJ+ platform. It is a milestone in a three-year partnership between QF and TED which has provided a platform for new and inspiring ideas in Arabic to be shared with the world, and which aims to nurture a new culture of idea generation in the Middle East and North Africa. Under this partnership. TEDinArabic regional events have also been held in Qatar, Jordan, and Morocco, while a digital vault of TEDinArabic content that includes blogs, videos, and TED Talks has been created.For more information about the TEDinArabic Summit, and to register to attend its talks and sessions, visit https://tedinarabic.ted.com/en/summit2023. To find out more about TEDinArabic – which is TED’s first initiative in the Arabic language – visit https://tedinarabic.ted.com/en/

Egypt said it’s willing to do whatever it takes to make Saudi Arabia feel at ease with increasing investment in the crisis-hit country, a move to secure funding that may be vital to arrest an economic decline.Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said the North African nation is “keen to support everything that is required to increase Saudi investments,” amid Egypt’s “unprecedented support for the local and foreign private sector,” according to a statement on Friday.Saudi Arabia pledged a year ago to invest $10bn in Egypt, which is facing its worst foreign-currency crunch in years. But so far, the Gulf region’s biggest economy has delivered only $1.3bn, when a unit of its Public Investment Fund bought state-owned stakes in four Egyptian companies.The kingdom “has invested and is still investing in various development projects in Egypt,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohamed al-Jadaan was quoted as saying in the same statement. Earlier in the week, he said Saudi Arabia’s track record of supporting Egypt speaks for itself.Talks between Saudi Arabia and Egypt over the purchase of Cairo-based United Bank have stalled over a disagreement about how to value the transaction, while Bloomberg reported last month that Gulf countries are waiting for more certainty on Egypt’s collapsing currency and proof it’s making deep economic reforms before committing big money.Saudi Arabia deposited $5bn in Egypt’s central bank last year, though al-Jadaan said in Davos that his country is changing the way it offers financial help to countries, expecting reforms in exchange for cash.The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hit the Egyptian economy particularly hard, triggering major food and fuel-price increases and cutting off sources of vital tourism revenues. Last month, Egypt revived a plan to sell stakes in a number of state-run companies to raise cash.Maait’s comments came after his participation in a conference in Riyadh this week, where “a friendly and brotherly conversation took place” between he and al-Jaadan, according to the finance ministry statement.Al-Jadaan “accompanied his Egyptian counterpart to sit together in the seat next to him during the closing session, and the conversation between them was completed,” it said.

French President Emmanuel Macron faced the gravest challenge yesterday to his authority since the so-called “Yellow Vest” protests after his decision to push through a contested pension overhaul without a vote prompted a wave of protests.On Thursday Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked article 49.3 of the constitution to impose the pension overhaul by decree, sparking angry demonstrations nationwide that saw 300 people arrested, according to the interior ministry.A new demonstration got underway in Paris yesterday evening as protesters gathered in the city’s Place de la Concorde, near the Assemblee Nationale parliament building, following demonstrations on Thursday which were marred by violence.Demonstrators started off a fire burning in Place de la Concorde yesterday as they faced up to a line of riot police, with some chanting “Macron, Resign!”“Something fundamental happened, and that is that, immediately, spontaneous mobilisations took place throughout the country,” hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said. “It goes without saying that I encourage them, I think that’s where it’s happening.”The pension overhaul raises France’s retirement age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not go bust.Unions, and most voters, disagree.The French are deeply attached to keeping the official retirement age at 62, which is among the lowest in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.More than eight out of 10 people are unhappy with the government’s decision to skip a vote in parliament, and 65% want strikes and protests to continue, a Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL radio showed.Going ahead without a vote “is a denial of democracy ... a total denial of what has been happening in the streets for several weeks”, 52-year-old psychologist Nathalie Alquier said in Paris. “It’s just unbearable.”“We won’t give up,” said Philippe Melaine, a 49-year-old biology teacher. “There’s still hope that the reform can be revoked.” A broad alliance of France’s main unions said that they would continue their mobilisation to try and force a U-turn on the changes.Protests are planned for this week, with a new day of nationwide industrial action is scheduled for Thursday.Teachers’ unions called for strikes next week, which could disrupt the emblematic Baccalaureate high-school exams.While eight days of nationwide protests since mid-January, and many more local industrial actions, had so far been largely peaceful, the unrest on Thursday was reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices and forced Macron into a partial U-turn on a carbon tax.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said some 310 people had been arrested by police and promised to crack down on troublemakers.“Opposition is legitimate, protests are legitimate but causing mayhem is not,” he told RTL radio.Left-wing and centrist opposition lawmakers filed a motion of no-confidence in parliament yesterday afternoon.However, even though Macron lost his absolute majority in the lower house of parliament in elections last year, there was little chance this would go through – unless a surprise alliance of MPs from all sides is formed, from the far-left to the far-right.The leaders of the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party have ruled out such an alliance.None of them had sponsored the first motion of no confidence filed yesterday.The far-right was expected to file another later in the day.Individual LR lawmakers have said they could break ranks, but the no-confidence bill would require all of the other opposition MPs and half of LR’s 61 lawmakers to go through: a tall order.“So far, French governments have usually won in such votes of no confidence,” said Berenberg chief economist Holger Schmieding.He expected it would be the same again this time even if “by trying to by-pass parliament, Macron has already weakened his position”.Votes in parliament were likely to take place over the weekend or on Monday.Macron will want to turn the page quickly, with government officials already preparing more socially minded reforms.He can also choose, at some point, to fire Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who has been at the forefront of the pension debate.However, either or both moves may do little to quell anger on the streets.Neither of them had made public comments yesterday.The influential Le Monde newspaper has accused Macron of “playing with fire”.“If the country slides into a new bout of anger or locks itself into vengeful paralysis, the executive will only have itself to blame,” it said in an editorial.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank threatens to further besmirch the reputation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, on top of the blemish he’s suffered for being slow to recognise the risk of rampant inflation.Friends and foes of the Fed alike have faulted the central bank for not heading off the troubles at the nation’s 16th-largest lender before they blew up into a crisis that shook the financial system and prompted extraordinary steps by policymakers over the weekend to contain it.“There was a supervisory failure,” said former Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, who oversaw the central bank’s regulatory portfolio in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis and is now a Harvard Law School professor.A number of lawmakers and central bank watchers are criticising the Powell-led Fed board for wholeheartedly signing on to a Republican-driven agenda in 2018 to loosen regulation on banks smaller than behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp. They argue that Powell and his team at the time — some of whom have since left the Fed — are at least partly responsible for the problems at SVB.Experts are divided, though, over how much, if any, blame to directly assign to Powell. Some – including frequent Fed critic Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution – say Powell couldn’t have been expected to know the nitty gritty details of one of the hundreds of banks the central bank supervises.If Powell succeeds in navigating the current financial ructions and brings inflation down without a painful recession, he’ll be lionised for managing a particularly tricky transition. But it’s a transition made all the more difficult by the delay in which the Fed reacted to inflation and the speed at which it subsequently moved to jack up interest rates.In Washington, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a long-time Powell foil, has been out front in slamming the Fed chief over the SVB affair.“Powell’s actions to allow big banks like Silicon Valley Bank to boost their profits by loading up on risk directly contributed to these bank failures,” she said in a statement Tuesday. Other lawmakers have been more reticent in pinning blame on the Fed chair, with several Republicans pointing the finger at supervisors at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco – which directly oversaw the operations of SVB. Powell on Monday launched an internal review of the Fed’s supervision and regulation of SVB after its failure last week. The appraisal, which will be led by Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, will be publicly released by May 1. Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday that he believes Powell will investigate the circumstances behind SVB’s collapse properly. That’s in contrast to the stance taken by his Banking Committee colleague Warren, who called on Powell to recuse himself from the Fed’s review.The Fed is considering changes to its oversight of mid-sized banks, including rules that could bring capital and liquidity thresholds closer to strictures that the largest Wall Street firms face, according to a person familiar with the matter.As recently as early 2021, Powell was being hailed for the critical role that he and the Fed played in helping to pilot the economy through the thick of the pandemic the year before.But his reputation was tarnished by his repeated insistence in 2021 that the surge in inflation then taking hold was “transitory.” He then pivoted in the following year to overseeing the most aggressive monetary tightening campaign since the 1980s to try to rein prices back in.Those rapid-fire rate increases contributed to the problems at SVB, as its holdings of otherwise ultra-safe Treasury and agency bonds lost value. It also experienced an exodus of deposits, with technology companies yanking money out of the bank as their businesses slowed under the impact of tighter credit.There’s widespread agreement among banking experts that state supervisors in California, those at the San Francisco Fed and to a lesser extent at the Fed board in Washington, either missed or failed to act quickly enough to correct some glaring problems at SVB. The issues included a massive bond position not hedged against the vagaries of interest rates and over-reliance on deposits above the $250,000 level insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “Each one of these alone is a classic red flag,” said Klein, who worked on the banking reforms that grew out of the 2007-09 financial crisis as an official at the Treasury and is also a former chief economist at the Senate Banking Committee. “Combined, it’s a red laser beam.” But what’s less clear is whether that was solely the result of a mistake made by supervisors on the ground, or whether it also partly reflected a more relaxed attitude toward oversight of smaller banks conveyed by the Powell-led Fed board in Washington — particularly, former Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles.In a January 2020 speech in Washington, Quarles — an appointee of former President Donald Trump — outlined a variety of changes to the supervisory process.He said supervisors should “focus on violations of law and material safety and soundness issues” and shouldn’t “mistakenly give the impression that supervisory guidance is binding.” Quarles left the Fed in October 2021.What’s also unclear is how much of the SVB debacle can be tied to 2018 legislation that loosened regulatory scrutiny for many regional banks and to the actions that the Powell-led Fed took in carrying the law out. That legislation was spearheaded by Republicans and the Trump administration, but was passed with significant Democratic support. It was also backed by since-deposed SVB Chief Executive Officer Greg Becker.Dennis Kelleher, CEO at Better Markets, an organisation advocating stricter financial regulation, said Powell can’t duck responsibility for the SVB collapse. “He supported Quarles in implementing rules that went far beyond the law in deregulating the banks,” Kelleher said.Tarullo sees only a modest connection between the regulatory changes made by Congress in 2018 – and the Fed’s implementation of them – and the specific failure of SVB.

Traders are on a record-long streak of hedging against a decline in the Egyptian pound as some Wall Street banks warn growing pressures on the currency could soon force the central bank’s hand in allowing another devaluation.Time may be short for a country facing what Citigroup Inc said is growing pent-up demand for dollars that won’t ease without more currency flexibility and stronger investment flows. Half measures haven’t been enough, stalling deals and resulting in an underperformance of Egypt’s bonds.The market verdict also reflects scrutiny of Egypt’s pledge in October to move to a flexible exchange rate, which helped it clinch a $3bn deal with the International Monetary Fund. But the pound has been on a short leash for weeks as a dire inflation outlook at home becomes a focus for authorities, especially after hiking fuel prices and with only days left before the holy month of Ramadan. Accelerating inflation is adding pressure on the currency, which has traded “relatively flat” since the January devaluation “despite clear signs of ongoing FX liquidity shortages,” Farouk Soussa, an economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, said in a note.Ahead of the first review of the IMF’s programme this month, the derivatives market is signalling a deeper slide in the pound even after three devaluations in the past year lopped off almost half its value.The one- and 12-month contracts on the currency in the non-deliverable forwards market posted their 10th week of losses in the five days through Friday, the longest such streak in data going back to 2007.In another measure of expectations for a devaluation, Commercial International Bank’s depository receipts on the London Stock Exchange are trading at a 14% discount to their shares in Cairo.Egypt will need to loosen its grip on the pound “sooner, rather than later,” said Edwin Gutierrez, head of emerging-market sovereign debt at abrdn in London.“It’s still a very managed currency, which is not what the fund wants to see — or emerging-market debt managers for that matter,” Gutierrez said. “The equilibrium is for a weaker currency, which would cause higher inflation, as they aren’t getting any capital inflows.”The Arab world’s most populous nation is struggling again to clear out billions of dollars of imports that have remained blocked at its ports. That’s created an unfulfilled demand for hard currency and worsened the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on one of the world’s biggest buyers of commodities such as wheat.The backlog is currently estimated at around $4bn, from as low as $2.5bn in January, according to Citigroup. Reflecting a deterioration in confidence, foreign-currency deposits increased in January by the most since July, it said in a report last week.Facing investor impatience and doubts over progress in pursuing asset sales, the government said it will begin the process of offering two military-affiliated companies this week, and is planning to put forward another four large firms.The central bank may have to raise interest rates by as much as 300 basis points when it meets later this month, after February’s inflation far surpassed forecasts, according to Goldman Sachs.In February, policymakers defied most analysts’ expectations by leaving borrowing costs unchanged for the first time since September, saying they were assessing the impact of a combined 800 basis points of increases in 2022.While posing a risk for inflation, a weaker pound would help ease pressure on Egypt’s balance of payments and make the funding gap more manageable.In the non-deliverable forwards market, the one-month contract on the pound has weakened about 4% since the end of February to 32.6 per dollar, while the 12-month contract is at around 38.Non-deliverable forward contracts allow investors to take a view on the exchange rate and settle the difference between the agreed rate and the actual price in dollars.The pound traded at almost 31 versus the dollar on Monday. It’s weakened about 2% since end-January, less than declines seen in the Russian rouble, Argentina’s peso, the Zambian kwacha and South Korea’s won. The Egyptian currency’s real effective exchange rate is 23% cheaper than its 10-year average, according to Citigroup.

China reported a rebound in consumer spending, industrial output and investment this year after coronavirus restrictions were dropped, while warning of risks to the economy’s recovery as unemployment rose and real estate investment continued to slump.Retail sales rose 3.5% in January and February compared to the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Industrial output rose 2.4% and fixed-asset investment grew strongly, as local governments increased infrastructure spending to spur the recovery. However, the unemployment rate increased, pointing to weakness in domestic demand.The numbers were broadly in line with economists’ estimates and came after Beijing signalled that it would provide a similar fiscal stimulus to the economy as last year, betting on consumers to drive the recovery. Economists said the data was consistent with China meeting its target of around 5% GDP growth this year, a significant boost to global demand as the US and European economies face recession fears.The data is “pointing to a steady rather than accelerating momentum, which also indicates strong policy support is needed to unleash the growth potential,” said Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan International Holdings. “The relatively high jobless rate seems to suggest that the further recovery of consumption will hinge on policy dynamics,” he said.The two-month data may not fully reflect recent strength in consumer spending, as it includes January when China was hit by a wave of coronavirus infections that followed the government’s sudden ending of Covid restrictions the previous month. Cases apparently peaked ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, prompting people to travel and spend again. Factories also benefited as workforce shortages due to Covid eased.The value of new apartment sales over the period rose 3.5% on-year, compared with a 22% slump in the first two months of 2022. That recovery from a low base is a sign that Beijing’s financial support for the property sector is taking effect following a deep real estate slump which has lasted for more than a year. However, residential property investment fell 4.6%, meaning better sales are not yet leading to growth in housing investment which economists estimate drives up to 20% of demand in China’s economy. Beijing has refrained from providing cash stimulus to households, betting that a pick-up in hiring by companies will boost wages and spending. However, China’s official urban unemployment rate rose to 5.6% from 5.5% in December, and the jobless rate for young people jumped to a six-month high of 18.1%.“The problem of insufficient demand is still prominent. The economy’s foundation for rebounding is not yet secured,” the statistics bureau said in a statement.The bureau combines the data releases for the two months of January and February to avoid distortions from the Lunar New Year holiday, which can fall in either month in different years.Key highlights of the data:n Industrial output rose 2.4% in January-February from a year earlier, lower than the 2.6% forecast.n Retail sales increased 3.5% in the period, in line with expectations.n Fixed-asset investment climbed 5.5% during the two-month period, better than the 4.5% estimate and 5.1% growth for the whole of last year. Overall property investment contracted 5.7%, less than the 8.5% decline predicted by economists.n The urban unemployment rate rose to 5.6% from 5.5% in December. The jobless rate for young people jumped to a six-month high of 18.1%.

The startup OpenAI yesterday said it is beginning to release a powerful artificial intelligence model known as GPT-4, setting the stage for human-like technology to proliferate and more competition between its backer Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc’s Google.OpenAI, which created the chatbot sensation ChatGPT, said that its latest technology is “multimodal,” meaning images as well as text prompts can spur it to generate content. The text-input feature will be available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers and to software developers, with a waitlist, while the image-input ability remains a preview of its research.The highly-anticipated launch signals how office workers may turn to ever-improving AI for still more tasks, as well as how technology companies are locked in competition to win business from such advances.Alphabet Inc’s Google yesterday announced a “magic wand” for its collaboration software that can draft virtually any document, days before Microsoft is expected to showcase AI for its competing Word processor, likely powered by OpenAI.The startup’s latest technology in some cases represented a vast improvement on its prior version known as GPT-3.5, it said. In a simulation of the bar exam required of US law school graduates before professional practice, the new model scored around the top 10% of test takers, versus the older model ranking around the bottom 10%, OpenAI said.While the two versions can appear similar in casual conversation, “the difference comes out when the complexity of the task reaches a sufficient threshold,” OpenAI said, noting “GPT-4 is more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions.”